History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 113

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 113

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JOHN AMBROSE MCARTHUR.1

Very few of the adopted citizens of Lynn, and she can number many worthy ones who have appeared at different periods, have stood higher in general es- teem than Dr. McArthur-esteem for skill in his pro- fession, and for the high qualities that characterize the true gentleman.

He was born near Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1831, and of excellent ancestry, his grandfather having belonged to the gentry of Lanarkshire, Scotland, and his father, being a man of finished education, having graduated from Dublin University. The latter became an offi- cer in the Queen's Regiment, and was at the burial of Sir John Moore, and at the battle of Waterloo. His mother was a daughter of one of the Royalists who emigrated to Halifax at the close of the American Revolution.

After coming to the States Dr. McArthur resided for a time in Newburyport, where he married and buried his first wife. He was subsequently in busi- ness in Montreal, but returned to Newburyport, where he was for a time in business.

Dr. McArthur pursued his medical studies in the Harvard Medical School, where he took a full course, and graduated in 1872, his previous good education

1 By Jas. R. Newhall.

la. mc Arthur In.D.

A B Martin

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furnishing a firm ground-work for professional ac- quirement.

After spending a short time in Charlestown, he came to Lynn, and in a remarkably short time found himself in an extensive and lucrative practice. Soon after coming to Lynn he was united in marriage with Miss Annie E. Friend, of Gloucester. They had one child, a daughter, and the mother and daughter sur- vive him.

Dr. McArthur's genial manners, varied acquire- ments, liberal views, and tender sympathies made him esteemed by all classes. And his rapidly accu- mulating means enabled him to indulge his naturally benevolent inclinations. He diligently followed his profession till declining health required a slackening of professional labors, and for the last two or three years of his life he was compelled to withdraw as much as possible from active practice.

He was not much in public life, as premonitions of declining health warned him to beware of exposure and excitement. In the quiet duties of church work and in the lodge-room he took delight ; was an ex- emplary member of St. Stephen's Church, in which he served as vestryman some ten years, his earnest- ness and good judgment having much influence with his official associates. He was a charter member of the fraternity of Odd Fellows, and first treasurer of the Richard Drown Lodge; likewise a member of Oli- vet Commandery of Knight Templars, and passed through all the chairs at Newhuryport.

Dr. McArthur died at his residence on South Com- mon Street on the 28th of September, 1887, and the funeral services were held in St. Stephen's Church on the morning of Saturday, October 1, 1887. The remains were taken to Newburyport for burial in the family lot, several of his official brethren, kindred and friends, accompanying them to their final resting- place.

JONATHAN WOOODWARD GOODELL.

Jonathan Woodward Goodell was born in Orange, Mass., August 2, 1830. His father was Zina Good- ell, and his mother was Polly, daughter of Amos Woodward, of that town. He was educated in the common schools of Orange, at the Melrose Seminary, in West Brattleboro', Vt., and at Saxton's :River Academy, in Rockingham, in the same State. He afterwards studied medicine in the Berkshire Medical College, and graduated from that institution at the age of twenty-six. During the first ten years of his professional life he practised in Greenwich, Mass., and then removed to Lynn, where he has ever since resided. Since his arrival in Lynn, in February, 1866, he has devoted himself with energy and skill to the practice of medicine and surgery, in which he has secured a large and eminently successful business. He is a member of the American Medical Associa- tion, and of the Massachusetts Medical Society, of which latter organization he has been several times

chosen one of the counsellors. He has been, also, President of the Essex South Medical Association, and in these various honorable positions has always had the confidence and respect of his professional brethren. He has neither occupied nor sought public office, but has given his time and energy to his chosen profes- sion, indulging in the single avocation of the study of horticulture as a relief from his legitimate occupa- tion. To the promotion of this branch of science he has lent freely his intelligent service, and is now presi- dent of the Houghton Horticultural Association of his adopted city. He is now, at the age of fifty-seven, releasing himself somewhat from the burdens of his profession, and seeking relaxation and pleasure among the fruits and flowers, to whose culture his re- fined tastes more and more incline. He married, November 1, 1868, Martha Jane, daughter of Jason Abbott, of Enfield, Mass., and has one daughter, now sixteen years of age. He is still in the prime of vig- orous manhood, and promises many years of useful- ness, both in the pursuit of his profession and in the promotion of a higher culture and taste in the com- munity, of which he is an honored member.

AUGUSTUS B. MARTIN.

Augustus B. Martin is the son of Newhall Martin, of Charlestown, Mass., and he (Newhall Martin) was born in Boston, 1802, commenced the shoe business in what was then Charlestown, but is now part of Boston, in 1822, and remained there till his death, which occurred December 18, 1880, doing the same business in one place fifty-eight years.

In 1823 he married Hannah Phillips, who was also horn in Boston, and had the following children : New- hall, born 1825; James Pope, 1827; Edward F., 1829; Augustus B., 1831; Francis A., 1833; Alphonso, 1835 ; Harriet, 1837. His wife dying May 19, 1839, he married a second wife, Widow Mercy (Hatch) Leach.

Augustus B. Martin was educated in the public schools in Charlestown, and at the age of fifteen entered his father's establishment, where he remained three years. He then learned the trade of morocco- dressing with James M. Waite, of Charlestown, and after working at his trade three years, in Newton, with Charles Packer, removed to Lynn at the age of

twenty-four. There he started in business with Moses Norris, under the firm-name of Norris & Mar- tin, in the manufacture of morocco. After remain- ing three years and a half with Mr. Norris, with his small means considerably increased, he established himself alone in the same business, remaining alone until 1867, when he admitted his brother, Edward F., as partner.

In May, 1876, he opened a store in Boston for the sale of his goods, and from the time of his arrival in Lynn, in 1855, to the present time his career has been one of uninterrupted success. Manufacturing at first

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on a small scale, and selling to his neighbors in Lynn, he now has customers wherever shoes are made in the United States and Canada.

In 1881 his establishment in Lynn was burned, but was at once replaced by one which is the largest and best-appointed morocco factory in New England. Their store, near the Revere Beach Railroad station, is the most elegant and commodious store, in that line of business, in the United States, and forms part of a brick block owned by himself and built in 1884.

The goat-skins manufactured by the firm arc im- ported by them chiefly from South America, and it is safe to say that no better product than theirs enters the market. Mr. Martin is a Republican in politics, and a Universalist in religion, and has taken an ac- tive interest in the advancement of views represented by the party and sect designated by those terms. He is a man of public spirit, interested in the welfare of his eity, and the institutions which give it character. He has been a member of the City Council and Board of Aldermen, a director in the Mechanics', now the First National Bank, and is now vice-president of the Lynn National Bank.

He married, December 25, 1856, Elizabeth R., daughter of William S. Fretch, and has had the fol- lowing children : Lizzie, May, Alice G., and Augus- tus B. Augustus B., Jr., was admitted a member of the firm January 1, 1887.

JOHN TODD MOULTON.1

Mr. Moulton was born in Lynn on the 7th of August, 1838. His father was Joseph Moulton, long known among us as a successful tanner and morocco manufac- turer; and his mother was Relief Todd, a Vermont lady.

The ancestor of the family was Robert Moulton, who was sent over by the London Company, in 1629, to Governor Endicott, as master shipwright, with six journeymen, to begin the shipbuilding business at Salem. The large island off Beverly shore, called the Misery, " receiving that name," says Felt, " on account of a disastrous shipwreck there," but gives no partic- ulars. Robert Moulton was quite prominent in the early town and church affairs of Salem, and was granted two hundred acres of land in Salem village, now West Peabody, and was one of eight men dis- armed at Salem for sympathizing with the wheel- wright in his desire for liberty of conscience and free speech.

Mr. Moulton, the subject of this sketch, graduated from Lynn High School in 1855, having prepared for college under Jacob Batchelder. But he relinquished the idea of college-life on account of failing health, caused by too close application to study. He spent several years in his father's nursery in attending to the cultivation and propagation of fruit-trees, shrubs,

and plants, having a strong natural love for such em- ployment.

The father of Mr. Moulton had served an appren- ticeship of seven years at the leather manufacture, in allits branches and under him the son became an adept, so that in 1864 he was well qualified to succeed to the then firmly-established business. In that business, the manufacture of morocco leather, he still con- tinues, employing at the present time some sixty or seventy workmen. His factory stands on the spot where one of the earliest tanneries was established, by the Lewises. In the chapter on the industrial pur- suits of Lynn more may be found in relation to the business and the successive owners of the premises. The factory is quite extensive, and is located on Marion Street, opposite the foot of Centre.

Mr. Moulton was born in the old Mansfield house, on the north side of Boston Street, nearly opposite the termination of Marion. It was built in 1666 by Robt. Mansfield, and still remains the property of descend- ants of the builder, now of the eighth generation. The grandmother of Mr. Moulton was a Mansfield, and lineal descendant from Robert, just named.

The integrity, prudence and promptness of Mr. Moulton have made his services much in requisition for positions of peculiar trust. He has already served twelve years as trustee of the public library, and has recently been elected for a new three-years' term, being likewise treasurer of the board of directors. He is treasurer of the fraternities of Associated Charities, treasurer of the Boston Street Methodist Society and treasurer of the trustees of the Lynn Free Public Forest. As mentioned elsewhere, he is a writer of merit in both prose and poetry, and has been the poet at several High School reunions.

But the most distinguishing trait of Mr. Moulton, in a literary way, is his love for historical research. He is a member of the New England Historical and Gen- ealogical Society, and likewise of the Methodist His- torical Society.

The people of Lynn are greatly indebted to him for the collection and preservation of much that is useful as well as interesting in her history. He has prepared copies of the earliest existing town records, and had them published in the Historical Collections of the Essex Institute. He has also collected and published the inscriptions from the oldest grave-yards of Lynn, Lynnfield and Saugus, and has prepared genealogies of the Moulton and Mansfield families. A few months since, as mentioned in another connection, he, with Mr. Isaac O. Guild, was at the expense of erecting a suitable stone to mark the resting-place of "Moll Pitcher," the renowned fortune-teller of Lynn, per- haps the most remarkable personage known in our history, and of whom a somewhat extended account may be found in the historical sketch of Lynn in the present work.

Mr. Moulton, it is agreeable to add, is always ready to contribute from his abundant store any informa-

1 By James R. Newhall.

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tion he may possess regarding our early families, and the characteristics and doings of our fathers. And all well-wishers of the community will join in rejoicing in the prosperity of one so worthy.

Mr. Moulton was united in marriage with Miss S. Fannie Sweetser in December, 1867, and their chil- dren are one son and two daughters.

JOHN P. WOODBURY.

John P. Woodbury was born in Atkinson, N. H., on May 24, 1827. He traces his ancestry through seven generations to one of the earliest settlers in Salem (1624), John Woodbury, who held the first official appointment mentioned in the old Colonial records. Later he was sent to England with full powers to settle some difficulties which had arisen be- tween the colony and the mother country, and re- turned to the colony in 1628, having executed his com- mission satisfactorily. John Woodbury, the grand- father of John P .. came to Lynn in 1820. He was a skillful master shipwright and carpenter, and the first in this part of the country to introduce the "square rule" in framing buildings. Four of his sons-Jep- thah P., Seth D., Joseph P., and James A-became prominent as business men in Lynn, the last two es- pecially as inventors. His eldest son, Rev. John Woodbury, the father of John P., was born at Beverly, and was first settled as a Baptist clergyman at North- field, Mass., and later, as was the custom at that time, was changed from time to time to other New England parishes. He was a man of liberal views and earnest and devoted in his labors, but in 1850 his health compelled him to retire from the ministry. He was married to Myra Page of Atkinson, and John P. Woodbury, the subject of this sketch, was their only son. His early years were spent in various New Eng- land towns where his father was settled. In addition to a common school education he had the advantage of three years' study at the Hancock (N. H.) Literary and Scientific Institution, of which his father was a trustee. At the age of fifteen he was employed for six months on one of the most sterile farms in New Eng- land, at the foot of old Monadnock. Any one ac- quainted with farm-life of thirty years ago will under- stand how he welcomed a change of employment. He entered the office of the Keene (N. H.) Sentinel, and soon became a good compositor. The following year, having a taste for mechanical employment, he went to Bangor. Me., and spent three years of hard work in acquiring a thorough knowledge of various wood- working trades. He then came to Lynn, and was employed for a year as journeyman cabinet-maker in the factory of Seth D. Woodbury, which stood on the present site of the Boston Revere Beach & Lynn Rail- road station. The following year he became the con- fidential clerk of Joseph P. Woodbury, and in 1849- 50 visited Buffalo and the principal cities of the West, in connection with patent business. He was in

Washington in the spring of 1850, while the famons compromise measures were before Congress, and heard the questions which led to our civil war discussed by Clay, Webster, Calhoun and many other distinguished members of Congress. On his return he became a partner of Jepthah P. Woodbury in the lumber and building business, which was carried on at Commer- cial wharf, at the foot of Commercial Street, in Lynn. In this same year (1850), he married Sarah E. Silsbee, a daughter of Nathan Silsbee, and a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of Lynn. In 1854 he sold his interest in the lumber business, and again visited the West, with the intention of settling there, but in four months he returned to Lynn and established himself in the real estate and insurance business. He was the pioneer in this line of business in Lynn. By steady and close occupation he obtained the confidence of his fellow-citizens, and succeeded in establishing the largest business of tbe kind in Essex County ; indeed for many years only two insurance offices in the State made larger returns to the insurance commis- sioners.

Mr. Woodbury was a firm believer in the future growth and improvement of Lynn. He was for a time a member of the Common Council of the city, but he was too busy a man to continue long in public office. His name is intimately connected with the progress of his adopted city. He was treasurer of the Exchange Hall, the Sagamore Hotel, the Lynn Market-House, and the Lynn City Improvement Companies. It is to his organization of this latter company that Lynn owes the laying out of Central Avenue, the finest and most substantial street in the city. Having secured control of nearly all the land lying between the Central station and the City Hall, he associated with him many of Lynn's leading capitalists and laid out this wide avenue, which has proved to be one of the greatest improvements ever made in Lynn. At the time the project was started it met with violent oppo- sition from the owners of land on Market Street, who feared the depreciation of their property ; but time has shown that the improvement has rather enhanced the value of their land. Mr. Woodbury's firm belief in the future of Lynn led him to invest all his sav- ings in real estate, frequently at what were considered high prices, but time has confirmed his judgment. In 1867, after twenty-five years of labor, he sold his busi- ness, and, with his family, enjoyed a well-earned holi- day in Europe. Seven months were spent in Paris at the time when Napoleon III, then in the height of his glory, was entertaining the crowned heads of the world, and making Paris the most brilliant capital of Europe. The remainder of a year was spent in visit- ing the principal cities of the continent and in South- ern Italy. On his return Mr. Woodbury accepted the presidency of the Exchange Insurance Company, an organization composed largely of Lynn capitalists, but in eighteen months resigned from the position, and has not since been in active business. His leisure is

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largely occupied in the collection of books and en- gravings, and he is especially interested in extra illustrated books, of which he has a considerable col- lection. He still retains a summer residence in Lynn, but spends the winter months in Boston or in travel- ing. He is a member of the Bostonian Society, the Boston Art Club, the Grolier Club of New York and other kindred organizations.

Mr. Woodbury is a Unitarian, and was for many years a trustee of the Second Congregational Church of Lynn. In politics he was one of the original Free- Soilers, voting for Martin Van Buren in 1848, and was afterwards a steady Republican until 1883, when, dis- satisfied with the nomination of James G. Blaine for President, he became an Independent voter. He has two children, Marcia E., wife of Edward P. Parsons, and John, a lawyer, practising in Boston.

Mr. Woodbury's career illustrates the fact that in this country every avenue to business success is open through steady, unremitting effort, to an earnest and reliable working man ; and, better still, that through all his toil a man may carry tastes which will furnish him with delightful occupation and keen enjoyment in time of leisure.

WILLIAM F. MORGAN.

Mr. Morgan was born in Bellingham, Mass., Janu- ary 2, 1839, and was a son of William F. Morgan, who was a lineal descendant from Miles Morgan, one of the early settlers of Springfield, Mass.

Miles Morgan with two brothers, James and John, sailed from Bristol, England, in March, 1636, and ar- rived at Boston in the following April. The family removed to Bristol from Llandaff, in Wales, a few years before the sons emigrated to New England. Miles, the youngest of the three was born in 1615, and on his arrival in Boston, or shortly after, he joined a party of emigrants, mostly from Roxbury, of whom Col. William Pynchon was the head, and settled in Springfield. The land first occupied by the settlers in that place is now traversed by the Main Street, and was divided into shares and distributed among them by lot. The tract allotted to Mr. Morgan extended from Main Street to the river, on the south side of what was once called Ferry Lane.

About the year 1643 he married Prudence Gilbert of Beverly, having made the acquaintance of the family during the voyage from England, and the tra- dition of the family invests the matrimonial alliance with the romance of a courtship at sea, a separation for years, an offer by letter carried by a messenger through the wilderness, an acceptance of the offer, a jonrney to Beverly by the bridegroom and his compa- nions armed with muskets, and a return with the bride one hundred and twenty miles to Springfield their fn- ture home.

The records bear the names of the following child- ren : Mary, born February 14, 1644; Jonathan, No- vember 16, 1646; David, September 23, 1648; Pela-

teah, July 17, 1650; Isaac, May 12, 1652; Lydia, April 8, 1654; Hannah, April 11, 1656; Mercy, July 18, 1658.

The mother of these children died Jannary 14, 1660, and Miles married February 15, 1669, Elizabeth Bliss, and had one other child, Nathaniel, born June 14, 1671. His death is recorded as having occurred May 28, 1699.

Nathaniel Morgan, son of Miles, married January 19, 1691, Hannah Bird, and settled on the west side of the Connecticut River in West Springfield, where he died August 30, 1752. His children were, Nathan- iel, born February 16, 1692; Samuel, 1694; Ebenezer, 1696; Hannah, 1698; Miles, 1700; Joseph, December 3, 1702; James, 1705; Isaac, 1708; and Elizabeth, 1710.

Joseph Morgan, son of Nathaniel, married in May, 1735, Mary, daughter of Benjamin Stebbins, and lived and died in West Springfield. His death occurred November 7, 1773. His children were, Joseph, born February 19, 1736; Titus, who died in infancy; Titus again, July 19, 1740; Lucas, February 26, 1743; Eli- zabeth, December 23, 1745; Judah, March 22, 1749; Jesse, twin of Jndah, and Hannah, November 29, 1751.

Judah Morgan, son of Joseph, married April 12, 1775, Elizabeth Shivoy. His children were, Festus, born January 12, 1776 ; Elijah, June 2, 1777 ; Richard, March 4, 1779; Amos, November 7. 1780; Elizabeth, June 23, 1787, all of whom were born in Northamp- ton. He died November 13, 1827.

Festus Morgan, son of Judah, married 1799, Submit French of Northampton, and had one child, a son, William F. Morgan, who was born in Northampton, October 6, 1800. He was the father of the subject of this sketch. He learned the business of woolen manu- facturing and established himself in that business in Oxford, and a few years later in Bellingham. He married, April 17, 1832, Eliza, daughter of Rufus Rus- sell of New Braintree. His children were, Julius, born and died 1834; William H., born 1836, died 1839; William F., 1839, all of whom were born in Bellingham. He died in Bellingham, August 10, 1839.

William F. Morgan, the subject of this sketch, was a son of the above William F., and was born in Bell- ingham, January 2, 1839. After the death of his fa- ther his mother removed with her family to South Milford, where he attended the public schools until he was ten years of age. He then went to live with a relative on a farm in New Braintree, and while there attended the schools of the town and was later a pupil in Day's Academy in Wrentham.

In 1856, at the age of seventeen, he commenced what was in reality his business career, it being then that he entered a shoe store in Providence, R. I. Here he soon developed such aptitude and business capacity that at the age of twenty-one he was offered the position of partner, which offer was accepted.

mf morgan

Charles O. Beedle

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Lynn was at that time, as it still is, the centre of the great New England shoe manufacture, and per- haps the most promising field for the development of enterprise, the exercise of industry and the invest- ment of capital, known to the trade. He was, there- fore, induced to leave Providence and accept the offer of a situation as salesman and book-keeper in one of the largest establishments here. Hither he came in 1861.

After remaining in the situation named till 1864, he commenced mannfacturing on his own account, and soon found himself in a prosperous business, which continued so to flourish and increase, that in 1871 he found it expedient to take a partner. The present firm of Morgan & Dore was formed in 1871 and soon became one of the largest, most reputable and success- ful in the city. In addition to the factory in Lynn, they have established factories in Pittsfield, N. H., and Richmond, Me., where their liberality and fair dealing have won for tbem an honorable name, and where the constant employment given to a large num- ber of residents has proved a substantial and highly appreciated benefit to the people.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 113

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1538

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538