USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Brockton > History of Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1656-1894 > Part 85
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Mr. Thompson is a public spirited man and his interest in the affairs of the town and
Engªby A. H.Buchu
Hosea Jungman
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
city of liis adoption may be seen in the frequency with which he has been called to positions of publie confidence. Ile was a member of the Board of Alderinen of Brock- ton, in 1887 and 1888, and was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1888, and was on the Committee of Federal Relations, and in 1889 was re-elected and served on the Committee on Water Supply. He was appointed by the mayor in 1892, as Commissioner of Sewerage for the City of Brockton, for one year, and in 1893 Mayor Keith appointed him for three years, and is now in office. He is a trustee of the Brockton Savings Bank and one of the Board of Investments. In 1890 he was placed npon the Board of Directors of the Home National Bank. Mr. Thompson las been a member of the Masonic Order since 1867 and filled several offices in the same, as Past Master of Paul Revere Lodge, High Priest of Satucket Royal Arch Chapter, Thrice Illustrious Master of Brockton Council Royal and Select Masters, Past Com- mander of Bay State Commandery of Knights Templar. Received three Scottish Rite Degrees in Boston, and has received Thirty-two degrees in the Masonic Lodge.
He is an associate member of the Grand Army of the Republic, also a corporate member of the Commercial Club of Brockton, and the New England Order of Protec- tionisis, Knights of Honor and others. In politics he is a fi m Republican. In relig- ion he is one of the chief promoters of the Church of the Unity, one of the liberal Uni- tarian churches and has been chairman of the Board of Trustees for several years.
The " East Side Electric Railroad " was a new road, one of the first in the city and county, if not in the country, which was run by electricity, from the city proper to the east section of the city toward Whitman. The road was in poor condition, and Mr. Thompson was asked to take it in hand, which he did, as director and President, and brought it up to a five per cent stock, and then it was leased to the Brockton Street Railway Company for ninety-nine years, at that rate of yearly percentage. The lease has been cancelled, and the stock has since been merged into the Lessees Railway Company.
Mr. Thompson married Marcia Anna, daughter of Alfred and Mary Nickerson, of Provincetown, Mass., October 5, 1871.
HOSEA KINGMAN.
HOSEA KINGMAN, the subject of this sketch, is the son of Phillip Dean and Betsy B. Washburn, of Bridgewater, Mass., was born in Bridgewater, April 11, 1843. His an- cestry is among the best in the Commonwealth, and one of the earliest. Henry King- man, the first of the name in this country, came from Weymouth, England, to Wey- mouth, Mass., in 1635, and from them have descended a numerous posterity of highly respected citizens. His line of descent from his ancestor is as follows :
Henry1 and Joanna (-) -- John" and Elizabeth (-) -- John3 and Bethia (New- comb) -- John4 and Rebecca (Allen) -- Abner® and Susanna (Leonard) -- Bela® and Lydia M. (Dean)-Phillip Dean7 and Betsy B. (Washburn) -- Hosea® and Carrie (Cole).
Mr. Kingman received his early training in the public schools of his native village,
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HISTORY OF BROCKTON.
afterward attending the Academy in Bridgewater, and the Appleton Academy at New Ipswich, N. H., and entered Dartmouth College. When the War of the Rebellion broke out in 1861, loyal to his principles, he left college and enlisted in Company K. Third Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and was mustered into service September 22, 1862, and accompanied his regiment to Newbern, N.C. In December, 1862, he was detailed on Signal Service and went to Port Royal, S. C., thence to Folly Island, Charleston Harbor, S. C., and was mustered out of service June 22, 1863. Returning to college he made up his junior work during the first term of his senior year. an achievement worthy of note, and was graduated with his class in 1864.
He studied law with Williams Latham, Esq., of Bridgewater, with whom, after his admission to the bar, he became associated as partner in the practice of law under the firm name of Latham & Kingman. In 1871 Mr. Latham retired and Mr. Kingman con- tinued the practice alone.
Mr. Kingman, when' a young man, received several offices, thus showing the con- fidence and esteem of the community in which he resided.
He received the appointment of special justice of the First District Court of Plymouth County November 12, 1878, elected commissioner of insolvency in 1884 and re-elected every year to date. He is a trustee of the Pilgrim Society of Plymouth, Mass., as well as of the Bridgewater Savings Bank, and of Bridgewater Academy. He was appointed district attorney for the southeastern district of Massachusetts in January, 1887, which office he resigned upon being appointed upon the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission August 14, 1889.
He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, was three years master of Fellowship Lodge of Bridgewater, of which he was a charter member, and was a dis- trict deputy of the Grand Lodge for three years. He was a charter member of Bridge- water Lodge No. 1039 of the Knights of Honor, of which he is past dictator.
Mr. Kingman is a successful practitioner of law, of natural and acknowledged ability. He is vigorous and efficient in the understanding of his causes and leaves no vulnerable point open to attack. Patient and persistent in searching for evidence, he does not en- gage in a trial until his case is thoroughly prepared. He has had an active and success- ful professional life, and is one of the acknowledged leaders of the bar. He has a clear, discriminating mind and dispassionate temper, which has been of great service to him in the trial of closely contested cases. In public and private intercourse he is intelligent, candid, conscientious and courteous, and therefore universally respected. In social life he is urbane, genial, modest and yet dignified, and welcome to every circle. He has an enthusiastic love of the law and a scrupulous fidelity to his clients in all emergencies. His legal business, which is very extensive, has tended to strengthen his naturally fine intellectual powers.
In politics Mr. Kingman is a good Republican, but his time being oceupied with his professional labors, he has but little time to attend to matters of local interest in the town where he resides, yet he is ever ready to lend his influence to that which is for the best and tends to promote the public good.
Mr. Kingman married Carrie daughter of Hezekiah and Deborah (Freeman) Cole, of Carver, Mass., June 21, 1866.
CHILDREN :
1 .- Agnes Cole Kingman, married E. Bertram Newton, of Roxbury, Mass., December 6, 1894.
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
ELLIS BRETT.
ELLIS BRETT, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, comes of a highly respetable ancestry, and one worthy to be perpetuated. His ancestor in this country was Elder William Brett, who with his wife Margaret -, came from Kent, England, in 1645, and settled in Duxbury, Mass.
He was one of the early proprietors of Bridgewater and located near the center of what is now West Bridgewater. He was an elder in the church, and often when Rev. James Keith was sick he preached to his congregation; he was a leader in both church and town affairs, and often representative to the General Court of the colony. From this family sprang nearly, if not all of this name in New England.
Mr. Brett is the son of Ephraim and Ruth (Copeland) Brett, and was born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, October 23, 1840.
The line of descent from Elder William1 and Margaret is as follows: Nathaniel2 and Sarah (Hay ward), 1683; Seth3 and Sarah (Alden), 1712; Samuel4 and Hannah (Packard), 1737; Isaac" and Priscilla (Jackson), January 17, 1765; Joseph6 and Olive (Beal), December 21, 1797; Ephraim7 and Ruth (Copeland), September 25, 1837; Ellis6 and Elizabeth Florence (Hawes), November 10, 1892.
Mr. Ellis Brett was the son of a farmer, as was his grandfather ; the old homestead where he was born is now standing on Prospect street; his father was a brick mason by trade as well as a farmer. Ellis, the son, attended the usual district school in his section of the old town of North Bridgewater, supplemented by a course in the Acad- emy of S. D. Hunt, attending the same during the portions of the year that he could be spared from the duties of the farm. Mr. Brett has continued to cultivate the same to this date.
Of the official life of Mr. Brett it has been strictly honorable and with a conscientious interest in the welfare of the town and city of his birth. When the city government was first organized and the officers chosen, Mr. Brett was selected as assistaut assessor of Ward Seven, and was re-elected each year until 1885, when he was elected princi- pal assessor to fill the unexpired term of Noah Chesman, which position he has held to the present date, having been chairman of the Board for several years. He was re- elected to that position annually until January 7, 1895, when he was re-elected for three years and now holds that position. Mr. Brett was chosen overseer of the poor in January, 1886, which office he held until January 18, 1894. In 1894 he was chosen tax collector for the city, it being an unsolicited selection.
Mr Brett has always led a quiet life, and never an office seeker or politician, although he has held several positions of public confidence. In politics he is a staunch Repub- lican and was a member of the Republican City Committee for several years, and chairman of the same for about three years, ending with 1892; member of the Plymouth County Campaign Committee one year, and treasurer two years.
Mr. Brett's religious views are in affiliation with the New Jerusalem church, having for a long time been an attendant on their services, and has been an auditor and chair- man of the standing committee of that society for several years. His grandfather, Joseph Brett, was a very enthusiastic Methodist, and his father, Ephraimu Brett, also
K
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IHISTORY OF BROCKTON.
until 1845 or '46 when he became a believer in the New Jerusalem church and his son followed and is a consistent believer in their doctrines and worship.
He is a member of the Massachusetts Association of Assessors and one of the execu- tive committee of that board. That Mr. Brett has the confidence of the entire com- munity and the circle in which he moves may be attested by the trusts imposed on him in the settling of estates as administrator and executor, and in the care of trust prop- erty alone and with others.
Mr. Brett is a farmer, and much of his time is spent in public affairs connected with the city. He is well known as a straight-forward, upright, honest man, commanding the respect of his neighbors and fellow citizens. Frank, open-hearted, and social in his habits and of few words, and those are generally understood. He is domestic in his daily life and of a benevolent and obliging disposition.
Mr. Brett married, November 10, 1892, Elizabeth Florence, daughter of Richard Howes and Lucy Hartwell (Alden), a descendant of John Alden of the Mayflower, and has one child,
1-Rogers Ellis Brett, born November 17, 1893.
GEORGE ELDON KEITH.
THE name of Keith is inseparably associated with the rise of the shoe manufacturing industry of Campello. The great-great-grandfather of the subject of our sketch was the first manufacturer of shoes previous to the Revolution, and was a tanner as well as shoemaker, situated at the corner of what is now Main and Plain streets, the site of the splendid residence of George Eldon Keith. Mr. Keith is a notable example of the successful men in Brockton who have risen from the ranks to the head of a large and lucrative business. The factors which have brought about this result are energy, in- telligence, complete mastery of his trade, and a determination to win. Beginning with nothing, he owns one of the largest, finest and best equipped shoe manufactories in the the city, if not in Massachusetts. The building is in the form of a hollow square, 550 feet long, 32 feet wide, three stories high and a basement. The foundation of this business was laid when the young man was engaged with his father at shoemaking, and later in his shoe manufactory.
Mr. Keith's early life was one of industry, working nights and mornings, while attending school, making boots and shoes, and after leaving school continued at that business until July 1, 1874, when, in company with William S. Green, he commenced manufacturing under the firm name of Green & Keith. This partnership continued until 1880, when he disposed of his interest to Mr. Green and erected the building now included in the present factory on Perkins avenue, Campello.
During the first six months his sales were a little over $7,000. Since 1880 there have been several additions made to the original building as the business increased, viz., one of forty feet, fifty feet, sixty feet, fifty feet and one hundred and twenty feet respec- tively. The first engine used was a fifty-horse power, replaced by one of 100 horse
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
power, which in turn gave way to one of 150 horse power. His factory is lighted by electricity, the 700 burners being run by a dynamo on the premises. The yearly pay roll of this establishment is upwards of $500,000, and goods to the amount of one million and a half are made, giving employment to about 700 hands. Mr. Keith is a man of bright and sunny temperament, liked by everybody, and especially by those in his employ. He is essentially a self-made man-and well made -- and his success is dnc to an intelligent application of his energies to his chosen calling. This establishment is indeed a representative institution and reflects great credit upon its enterprising pro- prietor, who in twenty years has gone from the bench to the ownership of this immense factory.
In politics Mr. Keith is a Republican, although his business requirements precludes his taking active part in the same. He was a member of the first Board of Aldermen of the city of Brockton and was president of the Campello Co-operative Bank. At present he is a director in the Third National Bank of Boston, and also of Brockton National Bank, director in Brockton Savings Bank, president of the Eppler Welt Machine Company of Boston, president of the American Heeling Machine Company of Brockton, sold in England, Sweden, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, and Australia ; treasurer of Howland Falls Pulp Company of Howland, Me.
We have already seen that Mr. Keith is a very active man in his business, and in his interests outside of his manufacturing he is also active. He is often asked to take office of various kinds in his native city, but steadily refuses. He is prominent in religious matters and deeply interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of the South Congregational Church and Society, of which he has been a member since he was sixteen years of age. He was the first president of the Young Men's Christian Association of Brockton and has labored ardently to promote the cause in every possible way, and its success is largely due to his efforts.
Mr. Keith has introduced a new feature into his factory, that of providing a good restaurant, where the employees can obtain dinners and lunches at a fair price, the profits of the same to be shared among the employees.
Mr. Keith's line of descent is from Rev. James Keith1, Timothy2, born in 1683; Timothy,3 born January 27, 1711 ; Levi,4 born August 25, 1738; Benjamin," born November 18, 1763; Ziba,6 born November 30, 1789; Franklin7, born January 28, 1816; George Eldon,8 born February 8, 1850, who married Anna Gertrude, daughter of Hon. William Lincoln and Deborah (Chessman) Reed, of Whitman, Mass., October 23, 1877.
CHILDREN : 1 .- Eldon Bradford Keith," born October 18, 1879. 2 .- Harold Chessmau Keith,9 born June 18, 1884.
His children are in tl:e ninth generation from Rev. James Keith.
BENJAMIN OTIS CALDWELL.
BENJAMIN OTIS CALDWELL, one of the most prominent and successful merchants of Brockton, of the firm of Howard & Caldwell, is the son of Ebenezer and Deboralı
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HISTORY OF BROCKTON.
(Holmes) Caldwell, born in North Bridgewater, now Brockton, October 14, 1845, at- tended the Whitman School. Entered the employ of Messrs. W. F. Brett & Co., in 1859, where he remained one year, then removed to Taunton, and worked for George H. Hartwell in the Dry Goods business two years, until Angast, 1862. Upon the gov- ernment requisition for men Mr. Caldwell enlisted September 23, 1862, in Company G, Fourth Massachusetts Regiment from Taunton, Col. Henry Walker. Participated in the battle at Bisland, " Bayou Teche " La., Port Hudson, Franklin and Red River expe- ditions.
In July, 1862, the call came for 200,000 men. The Fourth Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteers was the first regiment offered under this call, but by reason of not be- ing equ pped for service some months passed before they left for the front, via Fortress Monroe to New Orleans, where they finally arrived about the middle of February, 1863, and went into camp at Carrolton. Shortly after he proceeded to " Baton Rouge " and took part in the first Port Hudson expedition, when Farragut passed that point in the " Richmond." On the second day out, Colonel Walker in command of the Fourth and Thirty- first Massachusetts Regiments and Second Rhode Island Cavalry occupied " Cross Roads." March 11 by orders fell back to " Cypress Bayou" and finally re- turned to Baton Rouge. Early in April proceeded to Brashear City; afterward pro- ceeded across Berwick Bay, participated in the battles at Bisland, and the expedition to Franklin, returning to Brashear, remaining and performing arduous duties until May 28, when the Fourth Regiment and other troops proceeded to Port Hudson, and on June 14, participated in the assault and successful capture, after which the regiment remained until August 4, and returned home to Massachusetts, discharged, August 28, 1863, expiration of service. Returned to Brockton and to Newport, R. I., in 1863, and worked for W. F. Brett & Brother two years till 1866. From Newport removed to Brockton March 7, 1868, entered into partnership with Embert Howard, under the firm name of Howard & Caldwell, Clothing and Gentlemens' Furnishing Goods, pur- chased of Kingman & Hollywood, where the new firm remain to this day. From a small business and enlargement of the store five times, this business has grown to be one of the largest in New England.
Mr. Caldwell has always been too much absorbed in business to accept office to any extent, and prefers the quiet of private life to the vexations attendant upon public bus- iness. He is a F. & A. M., and has been Captain General of the Commandery. In polities he is Republican. In religion he is of the Liberal order of Unitarians. He was one of the organizers of the "Church of the Unity," and a member of the building committee, and has been treasurer of the society for ten years. A director in the Brockton Agricultural Society for ten years, one of the petitioners for the original Horse Railroad, and First Vice-President of the Commercial Club. He visited California on the first excursion of Raymond & Whitcomb via New Orleans.
Mr. Caldwell married Emma Maria, daughter of Eliab and Harriet (Packard) Whit- man, of Brockton, June 27, 1867.
CHILDREN.
I -- Arthur Fairbanks Caldwell, born June 22, 1870, graduated at the High- land Military Academy of Worcester, married Annie F., daughter of Charles F. and Almira (Miles) Porter, of Brockton, Mass,, Febru- ary, 1890.
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BIOGRAPHIICAL.
CHILDREN.
1-Mildred Porter Caldwell born June 27, 1891.
2 -- Arthur Whitman Caldwell, born October 29, 1892 ; died No- vember 19, 1892.
II .- Harry Souther Caldwell, born May 25, 1875, graduate of Brockton High School. 1892.
LYMAN CLARK.
LYMAN CLARK, was the son of Benjamin and Susanna (Thayer) Clark, born in Bridge- water, Mass., July 10, 1807, educated at the district schools of his native town, and when about sixteen years of age began to look about for something to do, and resolved to learn the cabinetmakers' trade. Mr. Howard, who was afterward a partner with Mr. Clark, had learned the business of Henry Kingman at Reading, Mass., had just finished his trade and started in the furniture business in Randolph, and thither young Clark hastened to see what he could do with Mr. Howard. He had previously learned the use of tools in working with his father, who was a house carpenter in Bridgewater, and therefore was not wholly unaequainted with the line of work entered upon. In 1827 Mr. Howard removed his business from Randolph to North Bridgewater, now Brockton, and Mr. Clark, who became his apprentice, also removed with him. Mr. Clark was born on the north side of what is now Center street in Bridgewater, and was sixteen and one-half years of age when he bound himself to Mr. Howard. The first building occupied by them was on the present site of the Catholic Church, Main street. In 1829 Capt. Jolin Packard erected and leased the building so long occupied on the west side of Main street. Business continued with several changes, till 1829, when a new business relation was established between Mr. Howard and Mr. Clark, and from that time the firm was Howard & Clark for upward of fifty years.
The following is a copy of the co-partnership agreement :
NORTH BRIDGEWATER, March 10, 1829.
This is to certify that we the subscribers do agree to form a co-partnership under the firm of Howard & Clark, so long as we may think proper or agree, each to put in the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars, and to share the profits equally if there be any, which above named sum is this day appropriated to business by us according to this contract.
SAMUEL HOWARD, LYMAN CLARK.
Messrs. Howard and Clark continued a harmonious partnership till 1858, when Rufus C. Kimball and Eben G. Rhodes were admitted to the firm.
The next year deelining health induced Mr. Howard to retire from the business, and soon after died in 1859, leaving Mr. Clark as senior partner, the firm continuing the business as heretofore. In 1871 Mr. Clark, Kimball, Rhodes and the present proprietor of the establishment, William H. Savage, became a firm under the name of Howard, Clark & Co. In 1876 Mr. Clark erected the large brick bloek, on the site of the old building now known as "Lyman block." He was owner of much real estate.
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HISTORY OF BROCKTON.
The business life of Mr. Clark may be said to have been contemporaneons with the history of the town of North Bridgewater, now Brockton. The town had but just commenced its independence as a separate municipality at the time Mr. Clark became a resident. At his death he had led a life of business activity for upwards of a half cen- tury, and been connected with the most active enterprises of the old town. He was a person of energetic, nervous temperament, ever active and cautions, with great force of character, of good practical common sense, which he used to the best advantage, of large executive ability, and by his integrity had won the confidence of the community.
He was not a politician, for he was too busy, and cared nothing for public honor or office, quiet and reserved in his intercourse with others, yet always approachable, kind and obliging. His reputation was widely known, beyond the city of liis adoption, or the county in which he resided, and his name was familiar to the furniture trade throughout the country.
The following is from Mr. Clark's pastor, the late Rev. Warren Goddard :
" That our friend has been more than an ordinary man may be plainly seen by those whose eyes are open only to the things of this world, for he has left so many prominent marks all around us, of his energy, perseverance, carefulness, good judgment, and correct foresight, that no one need be mistaken. About fifty years ago he became entirely convinced of the truth of the second coming of the Lord into the world was not to be coming in person."
Mr. Clark was a firm and consistent believer in the doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church, and he has shown his love for the same in many ways, and by his liberal re- quests at his death, among which are the following :
$10,000 to the Massachusetts New Jerusalem Church Union. $15,000 to the New Jerusalem Society in Brockton. $10,000 to the New Jerusalem Church School in Cambridge. $10,000, the income of which is to be used for the support of aged clergy- men.
The above is left to the Massachusetts New Jerusalem Union in trust for the above uses.
Mr. Clark was elected director of the Massachusetts New Church Union March, 1876, which office he held at the time of his death, which took place July 13, 1885, in the fulfillment of his seventy-ninth year.
His funeral was attended by prominent citizens of the city July 16. The services consisted of singing by the New Church choir. Prayer by Rev. Henry E. Goddard. Address by Rev. Warren Goddard. Capt. Henry French, Benjamin H. Eaton, Levi W. Holbrook, William Faxon and Weston Freeman were the bearers.
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