USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > New Bedford > History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892 > Part 83
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NELL, DAVID A .- The subject of this sketch was born in the year 1827, in the town of Dedham, Mass. His parents were Anthony and Elizabeth (Davis) Snell. He was the oldest of ten children, whose parents, after many changes, settled down at farming in the town of Bristol, R. I.
In those days it was difficult, if not impossible, for any but the rarely gifted and wealthy to obtain an enlarged book education, and David had little time or opportunity for such study ; but he early learned to read human nature, and to understand that suc- cess in life comes only to the diligent and pains-taking. Endowed with an active, san- guine temperament, it is not strange that a farmer's vacation had no attraction for him, and that he should seek employment in a cotton-mill in a neighboring town, where at the early age of seventeen he was made overseer.
This experience opened for him a broader outlook, and he soon began to plan for himself an independent future. To this end he familiarized himself with the working operations of machinery, and then made himself thoroughly acquainted with the bak-
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HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
ing business, from its initial steps upward, till in a short time he was competent to conduct an establishment at Edgarton, Martha's Vineyard.
In 1857 he removed to New Bedford, purchasing the plant and good-will of Jacob B. Hadley on South Water street.
In 1859 he sold out to C. D. Capen, and leased the Granite building, corner of Water and Rodman streets, which he supplied with the best approved machinery then in- vented.
Two years later the war of the Rebellion broke out, and Mr. Snell at once utilized the entire capacity of his works in furnishing bread for the army, his contracts with the government equaling if not exceeding those of any other manufacturer in the country, whilst the quality of the bread made it a favorite wherever it went. Soldiers in the camp and on the field sent many testimonials to its excellence in grateful appreciation. The war over, the old manufacture of the varied product was resumed, Mr. Snell keep- ing always abreast with the advancing tide of each new invention both in machinery, and in the quality and combinations of bread-making material.
To the personal supervision of his business, always characterized by push and persist- ency, Mr. Snell's success is no doubt largely due. He is emphatically one of America's " self-made men." He believes with poor Richard that a penny saved is a dollar earned; hence prudence and economy have been his guides. He believes with poor Richard, " if you would have a good servant, serve yourself," so, understanding the work to be done, he knows how much to require of his employees, whose faithful service his sense of justice richly appreciates and rewards.
ELLIS, LEONARD B., is the son of Caleb L. and Abbie D. (Hathaway) Ellis and was born in New Bedford, August 11, 1838. He was educated in the Bush Street Grammar School and a three years' course in the High School under John F. Emerson. He entered the employ of his father and in 1859 was admitted to partnership with him in the cooperage business. The paralyzing influences of the Civil War naturally re- duced the hitherto prosperous business of the firm, and the subject of this sketch sought other employment.
He engaged in the manufacture of art goods, employing a number of workmen, till in 1866, when he purchased the Picture and Frame Establishment of Orlando J. Marvin, 76 William Street, and for twenty-five years conducted the business at that place. In January, 1891, he moved to his present quarters, at 114 William street.
He married December 14, 1859, Patience E., daughter of Asa L. and Emeline Allen. They have two adopted daughters, Abby Millie, and Nora Leonard, orphan children of his sister Abbie P. and Robert L. Crossman.
T AYLOR, WILLIAM H., was born in Newport, R. I., January 6, 1800, and died in New Bedford September 13, 1880. When a lad he waa employed in the drug store of his father, and in 1816 he moved to Providence, R. I., and took a situation in a store. He soon returned to Newport, and waa appointed clerk in the Custom House. In 1821 he was appointed deputy collector of customs at Bristol, R. I., and in 1829 re-
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CHAS. W. MORGAN-WARD M. PARKER.
ceived the appointment of deputy collector of the Custom House at this port. In 1843 he resigned the position to take the secretaryship of the Mutual Marine Insurance Co., an office which he filled for twenty years. Soon after, the Ocean Insurance Company was formed and he held the office of president and secretary until it closed business in 1878.
In all matters of public interest Mr. Taylor took an active part. He served in the Board of Aldermen, was for fourteen years a member of the School Committee and for some time its chairman, and chief engineer of the fire department in 1844.
He was one of the charter members of the New Bedford Port Society, one of the Board of Management and for many years its secretary. He was also president of the Bristol County Insurance Company. He discharged the duties of all the positions to which he was called with exactness and fidelity. An intimate friend said of him : "No one ever questioned his probity ; nor will any one who knew him, now that his work is done, hesitate to say that he was a good man, true and faithful in all the relations of life."
M ORGAN, CHARLES WALN, was born in Philadelphia, September 14, 1796, and died in New Bedford April 7, 1861. He came to this city many years ago, and soon occupied a prominent and influential position in the community as an active and intelligent merchant, in which pursuit he was successfully engaged. He was interested in the development of the city, and his influence was felt in all organizations that ad- vanced its moral and intellectual affairs.
His character was marked with the utmost probity and bountiful liberality. Among the benefactions in his will was the gift of $1,000 to the Free Public Library.
P ARKER, WARD M., was born in Falmouth, Mass., June 18, 1784, and died in New Bedford, August 6, 1881. In early life he was engaged in the coasting trade, commanding a vessel running to Charleston, S. C. He secured the confidence of the leading merchants and business men at that port, and his operations were uni- formly successful. The War of 1812, with the embargo, broke up his coasting business at the South, but this did not dishearten him. For several years he was engaged in procuring live-oak timber in Florida under contracts with the government, and soon after embarked in the whaling business at Wood's Holl, where he built the ship Bar- tholomew Gosnold. On the 12th of June, 1838, Mr. Parker removed to this city, though for a few years he continued his agency of the Gosnold, which was fitted at Wood's Holl. He then retired from active business, devoting himself to the care of the hand- some property which he had acquired, and which, under his shrewd management, grew to a large estate.
For nearly forty years he was director in the Marine (now First National) Bank, and for many years was in the direction of the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad, the Gas-light Company, the Commercial Insurance Company, the Taunton Copper Com- pany and its president for many years, and the Taunton Locomotive Works.
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HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
M ANDELL, THOMAS.1-Thomas Mandell was born in Fairhaven, August 9, 1792, and died in New Bedford February 13, 1870. He was for a time a clerk in a store at the Head-of-the-River, and before reaching his majority commenced business here as partner with the late Caleb Congdon. Soon after he took the entire manage- ment of a mechanic's store, developing there the business traits which attracted the no- tice of the firm of Isaac Howland & Co., and induced them to offer him an interest in their house. He became a member of the firm in 1819, and it is exact justice to say that to him more than any other partner is due the high credit which the house for a half century maintained, and the colossal fortunes built up. The late Edward Mott Robinson entered the firm about 1833, which soon after consisted of that gentleman, Mr. Mandell and the late Silvia Ann Howland. The new partner brought to the firm an eagerness and boldness in enterprise which greatly extended its operations, but which never disregarded the sound judgment of Mr. Mandell; and the two, although widely differing in almost everything else, perfectly agreed in their notions of mercan- tile integrity, and each entertained the highest regard for the honor of the other. Be- sides his responsibility as a partner, Mr. Mandell for more than a quarter of a century had the entire care and management of the estate of the late Silvia Ann Howland, and her appointment of him as sole executor of her will was a just recognition of his integ- rity, while her bequest to him of two hundred thousand dollars was nothing more than a fair remuneration for the valuable service he had rendered.
Mr. Mandell was many years ago one of the selectmen of the town, and was the first to commence the keeping of the records by the board. He was a member of the Leg- islature for the years 1830 to 1836 inclusive. These were the only public offices held by him. He sought no such honors; but he was never without proofs of the confi- dence reposed in his probity and discretion, as the responsible positions he held in vari- ous corporations showed. He was not a great man, but he was better than that -- he was a good man.
A merchant of the old school, he knew no road to success but that of upright and honorable dealing. Modest and unobtrusive, no man was more tenacions of an opinion when satisfied of its correctness. His name was a synonym of rectitude. He was a benevolent man. He was the almoner of his own bounty, which did not break out at long intervals in noisy, startling displays of beneficence, but flowing quietly, steadily, refreshingly. We need not speak of the objects of his charity, or the extent of his benefactions. He never spoke of them, and shrunk from any mention of them by others. He may be forgotten as the honorable and successful merchant, but his mem- ory will live in the hearts of those who have been sustained and cheered by his unos- tentatious and gentle charities.
DICHMOND, GEORGE B., was born in New Bedford, November 9, 1821. His parents were Gideon Richmond, of Dighton, and Rebecca Barstow, of Scituate. He was educated at the Friends' Academy, New Bedford ; Pierce Academy, Middle- boro; and at Brown University, where he remained but two years on account of ill-
1 From New Bedford Mercury, February 14, 1 7 .
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GEO. B. RICHMOND.
health. He returned to New Bedford and entered upon a business life. His natural inclinations led him at the very beginning of his career to participate in public affairs, and he has occupied a leading position among the public spirited men of his native town.
Mr. Richmond took an active and leading part in the noted context of the People against the New Bedford Bridge Corporation, which was waged in the courts and Leg- islature from 1845 to the summer of 1855, and terminated in securing what had become an imperative necessity, the widening of the draw in the bridge from thirty-two feet to sixty feet to accommodate the then increasing commerce of New Bedford, whose large whaling fleets were then sailing upon every ocean.
In 1851 he was elected on the Whig ticket as a member of the State Legislature of 1852. In 1861, May 1. Mr. Richmond was appointed inspector, weigher, gauger and measurer in the New Bedford Custom House, which office be held till he resigned in January, 1874. In 1867 he was nominated by the temperance prohibitory party for mayor of New Bedford, and also in 1868, and was defeated both years, but was elected in 1869. Mr. Richmond was mayor in the years 1870, 1871, 1872, 1874 and 1878. During his occupancy of the mayoralty the city gained a high reputation throughout the neighbor- ing Commonwealths for good government, and in the enforcement of the liquor laws of the Commonwealth, and was cited everywhere by temperance advocates as illus- trative of the efficiency of prohibitory liquor laws when well enforced. During his ad- ministration as mayor, the city was visited by President Ulysses S. Grant, and King Kalakua, of the Sandwich Islands. A public reception given to each of these dis- tinguished visitors in 1874 was gracefully conducted by His Honor, to the satisfaction of the citizens and evident enjoyment of the guests.
Mr. Richmond's efforts in the prosecution of the liquor laws in New Bedford were cordially sustained and supported by boards of aldermen composed of citizens of high character, and who were in thorough sympathy with the mayor in all of his work. Aside from this, Mr. Richmond's mayoralty was highly successful. His administration was signalized by a new era in the extension of streets, in the rebuilding of the New Bed- ford and Fairhaven bridge, and his enterprise in other public improvements contributed in a marked degree to the prosperity of the city. December 31, 1873, just previous to his inauguration as mayor, in 1874, Governor Washburn appointed Mr. Richmond one of the police commissioners of the Commonwealth, and he held the same until the com- mission was abolished. Our beautiful High School building was planned and all con- tracted for during the administration of Mayor Richmond in 1874, and the work was commenced in laying its foundation during the latter part of that year.
In 1880 and '81 he was a member of the State Senate, representing the Third Bristol District. The last named year he was chairman of the Committees on Public Charitable Institutions, and the Liquor Law. A vacancy occurring in the office of register of deeds for the Southern Bristol District in 1883, Mr. Richmond was appointed to the vacancy, a position that he still occupies with great satisfaction to the public. In 1886 he was appointed by Governor Robinson a trustee of the Westborough Insane Hospital, and in 1887 was reappointed by Governor Ames for five years, and in 1892 was re- appointed by Governor Russell.
Mr. Richmond was always an ardent Republican, and also an earnest advocate of prohibitory measures for suppressing the liquor traffic. For years he was chairman of
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HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
the Republican City Committee. In 1888 he was a member of the Republican State Central Committee. In the same year he was chairman of the Bristol County Com- mittee, of the First Congressional District Committee and also of the Third Bristol Dis- trict Senatorial Committee. In the fall of 1888 he declined re-election on all these, de- siring to devote his entire attention to the duties of his office.
In 1889 Mr. Richmond was elected a director in the Bristol County Mutual Insur- ance Company. He is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Society, and for five years was superintendent of its Sabbath-school. He has been for years one of the board of the New Bedford Port Society, and is one of the trustees of the New Bedford Five Cent Savings Bank. For seven years he was president of the Young Men's Christian Association. He has been closely identified with many movements for promoting the moral and material welfare of the city, and is one of New Bedford's most esteemed citizens.
Mr. Richmond was married in Middleborough, November 5, 1844, to Rebecca R. C., daughter of Rev. Ebenezer and Rebecca Childs Nelson, of Middleborough, by whom he had seven children, five of whom are living. Mrs. Richmond died July 31, 1863. His second marriage was at New Bedford, December 15, 1864, to Abby S., daughter of Deacon Nathaniel and Hannah Smith Nelson, who died July 30, 1868. His third mar- riage was at New Bedford, November 2. 1871, to Elizabeth E., daughter of Capt. Charles D. and Mary H. Swift, of New Bedford.
G ARDNER, EDMUND'-Capt. Edmund Gardner was a native of Nantucket, where he was born November 8, 1784. He died in this city, which had been for many years his home, September 16, 1875. Although not upon the list of the dead for the year, we give him rightfully a place in this year's remembrances of our departed fellow citizens, whose characters and position claim from us a notice in our annual pub- lication.
There is much in the life and character of Capt. Edmund Gardner to claim and to re- ward the search for information respecting him, much of incident connected with his seafaring existence, and these, while they served to develop the strong and healthy qualities of his mind and heart, tended also to give them additional force and vitality.
In looking over the memoranda which, in the latter part of his life he prepared of his sea-going experience, two traits of the character of this successful seaman and model man and ship master are made strikingly prominent.
Did our limits allow of it, we could copy from this vivid and minute autobiography many illustrations of the firmness, may we not say the heroism, with which he met danger, disaster and loss, of, and that wonderful fertility of resource which so often averted the danger and enabled him to rise superior to the powers of adverse fortune.
The presence of danger and the experience of misfortune, found him always prepared to bring into immediate activity the knowledge which he had gathered, and that creat- ive energy which was always at his command, to meet for himself and for others, the emergencies of the hour.
1 From the Annual Report of the New Bedford Free Public Library, written by James B. Congdon.
109
EDMUND GARDNER.
The habits of constant observation in the direction of the calling which he had early chosen and which he so successfully pursued, and the facility with which he treasured up the incidents of his experience, gave him at all times the resource of a large accumu- lation of practical knowledge to apply to the circumstances with which at any time he was surrounded.
But nature had endowed him with a large and well-balanced mental capacity, and thus gifted, he could not only accumulate and make available the information which came of experience and observation, but he could create new combinations, and apply new and untried resources, to meet the circumstances of an occasion of unexpected and unavoidable danger or difficulty.
His school was upon the ocean. There where danger was to be encountered, disaster to be met and victory to be won, he learned quickly and thoroughly the lessons by which danger could be avoided, disaster overcome and a righ harvest reward enterprise, perseverance and well directed energy.
The incidents recorded in Captain Gardner's narrative, by which these traits of char- acter are illustrated, are, as we have already remarked, many and striking. But they cannot be given here. A more extended notice, for which the memoranda left by him would afford ample materials, would give an opportunity which it is hoped may be em- braced, to give to the public the incidents of his life as well as the exemplary and at- tractive traits of his character.
But Captain Gardner occupied a higher position in society than that of a successful seaman and an enterprising and well rewarded merchant. As a sailor, an officer and a commander of a ship, he bore about him in the forecastle and the cabin the ever active and controlling principles of integrity, fidelity and piety. The exercise of these virtues was not dependent upon geographical position or the circumstances of the hour. He always had in his ocean home an altar, upon which there was a daily offering of grati- tude and trust; and then, as when in his home upon the land, or at his accustomed seat in the house of worship, he acknowledged his obligations to and dependence upon that Protecting Power in which he recognized his Father and Redeemer. His justice, fidelity and purity had a foundation too deep, and an activity too real, to have their ex- ercise confined to those places and circumstances in which they are called for to give confidence and respectability.
Thus was his character rounded into a beautiful completeness. Thus was his native sagacity and his large and valuable fund of practical information complemented by the virtues and the graces born of Christain faith and Christain obedience.
It should be borne in mind that this man, whose life affords us so rare an example of business enterprise, combined with an uprightness of character which had its roots deep in the soil of Christian faith, had but the most meagre opportunities for the culture of the school.
The schools of the day were poor at the best, and but small opportunity was allowed the youthful Gardner to profit by them, such as they were. At an early age he was upon the sea ; and it was in the ocean school that the training for an upright, intelli- gent and successful manhood, and a quiet, contented and happy old age were mainly at- tained.
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HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
Captain Gardner was a Representative from this city in the General Court for the years 1831, 1832 and 1833.
He resided in New Bedford upon his removal hither from Nantucket in 1824, to the time of his decease.
He was a consistent and valued member of the Society of Friends, and held for many years the office of overseer of the New Bedford Monthly Meeting.
C ROCKER, ROLAND R .- It is not our purpose, nor is it in our power, to enter into any biographical details of the long life of this excellent and venerable man, who has just been gathered to his fathers. Such inquiries as we have made touching his prolonged and checkered career, have indeed disclosed to us the fact, that many men, more distinguished and of larger importance in the world's affairs, have hardly furnished more materials for a romantic and fascinating narration. During the eighty years of his pilgrimage, he saw many lands, he traversed many seas, he suffered many changes, he underwent many vicissitudes, and he experienced various fortunes. Around his life gathered the poetry of the ocean ; and among those who went down to the sea in ships, there was none upon whose character the ennobling influences of that vocation were more genial or more decided. The men of such experiences always leave be- hind them a glory of dangers overcome, of moving incidents by flood or field, of hair- breadth escapes,-
"Of being taken by the insolent foe," ---
of distressful strokes suffered in youth-things indeed which old and young "seriously incline " to hear; but it is almost always a tale, too, of noble self-sacrifice and generous self-denial, and prodigal self-forgetfulness, of existence periled to preserve the exist- ence of others, of unquestioned fidelity to delegated interests, and deep conscientious- ness in the discharge of duty. Such has been the life of the ripe old man which has just terminated ; and if it were written, there are many of more pretensive morality which would teach less, as there are renowned romances the wonders of which would fall behind its nndoubted verities.
He came early in life to New Bedford, where he was apprenticed to some mechani- cal trade, which, however, he soon abandoned for the sea. He made one short whal- ing voyage, and afterward sailed out of Boston, soon rising to the rank of commander. During the brief hostilities which arose between this country and the French govern- ment he commanded a letter of marque, and was captured by one of the enemy's privateers. He was taken a prisoner to France, where he remained until the cessa- tion of hostilities.
After his liberation he once more engaged in marine pursuits. In 1807, while in command of the ship Otis, then lying in the Downs ready for sea, and with a cargo on board valued at £100,000, he exhibited a courage, skill and presence of mind which were then thought to be very remarkable. His ship, driven from her anchorage, drifted on board a heavy frigate, carrying away his quarter and crippling the vessel. His pilot, we believe his mate, with a considerable portion of his crew, abandoned the ship, and urged him to do the same. Without a pilot, and short-handed as he was,
II1
ROLAND R. CROCKER.
he got under weigh and ran for Dover harbor, in the midst of a tremendous storm where he arrived in safety, although he had been quite given up for lost, preserving an immense amount of property, estimated, as we have said, at half a million of dollars, to- gether with a valuable ship.
To show their sense of the courage and perseverance thus displayed, the under- writers at Lloyd's Coffee-house presented to him a gratuity of £500, with an elegant silver cup, upon which was an appropriate inscription. We have seen many letters of congratulation addressed to him upon the occasion, all breathing a spirit of the warmest friendship and admiration of his character.
Captain Crocker for many years commanded various packet-ships between New York, London and Liverpool. We need not say that in this difficult service he achieved reputation and celebrity in the mercantile world, and the esteem and friendship of thousands who crossed the sea under his protection. His urbane and gentlemanly manners, his interesting and varied conversation, his care for the comfort of those under his charge, and his humanity to all in suffering and want, were as proverbial as was his skill as a mariner. In this service, it is not too much to say that he was con- stantly receiving the most varied testimonials from the most various sources, of esteem and of gratitude; and to this day there are numbers who remember him as the pilot who weathered the storm which sent terror to their hearts, and as the bluff old-fash- ioned gentleman who charmed by his good-natured conversation the monotony of sea- travel.
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