USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > History of Rehoboth, Massachusetts; its history for 275 years, 1643-1918, in which is incorporated the vital parts of the original history of the town > Part 32
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He died Feb. 2, 1816, aged 81 years. Mary, his wife, died Aug. 29, 1830, aged 92 years. They are buried at "Burial Place Hill."
BULLOCK, WILLIAM DEXTER, civil engineer; born in Re- hoboth, Mass., April 17, 1850; son of William K. and Hannah G. (Carpenter) Bullock, descendant on both sides of family, of early settlers of Rehoboth; graduated Warren (Rhode Island) High School, 1869; A.B. Union College, 1871. Married, 1st, Annie A. Taft of Pawtucket, R.I., Oct. 15, 1879 (died October, 1899); 2d, Florence S. Clapp of Providence, R.I., Feb. 26, 1902; two children: Anna Carpenter, William Clapp. Connected with survey of Dela-
WILLIAM D. BULLOCK, Civil Engineer
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Gov. JOHN W. DAVIS
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ware, Lackawanna & Western Ry., 1871; with city engineer, Low- ell, Mass., 1871-2; on Northern Pacific Ry. surveys in Washington, 1872; in city engineer office, Providence, since 1873; chief en- gineer of State Harbor Improvement Commission, since June, 1911; member Rhode Island House of Representatives, 1886; member American Society Civil Engineers, Boston Society Civil Engineers, National Geographic Society. Republican. Protestant. Club: Congregational (Rhode Island). Home, 76 Keene Street; office, City Hall, Providence, R.I.
CARPENTER, BENONI, M.D., son of Caleb and Hannah (George) Carpenter and grandson of "Capt." Caleb, a Revolution- ary soldier, was born March 12, 1805, in Rehoboth (so Bliss and "Vital Record," but see Newman's "Rehoboth in the Past," p. 89). He graduated at Brown University 1829; M.D. at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 1832; married Adeline Everett of Wrentham, June 4, 1833; practiced medicine in Rehoboth, See- konk, North Attleborough, and after 1860 in Pawtucket, where he died Nov. 24, 1877, aged 72. He represented the town at differ- ent times in both branches of the Legislature. During the Civil War he was surgeon in one of the Rhode Island regiments.
CARPENTER, DR. DARIUS, son of Daniel Carpenter, was born in Rehoboth (Seekonk) Oct. 4, 1783; studied medicine with Dr. George A. Bolton of Seekonk. Commenced practice there in 1816; married Anna Carpenter of Seekonk, Nov. 9, 1817. Died of con- sumption July 16, 1833.
CARPENTER, DRAPER, M.D., son of Daniel and brother of Dr. Darius Carpenter, was born in Rehoboth, Dec. 30, 1791; married Caroline Bassett, Sept. 11, 1837; graduated from Brown University in 1821, and received a medical diploma from the same institution in 1824. Commenced practice in Pawtucket in 1827.
CARPENTER, ROYAL, M.D., son of Caleb and Elizabeth (Bul- lock) Carpenter, both of Rehoboth, was born in Rehoboth, May 17, 1778; married Elvira Wheeler, June 1, 1834; graduated at Brown University in 1805; studied medicine with Dr. Isaac Fowler of Rehoboth, whom he succeeded in 1808, and practiced medicine in his native town till his death, May 23, 1849. For many years he lived in the same house Dr. Fowler had occupied, known as the "Aldrich house," on the corner opposite the Otis Thompson par- sonage and about fifty rods from the "old red school-house." Here his son, DeWitt C., was born. On his gravestone the fol- lowing words are inscribed: "The tears and lamentings of the afflicted, but especially of the suffering poor who never sought his aid in vain, will be a more lasting tribute to his memory and vir- tues than any epitaph of his friends."
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CARPENTER, COL. THOMAS, also designated as Thomas Carpenter 3d, was born in Rehoboth Oct. 25, 1733. He was the son of Thomas and Mary (Barstow) Carpenter. He married Elizabeth Moulton of Rehoboth, Dec. 26, 1754. They had twelve children, several of whom died young. He lived on the Bay State Road, nearly opposite the town house, on the farm now owned by George Nichols. He was prominent in town affairs, and in the Revolutionary War commanded a regiment which included many Rehoboth men. He was on duty at White Plains, N.Y., and for several months was stationed on Rhode Island. He was a firm patriot and was opposed to Shays' Rebellion. He was a man of large size and mental capacity and highly esteemed. He became an extensive owner of real estate, and in 1784 purchased of Abra- ham and Eleazer Bliss, sons of Abraham (1697-1787), their prop- erty at "Bliss's Mill," since known as Rehoboth Village. On this privilege, where the Blisses had operated a grist-mill and saw-mill, four sons of Col. Carpenter in 1809 built the Village Factory. They were James, Thomas, Stephen and Peter. Their father is said to have given each of them a farm: to James he gave the homestead at the mill, afterwards owned by William Marvel and his descend- ants; to Thomas he gave the home on Carpenter Street, which descended to his son Christopher and his granddaughter Delight R., who married Harvey G. Reed 3d of Taunton. The property is now owned by W. B. H. Dowse. To Stephen he gave the so- called "Carpenter Homestead," located on the Bay State Road, opposite the Grange Hall, and still occupied by his descendants. To Peter he gave his own home place, where Peter's four daughters were born: Caroline, who married Dea. Asaph Carpenter; Nancy, who married Col. Cyrus M. Wheaton; Rosella, who married James Perry; and Alice, who married Bradford Horton. Col. Carpenter died April 26, 1807.
CARPENTER, WILLIAM BLANDING, A.B., son of Phanuel and Lucy (Blanding) Carpenter, was born in Rehoboth (Seekonk) Aug. 15, 1809; graduated from Brown University in 1829 with salutatory addresses; studied medicine with Dr. Usher Parsons of Providence; died Jan. 3, 1830. Was a student of great promise.
CHURCH, CAPTAIN BENJAMIN, was born at Duxbury, Mass., in 1639, and died at Little Compton, R.I., Jan. 17, 1718 (new style), in the 78th year of his age. He was the son of Richard and Elizabeth (Warren) Church. Richard was a freeman of Plym- outh Colony, and fought in the Pequot War in 1637, with the rank of sergeant. Benjamin married Miss Alice Southworth and had five sons and a daughter. He was at first a noted scout and after- wards a brave captain in King Philip's War. He was later sent on several expeditions against the eastern Indians, first as major and then as colonel. In about 1702 it seems that he held the office
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of lieut .- colonel in the 1st regiment of the Bristol Co. Militia, although there is no roster of the Militia of that period in the state archives. He died from the effects of being thrown from a horse. The inscription on his gravestone at Little Compton is as follows:
"Here lieth interred the body of the Honorable Col. Benjamin Church, Esq. who departed this life January the 17, 1717-18 in the 78th year of his age."
Church's "History of Philip's War" was published in 1816. It was dictated by the aged veteran to his son Thomas, who was his amanuensis. As he had a prominent part in the events he de- scribes, his story, although diffusive, is vivid and realistic. He had special qualifications as a fighter of Indians, being brave, alert, and familiar with their methods of warfare.
COLE, DANFORTH LUTHER, son of William, born in Reho- both, Jan. 29, 1834; married June 11, 1862, Adaline M. Tallman. Mr. Cole was by trade a carpenter and became a well-known con- tractor and builder in the city of Providence, the business being conducted under the name of Glover & Cole. The Conrad Build- ing, the Atlantic Mill, and the Dimond Block were erected by this firm. Mr. Cole was a member of Unity Lodge, I. O. of Odd Fel- lows, and highly respected for his integrity. He retired early from business and died Nov. 1, 1900, leaving two children, Martha A. and Frank W., who, with their mother, removed in 1907 to the ancestral homestead in Rehoboth.
COLE, FRANK WILLIAM, son of the former, born in Prov- idence, R.I., April 8, 1863. He chose civil-engineering and sur- veying for his profession and entered on his work with every pros- pect of success, but an attractive business career opening, he changed his plan and engaged in teaming on a large scale in the city of Providence, R.I., doing a business of $40,000 a year, with fifty horses at work. In 1907, after twenty years of business, he retired to the Cole farm in Rehoboth. Here in addition to tilling the soil he has done some excellent work in surveying and drafting. His plot of the Village Cemetery is a fine sample of his industry and skill.
In religion Mr. Cole is a Unitarian and was for some years a prominent member of the Westminster Unitarian Church in Providence. He is a member of the Nestell Lodge, A. F. and A. M.
The Cole lineage is traced as follows: Frank William, 9 Dan- forth Luther, 8 William,7 Aaron, 6 born at the Cole homestead Jan. 8, 1758; married Alse (or Elsie) Crossman of Taunton, intention March 24, 1783; died Jan. 13, 1837. Aaron,5 born March 5, 1728; married Huldah Butterworth, March 21, 1750; built the Cole
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homestead in 1757; died April, 1799. John,4 married Mercy Perry, July 7, 1722, and settled in Rehoboth near the present homestead. John,3 born March 6, 1760; married Mary Lewis; died Dec. 13, 1746. John,2 born in Yarmouth, July 15, 1644; married Ruth Snow, Dec. 10, 1660; died Jan. 6, 1725. Daniel,1 born 1614; married Ruth -; removed from Yarmouth, Mass., to Eastham in 1643, where he held the offices of constable and selectman; died Dec. 21, 1694.
COLE, WILLIAM, born in Rehoboth, Nov. 26, 1784, on the Cole homestead; son of Aaron; married Jan. 25, 1824, Alce (Alice, in Vital Record) Allen Monroe. He was a ship carpenter by trade and worked a number of years at St. John, N.B. He was a captain of infantry in the war of 1812. He and his wife were both promi- nent workers in the Irons Free-Will Baptist church at Briggs Corner in which he held the office of deacon. He died Nov. 27, 1855, aged 71. His widow, a woman of rare worth, survived him for many years and died Jan. 22, 1880, aged 86. .. .
DAVIS, ELISHA, son of John and Nancy (Peck) Davis, and brother of John W., was born Nov. 27, 1831, on the Davis home- stead in Rehoboth, where he resided until his death, April 24, 1904: He was educated in the public schools; became a practical farmer and a much respected citizen. He was for many years one of the town's selectmen, and in 1870 was elected to represent his district, Berkley, Dighton, Rehoboth and Seekonk, in the State Legislature; besides which he was justice of the peace, and was employed to settle many estates in probate.
Mr. Davis married, July 3, 1855, Etherinda Munroe of Reho- both, daughter of Burden and Lydia (Baker) Munroe, a woman of rare excellence. They had issue: Elisha Thomas, born Sept. 1, 1856; Daniel Everett, born Jan. 26, 1860; died September, 1900; Lydia B. D. (Bixby), born Oct. 1, 1864.
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DAVIS, JOHN WILLIAM, son of John 3d and Nancy (Peck) Davis, was born at the paternal homestead in South Rehoboth, March 7, 1826. He was a descendant in the seventh generation from James Davis who came to this country from Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, in 1630, and settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the family were among the early settlers in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.
Mr. Davis spent the first eighteen years of his life on the farm and attended the public schools of his neighborhood. In 1844 he left home to learn the mason's trade in Providence, devoting six years to that occupation, working at his trade in the Southern states and teaching school winters. In 1850 he opened a grain store on South Water Street in Providence, where he conducted a successful business as a grain and flour merchant for forty years,
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closing his active mercantile life in 1890. His business career was marked by vigorous energy and straightforward, honest dealing. In politics he was a Democrat and deeply interested in the affairs of the town, state and nation. He was appointed by President Cleveland in 1886, appraiser of foreign merchandise for the Rhode Island National Customs District. In 1887 he was elected Gover- nor of Rhode Island, and again in 1890. While in office he secured important reforms and the establishment of the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He represented his adopted city, Pawtucket, in the State Senate in the years 1885, 1886 and 1890. Mr. Davis, while not a fluent speaker, was a man of large, round-about sense. His convictions were strong and his expression of them open and candid. He was of the common people, and they appreciated his worth, and Rehoboth is honored by his illustrious career. He died Jan. 25, 1907.
Mr. Davis married (1) Lydia Wilbur Kenyon of Hopkinton, R.I., Sept. 18, 1855, who died April 28, 1859. One child, Annie' Elma, died in infancy. (2) Emily Potter Goff of Providence, R.I., who died July 11, 1885. Three children: Frank Ellsbree, born July 29, 1866, died Oct. 23, 1880; Annie Elizabeth, born Oct. 22, 1868; Mary Emily, born July 18, 1870, married Erving Y. Woolley, Oct. 12, 1897. (3) Martha P. Pierce of New York, Feb. 18, 1895, died in Charleston, S.C., May 10, 1902.
ELLIS, HON. JAMES, was born in Rehoboth, son of the Rev. John Ellis, pastor of the Newman Congregational Church; grad- uated at Brown University 1791. Commenced the practice of law in Rehoboth (now Seekonk); removed to Taunton and held the office of County Attorney. Married Martha Bridgham of Rehoboth, Oct. 14, 1794.
FOWLER, ISAAC, M.D., a prominent physician in Rehoboth: before and at the beginning of the nineteenth century, was born Aug. 3, 1760, probably at Northbridge (at that time Uxbridge), as several of his brothers lived there and most of the Doctor's medical students came from Worcester County. He married, March 30, 1786, Vashti, daughter of Deacon John Brown of Re- hoboth. They had twelve children. Their daughter Julia married John B. Marvel of Dighton who communicated to the writer most of the facts in this sketch. Among the young men who studied with him was Dr. Royal Carpenter, who lived in his family at the time of his death and succeeded him in his practice.
Dr. Fowler was enthusiastic in his profession. When an epi- demic of small-pox broke out in the community and no one could be found to care for the sick, and vaccination was new and. suspected, he showed his own faith in it by vaccinating one of his elder daughters and taking her to the hospital to care for his patients. His medicine chest with its multitude of little drawers
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was a miniature drug-shop. Dr. Fowler was an active Free Mason and master of a lodge at the time of his death. The fraternity had a memorial printed on white satin, of which the following is a copy: "Sacred to the Memory of Dr. Isaac Fowler Who died March 8th, A. D. 1808 In the 49th year of his age. He was eminent in his profession And highly esteemed For his humanity and benevolence."
The manner of his death was peculiar. One day Cromwell Bliss, whose horse was young and spirited, was going to a funeral and asked Dr. Fowler to exchange horses with him for the day, which he did. (In those days people usually rode on horseback.) Coming home late in the afternoon from a visit near Oak Swamp, he overtook Mr. Bliss at the top of a hill not far from the Galen Nichols place, and invited him to ride behind. As his feet touched the horse's sides, he became frightened and ran down the hill. Mr. Bliss slipped off and soon the Doctor was thrown, striking on his head and fracturing his skull. A trepanning operation was performed, but without success, and he died on the third day, leaving a widow and twelve children. Mrs. Fowler was a very amiable and capable woman and brought up her numerous family in a most creditable manner. Dr. Fowler died March 8, 1808, in his forty-eighth year (Aug. 3, 1760-March 8, 1808). Mrs. Fowler died April 18, 1832, in her sixty-sixth year.
FOWLER, SAMUEL METCALF, son of Dr. Isaac and Vashti (Brown) Fowler, was born in Rehoboth, Sept. 13, 1805, one of twelve children. His education was limited. He learned the printer's trade in Providence and early evinced special talent for newspaper work, putting his thoughts directly into type. Bliss, who compares his style to that of Junius, says of him: "His fancy was sprightly and fertile, his thoughts luminous, and his language forcible and appropriate." Although his sarcasm was often keen and bitter, he had many friends who recognized his brilliant gifts. He was for several years editor and proprietor of the Pawtucket Chronicle, "which he conducted with great ability and spirit." He died of consumption, Aug. 26, 1832, in his twenty-eighth year.
FROST, WALTER BLISS, now of Providence, but formerly of Rehoboth, is a direct descendant of two old colonial families. Elder Edmund Frost settled in Cambridge in 1635. Thomas Bliss settled in Weymouth, Mass., in 1636, and became one of the founders of Rehoboth in 1643. Walter Bliss Frost is doubly descended from this Bliss pioneer, his grandfather, George Bliss,
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son of Dr. James Bliss, having married Lois, the daughter of Dea- con Asahel Bliss. Mr. Frost's mother, Lois Maria Bliss, as a school teacher in Rhode Island, met and married William Frede- rick Frost, son of William R. Frost, a prominent manufacturing jeweler of Pawtucket.
Walter Bliss Frost was the youngest of four children. He was born in Providence, Aug. 24, 1852. His parents died during his infancy, and he was reared to manhood on the farm of his grand- father, George Bliss, in Rehoboth. At the age of twenty-two he entered school at the East Greenwich, R.I., Academy. He pre- pared for college in two years, and passed the entrance examina- tions for Brown University in the class of 1880. That summer he engaged as a reporter with the Providence Evening Press, and being twenty-four years old he concluded not to go to college. He re- mained with the Providence Press Co. for nine years, serving in all positions from reporter to night editor, and managing editor of the Sunday edition.
In October, 1885, he engaged as editor of The Manufacturing Jeweler, a trade paper published in Providence for the jewelry trade, and has continued in that position until now (1918). In 1893 he became proprietor of the paper, which is an important weekly publication of national and international scope.
He has been connected as a member and officer with many trade clubs and associations, including the Rhode Island Press Club, the New England Trade Press Association, the National Editorial Association, and others. He has been on the Providence School Committee continuously since 1905, and is chairman of the com- mittee on high schools and a member of the executive committee.
When a boy he joined Annawan Lodge of Good Templars, which met at the Village Church in Rehoboth. Later in life he rejoined the order in Providence, and soon rose to the head of the Rhode Island Grand Lodge. In 1902 he was one of the American delegates to the international convention of the order in Sweden. On that same visit he witnessed the coronation procession in Lon- don on the occasion of the crowning of King Edward VII.
Mr. Frost has been an extensive traveler in this country, as well as in Canada and Mexico. He has owned several racing yachts, and is a member and ex-president of the Washington Park Yacht Club. He owns the fast "Medric II" which has won scores of cups and prizes. He is also a member of the Turk's Head Club, the Economic Club, and the Town Criers.
On August 13, 1876, Mr. Frost married Alice A. Barber of Windsorville, Conn., and they have two sons, Walter Louis Frost, a lawyer in Providence, and Harry Barber Frost, who is associated with his father in business.
Walter B. Frost's elder brother, Henry Frederick, enlisted in a New York regiment in 1861, at the age of sixteen, died in Virginia
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on Feb. 29, 1864, and is buried in the Village Cemetery at Re- hoboth.
GARDNER, JOHNSON, M.D., son of James and Susannah Gardner, was born in Rehoboth, Nov. 22, 1799. His course at Brown University was shortened by ill health. He studied med- icine with Dr. Lewis Wheaton of Providence and received the degree of M.D. at Brown University in 1826; commenced practice in Pawtucket in the same year; married, June 8, 1829, Phebe Law- ton Sisson, only child of Aaron Sisson of Seekonk.
GOFF, CHARLES BRADFORD, was a direct descendant from Robert Goff who came from England and settled in Dighton, Mass., early in the eighteenth century. The line of descent is: Robert,1 Enoch,2 born in 1740, became a preacher and died March 10, 1810, aged 80 years; Shubael,3 1761-1833; Shubael, 4 born March 4, 1783; known as "Captain Shubael"; married Sally Briggs Goff of Rehoboth and lived many years on the "min- isterial place," where they brought up fifteen children, thirteen of whom lived to maturity. He died Oct. 14, 1854, and his wife "Aunt Sally" died Nov. 4, 1855. Shubael5 was born in Rehoboth, Aug. 31, 1808; married Elizabeth Martin Ripley in 1833; moved to Fall River in 1836. Charles Bradford,6 the subject of our sketch and son of Shubael,5 was born March 4, 1834, in Rehoboth.
He graduated from Brown University in 1856, the valedictorian of his class. He married, Aug. 26, 1857, Almira J. Bean, in Prov- idence, R.I. Five children were born to them, of whom two with their mother survive: Robert Remington, a teacher in the Fall River High School where his father taught, and Mrs. Jennie Mar- tin, wife of Frederick R. Martin of Providence. Mr. Goff (of Phi Beta Kappa rank) received from his alma mater the degree of Ph.D. He was a trustee of Brown for ten years before his death. For thirty-five years he was principal of the classical department in the "English and Classical School" in Providence, where more than two thousand pupils came under his influence. He was joined by William A. Mory in 1864, and the school came to be popularly known as "The Mory and Goff School." Mr. Mory says of his colleague: "His teaching was always thorough and correct and his discipline easy and efficient."
Mr. Goff died Dec. 1, 1898. No better epitaph could be written for him than this: "Charles Bradford Goff, Teacher."
GOFF, DARIUS, a pioneer in the establishment of new and im- portant manufacturing industries in this country, was born in Rehoboth, May 10, 1809. He was the son of Lieut. Richard and Mehitabel (Bullock) Goff. His father was a manufacturer and in 1790 built a fulling and cloth-dressing mill on the east branch of Palmer's River, furnishing it with the best of machinery. His
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mother was a daughter of Hon. Stephen Bullock. His grand- father was Joseph Goff, and his great-grandfather, Richard, who came from Barrington. The children of Lieut. Richard and Mehitabel Goff were: Richard, Otis, Horatio, Patience, Nelson, Darius and Mary B.
Darius Goff was educated at home and in the common schools. In 1809 the Union Manufacturing Company had been formed at Rehoboth Village, in which the elder Goff was a partner whose task was to color the yarns to be made into cloth. At an early age Darius entered his father's factory and assisted him in the coloring department until 1826, when he served six years as clerk in the grocery business at Fall River and Providence. Returning to Rehoboth in 1835-6, he and his brother Nelson bought the Union Cotton Mill for $4,000, and began to manufacture cotton batting. Here they invented the apron process by which wadding could be made in an endless sheet or roll. Mr. Goff also became interested in the cotton waste business, purchasing the waste of the Lonsdale Cotton Company and continuing the contract for many years. In 1846 he formed a partnership with George Lawton of Waltham and commenced dealing in waste paper stock on Gray's wharf in Boston. About this time Mr. Goff moved to Pawtucket. In 1847 he erected a large wadding-mill near the railroad station and made wadding in connection with the paper stock business in Boston. In 1859 Goff & Lawton dissolved, the latter taking the Boston business. Mr. Goff then united with Cranston & Brownell of Providence, and carried on a general business in paper stock and wadding. In 1870 the Union Wadding Company was formed and its output increased enormously. The plant covers many acres, and the capital stock is said to be two and one-half million dollars, the largest wadding plant in the world, with Lyman B. Goff, treasurer.1
In 1861 Mr. Goff with his associates commenced the manufac- ture of worsted braids, then a new industry in this country. After a hard struggle with adverse conditions, the business, through pro- tective legislation, became an immense and flourishing branch of industry, and finally, under the name of D. Goff & Sons, attained world-wide fame, verifying the familiar ad. of early days:
"Goff's Braid Is the Best Made."
Another striking achievement of Mr. Goff was the founding of the mohair plush industry in this country. Up to 1882 no plush goods such as are used in upholstering car-seats, etc., were made in America. Mr. Goff determined to undertake their manufacture, and sent a skilled mechanic to France and Germany to learn what. he could about the business, and to buy needed machinery. But
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