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 52
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In 1883 Mr. Johnson bought the interest of Mr. Bye, and the business has since been conducted by him, under the firm name of Iver Johnson & Co., in the city of Worcester, where he resides. Mr. John- son now manufactures pistols, guns, and every style of fire-arms, police goods, chain twisters, ice and roller skates, and bicycles -all of original construction ; he also does drop-forging of all kinds, and nickel- plating.
Mr. Johnson is an intelligent student of social and economic questions. He has been for many years a director in the Sovereigns' Co-operative Store, and on the board of directors of each of the three co-operative banks of Worcester since their organization, being the president of one of them.
Mr. Johnson was married in Worcester, April 9, 1868, to Mary E., daughter of John and Jennett (Adams) Spiers. Of this union were five children : Nettie Bright (deceased), Frederick Iver, John Lovell, Walter Olof and Mary Louise Johnson.
JOHNSON, JOSEPH PROSPER, son of John William and Jerusha (Cary) Johnson, was born in Essex, Middlesex county, Conn., July 18, 1813, and was one of a family of thirteen children.
His early education was gleaned from two months' attendance each year in the district school of those days. His father, once a prosperous mariner and shipmaster, was forced to retire from the sea on ac- count of ill health, and when death came, the widow and fatherless were obliged to economize to keep the family in comforta- ble circumstances.
At the age of fourteen Joseph left home, June 17, 1827, with nothing outside his brain and hands, but the example and counsel of a fond mother to invest as capi- tal in the great mart of human activities. He embarked in a small trading vessel and went to Provincetown, where he bound himself out for seven years as an appren- tice to a sail-maker. At that time sail-mak- ing was a flourishing business in that little sea-port town. Long hours of work and short minutes for recreation gave young
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Johnson small time for reading and study, but what time he found he improved, and by perseverance and close attention, he laid the foundation for a practical, hard- earned education, which in after years brought rich reward.
JOSEPH P. JOHNSON.
After learning his trade, he carried on the business until July, 1850, when he re- tired with a comfortable competency. He then entered into a co-partnership with others in mercantile pursuits ; but their ventures proving unfortunate, the accumu- lations of years were swept from him at a blow.
He began again - this time to manufac- ture shoe boxes in a small way, in that portion of the town of Bridgewater now known as Brockton. He was at first suc- cessful, but reverses came, and he sold the business and again removed to Province- town. He now engaged in the wrecking business ; was very successful, and again retired with a small fortune. His creditors of former years of failure were now paid by him in full.
Mr. Johnson was president of the Union Marine Insurance Company, and general agent for the Boston board of underwriters until, at seventy, he resigned ; has been a director of the First National Bank of Provincetown from its organization ; select-
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man for years; member of the General Court eight terms, between 1850 and '80 ; member of the state Senate, 1882 and '83, and moderator of every town meeting for twenty-eight successive years. When he felt he could no longer serve, he received a series of resolutions adopted in town meet- ing assembled, thanking him for his just and impartial rulings. He has been forty years a Mason and Odd Fellow ; sir knight in Boston Commandery, K. T. ; has held several appointments of D. D. G. M. of the I. O. O. F.
Mr. Johnson was first married the 28th of April, 1835, to Polly Cook, who died seven years later. His second marriage was with Susan Fitch, in 1843. She lived but a few years, and at her death left two children : Mary and Susie Johnson. In 1848 he married Mary Wharf. She died in 1869, leaving three children : Josephine, George, and William Johnson.
Mr. Johnson is a warm-hearted, gener- ous, public-spirited man, loved by the young and universally respected by his townsmen. His good deeds, unostentatious charities, and his uniformly courteous hospitality, will be a lasting monument to his good name.
JOHNSON, NATHANIEL LAFAYETTE, son of Nathaniel and Martha Johnson, was. born in Dana, Worcester county, May 30, 1822.
He received his early education in the common schools of his native town, and about one year at New Salem Academy, after which he continued classical studies. under a private tutor. He then for a time studied with a view to entering the legal profession ; that being abandoned, after teaching school two terms, he became a clerk in a country store.
In 1844 he entered into business with George G. Braman, in the manufacture of palm-leaf hats, under the firm name of Braman & Johnson. This partnership be- ing dissolved in 1846, he entered into part- nership with Daniel Russell, late of Lynn. In 1851 this firm was succeeded by John- son & Giddings, and two years later Mr. Johnson relinquished the mercantile part of the business, and continued the manu- facture of palm-leaf goods alone until 1887.
In 1862, when the First National Bank of Barre was organized, Mr. Johnson be- came a director, and in 1883 was elected its president, which position he now holds. He is also one of the trustees of the Barre Savings Bank, an institution which he as- sisted in organizing.
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He has been more or less interested in agriculture during his whole business life ; has held most of the town offices ; was a member of the House of Representatives in 1857. '60 and '71. In the Senate, in 1873 and '74, he was chairman of the com- mittees on claims, and probate and chan- cery, and a member of the legislative valu- ation committee in 1860. He was post- master of Dana from 1848 to '65, and trial justice from 1858 to '60. He is a member of the American Bible Society, a trustee of New Salem Academy, and an active mem- ber of the Congregational church.
He was married at Argyle, Washington county, N. Y., July 1, 1858, to Margaretta
NATHANIEL L. JOHNSON.
H., daughter of David and Nancy Harshaw, by whom he has one son : John H. John- son, now a student in the Boston Univer- sity law school.
His paternal grandfather, Stephen John- son, served in the revolutionary war.
JOHNSON, PETER ROGERS, son of Calvin and Nancy (Rogers) Johnson, was born in Holliston, Middlesex county, June 22, 1824.
His education was received in the com- mon schools.
His first connection in business was with the late Alden Leland, of Holliston, in the manufacture of boots and shoes. In 1858
he began manufacturing boots on his own account, but in 1871 joined with the late J. H. Lester and L. R. Moody, under the firm name of Lester, Johnson & Moody.
Upon the retirement of Mr. Lester, the present partnership was formed, under the firm name of Johnson, Moody & Co., man- ufacturers and dealers in boots and shoes, Boston.
Mr. Johnson was first married in Sher- born, May 29, 1849, to Eleanor, daughter of Jacob and Mary Ann ( Hooker) Pratt. The fruit of this union was two children : M. Anna and Helen L. Johnson. Mrs. John- son died in 1885. Mr. Johnson's second marriage was with Jessie M., daughter of Jason and Emily W. (Goddard) Hart.
Mr. Johnson was representative to the Legislature in 1872 and '77. He has been repeatedly called to serve his town as selectman, assessor, etc. He is director in the Holliston National Bank and in the Holliston Mills.
Mr. Johnson's father dying when the son was but two years old, circumstances compelled the latter to seek employment at a tender age. At ten he was appren- ticed to B. F. Batchelder, to learn the shoe- making trade. He remained until sixteen years of age, when he assumed the re- sponsibilities of life for himself, and by his energy and perseverance has attained to his present measure of success.
JONES, BRADFORD ELLIOT, son of Rosseter and Hannah (Marshall ) Jones, was born in North Bridgewater, Plymouth county, September 22, 1840.
He was educated in the public schools of his native town and the North Bridge- water Academy.
He entered the dry-goods store of Charles Curtis when seventeen years of age, and remained there nearly four years. In 1864, he started in the dry-goods busi- ness for himself, in Provincetown, remain- ing there till 1867; then returned to North Bridgewater and organized the house of Jones, Lovell & Sanford, buying out the long established business of Brett Bros. This co-partnership continued about three years, when Mr. Sanford retired, and the business continued under the firm name of Jones & Lovell, until May, 1875. The senior member then retired, and purchased the dry-goods business of H. H. Pack- ard, now operating under the name of B. E. Jones & Co.
Mr. Jones was married in Provincetown, September 21, 1862, to Kate Maria, daugh- ter of Dr. Stephen A. and Catherine M. W. (Brackett) Paine. Of this union were two
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children : Kitty Paine and Stephen Ros- seter Jones.
He is president of the Security Co-oper- ative Bank, vice-president of the Brockton Savings Bank, director of the Home Na- tional Bank ; has been treasurer of Paul Revere Lodge of Masons since 1875, and ยท is president of the Landlords' Protective Association. In 1882 he was elected alderman to the first city government. He
BRADFORD E. JONES.
is also treasurer of the Brockton Masonic Benefit Association.
He has uniformly been a large holder in the real estate, and a firm believer in the future prosperity, of the city of Brockton, but is also operating quite extensively in orange growing in Florida.
JONES, EDWARD JENKINS, son of Jacob and Mary (Covell) Jones, was born in Boston, October 15, 1822. His educational advantages were the primary and grammar schools of Boston.
He began his business career by finding employment as clerk for William W. Mot- ley, in the Albion clothing store.
In 1845 he was appointed deputy sheriff and was crier of the supreme court. He chose the profession of the law, and after due preparation was admitted to the Suf- folk bar, of which he has been a mem- ber for twenty years. His present voca-
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tion is that of lawyer and master in chancery.
Mr. Jones was married in Boston, April 26, 1849, to Emily D., daughter of James and Fanny B. Campbell. Of this union are eight children : Emily D. C., Richard F., Edward J., Jr., Helen M., Daniel C., Mary C., Ezra P., and Harry Jones.
In addition to the offices of deputy sheriff and crier of the supreme court, he has been captain of the watch, chief constable of the Commonwealth, justice of the peace, notary public, master in chancery, commissioner of insolvency, police com- missioner ; has held all the grades of office in the state militia from corporal to lieuten- ant-colonel, captain of the 11th Massachu- setts light battery during the rebellion, up to the surrender of General Lee and the close of the war. He was breveted major of U. S. V. for conspicuous gallantry at the battle of Fort Stedman, Va., March 25, 1865. From March, 1866, he was six years assistant inspector on the staff of Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, com- manding the division of Massachusetts militia. He is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, of the G. A. R .; also of the Ancient and Honorable Artil- lery Company, and National Lancers. Since 1841 his church connections have been with the Baptists. He is a life mem- ber of Columbia Lodge and of St. Andrew's Chapter and Joseph Warren Commandery. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.
Mr. Jones was a member of the House of Representatives 1873 and '74.
JONES, ERASTUS, son of Asa and Lucy (Dunbar) Jones, was born in Spencer, Wor- cester county, September 11, 1825. His early educational advantages were limited to the common and high schools of Spen- cer, in those days, the high school being a private institution.
After leaving school, at seventeen years of age, he entered the employ of his brother, then manufacturing boots. In 1846 he formed a partnership with his brother, who retired in 1861, H. P. Starr succeeding him. Since that time the firm name has been E. Jones & Co.
In 1850 Mr. Jones was married in Bath, Maine, to Mary Isabella, daughter of John B. H. and Isabella (Prince) Starr, and sis- ter of his partner. Of this union were five children : Lucy I., Julia F., Charles E. (deceased), Everett S., and Mary P. Jones.
Mr. Jones was town clerk in 1868 and '69, and served in the House of Representa- tives one year (1874). He is president of the First National Bank, Spencer, and has
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been since its organization. He has been president of the Spencer Savings Bank and treasurer of the First Congregational parish for a long term of years ; has been treasurer of the town of Spencer for sev- eral years, being elected to the latter posi- tion without any opposition. During the war he was firm in his support of the Union cause, and liberal in his contributions. A man of the strictest integrity in his success- ful business relations, he has a large heart, and his most intimate friends are not ac- quainted with the extent or direction of many of his charities.
JONES, JEROME, was born in Athol, Worcester county, October 13, 1837. He is the youngest son of the late Theodore and Marcia (Estabrook) Jones, and grand- son of Rev. Joseph Estabrook, the second minister of Athol, and a noted preacher in his time.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the common school at Athol, and at an early age entered as clerk the country store of Goddard & Ward, in the adjoining town of Orange. In 1853 he was appren- ticed to Otis Norcross & Co., of Boston, where he received his commercial training, this firm being then the leading importers of crockery in the United States. In 1861, at twenty-three years of age, he was ad- mitted a partner, and in 1865 he was sent to Europe as the foreign buyer of the firm, which position he filled with ability for many years.
In 1867 Otis Norcross was elected mayor of Boston, and retired from the business, which was subsequently carried on under the firm name of Howland & Jones. On the death of Ichabod Howland, in 1871, the firm was changed to the present firm of Jones, McDuffee & Stratton, the senior partner of which completed in June of the present year thirty-six years of con- tinuous service in this widely-known house.
Few instances can be found of more rapid and marked mercantile success than in the case of Mr. Jones. He went from home a mere lad to make his own way in the world, and with this purpose in view worked earnestly in a country store until he was sixteen years of age. During the next seven years, by thorough training and faithful service, he gained, step by step, position and prominence, and at the age of twenty-three, was admitted as partner in the leading crockery house in the coun- try. At the age of twenty-seven he be- came its foreign buyer, and at thirty-three its senior partner - a career notable in many respects, and especially in exempli-
fying the dignity of labor and its appro- priate rewards.
Mr. Jones has been twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth R. Wait of Green- field, to whom he was married February II, 1864. Mrs. Jones died July 10, 1878, leaving four children : Theodore, Eliza- beth W., Marcia E., and Helen R. Jones. He was married the second time in Febru- ary, 1881, to Mrs. Maria E. Dutton of Bos- ton.
Mr. Jones is a representative business man of the best type. His record has made him a man of marked prominence. He is a Jeffersonian Democrat, and a member of the executive committee of the Massachu- setts Tariff Reform Club.
He has been for many years a trustee of Mt. Auburn Cemetery ; director in the Traders National Bank ; member of the Boston Commercial Club, of the Unitarian Club, and Brookline Thursday Club. He was also for several years president of the Boston Earthenware Association, and president of the Worcester Northwest Agri- cultural Society.
His residence is Brookline.
JONES, SILAS, son of Silas and Love (Shiverick) Jones, was born in Falmouth, Barnstable county, February 25, 1814.
He received what education he could glean from books in the common schools of Falmouth in those days.
Early in life, turning toward the sea for a livelihood, he engaged in the whaling business, making his first venture at six- teen years of age. At the age of twenty- six he was in command of a ship, and continued in the business as master of a ship for fifteen years.
He was a member of the lower branch of the Legislature in 1865 and '66.
He retired from active business, and accepted the presidency of the Falmouth Bank, 1881.
Captain Jones was married in Falmouth, May 19, 1845, to Harriet B., daughter of Joseph (a descendant of John Robinson, of Puritan fame) and Olive C. (Lawrence) Robinson. Of this union were six children: George F., Rowland R., Lucy S., Ellen M., Mary R., and Silas Jones, Jr.
He is a man of strong individuality, firm, reticent and unostentatious, though self- reliant. He possesses in an eminent de- gree the respect of his townsmen. He comes of good New England stock.
Always cool and self-possessed, he had these qualities once tested to their limit, when third mate of a ship, while running through the Micronesian Islands. She
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was captured by native pirates, and seven of the crew were murdered, when young Jones, from a position partially protected, picked off the pirates one by one, until he literally redeemed the lost ground, suc- ceeded in driving them over the side, thus saving the ship.
JORDAN, EBEN DYER, son of Benja- min and Lydia (Wright) Jordan, was born October 13, 1822, in Danville, Cumber- land county, Maine. The Jordan family of this country trace their line to one pro- genitor, the Rev. Robert Jordan, a priest of the church of England, who came from England about the year 1640. For many years he held a prominent position in the region adjacent to Cape Elizabeth, and the early history of Maine shows him to have been a man able to conduct difficult enterprises, and to administer important trusts, at a time when the unsettled condi- tion of the new country, the imperfect exe- cution of the laws, and the terrors of war- fare with savage Indians, were formidable obstacles to success. The line of descent is through Robert (1640), Dominicus (1664), Nathaniel (1696), Benjamin (1738), Ebenezer (1764), and Benjamin, who was born at Danville in 1786.
Mr. Jordan was left fatherless and pen- niless at an early age, and his mother being unable to maintain the large family of small children left dependent upon her, the lad was placed with a farmer's family in the neighborhood. He proved a smart, active, industrious boy. His life upon the farm differed not much from that of the ordinary youth who attends brief summer and winter terms at a district school of seventy-five pupils, ranging from five to twenty-one years of age. This limited schooling Mr. Jordan has supplemented in after life by hard experience, a wide range of reading, by extensive travel, and by personal contact with active and success- ful men in all the walks of business and professional life.
Just before he was fourteen years of age, Mr. Jordan made what proved to be an important decision in his life, by resolv- ing to leave the drudgery of the farm and seek employment in Boston -that great centre which has for many years been the magnet to attract the farmer-boys of New England. With his small savings he came by boat from Portland to Boston, and landed in the city of his future renown and success with very little cash, but sound health, good principles, self-reliant habits, industrious and economic methods, and a desire to achieve results by honest toil.
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He showed good sense in embracing the first opportunity for employment that was presented, and went to work on a farm at Mount Pleasant, Roxbury, at four dollars per month. When he was sixteen, he en- tered the store of William P. Tenny & Company, Boston, remaining there two years, afterwards working for a Mr. Pratt on a salary of two hundred and seventy- five dollars per year. At nineteen years of age his energy, intelligence, and grit, attracted the attention of Joshua Stetson, then a leading dry-goods merchant in Bos- ton. Through his kindness, Mr. Jordan started for himself in a small store at the
EBEN D. JORDAN.
corner of Mechanic and Hanover streets in that city. At that time the steamers from down East and the Provinces arrived early in the morning, and to capture the trade of the passengers, this enterprising young merchant was up and had his store open at four o'clock, doing quite a thriving business before breakfast. There was but one result from such devotion to business. His store became one of the most notable and popular on the street, and at the end of four years, the sales amounted to one hundred thousand dollars per annum.
Desirous of obtaining practical infor- mation in the matter of buying goods, of gaining a better understanding of the gen-
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eral lines of trade throughout the world, Mr. Jordan at the age of twenty-five sold out his store and took a position in the well-known and successful house of James M. Beebe. Here, in two years' time, by hard work and diligent study, he acquired a thorough knowledge of the principles and management of the business, and the system which Mr. Beebe had been a quar- ter of a century in perfecting. He was now better equipped for going into busi- ness on his own account, and immediately entered upon a new career as a Boston merchant.
The firm of Jordan, Marsh & Company was formed in the year 1851, when they opened a small jobbing store on Milk Street. They had a reputation for integrity, indus- try and ability, and it was not long before they had built up a permanent and profitable trade. Mr. Jordan introduced the cash system into the jobbing business, and made considerable headway in improving the methods of trade for the benefit of custom- ers. Large importers were few in those days, but the competitors of Jordan, Marsh & Company enjoyed this facility, and had large credit abroad. A personal visit of Mr. Jordan to Europe, however, in 1852, removed this obstacle, and ever since the firm has obtained all the credit needed, and their English correspondents have never had occasion to regret the connections then made. The firm steadily progressed, in- creasing its trade and resources, weathered successfully the financial storm of 1857, enlarged its salesrooms and manufacturing departments, and kept up a spirit of enter- prise which increased its profits and strengthened its name. In 1861 Jordan, Marsh & Company bought the retail store on Washington Street where now stands their magnificent establishment, a fit mon- ument to the broad and comprehensive spirit which has ever characterized the career of this successful merchant.
During all these years, when Mr. Jordan has been active in building up the fortunes of his house, he has been one of Boston's most public-spirited citizens. Persistently refusing all suggestions of political honors, he has ever been ready to forward any public movement to promote the best in- terests of the city, and to contribute to any public testimonial in favor of those who have achieved success or merited public recognition. A staunch patriot at the time of the rebellion, a generous contributor to the Peace Jubilee, he has by liberal expend- iture of time and money, indisputably linked his name with all that has tended to
make the city of his adoption the metrop- olis indeed of New England.
The career of Mr. Jordan shows what is possible for a boy with few early advan- tages, without means or friends, to accom- plish, by diligent application to business, a life of the strictest integrity, and by a generous and open-handed co-operation in enterprises that promote the public weal.
Mr. Jordan was married in Boston, Jan- uary 13, 1847, to Julia M., daughter of James Clark. His children are : Walter (deceased), James Clark, Julia Maria, Eben Dyer, Jr., and Alice Jordan.
JORDAN, JEDIAH PORTER, son of An- son and Matilda H. (Porter) Jordan, was born in Raymond, Cumberland county, Me., March 29, 1846. He received his early education at the common schools of Raymond and Casco, and the high school at Portland, Me.
He afterwards studied a year prepara- tory for college ; but at the end of that period, owing to the death of his father, he left school at the age of sixteen, came to Roxbury, Mass., and entered the freight office of the Boston & Providence Rail- road as a clerk.
While in this position, he enlisted as a private in company D, 42d Massachusetts infantry, July 20, 1864, rising by promo- tion to sergeant-major of that regiment. At the expiration of his regiment's term of service, he re-entered the employ of the railroad company as assistant to the gen- eral freight-agent, which position he occu- pied for two years. He was then for two years book-keeper for A. L. Cutler & Co., and subsequently for Carter Brothers & Co., wholesale paper dealers. In 1875 he became a partner in the latter firm, retain- ing his connection with this house under its various changes of style to Carter, Pul- sifer and Jordan ; Pulsifer, Jordan & Wil- son ; Pulsifer, Jordan & Pfaff.
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