History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892, Part 82

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

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G RINNELL, LAWRENCE, the subject of this sketch, was born in this city April 17, 1811, in the house at the southeast corner of Walnut and South Second streets. He was the son of Cornelius Grinnell, jr., and Eliza T. (Russell) Grinnell. His grand- parents were Cornelius and Sylvia (Howland) Grinnell, and Gilbert and Lydia (Tall- man) Russell.

The names of Grinnell and Russell are intimately associated with the history of Dartmouth and New Bedford. A perusal of the pages of this work will reveal the truth of this statement. It will be found that the Russells were among the very first settlers in Dartmonth, and that they were among those who suffered from the violence of the Indians at the period of King Philip's war. That the garrison on the Appon- agansett River, in which the people fled to escape the savages, was named after this family. History records that during these perilous times, the twin brothers, Jo- seph and John Russell were born in Russell's garrison. The name of Russell is asso- ciated with the earliest days of the great industry that made New Bedford, and to Jo- seph Russell, the founder of New Bedford, is given the honor of being the pioneer of

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

the whale fishery. The name ef Cornelius Grinnell, grandfather of Lawrence Grinnell, is intimately associated with the events of the American Revolution in which he served his conntry on land and sea. On page 105, the reader will find an interesting incident in which he took a part.

The Grinnells have been identified with the business and political affairs of New Bed- ford, and have aided very materially in its financial prosperity and success.

Lawrence Grinnell was educated in private schools, and graduated from the Friends' Academy under the charge of John H. W. Page.

In 1829, when eighteen years of age, he went to New York and took a position in the counting-room of the well-known firm of Fish, Grinnell & Co. There he remained for three years when he returned to New Bedford, and established a manufactory of sperm oil and candles, on the corner of First and Grinnell streets.

To this he added a commission business and became agent for several whale-ships, among these were the ship Euphrates, and barks Persia, Emma, Joshua, Bragdon, and Waverly.

His brother, Joseph G. Grinnell, was subsequently a partner in the firm for a few years.

In 1843 Mr. Grinnell took out a policy in the Mutual Life Insurance Co., of New York, and took the agency for that company, a position he has held for half a century.

In 1859 Mr. Grinnell took the agency of the Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Company, and in 1870 gave up other interests and devoted his whole time to the in- surance business. In 1876 he took his son Richard into partnership junder the firm name of Lawrence Grinnell & Son. After his son's retirement he formed a partnership with Joshua C. Hitch, which continued until the death of that gentleman in 1890, when John H. Pedro, for several years a clerk, became partner.

Mr. Grinnell has occupied several positions of trust and honor. In 1846 he became the treasurer of the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad, and held that office till 1873. He was then successively treasurer of the New Bedford Railroad until 1876, and of the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad until 1878.

He was a member of the Common Council two years, and in 1861 was appointed Col- lector of Customs of the port of New Bedford, by Abraham Lincoln. He held this honorable position till March 1, 1870.

Mr. Grinnell married Rebecca S., daughter of Richard Williams, October 8, 1835. They had four children, two daughters not living, and two sons, Frederick, of Provi- dience, inventor of the Grinnell Automatic Fire Extinguisher, and president of the Providence Steam and Gas Pipe Company ; and Richard, now living in Pasadena, California.

ADLEY, FRANK R., was born in New Bedford, April 15, 1850. He is the son - of Jacob B. Hadley, born in Concord, Mass., July 10, 1814, and Ann E. (Leathe) Hadley, born in Lynn, Mass., March 10, 1819. They had seven children, George T., Eugene J., Ann E., Frank R., Thomas L., John D., and Lizzie J.

The family moved to Fairhaven, Mass., in 1857, where Frank R., the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools, graduating from the Fairhaven High School.

F. R. HADLEY - E. T. TABER.

In 1864 they removed back to New Bedford, where he finished his education with a three years course in A. L. Gleason's private school. He then entered as clerk in the office of Messrs. Pierce & Hadley, oil manufacturers. For a short tire he was in the printing office of Walter Wheaton, and then entered the employ of James E. Blake, as druggist's clerk. For five years he diligently studied the business and became thor- oughly acquainted with its details. In January, 1873, Mr. Hadley was admitted into equal partnership, the new firm being called J. E. Blake & Company.

March 1, 1879, Mr. Hadley withdrew from the firm, and purchased the drugstore of William P. S. Cadwell, corner Purchase and William streets, For twelve years he con- ducted a successful business, and in May, 1891, sold out to the Wright Drug Company, of which Mr. Hadley was president.

In 1888 Mr. Hadley became interested in cotton manufacture, and under his manage- ment the subscriptions for stock in a Yarn Mill was projected. The enterprise was un- dertaken under great difficulties, but by perseverance and skillful conduct it was carried to a complete success. In February, 1889, the Bennett Manufacturing Co. with a capi- tal of $250,000 was organized, with Col. Samuel C. Hart president, and Frank R. Had- ley treasurer. The capital stock was soon increased to $300,000, and a substantial brick mill was built on the shore of the Acushnet River, north of the Coggeshall street bridge. In February, 1890, Colonel Hart resigned, and Mr. Hadley was chosen president and treasurer of the corporation, which positions he holds at the present time. The capital stock was increased to 8700,000, and a second mill was built in 1891. the entire eapae- ity of the two mills being 108,000 spindles. Under the wise supervision of Mr. Hadley the enterprise has been highly successful, and the stock is considerably above par.

It is understood that a new enterprise is being organized under the management of Mr. Hadley, for the manufacture of a fine quality of hosiery yarn. It is to be called the Columbia Spinning Company, with a capital of $500,000.

February 23, 1874, Mr. Hadley was married to Susan E., daughter of James D. Driggs, of New Bedford.

T "ABER, ELLERY T .- Ellery Tompkins Taber, son of Timothy and Peace (Kelley) Taber, was born in Fairhaven, Mass., August 9, 1809. His father was a painter by trade, and followed the sea. He was on the sloop Thesis, bound for Savannah, when that ill-fated vessel was capsized in a squall in November, 1809, and with the rest of the persons on board was lost. Thus at the early age of three months Ellery was left an orphan. Mrs. Taber, the mother of Ellery, was descended on her mother's side from the Wood family, which was one of the historical families of the town, and like the Tabers, largely connected with its history.

Ellery was taken home by his father's sister, Mrs. Mercy Tompkins, and was given the name of her husband, Ellery Tompkins. Mr. Tompkins was a carpenter by trade, and in his pleasant family Ellery remained until he was thirteen years of age, receiving instruction in the public schools. He then shipped on board the sloop Julia Ann, ply- ing between New Bedford and Albany and New Bedford and New York, and contin- ued on her for four years. He next shipped as foremast hand on ship Millwood, a

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

whaler bound for Brazil Banks. The voyage lasted one year, and he remained on her for another voyage of the same length. His third voyage was on ship Leonidas, as boat- steerer for eighteen months. He was next third mate of ship Meteor, of Hudson, on a voy- age of eleven months to Tristan d'Acunha. Then we find him first mate of the Alex- ander for a ten months' voyage, and from this he went in the same capacity on the good ship James, of New Bedford, going to the Indian Ocean and Mozambique Channel. After this voyage of nineteen months he was promoted to master of the same vessel, and remained her captain for three voyages. He next took command of the Montpelier, of New Bedford, and made a long cruise in the Indian and North Pacific Oceans.

In 1846, having acquired a competency, he retired from active life and has since re- sided in his pleasant home in his native town. His seafaring life was not only success- ful financially, but it was fortunate. He never was shipwrecked, never bad the slight- est accident, and during his numerous voyages lost but one man. He married (first) in 1836 Emily, daughter of William and Emily Taber White, of Fairhaven. She died in 1842, and several years after her death he married her youngest sister, Maria. Mrs. Taber is a lineal descendant of Peregrine White, of Mayflower birth. Her great-grand- father lived in Freetown, where her grandfather, William, was born. He moved to Fair- haven, was a blacksmith, and very prominent in business circles. He built, probably, the first cotton factory on the Acushnet River. His six sons became manufacturers. His son William was father to Mrs. Taber.

Mr. Taber was a Unitarian in belief, and was a warm and generous supporter of the church of that faith in his native town. His townsnien twice entrusted him with the office of selectman. He was a quiet, unassuming man, and his life aptly illustrates what can be accomplished with steady, persistent effort by a poor, uneducated youth, relying on his own exertions. He died at his home in Fairhaven.

B RADFORD, WILLIAM.1-" Have you ever visited Mr. Bradford's studio?" I had to confess to my friend that I had not.

" Well, you had better go." And I went.

The silver-haired, kindly-faced artist gave me a cordial welcome, and showed me some of his remarkable Arctic paintings. But I soon became more interested in his life. Knowing that he had such experiences as seldom fall to the lot of man, I one day urged him to tell me his life-story. And this is what he told me, with the privilege of telling it to you.

"I was born in this town (Fairhaven, Mass.), up near the head of the Acushnet River, sixty-five years ago. Father kept a store and was not very well to do for many years, and my education was quite meagre. I early felt a desire to paint, but had no idea that I would ever do anything very special in this line or make it a life calling.

" In my youth I became a clerk in a dry goods store in New Bedford, and years later was taken into the company. But all this time my love for drawing was growing stronger. Alone and unaided, I copied all the drawings in an English drawing-book nearly four times through. I kept at it without any master, often till midnight. That is the way I first learned my art. No, I've picked up about all I know of painting.

I By Rev. F. H. Kasson, A. M.

WILLIAM BRADFORD.

" After a time I started a wholesale clothing establishment in New Bedford, and be- gan furnishing clothing and other necessary supplies to the men going out in whaling ships. This was about 1852. But I spent too much time in painting to succeed. . .

" About the time father and I failed, I began making drawings of whaling vessels. The first money I received was twenty-five dollars for a drawing of the whaler, Jireh Perry. Then Captain Gliddon, of Boston, gave me an order to paint a vessel. A little later Thatcher Magoon gave me one hundred dollars for a large picture, about four feet long. And William Baker paid me, I think, one hundred and fifty dollars for another large one. This was about the year 1856. Then for eighteen months I painted portraits of whalers and merchantmen, till the broadside of a vessel grew absolutely loathsome to me. My studio was a little huilding on Union street."

Mr. Bradford had taken some lessons of instruction from a Dutch artist named Van Beest, who soon accepted Mr. Bradford's offer and came and worked in his Fairhaven studio for two years. Van Beest-whose work was in India ink, and whose sepia drawings were very fine -- was a great help to the young artist. Often they worked together, Van Beest painting the sky and water, and Bradford painting in the vessels.

Later, Mr. Bradford went to Boston, and after spending the summers along the shores of Swampscott and Nahant, passed the winters in his studio, at the corner of Tremont and Bromfield streets. But those were bitter years for the proud-spirited artist. For three years he earned very little. His pictures would not sell. Williams & Everett, who did so much in those days to encourage struggling artists, helped Mr. Bradford to the extent of several hundred dollars. But very little money came in ; only once in a great while a picture was sold for perhaps twenty-five dollars. However, deliverance was at hand.

One day Benjamin S. Roach walked into his studio and said that he wanted one or two of Mr. Bradford's pictures for some friends. "I'll take that one on the easel and give you fifty dollars for it. I like that." "Oh, but that is promised to an auction." " All right. Let it go, and I'll go there and buy it. And that one, over there, I'll take that, too. Send them both to the auction and I'll buy them there."

So to the auction they went. At the sale Mr. Roach was on hand with one or two friends, and the bidding was spirited. Finally, Mr. Roach secured one at eighty-four dollars, and the other at seventy dollars. And these latter prices he insisted on paying the artist. One of these pictures went into the home of James Lawrence, and the other of Augustus Lowell. After that Mr. Bradford's pictures began to sell. Henry Sayles and Doctor Sharp each took one at two hundred and fifty dollars. And others followed.

But now the reading of Doctor Kane's books fired the artist with an uncontrollable desire to go to the Arctic regions. Then came the question how to raise the necessary funds. His first determination was to go to Labrador. The more he thought of it the more his soul became aflame with this absorbing desire.

One day a Boston gentleman, Dr. J. C. Sharp, who had visited Mr. Bradford's studio and had had several conversations with him as to his purpose of going to Labrador, came in and said, quietly : "Mr. Bradford, I'm thinking that you had better go now. And for that purpose I have just fifteen hundred dollars in the bank."

100

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

Just as the clouds of war were darkening over the land, in the last days of April, 1861, the enthusiastic Quaker artist (now thirty-eight years old), sailed away from Boston in a one hundred and twenty ton schooner for Labrador-and fame.

In a little over two weeks he reached Labrador, and anchoring amidst the icebergs, began sketching and securing photographs. After four months spent in this way he sailed for home. A new phase of nature had now opened hefore him. He was able to offer to his countrymen a unique kind of superb paintings. And they grew rapidly in favor with the public.

Each summer for six successive seasons, Mr. Bradford went to Labrador to increase and improve his stock of artistic material. On these northern trips he went as far up as Hopedale, a Moravian station above Cape Chudley.

Among William Bradford's warmest Quaker friends was the genial poet, John G. Whittier. The artist's famous Labrador labors fired the poet's heart and called forth the beautiful tribute ("To W. B.") with which the poem " Amy Wentworth " opens. It was right in war time, which leads the poet to thus address his artist friend :

"So, thou and I

Nursed in the faith that Truth alone is strong

In the endurance which ontwearies Wrong, With meek persistence baffling brutal force, And trusting God against the universe, -- We, doomed to watch a strife we may not share With other weapons than the patriot's prayer,

Yet owning, with full hearts and moistened eyes.

The awful beauty of self-sacrifice, And wrung by keenest sympathy for all Who give their loved ones for the living wall 'Twixt law and treason, -in this evil day May haply find, through antomatic play Of pen and pencil, solace to our pain, And hearten others with the strength we gain.

* *

And while, with hearts of thankfulness, we bear Of the great common burden our full share, Let none upbraid us that the waves entice Thy sea-dipped pencil, or some quaint device, Rhythmic and sweet, begniles my pen away From the sharp strifes and sorrows of to-day. Thus, while the east-wind keen from Labrador Sings in the leafless elms, and from the shore Of the great sea comes the monotonous roar Of the long-breaking surf, and all the sky Is gray with cloud, home-hound and dull, I try

IOI

WILLIAM BRADFORD.

To time a simple legend to the sounds

Of winds in the woods, and waves on pebbled bounds,-

A song for oars to chime with, such as might Be sung by tired sea-painters, who at night Look from their hemlock camps, by quiet cave Of beach, moon-lighted, on the waves they love. (So hast thou looked, when level sunset lay On the calm bosom of some Eastern bay, And all the spray-moist rocks and waves that rolled

Up the white sand-slopes flashed with ruddy gold.) Something it has- a flavor of the sea, And the sea's freedom -- which reminds of thee."

William Bradford was now anxious to win greater laurels. His magnificent paint- ings of Labrador scenery had but whetted his appetite for Arctic explorations. They had made him known as the first painter in his special field, and had brought him in considerable money. For one superb view-" Sealers Crushed Among the Icebergs "- previously referred to in connection with Nathan Breed's name, Le Grand Lockwood, at that time a generous New York millionaire and patron of art, had paid Mr. Bradford ten thousand dollars. He was now anxious to go to the coast of Greenland. But this would require an outlay of thirty thousand dollars. In this emergency Mr. Lockwood stepped forward and offered to bear twenty thousand dollars of the expense of the ex- pedition. The way being thus opened, Mr. Bradford chartered a staunch English steamer, The Panther, an Arctic sealer of three hundred and seventy-five tons burden, and loading her with five hundred tons of coal, steamed away from St. John's, New- foundland, for Greenland. This was July 3, 1869. He was accompanied on this ex- pedition by Dr. I. I. Hayes, the famous Arctic explorer (for whose company and serv- ices he paid him fifteen hundred dollars in gold), and five other young men. This expedition, which went as far north as Melville Bay, was exceptionally successful, and made Mr. Bradford's name famous on both sides of the Atlantic as the great painter of Arctic scenery.

This voyage also brought out the sterling qualities of Mr. Bradford's nature. He can be firm as a rock on occasion, as the following incident will show: The weather sud- denly grew cold and their situation began to grow critical. The question arose whether to steam ahead into a fiord, or to try to get back through the thickening icebergs. A conflict of authority arose between the captain and Doctor Hayes. The latter declared that they should go forward and enter the fiord. The captain said : "I can see by the action of the water that there are many sunken rocks there. If we strike on one of those we are gone. I don't dare to force my vessel in there. But I know this vessel. I built her, and I know I can steam her out safely between those icebergs." But Doc- tor Hayes said : "No! The only thing to do is to run the vessel up into that fiord."

Then Mr. Bradford spoke up : "Captain, you know this vessel. You built her ; you know what you can do. Now I place the responsibility upon you. Go ahead and do your best."

102

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

Doctor Hayes said : "Then you've no further use for my services ?" "No, sir, not just now. The captain will command this vessel to-day." He turned on his heel and went off. Capt. John Bartlett, a big six-foot Englishman, with great skill and dexter- ity, guided his ship back through the icebergs till they reached a place of safety. The next morning Doctor Hayes acknowledged that Captain Bartlett had been in the right, and said : " Oh, if I had had such a six-foot Englishmen as you are, what could I not have done in my arctic explorations !"

When Mr. Bradford reached New York in November, 1869, bad news awaited him. His kind friend, Le Grand Lockwood, after one payment of twenty-five hundred dol- lars, had failed, and he was left with twenty-two thousand dollars indebtedness and nothing to pay it with. But D. Willis James and other good friends gathered around him and his own splendid pluck carried him through. The debt was ultimately paid.

About this time he met Lord Lorne, who took a great interest in his work and strongly urged him to go to England. He did so, and met such a reception as is seldom accorded to an American artist. He received a commission from Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and the picture is now in the library at Windsor Castle. This painting is entitled " The Panther off the Coast of Greenland under the Midnight Sun." His pictures also grace the galleries of Princess Louise, Lord Dufferin, the Duke of Argyle, the very wealthy Duke of Westminster, Baroness Burdett-Couts, besides Baron Roths- child of Paris, and many other notables.

In England he was warmly received by such men as Tyndall, Lord Lindsay, Sir Henry Holland, and Sir Roderic Murchison. He was invited to speak before the Royal Insti- tution and the Royal Geographical Society of London. In 1873, Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, of London, published his superb volume, "The Arctic Re- gions." It is a book 25x20 inches in size, bound in morocco extra, all gilt edges and covers, and sold at one hundred and twenty-five dollars (twenty-five guineas) per copy. Both the text and the one hundred and forty-four photographs illustrating this mag- nificent work are by the artist. It was brought out under the patronage of Queen Vic- toria, the Duke of Argyle, Lord Dufferin, Tyndall, and other distinguished men of London. The edition was limited to three hundred and fifty copies, though more might have been sold.1

During the last fifteen years Mr. Bradford has traveled extensively in this coun- try, and has kept his brush almost constantly employed. He spent seven years on the Pacific slope. The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Valley of California were thoroughly studied, as well as the Sierra Nevada range of mountains. He is still hard at work and reaping the fruits of victory. His grandly impressive paintings may be found clear across our country, from Boston to San Francisco. And many of his best works grace English collections. His winters are passed in New York city, but the summer finds him back in the haunts of his childhood. Here his studio is in the upper part of a roomy old building, facing the Acushnet River and looking down across a portion of Buzzard's Bay. And here, surrounded by his paintings, one may often find him busily at work, pallet in hand, at 6 o'clock in the morning. He delights to

1 One copy is in the New Bedford Library.

103

DAVID A. SNELL.

work in the cool of the morning, and later in the day to chat with his friends. As, with stooping shoulders and bowed head, the artist turns his keen blue-gray eyes to the creation before him, we cannot but wonder at the great results which the modest, up- right, high-souled man has reached under very adverse circumstances. We rejoice that now the evening sky has for him a silver lining.

In recent years Mr. Bradford has spent some time lecturing about the Arctic regions. He gave a series of six lectures, entitled "Glimpses of the Arctic Regions," before the Lowell Institute of Boston. These lectures discuss the discovery of America by the Norsemen -- a wonderful people who were blotted out of existence some centuries ago ; different phases of life and nature in the far North ; the Greeley expedition and its re- lief expedition. These lectures are exceedingly interesting and are illustrated by scores of photograpic views, many of which were taken by the artist himself.

Mr. Bradford is also an exceedingly benevolent, Christian man, and is doing good continually. And thus, in many ways, this intense, conscientious, unassuming painter is busily at work advancing his art and serving his fellow-men.

Nay, I think

Merely to bask and ripen is sometimes

The student's wiser business; the brain

Will not distill the juices it has sucked, To the sweet substance of pellucid thought,

Except for him who hath the secret learned

To mix his blood with sunshine, and to take The wind into his pulses .- Lowell.

Mr. Bradford married Mary S. Breed, of Lynn, December 15, 1847. They had two children, Esther Hacker, born April 17, 1849, died March 3, 1856, and Mary Eastman, born August 9, 1857.

Mr. Bradford died April 25, 1892, in his sixty-ninth year.

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History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892, Part 82

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