History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 82

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 82

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Since the death of Mr. Frederick the business has been continued by William Field, E. F. Carr, W. A. Field, and Mrs. E. Frederick, under the old firm-name of Frederick & Field.

Eleazer Frederick married, Oct. 25, 1825, Mary Gould, of Tyngsborough, Mass., and had two daugh- ters,-Mary Maria, born Jan. 15, 1827, and Sarah Jane, born Oct. 26, 1828.

Mary Maria Frederick married Horace Baxter

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Spear, the present cashier of the National Mount Wollaston Bank of Quincy, and has three children,- Horace Frederick, born Jan. 20, 1863 ; Lucy Maria, | born Sept. 7, 1864 ; Joseph Gould, born March 8, 1867.

Sarah Jane Frederick married Joseph Carr, dry- goods merchant, and has had four children,-Mary Jane, born Dec. 22, 1850 ; Alice Maria, born Jan. 26, 1853; Eleazer Frederick, born Aug. 8, 1855 (now a member of the firm of Frederick & Field) ; Joseph Gould, born July 26, 1860, died March 7, 1861.

Mary Jane Carr married John Lyman Faxon, arch- iteet, Nov. 9, 1882, and has one child.

E. Frederick Carr married Alice Maria Taylor, Oct. 22, 1879, and has had three children, two now living.

In politics, Mr. Frederick was a Democrat. He was a public-spirited citizen ; every enterprise for the public good found in him an earnest and liberal support. In 1860 he was one of three who ap- plied to the Legislature for an act of incorporation for the introduction of gas into Quincy, to be known as the Citizens' Gas-Light Company, of which he acted as president and treasurer for several years. Soon after the Mount Wollaston Bank was established, Mr. Frederick was chosen one of the directors, and con- tinued a member of that board till his death. He was a Mason of high standing, belonging to Rural Lodge, Quincy, and Boston Commandery, Knights Templar. He also belonged to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, the National Lancers, and Mechanics' Association, and was at one time a member of the Odd-Fellows.

He was of a genial, social temperament, and retained the happy faculty of entering into the spirit of the young, with whom he always delighted to mingle even to his last illness. His scope of interest was large, allowing him keen enjoyment with the merrymakings of young and old. He always took great interest in his employés, some of whom were with him over thirty years.

He was an indulgent, affectionate husband and father, and his loving devotion to his grandchildren was remarkable.

The most fitting memorials to his worth and ability are the respect and affection with which his memory is cherished by those he left behind him, and the business which his efforts did so much to raise from obscurity to prosperity and success.

PATRICK McDONNELL.

It is surely well to record for the encouragement of others a brief synopsis of the life of one who, a for- eigner, far from the land of his nativity, constantly surrounded by more than ordinary temptations, has resisted them successfully, accumulated wealth, a firm position in society, and who may be justly considered one of the best representatives of the land of his birth.

Patrick McDonnell, son of Thomas and Mary (Cunniff) McDonnell, was born at Loobanroe, County Roscommon, Ireland, June 10, 1817. His father, a farmer in comfortable circumstances, died when Pat- rick was six years old, and Patrick remained with his mother until he was eighteen. Then, after a year's visit to a sister in Birmingham, England, he was apprenticed by his mother to her brother, Patrick Cunniff, to learn the carpenter's trade, she paying seven pounds for five years' service. This service was not given, however, for in a few months Mr. Cunniff concluded to emigrate to America, and Patrick told him, " Give me the money my mother gave you and I will go with you." Mr. Cunniff did this, and June 10, 1835, they landed at Perth Amboy, and came to New York City. Seeing a kindly looking old gentle- man on the street, young Patrick asked him, " What part of the country could a poor emigrant boy, 'an exile from Erin,' do the best in ?" The old man an- swered, " If he was industrious, and careful, and temperate, there was no doubt that Massachusetts presented one of the best places for success." Pat- rick started for Massachusetts, taking packet for Al- bany, where he arrived with one pound in gold in his possession. While walking along he met a gentle- man who said, " Halloo ! young man, do you want to work ?" " Yes, sir." Patrick was soon engaged at ten dollars per month. He worked one month, be- came lonesome and started for Boston, where some of his native townsmen were resident. After crossing the ferry he walked to Hartford, looking steadily for work on the way in vain. From Hartford he reached Worcester by walking and short rides on the stages. There was a railroad from Worcester to Boston, and he availed himself of it, and on reaching Boston was welcomed heartily by a friend. For nine days he made his stopping-place with this friend, while he diligently canvassed the adjacent towns for employ- ment. He went on the first day to Dorchester, and was told by Capt. William Clapp, a large tanner and farmer, that if a young lad who had been at work for him and had gone away did not return in ten days, he would employ him. When the nine days' search ! In Roxbury, Quincy, etc., was of no avail, he returned

Patrick 11- Connell

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to Capt. Clapp, who said he would take him on trial, | thoroughly in stone-cutting. Thomas H. and James and pay him what he was worth. At the expiration of the month, Capt. Clapp engaged him for five years at twelve dollars per month. At the end of his first year's service Capt. Clapp invited him to his parlor, and presented him with a Bible, which Mr. McDonnell still preserves with care, and at various times thereafter he received tokens of his regard. The five years passed in this good Christian family, which gave him truly a home, impressed the teachings of morality and temperance indelibly on the young man's mind. He attended faithfully to his religious duties at St. Pat- rick's Church at Roxbury, and was during these five years a teacher in the Sunday-school.

In 1841, Mr. McDonnell came to Quincy, where he has since made his residence, and worked two years for John Mulford in his tan-yard; then he learned the stone-cutter's trade, working for various persons. After finishing his trade he began work for New- comb & Chapin, Quincy Point, cutting stone, receiv- ing a dollar and a quarter per day for four months, | and ten shillings sixpence per day for eight months (the highest price then paid). He was industrious and temperate, did his work well, remained with them eleven years, walking three miles every day to and from work, carrying his dinner, and saved about five thou- sand dollars which he, as it accumulated, invested in village lots and erected tenements thereon. He then went to work for Thomas Drake, with whom he had finished his trade, but in three months entered into partnership with him. This partnership continued about a year, when, in 1857, Mr. McDonnell went into business in a small way, with only one apprentice, in | a little shed on the common near where his sons are now established. Here he remained six years, when he leased the ground now occupied by his sons for twenty years from the town of Quincy and increased his business rapidly, so that when he retired in 1881 he employed seventy hands and probably did a more profitable business than any other man in his line in Quincy. His economy, incessant devotion to busi- ness, and strict business habits have secured him a handsome property. He owns and rents twenty tene- ments in Quincy and Milton. He married, June 1, 1843, Mary Hughes, who attended school with him in Ireland. Their children are Emily E. (Mrs. Wm. Garbarino), Thomas, John Q., Mary A., James S., Ellen G., and Margaret F.

Mr. McDonnell has taken great pains in the educa- tion of his children. John Q. attended Quincy high school for three years, and his father wished him to go to college, but as he had not that inclination, Mr. McDonnell took him into his yard and instructed him

S. are graduates of Commercial College, Boston. Ellen G. attended the normal school at Bridgewater for two years, became quite proficient in music, attending the Boston Conservatory of Music, and for the past three or four years has been organist in St. John's Church, Quincy. She is a young lady of superior tal- ent and ability, and has decided to enter upon a relig- ious life. She is to take the veil in Europe. Margaret F. attended Notre Dame Academy, Boston, for two years. When Thomas and John Q. were of age they were admitted partners with their father, and the firm became McDonnell & Sons, in 1871. In December, 1883, they established a branch of their business in Buf- falo, N. Y. They are enterprising men, and are doing well. As an illustration, we quote from the New York Scientific Times and Mercantile Register of May, 1883: " Quincy leads any town or city in the country in the quarrying and working of granite, and pro- duces an article of a nature that is unequaled by any in the world. There are many large concerns in this town engaged in quarrying, but none are more worthy of selection as a representative house than McDonnell & Sons. This house was established in 1857, and its present members are T. H. McDonnell and J. Q. McDonnell. They own and work one of the largest quarries in the place, and are wholesale dealers in Quincy granite. Their operations include every branch of the granite-working trade, including the manufacture of monuments, curb-lots, posts, etc. Polishing is also an important part of their business, and their work of this character is very fine. In all, they give employment to a hundred men and over, many of whom are as well-skilled workmen as money can procure. The work done by this house bears the highest reputation everywhere, and in many quar- ters gives them the preference over all others. Their cemetery work is of unusual excellence, and your cor- respondent was shown a specimen of it in the lot of the McDonnell family, at the St. Mary's Catholic Ceme- tery, that would not be out of place in the best art museum in the land. This is a monument of dark blue Quincy granite, surmounted by a statue of the Virgin Mary, of Westerly granite. The whole is in the purest Corinthian style, and about forty feet in height. The bas-relief of the statue is a full Corinth- ian cap of intricate design, and elegantly carved, while the statue itself is beautiful in expression, exe- cution, and design. The attitude is a peculiarly graceful and devotional one, and would excite admi- ration anywhere. The entire monument is without blemish, and its finish and polish of a most artistic na- ture. It is acknowledged by all to be the best piece

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

of work ever done in Quincy, and were it located in in Ireland in 1870, and since then California, Mount Auburn or Greenwood it would attract uni- Canada, and other parts of America. Everywhere and in all places he has put himself on the strong temperance platform, and by voice, example, and pub- lished newspaper articles he has warned his country- men against the use of liquor as their most terrible enemy. versal attention." This monument was designed and executed by Mr. McDonnell before his connection with the firm ceased, and is well worthy of the praise be- stowed upon it. We mention some other especially fine works of this firm. During 1857, his first year in business, they furnished one front of State Street While in Europe Mr. McDonnell made a three months' tour through England, Ireland, and Scotland. His townsman, Charles Francis Adams, gave him a personal letter to Mr. Motley, then minister to Eng- land, which caused him to take much interest in Mr. McDonnell, to whom he extended many courtesies, but would not allow him to go to Rome or Paris on account of the war then raging in France. Block, Long Wharf, Boston. In 1858, the coping for the cemetery lot of Dr. Bigelow (president of Mount Auburn Cemetery Corporation) ; since then they have furnished the monument for Mr. Jared Sparks, at Mount Auburn ; the Birchard monument, erected by ex-President Hayes, Fremont, Ohio; monument and coping for T. W. Parks, Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N. Y .; coping for Marshall O. Mr. McDonnell ascribes his success in life largely to the fact that he never incurred debt of any kind, being always prepared to cancel all liabilities. Roberts, Woodlawn Cemetery, New York ; monu- ment for the Seventy-seventh New York Regiment, in square opposite Congress Park, Saratoga Springs ; vault for J. C. Buckman, Mount Auburn ; Bates monument, Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati ; and the largest monumental cross ever made in the United WILLIAM ALLEN HODGES. States (weight twenty-five tons), for R. M. Shoe- maker, also in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati.

Mr. McDonnell began housekeeping in Quincy in a small house, for which he paid six hundred dollars out of the savings of his Dorchester life. Some years since he purchased the lot and dwelling where he now resides, and has expended several thousand dollars in reconstructing it, and to-day has one of Quincy's most attractive residences, with spacious sur- roundings and costly appurtenances, which affords him a pleasant home.

William Allen Hodges is of good Puritan stock, both parents descending from old Plymouth Colony families, his paternal ancestor, William Hodges, set- tling in what is now Taunton about 1640, and enrolled among the inhabitants subject to military duty there in 1643. He was a land proprietor and prominent in local affairs. He died April 2, 1654, leaving two sons, John2 and Henry. Both of them are mentioned as proprietors of land in Taunton in 1675 (see his- tory of Hodges family elsewhere in this volume). This John2 married Elizabeth Macy, May 15, 1672. Of their numerous children, John3, the oldest, was born April 5, 1673. He married and became a resident of Norton. His son Edmund' married and had thir- teen children. He always resided in Norton, where his wife, Mary, who survived him, died April 30,1800. Their son, Tisdale5, was born in Norton, Mass., Dec. 7, 1753. He was a man of well-to-do circumstances, was a captain of " Troopers," and during his latter years moved to Petersham, Worcester Co., where

Mr. McDonnell was a Democrat in politics until six or eight years ago, when his devotion to temperance drove him from that party, and he is now an inde- pendent voter. Through his frank and affable man- ners, Mr. McDonnell is popular with all classes. A true son of Ireland, he has never forgotten the fact, as is manifested in the attachment felt for him by his fellow-countrymen, to many of whom he is adviser and friend. Yet he is an American, and thoroughly identified in sympathy and principle with the land of | he died. He married Naomi, daughter of Capt. Jos. his adoption. While tolerant in his views, his sin- 1 Hodges, of Norton (who was killed in an Indian fight near Fort Schuyler, in the old French war). Capt. Tisdale Hodges was a man of advanced opin- cerity of character is exhibited in his support of the religious principles of his fathers and his strict ad- herence to the Roman Catholic Church. He attrib- | ions and liberal ideas. He had seven sons, to whom utes his success to the good lessons and moral train- ing received at Capt. Clapp's, his strictly temperance habits (never allowing himself to go to a rum shop, | or to keep liquor in the house), and the influence of his religion. he gave a better education than was usual in those days, sending some to college. Jerry", son of Capt. Tisdale and Naomi Hodges, was born in Norton in 1787. He received a good education, both literary and medical; held a commission as surgeon's mate in

He has been quite a traveler, visiting his old home | the United States army, and was a man of marked

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ability. He married Mary Tucker. (Her grandfather, Samuel Tucker, was one of the first settlers of Milton, an energetic man, of great courage, quiet and unos- tentatious in his ways, and who served his day and generation well.) They had eleven children. Dr. Hodges died in March, 1858. His widow, born in 1793, resides in Petersham, being now over ninety years old.

William A. Hodges7, son of Dr. Jerry and Mary (Tucker) Hodges, was tenth in a family of eleven children, and born at Petersham, Mass., May 15, 1834. His youth, until fourteen, was passed with his parents, with common-school advantages. In February, 1848, he commenced life for himself, going first to Boston, and afterwards to Milton, where he served an appenticeship of three years at the trade he has always followed, that of a baker. After his appren- ticeship he worked as journeyman at Milton, Rox- bury, and elsewhere until 1858. In that year he went to California, where he remained two years, en- gaged in mining and baking. Returning to Massa- chusetts, he again engaged with his former employers at Roxbury, continuing with them until 1862, when he took a trip to the West in search of a location wherein to establish himself. He remained in Mc- Gregor, Iowa, five months, then returned to Roxbury and his former employers. In May, 1866, he came to Quincy, and purchased an interest in the business of a baker, which was carried on in the shop which he now occupies. After eighteen months he became sole proprietor, and by energy, attention to business, and care in producing good articles he has much in- creased it, enlarged the buildings and capacity of pro- duction, and made money. As a citizen, Mr. Hodges is enterprising and public-spirited ; as a friend, strong, warm, and faithful ; as a man, he is held in the high- est esteem. Believing in the principles of his fathers, and which were given by Thomas Jefferson and enun- ciated in the Constitution of the United States, Mr. Hodges has been a Democrat of the most unswerving order. His devotion to principle, coupled with his personal popularity, has brought him into prominence in local politics. In this field he is a sharp fighter, " takes off his gloves," and gives as hard blows as he receives. In every year since 1872 he has been nominated for some official position, and has nearly always obtained an election. In 1872 he was elected selectman of Quincy. In 1873 he was chairman of the board. In 1874 again elected selectman (with- out opposition). He resigned his office six weeks after his election, with the full determination of devot- ing himself entirely to business, but in the fall (1874) he was placed in nomination by the Democrats to |

represent Quincy in the State Legislature, and was elected. The next spring (1875) he was elected selectman. In 1876 he was " alternate" to the Dem- ocratic National Convention at St. Louis which nomi- nated Tilden for President. In the fall of 1876 he was nominated by the Democratic Senatorial Conven- tion of the First Norfolk District as its candidate for senator, and was the first candidate placed in the field after the State had been redistricted. The dis- trict was so strongly Republican that the nomination was merely complimentary, no Democrat having a possible chance of an election. In 1877 he was elected selectman by a very large majority, and became chair- man. In 1878 he was again elected selectman, and was chairman. The death of Mr. Barker, senator elect, caused a new election for senator. In this con- test Mr. Hodges was the Democratic nominee, and was elected (April, 1878) to fill the vacancy. In 1879 he was not in candidacy for selectman, but in the fall of that year was nominated by the Democrats of the Second District as their candidate for coun- cilor. This was also a complimentary nomination. In the spring of 1880 he was again elected selectman and chairman. In the fall of 1880 he received the complimentary nomination of county commissioner from his party. In the spring of 1881 he was again re-elected selectman, and was chairman. In the fall of 1881 the Democratic State Convention made him its candidate for State treasurer. In 1882 he was again nominated for State treasurer. In 1883, under the bright outlook for Democracy, Democratic political managers were looking for a man strong enough by force of character, experience in office, and personal popularity to make a successful campaign in this senatorial district, and Mr. Hodges was the one de- clared to be the most advisable to select, and he was placed in nomination by the Senatorial Convention and elected.

Mr. Hodges married, Sept. 15, 1868, Annie M., daughter of George F. and Maria (Stetson) Wilson, of Quincy. They have three surviving children,- Francis Mason, Mabel Stetson, and Edward Tisdale Quincy.

Mr. Hodges is a member of Rural Lodge, F. and A. M., of Quincy, St. Stephen's Lodge of Royal Arch Masons, and a life member of the Boston Com- mandery. In all official relations he has discharged his duties fearlessly and to the best interests of his constituents according to his best judgment.

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

DANIEL BAXTER.

Daniel Baxter, son of William and Abigail (New- comb) Baxter, was born in Quincy, Mass., Jan. 24, 1803, and on his eighty-first birthday slept within twenty feet of the spot where he was born. The place where he now lives was formerly owned by his father, a native of Quincy, who was a butcher, store- keeper, etc. William Baxter moved from Quincy to Paddock's Island, Boston Harbor, about the 1st of May, 1809, and remained there until the fall of 1812, when he removed to Quincy, and continued his busi- ness as a butcher. While on the island Mr. Baxter engaged in butchering, ran a sloop in the coasting trade, and was an active, energetic man. He died in Quincy, June 8, 1829, at the age of sixty-one years. Mrs. Abigail Baxter died July 4, 1819, aged forty- seven years. Daniel's education was confined to very limited attendance at the schools of that early period, boarding at Hull for three winters and attend- ing school, and he tells interesting stories of the dan- gers he and his sister experienced in crossing from and to the island in the inclement winter weather. When he was sixteen he carried the meat which his father had butchered to Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate to sell. He remained with his father until he was twenty-one, when he commenced business for himself, going to Brighton market, purchasing cattle and butchering them, and for nearly forty years continued this and the sale of the meat on the same route in Weymouth, Hingham, etc., that he had sold for his father. Mr. Baxter has been economical, prudent, and a hard worker. He laid up money which he carefully invested in land and other good investments, and to-day is one of the large real-estate owners in Quincy, and the only capital he has ever in- herited was seven hundred and fourteen dollars left him by his father. He early in life showed his aptitude for trade, when but a lad of twelve years, by buying a quart of molasses, making candy and peddling it, making a profit of seventeen cents, which was not ill

spent. He married, Jan. 22, 1829, Abigail, daughter of Noah Curtis, and has had fourteen children, the following now living: Abigail (Mrs. John Chamber- lain, resides in Quincy), Daniel W., Ann W. (Mrs. John Wood, lives in Quincy), Caroline (Mrs. George H. Tobey, lives in Chicago), Elizabeth (Mrs. Charles A. Follet, resides with her father), Wm. Henry, Mary F. (Mrs. Parker Hayward, lives in Braintree), Adeline W. (Mrs. Frank C. Waterhouse, lives in Wollaston). Mrs. Abigail C. Baxter died July 3, 1879.

Mr. Baxter commenced housekeeping at Quincy Point, and lived there six years, when his desire to occupy the old home of his father in Quincy in- duced him to remove thither, and he built the house where he now resides in 1858. Mr. Baxter has filled many positions of public trust ; was for fourteen years selectman, and chairman over half of the time; has served on school committees, as assessor, surveyor of highways, and overseer of the poor. When the Quincy Stone Bank was organized he was the young- est one of the incorporators and directors. He was a director for over forty years, and is now the only sur- viving member of the original board. He has been connected with the Quincy Savings Bank as director for more than a quarter of a century, and is a stock- holder in various corporations. He has always been conservative, believing in conducting public affairs as he would his own business, owing no man anything ; in all positions he has been careful, prudent, and saving, and has so managed his means that in his old age he has a handsome competency, and the satisfac- tion of having discharged all duties, public and pri- vate, to the best of his ability and with honest intent. He has been a busy man all his life. He is an ex- ample of what industry, common sense, and care will do for any one in the battle of life. He has just passed his eighty-first birthday, and it is well to note in connection therewith, that his youngest sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Wild, celebrated the sixty-first anniversary of their marriage in 1883.

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 82

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