Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 53

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 53

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).

2 Col. Thomas J. Borden was born in Fall River March 1, 1832, his father being Col. Richard Borden. At the age of sixteen he entered the office of the Fall River Iron Works Company, of which his father was treasurer. One year later he entered the Lawrence Scientific School at Cambridge, and took a two years' course in engineering and chemistry. This was succeeded by two years in the Iron Works office and in the summer of 1853, when twenty-one years old, he was appointed agent and treasurer of the Bay State Print Works. When these works were consolidated with the American Print Works in 1857 he was retained in the same position in the other corpora- tion. In February, 1860, he was appointed agent and treasurer of the Troy Cotton and Woolen Manufactory, and under his direction the mills were enlarged fourfold. Upon the organization of the Mechanics' Mills in 1868, he was appointed president and agent, and a year and a half later was appointed treasurer. In 1871 he organized the Richard Borden Manufacturing Company and was chosen its treasurer. Besides these various high positions he has held others in connection with the local banks, insurance companiesand other corporations, in which his excellent business qualifications were fully recognized.

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Bank building, corner of South Main and Rodman streets, in Tiverton. When the boundary between the two States was changed the bank was removed to the building that is now the City Hall. On February 1, 1865, it was organized as a National bank. In 1872 the institution pur- chased the site of its present bank building, on the southeast corner of Main and Bedford streets and erected the handsome granite structure which it now occu- pies. On January 7, 1862, Mr. Chace re- signed the presidency and Samuel Hatha- way succeeded to the office. The vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Hathaway was filled by the election of Weaver Osborn April 15, 1873, who was succeeded by Jo- seph Healy. The cap- ital is $200,000. Ed- ward E. Hathaway is the present . cashier.

THOMAS J. BORDEN.

Two other banks came into existence at about this time, which may be noticed here although the date of their organi- zation was a little lat- er than the incorpora- tion of the city. The Fall River Five Cents

Savings Bank was incorporated in 1855 and has been of great benefit to the place through its encouragement of small savings. The act of in- corporation is dated April 10 and names S. Angier Chace, Hale Rem- ington, Walter C. Durfee, James Buffinton, E. P. Buffinton, B. H. Davis, Asa P. French and Alvan S. Ballard as incorporators. Organ- ization took place on the 25th of the succeeding October, with the

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THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

election of S. Angier Chace, president; Hale Remington, secretary ; Charles J. Holmes, jr., treasurer; a board of twenty-six trustees was chosen. Business began in this bank January 1, 1856. and the first dividend was paid in June of that year. Mr. Chace continued in the office of president until 1878, when he resigned and was succeeded by Walter C. Durfee, now in office. Mr. Remington was succeeded as secretary in October, 1856, by John P. Slade,1 who served until Decem- ber 1, 1895, when he was succeeded by Charles S. Waring.

The Wamsutta Bank, predecessor of the Second National Bank, was incorporated June 4, 1856, with capital of $100,000; the incorporators were S. Angier Chace, Hale Remington and William Mason 2d, with their associates. Mr. Chace was elected president; Charles J. Holmes, jr., cashier, and S. Angier Chace, Hale Remington, James B. Luther, Brownell W. Woodman, E. C. Kilburn, Thomas F. Eddy and Thomas Almy,3 directors. In May, 1864, the institution was made a National

1 John Palmer Slade was born in Somerset, Bristol county, Mass., November 13, 1824, where the ancestral families were much respected. Being left without parents or home at an early age, John P. Slade went to live with Capt. Robert Gibbs, a farmer of Somerset. He settled in Fall River in 1841, and worked as clerk for Hale Remington in the drug and grocery business. In about eight months he accepted a position with his cousin, F. P. Cummings, a cotton dealer and merchant in Georgetown, S. C. Eight months later he became a partner with Mr. Cummings and after about two years he bought his partner's interest, settled up the business and came back to Fall River in the spring of 1848. He served seven years as clerk and conductor for the Fall River Railroad Company, followed by three years with Hale Remington in the commission business. In January, 1858, he formed the firm of Slade, Macy & Co., in commission and insurance business, but the firm dissolved at the end of a year, after which he continued alone until 1879, when he was joined by his eldest son, Leonard N. Slade. Mr. Slade is a director in several of the mill corporations, and served as president of the Shove Mills and president of Laurel Lake Mills.

2 The Kilburn family in this country dates back to 1635, when Thomas Kilburn came over with his wife and children. Elijah C. Kilburn was of the seventh generation from that pioneer immigrant and was born in Walpole, N. H., June 10, 1811. Just before arriving at his majority he left home and went to Boston to work for his brother, who was then proprietor of a coffee house. At the end of four years he had saved enough money to buy a half interest, with the aid of a friend, to the amount of $200. The business was fairly profitable and about three years later he sold out for $3,000, and in 1837 returned to Walpole and engaged in farming until 1847, when he settled in Fall River. His brother John had preceded him hither and established the manufacture of turbine water wheels; he died in 1846 and Mr. Kilburn took charge of the business and associated with it Jonathan T. Lincoln ; in 1856 Mr. Lincoln's son, Henry C., was added to the firm, the name being Kilburn, Lincoln & Son. In 1867 the business was placed un- der control of the Kilburn, Lincoln & Co. stock organization. Mr. Kilburn sold his interest in 1869, and in 1871, with Crawford E. Lindsey, Jonathan Chace and others, organized the King Philip Mills Company. Mr. Kilburn was chosen treasurer of the corporation. He was also a stockholder and director in several other mill corporations.

3 Thomas Almy was born in Tiverton, R. I., February 28, 1819. When a young lad he went to live on the farm of George Sisson, in Portsmouth, on the island of Rhode Island, and a few years later went to Bristol, R. I., and was apprenticed to the printing business in the office of the Bristol Phenix. On the completion of his apprenticeship he was employed for a few months as a com- positor in the office of the Providence Journal. In 1839 he came to Fall River and entered the office of the Fall River Patriot as a journeyman printer. It was in this office that he met with

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bank with its present title, and the capital increased to $150,000. Mr. Chace resigned the presidency in 1878, and was succeeded by Thomas F. Eddy. He was succeeded by Leontine Lincoln in 1887, who still holds the office. Charles J. Holmes has been cashier from the first.

Besides the church societies formed previous to 1830, ten others were organized during the period under consideration in this chapter. The earliest of these was the Unitarian, the organization of which took place in 1832. The first regular pastor was Rev. George W. Briggs, who was with the church from 1834 to 1837. The church edifice on North Main street, between Cherry and Locust streets, was built in 1835, on the corner of Second and Borden streets and was removed to its later site in 1860. The second pastor of this church was Rev. Sam- uel Longfellow, brother of the poet, who wrote a beautiful hymn which was sung at the ordination. There were present on that occa- sion Charles Sumner and Rev. Edward Everett Hale. These first two pastors were distinguished for scholarship and ability; both served on the local school committee and in other capacities, and both formed attachments in the town which endured through their lives. Memorial windows in honor of both have been placed in the church. Other pas- tors have been Revs. John F. W. Ware, Josiah K. Waite, Mr. Smith, Charles W. Buck, Joshua Young, Charles H. Kindell, Edward F. Hay- ward, A. J. Rich, May Knapp and John Mills Wilson. This society has been very active in charitable and philanthropical work.

The Church of the Ascension (Protestant Episcopal) was organized in 1836, the first public service leading to it having been held on the 13th of July of that year, by Rev. James Pratt, of Rhode Island. The parish was formed on the 15th of July, and a missionary, Rev. P. H.

John C. Milne, also an employee, and there was formed an attachment between the two which continued through a long life, and until the death of Mr. Almy. In 1841 the Patriot was discon- tinued, and Abraham Bowen having purchased the printing material, published for a short time the Gazette, employing Mr. Almy as printer and Stephen Hart as editor. Publisher and editor soon disagreed, the Gazette was stopped, and the office came into hands of Mr. Almy, who con- tinued it as a job office, printing in 1842-3 the Wampanoag. a literary journal, edited by Miss Francis Harriet Whipple, and in 1844-5, the Mechanic, which advocated the interests of the mechan- ic and laborer, and the adoption of the ten-hour system. In 1845 Mr. Almy resolved to start a paper of his own, and inviting Mr. Milne to join him in the enterprise, on the 3d of April, 1845, they issued the first number of the Fall River Weekly News. (The further history of this paper is adequately noticed elsewhere.) Mr. Almy was a director in the Second National Bank, a trustee of the Five Cents Savings Bank, and a director in the Osborn and Wampanoag Mills. Failing health caused him to seek recuperation in California, where he arrived in 1882, and died on May ? at the residence of his brother, Judge Joseph Almy, in San Rafael. He is remembered for the moral beauty of his character, his steadfast industry and perseverance, his warm sym- pathy for oppressed humanity everywhere, and his unbending loyalty to the cause of truth and righteousness.

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THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

Greenleaf, was put in charge. The first services were held in the hall of the Pocasset House, and later in the town hall for about three years. The society was incorporated May 1, 1837, and Cyrus Alden was elected senior warden; J. H. Lawton, junior warden, and R. W. Batt, clerk. In 1838 Rev. George M. Randall was called as the first regular pastor. In 1839 a church edifice belonging to the Baptists, on South Main street, was purchased and consecrated in 1840. This was burned on Christmas eve, 1850, and the corner stone of a new building was laid nearly on the same site in the following year. The parish had a strug- gle for existence through many discouraging years, but at last the faithfulness of the members of the church had its reward. In 1875 the society occupied its fine stone church on Rock street.'

The Central Congregational Church was organized in 1842 with the following members: Amery Glazier, Nathan Durfee, Benjamin Earl, Richard Borden, Henry H. Fish, Abraham Cook, John S. Colton, William A. Burt, Charles C. Dillingham, Edward S. Chase, Daniel Leonard, Henry Woodward and Jesse Eddy. A meeting was held January 23, 1843, at which a committee reported as follows: "The lot on Bedford street, known as the Massasoit lot, and belonging to Messrs. Bradford Durfee, Nathan Durfee, Joseph Durfee, and Mrs. Fidelia B. Durfee, can be had as a donation, for the erection of a house of public worship thereon, for the use of the Central Congregational Society, if said lot will answer the uses of the said society." The offer was accepted and an edifice erected on the corner of Rock and Bedford streets, which was dedicated March 27, 1844. This building was used until the erection of the present edifice, on the corner of Rock and Franklin streets. Rev. Samuel Washburn was installed as pastor and was dismissed by his own request in January, 1849, to be succeeded by Rev. Eli Thurston, who continued with the church twenty-two years

' From this parish sprang that of St John's which was organized by thirty or forty families at Globe Village, whose distance from the mother church made attendance inconvenient. Serv- ices were first held in a hall until the erection of a wooden edifice, which was first occupied August 15, 1880. The site was leased, but subsequently paid for and the society freed from debt. Formed first as a mission, the parish was organized on Easter Monday of 1881, with Nathaniel Lewis and George Walters wardens. Rev. Samuel S. Spear was elected rector.

St. Mark's Church, of this denomination, was organized as an independent mission February 23, 1886, under ministerial charge of Rev. Percy S. Grant; Richard F. Smith, warden. Board of Management, James F. Smith, John H. Ainsworth, Richard Ainsworth, John Taylor, Matthew Garwood, James Snow, William Thomas, David Pilkington, William Turner, Daniel Schofield, Wilbraham Norman and William H. Ainsworth. The parish was chartered by a certificate of incorporation dated July 17, 1891. The stone and wooden church edifice was finished and used for the first time in 1888. A parish house on Thomas street was bought in 1886.

St. Luke's and St. James's Churches also had their origin in the Church of the Ascension.

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to 1869. He was succeeded by Rev. Michael Burnham. Under his min- istry the new church was erected in 1874-75, the building committee being Thomas J. Borden, Robert K. Remington, William H. Jennings and Holder B. Durfee. The site cost about $56,000 and the subscrip- tions to the new building amounted to about $126,000. Formal leave was taken of the old church on December 12, 1875, and the next day the new edifice was dedicated. A debt of more than $100,000 was con- tracted, which was a heavy burden to the society for more than four years, when on Sunday, February 1, 1880, an effort was made which resulted in raising more than $70,000; this, with later donations, can- celed all obligations. Rev. Eldridge Mix, D. D., succeeded Mr. Burn- ham as pastor, in September, 1882. Mr. Mix was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Jubb and he by Rev. William Knight, the present pastor, in 1897. Within the last decade a large chapel has been added to the church property. This church has for thirty years supported a large mission on Pleasant street; Rev. E. A, Buck, pastor.1

After some years of discussion by members of the First Baptist Church (before described) as to the need of a second organization in that faith in Fall River, a full meeting of the mother church was held April 21, 1846, when it was unanimously voted to organize the Second Baptist Church. A public hall was secured for the services and Rev. Asa Bronson called to minister to the new congregation. On the 9th of June 149 members obtained letters of dismission from the First Church and these with several others formed the Second Church on the 18th of that month. John C. Milne was chosen clerk; Charles Borden and Joseph Borden, deacons; Joseph Borden, treasurer. A prudential committee, a committee of order, and a board of Sunday school man- agers were also appointed. On the 29th of September, 1846, the church was publicly recognized by a council, and it at once entered upon a

1 The French Congregational Church is the only French Protestant church in the city. It had its inception in a mission begun in 1884 under the auspices of the First Congregational Soci- ety, with Rev. Xavier Smith as missionary. The church was organized December 2, 1886, and the church edifice on Harrison street was dedicated in September, 1888. Pastors following Mr. Smith have been Rev. T. J. Cote, Rev. G. C. Mosseau, Rev. G. Allard, and Rev. S. P. Rondeau.

The Third Congregational Church was organized in 1874 with Rev. Leander S. Coan the first pastor. A year later he was succeeded by Rev. Calvin Keyser. The meeting-house, a frame building, is situated on Hanover street, and was erected in 1874. Mr. Keyser was succeeded by Rev. Sumner G. Wood, 1883-88 ; he by Rev. Payson W. Lyman. The church name was changed to Fowler Congregational in 1890, in honor of Rev. Orin Fowler.

The Broad way Congregational Church, situated at 896 Broadway, was organized March 13, 1894, with Rev. Donald Brown, pastor. It was the outgrowth of a mission established by the Central Congregational Church in 1893. Mr. Brown was succeeded by Rev. William Todd, and he by Rev. Henry G. Megathlin.

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THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

period of prosperity. The society made arrangements to secure the edifice of the First Church society and it was first occupied on the first Sabbath in October, 1847; the building was remodeled and greatly im- proved in 1873. Pastors succeeding Mr. Bronson have been Revs. Charles A. Snow, 1858-64; John Duncan, D. D., 1865-70; Frank R. Morse, 1871-73; Henry C. Graves, 1874-80; E. W. Hunt, 1881-83; George W. Gile, 1884-93; David B. Jutten, 1893 to the present time.1

The next church organization formed in Fall River in the order of date was the United Presbyterian, organized in 1846, the first pastor being Rev. David A. Wallace; the church edifice, a frame building, on the corner of Pearl and Annawan streets, was erected in 1851. Mr. Wallace was succeeded in 1856 by Rev. William Maclaren, 1856-67; Rev. J. R. Kyle, 1867-75; Rev. J. H. Turnbull, 1876-85; Rev. W. J. Martin, 1886 to present time. Extensive repairs have been made on the building in recent years. The society supports a mission, corner of Rodman and Cambridge streets.

The Globe Presbyterian Church, situated on Charles street, near South Main, was organized in 1890, with Rev. W. C. Lindsay, pastor.

St. Paul's Methodist Church was organized in 1851, and the church edifice, on Bank street, was erected and dedicated in the following year, at a cost of $16,000. The first pastor was Rev. Ralph W. Allen. This church once had as chorister and organist, Eben Tourjee, who after- wards became widely known as the founder of the New England Con- servatory of Music. In 1864 the building was enlarged to its present seating capacity, having cost up to that date $24,000. In 1874 class rooms were added to the rear of the church and other improvements made at an expense of $3,000. The pastors of the church from Mr. Allen have been Revs. John Hobart, 1853-54; Micah J. Talbot, 1855- 56; Samuel C. Brown, 1857-58; John B. Gould, 1859-60; J. A. M. Chapman, 1861-62; Samuel C. Brown, 1863-64; Alfred A. Wright, 1865; George A. Bowler, 1866-67; Francis J. Wagner, 1868-69; Emory J. Haynes, 1870-71; George E. Reed, 1872-74; George W. Woodruff, 1875-76; R. H. Rust, 1877-79; C. W. Gallagher, 1880-81; E. M. Taylor, 1882-84; H. D. Kimball, 1885-86; J. C. Hull, 1887-88: J. M. Williams, 1889-91; A. J. Coultas, 1892-96; J. H. Macdonald, 1897. This church has aided greatly in the establishment of the four Meth-

1 A mission was established by the First Baptist Church in the vicinity of Mechanicsville, which resulted in the organization on October 9, 1871, of the Third Baptist Church, under the pas- torate of Rev. Ambler Edson. The society was incorporated March 25, 1874.

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odist churches in this city, which it antedates, and the Deaconess Home owes its origin and support largely to the members of this society.

Brayton Methodist Episcopal Church was the outgrowth of a Sunday school organized in 1843, with Abner L. Westgate, of the First Meth- odist Church, as superintendent. Joel Wood and William Chapin, then the owner of the Print Works, and a man of energy and Christian prin- ciples, both became active supporters, and Mr. Chapin bought a site on Globe street for a new church edifice and laid the corner stone August 14, 1850. The following September the church was dedicated as Christ Church. During the next four years services were held by three differ- ent clergymen, Rev. S. S. Ashley, Harmon and C. J. Cummings, and in 1854, when Mr. Chapin sold his print works and left town, Rev. David Patten, D. D., presiding elder of the Providence district, secured the church property for the Methodists and Rev. Amos H. Worthin began his labor as preacher in charge. The new church was built in 1895 and dedicated the Brayton Memorial Methodist Church, in honor of the pioneer Methodist of this locality, John Brayton, who was one of the founders of the historic Methodist Church at South Somerset, and the grandfather of John S. Brayton and Mrs. Mary B. Young, both of Fall River. The two last named, with John D. Flint and others, were large contributors to the new building, which is situated between Broadway and South Main street. The succession of pastors follows : Revs. A. H. Worthin, 1854; Elihu Grant, 1855; Charles A .. Merrill, 1856; Asa T. Swinerton, 1857; Elihu Grant, 1861-62; Edward Hat- field, 1867; William P. Hyde, 1868-70; George H. Lamson, 1871-72; Charles S. Moose, 1873-74; Edward A. Lyon, 1875-76; Samuel Mc- Keown, 1877-78; Elihu Grant, 1879-80; William B Heath, 1881-83; B. F. Simon, 1884-85; Robert Clark, 1886-88; John G. Gammons, 1889- 93; R. M. Wilkins, 1894 to the present time.1

1 Other Methodist churches that have been organized in Fall River in more recent years are the following :

The North Methodist Episcopal Church grew from a Sunday school held in Steep Brook in 1852. The second annual meeting was held in 1854 and seems to have taken place in a new church ; for David Patten, presiding elder of the Providence district, preached a dedicatory ser- mon at that time. The following is a list of the pastors : Revs. O. N. Brooks, 1854 ; J. N. Colyer, 1855 ; J. Shepley, 1856 ; Philip Cranston, 1857-58; A. G. Gurner, 1861 ; G. H. Winchester, 1862 63 ; B. Ashley, 1864; J. Gifford, 1865 ; J. Q. Adams, 1866 68; J. G. Gammons, 1869-70; Philip Cranston, 1871-72 ; R. W. C. Farnsworth, 1873-75; E. G. Babcock, 1876-77; G. H. Lamson, 1878-79 ; A. J. Coul- tas, 1880-81; A. J. Church, 1882; J. G. Gammons, 1883-85; E. G. Babcock, 1886-87; J. A. Rood, 1888-89 ; O. E. Johnson, 1890-91 ; J. Livesey, 1892 ; S. T. Patterson, 1893 ; W. Riddington, 1894; Alex- ander Anderson, 1895 to the present time.

Summerfield Methodist Church is the youngest of the six M. E. Churches in Fall River, hav- ing been organized in May, 1875. A frame building on Terry street was erected in that year and

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THE CITY OF FALL RIVER.

A Primitive Methodist Church was organized in 1871 and the society held meetings in the Flint block until the frame meeting-house on Plym- outh avenue was erected in 1874. For a time the laymen preached, the first pastor being Rev. Charles Miles, 1873-75. Other pastors: Revs. John French, 1877-80; Ralph Fothergill, 1880-82; John Stewart, 1882-87; Samuel Knowles, 1887-92; John T. Barlow, 1892-97; and IV. B. Taylor, present pastor.1

The earliest church organization of the Roman Catholic faith in Fall River was St. Mary's, which was formed in 1836. The organization was made under the name of St. John the Baptist, which was changed when the church edifice was first occupied in 1855. The first pastor was Rev. John Corry, who was succeeded by Rev. Richard Hardy, he by Rev. Edward Murphy, and the latter by Rev. Christopher Hughes.2

the church was called the Terry Street Methodist Church. In 1878 the building was removed to the corner of North Main and Hood streets and the name changed to North Main Methodist Church. During the summer of 1883 the building was raised and the name changed to Park Meth- odist Church. The name was changed to Summerfield in honor of Rev. John Summerfield, the famous Methodist preacher. The first pastor was Rev. William B. Heath, 1875-78; later pastors have been Revs. J. F. Sheffield, 1878-79; Eben Tirrell, jr., 1879-82 ; E. F. Smith, 1882-83; George E. Fuller, 1883-85; M. S. Kaufman, 1885-88; James Tregaskis, 1888-90 ; Robert Dyson, 1890-94; Ed- win F. Jones, 1894-96 : Louis M. Flocken, 1896 to the present time.

The Quarry Street Methodist Church was the outgrowth of a Sunday school and mission es- tablished by the First and St. Paul's Methodist societies in 1869. The church building was dedi- cated September 28, 1870. Pastors : Revs. William Livesey, 1871 ; C. W. Warren, 1872; S. M. Beal, 1873-74 ; Richard Povey, 1875; E. D. Hall, 1876; Henry H. Martin, 1877-79; James H. Nutting, 1880-82; John C. Gowan, 1883 ; John D. King, 1884-86; George M. Hamlern, 1887-88; B. K. Bos- worth, 1889-91 ; F. T. Brooks, 1892-94; H. A. Ridgway, 1895 to the present time.

1 From this church three other societies of the denomination have been formed. The Second Primitive Methodist Church was organized by Rev. John Mason during his Tiverton pastorate, and a church building was erected on Dwelly street. Mr. Mason was succeeded in the order named by Revs. Childs, T. G. Spencer, N. W. Matthews, and John T. Barlow, the present pastor. The Third (Sykes) Primitive Methodist Church was organized in 1891 by Rev. Thomas Wilson, and a building was erected on Haffard street in Flint village. Rev. William H. Yarrow, the present pastor, succeeded Mr. Wilson. The Fourth Primitive Methodist Church, on Brightman street, in Bowenville, was organized in 1893.

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Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 53

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