History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892, Part 81

Author: Ellis, Leonard Bolles
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Mason
Number of Pages: 1170

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As a manager, and for a portion of the time its president, his name is found upon the records of the New Bedford Port Society for nearly the whole period of its exist- ence, over thirty years. Ever earnest, hopeful and discreet, his efforts on behalf of the seamen of our port have always been held in high appreciation by his fellow laborers in this field of philanthropic effort.

He loved nature, and never failed to devote a part of his time to the exploration of her laws and her works. In his extensive walks among the fields and forests of our vicinity, the tiu case of the botanist was always his companion ; and much did it add to the pleasure of his pursuit, if he could, as he often did, find some sympathizing youth to accompany him in his rambles, to whom he could impart the glow of his own love of nature and with whom he could enjoy the pleasure she never fails to impart to her faith- ful votaries.

His collection of shells is one of the most valuable in our State. To gather it, has been the pleasant labor of a great part of his life.

His library, the largest private collection in our city, affords evidence of his love of science, and his success in its cultivation ; while his selections from classical literature bear testimony to his cultivated taste and of his appreciation and enjoyment of the most elevated productions of genius. He loved tbe beautiful in literature as in nature. With the favorite New England poet, he might say, all things beautiful

" For evermore repeat In varied tones and sweet, That beauty, in and of itself, is good. No unbefitting task was mine, To weave those flowers so soft and fair, In unison with His design, Who loveth beauty everywhere;

And makes in every zone and clime, In ocean and in upper air, All things beautiful in their time."

Mr. Greene was fond of his garden and loved to share with his friends the fruit and flowers that were the result of his own skill and industry. It will be remembered by those who visited the exhibitions of fruit made by the New Bedford Horticultural So- ciety during its brief existence, how large a share of the contributions were from him. Our county exhibitions also were for many years enriched from his small, but highly cultivated garden. Of both city and county societies lie was a member and an active manager.

Placed early in life in circumstances which rendered it unnecessary for him to give much of his time to business pursuits, having no children for whose training and sup-

THOMAS A. GREENE.

port he was called upon to labor, and no habits or aspirations which called him to devote his time or talents to the acquisition of wealth, or of office, he gave himself up to those pursuits which yielded the highest satisfaction to his pure taste and cultivated under- standing, and which, at the same time, met the demands of that love to God and love to man, which formed the basis of his character,

" In his steady course, No piteous revolutions had he felt, No wild varieties of joy and grief. Unoccupied by sorrows of its own, His heart lay open ; and, by nature tuned And constant disposition of his thoughts To sympathy with Man, he was alive To all that was enjoyed where'er he went, And all that was endured."

Mr. Greene was, by birthright and conviction, a member of the society of Friends. He believed in Quakerism, in its simple faith and in its simple forms ; and although he had no recognized right of membership in the society whose meetings are held here, and whose head-ship is the New England Yearly Meeting, he was rarely on the First or Fifth day of the week absent from its religious gatherings; and the last rights for the departed will be performed under the care and guidance of those who have never ceased to recognize his claims to be included in the brotherhood of faith.

Upon the Yearly Meetings in New York, of those by whom he was regarded and he- loved as a member in full standing, he was a constant attendant.

Wherever he was, he never failed to exhibit the simple manners of the society with which he was connected; and while in costume and speech he announced to all his consistent devotedness to the customs of the sect to which he belonged, his life-long devotion to the canse of human welfare, and his entire reliance upon the power of the Christian faith as the only effectual instrumentality in the work of man's moral eleva- tion, gave him an unquestioned admission and fellowship into the ranks of all who are laboring in the cause of God and humanity.

Such is a brief and imperfect outline of the life and character of Thomas A. Greene. He has passed away, and there will follow him a record of good works which bless mankind and glorify God. Thousands are living to-day, better, holier, happier men, women and children, because he has lived, and lived to love and to serve his fellow men. And these are the monuments that will preserve and hallow his memory here. and these his crown of rejoicing in his mansion above.

A SHLEY, HON. CHARLES S., was born in New Bedford, on the 5th of Septem- ber, 1858. He is a son of Joshua B. Ashley, a member of a firm of successful carriage-makers of New Bedford. The young man was given excellent advantages for securing an education and his natural inclinations were such that he was prompt to avail himself of his opportunities. He attended the Parker Street Grammar School a number of years and graduated from it, with the full intention on the part of his parents

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

that he should attend college, but he had by that time decided to follow a business ca- reer. To this end he at the age of seventeen years engaged in the market business with Fred Covell at No. 177 Purchase street, under the firm name of Covell & Ashley. Mr. Covell withdrew from the firm soon afterwards, on account of ill health, and down to the year 1889 Mr. Ashley carried on the business with constantly increasing success, extending it in the latter years into wholesale lines in smoked meats, etc. Later on he disposed of his business and in partnership with Stephen D. Pierce engaged in the clothing and furnishing goods trade at 72-74 William street, where his energy and busi- ness capacity have contributed to build up a large and growing business.

Mr. Ashley is Democratic in politics on broad and liberal lines. He has made a study of political problems and conditions which, with tastes and qualifications peculiarly fit- ted to labor in that field, carried him into the arena at an early age. Party lines have not been closely drawn in New Bedford for a number of years past, and candidates for city offices have received support from citizens without close regard to political faith. Mr. Ashley's public service began when he was only twenty-six years of age, when in 1884 he was chosen one of the Common Council under Mayor George Wilson. In the next year he ran for alderman in the Third ward and, although he ran ahead of his ticket, he was defeated by a small plurality. In the following year, however, he was more successful and was the only alderman elected on his ticket. Moreover, as show- ing his popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his constituents, it may be stated that he polled more votes than Mr. Rotch for the mayoralty. In 1887 he was again elected to the upper branch of the city government by a very flattering vote.

In the fall of 1888 a number of Mr. Ashley's friends, disliking with him the fusion movement participated in by the Citizens' party that year, urged him to accept a nomi- nation at their hands for the mayoralty. He finally accepted, but much against his in- clinations. Although defeated by a surprisingly small plurality, the flattering vote ac- corded him was looked upon by his adherents as a victory ; and in the following year, under the same political auspices, he failed of reaching the mayor's chair by only sev- enty-one votes. Two aldermen were, however, elected on his ticket, and eleven mem- bers of the council which fact indicates the growing strength of the element which had placed him in nomination. In 1890 came his triumph, when his friends, not disheart- ened and strong in their faith in their candidate, again placed him at the head of their ticket, and he was elected mayor of New Bedford by a plurality that was highly satis- factory to his constituents.

Mr. Ashley was one of the youngest mayors the city has ever had ; but his adminis- tration was characterized by vigor, independence, assiduous attention to all measures that would, in his belief, be for the welfare of the community. Of his time and labor he gave freely to the arduous and perplexing duties of the office, and gained the good will of many who had not supported him for the office by his evident earnestness of purpose and unselfishness of motives. It was his full determination to decline to stand as a candidate for a second term, but the persistence of his friends and their belief that no other available candidate would be so sure of success at the polls, finally prevailed upon him to accept. The result justified their anticipations, for he was elected by an increased plurality.

WALTER CLIFFORD.

Such is a brief record of the career of one of the most popular of the younger busi- ness and public men of New Bedford. In the social life of the city Mr. Ashley is a conspicuous figure. Genial in temperament, with an unceasing flow of good spirits, and a friendly hand for all, he may anticipate a future of bright promise.

Mr. Ashley was married in November, 1879, to Miss Annie B. Luce, daughter of Thomas Luce, of New Bedford. She died on the 6th of June, 1890, leaving three chil- dren.

C LIFFORD, WALTER, son of Governor John H. and Sarah P. (Allen) Clifford, was born in New Bedford, August 11, 1849. He obtained his preparatory education in private schools, at the Friends' Academy in New Bedford, and from 1865 to 1867, attended Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H. He entered Harvard College in 1867 and graduated in the " class of 1871."

In 1872 Mr. Clifford entered Harvard Law School, and was graduated LL. B., in the class of 1875. While keeping his connection with the Harvard Law School, he was one year a student with the law firm of Staples & Goulding, Worcester, and while there was admitted to the bar, June, 1874. From 1875 to 1878 he was managing clerk for the law office of Marston & Crapo, of New Bedford. From April, 1878, he has been connected as partner with the law firm of Crapo, Clifford & Clifford. Mr. Clifford occupies many positions of trust and honor. He is vice-president of the Five Cent Savings Bank, a director of the National Bank of Commerce, Southern Massa- chusetts Telephone Company, Pierce and Bushnell Manufacturing Company, a member of the pulpit committee of the First Congregational Society. He is also a member of the Somerest and Union Clubs of Boston, and of the executive committee of the Wam- sutta Club of New Bedford.

Mr. Clifford is a Republican in politics and is prominently identified with every movement that advances the interests of his party. He is a member of the State Central Committee and was one of the Massachusetts delegates to the convention at Minneapolis (1892), that nominated Benjamin Harrison for a second term as president of the United States.

Mr. Clifford has always had a deep interest in the local affairs of his native town.

In 1877 and 1878 he was a member of the city council, and in 1889 and 1890 was mayor of the city.

During his administration as mayor, Mr. Clifford displayed rare executive ability. Of pleasing address, courteous and affable in manners, and always accessible to his fel- low citizens, he won the good will and respect of all.

On all public occasions Mayor Clifford represented the city in a manner that elicited their admiration and pride. He is a graceful, polished speaker, always dignified and thoughtful, and he has the art of presenting his theme in a most attractive form.

He brought to the service of the city the full force of his energetic and executive mind, and his two years' service in the mayoralty were fruitful of many marked ini- provements in the city's affairs. During this term the Board of Public Works was es- tablished and the police signal system put in operation.

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

The Harrington and Division street school buildings were completed; the Dart- mouth street school-house rebuilt and a new one built at Acushnut. The Durfee street engine-house was erected and other improvements made that increased the effi- ciency of the fire service. Pleasant street was widened from William to Elm, thus im- proving this great thoroughfare of the future; and while these operations were accomplished to the great satisfaction of the community, the rate of taxation was considerably reduced.

Regulations were instituted that brought the ventilation of buildings within the re- quirements of the State law, and other wise and beneficial enactments were passed.

The "Public bar " and " Sunday " laws were enforced, and Mr. Clifford's adminis- tration was marked for its harmonions and efficient character.

The following resolutions were unanimously adopted at the meeting of the Citizens' party when Mr. Clifford was tendered the nomination for a third term, and which, for business reasons, he felt obliged to decline.

WHEREAS, Hon. Walter Clifford has been the candidate of the Citizens' Party for two years, and has served the city as mayor during that time with marked ability and in- tegrity,

Resolved, That we, the representatives of that party, wish to express our gratification at the success attending Mr. Clifford's executive efforts. His has been a clean, inde- pendent and energetic administration of the affairs of New Bedford, for the benefit of the whole people.

Resolved, That we especially congratulate Mayor Clifford upon his enforcement of the license law, notably the one referring to Sunday sales; we believe that under his watchful care, the law has dominated the saloons, not the saloons the law ; upon the de- crease of the rate of taxation, while at the same time all the needs of the various departments have been liberally cared for, and in short, for the healthy moral tone which has characterized the whole government of the city under his mayoralty.

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee that a continuance of this adminis- tration with Mr. Clifford at its head would be satisfactory to the citizens of the city, and the best solution of the questions now confronting its voters.

Mr. Clifford was married in New Bedford June 5. 1878, to Harriet Perry, danghter of Hon. Charles S. and Sarah (Perry ) Randall. They have four children, John H., Rosamond, Hilda and Randall Clifford.

Gov. John Henry Clifford, the father of the subject of this sketch, married, January 16, 1852, Sarah Parker Allen, daughter of William If. and Ruth (Parker) Allen, the latter a daughter of Hon. John Avery and Averic (Standish) Parker, who was in the sixth generation from Capt. Myles Standish. Nine children were born of this mar- riage, as follows: Ruth (born 1833, died 1843), Mary (born 1836, died 1842), Anna ( horn 1838), Edward Everett (horn 1840, died 1842), Robert Winthrop (born 1842. died 1843), Charles Warren (born 1844), Ellen (born 1846), Walter (born 1849), Arthur (born 1851, died 1881). Arthur, M.D., Dartmouth 1878, left a son, Charles P. (born 1880). Walter has children, as follows: John H. (born 1879), Rosamund (born 1881), Hilda (born 1883), Randall (born 1889).

Milling t'a Vape

WILLIAM F. NYE.

U JPON its highest eastern shore, overlooking the many emerald-gemmed isles and promontories of the head waters of Buzzards Bay, and with a marvelous and glowing vista of wooded hills for a background lies the picturesque village of Pocassett, the southern district of the old town of Sandwich, where the subject of this sketch had his birth, May 20, 1824. He was the second son of Capt. Ebenezer Nye and Syrena Dimmick. The very atmosphere of these breezy headlands it would seem lent their inspiration to this man of indomitable will and energy, who, now nearing the border line of his three score years and ten, is still active and of youthful vigor.

His early years were spent in caring for farm and garden about his pleasant home, and under the care and direction of the best of mothers, while his father was much of the time absent, engaged under the leadership of the intrepid Peter Storms in running the blockade of the Spanish fleet before the entrance to Lake Maracaibo, at the time Bolivar was struggling for the independence of Columbia from Spanish sway, and dar- ing the dangers too of the Caribbean Sea corsairs and buccaneers that had plundered these sunny waters for many generations, and built their retreats of prosperous wicked- ness in the land-locked nooks of the Antilles. It may well be supposed that this father, who at the age of ninety-two has but just passed away from this home we have described, and which he had with his own hands and untiring industry builded seventy years before-imparted that spirit of daring to his sons that led his eldest, the late Capt. Ebenezer F. Nye to bid defiance to the pirate Sims, of the Shenandoah, at the time she assailed the whaling fleet in the Arctic Ocean in 1864, and also his third son, Lieut. Ephraim B. Nye, the hero defender of Fort Steadman, before Petersburg, falling there amid his nineteenth battle in the War of the Rebellion.

Mr. W. F. Nye left the scenes of his boyhood at the age of sixteen and entered the ap- prenticeship of one of New Bedford's oldest master builders -- Prince Weeks -- then lo- cated on the corner of Water and Walnut streets, afterwards with the well known firm of Braddock Gifford & Timothy D. Cook. Graduating as a skillful carpenter and work- ing for a few years in building the fine establishments of the late William Mason, of Taunton, under the direction of one of the present master-builders of the Old Colony railroad, Earl Ryder. Then he engaged in church organ building in the old Appleton establishment in Boston. When from love of adventure he shipped as carpenter of an East India merchantman, which led him to fill a three years' engagement with the Frederic Tudor Ice Co. in Calcutta. The incidents of his sojourn in India, his adven- tures up the sacred Ganges, and his studies and sketches of those people in the bondage of caste would compile a volume of interest if given to the public.

The discovery of gold in California was the next all-sufficient incentive for this man of nerve, and no sooner than free from his far eastern engagement we find him on the shores of the Pacific, though not by one bound, for at this time he visits his early home to claim the favorite maiden of his school days, the eldest daughter of Aberdeen Keitb, a former resident of New Bedford, to whom he was united in 1851, and pur- chased a home in this city ; when via the Isthmus of Panama, which he crossed on foot, he reached San Francisco in time to utilize his skill as a builder, when the great fire had swept that early city, built of scrap board and boxes. He for some years was employed at the then $10 per day wages in erecting the first brick buildings of this

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

now immense city. He found it a most interesting pastime in searching out a good number of these structures during his late visit to the Pacific coast after an absence of thirty-seven years, and especially so on fiuding on the corner of Market and Sutter streets a lofty and magnificent iron block where he and his fellow ranchmen erected a shanty on a sand hill, in which they lived for two years of their early stay.

Returning to New Bedford in'1855 via the Isthmus of Nicarauga at the time Walker invaded that beautiful State with his southern followers for the purpose of extending the boundaries of the slave States, Mr. Nye settled down with his charming wife and first-born, and engaged in mercantile pursuits till the breaking out of the war in 1861 ; when he, as speedily as he could bring his somewhat extended business to a close, joined the army in Virginia in the capacity of sutler to the Massachusetts Artillery, and afterwards commissioned with the Fourth Massachusetts Cavalry, passing through many adventures in transporting goods to his regiments ever in front and often amid scenes of risk and daring. His resources seemed ever to bring him out upon the winning side financially, much to the chagrin of competing sutlers in other divisions who would " skedaddle " with loaded teams at any demonstration of the enemy. Mr. Nye oftener stood his ground and never but once having to leave his goods and run, and even then was more beset with bounty-jumping stragglers of our own army than by grayback guerillas.

He was with the Artillery Corps of forty-seven batteries under Major McGilvery, on the memorable march from Fredericksburg to Gettysburg, and was with the advance guard which entered Richmond on April 5, 1865, and while the city was all ablaze for one mile in extent. His regiment - the 4th Mass. Cavalry-first hoisted the flag upon the capitol building and occupied it as quarters the first night. Spreading their blankets on the archives of the State that had, in the hurried evacuation of the city, been recklessly torn from shelves and alcoves and left to feed the flames they supposed would reach them and which most surely would have but for the daring efforts of the Union troops in staying the conflagration. He had succeeded the day befor in urging his teams along with the advance squads and the morning of the 6th found him with permit in hand from commanding General Weitzel, to select a trading " Post," and lie opened the first store in a rescued brick block at No. 20 Main street, and for some days he was the sole tradesman upon the streets of Virginia's capital city, and with the same permit he brought the first vessel and cargo of goods past Dutch Gap and up the James River after the evacuation of this rebel stronghold. Remaining there with his regiment during the summer of '65 and making frequent excursions for orderly duty and as escort for paymaster in various directions over the State and into North Carolina, for which pur- pose his regiment was distributed by companies, his opportunities were unsurpassed for taking in the distressing conditions of the people at the close of the long and cruel struggle.

After the final disbandment of the 4th Cavalry which took place on Gallops Island, Boston Harbor, in November 1865, Mr. Nye entered upon his present life work of re- fining and preparing the finest of lubricating oils to meet the wants of the rapid pro- duction of watches, clocks, typewriters, sewing machines, bicycles and the multiplicity of delicate machines that require only oils of the freest quality possible, and his success

LAWRENCE GRINNELL.

has been phenomenal, so that his products are well known and stand foremost the world over.

Mr. Nye enjoyed but limited advantages of school education, only such as the winter terms of his native village afforded, but his travels in all lands and his keen observations of men and things, has stored his retentive memory with that versatility of knowledge . that few possess and which render him essentially well educated, as well as a self-made man and while all generous in his nature, he ever maintains a daring independence of thought on all progressive movements and we find him in touch with all advance thinkers, even from his boyhood, avowing his detestation of anything short of a literal definition of the Declaration of American Independence, that all men (and women too) are alike "free and equal," and he heartily joined in the early anti-slavery crusade with Garrison, Phillips, Parker Pillsbury, and others, as often as they, under the auspices of our late noble citizen, Andrew Robeson, visited and lectured in our city, and up to this time with the same energy of mind and purpose to investigate, he is found with the advance army of progress, as he was with the advance army of the Rebellion, the out- spoken advocate of modern spiritualism, clearly setting forth its facts and philosophy in the face of their denial by the Christian Church and to verify its claims Mr. Nye has been the chief promoter of the Onset Bay Grove Enterprise, situated at the head of Buzzards Bay where, upon oak clad bluffs, has sprung up a town of beauty and thrift and forming under the auspices of the Onset Bay Grove Association, the largest com- munity of spiritualists yet formed in the fifty years history of its teachings; and it is there as Mr. Nye declares, that out of the past incomprehensible teachings of the laws of never ending life and eternal progress, is to come much that is comprehensible, and to use his own words, "that I am a spiritualist must be to those I leave behind me the touch that withers my memory or the ever living archway about which they can en- twine earth's fragrant flowers and through which they may in gladness follow me to the evergreen shore."

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History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892, Part 81

Author: Ellis, Leonard Bolles Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Mason Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Ellis, Leonard Bolles
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Mason
Number of Pages: 1170