USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > North Bridgewater > History of North Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to the present time, with family registers > Part 15
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Paul Couch.
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in the fall of 1826 ; first ordained at West Newbury, Mass., in March, 1827; married Miss Harriette Tyler, of Griswold, Conn., May 28, 1827; settled at Bethlehem, Conn., in 1829; left there in 1834, and was installed in North Bridgewater in October, 1835, and dismissed at his own request, after a service of twenty-four years, in 1859. Since that time he has been preaching in North Cambridge one year, and in various places, and now, in 1865, has been preaching at Ston- ington, Conn., for upwards of a year. They have had seven children, five of whom are now living, -the oldest son living in Brooklyn, N. Y .; second son is in Victoria, Vancouver's Island ; third is in the 18th Regiment of Conn. Volunteers ; fourth was a graduate of Harvard College in 1864 ; his daugh- ter is married, and resides in Jewett City, Conn.
REV. NATHANIEL BAILEY BLANCHARD was born in Abington, Mass., July 16, 1827. In 1848 he became a member of the Congregational Church in East Abington; in 1853, graduated at Amherst College ; in 1855, he completed his theological course at Bangor, Me. ; July 15, 1856, he was ordained to the Christian ministry of Edgartown, Mass; while at this place he was married. He became a pastor of the Pilgrim Church in Plymouth, Mass., where he remained three years. On September 18, 1861, he was installed as pastor of the First Congregational Church in North Bridgewater. While preaching at that place, his health failed him and he became unable to perform the services incumbent upon a pastor. He started on a journey for his health, and, on his way to Plymouth, N. H., stopping at Concord, grew worse, and died August 7, 1862, aged thirty-five years. He was a man universally loved and respected wherever he went; and from his youth was a thoughtful boy, with high aims and noble purposes, faithful in all the minor duties, and true in all the social and fraternal relations. He made the
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most of his opportunities, entering with a heart full of zeal and love upon his work, - his joy of preaching Christ. Sin- cerity, kindness, and the constraining love of Christ shone forth in all his walk. *
REV. EDWARD L. CLARK. (See page 45.
REV. WARREN GODDARD was the son of the late Dr. John Goddard, of Portsmouth, N. H., where he was born, Septem- ber 12, 1800. He married Mary Crowell Tobey, of Sand- wich, Mass., August 6, 1829. He fitted for college at the " Portsmouth Academy," and entered Harvard University September, 1815, one year in advance; graduated at that institution August, 1818. In the spring of 1819, he became fully satisfied of the truths of the doctrines contained in the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, and entered as a student of theology in the family of Rev. Thaddeus M. Harris, D. D., of Dorchester, Mass. At the completion of his studies, there being only one society of the New Church in all New Eng- land, - namely, that in Boston, consisting of less than a score of members, and already provided with a pastor elect, - and the few societies in the United States being also provided with ministers, he was obliged to postpone his former purpose of entering the ministry until there should be some society needing ministerial services. At this time an opening pre- sented itself in the academy at Sandwich, Mass. He there- fore accepted the office of principal, and was very successful, commencing with twelve pupils, all belonging in that town. Soon after this, applications for admission continued to in- crease, first from the adjoining towns, then from more dis- tant places, even as far as South Carolina. At the end of two years, he commenced and pursued the study of law in the office of the late Lieut. Governor John Reed, of Yar-
* Sec resolutions passed by the church on page 45.
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mouth, Mass., and was admitted to the bar of Barnstable County ; practised law two years in Barnstable, and nearly a year in Boston in connection with Professor Parsons, when, becoming dissatisfied with the practice, so far as it related to the management before juries, he relinquished the practice of law, and accepted an appointment as principal of the Eng- lish and Classical School at Princeton, Mass., where he la- bored two or three years with signal success. Several socie- ties having during this time been formed, and needing min- isterial services, Mr. Goddard returned to the profession of his first choice, and after preaching and receiving several calls to settle in Abington, Portland, and North Bridgewater, he at length settled at the latter place, where he was installed September 19, 1839, and where he has continued to labor in the ministry until the present time, as one of the most ac- ceptable and useful New Church ministers to be found in the country.
REV. NATHANIEL WALES was son of Thomas and Polly (Ho- bart) Wales; born in North Bridgewater April 2, 1793 ; studied theology at Bangor Theological Seminary ; settled in the ministry at Belfast, Me., September 26, 1827. At the time of his entering the ministry, the church over which he was settled was supported partly by missionary aid, and was in a neighborhood where he met with an unusual opposition from those who differed from him in their belief. They were unusually hostile to the faith his church professed. The wealth, fashion, and influence of the place were arrayed against its young men, who were early taught not to frequent their house of worship. Seldom has a church sprung up with such a strong opposition as the one over which he was placed. To breast this influence and make progress against it, they needed a man of strength of mind and moral courage. In Mr. Wales the church found such a man. He, having entered the
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ministry late in life, had the advantage of mature years. He had no fear of man; for, having been called of God to preach the everlasting gospel, he shunned not to declare the counsel of God, however received by men. He warmly embraced the " faith once delivered to the saints,"-the faith of the Pil- grim Fathers, - not doubting that its faithful exposition and enforcement were God's appointed means of spiritual profit.
His was no time-serving policy ; he had not learned that, to win souls, the offensive features of divine truth must be ig- nored or kept out of sight. As a speaker, Mr. Wales was bold, emphatic, and impressive; he grasped the truth with a strong hand, and sent it forth on its mission all glowing with the ardor of his own intense feeling. His honest purpose, his ardent desire to do good savingly, to bless those to whom he ministered, could not be doubted. He sought to make his influence tell upon the eternal well-being of his people. He was abundant in labor, preaching much in the surrounding towns, striving to win and save wherever he went. He was an earnest student, an able preacher, a faithful pastor, chcer- fully spending and being spent, that he might enlarge the boundaries of the Redeemer's kingdom, and bring glory to Him on whom all his own hopes reposed; nor did he labor in vain. While his ministry was too brief to reap large results, he still made an impression on the community in favor of the true gospel and a faithful ministry, whose influence is felt to this day; so that the once fceble church has, under his and his successors' instrumentality, gathered courage and strength till it has grown to be one of the able churches of that vicinity. In stature Mr. Wales was above the me- dium; he had a manly countenance and dignified bear- ing; the sight of him inspired respect. In the warm sea- son of 1828, while returning home from a public meeting, he took a severe cold, which fastened upon his lungs and brought on consumption. His disease baffled medical skill
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and the most assiduous care. He gradually declined till, on the 20th day of January, 1829, he sunk peacefully to rest, and a rising light was thus carly quenched. His early death was one of those mysterious providences that try the faith, and one which was sincerely mourned by the people of his charge and by numerous friends. " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." "The memory of the just is blessed." Says one who was an intimate friend, -
" My recollections of Mr. Wales are very pleasant, and I cherish great respect for his memory, and as being a man of more than ordinary power."
REV. JOHN F. NORTON. (See page 71.)
REV. CHARLES L. MILLS. (See page 72.)
REV. SAMUEL H. LEE. (See page 73.)
REV. MATTHEW KINGMAN is son of Eliphalet and Zilpha (Ed- son) Kingman ; born February 24, 1807. He was engaged in early life in teaching school ; studied theology at Gilman- ton, N. H .; was afterward agent of that institution for one year ; was ordained in the ministry June 26, 1845, at Bethel, Vt .; dismissed from there April 19, 1854; was installed pas- tor of the First Congregational Church in Charlemont, Mass., June 6, 1854. While preaching at Bethel, the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him.
REV. ABEL KINGMAN PACKARD is son of Dea. Simeon and Harmony (Kingman) Packard; was born in North Bridge- water, March 19, 1823; became a member of the First Con- gregational Church in North Bridgewater, November 6, 1836; graduated at Phillips Academy, Andover, August, 1841; en- tered Amherst College the same year, and graduated August
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14, 1845 ; became principal of an academy at Millbury, Mass., where he remained two years; graduated at Andover Theo- logical Seminary, Andover, Mass., September 4, 1850 ; was a resident licentiate and student one year ; was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church at Yarmouth, Mass., December 16, 1851; was dismissed at his own request October 17, 1859, and removed immediately to Minnesota; supplied the Con- gregational Church at St. Anthony six months, during the ab- sence of their pastor, and was installed pastor of the church at Anoka, Minn., June 14, 1860, where he now resides.
REV. JOHN DWIGHT. (See page 58.)
REV. DAVID TEMPLE PACKARD is son of David and Elizabeth (Drake) Packard; was born in North Bridgewater August 24, 1824. After the usual course of common district schools, Mr. Packard fitted for college under the private instruction of Rev. Paul Couch, and at the Adelphian Academy, and the Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. He graduated at Amherst College, August, 1850; taught high school at East Braintree, Mass., one year, and entered Bangor Theological Seminary October, 1851, and graduated August 30, 1854. Previous to leaving the seminary, he had received two calls to labor in the ministry, - one from the Congregational Church in Bucksport, Me., the other from the South Con- gregational Church in Campello, the latter of which he ac- cepted, and was ordained as their pastor September 21, 1854. Here he labored with acknowledged success, having become deservedly popular, and, as the glorious results of his efforts, considerable accessions were made to the church for about two years, when he, with his family, wishing to enjoy the benefits of a Western climate, he asked a dismission, which was granted, and he was dismissed October 1, 1856. He then removed to Rock Island, Ill., and preached for the Second
1
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Presbyterian Church in that city. The next year he took charge of the Second Presbyterian Church in Davenport, Iowa. Here he received a unanimous call to settle with them; but preferring New England for a permanent field of labor, after an absence of two years, he returned to Massachu- setts in 1858, and in June of that year commenced preaching for the First Congregational Society in Somerville, Mass., and soon after received a call to settle with them as their pastor. In 1860 the call was renewed, and accepted by Mr. P., and he was installed September 21 of that same year, where he now resides.
REV. CHARLES W. WOOD. (See page 64.)
REV. LYSANDER DICKERMAN is the son of Lyman and Vienna (Sproat) Dickerman; born in North Bridgewater June 8, 1825 ; began a preparatory course of study with the Rev. Paul Couch of that town; entered Phillips Academy, Ando- ver, Mass., under the care of Samuel H. Taylor, L.L. D. In the autumn of 1847, he entered the Freshman Class of Brown University, Providence, R. I., and graduated in 1851; was principal of Rockingham Academy, Hampton Falls, N. H., two years ; entered the Theological Seminary, Andover, Mass. in 1853, and graduated in 1856. And on leaving the semi- nary, his health being poor, he was not settled till April 29, 1858, when he was ordained and installed pastor of the Con- gregational Church in Gloucester, Mass. ; was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council from the pastorate of that church Jan- uary 19, 1860, and was installed as pastor over the Congre- gational Church and Society in Weymouth, where Rev. Jo- nas Perkins had preached for forty-six years, January 17, 1861.
REV. ZENAS P. WILD was born in North Bridgewater Octo- ber 16, 1818 ; united with the church under the care of Rev.
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John Dwight at Campello, Mass., 1837; fitted for college at Pierce Academy, Middleboro'; became a member of the Bap- tist Church at North Randolph, Mass., and was there licensed to preach ; afterward studied theology at Thomaston and Wa- terville, Me., also with Rev. E. B. Smith, D. D., of New Hamp- ton, N. H., and Rev. John Newton Brown, D. D., graduating in 1844. He then received an invitation to preach at Union- ville (now Ashland), Mass., where he was ordained in March, 1845. With this people he remained two years, laboring with great success, large numbers being added to the list of church members. He next became pastor of the Baptist Church in Marblehead, Mass., remaining there two years. Receiving a call to settle with the Baptist Church in Rowley, Mass., he remained with them three years with satisfactory results ; was pastor of the Baptist Church in Billerica, Mass., two years ; since then settled at West Boylston, Mass .; from thence he removed to New York, where he labored as pastor for four years, when, his health failing, he resigned the office of pastor and received an appointment from the City Tract Society as city missionary April, 1860, where he now resides.
REV. AZARIAH B. WHEELER is the son of Beriah and Lucy Wheeler, of East Haddam, Conn .; born March 23, 1817. He pursued his academic studies at the East Haddam Acad- emy ; was ordained in the ministry in 1840. After preaching in various places, he was stationed at North Bridgewater, as pastor of the Second Methodist Episcopal Church, in April, 1851. He has held several public offices ; at one time was president of the North Bridgewater Loan Fund Association. In 1855 lie was a representative to the General Court from North Bridgewater. In 1856 was senator from Plymouth County, also a member of the Fremont Electoral College.
REV. T. B. MCNULTY. (See page 76.)
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PHYSICIANS.
DR. PHILIP BRYANT was born in Middleboro', Mass., in De- cember, 1732. He lived some time with his father in Titicut (Teightaquid), a parish formed of part of Middleboro' and part of South Bridgewater. With his father, he removed to North Bridgewater, concerning which he was wont to say that he re- membered the time when a greater part of it was thought quite unfit for the purposes of settlement. He studied medicine with Dr. Abiel Howard, of West Bridgewater, whose daughter he married. He was a man of great bodily activity, a calm and even temper, healthful habits, and kindly manners. He con- tinued to practise medicine with much success to a very old age, which was terminated by his deathı, which took place February, 1817, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.
ullen Bryant father.
DR. PETER BRYANT (son of Dr. Philip Bryant) was born in North Bridgewater August 12, 1767. This man early distin- guished himself by his love of study. In his frequent visits to the house of his grandfather, Dr. Abiel Howard, of West Bridgewater, he found, in a library well stocked for that time, the means of gratifying his thirst for knowledge. He studied medicine and surgery, completing his course with Dr. Lewis Leprilete, a French physician of eminent skill and a cele- brated surgeon of Norton, Mass. He then removed to Cum- mington, in the western part of Massachusetts, which was just beginning to fill up rapidly with settlers from the eastern counties of the State. Here he established himself as a physi- cian, and married a daughter of Ebenezer Snell, Esq., also a North Bridgewater family. For several years he represented the town of Cummington in the Legislature of the State, and in the latter part of his life held a seat in the Senate. While in the Legislature he took a prominent part in bringing forward and passing laws still in force to raise the standard of medi-
frama Father
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cal education in the State. In politics he belonged to the Federal party, whose doctrines and measures he supported with zeal. He wrote for the county paper, " Hampshire Ga- zette," certain humorous poems of a satirical cast, the design of which was political. With these he took great pains, pruning and retouching them, and polishing and invigorating the lines. His scholarship, though not extensive, was re- markably exact. He had, subsequently to his settlement in Cummington, made a voyage to the Indian Ocean and passed six months in the Isle of France, where he acquired the French language and preserved his familiarity with it for the rest of his life. He was a surgeon of great dexterity, firmness of hand, and precision in his operations ; in private life amiable and much beloved. His life was closed in con- sumption the 19th of March, 1820.
LUTHER CARY was son of Zachariah and Susannah (Bass) Cary, and was born in North Bridgewater May 30, 1761; married Nabby, daughter of Benjamin King, of Raynham, Mass .; studied medicine with Dr. James Freeland, of Sutton, Worcester County, Mass., 1782; appointed Justice of the Peace June 8, 1800; Justice of Peace and of Quorum August 23, 1804, and Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Ox- ford County March 30, 1805. He first resided at Sterling, Mass; removed from there to Williamsburgh, Mass., from which place he removed to Turner, Oxford County, Me., April 2, 1798. He was an excellent physician, had a very exten- sive practice, and was very successful ; raised up a large and respectable family, the most of whom are now living, one a clergyman residing in Iowa.
ISSACHAR SNELL was son of Issachar, Esq., and Mary (Keith) Snell; was born in North Bridgewater, Mass., June, 1775; graduated at Harvard College in 1797; studied medicine, and
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became an eminent physician. He had given especial atten- tion to surgery, and had practised as a physician previous to his removal to Winthrop, Me. He had performed the opera- tion of lithotomy with great success, and soon gained large practice in town, especially among those that emigrated from Bridgewater, Mass., of whom there were not a few. His suc- cess as a surgeon gave him such celebrity that he was often called to the neighboring towns, many miles away from his home, to perform operations. To the great regret of the people of Winthrop, he removed to Augusta, Me., in 1828, where he continued to practise till his death, which took place very suddenly in 1847, aged seventy-two years and five months. He was a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society.
DR. ELISHA TILLSON resided in the town a short time ; married Molly, daughter of Capt. Zebedee Snell, September 2, 1792, and had one son, Elisha Snell, born in 1794; mar- ried Betsy Chandler, of Easton, 1819.
ZIBA BASS, M. D., was son of Edward Bass. He was born in Braintree May 28, 1774 ; studied medicine with Dr. Eben- ezer Alden, of Randolph, Mass., and commenced practice in North Bridgewater about 1800 under the most favorable au- spices, with the fairest prospects of usefulness to his fellow- men. He was a man of very pleasing address, of an affec- tionate and amiable disposition, and gave unwearied attention to the welfare of his patients. His assiduity in search of knowledge and his constant and undeviating fidelity in all the duties of his profession won the affection and established the confidence of a numerous class of the community in the circle of his acquaintance; but he was suddenly called, soon after commencing in life, from his earthly labors, leaving a weeping multitude to deplore his loss. The following is on his tombstone : -
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" Erected to the memory of Dr. Ziba Bass, who died Sep- tember 23, A. D., 1804, in the thirty-first year of his age, giv- ing full proof that usefulness was his grand object in life. He was a pattern of modesty, temperance, fidelity, prudence, economy, and uprightness, and died in hope of eternal rest and glory. Hence the following appropriation : 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.'"
DR. NATHAN PERRY. This good man was born in Norton May 27, 1776; was educated in the common schools of his native town, never having received a college education ; pur- sued the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Isaac Fowler, of Rehoboth, Mass., and Dr. Ebenezer Alden, Senior, of Randolph, both of whom were physicians of eminence in their day and accustomed to the instruction of young men. Having completed his pupilage, Dr. Perry commenced prac- tice in Reading, Mass., 1802 or 3, where he acquired a good reputation and a competent share of employment. On the death of Dr. Ziba Bass, which took place, September 3, 1804, at North Bridgewater, on the recommendation of his in- structor, and by the solicitations of many respectable citizens of that town, he was induced to change his residence and take the place of his deceased friend. He was immediately introduced into a wide circle of practice, and during a period of nearly thirty years was the principal physician in the town. At length, in connection with reverses in his worldly circumstances, and the loss of most of the members of his family by death, his spirits became greatly depressed and his mind impaired. Subsequently he suffered from paralysis, and never fully recovered the perfect exercise of either his bodily or mental powers; consequently, during the last twenty-five years of his life, he relinquished to a great extent
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the active duties of his profession. In 1823 he became a fel- low of the Massachusetts Medical Society by election, and a retired member in 1830. He was a good physician, a man of sound judgment and sterling integrity, always pursuing the course he judged to be right, whatever might be the consequences to himself. In early life he made a public pro- fession of his faith in Christ, and his character was in perfect harmony with his profession. He died peacefully in a ripe old age more from the debility incident to decay of his vital powers than from any manifest disease. Such was Dr. Per- ry, -a good man and a worthy citizen. He closed his earth- ly career Sabbath morning, August 16, 1857, at the advanced age of eighty-one years, leaving behind a memory cherished with affectionate regard by those who have shared his friend- ships and benefited by his counsels.
The following incident in relation to Dr. Perry is found in Clark's " History of Norton : " -
" About the year 1792, Nathan Perry, afterward Dr. Perry, of North Bridgewater, then a youth of some sixteen years of age, was one day passing by Judge Leonard's deer-park in Norton ; he playfully reached his hands through the fenee and took hold of one of the old buek's horns, and for some time annoyed him in that way. At length the deer got out of patience, broke away from his hold, and quite unexpectedly leaped over the fence, seven or eight feet high, and made a furious attack upon young Perry, throwing him upon the ground ; but very fortunately the horns of the en- raged deer, instead of striking his body, passed down on each side of it. While in this position, Nathan grasped the horns of the buck, and succeed- ed in preventing him from doing any injury till his brothers, Gardiner and Alvin, with one of Judge Leonard's men, came and rescued him from his perilous situation."
ADOLPHUS K. BORDEN, M. D., was born in Horton, Nova Sco- tia January 26, 1802; was educated at Windsor College ; re- ceived his medical degree from Harvard College, in 1824; first entered upon the practice of his profession in Wareham, Mass., where he remained seven years; from thence he re- moved to North Bridgewater, where he now resides in the ioyment of a successful practice.
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HISTORY OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER.
ABEL W. KINGMAN, M. D., is son of Abel and Lucy (Wash- burn) Kingman; born in North Bridgewater April 22, 1806; graduated at Amherst College in 1830; commenced the prac- tice of physician and surgeon at North Bridgewater, where he now resides ; he was appointed postmaster of that village during Buchanan's administration.
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