History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 187

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 187

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Mr. Blake went at once to London on this mission, but found the time most unfavorable for such negoti- the rate of interest to ten per cent. He, however, finally succeeded in making arrangements with the

Mr. Blake always felt that the deserved high credit of Massachusetts was largely due to the high integrity and strong sense of Governor Andrew, in insisting upon gold for the payment of both principal and in- terest of the funded debt of the State throughout the general suspension of specie payments in the United States during the Rebellion.

Possessed of a character of unswerving integrity, Mr. Blake stood as an example of the highest com- mercial honor, and the many young men whom he educated during his long business career all testify to the warm interest which he took in lending a helping hand to those who needed his assistance.

Devoted and affectionate in his family, it was per- haps in the home circle that his character appeared to best advantage, and those who were in the habit !

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of meeting him there will ever cherish the pleasant memories of his sprightly humor and friendly interest.

Reverent and devout by temperament, he was a regular attendant upon religious services, and, al- though he never identified himself with the church by active membership, his whole life testified to his sincere and earnest belief in the truths of Christianity.

Mr. Blake died at his residence in Brookline, Aug. 6, 1875, his death resulting from an attack of paral- ysis at his office in Boston two days previous. He was interred in the family burial-lot at Mount Au- burn Cemetery.

His wife died two years before, June 7, 1873, at the Brookline home.

EXTRACTS FROM OBITUARY NOTICES PUBLISHED IN THE BOSTON NEWSPAPERS.

Boston Globe, Aug. 7, 1875. " GEORGE BATY BLAKE.

" The announcement of the death of George Baty Blake, the senior member of the firm of Blake Brothers & Co., bankers, will cause a wide-spread feeling of sorrow in the business and social circles of Boston. It is not often that we are called upon to record the death of a Boston merchant who has quietly and unostentatiously promoted the substantial interests of this city in the effective manner which was characteristic of Mr. Blake. . . . George Baty Blake was a strong man, one whose clearly- defined individuality and indomitable will would have made his power, nerve, and brain felt in any walk in life which he might have chosen.

" In both the dry-goods trade and the banking business he was very successful, although through nearly his whole life he labored with the disadvantage of a physical infirmity which would have paralyzed the efforts of men with a weaker will or a less active brain.

" What he has done for Boston can hardly be summed up in a few words or particularized in any special manner, since one of the leading aims of his life has always been to advance her interests. He was early a director in the Boston and Albany Railroad, where his ripe judgment and eminent business quali- | ties were utilized to advance the interests of the road and of Boston. He was also largely instrumental in securing the reg- ular visits of the European steamers to this port, and in numer- | ous ways used his utmost influence to promote Boston's welfare.

"During the darkest days of the war Mr. Blake never lost courage, but remained firm in his conviction and hope that the Union would be preserved intact, and he was, in those trying times, ever self-sacrificing, patriotic, and generous in upholding the cause he believed in so thoroughly.

" Mr. Blake was a man of the strictest integrity, was upright in all his dealings with men of all classes, and gentlemen who have dealt with and associated with him more or less for a quar- ter of a century, or more, speak in the highest terms of his busi- ness capacity and fidelity to principle, fairness, and justice.

. . . Boston has certainly lost in Mr. Blake one of her most positive, self-reliant, and enterprising business men,-one who achieved where many others failed, and one whose integ- rity, industry, and perseverance may well be copied by the younger business men of this city who are coming into the places he and others like him are vacating as the weeks, months, and years pass on."

Boston Daily Advertiser, Aug. 11, 1875.

" The recent removal by death of Mr. George Baty Blake from business circles will turn back the memories of many men over the last fifty years of the commercial history of Boston.

"The youngest of nine children of a highly respectable family in Brattleborough, Vt., he came to Boston in 1821, with nothing but his own exertions to depend upon.

" Amid the numerous temptations which a city life offers to young men, he kept himself pure and his moral character free from reproach.

" His aspirations were high, and were aided by an innate re- finement which distinguished him through life. His manners and bearing were always those of a gentleman, and nothing coarse or vulgar ever found favor with him.

" Probably there is no society in the world where the Eng- lish language is spoken in which Mr. Blake would not have borne himself with credit.

" Of his commercial sagacity there is no need to speak. In the long course of his business career he never failed to meet his engagements promptly, and during the years in which he acted as director of the Boston and Worcester Railroad his judgment, energy, and decision were such as to command the respect of his associates in an unusual degree.

" Mr. Blake delighted to select young men, to give them a chance of advancement and to feel that they owed their success to him.

" During an acquaintance of nearly thirty years, of which seventeen were passed in close and daily intercourse, the writer of this notice never received from him a harsh or unkind word.

"To his inferiors in station he was uniformly kind and cour- teous, a fact to which many attached dependants can bear wit- ness.

" In his family relations he was affectionate almost without limit, and as a father at once indulgent and firm.

" Without theological bigotry, Mr. Blake was decidedly a religious man. His attendance at church was regular, and quite as much from pleasure as duty. He has often been heard to speak with emotion of sermons which especially pleased him. His reverence for sacred things, though unostentatious, was real, and any man who acted from conscientious motives was sure of respectful treatment from him.

" He professed to be, and we believe was, governed by a sense of responsibility to a higher power.

" We are quite sure that his descendants will attach less value to the pecuniary inheritance which devolves upon them than to the memory which they can thus cherish and hold in honor."

JEREMIAH GRIDLEY.

Jeremiah Gridley, or " Jeremy," as he was famil- iarly known, or " Uncle Jerry," was born in Roxbury about 1703, and was a brother of Col. Richard Grid- ley, the famous engineer during the Revolutionary war. It has been a source of dispute as to where he died. Tudor, in his life of Otis, says he was a Boston inhabitant and died there. Dr. Eliot, in his biography, says he died in Boston, and further, " that his legal knowledge was unquestionable," and adds that " he died poor because he despised wealth."

The records of the town of Brookline say he died there Sept. 10, 1767, aged sixty-four years. He

B. B. & bandage

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BROOKLINE.

was a graduate of Harvard College, 1725. In 1731, he became editor of the Rehearsal, a weekly newspaper published in Boston. He was also engaged as an assistant in the grammar school in that town. He | Oct. 11, 1754. studied theology and became a preacher of the gos- pel ; afterwards studied law, and became one of the most distinguished lawyers of his day. He had a very accurate and extensive knowledge of his profes- sion, of great ability, an easy and graceful writer, and was fully imbued with the spirit of classical lit- erature. He had a very extensive and well-selected library of classical works, and was familiar with their contents. He acquired a great reputation in his pro- fession, and is now alluded to as the " Webster of his day." He had a powerful, clear, and discriminating mind. As a speaker, he was exceedingly rough, un- graceful, hesitating in his manner, but energetic and impressive in his peculiarly emphatic use of language, and when addressing the court his manner is said to have been rather magisterial than otherwise.

The records of Brookline bear witness of the fre- | which towns this name appears. At Marblehead, quency with which her citizens called him into posi- Mass., in 1691, Thomas Candage was engaged in the fishery business. All of this name are descendants of the early name of Cavendish, of good old English town-meetings, and was their representative to the | blood. In 1766, James Candage, Jr., first settled in tions of trust and importance, and from 1755 to the year of his death he was often moderator of their General Court in 1755-57 and 1767. He was | Blue Hill, Me. His father, James, and wife, Eliza- beth, soon followed, in 1769, and took up his residence at that place. elected selectman and assessor in 1760-61 and 1767. He was also one of the committee having in charge the Edward Devotion fund, left for the schools of the town of Brookline.

In 1742 he was chosen attorney-general of the province for one year, and in 1767 he was appointed to the same office by the Governor and Council.

Besides his civil offices, he was a colonel in the | became the first white settlers of Blue Hill. The First Massachusetts Militia, which included Brook- | line.

In 1743 the American Magazine and Historical Chronicle was started, and it is said Mr. Gridley was the editor.

His eminence in his profession rendered his office a favorite place of resort for students, and some of | the most distinguished lawyers in Massachusetts re- ceived their professional education under his instruc- .

tion, among whom may be mentioned Chief Justice Pratt, James Otis, Oxenbridge Thacher, and William Cushing.

Mr. Gridley was ranked with the Whig party of that day, but having argued the cause of Writs of Assistance, he lost the confidence of his political friends.

John Adams was presented to the court at Boston for admission to the bar, and, on the motion of Mr. Gridley and his recommendation, he was admitted. 1

Mr. Gridley was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, having been a Master in the | First Lodge, May 11, 1748, and its Grand Master

Mr. Gridley was a man of fine social qualities, and beloved by all those connected with him by social or domestic ties.

CAPT. RUFUS GEORGE FREDERICK CANDAGE.

Capt. Rufus George Frederick Candage, the sub- ject of this sketch, was the son of Samuel Roundy and Phebe Weir (Parker) Candage, born in Blue Hill, Me., July 28, 1826. The name of Candage was orig- inally "Cavendish," and later " Candish," and now Candage. Among the early settlers of Massachu- setts we find John Candage a ship-carpenter and landed proprietor at Charlestown, Mass., in 1660, afterwards at Marblehead, Salem, and Lynn, in all of

James, Jr., was born May 9, 1753; married Han- nah (born Aug. 4, 1753), daughter of John Roundy, who also settled at Blue Hill in 1762. He died in 1818 ; she died in March, 1851. He, with Joseph Wood, and their families, all of Beverly, Mass.,

children of James, Jr., and Hannah (Roundy) Can- dage were: (1) Elizabeth, born Sept. 16, 1775; (2) Gideon, born March 17, 1778, died Oct. 26, 1782 ; (3) Samuel Roundy, born Jan. 15, 1781 ; Phebe Weir Parker ; (4) Gideon, born Aug. 18, 1783 ; (5) Sarah, |born Jan. 4, 1786; (6) James, born April 30,-1788, died Aug. 1, 1798; (7) Azor, born April 8, 1791; (8) John, born Dec. 21, 1793, died Dec. 20, 1798.

Samuel Roundy Candage, the father of Capt. Can- dage, married, Feb. 29, 1816, Phebe Weir, daughter of Simeon and Mary (Perkins) Parker, and grand- daughter of Hon. Oliver Parker, of Castine, Me., a judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1800 to 1815, who was a native of Worcester, Mass., 1728.

The children of this marriage were: (1) Simeon Parker, born Nov. 21, 1816, died Dec. 31, 1842; lost at sea ; (2) John Walker, born March 15, 1818, died April 20, 1822; (3) James Roundy, born April 8, 1819, died at Fortune Island, one of the Bahamas,

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Nov. 14, 1856 ; (4) Samuel Parker Brooks, born a cargo of paving-blocks. This was at the age of Jan. 25, 1821, died Sept. 1, 1826; (5) Robert | twenty-four. From thence he commenced on foreign voyages, the first being to Valparaiso, Chili, Jan. 18, 1851. Parker, born Oct. 26, 1822, died Jan. 30, 1878; (6) Dorothy Perkins, born Feb. 16, 1825, died Aug. 28, 1826; (7) Rufus George Frederick, born July 28, He has made three voyages around the world ; eight voyages round Cape Horn to the westward, and five to the eastward, making thirteen times both ways that he has doubled that cape. He has made several voyages to San Francisco, three to Callao and the Chinchas, three to China, two to Australia, three to India, etc. In all he has sailed over three hundred thousand miles of ocean. 1826 ; (8) Samuel Franklin, born Jan. 21, 1828, died May 7, 1863, at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands ; (9) John Brooks, born June 24, 1829, died July 23, 1870, at Australia ; (10) Mary Perkins, born Aug. 12, 1831, died Sept. 4, 1831 ; (11) Hannah Roundy, born Aug. 12, 1831, died Sept. 4, 1831; (12) Charles Edward, born April 20, 1833, died April 14, 1862, at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands. The father died Dec. 23, 1852. The mother died Oct. 2, 1850.

The following vessels are some he has sailed in : Sloops, " Fame," " Pink," and " Credit ;" schooners, | " Passamaquoddy," "Edward," " "Zodiac," and " Zu- lette ;" half-brigs, " Curaçoa," " Delhi," ""Tavella," and " Equator ;" square-rigged brig, " Pioneer ;" bark, "Chesapeake;" ships, "Kentucky," "Java," "Iowa," " Hoogly," "Wizard," "Jamestown," "Electric Spark," and " National Eagle."

The ports visited and voyages made by Capt. Can- 1871. , He married, second, Ella M., daughter of | dage during his quarter of a century of sea-life are as

Of this large family, the subject of this notice is the only one living. Seven of these children grew to manhood, and became commanders of vessels in the merchant service. Capt. R. G. F. Candage married, first, Elizabeth Augusta, born Jan. 17, 1829, daughter of Elijah, Jr., and Mary (Richards) Corey, of Brook- line, Mass., May 1, 1853. The wife died Nov. 18, Benjamin and Sarah K. (Hall) White, of Revere, Mass., May 22, 1873. Children : (1) George Fred- erick Candage, born May 25, 1874; (2) Ella Augusta Candage, born Nov. 1, 1875 ; (3) Phebe Teresa Can- dage, born Oct. 12, 1877 ; (4) Robert Brook Can- dage, born Dec. 23, 1878 ; (5) Sarah Hall Candage, born Dec. 25, 1880, deceased ; (6) Sarah Caroline | Candage, born Feb. 2, 1882.

services in the mill and on the farm, he had to con- tent himself with three months' schooling in the year for five years, to which were added two terms in the Blue Hill Academy, and that completed his early education. His father having been a mariner in his early life, and all his older brothers following the sea, he chose the same occupation, and determined on seeing the world. When he arrived at eighteen he started on his career for life as a mariner, sailing between Boston and ports of Maine, and gradually going farther from home, all along the whole coast of the United States, visiting all the principal ports. We soon find our young friend engaging in longer voyages, and to foreign countries, and in course of time his old friends built a vessel for him, a brig, named the " Equator." It was while at home at this time that his mother died quite suddenly. The first voyage of our young captain was from Blue Hill to Boston, with

follows :

Ports in Maine .- Blue Hill, Orland, Calais, East- port, East Thomaston, St. George, Boothbay, Port- land, etc., and Portsmouth, N. H.

Ports in Massachusetts .- Gloucester, Salem, Dan- vers, Beverly, Boston.

Other Ports in United States .- New York, Phila- delphia, Baltimore, Alexandria, Va., Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Charleston, S. C., Mobile, and New Orleans, and Sisal, in Yucatan.

Capt. Candage passed the first twelve years of his life on his father's farm and in tending the saw-mill near by, attending school three months in the sum- Ports in the West Indies .- Bermuda, St. Martin, mer and two or three months in the winter. Upon | Cardenas, Cuba, Kingston, Falmouth, and Montego arriving at the age of twelve, his father requiring his | Bay, Jamaica.

Mediterranean Ports .- Gibraltar, Malaga, Port Mahon.

European Ports .- Cork, Liverpool, London, Leith, Newcastle, Shields, Glasgow, etc., Cherbourg, and -- Havre.

South American Ports .- Rio de Janeiro, Monte- video, Valparaiso, Callao, and Chincha Islands, Pisco.

Northwest Coast of America .- San Francisco, Port Townsend, Port Ludlow, and Port Gamble, Puget Sound.

Oceanica .- Sandwich Island, Baker's Island, and in Australia, Adelaide and Melbourne.

China .- Shanghai, Tsung-Ming, Woo-Sung, Hong- Kong, Whampoa, Canton.

India .- Angie, Java, Calcutta, and Bombay.

Many of these ports were visited several times. The last voyage made at sea as commander was in the ship " National Eagle," of which he was part

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owner, arriving in Boston from Liverpool, England, in May, 1867. He gave up seafaring life and be- came a resident of Brookline, June 1, 1867, where he now resides.

Capt. Candage has frequently been elected to fill offices of trust and responsibility, and still holds several public positions. He was elected a member of Dorie Lodge, F. and A. M., New York City, 1853; member of American Shipmasters' Association, 1861 ; Boston Marine Society, 1867 ; president of the same, 1883. The same year was treasurer of Boston Fire- Brick and Clay Retort Manufacturing Company. In - 1873 elected president of the same; 1868, marine inspector of the " Record of American and Foreign Shipping." The same year appointed marine in- spector by the Boston Board of Marine Underwriters ; held that office ten years. In 1871 chosen member | of the school committee of Brookline for five years (three years chairman) ; also trustee of Public Library. In 1872 elected assessor of town of-Brookline, and | declined. In 1876, one of the managers of Boston Port and Seaman's Aid Society ; resigned in 1883. In 1877 was elected a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society ; regent of the Saga- more Council, Royal Arcanum, of Brookline. In 1880-82, selectman of Brookline. In 1881, treas- urer of Boston Seaman's Bethel Relief Society, and president of Boston Terra Cotta Company ; president of Massachusetts Safety Fund Association. In 1882- 83, representative to the General Court from Brook- line ; was on Committee on Harbors and Public Lands, and Committee on Rules. In December, 1882, he was appointed surveyor for the Bureau Veritas of Paris, France, for district of Massachusetts and Rhode Is- land. In January, 1883, the last official act of Gov- ernor Long was to appoint Capt. Candage a justice of the peace ; 1883, president of the Boston Marine Society.

He has always been interested in matters of public improvements, and in the general welfare of the com- munity, having often presided as moderator of town- meetings, chairman of the Republican town com- mittee for eight years, and being a member of the Republican State Central Committee from Second Norfolk District, beside delegate to many State, Congressional, county, councillor, and senatorial con- ventions.

In 1877-79 he was W. M. of Beth-Horan Lodge of F. and A. M., of Brookline, and since that time Chaplain. Being a member of the Baptist Church, he has held several offices in the same. He is now a member of the Thursday Literary Club. For seven years he has been a director of the Franklin Fire In-

surance Company of Boston. In March, 1884. he was elected assessor of the town of Brookline.

COL. THOMAS ASPINWALL.

Col. Thomas Aspinwall, the son of Dr. William and Susanna (Gardner) Aspinwall, was born on the old " Aspinwall homestead," in Brookline, Mass.,-which has been in that family since 1650,-May 23, 1786. He received his early education at the common schools of that town, and fitted for college at Leicester Academy. He entered Harvard College as a sopho- more in 1801, in the same class with his brother, Dr. William Aspinwall, Jr., who became a physician, but died when a young man, in 1818. He took his degree of A.B. in 1804, and received the high honor of Latin salutatory at commencement. Three years later he delivered the Latin oration on receiving the degree of A.M. Immediately upon graduating he entered the law-office of William Sullivan, Esq., in Boston, and in due time was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and became the law. partner of Mr. Sullivan.

It was about this time he became a member of the " Independent Cadets" of Boston. This corps was in constant training, as war had been threatened long before 1812. Immediately after Madison's war procla- mation was issued, Col. Aspinwall, who was then adju- tant with the rank of captain, applied for a commis- sion in the army of the United States, and was soon appointed a major of the Ninth Regiment of Infantry, which he was largely instrumental in recruiting and in its efficiency of training exercise. With this regi- ment he entered the service, and served his country manfully, faithfully, and gallantly. He was in several actions. He was at Sackett's Harbor in 1813, and for his bravery there he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel. On the 10th of August, 1814, when the British assaulted Fort Erie, Col. Aspinwall commanded " Scott's Brigade," and on the memorable 17th-of September following he led Miller's column at the storming of the British intrenchments. It was on this occasion that he lost his left arm.

The volunteers of the year 1813 from what are now the four Bridgewaters, Easton, Stoughton, Can- ton, and Sharon, all enlisted in Col. Aspinwall's regiment, and whenever any of the soldiers talked over the matters of the battles of that year and Col. Aspinwall's name was mentioned, their countenances would brighten, and all bore ample testimony to his bravery as a soldier and to his great ability as an officer. He outlived all the soldiers in his command.

It is said that at the battle of Sackett's Harbor the

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

British troops were veterans, and that, knowing Col. Aspinwall's regiment and the other regiments were new levies, they determined to frighten them from their position taken in some new log barracks in an open space near the town, and for that purpose the British troops marched up to the new levies and made desperate efforts to dislodge them, and the battle was fought for more than an hour by a portion of both armies discharging their muskets in each other's faces. During this action neither Col. Aspinwall nor his men budged an inch. The stentorian voice of their leader could be heard encouraging his men amid the roar of musketry almost in his face and eyes.

Peace was soon after declared, the army was re- duced, but Col. Aspinwall was tendered a permanent position ; but considering the life of a soldier in time of peace an indolent life, and the only service being on the frontier, he decided to retire to active civil life. He therefore resigned his commission and re- turned to the practice of his profession.

Soon after he had re-established himself he was appointed consul and agent of claims at London, in June, 1815, and immediately entered upon the duties of that consulate January 1st following. He con- tinued to perform the duties of that office with exem- plary fidelity and to the acceptance of all whose duties required his agency, until the 2d day of August, 1853, when President Franklin Pierce called him home without assigning any reason, but which really was to make room for one of his political friends. During the interval of time in which he was in office it was pleasant to mark the universal respect and cordial good will which existed towards him.

In 1854 he returned to America and took up his | residence in Boston, where he resided till his death. Previous to his leaving London, Messrs. Baring Brothers & Company, George Peabody, Nathan Meyer, Rothschild & Sons, and thirty-three other firms and individuals presented Col. Aspinwall a token of their regard and respect in an elegant service of plate, ac- companied by the following letter :

" DEAR SIR,-Having been informed that you are about to return to your native country, we cannot allow you to depart without offering you the expression of our sincere esteem and regard ; and we avail ourselves of the occasion to tender you our best thanks for your uniform courtesy and kindness in all our intercourse with you during a long period, in which you have filled the important post of consul-general in this city.

"You have administered the arduous duties of your office with dignity, ability, and integrity unimpeached; you have lent a willing and patient attention to appeals for relief in all cases of distress, granting freely your counsel and your money, inviting others to aid you when needful. Wishing to mark our sense of your merits and of the efficiency with which you have discharged your duties by some lasting memorial, we request

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 187

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