History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 24

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 24

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On breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted in the Massachusetts First Cavalry as lieutenant, and went to South Carolina, where he served in the region about Hilton Head and Beaufort. He saw some hard service there. Then ordered North, he served on the lower Potomac, and the campaign culminated for him in the hard-fought battle at Antietam. He was pro- moted to captain in the Massachusetts Second Cavalry Regiment, but was soon after invalided by the surgeon of his regiment without his consent, or even his knowledge, and returned to his home with broken health. Disease contracted here probably cost him his life.

He was thoroughly educated,-accomplished in French and German. He traveled much, crossed

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the Atlantic twelve times, spent a winter in Dresden, made a journey through Norway and Sweden, visited Russia twice, and had exceptional facilities for ob-

servation which he did not fail to improve. His | Taft, was born in Uxbridge, Mass., Aug. 26, 1800. occasional letters to the press, over the signature of | Early in life he commenced that business activity " Dolphus," were extensively copied through the country. His lecture on " Moscow and Central Russia" was received with marked favor. which has since been characteristic of the man. He came to Dedham in 1815 and went to work with Frederick A. Taft, who started the Dedham Manu- The exceptional relations of companionship and trust which always existed with his father were re- markably tender and touching. facturing Company. He remained here most of the time until 1820. In that year, then only twenty years of age, he went to the neighboring town of The following tribute to his worth is most appro- priate and expressive : Walpole, where he hired a little mill and made forty thousand yards of negro-cloth for the Southern trade. In 1823 he went to Dover, N. H., and assisted in " MILITARY ORDER LOYAL LEGION, UNITED STATES. "HEADQUARTERS COMMANDERY OF THE STATE OF - " MASSACHUSETTS. starting the Cocheco Mill, now one of the largest cotton-mills in New England, where he remained " BOSTON, October 3, 1873. three years as overseer. In 1826 he returned to " At a stated meeting of this Commandery, held at the Parker House, School Street, on Wednesday evening, October 1, 1873, the following report of a committee to draft resolutions relative to the decease of Companion Captain Randolph M. Clark, late First Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers Cavalry, was adopted : Dedham and took the agency of the Dedham Manu- facturing Company, which position he retained six years. In 1832, Mr. Taft severed his connection with this company and assumed the agency of the Norfolk Manufacturing Company at East Dedham, " REPORT. " Companion Captain Randolph Marshall Clark, died at his boyhood's home, at Dedham, Massachusetts, September 11, 1873. where he built the stone mill now standing, and re- mained in this connection thirty years. At the time " An earnest, upright man, strong in his convictions and conscientious in his expression of them,-he united with a cul- tivated mind sound judgment and thoroughness,-independence of thought and fearlessness of action,-kindliness of heart and tenderness of sympathy,-governed always by principles of right and justice,-a trusted friend,-a good soldier,-a valued citizen,-a true man. Mr. Taft first identified himself with the manufactur- ing business all yarn was spun at the mills and sent out through the country to be woven. From this crude beginning he has lived to witness the develop- ment of the business until a modern woolen-mill is one of the wonders of the nineteenth century.

" Resolved, That by his death is stricken from the list of living companionship and added to the increasing roll of our fallen comrades,-who rest in peace,-another name, which shall be guarded in memory with tenderness.

" Resolved, That we deeply deplore the death of our com- panion in the midst of his usefulness, and realize the loss we are called to mourn.

" Resolved, That we tender our heartfelt sympathy to that home circle in which he was so loved.

" Resolved, That the recorder be instructed to transmit a copy of these resolutions to the afflicted family of our deceased companion, and that this declaration of our remembrance be entered upon the records of this Commandery.

"ARNOLD A. RAND, "Col. U. S. Vols.,

" GEORGE N. MACY, " Brevet Maj .- Gen. U. S. Vols., " FRANCIS A. OSBORN, " Brevet Brig .- Gen. U. S. Vols., J

Committee.

[Extract from the Minutes.]

" CHARLES DEVENS, Jr.,

" Bvt. Major-Gen. U. S. Vols., Commander. " JAS. B. BELL, Recorder."

EZRA W. TAFT.

Ezra W. Taft, son of Frederick and Abigail Wood

In 1864, Mr. Taft retired from manufacturing, and since that time has devoted himself almost con- tinuously to the business of the town. For more than thirty years he was a member of the school committee, and for thirty-one years a director of the Dedham Bank, and since 1873 has been its presi- dent. He has been connected with the Dedham In- stitution for Savings since its organization, and is one of the investment committee at the present time. He has also been a member of the old Norfolk In- surance Company since its organization, and is a director in the Dedham Mutual Insurance Company. He was for fourteen successive years one of the se- lectmen of the town, during twelve of which he was chairman of the board. He also represented Dedham four years in the Legislature, besides filling many other positions of honor and trust. No citizen of the town of Dedham has been so continuously con- nected with bank and town business as Mr. Taft, who lives to enjoy the fruition of a successful busi- ness career.

Mr. Taft's grandfather, Samuel Taft, lived to be over eighty years of age, and had twenty-two chil-

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dren. He was a noted hotel-keeper in Uxbridge during the Revolution, and had the honor of enter- taining Gen. Washington and staff on their journey north. A pleasing incident is related in this con- nection. Washington was so much pleased with Mr. Taft's two daughters that he sent them each a hand- some dress as evidence of his gratitude for their kind- | ness and attention to him during his sojourn.

Frederick Taft, father of the subject of this notice, was a very active public man in Worcester County. He was surveyor for all the southern portions of the county, and for twenty years was deputy sheriff. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-seven, and his From early manhood, almost boyhood, Mr. Slafter has been an educational instructor. He is son of Sylvester and Mary Slafter, and was born in Thet- ford, Vt., July 21, 1825. The district school fur- nished his early means of education, and after a full wife, Abigail Wood, reached the age of ninety years. term of study at Thetford Academy, at the age of

Mr. Taft is a member of the Orthodox Church, and a Republican in politics. He has ever labored zealously to advance the interests of the town, whether material, religious, or educational, all finding in him an earnest advocate, ever ready to take the laboring oar in all good works.

Sept. 8, 1830, Mr. Taft united in marriage with Lendamine Draper, eldest daughter of Calvin Guild, of Dedham, and their family consists of six children, all of whom were present at Mr. and Mrs. Taft's golden wedding, which was celebrated Sept. 8, 1880.

CARLOS SLAFTER.

sources of enjoyment in his calling, and yet has not been so absorbed in it as to lose interest in the affairs of the community in which he lives.

The Dedham Library Association was formed at his suggestion, and to his energy and untiring de- votion is largely due the foundation of the public library, an institution of great public benefit, and of which the town has much reason to be proud.

sixteen years and a few months, he began to teach in the town of Fairlee, Vt. For several years he taught winter schools in the town of Lyme, N. H. Dividing his time between work on the farm and study at the academy, he entered Dartmouth College in the summer of 1845. By teaching winters he obtained the chief means of completing his college studies, and was graduated in 1849. At the close of his college course he decided to devote himself to the teacher's calling, although fully aware that it did not offer pecuniary rewards to satisfy the most ambitious minds.

The two years after graduation he spent in Ded- ham, chiefly in teaching, but for several months he read law in the office of Ira Cleveland, Esq. In 1851 he became principal of the high school in Framingham, Mass., but at the close of the year he was recalled to Dedham, where the years of his active life have been spent.

In May, 1865, Mr. Slafter was ordained a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and was chap- lain several years for the Dedham jail and house of correction, but, finding clerical duties combined with teaching too burdensome, for several years he has wholly relinquished the former.

Well may the name and worth of Carlos Slafter have honorable mention in the history of Dedham, for to him, perhaps more than to all others, is the town indebted for the prosperity of the high school and for the measure of usefulness to which it has attained. This school was founded in 1851, and in 1852 Mr. Slafter became its principal, and has re- mained in that capacity to the present time, a period of over thirty years. He watched with untiring zeal over its struggling infancy, and, as its hold on the community grew firmer and its usefulness broader, In 1858 he married Rebecca, daughter of William and Rebecca (Dagget) Ballard, and their family con- sists of a son and daughter,-Theodore Shorey and Annie Rebecca,- the former an artist, educated in the Royal Academy of Munich, and is now in Bos- ton, and the latter, having spent three years in the Massachusetts Normal Art School, is now a teacher of art in the Westfield Normal School, at Westfield, Mass. his watchful interest kept even pace with its benefi- cent development. He has constantly suggested and instituted measures for its progressive advantage. At an early day he arranged a course of study for three years, and soon after for four years ; and, with various modifications demanded by the advance in educational ideas, the four years' course has been continued. The sons and daughters of his earliest pupils have been graduated, some for college and some for normal schools, and many for business pur- ELIPHALET STONE. suits. Mr. Slafter has been a careful observer of the Eliphalet Stone was born in Hubbardston, Wor- cester Co, Mass., May 12, 1813. At the age of progress and improvements in teaching, and has aimed to keep abreast of the times. He has found great ; six years he was left fatherless, and his family being

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in very moderate circumstances he was adopted by a relative. Though he was ambitious to acquire an education, his early advantages were extremely limited, being such as farmers' boys received forty | active business of life at an early age, and in 1833 settled in Dedham, since which time he has been largely engaged in the baking and grocery business, real estate and building, and for many years was the leading auctioneer in that part of the county, and what is a little unusual with so many "irons in the fire," he succeeded in all. He has been especially active in building residences in the east village, and has labored earnestly to advance the interests of this part of the town, and has lived to see it develop from an insignificant portion of the town to its present prosperous condition.

Mr. Stone from early youth has manifested a lively interest in agriculture and horticultural pursuits, and has written many valuable papers on fruit culture.

Col. Stone, as he is familiarly called, has been honored by his fellow-citizens with many positions of trust and responsibility, and for four years repre- sented the town of Dedham in the legislature, viz., 1861, '62, '63, '69. This was during the dark days of the Rebellion, and it is but simply justice to Col. Stone to add, that during the war no person was more interested in the welfare of our soldiers than he, and that he even sacrificed his business interests to visit the soldiers upon the field, and made arrange- ments for their comfort, and also interested himself in making suitable provision for their families. Be- nevolence is one of his leading characteristics, and | no one was ever turned empty-handed from his door.

Although now past the scriptural age of three- score and ten, he apparently retains all the vigor and elasticity of youth, and is a specimen of the good- natured, whole-souled, careless man, whose greatness hangs lightly upon him. He has a prodigious amount of power, which he carries, apparently, with the ut- most indifference and unconcern to himself. He is a fine specimen of the gentleman of the old school. With much dignity and courtesy in his manners, he is strictly honorable, frank in his address, a keen observer of men, emphatic in the expression of his views, and is justly held in high esteem by the people of Dedham. He is a Republican in politics.

EBENEZER PAUL.

The subject of this sketch traces his ancestry in this country to Richard Paul, one of the first settlers years ago in the district school. He entered into the | of Taunton, Mass., who is first mentioned as purchas- ing land in Taunton in 1637, and married Marjorie Turner, of Taunton, in 1638. The line of descent is as follows: Richard, Samuel, Samuel, Samuel, Eb- enezer, Samuel, Ebenezer. Samuel, the great-grand- father of Ebenezer, came to Dedham in 1719, and settled in a portion of the town which is now known as Hyde Park, bordering on the Neponset River, where five generations of the name subsequently lived from 1719 to 1867,-one hundred and forty-eight years. (A portion of this farm was occupied by the government during the war of the Rebellion, and was known as the " Readville Camp-Grounds.") His son, Ebenezer Paul, was born June 16, 1738, and died Aug. 20, 1803. Samuel, son of Ebenezer, was born July 21, 1784, and died July 8, 1833.

Ebenezer, the subject of this sketch, was born in that part of Dedham now known as Hyde Park, Nov. 26, 1819. He was reared as a farmer, and has fol- lowed agricultural pursuits through life. He has given his time and attention to his favorite calling, and is ranked among the progressive agriculturists of the town. He is a worthy citizen and a man of sterling integrity. In 1867, after its occupancy by the government, he sold the Paul farm and purchased the Deacon Samuel Fales estate in Dedham, where he now resides. Politically, he is a Republican, and a member of the Orthodox Congregational Church.

April 15, 1847, Mr. Paul united in marriage with Susan Dresser, of Dedham, a native of Lunenburg, Mass. They have had six children, five of whom are living, viz .: Henry M., born June 25, 1851; Edward C., born Oct. 10, 1853; Isaac F., born Nov. 26, 1856; Ebenezer T., born Dec. 6, 1858; Susan F., born May 24, 1861, died Oct. 12, 1862 ; Martha D., born Nov. 1, 1865.

Henry M. graduated from Dartmouth College in 1873, and from Thayer School of Civil Engineering in 1875. He then went to Washington as assistant professor of astronomy in the United States Naval Observatory. He married Augusta A. Gray, of Washington, Aug. 27, 1878. In 1880 he was called to Japan to open the chair of astronomy at the Im- till his return to his former position in Washington in the fall of 1883. He has one son, Carroll Paul, born in Tokio, Japan, May 6, 1882. Edward C. resides in Dedham, and is assistant cashier of the Dedham Institution for Savings. He married Jo-

Oct. 10, 1839, he united in marriage with Eliza- perial University of Tokio, which position he held beth, daughter of the late Thomas Barrows, a notice of whom may be seen on a previous page of this work.

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sephine M. Prince, of Dedham, Oct. 12, 1881. Isaac F. graduated from Dartmouth College in 1878, was admitted to the bar in 1882, and is now a prac- ticing lawyer in the city of Boston, where he resides. He married Ida L. Batcheller, of Fitzwilliam, N. H., March 22, 1883. Ebenezer T. resides on the home- stead. He married Marietta Taylor, of Wakefield, | Mass., Nov. 7, 1882. Martha D. is at home with her parents, not having yet completed her education.

CHAUNCEY C. CHURCHILL.

Chauncey C. Churchill, son of William L. and Eliza Lamphear Churchill, was born in West Fairlee, Vt., Sept. 26, 1815. Like many of the leading men of to-day at the bar, among the clergy, and in busi- ness circles, he was reared on a farm, received the advantages of the common and high schools, and subsequently engaged in teaching. During four winters he engaged in this laudable vocation, in the mean time working on a farm during the fall and summer seasons.

In 1839 he went to Salisbury, Mass., as an em- ployé in the Salisbury Mills, where he remained until 1842. He then came to Dedham, and entered the employ of what is now the Merchants' Woolen Com- pany's Mills, remaining thirteen years, until 1855.

His business capacity, integrity, and usefulness as a citizen had won for him the confidence and esteem of the people of Norfolk County, and in 1855 he was elected to the responsible and honorable office of county treasurer, and has been successively re-elected to the present time, a period of nearly thirty years.

In 1864 he was appointed deputy collector of in- ternal revenue, and served five years. He was also a member of the Dedham school committee for nine years, commencing in 1871. Although not a com- municant of any ecclesiastical body, he is an active member of the Allin Evangelical Society, in Ded- ham, and has been its collector and treasurer for a number of years.

June 7, 1842, he united in marriage with Peme- lia Sabin, daughter of Deacon Benajah Sabin, of Salisbury, Mass., and their family consists of two children, a son, Chauncey S., and a daughter, Isa- dore Maria, wife of Charles H. Leeland, of Dedham. '

Mr. Churchill's long and honorable public service has won him hosts of friends, and he is justly re- garded as one of Dedham's most esteemed and honored citizens ; all movements looking to the welfare of his adopted town have found in him an earnest advocate.

GEORGE A. SOUTHGATE, M.D.

Dr. George A. Southgate dates his ancestry in this country to Richard Southgate, who came from Eng- land in 1714, the line of descent being as follows : Richard, Richard, Isaac, Samuel, Samuel, George A.

In 1718-19 the latter, with his family, consisting of wife and five children, accompanied by his brother John, joined a company who moved from Boston and vicinity to Strawberry Hill, in Worcester County, and organized the town now known as Leicester.

The elder Richard Southgate was the first treasurer of the town and a large landholder, receiving from the original grant seven hundred and forty acres of land. He was a civil engineer, and did much in making and laying out lots in the town. The lon- gevity of the family is remarkable. Richard died in Leicester, aged eighty-four, and his son Richard also died in Leicester, aged eighty-four.

Isaac, son of the second Richard, also lived and died in Leicester at the age of eighty-one; and Samuel, son of Isaac, lived and died in Leicester, in 1859, aged eighty-one; and Samuel, father of the subject of this sketch, died in Dedham in 1877, aged seventy years.

Dr. Southgate's mother was Charlotte Warren Ful- ler, daughter of Charlotte Warren. His maternal great-grandmother was Elizabeth Wheeler, and his great-great-grandmother Mary Belcher Bass Hen- shaw, whose father was Joseph Bass, who married Ruth Alden, daughter of John Alden and Priscilla Mullen. His mother and grandmother are both living in Leicester, aged seventy-three and ninety- three years respectively.

Dr. Southgate was born in Leicester, Sept. 27, 1833, and educated at Leicester Academy, where he fitted for college, and continued under a private tutor for two years. After spending two years in New York he entered the office of Jonathan E. Linnell, M.D., of Worcester, and when sufficiently advanced entered the medical department of Dartmouth Col- lege, Hanover, N. H., under Dixi Crosby. He took his degree in Philadelphia in 1859, and in the same year commenced practice in Millbury, where he remained until July, 1863, when he removed to Ded- ham, where he has since remained in the active prac- tice of his profession. He was married June 13, 1860, to Miss Mary Bigelow Willson, of West Rox- bury, daughter of Rev. Luther Willson, of Petersham, and sister of Rev. E. B. Willson, now of Salem, for- merly of West Roxbury. They have five children, -Robert Willson, Delia Wells, May Fuller, Walter Bradford, and Helen Louise. Politically, he is a Republican, and in religion, liberal.

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JEREMIAH W. GAY.

extensive reader on agricultural matters, is well ad- vised of the current news of the day, and is a man whose opinion on general matters is rendered of value by reason of the sturdy good sense with which he is and has always been respected as a good citizen and neighbor.

Jeremiah W. Gay was born in Dedham, Aug. 30, 1804. His father, Capt. William Gay, was born in Dedham, June 25, 1752. Nov. 25, 1790, he , endowed. Mr. Gay has lived in Dedham all his life, married Elizabeth Whiting, of Dedham, the daugh- ter of Joshua Whiting, by whom he had four children, -William King, who was born April 20, 1792, and died Jan. 6, 1860 ; Sophia, who was born Sept. 21, 1793, and died, unmarried, at the age of seventy-eight EDWIN WHITING. years; Lucy, who was born Sept. 22, 1797, and died, Edwin Whiting, only son of Abner and Loacada Whiting, was born in Dedham, Jan. 27, 1806. His father was born in Dedham and married Loacada Whiting, by whom he had four children, three daugh- ters and one son. In 1786 he built the house in which his children were born, and which has been continuously occupied by members of the family up to the present time. There have been but two deaths in the old homestead, that of himself and that of his wife. unmarried, at the age of eighty-five years ; and Jer- emiah W., who was married to Hannah E. Dean, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Farrington) Dean, by whom he had two children, Joseph A., who died at the age of twenty-seven, and Lusher, who died at the age of three years. William King Gay married Susan Gould, by whom he had three children. Capt. William Gay died at the age of seventy-six years, and Elizabeth Whiting, his wife, died at the age of ninety- one years. The grandfather of Jeremiah W. Gay was Edwin is of the seventh generation from Nathaniel 1 Whiting, who settled in Roxbury, Norfolk Co., at a very early date. Deacon Ichabod Gay, who married Elizabeth King, who died at the age of forty-two years. He after- wards married Lucy Richards, who also died at the The ancestors of Edwin became farmers and mil- lers, and carried on an extensive business after the settlement of Dedham, prior to which one had settled on the banks of the Charles River and another on the Neponset River, where they gained a livelihood by trapping and hunting. Edwin's father was a farmer, and Edwin was reared on the farm, being the fourth child, his three sisters passing away at advanced ages. Edwin's father died at the age of seventy-seven, and his mother at the age of eighty-six. age of seventy-three years. Deacon Ichabod Gay was a farmer, as were nearly all the ancestors of Jeremiah. He died, greatly respected, Dec. 14, 1814, at the age of ninety-one years. The great-grandfather of Jere- miah W. Gay was Lusher Gay, who was born Sept. 26, 1685. The great-great-grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch was Nathaniel Gay, who was born in 1642. Of Jeremiah W. Gay it may well be said that he has shown respect to the scriptural injunction, " remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set up," for the old homestead has remained in the possession of the family from the time of the first settlement of Dedham down through six generations to the present time. The ancestors of Mr. Gay were buried in the First Parish cemetery and in the cem- etery in West Dedham.

Mr. Whiting received the sort of education ordi- narily obtained in the district school, attending only the winter term, and working on the farm with his father during the summer. Thus he continued to live until the death of his father, when at the age of thirty-two years he took possession of the farm, making just and equitable settlement with his sisters for their portion of their father's estate. He subsequently inherited considerable property from his uncle, Ed- ward Whiting, who died without issue. Mr. Whit- ing's paternal grandfather was Joseph, and his ma- ternal grandfather was Joshua. Mr. Whiting married

The educational advantages enjoyed by Mr. Gay were those of the common school. He has been a far- mer all his life, and the presence of a comfortable home with modern appointments, fine barns and outbuild- ings, and broad, well-tilled acres clearly indicate a large measure of success. Mr. Gay inherits the | Rebecca Dean, who was the daughter of Joseph and manly bearing and positive character of Deacon Icha- Hannah (Farrington) Dean, of Dedham, by whom there was born to them a daughter and son. Mrs. Whiting died Feb. 12, 1882, and the daughter, Frances R., directs the household affairs for her father. The son, George E., carries on the farm affairs. Mr. Whiting has been a farmer all his life, and at one time owned a large tract of land about bod Gay, his grandfather, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The parents of Mr. Gay were members of the Unitarian Church, and were highly respected. Mr. Gay was in politics a member of the | Whig party, and has been identified with the Repub- lican party from its organization. He has been an

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 24

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