Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 79

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 79

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).

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In 1859 the firm became interested with others in building the Union Mill, which was the first cotton mill in Fall River that was operated by other than close corporations. They were subsequently interested in the Granite Mills, the Merchants Mill, the two Stafford Mills, and the Slade Mill. By this time the firm had discontinued its blacksmithing and machine business, and was devoting its chief energies to the pro- motion of its heavy mill interests, all of which proved successful. They were also interested in the Osborn Mills, the Fall River Bobbin Mills, the Union Belt Company, and other important corporations.

Mr. Osborn was a ruling factor in these as well as in other enter- prises, and developed great business ability. He was the principal founder of the Osborn Mills, was chiefly instrumental in erecting the first building in 1872, and served as president and a director of the corporation until his death. Much of the success of that great concern is due to his executive management. He was also a director of the Montaup Mills for several years from 1872. He was continuously a director and a member of the board of investment of the Pocasset National Bank from its organization in 1854, when it was known as the Pocasset Bank under the State laws, and was president and chairman of the board of investment of that bank from 1873 until his death in 1894. For many years prior to his death he was also a trustee of the Citizens' Savings Bank of Fall River and of the State Workhouses at Bridgewater and Tewksbury, Mass.

In politics Mr. Osborn was originally a Whig and cast his first vote for Henry Clay, but after the Republican party was formed In 1856 he was a staunch supporter of the principles of that organization. He was for several years a member of the Fall River Board of Water Commissioners, and always took a just pride in the advancement of his city. He was elected to represent the town of Fall River, R. I., in the Rhode Island State Senate in 1857, 1858 and 1859, and served on the military and other committees, and was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature in 1868, 1869, 1871, 1873, 1876 and 1877, and of the State Senate in 1879. He became a captain in the old State Militia, and had much experience in the settlement and adjustment of estates.

Among Mr. Osborn's chief characteristics were strict integrity, sound practical judgment, and unswerving fidelity to every trust committed to his care. As blacksmith, cotton mill promoter, banker, and legis- lator he achieved distinction and honor, and throughout an active career enjoyed the confidence, respect, and esteem of all who knew

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him. He was a man of decision, great force of character, and unfail- ing resources, and in every sense a representative and enterprising citizen. His death occurred at Fall River on the 6th of February, 1894.

Mr. Osborn was married January 7, 1837, to Patience B. Dwelly, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Slade) Dwelly, of Tiverton, R. I., who survives him. Their children were Mary S., of Fall River; Daniel W., who died in his twenty-third year; and Thomas F. and Anna Jane, both of whom died at the age of nine. Mrs. Osborn was born in Tiv- erton, on the 27th of May, 1817, and like her late husband is a member of the Baptist Church, which they joined in 1843.

DR. CHARLES L. SEIP.

DR. CHARLES L. SEIP was born at Easton, Pa., October 16, 1842. His preparatory education was received in the excellent schools of his native town and later he took an academic course in Philadelphia. Very early in his career his natural inclination and ambition led him to the study of medicine, in which he persevered, and after five years of patient en- deavor was enabled to enter the Philadelphia School of Anatomy and Surgery, where he completed the prescribed course and was graduated with honor. He continued his thorough preparation for his chosen profession in the Hahnemann Medical College at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in March, 1882. Dr. Seip is a member of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society, and the Homoeopathic Medical Society of the County of Philadelphia. Dr. Seip took up his residence in New Bedford in 1887 and has gained a wide acquaintance and practice. Previously he had successfully practiced in Philadelphia, Pa., and Middleborough, Mass. He married Miss Lydia Cobb, a daughter of Wilson and Mercy Cobb, of Middleborough, Mass.

HENRY G. REED.

THE FAMILY of Reed, variously spelled Read, Reade, Rede, Reid, and Reed, traces its ancestry back to the Norman conquest, to one Brianus, a noted man of Lincolnshire, England, who, in 1139, was registered as "Brianus de Reed." He left two sons, Robert of Reed

Cher R. Sein

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and Thomas of Reed-dale. This new Reed family occupied nearly the same locality for several centuries, and from it descended William Rede, an eminent mathematician, who was made bishop of Chichester in 1339. Among the names contained on the muster roll of William the Conqueror in 1050 was John Rede, or John of Rede. William Reade, son of William Reade and Lucy Henage, of Maidstone, Eng- land, was born in 1605, and in 1635 sailed from Gravesend, County of Kent, in the ship "L'Assurance de Lo," Isaac Broomwell and George Persey, masters. He settled in Weymouth, Mass., where in 1636 he bought a house and land of Zachary Bicknell for seven pounds, thir- teen shillings, four pence, and where he died before 1658. He was made a freeman September 2, 1635, and was sent as a representative to the General Court in 1636 and 1638. By his wife Avis he had Will- iam, Esther, Thomas, John, Mary and Margaret. John Reed, or Reade of the second generation, was born in Weymouth in 1649, and in 1673 married Bethia Frye, born in Weymouth in 1655, daughter of George Frye, born in England in 1616, who settled in Weymouth in 1640. He was a house carpenter and a man of means, owning several large tracts of land. Some of his land in Taunton, which he purchased about 1680, is now in the possession of the subject of this article. He was the ancestor of the Reeds in Taunton, but he removed from that town to Dighton, where he died January 13, 1720-21. His wife died October 20, 1730. They were buried in Dighton on Burying Hill, be- tween Upper and Lower Four Corners. Their children were John, William, Thomas, George, Mary, Ruth and Hannah. William Reed (3), of Taunton, died in 1734, and his homestead is still in the family. June 8, 1721, he married Mary Richmond, of Norman descent, who was born in 1699 and died in 1784. Their children were John, William, Mary and Abigail. His widow married, in 1738, Stephen Andrews, a man of learning and piety and familiarly known as "St. Stephen." John Reed (4), born in 1722, was a blacksmith, a devout Christian, a captain in the militia, and one of the Committee of Inspection and Correspondence during the Revolution. He died in December, 1788. December 30, 1746, he married Dorothy Pinneo, daughter of James Pinneo, a native of Spain, who fled to France to escape persecution ; there, with other Huguenots, he suffered similar persecutions, and after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes he came to New Eng- land. Their children were Ruth, Lois, John, Mary, Dorothy, Hannah, Zilpah, Enos and Lydia. Mr. Reed married, second, January 9, 1771,

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Mrs. Hannah Austin, by whom he had Nathan, Phebe, and David and Jonathan, twins. John Reed (5), born March 29, 1752, was a prom- inent citizen and an exemplary Christian, and served as selectman and representative several years, and frequently as arbitrator in disputes. He was also a justice of the peace and a soldier in the Revolution. November 21, 1775, he married Mary, daughter of Brig .- Gen. George Godfrey, of Taunton, and their children were John, born August 11, 1776; William, October 6, 1778; Polly, August 31, 1782; Dolly, May 31, 1785; Marshall, January 17, 1788; Hodges, June 3, 1790; Sophia, September 2, 1792; and Zilpah, December 22, 1796. Mr. Reed died February 24, 1841, and his wife October 12, 1843. John Reed (6) was for more than half a century a leading merchant in Taunton, where he died November 9, 1864. May 31, 1804, he married Rebecca Gooding, of Dighton, who was born September 28, 1782, and died January 31, 1872. Their children were Mary Ann, born May 20, 1805; John, June 17, 1808; Henry G., the subject of this sketch; Rebecca, April 12, 1813; William A., September 2, 1816, deceased; Sophia J., November 9, 1819; and Elizabeth G., September 4, 1823.

Henry Gooding Reed, the seventh in lineal descent from William Reed, of Weymouth, was born in Taunton, Mass., on the 23d of July, 1810. He attended the public schools and Taunton Academy, and dur- ing vacations helped his father in the store. In early life he spent his leisure making useful articles for the family and neighbors and miniature ship and other toys for his playmates. When eighteen he became an apprentice in the shop of Babbitt & Crossman, of Taunton, and remained with them and their successors until 1831, when he at- tained his majority. During this apprenticeship he thoroughly mas- tered his trade and laid the foundation of a successful future career. He continued in the various departments of the Taunton Britannia Manufacturing Company until 1835, first as a journeyman and after- ward as time-keeper and superintendent, and when that corporation was compelled to suspend, in the latter year, the managing agent con- tracted with him and Charles E. Barton to carry on the business. In 1837, in connection with Mr. Barton and Gustavus Leonard, Mr. Reed began the manufacture of britannia ware, employing twelve hands. The business has been continued ever since, and is noticed in detail on another page of this volume. The product consists of electro-plated and sterling silver ware, having a wide and unexcelled reputation, and furnishes employment in times of ordinary prosperity to eight hundred

Gubelman Photo - Gravure Co.

Runner

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people. The company is known not only in this country, but in all other lands with which we trade, and is composed of Henry G. Reed, George Brabrook, and the representatives of the estate of Henry H. Fish.

Mr. Reed is one of the leading manufacturers of southeastern Mas- sachusetts, and is probably the oldest engaged in active business. Seventy years ago he became an apprentice, and for sixty-three years he has been a proprietor, furnishing employment to hundreds of oper- atives, and distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars among his fellow citizens. He has never held political office, but has always taken an active interest in the growth and prosperity of his native town, and has held several positions of trust and responsibility. He has been a director of the Taunton National bank since 1851, a trustee of the Taunton Savings Bank since its organization in 1869, a director of the Taunton City Mission and Associated Charities from their be- ginning, and president of the Reed Family Association of Taunton since 1873. He is also an interested and liberal life member of the Old Colony Historical Society. He is a public spirited, enterprising and patriotic citizen, imbued with the highest sense of honor, and en- dowed with rare business and executive ability. He is a man of un- questioned integrity, and has always enjoyed the confidence and re- spect of the entire community.

Mr. Reed has been married three times: first to Clara, daughter of Isaac White, of Mansfield, Mass., who died September 27, 1847; sec- ond to Frances Lee Williams, daughter of Jared Williams, of Dighton, Bristol county, who died May 9, 1857; and third, October 27, 1858, to Delight R., daughter of Christopher Carpenter, of Rehoboth, Mass. His children are Clara Isabel, wife of Dr. Charles T. Hubbard, a lead- ing physician of Taunton; Henry Arthur, deceased; Ida Frances, de- ceased; Fannie Lee, wife of William Bradford Homer Dowse, esq., of West Newton; and Henry Francis, of Taunton, Mass.

A. HOMER SKINNER.

A. HOMER SKINNER, lumber merchant, is the second son of Herbert Allen Skinner and Sarah Chace, his wife, and was born in Fall River, Mass., December 10, 1858. Herber A. Skinner, a native of Mansfield, Mass., was reared on a farm in Norton, and after coming to Fall River was for many years a leading carpenter and builder, being the senior

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member of the firm of Skinner & Freeborn, whose shop was located on Pleasant street in the rear of the Coffee Tavern, where the city scales now stand. He served in the Common Council, was for several years surveyor-general of lumber of Fall River, and is now associated with his son, A. Homer. He has had four children: Herbert M. C., of Fall River, formerly superintendent of the New York Locomotive Works at Rome; Minnie, who died young; and A. Homer and H. Emma. Miller Chace, A. Homer Skinner's maternal grandfather, was a prominent citizen of Fall River. He operated a large grist mill near the site of the present Pocasset Mill office, using the waters of Quequechan River as a motive power. He died at the advanced age of ninety two.

A. Homer Skinner obtained his education in the public schools of his native city, graduating from the Fall River High School at the age of sixteen. He then took a sea voyage to South Carolina and Georgia, and upon his return entered the employ of the Pocasset Coal Company, as an office boy and weigher of coal, at $3 a week. He remained in this position until 1878, and then became bookkeeper for S. R. Buffin- ton & Co., serving in that position three years, when he received an offer to become bookkeeper for Cook Borden & Co., lumber dealers. After three years of service in that capacity the senior member of the firm transferred him to the yard to teach him the lumber business, and gave him charge of receiving and assorting the lumber. He was em- ployed with this firm until 1883, and during the summer of that year assisted his father in surveying lumber as it came into the city. In December, 1883, he leased some land of the Union Cotton Manufactur- ing Company, at the corner of Pleasant street and Eddy's avenue, built some sheds, and began his career in the lumber business. He worked hard and diligently at first, and by dint of his own perseverance and close attention to business prospered abundantly. In 1888, owing to the gradual increase of his trade, he was compelled to buy additional land and secured an acre on Danforth street, between Maple and Wal- nut, where he built sheds and laid out the premises for a permanent yard. In 1893 he purchased the wharf formerly owned by Benjamin Barker, on Davol street. The same year the Union Cotton Mill Com- pany notified him that he must give up his property on Pleasant street for the site of a new cotton mill. Mr. Skinner then bought of the Troy Mill Company a tract of 100 rods on Sixth street, where he built offices and sheds, after first removing six old buildings from the land. These sheds have a capacity of 200,000 feet of seasoned lumber. Mr. Skinner

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has three places of business in Fall River, and by his energy, enter- prise, and correct business methods has constantly increased his trade and extended his importance and influence as a lumber merchant in his native city. He keeps on hand a complete stock of spruce, hem- lock, hard wood, white wood, hard pine and pine lumber. He has suc- ceeded in building up a large trade with a good class of customers who continue to patronize him because of his success in providing them with the best lumber in the market.

Mr. Skinner is a member of the board of investment of the Union Savings Bank of Fall River, and holds the office of justice of peace under appointment of Governor Ames. He resides at South Swansea, where he owns an elegant residence with all the comforts of a perfect home. In 1886 he married Kate B., daughter of Nathaniel A. and Mary Pearce, of Fall River, and they have one daughter, Bertha Louise.

RUFUS A. SOULE.

HON. RUFUS ALBERTSON SOULE was the second of the five children of Thomas Howard and Margaret Albertson (Dunham) Soule, born in Mattapoisett, Plymouth county, March 16, 1839. He is a direct de- scendant of George Soule, who came over in the Mayflower, and of the Albertsons and Dunhams, early settlers in Plymouth Colony. George Dunham, his maternal great-grandfather, was an officer of the Con- tinental army, and George Dunham, his grandfather, an officer in the war of 1812. Mr. Soule was but two years of age when his parents moved to New Bedford. He attended the public schools, but before his course in the High School was completed felt constrained to give up his studies and secure employment. He has never been seriously hampered, however, by this lack of early educational training, for it is men of his ability to overcome obstacles who form that large class of broad minded intelligent scholars who by reading, application, and the exactions of business life become self-educated. His first employment was as a carrier boy of the New Bedford Standard and later he became a clerk in Samuel Bennett's crockery store, leaving in the spring of 1857 to go to Attleborough, with an idea of learning the jeweler's trade. He had been there but a few months when the business was completely prostrated by the panic of that year. Returning to New Bedford he was for a time employed on Paulding's Boston express, by the way of

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the ferry across the Acushnet River and via the Fairhaven Branch Railroad. The great convenience which this ferry was found to be no doubt inspired much of Mr. Soule's enthusiasm in the advocacy for its restoration. In the spring of 1858 Mr. Soule entered the employ of the Union Boot and Shoe Company of New Bedford and there gained his first experience in the shoe trade.

During the Civil war New Bedford placed a larger quota of troops in the field for her population than any other city in the Commonwealth, and there were many remarkable instances of family patriotism. Prob- ably none can surpass, and few can equal, the record of the Soule fam- ily, in which were four sons, all of whom enlisted. The oldest son, William T., was a member of the 1st and later the 4th Mass. Cavalry, and before the close of the war was brevetted captain. The second son, Rufus A., was a member of Co. E, 3d Regiment of Infantry, M. V. M. The third son, Henry W., in the noted 5th Battery of Massachusetts, Light Artillery, and was killed in action on the second day of the battle of Gettysburg. The youngest son, Thomas H., served in the navy and was with Farragut at the capture of Fort Morgan at the entrance of Mobile Bay.

In the same command with Rufus A. Soule was one of the highest types of business men that New Bedford has produced-the late Savory C. Hathaway. They were warm friends and destined to become asso- ciated in a long and honorable business career. After the war (in July, 1865) Mr. Hathaway began the manufacture of shoes in a small build- ing on Hillman street, where he made use of a room which had a floor space of 14 by 20 feet, all of the work being done by hand, except what could be accomplished with one sewing machine run by foot power. He was joined, September 1 of the same year, by Mr. Soule, and the firm name became S. C. Hathaway & Co., Mr. Soule remaining in the employ of the Union Boot and Shoe Company until the following year, when he became an active partner and the firm name changed to Hath- away & Soule.

In December, 1865, they moved to the brick building on Pleasant street, corner of Mechanics' lane. Only one floor was occupied at first, but soon after the whole building was leased, and finally a wooden ad- dition at the north was built and occupied. In 1872 Herbert A. Har- rington, of Boston, was admitted, and the firm became Hathaway, Soule & Harrington. From this time on additions were frequently found indispensable and the working force and output were proportionately.

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increased. In 1885 the factory was built at Middleborough and the firm was for some years a joint owner in a factory at Campello. A stock company was organized in June, 1890, under the title of Hatha- way, Soule & Harrington, Incorporated, with Mr. Hathaway as presi- dent, Mr. Soule, vice-president, and Mr. Harrington, treasurer; the three constituting the board of directors.

From that modest beginning the company has become one of the largest concerns in the trade, selling direct to the retail dealers. About 550 hands are employed, making an average of 400,000 pairs of shoes annually, the sales of the corporation each year being over $1,000, 000. Its factories are now in New Bedford and Middleborough, the main office in Boston, and a salesroom in New York. Interest is held in retail stores in Washington, Chicago and St. Louis, as well as in sev- eral New England cities-Springfield, New London, Conn., and Bridge- port, Conn. It is no idle compliment to say that all the members of the firm have been men of the highest business qualifications, basing all their actions on principles of integrity and probity. A high class of workmen has always been employed and many men have gone from their factories to accept responsible positions elsewhere. Mr. Soule succeeded Mr. Hathaway as president of the corporation.

Very early in his career Mr. Soule began to take an active interest in politics, and was a member of the Republican City Committee for several years. Personally he is energetic; a true American, full of life and vigor, and possessed of a remarkable personal magnetism, which wins for him many friends and devoted followers, while his honesty and fearlessness command the respect of his opponents. He is a man of zeal, judgment - and executive ability, and has a long record of faithful and efficient public service. He was a member of the New Bedford Common Council in 1869-70-71-74-75, and in 1874 was unanimously elected president of the Council, just missing re- election in the following year, although the administration was in op- position to him and had a large majority of the members. In 1878 and 1879 he represented his district in the Legislature, serving both terms on the committee on railroads. At the time of his first election the district went Democratic by seventy-five plurality for almost the only time in its history, and his election was a marked tribute to his popularity. The following year his plurality was the largest ever given in New Bedford up to that time to a candidate for representative hon- ors. In 1894 he was appointed chairman of the Board of License Com-

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missioners of New Bedford, his appointment meeting the approbation of both parties, and only being accepted by him on the platform that politics should not enter into matters relating to the conduct of the board. He resigned early in the following year owing to non-sympathy with the administration.

In 1895 he was nominated unanimously as the Republican candidate for senator in the Third Bristol District, and was elected by a plurality of 3,156. He was renominated and elected in 1896, 1897 and 1898, receiving the nomination in each year without an opposing vote, this being also true on the occasion of his nomination to the Legislature- a high tribute, not only to his worth, but to his popularity in the Re- publican party of his district. In the Senate of 1896 Mr. Soule was chairman of the committee on banks and banking; on the committees on drainage and railroads; and also on the committee to redistrict the State. In the Senate of 1897 he was chairman of the committee on railroads; and on the committee on printing, and State House. In the Senate of 1898 he was again chairman of the committee on railroads; and on the committee on banks and banking, and State House. He is universally conceded to have made a good senator; alert and clear headed, he has carried into his work a genuine enthusiasm, manifest- ing an earnest desire to serve his district and the Commonwealth well. Upon the death of Congressman Simpkins his name was urged from many quarters, both by the press and public, as a man well fitted to fill the vacancy; the New Bedford Standard paying him the following tribute in an editorial: "We suggest the selection of Rufus A. Soule as the man who of all other men in this district appears as the best fitted to discharge the important duties of the hour. He is a

successful business man. He has served this community admirably in many places of trust. He is now one of the most influential members of the State Senate. He has a wide acquaintance with men. He is indefatigable in any work which he undertakes. He has energy, per- sistency and push, while his ability no one can dispute. If this district wants a man who will take up the work of caring for its interests with an undivided zeal, forgetful of himself, and mindful only of the task which is imposed upon him, it will find such a man in Rufus A. Soule." Mr. Soule declined to allow the use of his name.

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Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts, Part 79

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