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 34
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WILLIAM N. FLYNT.
verse, Ella Eudocia, and George Converse Flynt. The three sons are all immediately associated with their father in his various undertakings.
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FOOTE.
FOGG, EBENEZER THAYER, son of Ebenezer Thayer and Betsey (Tower) Fogg, was born in Scituate, Plymouth county, October 30, 1826, and educated at the common schools.
He began business as a mechanical ship- joiner, and subsequently for twenty-nine years was engaged in mercantile affairs. At present he is occupied as treasurer of the South Scituate Savings Bank.
On the 5th day of October, 1859, Mr. Fogg was married to Helen Louise, daugh- ter of Benjamin and Margaret (Tilden) Smith. Their children are: Ebenezer Thayer, Helen Hambleton, and Horace Tower Fogg.
He was appointed receiver of the Scitu- ate Savings Bank. Among other offices of trust and responsibility, he has held the position of postmaster for twenty-nine years, town clerk for thirty-one years, town treasurer twenty-eight years, and he was for four years upon the school committee.
In 1880 and 'SI he was elected senator to the state Legislature, and served upon such important committees as fisheries, roads and bridges, and woman suffrage. He was chairman of the committee on the liquor law in 1880.
FOLSOM, JOHN SANBORN, son of John Tilton and Hannah Morrill (Sanborn) Fol- som, was born October 12, 1840, in Man- chester, Hillsborough county, N. H. He is a lineal descendant in the seventh genera- tion from John Folsom, who set sail April 26, 1638, from the mouth of the Thames, England, in the ship "Diligent," of Ips- wich, and who on his arrival in America settled in Hingham. His father, Dr. John T. Folsom, was for many years a successful and widely known practitioner of dentistry in the city of Gloucester, and later in Bos- ton.
Having spent his boyhood and youth in school, at the age of sixteen years he en- tered his father's office and devoted him- self to the study and practice of dentistry, under the careful instruction and experi- enced eye of his father, who designed to give his son the best advantages for this profession. After two or three years' train- ing he went to Baltimore and then to New York City, spending some two years in the offices of the most eminent dentists in the country at that period.
Dr. Folsom, about 1860, returned to his father's office in Gloucester, a well-read and skilled operator in dentistry. After some years he, with his father and uncle, N. T. Folsom, also a dentist, opened an
office in Boston, where they had a large practice. Meanwhile his uncle became the inventor of what was known as the " Fol- som Dental Packing Ridge," patented January 1, 1867, which became so import- ant to dentistry everywhere, that they all were engaged for a time in introducing this new invention, which yielded a very handsome pecuniary return.
Subsequently Dr. Folsom engaged some- what in other business, but still doing more or less in his profession. He himself made some valuable inventions in saddlery and hardware. After his father's death, for some years he was in company with his uncle, N. T. Folsom, in Boston, where he gave attention to the sale of goods manu- factured under their several patents, and devoted some time to his professional prac- tice in the place where he resided. He was a prominent citizen in Medway and a leader in politics as a Jackson Democrat, being on the Democratic town committee, where he was a faithful and energetic worker.
As a business man, Dr. Folsom has had a good measure of executive ability, and has enjoyed the entire confidence of the community in which he has lived.
He was a popular candidate in 1884 for representative to the General Court, receiv- ing a heavy vote of his townsmen without respect to party lines. In 1885, upon the incorporation of the town of Millis, he was chosen a member of the first board of selectmen, and on the decease of Lansing Millis, Dr. Folsom became chairman of the board. He was a judicious, progressive and faithful town officer.
Dr. Folsom married, July 6, 1865, Marion Augusta, daughter of Dr. James B. and Priscilla A. (Godfrey) Gould. She was born October 10, 1843, in New England Village, and died February 17, 1883.
FOOTE, CALEB, the son of Caleb and Martha (West) Foote, was born in Salem, Essex county, February 28, 1803.
His paternal grandfather served in the revolutionary war, under Washington at Cambridge, and afterward as a prize- master at sea, where he was captured by an English ship and confined in Forton prison till he made his escape. He was a descendant of Pasco Foote, who settled in Salem before 1637. His maternal grand- father, Samuel West, died in a trading voyage to Virginia. The father of the subject of this sketch lost his life at sea in 1810.
He was then left at the tender age of seven, fatherless, motherless and portionless
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-wholly dependent on relatives, and began to earn his own living at ten years of age, when he left the North Salem public school, and his school education was ended.
He first went to attend in the shop of an uncle in Salem, and later in Boston, return- ing to Salem again for employment in a book-store. Soon after this, he was on the point of following the sea for a livelihood, and had in fact shipped as cabin-boy for a sealing voyage in the Arctic regions, when the captain who had engaged him broke the agreement in order to take a larger and stronger boy, and thereby diverted the current of his life.
CALEB FOOTE.
He then found employment in the office of the "Salem Gazette ; " this was in 1817, since which time he has worked his way up in the same establishment from apprentice to proprietor and editor, having, at the date of withdrawal (October, 1888), been in active service in the office seventy-one years, and sixty-three of them as senior proprietor and editor.
Mr. Foote also established a small weekly paper, to which he gave the name of " The Salem Mercury," and it became an import- ant addition to the influence of the office, being subsequently enlarged, and its title changed to that of "The Essex County Mercury."
FORBES.
The "Gazette" had a hard struggle at the outset of its career, but for more than a hundred years it has been regularly issued under the successive direction of two per- sons-Thomas C. Cushing from 1786 to 1823, and Caleb Foote from 1825 to Octo- ber, 1888. For the brief space of twenty- seven months after Mr. Cushing's with- drawal, Mr. Ferdinand Andrews had the place of senior proprietor, being succeeded in that capacity by Mr. Foote, who in 1854 was joined by Nathaniel A. Horton, as junior editor, who now publishes the "Gazette and Mercury" under the firm name of N. A. Horton & Son.
Such public duties as the engrossing labors of an editor would permit came early to Mr. Foote. He served on the school committee in 1830 and '31, and was a member of the House of Representatives in 1833 and '34, declining a re-election.
In January, 1838, he was elected by the Legislature a member of the executive council, and again in 1839, declining a subsequent re-election. In May, 1841, he was appointed postmaster of Salem, which position he retained three years.
In 1867 he took a vacation for a trip to Europe.
Mr. Foote was married, October 2, 1835, to Mary Wilder, the daughter of Hon. Daniel Appleton White, judge of probate for Essex county. She died December 24, 1857. Of their six children, three are sur- viving : Rev. Henry W. Foote and Arthur Foote, now of Boston, and Mrs. Mary W., wife of John B. Tileston, of Milton.
FORBES, ROBERT BENNETT, son of Ralph Bennett and Margaret (Perkins) Forbes, was born in Jamaica Plain, Sep- tember 18, 1804. His family on both sides originated in Scotland. His paternal grandfather was Rev. John Forbes, of Milton, who married Dorothy Murray, of that town. In 1807 his parents removed to Boston. Two years later his father went to Europe. January 17, 18II, the family embarked in the topsail schooner " Midas," bound for Marseilles. After de- tention by British war vessels, they arrived in safety, and were joined by the husband and father. Here the children remained at a boarding-school, while the parents traveled thirteen months in Europe and Africa. On their return they went to Bor- deaux, and remained five months.
May 13, 1813, they embarked in an American schooner for home, sailing under a letter of marque. They were captured by a British cruiser, taken into Corunna, Spain. Later on they took passage in the brig
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FORBES.
" Caroline," were again captured, taken into Tagus Roads, escaped in the " Leda," a fishing boat, and went to Lisbon, and finally reached Newport, R. I.
Mr. Forbes went into the employ of his cousin, S. Cabot, and James and Thomas S. Perkins, Jrs. In October, 1817, he went before the mast in the ship " Canton Packet," full of determination to some day command the ship. The second voy- age he was made third mate, and was pro- moted to second mate when sixteen years of age. He was captain of the " Levant " when twenty.
Since that time he has visited many ports, and been participator in some of the
--
ROBERT B. FORBES.
most stirring adventures that can happen to travelers by land or sea. At the age of twenty-six he commanded his own ship, at twenty-eight he abandoned the sea as a profession, and at thirty-six was at the head of the house of Russell & Company, the largest American house in China.
In 1832 he returned home, and on the 20th of January, 1834, married Rose Green, daughter of John Smith. Their surviving children are : Robert Bennett, Jr., Edith Perkins, and James Murray Forbes, several having died in infancy.
In 1847 Mr. Forbes participated in the humane and timely act of forwarding sup-
FORBES.
plies to the Irish, who at that time were suffering all the horrors of fantine and fever. A petition had been presented to Congress by Commodore De Kay, and through the influence of Robert C. Win- throp, an amendment to it was carried through, granting the " Macedonian " to De Kay, and the "Jamestown" to Mr. Forbes. People of Boston and vicinity took great interest in this relief expedi- tion and contributed very freely. On the 28th of March, 1847, with a crew of only thirty-one able men, and with about eight thousand barrels of provisions on board, he sailed for Ireland. A remarkably quick passage of fifteen days and three hours brought them to their destination, where they were most enthusiastically received by the grateful people. The voyage of the " Jamestown " was a most pronounced success. Leaving as she did at an unfa- vorable season of the year, and heavily laden, she made a passage that has rarely, if ever, been equaled by a sailing vessel.
Mr. Forbes returned to China in 1838 and again in 1849. While there on his last visit he held the American vice-con- sulate, and at one time acted for the French in the same capacity. After his return he was engaged in the China trade.
At the breaking out of the civil war he organized a coast guard for the instruction of merchant seamen in ordnance, and acted as chief of a commission to superintend the building of nine gun-boats. He was elected a trustee of the Humane Society of Massachusetts in 1841, and was for several years its vice-president. He was one of the founders of the Snug Harbor at Germantown, Quincy, and for some years its president. He has been inter- ested, as owner and builder, in some seventy vessels. He bought the propeller " Pembroke," the only vessel that sailed during the war under a letter of marque.
Mr. Forbes is keenly alive to all matters that affect maritime interests, and partic- ularly those that tend to the safety and amelioration of the sailor. He has pro- nounced views upon these and kindred matters, and hopes to live long enough to see " ocean lanes " and his new rig for ves- sels adopted.
FORBES, WILLIAM TROWBRIDGE, son of Ephraim Trowbridge and Catharine (White) Forbes, was born in Westborough, Worcester county, May 24, 1850.
His preparatory education was obtained in the public schools of his native town, Allen's classical school, West Newton, and
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FORD.
FORD.
under the tuition of Rev. James Tufts, Monson. He was graduated from Amherst College in the class of 1871.
After graduation he pursued his legal studies at Worcester, with Bacon, Hopkins
WILLIAM T. FORBES.
& Bacon, was admitted to the Massachu- setts bar in 1878, and in 1879 commenced the practice of law in Westborough, where he still resides.
Mr. Forbes was married in Worcester, February 5, 1884, to Harriette, daughter of William T. and Maria C. (Brigham) Merrifield. Of this union are three chil- dren : William T. M., Allan White and Cornelia Brigham Forbes.
Judge Forbes was instructor in mathe- matics in Robert College, Constantinople, Turkey, from 1871 to '74; standing jus- tice of the Ist district court of East Worces- ter, 1875 to '79 ; member of the House of Representatives, 1881 and '82 ; member of the state Senate, 1886 and '87, and was made judge of the courts of probate and insolvency for Worcester county, 1888, which position he now holds.
FORD, WILLIAM EDWIN, son of Elisha and Nancy (Pierce) Ford, was born in Milton, Norfolk county, July 20, 1823.
He obtained his education in the com- mon schools of Dorchester. In 1840 he began life for himself, and learned the
silversmith's trade in Boston with Newell Harding.
While learning his trade he became a member of the Apprentices' Library Association, making himself a valuable member by his attention to the various duties he was called upon to perform. He was duly elected an honorary member upon his retiring from the association.
Mr. Ford was married in Boston, June 15, 1848, to Margaret E. N. Brewster, a descendant of " Elder Brewster." She was the daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth (Shortridge) Brewster, of New Hampshire. They have no living children.
Mr. Ford has been associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1844, and has passed through the different grades of office in the order, from the most humble to that of grand master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. He is known by many as the "Father of the Flag of the Order," as it was on his report, as chairman of the committee, that the flag was adopted by the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Baltimore, in 1868. He was representa-
WILLIAM E. FORD.
tive from Massachusetts to the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the United States in 1865, upon their re-union after the war.
The procurement of the Odd Fellows' burial lot in Mt. Hope Cemetery resulted
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FOSS.
largely from his efforts to provide a burial place for members of his own lodge, Siloam No. 2, of Boston.
To him is due the credit of perfecting the plan for an Odd Fellows' home for the aged member, his widow, and orphan chil- dren, and he is at the present time the presi- dent of the board of trustees of the same.
For many years he was the chairman of the relief committee of the order in Bos- ton, and is now the treasurer of that body. Few men have been more devoted to the charitable work of the fraternity than this tireless laborer.
In other departments of charitable work he has been an active and devoted serv- ant. For many years he was a visitor in the Boston Provident Association, and in church matters he has always been a con- sistent Universalist.
Mr. Ford is a practical man - positive in his convictions, generous in his nature, and gives himself heartily to the cause he espouses. He has filled a position in the Boston public library since it first moved to its present site on Boylston Street, in 1848, and has won the respect of his as- sociates by his fidelity and urbanity.
FOSS, JAMES HENRY, son of Joshua and Eliza (Foss) Foss, was born in Charles- ton, Penobscot county, Maine, July 25, 18.42.
Passing through the public schools of Rowley, Mass., he determined to secure a liberal education, and prepared for college at Dummer Academy, Byfield, under the tuition of Prof. Marshall Henshaw.
He was graduated A. B. from Brown University, Providence, R. I., in the class of 1863. While fitting for college, he taught school in Barrington, N. H., at the early agc of fifteen, and at that time impressed with a belief that it was his mission, preached the gospel according to the Bap- tist faith in the pulpits of the surrounding towns.
After graduation he made a distinguished reputation as an educator, teaching in high school, Bristol, Conn., House of Refuge, Randall's Island, N. Y., Williams Academy, Stockbridge, Mass., Brisco school, Beverly, grammar school, Winchester, and the Bigelow school, Newton. Hc was also superintendent of Rowley common schools, and of the Bigelow district school of Newton.
Leaving his profession on account of ill health, he was appointed by the Hon. George B. Loring, deputy commissioner of the United States Department of Agri- culture.
FOSS.
Mr. Foss was married in Gloucester, to Mary H., daughter of Parker Burnham, of that city. Of this union were three chil- dren : Mary P., Ada and Ida Foss. Mr. Foss was married the second time in Allston, June 20, 1878, to Lillian A., daugh- ter of Quincy A. and Betsey C. (Wedge) Washburn. Lillian A. Washburn was an
JAMES H. FOSS.
elocutionist and musician of no small repute. Of this union is one child : Eliza- beth Foss.
Mr. Foss has always been active in state and national politics, an ardent Republican and campaign speaker. He is president of the Needham Republican club.
Mr. Foss is known better to-day as a founder and builder of towns in Florida. While in the department of agriculture, hc possessed opportunities for becoming acquainted with the best portions of the undeveloped lands of Florida, and upon his retirement from office, he availed him- self of what knowledge he had gained, anel sometimes for himself, sometimes in com- pany with others, purchased large tracts of land in the healthful highlands of Florida, where he has founded and built two flourish- ing towns, Altamont, Orange county, and Belleview, Marion county. In the former town he built the famous Altamont Hotel. Belleview contains already one hundred
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houses, three hotels, schools, churches, stores, manufactories, etc. Mr. Foss has disposed of over $250,000 worth of Florida lands in these two towns. His present vocation is furthering their interests by lecturing in northern cities, planting orange groves for investors, building houses for winter as well as permanent residents, sell- ing lands in large or small tracts, writing books, etc. He is energetic, persevering, and possesses the confidence of all who know him.
FOSTER, ENOCH, son of Zephaniah K. and Mercy T. (Trull) Foster, was born in Tewksbury, Middlesex county, April 22, 1831. He attended the common schools, where he received his early educational training.
He began business life as a manufac- turer of furniture, with his brother and Nathaniel P. Cole, under the firm name of J. & E. Foster & Co., in April, 1851. In a few years the firm name was changed. to Fosters & Cole. In 1856 Fosters & Cole sold out to Wood Bros., and bought out the furniture ware-room of C. G. Weaver & Co., in Lowell, and soon after admitted Francis Kingman of Reading. The par- ties who bought out the manufacturing business being unable to carry out their contract, Fosters & Cole were obliged to resume control of their business, and therefore sold their Lowell interests to Adams & North.
They were afterwards interested in sev- eral furniture manufacturing and wholesale and retail establishments in Massachusetts and California.
In 1886 Mr. Foster closed out nearly all of his interests in the wholesale, retail and manufacturing business, and turned his attention to farming, his present occupation.
Mr. Foster was married in Reading to Mary J., daughter of Aaron and Mary A. (Jaques) Frost. They have no children.
Mr. Foster has been called to serve his municipality as town clerk, selectman, town treasurer, justice of the peace, etc. He has been representative to the General Court two sessions. His church connec- tions are with the Congregational church and society, of which he is deacon and treasurer.
FOTTLER, JACOB, son of John and Mary (Donald) Fottler, was born in Dor- chester, Norfolk county, August 19, 1839.
He obtained his school training in the common schools of Belmont and Brighton, and at the Eliot high school, Jamaica Plain.
FOTTLER.
He worked at home on his father's farm - a tract of land now included within the boundaries of Franklin Park -also for a time at Hingham ; at the age of nineteen he left home for California, and for some time was employed on a ranch in that state ; coming back to Boston, he secured a situation in Faneuil Hall market. In 1872 he was admitted as a partner in the firm of Sands, Furber & Co., which busi- ness relation still continues.
Mr. Fottler was married in Sanbornton, N. H., March 12, 1865, to Lucy Ann, daughter of Captain Edward and Phebe (Morrison) Evans. Of this union are two children : Frances Bell and Milton Evans Fottler.
Mr. Fottler was a member of the Boston common council in 1885, '86 and '87, and served on the following committees : pub- lic parks, public institutions, markets, elec- tions, and sale of reservoir lot. He was a member of the House of Representatives,
JACOB FOTTLER.
1888 and '89, and served on the commit- tee on the state-house. He is a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce - elect- ed to serve on the board of directors for a term of three years; a member of the Boston Fruit and Produce Exchange, and also of the Bay State Agricultural So- ciety.
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He is a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massa- chusetts-receiving a lieutenant's commis- sion June 6, 1887. Mr. Fottler visited England in July, 1887, as one of the dele- gation of the " Ancients," who were invited by the Honourable Artillery Company of London to be present and assist in the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary cele- bration of that company.
FOWLER, BENJAMIN AUSTIN, son of Benjamin Coleman and Sophia Cowdrey (Stevens) Fowler, was born in Stoneham, Middlesex county, December 14, 1843.
He passed through all the grades of school in Stoneham, including the high school, from which he went to Phillips Academy, Andover, and was graduated in 1862. He was an active member of the Phillips Academy Cadets, a company of pa- triotic young men preparing themselves for future service in the army, where many of them were found before the close of the civil war.
In 1863 Mr. Fowler entered Yale Col- lege, and was graduated in the class of 1868, having lost one year from illness contracted in the army.
He engaged in teaching in Danvers for one year ; was salesman in a wholesale shoe store in Boston one year ; studied law one year, until ill health necessitated a change. For several years he was in the real estate business. Continued poor and failing health led him into the subscription book business, in 1875. In 1881 he became in- terested in silver mining in New Mexico, and devoted his time to it until 1884, when he bought back the book business sold in 1881.
From early in 1886 he was the New England agent of Dodd, Mead & Co., pub- lishers, of New York City, and in February, 1889, he accepted the position of general manager of their subscription book busi- ness, with headquarters in New York.
Mr. Fowler was married in Medford, October 17, 1888, to Ella Frances, daugh- ter of Benjamin F. and Almedia Hobson (Cobb) Quinby.
Mr. Fowler was a member and secretary of the Stoneham school board from 1871 to '76 ; has been delegate to various Re- publican conventions, county and state ; was superintendent of the Sunday-school of the First Congregational church of Stone- ham from 1870 to '76; treasurer of the parish, 1871 and '72; president of the Stoncham Choral Society, and has been generally active in many minor societies - social and literary.
FOX.
Mr. Fowler enlisted in August, 1862, in company C, 50th regiment, Massachusetts volunteers-nine months' troops ; joined General Banks's expedition to the Gulf, and served in Louisiana ; was detailed into the signal corps, and there remained until the 50th regiment was ordered home. He participated in the siege of Port Hudson ; was then attached to General Dudley's staff and ordered down the Mississippi River to Bayou La Fourche on an expedi- tion to Brashear City ; was in the disastrous engagement at Donaldsonville, and was mustered out about one year from the time of enlistment.
FOX, JAMES AUGUSTUS, son of George Howe and Emily (Wyatt) Fox, was born in Boston, August 11, 1827. He traces his ancestry to prominent English and Scotch families; on the paternal side to one in Lincolnshire, England, which in- cluded the author of the celebrated " Book of Martyrs ;" and on the maternal to the Scotch family of Forbes, represented in the State by Hon. John M. Forbes and Hon. Lincoln F. Brigham, Chief Justice of the superior court of Massachusetts.
His academical education was attained in the public schools of Boston, after which his studies were in the line of his chosen profession, and were pursued in the law school of Harvard University and the office of the late Hon. John C. Park. He was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1854.
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