History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 173

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 173

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His faithful labors having brought him failing health and a need for rest, and, knowing that he could no longer brave with impunity the hardships incident

to the active work of his profession and the demands he could not refuse from his old patrons, he returned to Bridgewater in 1864, but from the numerous calls for his services here has been kept in constant practice, although he refuses to give night visits. In 1867 he made his residence where he now resides, and has never since cared to move.

Whig and Republican in political belief, he has steadily supported the nomination of those parties without being drawn into the vortex of political wire- working. He has been favored with an extremely fortunate matrimonial union, and both he and Mrs. Fobes are prized as valuable acquisitions to the social and religious circles of the town. They are connected with Trinity Episcopal Church, of which the doctor is now senior warden.

The erection and furnishing of the new and beau- tiful church edifice is the result of the self-sacrifice, devotion, and liberality of a few persons, and not the most unimportant of them are Dr. and Mrs. Fobes.

All in all, Dr. Fobes stands to-day in the latter years of a long and useful life an estecmed citizen, a valued friend, and a credit to the dignified profession in whose service he has passed so many years.

MARSHALL CONANT.

Among those who have had the charge of edu- cational interests in Plymouth County, and proved faithful to that duty, there has been no worthier rep- resentative than Marshall Conant, who was a teacher in every sense of the word. He possessed the fine feelings and keen perceptions that cnabled him to understand his scholars thoroughly, heart and mind, and could fully sympathize with all the difficulties which stand in the way of many struggling students. His heart, his home, and his purse were open to thein, and many a man now in the full career of prosperity can date his success in life to this true- souled Christian man and teacher.

Marshall Conant was a self-made man, having had but limited advantages for education at the common schools near the New England farm at Pomfret, Vt., where he was born, Jan. 5, 1801. He was the sixth son in a family of twelve children, and was in his early years trained to the work of the farm, but during his hours of work economized every moment, and when driving a team to plow had his " Euclid" under his arm, and when the horses stopped to rest he studied geometry. His father was a house-carpenter as well as a farmer, and he became accustomed early to the use of tools, which he used with wonderful skill, and which

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

served him well in his pursuit after learning. His fa- iniliarity with tools enabled him to construct the in- struments which were required in his mathematical studies for the prosecution of his researches, and which in his circumstances could not otherwise have been procured, and in his youth, while on the farm, he invented and constructed a quadrant for taking his elevations, a clock to keep his time, an electrical machine for making experiments in electricity, and a planetarium for illustrating the movements of the heavenly bodies. He was a sickly boy, and these were his amusements when he was unable to follow his father and brothers to the field. It was here that he laid the foundation of his accurate mathematical and astronomical knowledge, and without other books than were supplied by the common schools and the annual almanac.

He commenced his first work as a teacher at Pom- fret, Vt., where his compensation was twelve dollars per month, and the pay mostly in corn, which, how- ever, he turned to good account by purchasing books on subjects relating to his mathematical and astronomi- cal studies. In 1824, when but twenty-three years old, he attempted the usual mathematical calculations of an eclipse of the moon, and, with the help of a quadrant which he extemporized for the occasion, and the clock which he had made with his own hands to keep the time, he had the inexpressible satisfaction of finding the true results. Thenceforward astronomy largely occupied his attention, and for many years he was the publisher of the " Vermont Almanac," of which about one thousand copies were annually issued. In 1825, while teaching school at Alstead, N. H., and " boarding around," he was subjected to much exposure during a stormy winter, and was prostrated by severe and continued sickness, cough, and tender- ness of the lungs, which clung to him through life ; but during this illness there were intervals for study, which he so well improved that when he resumed teaching he found himself with vastly increased re- sources, which soon brought with them reputation and position. During this sickness, while confined to his room, and mostly to his bed, he succeeded in solving the problem of the principles by which the laws of planetary motion were governed, without dreaming that it was one of acknowledged difficulty. In after-years, when he became familiar with books, he learned from La Land's " Astronomy" that his problem had long occupied the attention of learned men, and that the Astronomical Society of Paris had offered a valuable prize for its solution. His feelings of gratification at finding his figures agreed with the accepted demonstration, may well be imagined. In

1829, when twenty-eight years of age, he opened a select school in Woodstock, Vt., which he conducted with great success for five years, at the same time studying Latin, Greek, and French. He gave up the school to go to Boston, where he could avail himself of the libraries, and gain access into scientifie circles, and supported himself by teaching in the public schools.

While there (1835) he married Miss Roxanna Darling, of Woodstock, Vt., one of his former pu- pils, henceforth to be his companion in study and in labor, a fitting helpmeet in every good work of his life, and who survives him. A year later he opened a select school for boys in Roxbury, Mass., where he had a delightful home for three years, going thence to Illinois to preside over an academic institution sus- tained by the munificence of John Tillson, of Halifax, Mass. Here he found a genial field for his favorite pursuits, but as neither he nor his wife could endure the climate, after remaining there two years he ac- cepted an invitation from the academy at Framing- ham, Mass., where he passed the next four years, when his health obliged him to give up business, and for a year he lived most of the time in the open fields, where he cultivated a close acquaintance with botany and geology. This out-door life was so bene- ficial to his health that for several years he turned away from his favorite vocation and engaged as en- gineer in the Boston water-works, residing at West Newton, where he had intimate relations with Hon. Horace Mann and other distinguished educators. In 1853 he received an appointment from the State Board of Education as principal of the Normal School at Bridgewater, and entercd upon the great work of preparing others for the educational field. For this Mr. Conant was exceptionally well fitted. His whole mind and strength were given to his teaching. In his favorite studies of mathematics, astronomy, and mechanics, he was clear, definite, and original in his methods. He had at one time a blind pupil in astronomy, whom he so skillfully taught that he be- came a successful lecturer on that science. He was continually, by his fidelity to his work, his devotion, his enthusiasm, drawing his pupils to higher fields of thought and nobler attainments. For seven years he threw into the development of the Normal School all the forces of his multiform nature, then the confine- ment and the toil of this work proved too arduous, and he was compelled to resign, and retired to a farm in Grantville in 1860. In 1862 his personal frieud, Mr. Boutwell, afterwards Secretary of the Treasury, then Commissioner of Internal Revenue, called for his assistance in Washington, where he passed ten years

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HISTORY OF BRIDGEWATER.

of his life in organizing and carrying on the Depart-

carried on the business of farming, in connection with ment of Internal Revenue. During this time many - the manufacture of wood and lumber, until the pres- millions of dollars passed through his hands. His ent time. About eight years since he purchased an orange orchard in Florida, and has now twenty-eight acres of land and about five hundred orange-trees (a portion of them in bearing condition). exalted patriotism and loyalty strengthened the hearts of those who guarded the life of the nation in those critical and dangerous days. His earnest and efficient services were given to the government until he could work no more, when, on leave of absence, he returned to Bridgewater, where, surrounded by his old friends, he died Feb. 10, 1873, aged seventy-two years.

In every sphere of life, as companion, friend, teacher, citizen, and official, Mr. Conant was a Chris- tian gentleman, realizing the highest ideal of the position. The prominent traits of his character were great hopefulness (almost enthusiasm), perseverance, unostentation, large charity, and strong religious faith. He was a diligent student of the Bible, an ardent lover of its teachings, a member of the Congre- gational Church. and through life sustained and guided by a living faith in Jesus, the Christ. The lesson of his noble life is this,-that the love of truth, trust in God, and hopeful, persevering industry will enable one to overcome obstacles, attain the full stature of a Christian manhood, bring one to stations of honor and usefulness, and leave a memory which, like a fragraut perfume, shall cast a pleasant influence for untold ages.

SPENCER LEONARD.

Spencer Leonard, son of Spencer and Mary (Wood) Leonard, a lineal descendant in the seventh genera- tion from Solomon Leonard, one of the first proprietors of this town, was born in Bridgewater, Aug. 18, 1814. His grandfather, Samuel Leonard, was a minute-man in the war of the Revolution, and received a pension from government. His father (Spencer Leonard ) was drafted in the defense of Plymouth in the war of 1812, for which the government gave him a land warrant. He was a farmer, and well known for his industrious habits and sterling, honest character. He was a selectman several years about 1830. Spencer's youth and early manhood were occupied in the labor of the farm, and his educational advantages were limited to the schools of that day. However, his habits of industry and robust physique were good material with which to enter upon the business of life. At the age of twenty he engaged in the dry-goods trade, which he fol- lowed for eighteen years, when he changed his avoca- tion to that of farmer, and purchased the Zechariah Whitman farm (formerly the homestead of the grand- father of W. H. Whitman, the present clerk of the courts for Plymouth County), and has successfully

He married, Aug. 12, 1840, Cementha T., daughter of Isaac and Polly (Chandler) Sturtevant. They have five children,-Mary L. (married Marcellus G. Howard in June, 1866, lives in San Mateo, Fla., and has one child, Myron Leonard), Abbie F. (married, first, James W. Lce, Dec. 31, 1865 ; he died May 18, 1868 ; second, James W. Leach, Jan. 15, 1872, and has one child, Cora May), Austin (married Cora L. Beatty, has one ehild, John L., and resides in Provi- dence, R. I.), Cora C., and Spencer, Jr. (are unmarried and reside with their parents).

During his long and useful life Mr. Leonard has been elected to many offices in the gift of his fellow- citizens, and performed the dutics with acceptance to the same. He represented Bridgewater in the State Legislature for the years 1846 and 1847. He was elected seleetman in 1855, and has served in that capac- ity and as assessor, overseer of the poor, board of health, ete., to the present time. He was appointed justice of the peace for the county of Plymouth by Governor Bullock May 21, 1867, reappointed by Governor Washburn in 1874, and by Governor Long in 1881. He took an active interest in sustaining the govern- ment in the late war by procuring enlistments, filling quotas, and caring for the soldiers and their families. He also served as United States enrolling officer during the Rebellion. He has also been probation officer for Bridgewater from the first ereation of the office to the present time. He has been a member of the board of the trustees of the Bridgewater Savings- Bank from its incorporation, and its vice president for several years. In 1883 he was elected president of that institution, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. Lloyd Parsons, which office he now holds. He has been connected with the Plymouth County Agricultural Society since 1846, having con- tinuously served as trustee, committee, or committee of arrangements.

Mr. Leonard is an attendant of the New Jerusalem Church, enjoys the confidence and estcem of his townsmen, and is well and favorably known through quite an extensive range of acquaintance. Careful and conservative, yet at the same time a believer in true progress, be has ever supported the principles of the Republican party, deeming that upon its success depended the preservation of those doctrines of civil and religious liberty handed down to us by the Pil-

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

grim fathers, and his constituents justly feel that their interests are safely and ably cared for by him.

VAN R. SWIFT.

For centuries the Swift family has been prominont in England. The celebrated Dean Swift was one of the most brilliant scholars and thinkers of his time, - that of the reign of Queen Anne. William Swift came from Bocking, County Suffolk, England, to Watertown, Mass., prior to 1632, but in 1637 re- moved to Sandwich, and from him are descended the numerous families of Swift. "They are known gen- erally as influential members of society, law-abiding citizens, prosperous, estcemed, and respected for thrift and good qualities. Men of force and character, pos- itive in their nature, pushing and successful in busi- ness, public-spirited in every enterprise to advance the interests of their towns." Of this number, possess- ing these characteristics in a large degree, is Van R. Swift, son of Isaac and Sally ( Pratt) Swift, who was born in Bridgewater March 31, 1813. The line of descent from William, the emigrant, is William1, Wil- liam2, Jireh 3, Isaac4, Jireh 5, Isaac6, Van Rensselaer.7 His father was a farmer, a quiet, unostentatious man of strict probity, valucd for his many good qualities. He did much in road-building, and helped construct the turnpike from Weymouth to New Bedford. His mother, Sally Pratt, was a lineal descendant of Joshua Pratt, who, with his wife, Bathsheba, came from Eng- land, in 1622, in the ship " Ann," the third ship that came to Plymouth. Joshua Pratt was a man of marked ability, and was often chosen to offices of trust in the gift of the town, such as messenger, con- stable, and assessor, also surveyor and sealer of weights and measures. He was born in England in 1593, moved to Dartmouth (now New Bedford) in 1650, and died in 1656. The line is Joshua1, Jo- seph2, Joseph3, Nathaniel4, Seth5, Nathaniel6 (father of Mrs. Isaac Swift). The children of Isaac and Sally (Pratt) Swift were Sally (Mrs. Henry C. Snell, deceased), Melvin (deceased), and Van Rensselaer.

Mr. Swift received an academic education, and re- mained upon the ancestral estate, occupied in the same honest calling as that of his father. He mar- ried, June 11, 1839, Eleanor T., daughter of Isaac and Mary (Chandler) Sturtevant, of Duxbury, of an old New England family. Their children attaining maturity are Myra E. (Mrs. Denzell M. King), re- sides in Foxboro'; Aroline (Mrs. A. A. Dunbar), of Brockton ; Van Rensselaer (who married Myra Irene Thomas, of Bridgewater); and Walter M.

The annals of our New England towns afford few

instances of such long-continued faithful service of a public officer as that of Van R. Swift, who has held the chairmanship of the Board of Selectmen and As- sessors of Bridgewater for thirty-three years. His election to office was unsolicited, and has proved emi- nently satisfactory, if we may judge from his succes- sive re-elections. He has, as an overseer of the poor, during his long term of service, shown rare discretion and kindness to the needy. He has for fourteen years been town treasurer and collector. He has also been active as a member of the Plymouth County Agricultural Society, having been its vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and for many years serving upon committees. He is one of the trustees of the Public Library. He held the political views of the Whig party up to the time of its death, and was elected by that party to the State Legislature of 1853 and 1854. For many years he has been a stanch Democrat, and as such represented Bridgewater in the Legislature of 1878.

Firm and decided in his opinions, he sometimes may have seemed over-tenacious in his convictions, but never has been accused of a lack of frankness or honesty of purpose. In all local affairs his action has been in the true interests of the town, and he has won the good opinion of the citizens without dis- tinction of party, and has many warm friends, who value his firm and solid character. No one in Plym- outh County to-day is better entitled to be called a representative man.

JAMES C. LEACH.

James Cushing Leach, oldest son of Alpheus Leach, a farmer of humble fortune, who lived on the margin of Nippenicket Pond, in Scotland, Bridgewater, was born June 11, 1831. His early life was uneventful, and his education was subject to the limitations of brief common-school advantages, but these were im- proved to the best of his ability. With good judg- ment his father encouraged his son to secure a trade, and upon entering his seventeenth year James com- menced serving the usual time allotted to an appren- tice, which was completed under the oversight of and with Mr. Ambrose Keith, of Bridgewater, a builder of good repute. He continued for several years as journeyman in Mr. Keith's employ, by whom the honest service of a faithful workman was appreciated. He then engaged with J. E. Carver, the cotton-gin manufacturer, with whom he found constant employ- ment for some years. Mr. Leach, possessing a strong physique, was enabled to accomplish an unusually large amount of work daily, and his diligence and

Yam R. Swift

a. Haldo Passetto

Engª y & H Ritchie

James & Beach

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HISTORY OF BRIDGEWATER.

economy soon found him the possessor of the means to erect for himself a handsome cottage on Spring Hill Avenue, which he occupied for a few years and then sold. He then built a fine residence on Pleasant Street, adjoining the Barstow estate, where he now resides. In 1870 he began the manufacture of his oil-proof paper, which is extensively used by boot and shoe manufacturers. and from small beginnings, with this specialty and his agency for the sale of leather board, he has built up a prosperous business.

Mr. Leach sustains an unblemished character as a citizen and as a business man. His activity in politics is of long standing, and he has for many years held the place of chairman of the town Republican com- mittee. For more than twenty years he has been a member of the Plymouth County Agricultural Society, having been much of this time on the committee of arrangements, and always a liberal contributor to its funds. As a public-spirited citizen, he has shown a readiness to lend his aid to all good enterprises. He has for a long period been a trustee of the savings- bank and a member of the investment committee, and also a director in the Brockton National Bank. His commission of justice of the peace by Governor Rice, in 1877, was a compliment to an eminently- deserving self-made man. Mr. Leach has encouraged ample appropriations for public improvements in town and for education, and is a trustee of the Bridgewater Academy. His connection with the Central Square Society has been marked with a liberality that is creditable to his generous heart.

He is a lineal descendant of Giles Leach, who set- tled in Bridgewater before 1665, and of Rev. James Keith, the first minister, both sturdy stocks, and rep- resented largely in the Old Colony. He married, April 29, 1860, Phebc, oldest daughter of Marcus and Hannah ( Leach) Conant.

Mr. Leach is still actively engaged in the business that has proved so successful in securing for him a comfortable fortune.

A. WALDO BASSETT.

In early English history the Bassett family has always been prominent. Hugh de Bassette was a dis- tinguished knight and captain in the Norman army of William the Conqueror in his invasion of England, 1066. During the reign of Henry III. (A.D. 1262) we find Philip Basset appointed to the highly impor- tant position of "justiciary" of the realm. Lord John Basset and Ralph Basset were also men of mark in the fierce civil contests and agitations of that period. The first American ancestor of this line was William

Bassett, who came over in the ship "Fortune" in 1621, and settled in Plymouth, then in Duxbury, and finally in Bridgewater. He was an original proprietor of Bridgewater, a large land-holder in the colony, and possessed an extensive library. He married Elizabeth Tilden, one of the family from which Samuel J. Tilden is descended. He died in 1667, leaving several chil- dren,-William, Nathaniel, Joseph 2, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Jane. William2 settled in Sandwich, and his son, William, had his grandfather's house and land in Bridgewater, by his will, which was nuncupative, and dated 1667. This grandson was a " marshal," and otherwise distinguished in the colony. Joseph 2 mar- ried Martha Hobart, of Hingham, in 1677; Sarah married Peregrine White; William3 married, first, Sarah -, second, Mary Bump, 1703; Nathan4 married Hannah Washburn, 1733; Joseph6 married Hannah Lathrop, 1776; Joseph7 married Hannah Williams, of Raynham, 1816.

A. WALDO BASSETT, son of Joseph and Hannah (Williams) Bassett, was born in Scotland, Bridge- water, July 21, 1819, and was the youngest son and second child of their three children. He attended the common schools and afterwards Bristol Academy, then turned his attention to farming, which was the avocation of his father. He now owns and occupies the homestead of his father, adjoining the original Bassett homestead, and for whom it was purchased by his father, Joseph. It was the residence of Dr. Ben- jamin Church, of Boston. We copy the following from the Bristol County Republican :

" Dr. Church was born in Newport in 1734, and was a grandson of the celebrated Col. Church of Indian fame. After graduating in Harvard, in 1754, and completing his studies in a medical college in London, he returned to Boston, and by his brilliant abilities soon rose to eminence as a physician and sur- geon. He came to Bridgewater in 1757, and built a handsome dwelling-house, as a country residence, on the farm now owned by Mr. Waldo Bassett, near Nippenicket Pond. The late Dr. Eleazar Carver was one of his students and associates. Dr. Church was then a leading and popular Whig, a compeer of Han- cock and Warren and other choice spirits of the Revo- lutionary school, a brilliant writer, orator, and poet. He was physician-general of the patriot army, and was assigned to the directorship of the general hos- pital ; also a member of the 'Provincial Congress,' in Boston, in 1774. By association with British officers he secretly became a loyalist and traitor, and finally, in 1775, was detected in attempting to send intelligence in ciphers by "'a woman' to an English officer of rank, relating to the movements of the

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patriot forces at Concord, Lexington, and Watertown. He was convicted by a court-martial, at which Gen. Washington presided, in October of that year, 'of holding criminal correspondence with the enemy.' Ile was expelled from the Congress, dismissed fromn his official positions, and remanded to Cambridge jail, and after a month to the jail in Norwich, Conn. He was released in 1776, in consequence of ill health, ' to leave the country,' and sailed in a vessel for the West Indies, which was never heard from. His widow was pensioned by the crown, and died in London in 1798. The farm in Bridgewater was sold to James Starr in 1775. The house was burned over fifty years ago. The late Joseph Bassett became the purchaser of the estate, and built upon the site a larger residence than the former, which is now owned by his son, who resides there. The noted Daniel Leonard and many others became loyalists or semi-traitors, but whether Dr. Church, of Boston or Bridgewater, was the 'first traitor' there is some doubt. There is a record of about two hundred 'loyalists,' who were in doubt or weak-kneed, during ' the times that tried men's souls,' in 1775-76."

Mr. Bassett married, June 11, 1850, Sarah J., daughter of Deacon Philip E. and Louisa P. (Leach) Hill, of an early family of Bridgewater. (Deacon Hill was for many years prominent in county and church affairs.) Their children are Ella J. (married William Savery, of Wareham), Joseph E., and Na- than A. Mr. and Mrs. Savery have two children.

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 173

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