History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 185

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 185

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ILLI, CUI CARMINA APPLICENT.1

A son of Esculapius comes, I hear his chariot wheels ;

The very sound my soul benumbs, A shiver o'er me steals.

Ye muses, aid me if you can, Ye sundry settled bills,

In self-defense to sing the man Of gallipots and pills !

Ye classic bards of olden days, My vacant soul inspire ; Ye smiling ghosts of comic lays, Awake my sleeping lyre.

Desert your graves in winding-sheets, Diseases, fierce and grim ;

Ye aches and pains your dark retreats Forsake, and sing of him.

Ye memories of departed pills, Of bitter powders too, Support my shrinking soul that fills With horror at the view.

Ye spirits all of tuneful rhyme, Where'er ye chance to be,

Come, mount Parnassus' heights sublime, And sweep the lyre for me.

Come, sing the Homeopathic knight ; Describe him, as he comes To kindly give the aching wight A dose of sugar-plums !

Who banishes disease and woe, And contradicts the song,

" Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long."

Come, sing capacious pockets crammed With roots the fields supply, That in the sounding mortar jammed, Diseases stern defy.

The names that on his vials wrote, In goodly rows appear,

That choke the rude, contracted throat, And stun the vulgar ear.

But most of all, his awful eyes That pierce my very soul ; That scan my feelings as they rise, And penetrate the whole. For eyes and " specs" together, strike The very seat of life ; And scare my timid spirit, like A - keen-edged carving-knife !

1 To him to whom the song applies.

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

But, lo ! his steed is at the gate, And he is at the door :

Be steady now, my whirling pate, Ye shaking nerves, give o'er. He doff's the frightful rubber coat That darkly shrouds his form,

And, fastened tight beneath his throat, Defies and scares the storm.

Ile leaves his cap and gloves below, Arise, my longest hairs ! For now, with solemn step and slow, I hear him on the stairs. Two ponderous volumes in his hands This second Galen brings,

And by the couch of sickness stands A man of mighty things.

And now he reads those mystic books, Enlighteners of disease,

And grasps his patient's wrist, and looks Profound as Socrates. Prescribes a dose, then lifts his eyes And fastens them on me ;

My blood runs cold, my spirit dies, So terrible is he !

Ye pitying muses, one and all, That e'er on mortals smiled,

O teach me how to break the thrall, The spell of And if the task of serving you Apollo e'er assigns,

It shall be hers, life's journey through, Who perpetrates these lines.

Dr. Wild married Mary Joanna Rhodes, of North Providence, R. I., Dec. 29, 1819.

Children .- 1. Charles William Wild, born June 10, 1822, married Mary Araminta Scales, of San Francisco, Cal.

2. Susanna Seraphina Wild, born Dec. 17, 1823, married George Augustus Wood, of Philadelphia, Pa., March 22, 1843.

3. Edward Augustus Wild, born Nov. 25, 1825, married Frances Ellen, daughter of John Whiting and Marian (Dix) Sullivan, of Boston, June 12, 1855 ; no children.

4. Laura Matilda Wild, born Jan. 23, 1828, mar- ried Rev. Joseph H. Phipps, of Framingham, Mass., Jan. 1, 1849 ; resides at Kingston, Mass.

5. Mary Heath Wild, born May 6, 1829, married ; then came the invasion and occupation of Rome Edward Jarvis Cushing, of North Providence, R. I., | May 22, 1850.

6. Catherine Wheaton Wild, born July 26, 1832.

7. Emily Caroline Wild, born July 14, 1834, died Sept. 18, 1835.

listed in the First Rhode Island Battery (three months' service) April 21, 1861 ; time expired July 21, 1861, but continued in service till August 3d ; re-enlisted in a battery which was afterwards incor- porated in the Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, Feb. 22, 1862; was discharged to accept promotion as second lieutenant in Gen. Ullman's brigade (colored troops) Feb. 23, 1863, and mustered in as such March 7, 1863 ; promoted to first lieutenant in Fifty-fourth Massachusetts (colored) Volunteers Feb. 23, 1863; appointed aide-de-camp on Gen. Edward A. Wild's staff May 14, 1863 ; promoted to captain of Second North Carolina Colored Volunteers (afterwards the Thirty-sixth United States Colored Volunteers) Aug. 14, 1863, and continued as A.D.C. on Gen. Wild's staff; detailed as A.A.I.Gen. Dec. 25, 1863.

9. Lydia Greene Wild, born May 27, 1840, died Aug. 6, 1840.

Dr. Wild died at North Providence, R. I., Feb. 3, 1864.

GEN. EDWARD A. WILD.

Gen. Edward A. Wild was the son of Dr. Charles and Mary Joanna (Rhodes) Wild, of Brookline, Mass. He was born Nov. 25, 1825. After the usual advan- tages in the schools of his native village and the clas- sical school in the town, he fitted for college under the private instruction of Dr. Samuel Rogers, of Rox- bury ; entered Harvard College in 1840; graduated in 1844, receiving the degree of A. B. in due course ; A.M., in 1847; studied medicine with his father and in the office of Dr. A. E. Cotting, of Roxbury, and at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, also at Jefferson College, Philadelphia, Pa., where he re- ceived the degree of M.D. in 1846; commenced practice in 1847, in Brookline, and became a mem- ber of the Massachusetts Medical Society, May 23, 1850, and was the orator at their annual meeting in 1859. Oct. 1, 1848, he went to Paris to study and visit the hospitals of that city. While there he started on a pedestrianizing tour through Italy and Switzerland. Italy at that time was torn with a threefold war : Rome was contending against Naples ; (which had then been temporarily a republic), while the North of Italy was in active turmoil and strife against the Austrians. At the Romano-Neapolitan frontier he was arrested and closely searched by the troops on both sides of the line, each taking him for a spy for the opposite side.

8. Walter Henry Wild, born June 19, 1836, mar- ried Helen M. Conkling, of Springfield, Mass., 1866. At Terracina he was taken before Garibaldi, then Capt. Walter H. Wild, A.D.C. and A.A.I.Gen., en- in command, who very quickly discerned his true

Edi. . . Hild.

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character and liberated him. At Forli, in the Ro- magna, he was arrested as an Austrian spy, mobbed and roughly maltreated, and had a fortunate escape with his life. On Lake Garda he was arrested at midnight as a robber, and up the river Po seized as a deserter from the Austrian army, and had many other exciting adventures, some neither safe nor agreeable. The experience he met with during this excursion gave him the first ideas of the horrors of war, and an opportunity to witness the devastation of, and the destructive effects of, battles and bombard- ments. He returned to Brookline Jan. 1, 1850, and resumed the practice of his profession, which he con- tinued till June 12, 1855, when he married and sailed direct for Constantinople, and immediately ten- dered his services in aid of the Turkish army, and re- ceived a commission as surgeon of artillery (Hekim- bashi), with the rank and pay of lieutenant-colonel, and assumed the name of " Kholoussy Bey."

In the course of his professional duties he visited the ports of Samsoun-Sinoub (Sinope), Trebizond, Batoum, Redout Kaleh (Kemhal), Sokhoum, Kaleh. He was attached to the army corps of Omer Pasha, commander-in-chief of the Turkish forces in the field, and passed the winter near Sokhoum, in the foot-hills of the Caucasus, occupying the hospital buildings captured from the Russians. After peace was arranged, he continued in charge of extensive military hospitals for months at Trebizond, where were gathered the numerous sick and disabled, the residuum of the war. On leaving the service, in addi- tion to the war medal (Sefer Nishani) he received | from the Sultan Abdul Medjid the decoration of the Medjidieh, with its accompanying Berat (diploma), together with an autograph letter from Omer Pasha recommending him for that high honor. This was Dr. Wild's wedding tour, so that in company with his wife he visited Trebizond and the banks of the Bosphorus, and, after a long sojourn in Constanti- nople, the Gulf of Nikomedia (Isnikmid), the islands in the Marmora (Prinkipo), and the Troad. Return- ing homeward he visited Greece and the Isles of the Archipelago, and stayed at Malta-where he was in- itiated into Freemasonry, taking three degrees in St. John's Lodge-Malli, Sicily, and a long time in Italy in 1857.

Immediately upon his arrival home he resumed the practice of his profession, in which he was successful, and was fast growing in popularity, and gave to the public the benefits of an extensive experience in the military hospitals, as well as the more complete study of medicine in the hospitals of Paris. For ten years prior to the commencement of the Rebellion, Dr.

Wild having a natural fondness for military drill, had been an active member of the Boston Independent Corps of Cadets, and during that time never missed a single drill. When the demand came from the government for men to assist in protecting our coun- try from the assaults on the liberties of the people, the doctor was not only fully prepared himself, but he commenced to prepare others for actual service in the field. Dr. Wild was a highly-intelligent person, and had long foreseen that something of the nature of a struggle must ensue, and had a full appreciation of the magnitude of the war then impending. A full company was raised, of men mostly from Brookline and Jamaica Plain, through the instrumentality of Dr. Wild, who was commissioned as captain of the same by Governor Andrew on the 22d of May, 1861. This company formed a part of the First Massachu- setts Regiment of Volunteers, and entitled Company A, being the first regiment of the three years' troops to go to the seat of war. After being engaged in the battles of Bull Run and Williamsburg, and several lesser combats, including the siege of Yorktown, he was permanently disabled by a bullet at the battle of Seven Pines, on the field of Fair Oaks, Va., June 25, 1862. Returning to Massachusetts, he was placed in command of a camp of recruits at Lynnfield. While in camp he was promoted by regular grades to colonel of the Thirty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment of Volun- teers, Aug. 20, 1862, and two days after he pro- ceeded with his regiment to Washington, his arm still disabled and in a sling, and in three weeks was in front of the enemy, in Gen. Burnside's corps, at the battle of South Mountain, where he lost his left arm, amputated at the shoulder-joint. On that day, and three days later, his new regiment distinguished itself by their steady, determined bravery, worthy of veteran troops.

When partially recovered from the loss of his arm, the colonel returned to Massachusetts, Dec. 1, 1862, where, while recovering from his wounds, he assisted Governor Andrew in organizing colored troops, the pioneer work in that line. On the 24th of April, 1863, he was appointed by President Lincoln a brig- adier-general of volunteers, and soon after proceeded to North Carolina, where he raised a brigade of col- ored troops from among the fugitive slaves in that de- partment, having his headquarters at Newberne. While here he gave much time and labor to the care and permanent provision of the colored families, by colonizing them. On the 30th of July the general took a large number of raw colored troops to South Carolina, where they did valuable and valiant service in the siege of Charleston. Three months later, leav-

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

ing his troops at Charleston, he returned to his re- cruiting work at Newberne, N. C., also in Virginia. Jan. 18, 1864, Gen. Wild was placed in command of the district of Norfolk and Portsmouth, which be- sides his military labors involved large civil duties in the government of those two cities, filled as they were with a hostile population. On the opening of the spring campaign, in May, 1864, he joined the Army of the James, in command of his colored troops, where he continued, participating in the siege opera- tions against Petersburg and Richmond until their fall. During the last three months he was in com- mand of a division, containing three brigades of in- fantry, beside cavalry and artillery, heavy and light. This being a portion of the Twenty-fifth Army Corps, composed wholly of colored troops.

On the 3d of April, 1865, he went into Richmond as " Jeff Davis" went out. Some of the slaves origi- nally recruited by the general being the first infantry to enter those " sacred precincts."

After the close of the warlike operations, he served in the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgia, and was finally mustered out of the United States service, Jan. 15, 1866. The general finding himself too much crip- | pled to return to the practice of his former profession, he turned his attention to mining, in which he is still engaged. His experience and travels embrace the fields of Nevada, California, Utah, Colorado, and Lake Superior (Canada side).

It is no more than due to Gen. Wild to state that when he first enlisted into the army he enjoyed the highest esteem and confidence of all who were ac- quainted with him in his Massachusetts home. Par- ticularly did he enjoy the confidence of Gov. Andrew, who was a warm personal friend during the Rebellion. | When he entered the service he had been engaged in the Turkish army, and his experience there was of great value to him at home. Of an impulsive nature, fired with patriotism and intense enthusiasm, he gave his entire powers into the service. His record fully confirms the statements made, and we want no better illustration of his bravery than that at Wilson's Wharf, on James River, Va. While in command of an important outpost at the above locality he was surrounded by a greatly superior force of cavalry under the command of Maj .- Gen. Fitz- Hugh Lee, and was summoned to surrender, but he replied in the following brief manner : " We will try it," and after a desperate fight his trusty negroes beat off the enemy.

The following is the demand :

" May 24, 1864.

" By command of Maj .- Gen. Fitz-Hugh Lee, I am sent to demand the surrender of the Federal troops at Wilson's Wharf.

He (Gen. Lee) thinks he has troops enough to carry the position. Should they surrender, they will be turned over to the authori- ties at Richmond, and treated as prisoners of war. Should they refuse, Gen. Lee will not be responsible for the consequences.

"Very respectfully your obt. servant,

" R. J. MASON, Major & A. T. G.

" To BRIG .- GENERAL WILD, Commanding Federal Troops."

The reply of Gen. Wild was in the following laconic manner :

" We will try it.

" ED1. A. WILD, Brig .- Gen. Vols."

Indorsed on the back of the demand, and returned to Gen. Lee. And " try it they did, with the Union army victorious, saving an important position to the " Army of the James."

Not only was Gen. Wild a good and brave soldier, but the example to his men was of the best. Promi- nent among his many good qualities was that of enforcing principles of abstinence from the use of intoxicating liquor. In this he set an example by his own entire disuse of liquor of any kind. During his whole service in the United States army he never touched any intoxicants, even to a glass of cider or lager beer.

Finally, those who remember Gen. Wild as a citizen regard him as one of integrity, and a manly, good man. Those to whom his words of comfort and cheer in the hours of sickness have done so much, remember him with the kindest affection. While those under whose care they were as soldiers in the army, all unite to speak of him in the kindest terms as a brave and good officer.

ELBRIDGE WASON.

The subject of this sketch is a descendant in the fourth generation from James Wason, who was born in the parish of Bellemanus, County of Antrim, Ire- land, in 1711. He married at Portsmouth, N. H., Hannah Caldwell, Nov. 30, 1736, by whom he had seven children,-James, Samuel, Thomas, Betsy, Nancy, Isabel, and Sarah.

Lieut. Thomas Wason, son of James and Hannah Wason, married Mary, daughter of Robert Boyd, of Londonderry, N. H., Dec. 1, 1772, and had eight children, - James, Mary, Thomas Boyd, James, Robert, Sarah, Thomas Boyd, and Hannah.

Deacon Robert Wason, son of Lieut. Thomas and Mary Wason, married Nancy, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Batchelder) Batchelder, Dec. 26, 1808, and had nine children, viz .: Elbridge, Louisa, Hiram, Nancy, Mary, Robert Boyd, Adeline, Caroline, and George Austin.

Elbridge Mason 1

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BROOKLINE.

Elbridge Wason, son of Deacon Robert and Nancy Wason, married Mary (born June 30, 1809), daugh- ter of Samuel and Mary (Gardner) Stickney, of Bos- ton, April 21, 1851. She died Aug. 15, 1863. He married, second, Mary Isabella (born May 30, 1835), daughter of Hon. Leonard and Mary Isabella (Dickey) Chase, of Milford, N. H., May 17, 1865, and have Mary Isabella Wason, born Jan. 11, 1867, and Leonard Chase Wason, born Aug. 5, 1868.

Mr. Wason was born in New Boston, N. H., Sept. 26, 1809. He was the eldest of nine children, all of whom lived to become useful members in society. - His early days were spent in his native town in con- tributing his share of manual labor upon his father's farm. Here it was, under the care of kind parents, with an early religious training, that he developed that strong character for manliness and integrity which has ever characterized his more matured years. His advantages for school education were such as the life of a country farmer usually affords. A brief at- | tendance in the village school of his native town, sup- plemented by a course of study at Derry Academy, prepared him for the higher privilege of teaching school in Windham, and afterwards in Amherst, N. H. In December, 1831, being desirous of seeing some- thing of life outside of his native village, he visited Boston, where he remained for a short time, and while there he was induced to embark in business. On the 8th of March, 1832, he removed to Boston, and immediately entered upon the duties of clerk and sales- man in the wholesale West India goods store of the well-known firm of Pierce & Goodnow, at 29 South Market Street. At the end of one and a half years | the firm was dissolved, but he continued with Mr. Goodnow for the term of five years, at the expiration | of which time he entered into partnership with his cousin, William Wason, on Blackstone Street, where he remained till August, 1837. On the first day of September of that year a new partnership was formed with Henry Peirce, under the firm-name of Wason & Peirce, wholesale grocers, at 61 Chatham Street. At the end of eighteen months Mr. Rufus Clement, of New London, N. H., was admitted a partner in the business, under the firm-name of Wason, Peirce & Co. Mr. Clement retired from the firm April 1, 1848. Soon after this, Robert Boyd Wason, a brother of the senior partner, was admitted to the firm. George | A. Wadley, who had for a long time been book-keeper for the firm, was a partner for about ten years, re- tiring on the 1st day of January, 1865. At this time Henry E. Peirce, son of Mr. Henry Peirce, became partner, the firm-name remaining the same through the various changes. The present members

are Elbridge Wason, Henry Peirce, and Robert Boyd Wason, who are still actively engaged in the same business, and in the store where they began in 1837. Commencing business at a season when the country was laboring under a severe financial depression, the success of this firm has been remarkable, and is largely due to the promptness with which everything has been done, the meeting every obligation, and con- ducting business in honesty, and with the manly purpose of dealing justly with all people. A truly remarkable example of the integrity of Boston's best merchants worthy of emulation. In politics Mr. Wason has ever been of the Whig and Republican order, a firm and stanch supporter of the government, and a firm believer in a liberal orthodox religion, and is a member of the church under the pastoral care of Rev. Reuen Thomas, Ph.D.

Although Mr. Wason has for a long time been away from the scenes of his early boyhood, he has ever been attached to his native town, and still holds the same in kind remembrance. He came to Brook- line in August, 1858, and purchased the estate at the corner of Harvard Street and Alton Place, where he now resides. He was one of the principal movers and contributors in the erection of the new and ele- gant stone temple near his residence, known as Har- vard Church, and has served as a member of the Prudential Committee of the same. In his private life he is domestic in his habits, fond of home, of a social temperament, gentlemanly in his deportment and intercourse with the public.

HENRY PEIRCE.

Henry Peirce was born in Waltham, Mass., Oct. 2, 1807. His first ancestor in this country was John Peirce, who came from Norwich, Norfolk County, Eng- land, a short time prior to his admission as freeman of Watertown, Mass., which admission bears date 1637/8. This John Peirce was born probably in 1586, as he was forty-nine years old at the time he applied for permission to "pass into Boston, New England, to inhabit."

John's son, Anthony, who preceded his father to America by a few years, was born in 1609, and was admitted freeman of Watertown, Sept. 3, 1634. The date of his arrival in this country was 1630, pre- sumably with the company of Sir Richard Salston- stall.

The father of Henry Peirce was named William. He was educated at the common schools, and was a

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

farmer and stone-mason. He was a private and cor- poral for three years in the Revolutionary war. He was but fifteen years of age when the war broke out, and was stationed during his term of service among other places at Cambridge, West Point, and Philadel- phia. He underwent in common with others many hardships, and was honorably discharged, receiving for many years a pension. He was a patriotic, liberal- minded man, honorable in all his engagements, loved and respected by all. He died in Waltham, Sept. 4, 1825, aged sixty-five.

Henry's mother was Phebe Manning, born Nov. 10, 1766, died Oct. 13, 1851. She resided with her parents in Charlestown at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill, and was among those who fled for safety from their burning homes. She was then nine years old, and often in after-years told the story of her flight. She used to relate that, being ready to drop with fatigue, she exclaimed, " If they kill us, let 'em kill us, for I can't go any farther."

No . man could have a better mother than had Henry Peirce. She had a firm and independent mind, full of probity and self-reliance. She gave her years to her large family, and lived to see her sons grow up to regard her with veneration.

Henry married, Jan. 21, 1833, Louisa Adeline Bayley. She was born in Rumney, N. H., March 1, 1807; died in Brookline, Mass., March 22, 1879. She was the daughter of Simon and Salina (Ramsay) Bayley, and descended from Richard Bayley, of Row- ley, Mass., the first of his name in this country. They had four children,-1. Henry, born Oct. 25, ; their labor. 1833 ; died Nov. 30, 1833. 2. Henry Edgar, born April 13, 1835 ; died Aug. 26, 1881; married, Dec. 3, 1863, Ann Eliza Holt. 3. William Oliver, born Sept. 4, 1837 ; unmarried. 4. Helen Louisa, born Feb. 21, 1843; died April 6, 1855.

The subject of this sketch is widely known as a business man. The old church-going freeholders of his race in early times had not in all their line a more perfect representative of stanch, steadfast, manly integrity than he. His education was of the com- mon school. Ilis knowledge has been gained and his character formed in the conflicts of the world of business. He began his labors with George Mur- dock, a grocer of his native town. For seven years he performed the duties of his place. In 1828 he went to Lowell, a town then rising in importance, and engaged in the baking business. There for nearly nine years as partner in an enterprising and success- ful firm he exercised his abilities and industry. He came to Boston in 1837, entered into partnership with Elbridge Wason, and began business as a whole-

sale grocer at 61 Chatham Street, where he has re- mained to the present time (1884). For nearly fifty years Henry Peirce has kept the even tenor of his way. Not exempt from losses, at times large, nor from all the countless stringencies and struggles inci- dent to the prosecution of a widely-extended business, he has always met his engagements, fulfilled every obligation, and wherever known has met with that confidence and respect which purity of life and honesty of purpose must ever inspire. He removed his residence from Charles Street to Brookline in 1860, where he now lives filled with good will towards all honest men, content to claim only for himself the merit that belongs to good intentions and manly effort. His numerous friends hope he may live long to enjoy that competence he has so fairly and honor- ably earned.

Before closing this sketch it may be well for all who read these lines to reflect how large a volume might be made in recording the career of a man like Henry Peirce, who is only a type of the straight- forward, high-minded Boston merchant. Such as he labor not for wealth alone, nor for business reputa- tion. They have not the hope of the brilliant prizes of public life to sustain them in their struggles through the dark days of business adversity. More or less consciously they work because they feel it to be a duty. They have too much self-respect to waste their time in frivolous pursuits. Long after they have obtained a pecuniary independence they labor ' on, feeling that the world must somehow be better for And what burdens such men bear ! Who that has not experienced can fitly portray them ? Sneered at often by those they help the most, they rally in times of distress and give the fruits of their toil to lift the world to a higher plane, knowing that the approval of the " still small voice" must be their sole reward.

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 185

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534