History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 8

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 8
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 8
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 8

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Hon. Matthew H. Cushing was born in South Middleboro, Massachusetts, February 4, 1832, and died May 7, 1915, son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Shurtleff) Cushing. He was a descendant of an old Colonial family, tracing descent from Matthew Cush- ing, who came to this country from England and landed at Boston, August 10, 1638. Later he settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, where he reared a fam- ily from which has descended a very large number of worthy citizens who have distinguished themselves in almost every field of human endeavor. Through all of the eight generations which have succeeded the pioneer, the name Matthew has been preserved, and those who have borne the name in each succeeding generation have upheld the high standards set by their forebears. Of Hon. Matthew H. Cushing's brothers none survive. Mr. Cushing received his early education in the local schools and then con- tinued his studies in Peirce Academy. Upon the completion of his academic course, at the age of eighteen years, he engaged in teaching, and for fif- teen years gave instruction in different sections of the town of Middleboro, terminating his pedagogical career in the old grammar school on School Street. In 1865, at the close of the Civil War, he removed to the village and purchased the hack business of George W. Rich. This he conducted but a short time, and in 1867 he purchased the grocery business of the late Nahum D. Wilbur, which was located in the old building on the corner of Main and Centre streets. He was as successful in the business world as he had been in the teaching profession, and the financial rewards were much greater. Trade steadily increased and "Cushing's Corner" became one of the busiest places in the community. For thirty-three years Mr. Cushing continued to house his greatly expanded business in the old building on the corner of Main and Centre streets, but at the end of that time, in 1900. having absorbed the Cobb, Bates & Yerxa Company business, the consolidated concern located in the American Building. Mr. Cushing re- mained actively identified with the business until he was seventy-two years of age, at which time, in 1904, he retired, leaving the business in charge of his son, Matthew. A man of large ability, possessed of sound judgment and that foresight which provides for the future, Mr. Cushing early in his successful business career began investing in real estate. His ability to foresee increasing values in apparently stationary land values enabled him to invest wisely and he became the owner of valuable real property in Boston, as well as of extensive tracts of woodland in the vicinity of Middleboro. Politically, he gave support to the principles and the candidates of the Republican party, and with all his extensive business interests he found time to participate actively in both local and State affairs. He served as a member of the School Board for several years, as chairman

during part of the time, and always retained his in- terest in educational affairs. While he was chairman of the Board of Education, a superintendent of schools was first employed and a graded system intro- duced into the Middleboro schools. He served as chairman of the building committee when the high school building was erected, and he arranged the first printed by-laws for the management of the schools. So efficient was his service in local affairs that his

associates, in 1879, elected him to represent his district in the State Legislature, and when his term expired he was reelected and served from 1881 to 1884. He was also a member of the Governor's Council, in which capacity he served for two years under Governor Long, and for one year under Gov- ernor Butler: In matters of finance, too, Mr. Cush- ing was an important factor in the development of those institutions which are today serving so well the people of Middleboro and vicinity. He was one of the original incorporators of the Middleborough Savings Bank and one of its trustees. He was also one of the promoters of the National Bank (now the Trust Company), and a member of its board of di- rectors. In addition to all these financial interests he was a director of the Hingham Mutual Fire In- surance Company for many years. He served Mid- dleboro as justice of the peace also for several years. His religious affiliation was with the Central Baptist Church, of which he was an active member for about sixty years. He was one of the best-known laymen of the Baptist denomination in this section of the State, and was as earnest and conscientious in the discharge of his duty as a Christian citizen as he was in his attention to his personal business activities. He was the type of able, Christian business man, who in civic, social, and political life as well as in the conduct of his business holds his standards as high and shapes his conduct as consistently in accordance with the highest ideals of Christianity through each day of the week and through each week of the year, as he does on the Sabbath Day.

Hon. Matthew H. Cushing was married, October 28, 1855, to Polly McFarlin of South Carver, and in 1905, after fifty years of sharing the joys and the difficulties of life, they celebrated the golden annivers- ary of their wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Cushing be- came the parents of three children: 1. Matthew. 2. Myra, who married George W. Stetson (q. v.). 3. Eldoretta, who is the wife of L. A. Baker, M. D.

WILLIAM F. RATHBUN-A review of the ca- reer cf William F. Rathbun, president of the Norfolk Japanneries, Incorporated, of Canton Junction, Mas- sachusetts, must necessarily embrace a history, in epitome, of the patent leather industry, with which the Rathbun family has been identified for upwards of forty years. Mr. Rathbun's father, Charles B. Rathbun, was a pioneer in this field and the inventor of one of the most important of the revolutionizing processes in the manufacture of patent leather. The business had its beginning in Newark, New Jersey, and from a small incention, and passing through dif- ferent locations, it has expanded to a surprisingly large volume, the while the name of Rathbun, the founder, attained high standing in the patent leather industry throughout the country. Today, the great concern known as the Norfolk Japanneries, Incor- porated, is, in a great measure, the result of the genius and spirit of progress of the Rathbuns, father and sons; and their modern and comprehensive plant

PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE

at Canton Junction is the largest in the United States devoted exclusively to this line of business. The present concern is a consolidation of the Rathbun in- terests with the company under its new name, and the combination has the distinction of being the most Lowerful of the independent japanning concerns of ine country.

Charles B. Rathbun began his connection with the patent leather industry as superintendent and general manager, in 1884, with the R. Ward Leather Company, of Newark, New Jersey, the oldest manufacturer of this line of goods in the United States, its operations dating back to 1836, or four years after the invention of patent leather by Seth Boyden, of Newark. Mr. Rathbun removed later to Bellville, New Jersey, where he established himself in his own business, and tanned his own leather in conjunction with his japan plant, in partnership with M. E. Clarendon, then the mayor of Hackensack, New Jersey. When at Bellville, he japanned the first "Chrome" patent leather ever made. This leather was the product of Robert Folderer, the inventor of the "Chrome" proc- ess of tanning leather, which is now universally used. Previous to this time, practically all the patent leather manufactured for shoe purposes was finished on the flesh side of the skin, or hide, and carried a series of six to eight coats of boiled linseed oil. The "Chrome" process of tanning opened, however, a new field, and Mr. Rathbun, seeing its possibilities, on account of not having to fill up the flesh side, started work on the grain side of the skin. Having disposed of his business to the Walker-Oakley Com- pany of Chicago, Illinois, he conducted their patent leather plant for three years, he having had direction of its building in that city.

When living in Chicago, Mr. Rathbun invented a new process of Chrome tanning, which he sold to one of the present large producers of Chrome tannages. He also began experiments with a gun-cotton fill in place of linseed oil, and on returning East, he worked for some time with a large manufacturer of pyroxy- line solution made from guncotton, perfecting the method so as to make the film suitable for the man- ufacture of patent leather. Guncotton is now used almost universally and in various ways by the high- est grade manufacturers of patent leather both in this country and abroad.

Returning to Newark, Mr. Rathbun again assumed charge of the R. Ward Leather Company, then oper- ating under the leadership of Senator James Smith of New Jersey, and put into effect the experiments carried on for some years on the guncotton method of finishing patent leather. In 1905, he went to Europe and sold and introduced the grain method of making patent leather to Carl Freudenberg & Company, of Weinham, Germanv. Again entering the manufacture of patent leather on his own account, this time at Nutley, New Jersey; and later consolidating his efforts in the interest of one of his customers at Little Falls, New York, he, and afterward in asso- ciation with his son, William F. Rathbun, manufac- tured all the patent leather for the Barnet Leather Company, of that city, for a period of about nine years. The business was incorporated as C. B. Rath- bun, Incorporated, and the plant and offices were moved to Canton Junction, Massachusetts, where he conducted the business until the time of his death in 1922, his son, W. F. Rathbun, being the superintend- ent and general manager. The concern later was styled the C. B. Rathbun Company, Incorporated,

which was consolidated with the new Norfolk Japan- neries, Incorporated. William F. Rathbun, the presi- dent and general manager, and Leslie G. Rathbun, superintendent of the Norfolk Japanneries, Incorpor- ated, have gone through all the departments of leather tanning and patent leather manufacture since it was a well-settled principle of their father, Charles B. Rathbun, that nc man was competent to conduct a business of whose every step he did not possess a thorough knowledge.

The Norfolk Japanneries plant has a capacity of more than five thousand sides of leather per day. It finishes every known kind of leather into patent leather. The concern employs on an average about two hundred and fifty persons, and its average pay- roll in 1926 was more than thirty-four dollars and seventy-seven cents per person. The plant is situ- ated on a plot of twenty and one-quarter acres, and has a floor area of something more than one hun- dred and five thousand square feet. It is construc- ted in accordance with a method that reduces the operating cost to a minimum. Each unit being a factory in itself, it is supplied with power from a central power station. The lay of the land is so used that all pumping of materials is dispensed with, everything moving by gravity flow. Among other lines, the Thayer-Foss Company's famous line of "Paramount" patent leather is japanned at this plant. Charles B. Rathbun married Margaret McGrath; she died in 1921, or one year prior to her husband's decease.

William F. Rathbun, son of Charles B. and Marga- ret (McGrath) Rathbun, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, July 31, 1875. He attended the public schools of Bridgeport, and completed his education at the Newark (New Jersey) School of Technology. He then entered the employ of his father, and made a thorough study of the tannery and patent leather business, in which · industry he has risen to his present important position. The plant of which he is the head is one of the most important industrial assets of the New England States.

Mr. Rathbun is highly placed in the Masonic fraternity, being a member of the thirty-second de- gree Scottish Rite. He is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His re- ligious association is with the Universalist church.

Mr. Rathbun married, June 25, 1905, Inez Brown, and they are the parents of three children: Harriet, Margaret, and Barbara.

HARRISON FRANCIS SHURTLEFF-One of the best-known lumber manufacturers in this section of the County of Plymouth is Harrison Francis Shurtleff, whose entire business career to the present time (1928) has been devoted to lumber interests. Formerly associated with his father, he has, since 1912, continued the business for himself and has greatly enlarged the scope of his enterprise. He has an office and yards on France Street, in Middleboro, another mill on Pine Street, in Middleboro, and mills in Carver and in North Plymouth, which he operates at different seasons. Mr. Shurtleff is tax assessor for Middleboro, and is well known in Masonic circles.

The Shurtleff family of which Mr. Shurtleff is a member originated in Yorkshire, England, and the branch to which he belongs traces to one William Shurtleff, who came from Ecclesfield, England, a

-------

NORFOLK JAPANNERIES, INC. CANTON JUNCTION, MASS.

PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE

place located about twenty miles from the Scrooby of Yorkshire, where the Pilgrims assembled before going to Leyden, Holland. William Shurtleff came to Plymouth at an early date and was among those who were able to bear arms in 1643. He appears in the Plymouth records as surveyor and as constable. He married, in October, 1655, Elizabeth Lettice, who was born in England, daughter of Thomas and Ann Lettice. He was killed by lightning at Marshfield, June 23, 1666, survived by his wife, whose death oc- curred in Swansea, Massachusetts, October 31, 1693. They had children: William, Thomas, and Abiel. Of these Abiel, born in Plymouth, married there, Janu- ary 14, 1696, Lydia, daughter of Jonathan Barnes, of Plymouth, and they had children: 1. James, born No- vember, 1696. 2. Elizabeth, born December, 1698. 3. Lydia, born February, 1701. 4. David, born June, 1703. 5. Hannah, born July, 1705. 6. John, born No- vember, 1707. 7. Benjamin, of whom further. 8. Wil- liam, born September, 1713. 9. Joseph, born Janu- ary, 1716. 10. Abiel, born October, 1717.

Benjamin Shurtleff, son of Abiel and Lydia (Barnes) Shurtleff, was born April 11, 1711, married (first) Hannah Dinan; (second), in 1745, Susanna, daughter of Josiah Cushman. His children were: 1. Hannah, who married an Ellis. 2. Benjamin (2), of whom further. 3. Susanna, born 1751. 4. Ruth, born 1753.

Benjamin (2) Shurtleff, son of Benjamin and Su- sanna (Cushman) Shurtleff, was born October 14, 1748, and died in Carver, Massachusetts, July 8, 1821. He married, June 7, 1773, Abigail Atwood, of Carver, who was born October 7, 1755, and died November 29, 1826. Their children were: 1. Benjamin, born November, 1774. 2. Nathaniel, of whom further. 3. Stephen, December, 1777. 4. Barzilla, December, 1780. 5. Abigail, April, 1782. 6. Flavel, August, 1784. 7. Ruth, August, 1787. 8. Lot, March, 1789. 9. Charles, October, 1790. 10. Samuel Atwood, July, 1792. 11. Hannah, September, 1794. 12. Milton, July, 1796.

Nathaniel Shurtleff, son of Benjamin (2) and Abi- gail (Atwood) Shurtleff, was born April 18, 1776, and died in Middleboro, November 4, 1858. He mar- ried Elizabeth Bumpus, who was born December, 1778, and died February 1, 1838. Their children were: 1. Elizabeth, born May, 1804, died in infancy. 2. Sarah, born June 13, 1805, died unmarried, February 20, 1831. 3. Salem, born july 14, 1807, died 1887. 4. Elizabeth, born December, 1808, died March 5, 1855; married Matthew Cushing, of Middleboro, and had children: Matthew H., Nathaniel S., and Gam- aliel. 5. Nathaniel, of whom further. 6. A son, born December, 1813. 7. Joann, born March, 1818, mar- ried Israel Smith, of Middleboro, and had children: Joanna, and Augusta. 8. Jerome, born October, 1821, died May, 1824. 9. Harrison, born February 2, 1825, married Adeline Ward, of Carver.

Nathaniel (2) Shurtleff, son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Bumpus) Shurtleff, was born September 15, 1811, and died November 13, 1903. He received his education in the local public schools, and then was associated with his father on the farm for some time. Later, however, he engaged in the sawmill business, making shingles and box boards, and later cutting long lumber. He was a public-spirited citizen who took an active interest in local public affairs, and who filled several local offices, including that of selectman. He gave his support to the Republican party, and his religious affiliation was with the Metho- dist church. He married, January 24, 1841, Susanna

Thomas, who was born June 17, 1811, and died Au- gust 4, 1868, daughter of Silas and Polly (Shurtleff) Thomas. Their children were: 1. Elizabeth Bumpus, born December, 1841, married Elbridge Cushman, of Middleboro. 2. Nathaniel Francis, of whom further.

Nathaniel Francis Shurtleff, son of Nathanial (2) and Susanna (Thomas) Shurtleff, was born in Mid- dleboro, Massachusetts, August 15, 1844. He re- ceived his early education in the local public schools and then continued his studies in Peirce Academy, later completing his formal education in the Perez Cushing boarding school. When his course in the boarding school was ended, he associated himself with his father in his farming, lumbering, and milling op- erations. The Shurtleff sawmill was first run by water power, but both father and son were progress- ive men, and when the steam engine became an accepted and proven fact in mechanical history, a steam engine replaced the old water power arrange- ment. Nathaniel Francis continued to manage the sawmill to the time of his father's death, after which he took entire charge of the business, and, with his two sons, operated these extensive interests through- out the remainder of his active career. The business grew steadily and more mills were erected as the need presented itself. New acreage was also ac- quired from time to time, until the tracts owned by father and sons included several hundred acres of timberland, about forty acres under cultivation, and extensive tracts devoted to the cultivation of cran- berries by his sons. Nathaniel Francis Shurtleff was married, December 23, 1866, to Cynthia Emma Smith, who was born December 4, 1844, and died in Middle- boro, Massachusetts, May 10, 1910, daughter of Perez and Joanna (Swift) Smith, of Rochester, Massachu- setts. They became the parents of three children: 1. Nathaniel Allerton, born October, 1867. 2. Sus- anna Thomas, born December, 1868, died November, 1881. 3. Harrison Francis, of whom further.

Harrison Francis Shurtleff, son of Nathaniel and Cynthia Emma (Smith) Shurtleff, was born in Mid- dleboro, Massachusetts, April 4, 1881. He attended the local public schools and he then continued his studies in Eaton Academy. When his education was completed he engaged in the lumber business in as- sociation with his father, Nathaniel Francis Shurt- leff, and continued that connection until 1905, when still in association with nis father, he engaged in business for himself under the firm name of N. A. and H. F. Shurtleff Lumber Company. Under that firm style he devoted his ability and his energy to the development of the business for a period of seven years, but in 1912 he purchased the interests of N. A. Shurtleff, and since that time has continued the business alone. The main office and yards are lo- cated on France Street, in Middleboro, but the busi- ness has grown to proportions which require several other mills. One mill is located on Pine Street, in Middleboro, another on Rochester Road, at Carver, Massachusetts, and still another at North Plymouth. These mills are operated at different seasons of the year, and require the services of from five to forty men in each. Mr. Shurtleff has made of this lumber and milling business one of the foremost of its kind in this section of the State, and he is a recognized ex- pert in his field. With all his extensive business in- terests, however, Mr. Shurtleff finds time for civic service. He gives his support to the Republican party, and in 1925, was appointed tax assessor for the town of Middleboro. Fraternally, he is affiliated

PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE

with Mayflower Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Middleboro; with Old Colony Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and with Hannah Shaw Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star. He is a member of the Middle- boro Commercial Club, and his religious interest is with the Baptist church, of which he is an attendant.

Harrison Francis Shurtleff was married, April 23, 1902, to Alice Etta Gerald, who was born in Benton, Maine, daughter of Alvin F. and Coralena L. (Mar- cou) Gerald. Mr. and Mrs. Shurtleff became the parents of the following children: 1. Nathaniel Fran- cis, born September 19, 1903; married Ruby Hay- den. 2. Susanna Cynthia, born January, 1909, died March, 1909. 3. Harrison Allerton, born September 16, 1910. 4. Alice Emma, born February 12, 1917.

BENJAMIN COBB SHAW-One of the best- known men of the Middleboro section of Plymouth County is Benjamin Cobb Shaw, a public-spirited citizen of Middleboro, active in political affairs and prominent in Masonic circles.

The Shaw family of which Mr. Shaw is a descend- ant is one of New England's oldest families, de- scended from the Shaws of Scotland, who were a branch of the Clan MacIntosh. The progenitor of the family was Shiach, surnamed de Shawe, who lived in 1163, and was one of the sons of MacDuff, third Earl of Fife. The surname Shaw or Shawe, means "of the thicket, or grove," and was first used to designate one who lived at or near a thicket or grove. The barony of Granock came by marriage to the family of Shaw of Sanchie, and continued in the family to the time of the reign of Alexander III. John de Shaw was one' of the witnesses to the dona- tion which John, son of Reginald, made of lands to the monks of Paisley in 1284. George Shaw was lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of horsemen com- manded by the Earl of Dunfermline at the battle of Worcester. At little southward of the Castle of Erksine stands the house of Bargaran, the seat of John Shaw, whose ancestors for three hundred years have possessed these lands.

John Shaw, the immigrant ancestor of the American family of Shaw, was in New England as early as 1627, in which year he was a planter at Plymouth, and shared in the division of cattle. He was admitted a freeman of the colony in 1632-33, was granted ad- ditional land in 1636, was a juryman in 1648, and a purchaser of land in Dartmouth in 1665. Meantime. in 1662, he had become one of the first settlers of Middleboro. His wife, Alice, was buried at Plym- outh, in March, 1654-55, and his death occurred in October, 1694. His children were: L. John, who sold land to his brother-in-law, Stephen Bryant, in 1651 (either he or his family served seventeen days against the Narragansetts in 1645). 2. James. 3. Jonathan, of whom further. 4. Abigail, who married Stephen Bryant.

Jonathan Shaw, son of John and Alice Shaw, was born in England, and came with his parents to New England. He was married (first), in January, 1657, to Phebe Watson, daughter of George Watson: (sec- ond) to Persis, widow of Benajah Pratt, and daugh- ter of Deacon John Dunham. His children were: 1. Hannah, married, August 5, 1678, to Thomas Paine, Jr., of Eastham. 2. Jonathan (2), of whom further. 3. Phebe, married John Morton. 4. Mary, married, 1687, Eleazar Ring. 4. George, of Eastham, married. 1690, Constance Doane. 5. Lydia, married, 1689, Nicholas Snow. 6-7. Benjamin and Benoni

(twins), born in 1672, of whom Benoni married Lydia, daughter of John Waterman.

Jonathan (2) Shaw was born in 1663. He married (first), in 1687, Mehetabel Pratt, who died in 1712. He married (second), in 1715, Mary Darling, wlio died in March, 1754, aged eighty years. Children: 1. Jonathan (3), of whom further. 2. Phebe, born 1690; married Thomas Shurtleff. 3. Persis, born 1692; mar- ried Joseph Lucas. 4. Mehetabel, born 1694; married Zachariah Weston. 5. James, born 1696. 6. Hannah, born 1699; married James Harlow. 7. Elizabeth, born 1701; married a Lucas. 8. Priscilla, born 1702; married a Bosworth. 9. Abagail, born 1705; married a Lucas. 10. Samuel. 11. Rebecca, born 1718.

Jonathan (3) Shaw was born in Middleboro in 1689. He married (first) Elizabeth Atwood; (second) Sarah Rich. His children: 1. Nathaniel, born 1714. 2. Mary, born 1716. 3. Nathanial, born 1718. 4. Elizabeth, born 1719. 5. Sarah, born 1724. 6. Jonathan, born 1728. 7. Thomas, of whom further.

Thomas Shaw, son of Jonathan (3) and Sarah (Rich) Shaw, was born in 1738. He served as a private in Captain William Shaw's company of "min- ute-men" which marched on the Lexington alarm, April, 1775, to Marshfield; surgeant in Captain Joshua Benson's company, Colonel Theophilus Eaton's regi- ment, serving from May to August, 1775; also was in the Continental Army, a member of Captain Perez Churchill's company, Colonel Sprout's regiment. In May, 1777, at the age of thirty-nine years, he en- listed for three years in the Continental Army, and joined Captain Eddy's company, Colonel Bradford's regiment, May 24 of that year. Colonel Bradford reported Thomas Shaw's death, in July, 1778. Thomas Shaw married Mary Atwood, whose death occurred in January, 1808, at the age of seventy-one years. Their children were: 1. Samuel, of whom further. 2. Jonathan, who married Sally Bartlett. 3. Persis, born September, 1763, died 1790. 4. Azubah, married, March, 1789, Obadiah Simpson. 5. Sarah, married, in April, 1789, Elisha Lucas. 6. Rebecca. 7. Elisha. 8. Mary, who married, in 1803, Eben Shurtleff.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 8

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