USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Hanover > History of the town of Hanover, Massachusetts, with family genealogies > Part 9
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John Cushing third, the son of John Junior, was Judge of Pro- bate of Plymouth County, 1738-1746, and Judge of the Superior Court, 1747-1771. His son, Hon. William Cushing, L. L. D., was the most distinguished member of a distinguished family of jurists. He was Judge of Probate for the County of Lincoln, (now in Maine, but then a part of Massachusetts), Judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, and later its Chief Justice. On the organization of our national government, in 1789, he was named by President Washington as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; but refused to occupy that exalted station, accepting the position of one of the Associate Justices of that highest tribunal. During Chief Justice Jay's mission to England, Judge Cushing acted as Chief Justice. After Judge Jay's resignation, he was again appointed Chief Justice and, as such, was confirmed by the United States Senate, again refusing to serve. Mr. Deane says of him: "He had a felicity of manner and an unblemished dignity of character which enabled him to be open and decisive without kindling the rage of opposition."
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He lived on the road leading from Norwell Center to the Harbor, southeast of what was known as Walnut Tree Hill.
John Hoar, the ancestor of Judge Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar and Senator George Frisbie Hoar, came to Scituate early, remov- ing to Concord in 1659 or 1660. He is spoken of as a lawyer, perhaps because he was active in public business and was a drafts- man of deeds, wills, etc.
These men all lived in Scituate, while Hanover was a part of that town. Prior to the Revolution, the law business in town was done by prominent men of affairs already spoken of, Joseph Cush- ing, named below, and David Stockbridge.
Joseph Cushing of Hanover was a graduate of Harvard College, and Judge of Probate Court of Plymouth County for many years. He is spoken of more fully in the genealogical portion.
Benjamin Whitman settled and practised law within the limits of our town. He was the son of Zachariah Whitman of Bridge- water, and was born in 1768, graduating at Brown University in 1788. He lived at first in Pembroke but moved to Hanover about 1792. He lived first on Broadway where Samuel Eells afterwards
resided. Then he bought of Nathaniel Sylvester a house near North River bridge and, in 1799, he built the house, now burned, called recently "Pantooset." This was, after Mr. Whitman's occupancy, the residence of Capt. Seth Barker, who died there. Horatio Bigelow was its next occupant and, after him, Mr. Frederick Kendall bought it and owned it when it was burned. Its site is now owned by Mr. Theodore K. Guth, who is a Boston business man. It was one of the finest places in town, its site overlooking a long stretch of North, River. The lawn was so thickly set with trees that the house could scarcely be seen from the road. Mr. Whitman's office was on the opposite side of the street, near the present home of Dr. A. L. MacMillan. Mr. Whit- man was postmaster for many years, lawyers in those days, as now, eking out a somewhat precarious professional income with other lucrative employment. About 1806, Mr. Whitman moved to Boston. He was Representative to the General Court for Boston and was, for many years, Chief Justice of the Police Court of Boston, of which William Simmons was also one of the Judges. Barry says, "He was an able lawyer; a man of great business en- terprise ; an active politician, and his services were of great value to the town, during the period of residence in it."
Barker Curtis, son of Simeon Curtis, was a student of Mr. Whitman's. For a time he practised law at Assinippi, about 1790,
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living in the house now occupied by Daniel Hines, where, for many years, lived Hiram Curtis, the father of Frederick H. Cur- tis, who was on board the Congress, when captured in Hampton Roads by the rebel ram Merrimac, just before the first battle be- tween that ironclad and the Monitor, that " cheese box on a raft," which was destined to revolutionize the construction of the navies of the world.
William G. Curtis, a son of William Curtis of Main street, was also a student with Mr. Whitman about 1795, but he died before entering upon his professional career.
John Winslow, Esq., was a resident lawyer in Hanover, becom- ing so about 1810. He graduated from Brown University in 1795. He lived first on the corner of Broadway and Washington street and later near St. Andrew's church, where Capt. John Cushing afterward resided. Barry says of him, " He was a thorough law- yer, gentlemanly in his manners and one whose professional practice was very extensive. He died at Natchez, Miss., about 1830" (1822, Deane). His monument stands in the Winslow burial ground at Marshfield, a few rods from the grave of Daniel Webster.
Directly opposite Mr. Winslow, in the "long house," which he built at the corner of Church and Washington streets, lived an- other lawyer, Jotham Cushman, Esq., thus giving Hanover two lawyers living at the same time across the street from each other. It is doubtful if Mr. Cushman practised law, after becoming a resident of Hanover.
It is said that, when Mr. Chaddock taught the Hanover Academy, one man attended as a pupil after he was married. That man was Isaiah Wing. He afterward studied law with Mr. Winslow and practised here. He finally went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he died.
Aaron Hobart (Hon.), was the son of Aaron and grandson of Col. Aaron of Abington and had a son Aaron who wrote a History of Abington. He graduated at Brown University, in 1805, and came to Hanover in 1812, remaining here until 1824. Here it was that Aaron, the historian, was born in 1818. Aaron, the father went from Hanover to the Massachusetts Senate, in 1820, and was a member of Congress, in 1826-7. After leaving Han- over, he lived in East Bridgewater and was appointed Judge of Probate, which office he held until his death, in September, 1858, at the age of 71. His public services were rendered with pains- taking care and thoroughness, and were of great value to the
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community. He wrote a historical sketch of Abington. The book is small but carefully written. It is a classic among the Town Histories of New England. In Hanover, he lived in the house now occupied by Mrs. James T. Tolman at the Corners.
Alexander Wood, Esq., of Middleborough, practised here but a short time. He gave up the law for mercantile pursuits and died in Hanover. He studied law with Hon. Wilkes Wood, Judge of Probate for Plymouth County. September 5, 1824, he mar- ried Miss Louisa Bourne of Middleborough. His house at the Corners is now occupied by Clarence F. Brown.
William Simmons, son of Elisha and Martha (Hersey) Sim- mons, was born in Hanover in the house which stood on the site now occupied by the late residence of Daniel Clapman, on the east side of Washington street, about a mile south of the Assinippi church, July 9th, 1782. He graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1804 and studied law, practicing in Boston. He be- came Judge of the Police Court in Boston and held the position many years. He married, Sept. 11th, 1810, Lucia Hammatt, and died January 17th, 1843. His children were William Hammatt, born May 11, 1812, died August 10, 1841; Rev. George Frederick, born March 24, 1814, and died September 5, 1855; Charles Francis, born January 27, 1821, died (lost at sea) in February or March, 1862; Henry Howland, born May 29, 1818, died Decem- ber 13, 1849 ; and Martha Ann, born January 16, 1835, and died May 11, 1835. Lucia Hammatt was the daughter of Priscilla Le Barron, who was the grand-daughter of Dr. Francis Le Bar- ron, who came to Plymouth about 1690.
Hon. Albert Smith was born in the house on Broadway, nearly opposite Barden street, January 3rd, 1793, the third child of Captain Albert and Anne (Eells) Smith. He married, June 24, 1814, Roxa, daughter of Rev. Calvin Ghaddock. He graduated from Brown University in 1813. After his marriage he lived in Maine, until he was sent to Congress from that State. While in Washington, where he became a successful lawyer, he was con- cerned in the settlement of the boundary difficulties which resulted in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty and fixed our northern bounds against Canada. Later he returned to Massachusetts and settled in 'Boston, where he died May 29, 1867. His burly form and almost tempestuous good-will marked him for a man of the world, in whatever assemblage he might be found.
Perez Simmons (Hon.), was a practising lawyer in town, from 1843 to his death in 1885. He was born in the house where his
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son, John Franklin, now resides on Washington street, on the second day of January, 1811. His father, Ebenezer Simmons, was a direct descendant from Moyses Symonson, who came to this country in the "Fortune," in the spring of 1621, from Ley- den, where he had joined Mr. Robinson's congregation and Church. His mother was Sophia, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Richmond, of Little Compton, Rhode Island. Through her, Mr. Simmons was descended from Col. Benjamin Church, the old Indian fighter of Colonial times, who led the expedition which resulted in the defeat and death of Philip, Sachem of the Wampanoags; also from John Alden and Priscilla, Thomas Rogers, and Richard Warren, all of the " Mayflower."
Joshua Simmons, the great grandfather of Mr. Simmons, was also of Hanover and was a member of the town's committee of safety and otherwise was active in the Revolution. Ebenezer, the father of Mr. Simmons, was a lieutenant in the militia, and as such, was for a while, during the war of 1812, in command of the fort at the Gurnet, at the entrance to Plymouth Harbor.
After attending the district school and Hanover Academy, Mr. Simmons took tuition under Rev. Samuel Deane of Scituate (now Norwell), and with Mr. Deane he fitted for college.
After graduation, Mr. Simmons decided upon the law as his profession and entered the office of Charles F. Tillinghast as a student, and was admitted to the Bar in Rhode Island. Although his life as practising lawyer for over forty years was passed in Massachusetts Courts, yet he was never formally admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. He was President of the Plymouth County Bar Association for a time. The courtesy of the profession in Massachusetts supplied the place of the more formal admission. During his legal studies, he acted as legislative reporter for the Providence Journal and as special correspondent for several news- papers. He had full charge for several months of another daily and weekly paper in Providence. This was before the days of railroads and telegraphs and his experiences in getting copy and the night rides to get it to press, while not unusual for the times, would make interesting " stuff " for the modern magazinist.
Mr. Simmons commenced the practice of law in Providence, R. I., and, while there, became much interested in the political affairs of the state, in which he became prominent and influential. This leading part taken by Mr. Simmons finally caused him to leave Providence.
In 1843, he came back to Hanover, to the house where he was
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born and where he later died. Practise soon came to him even in the apparently inauspicious place where he was born and reared, until, after forty years, he laid down his work. During this long term of service at the bar, his work extended to almost every important case in his county, as the volumes of the Massa- chusetts Supreme Court Records will show. At one term, he ap- peared in every case, civil and criminal, which was tried. He was a leader in breaking up the habit, into which Plymouth County lawyers had fallen, of going to Bristol County for Senior Counsel when important cases were tried. Soon after his return home, he was elected one of the Selectmen, Assessors, and Overseers of the Poor of the town and continued to hold these offices until his increasing practice made their duties too onerous. For a greater part of his life, his political opinions differed from those of a majority of his fellow townsmen ; and yet they sent him to Boston as a member of the House of Representatives, in 1852 and, in 1853 to the convention to revise the constitution of the Common- wealth. In 1859, he was elected a member of the Massachusetts Senate and was chairman of the Judiciary Committee of that body. At this session of the Legislature occurred the abolition of the Court of Common Pleas and the establishment of the Superior Court in its present form. Mr. Simmons was offered a seat upon the Bench of the new Court; but an over-modest appreciation of his own abilities caused him to refuse the proffered honor. A committee to revise the statutes then in force was also appointed by this legislature and Mr. Simmons was the first named member of that committee. The General Statutes of Massachusetts was the result of this committee's work.
After the success of the " Know Nothing " movement in Massa- chusetts, Mr. Simmons was, for a while Commissioner of Insol- vency in this County.
As a practitioner, Mr. Simmons, by his fair dealing with his associates, obtained their highest regard. By his forgetfulness of self and his indefatigable efforts in behalf of his clients, he marked himself as a faithful counsellor and a trustworthy lawyer. No man, however poor, ever sought his assistance in vain. His geni- ality of temper made him beloved by his neighbors and his thorough honesty of thought and expression gave him the respect even of those who disagreed with him.
For many years, he was connected with the management of the South Scituate Savings Bank, being successively trustee, member of the Board of Investment, President, and Counsel.
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His mental processes were always logical and, wherever his reason led, he followed, whether in politics, religion, or daily life, regard- less of expediency or the interest of the moment.
He married, May 31, 1846, Adeline Jones, daughter of John Jones, who survived him for over twenty years. Their children . were John Franklin, born June 26, 1851; Moyses Rogers, a gradu- ate of the Harvard Medical School; and Sophia Richmond, (now deceased), first wife of Morrill A. Phillips.
Mr. Simmons died at Hanover, May 14, 1885, aged 74 years, and was buried in the cemetery at Assinippi, where a substantial granite monument is erected to his memory. His wife died June 6, 1905, aged 81.
At the exercises commemorative of Mr. Simmons, held by the Plymouth County Bar Association, October 28, 1887, resolutions in honor of his memory were passed. Addresses on this occasion were made by Hon. B. W. Harris, Daniel E. Damon, Esq., Harvey H. Pratt, and others.
John Franklin Simmons, son of Perez and Adeline (Jones) Simmons, was born in the house where he now resides, on the twenty-sixth day of June, 1851. He attended the district school at Rocky Swamp for two years, beginning when he was seven years old. For six years he was a student at Assinippi Institute, where, during the latter part of the time he served as assistant teacher. When he was fifteen years old, in the fall of 1866, he taught, for a few weeks, a private school at East Marshfield, now called Marsh- field Hills, established by Rev. Otis Leonard. The following winter, he taught the district school at Whiting street in this town, and, in September, 1868, he went to Phillips Exeter Academy to finish fitting for college. At Exeter he found himself under some disadvantage but at the end of the year he with two others led the class and, what was somewhat unusual for a single-year student, he had been elected to the Golden Branch Society and was one of its Vice Presidents.
In June, 1869, he passed his examination for admission to Har- vard University without condition, being one of the three Exeter men to attain to that rank. He entered the class of 1873, the first class to enter after the present president, Charles W. Eliot, had been elected.
He took a very high position in his college course, both in his studies and as a member of some of the prominent college societies. His ability as a debator and leader was a power recognized by his classmates.
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In the election during the senior year for its class officers, Mr. Simmons was elected orator of the class and received the congratu- lations of Pres. Eliot at the close of his oration on Class Day.
At graduation Mr. Simmons received an offer of the assistant. professorship of history at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland; also an offer of an assistant's place in the fitting school of Mr. Hopkinson at Boston, and of several other situations ; but, having received the appointment of proctor in the college, he decided to stay and take up his studies in the Law School. Here he remained for a year and a half, when a good opening being offered as a partner with Hon. Jesse E. Keith, after- wards Judge of Probate for Plymouth County, Mr. Simmons left the law school and began the practice of law at Abington, in Feb- ruary, 1875, under the firm name of Keith and Simmons, having been admitted to the bar at Plymouth before Mr. Justice Aldrich of the Superior Court, at the February term, 1875. This partner- ship continued for eight years, when it was dissolved by mutual consent and Mr. Simmons formed the partnership of Simmons and - Pratt, taking with him Harvey H. Pratt, Esq., who had been a student in his office and who was just admitted to the bar. Mr. Pratt was afterward District Attorney of Plymouth County. The firm of Simmons and Pratt was dissolved in June, 1894. In 1890 they had left Abington and taken offices in Boston, where Mr. Simmons has since practiced law. For fifteen years continuously Mr. Simmons was a member of the school committee of Hanover, resigning because he was to become a resident of the city of Boston.
Mr. Simmons was for over eight years President and counsel of the South Scituate Savings Bank, succeeding his father in those positions. He was the receiver of the Abington National Bank in 1886, and in six months turned it over to the reorganized bank, be- coming himself one of the directors in the new institution. While Gen. B. F. Butler was Governor of Massachusetts, he offered and urged upon Mr. Simmons the position of Insurance Commissioner of this Commonwealth but Mr. Simmons declined it. In 1889, December 26, Mr. Simmons went to Europe in connection with the somewhat important McNally will case, visiting while away, Ire- land, England, Wales, and France.
July 7, 1905, at the invitation of the Bar Association of the State of Indiana, Mr. Simmons delivered the annual address before the meeting of the association at Indianapolis.
At the first old Home Week exercises in this town, in July, 1903,
RESIDENCE OF ANDREW T. DAMON, HANOVER STREET
RESIDENCE OF GEORGE W. CURTIS, MAIN STREET
RESIDENCE OF I. G. STETSON, BROADWAY
RESIDENCE OF JOHN F. SIMMONS, WASHINGTON STREET
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Mr. Simmons delivered the oration, and the poem, which was read on that occasion, was written by him.
On January 10, 1877, Mr. Simmons married Fannie Florence Allen, daughter of Cyrus W. and Mary Folger Allen. Mr. Allen at that time was the pastor of the First Congregational Church at Hanover. Mr. Simmons has four children, Henry Franklin, born June 21st, 1878, who married Eugenia Highriter Jacobs, and has a daughter Thalia; Mary Fogler Simmons, born October 20, 1880, who married George Alden Curtis, and has a son, John Franklin Curtis, born 1910; Perez Simmons, born June 4, 1892 ; and Eliza- beth Allen Simmons, born August 20th, 1895.
Charles Follen. Phillips, son of Ezra and Catherine H. Phillips, was born in Hanson, April 21st, 1846, and died January 30, 1885. He never practised in Hanover but had lived at South Hanover with his father and made that his home at the time of his death. He was a pupil of the Hanover Academy between 1854 and 1860. He graduated from Boston University Law School in 1873. He acted as assistant Register of Probate under his relative, Mr. Joseph H. Tyler, then Register for Middlesex County, until failing health compelled him to abandon his work.
William Paley Duncan, son of Rev. Abel G. Duncan, who was pastor for over twenty years of the First Parish, was born April 1st, 1831. He studied at Williston Seminary at Easthampton, Mass., and was at Amherst College. After teaching school in Maine, in Michigan, and in Massachusetts, he was admitted to the bar and practised in Boston. He married Abbie F. Crane. He died in 1903. He was a poet of good quality. One of his latest, if not his last, piece of verse was written at the request of Hon. Jedediah Dwelley for the Old Home Week Souvenir and is given in the chapter on Schools and Education.
Calvin Sylvester Tilden, son of Thomas Holmes and Julia Sylvester Tilden, was born in Hanover, Sept. 1, 1875. He fitted for college at the Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard with the degree of A. B. in 1898. Entering the Law School at Cambridge he took his L. L. B. in 1901. He at once entered upon the practice of law in Boston, where he has since remained, doing a good business. He is now of the law firm of Littlefield and Tilden, Boston. January 1st, 1905, he married Mary Murphy, daughter of Thomas V. Murphy of Boston. Mr. Tilden served in .. the Spanish American War.
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PHYSICIANS.
In the early days of the colony, doctors were few and their resi- dences were far apart. It was indeed a dangerous case which caused the doctor to be called. The duties of the physician fell, therefore, to the most learned person in the neighbor- hood and, as this was almost always the clergyman of the parish, the early clergy acted frequently as doctors of the body as well as the soul. Every housewife had her remedies, usually of roots and herbs, which were prescribed sometimes with skill, sometimes with- out. The human body in those days as now displayed its wonderful power of recuperation in spite of the attempts made to " cure " it.
The old practice of the early physicians of the best education is, in almost every particular, relegated to the limbo of mistakes and ignorance. The advance of modern science has been great and human life has added several years to its average duration.
In 1781, the Massachusetts Medical Society was established, with Edward A. Holyoke as its first President. In 1906, for the first time, the so-called Homeopathists were admitted to its membership.
In 1799, Edward Jenner, a physician of Berkeley, England, discovered vaccination. A son of Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse of Boston, was the first person in the United States (in July 1800) to be inoculated with matter procured from England.
In 1810, towns were directed by the Legislature to appoint committees and defray the expense of vaccinating people. Prior to this time each town had its " Pest House." Hither would resort people who had inoculated themselves with the smallpox virus, to go through the terrible scourge of the much dreaded disease.
Compulsory vaccination has almost rid the world of this terror. Its horrors have been so far alleviated by vaccination that its victims have dwindled, until they are far less numerous than those of the " White Plague," as tuberculosis, or consumption, is now called. The latter scourge is now, if seasonably put under treatment, al- most always curable.
When we consider a few of the methods now in use by the medical profession which were entirely unknown in early colonial times, we can appreciate how much of horror has been driven from the bed of sickness. The discoverey of anaesthetics, the germ theory of disease, the aseptic surgery, new methods of reducing disloca- tions, the value of X-rays in diagnosis, are a few of the landmarks on the pathway of the medical profession.
The first graduate physician of whom we have any knowledge as having practised within the territory now known as Hanover,
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was Dr. Chickering, who was called to attend Deacon Joseph Tilden, as early as 1670. He did not reside here and was probably John Chickering, physician, son of Henry Chickering of Dedham, who came from Hempstead, Suffolk, England. Dr. Chickering was a Freeman in 1670. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Hagborne (or Hackburne) of Roxbury, and settled in Charlestown about 1664, where they had several children. He died in Charles- town, July 28th, 1676, leaving a good estate to his widow, who married a second time.
The first settled physician here of whom we have any knowledge, was Dr. Isaac Otis, who, says Mr. Deane, was, in 1719, voted one hundred pounds by the Town to encourage him to remain. But Barry, quoting from the Otis Genealogy in the N. E. Register, says he died in 1718. May not both be correct? For the first Dr. Isaac had a son Isaac, who was also a doctor and who (later, perhaps) settled in Bridgewater. He was "a gentleman of un- common accomplishments of person and mind." He married Deborah, daughter of David Jacobs, April 22nd, 1698.
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