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 91
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Mr. Temple was married in Winchester, July 31, 1838, to Florence W., daughter of George and Harriet M. (Leathe) Richard- son. Of this union are three children : Ida M., Nellie C., and Annie J. Temple.
He served as collector of taxes for the town of Reading from 1880 to '84 inclu- sive. He was chairman of the board of selectmen of Reading in 1885, '86 and '87, and was re-elected on the board in 1888 and '89. He has been a member of the board of directors of the Reading Co-op- erative Bank from the date of its incorpo- ration.
He has always been a Republican in politics ; is a member of the Congrega- tional church, and is ever active in promot- ing the interests of his native town, as well as prominent in every effort calculated to advance the morals of the community.
TENNEY, SAMUEL PARCHER, son of Samuel Newell and Sarah (Parcher) Ten- ney, was born in Barre, Worcester county, December 6, 1838. He is a lineal descend- ant in the eighth generation of Thomas Tenney, who, with his wife Ann, came from Rowley, Yorkshire, England, and set - tled in Rowley, Mass., in 1638. He was the first American ancestor of all in the United States bearing this name.
His early educational training was re- ceived in the public schools, finishing with the Eliot school, Boston. He began his commercial career in 1853, with Henry Rice, stock, note, and real estate broker, Boston, with whom he remained until 1855, when he entered the employ of Edmund Munroe, stock and real estate broker. Oc- tober 1, 1856, he accepted a position with Lawrence, Stone & Co., selling agents for several manufacturing companies, includ- ing the New England Worsted Company, afterwards succeeded by the present Saxon- ville Mills and Roxbury Carpet Company, with which he is at present connected in the capacity of book-keeper.
Mr. Tenney was married in Chelsea, July 23, 1862, to Hannah Jane, daughter of Edward B. and Hannah J. Stickney, of Andover. Of this union are two children : Florence Dean and Gertrude Miller Ten- ney.
Mr. Tenney has always been active in civic interests, and has been repeatedly
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called by his fellow-citizens to positions of honor and trust. He has always enjoyed their confidence, as one upon whom they could safely rely. He has been a member of the Chelsea common council five years ; alderman, four years ; mayor of Chelsea in 1881 and '82, and ex-officio chairman of the Chelsea school board ; a member of the board of water commissioners from 1882 to '85, and re-elected in 1888 for another term of three years. He has been an efficient member of the working committees of the city in fire, sewage, and other departments. As a public-spirited man, always ready to co-operate in any work for the improve- ment and prosperity of the city, he has
SAMUEL P. TENNEY
always stood in the front, never allowing himself to be confined by the bounds of any narrow policy.
His church affiliations are with the soci- ety of the Central Congregational church, of which he has been clerk, and both chair- man and treasurer of its prudential com- mittee. He is a justice of the peace and notary public, having received his first commission from Governor Washburn.
Mr. Tenney is prominent in many of the secret orders. He is a member of Star of Bethlehem Lodge, F. & A. M., Shekinah Chapter, Naphthali Council, and Palestine Commandery ; Crescent Council No. 71,
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R. A .; Bellingham Assembly, R. S. G. F .; trustee of Powhatan Tribe, I. O. R. M .; a member of Bay State Lodge, No. 3, A. O. U. W .; trustee of Mystic Lodge, No. 51, I. O. O. F .; trustee of Samaritan Encampment, No. 23, I. O. O. F., and member of Ridgely Canton ; member of Faith Lodge, D. of R., No. 28, I. O. O. F .; trustee of Alpha Lodge No. I., N. E. O. P .; supreme warden, N. E. O. P .; member of Lincoln Council No. I7, Home Circle ; Athenian Council No. 247, O. U. F., and has been president of the Chelsea Mutual Benefit Association since its organization.
TETLOW, JOHN, son of John and Mary A. Tetlow, was born in Providence, R. I., April 1, 1843.
He was educated in the public schools of Providence, and fitted for college, graduating from Brown University as valedictorian in the class of 1864. He then became principal of the Maple Street grammar school in Fall River, where he remained a year. In 1865 he became classical assistant in the Friends' Academy at New Bedford, where he remained three years. After spending the year 1868-'69 abroad, studying German and French, on his return he was made principal of the Friends' Academy, a position which he held for ten years.
In New Bedford, in 1870, Mr. Tetlow was married to his first wife, Elizabeth J., daughter of Rev. Henry F. and Elizabeth D. Harrington. She died in 1877, leaving him two daughters: Elizabeth H. and Helen I. Tetlow. In 1880 Mr. Tetlow was again married, to Elizabeth P., daughter of George and Ardelia L. Howard. Their only child is a daughter : Frances H. Tetlow.
In 1878 the girls' Latin school was or- ganized in Boston, and Mr. Tetlow was elected to the mastership, which position he still holds. It started in a modest way, with an enrollment of only twenty- eight pupils ; but it has since reached a membership of two hundred, and is honor- ably represented by its graduates in all the New England colleges to which women are admitted.
In 1884 Mr. Tetlow published his "In- ductive Latin Lessons." In 1885 the girls' high school and the girls' Latin school, which occupied the same building, were united under one management, and Mr. Tetlow was elected head-master. He was appointed, in conjunction with William C. Collar and R. G. Huling, by the Mas- sachusetts High School and Classical Teachers' Association, to take steps look-
ing toward greater co-operation between colleges and preparatory schools, and the New England Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools was the result, as also indirectly the Commission of Colleges in New England. In 1886 and '87 Mr. Tet- low served as president of the Massachu- setts High School and Classical Teachers' Association.
THAYER, ELI, son of Cushman and Miranda (Pond) Thayer, was born in Men- don, Worcester county, June 11, 1819.
His preparatory educational training was secured in the district school, Bellingham Academy, Amherst Academy, and Worces- ter County Manual Labor high school. He was graduated at Brown University in the class of 1845, with the honor of salu- tatory. He then became assistant teacher in the Worcester Academy, then principal of the same, and in 1848 founded Oread Institute, of which he is now the treasurer.
Mr. Thayer was married in Blackstone, August 6, 1845, to Caroline M., daughter of Collins and Caroline (Silsby) Capron. Of this union were scven children : Clara Capron, Ida M., Eva Alden, Anna C., Cora P., John Alden, and George Capron Thayer.
Mr. Thayer has been a member of the Worcester school board, and of the board of aldermen. He was a member of the House of Representatives in 1853 and '54, where he originated the Bank of Mutual Redemp- tion and the Emigrant Aid Company ; was elected to Congress in 1856, and again in 1858 ; was chairman of the committee on public lands ; spent three years in coloniz- ing Kansas ; began the colonizing of Vir- ginia in 1857, and continued the work to the beginning of the civil war.
Mr. Thayer's great work was during the years 1854, '55, and '56, in organizing emigration throughout the northern states for the purpose of making Kansas a free state. His work in this direction was one of the most powerful factors in the final extinction of slavery in this country. Hon. Charles Robinson, the first governor of the state of Kansas, said in a letter dated Law- rence, Kansas, September 25, 1887 : " Kan- sas can never too highly honor her early friends, without whose exertions freedom would have been driven from our borders. Of all the long list of names that Kansas will ever delight to honor, that of the Hon. Eli Thayer stands at the head." Charles Sumner said he would rather have the credit due Eli Thayer for his Kansas work than be the hero of the battle of New Orleans. In the United States Senate, in 1856, Mr. Sumner said, speaking of the
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Kansas conflict : " It far surpasses in moral grandeur the whole war of the revolution." Later he said : " Kansas was made free by Eli Thayer's new science of emigration, in which capital precedes the emigrant," and he declared "the state of Kansas should be named 'Thayer'." Mr. Thayer has just published " The Kansas Crusade," giving a full account of his Kansas work (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1889). Edward Everett Hale, who wrote the intro- duction, says : "This emigration at that time would have been impossible but for Eli Thayer. The first result was civil war in Kansas; the second was the success of the free state settlers ; the third was the election of Abraham Lincoln."
Mr. Thayer is a lineal descendant in the sixth generation from John Alden, of the " Mayflower," and also in the sixth genera- tion from Thomas Thayer, of Braintree (1640).
THAYER, JOHN R., son of Mowry R. and Harriet (Morse) Thayer, was born in Douglass, Worcester county, March 9, 1845.
His early school days were passed in the common schools of Douglass. He attended Nichols Academy, Dudley, where he fitted for Yale, graduating therefrom in the class of 1869. He afterward studied law in the office of Judge Henry Chapin, Worcester, and was admitted to the bar in 1871.
He then formed a co-partnership in the practice of law with S. A. Tingier in Web- ster, 1873, and the next year entered into co-partnership with W. A. Williams, Wor- cester. The latter partnership existed until 1882, since which time he has been alone in business.
Mr. Thayer was married in Worcester, January 30, 1873, to Charlotte H., daugh- ter of Pitt and Diana (Perrin) Holmes. Of this union are five children : Henry Holmes, John Mowry, Charlotte Diana, Marguerite Elizabeth, and Mary Perrin Thayer.
Mr. Thayer has been a member of the common council, Worcester, four years ; a member of the board of aldermen four years ; a trustee of Worcester city hos- pital six years ; trustee of Nichols Acad- emy twelve years, and a member of its examining committee eight years. He was a representative to the General Court two years (1880 and '82), serving on the judi- ciary committee.
He was a candidate for district attorney, and also for mayor of Worcester, polling the largest vote ever cast for a defeated candidate for this office. The district and
the city, however, are overwhelmingly Republican in their political majorities, which even the unquestioned integrity, ability, and popularity of Mr. Thayer were insufficient to overcome. He has long been a prominent and active leader of his party, and his services are continuously called into requisition, not only in his own county, but throughout the State.
Mr. Thayer has acquired an enviable reputation as counsel and advocate in criminal causes, his talents being peculiarly adapted to the trial of cases before juries.
THAYER, WILLIAM MAKEPEACE, son of Davis and Betsey Thayer, was born in Franklin, Norfolk county, February 23, 1820.
His early education was received in the district schools. He also avers, "A good mother led, taught, and fashioned me." At fifteen years of age he entered Frank- lin Academy, and there fitted for college.
WILLIAM M. THAYER.
He entered Brown University, Provi- dence, R. 1., 1839, and was graduated in the class of 1843. He afterward studied theology, with Rev. Jacob Ide, D. D., West Medway, and was licensed to preach in the spring of 1845. In June, 1848, he was ordained pastor of the Orthodox Con- gregational church, Ashland. He re- mained there eight years, and was then
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compelled to resign on account of bron- chial troubles.
He immediately devoted himself to authorship and editorial work. He edited the " Home Monthly " several years, then the " Nation," a temperance paper, while he was secretary of the Temperance Alliance. He wrote much, also, for the religious and secular press. Mr. Thayer was secretary of the Temperance Alliance fourteen years, usually visiting the various churches on Sunday to speak in behalf of the temperance cause. In 1876 he returned to authorship, his present vocation.
He was married in Franklin, October 19, 1845. to Rebecca W., daughter of Calvin and Lucinda Richards, of Dover. Of this union were five children : two died in infancy, and one at five years of age. The living children are : Eugene R. and Addi- son Monroe Thayer.
Mr. Thayer has published in all thirty- five volumes. His principal works are : " The Poor Boy and Merchant Prince," "The Good Girl and True Woman," " From Poor House to Pulpit," "The Pioneer Boy," "Youth's History of the Rebellion," " Life at the Fireside," "The Bobbin Boy," "The Printer Boy," "Life of Charles Jewett," "From Log Cabin to White House." "From Pioneer Home to White House." "From Tannery to White House," and " Marvels of the New West."
His books were written mostly for the young, he being one of the few whose books of this nature are of the style and matter to interest both youth and age.
Mr. Thayer was a representative to the General Court from Ashland in 1856, and from Franklin in 1863.
THOMAS, REUEN, son of William and Ann Cotton (Wilkins) Thomas, was born in Walmly, Warwickshire, England, June 14, 1840. His ancestors were repre- sentatives of old Warwickshire families. He was first in educational training in the grammar school, Sutton, Coldfield, War- wickshire ; then in University College, London, 1862, M. A. and Ph. I)., by exanii- nation (Rostock U.), 1865. He received in 1887 the honorary degree of D. D. from Bowdoin College, Maine.
Dr. Thomas began the ministry as as- sistant to Rev. Newman Hall, LL. B., of Christ church, London, afterwards was pastor of Berkley Street church (Cong.) Liverpool, whence he was called to suc- ceed Rev. Dr. Andrew Reed, the great phil- anthropist, at Wycliffe chapel, London. He was called to the Harvard church, Brook- line, in 1875, where he has since ministered.
Dr. Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter of John and Elizabeth (James) Cotton, but is without children.
He is the author of " Through Death to Life," "Divine Sovereignty," "Grafen- burg People," and several pamphlets.
Dr. Thomas was for several years a gov- ernor of the London Hospital, and is a life-member of several literary and benev- olent societies in Europe and America. He is a frequent contributor to leading religious newspapers and reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.
THOMPSON, CHARLES P., son of Frederick M. and Susannah (Cheeseman) Thompson, was born in Braintree, Norfolk county, July 30, 1827. He is a lineal de- scendant of John Thompson, who came from England and landed in Plymouth in 1621 or 1623, and married Mary Cook, daughter of Francis Cook, who was one of the original settlers of Plymouth in 1620. His father was born in Middleborough, but resided for the greater part of his life in Braintree. His mother also was of Brain- tree.
He received his early education in the public schools and in the Hollis Institute, located in his native town. He studied in the office of Hon. Benjamin F. Hallett, Boston, a prominent lawyer at that time, and United States district attorney. Mr. Thompson was admitted to the bar in Suf- folk county in 1854, remained in Mr. Hal- lett's office until 1857, and during that time served as second assistant to the United States district attorney. In 1857 he located in Gloucester, where he has since resided. Until his appointment in 1885, by Governor Robinson, as a justice of the superior court, he devoted himself to the practice of his profession, having offices in both Gloucester and Salem.
Politically Mr. Thompson is a Democrat. He was elected from Gloucester to the General Court, and served in the House of Representatives in 1871 and '72, the latter year performing conspicuous service on the judiciary committee. In 1874 he was elected to Congress from the 6th district, comprising Gloucester, Haverhill, New- buryport, Salem, and twenty-three towns in Essex county. His opponent was Gen- eral Benjamin F. Butler, who received 7,731 votes as against 8,703. In Congress he was upon the committee on elections, and was chairman of the " select committee on the recent elections in Florida." In the fall of 1876 he was candidate for re-elec- tion to Congress. His opponent, Dr. George B. Loring, had about 1,200 plural-
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ity, while the plurality given the Republican presidential ticket in the district was be- tween four and five thousand. He was the Democratic candidate for governor in the years 1880 and '81.
In 1877 Amherst College conferred the honorary degree of A. M. on Mr. Thomp- son.
In 1861 he married Abbie Herrick, of Gloucester. They have two children : a son and daughter.
THOMPSON, FRANCIS M., the son of John and Elvira (Adams) Thompson, of Greenfield, was born at Colrain, Franklin county, October 16, 1833. His paternal ancestors were of the Scotch-Irish race, who settled Colrain, his great grandfather being an officer in the revolutionary army. His ancestors on the mother's side were the Quincy-Adams stock.
FRANCIS M. THOMPSON.
Mr. Thompson received his early educa- tion at the common and select schools of Greenfield and at Williston Seminary. He studied law under the direction of Judge Chester C. Conant, and was admitted to the Franklin bar in August, 1876.
Mr. Thompson became a book-keeper in a banking house in Cincinnati in 1856, and in 1862 emigrated to what is now Montana, then a portion of Dakota. He was sent to Washington with others, and worked for
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the division of Dakota and the erection of Montana as a territory. He was a member of the first legislative council of Montana, and assisted in the organization of the ter- ritory. He returned to Massachusetts in 1865, and has since resided in Greenfield. He has held the offices of trial justice, as- sessor, town clerk, town treasurer, and selectman, and is now, and has been since 1870, register of probate and insolvency for Franklin county.
He was for many years a trustee and member of the finance committee in the Greenfield Savings Bank, and is now man- ager of the Interstate Mortgage Trust Com- pany, a corporation organized by him. He is a member of the board of directors of the Greenfield Library Association, and a mem- ber of the Connecticut Valley Congrega- tional Club.
Mr. Thompson married October 25, 1865, Mary, daughter of the late Hon. Lucius Nims, of Greenfield, and of Susan C., daugh- ter of Eliel G. Amadon, late of Springfield. They have one son : Francis Nims, born August 26, 1872.
THOMPSON, LEONARD, son of Leon- ard and Hannah Wright (Wyman) Thompson, was born in Woburn, Middle- sex county, November 21, 1817.
Intelligent parents gave him his first knowledge of books, which was supple- mented by private school tuition, until he was old enough to attend the district school one mile away. In the " red school- house," he learned successfully the " three R's," and Morse's Geography furnished the incentive for future travel.
The Warren Academy was opened in 1829, and there a thorough course of study better fitted him for the activities of life.
In 1837 he was clerk in an auction store in Boston ; later in a shoe store in Hal- lowell, Me., and Hartford, Conn. In 1842 he returned to Woburn and opened a store for the sale of shoemaker's tools, hats, boots and shoes. This was carried on success- fully until 1850, when he sold out his in- terest, and in company with another, started a general country store, in which he continued only a year. He was then out of business a year, and in 1852 pur- chased a hardware and stove store, and has continued in this business to the pres- ent time, assisted by his son, I. Waldo.
Mr. Thompson was married in Lincoln, May 26, 1847, to Maria Laurens, daughter of Cyrus and Tryphena (Brooks) Smith. Of this union were four children : Jenny Lind (deceased), Louis Waldo, Nellie Smith, and Edgar Bradford Thompson.
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Mr. Thompson became a member of the I. O. O. F. in 1841, and has identified him- self with the order as a loyal member and an efficient officer.
.His connections are with the Orthodox church, which he joined in 1835. His lib- eral and generous views, however, confine him to no one particular creed, and he lends a helping hand to the support of all religious societies. He takes a lively in- terest in literary associations, and has long been an active member of the town library committee.
LEONARD THOMPSON.
He is a life-member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He has served many years on the school board ; was selectman four years ; town treasurer two years, representative to the General Court 1877 and '78, where his record was that of a diligent and useful legislator. He is a justice of the peace by many re-ap- pointments.
Mr. Thompson's early life was that of a quiet, thinking, ingenious, fast-growing, weakly boy, patient in habit, a lover of nature in all its phases, skillful with rod and gun. He was a natural mechanic, and built the first portable iron boat in sections in this country, now much used in the West.
His health failing, he sought relief in travel, and visited the West Indies and
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Russia in 1836. Later he made other sea voyages along our New England coast ; spent some months in a trip to the Pacific coast. Edgar, his son, is chief mechanical architect in the motive-power office of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. Father and son visited the Paris exposition of 1889 to study advances made in motors, machinery, etc.
To Mr. Thompson, in a marked degree, is due the purchase of the birthplace of Count Rumford in Woburn, and its incor- poration as the Antique Museum of the Rumford Historical Society, and a branch of the Woburn Centre library.
THOMSON, ORRIN, son of Samuel and Sally (Heald) Thomson, was born in Hub- bardston, Worcester county, October 24, 1821.
His education was obtained in the com- mon schools, and by a year's attendance at Leicester Academy.
He has been a resident of Holliston since February, 1843. He taught school a portion of each of the next eight years.
In 1851 he formed a co-partnership with T. E. Andrews, under the firm name of Andrews & Thomson, and bought out the variety store of Pond & Thayer. This connection continued for seven years, when he formed a co-partnership with E. F. Whiting, under the firm name of Thomson & Whiting, dealers in dry-goods, clothing, boots, shoes, etc. Nine years from this time he retired from active business.
He is now treasurer of the Holliston Savings Bank, having held the position since its organization, 1872.
He was married October 28, 1846, in Holliston, to Lizzie C., daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Heald) Stone. Of this union were seven children, only two of whom are living : Silas O. and Charles S. Thom- son.
Mr. Thomson has been a member of the school board, serving as chairman a greater part of the time, for twenty-five years ; selectman, town treasurer, assessor and overseer of the poor, trustee and treasurer of the public library, etc.
He was a representative to the Legisla- ture in 1860 and '66, serving as chairman of the committee on pay-roll in the latter year. He is a justice of the peace and notary public, having received the former appointment in 1858 and the latter in 1876. He held the position of trial justice six years from 1858. He was appointed a com- missioner for the state industrial school for girls in November, 1861. For several years he was acting coroner. He has done
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much probate business-settling estates, etc. ; has always been an active temper- ance man and liberally aided all temper- ance organizations. He is noted for his generosity in the active promotion of all good works, and enjoys the unqualified
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respect and confidence of the entire com- munity.
TINKER, FRANCIS, son of John and Philena Tinker, was born in Worthington, Hampshire county, January 3, 1816.
His early education was such as the country schools of the time afforded.
When eighteen years of age he was employed as book-keeper in a wholesale and retail grocery store, in Hartford, Conn. During this period he gave all his spare time to study. He remained there about two years, when failing health com- pelled him to return to Worthington for rest. After a brief time he accepted the invitation of a brother, the Rev. O. Tinker, of Ashby, to attend the academy in that place, where he studied two terms, and one term in a like institution at Worthing- ton, which closed his school life.
In 1840 he was again employed in a grocery store at Westfield, but in the in- tervals of a dull business season he taught school in that place, and also at Worth- ington and Ashby.
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In 1842 he removed to Ashby, and was employed in various ways : kept a stock of drugs, medicines, fancy-goods, and station- ery in connection with the post - office. Afterward he purchased the drug store in Leominster, where he remained eleven years, when he disposed of his business, and in the autumn of 1868 removed to South Dedham (now Norwood), and opened the first apothecary store in that place, his present home. Here he also manufactured " the imperial fly-paper."
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