USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > New Bedford > History of New Bedford, Volume III > Part 13
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Mr. Crapo is a writer of much charm, sharing the genius of his father. A genealogical work in two volumes under the title of "Certain Comeovers," privately published, is in captivating style. Mr. Crapo's ability to make literature of uncompromising material is demonstrated by his chapter upon banking history in this work.
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Mr. Crapo was born January 31, 1862. He attended Friends' Acad- emy, graduated from Harvard in 1883, spent two years at Harvard Law School, and in April, 1887, became a member of the firm of Crapo, Clif- ford & Clifford, where he became a recognized authority on titles. He was at one time a member of the Board of Aldermen, but his business interests left him no leisure for politics. He is at the present time a member of the fuel committee and devotes much time to this problem of the war.
WILLIAM J. ROTCH.
In 1847 New Bedford was chartered a city, and came under the rule of a chief executive called a mayor. In 1852 William J. Rotch, then thirty-three years of age, was elected to that high office, being the second man to fill the mayor's chair, Abraham H. Howland, the first incumbent, holding it through four reelections, 1847-1852. But Mayor Rotch was emphatically a business man and was not susceptible to the allurements of political life, and after a term in the mayor's office, then as now, one year in length, he steadfastly declined all public office. But his tenure of office as president of the New Bedford Cordage Company was thirty-four years, and as president of Friends' Academy he served forty-four years. In his life he exemplified the best traits of American manhood, and was rich in the love, respect and esteem of his townsmen.
The Rotch name has been intimately and prominently connected with New Bedford since 1765, when Joseph Rotch left Nantucket, and settled in that part of the town of Dartmouth to which he gave the name Bedford. He was attracted to the beautiful harbor, which he saw was especially well suited to become the seat of the whaling industry whose future he foresaw. He purchased ten acres in one tract, now the busi- ness center of the town, and built his house on what was long known as Rotch's Hill, a building which was burned by the British when they made their famous raid through Dartmouth during the Revolution. He was succeeded by his son, William (2) Rotch, named for his Grandfather Rotch, born in England, who settled at Provincetown, Massachusetts, about the year 1700. This William (2) Rotch moved from Nantucket to New Bedford in 1795, and there resided until his death in 1828, in his ninety-fifth year. His residence was the "Mansion House," corner of Union and North Second streets. Tall and dignified in person, his face expressive of benevolence, with his long silvery locks, and the Friends' drab colored suit, combined with his noble philanthropic character, ren- dered him an object of profound respect. He was of the highest type of merchant, a man of strictest integrity, generous and high-minded, broad and liberal, a friend of the down-trodden, using his wealth wisely, and all in all one of those rare characters which approach as near perfec- tion as humanity can hope to attain.
William (3) Rotch followed his father, William (2) Rotch, and from
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about the close of the Revolution until his death, in 1850, was one of New Bedford's leading merchants. He was the first president of the New Bedford Institution for Savings, gave nearly one-half the amount subscribed to erect Friends' Academy, built in 1811 on land given by his father. William (1) Rotch was the first president of the Academy. Wil- liam (2) Rotch, the first treasurer, and for thirty-nine years either treas- urer or president. His home, now the Mariners', was nearly opposite the former Merchants' National Bank, William and Water streets. Later he moved to a mansion on County street. He was most hospitable in his entertainment of strangers, and like his father was an ardent Abolitionist, aiding many a slave on his way to freedom. He married Elizabeth Rod- man, of Newport, Rhode Island, the line of descent to William J. Rotch coming through the second son, Joseph Rotch, born in 1790, died in 1839, who married Anna Smith, of Philadelphia, and there resided for a few years, after which he resided on William street, between County and Eighth streets, in New Bedford.
William J. Rotch, second son of Joseph and Anna (Smith) Rotch, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in May, 1819, and died at Bev- erly Farms, Massachusetts, August 17, 1893. After graduation with honors, Harvard, Bachelor of Arts, 1838, he entered business life, and with his brother, Benjamin S. Rotch (Harvard, 1838), engaged in many business enterprises. In connection with Joseph Ricketson, they founded the New Bedford Cordage Company, one of the successful enterprises of New Bedford, Mr. Rotch continuing president of the company for thirty- four years. The Rotch Brothers were closely associated with Gordon Mckay in the development of the Mckay Sewing Machine, and there were few New Bedford enterprises of importance with which he was not connected. He was president of the Howland Mills Corporation, presi- dent of the Rotch Wharf Company, vice-president of the New Bedford In- stitution for Savings, a director of the National Bank of Commerce, Old Colony Railroad Company, Cleveland & Canton Railroad Company, Rotch Spinning Company, New Bedford Copper Company, Wamsutta Mills, and the Potomska Mills. He was always ready to aid in the founding of new industries or the extension of old ones, and like his ancestors was an instant champion of the cause of the oppressed.
He was the second man elected mayor of New Bedford, succeeding Mayor Howland in 1852. Previously, he had served two terms in the Massachusetts Legislature, 1848-1850. He was one of the founders of the Republican party in Southeastern Massachusetts, and had long been an ardent advocate of the cause of abolition of the slave trade. A man of culture and refinement, he graced any assembly, and as a platform speaker was ready, eloquent and forceful. He was of graceful, courtly manner, of upright dignified carriage, a conspicuous figure at public gatherings on the city streets. In nature, kindly and considerate, he had a cheery word for all, and, although one of the wealthiest men of the city there was nothing ostentatious about him, his smile as ready and
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unforced in greeting one as another. Although a Friend by inherited right, he was a member of the Unitarian church. For forty-two years he was president and treasurer of Friends' Academy, an institution always dear to the Rotch heart.
When finally the end of his useful life was reached, and he was laid at rest in Oak Grove Cemetery, there was an unusual display of public sorrow. The many corporations with which he was connected passed suitable resolutions of respect and many eulogies were uttered. One of these expressions of respect was that passed, August 21, 1893, by the board of directors of the National Bank of Commerce :
Resolved, That the Directors of the National Bank of Commerce of New Bedford recognize that in the death of their late vice-president, the Hon. William J. Rotch, they have lost not only the guidance and assist- ance of one upon whose wisdom and character they were accustomed to lean, but also the companionship of one whose charming personality commanded the respect and won the friendship of his associates. And they desire thus to record their appreciation of the value to this bank of his long and constant service of more than forty years.
William J. Rotch married (first) in 1842, Emily Morgan, eldest daughter of Charles W. and Sarah (Rodman) Morgan. Mrs. Rotch died in 1861, leaving seven children, one, Charles M., dying in infancy. The others are: 1. William, married Mary Rotch Eliot, of New Bedford, now resident of Boston. 2. Helen, married Dr. Thomas Morgan Rotch, for- merly of Boston ; Dr. Rotch died March 9, 1914, and Mrs. Rotch died Sep- tember 3, 1914. 3. Isabel M., the widow of Pierre Severance, of Boston, who died in 1886. 4. Sarah R., the widow of Frederick Swift, of New Bedford. 5. Emily M., married Dr. J. T. Bullard, of New Bedford. 6. Anna S., married Francis H. Stone, of New Bedford. Mr. Rotch mar- ried (second) in 1866, Clara, youngest sister of his first wife, who sur- vives him. The daughter of this marriage, Mary R. Rotch, died Febru- ary 19, 1917. From 1876 until 1881, the winter home of the family was in Boston, the summer home, the County Street Mansion, built by James Arnold, an uncle of Mr. Rotch. In 1881-1882 Mr. Rotch with his wife and four daughters toured Europe, returning to New Bedford in the fall of 1882.
Mrs. Clara (Morgan) Rotch is a daughter of Charles Waln Mor- gan, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 14, 1796, died at his home on County street (the present site of New High School), New Bed- ford, Massachusetts, April 7, 1861, son of Thomas and Anne (Waln) Morgan. He located in New Bedford in 1819, became an extensive ship- ping merchant in connection with the whaling industry, and ranked among the wealthy and prominent men of the city. He was a man of strict integrity, and most generous nature, there yet existing monuments to his philanthropy and bountiful liberality. Mr. Morgan was an incor- porator of the New Bedford Institution for Savings in 1825; a founder
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of the New Bedford Lyceum in 1826; member of the committee in charge of the erection of the First Congregational Church, 1836-38; a contribu- tor to the fund to establish Friends' Academy ; donor of the second trust fund to New Bedford Free Public Library, established under the act of 1851 ; portraits of George Howland, Jr., donor of the first fund, and of Charles W. Morgan adorning the library walls, with those of other friends of the institution.
Mr. Morgan married, June 3, 1819, Sarah Rodman, born October 31, 1793, died September 26, 1888, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Rotch) Rodman, a direct descendant of John Rodman, of Barbadoes, tather of Thomas Rodman, of the same place and Newport, Rhode Island, 1640- 1728. Charles W. and Sarah (Rodman) Morgan were the parents of: Emily, born December 31, 1821, died in 1861, married William J. Rotch ; Samuel Rodman, born August 18, 1824, married Josephine Wharton Craig, of Philadelphia ; Isabel, born October 21, 1829, died May 18, 1847; Elizabeth Rodman, born February 20, 1833, the widow of George Hus- sey, of New Bedford, Mrs. Hussey is still living at an advanced age; Clara, born December 1, 1836, married William J. Rotch, whom she sur- vives, a resident of New Bedford.
FRANK RIVERS KIRBY.
For over thirty years Frank Rivers Kirby was one of New Bedford's successful merchants, and when, at the close of his years, sixty-five, he journeyed to "that bourne from which no traveler ever returns," he left behind him the memory of a man, genial and kindly to all, honorable and upright in every business transaction, quiet and retiring, very fond of his home and family. He came to New Bedford a man of mature years, and experienced in mercantile business, and in the city of his adoption bought out an established bakery and confectionery store, later known as Bates, Kirby & Company.
Mr. Kirby was of the eighth generation of the family founded in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1636, by Richard Kirby, who the next year was one of the founders of Sandwich, and later of the town of Dart- mouth that ancient town which at one time included New Bedford. This Richard Kirby moved to Dartmouth after 1660, and there died in 1688. being succeeded by his son, Richard (2) Kirby, of Sandwich and Dartmouth. He married (first) Patience Gifford, of Sandwich, their son, Robert Kirby, being a resident of that part of Dartmouth which, in 1787, became the town of Westport, his homestead of two hundred and twelve acres lying both sides of the Coaxit river. With Robert Kirby membership in the Society of Friends began officially, although both his father and grandfather were friendly to the Soci- ety, but are not of record as members. Robert Kirby married Re- becca Potter, the next in line being their son, Nathaniel Kirby, who mar-
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ried Abigail Russell, a direct descendant of Ralph Russell, who came from England and set up an iron forge at Russell's Mills in Dartmouth. The line of descent from Nathaniel Kirby is through his son, Justus Kirby, and his wife, Catherine (Cornell) Kirby, of Westport ; their son, Wesson Kirby and his wife, Hannah (White) Kirby, of Westport, she a descendant of Francis Cooke of the "Mayflower ;" their son, Abraham Kirby, and his wife, Eunice (White) Kirby, of Westport ; their son, Ste- phen P. Kirby, and his first wife, Harriet N. (Brownell) Kirby, of West- port, they the parents of Frank Rivers Kirby, to whose memory this re- view is dedicated.
Frank Rivers Kirby was born in Westport, Bristol county, Massa- chusetts, May 28. 1850, died in New Bedford, Massachusetts, January 22, 1915. He was educated in the public schools of Westport and Pierce Academy, Middleboro, going thence to the Mason Machine Company at Taunton, Massachusetts, there serving four years as an apprentice, learn- ing the machinist's trade. But neither that trade nor his father's busi- ness, cattle buyer and drover, attracted him sufficiently to retain him, and he soon left the machine shop for the store, his real ambition being for mercantile life. His first store was a grocery at Taunton, ex-Senator Walter O. Luscomb being his partner, the firm name Kirby & Luscomb. This partnership was finally dissolved, Mr. Kirby returning to his home in Westport, and there again engaging in business under the firm name, Kirby & Hicks, an association which was dissolved early in the eighties. Such had been the career of Mr. Kirby at the time of his coming to New Bedford immediately after the dissolution of Kirby & Hicks. Here he formed a partnership with Orrin Bates, whose brother, William Bates, was proprietor of a bakery and confectionery store. The partnership Bates & Kirby bought out the William Bates business, which they en- larged and successfully conducted at No. 592 Pleasant street, later admit- ting a third partner, Charles G. Tripp, the firm then becoming Bates, Kirby & Company. Mr. Kirby continued active in the business until 1913, when he retired to enjoy the full benefits of his life of well directed effort.
Mr. Kirby married, October 11, 1877, Cora L. Eddy, who survives him, still residing at the Cottage street home in New Bedford.
RODOLPHUS ASHLEY.
Founder of the New Bedford Ice Company and one of the strong men of the "long ago," Rodolphus Ashley lived a life of usefulness and honorable endeavor in keeping with the honored name he bore. He was a son of John Sherman Ashley, and brother of Joshua Bishop Ashley, father of the present mayor of New Bedford, Charles Sumner Ashley, and a descendant of the family founded by Joseph and Elizabeth Ash- ley, who early settled in Rochester, Massachusetts. John Sherman Ash-
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ley, born May 3, 1790, married in Rochester, Massachusetts, June 17, 1815, Mary G. (Gonch) Brown. Their second son was Rodolphus, to whose memory this review in offered.
Rodolphus Ashley was born in Rochester, Bristol county, Massachu- setts, May 19, 1818, died in New Bedford, Massachusetts, May 16, 1873. He attended the town schools until thirteen years of age, then began learning the blacksmith's trade in Randolph, Massachusetts, later com- ing to New Bedford, where he entered the employ of Mr. Brownell, where his brother, Joshua Ashley, was later admitted a partner, Brown- ell & Ashley continuing for several years. Later Mr. Ashley bought a farm on the county road, and until 1849 bought and sold ship timber. In 1849 he went to California with the gold-seekers, and spent two years at the mines as a blacksmith, returning to New Bedford in 1851. In the year 1860 he moved to a large farm at Clarke's Point, which he owned, and in 1865 built ice houses on his property and organized the New Bed- ford Ice Company with which he was connected until his death. He also operated his farm, dealt in real estate, lumber and live stock, con- ducting profitable operations along all these lines. He was well known as a standing timber appraiser. He was a man of energy and good judg- ment, meeting every demand good citizenship made upon him. He was superintendent of streets for some time, was a member of the Masonic order, and in all respects measured up to the full stature of a man.
Mr. Ashley married, January 14, 1841, Ruth Parker, born September 8, 1818, died in February, 1900, daughter of Elijah and Anna (Spooner) Parker, her father a noted shipbuilder. Mr. and Mrs. Ashley were the parents of four sons and five daughters, one of the sons, Isaac L. Ashley, yet living (1918). The deceased sons are: R. Emery, Freeman H. and Henry T. Ashley. The five daughters of Rodolphus Ashley are all living and reside in New Bedford: Caroline, married Edwin Swan; Mary G., married Killey E. Terry ; Ellen I., married Alexander Omey ; Ruth, un- married ; Emma, married Thomas B. Tripp. The married daughters are all widowed.
ZEPHANIAH W. PEASE.
Zephaniah W. Pease, the editor of this work, was born in New Bed- ford, August 21, 1861, the son of Peleg and Joanna Morton (Thomas) Pease. He is of "Mayflower" and Revolutionary ancestry, being of the eighth generation from John Howland, and a descendant of Noah Thomas, a Revolutionary soldier, who was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. Mr. Pease graduated from the High School in 1877 and after a brief experience on a Fall River newspaper, became a reporter on the morning "Mercury" of New Bedford in the fall of 1880. In 1895 Mr. Pease became editor of the "Mercury," a position he has since occupied. The same year Mr. Pease was appointed by President Cleveland collector of customs for the Port of New Bedford, an office he held until 1900.
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Mr Pease has also served on the New Bedford water board and is a member of the selective service board of Division No. 3. Mr. Pease is the author of "The Catalpa Expedition," published in 1897, and has con- tributed many special articles to various publications. He was married, October 24, 1888, to Anna F. Bryden, of Fairhaven, and has one son, Bryden Pease, aged twenty-five, at the present time in the United States Army.
The father of Mr. Pease was Peleg Pease, who was an assistant edi- tor of the "Mercury" in 1876 and a writer of verse and many humorous articles that appeared in the local newspapers. He was, for many years, a member of the school board. He was born in New Bedford in 1822, the son of Zephaniah Pease and Mary (Spooner) Pease. He died in 1879. The mother of Z. W. Pease was the daughter of the Captain of a mer- chant ship and was born in Plympton, Massachusetts, in 1828. She is still living.
FREDERICK SWIFT.
When William Swift left his native England and came to Water- town, Massachusetts, in 1634, he brought to his new home the attributes of character, which, under pioneer conditions and needs, developed to their full and made him the fitting ancestor of a race of men and women whose lives and deeds are preserved in the histories of many com- munities and states. Frederick Swift, of New Bedford, was a son of the ninth American generation of his family, coming through the Falmouth branch, a grandson of Reuben Eldred Swift, the first of this branch to settle in New Bedford, who was a son of William (6) Swift, a farmer of Falmouth, a tailor by trade and a man of influence ; son of William (5) Swift; son of William (4) Swift; son of William (3) Swift; son of William (2) Swift, born in England, and lived in Sandwich, Massachu- setts; son of William (1) Swift, the founder of the family of Bocking, England, Watertown, Massachusetts, 1634; Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1637, died at the latter place, in January, 1643.
Reuben Eldred Swift, of the seventh generation, grandfather of Frederick Swift, was a cabinetmaker of Falmouth and Acushnet until 1620, then moved to New Bedford, there becoming a manufacturer of furniture. Prior to his moving to Acushnet, he had been associated with his brothers in the live oak timber business, and had spent considerable time in the states of South Carolina and Florida, seeking tracts of live oak, buying and shipping the timber to the ship yards of New Bedford and vicinity. He established a profitable furniture business in New Bedford, was captain of a company of Light Infantry during the Second War with Great Britain, and for a time was stationed at Clark's Point. He married, in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, March 24, 1803, Jane, a daughter of Captain Obed Nye, a soldier of the Revolution, and a direct descendant of Benjamin Nye, who came from England to Lynn, Massa-
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chusetts, in 1635. Captain Obed Nye was a well known sailing master, and by his first wife, Mary (Sellers) Nye, had twelve children, James being the youngest. Reuben Eldred and Jane (Nye) Swift were the parents of five sons, one of them, William Cole Nye Swift, father of Frederick Swift.
William Cole Nye Swift was born in Acushnet, Bristol county, Massachusetts, April 27, 1815, and died in New Bedford, May 11, 1892. He became one of New Bedford's whaling merchants, senior of the firm, Swift & Perry, later Swift & Akin. The outfitting of whaling vessels and other craft was the business of the firm, and was prosperously conducted. With his brother he was also interested in whale fishing and the live oak timber business. Mr. Swift married, June 15, 1847, Eliza Nye Perry, they the parents of Frederick Swift, to whose memory this review is inscribed.
Frederick Swift was born in New Bedford, December 12, 1852, and died in the city of his birth, December 16, 1915. He was a graduate of Friends Academy, New Bedford, prepared for college at Phillip's (Exeter) Academy, and completed his education at Harvard University, A. B., class of 1874. With this splendid mental equipment, he joined his father in the whaling business, as merchant outfitter, so continuing until the decline of New Bedford as a whaling center, and the substi- tution of Pacific ports as outfitting centers left the business an un- profitable one. By outfitting at Pacific ports the long voyage around Cape Horn was avoided, that great item of expense thus being saved. After retiring from the business with which the Swifts had long been connected, Frederick Swift was associated with the American Car & Foundry Company, of Chicago, and later and until 1914 was closely identified with the Griffin Wheel Company of Boston. In 1914 he was appointed a United States deputy collector of internal revenue, and at the time of his death was holding that position. Mr. Swift had the love of the sea in his blood and was an ardent yachtsman, being at one time commodore of the New Bedford Yacht Club. He was a man of genial, social nature, and thoroughly enjoyed the society and companionship of his fellowmen. He was a member of the Wamsutta Club, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Unitarian church, his political affiliations, Democratic. He was an excellent business man and official, faithful to every trust, progressive and public spirited. He met obliga- tions of manhood and citizenship to the full, bore well his part, and left behind him the record of a just and upright life.
Mr. Swift married, in New Bedford, Sarah R., daughter of William J. and Fmily (Morgan) Rotch, of the old and influential Rotch family of New Bedford. William J. Rotch, of the sixth American generation, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in May, 1819, and died at Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, August 17, 1893. He was a graduate of Harvard, class of 1838, was founder of the New Bedford Cordage Company, and its president for thirty-four years, president of the Howland Mills Cor-
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poration, president of the Rotch Wharf Company, vice-president of the New Bedford Institution for Savings, director in most of New Bedford's manufacturing enterprises, and all his life exemplified all the best attributes of manhood, few men more fully deserving the respect and esteem in which he was held. He married (first) in 1842, Emily Morgan, of New Bedford, daughter of Charles W. and Sarah (Rodman) Morgan. She died in 1861, and five years later Mr. Rotch married her youngest sister, Clara. Mr. Rotch was a grandson of William (3) Rotch, born in Nantucket, who soon after the Revolution moved to New Bedford, and was one of the most prominent merchants and citizens. He was the first president of the Institution for Savings; first, and for thirty-nine years, treasurer of Friend's Academy, his father, William (2) Rotch, its first, and his grandson, William J. Rotch, its president and treasurer for forty- two years. He married Elizabeth Rodman, they the parents of Joseph Rotch, who married Ann Smith, of Philadelphia, and there resided, they the parents of William J. Rotch. Frederick and Sarah R. (Rotch) Swift were the parents of a daughter and two sons: 1. Helen Rotch, married William M. Scndder, of Chicago. 2. Frederick Rotch, a graduate of Harvard University, A. B., Harvard Law School, LL. B .; he practiced law in New York many years, then returned as employment manager of the Atlas Tack Company, now filling that position with the Groton Ship Yards near New London, Connecticut. 3. Rodman, a graduate of Har- vard, and as a finish to his education circumnavigated the world in a sailing vessel ; he was a capable civil engineer, connected with the mines of Grass Valley, California, but since 1910 has been identified with the Submarine Signal Company, of Boston. Mrs. Frederick Swift survives her husband, a resident of New Bedford Village, to which her great- great-great-grandfather, Joseph Rotch, came in 1765, who gave the name of Bedford to the village, but more important gave to the infant whaling industry of the village his experience, sagacity, skill and capital, factors which insured its permanence and success.
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