History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 9

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 9
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 9
USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III > Part 9

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Samuel Shaw, son of Thomas and Mary (Atwood) Shaw, was born in Middleboro. His mother having been left a widow while the children were all small, Samuel, the eldest, helped conduct the farm and after his marriage, at the age of twenty, settled on the farm and remained there throughout his life. He was a Whig in his political beliefs and a member of the Congregational church. He died in 1866, survived by his wife, whose death occurred in 1870. He mar- ried, in 1791, Lydia Cobb who was born in 1766, daughter of Ebenezer and Lydia (Churchill) Cobb. Their children were: 1. Thomas, born May, 1792. 2. Lydia, born in November, 1793. 3. Persis, born in December, 1795. 4. Betsy. 5. Melinda, born in October, 1797. 6. Samuel, May, 1800. 7. Ebenezer, of whom further. 8. Hannah, December, 1803. 9. Anna, Oc- tober, 1805. 10. Mary, October, 1807. 11. Christiana, March, 1810. 12. Elisha, September, 1814.

Ebenezer Cobb Shaw, son of Samuel and Lydia (Cobb) Shaw, was born in Middleboro, December 18, 1801, and died October 26, 1886. He married Relief Shaw, who was born April 3, 1800, and died November 9, 1886, daughter of Benjamin Shaw, of Carver, Massachusetts. Their children were: 1. Al- bert, born February, 1822, died August, 1831. 2. Sarah Crocker, born July, 1828, who married Au- gustine Thomas, of Middleboro, and had children: Flora Gertrude, Albert, and Harry W. 3. Ebenezer

PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE

A., born April 22, 1833, died February, 1839. 4. Eben- ezer Albert, of whom further.

Ebenezer Albert Shaw, son of Ebenezer and Relief (Shaw) Shaw, was born May 1, 1840, and died No- vember, 1894. He received his education in the public schools of Middleboro and in Peirce Academy, the last-mentioned of which he attended for a few terms. When his academic course was completed he engaged in farming and lumbering. He ran a sawmill, and his death was caused by his accidentally falling down the shaft of a new sawmill. He was an able and success- ful business man and was prominent in local public affairs, holding numerous local offices and exerting considerable influence in the conduct of the affairs of the community. During the Civil War he enlisted in Company K, Third Regiment, Massachusetts Vol- unteer Infantry, for a term of three months. Po- litically, he gave support to the newly-formed Repub- lican party, which superseded the old Whig party. He was a member of Mayflower Lodge, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Middleboro, and of E. W. Peirce Post, No. 8, Grand Army of the Republic. His re- ligious affiliation and that of his wife was with the First Congregational Church of Middleboro. He mar- ried (first) Sarah Murdock Shaw, daughter of Har- rison and Adeline Shaw, of Carver, Massachusetts. She died in June, 1878, at the age of thirty-eight years and ten months, and he married (second) Mrs. Bessie Dunham, daughter of Benjamin W. and Mary T. (Shaw) Shaw, of Carver, Massachusetts. To the first marriage the following children were born: 1. Relief W., born October, 1861, died February, 1863. 2. Benjamin Cobb, of whom further. 3. Dana Har- rison, born 1867, married Nellie Peckham, daughter of Henry Miller and Celesta A. (Beauce) Peckham, of Carver, and has children: Frank Harrison, born 1888; Celesta Olive, born 1890; Eben Albert, born 1897; Benjamin C., born 1899; Henry Miller, born 1905; William, died in infancy. To the second mar- riage two children were born. 4. William Thomas, born 1880. 5. Mary, born 1887.

Benjamin Cobb Shaw, son of Ebenezer Albert and Sarah Murdock (Shaw) Shaw, was born in Middle- boro, Massachusetts, November 11, 1862, and received his early education in the local public schools. Later he attended Eaton Academy for one term, and then engaged in the lumber business with his father, tak- ing charge of a large sawmill in East Middleboro, which he and his father erected in 1885. This mill he continued to operate until 1912, when he sold out and entered the cranberry business. He was inter- ested in growing and handling cranberries in large quantities and he has continued in that line of activ- ity, constantly enlarging his interests until in 1928 he was one of the largest cranberry growers in this part of the State, and is a recognized expert in this field of agricultural production and sale. Mr. Shaw is also largely interested in the timber business. Po- litically, Mr. Shaw gives his support to the Republican party, as did his father before him, and like his father he takes an active interest in local public affairs. Since 1914 he has served as tax assessor of the town of Middleboro, and since 1920 chairman of the board. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Mayflower Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Middleboro; Old Col- ony Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Hannah Shaw Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star. He takes an active interest in the affairs of the Patrons of Hus- bandry, and is a member and Past Master of the lo- cal Grange. He is also a member of the Sons of

Veterans, and his wife and daughters are members of the First Congregational Church. He attends the Central Congregational Church.

Benjamin Cobb Shaw was married (first), in Au- gust, 1883, to Betsy Jane Shurtleff, who was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, daughter of Benjamin and Priscilla (Brown) Shurtleff. She died in 1916, and he married (second) Lizzie N. (Moulton) Morse, who was born at Farmwell Station, Fairfax County, Virginia, daughter of David J. and Eva (Stevens) Moulton. Children of the first marriage: 1. Sarah Murdock, born 1884, graduate of State Normal School, of Bridgewater, taught in Newton Centre for a time; married John G. Howes, of Middleboro. 2. Dorothy, born in August, 1888; graduate of State Normal School of Bridgewater, taught at South Car- ver, Massachusetts, for a time; married Harry W. Howes. Mrs. Shaw is a member and officer of Mid- dleboro Grange, and officer of the Order of the East- ern Star, and member of the Cabot Club.

RICHARD HENRY HEFLER-Accounted one foremost among the prominent citizens of Dennis is Richard Henry Hefler, whose career to the pres- ent time has been varied, and attended with con- siderable success. Known for his public spirit and love for Cape Cod, as a member of the State Legis- lature he assisted in a number of ways legislation designed for the welfare of his constituency. Though the chronicle of his life given herewith must of necessity be curtailed in length, it proves of interest.

Richard Henry Hefler was born in Dennis, Janu- ary 16, 1857, son of Richard Henry Hefler, Sr., a sea- faring man, who lost his life by drowning, July 19, 1856, when his vessel went aground off the rocky coast of Kennebunkport, Maine. This death, oc- curring when the father was only twenty-eight years of age, was made the more tragic in that he never saw the son named after him, born six months later. Richard Henry Hefler, Sr., had a brief career, given to the sea from the time he ran away from home at the age of nine, until the time of the wreck, nineteen years later. He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and at the age of nine, as noted, took ship with Captain Orrin Howes, in the packet "North," and with him engaged in coastwise trade, between Bos- ton and Dennis. The good captain virtually took the lad into his own family. He went on a number of extended foreign voyages with the captain, and it was on the return from a long cruise that he went to fish off the Maine Coast, to lose his life in a great storm as recounted. Richard Henry Hefler, Sr., married Olive Howes, daughter of Solomon Howes. She gave to her son an admirable home training, and he recalls her today for her tenderness and for the courage with which she met life's misfortunes.

Richard Henry Hefler attended the schools of Dennis until he was thirteen years of age. Then for the next few years he worked as helper on fishing boats clearing New England ports, and became an able seaman in youth. When he was nineteen, Mr. Hefler gave up the sea, firmly resolved to make his career on land. It followed that for thirty-seven years, continuously, he was in the service of the United States Government, carrying the mails be- tween Dennis and Yarmouth, together with express matter, having been the first man to carry a double daily mail between the two centers. What led him into mail carrying were the facilities at his hand for use in it, as he had thereto conducted a teaming

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business. In 1915 Mr. Hefler resigned from Govern- ment service. Meanwhile, in 1910, he had formed a partnership with Mr. Taylor, of Hyannis, to deal in real estate, and after 1915, he devoted still more attention to the firm which carried the style of Hefler & Taylor. Mr. Taylor died in 1925. Since then Mr. Hefler has carried on the business alone, with pros- perity, buying and selling also various types of an- tiques. These have always been his hobby, and he takes pleasure as well as profit from their handling. A Republican, ever loyal to the party, Mr. Hefler has served as member of the Republican Town Com- mittee since 1913, and in 1921 was elected to the State Legislature for a two-year term. He served on the Committee of Harbors and Public Lands, and fought for the bill calling for the building of a terminal for Cape Cod Canal. His record was made memorable also for the Hefler Bill, or Hefler Bonus Bill, which provided compensation for our soldiers in the World War who were not away from home more than eighteen months. Largely through his efforts, the sum of $35,000 was secured from the State for the improvement of Nobscussett Harbor, in Dennis. Mr. Hefler is a director of the Cape Cod Securities Company, of Yarmouth, having a num- ber of commercial connections aside from his busi- ness in real estate and antiques. He is a member of the, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, and of the Central Club, Yarmouth.

On January 16, 1889, Mr. Hefler married (first), at New Boston, suburb of Dennis, Martha Prince Howes, only daughter of Captain Thomas Prince Howes, of Dennis, now deceased. Mr. Hefler mar- ried (second) Mrs. Caroline V. E. Goodwin, who was born in New York State, near Utica. To the first union one child was born, Richard Evans, March 25, 1892, of whom follows.

Richard Evans Heffer attended Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology, and graduated with the degree of Civil Engineer in 1913, at the age of twenty-one. When the United States entered the World War, he enlisted in the regular army, served overseas with the American Expeditionary Forces, and became a captain. He fought at the Marne, Picardy, Ver- dun, and was wounded in the battle of the Marne. He is now (1928) general superintendent of the State Highway Department, New Jersey, and re- sides at Plainfield, New Jersey. Richard Evans Hefler married (first) Carrie Nickerson, daughter of Thomas Nickerson of Hyannis, deceased; and (second) Marion Cain, of Belle Meade, New Jer- sey. They have one daughter, Marion Phyllis.

HON. WALTER OTIS LUSCOMBE-Active in practically every phase of the civic life of his com- munity, the Hon. Walter Otis Luscombe stands out as one of the real builders of the town of Falmouth and has played a dominant rôle in the development of the Cape as a whole. For many years prior to his election to the presidency of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Luscombe served the Commerce Chamber in the capacity of director. Named to the highest office in this important body, he has been able to expand greatly his own powers of service, and the effectiveness of the organization under his control has been magnified to a broader field. Since 1877 Mr. Luscombe has resided in Woods Hole. At dif- ferent times he has been engaged in the grain, coal, real estate and insurance businesses.

Mr. Luscombe was born in Taunton, Massachu-

setts, August 19, 1851, and received his education in the public schools of his native town. When he was twenty-six years of age he came to Woods Hole in very poor health. Soon after this, he was appointed Deputy Collector of Customs, at a time when Woods Hole was a principal port of entry along the shore. For eleven years he held this position, and although the years since he has been engaged in various lines of endeavor, he has now disposed of most of them and continues only the real estate and in- surance business. His interest in the real estate market of Woods Hole occupies a great portion of his time, and he is a large owner of property in and around the village. He also has a number of out- side interests.

For a considerable period Mr. Luscombe has been actively interested in the politics of town, State and nation.

In 1899 he was elected State Senator and served three years, during which time he was a leading figure at the State House in Boston, serving on many important committees. He was chairman of the Committee on Towns and Railroads, and was a member of the Committees on Constitutional Amend- ments, Ways and Means, Rules, Harbors and Pub- lic Lands. For many years he has been a member of the Republican Town Committee. Six years he was a member of the Massachusetts Republican Committee and since 1896, with the exception of a single year, has attended the National Republican conventions. He is also empowered as Massachu- setts Director of the National River and Harbor Congress, which meets every December in Washing- ton, District of Columbia.

Mr. Luscombe joined the Free and Accepted Ma- sons in 1874, and since that time has transferred his membership to Marine Lodge in Falmouth. He is also a member of Nobska Lodge, Knights of Pyth- ias. For more than fifteen years Mr. Luscombe has been president of the Woods Hole Public Library and was instrumental in raising funds for the beauti- ful stone library building erected in 1913. He is a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Massachusetts Real Estate Exchange, Boston City Club, Middlesex Club, Republican Club of Boston, and the Marine Biological Laboratory of Woods Hole. For more than twenty years he has been a director of the Falmouth National Bank and he is vice-president of the Tobey Furniture Company of Chicago and New York. As treasurer of the Church of the Messiah, Episcopal, in Woods Hole, he has long been associated with the work of the denomina- tion.

In 1875, Mr. Luscombe married Helen B. Davis of Woods Hole, who died in 1877. In 1886, he mar- ried Lunette Shiverick, also of Woods Hole. They had two children: a daughter, born in 1888 and who died in 1918, leaving her husband Dr. Henry J. Ullman and two children, who now live in California; and a son, Walter Otis Luscombe, Jr., born in 1893, who is a veteran of the World War, having served as captain in the artillery with the American Expedi- tionary Forces. He now resides in Fitchburg, Mas- sachusetts, where he is connected with the Crocker, Burbank Paper Company.

FRANK D. COFFMAN, SAMUEL P. COFF- MAN-Among the younger members of the legal profession who have made for themselves assured places in Quincy, Massachusetts, is Frank D. Coffman,

Trato Plus combe

Warren a Reed

PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE

who has been engaged in practice since 1917, and in Quincy since 1923, with offices at No. 1445 Han- cock Street. As attorney for the Community Pro- tective Association of Quincy, Mr. Coffman has won some important and hard-fought battles for the city, for which residents are deeply grateful. Mr. Coff- man also has the distinction (1928) of being the only member of the profession in Quincy who holds mem- bership in the American Bar Association.

Frank D. Coffman was born in Quincy, Massa- chusetts, October 21, 1896, son of Jeremiah Coff- man, who was born in Russia, came to this country and engaged in business as a drygoods merchant in Quincy, Massachusetts, where he still resides (1928), and of Rose Coffman, who is also a native of Russia. Mr. Coffman received his early education in the pub- lic schools of Quincy, and after the completion of his high school course prepared for college at the Boston English High School. He then matriculated in the Law School of Boston University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1917, receiving at that time the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar that same year and for six years was engaged in general practice in Boston. In 1923 he came to Quincy and opened an office at No. 1445 Hancock Street, where he has since been continuously and successfully engaged in practice. He has been admitted to practice in all the courts of the State and in the Federal courts, and has taken a very active interest in serving the com- munity professionally. As attorney for the Quincy Community Protective Association, he championed the cause of the taxpayers of Quincy against the municipal government and secured for the taxpayers a reduction of seventy-five per cent in their tax bills. Another signal victory which Mr. Coffman won for the residents of Quincy was the case of the Standard Oil Company, which was planning to erect storage tanks for oil in the vicinity of houses which were owned by members of the Community Protective Association, an organization formed for the express purpose of guarding against the imposition of un- sightly and unhealthful additions to the place, and against any other injustice which might threaten the residents. As attorney for the Quincy Community Protective Association, Mr. Coffman fought the big interests of the Standard Oil Company, and won out. The Standard Oil Company carried the suit to a higher court, and again Mr. Coffman was the victor, an achievement for which the community is deeply grateful. In addition to the responsibilities of his general legal practice, Mr. Coffman is also a member of the board of directors of the Granite Mortgage Company and of the Homestead Investment Com- pany, and his sound judgment is much relied upon by those who know him. He is listed by the Maryland Casualty Company as insurance counsel for Quincy, and as a member of the Insurance Bar, which is com- posed of about two hundred insurance companies representing insurance covered in Quincy.

Mr. Coffman is a member of the Quincy Bar Association and, as has already been stated, of the American Bar Association, and he has won a high place in the esteem of his professional associates. Po- litically, he gives his support to the Republican party, and he has always taken a very deep interest in the general welfare of Quincy. In 1924-25 he served as a member of the City Council, and he is known as a public-spirited citizen who is always ready to give support to any project which seems to be well

planned for the advancement of the interests of the city. Fraternally, he is identified with John Hancock Lodge, No. 224, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with Manet Encampment, No. 75. He is a mem- ber of the Quincy Chamber of Commerce and of the Kiwanis Club, which for two years he served as district trustee; is a member of the Granite City Club, and he has many friends in this community. During the period of the participation of the United States in the World War he served for two years on the Military Intelligence Staff, with headquarters at Washington, District of Columbia, returning, when the war was over, to his practice in Boston.

Frank D. Coffman was married, in 1919, to Etta Kline, who was born in Rushford, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Coffman are the parents of three children: 1. Herbert William. 2. Helen Dorothy. 3. Norman. The Coffman home is located at No. 293 Washington Street, in Quincy.

Samuel P. Coffman, brother of Frank D. Coffman, was born in Russia, December 15, 1898, and received his early education in the public schools of Quincy, Massachusetts, including the high school. Upon the completion of his high school course he began pro- fessional study in the Law School of Boston Uni- versity, from which he was graduated in 1924 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar soon after graduation, and since that time has been engaged in general legal practice in Quincy, with offices at No. 1445 Han- cock Street, the same building with his brother, Frank D. Coffman. He has been admitted to prac- tice in all the courts of the State and in the Federal courts, and is laying the foundations of what prom- ises to be a most successful career. He is a mem- ber of the Quincy Bar Association. Politically, he supports the principles of the Republican party, and he takes a sincere interest in the general welfare of the community in which he lives and practices.

HON. WARREN A. REED-The city of Brock- ton is fortunate in having as a distinguished citizen Judge Warren A. Reed, able lawyer, upright judge, cultured scholar and, most commendable of all, a kindly gentleman, absolutely devoid of false pride and accessible to anyone seeking the pleasure of his acquaintance. Knowledge of the family line from which he is descended would indicate that the dictates of heredity alone assure the character of a man who would invariably honor the names of those of his forebears whose lives are now known only through the pages of history. A brief record of the branch of the family of which Judge Reed is a member is as follows:

(I) The first American paternal ancestor was Wil- liam Reade, who was born in Kent County, England, in 1605, sailed for America in 1635, and settled in Weymouth, Massachusetts, being made a freeman in September, 1635. He bought a homestead in 1636, and was an early settler of Weymouth, which was made a plantation in 1635. He was a representative from Weymouth in 1636 and 1638. The Christian name of his wife was Ivis. Children: William; Es- ther; Thomas; John; Mary; and Margaret.

(II) William Read (Reed) (2) son of William and Ivis, born October 16, 1639, in Weymouth, married, in 1675, Esther Thomson, of Middleboro, Massachu- setts, daughter of Francis Cooke, of the "Mayflower" company. William Reed was constable in Wey- mouth in 1675 and therefore regarded as chief officer

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of the town. He was selectman in 1680, also a repre- sentative to the General Court. His will, proved September 12, 1706, indicated that he dealt extensive- ly in land. Children: William; John; Jacob; Bushnor; Porter; Mercy; Mary; Hester; Sarah. John Thom- son, father of his wife, was an early settler of Plym- outh district, having built a log house thirteen miles west thereof, then known as Plymouth proper, now as Halifax and Middleboro. His house was burnt by Indians and he fled to Plymouth. Francis Cooke, maternal grandfather of Esther (Thomson) Reed, an Englishman, was of the Pilgrims at Leyden. With his son, John, he embarked on the "Speedwell," at Delfshaven, in July, 1620, leaving behind his wife, Hester, and the other children, and set sail in the "Mayflower," from Plymouth, England, and landing where Provincetown Harbor now is, November 21, 1620, and afterwards at Plymouth, December 25, 1620. Up to 1645, he served practically every year in some public capacity, particularly on grand inquests and trial juries.

(III) John Reed, son of William and Esther, born July 10, 1687, married (first) Sarah, who died; (sec- ond) Mary. Children: John; James; Mary; Ezekiel; Peter; Squire; Silence; Betty; Samuel.

(IV) Ezekiel Reed, son of John and Mary Reed, born November 14, 1721, married, in 1742, Hannah Beal, daughter of John Beal, who came from County Norfolk, England, in 1635, and settled in Hingham, which town he represented in the General Court in 1649. Children: Ezekiel; Hannah; Squire; Mary; Zebulon; Mary (2); Samuel; Issachar; Deborah.

(V) Ezekiel Reed (2), son of Ezekiel and Hannah, born March 3, 1744, in Abington, married, April 2, 1768, Mary Rogers of Marshfield, born February 26, 1748-49, a direct descendant of John Rogers of Scit- uate and Marshfield. Ezekiel Reed conceived the manufacture of tacks by an improved method, the forerunner of the machines used today for that pur- pose. He died in North Bridgewater, April 12, 1830. Children: Polly; Zelotes; Ezekiel; Zebulon; Hannah; Olive; Jesse; Charles; Abraham; Briggs Rogers; Samuel Licander.

(VI) Briggs Rogers Reed, son of Ezekiel and Mary (Rogers), born May 2, 1784, in Abington, niar- ried, May 21, 1809, Betsy, born January 14, 1791, daughter of Israel and Susannah (Trask) Hutchin- son, and granddaughter of Colonel Israel Hutchin- son, of Revolutionary fame, leader of the Danvers "minute-men," the latter a descendant of Richard Hutchinson of Arnold, England, who came to Salem in 1634, the latter a direct descendant from Bernard Hutchinson of Cowlam, County of York, who lived in 1282, during the reign of King Edward I. Briggs Rogers Reed lived in Boston, Weymouth, Pem- broke and Danvers, and died in the latter town Sep- tember 28, 1835, survived by his wife, who died March 31, 1850. Children: Mary Ann; Elizabeth; Susan Jane; William Briggs; Edward Rogers; Augustus; George W .; John; James Hervey; Joseph Warren; Cornelia H.

(VII) Augustus Reed, son of Briggs Rogers and Betsy (Hutchinson), and father of Judge Warren A., born April 13, 1821, in Danvers, attended the public schools of Danvers and Pembroke (New Hampshire) High School. He was successfully engaged in the grocery business in Boston for many years, and died in Winthrop, September 4, 1881. He was first a Whig; later a prominent Republican and insistent Abolitionist. He served Boston as assistant asses-

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History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. III, Part 9

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