History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 230

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 230

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The die bears these inseriptions :

[South Face.] Erected by the town.

1870. Capt. Edwin Humphrey. Lieut. Nathaniel French, Jr.

Sergt. Henry C. French. Peter Ourisb. Corp. Jacob Gilkey Cushing.

" W. Irving Stoddar.

Nelson F. Corthell.

William Breen.

Privates.

Daniel L. Beal.

William H. H. Beal.

William B. Cushing.

James T. Churchill.

Charles E. French.

Jolın W. Gardner. Jolın Q. Ilersey. Benjamin Liucoln. William J. Stookwell. Demoriek Stoddor.

Albert Wilder.

Ilonor to thio Bravo. [East faco.]

Rest Through Liberty. Major Benjamin C. Lincoln. Liont. Frnnois Thomas. Elijah B. Gill, Jr. Sorgt. Louvitt Lincoln.

PrivateR. ITorneo D. Burr. Thomas Churchill. Andrew J. Damon.

Georgo Lincoln, Jr.

Adolph Wagner.

The. T. Bonne

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HISTORY OF HINGHAM.

William Dunbar, Jr. James Fitzgerald. Michael Fee.

Richard J. Farrell.

Gardner Jones. Henry B. Livingstone. John S. Neal. Edward A. F. Spear.

Dennis Scully. Joseph Simmons. Thomas Tinsley. Frank H. Tilton.

[North face.] Ever Faithful.

Lieut. George W. Bibby. Sergt. James M. Haskell.

William H. Jones, Jr.

Charles S. Meade.

Michael Thompson.

Corp. Jeremiah J. Corcoran.

Albert S. Haynes.

66 Henry F. Miller.

Prirates.

George D. Gardner. Wallace Humphrey. William H. Jones.

Sewall Pugsley.

Samuel Spencer.

Horace L. Studley.

Thomas Sprague.

Alvin Tower. Charles E. Wilder.

Horatio P. Willard.

Don Pedro Wilson.

[West Face.]

For Our Country.

Corp. Charles W. Blossom. " Hiram W. Henderson.

Charles D. Kilburn.

Privates.

James Ballentine.

John B. Crease.

Perez F. Fearing.

Daniel D. Hersey.

Charles H. Marsh.

Daniel Murphy. John L. Manuel.

Conrad P. Yaeger.

Hosea O. Barnes.

Samnel M. Lincoln.

Hollis Hersey.

Hirat Newcomb. Caleb Gill.

Act. Mas. Com. Thomas Andrews.

Ensign Edward W. Halero. Seaman George H. Merritt.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

THOMAS TRACY BOUVÉ.

Thomas Tracy Bouvé was born in Boston on the 14th of January, 1815. He was placed in a private school in early childhood, where reading and spelling were taught, and transferred from it to a public school (the Eliot) at the age of seven. Reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and grammar were the studies pursued, and in these he became suffi- ciently proficient to enable him to receive the Frank- lin medal when twelve years of age, at which time he graduated, and entered the English high school, then in Pinckney Street.

School-day life at that period was very different from what it is at the present time. There were then at the Eliot several hundred boys between the ages of seven and fourteen, and all placed in two large rooms, each of which had class divisions rising from either side of a central passage between them. One room, the lowest, was devoted to writing and arithmetic, the other, over the first, to grammar, geography, and reading. Each department was in charge of a head master, and of an assistant, who was called the usher. A very considerable portion of the time of some of the teachers was occupied in the punishment of offenders, and the noise of the rattan, as blows were struck upon the hands held out to receive them, daily shocked the ears and hearts of those who sympa- thized with the victims of cruelty, while the heroism manifested by many of the sufferers in bearing the blows without a cry, when each descent of the rod made a blue mark across the hand or wrist, cannot be forgotten.

The boys were then all Americans with possibly a very few exceptions. A considerable number of the older ones, or such as were members of the higher classes, were detailed as a fire-brigade; and upon a public alarm of fire they rushed from the school, taking with them each a fire-bucket from many which hung in the halls of the building, and ran to the scene of conflagration. Here the boys were placed in lines to pass water in their buckets from neighboring pumps to the hand-engines playing upon the fire. Our sub- ject was one of the number who thus at the age of twelve acted as a fireman.

The stay of the young boy at the English high school was but brief. The reduced circumstances of his father, resulting from severe and prolonged illness, led to its being thought best that the lad should leave school and enter a store for the sake of the small salary that he might earn. He accordingly entered a

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

dry-goods store and remained there until the failure of his employer, two years afterwards. At fifteen years of age he entered the employment of Lyman & Ralston, who were the proprietors of extensive iron- works on the mill dam property, and where it is bc- lieved the first locomotive-engine made in Massachu- setts was built. This business being given up after two or three years, he became a clerk in the employ of several corporations of which George W. Lyman was treasurer, and with him, and afterwards with the well-known and highly-respected Patrick T. Jackson, who was treasurer of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, passed several years with great satisfaction to himself, and with the respect and regard of those whom he served.

While thus engaged and even from the time of leaving school, feeling keenly the want of a liberal education, he ever sought to make up for this defi- ciency by study, and having early imbibed a love for scientific investigation, was led to read much relating to chemistry, mineralogy, and geology. In order to advance in such and kindred studies, he soon found that it would be advantageous to become acquainted with the Latin and French languages, and accordingly gave much time to their acquisition.

When about twenty-five years of age, he became a partner in the well-known commission iron house of Curtis, Leavens & Co., afterwards Curtis, Bouvé & Co. This house was prosperous, and he remained a partner in it for about thirty years, when being in- vited by the government of the Glendon Iron Company to become its treasurer, he did so, and has since conducted its affairs successfully, and, it is believed, to the satisfaction of all interested. He is at the present time, also, a director in one of the oldest of the national banks in Boston, as well as in several manufacturing corporations in this and other States.

Outside of his business occupations, Mr. Bouvé's work has been very largely in a scientific direction. Soon after the formation of the Boston Society of Natural History he became a member, and in 1841 was elected to the office of cabinet-keeper. In 1842 he became curator of geology, and in 1863 curator of geology and paleontology, which office he held until 1867. He was also curator of mineralogy from 1865 to 1870. At this date committees of the several departments of the museum were formed in place of curatorships, and he has served upon some of these up to the present time. From 1861 to 1865 he held the office of treasurer of the society, and took an active part in raising the funds necessary in the erection and completion of the museum building on Berkeley Street. In 1866 he became second vice-

president, which position he held until 1870, when he was elected president of the society, succeeding the celebrated naturalist, Dr. Jeffries Wyman, whose health compelled his withdrawal from the office. He retained this position for ten years, resigning in 1880, and receiving at this time marked testimonials of great respect and regard from the members.

Mr. Bouvé is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, etc. In 1850 he received the honorary degree of A.M. from Harvard University.

The published contributions of Mr. Bouvé are not numerous, and may mostly be found in the " Pro- ceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History." In 1880, at the request of that society, he wrote for its memoirs a history of the society from its forma- tion, in 1830, and which was also published in a separate volume. He has passed the leisure hours of the past year or two in studying accurately the geology and botany of Hingham, intending to contribute the result of his labors toward the contemplated work on the history of the town.

Although holding active membership in various charitable societies, Mr. Bouvé's principal working interest has been in that of the Temporary Home for the Destitute. In the infancy of this institution, when it was lacking in means sufficient for its work, lie served as treasurer, and took an active part in bringing it up to what it is,-one of the best among the charitable institutions of the city. He afterwards became its president, holding the position for many years, and only relinquishing it from inability to attend to all the duties incumbent upon him in the several positions in which he was placed. He is yet a member of the institution, and much interested in the proccedings.

Mr. Bouvé has always felt a strong interest in pub- lic affairs, although his tastes have never led him to take any active part in political action. He never has held, or desired to hold, any public office. He was an early abolitionist and a member of the Vigi- lance Committee of Boston, formed to aid runaway slaves, and he subscribed to the fund raised for the purpose of providing arms and supplies for the carly settlers of Kansas, to enable them to defend tliem- selves from the murderous attacks of the slave power, then attempting to establish slavery upon that free soil. He was a member of the Frec Soil party from its formation, and subsequently of the Republican party, always earnestly advocating its principles. When the war of the Rebellion opened he strongly

1103

HISTORY OF HINGHAM.

felt that it should be what it finally became,-a war of emancipation, and cheerfully saw his eldest son engaged in the military service of his country as soon as his age permitted him to enter it.

Mr. Bouvé was married, at the age of twenty-four, to Miss Emily G. Lincoln, of Hingham. They have had seven children, of whom five survive.

EBED L. RIPLEY.

Ebed L. Ripley is a representative of one of Hing- ham's oldest families. He is a lineal descendant of wholesale clothiers of Boston. Mr. Ripley is a William Ripley, who came from Hingham, Norfolk County, England, in ship " Diligent," 1638, with his wife, two sons and two daughters, and settled in Hingham, Mass., on a lot of land which was granted him on the " Main Street, Lower Plain." This land has been in the possession of his descendants to the present time, and the handsome residence of Mr. Ebed L. Ripley now stands on what is thought to be the identical site of the cottage of his great ancestor, nearly two centuries and a half ago. William Ripley died July, 1656. John2, his eldest son, married Elizabeth. daughter of Rev. Peter Hobart, who was the first minister in Hingham. They had six sons and one daughter, of whom Peter3 was fifth. He was born Oct. 21, 1668, married Sarah Lazell, April 27, 1693, and had three sons and three daughters. He died April 22, 1742. Peter4, his second child and eldest son, was born Oct. 25, 1695. He married Silence Lincoln, Jan. 5, 1721. They had three sons and five daughters. He died April, 1765. Nehe- miah,5 his son, was born April 2, 1727, married Lydia Hobart, June 4, 1752; to them were born five sons and two daughters. He died Aug. 10, 1769. His eldest son bore his name. Nehemiah6 was born April 18, 1755, married Priscilla Lincoln, Feb. 24, 1780. They had nine children, six sons and three daughters. Mr. Ripley died March 5, 1829. Eled", his youngest son, was born Nov. 15, 1793 ; he mar- ried Leah Jones, Nov. 23, 1820. Their children were Mary Burr, married John K. Corthell ; Joan Jones, also married John K. Corthell; and Ebed Lincoln Ripley, whose portrait accompanies this sketch. Ebed L. was born May 23, 1831, was educated at the common schools of his native town,

and in 1848 went to Boston as clerk in the wholesale clothing-store of Fearing & Whitney. He remained with them till JJan. 1, 1855, when he was admitted as · a partner, and the firm became Fearing, Whitney & Co. July 1, 1855, the firm was dissolved by the death of Mr. Whitney, and a new firm was formed, styled Fearing, Rhodes & Ripley. July 1, 1858, Mr. Fearing retired, and the firm became Rhodes & Ripley, and has remained the same, or Rhodes, Ripley & Co., to date. They have been very success- ful in business, and now rank among the leading

thorough business man, as is evidenced by his rise from an ordinary clerkship to the proprietorship of the establishment. He is a worthy representative of that numerous class of men in New England whom we call " self-made." His geniality of disposition and whole- souled heartiness of manner not only makes those who are his acquaintances his friends, but even the stranger is made at once to feel at home in his pres- ence. The same spirit of enterprise which has . brought to him success in his business affairs he ex- hibits in all matters pertaining to the welfare and public improvement of his native town. It was largely, if not chiefly, through his persistent and un- flagging efforts that Accord Pond water was intro- duced in 1880 into Hingham and Hull, and his services in this regard were acknowledged by his being chosen president of the Hingham Water Com- pany, which position he has held to the present time. The same year (1880) he was chosen president of the Hingham Agricultural and Horticultural Society, and has been re-elected every year since. He is a trustee of the Public Library in his town, and an earnest advocate of liberal education and progressive thought. He is a member of the First Unitarian Parish, and active in the management of its affairs. He has sup- ported the Republican party since its organization, and in 1884 was chosen its delegate from the Second Congressional District of Massachusetts to the Na- tional Republican Convention at Chicago. He mar- ried, Dec. 23, 1856, Henrietta, daughter of Seth S. Hersey ; she died Aug. 14, 1868. He married as his second wife Elizabeth H. M. Hersey, daughter of Henry Hersey, Jan. 3, 1871, by whom he has six children, three boys and three girls.

HISTORY OF PLYMPTON.

BY WILLIAM T. DAVIS.

THE town of Plympton was originally included within the limits of Plymouth. The history of its territory therefore is as ancient as that of Plymouth itself. When incorporated it included the whole of the town of Carver and parts of Halifax and King- ston, comprising in all thirty-six thousand five hun- dred and six acres. The rich meadow lands and heavily-wooded swamps, with which this territory abounded, early attracted the first settlers, who sought grants from the Colony Court of farms to re- main contiguous to their dwellings in Plymouth. As early as 1640 the records show that the grants began to be made, and the meadows of Colebrook, of Laken- ham, and Colchester, as they were called, were divided among the settlers according to their respective appli- cation and wants. At a later period, Winnatuxet, or the New-Found Meadows, began to be granted to per- sons whose lineal descendants still reside within the borders of Plympton. The Colebrook and Lakenham Meadows, within the present bounds of Carver, in- cluded the South Meadows and the Wenham region respectively. The former name was probably either corrupted from Coldbrook, or derived from James Cole, who had an carly grant in that neighborhood. The latter name was suggested by the numerous ponds or lakes within the territory to which it was applied, the termination " ham" meaning merely " borough," " district," or " town" or " village." The Colchester and Winnatuxet Meadows, within the present limits of Plympton, derived their names from Colchester Brook, one of the tributaries of Jones River, and Win- natuxet River, which rises in Carver, and flowing through Plympton and Halifax finally emptics into Taunton River. Colchester again was a name brought from England, while Winnatuxet was the Indian name of the country along the borders of the stream.

The first grant of land within the ancient bounds of Plympton was made to John Jenny, on the 2d of April, 1638, by the Court of Assistants. On that day it was ordered that " all the residue of the lands reserved for the mill, whereof the five or six acres aforesaid is a

part, is with Mr. Jenny's consent granted to Gabriell Fallowell, and Mr. Jenny hath other lands granted him in lieu thereof at Lakenham." On the 16th of September, 1641, at the General Court, " Mr. Jenny is granted as much more upland as will make his farm at Lakenham two hundred acres, and when that is used then to have more added to it, in lieu of some land he hath yielded up at the town to Gabriell Fal- lowell." At the same date James Cole was granted " fifty acres of upland at Lakenham, and some mead- ows to be laid to it upon view." On the 2d of No- vember, 1640, " the several persons following are granted meadowing in the North Meadow, by Jones River : to Mr. John Done twelve acres, to Mr. Thomas Willet twelve acres, to John Reynor ten acres, to Mr. Charles Chancey ten acres, to Mr. Stephen Hopkins twelve acres, to Nathaniel Souther seven acres, to Phineas Pratt six acres, to Mr. Wil- liam Paddy ten acres." This meadow bordered the upper waters of Jones River, and was chiefly within the original limits of Plympton. At the same session of the court " the several persons following are granted meadowing in the South Meadows towards Agawam -Colebrook Meadow : to Edward Bangs ten acres, to Manasseth Kempton'ten acres, to Jonas Cooke ten acres, to Andrew Ring five acres, to Nicholas Snow ten acres, to John Morton five acres, to Ephraim Morton five acres, to Joshua Pratt five acres, to Mr. Robert Hicks ten acres, to Samuel Hicks five acres, to Na- thaniel Morton six acres, to John Faunce six acres, to John Jenkins six acres, to Mr. Ralph Smith eight acres, to Thomas Pope five acres, to Richard Higgins six acres, to John Smaley five acres, to Anthony Snow five acres." And again, at the same court, " the West Meadow, called Lakenham, by Dotey's, was granted to Richard Sparrow five acres, to Edward Dotey six acres with upland, to Bridget Fuller ten acres with upland, to Mr. Jolin Atwood eight acres with upland, and to James Hurst the meadows that Goodman Cooke should have had."

Few of the above persons, however, bccanie settlers

1104

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HISTORY OF PLYMPTON.

ou the lands granted to them, and most, either sold them or lost them under the order of the Colony Court that non-residents should surrender their grants when leaving the town of Plymouth, in which the granted lands were situated. A few other grants of a similar character were made by the court in the above territory. but when permanent settlers sought lands they received their titles from the town of Plymouth by grants in open town-meeting, and their grants are recorded in the town books. Thus in 1660 the town granted fifty acres to Thomas Cushman near the Winnatuset Meadows. In 1662 twenty acres were granted to John Rickard and twenty to James Cole, Jr .. on the north side of Lakenham ; thirty acres to John Harmon, at or near Winnatnxet ; and a parcel of land was granted to John Dunham at Swan Hole. Other grants were made to Jonathan Shaw, John Barrows, Richard Cooper, Adam Wright, Stephen Bryant, Samuel Sturtevant, Samuel King, Ephraim Tinkham. John Bradford, Richard Wright, George Bonum, John Barnes, Giles Rickard, Edward Dotey, and William Harlow, and among these names may be found the names of those who may be con- sidered the first settlers of Plympton.

In 1695 the number of families settled in the southwestern section of Plymouth had increased to about forty-five, and the difficulty experienced in attending public worship had become so serious that a petition was sent to the General Court for the in- corporation of a new precinct. The only action taken by the town of Plymouth, as shown by the records, is disclosed by the following entry : " At a town-meeting held at Plymouth on the 15th of July, 1695, upon notice given at said meeting that Mr. John Wadsworth and Mr. Samuel Sprague were to come to run a dividing line between said town and our remote inhabitants on the westernmost part of said town, the town made choice of Maj. Bradford, Lieut. John Bradford, Ephraim Martin, John Doty, and James Warren to meet these gentlemen and to request them not to run any line in our township until the General Court are more thoroughly in- formed of our circumstances with reference to our lands in that part of our township ; but if those gen- tlemen see cause still to go on in running said line, then to oppose them in their proceeding thereon." The result, however, was that the prayer of the petitioners was granted, and the following entry ap- pears in the records of the General Court of the province under date of Tuesday, Nov. 20, 1695 :

"Upon perusal of the report of a committee of this court, appointed to view the situation of the remote inhabitants of the westerly part of the town of Plymouth, with the number of

families there residing, and to propose a line in order to making a division between them and the body of said town for set- ting up the worship of God in said precinct, and having con- sidered of what was offered by the agents for the said town of Plymouth. The court do approve and allow of the divis- ional line stated by the said committee, viz., extending from Jones River Pond, so called, unto Jaduthan Robbins, his pres- ent dwelling, with this variation only so as to leave out of the said line the dwellings of the said Robbins, Benajah Pratt, John Pratt, and Eleazer Dunham, to make a distinct precinct for setting up the worship of God and support of a learned and orthodox ministry amongst themselves, being remote from the present place of public worship in said town, and do grant and order that all the inhabitants, except as aforesaid, that are or shall hereafter settle within the said line, and their lands and estates lying there, shall stand charged towards the settlement and support of such a ministry in manner as the law relating to the maintenance and support of ministers doth direct and provide, and to he assessed thereto hy two or more assessors, as shall from time to time be elected and appointed by the major part of said inhabitants for that purpose, which said inhahi- tants may also nominate and appoint a collector to gather and pay in the same as by order, under the hands of such assessors, shall be directed, provided, nevertheless, that all lands lying within the said precinct helonging to other persons in said town not inhabiting there shall be free from all such assess- ments, and not stand charged towards the support of the min- istry in said place, nor shall auy lands belonging to any of said inhabitants lying in parts of the town he charged towards the support of the ministry at the town, and that all the wood and timber heing or growing within the said precinct shall remain and continue to the use of the commoners or proprietors as formerly, and do further order that wherein, and so soon as the inhabitants of said precinct shall have procured a learned and orthodox minister to preach the word of God among them, they shall be freed and exempt from paying towards the sup- port of the ministry at the town, and for so long time as they shall enjoy and have such a minister continued with them."

After the incorporation of the new precinct called the Western Precinct of Plymouth, David Bosworth was chosen clerk, and Isaac Cushman was engaged to - supply the pulpit. After preaching three years, Mr. Cushman was ordained, Oct. 27, 1698, and probably be- fore that time a meeting-house was built. This house stood on the southerly end of the green opposite to the old lane, which leads east by the house of Wil- liam S. Soule, and, in 1714, when a new meeting- house was built, it was sold to Benjamin Soule and converted into a barn after its removal to his farm. It had no steeple, and had a gable on each side with valleys running from the centre of the roof to each corner. Mr. Cushman, the first minister at Plymp- ton, was the son of Elder Thomas Cushman, of Plymouth, and was born in 1648. He married Re- becca, daughter of Giles Rickard, in 1675, and died on the 21st of October, 1732. He continued his ministry until his death, and was buried in the old Plympton burial-ground, where his grave-stone still stands. His house stood on the high ground, near the easterly end of a small piece of fresh meadow, the

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

water from which runs across the road about forty rods north of the burial-ground. The first recorded precinct meeting was held in January, 1701.

In 1701-2 an important action was taken by the town of Plymouth, of which Plympton was then a part, with regard to the common lands within the town. In that year a list of proprietors or freemen within the town was prepared, two hundred and one in number. To each of these proprietors a thirty- acre lot was granted, and in the following year it was voted that all the remaining ungranted lands lying about the village, within a tract of a mile and a half square, should be held by the town in its municipal capacity. All the common lands ungranted outside of this tract were surrendered to the two hundred and one proprietors as an association of individuals dis- tinct from the town. In December, 1704, the pro- prietors organized and chose Thomas Faunce their clerk. Proprietors' books were opened, in which rec- ords of meetings and grants of land were kept as long as any ungranted lands remained. Rossiter Cotton, the last clerk, was chosen March 31, 1790, and during his incumbency, in the early part of this cen- tury, the books were closed. These records are con- tained in two volumes, which are deposited in the town house at Plymouth. Copies of these two vol- umes, bound in one, are deposited in the office of the register of deeds for Plymouth County. In January, 1704-5, the association granted to cach member a twenty-acre lot, and soon after a sixty-acre lot. In 1703 they granted to certain individuals, for the pur- pose of a sheep-pasture, a tract of land three miles square, the centre of which was at the head of Cobb's meadow. The southeasterly boundary of this tract was a little north of the South Mcadow road, and the northwest within the limits of the present towns of Plympton and Kingston. The sheep-pasture was afterwards abandoned, and in the mean time Plymp- ton and Kingston having been incorporated, a claim of joint ownership of the land was made by these towns. A long and spirited controversy ensued, which resulted in the establishment of the claim of Plymouth to the sole ownership, and from time to time tracts of land were sold until the whole was disposed of.

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 230

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