Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 78

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 78

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Day by A. H Ritclue

749

BIOGRAPHICAL.

OBED NYE.

OBED NYE was descended from a family of English extraction, the American branch of which is kin to some of the nobility of that name in England. His paternal grandfather, Capt. Obed Nye, of Sandwich, was born in 1736, and was twice married; first to Mary Sellers, born in 1739, died March 28, 1797, and second to Freelove Maxfield, born in 1748, died November 6, 1815. Captain Nye died November 10, 1815. By his first wife he had twelve children, namely: Jonathan, born in 1760, married, in 1784, Hannah Mandell (born in 1762, died Septem- ber 25, 1844), and died November 18, 1815; Obed, born in 1766, mar- ried Mary Marshall (died April 8, 1852), and died August 25, 1796, in France, leaving two daughters, Prudence, who married Joseph Bates, and Sylvia, who married, first, Johnakins Taber, and, second, William Mickel; Thomas, born in 1768, married Hannah Hathaway, and died in October, 1842; and Gideon, Philip, James, Deborah (Mrs. Thurston Potter), Mary (Mrs. Sylvanus Bartlett), Susan (Mrs. Ezra Smith), Mercy (Mrs. John Howland), Rebecca (Mrs. Luke Hammond), and Jane (Mrs. Reuben Swift). Capt. Obed Nye was a well known sailing master and afterward a resident of Acushnet, where he died. The deaths of himself, his second wife, and his son Jonathan, which oc- curred in November, 1815, were caused by a "spotted fever " or " black death " epidemic that prevailed in that locality about that time. Jonathan Nye was a respected farmer in Fairhaven. His wife Han- nah, was a daughter of Lemuel Mandell, and their children were Sarah, born June 16, 1785, married Solomon Matthews, and died November 26, 1866; Gideon, born November 21, 1786, married in December, 1811, Sylvia Hathaway, and died March 12, 1875; Rebecca, born September 25, 1788, married, in 1813, Alfred Nye (born in 1785, died January 19, 1864), son of Barnabas and Deborah Nye, and died March 29, 1867; Clement D., born in August, 1791, married in 1818 Susan, daughter of Asa and Virtue (Swift) Russell, and died in August, 1842; Clarissa H., born August 15, 1793, married October 8, 1815, William Gordon; Susan, born February 11, 1796, died August 11, 1804; Mary, born February 7, 1798, married Davis Thacher, and died March 20, 1875; Obed, the subject of this memoir; Deborah, born January 29, 1802, died November 20, 1803; Jonathan, born April 17, 1804, died October 27, 1853; and Susan M., born August 24, 1807, married July 4, 1828, Warren Thacher, and died May 1, 1891.

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Obed Nye was born in Fairhaven (Acushnet), Bristol county, Jan- uary 25, 1800, and received a limited education in the common schools of his boyhood. At the age of fourteen he began his business life as a clerk in the general store of Swift & Nye, at the Head-of the-River, in which capacity he remained until he had reached his majority. He was then admitted to partnership under the firm name of Swift, Nye & Co., which continued for many years. Mr. Nye was connected with this business until 1861, when he retired, having accumulated a com- petency.

Mr. Nye commenced his business career on borrowed capital, and by the exercise of those sterling principles of honesty, energy and thrift which characterized his entire life, he achieved eminent success, and always had the respect and confidence of all who knew him. He was emphatically a self-made man. His integrity and uprightness won for him universal esteem. He was a man of good habits, of strong pow- ers of thought, and of decided principles and opinions, and in all his intercourse he was social, genial and companionable. Robust in mind and body, and broad and liberal in his Christian charity, he held to the doctrines of the Unitarian belief, but regularly attended the Orthodox Congregational Church. In politics he was originally a Whig and later a staunch Republican, and for a time represented his district in the lower house of the Massachusetts Legislature. For many years he was the local agent of the Hingham Fire Insurance Company, and he also acquired a wide reputation as a measurer of lumber. Active and en- ergetic in temperament, benevolent and charitable in all his dealings, and zealous in promoting the general welfare of his town, he was a good citizen, a kind neighbor and an honest man. His death occurred January 29, 1878.

On the 16th of October, 1821, Mr. Nye was married to Miss Abby, daughter of William Hathaway, jr., and Abigail Perry, his wife, of New Bedford. Her father was for many years one of New Bedford's leading citizens and a prominent factor in the great whaling industry. She was born June 5, 1801, and died May 10, 1864. They had nine children : Laura Hathaway Nye, born October 3, 1822, married Capt. Charles Spooner Taber (see sketch in this volume) and resides in Fair- haven; Helen Hathaway Nye, born February 16, 1824, died May 20, 1831; Abby Perry Nye, born June 20, 1826, married David Franklin Hall, and died January 19, 1893; William, born in 1827, died in 1828; Ann Hathaway Nye, born November 17, 1829, died July 9, 1831;

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

Helen H., born August 5, 1832, died December 29, 1834; William H., born August 2, 1834, married Abby S. Davis, and died March 14, 1882; Francis H., born February 28, 1837, died May 3, 1864; and Rudolphus S., born May 17, 1839. Abby Perry Nye and David F. Hall had four children: Abby Frank Hall, born September 7, 1851; Ella Frances Hall, born August 5, 1852; Obed Nye Hall, born October 19, 1856, died in 1859; and Charles Taber Hall, born August 15, 1865. William H. Nye and Abby S. Davis had Emma Taber and Ella Hall Nye twins, born May 15, 1855, of whom Emma T. married Willard R. Pulsifer, has one daughter, Abby Caroline, and resides in Malden, Mass. ; Annie T., born December 3, 1858, married Rev. Thomas Ed- ward Potterton; Lillian Forrest Nye, born March 12, 1867, married Lieut. Andrew J. Henderson, U.S.N., and has two sons, Leland For- rest and Richard Lawrence; and Helen Hathaway Nye, born April 19, 1869, married, November 9, 1898, John Henry Appleton, a well known lawyer of Boston.

CHARLES S. TABER.

CHARLES SPOONER TABER, of Fairhaven, represented those inherent New England characteristics which marked the old-school gentleman. He was a lineal descendant of Philip Taber, who was born in 1605. Philip Taber came from England to Watertown, Mass., in 1633-4, moved to Yarmouth, Cape Cod, in 1639, and served as a representative to the General Court at Plymouth, and removed to New London in 1650. He resided in Portsmouth, R. I., from 1655 to 1663, and afterward in Tiverton, R. I., where he died. He married, first, Lydia, daughter of John and Jane Masters, of Watertown, by whom he had five children: John, Thomas, Philip, jr., Joseph and Lydia. His second wife was a sister of his first one. Thomas Taber, son of Philip, sr., was born in February, 1645, lived in Dartmouth, now Fairhaven, and was a mason by trade. He married Esther, daughter of John Cooke, the last male survivor of the passengers of the Mayflower. She died in 1671-2,

leaving two children. His second wife was Mary, daughter of John Thomson, of Middleboro, and a niece of John Cooke, her mother being the latter's sister. Thomas Taber was prominent in local affairs, serv- ing as selectman, surveyor of highways, town clerk and captain of militia, and two terms as representative to the General Court. During

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

the King Philip war of 1675 his house was burned by the Indians, and soon afterward he built the stone house at Oxford village, the ruins of which are still in existence. He died November 11, 1730. The follow- ing is a copy of the deed given by John Cooke to Thomas Taber of land which has ever since remained in the Taber family, never having been sold since it was received by Mr. Cooke from the Indians:

To all to whome these presents shall come John Cooke of dartmouth in the Jurisdic- tion of new plim[oth] in new England yeaman sendeth greeting: and know yea that I the said John Cooke for and in consideration of the full and just sum of ten pounds of curant mony of new England to me in hand payd before sealing and delivering of these presents by Thomas tabor of the same towne and Jurisdiction aforesaid mason with which said sum of ten pounds I the said John Cooke doe acknowledg my self fully satisfied contented and payd and thereof and of euery part and persel thereof doe exhonorate aquit and descharg the said Thomas tabor his heires execu- tors and administrators for euer and haue by these presents freelly absolutely bar- gained sold allinated enfeoffed and confirmed and by these presents doe bargaine sell enfeoff and confirme from me the said John Cooke and my heires: unto him the said Thomas tabor and his heires and asignes foreuer: all that my whole sixt part of one whole share of lands both upland and meddow deuided and undeuided setuate lying and being within the township of dartmoth aforesaid: with all and singuler apurtenances and priueledges thereunto belonging or any wais apertaining with all my right and title of and into all and euery part and percell thereof to haue and to hould the aforesaid one sixt part of one whole share of lands both upland and medow land within the township of dartmoth aforesaid with all my Right and title therin or there unto the said Thomas tabor he his heires and asignes for euer to the proper use and behoofe of him the said Thomas tabor he his heires and asignes for euer to be houlden acording to the maner of east greenwich in the County of Kent in the Relme of England in free and common soccage and not in capity nor by Knights servis by the rents and servises thereof dew and of Right acustomed without the least hendderence or molestation of me the said John Cooke my heires executors and administrators allso the said John Cooke doth couenant and promise to and with the said Thomas tabor that it shall and may be lawfull for him the said Thomas tabor either by him selfe or his autorney to Record and inrole or cause to be Recorded and inroled these presents in his maiestis Court at new new plymoth aforesaid acording to the useuall maner of Recording and inroling deeds and euedences and for the full and absolut confermation of the same and euery perticuler aboue spesified doe frely set to my hand and seale this twenty and Eaight day of nouember: one thousand six hundred Eaighty and two.

Signed Sealed and delivered In the presents of Samuell Spuner S his marke Jonathan Delano

John Cooke [SEAL. ]

the abovesaid John Cooke apeared and acknowledged this Instrument above written to be his act and deed this: 5th : of march 1685

John Alden Assist

Po har &. Yaber

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

This deed is recorded according to order in ye Book of Euidences of land Enrowled See page 388

pr Nath"] Clarke Secretary

By his second wife, Mary Thomson, Thomas Taber had ten children, of whom Jacob was born July 26, 1683, and died April 4, 1773. He married his second cousin, Sarah, daughter of Stephen West and Mercy Cooke, daughter of John Cooke. She was born August 1, 1686, and died September 5, 1775. They had four sons and four daughters, the former being Bartholomew, Jacob, John and Stephen. Bartholo- mew Taber was born September 11, 1717, married Mercy, daughter of Joseph Bowditch and granddaughter of Jacob Taber's sister, and had eight children, of whom three were sons, viz. : John, Jacob and Bar- tholomew. The father died in 1803. Jacob Taber, of the fifth gen- eration from the original immigrant, Philip Taber, was born in 1779 and died, of spotted fever, in December, 1815. He was a sailor. He married Dolly Spooner, daughter of Seth and granddaughter of Judge Walter Spooner, and had seven children, of whom five grew to matu- rity :Charles S., the subject of this memoir; Margaret, born March 21, 1811, married Jonathan Nye, and died February 11, 1879; Mary H., born November 30, 1812, married Rudolphus W. Dexter, resides in Dorchester, Mass., and has one son, Franklin Bowditch Dexter, of New Haven, Conn. ; Sally S., born July 1, 1814, married Nathaniel Nye, and lives in New Bedford; and Jacob S., born in 1816, who was drowned in New Bedford harbor in May, 1831.

Charles Spooner Taber was born on the old Taber homestead in Fairhaven, Bristol county, December 5, 1809. His father died when he was six years old and he remained with his mother until he reached the age of sixteen, when he shipped as a common sailor on the Colum- bus, which was bound for Marseilles with a cargo of oil. Returning home he spent about a year at the Fairhaven Academy, and then en- tered the merchant service as a sailor, in which he became first mate. Concluding after a time that whaling was more profitable he arranged for a voyage on a whaler as boat steerer, and was conveyed to the ves- sel by his youngest brother, Jacob S., who was drowned while return- ing to shore. This sad event changed his course. He abandoned his plans, and for two years carried on an outfitting business for sailors.

In 1835 Mr. Taber accepted the position of boat steerer on the ship Shylock, of Rochester, a whaler bound for Tristan d'Acunha Island and the South Atlantic, and returning ten months later he shipped on 95

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

the next voyage as first mate of the same vessel, going to the Indian Ocean and Madagascar coast. This trip occupied a period of twenty months. He was then given command of the same ship, and on his first voyage of twenty months circumnavigated the globe. In 1839 he sailed again as master of the Shylock, bound for New Zealand and New Holland, and after securing nearly 2,200 barrels of oil (2,500 being a full cargo) he decided to go to the Fiji Islands for the remainder of the load. While off these islands they were becalmed; suddenly a breeze sprang up, and about eleven o'clock at night the vessel struck a coral reef not indicated on the charts, and rapidly went to pieces. Captain Taber hurriely secured his quadrant, compass and glass, and without his boots succeeded in reaching one of the three boats, two of which got clear. Of the entire crew only one, a boy, was lost. The captain distrusted the hospitality of the Fiji Islanders, who were can- nibals, and accordingly shaped his course for the Friendly Islands, which they reached after an exposure of two days and three nights to the elements and the ravages of hunger and thirst, and where they were kindly received and entertained. Going from one island to another they finally reached Vavau, one of the Tonga Islands, where they found an English missionary station. The missionaries not only relieved their necessities, but also placed their vessel at Captain Taber's service, and they conveyed him to Hobartstown, whence he went to Sydney, New Zealand, and thence came to Boston.

Captain Taber was soon offered the command of several vessels, which shows the confidence and esteem that was reposed in him. He accepted the command of the Huntress, of New Bedford, and made a very successful voyage of thirty months, visiting the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. After returning he started on another voyage as mas- ter of the Elizabeth, of New Bedford, but failing health caused him to leave his ship at Pernambuco and return home. He then devoted his attention to the culture of the old Taber homestead, which was held by him in direct inheritance through Thomas, Jacob, Bartholomew, and Jacob Taber. In 1877 he moved into Fairhaven village, where he died May 18, 1892. Captain Taber was a typical whaler of the most pros- perous period of the great whaling industry in New England. He was a man of ability, of great force of character, and of unswerving integ- rity. He wrote a most interesting narrative of his shipwreck off the Fiji Islands, which has been printed for private distribution by his widow. In politics he was a Republican, but never sought nor ac-

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

cepted public office, being content to exercise the duties of a quiet, respectable citizen. In religion he was liberal, attending with his wife the Unitarian Church, and was probably the last survivor of the little band who bid off a seat in the church (then the Freewill Baptist) at its dedication in December, 1832 He possessed a sanguine temperament, was pleasing and social in all intercourse, and during a long and event- ful life had the respect and confidence of all who knew him.

On the Sth of December, 1846, he married Miss Laura Hathaway Nye, a woman of uncommon intelligence and character and of a re- markable memory, who survives him and resides in Fairhaven. She is the daughter of Hon. Obed Nye, a prominent merchant at the Head- of-the-River (Acushnet), whose sketch appears in this volume.

JAMES M. OSBORN.

JAMES MUNROE OSBORN, one of the leading citizens of Fall River and for many years a foremost cotton mill promoter, was born in Tiv- erton, R. I., August 27, 1822, and is the youngest son of Thomas Osborn and Anna Durfee, his wife. His grandfather, William Osborn (some- times spelled Osband), was born in Newport, R. I., August 13, 1729, came to Tiverton in early life, and married Elizabeth Shrieve in 1751. Their children were as follows: Weaver, born April 17, 1756, served seven months in the Patriot army during the Revolution, married Hannah Durfee October 16, 1788, moved to Palmyra, N. Y., in 1791, and died September 1, 1820; Wilson, who died at the age of twenty- five; Elizabeth, born June 3, 1758, married R. Palmer, and died De- cember 15, 1785; Patience, who died young; Thomas, born March 31, 1766; and William, born July 18, 1769, married Mary Durfee, and had two daughters who died young. Thomas Osborn was a ship's carpen- ter and afterward a farmer, and died, where he had always lived, in Tiverton, October 7, 1833, aged sixty-seven. In 1797 he married Anna Durfee, whose father, Joseph Durfee, fought at the battle of Bunker Hill in the Revolutionary war and died soon afterward of typhoid fever while on his way home. He had nine children, viz .: William, born November 25, 1798, married Ruth Hambly, October 8, 1822, and died January 28, 1829; Thomas, born December 30, 1800, married Elizabeth Hambly in March, 1827; Joseph, born August 20, 1803, married Eliza Gardner, May 2, 1830; Ann, who died young; Wilson, born April 15,

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

1808, married Mary Allen, August 19, 1832; Eliza Ann, born May 25, 1810, married Alexander Milne, a Baptist preacher, January 4, 1837; Patience, who died young; Weaver, born May 23, 1815, married Pa- tience Dwelly, January 7, 1837; and James M., the subject of this sketch. William Osborn, the grandfather, died October 29, 1810.

James M. Osborn was left fatherless when he was eleven years old, and thereafter his life was one of almost constant toil and manly indus- try. For six years he remained with his widowed mother on the farm, availing himself in the mean time of such educational advantages as were then afforded by the common schools of his town. Afterward he served a three years' apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade with his brother, Weaver Osborn, and subsequently followed that business in Providence and other places until 1845, when he removed to Fall River, Mass., and entered the employ of John Kilburn, general machinist. Mr. Os- born continued in Kilburn & Lincoln's employ, in that establishment, until February, 1855, when, in copartnership with his brother Weaver, he purchased the blacksmith shop of Gideon Packard, at 44 Bedford street. The firm of W. & J. M. Osborn not only conducted the leading blacksmith and machine shop in the place, but in 1859 also became associated with other prominent business men in building the Union Mill, which was the first cotton mill in Fall River that was supported by the public generally, all previous mills having been operated by close corporations. Afterward the firm took stock and was interested in the Granite Mills, and in 1867 invested in the Merchants Mill, built by the Merchants Manufacturing Company, in which Mr. Osborn was made a director, and of which he has been president since 1895. The firm was also interested in the two Stafford Mills, and Mr. Osborn is now a director in that company.

In 1871 Mr. Osborn was elected a director and the treasurer of the newly organized Slade Mill, the building of which he superintended. By this time the firm had discontinued its blacksmithing and machine business, and was devoting all its energies and resources to the advance- ment of its extensive manufacturing enterprises, all of which proved successful from the start. They next became interested in the original Osborn Mill, to which another mill was subsequently added, and Mr. Osborn is now a director and the president of that company. They were also interested in the Union Belt Company, the Fall River Bobbin Mills, and other large corporations. The copartnership of W. & J. M. Osborn was dissolved in 1880.

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

In these and other enterprises Mr. Osborn developed strong execu- tive ability and excellent judgment, and was everywhere regarded as a man of the highest integrity. His foresight and superior management soon placed him among the leading business men of southeastern Massachusetts. He was one of the original directors of the Globe Yarn Mill, and superintended the erection of Mill No. 3, and has been a stockholder in the Parker Mill since its organization. He has been a trustee of the Fall River Five Cents Savings Bank since its incorpora- tion is now a member of its board of investment.

Mr. Osborn has long been prominent in public movements having for their object the moral and spiritual advancement of the community. For many years he was active as a temperance worker in connection with the Sons of Temperance. He has served in both branches of the city government, and for many years he has been chairman of the standing committee of the Second Baptist Church of Fall River, of which he and his wife are old-time members. In 1859 he built his present comfortable home at 540 Cherry street.

On August 9, 1847, Mr. Osborn married Miss Mary B., daughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (Buffington) Chace, of Somerset, Mass., and they have had three children: Annie E. and Nathan C., who died young, and James E. The latter was born January 24, 1856, was graduated from the Fall River High School, and is now the treasurer of the American Linen Company of that city. He married Delia S., daughter of William and Elizabeth (Durfee) Carr, of Fall River, and has three children : Marion, Elizabeth Carr, and Richard.

As a citizen Mr. Osborn is universally esteemed and respected. His long and active career in connection with the cotton mill interests of Fall River, his prominence in advancing the general welfare of his city, his support of public charities, and his quiet, unostentatious display of the higher attributes of manhood have all won for him a special degree of distinction which he merits in the highest sense of the term.

WEAVER OSBORN.

HON. WEAVER OSBORN Was for many years one of the most prominent mill promoters and bankers of Fall River. William Osborn (or Osband) his grandfather, was born August 16, 1729, in Newport, R. I., removed to Tiverton, in the same State, in early manhood, and in 1751 married

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Elizabeth Shrieve, by whom he had six children : Weaver, a Revolution- ary soldier, born April 17, 1756, who married Hannah Durfee in 1788, removed to Palmyra, N. Y., in 1791, and died in 1820; Wilson, who died aged twenty five; Elizabeth, born June 7, 1758, married a Mr. Palmer, and died in 1785; Patience, who died young; Thomas, the father of the subject of this sketch; and William, born July 18, 1769, who married Mary Durfee. William Osborn died October 29, 1810. Thomas Osborn was born in Tiverton, R. I., March 31, 1766, became a ship carpenter and later a farmer, and died October 7, 1833. He was married in 1797 to Anna Durfee, whose father, Joseph Durfee, was a soldier in the Patriot army at the Battle of Bunker Hill. She died May 23, 1845, aged seventy-two. Their children were William, born No- vember 25, 1798, married Ruth Hambly in 1822, and died January 28, 1829; Thomas, born December 30, 1800, married Elizabeth Hambly in 1827; Joseph, born August 20, 1803, married Eliza Gardner in 1830; Ann, who died young; Wilson, born April 15, 1808, married Mary Allen in 1832; Eliza Ann, born May 25, 1810, married Rev. Alexander Milne, a Baptist minister, in 1837; Patience, who died young; Weaver, the subject of this memoir; and James M., born August 27, 1812, who is noticed at length in this volume.

Weaver Osborn was born in Tiverton, R. I., May 23, 1815. Re- maining on his father's farm until he was eighteen years old, he made the best of his meagre advantages and obtained a fair education. in the common schools, supplemented by a few months' attendance at the Little West Hill Seminary at South Kingston, R. I. In 1833 he went to Fairhaven, Mass., to learn the blacksmith's trade, which he followed successfully until the engrossing cares of heavy cotton mill interests caused him to abandon it. In 1835 he purchased the blacksmith shop of Nathaniel Pierce in Tiverton, which he continued about eight years. He then spent a year in Providence, R. I , and on his return to Tiver- ton in 1844 associated himself with Andrew Robeson for a period of four years. In 1848 he resumed business in Tiverton, where he re- mained until his shop was burned in January, 1855, when he removed to Fall River River, Mass. In February of that year he formed a co- partnership with his youngest brother, James M. Osborn, and bought the blacksmith shop of Gideon Packard, on Bedford street, which they successfully conducted for several years, doing a large machine and blacksmithing business. The firm of W. & J. M. Osborn continued until 1880, when it was dissolved.

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Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 78

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