History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 12

Author: Thompson, Elroy Sherman, 1874-
Publication date: 1928
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 642

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 12
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 12
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 12

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Interested in political and civic matters he soon became active locally and served the town on com- mittees of importance. He was chairman of the Re- publican Town Committee ten years; chairman of the School Board six years; vice-president, and later president, of the Plymouth Commercial Club, now the Chamber of Commerce; vice-president Plymouth & Middleboro Railroad.

He was elected to the Legislature in 1898, 1899, and 1900, and served in the Senate in 1905-6.

Mr. Kyle was treasurer of the First Parish of the Pilgrims thirty years, and for ten years was president of the Plymouth and Bay Conference. He also served as chairman of the Tercentenary Committee of the town during the memorable celebration of 1920-21. He is a trustee of the Plymouth Savings Bank; presi- dent of the public library, vice-president of the Pil- grim Society, and also a vice-president of the Mas- sachusetts Forestry Association.

He is a life-member of the Scots Charitable Society, organized in 1667; and in Masonry a life-member of Lodge, Chapter, and Commandery. He is a member of the Plymouth Country Club, the Republican Club of Massachusetts, and the Unitarian Club, of Boston, of which he has been president, succeeding the late Governor John D. Long.

PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE

Mr. Kyle married, in 1885, Abby Morton, daughter of the late Nathaniel and Elizabeth Fuller (Robbins) Morton, and they have two children living.

His residence is Harborside, Plymouth, Mas- sachusetts.

The business of Bradford, Kyle & Company had its origin in an invention of the late Cornelius F. Bradford for insulating wire for electrical purposes, running to diameters that previously had been deemed mechanically impossible; indeed wires were covered as fine as 0.001 inch in diameter, running almost one hundred miles per pound. This made possible for the first time improvements of immeasurable value in instruments of precision, and also widened the scope of wireless telegraphy and radio apparatus. Their product is used in a wide range of appliances from largest power machines to the most delicate apparatus in the electrical field. The materials used are mainly copper, nickle-silver, and other resistance alloys in a variety of combinations; and pure silk and finest cotton yarns, together with asbestos and enamel, are used in the process.

Mr. Bradford retired from the business in 1905, owing to ill health, and died a few years later, and William S. Kyle has ever since been the sole owner of the business.

ALBERT F. HUNT, M. D .- For the past nine- teen years Dr. Albert F. Hunt has been engaged in private medical and surgical practice in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. His offices are located at No. 28 School Street and he has made an enviable reputation for skill and for thorough knowledge of his profes- sion. He is well known in fraternal circles and is fond of healthful out-of-door sports, being especially interested in baseball and football.

Dr. Albert F. Hunt was born in Tiverton, Rhode Island, August 27, 1875, son of William F. Hunt, also a native of Tiverton and engaged as a painter there to the time of his death, and of Susan M. (Munroe) Hunt, who was born in Tiverton, and died in Fall River in 1899. Dr. Hunt received his early education in the public schools of Fall River, grad- uating from the Durfee High School of that place, and then matriculated in Brown University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1899, re- ceiving at that time the degree of Bachelor of Phil- osophy. He had determined upon the medical pro- fession as his future field of activity and in the fall following his graduation from Brown University he became a student in the Medical School of Harvard University, from which he was graduated in 1907 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He imme- diately prepared for practice in Bridgewater, and dur- ing the more than nineteen years which have passed since he opened his office there, he has built up a large and important private practice in medicine and in surgery. His offices are located at No. 28 School Street, and he keeps closely in touch with the latest developments of his profession and with the gen- eral activities of his professional associates in coun- ty, State, and nation. He is a member of the Brock- ton Medical Society, the Plymouth County Medical Society, Massachusetts State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. Politically, he gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Republican party, and he takes an active part in local public affairs, serving in public office when his professional knowledge, or his general ability can be

of special advantage, and always contributing gen- erously toward the advancement of the interests of Bridgewater. Since 1909 he has served as chairman of the Board of Health of Bridgewater, and for fifteen years he served as a member of the School Board. Fraternally, he is identified with Fellowship Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Bridgewater; with the Improved Order of Red Men; and with Pioneer Lodge, No. 183, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. During the period of the participation of the United States in the World War he served as a member of the Medical Advisory Board of Plymouth County, and contributed a generous share toward the raising of the sums needed in the various campaigns to carry Bridgewater "over the top" in home war work. He is a member of Bridgewater Chamber of Commerce. In the way of recreation, he finds special pleasure in baseball and football and is an enthusiastic advocate of all healthful out-of-door sports. His religious in- terest is with the Congregational church of Bridge- water, of which he is an attendant and a member of the Men's Club.

Dr. Albert F. Hunt was married, in 1900, to Lula A. Cook, who was born in Reading, Massachusetts, daughter of George F. and August (Pierce) Cook. Dr. and Mrs. Hunt are the parents of five children: 1. Marion A., born May 19, 1901. 2. Albert F., Jr., born July 13, 1905. 3. Helen B., born June 15, 1907. 4. Rebecca, born May 11, 1911. 5. Agnes A., born August 26, 1922.

JACOB A. SPARROW, a leading merchant of Middleboro, Massachusetts, and a man who has long held a position of importance in both the commercial and social life of this community, was born here on May 24, 1849. He is a son of Jacob G. and Lois S. (Macomber) Sparrow, both now deceased. Jacob G. Sparrow was born in Rochester, Massachusetts, and he was engaged in the painting trade. He died during the year 1887. Lois S. (Macomber) Sparrow, the mother, was born in Middleboro, a daughter of Joseph Macomber. She died in 1862. Mr. Sparrow is also a descendant of the Sparrow family, of England, de- tails of which follow later in this review.

Jacob A. Sparrow received his early education in . the public schools of Middleboro, Peirce Academy, of Middleboro, and East Greenwich Academy. Upon the completion of these courses of study, he entered the painting business with his father, remaining so employed for only a short time, before he went to Boston, where he obtained employment with the firm of Tilson & Wood, overall manufacturers of that city. Mr. Sparrow remained with this concern for about two years, resigning in 1869 to accept a position with a large lumber and general store company in Travers City, Michigan, where he remained until 1876. He returned to Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked for about two years with the Whitten, Burdett & Young Company; after which he went with A. Shu- man & Company, of Boston. He later worked in the clothing business in Boston with the firm of Moul- ton, Bradley & Company. While he was working for A. Shuman & Company, in 1880, he had pur- chased the clothing business of M. A. Powers, in Middleboro, and in partnership with his brother, H. P. Sparrow, carried on a successful business in that town. The name was changed to Sparrow Brothers, and the partnership continued until H. P. Sparrow's death, which occurred in 1909. At that time, Jacob

PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE

A. Sparrow took over the reins of business, incor- porated the company, changed the name to Sparrow Brothers, Incorporated, and has been carrying on alone on a most successful basis. This store is lo- cated at No. 43 Centre Street, Middleboro, and is the largest clothing and men's furnishings store in the township. Some time before H. P. Sparrow's death, he and his brother had been deeply interested in the firm of F. N. Whitman & Company, of Middleboro, and that concern was at that time known as the Whitman, Sparrow Company, this partnership lasting for more than nine years, before the brothers with- drew from the organization to devote their time to their own enterprise. Jacob A. Sparrow has ever found time to assume a number of outside commer- cial interests, among the more important of these being the offices he fills as a director of the Middle- boro Trust Company; a trustee of the Middleboro Savings Bank; and a director of the Montgomery Home for the Aged.

In connection with the English ancestry of this family, it is well to quote from the volume, "Historic Sites of Suffolk, England," wherein many items of interest are blended with the direct genealogy of this interesting family :

The great glory of Ipswich, as regards architecture, is the house of Mr. Eddowes Sparrow, situated in the old Butler Market. There is, perhaps, no house in the Kingdom which, for its size, is more curiously ornamented or contains within its apartments more that can interest the connoisseur in painting, the student in genealogy, or the lover of an- tiquity. The architecture is unknown, but it is believed to have been built as a residence for Mr. Robert Sparrow, in the year 1567. Within the last few years, however, it has been discovered that in the year 1570 the building was occu- pied by one George Copping, and by him erected in 1567. After the sale of the property, in 1573, it has been inhabited by the Sparrow family only. The exterior of this house is unique. The basement front is finely carved in strings of pendant fruit. On the first story are four bay windows, the fronts of which are about seventy feet in length. Next to the street, and on the base of each, are respectively sculp- tured the emblematical figures of Europe, Asia, Africa and America, with their peculiar attributes. Above the windows is a very wide projecting cornice the whole length of the front, forming so many gable-ends and corresponding with those be- neath them. Over these windows are figures of cupids in different attitudes. The whole exterior of the building is pro- fusely ornamented with animals, fruits, flowers, wreaths of roses and devices relating to the Sparrow family. No chim- neys can be seen from the street. On the west end of the house, facing on St. Stephen's Lane, is represented an un- couth figure of Atlas with a long beard, kneeling on one knee, supporting the globe upon his shoulders. At the corner a little below this is a pastoral scene consisting of a figure sitting under a tree surrounded by sheep. We are induced to believe that the ornaments on the house are emblematical, and we infer from this last composition that the wool trade then flourished in Ipswich and was of great importance; and decorations in front are intended to imply that it was carried on in all Quarters of the globe. The interior of this building contains several fine rooms. The dining room is panelled in dark oak, carved in a manner which would do honor to the great genius of Grinling Gibbons. The fireplace furnishing capacious corners, exhibits the finest parts of the carver's skill in wreaths of vines and pendant fruits. In the center protrudes a strong bas-relief of the arms and crest of the Sparrow family. On each side are panels inlaid in fanciful designs with wood of a lighter color than the ground work. A door to the right of the fireplace shows some fine carving, and the beams of the room are deeply chiseled. The' dimen- sions of the room are twenty-two by twenty-one feet. Upon the first floor is an apartment forty-six by twenty-one feet, a roon more fitting for a prince than a private citizen. In 1801 a

singular discovery was made in an upper story of the house. viz .- a concealed loft, without doubt forming a roof of a chapel, the body of which existed in a room immediately be- neath. The timbers of a slightly ornamented roof exist within it, and at the time of its being opened the floor was strewn with wooden angels and such figures as usually serve to ornament a Catholic oratory. There exists in the Sparrow family a tradition, that through the agency of one of its members, a zealous loyalist, Charles II lay sometime con-

cealed within the house after the Battle of Worcester. Several portraits of Charles II are in possession of the Sparrow family, as are also portraits of other members of that branch of the Stuarts. The crest and arms of Charles stands on the exterior of the front of the house, and portraits of the mon- arch and one of Mrs. Lane are sacredly kept by a member of the family to the present day as memorials from the hands of Charles himself. Besides two miniatures, the present owner of the house holds a third of Charles II in a locket. Among valuable paintings in the house are the following: A por- trait, by Gainsborough, of John Sparrow, thirteen times bailiff of Ipswich; one of the father of John, painted by Sir Peter Lely. This portrait is of the great-great-grandfather of the present John Eddowes Sparrow, a particularly fine specimen of the manhood of his day and the father of thirty-two chil- dren. The signature upon this portrait is said to be authen- tically that of the great Sir Peter Lely. The present owner of this interesting mansion is a genealogical descendant of his family, commencing in the year 1419 with the Sparrowes de Somersham in the County of Suffolk.

Jacob A. Sparrow of the present generation in America, has been almost as active in his club and social life as he has in his commercial endeavors. He is affiliated, fraternally, with Middleboro Lodge, No. 135, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being the only living charter member of this lodge, having held membership therein for more than forty years. He was, for ten years, a member of a Michigan lodge, so that in all, he has held membership in this one fra- ternal organization for more than fifty years. He also holds membership in the Middleboro Commer- cial Club; the Boston City Club, and he is a mem- ber of the Boston Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution. In his political preferences, he is in- clined toward the Republican party.

Jacob A. Sparrow married (first), Harriet Gleason, who was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mrs. Harriet (Gleason) Sparrow died in 1911; he married (second) Anna (Gleason) Taft, also born in Worces- ter. Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow reside in Middleboro, where they attend the Unitarian church.

JOHN JOSEPH SHAW, M. D .- The family of which John Joseph Shaw, M. D., is a member bears one of the most illustrious names in the annals of American history, and has been identified with the State of Massachusetts for about two hundred years. An early ancestor was Justice Fuller, who came on the "Mayflower."

Joseph, son of John Shaw, and grandson of Abra- ham Shaw of Dedham, was the first of the Shaw family of record in this country. He removed from Weymouth, and purchased a large tract of land in East Bridgewater (then Bridgewater), about the year 1698. Joseph Shaw had a son, the Rev. John Shaw, who was born in East Bridgewater in 1708, and who was the grandfather of Chief Justice, the Hon. Lemuel Shaw, of Boston; and of his cousin, the Hon. John A. Shaw, of Bridgewater. The first Joseph Shaw, also had a son, born in 1711, Deacon Zechariah, who in turn had a son named Zechariah, born in 1751, a second son, Joseph, born in 1779, and a third son, Alvan, born in 1785, and who was a volunteer in the War of 1812. The second Joseph, grandfather of Dr. John Joseph Shaw, was a man of most energetic character, and a successful farmer and proprietor of large grist-mills. He was a pillar of the old Orthodox church, and very promi- nent in religious affairs. In the latter part of his life, he retired from participation in active business affairs, and died in East Bridgewater in his eighty- sixth year. He was married twice: first to Olive, daughter of Samuel Dike, whose father, Samuel, was

PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE

born in Scotland in 1782. The only child by this marriage was Samuel Dike Shaw, father of the here- after mentioned Dr. John Joseph Shaw.

Due to precarious health, it was deemed inadvis- able that Samuel Dike Shaw should acquire a college education. He was the recipient, from his father, of a grist-mill, through the medium of which enterprise he was enabled to enlarge, within a few years, into a most profitable wholesale and retail grain and flour trade, which made available all the services of a country supply store. Mr. Shaw also controlled a mill for the manufacture of lumber, and was at one time interested in tack manufacturing. His various enterprises were set back, on no less than six dif- ferent occasions, by disastrous fires. In spite of close application to his large business affairs, he was a lifelong student. He was a Whig in political af- filiation until the formation of the Republican party, which he sponsored. At the time of the Abolition movement, he was an active factor in the attempt to suppress slavery. Born in the old Bridgewater place, on November 25, 1813, he married, as his second wife, in 1839, Wealthy Stickney Estes, daughter of James Estes, a native of Portland, Maine, and a descendant of Sir William Thompson, knight and Baron of the city of London, England. To this union were born two sons: Henry W., and John Joseph. Henry W. died at the early age of twenty-six years.

John Joseph Shaw, son of Samuel D., and Wealthy Stickney (Estes) Shaw, was born August 11, 1842, at East Bridgewater. He was first a student at the academy maintained by William Allen, in East Bridgewater. He then entered the common schools, following which he attended Bridgewater Normal School, from which he was graduated in the class of 1863, and was subsequently graduated, in 1867. from the Hygeo-Therapeutic College in New York City. In subsequent years Dr. Shaw took post-grad- uate courses in Harvard Medical School and two in New York Post-Graduate College. In October, 1874, Dr. Shaw located in Plymouth, where he has since been engaged in a constantly increasing professional practice, having been, an active physician in that city for more than fifty years. A member of the Massa- chusetts State Medical Society, and the American In- stitute of Homoeopathy, he has written extensively for the lay and medical press, being the author of two monographs, "The Scientific Basis of Homeopathy," and "Why I am a Homoeopath." Dr. Shaw married, (first) Persis R. Kingman, of Keene, New Hamp- shire, by whom he has had a son, John Holbrook Shaw, graduated in 1893 from Harvard Medical School, and also a graduate, in 1894, of Boston Uni- versity, who is now a practicing physician in Plym- outh. Dr. Shaw married (second) Edith Luella Ald- rich, daughter of Rev. Jeremiah Knight Aldrich of Warwick, Rhode Island. Rev. Aldrich is a second cousin of former Governor Henry Howard and former Lieutenant-Governor Albert C. Howard, of Rhode Island. He is also second cousin and an intimate friend of James Burrell Angell, former minister to China, and now president of Michigan University. The Rev. J. K. Aldrich has held pastorates in the towns of East Bridgewater, Groton, Rye, Nashua, and elsewhere, He was author of a work of deep re- search and profound logic, entitled "The Day of the Savior's Crucifixion." He died August 3, 1905. By his second marriage, Dr. John J. Shaw has had two children: 1. Lillian Estes Shaw, beloved daughter, born on October 13, 1881, died May 16, 1895. 2.

Joseph Henry Shaw, a son, was born on October 9, 1886.

Dr. Shaw is a member of the Mayflower Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Patuxet Colony, the Pilgrim Fathers; the Plymouth Rock Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is past medical director for the two latter. During the World War, he was a member of the Medical Re- serve Corps. He was town physician for two years; visited Europe in 1896, in London as delegate of the International Homeopathic Medical Congress, after- wards visiting Scotland, Belgium, Germany, the Rhine, Switzerland, and Paris. Four years later, in 1900, he again visited Europe.

RAWSON C. JENKINS is one of the most active citizens of the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, judging him from the standpoints of banker, reality developer, insurance executive, occupant of respon- sible offices in the service of his fellow-citizens, and, socially, on account of the numerous fraternal organ- izations that claim him as a member.

Wilson R. Jenkins, father of the subject of this article, who died in 1915, was engaged in business as a contractor and builder. The mother of Rawson C. Jenkins was, prior to her marriage, Miss Aldana Fisher. Rawson C. Jenkins, son of Wilson R. and Aldana (Fisher) Jenkins, was born at Falmouth, Massachusetts, on July 28, 1885. After completing his studies in the local public schools, Mr. Jenkins became apprenticed to the carpentry trade, but later decided to engage in the automobile business, which line he pursued until 1911. In the latter year, Mr. Jenkins was elected to the office of collector of taxes, and has thus served to the present time (1928). From 1916 until 1923, he was engaged as income tax assessor for the commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the latter year, he organized the firm of Rawson C. Jenkins, real estate and insurance, at Falmouth, through the medium of which organization he has effected a number of notable subdivisions and other realty developments, one of which, called Acapesket, consists of a tract of three hundred and twelve acres, with a seashore frontage of four and one-half miles, including bays and the sound, which contains all modern improvements, including a hard-surface road four miles in length, electric lights, water, and ex- cellent streets, and upon this property a number of substantial homes have already been erected. An- other subdivision that has awakened much interest among prospective home buyers is known as Sider's Pond Lots, where Mr. Jenkins has made unusual improvements upon the fourteen-acre site. Through the insurance department of his business, Mr. Jen- kins handles all forms of insurance with the excep- tion of life policies. For the past three years, in addition to being collector of taxes in Falmouth, Mr. Jenkins has served as chairman of the board of the local school committee, and is ever an enthusiastic worker in the interest of the well-being of the locality. It is not surprising that a man of the ability and integrity possessed by Mr. Jenkins should be also prominent in financial circles, he being president of the Falmouth Co-operative Bank, of which he was one of the organizers.

Mr. Jenkins is one of the most widely-known fra- ternal members in this section of the country, being affiliated with the following: Marine Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Falmouth; Wareham Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; New Bedford Council, Royal

PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE

and Select Masters; Sutton Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar; Aleppo Temple (Boston), Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Fall River Lodge of Perfection, Samuel C. Lawrence Chapter, Rose Croix; Massachusetts Consistory, Or- der of the Eastern Star; is Past Noble Grand of James B. Barnes Lodge, No. 10, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; is Past Patron of the Order of the Eastern Star; Past Master of his Masonic Blue Lodge; Present District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts; representative of Sutton Commandery, and also of Massachusetts Con- sistory; and he is also a member of the Rotary Club,

Rawson C. Jenkins married, in 1905, Miss Evalena Dimock, who was born and reared in Falmouth. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins are the parents of four children: Delmar R., Harold W., Isabel A., and Bertha L.

ARTHUR T. COLE-Among those who have re- cently been admitted to the Massachusetts bar is Arthur T. Cole, who since 1924 has been engaged in practice in Whitman. Mr. Cole is also treasurer of the town of Whitman, in which office he has served for more than ten years.

Ephraim P. Cole, father of Mr. Cole, was a native of East Bridgewater, where he was engaged in the shoe industry, serving as a foreman to the time of his death, which occurred in 1900. He served in the Civil War, as a private in Company C, 38th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and was a member of David A. Russel Post, No. 78, Grand Army of the Republic, of Whitman, which body he served as chaplain for several years. He was a descendant of Ephraim Cole, a soldier of the Revolution. He mar- ried Amelia F. Alden, who died in 1926. She was a direct descendant of John Alden, of the "Mayflower."

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History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 12

Author: Thompson, Elroy Sherman, 1874- Publication date: 1928 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 642

Author: Thompson, Elroy Sherman, 1874-
Publication date: 1928
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 642