USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 28
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 28
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 28
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Thomas Howard Soule was born November 15, 1844, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the youngest son of Thomas Howard Soule and Margaret A. (Dunham) Soule. He was the eighth in his line from the original paternal ancestor, the succession having proceeded through: (I) George Soule, one of the "Mayflower" passengers and signer of the Com- pact of 1620. He settled at Plymouth under the pro- tection of Edward Winslow and drew an acre of land in 1623. He removed to Duxbury and was representative in 1645, became an original proprietor of Bridgewater and was among the purchasers of Dartmouth. He married Mary Beckett. She died in 1677 and he died in 1680. (II) John Soule, born 1632, died at Duxbury in 1707. He married Esther Nash Sampson. (III) Josiah Soule, born in 1682, was of Duxbury. On May 25, 1704, he married Lydia Delano, born in 1680, died November 24, 1763; he died June 25, 1764. (IV) Micah Soule, born April 12, 1711, was of Duxbury, where in 1777, he was one of the selectmen. On May 30, 1740, he married Mercy Southworth, daughter of Constant and Re- becca (Simmons) Southworth, of Duxbury. He died November 4, 1778, and she died in 1797. (V) Con- stant S. Soule was born about 1744 and served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. His widow, Jemima, married (second) William Ad- ams, of Enfield, Massachusetts. October 30, 1801. (VI) Thomas Soule. born July 1, 1783, at Duxbury, and died July 23, 1819. He married Lois Howard, of Pomfret, Connecticut, who died May. 4, 1842. (VII) Thomas Howard Soule, born February 22, 1810, at Enfield, became a shipbuilder at New Bed- ford and retired in 1872. He served as representa- tive in 1857-58 and was a leading supporter of Charles Sumner for the United States Senate. His death occurred April 17, 1900. He married, May 5, 1833, Margaret Albertson Dunham, born at Matta- poisett, April 10. 1810, daughter of George and Mary (Albertson) Dunham. and they became the parents of Thomas Howard Soule. Mrs. Soule died at New Bedford, July 16, 1879. She was descended from some of the oldest families of the section. Her pa- ternal lineage is traced to John Dunham, the founder of the Dunham family in the United States, who came to the United States in 1630-31 in the vessel "Hope" from England, and was believed to have been from Lancashire. He settled at New Plymouth and became a freeman of Plymouth Colony in 1633. In 1638, he was elected deacon of Plymouth Church and he was one of the four deputies elected to repre- sent Plymouth Settlement in 1638, at the adoption of a representative system of government to replace the ponderous mass meetings. John Dunham was born in England in 1589, and at his death at the age of eighty, it was spread on the town records that "he was an approved servant of God and useful man in his place."
Thomas Howard Soule graduated from the New Bedford High School in 1861 and immediately en- listed as a mariner on the merchant ship "Mary Rob- inson," owned by Edward Mott Robinson, of New Bedford. On this cruise he went to San Francisco and upon his return in April, 1864, entered the Union
Navy and became acting master's mate on the "Bien- ville," which for a year was part of Farragut's fleet. He took part in the battle of Mobile Bay under Far- ragut at Fort Morgan, and received prize money as one of the sailors who captured the Confederate Ram "Tennessee." In May, 1865, he left the Navy and returned to merchant service in which he remained but a short time, his last voyage being made in March, 1867, when he served as third officer on a small ship. Giving up the life of a mariner, he be- came the proprietor of the "Sherbourne House," at Nantucket, where for several years he was also a drygoods merchant. In 1888 he removed to Hyannis and purchased the "Iyanough House," which is now "The Ferguson,' which he conducted successfully on the American plan for many years. The reputa- tion which Mr. Soule established due to his courte- ous and affable manner together with the high qual- ity of service offered, caused the inn to become a center for traveling men on the Cape, and patronage increased so greatly that he was obliged to enlarge the hotel. On July 1, 1915, Mr. Soule sold the property to H. R. Ferguson and retired from active business.
In 1903, Mr. Soule was elected Commissioner of Barnstable County, and was reelected in 1906, which was quite a tribute to his efficient manner of ad- ministering its affairs. He was a Republican in pol- itics, and from 1900 until the time of his death, was Commander of Theodore Parkman Post, No. 204, Grand Army of the Republic. His fraternal con- nections included membership in Fraternal Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Hyannis, and he was a trustee of the New England Order of Protection, of Hyannis. He was a member of the Saturday Nite Club and vice-president of the Cape Cod Li- brary Club and a member of the Hyannis Library Association in which he was at one time trustee.
Mr. Soule married, in March, 1867, at New Bed- ford, Martha M. Nesmith, born in Brooks, Maine, later residing at New Bedford, daughter of Carver and Eleanor (Williams) Nesmith, and sister of Su- san C. Nesmith, wife of Rufus A. Soule, of New Bedford, a brother of Thomas H. Soule. They had two children: Henry Warren, died in infancy, and Martha N., a graduate of the Barnstable High School, who was secretary and librarian of the State Normal School at Hyannis, a position she had held from the opening of the institution until her marriage to Frank K. Rich, in 1916, at Hyannis. Mr. Rich is a writer of books and short stories and his novel of rural life in Maine, "Caleb Peaslee," was a well re- ceived. Mrs. Soule died in September, 1923, and left a large number of friends who remembered her good works.
ALBERT F. NELSON-Serving in an important capacity one of the industries which are connected intimately with community existence, Mr. Nelson has been an official of the Brockton Edison Electric Company for nearly three decades. His present posi- tion was reached only by reason of his diligent ap- plication to his work and the native ability he showed in the conduct of business. His is an interesting ca- reer, for it is the story of a man who started in on the lowest rung of the ladder and has climbed to the uppermost, earning the success and comfort which it affords. Mr. Nelson is the son of Paul and Hannah (Olson) Nelson of Brockton, where the father during
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his life had been a shoe worker, and where his mother is still living.
Albert F. Nelson was born July 19, 1877, at Brock- ton, Massachusetts, and received his preliminary edu- cation in the local public schools. He completed his education by attending the Bryant & Stratton Busi- ness College of Boston. Entering the business world immediately, he was employed by the Boston Gas- Light Company for four years, at the end of which time he returned to Brockton and became a book- keeper for the Brockton Edison Company. In 1906, he was made superintendent of the plant, and a few years later was promoted to the position of man- ager, the duties of which he discharged faithfully and efficiently until December, 1927, when he was made vice-president.
Mr. Nelson takes an active interest in all civic affairs and is a vice-president of the Commercial Club, member of the Rotary Club, Young Men's Christian Association, the Brockton Country Club, Thorny Lea Golf Club, and is a director of the Brockton Fair, and the Montaup Electric Company. His political preference is with the Republican party, and with his family he attends the Congregational church cf Brockton.
Albert F. Nelson married, June 17, 1902, Lotto B. Baldwin, of Brockton, and they are the parents of three children: 1. Robert B., born in 1907, a student at Boston University. 2. Paul Gordon, born in 1915. 3. Albert Stuart, born in 1917.
The Edison Electric Illuminating Company, of which Mr. Albert F. Nelson has been manager for more than twenty years has several items of more than local interest in connection with the history of the plant.
In February, 1883, the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Brockton was organized, and its con- tract for construction of a station was the second in the country. The plant itself was the second three- wire station, and Brockton had the first three-wire underground system in the country. On October 1, 1883, the Brockton station was formally opened, Thomas A. Edison himself spending a week here, showing the plant and equipment to electrical engi- neers of world-wide prominence. For two years it was the show plant, and to it were attracted visitors from the electrical industry for the solution of their problems.
The first theatre lighted from any central station was in Brockton, and previously the only theatres lighted by electricity were the Bijou in Boston and the Savoy in London, which were supplied from their own private plants.
The first private residence lighted with incandes- cent lamps from a three-wire system was in Brock- ton. The three-wire system was the new develop- ment in the Brockton plant. It permitted commercial lighting without the heavy losses and excess wastes of the multiple arc system first used in New York.
The first fire station so lighted was also in Brock- ton, the fire alarm system being so arranged that when an alarm was sounded, the building was auto- matically lighted and the horses liberated.
Thus it is seen that the Brockton plant was a pi- oneer in electric development. Its station, although not actually the first in operation, was really the first to overcome the initial difficulties that hampered de- velopment, and it pointed the way to the possibilities of service for public buildings as well as homes, and
for the distribution of electricity through an under- ground system.
The contract first made with the Brockton Com- pany contemplated the installation of an overhead pole line for distribution, but it was found by reason of many large trees and public sentiment being against overhead lines that would interfere with the trees, that an underground system was necessary. So it was sentiment as well as expediency that led to the adoption of the underground system.
The original station had a capacity of about 1,600 lamps, 10-candlepower each, and its first load was approximately 200 lamps. Development was pro- gressive; increased capacity was soon needed, and after various additions to both building and machinery, it was necessary, in 1906, to erect a new plant. This new station was located in East Bridgewater, where condensing water and spur track facilities were avail- able. It first provided 4,000 kilowatts. Additions soon brought the capacity up to 20,000 kilowatts, but as growth continued to be rapid and no further economic expansion was feasible at the East Bridge- water location, the Brockton Company, joining with the Blackstone Valley Gas & Electric Company cf Rhode Island and the Fall River Electric Light Com- pany of Fall River, Massachusetts, organized the Montaup Electric Company for the purpose of con- structing a new central station in Somerset, Mas- sachusetts, to furnish power to the three companies. Here again was pioneering and initiative, for not before had individual electric companies similarly joined forces in the erection of a common plant, not itself doing a retail business.
The Brockton Company, now grown so large that it is in need of the extra power to be drawn from the new plant, serves the city of Brockton, and the towns of Avon, Whitman, Hanson, Pembroke, Halifax, Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Easton and Stoughton, and by the sale of power to the Electric Light & Power Company of Abington and Rockland, also serves Abington, Rockland, Han- over, Norwell, Cohasset and Scituate; it supplies the Plymouth Electric Light Company with a part of its requirements, and also supplies the entire elec- trical requirements of the town of Middleboro.
ALONZO W. PERRY, realty operator of Rock- land and Boston and owner of the Plant Line Steam- ship Company, one of the most prominent business men of New England, possesses a background of an- cestry which is vouchsafed to but few and which forms a most pleasing frame for his accomplish- ments in the commercial world. He represents the ninth generation in the descent from John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, Governor William Bradford, Cor- net Robert Stetson and George Soule, and is also ninth from Thomas Perry, the founder of the family in this country. The descent is represented by the following line: Thomas Perry, who appeared at Scit- uate before 1647, married Sarah, daughter of Isaac Stedman; their son, William Perry, owner of a one- half interest in Conihassett, who married, in 1681, Elizabeth Lobdell; their son, Benjamin Perry (born 1688), married, February 20, 1711, Ruth Bryant, daughter of Joseph Bryant; their son, Samuel Perry (born 1712), married, September 27, 1734, Eunice Witherell: their son, Henry Perry (born in 1735), married, December 25, 1760, Bethia Baker, of Dux- bury, and lived at Pembroke; he died March 24, 1815;
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their son, Henry Perry (1764-1837), married (first) Content Barker, April 25, 1790, and (second) the Widow Mary Ramsdell; their son, Ethan Perry (born May 11, 1802), married, in July, 1823, Rosilla Ramsdell, a farmer of Hanover; their son, William G. Perry (1825-1906), shoe manufacturer of Abington, now Rockland, married, April 30, 1848, Charlotte B. Torrey, and they became the parents of Alonzo W. Perry, of whom further.
Alonzo W. Perry was born at Hanover, January 1, 1850. When he was two years of age his parents removed to what is now Rockland, then East Abing- ton, and here Mr. Perry finished the grammar schools and graduated from the high school in the class of 1867 with a very creditable record. Thinking a course in the school of experience to be superior to so-called higher-education, he contented himself with further studies in a Boston business college, and dur- ing odd hours worked in the shoe factory conducted by his father. On being invited to become identified with a shoe concern at Indianapolis, Indiana, he accepted and received a splendid ground training for a year, at the end of which time he returned to Rockland and rejoined the force serving his father. He continued in this duty until 1872, when he pur- chased the shoe business of Samuel Reed, Jr., and branched out for himself. He carried on this busi- ness with gratifying success until 1885, when he de- cided to try the real estate business, which was to prove the real entering wedge into a large measure of success. He made a specialty of leasing buildings and subletting them, until he had more than eight hundred tenants in some of the most important loca- tions in Boston. He invested in other sections of the State and by purchasing the interests of E. P. Reed, in 1888, at North Abington, assumed leader- ship of the Rockland neighborhood, where he now is the largest realty taxpayer of the town. In Boston he ranked second. In 1903 he became interested in other lines of business, and bought the holdings of the Plants in their steamship lines, which ply between Boston and the maritime provinces, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton ports. Mr. Perry greatly improved the passenger and freight service of this popular concern; he became president and general manager, and his popularity was attested by the fact that his associates named for him one of the steamers plying between Boston and Nova Scotia. The steamers of the Plant Line have been built at various points, but one of the first was constructed at the great shipbuilding center, Glasgow, Scotland, costing nearly half a million dollars. Mr. Perry em- ploys hundreds of people in connection with his allied interests. One of his sons ably assists him in his enterprises.
Mr. Perry is a gentleman of the old school-af- fable, courteous, optimistic, and exceedingly thought- ful of the needs and desires of others. His home at Rockland is the center of a delightful social at- mosphere, and he dispenses hospitality to his friends with a lavish hand. Although he never has sought nor accepted public office, he takes keen pride in the ad- vancement of Rockland, and attends most of the pub- lic meetings seeking to build it up. He frequently en- gages in debate with his fellow-townsmen and by force of his oratory and logic convinces them that he knows considerable about how to run things, for he has traveled all over the world and made a study of municipal government. The town will ever be in the
debt of Mr. Perry for his support of the Carnegie Memorial Library, for he served as chairman of the committee which built it out of a fund provided by the late Andrew Carnegie. His activity did not stop with the erection of the building, for he insisted on furnishing the library out of his own pocket. When his associates sought to inscribe his name on a tablet in appreciation of his liberality, he de- clined, saying he gave the money for the love of it and did not want any such mark of appreciation. He is very much interested in the meetings of the Grand Army of the Republic, and though not a member, because he was born too late to participate in the Civil War, he often attends the meetings of the veterans and assists them with his wise counsel. He is of a charitable disposition and is ever ready to help people to help themselves. He loves horses, nature and outdoor life. He is a Republican by political faith, and in a quiet way has done much in New England to advance the fortunes of his party's candidates. In civic affairs his activities center in the Boston Chamber of Commerce. He is a mem- ber of the Baptist church of Rockland. His material accumulations have flowed to him through a policy of strict honesty and personal attention to the details of his transactions.
Mr. Perry married, December 1, 1870, Isadora A. French, born May 16, 1850, at East Abington, daugh- ter of Joseph French. Mrs. Perry, like her husband, is a ninth generation descendant of Cornet Robert Stetson. Their union has been blessed with six children: 1. Vernon F., born January 11, 1872, died August 18, 1872. 2. Carleton H., born August 7, 1873, died July 13, 1875. 3. Burton G., born July 21, 1875, died March 10, 1876. 4. Winthrop I., born No- vember 20, 1878, married, July 3, 1906, Frances Whit- ney, New York City, New York. 5. Herbert G., born May 26, 1880, married, June 24, 1902, Nellie M. Gregor, of Eureka, California. 6. Butler F .. born April 16, 1883, married, June 22, 1905, Lora E. Wright, of Abington.
FRANK ALDEN BESSE-Wareham could ill af- ford to part with her valued citizen, Frank Alden Besse, whose demise occurred in that town of his birth on August 11, 1924, after a long and useful career of threescore and six years. Member of an early Cape Cod family, his forebears were sturdy, God-fearing men and women, who braved the dangers of long-past generations, and bred equally capable offspring.
The Besse family has been identified with the State of Massachusetts for almost three centuries. The first American ancestor of record, Anthony, who spelled ' his name "Bessey," embarked in the "James" in 1635, was located for a time at Lynn, and then. in 1637, removed to Sandwich. For many generations the posterity of Anthony Bessey and his good wife have been residents of the communities of the Old Colony, including the present town of Wareham, Plymouth County, which was incorporated in 1739. Along both seafaring and military lines the Besse family has perpetuated its name.
(I) Anthony Bessey, when in his forty-sixth year, came in the ship "James" in 1635. As previously stated, he was for a time at Lynn and was of the first from that locality to settle at Sandwich. It is said that he preached to the Indians. His will, dated
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February 10, 1656, mentions his wife Jane, and chil- dren, Nehemiah, of whom further; David, Anne, Mary, and Elizabeth. His widow married (second) George Barlow, and in her will, bearing date of August 6, 1693, she mentions daughters, Ann Hallett, Elizabeth Bodfish, and Rebecca Hunter, and sons, Nehemiah Besse and John Barlow.
(II) Nehemiah Besse (note change in spelling) married Mary; their children were: 1. Mary, born in November, 1680, who married, December 3, 1700, Ben- jamin Curtis, of Plymouth. 2. Nehemiah, born July 3, 1682. 3. Hannah, born in 1684-85, married, October 5, 1708, Thomas Jones. 4. Robert, born April 30, 1690, married, May 9, 1712, Ruth Pray, of Bridge- water. 5. Joshua, born February 14, 1692. 6. David, of whom further. 7. Benjamin, born September 20, 1696. 8. Ebenezer, born April 30, 1699.
(III) David Besse, born December 23, 1693, mar- ried, July 18, 1717, Mary Pray, of Bridgewater. It is assumed that this David Besse was the David of Plymouth who was the father of: 1. Samuel, born in 1726. 2. Thankful, born in 1727. 3. Nehemiah, born in 1729.
(IV) Samuel Besse, father of a David Besse, of Wareham, is assumed to have been the son of David and Mary (Pray) Besse.
(V) David Besse, son of Samuel, married. Chil- den: Jabez, Elizabeth, David, Rebecca, and Samuel. The father is probably the David Besse of Wareham who was a member of Captain John Gibb's company, Colonel Ebenezer Sprout's regiment (Fourth Plym- outh County), who enlisted September 6, 1778, and was discharged on September 10 of the same year, the company marching to Dartmouth; and David Besse, Jr., of Wareham, who was a member of the same company and regiment which marched, Decem- ber 10, 1776, on an alarm to Rhode Island, was no doubt the son.
(VI) David Besse, Jr., married May 12, 1762, Jedidah Burgess, who was baptized August 28, 1747. daughter of Jedidiah and Jedidah (Gibbs) Burgess, of Wareham. Children: 1. Laurana, born September 27, 1763. 2. Elizabeth, born October 3, 1765, married, in 1798, Lot Sturtevant. 3. Seth, born December 22, 1767. 4. David, born December 11, 1769, married. in 1799, Betsy Conant. 5. Alden, born October 11, 1772. 6. Sylvanus, born October 13, 1773, married, in 1799, Thankful Bates. 7. Rebecca, born March 24, 1779. 8. Jedidah, born February 20, 1781. 9. Charity, born April 4, 1783. 10. Samuel, born August 31, 1785. 11. Polly, born May 29, 1788. 12. Abigail, born January 9, 1790.
(VII) Samuel Besse, of Wareham, son of David, married, December 13, 1812, Elizabeth (or Betsy) Young, who was born in 1786. Children: 1. Charles Henry, born April 23, 1814, died January 11, 1892. 2-3. Samuel Burgess and Isaac Young, twins, born March 2, 1815; died, respectively, June 22, 1860, and March 27, 1849. 4. Zerviah Young, born February 22, 1819, died March 28, 1851. 5. Alden, of whom further. 6. Rodolphus, born April 21, 1823, died March 5, 1878. Samuel Besse was a seafaring man in his youth. During the War of 1812, he was taken prisoner by the British, by them impressed into serv- ice, and made to pilot a British ship, but was in time given his release. He died August 16, 1863, in his seventy-eighth year.
(VIII) Captain Alden Besse, son of Samuel Besse, was born April 9, 1821, in Wareham, became em- ployed on a sailing vessel when in his twelfth year, and continued on the same vessel for six years. He sailed on various vessels and cruises, upon each oc- casion acquired increased responsibility and rank, and eventually became a ship's master. He was subse- quently master of several vessels, and sailed to many countries of the world. Between cruises, however, he spent much time on shore at his home in Ware- ham, and was as gifted a business man as he was a master of ocean-going whaling vessels. He became owner of several vessels, was for more than fifteen years a director of the National Bank of Wareham, and for a period vice-president, trustee, and member of the investment committee of the Wareham Savings Bank. A Republican adherent, he served from 1868 to 1880 as town selectman, and for a like period as assessor and overseer of the poor. He was town treasurer and collector, filling an unexpired terin, and represented the Wareham district in the Mas- sachusetts General Court in 1871 and 1872.
On December 26, 1852, Captain Alden Besse mar- ried Mrs. Betsy S. (Jenney) Besse, and to this union were born the following children: Frank Alden, and Isaac H. Captain Besse died June 27, 1903, and both he and his wife, who also died in Wareham, repose in Wareham Cemetery.
(IX) Frank Alden Besse, son of Captain Alden Besse, was born in Wareham, on September 30, 1858, and was a student in the local schools. His educa- tion completed, he journeyed to Europe in one of his father's vessels. Upon his return, he undertook cler- ical work in a store, and thus continued for four years. He then began a voyage around the world, likewise in a vessel belonging to his father, and vis- ited China, Japan, and many European countries. He remained in Paris for some time and engaged in a course of study. Returning home, he became, in 1882, a clerk in the National Bank of Wareham, and thus continued until 1904, when he was appointed treasurer of the Wareham Savings Bank, of which institution he was president at the time of his death. He was a director of the National Bank of Wareham, and first president of the Lotus Club of Wareham. He was a Republican, and served as a member of the board of water commissioners.
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