History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 95

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 95

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Train

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FALL RIVER.

only, however, to be swallowed up in less than a year, leaving him destitute but not disheartened. He was young and energetic, and by his talents and versatil- ity could easily retrieve his loss in some new enter- prise. This proved to be the turning-point in his life, for just then he had started a general variety store, and made a special run on calicoes, which he could and did sell cheaper than any of his competi- tors. Though badly in debt, with failure staring him in the face, this good luck, or, perhaps, more properly, successful competition, brought him out safely, and, as the saying is, put him on his feet. He loves to associate with this also an important event in his religious life. His cheap calicoes were draw- ing many customers to his store, and the evening trade was especially valuable. It was class-meeting night, and he was the leader. What should he do in this conflict between interest and duty ? He decided to ask his customers to come some other time, and went to his class. They did come, and more with them, impressed by the example he had set, so that he was undoubtedly a great gainer in a pecuniary point of view, and what was more important on that eventful night, while at class, he received such evi- dence of his spiritual acceptance that it has ever been looked back to as the bright epoch of his life. How small an act of self-sacrifice may exalt the spirit and bring it to a sweet consciousness of peace and joy. Through duty the soul is opened to the "visitations from on high," and the law of duty is thus revealed as the law of true life. Blessed are they who learn to follow it in youth.

Mr. Smith continued in mercantile business about five years, and then for about two years was engaged in whaling and fishing.

Regaining his health, he entered trade as a dry- goods merchant, which he continued till 1873, when he sold to his son, Iram N., and Mr. Jenney, since which he has not been actively employed in busi- ness, though he is identified with several manufac- turing interests. He is a director of the Granite and Stafford Mills; has been president of the Massa- soit Bank since 1878; has been a director of the same since the organization, and is the only original direc- tor now living. He is a member of the board of in- vestment of the Fall River Five Cents Savings- Bank.

Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics. He cast his first Presidential vote for Gen. Jackson in 1832, was a member of the Liberal party in 1840, and voted for James G. Birney for President and Thomas Earle for Vice-President. He was one of the First Free-Soilers in Fall River. In 1839 he was a representative to the General Conrt, and has since served five times in that capacity, acting on several important committees.

He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1826, and has been a class-leader more than half a century, and during an equal period a teacher in Sun- day-school. He is liberal, even generous, in the be- i management of the business.

stowment of aid on all worthy objects, and an active supporter of education. For many years he has been a trustee of East Greenwich Academy, R. I.

His first wife was Betsey L., daughter of Daniel and Patience Douglass, whom he married Aug. 15, 1834. She was born Oct. 23, 1814, and died July, 1859. Their children were: 1. Susan H .; 2. Henry D. (deceased) ; 3. Rhoda D .; 4. Ellen A .; 5. Eliza- beth L. (deceased) ; 6. Iram N .; 7. Emma E .; S. Charles H. (deceased).

He married for his second wife, June 15, 1864, Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of William Mason, of Fall River. (See sketch of William Mason.) She was born in Fall River, Nov. 13, 1832. The children by this marriage are: 1. Harriet A .; 2. Annie M .; 3. William H .; 4. Charles E.,-all living at home.

COL. THOMAS J. BORDEN.

Col. Thomas J. Borden, one of the leading business men of Southeastern Massachusetts, was born in Fall River, March 1, 1832. He was educated in the pri- vate select schools of his native town, and at the age of sixteen years entered the office of the Fall River Iron-Works Company, of which his father, Col. Richard Borden, was treasurer. After remain- ing here one year he entered the Lawrence Scientific School at Cambridge, where he completed a two years' course, studying engineering under Professor Eustis, and chemistry under Professor Horsford. The technical knowledge acquired at this institution proved invaluable to Col. Borden in his subsequent successful business career.

He returned to Fall River in 1851, and re-entered the employ of the iron-works company, where he re- mained two years, developing business capacity of a high order. In the summer of 1853, being at that time only twenty-one years of age, he was appointed agent and treasurer of the Bay State Print-Works, a newly organized corporation. The financial panic of 1857 led to the consolidation of these works with the American Print-Works, and Col. Borden was retained as manager of the new corporation.

In February, 1860, he was appointed agent and treasurer of the Troy Cotton and Woolen Manufac- tory, and immediately commenced operations for the enlargement of the mills. The plans submitted by him were at once adopted, and in less than ten months the capacity of the Troy Mills was increased fourfold, and the property which was valued at two hundred thousand dollars in 1860, had risen in 1876 to the value of eight hundred thousand dollars, and more than one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars had been paid in dividends. Upon the or- ganization of the Mechanics' Mills, in 1868, Col. Bor- den was chosen president and agent, and officiated in that capacity about eighteen months, when he was elected treasurer, thus devolving upon him the entire

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In 1871 he organized the Richard Borden Manufac- turing Company, and was chosen treasurer of the corporation, and held that position until February, 1876. He has been a director since its incorpora- tion, and president since the early part of 1874. Thus it will be seen that Col. Borden was practically the controller from 1871 to 1876 of the Troy, the Mechanics', and the Richard Borden Mills, the three corporations embracing a total of one hundred and thirty-seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-six spindles and three thousand two hundred and twenty- eight looms. Although the management of this large interest caused a severe strain upon his mental and physical powers, Col. Borden proved himself equal to the labor imposed, discharging his duties with emi- ' nent ability, and these mills enlarged their operations and were financially successful under his skillful and judicious management.

In 1876 he relinquished the active management of the three corporations mentioned above, and accepted the onerous position of treasurer, agent, and director of the American Print-Works (now American Print- ing Company), which he has held to the present time. The manufactory of the American Printing Company is one of the finest and most complete in the world that is devoted to the printing of cotton cloths. (See history on a former page.)

Col. Borden has been a director in the Troy Cotton and Woolen Manufactory since 1860, in the Me- chanics' Mills Company since 1868, and in the Rich- ard Borden Manufacturing Company since 1871. He has also been treasurer of the Wantuppa Reservoir Company since 1864, and has been intrusted with the management of the vexatious litigation to which this company has been subjected. He has been a di- rector in the Metacomet Bank since its organization in 1854. He was elected a director in the Old Colony Railroad Company in January, 1874, and in the fol- lowing June was chosen a director in the Old Colony Steamboat Company. He has also been a .director of the Fall River Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company since 1870; of the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company since 1876; of the Worcester Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Com- pany since January, 1879; of the State Mutual Fire Insurance Company since 1878; and of the What- cheer Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of Provi- dence, R. I., since 1873.

Col. Borden inherited from his honored father, Col. Richard Borden, his love for the military, and rose from first lieutenant in the Massachusetts militia to the rank of colonel. He was commissioned as first lieutenant of the Fall River Light Infantry Sept. 3, 1863; as first lieutenant of the Fifth Unattached Company May 4, 1864; as captain of Company K, Third Regiment, Sept. 16, 1864; as lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment on Sept. 3, 1866 ; and as colonel on the 25th of June, 1868. He resigned the latter position in 1871.

All measures tending to advance the welfare gen- erally of his native town have found in Col. Borden an earnest advocate. His efficient service in the fire department, from 1865 to 1872, will not soon be for- gotten. He labored unremittingly to advance the efficiency of the department, and upon retiring from the office of chief engineer, which he had held for the last three years, he left the department in most excel- lent condition. He has been a trustee of the Fall River Savings-Bank since 1866, and in 1874 was made a director in the Borden Mining Company of Frost- burg, Md., which Col. Richard Borden had assisted in organizing. He is a prominent member of the Central Congregational Church, and was chairman of the building committee during the erection of the present imposing edifice of the society on Rock Street. He has also been a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions since 1877. He was a member of the Common Council of the city of Fall River in 1874, and president of that body in 1875.

Col. Borden's life has been one of steady and active devotion to business, and his great success has been the natural result of his ability to examine and readily comprehend any subject presented to him, power to decide promptly, and courage to act with vigor and persistency in accordance with his conviction.

Feb. 20, 1855, Col. Borden united in marriage with Mary E., daughter of Ebenezer A. Hill, and their family has consisted as follows : Harriet M., Anna H., Carrie L., and Richard, all of whom are living except Richard, who died in early life.

HON. CRAWFORD E. LINDSEY.

Hon. Crawford E. Lindsey, son of William and Eliza A. (French) Lindsey, was born in Fall River, Aug. 19, 1838. His education was obtained in the public schools of Fall River, Mass., in Providence, R. I., and at Peirce Academy, in Middleborough, Mass. Upon leaving school in 1857, when in his nineteenth year, he entered the office of the Ameri- can Print-Works of Fall River in the capacity of clerk, and subsequently became book-keeper. A por- tion of the company's goods had always been sold in Boston by commission merchants, and it was mainly through the suggestions of Mr. Lindsey that in 1860 a change was made, and this market supplied direct from the works. He was appointed selling agent, which position he held until the suspension of the company in 1879, when his connection with the com- pany was dissolved.

When a young man, Mr. Lindsey became actively identified with the industries of the city. He was one of the originators of the Merchants' Manufacturing Company, and was a director from its organization until very recently. He was also until lately a di- rector of the Fall River Bleachery, being a member of its first board of officers. He was largely instru-

6. E. Lindsey

E. G. Killum

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FALL RIVER.

mental in organizing the King Philip Mills in 1871, and was elected its first president, which position he still retains. In 1880 he, with a few others, pur- chased what had been known as the Mount Hope Mill property. A corporation was organized under the name of Conanicut Mills, and Mr. Lindsey was elected treasurer, which position he now holds. Under his management, the property has been greatly improved and enlarged, and devoted to the manufacture of fine cotton goods.

He has long been interested in the welfare of the Fall River Savings-Bank, and is now one of its trustees.

Mr. Lindsey's political associations have always been with the Republican party. In 1869 and 1870 he was a member of the Common Council of the city of Fall River, and the latter year was chosen presi- dent of that body. In 1871 and 1872 he served as a member of the Board of Aldermen, and in 1874 he was again a member and president of the Common Council. In 1870, 1871, and 1872 he served as a member of the school committee. In 1878 and 1879 he was mayor of the city of Fall River, the second year being elected with practically no opposition. The two years during which he served as mayor were dark and trying ones in the history of Fall River. Extreme business depression prevailed throughout the country. The defalcations which were discov- ered during the first year, and which resulted in the ruin of several corporations and a general suspension of manufacturing, threw large numbers of helpless operatives upon the city's charity. In 1879 an un- fortunate strike of mill operatives, the most serious which has ever afflicted the city, and attended with considerable disorder, rendered the second year also of Mr. Lindsey's administration peculiarly trying and difficult. His office hours were extended through the whole day and often into the night. The times de- manded firmness, and the greatest promptness and vigor of action in the performance of official duties, and very often the executive authority failed to re- ceive the support of a majority of the Board of Alder- men, yet the mayor acquitted himself to the general approval of his fellow-citizens. Since his retirement from the office of mayor he has held no public posi- tion, except that of trustee of the public library, to which he was elected in 1882.

On the 27th day of May, 1863, Mr. Lindsey was united in marriage with Mary E., daughter of Hon. Oliver Chace, of Fall River.

Mr. Lindsey is now in the prime of life, and enjoys in the community in which he resides the esteem and confidence which he has won by his decided abilities, his persistent industry, and his strict and undeviating integrity.

ELIJAH C. KILBURN.

The name of Kilburn is found among the English nobility as far back as Chancer, and the line of de- scent can be directly traced down to the present. Thomas Kilburn was the ancestor of the family in this country, and came from England in 1635, bring- ing with him his wife and five children. One of his descendants of the fourth generation was John Kil- burn, the first settler of the town of Walpole, N. H.

He settled there in 1749. He was born at Glaston- bury, Conn., in 1704, married Mehitable Bacon Oct. 26, 1732, and had four children, of whom the only son was John, who accompanied his father to Wal- pole. This son is spoken of, in connection with his father, in an account of an Indian attack upon that town, recorded in Aldrich's "History of Walpole :"

" Kilburn and his son John, in his eighteenth year, a man named Peak and his son were returning home from work about noon, Ang. 17, 1755, when one of them discovered the red legs of the Indians among the alders " as thick as grasshoppers.' They instantly made for the house, fastened the doors, and began to make preparations for an obstinate defense. Besides these four men there were in the house Kilburn's wife and his daughter Hetty, who contributed not a little to encourage and assist their companions, as well as to keep a watch on the movements of the enemy. . . .

"The Indians next appeared on the eminence east of Kilburn's house, when the same ' old devil' Philip who had visited him the summer before came forward, and screening himself behind a tree called out to those in the house to surrender. 'Old John, young John,' says he, 'I know you; come out here, we give you good quarter.'

"'Quarter !' vociferated old Kilburn with a voice of thunder that rang through every Indian heart and every hill and valley. 'You black rascals be gone, or we'll quarter you !'

"Philip then returned to his companions, and after a few minutes' consultation the war-whoop was given. The Indians rushed forward to the work of destruc- tion, and probably no less than four hundred bullets were lodged in Kilburn's house at the first fire. . .. They had several guns in the house, which were kept hot by incessant firing. ... The women, with true Grecian firmness, assisted in loading the guns. . . . The contest was kept up till nearly sundown, when the Indians began to disappear, and as the sun sank behind the western hills the sound of the guns and the cry of the war-whoop died away in silence."

The account from which the above is quoted closes with these words, "Seldom has it fallen to the lot of our forefathers, by personal courage and valor, to reap a more brilliant crown of laurels than that won by Kilburn on that memorable day. .. . During the whole of the Indian and French war, which lasted till 1763, the Indians never afterwards made their appearance in Walpole."

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The inscription on the gravestone of John Kilburn, in the Walpole burying-ground, is as follows :

" In memory of John Kilburn, who departed this life for a better, April 8, 1789, in the 85 year of his age. He was the first settler of this town in 1749."

Young John, or, as he was afterwards called, Capt. John, married Content, daughter of Rev. Ezra Car- penter, of Swansea, N. H. He died in Shrewsbury, Vt., July 20, 1819, leaving five children, of whom Elijah, the father of our subject, was the youngest. He was born in Walpole, Sept. 30, 1772; married Re- becca Jennison, daughter of John and Sybil Jenni- son, in 1798. He died in 1847; his wife in 1849. They had nine children, all born in Walpole, viz. : (1) Harriet, died unmarried in 1830; (2) Mary, wife of Noah Smith ; (3) Josiah, married Emily Bonney ; (4) George, married Laura Hooper; removed to Fall River about 1840, and subsequently connected with the Lonsdale Manufacturing and Bleaching Com- pany, of which he was superintendent ; (5) John, mar- ried Maria E. Gage, and settled in Fall River, where he died Dec. 4, 1846; (6) Frederick, married Mary Ann Watkins; represented Walpole in the General Court in 1858-59; a carpenter and millwright by occupa- tion ; (7) Elijah C., the subject of our sketch ; (8) Re- becca, wife of Rodney Smith ; (9) William J., a whole- sale merchant of Augusta, Me., firm of William J. Kilburn & Co.

Elijah C. Kilburn, the immediate subject of this notice, was born in the town of Walpole, N. H., June 10, 1811. His father was poor, with a large family to support, and the only income was from his daily labor as a carpenter. Hence as soon as the boys were able to be of any service to their father in his business and could assist in the support of the family they were put to work. In this way Elijah had gained quite a knowledge of the carpenter's trade before he was nineteen years of age, and was getting what was considered good pay for the times,-about fifty cents per day and board.

Previous to this time, as a lad, he had worked on the farm of one of his elder brothers in Walpole. His early school advantages were few ; the most he attended was during the three months of each winter, and some years not so much as that.

When between nineteen and twenty years of age, in the year 1830, he left home and went to Boston, where his brother John had been three years, and was then the proprietor of what had been Holland's Coffee-House. He was given employment by his brother at eleven dollars per month and board. By carefully saving what money he earned, and what was given him by the boarders for odd jobs done for them, at the end of four years he had accumulated about five hundred dollars. Then borrowing of a friend the sum of two hundred dollars, he was able to buy of his brother a half-interest in the public-house,

which became known as Kilburn's Coffee-House, sit- uated on Howard Street, and was well known in those days. It was the first temperance house in Boston.

They had some twenty steady city boarders, and they catered for a class of transients who came into the city to attend the Legislature in the winter, and country merchants who came to Boston to buy goods, staying from one to two and sometimes three weeks. He remembers with a great deal of pride many men who used to stop at his house who have since become famous in the world of business and of letters. The first money he made he used in paying the two hun- dred dollars he had borrowed.

While in this situation, on the 24th of September, 1835, he united in marriage with Hannah S., daughter of Benjamin and Martha (Tilton) Carter. It may be as well here as elsewhere in this sketch to give the names and dates of birth of their children, which are as follows: Emily A., born April 1, 1839; Mary Theresa, born Aug. 3, 1841 (deceased) ; Charles W., born July 12, 1844 (deceased) ; Elias T., born June 21, 1850.

After being associated with his brother about three years in the hotel business, he sold his interest for about three thousand dollars, and in 1837 returned to Walpole and bought with his brother George a half-interest in a farm in that town known as the Major Jennison farm, which had previously belonged to his grandfather. On the farm was a famous stock of fine Saxony sheep. They carried on the farm to- gether about one year, when his brother retiring, left him sole proprietor. He remained here about nine years, and in addition to the work of the farm he be- came quite a contractor, building highway bridges, doing masonry-work, and entering somewhat into the lumber business. In the year 1846 he repre- sented the town of Walpole in the General Court.

In 1847, Mr. Kilburn removed to Fall River, Mass. His brother John, who had preceded him to Fall River and had established the machine business, entering largely into the manufacture of turbine water-wheels, died in 1846, leaving his widow execu- trix of his estate. Mr. Kilburn took charge of the business in 1847, and not being a practical machinist, associated with him Mr. Jonathan T. Lincoln, under the name of E. C. Kilburn & Co. The business was carried on under this name till 1856, when, on ac- count of the illness of Mr. Lincoln, his son, Henry C. Lincoln, was added to the firm, which then took the name of Kilburn, Lincoln & Son. They carried on business till 1867 in the old shops on the site of the present Fall River freight depot, between Water and Pond Streets.

The present corporation of Kilburn, Lincoln & Co. is a joint-stock company, with a paid-up capital of eighty thousand dollars. It was incorporated in 1867. At that time the new shops at the corner of Pocasset and Canal Streets were built.

Me. Aldrich

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FALL RIVER.

Mr. Kilburn sold most of his interest in the ma- chine-shops in 1869, and in 1871 united with Craw- ford E. Lindsey, of Fall River, Jonathan Chace, of Valley Falls, R. I., and others in organizing the King Philip Mills Company, of Fall River. After several interviews it was decided by these gentlemen to test the practicability of raising a capital stock of five hundred thousand dollars for the erection of a mill of about thirty-six thousand spindles for the manufacture of fine cotton fabrics. Says the history of Fall River industries, "The matter was put in charge of Mr. E. C. Kilburn, and within a fortnight the whole amount of five hundred thousand dollars was taken by forty-seven responsible persons, and an additional one hundred and sixty thousand dollars asked for; but at the first meeting of the subscribers, held July 14, 1871, for organization, it was decided to limit the capital stock to five hundred thousand dollars."

Mr. Kilburn was one of the original board of di- rectors, and was elected treasurer of the corporation, which office he still holds. The company was incor- porated Sept. 15, 1871. The mill was built under the superintendence of Mr. Kilburn, assisted by W. F. Sherman and F. P. Sheldon, architects and draughts- men, and started in January, 1873.

Mr. Kilburn was one of the original stockholders of the Union Mills, and upon the death of Mr. Hale Remington was elected a director, and remained in that capacity until the suspension. He was also a director in the Border City Mills, and is at present a director in the following companies : Conanicut and Weetamoe Mills, Union Belt Company, Fall River Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance Company. He was and is an original stockholder and director in the Second National Bank, an original trustee of the Five Cent Savings-Bank, and about ten years past a mem- ber of the Board of Investment. During the years 1860-63, 1866-67 he was a member of the Common Council of Fall River.

DR. J. M. ALDRICH.

James Mott Aldrich was born in the town of Smith- field, R. I., Oct. 30, 1817. He is the son of Arnold Aldrich, who was the twelfth and youngest child of Judge Caleb Aldrich, of the same town. He is the fifth generation in descent from George Aldrich and his wife Catherine Seald, who came to this country from Derbyshire, England, in 1631, and settled in the town of Mendon, Mass. George was one of the original purchasers of the town, and reared a family of eleven children. Moses, the grandson of George, and the father of Caleb, became an eminent Quaker preacher, and traveled quite extensively in prosecuting his divine mission. After suffering many petty persecutions and deprivations from the dominant religious sect of his native State on account of his religion, he moved to the freer atmosphere of Rhode Island, bringing with

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 95

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