History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 74

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III > Part 74

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Mr. Trull was twice married, first to Mercy Griffen, who died in 1797, and then to Olive Thorndike, with

Fuer w. Kittredge

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whom he spent a happy and respected old age. By his first wife he left a daughter, Mrs. Mercy Trull Foster, who died in 1880. The following were the surviving children of his second marriage: Mr. John Trull, of Boston, in his eighty-ninth year; Mr. Her- bert L., a public-spirited man, died 1882; Deacon Nathaniel Trull, the first deacon of the Baptist Church and representative of the town to the Legis- lature of 1852; Mr. Jesse L. Trull and Mr. Larkin T., and one daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth R. Clark, all of Tewksbury.

Mr. Jesse Trull was of the old New England type, an indefatigable worker, abonnding in enterprise and energy, whose character and judgment were held in respect by the town.

The writer is indebted to Mr. J. C. Kittredge, of Gardner Road, Brookline, for the following sketch of his father. Mr. Kittredge was descended from one of the oldest families in town. The ancestor, John Kitt- redge, was educated in England (from whence he came) in a liberal manner. His son, Doctor John Kittredge, was probably the first male child born in the present Tewksbury in 1665-6, January 24, in a house which contends with the old Hunt home- stead as being the oldest in town. He was buried in the South Cemetery, and his tombstone has this in- scription : "Here Lyes the body of Doctor John Kiterig, who Departed This Life Aprii the 28, 1714, in ye 49th year of his age."

JEREMIAH KITTREDGE.

Jeremiah Kittredge was born at the old home- stead, opposite Round Pond, September 5, 1796, and died in Boston, November 5, 1855.

He was the eldest son, and second of five children of Jeremiah and Annah Kittredge.

The family is one of the oldest in Billerica and Tewksbury, John Kittredge, an ancestor, having been one of the first settlers of Billerica in 1652.

When Mr. Kittredge was a boy the youth had no such opportunities for education as are to be had now, for teachers were but imperfectly trained, and terms were very short.

He remained with his father until he was twenty- one years of age, and then started forth, with twenty- five cents in his pocket, and walked to Charlestown, for employment. He entered there the grocery store of Skinner & Herd, where he remained several years.

He was faithful to his employers then as always, and did his best; by serving them he served himself; and good habits, with diligence and frugality, were not wanting. After a proper apprenticeship he, with a young man by the name of Wyman, in the | same store, established themselves in the grocery business, opposite the Boston and Maine depot, near the junction of Haverhill and Charlestown Streets.

The venture was successful, and, after a few years, the firm was dissolved.

Mr. Kittredge then moved to the corner of Han- over and Union Streets, the subsequent site of Rev. Dr. Neal's Baptist Church, now occupied by the Blackstone National Bank. A wholesale importing business was carried on here; and that he might extend it, vessels were built for the purpose of importing.

These were sent to the West Indian ports, Jeremie, Jacmel, Saint Thomas and other places in the West Indies, as well as to the Baltic ports.

The principal vessel was the barque Lexington, built on land in South Boston, purchased for the pur- pose. Manufactured goods and groceries were ex- changed for cottou, logwood, mahogany, coffee and other commodities.

After staying in this store till about 1835, he moved to an office situated on the north side of Com- mercial Street, where he remained until his death,

Here he extended the business, adding naval stores to the otherwise many interests. Camphene (a burn- ing fluid popular at the time) was invented by him, and from which the returns were lucrative. In this part of the business he associated with himself several partners, mostly relatives, whom he in this way bene- fited, as well as being helped by their efficient ser- vices. He possessed that characteristic of genius, namely, the power of selecting subordinates well.

The naval-store department brought him into inti- mate relations with Southern people, whose acquaint- ance he found agreeable and friendly. Spirits of turpentine, tar, pitch, rosin and all that is found in that connection were manufactured and sold by him. It can be readily seen, from what has been written, that the business was extensive, and one that could have been invented and conducted only by a superior man ; one gifted extraordinarily in a commercial way.

He was essentially, and to the heart's core, a man of business. His aim was single, and he pursued it with unswerving energy. Fond of literature and sci- ence, he could only gratify his taste for them by at- tending lectures, on account of the limited leisure at his disposal.

He never entered political life, not accepting even of a public business trust, although solicited to do so; his known integrity and mercantile ability making him a very desirable candidate for such a position. He was one of those many self-made men found in New England and elsewhere, the fruits of whose toil seem to put to shame many who have been favored with far greater advantages.

In those days mercantile enterprises were attended with more risks and trials than at present, although. competition was not nearly as great. Fire insur- ance, for one thing, was not as general or effective as now. Mr. Kittredge met with several losses from the consuming fiend. When he began his career, and in- deed until the time of his death, Boston was a much smaller, and a very different place from what it is at the present day.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

lle lived in the days of Webster, Clay and Calhoun, and died previous to the great Civil War earthquake, but not before the signs of the times were pointing toward such an awful event.

In 1843 he purchased from the other heirs their rights in the homestead property in Tewksbury ; and in 1554 he removed the old house, which had stood sinee carly in the eighteenth century and built the capacious structure, with barn, at present standing.

It was his intention to make Tewksbury his sum- mer residence, but unfortunately death came before he had an opportunity to do so.

Mr. Kittredge was twice married; first to Miss Lydia Wood, of North Tewksbury, October 19, 1824, and to Miss Clarissa J. Chapman, of his native town, also, October 19, 1842. From the first marriage there were three children, two daughters and one son ; and from the next, two sons, George Albert and Jeremiah Chapman ; of the entire family, the last name alone survives.

LEONARD HUNTRESS.

Although not a native of this town, no man was better known to the present generation than Leonard Huntress, Born at Rochester, N. H., November, 22, 1811, his boyhood was spent in Portsmouth, of that state, where he learned the trade of printer. On attaining his majority, 1832, Mr. Huntress came to Lowell, and was employed in the office of the Lowell Mercury. The year following he married Miss Lydia Anne MeKinnon, of Portsmouth, N. B., with whom he spent nearly fifty happy years.

In 1834 he purchased a half interest in the Mercury, and afterwards, in partnership with Daniel H. Knowl- ton, bought the Lowell Weekly fournal, and united it with the former paper. This firm, Huntress & Knowlton, on January 6, 1835, started the Lowell Courier, which appeared as a tri-weekly until 1845, since which date it has been published as a daily. A year after the start of the Courier, Mr. Knowlton re- tired, and Mr. Huntress published the paper alone, with the assistance of several able citizens as succes- sive editors until 1812, when ill-health caused him to dispose of it. For some eight years Mr. Huntress engaged in business, but in 1850 was elected to the Board of County Commissioners, on which he served most of the time as chairman, till 1876.

In 1-12 Mr 11. removed to his farm at North Tewksbury, which continued to be his home till his death July 19, 18So, at the age of seventy-four years.

also served on the School Committee for several years and was frequently elected to minor official positions. The town records and the preceding sketeh of Tewksbury, show the service he rendered the town and the estimation in which he was held. Mr. H. also was for the period of its existence, eleven years, trial justjee of the court at the almshouse. After his retirement through failing health, Mr. H. fouud enjoy- ment in the work of his fine farm and in those literary pursuits in which he had taken a warm interest all his life. He was a fine reader, and the aid of his voice was often sought in social entertainments.

Genial, hospitable, courteous, commanding in presence, equable and tender, Mr. H. was a fine specimen of the Christian gentleman of the ohl school, a type too rare in any community.

As an illustration of a kind of work he was doing through life in settling disputes and estates, the two last years of his life afford an example. He spent the leisure of that period in the employ of the Locks and Canals Company in adjusting the damages to owners of land on the banks of the Merrimac, caused by the raising of the flash boards at the dam. This work involved a vast amount of labor, and re- quired no ordinary tact and address, but was accomplished to the perfeet satisfaction of the claim- ants for damages and of the company.

In early life Mr. H. was a very prominent member of St. Paul's Church, Lowell, in building whose edifice he took an active part. In later years he was a constant worshipper in the Baptist Church, North Tewksbury.

Ilis surviving children are, Mr. Frank Huntress, of Boston, Mass., Dr. Leonard Huntress, of Lowell, and Mrs. George Dyer, of Washington, D. C.

OLIVER RICHARDSON CLARK.

Oliver Richardson Clark was born on the ohl homestead in North Tewksbury, March 16, 1819. llis birthplace, the home of his brother, Deacon Joshua Clark, is part of the celebrated Winthrop's Farm which now includes the homestead of the Hunts, Clarks, Fosters and others. The Clark family is decended from the noted second minister of Chelmsford, the Rev. Thomas Clark, whose great- grandson, Deacon Thomas Clark, came to Tewksbury about the year 1744, and appears frequently in the lists of town officers. He was town treasurer for nine successive years. Indeed the years are few when a Thomas, or Joshua, or Oliver Clark is absent from the town records.

For over thirty years Mr. H. held in Tewksbury prominent positions in its public and social life. Ile O. R. Clark was educated in the common schools of Tewksbury, except one term, which was spent in Phillips Academy, Andover, and two terms at Warren Academy, Woburn. Through life Mr. Clark enjoyed reading of the solid and also lighter kinds. way fifty three times moderator of town meetings, nineteen of which were annual. From March, 1861, to November, Und, be was elected to his position twenty times in succession which period included the war years. Seventeen times he was chairman of the He began life as a shoemaker and cutter of shoe stock, but soon entered the business firm of Cutter & Board of Selectmen, serving in that capacity during all the war and also as recruiting officer. Mr. H. Co., Boston, dealers in mahogany and other fancy

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woods. His energy and tact soon secured advance in this relation till after a few years he became a partner in the concern. Having married a daughter of the senior member of the firm, Miss Julia Ann Cutter, on Mr. Cutter's retirement Mr. Clark became chief partner, a position he retained till his death March 6, 1887.

Mr. Clark was prominent in political life. Au ab- olitionist in early life, he became an ardent Repub- lican on the formation of that party, to which he ever remained warmly attached. For many years he lived in Winchester, where he was one of the select- men for ten years, one of the School Committee for seven years, many times moderator, and treasurer of the cemetery twenty years. In 1859 he represented the Sixth Middlesex district in the House of Repre- sentatives. He was a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1861, and again in 1864. In the latter year it devolved upon him, as senior member, to eall that body to order, and preside until a presiding officer was chosen. Gov. Clifford appointed Mr. Clark a justice of the peace in 1853, which office he held un- der successive governors till his death.

Mr. Clark returned to Tewksbury in 1872, and there was prominent, as the official list shows, in town af- fairs.

He was a devoted member of the Congregationalist denomination, joining the church in early life. For fifteen years he was superintendent of the Sunday School of the First Congregationalist Church, Win- chester, and for many years he served the Tewksbury school in the same capacity. The title of " Deacon Clark," by which he was generally known in town came to him from having held that office in the Win- chester Church eighteen years.

Besides filling many minor offices, Deacon Clark at his death was one of the vice-presidents of the Mer- rimac Valley Congregational Club, and from 1886 one of the trustees of the State Almshouse, Tewksbury.

Unbounded energy, sterling Saxon sense, an in- domitable will, a very sociable nature, strict integrity in business relations, ardent devotion to temperance and reform, these are among the prominent traits of one whom his associates found a kind and genial neighbor and obliging friend.

THOMAS JEFFERSON MARSH.

Captain Marsh, as hosts usually called him, was born March 7, 1805, in Exeter, N. H., where he ob- tained the title as captain of a militia company. There he learned, and in various places practised the trade of shoemaking. He resided successively in Amesbury, Lynn and Boston, but in 1853 he removed to Waltham, his home for several years.

The greater part of his life was spent in public of- fice and he was identified with some of the most im- portant movements of the time.

For nearly twenty years he was in the Boston Cus-

tom-house in various positions. In 1855-56 he was State Treasurer of Massachusetts. In early life Mr. Marsh was a Democrat of the Jefferson stamp. Natu- alrly when the Republican party was born, he became one of its ardent and permanent adherents, and was a delegate from the old Banks district to the convention which in 1856 nominated John C. Fremont, the first Republican candidate for the presidency.

In 1857 Mr. Marsh took an active part in the polit- ical life of Kansas. He played it in a manner of which so good a judge as Mr. F. B. Sanborn wrote in the Springfield Republicun, " his Kansas experiences , were creditable to him and should not be for- gotten.'

Capt. Marsh went to Kansas at the suggestion of Senator Wilson and George L. Stearns, then chairman of the State Kansas Committee of Massachusetts. His mission is thus well described by Mr. Sanborn : " The following letter discloses his errand :

" CHARLES ROBINSON, EsQ., Lawrence, K. T .:

" Dear Sir-By the advice of Hoo. Henry Wilson, who returned from Kansas but a short time since, we have raised a small sum to assist the Free State Party in the coming election, aod have engaged Thomas J. Marsh, who will hand you this, to go to Kansas ae our agent. This let- ter of instructions to himi will inform you of our plans, and we trust he will be Able to render you efficient aid in procuring such ao organiza- tion of the Free State as will enable them to vote down the bogus con - stitution, if submitted to the decision of the people of the territory ; but io any eveut to take possession of tho territorial legislature in October next. Mr. March will remain in Kansas until the October election, if he can be of aoy uee to you.

Truly yours,

GEORGE L. STEARNB.

Boston, June 30, 1857.

" This letter was written in the same week when Abraham Lincoln made a Kansas speech at Spring- field, Ill., in which he said : 'Nothing but bold, wicked despotism has ruled in Kansas since it was organized into a territory. Let slavery sweep over the territories and God will sweep ns with a brush of fire from this solid globe! The 'small fund' of which Mr. Stearns spoke became about $4000, and was raised, chiefly in Boston, by Henry Wilson, Mr. Stearns and other anti-slavery men. It was judi- ciously used by Mr. Marsh, and the result was, in October, 1857, a territorial legislature chosen by good majorities, which was controlled by the Free State men."

While in Kansas he acted for part of the time as adjutant general.

Shortly after his return he was appointed superin- tendent of the State Almshouse in Tewksbury. This was in early summer of 1858. He soon brought its affairs out of the "chaotic condition" in which he found them and began the constant improvement which has continued in and around that institution to the present day. A farm of which the Boston Advertiser said that an equal number of acres at the bottom of Boston harbor would be more arable was gradually changed into a state of prodnetiveness and comparative beauty. His government of the indigent

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

and sick committed to his charge revealed his posses- sion of the rare gift of discipline without the appear- ance of disciplining.

From early manhood Mr. Marsh was a member of the Baptist Church. Among his brethren he held many official trusts and filled many positions requir- ing tact and delicacy. He bore the office of deacon in the old Rowe Street Church during a part of Dr. Baron Stow's ministry, and afterward the same office in the church at Waltham. He was an enthusiastic friend of Christian missions and of all benevolent work, and in his church and among the brethren had the reputation so rare of being "too generous." Capt. Marsh lett the Institution at Tewksbury after over twenty-five years as superintendent, during which time it is estimated that over $2,000,000 of the State's money passed through his hands in a manner which allowed so good a judge ay General and then Gov- ernor Butler to declare of Mr. Marsh " I beheve you are an honest man."

After leaving Tewksbury Capt. Marsh returned to his native town, Exeter, N. II., where, after a brief period of repose, he died February 27, 1888, aged almost 83 years.

Genial, equable, impressively unselfish, persuasive in manner and speech, idolized by his family, loving and lovable, Mr. Marsh personally illustrated these words :

" 1 live for those who love me, For those who know me true. For the Heaven that smiles above ine, And await4 my spirit too; For the cause thut lacks assistance, For the wrong that claims resistance, For the great hope in the distance, And the good that I can do."

MARY F. EASTMAN.

For the past twenty years Tewksbury has been honored as the home of one of the well-known laborers in the great canse of the elevation of woman-of one who has been the subject of many eulogiums from pulpit and press-of whom Colonel T. W. Higginson hys said : " If you want to know what I mean by a clear and satisfactory utterance, hear Miss Mary F. Eastman lecture."

Miss Eastman has not only found a field on lhe platform but in the pulpit also has uttered her mess- are with wide acceptance in " sweet and helpful words," as the Rev. Robert Collyer said of one of her sermons.

The writer is indebted to Miss Helen Eastman for this brief sketch of her sister's life :

Mary F. Eastman, daughter of Gardner R. and Mary Eastman, is a native of Lowell, Mass., but has resided in Tewksbury for many years. Her early school training was in the Lowell high school, fol- lowed by seminary and Normal school courses. It was with keen regret that she then found all New England college doors closed to her sex, and she turned to the only other school of education open to her-the teacher's profession. To this work she de- voted herself as to a beloved art. She taught in the high and normal school for girls, Boston, then at so- licitation of Hon. Horace Mann, she went to Ohio to aid in the work of education which he had under- taken at Antioch College, and remained nntil his death.

About this time, in pursuance of Mr. Mann's rec- ommendation she was solicited by Minister Sarmiento, then representing the Argentine Republic in this country, to take charge of the great work, since so successfully carried on there, then in its inception, of introducing into the South American Republic a sys- tem of schools substantially as it had been developed in New England. Though much impelled after Mr. Mann's death, to carry out his desires, Miss Eastman, after due consideration of her youth and inexperience, declined the important work. Returning to New England she took charge of the Female Department of the Lowell High School, her Alma Mater, which had nearly two hundred pupils. After four years service, she resigned to take charge of a seminary for young ladies at Meadville, Pa., where she remained seven years. While there Miss Eastman was invited to ad- dress the students of the Meadville Theological School stating her views on the mooted question of woman's claim to the ballot. The outcome of this lecture was a change of work, and she entered the lecture-field in support of educational, political, and other reforms -with lectures on travel and on literary topics, meet - ing with most cordial reception from the public.

She has in the past few years prepared the biogra- phy of Dr. Dio Lewis and contributes the section on History of the Education of Women in the Eastern States, to a forthcoming volume on " Woman's Work in America."

Miss Eastman since her resi:lence in Tewksbury has cherished a warm interest in the welfare of the town. Although leading a busy public life she has served on the school committee and has generously afforded her aid in establishing the Public Library and the Village Improvement Association.

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WATERTOWN.

CHAPTER XXIX.

WATERTOWN.'

BY SOLON F. WHITNEY.

Mythical Period-Geography-Physical Features of the Lands Within its Ancient Boundaries-Agricultural Character of the People.

The following contributions to a history of this ancient towo are the result of a movement recently made to establish a Historical Society of Watertowa. The secretary of this young society is the editor of this collection of articlee, the faulte of which he cheerfully nodertakes to shoulder, while the merits he gratefully credits to the several writere.

The editor is more and more impressed with the fact that very much of great interest to the historical etudent has been connected with the people of this towa, many of whom, although scattered in different parte of the country still delight, like dutiful chikiren, to refer to old Watertown as the source from which they derived ideas of personal aod municipal independence, of correct moral and religious teaching, of thrift and industry, which have been of service to them wherever they have been located.

Not all knowledge is of equal worth. Not all seed produces fruit worth the raising. If valuable elements of character have been matured in this old town, first planted hy Sir Richard Saltonstall, bleseed by the true, independent, God-fearing parson, George Phillips, and continued by a loyal pusterity, it must be of service to others, and so an honor to any to hand down the memory of it to future generatione.

To study and preserve the memory of all that has heen or may he ot nye to others from the wide domain of ancient Watertown, ie the pur- pose of this Historical Society. SOLON F. WHITNEY, Sec.

THE history of Watertown is important, as it is the oldest town now in the county, the town which has colonized so many other towns, and which, from its peculiar independent character and position, has served as a typical town in the organization of the state.

MYTHICAL PERIOD .- That the Norsemen colonized Iceland and the south-western shores of Greenland five or six centuries before the voyages of Columbus is a matter of history. That the claims of the Sagas that their bold sailors reached the shores of Labrador, of Newfoundland, of Nova Scotia and New England seems hardly incredible. Iceland is distant from Norway some 650 miles, from Scotland and the Shet- land Isles about 500 miles, while from Greenland only about 150 miles. The vessels and the seaman- ship that enabled the hardy Norsemen to cross from Norway to Iceland in frequent voyages, would have enabled them, with the aid of the southern currents which pour out of Baffin's Bay along the coast of Labrador and over the banks of Newfoundland and are well marked along the coast of Nova Scotia and Maine inside of the Gulf Stream as far south as Cape Cod, to visit these New England shores. There can be little doubt but that the many vagne stories of the Sagas have under them facts accomplished which the more definite language of a later period would have fixed with such minuteness of dates and measure- ments and careful details as to have changed the myths to veritable history. It may be mere myth,

or theory, or the faith of a dreamer that makes Watertown the chief settlement of these venture- some navigators, and the seat of a commerce in what seemed to the Icelanders and the people of the north of Europe wonderful growths of gnarled wood and vines. We have not space in this brief sketch of the history of this town, so favored by nature, so neglected as yet by man, for more than this mere allusion to the claims of new discoveries in this direction by Professor Horsford in his remarkable communication to the American Geographical So- ciety made the last year. What is possibly true it may be difficult to prove by incontestable evidence. If true, some remains of grave, or utensil, or arms, or armor, will yet be found, though one may doubt if iron or wood would endure the changes of this climate nearly a thousand years to hear witness to former owners.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 74

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1278

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278