History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 205

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 205

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

970

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

He well recollects seeing his great-grandfather at his father's house in (what was then) Fishersfield, now Newbury, N. H. He was quite an old man, but came on horseback.

He has holdings of real estate in East Boston, Cam- bridge, Charlestown, Boston, South Braintree, and Stoughton, four houses at Nantasket, one of them the Wentworth House, and about twenty-five tenements which he rents in Canton, and is considered the largest His grandparents on his father's side lived on a farm in East Washington, N. H., now a small village. His grandmother lived to be one hundred years and three months old. Her one hundredth birthday was celebrated by appropriate services on the 30th of March, 1859. Rev. Willard Spaulding, her grand- son, preached an eloquent sermon on the occasion. real estate owner there. To Mr. Wentworth and his brother Nathaniel the growth of the Universalist Society was largely due, although not a member him- self. He prefers standing alone on his personal merits, letting all secret societies, organizations, and combi- nations alone. He has assisted many deserving causes and people, and holds a high place in the regards of During the time he lived at home his father's property did not exceed one thousand dollars in value. He had, therefore, a very limited education, being allowed only a few weeks' schooling in the winter, and was early thrown upon his own resources. the solid people of a wide range of acquaintance, en- joys a handsome property, largely the result of his own efforts, and, hale and vigorous, at the age of seventy-nine, is passing on to the twilight of life with a cheerful philosophy, and is still at his labors, prefer- It may not be out of place here to remark that he has always been of strictly temperate principles, and since leaving home a strong advocate of temperance ; and one incident that happened while at school so dis- · gusted him that it can never be forgotten. When about sixteen years of age the snow was piled in drifts around the school-house, the boys got to snow-balling, and in the excitement carried the game into the school- ring rather to wear out than to rust out. For seven years he held commissions of ensign and lieutenant in one of the " crack" independent military companies of the day,-" The Crane Guards." Mr. Wentworth married, Feb. 19, 1827, Julia Crane, daughter of Friend and Rebecca (Upham) Crane, of Canton. They had two children,-Mary (born April 28, 1836 ; she died May 1, 1867 ; married Horace H. Mansfield, house and had it out there, and upon the arrival of of Canton, had three children,-Mary Wentworth, . the master, he (the master) proposed to and did send born Oct. 16, 1863, died Aug. 10, 1864; Helen M., born Feb. 19, 1865 ; Edwin W., born April 13, 1867 ; died March 18, 1872), Edwin (born July 19, 1849; died Sept. 23, 1849). to the village and bought a gallon of rum and passed it around to the scholars to any and all who would drink. Meantime, however, one of the neighbors had been informed of what was going on, and went him- self to the school-house, when, upon his appearance at the door, the master took the jug and passed it to him, who refused it, however, and immediately CORODON SPAULDING. took measures to have the master removed. This is given to show the youth the difference of influence between the present day and then.

Corodon Spaulding is a descendant of Edward Spaulding, the first of the family we have any knowl- edge of, who came to America in the earliest years of the Massachusetts Colony,-probably between 1630 and 1633.

When eighteen years of age, in the year 1830, he engaged as a stone-cutter, and worked on the sea-wall on Deer Island in Boston harbor. The following October he went to Newcastle, in the State of Dela- ware, and did some work on the Frenchtown and Newcastle Railroad, and in December of the same year went to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The road was then completed to Ellicott's Mills, and here, in 1831, he superintended a granite-quarry, and got

He first appears in Braintree, Mass., and his de- scendants were as follows: Edward (2d), Ebenezer (3d), Stephen (4th), Eben (5th), Warren (6th), Corodon (7th), who was born Jan. 1, 1812, in East Washington, N. H. His grandparents on his mother's side were among the first settlers of East Washington. Deacon William Graves, who lived | out stone for the track in Pratt Street, in Baltimore. and died on the farm where he first settled. His { This was the year the first locomotive was built in the father's grandfather was Samuel Roundy, one of the United States, by Peter Cooper. He sometimes came to Ellicott's Mills, bringing long trains of cars (as they were called then). first settlers of Lempster, N. H., who went from Windham, Conn., in the year 1773. Mr. Spauld- ing's grandmother was then fourteen years old, and rode horseback the whole distance and carried a younger sister in her arms.

For the information of those younger than him- self we will state a little incident that occurred. As the cars were passing the quarry about his dinner-

٠٫٣٠

Deane

971

CANTON.

hour, he would avail himself of the opportunity to ride part of the way to his boarding-place, and the last car being void of passengers, he jumped on the rear end, and his weight caused the forward wheels to rise from the rail, and when it came down again

so clearly shown in Mr. Deane's long and useful life in Canton. In 1822, when he was fifteen, she brought Frank to Canton to take a clerkship in the country store of Leonard Everett. From that time to the present (over sixty years) he has been connected with did not strike the rail, but they were able to put the | the business interests of Canton, and never has malice car on the track again without stopping the train. He regrets that he has never been able to see that good old man, Peter Cooper, again.

The following December he went to Pennsylvania and engaged on the Philadelphia and Columbia Rail- road (now Pennsylvania Central), and the next De- cember left for his father's home in Bradford, N. H., and remained there until the next March, when he engaged work in Boston on Union wharf.

The next February, in 1834, engaged on the Bos- ton and Providence Railroad as track-layer at differ- ent points on the road.

In August, 1835, engaged with the same company as road-master, where he remained nineteen and one- half years, and in the course of this time invented the machine for curving and straightening railroad- bars, so extensively used on all roads at the present time. Also, a derrick now used by all stone-masons.

In 1836, the 20th of April, was married to Abigail Tolman, daughter of Joseph Tolman, of Sharon, Mass., and moved to Canton in 1839 ; bought a small farm in 1841, on which he now lives. Their children were as follows: Corodon, born Aug. 10, 1838, in Sharon, Mass., died Nov. 30, 1841, in Can- ton, Mass .; Sarah Abigail, born Aug. 2, 1844, in Canton, where she died Feb. 16, 1845; Sarah Abi- gail, born June 16, 1846, in Canton, Mass., and was married to William K. Hawes, Jan. 1, 1871. They reside in Canton. William K. Hawes is son of In- | Resolved, That in sundering the relations which have crease Hawes, of Norwood, Mass.

FRANCIS W. DEANE.

or envy dared to impugn his honesty or to impeach his motives. His life has been an open book, whose pages have ever told the one story of unassuming worth. He remained with Mr. Everett nearly six years. On attaining his majority he engaged with James Dunbar and Elisha Crane as clerk at the " stone-factory," near the Boston and Providence Via- duct, with whom he remained about two years, until | Mr. Dunbar gave up business. He then began trad- ing on his own account ; but, after a short time, his services were sought as. clerk in the Neponset Bank, then (June, 1836) just organized. We give as better indices than any language of ours of Mr. Deane's character, the esteem of which his associates hold him, and the length and character of his services in the banks of Canton, the following. On May 31, 1880, the directors of the Neponset National Bank, among other resolutions, passed this : " Whereas, Francis W. Deane, Esq., who has held the office of cashier of this bank since its organization as a na- tional institution, and, also, for many years previously, when the bank existed under a State charter, cover- ing, in all, a period of forty-four years of service in various capacities, has, on account of increasing physical infirmities, tendered his resignation of said office, to take effect on the first day of June next ; and, whereas, at his urgent solicitation, said resigna- tion has been accepted by the Directors; therefore,

so long and so happily connected him with this insti- tution, while they are pained at his retirement, they are proud to bear witness to the ability and fidelity which have ever characterized him in the perform-

Francis W. Deane, son of William and Chloe Deane, | ance of his various duties. Courteous, affable, and was born in Mansfield, Mass., Oct. 9, 1807. The | obliging to all, faithful, honest, and true to every trust, Deane family is an old and honored one in New Eng- he has not only won our confidence and esteem, but also that of the entire community in which he lives:" land annals. (See biography of Theodore Dean, in our "History of Bristol County, Massachusetts.") The trustees of the Canton Institution for Savings passed, at a meeting held April 4, 1883, resolutions on his resignation, from which we extract : " Whereas, Francis W. Deane, in consequence of enfeebled health, has felt compelled to resign the office of treasurer of the Canton Institution for Savings, which office he has held for the past thirty-one years ; he also having been connected with the institution since its incor- poration in 1835 ; therefore, Resolved, That the trus- I tees hereby express their appreciation of his long and His parents were in humble circumstances on a small farm, and his father's death, when Frank was but five years old, brought a great responsibility upon the widowed mother, who was left, by her own exertions, to bring up her three small boys. With courage and determination she set about the task, and well did she perform her part. By her constant teaching and example, she instilled into their young minds those principles of industry and integrity which have been

972

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

faithful services. His integrity was never questioned, and his faithfulness and devotion to his duty have ever commanded our approval and admiration."

Mr. Deane was elected town treasurer in 1857, and has held that office uninterruptedly until the present. He was also treasurer of the Stoughton Branch Rail- road. In political affiliations he is a Republican. He is a deacon of the First Universalist Church in Can- ton, of which he has been a member for many years.

He married, Oet. 16, 1827, Mary, daughter of Jo- seph and Merriam Adams. Their children were Mary (deceased), Walter P., Ellen M. (deceased), Mary E. (deceased), Merriam E. (married William W. Toner, and died in her twenty-ninth year, leaving one sur- viving child, Emma E.), Emily F. (married William F. Horrobin, and died in her twenty-second year, leaving one child, Francis W.), and Francis W. (de- ceased). Mrs. Mary Deane died July 26, 1847, and Mr. Deane married, Jan. 5, 1851, Emily Adams, sister of his first wife. Quiet and unostentatious, Mr. Deane has done the work allotted him well, and is beloved by a large circle of friends.

until March 8, 1837, except in the years which he spent at college. He was prepared for college at the Bridgewater Academy, 1822-27, and entered the sophomore class of Brown University at the commence- ment of the last-named year. Graduating in 1830, in the same class with Professor Chace and Hon. B. F. Thomas, he studied law with Hon. William Baylies, of West Bridgewater (B. U., 1795), and was admit- ted to the bar at the December term of the court of Common Pleas (1833) for Plymouth County. He engaged at once in the practice of law in his pa- ternal town and parts adjacent, and represented West Bridgewater in the General Court for the political years 1833, 1834, 1835, and 1836. He removed his domicil to Canton, March 8, 1837, as a better field for the practice of the law, and in that profession he has been laboring until this present.

These are the modest and, as they look, rather meagre details of a life full of legal industry and ability. Mr. Ames himself is one of the most modest and unpre- tending of men, and perplexes his biographers by in- dustriously hiding from them the very valuable services he has rendered in illustrating and settling some of the law's most recondite and perplexing problems. ELLIS AMES. . He confesses to drafting the bill in equity of Massa- Ellis Ames was born at Stoughton, Norfolk Co., Oct. 17, 1809, in that epoch following the Revolution when our new republic was slowly passing out of the exhaustion attendant on that protracted struggle, and yet was about to engage in new strife with its old enemy, | in what was for us the very brilliant war of 1812. His birth-time, therefore, touches both the sunset of | his client, and the fact has always been held a tribute chusetts, plaintiff against the State of Rhode Island, in the matter of the boundary between these States, which was entered in the Supreme Court at Washing- ton at the December term of 1852. This question, involving much antiquarian lore and keen insight into colonial history, was happily decided in the interest of our Revolutionary statesmen and warriors, and also the frontiers of our new national prosperity. His father to his legal abilities. But the truth is that in equity pleadings, one of the most intricate and difficult de- was Jonathan Ames, Jr., of Stoughton, and his mother | partments of a lawyer's practice, Mr. Ames was for was Sally Capen, daughter of Edward Capen (2d), of Stoughton, and of his wife Eunice Monk, daugh- ter of George Monk, of Stoughton, and his wife Sarah Hixon, of Sharon. His father's family derives itself from William Ames, who, with his brother John, came from Bruton, Somersetshire, England, to America in 1634 and settled at Braintree. They were the sons of Richard Ames. Mr. Ames, therefore, is of that Puritan and yeoman stock which so sturdily civilized Massachusetts wilds, and has given so much bone and brain power to make this nation what it is. William many years regarded as authority, and difficult cases of great magnitude passed through his hands before they were finally argued by some of the most famous lawyers of the Massachusetts bar. He has been one of those, not too common lawyers, who have followed their profession for the love as well as the profit of it. He is rightly to be called learned in the law, and his researches have been among the roots of legal prin- ciples, especially as they find illustration in English history. A member for many years of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, and his information about Ames had three sons,-John, from whom Ellis | the colonial affairs of the Bay and Plymouth Colony descended ; Nathaniel, from whom descended Hon. Fisher Ames; and Thomas, from whom descended the Hon. Oakes Ames.

is very minute and rich. It is doubtful if any man now living combines so much legal and colonial lore as he ; and it is to be regretted that most of it is likely to die with him.

Personally, Mr. Ames has always had the simple -

In the fall of 1814, at the close of the war, his father removed his family to his native town of West Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., where Ellis Ames lived . habits of a scholar, and the bluff, hearty manner of

973

NORFOLK.

an honest and friendly man. He has kept a keen watch of public affairs and men, is full of anecdote and reminiscence of the great lawyers who have been in his day at the bar, and the brilliant fame of the popular has waxed and waned before his eyes, yet he has never been tempted to turn from his own quiet ways to grasp at the bubbles of public applause, and like a true philosopher measures all such matters with a very long line of shrewd common sense. Mr. Ames has always been an intensely individual man,-a thorough Puritan, minus his gloom and his theology. He resembles, in a certain leonine cast of face, the late Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw, who was his friend. He is a good type of that better class of country law- yers out of which such men as John Adams and Fisher Ames came. He has always been rich in brains and law-books, and a certain racy humor and good-fellowship, which has made him many friends. His private law library is probably the most extensive and complete of any in the State, outside of Boston. Among its other riches it has a complete set of the English Chancery Reports, from the earliest ages of English law till now. He began to argue cases in banc at the law term of 1836, and to the present time (1884) has argued his own cases there at every term. In his library he has the declaration, bill, pleadings, | and principal documents of all these cases bound up in twenty folio volumes. His special and peculiar place among Massachusetts lawyers will be hard to fill when it becomes vacant.

Mr. Ames married, in 1840, Harriet, daughter of Samuel and Caty (McKendry) Tucker, of Canton, and has two sons and three daughters still living.

CHAPTER LXXIV.

NORFOLK.

North Parish of Wrentham-Early Settlements-Residents in 1795-North Society-First Meeting-House-Incorporation of Town-Act of Incorporation-First Town-Meeting-Of- ficers Elected-List of Selectmen-Town Clerks-Represen- tatives-Town House-Present Valuation-Industrial Pur- suits-Churches-Schools.

THE greater portion of the present town of Norfolk was originally the North Parish of Wrentham, and the early history of the town, Revolutionary, etc., will be found in that of the mother-town, of which it formed a part until 1870.

Settlements were made here at an early day, and among the prominent names here in 1795 were David Holbrook, Josiah Ware, Moses Mann, Samuel Richardson, James Holbrook, Asa Ware, Elisha

Rockwood, Jason Thompson, Darius Blake, Nathan Ware, George Blin, Jacob Pond, Daniel Ware, Elisha Ware, James Perrigs, Asa Blake, George Fairbank, David Holbrook, Robert Day, Isaiah Turner, Jared Wilson, David Pond, E. Tucker, Jeremiah Tucker, Samuel Ware, Pallu Pond, Samuel Holbrook, Daniel Holbrook, Jr., Henry Holbrook, Paul Holbrook, Oliver Ware, Joel Ware, Moses Vince, Amariah Ware, Consider Studly, Jason Richardson, Seth Fisher, and Ebenezer Blake.

On the 29th of September, 1795, a meeting of the inhabitants of the North Parish was held " for the purpose of knowing the minds of said inhabitants for building a meeting-house for public and social worship at said north end."

It was finally agreed to build a meeting-house, and a subscription-paper was started bearing the following heading :

" As the Happiness of Society and good order and preserva- tion of ourselves, as well as a rising Generation, greatly depend on a close adherance to morality, piety, and Religion, and these Cannot be Diffused in our Local situation but by the Institution of Public Worship of God, and the Institution of morality, piety, and Religion, therefore to promote the happiness of ourselves as well as the rising Generation, we, the subscribers, do jointly agree to the subsequent articles."

Here follows a number of articles, and the paper was subsequently signed by thirty-eight of the in- habitants, pledging twelve hundred and forty-four dollars.

Incorporation of Town .- The North Parish re- mained a portion of Wrentham until Feb. 23, 1870, when it was incorporated as a separate town, bearing the name of Norfolk. Portions of Franklin, Medway, and Walpole were also embraced in the new town.

The following is the act of incorporation :

" AN ACT to incorporate the Town of Norfolk.

" Be it enacted, &c., as follows :

"SECT. 1. All the territory now within the towns of Wren- tham, Franklin, Medway, and Walpole, in the county of Nor- folk, comprised within the following limits, that is to_say : beginning at a point on Charles River, in the north-west angle of Wrentham, and following in an easterly course the present line of division between Wrentham and Medfield to Stop River; thence running southerly along said river, and separated by the thread of its stream from Walpole, to a point forty rods north of the mouth of the first brook running into said river, below Campbell's Mills, on the easterly side; thence from said point, by a straight line, running to the junction of Back and Bird streets, in Walpole; thence to the easterly side of said Bird street to its junction with West street; thence westerly by the northerly side of West street, twenty-five rods; thence southerly, and near to and westerly from the barn belonging to the home estate of Charles Bird, until said line strikes Stop River, one hundred and twenty rods southerly from West street; thence along said river as far as Wrentham and Walpole are separated by the thread of its stream ; thence by a straight line, running

974

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

westerly of the Walpole almshouse and easterly of the farm | pay its just and equitable proportions, according to its present buildings of Patrick Reardon, and easterly of the Dupee Blake assessed valuation, of any debt due or owing from the towns of Wrentham and Franklin, respectively, at the time of the pas- sage of this act, and shall be entitled to receive from said towns, respectively, its just and equitable proportion, accord- ing to said assessed valuation, of all the corporate property then owned by said towns of Wrentham and Franklin, respect- ively, including therein the school-houses retained by said Wrentham, Franklin, and Norfolk, respectively ; and said town of Norfolk shall be held to refund to said towns of Wren- tham and Franklin, respectively, its just proportion of the surplus revenue, whenever the same shall be called for accord- ing to law ; such proportion to be determined by the decennial State valuation next preceding such call. And in case the proportions aforesaid cannot be agreed upon by said towns of Norfolk, Wrentham, and Franklin, respectively, the same shall be determined by three commissioners, to be appointed by the Superior Court for said county of Norfolk, upon a petition of either of said towns. place, so called, to a point on the line between Walpole and Fox- borough, one hundred and twenty-five rods north-easterly from Dedham Rock; thence from said point, following the present line of division, between Wrentham and Foxborough, to Ded- ham Rock ; thence southerly from said rock along the present line of Wrentham and Foxborough to a point on said line on the southerly side of Pine street ; thence by a straight line to a point on the westerly side of Everett street, northerly of the house of Edmund T. Everett, and southerly of the Pondville Cemetery, to a point on the westerly side of North street, five rods southerly of the farm buildings of Samuel J. Benn ; thence through the Stony Brook reservoir, near to the house of E. S. Nash, to a point on the line between Franklin and Wrentham, ninety rods southerly of the house late of Eliphalet Lawrence; thence running northerly, by a straight line, near to and west of the farm buildings of the home estate of J. E. Pollard, near the Elliot Felting Mills, near to and thirty-five rods west of the present residence of Saul B. Scott, to the southern extremity of "SECT. 5. The territory of the town of Norfolk, heretofore part of the towns of Franklin and Walpole, for the purpose of electing representatives to the General Court until the next decennial census, or until another apportionment be made, shall remain a part of said towns of Franklin and Walpole, respect- ively, and vote therefor at such places, respectively, as the said towns shall vote; and the selectmen of Norfolk shall make a true list of all persons within their town, qualified to vote at every such election, and shall post up the same in said town of Norfolk, and shall correct the same as required by law, and shall deliver a true list of all such voters as are entitled to vote in said towns of Franklin and Walpole, respectively, to the selectmen thereof, seven days at least before such election, to be used thereat. Populatie Pond ; thence along the western shore of said pond, at low-water mark, to Charles River; thence in an easterly course upon Charles River, and separated by the thread of its stream from Medway to the centre of the iron bridge over said river ; thence upon the thread of said river to the bridge of the Med- way branch railroad ; thence along the southerly side of said railroad, twenty-eight rods, to a point ; thence from said point, by a straight line running in a north-easterly course, passing south-easterly of and near to the village of Deanville, near to and south of the old barn belonging to John Barber, to a point on Baltimore street, two rods from said barn ; thence by a straight line to the easterly side of the great bend in Charles River and near the old fording place; thence upon said river, and sepa- rated by the thread of its stream, from Medway to the point of beginning ;- is hereby incorporated into a town by the name of Norfolk ; and said town of Norfolk is hereby invested with all the powers, privileges, rights, and immunities, and is subject to all the duties and requisitions to which other towns are entitled and subjected by the constitution and laws of this Common- wealth.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 205

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