USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Maynard > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 31
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Sudbury > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 31
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wayland > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 31
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Sudbury > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 31
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wayland > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 31
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Maynard > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 31
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HON. HOMER ROGERS.
Homer Rogers, son of Walter and Emily Rogers, was born at South Sudbury, Oct. 11, 1840. He studied at Wadsworth Academy, entered Williams College in 1858, and graduated in 1862. Soon after leaving college he enlisted in Co. F., Forty-fifth Regiment M. V. M. At the expiration of his term of service he taught school one year in Dowse Academy, Sherborn, and from 1864-66 in the Natick High School, since which time he has been
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SAMUEL B. ROGERS,
Autoglyph Print. W. P. Allen, Gardner, Mass
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engaged in business. Jan. 15, 1868, he married Ellen E. Perry, of South Natick, and has had seven children. Mr. Rogers is a successful business man, and has for years been con- nected with the firm of S. B. Rogers & Co., manufacturers of leather board. He is the president of the Allston Co-operative Bank in Allston, Mass., which he was instrumental in organizing, and a director of the National Market Bank of Brighton. In 1888 he was elected Alderman of the Eleventh District of Boston, and re-elected the following year, at which time he was chosen chairman of the board. He was largely instrumental in the formation of the Congregational Church of Allston, where he now resides. He spends part of the year at his summer residence in Sudbury, which is situated on the Boston and Worcester county road, about a half mile from the South Sudbury Railroad Station.
THOMAS STEARNS, M.D.
Thomas Stearns was a son of Rev. Charles Stearns, D.D., who was the pastor of the first church at Lincoln, Mass., for over forty-five years.
In 1812 he married Margaret L. Stevenson and settled in Vernon, Me., where he remained until the death of his wife, which occurred in 1817. He afterwards went to Sudbury, where he taught school for a time and practiced medicine. As a physician he had quite an extensive practice that extended to the adjoining towns. He took a great interest in matters of local history and collected old papers of various kinds relating to the history of Sudbury, which have since been purchased by the town, and are those referred to in this volume as the "Stearns Collection." He was a man of considerable ingenuity, and bound several books of manuscript sermons of his father's and also several scrap-books, writing out index pages with great care. He was possessed of a lively temperament, and was of a very positive nature. He had a high regard for obedience to the orders of a physician. It is said of him that he was so vexed by not having his direction followed by the mother of a sick child when it refused medicine, that he poured the contents of the phial over the child and left the house. In 1828 he married for his second wife, Catheraine Prentiss, an estimable lady of Sudbury, and in 1844 he married for his third wife Eloisa Moore, also of Sudbury. He had five children - Margaret, Thomas, Charles, Catheraine and Frank. Three were by his first marriage, the others by his second. His death occurred July 1, 1844, and his remains were interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery at Sudbury. The second house west of the Unitarian Church in Sudbury Centre was built, owned and occupied by him. The picture of it in this volume was furnished by the liberality and public spiritedness of his grandson, Thomas J. Stearns of Roxbury. The house, since the death of Dr. Stearns, was used as a tavern by Webster Moore for several years, but for nearly the past quarter century has been a private residence.
Sketches of persons who have been residents of Wayland, and whose portraits, or selections of wliose poetry, are in this volume.
MRS. ANNA M. BENT.
The parents of Mrs. Bent were Nathaniel C. and Anna S. Dudley. She was born in Wayland, March 26, 1845.
She was early known as an apt and diligent scholar, and at her graduation from the
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High School in Saxonville was well prepared for the business of teaching, to which she gave immediate and successful effort. Educational interests were peculiarly dear to her, and her influence in the schools of Wayland was of a high order. At the time of her death she held the position of Chairman of the Seliool Committee of the town.
Other fields of useful activity were found in the church, its choir, the Sunday school and in society work generally, where good was to be accomplished. As a token to show her inviolable integrity, she was, almost without exception, ehosen treasurer of the societies to which she belonged.
To trace in detail all the paths of duty in which she walked would require more space than is here allotted. There is one, however, too prominent to be passed by. Nature gave her a keen appreciation of music, and vocal power of a high order for its expression. The use of these talents she freely gave. The private parlor, the concert room and the church are hier debtors, and there her name will be spoken with a hushed respect and love by all. She was leader of the choir in Cochituate for twenty-five years, and often presided at the organ.
It is safe to add that no woman has ever lived in the village whose life has been so useful in every way, or whose presenee will be so sadly missed as hers.
Her two children, six and eleven years old, died near the same time in 1876. Her husband, Mr. James A. Bent, survives her. They were married April 4, 1864. Her death J. S. D. occurred July 31, 1890.
JAMES M. BENT.
James Madison Bent, son of Capt. William and Polly Bent, was born in East Sudbury, May 19, 1812.
With a fair common school education he began business early in life as a cabinet maker. At the age of twenty-one this occupation was changed for that of shoemaking. From very humble beginnings he. with his brother William, conducted the business on such principles as to inspire confidence, so that it became one of the most extensive and important of its class in the State.
One factor in this success was his special talent for inventing labor-saving machinery, the proofs of which may be seen in the extensive manufactory which he left.
Mr. Bent's treatment of his employés has ever given them such satisfaction as to prevent all resort to coercive measures in securing their rights. As a result of his success the locality has risen from a mere hamlet of a few dwellings to a thriving and populous village.
As a citizen he has won high esteem for his enterprise and public spirit. A vein of humor ran through his mental structure that gave a peculiar eharm to his presence socially ; many a eloud has been dispelled by his facetious but courteous remarks.
Religiously, he made no professions of dogma. nor did he belong to any church. Yet he was a regular attendant at public worship and paid liberally for its support.
Ile was a zealous politician, formerly a whig, but later and to the close of his life a con- sistent republican. In town affairs important trusts were confided to him, and in the year 1856 he was a member of the lower house in the State Legislature. He deemed his most important public work to be the initiating and carrying to completion the Cochituate systemn of water works.
His marriage with Martha Trowbridge Damon occurred in 1837. He died July 24, 1888. Of his family two daughters survive him, and five sons who are engaged in carrying on the business of their father. J. S. D.
MRS. ANNA M. BENT, At the age of 43.
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JOSEPH BULLARD.
Joseph Bullard, the son of Jotham and Anna (Cutting) Bullard, was born in East Sudbury, March 26, 1804. His marriage with Harriet, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Loker, occurred May 8, 1833.
At the age of twenty-three years he left home to carry on his grandfather Cutting's place, and on this farm he has lived to the present time, maintaining notable habits of industry, the results of which are seen in the good order of his estate.
One remarkable thing relative to Mr. Bullard, is that through his long life he has had no occasion to call for a physician for himself but once ; and his health is still good, with mental faculties apparently unimpaired.
Another fact worthy of record, is that in 1833 he was appointed sexton of the town ; and with the exception of three and a half years ad interim he continued to discharge the duties of the position with full acceptance until 1883. His account of burials shows the number to be eight hundred and fifty.
It is further remarkable that no death has occurred in his own family, and only one on the premises during his occupancy of sixty-three years. A worthy, venerable man of simple habits, complacent disposition and quiet manners, beloved by his family and respected by his town's people. J. S. D.
MRS. LYDIA MARIA CHILD.
Lydia Maria Child, née Francis, was born in Medford, Mass., February 11, 1802.
From her father, Convers Francis, she inherited large common sense and rare conscien- tiousness, which in her werc combined in a remarkable degree, with a clear, strong intellect, a vivid imagination and an earnest love of and longing for the beautiful.
Her education was limited to the public school and one year at a private seminary. Her brother, Convers Francis, afterward theological professor in Harvard College, was of great assistance to her in her studies, and she often kept pace with him in his college course. At twenty she wrote her first novel, "Hobomok," which became so popular that she was encouraged to publish soon after "The Rebels, a Tale of the Revolution." Other works from her pen followed in quick succession. Her "Juvenile Miscellany," the first periodical ever written exclusively for children, she published from 1826 to 1834.
It is not too much to claim that she was at this time the most popular literary woman in the United States, and the "North American Review," the highest literary authority of the country, said of her : "We are not sure that any woman in the country could outrank Mrs. Child. Few female writers, if any, have done more or better things for our literature."
In 1828 she married David Lee Child, a young and able lawyer, a union which proved to be one of rare love and sympathy for nearly fifty years.
In 1831 and 1832 both became very much interested in the subject of slavery, through the writings and personal acquaintance of William Lloyd Garrison. Comparatively young. she now stood in the front ranks of American writers; her books had a large circula- tion both North and South. Indeed, her popularity was so great that the Trustees of the " Boston Athenæum," the highest Literary and Art Association in that city, sent her a free . ticket (the only one ever given to a woman), investing her with all the rights of a stock- holder save that of voting.
In 1833 she roused the country by the publication of her first Anti-slavery book, " An Appeal in Behalf of that Class of Americans Called Africans." It is utterly impossible for
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any one at the present time to realize the costly sacrifice she made when she cspoused the unpopular Anti-slavery canse and gave to the world that book in behalf of the American slave.
HIer life-long friend, Wendell Phillips, has said of her: "Hardly ever has there been so costly a sacrifice, and of all the noble band of Abolitionists I know of no one who made so great a sacrifice as Lydia Maria Child."
For that she gave up not only the highest literary fame and social position, but friends who had vied in doing homage to her genius refused to recognize her : indeed, her very means of support were cut off, as the sale of her books was almost entirely stopped, and she had great difficulty in finding a publisher who was willing to risk his popularity by issuing a book written by her.
Even the Boston Athenaeum recalled the ticket given her, and, as she writes, " A few days after the Appeal was published I received a note from the Trustecs, informing me that at a recent meeting they had passed a vote to take away my privilege, lest it should prove an inconvenient precedent."
From that time her life was a constant warfare against popular prejudice, and for the sake of the enslaved she gave up the literary seclusion so dear to her and went rough-shod through the sternest and bitterest controversy of the age. She never wavered, never knew compromise, but went with brave heart and unfaltering step to the end, willing -
" To see her fresh, sweet flower of fame Wither in blight and blame."
While faithful to what she considered her life work, Mrs. Child was by no means a reformer of one idea, but took an active interest in every question that concerned humanity : Prison Reform, Peace, the Welfare of the Indian, the Woman Question, including the right of suffrage.
Under all the disadvantages of literary ostracism and popular disfavor she found time to write " Philothea," a charming Greek romance, and other books, showing that the stern war- fare in which she was engaged had not lessened her literary ability and strength, and that the pen that hurled such terrible rebukes against oppression and wrong could record with a touch both delicate and graceful the inspiration of beauty and art so in harmony with her own soul. ller greatest literary work was the " Progress of Religions Ideas," in three octavo volumes, a work which required great research and labor. It was no mere intellectual effort, but was the outgrowth of her own deep nature, so in sympathy with all religious beliefs, whether Christian or Pagan, which she placed side by side and gave to each full credit for sincerity.
For a series of years, in connection with her husband, she edited the " Anti-slavery Standard."
In 1852 Mrs. Child removed to Wayland, that she might care for her aged father. In her humble home in that quiet town, remote from the great world, her pen was never idle, and no one did greater service to the cause of freedom in the fearful struggle that convulsed the nation.
She was so wise in counsel that Charles Sumner, Gov. Andrew, Henry Wilson, Salmon P. Chase and others sought her advice on the most important political questions.
She practised the most rigid personal economy, but spent thousands for the slave, the soldier and the freedman, giving the whole amount ($4,000) from the sale of "Looking Towards Sunset " to the Sanitary Commission. She took a deep interest in the little town,
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L. MARIA CHILD, At the age of 63.
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always willing to aid with money anything for its welfare, leaving in her will a sum for the town Library. The reformed inebriate was cared for by her.
She passed quietly away on October 20, 1880, at the ripe age of 78.
SARAH MARIA PARSONS.
THOMAS J. DAMON.
Thomas Jefferson Damon was a farmer of the farmers, his ancestry for many genera- tions having followed that occupation, and for five generations on the same farm on which he lived.
Success attended him from the beginning, but the appearance of his fields, buildings and all their appurtenances, toward the close of his life, showed that he stood in the front rank of his town, if not in the county. From a very early date in his life he took a deep interest in agricultural shows, obtaining first premiums on stock, skill as a plowman and on products of the farm.
He was among the original founders of the Middlesex South Agricultural Society, and was for three years its president. He rose yet higher in public estimation, and was appointed a member of the Mass. Board of Agriculture in 1878, which office he retained until his death. The following extract from the proceedings of the Board points to his value as a member.
At a meeting of the Board, Dec. 1, 1880, it was " Resolved, that the members of the Mass. Board of Agriculture, having to-day heard of the serious illness of Mr. Thomas J. Damon, our colleague, hereby direct the Secretary to carry to him this expression of our sympathy, and the hope of his speedy restoration to health." On this resolution Mr. J. B. Moore said : "I have known Mr. Damon as one of the best practical farmers in Middlesex county. I can say that the Board has had no more useful, practical member than he, and that his example as a farmer has done a great deal for the farming interest in that section in which he lives."
Mr. Damon's reputation for integrity was unquestioned. He was a worthy and respected citizen to whom was entrusted many important town offices. Politically he was a Democrat in his later years, and as a religionist always a Unitarian.
He was born in East Sudbury, July 7, 1809, his parents being Isaac and Martha (May- nard) Damon. In December, 1834, he married Rachel Thomas of his native town, who survives him with one son and two daughters.
His death occurred Dec. 7, 1880.
J. S. D.
JAMES DRAPER.
James Draper was born in Dedham, Mass., May 28, 1787. His parents were Ira and Lydia (Richards) Draper. His marriage to Elizabeth Sumner of Dedham occurred Jan. 14, 1809. Until this date his life had been spent on his father's farm.
At this time he came to East Sudbury, having purchased what is now the Bryden farm in Wayland, and erected new buildings thereon.
During the war of 1812 he was enthusiastic in its prosecution, executing large contracts to supply the Charlestown Navy Yard with ship timber, and in 1814 he enlisted as a soldier and was stationed for duty at Fort Warren.
The general appearance of his estates bore evidence of his ambition to excel, and of his skill in agricultural practice. One way in which his energy spent its force was in purchasing estates in order to demolish old buildings and erect new ones, or remodel and renovate others, thirteen instances of which occurred during his life.
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About the time of his second marriage (see sketch of Mrs. Nabby A. Draper) he made vigorous and successful efforts to introduce into the cloth factories of the Eastern and Middle States the " Revolving temple," an invention by his father.
Ile ranked among the leaders of public sentiment in the community. Accustomed to dwell on the bright and hopeful side of things, his presence tended to give a cheering glow wherever he moved. His daily motto was, " It will all come out right." His gift of $500 to the town in 1863 for a permanent Library fund attests his public spirit in that direction.
In state and national affairs he was remarkably well-informed. Next to religious duties in importance he placed those of the citizen to his country. His general political policy may be inferred from the facts that in 1808 he voted for James Madison for President, and for J. Q. Adams in 1824. In 1840 he was a delegate in the National Convention to nominate W. II. Harrison, and he was with the National Republicans through the civil war.
In early life he united with a church of Calvinist creed, but evidently held the doctrines in abeyance ; in the times of free discussion he took the liberal side. He filled the position of Deacon in the First Church in Wayland (Unitarian) 43 years. His devotion to the inter- ests of religion was earnest and sincere. He gave the First Parish $500 as a permanent fund.
On the tablets of memory his name will represent sterling integrity. persistent energy and broad beneficence. His death occurred Dec. 5. 1870, leaving one son as the remnant of his family. J. S. D.
JAMES S. DRAPER.
James Sumner Draper, son of James and Elizabeth (Sumner) Draper, was born in East Sudbury (now Wayland). Aug. 18, 1811. He was educated in the common schools of his native town, with the addition of two academical terms. Farming has been his chief occu- pation, although he taught school when a young man. and occasionally engaged in land surveying. He has taken an active interest in the public schools, and in the Wayland Public Library, of which he was librarian for twenty years. While in this position he did much to promote its interests, and the results of his valuable services will long be remembered.
He has been closely identified with public improvements, and with plans instituted for the promotion of the business enterprise and thrift of the community. A letter written by him to a gentleman in Barre, in 1867, was said to be the initial step which resulted in the organi- zation of the Central Massachusetts Railroad Company. During twelve years he was a member of the board of directors, and devoted his best efforts to the construction of the road.
He has written occasionally for the press, and edited the work entitled " Wayland in the Civil War," of which mention is made elsewhere in this volume. He has been much interested in researches relating to the history of his native town, results of which have occasionally been published. In politics he was first a Whig, then a member of the Free Soil party while that party existed, and in 1860 became a National Republican. During the civil war he was an uncompromising Unionist, although previously opposed, on principle, to the use of armed force in the settlement of disputed questions.
In matters of reform he has been of the liberal school. In 1833 he was an ardent anti- slavery man, and he has been and still is an advocate of " woman's rights." In religious matters he has been nominally associated with the Unitarian denomination, but has also been known as an enthusiastic Spiritualist. Concerning this he states : "During more than forty years I have carefully investigated the merits of Spiritualism, and I am in full belief of the truth of its most important claims, and of their value to man in his present stage of existence." He still further says: "A peculiar feature in my mental structure became prominent from
JAMES DRAPER, At the age of 80.
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the earliest independent action of my mind, to wit: an inclination not to rest satisfied with present conditions, and a correlative disposition to be on the lookout for the newer, and, as I believe, the better unfoldings that relate not only to man's external life, but to the interior - the immortal."
He has been three times commissioned Justice of the Peace, and has held various offices of responsibility and trust in his native town.
August 18, 1834, he married Emeline Amanda Reeves of East Sudbury (deceased 1875), and has had five children, all of whom are living.
At the age of fourscore years Mr. Draper is still vigorous, and takes a lively interest in public affairs.
MRS. NABBY ALLEN DRAPER.
Mrs. Nabby A. Draper, youngest daughter of Josiah and Deborah (Day) Allen, was born in East Sudbury, Jan. 16, 1782.
Quite early in life she entered the home of Hon. William Winthrop, of Cambridge, as his housekeeper, where she constantly remained until his death in 1825.
She was united in marriage to James Draper, June 15, 1826.
In 1854, conjointly with her sister, Miss Debby Allen, she gave to her native town one thousand dollars as a permanent fund, the interest of which is to be annually distributed to the needy poor. It is known as "THE ALLEN FUND."
She was blest with remarkable health, having never employed a physician until the last year of her life. Her death occurred on the eighty-seventh anniversary of her birth.
" Mrs. Nabby A. Draper was truly a remarkable woman. They who knew her best and longest could never see her without feeling the peculiar attraction of her presence. her intel- lectual vivacity and soundness of judgment, making her always an entertaining companion and wise counselor ; while her cordial manner, perfect frankness and sweetness of spirit gave to her the charm of childhood up to the last year of her long life.
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" The closing scenes were beautiful and fitting. In perfect peace and trust, in thought- ful care for others, full of tenderness and truth, she passed serenely away, leaving an ever- fragrant memory full of good deeds, sweet affections and rare and well-earned happiness."
From an obituary at her death.
J. S. D.
WILLIAM R. DUDLEY.
William Rice, son of William and Unity Rice Dudley, was born March 6, 1807. He, as his father and grandfather, first saw the light within the present limits of Wayland. His marriage with Mary Prescott, daughter of John Sherman of Lincoln, occurred in May, 1833. From his earliest years his interests were thoroughly identified with the interests of his town, and things personal were laid aside whenever, by his labors or his counsel, he could bring advantage or gain to town or State, whether in the promotion of temperance, economy, probity, or in simple administrative detail. In early life a mechanic, he took unfailing pleasure, later, in the nearness to nature which farm life brought him. Deeply imbued with democratic ideas, yet when the nominal Democracy yielded to the dictation of the Slave power he was of the first who entered the opposing ranks, and until his death, Oct. 20, 1886, his faith in the Republican party remained unshaken.
A member of the Unitarian church, he was a constant attendant on its ministrations while health remained ; and with no controlling desire for the accumulation of wealth or the
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possession of power, his belief that the " life is more than meat " gave him a cheerfulness of mien that characterized the major part of his life, and his ever-ready stories will remain a pleasant memory to those with whom he was allied as relative, friend or neighbor.
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