History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 89

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 89

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Ryan, James. Redman, Henry. Roberts, Ebenezer. Roberts, William P.

Remington, Charles G. Reed, John F. Reagan, Timothy. Reagan, Morty. Reynolds, George, Jr.

Ryan, Jeremiah.

Sherman, James A. Snow, Alfred A. Sullivan, John. Sanders, Edmund N. Sullivan, Daniel. Smith, William H. Smith, Israel. Shaw, Addison J. Sanford, John D. Surgens, Edward S. Staples, John D. Sullivan, Patrick. Smith, Adolphus P. Shove, Benjamin O. Smitlison, John. Smith, Lafayette. Sharples, Lawrence. Sidley, Jolin P.

Smith, James B.

Rowcroft, Thomas. Riley, James.

Radcliff, William. Reynolds, Josiah K.

Palmer, Matthew. Palmer, John, Jr.

Rhuder, Charles II.

Rhoder, Angustus S.

Read, Augustus.

Snow, Rev. Charles A.

Murdock, James. Meeson, Orin F. McCarty, John. McCarty, Thomas,

Phelan, John.

Riley, Charles.

Read, Sidney H.

Murphy, Edward.

Platt, Charles.

Rogers, Justin.

Newman, William. Nickerson, Henry O. Negns, Darins. Nulty, Thomas. Nichols, Alpheus. Negus, Joseph. Negus, Frederic C.

Pritchard, John W. Prentiss, William. Pendlebury, Robert.

Slocum, Frederick A. Smytb, Robert.

Smithies, Samuel.

Sullivan, Jeremiah. Swindles, Joseph. Smith, John.

O'Neil, William. O'Connell, Daniel. O'Leary, Patrick. Oerlilein, George.

Shawcross, Bristo. Sullivan, Timothy. Sullivan, Michael. Slade, Amos A.

Smith, Charles D. Sullivan, Timothy. Snow, George E. Simons, William. Shaw, Joseph S. Sullivan, Philip. Sullivan, Bartholomew.

Smith, William II.

smith, Thomas W.

Ogden, Henry. Owen, Edward. Oliver, Joseph. O'Brien, Patrick. O'Brien, John. O'Brien, Jeremiah. O'Neal, Thomas. Ogden, John. Omrod, Robert. Omnrod, James. O'Brien, James. O'Brien, Patrick H. O'Brien, Thomas. O'Neil, Timothy. O'Brien, Edward. O'Connor, Peter. O'Neil, James. O'Brien, Edward. O'Brien, Dennis. O'Brien, Jeremiah. O'Connell, Peter. O'Donnell, John C. Palmer, Albert S. Peckham, John R. Pickford, Thomas. Peckham, Daniel II. Pucell, William. Patterson, John. 2.4

Shehan, David. Sanford, Sylvester. Sherman, William H. Shea, Michael W. Sargent, John. Slade, Charles E. Smith, Robert. Shaw, Charles.

Sanford, Leonard M. Shaw, James. Stowell, Joshua. Sheddon, James. Short, Charles. Snyder, Asa.

Shea, Stephen. Smith, Lyman R. Shaw, Clark S. Sullivan, James O. Sullivan, John D. Spooner, Iloratio. Sullivan, Patrick. Sheedy, Thomas. Sanford, Herbert D. Snell, Albert H. Sullivan, Thomas. Swert, Joseph S. Shurd, Joseph. Sanford, Joseph C. Sanford, William. Smith, George W. Sullivan, Morty. Sullivan, Daniel. Shea, Cornelius. Swain, Frederick. Sanford, Charles G. Short, Joseph. Smith, George J. Sherman, Charles H. Strausman, Adolphus. Sisson, Richard F. Sisson, James F. Smith, Robert E. Sherman, William M. Smith, George. Smith, Thomas. Spencer, Nathaniel. Sanderson, Humphrey. Sanford, John B. Sanford, Arnold B. Simmons, Job S. Smith, Edward. Simpson, John. Sherman, George A. Stearns, Benjamin H. Sullivan, Dennis. Shaw, John C. Smith, Richard. Sheen, Alexander. Shay, Cornelius. Simmons, William. Short, Robert. Snowden, James II. Snell, Welcome B. Swasey, Charles H. Sullivan, Daniel. Sullivan, Daniel. Sullivan, Fletcher. Sullivan, Marcus M. Sullivan, Dinnis. Sullivan, Patrick. Sullivan, Jeremiah. Sullivan, Jeremiah. Sullivan, Jeremiah. Sullivan, Jeremiah. Sullivan, John.

370

HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Sullivan, Thomas.

Tew, William H.

Williams, James H.

White, John.

Sullivan, Timothy.

Tillinghast, William.

Williams, Edmund.

While, Patrick.

Sullivan, Michael.

Uncles, William.

Wilbar, James II.

Wooley, Alfred.

Sullivan, John.

Vocell, James A.

Wilson, George.

Wood, Benjamin F.

Wordell, Gardner K.

Wood, Herbert A.

Wyatt, Robert E.

Young, Joseph H.

Walker, Thomas.

Young, George W.

White, G. Foster.

Whalon, John. Whalon, James. Watson, Wales R.

Spinlin, John.

West, Edward P.

Warhurst, William.

Stafford, James C. Smith, William H. Sisson, George C.

Wallace, Thomas A.

Slatery, John. Smith, Silas.

Wordell, Ephraim. White, William. Wilbur, Lloyd.

Smith, James.

Winslow, Abial W.

Snell, Barney.

Wright, James G.

Snell, Francis.

White, Francis A.

Simmons, Thomas.

Wilcox, Henry C.

Slade, Henry.

Ward, John.

Shea, Daniel.

Winslow, George II.

Sullivan, John.

Whitehead, Richard.

Sullivan, Cornelius.

Welch, James.

Sullivan, Patrick.

Whalon, Patrick.

Sullivan, Dennis,

Winterbottom, Thomas. Welden, Joseph.

Sullivan, Timothy.

Wilkinson, Joseph.

Sullivan, Jeffery.

Wordell, James H.

Wright, Ellington L.

Sullivan, Timothy O.

Withman, John A.

Tootle, Edward.

Wright, David.

Taylor, John.

Teele, Robert.

White, William E.

Tierney, Thomas.

Wheeler, Edward B.

Thomas, Sidney M.

Wiseman, Thomas.

Taylor, Henry.

Weaver, Charles S.

Taylor, John.

Walker, James.

Taylor, Isaac.

Wallace, Richard D.

Terry, Charles W.

Whitehead, Thomas.

Thompson, Nathan.

Wright, Audrew R.

Tierney, Michael.

Woodcock, Jonas.

Thompson, Joseph P.

Tinkham, Angustus G.

Terry, Edward P.

Wise, Whitlock.

Tracy, William.

Walsh, Frank.

Twealth, Henry.

Thrasher, Charles A.

Whitaker, John.

Twiner, Robert.

Wrage, John.

Tompkins, James.

Walters, Edward,

Tillinghast, William M.

Wordell, George A.

Townsend, Stephen.

Wixon, Francis H.

Thackery, George.

Whitehead, George.

Tompkins, Daniel.

Wright, John.

Tansy, William F.

Womsley, Alexander.

Thackery, Richard.

Woodcock, George.

Townley, Edwin.

Walsh, William.

Thackery, William.

Wild, William.

Terry, Benjamin F.

Whipp, James B.

Thurston, P. Sanford.

Wordell, Francis A.

Thomas, Edward J.

Wood, John.

Thacker, Joseph. Tobin, John.

Wilbur, Solomon. Wilbur, Otis R.

Tuttle, Thomas.

Warren, Benjamin M.

Thackery, Lewis.

Walker, William H.

Tillinghast, Henry.

Wilcox, James P.

Terry, Charles W.

Whitehead, Edmund.

Taber, Ilenry D.

Watts, Simon C.

Terry, George A.

Welch, Thomas.

Taber, Gideon.

Taylor, John.

Tootles, Thomas.

Welch, Bartholomew. Winegar, Norman S. Walsh, William T.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

NATHANIEL BRIGGS BORDEN.

Mr. Borden was a descendant in the seventh gener- ation of Richard Borden, who came from England in 1635, and settled in 1638 in Portsmouth, R. I. The first English ancestor was from Bourdonnay, in Nor- mandy, and came to England as a soldier under Wil- liam the Conqueror. After the battle of Hastings (A.D. 1066) he was assigned lands in the county of Kent, where the family subsequently became wealthy and influential, and the village where they resided was named Borden.

Early in the seventeenth century John Borden re- moved to Wales, where his sons Richard and John were married, and after they had returned to their native town of Borden, in England, they embarked for America in May, 1635. The line of descent from Richard Borden, the first American ancestor, and from whom probably all of that name in this vicinity de- scended, is as follows: Richard1, John2, Richards, Joseph4, Abraham5, Simeon6, Nathaniel B.7

Nathaniel Briggs Borden was born April 15, 1801, in Freetown, in that portion thereof subsequently set off and incorporated into a separate township by the name of Fall River, and he died in Fall River, April 10, 1865, being five days less than sixty-four years old. He was born in the house which stood formerly on the west side of South Main Street, south of what is now Pocasset Street, and nearly opposite the south end of the present Pocasset Mill. The house had a local celebrity from the fact that two British soldiers were shot and killed at its eastern door when the British made their attack upon the village during the Revolutionary war.

Simeon Borden, his father, was also born in Free- town in 1759, and continued to reside there until 1806, when he removed to Tiverton, R. I., where he died Nov. 27, 1811. He was a man of generous im- pulses, possessed of a strong mind, and largely in- terested in the water-power at Fall River. The mother of Nathaniel, Amey Borden, née Amey Briggs, was said to have been a woman of sterling traits of character and superior business qualifications. She was one of the original proprietors of the Troy Cot- ton and Woolen Manufactory, one of the earliest and largest manufacturing establishments in Fall River, then called Troy, incorporated in 1814. In consider- ation of a grant to the company of the land and upper fall, upon which the mill was located, and by which

Thackery, William.

Wardwell, William.

Tripp, Charles F.

Webb, Richard.

Woodworth, William E.

Thacker. John F.

Womsley, William II.

Thackery, James.

Vickery, William S.

Vickery, Charles P.

Williams, Abiel.

Sullivan, Daniel. Sullivan, Dennis. Sanford, Alexander. Seabury, Philip A. Short, Thomas. Sisson, George.

Wilbur, Albert.

Smith, William.

Whitaker, William.

Sherman, William.

Sullivan, Thomas R.

Wallace, Martin R.

Wade, Vernon.

Wright, William H.

371

FALL RIVER.

it obtained a relative control of the whole water- power, she received eleven of the one hundred shares constituting its capital stock. She died May 26, 1817, leaving five children, of whom Nathaniel was the fourth.

Nathaniel was but five years of age when his father removed to Tiverton, and only ten when he died. The greater part of his youth was spent there, upon the farm at what was called Nana Quaket. During the winter months he attended the country school, and assisted upon the farm the rest of the year. His mother sought to give him a liberal education, and for this purpose sent him to the Plainfield Academy in Connecticut, but as she died when he was only six- teen years of age this project had to be abandoned, and he returned home to enter thus early upon the busy conflict of life. Although his school education was indeed meagre, young Nathaniel made the best use of his opportunities, and his great interest in the success of the government of the then infant republic, kindled anew by his boyhood knowledge of the second war, led him to read and study well the best authors on government, paying particular attention to the writings and speeches of the statesmen of all coun- tries, especially to those of the fathers of our country.

Having previously removed from Tiverton to Fall River, Mr. Borden associated himself with others in purchasing several mill-sites and adjoining lands, in- cluding the falls just west of Main Street, where the Granite Block and Pocasset Mills now stand. On the 15th of August, 1821, these associates held a meet- ing and organized as the Pocasset Manufacturing Company. Mr. Borden, though but a few months over twenty years of age, was chosen clerk and treas- urer of the corporation, and continued to hold these responsible positions to the entire satisfaction of the owners until January, 1838, when he resigned on ac- count of the pressure of public duties devolving upon him as a member of Congress. The Pocasset Manu- facturing Company, after its organization, proceeded at once to develop its property, voting at first to erect a grist-mill, but subsequently changing its plans, erected what was known as the Old Bridge Mill, which was built of stone, one hundred feet by forty feet, three stories high, and stood just north of the stream in front of the present Granite Block, on ter- ritory subsequently taken by the town in the widen- ing and straightening of Main Street. It seems to have been one of the main purposes of the Pocasset Company in those days to encourage small manufac- turers, and to this end it erected buildings succes- sively for ten or fifteen years, which were leased to other parties. In 1825 the Satinet Mill, so called, was erected. In 1826 a stone building was erceted on the site of the present engine-room and picker-room of the Pocasset Mill, where the old Quequechan Mill formerly stood. The next year still another stone building was put up, which was afterwards known as the Massasoit, and now as the Watuppa i slavery society.

Mill. All the above buildings were let, the latter- which was thought to be so large that no one firm would want the whole of it, and consequently was built with a partition wall in its centre and two wheel- pits-being leased as a whole for fifteen years to that young master business-spirit of the time, Holder Borden. In this way the Pocasset Company fostered the early manufacturing enterprises of the town.

And thus Mr. Borden, though scarcely twenty-five years of age, was continuously engaged in building operations, whether of dwellings, factories, or work- shops, in leasing the same, and in buying and con- veying real estate.

In 1825, Mr. Borden, with others, obtained acts of incorporation from the Legislatures of Massachusetts and Rhode Island as the Watuppa Reservoir Com- pany, anthorized to build a dam and make reserves of water in the Watuppa Ponds while yet the dam- ages for flowing the surrounding lands would be in- considerable, and realizing, it may be hoped, that some of the waters then in the ponds would ere long be wanted to quench the thirst of the population of the great and prosperous city that they conceived would grow up and occupy the territory between the ponds and Mount Hope Bay.

A man of large capacity, thus early schooled in taking responsible positions in the management of manifold industries, Mr. Borden's advice and aid were largely sought and highly appreciated.

He was for many years in local public life as town clerk, selectman, assessor, and highway surveyor, be- lieving it to be the duty of every citizen to serve the public when called upon to occupy any official posi- tion for which he was qualified.

He was a member of the lower branch of the Mas- sachusetts Legislature in 1831, 1834, 1851, and 1864, and was a member of the Senate in 1845 and 1847.

At the time of the agitation of Freemasonry and Anti-Masonry he took decided grounds against secret institutions in a free country, believing them to be unnecessary and of no practical use in a country where the government is the people. Identified with the manufacturing interests from association and busi- ness, he acted in the earlier part of his adult life with the National Republican party, until the time when the Masonic question became a distinct issue, and then, as heretofore stated, he was found opposed to the Masonic fraternity. He advocated for those times a protective but not a stimulative tariff, be- lieving that capital should be left free to invigorate all the industrial interests of the country. He was prominent among the early and personal friends of the slave, and made his house an asylum for the fugi- tives, many of whom he assisted, either directly or in- directly, on their way to Canada and freedom. In 1834, at a time when it was fashionable to mob abol- itionists, he opened the Washington School-House, then his private property, in which to form an anti-

372

HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In the winter of 1833-34 the questions of the re- charter of the United States Bank and the removal of the deposits were prominent subjects of public and private discussion, and Mr. Borden was found nearly in harmony with the Jackson party upon those ques- tions. This led to his nomination as representative to Congress in the fall of 1834, and he was supported by both the Anti-Masonic and Jacksonian parties for that position. It was a spirited contest, and he was not elected until the third trial, being the first citizen of Fall River ever chosen to said office. In 1836 he was re-elected to the Twenty-fifth Congress by an overwhelming vote. The Twenty-fourth Congress comprised the last two years of the administration of Gen. Jackson, and the Twenty-fifth the first half of the administration of Martin Van Buren ; and besides the bank question, the tariff questions, and the em- i laid upon the table.

barrassing questions of finance incident to the period of the most disastrous financial crisis through which the country has ever passed, the slavery question was even then dominant, and began to assume por- tentous magnitude. New Territories were being ac- quired, and new States were knocking at the door of the Union, and in every instance the battle had to be fought over again whether they should be admitted unless their constitutions prohibited slavery. The pro- slavery party were seeking to annex Texas for the pur- pose of cutting it up into slave States, and the anti- slavery people of the North were pouring in a multitude of petitions for the abolition of slavery, only to be jeered at, and met by Congress with a rule that upon their presentation " all such petitions, without further action, should be laid on the table without being de- bated, printed, or referred." To Mr. Borden, whose heart was so earnest in the anti-slavery cause, it was a source of great satisfaction that in this severe con- flict, in influence, in committee, and in vote, if not in debate, he was privileged to participate in the support of the "old man eloquent" in his triumphant battle for the right of petition. With him were such men as Joshua R. Giddings and Stephen C. Phillips and Levi Lincoln and George N. Briggs and Richard Fletcher and William B. Calhoun, whose names might well have been stereotyped into the multitude roll-calls, always in favor of the right of petition.

In the election of 1838, in consequence of some modifications in his views relative to the United States Bank, for the purpose of relieving the finan- cial distress of the country, and his entire want of sympathy with the administration of Van Buren, and possibly his extreme anti-slavery principles, Mr. Borden was defeated, and the Hon. Henry Williams, of Taunton, elected.

But in 1840, Mr. Borden's friends again rallied to his support and elected him to the Twenty-seventh Congress, covering the period of the first half of the term for which President Harrison was elected, but who, unfortunately for the country, soon died, and was succeeded by Vice-President Tyler, for whose

administration no party seems to have had respect. Again the great struggle between slavery and freedom for the colored race was renewed, and while even then the pro-slavery party in Congress were plotting the destruction of the government, John Quincy Adams was threatened with expulsion by the House for presenting the petitions of the women of Massa- chusetts praying for the peaceable dissolution of the Union. Again Mr. Borden was only too glad to be there and stand shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Adams, whom he loved and venerated, until, after one of the most stormy conflicts, of eleven days' duration, such as even " our stormy hall of legislation" has rarely wit- nessed, the heroic old man's complete vindication and victory came, his assailants being discomfited and vanquished, and their resolution ignominiously

At the close of the Twenty-seventh Congress, Mr. Borden declined a renomination. As a legislator he had extensive practical knowledge, a cool, deliberate judgment, and a firm purpose to do what he believed to be right regardless of personal or political conse- quences to himself. His convictions of duty were ever in advance of any real or supposed interests that were merely personal.

Mr. Borden was a large owner of real estate, a good deal of which was situated in the very centre of the town, and when the great fire of 1843 visited the vil- lage he was one of the largest sufferers, having eleven buildings consumed, the loss of which was severely felt. His private residence on Second Street, nearly opposite the point where the fire started, was saved by the exertions of friends and neighbors, and was hospitably thrown open to those who had been less fortunate. Although somewhat disheartened his spirits rallied, and by the advice and encouragement of his friends he immediately set about rebuilding in earnest.

In 1845 the Fall River Railroad was opened as far as Myricks, and the next year it was extended to South Braintree, connecting there with the Old Col- ony Railroad. In 1847, Mr. Borden was chosen presi- dent, which position he held until 1854, when the Fall River Railroad was consolidated with the Old Colony Railroad, a measure to which he was opposed as being against the best interests of Fall River. During his connection with the railroad the Fall River steamboat line to New York was established, which added largely to his labors. Mr. Borden car- ried to this position the benefits of his large experi- ence, sound judgment, and practical knowledge, and discharged its duties with his accustomed zeal and efficiency.

During the session of the State Legislature in 1851, the long and memorable contest for the election of a senator in Congress arose, wherein Robert C. Win- throp and Charles Sumner were the leading candi- dates. Mr. Borden was chosen to the Legislature on the Whig ticket, and to deal justly by his supporters

373

FALL RIVER.

he continued to vote for his old friend and colleague in Congress, Mr. Winthrop, until by town meeting and by petitions from the people of his district, it appeared that a large majority were in favor of Sum- ner, whereupon he changed his vote, and has the credit of casting the one ballot which secured Sum- ner's election. As was natural, Mr. Borden's course was considerably criticised at the time, he was blamed for overlooking party lines in so acrimonious a contest, and was even charged with having been instrumental in procuring the expression of his townspeople in the mode it was given. But to Mr. Borden's credit be it said, that he was always a firm believer in the right of the people to "give instruc- tions to their representatives," under Article XIX. of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of Massa- chusetts. He therefore, in cheerful obedience to the constitutional right of his constituents as well as in deference to his own personal preference, voted for Charles Sumner, and it is to be hoped that neither the people of Fall River nor of Massachusetts ever had occasion to regret that vote.

In 1856 he was chosen mayor of Fall River, and during the trying times of the winter of 1856-57, while the mills were stopped owing to the greatly de- pressed condition of the business of cotton manufac- ture, and hundreds were thrown out of employment and destitute, the constant and untiring efforts of Mr. Borden shone with a benevolence rarely sur- passed. He believed that starvation and suffering for want of food should never be permitted in a Chris- tian community having the means to alleviate them, and most nobly did he fulfill his duty. Employment was given to many of the idle laborers, having no legal settlement, at a very cheap rate in necessary work about the city. By this means great improve- ments were wrought upon the city farm and Oak Grove Cemetery, and in building new streets and re- pairing old ones at a very small cost to the tax- payers. Mr. Borden believed it to be a just and wise, as well as a humane policy, to provide for the wants of these people temporarily, and secure to the eity at the same time the benefits of their cheap labor. They were thus retained at comparatively little ad- ditional expense to the eity, where their useful ser- vices would again soon be in demand, and the ob- jectionable course avoided of throwing them as a burden upon the State, with all the family disorder and social degradation consequent. thereupon. If deeds of kindness and sympathy, coupled with well- directed charity, embalm a man's name in grateful remembrance, such will be the recollection of the name and character of Mr. Borden during this trying time.

Mr. Borden was an alderman from 1859 until his death in 1865, and it mattered little what party or combination was formed against him in his own ward, the people there knew him, and that was sufficient to secure his election. He was president of the Fall

River Union Bank, and of the Fall River Savings- Bank at the time of his death, positions which he had held for several years.

In stature Mr. Borden was rather short and thick set, but not gross, with a genial countenance. Pos- sessed naturally of a happy, cheerful disposition, he was a pleasant and agreeable companion, a kind and indulgent parent.

In religious faith he was a Unitarian and a firm believer in both the justice and goodness of the Deity. He uniformly maintained that the best prep- aration for a happy future life was to do well here. Cant and pretence had little influence with him. " The doers of the word," and not the mere pretend- ers, were in his view Christians. "Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works" was his favorite text and the rule of his conduct.

And so by holiness in life and godliness in walk, he sought to be judged rather than by any show of the mere ceremonials of profession. Thus sought he his reward. It is what earth ean neither give nor take away, " profitable unto all things, having prom- ise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

Such a character is pleasant to contemplate. With a moral integrity unimpeached and unimpeachable, a large heart and generous sympathies, he passed through life, shedding light upon and assisting by kindly aets his fellow-man wherever found, without regard to the color of his skin, the place of his birth, or the nature of his creed. To oppression he was an enemy, to the oppressed a friend.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 89

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