Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 111

Author: Borden, Alanson, 1823-1900; Boston History Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1399

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts > Part 111

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Sullivan, Mark A., painter, contractor and merchant, a son of John and Mary (Harrington) Sullivan, was born in Wareham, Plymouth county, Mass., January 27, 1849. His parents, who came from County Cork, Ireland, died when he was young,

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and his educational advantages were limited to less than two years in school. When a small boy he worked on a farm for two years, then was employed in the iron works at Wareham until November, 1864, and then enlisted for one year in the 26th Unattached Company, Mass. Vols. He was in the service six months when the war closed, and in 1865 he came to Fall River, worked in Eddy's Woolen Mill in the picker room for a short time, and then assisted in the erection of the Union and the Tecumseh Cotton Mills. He later learned the painter's trade under Raymond Bolger, and in 1872 formed a copartnership in the painting business under the firm name of Peckham, Sherwin & Sullivan, which was dissolved three years later, the business being continued by Mr. Sullivan. In 1876 he admitted P. P. Morris (Sullivan & Morris). This firm continued until 1881, and since that date Mr. Sullivan has conducted the business alone, employing regularly about forty workmen. He was located on Spring street until June, 1888, when he moved to 275 South Main street, which property, together with D. D. Sullivan and Robert How- ard, he bought in 1889. He owns thirty-one tenement houses in Fall River, and does a large business in painting and papering houses, and also in portrait painting, crayon drawings and water color pictures. By close attention to his duties he has prospered in life. In 1874 he married Eleanor, daughter of Richard and Bridget Clark of Dighton, Mass. They had four children: Emma F., Frank M., Helena and Charles; only one, Helena, is now living.

Swaim, Rev. Joseph S., pastor of the First Baptist Church of New Bedford, is the son of Rev. Samuel Budd Swaim, D.D., and Aurora D. Skinner, his wife, and a grand- son of Judge Thomas Swaim, a native of Staten Island, N. Y., where the family first settled. Judge Swaim spent most of his life in Pemberton, N. J., serving for many years as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Rev. Samuel Budd Swaim was graduated from Brown University in 1830 and from the Newton Theological Sem- inary in 1833, was ordained to the Baptist ministry at Haverhill, Mass., November 7, 1833, and spent two years as a professor in the old Granville Theological Seminary, Ohio, after which he was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Worcester for sixteen years. He subsequently went to West Cambridge (now Arlington), Mass., and filled a pastorate for eight years, and died in Cambridge in 1865. His wife's father, Parry C. Skinner, was a drummer in the war of 1812, and her grandfather, Benjamin Skin- ner, served as a drummer in the Revolution at Bunker Hill. Rev. Joseph S. Swaim, only surviving son of Dr. Samuel B., was born in Worcester, Mass , May 2, 1851, re- ceived his early education in the public and high schools of Cambridge, and was graduated from Harvard College with the degree of A. B. in 1873. He then spent a year in Europe and the East, and on his return entered the Newton Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1877, being ordained to the ministry in the old Cambridge Baptist Church the same year. He was pastor of the First Bap- tist Church of Claremont, N. H., from 1877 to 1883, pastor of the Union Baptist Church of Providence, R. I., from the spring of 1883 to 1887, and pastor of the First Baptist Church of Binghamton, N. Y., from the spring of 1887 to 1890. In the spring of 1890 he came to New Bedford as pastor of the First Baptist Church on William street, which position he still holds. Mr. Swaim is an able, eloquent, and convinc- ing preacher, a scholar, and a man of culture and high attainments. He was a member of the executive board of the New Hampshire Baptist Convention and is

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now a member of the executive board of the Massachusetts Baptist Convention. In January, 1898, he was elected president of the Newton Alumni Association and is a member of the board of Newton Theological Seminary. In November, 1877, he married Caroline Tiffany Dyer, daughter of Ezra Cornish Dyer. importer of Bos- ton and resident of Cambridge, Mass., and of Caroline Elizabeth Tiffany, his wife, daughter of Lyman Tiffany, merchant of Boston, and sister of the late Dr. Ezra Dyer, the well known oculist of Philadelphia and Newport. Her ancestors were prominent in the early history of Massachusetts, one of them, Asa Dyer, being com- missioned, May 19, 1775, a lieutenant in Col. William Heath's regiment; several others also served in the Colonial and Revolutionary wars. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. They have three sons: Roger D., a student at Harvard College, class of 1900, Loring T. and Stanley B.

Swan, Allen Webster, music teacher, was born in Dorchester, Mass., June 20, 1852, and is the son of William Henry Swan and Mary Elizabeth Bronsdon. He is descended from John Swan, who came from England to Massachusetts in the seven- teenth century, settled in the vicinity of Cambridge and is buried in the old cemetery opposite Harvard College. Mr. Swan's grandfather, Reuben Swan, a grain dealer, was born and cied in Dorchester. William Henry Swan was long a prominent Bos- ton schoolmaster, being connected with the Wells school for twenty-three years; later he held a position in the New England National Bank. He died in January, 1896, and his wife in September, 1897. Allen Webster Swan attended the Dorches- ter public schools, and at the age of twelve began his musical education. He studied at both the New England Conservatory of Music and the College of Music of Boston University under such eminent instructors as George E. Whiting and John K. Paine, organists, and Carlyle Petersilea and J. C. D. Parker, pianists, and S. A. Emery, harmony teacher, and was graduated from the College of Music June 21, 1876. He also took a course of piano instruction under Mme. Madeleine Schiller of Boston. His studies were thorough, and being possessed of rare musical talents he rose rap- idly to a foremost rank in his profession. While a student he gained much practice as a teacher, and on receiving his diploma in 1876 he was appointed an instructor of the piano and organ at the New England Conservatory of Music, which position he filled seventeen years. In 1878 he also established a studio in New Bedford, where he has been the leading music teacher and the organist at the First Congregational (Unitarian) Church. He continues to give private lessons in harmony and on the piano and organ in Boston, and in January, 1898, was elected a trustee of the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1878 he spent two months in Cincinnati, Ohio, as substitute for Mr. Whiting in the College of Music and as official organist of the Cincinnati Music Hall, and since October, 1894, he has held the position of teacher of harmony in the Swain Free School of New Bedford. He was musical conductor of the New Bedford Choral Association from 1879 to 1890, was director of the Schu- bert Club of New Bedford for several years, and is a member and one of the founders of the American Guild of Organists. Mr. Swan has conducted a large number of organ recitals, concerts, etc., and is recognized as one of the most eminent music teachers in the State.

Swan, Jesse J., M. D-Caleb Swan, A. B., M. D., was born in Charlestown, Mass., September 22, 1793, and was the son of Caleb and Sarah (Semple) Swan, who trace

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their descent back to the Swan family who came to New England before 1685, on account of religious persecution, and settled near Boston, in Essex county, Mass. Caleb, father of Dr. Caleb, was a merchant of Charlestown and a large owner of real estate, in which he was quite active until 1816, about the time of his death. He lived in Charlestown Square when his house was burned at the battle of Bunker Hill. It will be noted that a leading characteristic of the family is that large real estate holdings have been prominently continued down to the present generation. Dr. Caleb Swan entered Harvard University in 1811 and graduated in 1814, among his classmates being Dr. James Walker (late president of the college) and William H. Prescott, the historian. At the age of twenty one Caleb Swan began the study of medicine under the instruction of Dr. Jonathan Wales, of Randolph, Mass., and after obtaining his degree, settled in Easton, in the year 1816, continuing here in the practice of medicine, never interrupted for more than a week or two by sickness or travel, for fifty-four years. He was the most successful physician that ever lived in Bristol county, and his reputation extended largely outside of the county lines. He died March 18, 1870. He was one of the founders of the Bristol North District Medical Society in 1849, of which, March 10, 1852, he was made president for one year, and he also belonged to the Massachusetts Medical Society. His reputation drew many medical pupils into his office, and he became very early identified with various humanitarian enterprises. In the great temperance movement of 1826 he was a very active participant, encouraging it in every way, and making public ad- dresses, which were characterized by vigor, point, and good sense. He was always interested in education and frequently spoke upon the topic, and while he steadily refused all other offices, he was willing to serve upon the Board of School Committee of Easton, for which he rendered efficient service for fourteen years. At one time Dr. Swan was interested and prominent in politics, being in 1840 an earnest sup- porter of the election of General Harrison, at the same time declaring that .if Har- rison was elected, he would join the Liberty party, afterwards known as the Free Soil party. This he did, and he became a prominent anti-slavery man, and he was also a strong abolitionist and an intimate friend of Charles Sumner, John A. Andrew, and other prominent men. He was a candidate on the Free Soil ticket for member of congress, his principal opponent being Artemus Hale of Bridgewater, who in after elections was elected. Dr. Swan on the same party's ticket ran for governor against N. P. Banks, who was elected, but it is generally believed by those who knew both men well, that Caleb Swan was the greater of the two. In 1865, being chosen on the ticket of the Republican party, which had grown out of the Free Soil party, Dr. Swan served as representative in the State Legislature, and in 1867 was chosen as State senator. In his intercourse with others Dr. Swan was suave, genial, and an agreeable, companionable man and as welcome in a social as in a professional way, in the homes of those who knew him. But with all his suavity he never yielded a hair's breadth in discussion or action in matters of political principle. In religion he was a Swedenborgian. His brother-in-law, the late George W. Johnson of Buffalo, N. Y., under date of 1839, wrote of him as follows: "His heart is in his profession. Like most others of his profession, he possesses great knowledge of men and tact in managing their weaknesses. He possesses also a placable and generous temper, is fond of wit and humor, which he has displayed from a child, and has few or no enemies. His mind delights in the investigation and discovery of truth and he

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rejects no theory until he has sounded it and found it wanting, examining everything for himself, yet he is no visionary. His mind is characterized by activity, love of research, and caution, and I believe he had one of the best of hearts." Dr. Caleb Swan was three times married; first, to Ruth Barrell, of East Bridgewater, October 3, 1816, who died January 13, 1830, and he was again married, February 14, 1831, to Louisa S. Johnson, of Enfield, N. H, who died September 6, 1860. He had four children by his first marriage, seven by his second, and none by his last. Jesse Johnson Swan, M. D., son of Dr. Caleb and Louisa S. (Johnson) Swan, was born in Easton, December 14, 1849. He received an academic education at Bristol Acad- emy, Taunton, Mass., and Stoughton Institute at Sharon, Mass., and then he studied medicine two years with his father and one year with his brother. He next took a two years' course at the Harvard Medical College in 1869-70 and one year's course at the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, from which he graduated in March, 1882. He began the practice of medicine at North Easton, in April, 1872, where he still resides. He is a member and the medical examiner of the Royal Society of Good Fellows, also a member of the United States Order of the Golden Cross, and a member of the Improved Order of Red Men of Brockton, and Council of Pocahontas, Brockton; member of Easton Lodge, Knights of Honor, also member and medical examiner of New England Order of Protection, Easton.

Sweeney, Michael, is a native of Fall River, born April 13, 1856. As a boy he at- tended the public schools and engaged in various pursuits until he was eighteen years old, at which time he engaged in the express business on a small scale. He has since followed this business and now, owing to the prestige of a long establishment, has the largest patronage in Fall River, requiring the service of several employees and about twenty teams. In connection with this business he built and owns the finest sanitary stable and storage warehouse in Fall River. Mr. Sweeney has served five terms in the City Council from Ward 3 and is at present one of the Watuppa reservoir commissioners. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Sweet, James Henry, son of Thomas and Martha (Briggs) Sweet, natives of Narra- gansett, R. I., was born in Newport, R. I., March 23, 1828. His father was a farmer, a man of inflexible will, strong, good sense, and sterling integrity, and he was trained to habits of industry and learned the lesson of self-reliance early in life. After receiving the advantages afforded by the schools of those days he engaged in farming and in 1866 removed to the farm in Dartmouth on which he still lives. In April, 1880, he married Emily, daughter of Michael and Jane E. (Dixon) Baker of Dartmouth. Of this union there are four children: William J., Esther A., wife of Herman Peckham of Newport; John and Herbert. Mr. Sweet is of old New Eng- land stock, representatives of the family having been prominent in colonial history.

Swift, Humphrey Hathaway, the fourth son who grew to manhood of Jireh and Elizabeth (Hathaway) Swift, was born in Acushnet village, a part of New Bedford, November 30, 1819. He is descended from William Swift, sr.,1 who came from Eng- land to Dorchester, Mass., about 1630; William, jr.2; Jireh, sr.3; Jireh, jr.,+ who moved from Sandwich to Acushnet, where the family have since resided; Jireh, 3d,5 a minuteman who was twice called into service during the Revolutionary war, in which his son Jonathan also served; and Jireh, 4th," who married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Stephen and Abigail Hathaway, whose ancestors came from England in the

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early history of the Massachusetts colony. Mr. Swift's ancestors on the mother's side were Quakers. He was educated at Paul Wing's school in Sandwich and pre- pared for college at Medford under Professor Anger, but instead of taking a collegi- ate course decided to enter mercantile life. In 1841 he went to Pernambuco, Brazil, as a clerk in the leading American exporting house of Henry Forster & Co., which was founded in 1832 by Henry Forster, and which has ever since continued under that name, as the leading American commercial house. On the death of his brother- in-law, in 1847, Mr. Swift became the head of the house, whose extensive and im- portant affairs he ably administered until 1879. Meantime, in 1860, he established a mercantile house in New York city, which he actively conducted until 1886. While in Brazil he was a prominent and influential factor in all public matters. During the first three years of the American Civil war he rendered valuable services to this government, for which he received a personal letter of thanks from William H. Sew- ard, then secretary of state. During Grant's second term he was appointed Ameri- can consul at Pernambuco. which post he resigned after a year, on leaving for home. Mr. Swift was long one of the most popular and esteemed residents of not only Per- nambuco, but of all Brazil. His enterprise as a business man, his philanthropic spirit and masterly energy, his prominence in connection with the abolition or anti- slavery movement, and his activity in all public affairs brought him conspicuously to the notice of the Brazilian emperor, who in 1868 decorated him a Knight of the Or- der of the Rose " for valuable services rendered to Brazil." While there he was also interested in a line of coast steamers; he established the first tug boat service in Brazil and financed the laying of the street railway system in Pernambuco. He still retains his connection with a New York importing house, though he has for several years lived a retired life in the home in Acushnet, New Bedford, in which he was born. In 1863 he became one of the original members of the Union League Club of New York. Mr. Swift was married in 1846 to Jane Elizabeth, daughter of Alfred Gibbs of New Bedford. She died in 1851, leaving three children: Alfred Gibbs Swift and Thomas Nye Swift, both deceased, and Jennie Gibbs (Mrs. Edmund Grinnell), of New Bedford, Mass. In 1865 he married Bertha, daughter of Dr. Robert Wessel- hoeft, who came to America from Germany about 1841. Their children are Bertha Wesselhoeft, Anne Hathaway (wife of Dr. Charles Burton Gulick, Greek Depart- ment of Harvard University), Humphrey Hathaway, jr., Robert Wesselhoeft, and Ruth.

Swift, Marcus George Barker, attorney at law, son of Rev. Orson Ross Swift, M.D., and Mary Elizabeth Barker, was born in the township of Raisin, county of Lenawee, Mich., March 12, 1848. He was educated in the public schools, Adrian College and in the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1872. Before entering upon his legal studies he enlisted in Sep- tember, 1864, in the 4th Mich. Infantry and served in the Army of the Cumberland until the close of the war, when he accompanied his regiment to Texas to help pre- vent Maximillian and the Emperor Napoleon from encroaching on the rights of American citizens in Mexico or the United States. His regiment remained in the service until July, 1866 He then began the study of law in the office of Newberry, Pond & Brown of Detroit, Mich., the last named being Henry Billings Brown, now an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Later he pursued

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his studies under F. H. Canfield and afterward with Wilkinson & Post of Detroit: at that time' Mr. Post was a reporter of the Supreme Court of Michigan and Mr. Swift was in his office under a salary for one year. Mr. Swift was admitted to the bar in the Supreme Court of Michigan April 2, 1872, and to the United States Dis- trict Court of Michigan December 5, 1874. He began the practice of his profession in 1873 in partnership with Charles E. Williams. In December, 1874, he came to Fall River, where he has since resided. He was admitted to the bar of Bristol county January 13, 1875, and to the United States Circuit Court of Massachusetts September 22, 1875. He has since conducted a large business in his profession and is widely known as a successful lawyer. For several years he was a partner in the law firm of Braley & Swift. Upon the accession of Hon. Henry K. Braley to the bench of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, he associated with him in the practice of his profession George Grime, under the firm name of Swift & Grime. Mr. Swift is a member of the First Congregational Church, the Masonic fraternity, Odd Fel- lows, Red Men, and in 1897 was commander of Richard Borden Post, G. A. R., and judge advocate of the Department of Massachusetts, G.A. R. December 25, 1872, he married Mary D., daughter of Rev. Alexander Milne of Fall River, and their chil- dren are James Marcus, Orson Alexander, John Tuttle, Milne Barker, Mabel Antoi- nette and Anna Osborn. The second was killed in a railroad accident in 1894. James Marcus graduated from the University of Michigan A. B. in 1895, spent two years in Harvard Law School, and having been admitted to the bar, is prac- ticing law in the office of Swift & Grime.

Swift, William Nye, M.D., son of William C. N. and Eliza (Perry) Swift, was born in New Bedford, August 1, 1854. He attended the New Bedford Friends' Acad- emy, prepared for college at Phillips Exeter Academy, and was graduated from Harvard in 1877 with the degree A. B. He attended the Harvard Medical School and was graduated M.D. in the class of 1881, having been previously house officer in the Massachusetts General Hospital at Boston. For the purpose of observation in the hospitals and further study, he now went to Vienna, Austria, where he spent parts of two years. Dr. Swift settled in New Bedford and began his present prac- tice in 1883 where he served for several years as physician to the Board of Health and is visiting surgeon to St. Luke's Hospital. Dr. Swift spent the winter of 1886-7 in Berlin, studying diseases of women. He is a member of the American Academy of Medicine and the Massachusetts Medical Society. Dr. Swift is descended from old Puritan stock, and it is an interesting fact that his grandfather, Ebenezer Perry, practiced medicine in New Bedford in the early days, having a brother, Samuel Perry, who practiced at the same time in Acushnet. The father of these brothers, Dr. Samuel Perry, practiced in this section, which was then Dartmouth. Dr. Swift married Anna, daughter of Francis Hathaway of New Bedford, and they have three children : Hester W., Francis H. and Henry.

Sylvester, Charles Frederick, lock and gunsmith, son of Frederick and Lucia (Soule) Sylvester, was born in North Bridgewater, Mass., March 14, 1841 His paternal an- cestors came from England to Weymouth, Mass., as early as 1630. His ancestors on his mother's side are said to have come to America on the Mayflower in 1620. Mr. Sylvester in his youth attended the schools of his native town, assisted his father on the farm and with him learned the trade of shoemaker. At the age of twenty-one

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years he went to work in a shoe tool factory at Brockton, where he learned to turn wood handles for shoemaker's tools. After being engaged in this business for several years both members of the firm died and Mr. Sylvester bought the establish- ment and operated it from 1870 to 1888. He employed at this time twenty work- men. When the business of manufacturing shoes was revolutionized by the inven- tion of improved machinery he discontinued his business and moved to Fall River, where he engaged in the manufacture of various articles. In 1889 he started his present business at 131 South Main street, as a lock and gunsmith and manufacturer of weavers' combs, etc. The firm name is C. F. Sylvester & Co., J. F. Davis, who originally established the business, being the other member. Mr. Sylvester was married, first in 1864, to Louise Kilburn of Provincetown, who died in 1869, leaving two children: Abbie Louise (deaceased) and Fred Okes. His second wife was Georgiana Davis whom he married in 1874. He is a member of the city Board of Trade, and a well known and enterprising citizen.

Sylvia, Antone L., has been recognized as one of the leading representatives of the Portuguese race in New Bedford for many years. He was born in the Azores, on the Island of St. George, in June, 1840, a son of John and Marianna (Rose) Sylvia, and he passed his earlier boyhood in the common schools and in doing farm work. When but fifteen years old (1855) he came to this country and settled at once in New Bedford, and here at once he found employment as manager of a clothing store owned by Joseph Frasier, which catered to the trade of immigrants from the Western Islands, remaining in this capacity until the death of Mr. Frasier in 1860, when he purchased the business from the estate. Mr. Sylvia continued with increasing suc- cess, winning an excellent reputation in business circles, and building up a large trade, until 1892, when he retired. He has been for some time a prominent factor in political circles, and was director for nine years of the Monte Pio Society, and he also served in the Council from Ward 5, 1875-76-77. In 1861 he married Catherine Collins Frasier.

Synan, William E., physician and surgeon, was born in Fall River, October 27, 1868, a son of William E. and Catherine (Eagan) Synan. He attended the public schools and was graduated from the High School in 1886. He then entered Holy Cross College at Worcester, Mass., and was graduated A. B. in 1889. The same year he matriculated in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine from that institution in 1892, and in the mean time did considerable hospital work. For one and a half years he was resident physician in St. Joseph's Hospital, Philadelphia, and then returned to Fall River, where he has since followed his profession with encouraging success. Dr. Synan is a member of the Fall River Medical Society and was president of that body in 1895; he is also a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and is on the surgical staff of the Fall River Hospital and St. Vincent's Orphan's Home. January 27, 1897, he married Mary Cunningham of Providence, and they have one son, William E. Synan, jr.

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Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 111

Author: Borden, Alanson, 1823-1900; Boston History Company, Boston, pub Publication date: 1899 Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Company Number of Pages: 1399

Author: Borden, Alanson, 1823-1900; Boston History Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 1399