USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, 1883 Volume > Part 20
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, 1883 Volume > Part 20
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynnfield > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, 1883 Volume > Part 20
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, 1883 Volume > Part 20
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, 1883 Volume > Part 20
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Sanderson. Shepard. Silsbee. 207
of the rock that bears the good old settler's name. See Annals, 1635, and other early date's.
SANDERSON, GEORGE P., the sixteenth Mayor of Lynn, was inaugurated on the 6th of January, 1879. He was also elected for a second term, and inaugurated on the 5th of January, 1880. He was born in Gardiner, Me., on the 22d of November, 1836., For most of his business life he has been engaged as operative, agent, or manufacturer, in some department of the shoe trade, chiefly in Lynn. He has all along been identified with the workingmen's interests, and as a leader, received the confidence and support of his party. He was a soldier in the civil war, performed his duties faithfully, and was honorably discharged. On the third of July, 1859, he married Julia A., a daughter of William H. Mills, and has four sons. A fac-simile of his signature is appended.
Grof Jundisson.
SHEPARD, Rev. JEREMIAH, minister of the First Parish for forty years. Shepard street takes its name from him; also Shepard school. He died on the third of June, 1720, aged 72. See Annals, 1720. His signature is shown by this fac-simile :
C
Toromich Shopparo
SILSBEE, HENRY. This individual appeared in Lynn at an early period and was the founder of a family which, though not remarkable for numbers, has always been in creditable standing. Silsbee street commemorates the name. Dr. Emmerton in his Gleanings from English Records says : " The name Silsbee is one of the rarest in the records accessible at London." . . . "The parish records of Olney, Bucks, dating from about 1666, gives baptisms of a Samuel Slisby's daughters after 1670. Mr. James Stowe, the affable parish clerk, told me, while I was studying
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Swett.
delivery ; and the writer has heard him remark that if a preacher could not enforce at least one good lesson in that space he ought to be ashamed ; and one good lesson at a time, he added, was full enough for the digestion of most persons. His purpose manifestly was to benefit his hearers rather than to enjoy any oratorical triumphs of his own ; thus in a measure reversing the example of some of our pyrotechnic friends in the sacred desk. He was not a mere book student, but relied chiefly on his own innate ability to interest and instruct ; and hence there was an originality, a freshness and vigor pervading what he wrote, that was remarkably telling. He had no collection that could be called a library - hardly a book of reference. We remember once hearing Rev. Dr. Peabody ask to be shown to his library for the purpose of determining some point. " Well, Doctor," said he, "I have but a poor library, and it is all here," - pointing to his head.
His health was not good, and he often expressed the belief that he should not live to be old ; but he was active and much out of doors. For a good horse he had an almost sentimental fond- ness ; and the beautiful drives in our vicinity, held out, in pleas- ant weather, irresistible attractions ; but he frequently made his own enjoyment subservient to duty, by taking out for an airing some poor, aged, or infirm parishioner.
He had some pecuniary resources beyond his salary, and hence was able to indulge in acts of benevolence in the quiet and secret way which was his delight. He was, accustomed to say that he purposed to dispense in charity an amount equal to his salary. Many a poor widow has had dumped at her door a load of fuel, without ever knowing who the donor was. And many a poor, sick child has received soothing delicacies without knowing whence they came, and when able to return to his play-things has wondered who brought the beautiful kaleidoscope, the Noah's ark and picture-blocks.
Mr. Swett was a son of Col. Samuel Swett late of Boston, whose wife was Lucia, the only daughter of William Gray, the eminent merchant and Lieutenant Governor, and who was a native of Lynn. He, the Colonel, built for his son the house on the rise of the hill, near Essex street, which afterwards became the residence of Mayor George Hood. But the good minister
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Taylor. Tomlins. Townsend. 211
did not live long to enjoy the place he so much admired. A year or two before his death he married Charlotte, a daughter of Col. Phinney, of Lexington, and by her had one child -a daughter.
TAYLOR, DAVID, for many years an extensive shoe-manufac- turer ; intelligent and enterprising. His residence was on South Common street corner of Commercial ; and there he died, Oc- tober 11, 1871, aged 68. See Annals, 1871.
TIIACHER, Rev. THOMAS, seventh minister of the First Parish. He preached the affecting sermon, in the Old Tunnel meeting- house, December 11, 1795, over the bodies of the eight drowned mariners, the only seaman who had escaped, standing in the aisle near the remains of his companions. Mr. Thacher died September 24, 1849, aged 78. See Annals, 1813.
TOMLINS, EDWARD-an early and prominent settler. His autograph appears on the Armitage Petition, page 106. See Annals, 1630, and other early dates.
TOMLINS, TIMOTHY, was a brother of Edward, just named. The extensive tract of forest and swamp land, in Lynn woods, known as Tomlins's Swamp, took its name from him. He seems to have been full of business, readily turning to some new enterprise when the old became unprofitable. In 1636 he added a " howse of intertainement" to his other industries. In the land distribution of 1638 the town granted him eighty acres ; but that could not have been excessively liberal if he took it in land like that of the swamp now bearing his name. He was a Representative for several terms, and his autograph is among those appended to the Armitage Petition. See Annals, 1630.
TOWNSEND, THOMAS. This carly settler at one time lived in the vicinity of the iron works, though it is probable that he owned lands in different quarters. He is supposed to have come from London, was a cousin of Governor Winthrop, and could trace his lineage to a Norman nobleman who flourished near the time of the Conquest. One of his ancestors, of the same
212
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Trevett. Tudor. Tufts.
baptismal name, had the honor of entertaining Queen Elizabeth in her progress through Norfolk, in August, 1578, and for loyalty and attention his wife afterwards received from Her Majesty a beautiful gilt bowl.
Mr. Townsend's five children were all born in Lynn, between 1636 and 1645 ; and his widow, Mary, died of camp fever, Feb. 28, 1692. The family has always maintained a good position in New England, some individuals becoming quite noted ; but within our own borders it has not been specially marked. An- drew Towsend of Lynn was wounded in the great swamp fight with the Narragansetts, December 19, 1675. And in the battle of Lexington, Daniel Townsend fell. See Annals, 1775. Charles Hervey Townsend of New Haven, Ct., a few years since pub- lished a limited Genealogy of the family, which cannot fail to interest those of the lineage. The autograph of Thomas Towns- end is conspicuous among those on the Armitage Petition, page 106. And it is to the kindness of Charles Hervey Townsend, just named, that we are indebted for the use of the engraving of the autographs.
TREADWELL, Rev. JOHN - minister of the First Parish during the Revolution, and an ardent patriot. See Annals, 1782.
TREVETT, ROBERT W. - a lawyer of considerable acquire- ments, for many years in practice here. He died January 13, 1842, aged 53 years. He was a son of the noted Captain Trevett of the U. S. navy, a native of Marblehead. See Annals, 1842.
TUDOR, FREDERIC - projector of many improvements on Na- hant, and father of the New England ice trade. He died Feb. 6, 1864, aged So years. See Annals, 1864.
TUFTS, Deacon RICHARD. Deacon Tufts was born in Lynn, and was a son of David Tufts, a corporal in the army of the Revolution, who, after the war was ended, took up the peaceful and multifarious employments of farmer, trader, and common carrier, all in a limited way. He owned and occupied a house that stood on the south-east corner of Federal street and Western avenue. The Deacon while still a young man, became conspic-
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Turner. Usher. Vinton. 213
uous for his zeal in the cause of temperance, and through life was characterized by rigidity of principle and persistency in labors for the moral reformation of the community. In religion he tenaciously adhered to the Calvinistic faith, and for many years held the office of deacon in the First Church, without reproach. And it was by the watchfulness and labors of such as he that that ancient shrine was preserved from the " liberal- ism" that has so changed the character of almost all the carlier churches planted by the Puritans. His son, Gardiner Tufts, was prominent in the civil war, for his efficient services in Washington and elsewhere in behalf of the Massachusetts soldiery. And since the close of the war he has acceptably filled several impor- tant public positions where skill and integrity were especially demanded. The Deacon died on the 29th of February, 1880, in the 83d year of his age.
TURNER, Capt. NATHANIEL -a brave and trustworthy colo- nial officer, and a public character of great merit. See Annals, 1630, and other early dates. The sword which he wielded against the Indians is still preserved by the Historical Society at Hartford, Ct. It has done efficient service, too, in other hands since the Captain's time; in the old French war and in the Revolution. A picture of this formidable weapon may be seen in Harper's Magazine, volume 17, page 3. He sailed for England in January, 1647, in hopes of promoting the interests of the New Haven Colony ; but nothing was ever afterwards heard of the vessel or any one on board - unless the celebrated " Phantom Ship" which appeared off the harbor, some months after, and in a few minutes faded away, may be taken as a ghostly representative.
USHER, ROLAND G .- the eleventh Mayor of Lynn. For notice with portrait sce Centennial Memorial. The following is a fac-simile of his autograph.
R.G. us hes
VINTON, JOHN - ancestor of the large and distinguished Ame- rican family of Vintons. See Annals, 1650.
214 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Walden. Walker. Washburn.
WALDEN, EDWIN - the thirteenth Mayor of Lynn. For no- tice with portrait see Centennial Memorial. A fac-simile of his signature is here given.
Edwin Walden
WALKER, RICHARD - a farmer, and military commander. See Annals, 1630 and other early dates. His autograph is on the Armitage Petition. He lived to the great age of 95 years.
WASHBURN, PETER T. - Governor of Vermont. Peter Thacher Washburn was born in Lynn on the seventh of September, 1814, and was a son of Reuben P. Washburn who settled here as a lawyer, in 1812, and married a daughter of Rev. Mr. Thacher, minister of the First Parish, her grandfather being the widely- known Dr. Peter Thacher, for many years minister of Brattle street Church, in Boston.
At an early age the subject of this sketch left Lynn, with his father, who removed to Chester, Vt., afterwards to Cavendish, and thence to Ludlow, where, in 1860, he died. Peter graduated at Dartmouth college, in 1835, and immediately engaged in the study of law, in his father's office. Afterwards, for a few months, he studied under United States Senator Upham, of Montpelier, and was admitted to the bar in 1838. The next year he began practice at Ludlow, where he gained a high reputation and a good business. In 1844 he removed to Woodstock, having formed a law partnership with Charles P. Marsh, which continued till his death. In the last named year he was elected by the Legislature Reporter of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of Vermont, and continued in the office eight years. One excellent trait in any lawyer, or indeed in a man of any calling, it is said was possessed by Mr. Washburn in a marked degree; and that is, a readiness to aid the oppressed. He is reputed to have been always zealous to do his utmost, without the expectation of re- ward, to protect the weak or poor when exposed to the machina- tions of the selfish and unscrupulous, who so often resort to the wearying intricacies of the law for the furtherance of their base purposes ; and who, unfortunately, can generally find enough in the profession to second their nefarious designs.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Washburn.
At the time of the breaking out of the civil war, he was in command of the Woodstock Light Infantry. And at the first call of the President for troops he volunteered, and soon raised a company of the full regulation standard. Early on the morning of May 1, 1861, with his little loyal band, he departed for the scene of war, marching from the armory to the stirring tune of Yankee Doodle. Arrived in Virginia, he soon became acting Colonel of the regiment of which his company formed a part. But in the fall of the same year he was called back for other important duties connected with the war. He was elected Adju- tant and Inspector General of the State. And that position he continued to fill till the war ended. His labors in that office were so constant and exhaustive that many thought such inroads were made upon his health that it never again became fully established.
In September, 1869 he was elected Governor of the State, by a large majority. And though he was removed by death before he had held the office many months, he had made a remarkably favorable impression. His executive ability was freely acknow- ledged by all parties ; and there was every prospect of a more than ordinarily successful administration. At the time of his death, in addition to the Governorship he was a Trustee of the University of Vermont, a Trustee of the State Agricultural College, and President of the Woodstock Rail-road.
Governor Washburn died on the 7th of February, 1870, at the age of 55 years, leaving a widow and three children - a son and two daughters. His death was considered by the physicians to have proceeded from a general breaking down of the nervous system, from excessive labor, no evidence of disease, organic or functional, being discovered. He had been working almost unremittingly, when not engaged in public duties, on his Digest of the Supreme Court Decisions ; and literally went from that work to the bed from which he never arose. The funeral services took place at the Congregational church in Woodstock, the body being laid out in a full suit of black, with a military cloak, and amid profuse floral decorations. Highly eulogistic notices ap- peared in the newspapers, and there was every evidence of sincere mourning as for a great public loss. "He was," said the Ver- gennes Vermonter, "one of the few living illustrations of Phil-
216
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Washburn. Wheeler.
lips's positive men. They are rarely met with in public or private life. Vermont appreciated him, and he will be mourned as one of the few in public life whose sense of justice was stronger than personal preference or even the dictation of party." The Repub- lican, of Springfield, Mass., remarked " It was in the office of Adjutant General that Governor Washburn's fitness for public service was first made known to the people. His accuracy of dealing was as certain and as rigid as mathematics. The dis- charge of a public duty was with him reckoned among the 'exact sciences.' If he had been less honest than he was, he would still have followed honesty from sheer devotion to its straight- forwardness, its absolute correctness. We speak of this charac- teristic, not to elevate it above his unimpeachable integrity, but because it is what marks him among governors. Vermont has had honest executives before but it has been some time since she had a governor who governed, who picked up the loose ends in her administrative departments and set every thing in order. He was not only above jobbing and lobbying, rail-road or other- wise, but he forbade his private secretary to use so much as a two-cent stamp of the State's property, except for public purposes. With the same regard for the fitness of things, he introduced almost military formality in his intercourse with subordinates ; not that he was at all 'set up' by his position, but he would have order and system in every thing, insisting on every man's knowing his proper place and his responsibilities."
WASHBURN, REUBEN P., a learned lawyer, who settled in Lynn, in 1812. He removed to Vermont, and became a judge in a State court ; was father of Governor Washburn, just spoken of, and died in 1860, aged 79. See Annals, 1812.
WENEPOYKIN, an Indian Sagamore. See History of Lynn, 1865 edition, page 38.
WHEELER, THOMAS. Mr. Wheeler came to Lynn in 1635, and was made a freeman in 1642. He appears to have been a useful man, in an unostentatious way, while here; was a mill owner, and a man of some property. His name figures in our Annals under dates 1633, 1653, and 1657. It was against him
217
BIOGRAPHIICAL SKETCHES. Whiting.
that Captain Bridges issued the warrant for slander of Rev. Mr. Cobbet. (Sce notice of Robert Bridges.) He remained till 1664, and then removed to Stonington, Ct., taking with him his wife Mary, his son Isaac, and his daughters Elizabeth and Sarah. He became the largest land-holder in Stonington, partly by grants from the town and partly by purchase ; was an honored member of the church ; held important public offices ; and died there, in 1686, at the age of 84. His grandson Isaac, son of the Isaac who went from Lynn, married a daughter of Rev. Jeremiah Shepard, first minister of the Old Tunnel, December 9, 1697. She was quite a business character, and amassed a handsome property ; was accustomed to ride from Stonington to Boston to purchase dry goods, and bought up all the spare beef and pork in her neighborhood, for shipment to the latter place. She had two children, Margaret and Thomas, and lived to a good old age. Thomas was born in 1700, and died in 1750, the richest man in the vicinity. See Annals, carly dates.
WIIITING, Rev. SAMUEL, a learned divine, for more than forty years minister of the First Parish. See Annals, 1679 and earlier dates. Of none of the New England fathers can a roll of nobler descendants be presented. Some of them are named in our pages of Annals, some in the Centennial Memorial, and some in the book giving an account of the proceedings on the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement. It is not, however, recollected that we have heretofore named Nathaniel Whiting, who was a Lieutenant in Pepperell's expedi- tion, in 1745. He was born in 1724, and graduated at Yale, in 1743 ; was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Crown Point expedition, and at the battle near lake George, succeeded to the command, when Colonel Williams - from whom Williams College took its name- fell. He was with Abercrombie at Ticonderoga, and with Amherst in the reduction of Canada ; always acquitting himself as a brave, prudent, and humane officer. All along, through our whole history, we find examples of the heroic devo- tion of members of this noble family. We find them in all departments, military, civil, and ecclesiastical, pursuing with patriotic zeal and intelligent forecast, the highest interests of the loved country of their birth. Who of this generation can forget
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Widger. Wilkins.
the devoted conduct of Hon. William Whiting, of Boston, during the civil war ? Whiting school was named in memory of our early minister ; also Whiting street ; indeed the name of the town was adopted in courtesy to him. A fac-simile of a signature of his written at the age of eighty-two, follows.
Samuel Whiting
WIDGER, THOMAS, a mariner and prisoner of war. He died January 21, 1871, aged So years. See Annals, 1871.
WILKINS, BRAY. This carly settler was a husbandman by occupation, though like many others, at that period, he found it expedient to follow other callings at different times. See Annals, 1630. It is probable that he had something to do with the iron works, for when he and John Gingle purchased the Bellingham farm, they paid down £24 in bar iron, and £1 in money, mort- gaging back for £225 ; this purchase being made after his return from Dorchester, whither he went from Lynn, and where he had been keeper of Neponset ferry. Gingle was a tailor by trade and lived in Lynn, but left no mark by which he can with any certainty be traced. In 1676 the mortgage was discharged, and Wilkins, having bought out Gingle's interest, became sole pos- sessor of the farm, which originally comprised some hundreds of acres, and had been enlarged by other purchases. He had six sons, lusty and strong, some or all of whom settled around him, he remaining like a patriarch among them. He was stern and uncompromising in his religious views, and became conspic- uous for his zeal in the witchcraft prosecutions, evidently having a sincere belief in the personality of the evil one and his vile attempts to harass and destroy the good people hereabout. John Willard, a grandson of his, was among the unfortunates who suffered death for the supposed crime, and the conclusion cannot be avoided that the course the grandfather took had no tendency to prevent the unhappy result. Hon. C. W. Upham, in his valuable work on the witchcraft outbreak, gives some touching details regarding Mr. Wilkins and his kindred as connected with the strange episode ; but to many minds his
219
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Willis.
narrations are more interesting than his conclusions satisfactory ; for it can hardly be possible that human nature, depraved as it is, could develop such examples of precocious cunning, lying, and dissembling, in merc children, as he supposes. No, no, the " delusion" must have arisen from some psychological condition different from that suggested by him.
Mr. Wilkins in a deposition says : "When John Willard [his grandson] was first complained of by the afflicted persons for afflicting them, he came to my house, greatly troubled, desiring me, with some other neighbors, to pray for him. I told him I was then going from home, and could not stay ; but if I could come home before night, I should not be unwilling. But it was near night before I came home, and so I did not answer his desire ; but I heard no more of him upon that account. Whether my not answering his desire did not offend him, I cannot tell ; but I was jealous, afterwards, that it did." And his jealousy appears to have gathered strength ; for, being seized by certain terrible pains, so that he " was like a man on a rack," he says, " I told my wife immediately that I was afraid that Willard had done me wrong ; my pain continuing, and finding no relief, my jealousy continued. Mr. Lawson and others there were all amazed, and knew not what to do for me. There was a woman accounted skillful came hoping to help me, and after she had used means, she asked me whether none of those evil persons had done me damage. I said I could not say they had, but I was sore afraid they had. She answered she did fear so too." We can only
account for this cold way of estimating the conduct of a near relative who himself appears to have been intelligent and piously inclined, and who died upon the gallows like a Christian hero, through the prevailing hallucination. Whether Mr. Wilkins finally came to view the matter in its true light does not exactly appear ; but his minister, the Rev. Joseph Green, remarks : " He lived to a good old age, and saw his children's children and their children, and peace upon our little Israel." Many respectable families in various parts of the country claim descent from him.
WILLIS, THOMAS, the first resident of Tower Hill. He was a Representative from Lynn in the first General Court. See Annals, 1630, and other early dates.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Wood. Wormstcad.
WOOD, JOHN, was one of the first settlers, and from him Woodend took its name. See Annals, 1629. His autograph is among those on the Armitage Petition, page 106.
WOOD, WILLIAM, Lynn's earliest delineator. Sce Annals, 1629, and other early dates.
WORMSTEAD, JOHN B., A privateersman in the war of 1812. He died September 2, 1874, aged 85. See Annals, 1874.
YAWATA - an Indian princess. The name was much admired by Mr. Lewis. See History of Lynn, 1865 edition, page 40.
In closing our Chapter of Biographical Sketches, it is only necessary to remark that the aim has been to shadow forth the spirit of the people and the general condition of things here, at different periods of our history. For this end individuals living at different times and pursuing diverse walks of life have been introduced. Possibly some critical reader may think of other names that in his opinion should not have been omitted. But on reflection he may perceive a reason for the omission. There is something more to be considered than mere present popular- ity, as that may rest on a foundation that will soon crumble away. We are far from claiming that our judgment in these matters is perfect, or that we have been successful in carrying out a plan in itself good. But it is safe to say that no individual who has not done something for the benefit of a community has any claim to be remembered in that community, however he may have thirsted for posthumous fame or however his friends may desire his canonization. Yet it will be borne in mind, that our business has not generally been so much with the individuals themselves as with their external relations.
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