History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 211

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 211

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JohnBrown M. D.

Thomas J. Lothrop

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TAUNTON.

that the time passed as teacher was not entirely lost to his professional studies.

Oct. 19, 1863, he married Sarah Williams Briggs, second daughter of Artemas and Susan Shaw (Wil- liams) Briggs, and immediately again joined his class in the Harvard Medical School, and continued his studies till the time of his graduation in medicine in the spring of 1865. In the fall of 1864 he was ap- pointed by the Governor resident physician (under- graduate) at the Tewksbury State Almshouse, where he got the first real experience in the every-day work of his profession. Soon after his graduation he opened an office in Taunton, and was appointed the first " city physician," an office which he filled till Janu- ary, 1870. In 1865 he was admitted as a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and has held offi- ces in that society and in the Bristol North District Medical Society, of which he was president in 1869- 70. In May, 1868, he removed to his present resi- dence at the corner of Weir and Harrison Streets. In 1866 he was elected a member of the school com- mittee, which office he held till January, 1872, and after a respite of five years was again elected to the same office, and has been a member of the school committee since that time. During each year of his membership in the board he has been one of the standing committee on the high school, and this is the sixth year of his service as chairman of that committee. He was chairman of the board of school committee during the year 1868 ; and has been for five years a trustee of Bristol Academy. In July, 1877, he was appointed by the Governor one of the medical examiners of Bristol County, the appointment to last seven years. He was one of the founders and is now president of the Massachusetts Medico-Legal Society, founded in October, 1877. This society is composed of the medical examiners of the State, and holds its meetings every fourth month in Boston.

Besides attending to a large and responsible prac- tice, he has found time to publish some articles in the medical journals. In the Boston Medical and Surgi- cal Journal, July 13, 1876, he published " Notes of a Successful Case of Extirpation of the Uterus and both Ovaries for Fibro-Cystic Disease"; also in the same journal in August, 1882, and in the Transactions of the Massachusetts Medico-Legal Society will be found the address by the president on " What Con- stitutes a Medico-Legal Autopsy ?"

In the spring of 1881 he was chosen one of the Board of Water Commissioners of Taunton, a position which he still occupies. Close application to his pro- fessional and many other duties made it necessary for him to take a vacation for rest and change in 1881. Accordingly he joined one of Mr. Tourjée's admirable excursion parties, and passed the summer in a de- lightful trip through England, Scotland, and portions of the continent, and, returning in September, again applied himself to his work.

He has three daughters,-Clara Briggs, born Aug.

26, 1864; Florence Nathalie, born Aug. 20, 1869; Laura Edith, born Aug. 24, 1871.

JOHN P. BROWN, M.D.

John P. Brown, M.D., superintendent of Taunton Lunatic Hospital, was born in Raymond, N. H., Oct. 12, 1833.

He was prepared for college at Andover, Mass., and at Hampton and Pembroke, N. H., and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1860. In 1865 he received his medical degree at Harvard College. Soon after his graduation he was appointed assistant physician at the asylum for the insane in Concord, N. H., where he remained until he was elected superintendent of the Taunton Lunatic Hospital in 1878.

Dr. Brown has had large experience in his specialty of mental diseases and in the cure and treatment of the insane, having devoted eighteen years of his pro- fessional life to that work.

He is emphatically a self-made man, having ac- quired his education and achieved his success in life by his own unaided exertions. He supported himself through his preparatory course and while in college by teaching school. As superintendent and physician of the insane, he has acquainted himself with the most advanced discoveries of science relating to the care and treatment of that class, and has acquired a high reputation in the special work to which his profes- sional life has been devoted.

Dr. Brown was married March 16, 1865, to Caroline A. Stevens, of Mount Vernon, N. H. They have one daughter, Gertrude Stevens.

THOMAS JACKSON LOTHROP.

Thomas Jackson Lothrop was born in Taunton, March 2, 1834. After a preparatory course in Bristol Academy, Taunton, he entered, in 1850, Harvard Col- lege. Immediately after graduation he sailed for Fayal, one of the Azores Islands, where he remained three years, being employed as tutor in the family of the vice-consul of the Azores. Returning home he began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in Iowa in 1858. Soon after he returned to Taunton and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. In 1859 he formed a law partnership with Hon. John Daggett, of Attleborough.

In 1862 he was appointed quartermaster of the Fourth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and served in Louisiana under Gen. Banks, being mus- tered out with the regiment in September, 1863.

In politics he was a Republican from the organiza- tion of that party till 1876, when he became identified with the Prohibition party. In November of 1863 he was elected to the Legislature, and in 1864 was chosen county treasurer, which office he held nine years. He has held the position of agent and treasurer of the Taunton Tack Company since June, 1868, and has

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

been a member of the school committee of Taunton for eighteen years. He married, Aug. 24, 1858, Cath- arine Prescott Webster, of Cambridge. Children,- Harriet E., Arthur P., Olivia D., Cornelius R., and Thomas M. Cornelius W. Lothrop, father of Thomas J., born in Taunton, March 28, 1812, was for a time engaged in the straw business, and afterwards in farm- ing. He married, Feb. 20, 1831, Eleanor Lincoln, daughter of James and Hannah Smith, of Taunton. Mrs. Smith was a daughter of Joseph Wilbur, a direct descendant of Shadrach Wilbur, who, while holding the office of town clerk of Taunton, was imprisoned by Sir Edmund Andros for refusing to give up the records of the town. (See sketch of Joseph Wilbur.) Both Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius W. Lothrop took great inter- est in the cause of education, and were highly es- teemed.

He was killed in a saw-mill in Raynham, Dec. 8, 1847. His father, Howell Lothrop, born in Norton, April 16, 1787, married Sally White, daughter of Timothy White, of Taunton, and resided on his farm in Taunton until his death, June 9, 1857. His father, Solomon, born in Easton, Feb. 9, 1761, married Me- hetable White, of Taunton, Sept. 18, 1782, and re- sided in Norton. Jonathan, father of Solomon, born in Easton, March 11, 1722, married Susanna Johnson, and resided in his native town. His father, Mark, lived in Easton, and married Hannah Alden, of Mid- dleborough, a great-granddaughter of John Alden, one of the passengers of the "Mayflower." His father was Samuel, and his grandfather Mark, who came from England, settled first in Salem, afterwards in Duxbury, and then in Bridgewater some time pre- vious to 1660. He was a brother of Rev. John Loth- rop, who settled in Barnstable, and was the eighteenth child of Thomas Lothrop, of Elton, in England. This Thomas was the son of John, of the parish of Lowthorpe, in the East Riding of York, which gave name to the family.

ELIJAH UTLEY JONES, M.D.1

Elijah Utley Jones, M.D., was born in Augusta, Me., May 2, 1826, the eldest son of Ebenezer and Clara (Mandell) Jones. His father was a native of Charlton, his mother of Hardwick, both in Worcester County, Mass. His grandfather Mandell is remen- bered as a brave patriot in Revolutionary times. Elijah Utley was fitted for college when fourteen, but did not enter Waterville College (now Colby Uni- versity ) till September, 1841. He was dependent on his own resources for support during his college course, and these were not sufficient to furnish him suitable food. He boarded himself. Poor diet and too much study left him an invalid when he was ready to leave college. After his graduation he per- severed notwithstanding his ill health, and taught

school, first in Uxbridge, Mass., in 1845, in Slaters- ville, R. I., in 1846, and in East Douglass, Mass., in 1847, where he remained a year, as principal of the academy, in exceeding poor health, with cough and symptoms of consumption upon him. Obliged to stop for a while, after a little rest he tried teaching again in North Brookfield in 1848. Once more driven from the school-room by failing health, he tried a life insurance agency, so as to have the open air, and the town of Dartmouth, so as to be near the salt water. But all expedients failed, and with little hope of living young Jones goes back to his father's house in Augusta to die. All the family were soon taken sick with a mild form of fever, but a severe typhoid took fast hold of the subject of this sketch. For a long time his life trembled in the balance. The old and the new disease appeared to be contending for the mastery. The new in conquering spent all its force. Of the old disease a chronic laryngitis was left, which decided the choice of a profession, medi- cine instead of the ministry, for which the father had always expressed a preference.

The advice of Rev. Dr. Tappan, the pastor at Au- gusta, and Drs. Shepard and Pond, of the Bangor Theological Seminary, confirmed them in this de- cision. The study of medicine was commenced at once, even before full recovery, under the direction of Dr. William F. Jackson, of Gardiner, Me., to whose substantial and ever kind assistance young Jones was greatly indebted for the success of his student life. From his father's house in Augusta to the office in Gardiner was a distance of seven miles, which he walked morning and night. His health continued to improve, and his long walk grew shorter to him daily. During the winter of 1851-52 he acted as reporter in the Maine State Senate for the Augusta Age. With the money thus earned he paid for two full courses of lectures at the Maine Medical School. In 1853 he went to Concord, N. H., as assistant to Dr. Alpheus Morrill, but early in the autumn of that year a favorable opening occurring at Dover, N. H., he settled there. In February, 1854, he went to Philadelphia, where he fully graduated at the Homce- opathic Medical College of Pennsylvania. His prac- tice at Dover was all he could wish, but at the earnest solicitation of Dr. George Barrows, and by the advice of all his friends, the 1st of September, 1854, he re- moved to Taunton, Mass., where he has been in full practice the past twenty-nine years.

September 26th of this same year he married Sarah S. Crofoot, daughter of Theodore Stone, of East Douglass, Mass., who still survives with one daughter, Kate Handell, married to Edward P. Washburn, of Taunton. A little later he transferred his church relation from Waterville, Me., where he professed religion in 1844, and with his wife united with the church under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Maltby. Of this church he has always been an active member in its Sabbath-school and general church work. For

1 Prepared by S. Hopkins Emery.

bulones

Francis Williams

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TAUNTON.

several years he was on its "standing committee," and was its treasurer. Nine years ago, when a Con- gregational Club was organized in the city, he was chosen its first vice-president, which office he retained for five years, and then served as president two years, declining a re-election.

In 1855 he joined the Homeopathic Fraternity, a small society, which grew into the present large and prosperous Massachusetts Homeopathic Medical So- ciety, of which Dr. Jones has been an active and influential member. For fifteen years he was on its board of management, for seven consecutive years was its secretary, and in 1876 was elected its presi- dent. He edited and published its first and third volumes of Transactions, the first covering a pe- riod of twenty years. His monograph in this first volume on the "Early History of Homeopathy in Massachusetts," is especially valuable as a record of facts not obtainable elsewhere. Dr. Jones has been a constant contributor to the magazines and periodicals in his department of knowledge the last thirty years, being assistant editor for two years of · the New England Gazette, still published in Boston. In 1854 he became a member of the American In- stitute of Homeopathy, of which he is now an lion- ored " senior." He is also a member of the American Public Health Association. He has recently been nominated and confirmed as chairman of the city Board of Health. He is also treasurer of the Old Colony Historical Society.

In 1879 he was appointed lecturer on sanitary science and malarial diseases in Boston University Medical School, a position which he still continues to fill with great acceptance. Professionally and socially, Dr. Jones is in the foremost ranks, and has hosts of friends. His wife is secretary of the Female Charitable Association, and one of the managers of the Old Ladies' Home.

THE WILLIAMS FAMILY.

None of the many important families of the ancient town of Taunton have been connected with its history for so long a period, and none have been more prom- inently identified with its business interests and pros- perity than the Williams family.

RICHARD WILLIAMS may be considered as in some measure the father, although not the founder, of Taunton. He certainly was in the town before the purchase by. Miss Pool. Tradition says he was ac- companied by a brother, and came from Scituate. He might have come immediately from Scituate, but there is a strong probability that he was one of those who accompanied Governor Endicott to Salem, for his wife, Frances Dighton, was sister to Endicott's first wife. He might have gone from Salem to Scit- uate, and thence to Taunton. Richard was a Welsh- man, and was born as early as 1599. It is not im- probable that he was a relative of Roger Williams,

and a tradition has always existed among his descend- ants that he was a blood relation of Oliver Cromwell, whose family name was Williams, and changed to Cromwell for an estate. It is positively known that one of Oliver's ancestors was a Richard Williams, The Richard settling at Taunton was a man of no mean abilities. He was deputy to the General Court of Plymouth for Taunton in 1646, '48, '50, '51, and several subsequent years. He was first on the list of those who made the South Purchase (Dighton), and also of those who made the North Purchase, viz., Easton, Norton, Mansfield, and a part of Attlebor- ough. He outlived the Plymouth government, dying in 1692. He was a rigid Puritan. When blind and deaf from age he was accustomed to attend public worship, saying, " Although he could neither see nor hear, yet it was consoling to his feelings to know that he was present while the people of God were at their worship." He settled in Taunton in 1637, and the estate he then purchased is largely in possession of his descendants at this day. His children were John, Samuel, Joseph, Nathaniel, Thomas, Benjamin, Eliz- abeth, and Hannah. The children of Joseph were Richard, Joseph, Benjamin, Ebenezer, and Mehitable. Richard had children,-George, Richard, and Eben- ezer ; George had children,-George, Ebenezer, Rich- ard, Phebe, Sarah, and Anna. This last-mentioned George was the father of Francis Williams, and the line of descent from the Richard who settled in Taun- ton is Richard1, Joseph2, Richard3, George+ (a captain and colonel in American army in the Revolution), George5, Francis6.

GEORGE WILLIAMS (fifth generation) was born in Taunton, Aug. 18, 1745, and died Feb. 25, 1814. He married Bathsheba King (born in Raynham, March 31, 1744, died in Taunton, May 26, 1839), Oct. 2, 1766. Their children were Sarah, George, Abiathar, Bath- sheba, Melancy, Francis, Narcissus, Enoch, and Samuel K., all born in Raynham, Mass. He was a man of hardy constitution, of force and energy, and was of repute and consequence. He was of fine per- sonal appearance, and during the Revolution was ad- jutant of a Continental regiment. After the war he labored diligently to improve his estate, and enjoyed a handsome property, which was largely the result of his thrift and industrious habits.

FRANCIS WILLIAMS, son of George and Bathsheba (King) Williams, was born in Raynham, Mass., Oct. 13, 1779, and inherited one of the numerous farms of his father. He married a worthy daughter of an old family, Louisa, daughter of John Gilmore, of Rayn- ham, May 6, 1804. She was born Sept. 30, 1782. They had eleven children, as follows: Francis K., William H., Martin G., George A., Louisa, Elizabethi D., John R., Edwin, Catharine, Alexander H., and Ruth C. Mr. Williams carried on extensive farming operations, was a large manufacturer of brick, and this was his principal business for over half a century. He was a large and vigorous man, well proportioned,

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

and possessed of great vitality, with wonderful powers of endurance. He was social in his intercourse, pos- sessed strong intellect, and was of such an active temperament as never to have known an idle day. He was one of the first men in every public enterprise, and did more, perhaps, than any other man of Taun- ton in his day to develop the resources of the country, and gave employment to many in his numerous and widely-varied departments of industrial enterprise.

He was connected prominently with the establish- ment of the Taunton Copper-Works and various manufactures in Wareham, Dighton, and Providence. He helped establish every bank founded in Taunton during his business life ; was quite extensively in- terested in whaling. He got out large quantities of oak and pine for ship-timber, and was very successful in all departments of his business. He was an old- line Whig in politics, and held various positions of public trust, although not a politician, and preferred attending to the many details of his extensive private business, and avoided public life as much as prac- ticable. He, however, represented Taunton in the Lower House of the Legislature, and was called upon to settle many estates. He was a great lover of equal and exact justice to all, and he enjoyed to a very high degree the confidence of the community for his strict integrity, unassuming ways, and strong, practical judgment. He was broad and liberal to all deserving causes, and a Unitarian in religious belief. He was in a great many respects a remarkable man, and his great industry, foresight, judgment, far-reaching sa- gacity, and constant attention to business resulted in great wealth. He died July 11, 1868.

FRANCIS K. WILLIAMS, eldest son of Francis and Louisa (Gilmore) Williams, was born Jan. 1, 1805. He was educated at the schools of Taunton, and from a very early period in life was accustomed to hard labor in brick-making, lumbering, and farming, remaining at his father's home until he was twenty-three, or rather making that his home, for when but eighteen he went on a trip to New York on a vessel partially owned by his father, under Capt. Francis D. Williams, plying between Taunton and New York, and that was followed by another trip to the same port, and that by others to New Bedford and other ports of coasting trade. In 1828 he took command of the "Hamil- ton," a coasting vessel, sailing between Taunton and New Bedford, of which he was master for four years. In 1833 he commanded the "Spy" in the coasting trade, and remained as its master for eight seasons, sailing out from New Bedford. He then purchased the farm where he now resides in his seventy-eighth year, and soon after made it his home. He has since been a farmer and brick manufacturer. This last business he carried on for fourteen years. He has been a Whig and Republican in politics ; never de- sired office, but has taken several minor public posi- tions as a duty. He has been a consistent and active member of the Sons of Temperance since the first

organization of that society, and in the local society has held the highest offices and been trustee for many years. He married, April 17, 1836, Rhoda King, daughter of Thomas and Rhoda (King) Tisdale. She was born in Berkley, Mass., Oct. 4, 1805. Their chil- dren are Catharine (died young) ; Israel F., who died Sept. 4, 1864, in his twenty-sixth year (he was a grad- uate of Harvard University and Cambridge Law School, and at the time of his death was a settled minister of the Unitarian Church at Yonkers, N. Y .; he was agent of the Sanitary Commission during the Rebellion, and while at City Point, Va., on the duties of that office, contracted the seeds of the disease from which he died); Samuel K. (served three years in Company F, Seventh Regiment Massachusetts Vol- unteers, in the great Rebellion, was a brave soldier, and resides now in Taunton, engaged in manufac- turing), Edward (died in infancy), Emily C., Seth E., and Charles H. (both of these are now farmers in Berkley).

Thomas Tisdale was born in Berkley; was twice married, first to Rhoda, daughter of Philip King, of Raynham. They had four children,-Julia A., Caro- line L. (died young), Rhoda K. (Mrs. F. K. Williams), and Israel (drowned, aged twelve years). Mrs. Tis- dale died in 1814, and Mr. Tisdale married, second, Mary Benton, by whom he had one child, Caroline M. Mr. Tisdale by occupation combined farming with brick-making, and in early life carried his own brick to market by water, commanding his own ves- sel. He died in 1850, aged seventy-five years. His father, Ephraim Tisdale, was a farmer in Taunton, on a part of the farm now owned by F. K. Williams and wife. The title comes down to Rhoda (Mrs. Wil- liams) direct from her great-grandfather (name not known), through her grandfather, Ephraim, and father, Thomas. Her great-grandfather was a large land-owner and a prominent and active man.

Mr. Williams never was a witness in any court other than that of probate, never had a lawsuit with any one, and never had to secure a bondsman for any other purpose than the customary bonds of a sailing-mas- ter. He is a generous, warm-hearted man, and stands high in the regards of community, doing no discredit on the honored name he bears. He is Unitarian in sympathy and belief, and a supporter of that church organization. He is a stockholder of Taunton Na- tional Bank, Bristol County National Bank, and holds as an heirloom a few shares of Boston and Al- bany Railroad left him by his father. Mr. Williams has been for forty-four years a sufferer from rheuma- tism, which has greatly crippled him, but, with a great fund of cheerfulness, he is passing down to the twi- light of life with resignation, cheered in his declin- ing years by a loving wife and affectionate daughters.

JOHN REED WILLIAMS, fifth son and seventh child of Francis and Louisa Williams, was born on the old Williams homestead in Taunton, Mass., June 18, 1817. He was brought up like his other brothers'

Frances 1? Mums

John R. Williams

DV.

Alexander H. Williams

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TAUNTON.

to work diligently and well at any labor coming to hand, and early was inured to labor. None of his father's household were allowed to eat the bread of idleness, but all were trained to know the necessity and value of the saying, "By the sweat of thy face shalt thou earn thy bread." These industrious habits were not only good acquirements in themselves, but they were preventives of all the various kinds of dis- sipation which have ruined so many reared in idle- ness. He received common school and academic education, teaching one term of school when twenty years old. The fall after he was of age he went to Savannah, Ga., and engaged in brick-making, and there made the brick from which Fort Pulaski, after- wards to become so historic, was constructed. He stayed there two winters, and returning home worked for his father until 1842, when, purchasing the place where he now resides, he moved thither in the spring . of 1843. For two years he made red brick, and since then has been engaged in manufacturing fire-bricks and stove-linings. Commencing in a small way with only his own personal labor, he now employs about twenty men, and in 1882 the production of his works amounted to fourteen thousand dollars. He has re- ceived from them in some years twenty thousand dol- lars. He made many improvements on his land, now consisting of one hundred acres, and in 1857 com- pleted the commodious and beautiful residence in which he now lives. This is delightfully situated on a gentle eminence, and presents a charming view of the surrounding country in almost every direction, and from its retired situation is extremely desirable as a home. Mr. Williams is a director and president of Taunton Iron-Works, which offices he has held for several years ; he is stockholder in two banks, in copper-works, iron-works, etc., always choosing some manufacturing interest at home for investment. He is an active, wide-awake, and progressive man, public- spirited and generous in support of anything tending to build up his native town and city. Whig and Re- publican in politics, he has never been an aspirant for office. He is Unitarian in religion, and connected with the Congregational Unitarian Church of Tann- ton. He is member of King David Lodge of Free- masons at Taunton, and King Philip Lodge of Odd- Fellows. He married Saralı, daughter of Abner and Eleanor (Sanford) Pitts, of Taunton. Their children are Francis (died in infancy), Joseph S., Sarah E., E. Louisa, John G., and Sophia P. They all live with their parents, and form a pleasant and intelli- gent family group. Mr. Williams has a full appreci- ation of the value of mental culture and develop- ment, and has given his children good opportunities for education, which have not been neglected. Sarah and Louisa are successful and highly-appreciated teachers. Joseph is the manager and engineer in his father's works. John G. is traveling salesman for the business.

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 211

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1818

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818