USA > Massachusetts > One of a thousand, a series of biographical sketches of one thousand representative men resident in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, A.D. 1888-'89; > Part 25
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He studied law the first year after gradu- ating in the office of Hon. Jacob H. Loud, Plymouth, one year at the Dane law school, Harvard University, and the third year with Hubbard & Watts, Boston ; was ad- mitted to the bar, August term, 1843, in Plymouth. He opened an office in Boston with William H. Whitman, present clerk of courts, Plymouth county, as partner, and was afterwards associated with George P. Sanger and Seth Webb. His law business flourished, and his clientage increased, when, in 1851, he was obliged to abandon his Boston office work on account of bron- chial trouble, and accordingly betook him- self to a farm purchased in the outskirts of
DAVIS.
his native town, where he engaged in out- of-door work, and attended to nothing pro- fessional, save the trial of causes, for a year. This manner of life he has continued to the present time, doing but little office work.
Judge Davis was married in Plymouth, November 19, 1845, to Hannah Stevenson, daughter of Col. John B. and Mary Howland (LeBaron) Thomas. Of this union were four children, two of whom survive : Joanna White Davis, now wife of Richard H. Morgan, of New Bedford, and Charles Stevenson Davis, a lawyer in Plymouth. .
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CHARLES G. DAVIS
Judge Davis was a strong anti-slavery man, and joined with Gov. John A. Andrew, F. W. Bird and others in a movement against the re-election of Robert C. Winthrop for Congress, in 1846, and offered the resohi- tion in Faneuil Hall which first nominated Charles Sumner for congressional honors. In 1848 he attended the national Whig convention in Philadelphia, which nomi- nated General Taylor for president, and a fortnight after, went to the " Barn-Burners" convention in Utica, N. Y., which nomi- nated Martin Van Buren ; and, after the nomination of Van Buren and Adams at Buffalo, he devoted himself to organizing the " Free Soilers" of Plymouth county. He thus repudiated, with other leading
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"Free Soilers," the national nominations of both parties.
In 1851 he was tried before a United States commissioner for assisting in the rescue of Shadrach, claimed as a fugitive slave. His tongue and pen could not be muzzled, however, and he continued to speak and act as conscience dictated with- out regard to party ties.
In 1859 he was made an overseer of Harvard College. In 1856 he was one of four from Massachusetts to the convention at Pittsburgh which organized the Repub- lican party. In June of the same year he was delegate to the Philadelphia national convention which nominated Fremont. He was chairman of the Republican state com- mittee during the " Know Nothing " hurri- cane of 1854 and '55.
He has done much for the advancement of Plymouth, erecting business and resi- dential buildings, and has set out over four hundred elms in town. He was trustee of the Samoset House from 1850 ; trustee of the Pilgrim Society from 1853 to date ; dele- gate to the Constitutional Convention of that year ; has been president of Plymouth County Agricultural Society twenty years, and member of the board of agriculture twenty-three years ; in 1862 he was mem- ber of the General Court, and House chair- man of committee on agriculture. Upon the incorporation of the Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1862, he was desig- nated by the Legislature as a trustee, and served as such until 1887. He was assessor of internal revenue under President Lin- coln, and held the office until April, 1869. He soon after sailed for Europe with his family, and was absent until August, 1870. In 1872 he attended the mass convention at Cincinnati which nominated Horace Greeley, and has since been allied to the Democratic party ; has been a candidate for representative to Congress, and has served as a member of the Democratic state committee, etc. In 1874 he was appointed judge of the third district court of Plymouth county, and still holds the position.
DAVIS, HENRY C., son of Benjamin and Cordelia (Buffington) Davis, was born in Palmer, Hampden county, October 22, 1843.
He obtained his preparatory education in the public schools, at Wesleyan Acad- emy, Wilbraham, and Williston Seminary, Easthampton.
He chose the profession of law, and was graduated from the Harvard law school, 1868. In that same year he opened a law office and began practice at Ware, where he has since remained.
DAVIS.
Mr. Davis was married in Ware, May 4, 1876, to Jennie A., daughter of Lorenzo and Jane (Marlen) Demond. Of this union were five children : Henry C., John A., Marion, Mary, and an infant child.
Mr. Davis has been a member of the school board twenty years, and was a mem- ber of the House of Representatives in 1874.
DAVIS, JAMES FRANCIS, son of Samuel P. and Mary (Withington) Davis, was born in Hinsdale, Cheshire county, N. H., Feb- ruary 3, 1826.
His education was limited to the com- mon schools in the town of Templeton, enjoying no other educational advantages, save practical experience in business.
He first engaged in the stove and hard- ware business in Barre, in 1856, in which he remained until 1869, when he made a change in his business, and opened an in- surance agency in the same town, where he still resides.
In 1860 he was assessor of Barre, and has been chosen to the same office nearly every year since. He was a selectman during the civil war, 1861 to '65 inclusive. He was for thirteen years president and business manager of the famous Barre Central Cheese Company. He has been justice of the peace ten years ; was a mem- ber of the Legislature in 1887 ; is commis- sioner to qualify civil officers ; has been trustee, treasurer, and secretary of Worce- ster County West Agricultural Society ; trustee of Barre Library Association since its organization ; chairman of the Republi- can town committee for past fifteen years, and is treasurer and member of the building committee of Barre Hotel Corporation.
DAVIS, ROBERT THOMPSON, son of John and Sarah (Thompson) Davis, was born in county Down, North of Ireland, August 28, 1823, of parentage Presby- terian on the paternal, and Quaker on the maternal side. His parents emigrated to this country and settled in Amesbury, Essex county, when he was three years of age. His early educational training was received in the public schools and academy of Amesbury, and the Friends' school, Providence, R. I.
He was graduated from the medical de- partment of Harvard University in the class of 1847; was for a short time dispen- sary physician in Boston ; practiced medi- cine three years in Waterville, Me., and removed to Fall River in 1850, where he has since resided, except for a short period.
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DAVOL.
He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1853 ; of the state Senate of 1859 and '61 ; of the national Repub- lican conventions of 1860 and 1876; was mayor of Fall River in 1873, being elected without opposition, and declining a re-election ; was a member of the state board of charities when organized in 1863 ; was appointed a member of the state board of health upon its organiza- tion in 1869, and so remained until its con- solidation with the state board of health, lunacy and charity in 1879, when he be- came a member of that board ; was elected to the 48th and 49th Congresses, and was re-elected to the 50th Congress, as a Republican.
He has attained to eminence in his pro- fession of medicine ; has been president of the Bristol County South Medical Society; councilor of the Massachusetts Medical Society; member of the American Medical Association, and of the National Public Health Association.
In social and commercial circles he has also been prominent. He has been presi- dent from its foundation, of the Commer- cial Club, the leading social organization of Fall River ; president of Wampanoag Mills, and director in Stafford, Merchants', Barnard, and Robeson mills, and holds a one- third interest in the Globe Mills property.
Dr. Davis has ever been active in educa- tional matters. Davis school, Fall River, was named in his honor. He has been an intelligent observer, a careful student, and to these factors is joined the endowment of a graceful and eloquent oratory. His power in debate was felt in the last Con- gress, during the long and heated discus- sion on the tariff issues.
Dr. Davis was married October 1, 1848, to Sarah, daughter of Dr. Thomas and Ann Wilbur, who died in 1856. In June, 1862, he married Susan Ann, daughter of Moses and Phobe S. Haight, of New Castle, N. Y. He has one son : Robert C. Davis.
DAVOL, WILLIAM C., son of Abner and Mary (Durfee) Davol, was born in Fall River, Bristol county, Jannary 5, 1806. The Davol is one of the old families of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachu- setts, Pardon Davol, the founder of the family, locating in Fall River.
Securing what education he could in the conimon schools of those days, he entered the Troy Mill while yet a mere lad. After becoming acquainted with the various de- partments of mill work, he was made over-
seer of the spinning department. At the age of twenty-three he was appointed su- perintendent of the mill, which position he retained until 1841, when he became a member of the firm of Hawes, Marvel & Davol.
WILLIAM C. DAVOL.
This firm entered upon the business of manufacturing machinery, of which Mr. Davol was the skillful designer and draughtsman. They soon took rank among the foremost of cotton machine manufac- turers in the country. Upon the death of Mr. Hawes, the business was continued by the other members of the firm, under the name of Marvel & Davol, until the financial crash of 1878-'9. The importance of Mr. Davol's labors in the development of the cotton industry can hardly be over- estimated. It was very largely through his mechanical genius that the manufac- turers of Fall River were enabled to enjoy the advantages of the most improved ma- chinery, and thereby to compete so success- fully in the products of their factories.
To Mr. Davol is due the successful introduction into this country of the cele- brated English patent called the Sharp & Roberts self-acting mule, a great labor- saving machine. Accompanying Major Bradford Durfee to England in 1838, he made a study of this invention, and became
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thoroughly familiar with its working. Two years later one of these machines was smug- gled out of England and delivered in Fall River, cut up into small pieces. Mr. Davol re-adjusted the parts and set up the ma- chine a complete and perfect whole. He also made most valuable improvements upon the original.
This is but one of many improvements in this special line of inventions made by Mr. Davol, from which New England has been the recipient of untold benefits. He fitted up the Metacomet Mill with its com- plement of machinery, at the time of its erection in 1847. This was acknowledged the model mill of the country. The results of Mr. Davol's skill and ability extended beyond any narrow limits. He was often called into different parts of New England to solve mechanical problems connected with cotton manufacturing. By nature, training, and practical experience, he was a studious, industrious, and clear-headed mechanic.
As a business man, his record is without a stain, and whether in prosperity or ad- versity, he has ever been upright, conscien- tious, honorable. The Davol Mills, built in 1867, were named in his honor, and of them he was president. Although he lost his property by endorsing for others, who failed in 1878-'79, these reverses left him as they found him, kindly and charitably disposed as ever.
Mr. Davol was married October 30, 1828, to Martha R., daughter of Gilbert and Mary (Slocum) Taber. Of this union were four children, of whom only William C. Davol, Jr., is living, an active and re- spected business man of Fall River, who inherits to some extent the mechanical talent of his father.
DAWES, HENRY LAURENS, son of Mitchell and Mercy (Burgess) Dawes, was born in Cummington, Hampshire county, October 30, 1816.
Passing through the common and pre- paratory schools, he entered Yale College, and was graduated therefrom in the class of 1839. In 1840 and '41 he was engaged in teaching. He subsequently edited the " Greenfield Gazette " and was afterwards managing editor of the "Adams Tran- script." He then studied law in the office of Wells & Davis at Greenfield, and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1842. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in North Adams. In 1864 he removed to Pittsfield, which place he has ever since made his legal residence.
DAWES.
His power and ability soon attracted the attention of his fellow-townsmen, and he was sent to represent them in the General Court, serving as a member of the House of Representatives in 1848, '49 and '52, and as member of the Senate in 1850. He was a member of the state Constitutional Convention in 1853 ; was district attorney for the western district from 1853 until 57 ; was elected a Republican represen- tative in the 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th, 39th, 40th, 4Ist, 42d, and 43d Congresses, being chairman of the committee of ways and means, and leader of the House in the two last Congresses. He declined being a can- didate for election to the 44th Congress, and was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican, to succeed Charles Sumner (whose unexpired term had been filled by William B. Washburn). He took his seat March 4, 1875, and was re-elected in 1881, and again in 1887. His term of service will expire March 3, 1893. Wil- liams College conferred upon him the de- gree of LL. D. in 1869.
HENRY L. DAWES.
Mr. Dawes was married in Ashfield, May I, 1844, to Electa A., daughter of Chester and Anna (Allis) Sanderson. Of this union there are three children living : Anna Laurens, Chester Mitchell, and Henry Laurens Dawes, Jr.
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DEAN.
DEAN.
The career of the senior senator of Mas- sachusetts cannot adequately be described within the limits imposed in this sketch. He has been long and honorably identified with the growth of the State, has held a high and responsible position in the national administration of the government ; has enjoyed confidential relations with the leaders of his own and rival parties ; has been the personal friend of every occupant of the executive mansion during his ex- tended residence at the capital ; has per- formed patriotic and efficient service as one of the leaders of the House during the critical period of the war ; and through all his varied career has so lived in public and private life that not a stain has come upon the escutcheon of the State which has so often honored, and been in turn honored by this her illustrious son.
DEAN, BENJAMIN, son of Benjamin and Alice Dean, was born in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England, August 14, 1824. He was one of a family of ten children, five boys and five girls, all of whom lived to pass the meridian of life.
The subject of this sketch, when five years of age, came to this country with his parents, who settled in Lowell, Mass. There he received his early education, graduating from the Lowell high school in 1840. He then entered Dartmouth Col- lege, remaining through the freshman year. He began the study of law with Judge Thomas Hopkinson of Lowell, and in 1845 was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Lowell, where he remained until 1852.
He then removed to Boston and became a partner of Henry W. Fuller. Mr. Fuller dying soon after the partnership, the busi- ness fell to Mr. Dean, who carried it on alone. In 1862 and '63, and again in 1869, Mr. Dean was member of the state Senate. He served on the committee of probate and chancery, was chairman of the joint committee on prisons, and of the joint special committee on the serving of processes on volunteers, of that on the eligibility of members of Congress, and of that on proceedings for the restraint of the insane.
In 1869, when Francis A. Dewey was elevated to the judiciary of the superior court, Mr. bean, although a Democrat, was made chairman of the committee on the judiciary. He was also chairman of the joint standing committee on the library, and a member of the special committee on the license law.
He was member of the common council of Boston in 1865, '66, '72 and '73, where
he continuously held the chairmanship of committee on ordinances.
Mr. Dean served his congressional dis- trict (the 3d Massachusetts) in the 45th Congress. His seat was contested, but he was declared elected.
Since 1854 Mr. Dean has been a very prominent member and officer in the order of Free Masonry. He is deputy for the State of Massachusetts, of the Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States. Of the Grand Commandery for the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, he was grand conimander from 187 1
BENJAMIN DEAN
to '73, and from 1880 to '83 he was grand master of the Grand Encampment of the Knights Templar of the United States of America.
He has been one of the directors for the public institutions of Boston, a trustee of the South Boston Savings Bank, and a director of the South Boston R. R. Cor- poration. He is president of the South Boston Gas Company, and chairman of the board of park commissioners of Boston.
Mr. Dean is an expert yachtsman, and was for several years commodore of the Boston Yacht Club.
He married, in Lowell, in 1848, Mary A., daughter of J. B. French. The children
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DEAN.
DEAN.
of this union were six, five of whom are living : Benjamin Wheelock, Walter Lof- tus, Josiah Stevens, Clitheroe (now Mrs. C. L. James) and Mary (Mrs. Walter Tufts).
DEAN, GEORGE ASA, son of Asa and Lucy Dean, was born in Attleborough, Bristol county, May 2, 1835.
His education was obtained in the com- mon schools of those days. His first con- nection in business was made January 1, 1857, with A. M. Everett, S. L. Morse, B. B. Day, E. S. Capron and R. Bliss, under the firm name of Everett, Dean & Co., manufacturing jewelers. In 1868 the firm name was changed to Day, Bliss & Dean, in 1871 to Bliss & Dean, and in 1884 to G. A. Dean & Co.
Mr. Dean was married April 15, 1857, to Bessie B., daughter of French and Nancy Richardson, of Attleborough.
He represented his district in the Gen- eral Court in 1877.
Mr. Dean is director in the First National Bank of Attleborough, vice-president of the Attleborough Savings Bank, director in the Attleborough Loan and Savings Asso- ciation, director and treasurer in the Attle- borough Gas Light Company, and water commissioner of the Attleborough fire district.
DEAN, JOHN WARD, son of Charles and Patience Tappan (Kingsbury) Dean, was born in Wiscasset, Lincoln county, Maine, March 13, 1815. He attended the public schools in Mt. Vernon, Me., and finished his school education in the Port- land high school, of which the Rev. Thomas Tenny was principal.
In 1841 he engaged in the book-binding business in Providence, R. I., under the firm name of Dean & Burgess. In 1843 he removed to Boston, and entered into partnership with his brother Jeremiah, un- der the firm name of Dean & Co. From 1848 to 1859, he carried on the business alone. From 1859 to 1861, with William Hill, firm of Dean & Hill; from 1861 to 1872 again with his brother, as Dean & Co.
Mr. Dean was married in Boston, June 29, 1853, to Lydia, daughter of John S. and Abigail (Dean) Emerson. They have no children.
Mr. Dean was recording secretary of the American Statistical Association from 1860 to 1872 ; corresponding secretary of the Prince Society, 1858 to '63; vice-president of the same, 1863 to '70; president from 1870 to '80 ; and vice-president from 1880 to present time ; treasurer of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1855 to '57 ;
recording secretary of same, 1857 and '58 ; corresponding secretary, 1859 to '62 ; and librarian, 1872 to the present time. He was justice of the peace for the county of Mid- dlesex, 1870 to '77. He is now editor of the. " Register " and the publications of the New England Historic Genealogical society, with his residence in the town of Medford.
Mr. Dean's published works are numer- ous, and are critically edited. Among the principal are a memoir of the Rev. Nathan- iel Ward, A. M. (1868), and a memoir of Michael Wigglesworth, author of " The Day of Doom " (1871). He has prepared, and seen through the press, seventeen pamphlets of sketches, memorial and his- torical, also six volumes of historical mat- ter, edited by himself. To these should be added many pamphlets of valuable gen- ealogical compilation.
DEAN, ROBERT STROBRIDGE, son of Robert and Susan E. L. (Padelford) Dean, was born in Taunton, Bristol county, Feb- ruary 6, 1805. He is a lineal descendant in the seventh generation from Deacon Walter Deane, one of the first settlers of Taunton in 1639.
ROBERT S. DEAN.
Mr. Dean received his early education in the district schools of those days, and in Bristol Academy.
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DELANO.
DELANO.
At the age of sixteen, he entered business life as clerk in the house of Field, Fobes & Co., Philadelphia. His father's death, May 24, 1822, required his return home to assist in settling the large estate. In 1824 he succeeded his father in the manufactur- ing business, at the Dean Cotton Mills, East Taunton, and held the position, as agent, twelve years. He then held the management of the " Brick Mill" in con- nection with Crocker & Richmond. Was assignee with Governor Morton of Taun- ton Iron Company; was of the firm of Dean & Morse, manufacturers of machin- ery, a few years, and treasurer of the Dean Cotton & Machine Company twenty-five years. The profits in the first twenty years were five times the amount of capital. He was also treasurer of Taunton Locomotive Company a short time. He retired from business in 1873, with an ample competency, after a successful manufacturing and mer- cantile life of nearly fifty years.
Mr. Dean was married in Taunton, Sep- tember 9, 1832, to Mary C., daughter of William Hodges. Mrs. Dean died in 1886, leaving no children.
DELANO, GEORGE, son of James and Dorothy (Wing) Delano, was born in Roch- ester, Plymouth county, May 13, 1821, and received his education in its common schools from the age of ten to fourteen years.
On leaving school he became clerk in the store of Luce & Delano, in the part of Rochester now Marion, and at the end of six years took the business of his employers and carried it on in connection with ship- building until 1849-'50, when he failed, and effected a compromise with his cred- itors.
After a year spent in Virginia, " prospect- ing," he entered the employ of the Bigelow Carpet Company, at Clinton, as clerk and paymaster, until July, 1855, and in the fol- lowing month came to New Bedford and took the entire charge of the extensive oil manufacturing business of his brother-in- law, the late Charles H. Leonard, then re- siding in New York City. This responsible position he filled until Mr. Leonard's death in 1868, when, in company with F. L. B. Mayhew and James A. Fussell, he contin- ued the business. On assuming control, Mr. Delano made many improvements fa- cilitating the manufacture and increasing the product - notably the introduction of stcam in the processes of production. The reputation of the old firm was thoroughly maintained, and Mr. Delano came to be the acknowledged head of the oil manufac-
turers of the State in exact, thorough, and scientific knowledge of all the processes in the production of oils.
In 1877 Stephen C. L. Delano, a son of the senior partner, was admitted to the firm, and in 1883 Messrs. George Delano, Mayhew and Fussell retired, when Mr. Dela- no's sons, James and Stephen, having in their employ their youngest brother, Charles H. Leonard Delano, took entire charge and control of the business, under the firm name of George Delano's Sons.
Mr. Delano was married November 20, 1845, in Rochester, to Abigail, daughter of George and Cynthia (Washburn) Leonard,
GEORGE DELANO.
of that town, and his children are the threc sons previously named.
In retiring from active business he dis- missed its cares and anxieties, and sought the rest which his health demanded. Long a sufferer from sciatica, he finds partial re- lief in his delightful home in Rochester, at his sea-side residence in Marion, and in winter excursions to the South. Of ample leisure, he yet has no idle hours ; and though having no particular vocation, he is never without congenial employment, in the care and improvement of his real estate in Rochester and Marion, and in the dis- charge of his duties as a public-spirited citizen.
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DEVENS.
Mr. Delano has never held any political office, but, warmly interested in politics from his boyhood, he has served his party as committee-man and delegate to state and national conventions, and was once a candidate for presidential elector. A born Democrat, he has continued to be one from thorough conviction. Mr. Delano has neither sought nor gained prominence, save in his business career, which has been eminently successful. He is better satisfied with the respect of his party and the warm personal friendship of all who know him, of whatever political creed, than with any honor or emoluments of office.
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