History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 91

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 91

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

HENRY SKINNER.

We are fortunate in being able to secure this me- mento of the past, in the portrait of Mrs. Skinner's husband. It is an excellent presentation of the man as he appeared in early manhood. He was a genial, cultured gentleman; fond of reading, though not a graduate of college; moving in the choicest circles of society ; quiet in his style, but buoyant and active.

He went to Brookfield, when a youth, to act as clerk in a store. The storekeeper told him never to find fault with the butter which the customers brought

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

for barter, but simply, upon examining its quality', to tell them how much he would give them.

His father, Dr. Abraham Skinner, died in 1810, when Henry was obliged to return to Acton, and, in company with his brother, Francis Skinner, for awhile had charge of the farm. The homestead and farm were afterwards owned by Charles Tuttle.

Dr. Skinner built the house on this site in 1794, which, in its day, like that of Mrs. Skinner, built about the same time, ranked among the most elegant in town.

The wife of Dr. Abraham Skinner was a Miss Coit, from Marlboro'. He had a large medical practice for years. Dr. Skinner's father was noted as a violinist. He could play on the violin and jump through a window and not break the time or the tune.

Francis Skinner, the brother of Henry, was a noted merchant in Boston, and became quite wealthy in trade, and was generous in his treatment of his broth- er's widow.

Mrs. Skinner tells this anecdote of her husband, after locating in business in Andover : "A friend of Mr. Skinner, Mr. Kidder, said to him, one day, 'Now, Skinner, you ought to be married; and I wish to make you this proposition : If you will get married within a year yon shall have my house, rent free, for a year ; but if you don't get married within a year, you shall give me one of your best carpets for my new house.' Upon this," Mrs. Skinner said, "he came right over to Acton and got married. He could not afford to lose the rent of that house a year, any way," said Mrs. Skinner, smilingly.

Mr. Skinner was noted, while a trader in Andover, for his earnest temperance principles. He was in full sympathy with Dr. Edwards, of Andover, who was, at that time, stirring the whole community with his appeals for a reform.

Among his papers is this quaint agreement, signed by Mr. Skinner, showing his style of work in this line :

" This is to Certify, That Henry Skinner agrees to give Rogers Blood cloth to make a good coat, providing ha does not drink any rum, gin or brandy, wine or any kind of intoxicating spirits, for twelve months from this day (Andover, July 20, 1828), and Blood is to forfeit tan dol- lars if ha doas not abida by this agreement. Signed in presence of John Berby, who promises to make the cloth into a coat for Mr. Blood if he obtained it in the aforesaid way."

The autograph appended to the portrait of Mr. Skinner, here presented, was cut from this agreement.

Mr. Skinner dying before the fulfilment of this ob- ligation, there is this additional statement :

" ANDOVER, April 10, 1830 ..

" Received of Josiah HI. Adams, administrator, six dollars, in full the within obligatiou by me. ROOERS BLOOD."

Mr. Skinner was active in exertions to repress the liquor traffic in Audover, nrging the rumseller to stop, and in some cases securing pledges to that effect. His early death was a great public calamity as well as a private grief.

JOSEPH BRABROOK. ...

He was the father of George, Alfred, Sarah and Benjamin. His fine engraving, presented to the pub- lic in this history of Acton, is that of a man who had some notable features of character worthy of special remembrance. He was an honest man. So all the records prove; so all the reminiscences of the man reported by his most familiar contemporaries affirm. He was honest in large trusts ; his honesty went down also into the minutiæ of life equally sure. If he had made the mistake of a cent in trade with the store -. keeper anywhere in town, his first steps were directed back to the man with whom the mistake had been made, and his conscience was uneasy till full satisfac- tion had been given. The witnesses who rise up in judgment on the man all agree. Says one: "If there ever was an honest man in the town of Acton, Joseph Brabrook was that man."

His integrity was impressed upon the memories of his fellow-townsmen as vividly as the clear ontlines of the beautiful eminence on which has stood for nearly a century and half the Brabrook homestead. Thanks to his son George, we have a permanent re- minder of all the good qualities of his father and family and ancestry associated with that structure in the life- like engraving of the artist. It is a fitting tribute of a loyal son to a worthy father. The noble elm to the left in the landscape is of the same age with Alfred, another son. This cluster of elms around the Bra- brook house, like the other notable elms in town, are typical illustrations of the nobility of the men who. planted them and lived and died under their shade.

The house itself, though built in 1751, was put to- gether from cellar to ridgepole with Brabrook thor- oughness, and it stands to-day unrocked by the roughest winds that sweep over the heights.

Mr. Brabrook was a cooper and made barrels in the winter, and the Brabrook stamp was enough to carry them forthwith into and out of the market. He raised hogs, and there were no cleaner or better hogs in town. He did not let them revel in their trough after dinner, but invented an arrangement for lifting it at once out of their reach till the next meal was ready. He raised peaches, and they were of the best quality and had the real Brabrook flavor. The can- ker worms at one time made their raid upon his peach orchard. He met them at their first outset, and said, "Those worms are not to eat my peach orchard," and off went the branches. A new and bet- ter growth soon repaid for the trimming.

He was a man of moderate size; not large, nor tall, not demonstrative, not lond spoken on the streets or elsewhere, but efficient in bringing about sure results. He lost no time at the loitering places of the village. If he took his oxen to the blacksmith's to be shod and Blodgett said, "Please wait a few minutes, and I will attend to your case shortly, Mr. Brabrook," he at once started them on their homeward beat, saying, " I will come again," and he would do it, a second.

Joseph Brabrook

THE BIRTHPLACE AND HOMESTEAD OF JOSEPH BRABROOK, EAST ACTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Bradley Stone

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ACTON.

and a third time if necessary. He was a peaceable, careful, reverent man. He kept up his habit of ask- ing a blessing at the table in his latest life, even when his voice could scarcely be heard by him who sat nearest at the table. Silas Conant, Sr., heard one of his last utterances. It was this: " O God, we thank thee for this food that is set before us ; we thank thee kindly for Christ's sake."

He was devoted to his family. He had an efficient, worthy companion in his wife, whose energy and wisdom aided him essentially in accomplishing the grand issue of his life-work. -

His quiet, faithful ministries in her last painful and prolonged sufferings are remembered, and have endeared his name to a large circle of appreciating neighbors. His children rise up at the remembrance of his life on the Hill and call him blessed. Hedied February 15, 1863, aged eighty-three years and six months. His wife, Sally, died December 17, 1847, aged sixty-five years and six months.

Two Brabrook's brothers were here as early as 1669.

Thomas married Abigail Temple, daughter of Richard Temple, in 1669, and died in 1692. Joseph, from whom those bearing the name descended, mar- ried Sarah Graves, in 1672, and had one, Joseph, who married Sarah Temple, and died in 1719. He was father to Benjamin and grandfather to Deacon Jo- seph.

Second, John, who died a soldier at Lancaster, in 1705. Several daughters.

James, died at Fort Lawrence, in Nova Scotia, iu 1756.

Benjamin Brabrook, the father of Deacon Joseph Brabrook, was second lieutenant of Company 5, Third Regiment of Militia, March 7, 1780. John Heald, first lieutenant; Simon Hunt, captain. He died Jan- uary 14, 1827, aged eighty-five.

Joseph Brabrook was chosen deacon September 29, 1775, and died April 28, 1812, aged seventy-three, holding the office thirty-seven years. Anna Bra- brook, widow of Deacon Joseph, died March 2, 1816, aged seventy-five.

Joseph Brabrook, the son of Benjamin and Dorcas, was born March 24, 1738. Benjamin, son of Benja- min, was born July 12, 1741. Benjamin Brabrook, son of Benjamin, was married June 6, 1773.

Joseph Adams Brabrook, son of Joseph, Jr., and Sally, was born November 18, 1806. Benjamin F. Brabrook, son of Joseph, Jr. and Sally, was born September 15, 1809. Sarah Appleton Brabrook, daughter of Joseph and Sally, born November 29, 1826. George, son of Joseph, and Sally, born No- vember 9, 1828. Alfred.

Benjamin was a Baptist minister, and preached with efficiency, but died young.

BRADLEY STONE.

He was born Sept. 4, 1801, in Chesterfield, N. H. His father's name was Joel and his grandfather's Peter. He came to West Acton when a young man, and 'established himself as a blacksmith and soon exhibited an originality and versatility of talent which inspired great hopes of his future success.

Sept. 29, 1828, he married Clarissa Hosmer, daugh- ter of Nathan and sister of Mrs. John Hapgood, recently deceased. She was born March 11, 1804. She has been a bold, patient, cheerful helper and companion all his days. She lived with him uncom- plainingly in the little school-house at the cross-roads till he built the brick house on the corner, where they lived ten years. She was efficient in house- keeping, cooking at one time for thirty men when the railroad was in process of construction. She looked after the sick of the village during the long period of its growth, still caring for the same after her strength failed.

They have journeyed happily together for more than sixty years, and are now stepping down the de- clivities with sprightliness, hand in hand, ready for the Master's call. They must be the oldest couple in town, the husband in the eighty-ninth and the wife in the eighty-sixth year.

The names of their children are here given : George 'Henry, born in Concord, June 1, 1829, died June 24, 1856; Mary Ann H., born in Acton, May 2, 1831 ; Edwin, born Dec. 31, 1834, died April 27, 1886; Na- than Hosmer, born Oct. 4, 1838, died March 1, 1874; Clara E. Stone, born Aug. 27, 1842; Charles Bradley Stone, born July 17, 1848.

From the very construction of his mind he has been an enthusiast in every line of work or improve- ment which he has undertaken. He has watched with zest signs of progress in the village of his adop- tion. He built the first store, and when the merchandise came too tardily from the metropolis, he projected the Fitchburg Railroad. His genius and pluck, combined in sharp rivalship with that of Col. Faulkner at the South, insured the success of the enterprise.

His first thought was a new route and road-bed to the city, but this finally yielded to a railroad charter from the Legislature, which was carried by the com- bined forces of the projectors. Then the question was-which village shall have the depot ? This was at first decided in favor of the South, then the decision reversed in favor of the West, then the compromise by which both secured the advantage. The West was, however, for quite a period, the distributing centre for the country beyond in all directions, far and near.

The fire still kindles with its old lustre in the eye of Mr. Stone as he tells the story of this railroad con- test, in which he was so conspicuous a figure.

He has been, from the beginning, a warm advocate of the temperance cause, of the schools and of the gov-

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

ernment. His first vote, Democratic, was cast for General Jackson as President, but during the Fugitive Slave Bill excitement he became a Republican, on which side he has voted most of his public life. He watches with an old man's eagerness the recent developments of growth in his vicinity, and is sure of a future for the village and the town as a whole which will rival all the past.

GEORGE CLEAVELAND WRIGHT.

He was born Jan. 7th, 1823, in Bedford, Mass. His father, Joel Wright, lived in Boxboro'. His mother, Dolly H. Reed, was born in Littleton, Mass., and af- terwards taught school in Boxboro'. George lived in Boxboro' from the age of fifteen to nineteen years, when he learned the shoemaker's trade, at which, he worked for nine years, the first two years in the em- ploy of Deacon John Fletcher, of Acton, and the rest of the time in business for himselfat West Acton.

December 31, 1846, he married Susan H. Davis, daughter of Jonathan B. Davis, granddaughter of Simon Hosmer and grandniece of Captain Isaac Davis, who was killed at Concord fight.

Four of their children lived to grow up, born as follows : Estella M. Wright, December 20, 1849; George S. Wright, July 13, 1857 ; Effie R. Wright, June 13, 1860 ; T. Bertha Wright, June 5, 1866.

At the age of thirty-one, after being in the milk business in Charlestown and Boston two years, he engaged in the coffee and spice business as a member of the firm of Hayward & Co., which, after twenty- five years of successful business, united with Dwinell & Co., and soon afterwards with Mason & Co., making the firm of Dwinell, Hayward & Co., the largest coffee and spice-house in New England. Though always an equal partner in every respect, he has never asked to have his name attached to the firm-name.

For the past thirty years he has been the coffee buyer of the firm, and his frequent trips to the New York markets have made him personally known to most of the prominent coffee men of this country.

As a coffee buyer he has few equals and no supe- riors. With the courage of his convictions, backed by a most thorough knowledge of the statistical po- sition of the article in question, he has shown his right to the foremost position in his department of the business; notably so in the rise of 1886-87, when the Brazilian coffees advanced in one year more than 250 per cent. in value.

From small beginnings the firm of Dwinell, Hay- ward & Co. has seen a healthy and legitimate growth, and to-day distributes the products of its extensive factory, located at the corner of Batterymarch and Hamilton Streets, Boston, in almost every State and Territory this side the Rocky Mountains.

Mr. Wright is strictly a self-made man. Without rich or influential friends to help, he has won for himself a position in the business world that any

man might envy and few attain, and he bids fair, at the age of sixty-seven, to enjoy for many years the competency that he so well deserves.

Early in his successful career, 1861, he secured for himself a worthy home on the brow of the hill over- looking the village of West Acton, and which com- mands a glorious view of the surrounding country. Here his children grew up and here he still resides.

He has been prominently identified with the Uni- versalist Parish in West Acton, and was one of three to contribute a large sum toward the erection of its present meeting-house.

In all village and town improvements Mr. Wright has always shown a lively interest and a generous help.

Lyceum and temperance, school and library, have found in him a firm friend and a most liberal patron.

In the Legislature of 1874 he represented the towns of Acton, Wayland and Sudbury as a Republican, with credit to himself and with satisfaction to his constituents.

Though a Republican in politics, Mr. Wright has never hesitated to work and vote for principles, not party-for men, not machines.

MOSES TAYLOR.

He was born in Acton April 16, 1822. He was the son of Silas Taylor and Sophia Hapgood, who were married April 11, 1820. She was the daughter of Ephraim and Molly Hapgood and was born Febru- ary 13, 1792, and died March 10, 1869. Silas Taylor came from Boxboro' to Acton, and bought of Moses Richardson the estate situated where Moses Taylor now lives. The house then standing was unpainted, with a roof running down in the rear. There was a well-sweep and an oaken bucket in front. The chim- ney was made of flat stone, laid in clay and twelve feet square. It stood on that site for over a hundred years. The new house was built by Mr. Silas Taylor. The old site was known as the Barker place, Joseph Barker, (2d) originally.

Mr. Silas Taylor, the father of Moses, was a man of rare sense and wit, of great physical power and en- durance, a laborious and saving man, and accumulat- ed for those times great possessions. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, and served at Sackett's Harbor on Lake Erie, receiving a pension for the same in his later life. He was kind to the poor, and in his quiet way befriended many in embarrassed circumstances. He was favored in the companionship for forty-nine years of a woman of rare modesty, judgment and grace.

The grandfather of Moses Taylor was Silas Taylor, a resident of Stow, formerly of Watertown. He com- manded a company from Stow in the battle of Ben- nington, Vermont, August 16, 1777, and was present at the capture of Burgoyne. He was for many years a justice of the peace in Stow, and town clerk, and did most of the marrying and other town business.

SEo. C. Wright

Dy al sition right t the bu the Br 250 pel Fror ward & and to factor: Hamil. Territor Mr. rich or himself

٦٠

Moses Taylor

Simon Blanchvel

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ACTON.

The sword which he carried at . Bennington, as also the sword carried to South Boston by Captain Silas Jones in 1812 war, have recently been presented to the Memorial Library of Acton, by Moses Taylor.

He was educated in the common schools of Acton, and in addition attended the academy at Ashby two terms. He had the offer of a liberal education by his father, but chose rather the homestead farm, whose acres he still cultivates to the full measure of his strength and beyond measure.

June 18, 1846, he was married, by Rev. James T. Woodbury, to Mary Elizabeth Stearns, daughter of Nathaniel Stearns, of Acton, formerly of Waltham. She was born in Littleton November 5, 1825. Her mother was Sophia Hammond, the daughter of Mary Bigelow, of Weston-of the old Bigelow stock.

Mr. Taylor, though a busy, hard-working man upon the farm, has ever taken a deep personal interest in public affairs, having earnest convictions upon all subjects which engaged his attention. In politics he has been a Whig and Republican. In 1882 he was elected by his district of towns including Acton, Concord, Littleton, Stow and Boxboro', as a Republi- can, to the Legislature. He has been justice of peace thirty years in succession, beginning in 1840.

He has been an ardent friend of the military, having held commission in the Davis Guards as fourth, third, second, first lieutenant and captain, which he resigned 1857. Otherwise he would have been in position to command at the outbreak of the Rebellion. He was deputy marshal to enroll soldiers during the Re- bellion. He took the United States census of Little- ton, Stow, Boxboro', and Acton in 1870.

He built or remodeled the following houses at the Centre. Dr. Sanders', the parsonage, Mrs. Rouil- lard's, Reuben Reed, Lyman Taylor's, the two new structures at the east of the Common, formerly the Fletcher homestead, where the library now stands.

When the project of building the library was pending in the mind of Mr. Wilde, rather than have the project fail, Mr. Taylor came forward with his thousand dollars and cleared the grounds for the structure. He has been parish collector at times, and on the Parish Committee for over forty years, and a member of the choir, with his wife and children, most of the time. He is the oldest member of the Board of Trustees of the Memorial Library, having been selected by Mr. Wilde as a mem- ber for life in the charter of incorporation.

Mr. Silas Taylor, the father of Moses, died January 28, 1874, aged eighty years and seven months, Sophia Taylor, sister of Moses, born March 8, 1821; died August 5, 1839, aged eighteen years, four months and twenty-seven days. Martha Taylor, sister of Moses and wife of Hon. Jolin Fletcher, horn March 8, 1829, and died August 14, 1882, aged fifty-three years and five months. Silas Taylor, Jr., brother of Moses, born April 2, 1825, and died March 18, 1844, aged eighteen years and sixteen days.

Children of Moses and Elizabeth : Silas Hammond Taylor, born March 25, 1847, married Mary Thomp- son, of Oxford, Nova Scotia. Children of Hammond and Mary : Mary -Elizabeth Taylor, Moses Taylor, Martha Taylor, Marion Celeste.

Moses Emery Taylor married Clara Tuttle, daugh- ter of Edward Tuttle. Children of Emery and Clara : Carrie Elizabeth, Wilmot Emery, Simon Davis. .

Lyman Cutler Taylor married Addie Tuttle, daugh- ter of Capt. Daniel Tuttle. Children of Lyman and Addie : Grace Evelyn, Eula Sophia.

. Lizzie Sophia Taylor married Charles B. Sanders, M.D. Children of Lizzie and Dr. Sanders : Ralph Barton, Richard Stearns, Helen Elizabeth.

Mary Etta Taylor married Charles Pickens. Children of Mary Etta and Charles Peckens; Carl Pickens, Effie Eloise Pickens. Mrs. Pickens mar- ried, after the decease of Mr. Pickens, Edward Wetherbee Conant, son of Winthrop F. Conant.

Simon Davis Taylor, son of Moses and Mary Eliz- abeth, born November 2, 1855; died. . Arthur Wil- liam Taylor, horn November 13, 1863. Charles Carl- ton, son of Moses and Mary Elizabeth, born October 4,1868.

SIMON BLANCHARD.

He was born in Boxboro' January 29, 1808. He was the son of Simon, who was the son of Calvin, who was the son of Simon. He married, April 23, 1849, Elizabeth Dix Fletcher, daughter of Jonathan Fletcher. She died July 28, 1874. The children hy this marriage are here given :. William, born April 3, 1840, died February 15, 1877; Ellen Ann, born September 13, 1851, married January 1, 1873, Calvin M. Holbrook ; Elizabeth Fletcher, born October 31, 1856, married Amasa Knowlton; Mr. Blanchard, April 15, 1877, married his second wife, Susan Wheeler, daughter of Abner Wheeler.

Mr. Blanchard lives on one of the choicest land- scapes of the northwest corner of the town, towards Littleton, in a comfortable two-story farm house. It is in a neighborhood of well-cultured farms and orchards. He has occupied the same site for fifty-one years. His steady, industrious habits have made their impress upon the homestead and all the surroundings. If he has not held commissions and moved in circles of public notoriety and struck the pavements with his dashing steeds he has maintained his integrity, deserved titles which he might have had for the ask- ing and reached a venerable age, receiving the confi- dence and regard of the community among whom he has lived in peace these many years.

Mr. Blanchard has been a Whig and Republican in politics, a Baptist in his religious faith and a man of order, sobriety and good sense in all his public and private relations. His countenance beams with in- telligence and good fellowship and is itself a benedic- tion which we are happy to have where it can be of service to the public.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAPTER XVI.

ASHBY.

DESCRIPTIVE.

BY ITHAMAR B. SAWTELLE.

ASHBY is situated in the extreme northwest corner of the county, bordering upon New Hampshire, and is bounded on the north by Mason and New Ipswich, on the east by Townsend and Lunenburg, on the south by Fitchburg, and on the west by Ashburn- ham. The central village is forty-seven miles north- westerly from Boston, thirty-one miles nearly north from Worcester and four hundred and twenty-six miles northeasterly from the city of Washington, in latitude 42° 40' north and longitude 4º 16' (very nearly) east from Washington. The area of the town is about twelve thousand and three hundred acres, containing only a small portion either of ledges, ponds or plains. The surface is hilly and diversified. The outlines of the landscape are majestic and grand. Many of the elevations are bold and rough, while others are gracefully rounded and some of the ele- vated swells of land are fertile to the summit. The soil is that common to the hill towns in this vicinity- comparatively stubborn and rocky, yet mostly arable and productive. The subsoil is of the nature of clay, which holds the moisture, and springs of the purest water are abundant.

The town is well watered. All its streams flow easterly either into the Souhegan, the Squannicook or the Nashua Rivers. The stream running through the northwest corner of the town, and draining the northeast part of Ashburnham through Ward Pond and Watatic Pond and thence onward through New Ipswich, is really the south branch of the Souhegan River.

WILLARD'S STREAM, made up at first from the drainage of Nemoset and Russell Hills in Ashburn- ham, passes out of that town and soon falls into the Ashby reservoir and thence on northeasterly through the entire breadth of the town; it joins the Squauni- cook in Ash Swamp, in Townsend.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 91

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034