USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Our County and Its People: A Descriptive and Biographical Record of Bristol County, Massachusetts (Volume 2) > Part 27
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
Dexter, Everett O., was born in Rehoboth, February 21, 1863, a son of Otis S. and Maria A. (Bowen) Dexter. He was educated in the public schools and in 1882 came to Attleborough, where he learned the mason's trade and for some years has been engaged in contracting and building. In 1885 he married Flora M., daughter of Stephen II. Davis, and they have three children: Russell L., Alice E., and Ethel L. Mr. Dexter is one of the self-made men of his town, taking an intelligent interest in school and church matters and has ever advanced the best methods of his town and town's people.
Dolan, William Andrew, physician and surgeon, was born in Shirley, Mass., July 28, 1858, a son of Andrew and Jane (McBride) Dolan. Ilis father was a native of Dublin, Ireland, and his mother a native of Portobello, Scotland. When he was quite young his parents moved to Fall River, where he attended the public schools. He later entered St. Joseph's College, in affiliation with Lavalle University at St.
Digitized by Google
!
PERSONAL REFERENCES.
Joseph's, New Brunswick, and was graduated in 1879. The same year he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he received his medical degree March 15, 1882. The following year Dr. Dolan was house sur- gcon to St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, N. Y. Iu 1883 he returned to Fall River, where he has since conducted a large practice. Since 1892 Dr. Dolan bas been medical examiner for the Third Bristol District, being appointed by Governor Rus- sell. By virtue of this position he was the medical officer in charge of the noted "Borden Murder Case." He is visiting surgeon to the Fall River Hospital and St. Vincent Orphan's Home; and is also examining surgeon for several life and acci- dent insurance companies. He is a member of the Boston Life Underwriters Asso- ciation. Dr. Dolan has been a justice of peace for several years. He is a member and ex-president of the Fall River Medical Society, and of the Massachusetts Medico- legal Society, the Clover Club, the order of Elks, and Knights of Columbus. May 29, 1883, he married Nellie B., daughter of Thomas Hussey of Fall River. They have four children: Thomas A., Nellie B., William A., jr., and Mary Annunciata.
Doran, Thomas W., son of William and Aun (Lowe) Doran, was born in New Bedford, Mass., May 12, 1857. When he was ten years of age his parents removed to Dartmouth, where he received his education in the public schools. Mr. Doran has devoted his entire life to agriculture. March 17, 1891, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Leonard Rider of Dartmouth, and they have two sons: William L. and Ralph C. Mr. Doran is an active member of the Christian Church.
Drake, Albert Bailey, civil engineer, is a lineal descendant of Thomas Drake, who settled in Weymouth, Mass., in 1653. He is the son of Jonathan E. and Mary E. (Bailey) Drake, and was born February 24, 1859, in Mansfield, Bristol county, where he attended the public schools. In May, 1863, he came with his parents to New Bedford and finished his education in the High School of that city. In May, 1874, he entered the office of the New Bedford (then the Acushnet) Water Works as a clerk and draftsman, and also acted as assistant to the city land surveyor. He remained there until January, 1881, when he entered the employ of the Atlantic & Pacific (now a part of the Santa Fe) Railroad, on the line between Albuquerque, New Mexico, and "The Needles" on the Colorado River in Arizona. He was transitman on the location of the road across Arizona, division engineer in charge of construction, and for six months assistant in charge of the field engineering work on the entire length of the road, a distance of 560 miles. Returning to New Bedford in May, 1884, he was elected city land surveyor and held that office until May, 1898. He was also superintendent of the Board of Public Works from the formation of the board iu 1889 until 1895, and at one time served also as city forester and super. intendent of parks. Mr. Drake has successfully practiced bis profession as a civil engineer in New Bedford since 1884. He was one of the seven charter members of the Massachusetts Highway Association. He is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the Boston Society of Civil Engi- neers, the New England Water Works Association, and the Wamsutta and Dart- mouth Clubs. October 19, 1887, he married Minnie Elizabeth, daughter of John and Mary (Ncely) McAfee of New Bedford. aud they have one son, Edward.
Draper, O. M .. was born in North Attleborough, September 3, 1840, a son of Virgil, a native of North Attleborough. Virgil married Ann W., daughter of Sam-
Digitized by Google
78
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
uel Origen Draper, who was one of the pioneers in the jewelry business. He was of a decided mechanical turn of mind and invented a die of steel surrounded by iron. O. M. Draper was educated in North Attleborough and in 1863 began busi- ness under the name of O. M. Draper & Co., being associated with E. I. Richards. In 1868 he purchased Mr. Richards's interest and has continued the business up to the present time, making a specialty of fire gilt chains, and was the first in town to manufacture what was known as swedged goods. He is one of the largest manufac- turers of rolled plate chains in Massachusetts. In 1865 he married Reliance G., daughter of Henry Russell; she died in 1876, leaving two sons and one daughter. Mr. Draper afterwards married Hettie A. Woodard of Akron, O., and she died in 1805, leaving one son.
Drown, Hezekiah Luther, son of Samuel and Ann (Luther) Drown, was born in Warren, R. I., August 9, 1830. His father was of English descent and his mother of Scotch extraction. Mr. Drown received his early training in the public schools of ยท his native town and at the age of eleven his parents removed to Swansea, Bristol county, Mass., where he attended school in the winter months and worked on a farm in the summer until sixteen years old. In 1846 he returned to Warren, where he served three and a half years' apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade. He then re- moved to Fall River, Mass., and for sixteen years was employed at this trade. In 1861 he removed to the town of Westport, Bristol county, to take charge of a milk business for Samuel T. Sanford, in whose employ he remained until 1865, when he bought the farm he now lives on. September 15, 1858, he married Hannah M., daughter of Benjamin and Nancy (Brownell) Brownell, and they have two sons: Charles H. and Edwin F. Mr. Drown has always been an earnest advocate of tem- perance, and his own whole hearty manhood in old age is itself an impressive sermon in favor of total abstinence. He has never used tobacco or liquor in any form. For many years he has been a prominent worker in the Washington Total Abstinence Society of Hicksville, serving as president, secretary and treasurer at different periods.
Dubuque, Hugo Adelard, attorney at law, was born in Canada, November 8, 1854, a son of Moise and Esther (Mathieu) Dubuque. His granduncle was the founder of Dubuque, lowa. His father was one of the early explorers and pioneers of the far west, living in California and Montana from 1840 to 1850, and who died at St. Louis, Mo., on his return from a trip to Montana in 1865. Hugo Adelard obtained his pre- paratory education in the common schools and was graduated from the college at St. Hyacinthe, P. Q., in the class of 1870. That same year he removed to Troy, N. Y., where he was employed for a few months in a shoe store. IIe came to Fall River in the autumn of the same year and was a clerk in a grocery and drug store until 1874. In the mean time he diligently studied and prepared himself to enter Boston Univer- sity Law School, where he completed the full course, and was graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1877. He was admitted to the Bristol county bar the same year and began the practice of his profession in Fall River, where he has since won dis- tinction as a lawyer. Mr. Dubuque has been honorary president of the Cercle Sala- berry, a literary society; and Ligue de Patriotes, a benevolent society. He is active in politics as a Republican, and has taken special interest in education; he was a member of Fall River School Board from 1883 to 1889. During the years 1897-98 he
Digitized by Google
1
79
PERSONAL REFERENCES.
was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, and took a leading part in the dis- cussion of important questions, being on the committee on judiciary. Mr. Dubuque is the author of a " Historical Sketch of French Canadians," and of an article on the same subject in the French language in the " Guide Canadian Francais" in Fall River. He is one of the leading representatives of the French-Canadian people in New England. May 15, 1881, he married Anne M., daughter of William and Abbie (Maley) Coughlin of Fall River. They have three daughters: Pauline, Helene and Marie.
Dunbar, William Everett, is a son of Peter and Esther A. (Stevens) Dunbar of Taunton, and was born in Taunton, October 16, 1857. He received his early educa- tion in the public schools of Taunton and Bristol Academy. On leaving the acade- my he entered immediately on mercantile life. October 18, 1897, Mr. Dunbar was appointed by President Mckinley, postmaster of the city of Taunton,
Durfee, George T., son of David and Eleanore (Brayton) Durfee, was born in Tiverton, R. I., December 11, 1850. His father was a farmer and a lifelong resident of Tiverton. As a boy George 'T. worked on his father's farm and attended the dis- trict school, later attending the Holmes Commercial School in Fall River. His first business experience was in the conduct of a retail grocery on Stafford Road, Fall River. Ile associated with S. 11. Hambly in this enterprise, this partnership con- tinuing about ten years, when Mr. Hambly retired and Mr. Durfee conducted the business alone for a period of four years. He then engaged in the wholesale gro- cery and commission business with H. Francis Lawton and Herbert Chapin under the firm name of H. Francis Lawton & Company. He retired from this firm in 1898. Mr. Durfee has been several times before the people as a candidate for office and has always attained a majority. He was a member of the Common Council for three terms and a member of the Board of Aldermen for three terms from the First ward. In 1895 he was elected county commissioner on the Republican ticket. He is a mem- ber of King Philip Lodge, F. & A. M., Chapter, Council, Commandery, and Shrine. He is also a member of Friendly Union Lodge of Odd Fellows, the Improved Order of Red Men, and the Knights of Pythias. In 1871 he married Ida T. Hathaway. daughter of Embert Hathaway of Fall River, and they have three children: Jessie H., George W , and Hazel.
Dwight, James Edwin, son of Leonard and Minerva Dwight, was born in Will- iamsburg, Mass., May 19, 1834. When he was ten years old his father removed to New Bedford and engaged in the meat and grocery business, locating at 90 South Second street. After a residence of forty-five years in New Bedford, he removed to Acushnet, where he died in 1879, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. James E. Dwight attended the common schools of New Bedford and, after leaving school, went into his father's business, succeeding him in 1865, and still conducts the busi- ness at the old location, being now one of the oldest groceries in the city. With his father and alone Mr. Dwight has been in business for upwards of forty-eight years, and it is needless to say that his store has become a landmark in that section of the city. Leonard Dwight died in his seventy-eighth year. Mr. Dwight married, in 1855, Emily B., daughter of Stephen and Phebe Gifford of North Dartmouth, and of their union five children were born, only two of whom survive: Minerva B., and Myrtilla M., wife of C. H. Millett of Salem, Mass.
Digitized by Google
80
OUK COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
Eckfeldt, Thomas Hooper, principal of the New Bedford Friends Academy, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., May 5, 1853, a son of Adam and Sarah M. (Hooper) Eck- feldt. His genealogy is somewhat remarkable from the fact that members of the family have been connected with the United States mint since its establishment. His great-grandfather was the first chief coiner of the United States mint at Phila- delphia, Pa. Professor Eckfeldt received his preliminary education in the public schools of his native city, and was prepared for college under private tutors. He entered Wesleyan University in 1877 and was graduated A. B. in 1881. In the same year he became assistant principal of the Middletown (Conn.) High School, where he remained two years, and then was for one year employed as a Greek tutor at his alma mater. Following this he went abroad, studying one year in Athens, Greece, and one year in Munich, Germany, and upon his return in the fall of 1886 entered the graduate department of Harvard University, where he remained one year. Pro- fessor Eckfeldt came to New Bedford in 1887 to take the principalship of the Friends Academy and has now completed eleven highly successful years at the head of this old institution. He is a man of scholarly attainment and one well adapted to the profession of teaching. In 1896 Harvard conferred the degree A. M. upon him. He is a member of the American Philological Association; Archaeological Society of America; Association of New England Colleges and Preparatory Schools; Massa- chusetts Classical and High School Teachers' Association; Bristol County Teachers' Association; and the Schoolmasters' Club of Boston. Professor Eckfeldt has been a vestryman in St. Martin's church for a number of years and has been identified with the society since its organization. He married, in June, 1889, Grace P., daugh- ter of Alonzo S. Weed of Newton, Mass., and they have three children: Margaret Weed, Roger Weed and Thomas Hooper Eckfeldt, jr.
Eldridge, John, jr., son of John and Annah H. (Matthews) Eldridge, was born in New Bedford, June 27, 1841. His father, who died in New Bedford in 1880, in the sixty second year of his age, was foreman for over thirty years of the New Bedford Cordage Company's plant, and esteemed as an honorable, upright man. Mr. Eldridge was educated in the common and high schools of New Bedford. After completing his schooling he was employed for a short time as a clerk, and then for two years in the works of the New Bedford Cordage Company. In 1861 he enlisted in an engi- neer corps and served his country faithfully for three years with the Army of the Potomac, and upon his return he resumed his old position in the employ of the Cordage Company, becoming in 1879 superintendent of the plant. Mr. Eldridge's term of service with the corporation covers a period of thirty-four years. He is a man of good executive ability and is possessed of a thorough knowledge of his busi- ness. He has always taken an active interest in municipal politics; has served in the council from Ward four for four terms, 1881-82-83-84, on the School Committee six years, and at present is a member of the Board of Public Works. He is un- married.
Ellis, John P., son of Thaddeus and Rosanna (Preston) Ellis, was born at Har- wich on Cape Cod, May 18, 1826. His father was a prominent farmer of Harwich for many years. John P. was the oldest of a large family and was early obliged to contribute his share to its support, so that his schooling was limited to about three months of the year. When only nine years old he went to sea as cook in a fishing
Digitized by Google
81
PERSONAL REFERENCES.
vessel and relates how the sailors having lost the "56 weights" would place him on the other side of the beam when they weighed the fish, as he only weighed fifty- seven pounds. He became mate and then a captain while yet a mere boy in years. When he reached his eighteenth year he removed to Fairhaven and began an ap- prenticeship with J. B. Morse, under whom he learned the blacksmith's trade. In February, 1849, he joined a company of Nantucket men, organized by Capt. Francis B. Folger, and sailed for California in the bark " Russell" from New Bedford, the voyage requiring four months and twenty-two days. Arriving in San Francisco he was offered a mate's berth at $250 per month on a ship bound for Portland, Ore., to bring a cargo of lumber to San Francisco for building purposes, and upon his re- turn engaged for a time in unloading ships. Ile finally reached the mines and being fairly successful he returned after five months to San Francisco and engaged in the hotel business. His hotel was rather a crude structure which he called the " Fairhaven House," and at that time it was the only temperance hotel in the city. He was fairly successful, but owing to bad health decided to sell out and make a voyage to Panama; he shipped as a passenger, but when the ship was only seven days out cholera broke out among the crew with the result that the mate and several seamen died, and he being a sailor was obliged to perform the duties of mate. Upon reaching Panama he decided to go home and upon his return to Fairhaven engaged in the livery business, which he continued for four years and then sold out and en- gaged in his old trade of blacksmithing until 1868. He then began in the milk, wood and grocery business, in which he still continues. Mr. Ellis is a firm advo. cate of total abstinence and has voted the Prohibition ticket for several years. He has also lectured to some extent on the subject in nearly all the towns. He married Charity E., daughter of Thomas Sanford of Fall River, in 1851, and ten children have been born to them, eight of whom survive: Susan, wife of Charles Lamb; Rosanna, wife of Francis Carleton; Ellen, wife of Benjamin Tripp; Lloyd N. P., Edward M., Thomas S., Florence, wife of Alfred M. Gifford; and Bessie W., wife of Charles II. Gifford.
Evans, Edwin Hubert, is a son of James Madison and Emeline Elizabeth (Hath- away) Evans, and was born in Taunton, October 11, 1860, and educated in the pub- lic schools and Bristol Academy. He commenced his business career about 1877 as a clerk for Bodfish & Evans, in the grocery business, but soon tiring of this he went to the West Indies and engaged as a merchantman among all the islands from Porto Rico round to Curacoa, finally returning to the United States and settling in Taun- ton. He was appointed on the police force as patrolman in 1884, and served seven years, when he was appointed chief of police and served the city in that capacity five years. In November, 1895, he was elected sheriff of Bristol county for three years and took this office January 1, 1896. Mr. Evans was married in September, 1885, to Ella, daughter of Capt. Dennis C. and Mary W. Sturgis, and they have one child, Shirley Cotelle. Mr. Evans is a member of the several Masonic orders, among them being Alfred Baylies Lodge, St. John Commandery and St. Mark's R. A. Chapter.
Evans, Williams A., son of Philip and Harriet (Bliffins) Evans, was born in Free- town, Bristol county, Mass., February 10, 1867. Ilis boyhood was passed in the public schools and on his father's farm, and on attaining bis majority he began farm- ing on his own account, which he has since conducted very successfully. On Feb-
Digitized by Google
82
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
ruary 28, 1894, he was married to Delia, daughter of George and Marie (Gifford) Terry, and they have two children: William B., born March 7, 1895, and Earl V., born April 11, 1897. Mr. Evans has taken quite an active interest in town affairs and for the last five years has been road commissioner of the town.
Everett, Nathan B., dealer in cotton, son of Isaac Colburn and Matilda (Osgood) Everett, was born in Dedham, Mass., August 18, 1850. His grandfather, Nathan Everett, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Nathan B. Everett attended the public schools of his native town, and was graduated from the High School. He then spent three years in traveling, chiefly in sailing vessels. He went to California around Cape Horn four times in his youth, and twice doubled the Cape of Good Hope. In 1872 he came to Fall River and was employed as clerk and paymaster in the Durfee Mills. He was treasurer of the Fall River Spool and Bobbin Company from 1876 to 1878, then returned to the Durfee Mills, and in 1870 went to Paterson, N. J., where he had charge of the cotton and silk mills of R. & H. Adams. In 1881 he returned to Fall River and engaged in the cotton brokerage business with W. C. Gerry, under the firm name W. C. Gerry & Co. Mr. Gerry died in 1888 and since then Mr. Ev- erett has conducted the business alone under the name of N. B. Everett & Co. Mr. Everett was alderman from Ward 7 in 1887, 1890 and 1894. He is a past master of Mount Hope Lodge of Masons, is a member of Godfrey de Bouillon Commandery, Knights Templar; and Palestine Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and the order of Elks. In 1872 he married Mary, daughter of Captain Horatio N. and Rebecca (Drake) Brightman of Fall River, and they have two children: Bertha M., married John C. Anthony, principal of New Britain (Conn.) Grammar Schools, and Dana Colburn Everett. Mr. Everett's first American ancestor, Richard Everett, came from Watertown, Eng- land, in 1636, and settled at Dedham, Mass., where many of his descendants have resided.
.
Farnham, Charles H., architect, was born in Red Wing, Minn., February 3, 1859, and removed with bis parents to Boston when three months old. He obtained his preparatory education in the public schools of that city, and then entered the Massa- chusetts Normal Art School, where he took a four years' course in drawing. He was graduated from that institution in 1878 and passed the three succeeding years in the offices of Boston architects and one year with D. M. Thompson & Co., mill engineers, Providence, R. I. He was next employed in the office of the city architect of Boston four years, until there was a change in the city administration and new officials as- sumed control. Mr. Farmham then spent eight months traveling through the far west, and upon his return to the east in 1890 located in Fall River and formed a part. nership with Ichabod Burt, who died in the autumn of the same year. Among the buildings he has designed are the residence of Chauncey Sears, St. Luke's church, Brayton M. E. church, Bogle Street Christian church, Foresters' building, Home for Aged People, and Young Men's Irish-American Society building. Mr. Farnham is a Mason, a member of Godfrey de Bouillon Commandery, Knights Templar. He married Maria L. Brown, daughter of Louis J. Brown of Fall River, and they have two children: Marion and Dorothy W.
Faunce, Loun H., son of John and Eliza C. (Ashley) Faunce, was born in North Dartmouth, March 15, 1835, and during his early boyhood he worked on his father's
Digitized by Google
83
PERSONAL REFERENCES.
farm and attended district school, and when he was seventeen years old came to New Bedford to work as a laborer. He remained in New Bedford about two years and then went to South Boston and began an apprenticeship to the cabinet maker's trade, and later he returned to his home in Dartmouth and in the spring of 1854 came to New Bedford, entering the employ of Bosworth & Hathaway, contractors and builders. He worked for this firm six years and when they dissolved partner- ship, continued with William Bosworth for fourteen years and then went into busi- ness on his own account as a contractor and builder, and as such has gained a large measure of success. Mr. Faunce has served in the Council from Ward 2 for seven years, and has been a member for many years of Vesta Lodge of Odd Fellows, and for the past ten years a deacon in the Spruce Street Christian Church. In 1862 he married Phoebe Borden Davis, daughter of Abiel Davis of North Westport, and they have three children: Charles L., Vernon C., and Myra. Mr. Faunce is directly de- scended from William Faunce, an early settler and Baptist preacher in Plymouth Colony, and the family has been of much prominence in New England history.
Fenner, Henry Smith, treasurer of the Slade Mills, was born in Smithfield, R. I., May 31, 1846, the eldest son of Henry Greene and Laura Amey (Smith) Fenucr. He is a direct descendant of four of the oldest and most noted of Rhode Island fam- ilies, a lineal descendant in the eighth generation from Capt. Arthur Fenner, a lieu- tenant in Cromwell's army, who settled in Rhode Island in 1649, where after varied military experiences he was appointed on June 19, 1676, chief commander of the king's garrison at Providence, and of all other garrisons there; in the ninth genera- tion from Roger Williams; and in the ninth generation from Richard Waterman, who on October 8, 1638. was one of the twelve to whom Roger Williams deeded the land acquired from the Indians and one of the twelve original members of the First Baptist Church of Providence, R. I., organized in 1639; and also in the ninth gen- eration a descendant from John Greene, the first settler of Warwick, R. I., from whom in the fifth generation descended Major General Nathaniel Greene of Rev- olutionary fame. Mr. Fenner is also in the eighth generation from Richard Borden of Aquidneck, R. I. Henry S. Fenner was prepared for college at Lapham Institute, North Scituate, R. I., and was graduated from Brown University, Bachelor of Phil- osophy, in 1870. Among his classmates were President E. Benjamin Andrews and Professors N. F. Davis, Alonzo Williams, Wilfred H. Munro, and Richard S. Col- well of Brown University and Dean John M. English of Newton Theological Sem- inary. Ilis father's uncle, John Fenner, entering a mill in 1818, was a cotton mill agent in the earliest days of cotton manufacture, and his father, Henry Greene Fenner, followed the same business all his life, as did his only brother, George A. Fenner, until his death in 1892. Mr. Fenner, like the rest of his family, was a cotton manufacturer, and after having charge of several mill plants in Rhode Island came to the Slade Mills in 1875 as superintendent and was chosen treasurer in 1876. He was also chosen a director in the Fall River National Bank, a trustee in the Fall River Home for the Aged, was a member of the City Council and was president of the Brown Alumni Association at Fall River in 1890. December 12, 1878, he mar- ried Mary Jane, daughter of John C. Milne, of Fall River, and they have four chil- dren: Henry Milne, Joseph Almy, Laura and George Arthur.
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.