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 74
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106
POMEROY, CHARLES, son of Medad and Jerusha (Alexander) Pomeroy, was born in Warwick, Franklin county, July 14, 1818.
His early education was obtained in the common schools of Warwick, after which he attended the high school at Northfield. Subsequently he engaged in teaching, but finally chose farming as a vocation. He is also employed as a justice of the peace, trial justice and notary public, and does quite an extensive business as an insurance agent.
Mr. Pomeroy was married in Bernardston, August 28, 1844, to Laura C., daughter of
486
POPE.
Jonathan and Asenath (Wright) Connable. Of this union are four children : Mary Anna, Sarah Hunt, Charles Russell, and Laura Lathrop Pomeroy.
Mr. Pomeroy was on the staff of Gover- nor Gardner, with the rank of colonel. He has held the office of sheriff for the county, as well as various minor offices of the county and town. He is a trustee of the Pomeroy parish fund for the Unitarian society.
POPE, CHARLES GREENWOOD, son of Rufus Spurr and Sarah (Brown) Pope, was born in Hardwick, Worcester county, November 18, 1840. His father was a clergyman in the Universalist denomina- tion.
When three years of age his parents moved to Hyannis, one of the thriving villages of Cape Cod, where he passed his boyhood, and attended the public schools and academy. At the age of fifteen he entered Pierce Academy, Middleborough, to prepare for college, and having fitted, entered Tufts College in August, 1857, and was graduated therefrom in the class of 1861. He then taught in the academy and in a private school in Hyannis until 1864, when he was elected by the school board of Somerville to the charge of the Forster school. In October, 1870, he left this school to accept the place of master in the Bunker Hill school, Charlestown, where he remained until January, 1874, when he resigned.
Mr. Pope had been studying law for several years, and was connected with the law office of Sweetser & Gardner. Upon resigning his school duties he entered the office of John W. Hammond, of Cambridge, . and the following December was admitted to the bar. The law firm of Hammond & Pope continued until the appointment of the senior member as judge of the superior court in 1886. In April, 1878, Mr. Pope was appointed a special justice of the Somerville police court, which office he now holds.
When Somerville became a city he was elected to the common council from ward 1, and in 1873 he was president of that body, and by virtue of the office, a mem- ber of the school board. In 1876 and '77 he was a member of the House of Repre- sentatives. He has been for many years a trustee of the public library, and a trus- tee of Tufts College for eighteen years, being one of the oldest in point of service in that institution of learning.
In December, 1888, Mr. Pope was elected mayor of Somerville.
PORTER.
He was married in Somerville, Decem- ber 27, 1866, to Josephine H., daughter of Erastus E. and Harriet N. Cole, of that city. They have one child, Tracy Cole Pope,-born at Somerville in December, 1869.
PORTER, CHARLES HUNT, son of Whitcomb and Susan Bowditch (Hunt) Porter, was born April 3, 1843, in Wey- mouth, Norfolk county.
His early education was obtained in the public schools of Quincy, having graduated from the high school of that place.
In 1858, at fourteen years of age, he engaged in the insurance business in Bos- ton. He remained in this until he entered the service of his country in 1862. At the close of the war he returned to the same business, in which he is still engaged.
In 1862 he was commissioned as 2d lieutenant in the 39th Massachusetts volun- teers. He served three years ; was at the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox court-house, and was mustered out with rank of captain. Subsequently he was com- missioned as lieutenant-colonel of the 7th Massachusetts regiment.
Mr. Porter has served as selectman of Quincy, and was a representative to the Legislature in 1881-'82. He has been a member of the standing committee of the First church ; president of the Adams Lit- erary Association, and is now the mayor of Quincy, being the first to serve under the charter incorporating the same as a city.
June 23, 1870, Mr. Porter was married at Quincy, to Hannah A., daughter of Charles S. and Mary (Norcross) French. Their children are : Charles H., Henry W., and Robert B. Porter.
PORTER, VANIAH MILLER, son of William and Bathsheba (Miller) Porter, was born in Whitingham, Windham county, Vt., April 13, 1830. His ancestry was of English and Scotch stock. His father was the son of Rev. Elisha Porter, a profound scholar.
Removing from Whitingham, Vt., to Rowe, Mass., when he was six years old, Mr. Porter found his educational advan- tages somewhat improved. A district library was opened about this time, and of this and the district school he took advan- tage until sixteen years of age, when he prevailed upon his father to send him to an academy in Charlemont. His schooling was continued at the Shelburne Falls Academy for several years.
He taught his first school in his twentieth year, and for several years alternately
487
POTTER.
PORTER.
worked on the farm in summer, attended school in the spring and fall, and taught school during the winter. Later on he left the farm and school for a counting-room in Boston.
At the end of one year's engagement in Boston, on account of the failing health of his wife, he returned to Rowe, where he finally settled as a farmer. He at once was called upon to serve the town in vari- ous municipal offices-member of the school board, selectman, etc. He served as chairman of three boards for ten con- secutive years. He has been a justice of the peace since 1874.
VANIAH M. PORTER.
In 1881 he represented the 6th Franklin representative district in the General Court, and served on the committees on liquor law and election laws. He reported the bill that became the local option law. He was re-elected the next year, and served as House chairman on the joint stand- ing committee on agriculture. This com- mittee did much to forward agricultural interests and improve the condition of the Agricultural College.
Upon the death of his father (1869), he settled the estate, and now resides on the old homestead in Rowe.
Mr. Porter was married in 1853 to Mary Driscole of Stanstead, Canada, by whom he
had three children : Louise M., Carrie S, and Jennie R. Porter. He was married the second time in New York, October 10, 1875, to Jane H. Morley of Colrain. Of this union were two children : Vaniah N. and Anna May Porter.
Mr. Porter has been agent for the town of Rowe several times ; president of a council of sovereigns ; a councilor of that district ; and an active member of the American Institute of Civics.
POTTER, IRA G., son of Bartholomew and Keziah (Glazier) Potter, was born in Willington, Tolland county, Conn., April 21, 1815.
He obtained his early education in the public schools of Willington, and then turned his attention to farming. Success- ful in this vocation, he became prominent in town affairs, and has served his town, county and state in various official capaci- ties.
He has held the commission of justice of the peace forty years, and special trial jus- tice for eastern Hampden three years. He was one of the incorporators of the Palmer Savings Bank, and held the office of trustee fifteen years, declining further services thereafter. He was special county com- missioner for Hampden county nine years; was a member of the House of Represen- tatives in 1871; was selectman and asses- sor several years, and is now somewhat largely interested in settling estates, hav- ing already adjusted some eighty-six in number. These responsibilities, with his farming interests and various official du- ties, have rendered his life a very busy one.
Mr. Potter was married in Monson, in April, 1842, to Almeda, daughter of John Isham and Mary Bingham Potter. Of this union are two children : Lurin John and Arvilla J. Potter. His residence is Wilbraham.
POTTER, WARREN BAILEY, second son of Jonathan and Cynthia H. (How- ard) Potter, was born in Westport, Bristol county, November 4, 1821.
The family took up their residence in New Bedford in 1822, where Mr. Potter, until his fifteenth year, obtained his edu- cation in the public schools. At fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to Joseph Balch, then a leading druggist in Provi- dence, R. I., and served two years, re- turning to New Bedford and becoming engaged to Drs. Stone & Mackie, where he followed the drug business for three years more, perfecting himself thoroughly in all its branches.
488
POTTER.
At this period the whaling business was at its height, and it proved an attraction few active young men could resist. Mr. Potter shipped on the bark "Peri " for a cruise in the Indian Ocean, and made a second voyage on the northwest coast in the ship "South America." On his return to New Bedford Mr. Potter re-entered the drug business as proprietor, in which he secured a speedy and pronounced success.
In 1851, in conjunction with Andrew G. Weeks, he established in Boston, at 154 Washington Street, the house of Weeks & Potter, wholesale druggists, which firm is still in existence, having enjoyed thirty- eight years of great prosperity and marked influence in the trade. This firm was com- pletely burned out in 1864, again in 1872, and for the third time in 1879.
Mr. Potter founded the Potter Drug & Chemical Corporation, January 1, 1883, which is well known throughout the United States, and in fact, the civilized world.
WARREN B. POTTER.
Mr. Potter has always been regarded in commercial circles as a man of sound busi- ness principles and strict financial integrity.
He is a director of the Home Savings Bank, also of the Central National Bank, and of the International Trust Company, faithfully and ably discharging the onerous duties thus devolving upon him.
POWERS.
POWERS, CHARLES EDWARD, son of Charles and Sarah (Brooks) Powers, was born in Townsend, Middlesex county, May 9, 1834.
His early education was obtained at the public schools, and after graduating at an institution at New Hampton, N. H., he became a private pupil of Professor Knight,
CHARLES E. POWERS.
of New London, N. H. He entered Harvard University in 1853, and graduated with the degree of S. B. in 1856, receiving the honor of a " magna cum laude." He then entered the Harvard medical school, but, upon the sudden death of his father, he was obliged to abandon the study of medicine and devote himself to his father's business.
After successfully settling the estate he de- cided to study law, and entered the Harvard law school in 1857, where he graduated in 1858 with the degree of LL. B. The follow- ing year he formed a law co-partnership with the Hon. Linus Child and Linus Mason Child, under the firm name of Child & Pow- ers, counselors, opening law offices in Bos- ton where they have since remained.
He was one of the few who believed in the success of the street railways which were then being opened. He embarked early in the enterprise, became a large owner, and was made a director and presi- dent in several of the roads.
489
PRATT.
Soon after settling in Boston Mr. Powers also became an active Free Mason; was elected master of a lodge, and was for sev- eral years the eminent commander of the Boston Commandery of Knights Templar, and for three years was grand master of the grand council of Massachusetts.
He has never been an aspirant for political office, but for three years, after the great fire, he was unanimously elected by both parties to the city council of Boston. After- wards he was elected to the Boston water board, where he served until the water- works were put into the hands of commis- sioners. Mr. Powers is regarded as an ener- getic, sagacious man, quick to apprehend, fertile in resource, and one who does thor- oughly that to which he turns his attention.
Mr. Powers has two daughters : Marion (Mrs. Lamar S. Lowry) and Florence Agnes (Mrs. Henry Mclellan Harding), both residing in New York City.
PRATT, HARVEY HUNTER, son of Henry Jones and Maria J. (Hunter) Pratt,
HARVEY H. PRATT.
was born in Philadelphia, Pa., February 24, 1860.
He was educated in the common schools of Abington, Mass.
He chose the profession of law, and studied in the Harvard University law school, graduating therefrom in 1883.
PRATT.
In 1887 he was the editor of the " Brock- ton Advance." In 1879 he was editor and publisher of the "Abington News." In the preparation for his profession, he read law in the office of Keith & Simmons, Abington, 1880. In September, 1883, he formed a partnership with John F. Simmons of Hanover. He is now attorney-at-law in Abington, under the firm name of Sim- mons & Pratt.
Mr. Pratt has been assistant district attorney, southeastern Massachusetts dis- trict ; assistant secretary of the Demo- cratic state central committee ; chairman of the Abington board of health ; secre- tary of the Abington Business Club ; chair- man of the Abington Democratic town committee, and the Ist Plymouth senato- rial district Democratic committee.
He was the Democratic candidate for register of deeds for Plymouth county in 1881, and candidate for the state Senate, 1886. He was elected to the House of Representatives from the 6th Plymouth dis- trict in 1888 and '89, and served each year upon the committee of the judiciary.
Mr. Pratt is unmarried.
PRATT, JOSEPH LAWRENCE, son of Benjamin Pratt, Jr., and Hannah (Weston) Pratt, was born in Reading, Middlesex county, January 18, 1814.
He received his early educational train- ing in the common schools and at Read- ing Academy.
In 1834 he first engaged in business as a shoe manufacturer. In 1857 he changed his business to that of dealer in lamps and glassware.
He has been for eleven years a member of the board of selectmen of Reading.
Mr. Pratt was first married in Reading, February 25, 1841, to Martha, daughter of Captain Timothy and Elizabeth Wakefield. His second marriage, July 4, 1861, was with Mary W., daughter of Joseph and Martha (Crooker) Hopkins. He has had two children : Ruth L. and Alice H. Pratt.
He is now retired from active business.
PRATT, STILLMAN BAXTER, son of Rev. Stillman Pratt of Reading and Eleanor Morton (Dickinson) Pratt of Amherst, was born in Orleans, Barnstable county, Novem- ber 24, 1836.
He is a lineal descendant of John Pratt, who came from county Kent, England, in 1630, and settled in Dorchester, the suc- cession being John of Medfield, John of Reading, Samuel, Ephraim, Benjamin Still- man, and Stillman Baxter Pratt.
490
PRATT.
His educational training was received in the public schools of his native place and at Phillips Academy, Andover. He at first learned the shoemaker's trade and subsequently evinced a strong desire to follow the sea. His first voyage to the Grand Banks, where he was for four months out of sight of land, cured him of this propen- sity. He then learned the newspaper business in the "Gazette " office, Middle- borough.
In 1859 he established the " Marlbor- ough Mirror ;" became proprietor of the " Middleborough Gazette " on the death of his father in 1862; and soon after established weekly papers in Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, and Wareham.
During the war for the Union he was in the provost-marshal's office of the Ist Massachusetts district at New Bedford. In 1868 he sold the " Middleborough Gazette " and purchased the "Randolph Register," removing his residence to that town.
In 1869 he established in Boston the " American Workman," a reform journal for the discussion of the labor problem. For two years he was the candidate of the Labor Reform party for secretary of the Commonwealth. In 1871 he re-purchased the " Marlborough Mirror " and returned to that town, and soon after established the " Framingham Gazette." During the following fifteen years he purchased or founded over forty weekly papers in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachu- setts. Seven of them were on the South Shore, his summer home for several years. In 1889 he sold his newspaper business to his sons, and has turned his attention to the development of electrical mechanics.
Mr. Pratt was married in Middleborough, 1856, to Ellen Myrick, daughter of William Whittemore and Hannah (Foster) Goss. Of this union were eleven children : Elea- nor Morton (Mrs. W. C. Hanson, Marl- borough), Arabella Frances (Mrs. George I. Stevens, Marlborough), Ransom Dick- inson, William Walter, Stillman Foster, Eugene Lincoln, Elra Sinclair (deceased), Lily Mande, Herbert Emerson, Charles Brigham (deceased), and Elmer Campbell Pratt.
Mr. Pratt was one of the pioneers in in- troducing the order of the Knights of Pythias, in the East, having founded many lodges in Massachusetts. In 1861 he was made a Mason. He has been a prominent Son of Temperance, Good Templar and Knight of Honor ; was a non-commis- sioned officer in the New Bedford cavalry; has been a member of the Congregational
PRESBREY.
church since 1856, and for twenty-five years a Sunday-school teacher ; a leader in many literary and reformatory organiza- tions. He has published various books, notably the "History and Directory of Plymouth County; " has been always inter- ested in heredity and genealogy, as well as in local antiquities ; has long been a mem- ber of the New England Historic Genea- logical Society ; is a member of the Subur- ban Newspaper Association, Massachusetts Press Association, and the National Edi- torial Association, having served two years on the executive committee of the latter organization.
Mr. Pratt has made three pleasure trips to Europe, has broadened his horizon by study and travel, and as an all-round editor and newspaper publisher, has long been noted for his close attention to busi- ness. No reformatory cause or needy individual ever appealed to his heart in vain.
PRESBREY, SILAS DEAN, son of Bil- lings Troop and Clarissa Burt (Dean) Pres- brey, was born in Taunton, Bristol county, October 19, 1838.
He passed the usual time in the public schools ; was prepared for college in Taun- ton high school ; entered Harvard College, and was graduated therefrom in the class of 1860. Immediately after graduation he commenced the study of medicine, and having already accomplished a good part of the first year's course, he accepted the position of principal of Taunton high school; serving from December, 1860, to July, 1863, when he received his degree of A. M. from Harvard. He then resumed his medical studies, entering Harvard med- ical school, from which he was graduated M. D., March 8, 1865. He at once en- tered upon the practice of medicine and surgery, in which he is now engaged. He has attained an enviable position in the profession, and is acknowledged as a lead- ing physician in Bristol county.
Dr. Presbrey was married in Taunton, October 1, 1863, to Sarah Williams, daugh- ter of Artemas and Susan Shaw (Williams) Briggs. Of this union were three chil- dren : Clara Briggs, Florence Nathalie, and Laura Edith Presbrey.
Dr. Presbrey is a member of the Massa- chusetts Medical Society, American Medical Association, American Academy of Medi- cine ; has been president of the Massachu- setts Medico-Legal Society ; and an hon- orary member of the Medico-Legal Society of New York. He has been medical exam- iner of the second division, Bristol county.
491
PRESCOTT.
PRESCOTT.
since the establishment of the office in 1877; has been a member of the Taunton school board fifteen years ; is a trustee of Bristol Academy, Taunton ; has been a member of the board of water commissioners of Taunton since 1881 ; is president of the Taunton Hospital Company (Morton Hos- pital) ; senior member of the consulting staff of Morton Hospital, and a member of the board of investment of the Bristol County Savings Bank.
SILAS D. PRESBREY
To Dr. Presbrey's agitation of the sub- ject, and persistence in the charitable work, was due the success of establishing the city hospital in Taunton, known as the Morton Hospital, and named in honor of the late Marcus Morton, whose home- stead estate was presented the hospital corporation by his daughter, Mrs. Susan T. Kimball, of Boston. This was in 1888, the year of the founding of the hos- pital.
PRESCOTT, CHARLES, son of Aaron A. and Betsey (Hunt) Prescott, was born in Randolph, Norfolk county, October II, 18.45.
The common and high schools gave him his educational training.
His first venture was in the grocery business in Randolph, with his brother. This relation continued ten years, when he
became sole proprietor of the business, in which he has continued to date.
Mr. Prescott was married in East Ran- dolph (now Holbrook) in December, 1870, to Abbie M., daughter of Lewis and Abi- gail N. (Belcher) Alden. Of this union were two children : Bessie A. (deceased) and Nellie G. Prescott.
Mr. Prescott served in the 42d regiment Massachusetts volunteers in 1863. He is a member of the order of F. & A. M., and of the Royal Arcanum.
PRESCOTT, CHARLES J., son of Ed- ward and Catharine L. (Clough) Prescott, was born in Boston, February 15, 1838. His mother was a daughter of Ebenezer Clough.
He pursued his early studies at the Brimmer school ; in 1853 entered the Eng- lish high school and was graduated in the class of 1856.
CHARLES J. PRESCOTT,
He then was employed as clerk in the coal and wood business till May, 1862, when he became a partner in the firm of W. L. & C. J. Prescott. This relation continued until 1887. He is now commis- sioner of public institutions, Boston, having been appointed by Mayor Hart for the term of two years ending in April, 1891.
Mr. Prescott was married in Thetford, Vt., December 30, 1868, to Anna Frances,
492
PRINCE.
PRINCE.
daughter of Judge Lyman Hinckley of Thetford, Vt., and Ann (Smith) Hinckley of Ellsworth, Me., the latter of whom had formerly held a position as teacher in the Boston public schools. Of this union were five children : Arabella, Edward Lyman, Charles J., Jr., Anna Hinckley, and also Samuel Cobb Prescott, who died in 1881.
Mr. Prescott was a member of the Bos- ton school board from 1870 to '75, board of aldermen 1874 and '75, and board of direc- tors for public institutions of Boston 1876 to '81 ; member of the House of Represen- tatives 1877, '78, and '79, serving as chair- man of the committee on public charitable institutions ; has always been an active Republican in national and state affairs, serving on the ward and city committee, and Republican state central committee for several years -but always being non-parti- san in municipal politics.
He has lived in Boston fifty-one years and has changed his residence but once. Mr. Prescott has always taken a great in- terest in educational matters and public institutions, ever alive to a thorough inves- tigation of all matters that properly come before him as a public man. He has the courage of his convictions, and possesses a strong individuality, both arguing well for a conscientious and successful discharge of duties.
PRINCE, FREDERICK OCTAVIUS, son of Thomas and Caroline Prince, was born in Boston, January 18, 1818. He is one of an illustrious family which as long ago as 1584 was prominent in England, living at that time in Shrewsbury upon their estate known as "Abbey Foregate " - John Prince being then rector of East Sheffield. In 1633 his son, Elder John Prince, came to this country and settled in Hull. His grandson, Thomas Prince, graduated from Harvard College in 1707, and in 1718 was ordained co-pastor with Dr. Sewall of the Old South Church in Boston. The late James Prince, the grandfather of Mr. Prince, well known in his day and genera- tion as a prominent merchant, was ap- pointed by President Jefferson as naval officer of the port of Boston, and afterward United States marshal for the district of Massachusetts.
Frederick O. Prince was prepared by Abel Whitney for the Boston Latin school, which he entered in 1827, graduating in 1832, receiving the Franklin medal and two other medals for scholarship. He en- tered Harvard College in 1832 and gradu- ated in 1836. He was class poet and sec- retary. In 1837 he commenced the study
of law in the office of Franklin Dexter and William H. Gardiner, and was admitted at the Suffolk bar in 1840, when he imme- diately took an active part in politics as an active and earnest Whig.
In 1848 Mr. Prince married Helen, daughter of Barnard Henry of Philadel- phia, for many years United States consul at Gibraltar, where Mrs. Prince was born. He made his residence in Winchester, re- taining his law office in Boston.
In 1851, '52 and '53 he represented Win- chester in the lower house of the state Legislature. In 1853 he was a prominent member of the famous Constitutional Con- vention. In 1854 he was elected to the state Senate, where he at once became an influ- ential member. Upon the disruption of the Whig party, in 1860, he allied himself with the old opponents of the party, and has since acted with the Democrats. He was sent as a delegate to the memorable national Democratic convention which met in Charleston, S. C., in 1860, and, adher- ing to the Douglas wing of that party, was appointed secretary of the national Demo- cratic committee for the campaign of 1860, to which office he was re-elected by each succeeding convention until 1888, repre- senting the Massachusetts members on the committee for twenty-eight years. In 1888, although again unanimously elected, he resigned, receiving a resolution of thanks for the " unflagging zeal and distinguished ability " with which he had served.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.