USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Medway > The biographical sketches of prominent persons, and the genealogical records of many early and other families in Medway, Mass. 1713-1886 > Part 11
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REV. JACOB ROBERTS.
JACOB ROBERTS, son of Evan and Hester (Fussell) Roberts, was born in London, England. His ancestry were from Bala, North Wales. His mother was the daughter of James Fussell. She was born in 1769 near Frome, Somersetshire, England. Mr. Roberts was educated in Highbury College, London, England. He came to America in 1837, and was first settled in Fairhaven, Mass., and for fourteen years in East Medway. He resigned in 1871 and afterward resided in Auburndale, Mass.
REV. DAVID SANFORD.
DAVID SANFORD, son of David and Rachel (Strong) Sanford, was born Dec. 11, 1737, in New Milford, Conn. He graduated, in 1755, from Yale College, Connecticut, and on completing his theological studies, received a li- cense to preach and was ordained and installed, April 14, 1773, pastor of the Second Church of Christ in Medway. The following mention of the Rev. David Sanford is copied from Headley's Chaplains of the Revolution :
" Previous to the commencement of hostilities he was an earnest advocate of the cause of the colonies, and when war actually began he launched at once and with all his heart, into the struggle. Mingling with the assemblies of the people, he took a leading part in every measure adopted for a vigorous defense against the encroachments of Great Britain. With a form almost, perfect in its symmetry and majestic bearing, and a countenance of rare beauty and power of expression, his presence always arrested the attention of the beholder. But when the full, rich tones of his voice fell on the ear, now ringing clear, like the call of a bugle, and now melting into the sweetest and most plaintive accents, his hearers were held as by fascination. Impassioned, fearless, and knowing well how to use the rare gifts with which nature had endowed him, he mastered all who came under the spell of his eloquence. His high courage and strong will made restive under temporizing, timorous counsels, and when he arose to denounce them, his face was like a thunder cloud charged with wrath, and his powerful voice broke in startling accents on the audience. With such a man in every parish in the land, not a tory would have been found bold enough to have lifted his head in opposition. Patriotism became a passion with him, and when he called on his people to bear without murmuring their proportion of the expenses of the war, he showed them an example of self-sacrifice by throwing in his entire salary to swell the public treasury. But even this
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did not content him. Not only did he devote his rare eloquence and yearly stipend to the common cause, but as the sound of war rolled over the land, hastened to the army, and volunteered his services as a chaplain. He gave all he had to the service of his country, and no doubt if he had not been restrained by his profession would have been one of the most daring officers in the army. Indeed, nature had endowed him with rare gifts for a military leader. His commanding personal appearance, his impulsive. fearless spirit, and that power of expression in mere look which will carry men farther than words, eminently fitted him to be one. This power of the countenance can never be described any more than it can be resisted. Washington had it. As an illustration of it in Mr. Sanford, he was once preaching to the troops in a somewhat dilapidated church, when a board, which had been placed in one of the shattered windows, blew down. The soldiers, in putting it back made so much noise that he was compelled to stop in his sermon. The board again being blown in, the soldiers the second time re- placed it, arresting the services by the confusion they made. The third time it fell in ; and the soldiers wishing to put it back, he thundered out: 'Let that board alone.' One look at the pulpit and they slunk back to their places. After the services were over a citizen asked the commanding officer how he liked the eloquent preacher. He re- plied : "Very well, but I should have liked him better if he hadn't sworn so.' 'Sworn, captain,' exclaimed the man, 'I did't hear any oath.' 'Yes, he did, replied the former, 'he said' (repeating the oath) ' let that board alone.' 'You certainly are mistaken, he uttered no oath whatever.' 'Well,' replied the Captain, 'if he did not say those very words he looked them.' This became a by-word, and in after years whenever his brother ministers saw the frown of his displeasure darkening his open, manly brow, they would say good-naturedly ' don't swear so.' His features had the same power to express the softer emotions, and when moved with pity, or pleading with sinners, would melt the most stubborn heart. The soldiers not only reverenced him for his devoted piety, and loved him for his lofty patriotism, but they admired him for his personal presence. Not an officer in the brigade rode his horse with such in- comparable grace and ease as he. His known inflexibility of purpose, abrupt and often stern manner also pleased them. These traits sometimes caused him to be charged with want of courtesy. Once a clownish, shabbily dressed licentiate asked him what system of divinity he would recommend him to study. He replied, with his stern ex- pression of countenance : 'Lord Chesterfield to you.' So, on another occasion, a young preacher telling him that he had refused a call to a certain place on account of an extensive pine swamp in the vicinity, he turned upon him : ' Young man it is none of your business where God has put his pine swamps.'
"Notwithstanding these peculiarities he was a devoted minister and one who knew him well says : 'His name was associated with early attempts to propagate the Gospel in the new settlements, and every fresh effort that was put forth for the promotion of Christianity, no matter on which side of the water, met his cordial and grateful ap- proval.' As counsellor he was sought after by the churches, and was not infrequently called away a great distance to aid in healing ecclesiastical divisions. In 1807 he was stricken with paralysis, from which he never recovered, and after languishing three years a suffering invalid, he died April 7, ISIo, in the seventy-fourth year of his age."
REV. DAVID SANFORD.
DAVID SANFORD, son of Philo and Lydia (Whiting) Sanford, was born Aug. 2S, ISO1, in Medway, Mass. He received a good common school education and afterwards fitted for Brown University with the Rev. Mr. Ide, of West Medway. He graduated in IS25, and was first settled in New Market, N. H., where he resided two years. For eight years he was the pastor of the church at Dorchester, Mass. He returned to Medway and organized the Congregational Church and society of which he was the honored and suc- cessful pastor for nearly forty years. He resigned as the active pastor in IS71, but continued as senior pastor, and the Rev. R. K. Harlow was installed as
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THE RESIDENCE OF THE REV. DAVID SANFORD.
junior pastor. From time to time he continued to supply neighboring pul- pits, until within two years of his lamented death.
LINES DEDICATED TO THE REV. DAVID SANFORD, JANUARY 1, 1845. BY MISS BETSEY ADAMS.
" Hail! shepherd of this chosen flock, The guide, the guardian of our youth, The joy, the solace of old age, Herald of righteousness and truth.
" We come, a happy, joyous band, The schoolmates of thy earlier days, Thy pupils, friends and kindred dear, All come to join their cheerful lays.
" We come, a happy, joyous band, To spread our pastor's festive board, We come to join our hearts and hands With him we love, for toils bestowed.
" Within these ancient, sacred walls Thy reverend sires we once did see. Their dust lies slumbering with the dead, Their mantle now doth rest on thee.
"In those bright realms where angels swell
Their notes of everlasting praise, They join in chorus loud and long The humble song we now shall raise.
" Thou art our teacher, thou our friend, Thou dost delight our joys to share ; When pressed with grief, our spirits bend,
Then too, we feel thy faithful care.
" Oft have we listened to thy voice, As thou hast spoke with love sincere, Those words which bid the heart rejoice, Or start the penitential tear.
" And, pastor, dear, our warmest thanks This night our offering shall be. While grateful hearts breathe forth the prayer,
Heavens choicest blessings rest on thee.
" Gods guardian care thy path attend, Long as on earth thy footsteps roam, And when thy days below shall end, May angels bear thy spirit home.
" O may to each a place be given In blissful fields of light above, All strike our harps of gold in Heaven, And sing for aye, redeeming love."
Mitt. Sanford)
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MILTON HOLBROOK SANFORD, ESQ.
MILTON HOLBROOK SANFORD, son of Sewall and Edena (Holbrook) Sanford, was born Aug. 29, 1813, in Medway. His father was a prominent business man and manufacturer in the town, and made the first cotton thread that was manufactured in America. Mr. Sanford was descended from the Rev. David Sanford, pastor of the Second Church of Christ, and his mater- nal ancestry is traced to Thomas Holbrook, of Broadway, England, who sailed March 20, 1635, for this country, and settled with his family in Wey- mouth, Mass. Mr. Sanford received a good education for one who so early in life assumed business responsibility. He was for a time in the Mili- tary School in Middletown, Conn., also in Andover and Bradford Academies. The death of his father when he was but seventeen years old, threw upon him the cares of business at an early age, and he became a very successful manufacturer, and accumulated a large property. He was a man of rugged and bold traits of character, softened and beautified by tender sensibilities, and of a ready beneficence. He did much for his native village to beautify and im- prove the place, where his only sister, Mrs. Edena Jane LeFavor, resides. After more than fifty years of business life, which was eminently successful, Mr. Sanford died on Friday, Aug. 3, 1883, in Newport, R. I. His burial took place on the following Monday in the family enclosure, in Medway. Vid. The Obsequies of Milton Holbrook Sanford.
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THE RESIDENCE OF MRS. EDENA JANE (SANFORD) LE FAVOR.
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JAMES HOVEY SARGENT, ASSISTANT SURGEON, U. S. A.
JAMES HOVEY SARGENT, son of Nathaniel and Abial H. Sargent, was born June, 1782, in York, Me. He was educated in Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., and studied medicine with Dr. Gilman of that town. He was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson, June 19, 1806, surgeon's mate, United States Army, his commission to date from March 6, 1806. For ten years Dr. Sargent belonged to the medical staff of Fort Independ- ence, Boston Harbor. He was afterwards on duty in Fort Pickering, Salem, Mass., Fort Constitution, Portsmouth, N. H., Fort Preble, Portland, Me., Fort Trumbull, New London, Conn., Fort Aragon, Niagara, N. Y. While at the latter place, in 1846, he resigned, having been in the service forty years. Subsequently he came to reside with his daughter, Mrs. Francis J. R. Bullard, in Medway. Dr. Sargent married in 1812, Fanny Ruggles, who died Sept. 13, 1854. Their only child was a daughter who married Mr. Anson Bullard and resided in Medway. Dr. Sargent died Aug. 31, 1869, in Medway, and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery. He was a gentleman of fine presence and courtly manners. In recognition of his pub- lic service and in respect to his memory the Grand Army Post formed in Medway in ISS2, was designated the JAMES HOVEY SARGENT POST.
STEPHEN SALISBURY, M. D.
STEPHEN SALISBURY, son of Samuel and Nancy Salisbury, was born Sept. 10, 1812, in Boston, Mass. " He was of an old and highly respected family of that city, and enjoyed, in early life, every advantage of careful and judicious training. He was prepared for college at the Boston Latin School, entered Harvard University at the early age of sixteen years, and graduated in the class of 1832. He immediately commenced the study of medicine, under the instruction of Drs. Jackson and Bigelow, and received his medical degree from Harvard in 1835. He was house surgeon of the Massachusetts General Hospital for a year, and then went to Paris to com- plete his studies in the schools and hospitals of that city.
" Soon after his return, he entered upon the active duties of his profession, in Medway, where he soon acquired a good and rapidly increasing practice. He was married, Jan. 2, 1844, to Miss Elizabeth P. Clark. of Walpole, Mass. In a few years his business had so increased that his physical strength was unequal to the demands made upon it by a widely scattered community, and therefore. about IS50, he removed to Brookline, Mass., hoping to be able to lead, amid a denser population. and in the near vicinity of the city, a life of less exhausting labor. Here. his upright character and professional fidelity, soon found ample recognition, and after twenty-five years of faithful and earnest labor in the profession for which he had an enthusiastic love, he died of Bright's disease, Sept. 12, 1875, respected by all, and mourned by a large circle of sincere friends. Dr. Salisbury was of a modest and retiring disposition. conspicuous for transparent sincerity and truthfulness. and scrupulously conscientious qualities by which Nature had endowed him, and which were broadened and deepened by his religious con- victions and culture. A life-long student, he was always informed of the latest medical improvements and discoveries ; kind hearted and sympathetic,
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his services were always at the command of the poor as promptly as of the rich and influential ; tender and affectionate, he was idolized in his own home ; leading a blameless Christian life, he was an ornament to the church of which he was a member ; a good citizen, a staunch and loyal friend, a kind neighbor, he was, above all, the faithful, beloved physician."
REV. SETH WILLARD SEGUR.
SETH WILLARD SEGUR, son of Dea. Joseph and Martha (Briggs) Segur, was born Dec. 24, IS31, in Chittenden, Vt. His mother was the daugh- ter of Calvin Briggs, Esq., of Dighton, R. I., and was born March 30, 1798, in Williamstown, Vt. His father was the son of Elijah Segur, who was a Revolutionary soldier, and removed from Simsbury, Conn., to Phila- delphia, now Chittenden, Vt., and died Feb. S, IS51, in his ninety-seventh year, in Pittsfield, Vt. Dea. Joseph Segur was born Aug. 17, ISO1, removed from Chittenden to Pittsfield, Vt., in 1832, where he died June 27, IS83. The subject of this sketch when a lad of twelve years experienced religion and at the age of fifteen. July 4, IS47, publicly confessed Christ and united with the Congregational Church of Pittsfield, Vt. He pursued his studies preparatory to college at Royalton Academy, Vermont, entered Middlebury College in 1855, and graduated in the class of 1859. After graduation he entered upon his professional studies in the Theological Seminary in Auburn, N. Y. He was licensed to preach May S, 1861, by the Royalton Association, Ver- mont, and ordained to the Gospel ministry by a council called by the church in Pittsfield, Vt., of which he was still a member. He commenced June S, IS62, his ministry and was installed Feb. 6, 1867, as pastor of the Congrega- tional Church in Tallmadge, O. During this pastorate there were received into the church one hundred and thirty-four persons, eighty-eight by confession of faith and fifty-six by letter. He administered the rite of baptism to eighty- nine children and to fifteen adult persons. By advice of ecclesiastical coun- cil, convened April IS, IS71, he closed his pastorate April 30, 1871, to accept a call to Gloucester, Mass.
He was installed, June 14, 1871, pastor of the Evangelical Congregational Church, in Gloucester, Mass. The Rev. Alexander Mckenzie, D. D., of Cambridge, preached the sermon. Here he did faithful service during a short pastorate, and resigned Feb. 15, 1873. He was installed, May 7, 1873, col- league pastor with the Rev. Jacob Ide, D. D., of the Second Church of Christ. The Rev. Mr. Segur, in the little of life that remained to him, ac- complished here a great amount of good. He inspired his people to effort, so that much was accomplished in various ways for the church and society who were so soon called to mourn the death of their beloved pastor.
The Rev. Mr. Segur left home Sept. 6, 1875, for a little visit to his old parish in Tallmadge, O. He was especially invited to come and be pres- ent at the semi-centennial of that church. He was taken ill soon after his arrival and in a few days died, Sept. 24, 1875, at the early age of forty-three years.
The funeral service was attended in Tallmadge, on Sunday, September 26, and on the same day in West Medway. By the very urgent request of his old parishioners, his grave is in the midst of his first church and people.
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Funeral service was held also in Pittsfield, Vt., Oct. 3, 1875, the Rev. C. W. Clark preaching the sermon, and subsequently a memorial service was held, Oct. 31, 1875, in West Medway. The memorial discourse was preached from the text, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course," etc. ; 2 Tim. iv., 7-8, by the Rev. C. C. McIntire, of Rockport, Mass.
The Rev. Mr. Segur left a widow and an only son. Mrs. Segur resided some years in Andover, Mass., where Willard B. Segur, the son, fitted for college.
"Mr. Segur was a man of profound Christian spirit, and he won a way for truth. He harmonized discordant elements. He was a practical Christian worker. He took his place by the side of those who needed help, and gave them his hand in every possible way. He was an earnest temper- ance man, and knew how to help the intemperate. His preaching was full of the compassion of the Gospel, while compromising no sterner truth. His elocution was graceful and pleasant. He was deeply interested in sacred music, and was an excellent singer. He was a man of substantial worth, unassuming, consecrated, strong - a good man, and a good minister whom the people loved." The sentiment of his life and ministry was "I shall preach the truth whatever may be the consequences."
Several of the Rev. Mr. Segur's discourses were published at the request of his hearers. Among these were the following : The Relation and Re- sponsibilities of Pastor and People; The True Manhood; The Nation's Hope; National Blessings and Duties.
JABEZ SHUMWAY, ESQ.
JABEZ SHUMWAY, son of Amos and Ruth (Parker) Shumway, was born August, 1746, in Oxford, Mass. He came a young man, in 1767, to Medway, and was employed first by Capt. Nathaniel Whiting in his grist mill near the site of the present Sanford Mills in Medway Village. By pru- dence and economy, having accumulated a little money, he was negotiating for the purchase of a farm adjoining the " Arnold Factory" property in North Bellingham, when the Continental currency was repudiated, and he was thus deprived of the means to make the purchase. Discouraged, he re- turned to his native town, Oxford, Mass. Two years later, however, he came back to Medway and rented the farm of Seth Holbrook, Partridgetown, and in 1783 purchased the farm of William Ellis, which included what was known as Rabbit Hill and the land since occupied by his descendants, and known as the Shumway homestead. Mr. Shumway was a man of excellent judgment, and very systematic in his habits. He had the fullest confidence of his fellow-townsmen and was often called to the service of executor and ad- ministrator of estates and to fill offices in the town. There is a diary kept by Mr. Shumway now in the possession of a descendant, A. A. Shumway, Esq., of Philadelphia, which betrays, somewhat, the habits and the character of the man. In this journal he recorded brief notices of all extra religious gather- ings, such as Fast and Thanksgiving days, ordinations, installations, etc., with the names of the preacher and a memorandum of the text, for example : " Bellingham, July 20, 17So was State Fast on the reducion of Charls- town. Psalms lxxxv., S. D. Sanford."
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Important statistics and events that came under his observation were also chronicled. "June 10, 1776 The number of men wimen and childeren in Medway 925."
" Bellingham May 19th 17So, this Day was remarkably Dark, it was at the darkest betwene one and twelve o'clock. It was so dark that I could not see to read." He served on one or more of the brief enlistments of " minute- men " which were made during the Revolutionary War upon special "alarms" and makes a note of one such instance in his diary : "Medway Dec. S, 1776 was a Larromi for Provedence and Capt. Joseph Lovel marchet his com- pany of 33 men and I came home the 19 day of December 1776."
REV. ETHAN SMITH.
ETHAN SMITH, son of Dea. Elijah and Sybil (Worthington) Smith, was born Dec. 19, 1762, in Belchertown, Mass. He was a soldier in the War of the Revolution and stationed at West Point at the time that post was betrayed by Arnold. He graduated in 1790 from Dartmouth College, entered the ministry, and was installed in 1792 pastor of the Congregational Church in Haverhill, N. H., where he remained eight years. He was then installed, March 12, ISoo, pastor of the Congregational Church in Hopkinton, N. H., and resigned in ISIS. The Rev. Mr. Smith was then pastor in Hebron, N. Y., from ISIS to IS21, and from Nov. 21, IS21, to December, 1826, in Poultney, Vt., from May 16, 1827, to June 2, 1832, in Hanover, Mass., and subsequently he was a city missionary, also agent of the Bible Society in Boston, Mass. The ministry of the Rev. Mr. Smith continued to the close of his life, and was one of great usefulness, marked by revivals of great power. During his pastorate in Hopkinton, N. H., one hundred and ninety- two persons were added to the church. He was the author of several pub- lished works besides sermons. Among these were : View of the Trinity, Dissertations and the Prophecies, Lectures on Baptism, Memoirs of Mrs. Bailey, 1815, Key to Revelation, The Tribes of Israel in America, 1825, etc. The Rev. Mr. Smith married, Feb. 4, 1793, Bathsheba Sanford, daugh- ter of the Rev. David Sanford, of West Medway. Mrs. Smith died April 5, 1835, at Pompey Hill, N. Y. The Rev. Mr. Smith died Aug. 29, 1849, in the eighty-seventh year of his age, at the residence of his son-in-law, the Rev. William A. Sanford, of Boylston, Mass. He preached with great animation and impressiveness the Sabbath before the last brief illness which terminated his life. The Rev. Mr. Smith had one son who was an emi- inent physician in Newark, N. J., three of his daughters married ministers and two sons were ministers. The Rev. Carlos Smith was for many years a pastor in Ohio, and the Rev. Stephen Sanford Smith was settled in Fay- etteville, N. Y., in Westminster and Warren, Mass. He spent his later years in Chicago, Ill. In IS71 he made a journey to the East, and died at the house of his sister, in Worcester, Mass. His last pulpit service was in Medway Village Church, on the Sabbath preceding his death, and he was, expected to preach there the next Sabbath, but on Saturday while making preparations to leave Worcester for Medway, he suddenly died. He had selected his manuscript sermons for the next day and one of them was on this text : " I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness."
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DEA. JOHN SMITH.
JOHN SMITH, son of worthy parents, was born May 19, 1796, in Breckin, Scotland. His father was a carpenter, and his mother, one of the Middleton stock, was, as he said, an " honest, persevering, frugal, far-sighted woman, anxious for her children, and earnestly desiring that they might live to be good." At nine he was sent into the country to work on a farm, as a herd-boy, attending school only in winter. When thirteen, his father died, leaving five children, of whom John was the oldest, and for five years he worked as a mill-wright in Breckin. He embarked in August, 1816, for America. The passage took fifty-two days, and he narrowly escaped ship- wreck, but landed finally at Halifax, N. S. He then shipped for Boston, Mass. After some years, about 1S20, he went to Medway, where he remained a year and a half. Then he met Mr. Joseph Faulkner, of Andover, and Mr. Warren Richardson, of Medway, with whom he formed a partner- ship, under the firm name of " John Smith & Company." They located at Plymouth, and began the manufacture of cotton machinery. He afterwards spoke of this as appearing to him the most important period of his life. "I felt," he said, " that all the honor or dishonor would come on me, as my partners' names did not appear." From that time the strength and greatness of the man began to be developed.
The firm bought the Frye Village (Andover) water privilege, and located its business there in IS24. From 1831, both partners having died, Mr. Smith carried on the business successfully alone for three years. Meantime his brother, the late Dea. Peter Smith, had arrived ; and also the late Mr. John Dove. Mr. Dove proposed the manufacture of shoe thread and linen twine, and the Smith Brothers and Mr. Dove formed a firm, known for some thirty years as "Smith, Dove & Company," and since 1864 as the "Smith and Dove Manufacturing Company." Thus began one of the most successful business enterprises in the history of New England ; each partner amassed a large property and gave away liberal sums in benevolence.
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