History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 81

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 81

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Perhaps the most notable thing about Captain Bertram-certainly the thing by which he will be longest and most lovingly remembered-was his open- handedness. He was no importunate creditor in the transaction of business. The number of obligations due him, which were cancelled without payment, will never appear upon the open record. Impatient as he might be at any attempt to defraud him, intolerant as he was of all shiftlessness and extravagance, yet when misfortune overtook his debtors, they had nothing to fear from him. Instead of heing their persecutor, demanding the pound of flesh nominated in the bond, he was sure to become their helper. Ile took especial interest in young men in their early business struggles, and was ready to assist thiem, both with advice, which, however valuable, is cheap, and

also with financial aid, which most men do not fur- nish so readily. He had been young himself, and knew all the perplexities of beginnings, and, out of his own experience, caught the impulse to save others from what he had suffered himself.

And this open-handedness was not a matter of sel- fish calculation. It came out of large-heartedness. This business consideration was supplemented by most munificent liberality. During the dark days of the War of the Rebellion he was a most intense patriot, in purse as well as profession. The wants of the soldiers never plead with him in vain, and he often anticipated the cry for help before it was ut- tered. The records of the Grand Army show that this generous interest was not a momentary enthusi- asm. To the close of his life he kept in mind the needs and the deserts of the defenders of the Union, and his unrecorded liberalities in their behalf were quite as numerous as his formal donations. The for- lorn condition of the race whom the war liberated was constantly and pressingly present with him, and any plan for their elevation was sure to receive gen- erous consideration at his hand ; so that he made himself powerfully felt in the schools and educational movements undertaken in behalf of the freedmen. Soldiers and freedmen alike never lost a better friend than Mr. Bertram.

The needs of his own community made constant and large demands upon his sympathy. He was always ready to listen to a story of want, and no de- serving applicant failed of a helping as well as a hearing. His generous instincts often foresaw the formal appeal for assistance. He kept a list, to which he was constantly adding new names, of needy families, to whom he annually sent supplies of fuel, and he left in trust to the city a large amount, the income of which was to be used year by year in pro- viding wood and coal for the poor, and no nobler or more judicious legacy was ever made. Morning by morning his hand kindles the fires on scores of the hearthstones of the destitute, and his memory is kept alive by the gracious light and warmth in multitudes of the homes of poverty. A benefaction of that sort is a well-considered charity.

Captain Bertram's liberalities of this nature were numerous. His gifts to the Salem Hospital, his establishment of the Bertram Home for Aged Men, his legacy to the Children's Friends' Society were all on a munificent scale, and will go on doing a work of blessing for generations to come.

No other single citizen of Salem has done more for the good name and real welfare of the municipality than Captain John Bertram. His life was a striking illustration of the fact that wise and generous giving does not impoverish a man. The serene content of his old age was the result of a useful and unselfish life,-a forcible and instructive lesson to those whose highest ideal of living is a constant struggle for merely personal advantage. The tears of the hun-

Jacob Putnam

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dreds whom he had helped, that watered his grave when he was borne to his rest at the ripe term of eighty-six years, were the most satisfying tribute which any mau can receive. The regret at his loss, with which his name is always spoken, is conclusive evidence that a useful and generous life is the fairest which any man can live. This is the true earthly immortality which is best worth the having.

So long as Salem is well spoken of by those who are acquainted with the ancient city, there will be coupled with its other claims to regard and renown the name of JOHN BERTRAM.

JACOB PUTNAM.

The late Jacob Putnam was one of the founders of the leather business in this vicinity. He was a man of a kindly nature, of indomitable energy and un- flinching integrity, and possessed a large share of that intuitive knowledge of human nature which lies at the foundation of success in every vocation.

He was of English descent and traced his lineage back among the earliest settlers of this Common- wealth, to John Putnam, of Aylesbury, Buckingham County, England, who, with his wife and three sons, sailed from London, in 1631, for New England. He disembarked that same year in Boston, and, after a short stay in Charlestown, proceeded with his family to the then infant village of Salem, and here fixed his new place of abode. That he had been a man of note and had attained prominence in his native conn- try is shown by the fact that a tract of land in Salem was now granted to him by the Crown for distin- guished services rendered to the English government. Upon this tract he soon erected a house for himself and one also for each of his three sons, and devoted himself to the subjugation of the wilderness and the development and improvement of his new estate. His family increased and multiplied with the lapse of years, and by the achievements of many of its mem- bers the family name of Putnam has attained a de- servedly high reputation both in the arts of peace and of war. The immediate descendants of this first emigrant were active, discreet and courageous men, fully alive to all the interests of the early settlers of New England and active and stirring in all the ex- citing struggles which marked our colonial history. They took part in all the combats with the Indians, at Bloody Brook, Brookfield, Lancaster and other now famous fights. The family soon attained prominence in Salem and, indeed, in the whole of Essex County, the sound judgment and vigorous integrity of its mem- bers making them fit leaders in all new enterprises, from the institution of a church to the prosecution of a business venture, and safe guides to wise decisions on the many knotty points that tasked the ingenuity of our ancestors as they laid broad and deep the foundations of our present commonwealth.

General Israel Putnam was from one of the branches

of this family ; and his impetuous zeal and daring, which might have degenerated into audacity had it not been so shrewdly tempered with New England discretion, have been displayed in many other mem- bers of the family.

One of the sons of this John Putnam, the founder of the family, was Nathaniel, and through him, his son Benjamin, his grandson Stephen, and his great- grandson Stephen, the younger, a share of the ances- tral estate originally granted by the Crown to John Putnam came to Jacob Putnam, the subject of this sketch, and fifth in the line of descent from the origi- nal settler. Jacob Putnam was born at Danvers No- vember 17, 1780, near the close of the Revolutionary War, and grew up to manhood in Salem and in Danvers. He did not enjoy great opportunities of education, having to depend upon the common schools of his neighborhood for the slender education which he ob- tained from others. But his best education, as is not infrequently the case, was that which he owed to himself alone. He had inherited the traits of his an- cestors in no small measure, and his good judgment and common sense enabled him always to be equal to the demands of any situation in which he found him- self, and fully capable of carrying on an active busi- ness career. The same adventurous spirit which had found vent in the daring achievements of General Put- nam led Jacob Putnam in his early manhood to seek fortune in maritime commerce; but his sound judg- ment soon persuaded him to settle down into the steady pursuits of a business life. In the year 1805 he made a trip to Calcutta in the good ship " Boston Packet," and was absent from his home for two years.

Upon his return to Salem from this voyage, in the year 1807, he established himself in the hide and leather business. This business he prosecuted in all its branches, dealing in hides, tanning, currying and marketing the finished product, extending his opera- tions as opportunities offered, and always availing himself of whatever improvements were within his reach. He also engaged in the South American trade importing both hides and India rubber from that country. He was interested in the Sumatra trade and became a ship-owner and importer. He continued the active prosecution of his business until his death, which occurred January 18, 1866, when it passed to his youngest son, George F. Putnam, of Boston, the present proprietor.

Mr. Putnam's wife was the daughter of Captain James Silver, of Salem, an East India merchant.

Though Mr. Putnam held himself aloof from any political office, he was a highly public-spirited man, and always took a sagacious and intelligent interest in all matters relating to the improvement of his na- tive city. His generous and kindly nature was also active in many directions, especially in private charities, for he had none of that vanity which seeks to make a public display of its benefactions ; and his humane and kindly disposition was known by its

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fruits to many a poor family, which had good reason to mourn his death.

Mr. Putnam was also a man of deep feeling of patriot- ism and eager to promote the welfare of his country. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812, doing duty on the sea-coast defenses at Salem, and serving the public and his country in other directions. He took a deep interest in the prosperity and success of the religious enterprises of his day, both in his native city and in the country at large, and contributed gen- erously towards their support. He was interested in fostering everything that would promote the pro- gress and prosperity of his community and of his country. A man of the highest probity and honor, his character was unstained, and he died respected and honored by all who knew him.

STEPHEN C. PHILLIPS.

Stephen Clarendon Phillips was descended from Rev. George Phillips, who was the son of Christopher Phillips, of Rainham, in the county of Norfolk, Eng- land. Rev. George Phillips was born in 1593, and was educated at Tittleshall. He entered Gouville & Cain's College, Cambridge, April 20, 1610, receiving the degree of A. B. 1613 and A. M. in 1617. He came to New England in the " Arbella" in 1630, and set- tled in Watertown, where he died. By a first wife, who was a Hayward, he had a son, Samuel, born in 1625, who graduated at Harvard in 1650, and suc- ceeded Rev. Ezekiel Rogers as minister of Rowley. Samuel married, in 1651, Sarah, daughter of Samuel Appleton, a native of England, who was one of the first settlers of Ipswich. By a second wife (Elizabeth Welden) Rev. George Phillips had Zerobabel, Febru- ary 5, 1632; Jonathan, October 19, 1633 ; Theophilus, April 28, 1636; Annible, October, 1637; Ephraim, 1640; Obadiah, 1641; and Abiel. Jonathan, one of these children, married, January 26, 1680, Sarah, daughter of Jeremiah Holland (Harvard College, 1645), was a schoolmaster and magistrate, and died at Watertown, his native place, in 1704. His children were Sarah, born September 14, 1682; Abigail, April 22, 1683; Jonathan, 1685; George, Nathaniel, Eliza- beth, Ruth, Sarah and Hannah. Jonathan, one of these children, was born in Watertown, and married, February 27, 1717, Hepzibah, daughter of Stephen Parker, of that place. He removed, in 1719, to Mar- blehead, and. about 1740, to Newport, R. I., where he died. His children were Stephen, born July 18, 1718, Ruth and others. Stephen, one of these chil- dren, was born in Watertown, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Elkins, of Marblehead. He was a prominent man, deacon of the Congregational Church, and, in Revolutionary times, an ardent patriot and a member of the Committee of Safety and Correspondence. He died in Marblehead March 1, 1801. His children were Mary, born August 22, 1755 ; Elizabeth, November 28, 1757; Sarah, February 23, 1760; Stephen, November :13, 1764; Lydia, January

17, 1767 ; William, November 15, 1769. Stephen, one of these children, was born in Marblehead, and for some years was a ship-master in the employ of E. Hasket Derby, of Salem. About the year 1800 he re- moved to Salem, after which time he was engaged in commerce, except during the last few years of his life, when he spent his summers on his estate in North Danvers. Salem continued, however, to be his resi- dence, and there he died October 19, 1838. He mar- ried Dorcas, daughter of Dudley and Dorcas (Marchi) Woodbridge, of Salem, who died at Salem June 15, 1802.

Stephen Clarendon Phillips, the subject of this sketch, was the son of the last-named Stephen, and was born in Salem November 4, 1801. But the dis- tinguished character of his ancestry is not confined to the family whose name he bore. Through his mother (Dorcas Woodbridge) he was descended from Rev. John Woodbridge, a follower of Wickliffe, in the latter part of the fifteenth century, whose son John braved the dangers of the same faith, as did a line of fonr direct descendants, all clergymen, and all named John. The last John, minister at Stanton Witts, in England, married Sarah, the daughter of Robert Parker, and sister of Thomas Parker, who came to New England and settled in Newbury in 1695. · His son, Rev. John Woodbridge, came to New England in 1635, and died in Newbury, March 17, 1695. He married, in 1639, Mary, daughter of Gov- ernor Thomas Dudley, and thus the Dudley as well as the Woodbridge blood runs in the veins of the Phillips family. Nor is this all; Benjamin Woodbridge, son of the last Rev. John, and great-grandfather of Doreas (Woodbridge) Phillips, married Mary, grand-daughter of Rev. Nathaniel Ward, of Ipswich, the author of the " Body of Liberties," adopted as a code of laws by the General Court of Massachusetts in 1641.

Mr. Phillips graduated at Harvard in 1819, and at once entered into active business as a merchant, and in 1822, at the age of twenty-one, was the head of a family, an extensive business man and Representative in the General Court. On the 6th of November in that year he married Jane Appleton, daughter of Willard Peele, of Salem, who died December 19, 1837. On the 3d of September, 1838, he married Margaret Mason Peele, sister of his first wife, who died at Salem July 15, 1883. The children of his first wife were Stephen Henry, born August 16, 1823, whose sketch may be found in the history of the Bench and Bar, in the second chapter of this work; Willard Peele, September 7, 1825, well known in recent years as one of the efficient and successful trustees and man- agers of the Eastern Railroad; George William, No- vember 27, 1827 (Harvard, 1847); Henry Ware, August 19, 1829; Jane Peele, February 24, 1833 ; Margaret Peele and Catharine Peele (twins), June 30, 1835; and Abbott Lawrence, December 7, 1837. The children of his second wife were Walter Mason, May 26, 1839; Charles Appleton, Jannary 30, 1841 (Har-

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S. C. Phillips .-

Eng 2 by A H Foichie

ES Kimball

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vard, 1860); Edward Woodbridge, August 3, 1842; and Catharine, July 7, 1844.

Mr. Phillips was an ardent lover of his native city, a man of overflowing public spirit, and with a heart which beat with warm sympathy in response to the appeals of his neighbors and fellow-townsmen in be- half of all deserving enterprises and charities. The educational interests of Salem won his early and con- stant aid and support, and for many years he pre- sided over the board which had them in charge. In 1830 he was chosen State Senator, and in 1834 was chosen in the place of Rufus Choate, who had resigned his seat, to represent the Essex South Dis- trict in Congress. His duties in Washington were ably performed, and by his generous spirit, his thorough integrity, his business methods and his kindly deportment, he won the confidence and friend- ship of both political friends and foes. The regard in which he was held by his brother Representatives was well illustrated by Mr. Hardin, of Kentucky, whom Mr. Cushing described as " the gray-haired Nestor of the House, and its perpetually snarling Thersites," who, in a reply to a speech of Mr. Phillips, said that "if all the members of the House were like this gen- tleman from Massachusetts, God would never have re- pented that he made man."

After one re-election, in 1836, Mr. Phillips retired from Congress, and in 1839 was chosen to succeed Leverett Saltonstall as mayor of Salem. He held office three years, and on his retirement gave the amount of his entire salary to the city for the im- provement of the building occupied by the Bowditch and Fisk Schools. In 1848 and 1849 he was the can- didate of the Free-Soil party for Governor, and during those and succeeding years was an active participant in those movements which resulted in the organiza- tion of the Republican party.

During the last years of his life he was confronted by adversities in business, and though beyond middle age, with a hopeful spirit and an undaunted courage, of which younger men might well be proud, he set himself about to repair and rebuild his fortune. He engaged in extensive timber and lumber enterprises on the St. Maurice and Three Rivers, in Canada, where his third son, George William, was established for their care and supervision. After a visit to the field of his operations, in 1857, he took passage at Quebec in the steamer "Montreal," for Montreal, on Friday, the 26th of June, with the intention of return- ing home. On the same afternoon the steamer took fire, twelve or fifteen miles above Quebec, opposite Cape Rouge, and only about one hundred and fifty of the four hundred passengers on board were rescued. Among those who lost their lives was Mr. Phillips. His son sent news of the disaster to Salem by tele- graph the next day, stating that his father's body had been recovered, and would reach Salem on the follow- ing Tuesday. At sunset on Saturday, after the re- ceipt of the sad news, all the bells of the city were

tolled, and on Sunday appropriate allusions to the death of Mr. Phillips were made- in all the churches, and the flags of the shipping and armories and engine- houses were displayed at half-mast. On Tuesday, June 30, the funeral took place at Barton Square Church, and the remains of him, whom the city regarded almost as its father and every man as his benefactor and friend, were consigned to the grave. The Newburyport Her- ald said : " With a fortune or without it, we do not know the man that Essex County could not as well have spared. He was one of nature's noblemen, and as an able, honest, sincere Christian man, added worth to the human race by belonging to it." And every reader of the Herald said Amen.

WILLIAM HUNT.

William Hunt was born in Salem April 25, 1804. He was in the fifth generation from Captain Lewis Hunt, who came from England and settled in Salem about 1660. His father's name was William. When a mere lad he was employed by Mr. Jonas Warren, in his store at Danversport. After remaining there a short time he entered as clerk in the store of Mr. Nathan Blood, on Derby Street, Salem, where he re- mained until 1823, when he was employed by Mr. Robert Brookhouse, who had recently commenced in the African trade. After a few years he was given an interest in the business, which was continued un- til the death of Mr. Brookhouse, in 1866. They transacted a very large business, which was extended to the interior of Africa, from whence they imported large quantities of palm oil, gold dust, ivory and hides. At one time they owned more than twenty ships and barques. After the death of Mr. Brookhouse Mr. Hunt continued the business with Robert Brook- house, Jr., Joseph H. Hanson and Captain Nathan Frye, until March 27, 1869, when the last voyage was completed, and he retired from business with ample means.

Mr. Hunt was married to Austis Slocom, daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (Becket) Slocom, March 24, 1831. Two sons-William Dean and Lewis-and two daughters-Mary Dean Hersey and Sarah Becket Put- nam-survive him. He died August 3, 1883.

Mr. Hunt enjoyed a high reputation as an intelli- gent and honorable merchant. He was also a man of much intellectual culture. His reading was very ex- tensive, he being familiar with all the best authors.

He took a deep interest in all affairs of his native city, filling many positions of trust. In his charities he was very unostentatious, knowing but the need to give the required aid.

EDWARD D. KIMBALL.

The subject of this sketch belonged to a New Eng- land family, which moved from Ipswich, Mass., to Bradford and Haverhill, and later to Plaistow, N. H.,

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being among the early settlers of the latter place. IFere Mr. Kimball was born, December, 1811, and was a son of Nathaniel and Sarah Knight Kimball. Here- ceived his education at Pembroke and at Atkinson Academy, N. H., an institution of which his grand- mother was one of the carly promoters, and which he attended until he engaged in business at home. By the death of his father he was left, at an early age, as the eldest son in a family of three boys and three girls, with the responsibility of assisting his mother and attending to the duties of the farm. For several years he was engaged in business in a small way, and in the fall of 1833 he made a voyage to South Amer- ica. The following year, at the age of twenty-one, he left the old homestead and moved to Salem, and shortly after married his cousin, the daughter of Hon. John S. Kimball, of Belfast. He entered into the eastern produce business with Stephen Hoyt, who was afterwards made mayor of New Orleans under Gen- eral Banks. This connection was dissolved in the winter of 1837 by Mr. Hoyt withdrawing from the business ; and Mr. Kimball continued it until 1843, when he bought ont the African business of his brother-in-law, David Pingree. This necessitated his going to the West Coast of Africa, which he did soon after, taking with him his wife, and remaining about a year and a half, to look after his property and qualify himself for the successful prosecution of the business. This, in connection with the East India business, he continued until stricken with paralysis, from which he died at Paris, France, in September, 1867, at the age of fifty-six, after an illness of three or four years. He had three sons, one of whom sur- vives him. During his business career he was at times associated with David Pingree, Esq., his brother- in-law, and with his nephew, Thomas Piogree, but principally with his brother-in-law, Charles H. Mil- ler, with whom he was associated many years, and who continued the business after his death. His brothers, Elbridge and Nathaniel, were interested in the business, and also Mr. Reader, on the coast of Africa, and in the East Indies Frank Reed, Esq., who died in Batavia.

Mr. Kimball was among the last of the merchants who sent vessels from the port of Salem, and in the latter part of his life he moved his business to Bos- ton.

He, during his life, filled several other positions of trust and honor, among them the presidency of both the Naumkeag Cotton-Mills of Salem, Mass., and the Naumkeag Bank of Salem. He was successful in all his business pursuits from a rare combination of in- dustry and judgment; managing all his affairs with great skill and success; an indomitable worker; he possessed all the requirements for a large and success- ful merchant, being at once a good buyer, seller and accountant, generous, polished in all his manners, de- cided in his opinions and prompt to act upon them, which at once gained for him the confidence and re-

spect of all who knew him. And he at all times ex- hibited a rectitude of character which never wavered from the proper direction.

HENRY K. OLIVER.

Henry Kemble Oliver was born November 24, 1800, at Beverly, Mass., in the Upper Parish of which town his father was minister from 1787 . to 1797. He was the third son and the eighth child of the Rev. Daniel and Elizabeth 1 (Kemble) Oliver, both of Boston, and of the seventh generation of the descendants of Thomas Oliver, "chirurgeon," who immigrated from Lewes, Sussex, England, to Boston, with his wife, Ann, and their six or eight chil- dren, io 1632, in the ship " William and Francis," from London.

Henry Kemble was christened Thomas Henry, which name was changed by act of Legislature in 1821 to that of his mother's only brother, who died in 1802.

Thomas Oliver, the immigrant, a ruling elder of the First Church in Boston, died June 1, 1658, aged ninety years. The direct line of descent to the subject of this notice is as follows :

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 81

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