History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 112

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 112

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In 1838-39, East Abington and Pembroke were united in a "circuit," with Rev. Andrew J. Cope- land preacher in charge.

In 1839-40, Rev. Increase Bigelow was appointed to the charge.

In 1840-41, Rev. Otis Wilder served the church, and was followed by Rev. Nathan Rice, who closed his pastorate in 1843.

In 1843-44 the charge was without a regular pastor. Rev. S. G. Usher served from 1844-45.

Then followed an interval of fourteen years in which no preacher was appointed; but the society was served irregularly by those who were available. During this interval the church building was con- sumed by fire.

2º

532

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

In 1859 the church entered upon what may be called its second epoch, in what is known as the " Old Congregational Church," furnished by Abner Curtis. Rev. Henry D. Robinson, pastor at this time, reported a membership of sixteen.

Rev. Joseph Marsh served the people in 1860-62. The church again entered upon a period of reverses, and no preacher was appointed by Conference for a number of years; but, true to the genius of Meth- odism, the church again revived, and in 1871-72 the present church building was erected at a cost of nine thousand dollars, of which five thousand five hundred dollars were paid at the time.

Rev. C. S. Nutter, of the Boston University School of Theology, served the church at this time.

In 1872-75, Rev. George H. Bates was appointed to the charge, and during his pastorate fourteen hun- dred and forty-five dollars were paid on the debt.

Rev. George T. Oliver, a student of the Boston University School of Theology, served the church in 1875-76.

Rev. W. F. Steele was appointed to the charge in 1876-77, and was succeeded by Rev. S. H. Day, who served till 1878.

Rev. Oliver A. Curtis, a student of the Boston University School of Theology, was appointed to the charge in 1878-80.

Rev. R. E. Buckey, a student from the same insti- tution, served the church from 1880-81, and was succeeded by Rev. S. F. Harriman in 1881-82.

Rev. George H. Trever, also a student of the School of Theology, was appointed to the charge in 1882-83, who was succeeded by Rev. W. E. Kugler.

In 1884, the present year, Rev. E. N. Kirby was appointed pastor of the church. It is confidently expected that within a few months the old debt of two thousand dollars will be paid, as a large part of it, early in the year, has already been subscribed. Then it is hoped the church will enter upon its period of greatest usefulness.

Baptist Church .- Early in the year 1854 the Baptists of East Abington and vicinity began to meet for public worship in a hall which they engaged for the purpose. Through the influence and offered as- sistanee of Deacon George W. Chipman, of Boston, the Baptists of the town organized on May 1, 1854, a church to be called the " East Abington Baptist Church." The church at the time of its organization numbercd twenty-two members. Rev. Horace T. Love was the first pastor of the little flock, and during his short pastorate of less than one year and a half the church more than doubled. A council called by the newly-organized body recognized it as a

regularly-constituted Baptist Church. The growth of the church was so vigorous that at the annual meeting held March 13, 1855, it was voted to build a house of worship, and steps were at once taken to raise the money necessary for the purpose. In De- cember, 1855, a contract was made to construct a house whose cost should be five thousand dollars, and it was dedicated Sept. 4, 1856.

The church has enjoyed a good degree of pros- perity. Since its first year it has been blessed with several revivals. The two most important may be the one which occurred in the winter of 1857, and the other which occurred in the spring of 1884. The first, when Rev. A. B. Earle labored in the town, was perhaps the most extensive revival during the history of the church. The second occurred when Evangel- ist C. C. Luther conducted a series of meetings which continued for fifty-two consecutive evenings, and rc- sulted in quickening of the church and in adding to its membership a good number of converts. In the period elapsing from May 1, 1854, to the present time (June, 1884) the church has grown from a membership of twenty-two to a membership of one hundred and ninety.

At the time of writing the financial condition of the church is healthful, and all current expenses are promptly paid. An effort, which will probably be successful, is now being made to raise two thousand dollars, the amount which is necessary to pay the debt of the church and make external repairs and im- provements.

The church has had ten pastors, whose names and times of service are as follows: Rev. Horace T. Love, May, 1854, to June, 1855; Rev. N. P. Ev- erctt, December, 1855, to March, 1857 ; Rev. W. S. Mckenzie, January, 1857, to July, 1858; Rev. J. D. Chaplin, October, 1858, to April, 1862 ; Rev. Serreno Howe, July, 1862, to May, 1867 ; Rev. J. H. Hamblin, July, 1868, to September, 1872 ; Rev. J. R. Chase, November, 1872, to October, 1874; Rev. L. D. Fitz, January, 1875, to December, 1878 ; Rev. A. Barnelle, April, 1879, to September, 1881; and Rev. A. E. Woodsum, called April, 1882, is the present pastor.

A Unitarian Church has recently been formed. It is a thrifty society, and is at present meeting in a hall. It has no permanent pastor, but is supplied from Sabbath to Sabbath. This society hopes soon to erect a church edifice and secure a permanent pastor.

Church of the Holy Family .- The Catholic Church of Rockland is of so recent origin that its history must of necessity be very brief. Roekland

Eng ? by AH Putchie

Franklin Poole

533

HISTORY OF ROCKLAND.

was until quite recently included in the Abington Parish, and the Catholic population attended church there; but they became so numerous that about three years ago they began to build a church of their own. The building is of brick, and is doubtless the most imposing and expensive church edifice to be found iu Southeastern Massachusetts outside of a city. The upper part of the house is not at present completed, but when it is finished the entire cost will be fifty thousand dollars. The situation of this church is very prominent and central, aud the edifice is a great ornament to the town.

The services are held in the vestry of the church at present. and the congregation usually numbers about eight hundred. The Catholic population of the town is seventeen hundred. Rockland and Hanover con- stitute one parish, which is under the spiritual care of the Rev. Father Tierney. Father Tierney came to Rockland in June, 1883. His people are very much attached to him, and he is working most heartily for their spiritual and moral welfare.

Graduates .- Elliot Holbrook, 1874, graduated in the course in civil engineering with the title of S.B.

Cyrus B. Collins, Rockland 1878

Arthur W. Wheeler. Amherst. 1879

James E. Thomas, Harvard 1879

Charles W. Holbrook. Amherst 1880

Junietta T. Wright, Rockland. 1882

Grace E. Cooper, Rockland .. 1883

Viola L. Poole, Rockland 1884

Maria Gayvon, Rockland. 1884

Harry C. Shaw, Harvard 1884

Albert A. Beal, Tufts. 1884

The town officers for the present year are as follows : Town Clerk and Treasurer, Ezekiel R. Studley ; Select- men, Assessors, Overseers of the Poor, and Fence- Viewers, Charles Bearce, William Forbes, Edwin Mulready; School Committee (three years), Mari- esta D. Howland ; Surveyors of Highways, Henry A. Baker, Horace M. Hunt, James A. Monroe; Constables, George F. Wheeler, Owen Maguire, Thomas F. Kendrigan, Andrew J. Mansur, Horatio B. Burgess, John McMorrow, Joseph P. Campbell, William S. Perham, Elbridge V. Wheeler; Field- Drivers, Francis Wade, George C. Dunbar; Trustees of Public Library, Sarah A. Donham, Chester M. Perry ; Auditors, William H. Bates, John Sullivan, J. S. Smith ; Board of Health, J. C. Gleason, C. S. Millet, Franklin Poole.

The population of Rockland is now about 5000; valuation, 82,236,850 ; number of polls, 1347.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

FRANKLIN POOLE.

Franklin Poole descended from Edward Poole. of Weymouth, who, it is supposed, came to that town from England about the year 1635, the exact date being somewhat uncertain. John, the grandfather of Franklin, was born in Weymouth in 1743, and mar- ried Sarah Clark, of Braintree, in 1769 or 1770, and the same year came to East Abington, and built a house on what is now known as Liberty Street, which is still standing in good repair and inhabited.

Micah, the son of John, and the father of the sub- ject of this sketch, was the second in a family of eight children, and was born April 3, 1772, and married Nabby Holbrook, of Weymouth.

He was a man of marked prominence and influence in his native town for many years, being one of the selectmen eleven years, from 1813, and represented the town in the State Legislature seven years. David Poole, his brother, was remarkable for his musical and mathematical abilities. He, in conjunction with a friend, once published a volume of church music and some of his compositions were surreptitiously pub- lished in an old Handel and Haydn , collection, and were popular for many years. He composed the anthem which was sung at his own funeral, and it has since been used several times upon similar occasions. He also correctly made all the astronomical calcula- tions for an almanac, which embraced the time for nearly twenty years.

Franklin was born Sept. 29, 1811, in that part of Abington which is now Rockland, and was the eighth in a family of twelve children. He was educated in the public schools of the town and at Andover, and for several years followed school-teaching as a business a part of the time, working during the intervals between schools at shoemaking, which then, as now, was the principal business of the town. He earned at that time small wages, compared with the prices paid for labor at the same business at the present time. He was one of those men who all his life possessed the happy faculty of making a balance upou the right side of the ledger at the end of the year, no matter what the income. In short, he could keep his expenses within his income, believing that course to be the financial road to confort and happiness.

He married Ann Sargent, daughter of Joseph Allen Sargent, of Wells, Me., June 5, 1836, who was a woman of remarkable energy and ability, and con- tributed her full share in laying the foundation for and in building up the fortune which, through the

534

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTHI COUNTY.

most honest and honorable means only, they gathered abont them. He always seemed to recognize and fully appreciate the great help he received from the superior management and frugality of his wife. She died suddenly April 16, 1878.

To this marriage four children were born,-Carric, born July 26, 1837, was educated at Middleboro' and at Mount Holyoke Seminary, and was a successful teacher. She married James F. Claflin, a teacher of Newton, Mass., and finally settled in Lombard, Ill. She died at Grand Island, Ncb., Nov. 3, 1875, while on her way home from California, where she had been endeavoring to regain her failing health. Her son and only child, William, is a graduate of Amherst College, in the class of 1883.

Charles Follen was born Sept. 13, 1839, and died July 26, 1840.

Benjamin F. was born June 13, 1842, was educated in the public schools of the town, and from boyhood has devoted himself to the grocery and hardware trade in his native place. He married Harriett E. Hunt, of East Abington (now Rockland), Aug. 11, 1862. They had one child, a daughter, who died in infancy.

Jerome B., born Dec. 14, 1844, was educated at Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., and at Harvard College, where he graduated in the class of 1867, and since then has followed the profession of teaching, and has been a teacher in the English High School of Boston since November, 1873. He married Eurilla A. Shaw, of East Abington (Rockland), July 6, 1868, who died Aug. 29, 1880, leaving one daughter, Grace L., born Jan. 25, 1872.

Mr. Poole, in company with two of his brothers, Micah H. and Cyrus, helped to make up that memor- able and historic, and it may be safely called illus- trious, list of men in California known as " Forty- niners." He succeeded fairly well at mining, and came home in the summer of 1850, having been gone about a year and a half.

He soon after began, in a small way, in the grocery business at his native place, out of which, by pru- dence, economy, and good judgment, he accumulated what was, for a man of his habits, a competency of this world's goods. He possessed, in a marked degree, reliable and trustworthy business qualities. All his transactions in trade were characterized by that un- swerving and unquestioned integrity which marked his life.

He was entirely above all the allurements and temptations which any sort of financial crookedness could suggest. His judgment regarding business was careful, though quick and decided. He intended

that his estimate of men should be just. In forming an opinion of the value of a man's financial credit, he was much more likely to ask what the man was than what he had.

He was often chosen to positions of responsibility in the town of Abington, and also in Rockland, since that became an independent corporation. His ser- vices were particularly valuable on a special board of valuation for Abington in 1862. He was for several years a member of the school committee in Abing- ton, and afterwards in Rockland, and was connected with the Rockland Savings-Bank from its incorpo- ration, most of the time being vice-president, and also upon the board of investment, and held these positions at the time of his death. He was a mem- ber of the Board of Health of Rockland from the time that board was established until he died.

IIe retired from active business in the spring of 1880, the trade which he established in 1851 having grown to be a large and lucrative one, in both gro- ceries and hardware. In his son, Benjamin F., he leaves an able successor.

He contracted a second marriage, with Madeline Hayden, of Quincy, June 29, 1880.

Mr. Poole was a hater of all shams, and he had but to see or know of one to denounce it, and he often expressed himself with such an honest blunt- ness as to offend those who did not know him well ; and he was sure to strike hard whenever he met the perpetrator of a swindle.

One day several years ago he met the pastor of the parish to which he belonged near a church then in process of construction, and Mr. Poole quite sharply criticised the architectural style of the build- ing, and the minister said, " Why, it is in imitation of frecstone," when Mr. Poole replied, " Confound imitations ! Haven't we seen enough of them to teach us to build at least our churches so that they shall honestly be what they seem."

He was an early Abolitionist, and all his life long he tried to maintain those principles which promised the broadest human freedom. The temperance cause found in him an earnest adherent and a faithful sup- porter. He was a man of decided convictions, with the courage to express and ability to defend them.

He died on the 22d of May, 1884. His name will long be cherished in the memory of his friends and neighbors. His wife, his two sons, a grandson (the child of his daughter), and a granddaughter (the child of Jerome B.) are the members of his immediate family who survive him.

Jenkins Lam

Washington Rud

535

HISTORY OF ROCKLAND.

JENKINS LANE.

Among the pioneers who founded and built up the great manufacturing interest which so largely pre- dominates in the northerly section of the county (the manufacture of boots and shoes) few names will stand higher on the page of history than that of Jenkins Lane, and this. too. not wholly because of his business capacity and mechanical skill, which, with an industry and perseverance that never relaxed, built up a mag- nificent business for himself. while it stimulated others to follow. But more and better than this is the record of a broad and generous citizenship, which shared his success with others, that was always ready to help his neighbors and workmen towards a self- sustaining independence. and to-day that part of the town where his life was passed bears witness to his generous and unselfish enterprise, and is his best monument. Mr. Lane was born in East Abington on the 24th day of July, 1801.

His father, a farmer in moderate circumstances, gave him a common-school education, and he learned the trade of a shoemaker. For a number of years he worked at the bench. making sewed shoes in the manner of sixty years ago, wholly by hand-work, and after his marriage taking his bench into the room where he began housekeeping, his wife stitching and fitting the uppers and he making the shoes,-a com- mon thing at that time. Up to this time he had worked for others, taking out his stock and making it into shoes at so much a pair. Then he began to buy stock in a small way, and. cutting and making it up, would take his shoes to Boston and sell or trade for more stock. Snch was the humble beginning of a business which steadily increased in his hands till it mounted up to several hundred thousand dollars a year. and during the last years of his life, in connec- tion with his sons, who had become partners in the business. to a million dollars in a year. Through all these years his integrity and fair, square dealing were never questioned. He had built up his success by straightforward, honest business methods, and so con- tinued to the last.

In 1846 he was elected a member of the Legisla- ture, and served one term, and for several years he filled the place of director in the Abington National Bank, and president of the Abington Savings-Bank, and treasurer of the Hanover Branch Railroad Com- pany, holding these positions up to the time of his decease. But public official position had few attrac- tions for him. His business and home-life were more congenial to his nature. His cheerful and buoyant disposition was a marked characteristic, and while he had ample dignity when it was required, his strong

sympathy with the young and his own boyish love of fun lasted him through life.

For years a school-house directly across the street from his own place sent out its scores of merry boys and girls, overflowing into the street and into his yard with boyish freedom and hilarity, yet it was no source of disturbance to him : he rather enjoyed it; and his workmen in the shops, as he went around among them, instead of having sharp criticism or censure, kept watch rather for some boyish prank or practical joke, which sometimes came when least expected.

During his last years he gave up the active man- agement of his business to his sons, and devoted him- self to improvements in machinery and inventions, which, with his natural mechanical ingenuity, he greatly enjoyed.

Mr. Lane was married, in 1825, to Mehitable P. Jenkins, of East Abington. By her he had seven children,-four sons and three daughters ; all except- ing two daughters still survive. He died on the 17th of November, 1870.

In the sketches of the lives of some of the leading settlers of the Old Colony we find this tribute, " He was long a useful man in the colony." Most fittingly may we borrow the simple eulogy for Jenkins Lane, " He was long a useful man" in the community in which he lived.

WASHINGTON REED.

Washington Reed was born in Abington, July 6, 1820, his father, Goddard Reed, and his mother, Marcia Reed, both being the grandchildren of Thomas Reed, born in Abington in 1732. Goddard Reed was one of the most prominent citizens of the east part, holding the offices of postmaster, representative to the General Court, selectman, director of the Ab- ington Bank, and numerous minor offices, and his son, Washington, after finishing his education, which was quite liberal for the times, was able to enter im- mediately upon active business life, and to form the habits and gain the experience which contributed largely to his future success. After the retirement of his father from business he entered, in company with Mr. John Lane, in the wholesale boot and shoe business, with offices at Boston and New Orleans, at which latter place Mr. Reed resided and conducted the business part of the time. He continued in this firm for a number of years, when he withdrew to be- come a partner in the firm of Keene, Reed & Bryant, doing a large business, both manufacturing and im- porting leather ; and later, in 1860, in company with Mr. George B. Clapp, he engaged in the manufacture

536

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

of fur-lined overshoes, the firm doing a larger amount of business than any similar company in the United States. He continued in this business until 1867, when he retired permanently from active business, de- voting his time to travel and to the care of his estate.

In his business Mr. Reed exhibited the energy, sound judgment, and sagacity characteristic of the family, and which he inherited from both father and mother, and on account of his large experience and aeknowledged integrity he was mueh sought by those needing counsel in business affairs, and during the years of his life after their incorporation he was a di- reetor of the Roekland Savings-Bank and of the Hanover Branch Railroad. In publie affairs he took a deep interest, and was always ready to contribute his full share of labor and money for measures of public improvement. In the eontest which resulted in the division of the town of Abington and the in- corporation of the town of Rockland he was the leading spirit, and contributed largely by his ability and persistence to the result. Although not a poli- tician in any sense of the word, he was a pronounced member of the Whig and Republican parties, and in 1872 received the nomination of the latter for senator from the Second Plymouth District, but was defeated through the treachery of the leaders of the party in some of the towns in the distriet on account of the division question, and, as was said at that time, “ in a strong Republican distriet the candidate of the ma- jority was defeated, and a senator chosen who repre- sented neither his district nor his town, but only an ungenerous opposition to a single act of legislation."

In his private life Mr. Reed was one of the most exemplary of men, of striet integrity and irreproach- able habits ; he truly added to his faith virtue, and to his virtuc eharity, large and extended, with the absence of ostentation characteristic of his whole life.

He was married June 2, 1839, to Harriet Corthell, of South Abington, and died July 13, 1881, shortly after his return from a trip to California.1

JOSEPH FRENCHI.

Joseph French was born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 15, 1813. His father, Moses French, eame to Boston from New Hampshire. He married Elizabeth Perry, of Hanover. They had four children, -Catherine M., Eliza, Joseph, and Joan E. Mr. French died in 1822. Joseph, then about nine years of age, eame to live with his maternal grandparents in Hanover. He had no other educational advantages than were

afforded by the common schools in the community where he was brought up.

He was early taught to earn his own living, being put at shoemaking when a boy. He learned the trade thoroughly, as it was then conducted, and npon attaining his majority he obtained a position as cutter in the factory of Jenkins Lanc, at Rockland (then East Abington), and remained in Mr. Lanc's employ many years.

About 1859 he engaged in the retail grocery busi- ness in Roekland, and meeting with suceess, he eon- tinued in trade till 1874, when he sold out and re- tired. He married, Dec. 25, 1834, Sarah P., daughter of Charles and Sarah (Reed) Lane. Their children were Sarah M. (deceased), Joseph E., Francis M., Charles H., Sarah E. (deeeased), Henrietta W. (now Mrs. Stephen M. Howes, of Rockland), and Isadora A. (now Mrs. A. W. Perry, of Rockland).

Mr. Freneh was a man highly esteemed for the many noble qualities he possessed. Being naturally of a modest, retiring disposition, he never sought or obtained offiee, but in the various relations of life which he assumed he bore himself in such manner as to win the lasting regard of those with whom he was brought in contact. He was genial and pleasant as a companion, warm-hearted and sineere as a friend, and strietly upright and honest in his business relations. To the poor he was kind and generous, and gave sub- stantial aid when and where it was deserved. He was a man of calm judgment and strong principles of honor and integrity. In religious faith he was a Baptist, and in politics a Republican. He died Feb. 2,1876.

JOSEPH E. FRENCH.

Joseph Edward French, eldest son and second ehild of Joseph and Sarah P. French, was born Aug. 12, 1838, in East Abington (now Roekland), Mass., and received his education at the high school in that town. As soon as he was of sufficient age for his services to be of value in that eapacity he was placed to learn shoemaking in the faetory of Mr. Jenkins Lanc, and was there employed at stitching and cutting up to 1861. He then took eharge as foreman of the factory of Leonard Blanchard, where he remained five years, when he took charge as general manager, for J. F. Dane, Grinnell & Co., of Boston, of their factory located in Roekland, and continued in this capacity a period of twelve years, when he went on the road as salesman for Z. M. and E. Lane, and continued with them two years. He then, in com- pany with George W. Hall, engaged in manufacturing

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 112

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1706

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706