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 33
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1 In 1917 the Company was assessed on its real estate, $498,420; personal, $400,000.
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the agent could do nothing, as the work in the factories was car- ried on with the utmost secrecy. Mr. Goff being thus thrown back upon his own inventive resources, pushed forward a series of ex- periments behind closed doors for five years, when behold! he had a loom which would produce a plush fabric as fine as any in the world. In the end this industry proved not only profitable but added to the prestige of American manufactures.
Another textile industry instituted by Mr. Goff in connection with Mr. Joseph Ott was the Royal Weaving Company, whose factory is in Central Falls. This company produces cloth for coat- linings of fine, imported yarn.
Mr. Goff was not only a wise and progressive manufacturer but an honored citizen. He was a director of several banks and com- panies and in 1871 was elected State Senator. He was a promi- nent member of the Congregational Church and gave largely for its support. When in 1884 Mr. Goff was asked by some friends in Rehoboth to aid them in erecting a building for an antiquarian room, library, school, and hall, he responded liberally, giving for that purpose the Goff homestead lot where he was born and aiding the enterprise to the extent of $10,000, which more than dupli- cated the amount given by the people of the town, and so the first Goff Memorial was built, and on Mr. Goff's seventy-seventh birthday, May 10, 1886, was dedicated.
Mr. Goff, having retained the use of his strong faculties in a remarkable degree to the last, died at his home in Pawtucket, April 14, 1891, closing a career of great usefulness and honor. The National Association of Wool Manufacturers, of which he was a member, paid earnest tribute to him for his "pre-eminent services in the diversification and extension of the wool manufac- ture, to his high character as a man, his large public spirit, his conscientious discharge of every obligation to society, and the earnest devotion to principle by which his life and actions were governed."
Mr. Goff was twice married, (1) to Sarah Lee, a daughter of Israel Lee of Dighton, and (2) to Harriet Lee, her sister, by whom he had three children, - Darius L., Lyman B., and Sarah C., who married Thomas Sedgwick Steele of Hartford, Conn.
GOFF, ELLERY L., town clerk, son of George L. of Rehoboth and Harriet N. Reed of Taunton, was born in Taunton, April 17, 1858, his parents soon after moving to Rehoboth, where he was brought up. For his occupation, Mr. Goff has combined insurance with work on the farm. He served in the Massachusetts Legis- lature in 1910-11; was chosen secretary of the Rehoboth Anti- quarian Society, March 12, 1902; was appointed town clerk, April 22, 1893, in which office he has served till the present time. He married Miss Mary E. Tyrell, Feb. 25, 1886. They have one daughter, Elsie, born July 12, 1888, who married Enoch A. Car-
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penter, Feb. 2, 1909. Of these a son, Ellery Winsor Carpenter, was born March 29, 1910.
GOFF, GEORGE HIRAM, was the son of Cromwell and Ruth (Goff) Goff, and grandson of Abel Goff. He was born on the home place, Perryville Road, Sept. 27, 1830; married April 2, 1854, Hannah (Cook) Lilley of Providence, R.I. She was born Dec. 6, 1834, and died Dec. 6, 1905. He spent his life in Rehoboth with the exception of three years in Mansfield, Mass., and two years in Davenport, Iowa. He was a prosperous farmer, constantly im- proving his land and premises. He gave generously to the needy, but without ostentation. He had three children:
Arthur Cromwell, born in Rehoboth, Sept. 8, 1859; married Carrie F. Goff, Aug. 13, 1882. Two children: Lizzie May and Har- old Arthur.
George Dwyer, born in Davenport, Iowa, Jan. 28, 1864; married (1) Lizzie M. Thompson, Nov. 18, 1886, who died April 24, 1894; (2) Julia A. French of Pawtucket. Three children: Marion French, George Dana, and Doris R. died July 4, 1906. Lizzie Mason, born April 17, 1874, and died Sept. 7, 1877.
Mr. Goff died Nov. 30, 1900.
GOFF, HON. GEORGE NELSON, a descendant from Thomas Goff, the first Deputy-Governor of Massachusetts, sworn into office with Governor Craddock, March 23, 1628. The first Goff to be made a freeman by the General Court was one John, May 18, 1631. But the first Goff mentioned in the Vital Record of Rehoboth was Richard, who married Martha Toogood, both of Swansea,1 Mass., July 19, 1722. Their son Joseph, born Dec. 12, 1725, married Patience Thurber, October, 1748. They resided on the Thurber farm, now known as the Goff homestead, a well- known hostelry in Revolutionary days, where the Goff Memorial now stands. They lived together seventy years and had fourteen children, one of whom, Richard, was born in 1749, and married Mehitabel Bullock, daughter of Stephen Bullock, Esq., June 11, 1795. They had seven children. One of these, Nelson, was born May 5, 1804; married Alice Lake, April 20, 1837. Their only son, George Nelson, was born in 1837; married Julia Bishop Horton, June 2, 1858. She died March 30, 1914. They had two children: Albert C., born Dec. 6, 1858, and Alice Augusta, born Oct. 19, 1866; died Dec. 9, 1913. Albert C. married (1) Anna E. Carpen- ter, Dec. 22, 1886, and (2) Lizzie M. Carpenter, May 1, 1890. They have four children: Clinton Nelson, born Feb. 10, 1893; Annie Carpenter, born June 25, 1895; Eleanor Elizabeth, born Oct. 7, 1901; Royal Bishop, born June 23, 1907. Three genera- tions of this family have been prominent in manufactures at Re- hoboth Village (see sketch of Darius Goff). George Nelson has
1 Barrington in Vital Record.
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always resided on the paternal homestead and has carried on the farm in connection with his son. He was an officer in the Con- gregational Society for more than forty years, and is president of the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society and member of the Old Colony Historical Society. He has a predilection for politics; has held various town offices and represented the tenth Bristol district in the Legislature in 1885, and was state senator in 1903-4. He is a staunch Republican, and his influence in determining the can- didates for town, state and even national honors has been potent. For many years he has been the center of a group of high officials, meeting at his home or at the annual clam-bake, to plan the party campaigns, causing his name to be well-known throughout Bristol County and even beyond its limits. In 1858 he was agent for the first horse pitch-fork in New England, invented by Charles E. Gladding of Pennsylvania.
GOFF, HAROLD ARTHUR, is the son of Arthur C. and Carrie F. Goff, and grandson of George Hiram and Hannah C. Goff. He was born in Rehoboth, Jan. 18, 1887. He attended the public schools of the town and graduated at the Bryant and Stratton Business College in June, 1904. He married, June 11, 1913, Annie Rothermel of Berkley, Mass. He resides on the home farm, which he carries on in connection with his father. They built their new and commodious house in 1904. Mr. Goff is a member of the Ris- ing Sun Lodge, No. 30, A. F. and A. M., of East Providence, R.I., also a past master of Annawan Grange of Rehoboth, and was appointed a deputy of the Massachusetts State Grange, June 1, 1914.
GOFF, ISAAC C., D.D., was the son of James, of Nathan, of Constant, etc. "I was born," he writes, "in a house nearly central I should say in the township, about one mile from Rehoboth Vil- lage and on the east side of the turnpike leading from Providence to Taunton, on the 28th of October, 1808, and resided in the same house until September, 1820, when the family removed to Genesee County in New York. Although I was but twelve years old at the time of the removal, I had worked out two summers, and at the same place. I worked for Elijah Bliss, my father's nearest neigh- bor, for $4.00 per month the first, and $5.00 for the second year. It was a good place, plenty of hard work, good fare, and kind treatment. I remember the following families then living in the town, and as ranging in numerical importance about like this: Carpenters, Blisses, Goffs, Cases, Pecks, Bowens, Keltons, Hortons, Lewises, Wheelers, Perrys, Davises and Bosworths. With at least eight of these families, the Goff family was connected by intermarriage. There was neither father nor husband in any of these families who was a drunkard, profane, or a Sabbath breaker."
When Mr. Goff was sixteen years old he made a profession of
GEORGE HIRAM GOFF
HAROLD ARTHUR GOFF
Graacht
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faith in Christ, and believing that he was called of God to preach the Gospel, he soon began to prepare for his great life-work in which he continued until he had reached the ripe age of seventy- eight. He had a singularly pious ancestry. Not only his father, James Goff, but his grandfather, Nathan, was a devout man. He was ordained at Royalton, N.Y., in September, 1827. For a time he labored as an evangelist, and after pastorates in New York and Illinois, he was for twenty-nine years pastor of the Christian Church at Irving, N.J. He was an able preacher, and a man of strong and symmetrical character. He was at one time president of the Biblical Institute at Stanfordville, N.Y., and a permanent member of its executive committee. He died in December, 1886, in his seventy-ninth year.
Deprived of the advantages of a liberal education in youth, he nevertheless read and assimilated vast stores of knowledge. His children were Frederick, Lizzie, James, Oliver, Mary and Helen. A fine crayon portrait of him was presented to the Reho- both Antiquarian Society by his daughters, which now hangs in the Blanding Library.
GOFF, ISAAC LEWIS, financier, son of David Fish Goff and Clarissa Dean (Stacy) Goff, was born in Taunton, Mass., Aug. 29, 1852. He spent his early life on his father's farm in Rehoboth, in the Long Hill neighborhood, where he received a common school education. At the age of sixteen he took the course in the Bryant and Stratton Business College in Providence. After holding several positions, he entered the real estate office of Wm. D. Pierce in that city where' he remained about four years. He then estab- lished a real estate and insurance business of his own. He began the vast enterprise of building up Washington Park in 1891, and saw it grow from a single house to more than seven hundred houses in a decade. In politics Mr. Goff has been a prominent Republican, a delegate to the National Convention 1892, and carried the elec- toral vote of Rhode Island to Washington in 1896. He is a thirty- third degree Mason, and a member of the Grand Lodge I. O. O. F., also a member of the Elks, Knights of Pythias, Sons of the Ameri- can Revolution, and of several clubs. Mr. Goff is an enthusiastic admirer of good horses, and has owned some of the fastest racers, including "Bright | Regent" (2:64). Personally, Colonel Goff is a gentleman of courteous manners toward all. He is calm in emergencies, and his easy, natural manner makes him friends wherever he is known.
On Oct. 21, 1875, he married Ada Jannette Richards of Prov- idence. The four children of this marriage are: William David Goff, Josephine Anna Goff, Lillian Lewis Goff, and Isaac Lewis Goff, Jr.
HASKINS, CHARLES E., was born in Providence, R.I., April 14, 1833. His father was William Emerson Haskins, a relative of
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Ralph Waldo Emerson of Concord. His mother was Fannie Maria (Hodges) Haskins.
Charles was educated in the public schools of his native city and was engaged for several years in the manufacture of jewlery in Providence. Removing to Rehoboth, he owned and operated the Joshua Miller farm on Providence Street. He was a successful farmer and market gardener, in which business he continued for more than forty years. He was an active member of the Con- gregational Church at Rehoboth Village, and for some years was superintendent of its Sunday-school. He was also active in its District Branch at the Orleans Chapel. In town affairs he rendered faithful service in the supervision of schools and highways and did service as juryman. His integrity of purpose, generous hospital- ity, and his kind and genial spirit, won for him the sincere respect of the community.
In 1858 he was married to Anna Frances Whitman of Providence, who died May 15, 1890, aged 55 years. In 1893 he married Anna E. Brenaman of Columbia, Pa., who survives him.
Mr. Haskins died in Rehoboth, June 7, 1909, in his 77th year.
HORTON, CONSTANT SIMMONS, son of George H. and Arabella Horton of Rehoboth, was born on Annawan Street in Rehoboth, Jan. 7, 1848. He inherited a strong constitution which was invigorated by his life on the farm, and he was there uncon- sciously preparing for his special calling of police service in a large city. He received his education at the Annawan School and early learned the trade of a carpenter, at which he worked for several years. In 1877, at the age of 29, he was appointed on the police force of Providence, R.I., and assigned to the old Gaspee Street beat, the toughest in the city. His magnificent physique and great strength stood him in good stead. His unflinching courage, com- bined with good judgment and a gentle spirit, soon gained for him the respect and good-will of all classes. He handled success- fully some hard cases, and on March 19, 1886, he was made ser- geant; on Oct. 3, 1899, lieutenant; on Jan. 19, 1900, captain; on March 3, 1907, chief inspector, and on Nov. 16, 1911, he became deputy superintendent, which office he held at the time of his death, April 13, 1914.
He was married, May 9, 1875, to Calista Willard Viall of East Providence, R.I., who survives him. Their son, Chester Shorey Horton, a young man of fine promise, has since died.
Chief Horton was a man of varied talents. He was a lover of horses and for years bought all the horses for the depart- ment. He was a member of the Men's Club connected with the Union Baptist Church of Cranston, R.I. A fine trait of his char- acter was his kindness to the poor. Yet his giving, like all his other acts, was without ostentation.
Acting Mayor Vaughn paid him the following well deserved com-
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pliment: "I always knew him as a perfect gentleman and one of the best executives of the police department." His minister, Rev. Hugh Carpenter, said of him: "He was first of all a man, every inch a man. He was a proportionate man, a man in every re- lationship."
HORTON, DANFORTH G., son of Sylvanus and Hannah (Slade) Horton, was born in Rehoboth, March 21, 1813. He was an industrious and successful farmer, buying when a young man the farm at the corner of the Perryville and Carpenter roads, - a poor, sterile place, and after half a century leaving it one of the most fertile and highly cultivated farms in town. Mr. Horton was a good citizen, highly respected for his sterling qualities of mind and heart, and a prominent member of the Annawan Baptist Church. He had four children, but survived them all. He died Nov. 11, 1890, aged seventy-seven years.
HORTON, FRANK HATHAWAY, son of George Henry and Charlotte A. (Goff) Horton, was born in Rehoboth, July 15, 1874. His grandparents were George L. and Patience Bullock (Goff) Hor- ton, only daughter of Richard Goff, who was born in the "Old Goff Inn." His maternal grandparents were Zenas Hathaway Goff and Cynthia Sophia Bliss, lineal descendant of Jonathan Bliss, one of the founders of Rehoboth. Mr. Horton was married to E. Amelia Viall of Rehoboth, Jan. 14, 1897. They have one son, Ralph H. Mr. Horton was assistant postmaster from January, 1897, to January, 1902, and postmaster from 1902 to 1910. He runs a dairy farm with a herd of thirty partially registered Holstein cows; has been manager of a general grocery store for the past nineteen years. He is one of the selectmen and overseers of the poor, and has been one of the assessors since 1912.
HORTON, REV. GEORGE HIRAM, was born in Rehoboth, Jan. 29, 1862, the son of Gilbert M. and Sarah F. (Pierce) Horton. He attended the public schools of the town, working for his father on the farm at the same time. Having decided to enter the Gospel ministry, he applied himself to the study of theology under his grandfather, Rev. Waterman Pierce. He was ordained to the Christian ministry June 7, 1883. Soon after this the First Free Baptist Church in South Rehoboth was organized as the result of his ministry in that place, and a chapel was erected at a cost. of about $1,400.00, Mr. Gilbert Horton, his father, being the lead- ing spirit in the movement. He served as pastor of this church ten years, and also served, in conjunction with his work here, as associate pastor of the Barneyville Free Baptist Church five years, resigning to accept a call from the Hornbine Six Principle Baptist Church in Southeast Rehoboth. He remained with this church five years, during which period the church voted to become a Free Baptist Church and affiliated itself with the Rhode Island As-
23
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sociation of Free Baptist Churches. He was then called to the Free Baptist Church, North Scituate, R.I., remaining three years with many accessions. He next became pastor of the Free Baptist Church in Blackstone, Mass., and enjoyed a very pleasant and prosperous pastorate of twleve years and six months. He re- signed this charge much to the regret of the people to accept a call from the Bethany Free Baptist Church of Pawtucket, R.I., and is now on his sixth year in this delightful pastorate. He has filled important positions in his denomination, serving as president in 1913 and 1914 of the Roger Williams State Association, and also has served on important committees. While a resident of Seekonk, Mass., he served a number of years on the school board.
He married, March, 1885, Carrie E. Sisson of Seekonk, Mass., daughter of Shubael B. and Hannah B. Sisson of that town. Two sons blessed the union: Oscar Everett and Irving Elmer. Irving E. died in 1912. Oscar E. Horton, the eldest son, is engaged in business in Boston, Mass.
Mr. Horton has baptized 175 candidates, officiated at 296 fune- rals, and at 145 marriages.
HORTON, HENRY TAMERLINE, son of Tamerline Wheeler and Amanda (Walker) Horton, was born Dec. 11, 1845, in the house he now occupies, where his grandmother, Rebecca (Wheeler) Horton was born in 1780. He received his education in the dis- trict schools of the town. He owns the farm of about one hun- dred and thirty acres, one-half mile from Rehoboth Village, which has been in the family more than one hundred and fifty years, and but one deed has been given of the property during this time. He married Belle H. Bryant, daughter of William H. and Hannah Horton Bryant, Feb. 5, 1890. They have one daughter, Fannie Belle Horton, born Dec. 30, 1890, a graduate of Wheaton College in 1911, and subsequently a teacher. Mr. Horton is a Republican in politics, having represented the First Bristol District in the State Legislature in 1899, served on the committee of towns, March 7, 1877, served as chairman of the board of selectmen, assessors and overseers of the poor for twenty-two years, and retired at his own request and has since served as auditor. He is now moderator at the annual election. Mr. Horton is a charter member and past master of Annawan Grange, P. of H .; a member of Pioneer Lodge A. F. and A. M. of Somerset, Mass., vice-president and treasurer of the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society, member of the Rehoboth Congregational Church, trustee of Church and Society, and is eligible to the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. His great-grandfathers, Solomon Horton and William Walker, served in Capt. Elijah Walker's Company, Col. Pope's Bristol County Regiment, on the alarm at Rhode Island, Dec. 8, 1776.
His Wheeler line of descent is as follows: John Wheeler,1 said to have been born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, sailed to
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America, March 24, 1633-34 in the ship "Mary and John" to Agawam (now Ipswich), Mass. The following year he moved to Salisbury and after 1641 was one of the original proprietors, held property and paid taxes as late as 1652. He died in Newbury, Aug. 28, 1670, aged fifty-two. Henry Wheeler,2 son, born, Jan. 4, 1639-40; James Wheeler,3 born May 27, 1667; James Wheeler,4 born at Rehoboth, March 27, 1697; Jeremiah Wheeler,5 born March 23, 1731; Jeremiah Wheeler,6 born Sept. 28, 1753; Re- beckah Wheeler,7 born Feb. 28, 1781; Tamerline Wheeler Horton, 8 born Sept. 17, 1805; Henry Tamerline Horton, 9 born Dec. 11, 1845; Fannie Belle Horton,10 born Dec. 30, 1890.
His Horton Genealogy is traced thus: Thomas Horton,1 born 1620; Thomas Horton,2 born Jan. 9, 1655; Solomon Horton,3 born Jan. 1, 1682; Solomon Horton,4 born 1712-15; Solomon Horton,5 born Jan. 15, 1742, Revolutionary soldier; Solomon Hor- ton,6 born 1761; died 1833; Tamerline Horton,' born Sept. 17, 1805; Henry T. Horton, 8 born Dec. 11, 1845.
His Walker line is as follows: Widow Walker,1 one of the original proprietors of Rehoboth; James Walker,2 born 1619; James Walker,3 born 1645; Nathan Walker, 4 born 1677; William Walker,5 born Aug. 7, 1715; William Walker,6 born Dec. 14, 1743; William Walker,7 born March 24, 1770; Amanda Walker,8 mar- ried Tamerline Horton; Henry T. Horton9; Fannie Belle Horton10.
His Mayflower descent is as follows: Thomas Rogers,1 came in the Mayflower and died in the general sickness in Dec., 1620; John Rogers,2 born in England; Abagail Rogers,3 born 1641, mar- ried John Richmond; Abagail Richmond,4 born Feb. 26, 1678, married Nathan Walker, born 1677; William Walker,5 born Aug. 7, 1715; William Walker,6 born Dec. 14, 1743, Revolutionary soldier; William Walker,7 born March 24, 1770; Amanda Walker,8 mar- ried Tamerline Horton; Henry T. Horton9; Fannie Belle Horton10.
HORTON, HORACE E., Ph.D., born in Rehoboth, Aug. 16, 1864, the son of Horace Le Baron Horton and Emeline Baker. Descended from Thomas Horton who lived in Rehoboth and Swanzy in the seventeenth century.1
Married to Alice R. Brigham of Shrewsbury, Mass., a descendant of the Fairbanks and Knowlton families. Three children: James E., Margaret W. and Horace, Jr.
Mr. Horton had the unusual experience as a boy of living with grandparents who, born in the eighteenth century, retained all the customs, prejudices and animosities of an earlier generation. In the home and in the fields of the farm the conversations were of family deeds: men who fought Philip, participated in the expedi- tion for the reduction of Canada, sailed the seas and later fought the detested British; of those other men also who from the pulpit
1 Collateral: Wheaton, Pierce, Baker, Mason families.
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fought Boston and Plymouth for religious freedom. Out of these early years came deep love for and pride in the old town.
Mr. Horton was educated in Harvard College and the famous: German University at Göttingen. He is a member of a number of. learned societies in Europe and this country. Has been professor in two Universities. Has taken an active part with a small group of men in Europe in the agricultural awakening in the country. His home is in Chicago, Ill. Now Agricultural Commissioner of the American Steel and Wire Co., Chicago.
HORTON, JEREMIAH W., son of Tamerline Wheeler Horton, who was born in Dighton, Sept. 17, 1805, and died in Rehoboth, June 6, 1889. His mother was Amanda Walker of Dighton, born July 28, 1805, and died Oct. 2, 1865. They were married July 26, 1835. Jeremiah's grandfather was Solomon Horton of Dighton, who married Rebecca Wheeler of Rehoboth, May 23, 1802. Jere- miah was born in Rehoboth, April 8, 1844, one of six children. He obtained his education in the schools of Rehoboth, including several terms at the Bicknell High School. When a young man he became a citizen of Newport, R.I., and soon established him- self in a successful mercantile business. His adopted city honored him by an election to its mayoralty in 1893. Mr. Horton has been colonel of the Newport Artillery and also representative to the General Assembly from that city. He was Police Commissioner in 1906. A man of fine qualities and a public-spirited citizen, his "character and attainments reflect honor upon his family and native town."
HORTON, NATHANIEL B., son of Aaron and Bethany (Baker) Horton of Dighton, was born in Rehoboth, July 25, 1820. With but a meager education, he learned the mason's trade, at which he worked for twenty years. Trained to industry and economy, and gifted with large business ability, he acquired a handsome property, and by his upright dealings won universal respect. During the Civil War he was agent for the town in filling its quota for military service. He owned a large farm of 250 acres which he and his two sons brought into a high state of cultivation. Mr. Horton represented his town in the General Court in 1862-3; was town treasurer and tax collector for several years, and was a large mill owner and director. He settled many estates and was a local banker for loaning money.
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