o^ iHc (A '^1 i^ % se if Ls??a " C ^ Vi ffliayj^ 0^ \) Sfi3»*' DATE DUE '^\ y'^ bs/.-K--^ ;"- \ ■ 77- Hubbell, Andrew L., 383. Hull, James V/., iii. Jones, Edward A., 156. Jones, Edward D. G., 152. Kellogg, Ensign H., 221. Kelly, John F., 278. Kennedy, Alexander, 230. Maclnncs, William D., 213. Martin, Charles C., 215. McLaughlin, Thomas H., 340. McNulty, William B., 264. Merchant, Louis A., 310. Miller, George F., 376. Miller, James F., 228. Millet, Wilfrid A., 246. Morton, William S., 416. Nickerson, Thomas W., Jr., 276. Noxon, John F., 257. Parker, James K., 347. Plumb, Arthur W., 305. Pomcroy, Theodore, 148. Quackenbush, Cebra. 186. Ramsdell, Theodore G., 238. Rice. William B., 163. Richmond, Clinton Q., 128. Roberts," Frederick A., 237. Roberts. Oscar S., 114. Russell, Franklin W., 209. Russell, Henry R., 211. Russell, Hezekiah S., 210. Russell, John C, 171. Russell, Parley A., 170. Russell, Solomon L., 207. Russell, Solomon N., 206. Russell, The Family, 204. Sabin, Charles D., 270. Seeley, John M., 219. Slocum, Edward T., 258. Smith, Amos, 387. Smith, Henry M., 421. Smith, John D., 249. Southworth, Constant, 346. Stevenson, John M., 252. Swift, Lawrence C, 136. Todd, John, 179. Tucker, George H., 286. Tucker, George J.. 286. Tucker. Joseph, 118. V/arren, Francis E., 158. Waterman. Andrew J., 234. Waters, Frank M., 408. W^easer, W'illiam H., 424. Welch, Thomas P., 348. W'eston, Byron, 402. Weston, Franklin, 405. Weston, The Family, 401. Whitaker, Valmore A., 412. White, Henry M., 422. White, John, 291. Whitlock, F. W.. 381. Wilcox, Marshall, 175. Wood. Joseph H.. 131. Wood, William P., 133. BERKSHIRE COUNTY. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE. As Berkshire, in the Valley of the llianies, is one of the most beautiful counties of England, so is its American namesake one of the most picturesque in all the Xew \\'orl(l. As described by Godfrey Greylock, it is a " region of hills and valleys, of lake and stream. The inexhaustible variety of its vistas is wonderful. It is mar\-elous in its endless series of combinations. \Mierever one goes he meets a suc- cession of changes which at once charm the eye and delight the heart. For material ends, the county is rich in ijrdductixe farm lands, fine water power, luxuriant timber, iron and marble."' It affords a peculiarly interesting' and instructive field for nearly every class of observers and students — -the scientist, the historian, the antiquarian, the philosopher, the poet and the painter, and all these ha\e gained knowledge or in- sjjiration within its borders. The Berkshire region presents a wonderfully picturesque diversi- fication of mountain and walley, and scarcely can lie found a viewpoint which does not command a landscape of surpassing beauty. The moun- tains ha\'e for their principal peak the world-famous Greylock, rising to an altitude of more than thirty-five hundred feet. The Hoosac range is famous for its great railroad tunnel nearly five miles in length. This and the Taconic range embrace a valle}" of from five to ten miles in width, with minor valleys enclosed by side spurs of the mountains. The Taconic range is crowned by j\lt. Everett, rising to a height of 2 BERKSHIRE COUNTY 2624 feet. Besides, there are numerous otlier lofty peaks which, seen fr.om a distance, adorn the hnidscape, and, when surmounted, command an admirable view of ^•alle^• and stream. Grand old Greylock is made extended mention of elsewhere in this narrative. Mount Everett, in the town of Mt. Washington, in the extreme southwestern part of the county, is scarcelv less famous. Indeed, at one time it was more widely known and more generally vis- ited. These two great peaks have been termed " the twin sentinels of the county." Dr. Timothy Dwight, in his " Travels in New England," wrote of Mount E^'erett : '■' Taghconic, clad at this time in misty grandeur, partly embosomed and partly capped by clouds, particularly ornaments the landscape. Its sides are not precipitous, nor its summit angular, but it is everywhere limited l\v lines which are flowing and graceful. This fact has always appeared to some to sensibly diminish its magnificence ; still it is a highly sublime object." In 1845 Dr. Edward Hitchcock, president of Amherst College, made the ascent of the mountain, and remarked in his printed account of his trip: " It is surprising how little is known of this scenei'y in other parts of Massachusetts. I doubt whether nine out of ten of oiu* intelligent citizens beyond Berkshire county are not ignorant of the existence of such a to\\nship within our limits. And even in the vicinity, very few have ever heard of the scenery of that place, which almost repays a lover of nature for a voyage across the Atlantic." On this visit Dr. Hitchcock gave the mountain the name of Mount Everett, it having been previously known as ** the Peak," or " Tagh- conick." Dr. Hitchcock's innovation was exceedingly distasteful to Dr. Orville Dewey, who protested vigorously, and he was warmly sec- onded by Miss Catherine Sedgwick, who penned the following lines : BERKSHIRE COUNTY 3 Oh, call it not Mount Everett ! Forever 'tis the Dome Of the great temple God has reared In this our Berkshire home. And let the name the red man gave To- all this mountain range So' sacred be that other term Shall seem an utterance strange. Taghconick — what that name imports — Has been but vainly guessed, As Urim let it reverence claim, Worn on that rugged breast. Berkshire is essentially a land of lakes. They number fifty or more, and lie for the greater part in the southern portion of the county. Most widely known abroad, probably, is " The Stockbridge Bowl," the proper name of which is Lake Mahkeenac, and which was the sub- ject of a poem by Mrs. Sigourney : " And many a son of Berkshire skies, Those men of noble birth, Though now, perchance, their roofs may rise In far, or foreign earth — Shall on this well remembered vase With thrilling bosom gaze, And o'er its mirror'd surface trace The joys of earlier days." ' • 4 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Otlier lakes famons for their beauty are Pontoosuc lake, Onota lake, and Lake Biiel. None of the numerous Avatercourses are navigable, but the waters of several afford power for various industrial establishments. The Housatonic river pursues a meandering course of about seventy miles before its escape beyond the ccnmty Ijounds. It is formed by two prin- cipal streams ^^•hich have their union in Pittsfield — the eastern branch, made by the rivulets from the hills of Windsor, Peru, Hinsdale, and Washington ; and the western branch, which has its fountain head near the southern border of New Ashford. The Plousatonic flows southerly through Lenox, Lee and Stockbridge, along the western base of Monu- ment mountain, and thence onward into and through the state of Con- necticut, until it kjses itself in Long" Island. The ])rinci|jal afiluent of the Housatonic is Green river. Next of importance after the Housatonic is the Hoosac, flowing through Cheshire, Adams and North Adams, along the north side of Greylock, and on into Vermont. Among other streams are the Farmington, the Deerfield, and the Westfield. It is said that in the tmvn of Peru is a house so situated upon a mountain peak that the rain from one of the sides of its roof falls into the W^estfield, and that from the other side into the Housatonic. Two striking natural curiosities are of interest to all visitors : The Natural Bridge in North Adams, and the Balanced Rock in Lanes- l>oro. Idle Natural Bridge has been formed liy the ;iction of the waters of Hudson's brook, which have wcn'n a channel through a mass of solid marble, leaving tlie \\alls sixty feet high in some places, and a roof ^^•hich forms the l)ridge over the chasm. Hawthorne, in his " American Note Book," likened it t(j " a heart that has been rent asunder b\- a torrent of nassion." The Balanced Rock is a relic of the glacial period, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 5 brought from the far north with the great ice mass movement — an immense 1>onlcler resting njion its own pi\'ot, and so evenly lialanced that it may be readily moved with a lever. The minerals of Berkshire have been objects oi constant interest to scientists, and of great pecuniar}^ valne to land owners and mannfac- tnrers. Professor James D. Dana, in an address on " Berkshire Geo- logy," delivered in 1885 before the Berkshire Historical Society, pro- nounced some of the rocks to be of undoubted archaean ag"e — the oldest known, formed nearest to the time when the earth had its beginning' — and identified one archaean area about seven miles east of Pittsfield, in a railroad cut a short distance north of the Hinsdale station. The limestone formation is a portion of the bed which extends from Long Island Sound through Connecticut and Massachusetts into Ver- mont. From this has been cjuarried the dark blue limestone of which the Berkshire .Vthenaeum was l)uilt. Ahuijle is abundant, generally white or lightly clouded, but often blue or grey. The white marble has long been in great demand. The principal portion of the court house in Pittsfield is built of white marble from a Sheffield quarry, and the base- ment walls of a gre^"ish marble from the same place, which also pro- vided the white marl:)le for the completion of the National Monument in Washington City. The marlde for the city hall in New York City was from West Stockbridge : that for the capitol extension in Washington City and for the city hall in. Philadelphia was from Lee; and that for Girard College, in Philadelph.ia. was from Egremont. A cjuarry in Great Barrington long furnished from its C|uartz rock a superior fire stone which was used for many years for hearths for iron blast furnaces. Extensive beds of white quartz sand are located in Savoy. Cheshire, Lanesboro and Washington. This sand is the purest and best in the world for glass making, and thousands of tons of it are annually 6 BERKSHIRE COUNTY shipped to leading glass works in various parts of the country. For- merly glass manufacturing was carried on in the county, but has been abandoned for economic reasons. Iron exists in considerable quanti- ties, and until recent 3'ears numerous furnaces were operated. Nearly all have now been closed, iron ore being produced more cheaply else- where. Of other minerals, kaolin, a species of clay valuable for the manufacture of pottery, is found in New Marlboro, mica and slate in West Stockbridge, and soapstone near Waheonah Falls. Our mountains, wood-crowned, cheer the gazing eye, — Whence bursting rills in constant murmurs flow* ; Health vigorous walks beneath th' untainted sky, And peace and joy our heaven-bless'd dwellings know. Old Greylock at the north uplifts his head. And kindly looks on Learning's vale below-; And southward, Washington, of bulk outspread, O'erpeers rich plains, wdiere winding rivers flow. 5|c ^ ^ ;[j^ ^ ^ :jt ^ Yon Saddle-Mountain in its azure hue. All-mingled with the thoughts and scenes of yore, Oh, with what joy it rises to thy view, Son of Pontcosuc ! at thy home once more ! So every son of Berkshire turns his eye To some old mountain-head, of much-loved form, Majestic rising in the cloudless sky. Or turban'd thick with drapery of the storm. — Stanzas selected from a poem delivered of the Berkshire Jubilee, Aug. 22, 1844, by Williann Allen, D. D. P4 o BERKSHIRE COUNTY 9 Greylock Reservation. A large part of the magnificent mountain region of Berkshire county has heen set apart hy the state as the Greylock Reservation — one of three, the others being \A'achnsett and Ahumt Tom. The Grey- lock Reser\'ation had its beginning in the effort of gentlemen throughout the county who were interested in. preserving" its bountiful forests from wasteful commercial destruction. North Adams and Williamstown were chiefiy acti^•e in forming what was known as the Greylock Park Association, which owned four hundred acres of land on the summit. This association built the road to the summit from the north, and erected an adecpiate iron tower. The tolls charged were not sufficient to main- tain the road and develop the park. The mountain had been usually ascended from the north and the west ; there was no road to Greylock from IMttsfield, and, with the exception of a few persons, was not often visited from that direction. Greylock was taken under state charge by statute in 1898, and was further provided for by successive legislative enactments in 1900 and IQ04. The original act of assembly restricted the reservation to " not to exceed ten tliousand acres." l^rior to January i, 1904, the reserva- tion commission had purchased and acquired by gift about 5.483 acres. From the appropriation of 1904 about 1,374 acres are to be added, mak- ing the total area, when this purpose is carried out, 6,587 acres. It is hoped to increase the acreage from further state appropriations until the reservation will embrace aliout 8.216 acres. Hon. Francis W. Rockwell, of the commission, in a recently published letter, states that '' the reservation may in the end include the Imnch of hills in the south- easterly part of Williamstown. the northeasterl}- part of Xew Ashford, the southeasterly part of Adams, and the hills along the westerly line 10 BERKSHIRE COUNTY of Adams, extending into the southwesterly part of North Adams." Adjoining- the northeasterly part of the reservation as now acquired, the city of North Adams owns about eight hundred acres, used for a reservoir and water supply, which will be kept by the city in harmony with the general purposes of the state reservation. The county of Berkshire annually appropriates fifteen hundred dollars '* for the care and maintenance of the reservation." Individuals have aided the commission in various ways, by gifts of land and money, and by their efforts in forwarding the purposes of that body. The com- missioners serve without compensation. They are appointed for six years, one each two years. The first board was composed of John Bas- com, of Williamstown; Francis W. Rockwell, of Pittsfield ; and A. B. Mole, of Adams. Mr. Mole rendered valuable service until his re- moval to Montreal. He was succeeded by G. S. Wilkinson, of North Adams. On his death, Mr. W. H. Sperry, of the same citv, received the appointment and is the present commissioner. A custodian acting under the commission occupies, with his family, the little house on the sunnmJt of Greylock. His duties are to cut out trails for approaches to the mountain, keep the roadways to and over it, superintend changes in the road or laying out spur-roads, and keep a lookout for forest fires. His family, for a small compensation, serve lunch to^ visitors. Tlie Greylock Reservation is the pride of the Berkshires, and pre- sents an unending field for study. It is noted the world over for the variety of its scenery, and Greylock mountain, its principal peak, the highest point in the State of Massachusetts, commands a view of widest scope and unsurpassable beauty, and is annually visited by about ten thousand people. These visitors begin to arrive alx)ut the middle of May, and are numerous until early in October. Some drive from North Adams, a distance of nine miles ; others from Pittsfield, sixteen miles, Pi H BERKSHIRE COUNTY 13 the drive either way occupying ahnnt four hours. Many enthusiastic pedestrians walk from W'ilh'amstown. from Adams, and from Cheshire Harl^or. There are foot trails from the W'illiamstown side of the moun- tain thnjugh " the H(t])i)er." one frcim North Adams through " the Notch," a distance of ahout five miles in either case. Probably the first white men in the region now known as Berk- shire county were Alajor Talcott's column of British troops, which in 1676 passed over a route lying through the present towns of West Otis, Monterey and Great Barrington. Settlement of the region was in one Avay delayed and in another hastened by the uncertainties concerning the precise boundary line between Massachusetts and New York. It is as- serted that the first to come were from New York, and settled at ]Mt. \\^ashington as earh- as 1693, a Hallenbeck being named as the first settler, and the next a Van Valkenburg. Local annalists, however, do not seem to recognize these as bona fide settlers, and they accord that pre-eminence to Obadiah Noble, who came from Westfield and settled in what is now Sheffield, and who the next year after his coming brought a sixteen-year-old daughter. Nolile came in 1725, being the first land occupant in Berkshire under a Massachusetts grant co\ering two town- phii)s, and under \\hich was occupied, at least in part, the territory now known as Sheffield, Great Barrington, Alford, Kgremont and Stock- bridge. These lands came to the whites with a fiawless title, directly acc|uired from the Indians, who acce])ted three barrels of cider and thirtv quarts of rum as a just consideration. The next step in the settlement of the Berkshire region was under a grant of land for four townships along the route betv^een \\'estfiel(l and Sheffield. The main i)urpose was the making and maintenance of a ]):issable road Ijetween the Con- 14 BERKSHIRE COUNTY necticut and Honsatonic rivers, for military purposes, affording a line for troops and supplies to the Canada frontier. What was called " the Great Road from Boston to Alhany." between Blanford, Hampden county, and Great Barrington, was traversed by the troops under Major General Amherst, marching to the capture of Fort Ticonderoga; and upon it, from Saratoga to Boston, marched the captured army of Bur- goyne, who, himself, was lodged for one night at Tyringham. The coming of Noble was the precursor of an immigration which was slow for some years, and attended with a degree of discomfort almost inconceivable at the present day, as may be discerned fromi a portion of a letter written by one of the later immigrants, and quoted by Mr. Charles J. Palmer, of Lanesborough, in a historical paper : " Berkshire County, and what it has done for the World :" " My father and mother, with three children, started for Berkshire in a cart containing the provision for the journey, and all the house- hold goods, drawn by a yoke of oxen. We traveled from five tO' eight miles a day, much of the way through a wilderness where roads had to be cut and bridges made. After a journey of a month's time we reached our new home, a log hut. Our cabin was very small, and we had to partition off nearly half of it for a fold for our sheep to keep them from the wolves, whose nightly howling echoed among the sur- rounding mountains. After three years my father conceived the idea cf building" a frame house, but was cautioned by the neigilibors against so wild a project." The general appearance of the county at the time of its settlement we can not so well describe as has been done by the gifted pen of Mr. J. E. A. Smith, the historian of Pittsfield : "If from some neighboring mountain top, the pioneer, as he ap- proached, gained a view of the amphitheatre which lay below, the scene was one to enchant even the most prosaic heart. All the minor irreg- cq ' K BERKSHIRE COUNTY 17 ularities, all the sharper angles, were softened and rounded l>y an enamel of forest, in which were embossed the rolling" outlines of hill and valley. Idle landscape stretching through a range of fifty miles presented, until all other hues were lost in the blue of distance, the unln^oken green of waving- tree tops — save where through a few chance opening's, the Housatonic flashed back the simlight. or some shimmering glimpse of lakelet revealed its lonely surface upon which, perhajis, still lingered the graceful bark of a wandering Mohegan. At inter\als, in the sea of green, a spot of darker verdure, where the boughs stirred more stiffly to the breeze, betrayed the lurking place of the gloomy and freciuent hemlock swamps. Around the southern borders of Lake Shoonkeek- Moonkeek, and on some of the Taconic hills, glowed those noble groves of pine, whose fame, attended by a few not unworthy relics, remains to this day. As he descended the mountain side by Unkamet's road, or some other rude ]>ath, it would have been strange had not his ear been greeted by the growl of a bear, the howl of the wclf, or the cries of the wildcat and the Canadian lynx ; for all then had their dens among the tumbled rocks of the neighboring ravines. As he ])roceeded, he might have caught a vanishing glimpse of a fox's brush, or the bristling quills of a i)orcupine. He was pretty sure to startle a brace of rabbits, and send a wood-chuck burrowing to his hole ; while scjuirrels — red, black, grey, and striped — gambolled by scores up and down the shaggy sides of the great trees. The skunk made his presence known, and perhaps a raccoon, on some fallen mossy trunk, challenged a shot from the ever- ready firelock. But that, the marksman doubtless reserved for the moose ^vhich might ipresently peer at him from the recesses of the for- est, the deer that was almost sure to dash across his path, or the wild turkey stalking among' the ferns, .\bove him the eagle and the hawk swept in dizzy circles. From the dank borders of the lake the shrill scream of the loon and the harsh note of the heron saluted him. The 1)lack duck swung on the still waters, and possibl}- a sea P'ull. which had wandered inland with the mist of the sea, dijiped its white wing along their surface. All the feathered hrjst, which with bright hues or melodious song makes glad New England woods, fluttered among the o\'erhanp"ino' branches." Iiarlv life :ind. customs in Berkshire were \i\idly described b}- Mr. Alexander Hyde in his historical paper on that subject, published in " Collections of the Berkshire Historical and Scientific Society," in 1899: 18 BERKSHIRE COUNTY " In the \-alley of tlie Housatonic and Hoosac the forest must be jeveled and burned before a hill of beans could be raised. The first thing to be done was to build a hut that might serve as a protection from the weather and the Avoh'es. This was quite uniformly constructed of logs, notched together at the ends, with the interstices plastered with mud. The chimney was rudely built up of stones, which were also stuck together with mud. and the roof was formed of hemlock boughs. Sometimes the hut was built against some huge boulder, or some steep hill, which served as a back to both shanty and chimney, and one of the early settlers boasted a good deal of this style of architecture, claim- ing that it was very convenient, as he could feed his fire from the chim- ney top, and it saved time and labor in cutting and splitting the wood. No patent, however, was taken out for the invention, and the style be- came obsolete when saw mills and brick kilns were introduced. These log houses were pretty rough structures, as the axe and spade were the only implements employed in their construction. No wonder that a visitor from Cape Cod, as he came in sight of one of these houses, re- marked to the guide, ' See, there is a hog-pen with a chimney to it.' ' Be quiet,' was the reply, ' that is where your uncle lives.' " The interior arrangements and furnishings were in keeping with the exterior. There were no floors, for there were no boards, neither were there chairs or tables. The bedstead posts were crotched sticks dri\-en into the ground, and in the crotches were placed two stout sa]> lings, one at the head and the other at the foot, and on these were put lengthwise some slight elastic poles, serving the purpose of slats. Pine or hemlock boughs served for a mattress. The cooking utensils were a skillet and a spider, and the closet possibly contained a pewter cup and platter, and perhaps a wooden trencher. Clean birch bark frequently supplied the place of plates. The food was mostly fish and game, both of which were almndant. The local nomenclature of Beikshire is interestingly significant, as pointing c;ut the origin of the people who came to settle it. The subject was made the theme of an interesting paper by Charles J. Palm- m &^'~,:^^^*^^ Flora's Glen. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 21 er, and this lia? been largely drawn up^n for the information herein contained. Tyringham deri\-es its name from the Tyringham in Eng- land, which was connected with, the family of (iovernor Bernard. Egre- mont was so called for Charles \\'indham. Earl of Egremont, who was secretar}' of state in England when the town was incorporated. Shef- field was named for Sir Edmund Sheffield, second Duke of Buckingham, grandson of James II. Becket took its name from the Ijirthplace of Governor Bernard, in Berkshire, England. Alarlljorough was named after the town of the same name in England. Great Barrington prolj- ably was named after Lord Barrington, of England, then deceased, who during his life had manifested an especial interest in the New England colonies. The di^•isional line between IMassachusetts and Rhode Island was unsettled and in controversy ; the town of Barrington, now in Rhode Island, lav near the disputed line, and, as it was uncertain whether a final adjustment would leave it in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, to obxdate the possible inconvenience of having two towns of the same name in tlie province, it was determined to call the new town Great Barrington. Stockbridge appears to have lieen named for the English town of the same name. Pittsfield was named after \\'i!liam Pitt, then prime minister of England. W^indsor was named after Windsor. Connecticut, which was named for the English A\'indsor, in Berkshire. Lenox and Richmond were originally one town, named after diaries Lenox. Duke of Richmond, and when the town was divided one town took his name, and the other that which belonged to his distingTiishing title. Lanesborough was so named for the Countess of Lanesborough. of Ireland, who was a court favorite, and a friend of the governor of Massachusetts. It is of interest to note that the Lane family of Ireland were ardent friends of the American cause, and sought to create a rebellion in Ireland at the time of the American revolution. 22 BERKSHIRE COUNTY New Framingham, the former name of Lanesboro, was named from the Framingham in Middlesex county, whence came the greater part of the early settlers, (jneensliorongh, the original name of West Stock- bridge, was gi^•en it in honor of the queen of George III, but was dropped at the beginning of the revolution. The other towns in the county are named in greater part for revolutionai-y worthies, or after individuals who located manufacturing industries. Few Indian names are preserved. On account of its position on the line of communication between New England and Canada, Berkshire was situated very much as were the '' Border States " of Virginia. Kentucky and Missouri during the Civil war. The Indians, entirely familiar with the region, and in- spired by the rewards offered by the French f(3r American scalps, kept the settlers in constant dread. The relics of various of the old forts and stockades, and the sites of others which have entirely disappeared, are elocjuent reminders of the courage and endurance of the earlv set- tlers of those times — of their privations, sufferings and dangers, and even of cruel deaths at the hands of a savage foe. The preservation and identification of these historic sites and the perpetuation of historical records have been effected primarily through the instrumentality of various patriotic societies, who by their works have proven themselves real guardians of the fame of their forbears — the Berkshire Chapter of the Massachusetts Society, Sons of the American Revolution; the Berkshire Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution; the Berk- shire County Historical and Scientific Society; the Fort Massachusetts Historical Society, etc. Nor must be omitted from this mention refer- ence to the arduous labors of one of the most active members of various of these bodies, the late lamented Rollin Hillyer Cooke. Among other notable efforts, he was primarily instrumental in locating the sites of BERKSHIRE COUNTY 23 many of the forts of the col(3nial and revolutionary periods, and was among- the first to nrg-e that they should be suitably marked. He also sought out and was instrumental in securing a marker for the site of the ancient Indian fort in Xew Ashford, from which the town took its name (Ashfort) ; and he also located the last resting places of soldiers of the Revolutionary war. Fort Massachusetts, in North Adams, figures mosi prouiinently among the forts in Berkshire county during the French and Indian wars. Ihis was attacked by a French and Indian force in 1746, and was compelled to surrender owing to the enfeebled condition of the garrison through sickness, and want of ammunition. The prisoners were taken to Canada, many dying on the journey. Those who sur- vived were liumanely treated, and subsequently liberated. The fort, which was destroyed, was afterward rebuilt. Others of the old de- fenses were the forts at Pittsfield — Fort Anson, near the Bea\-er street crossing of the east branch of the Housatonic river: Fort Fairfield, on the Holmes road, between the Housatonic river and the Sam])son resi- dence; and Fort Ashley, southwest of Oncta lake, on the hill after- ward occupied by the Daniels residence. Against the pitiful side of the story of these trying davs is set the narrative of the Rev. John Sergeant's missionarv work among" the Stockbridge Indians — a story at once inspiring and pathetic. His, the first attenipt to civilize and christianize the American red man, was made in face of all manner of discouragement and o]>position, and intensely pleasing- is the recollection of the strong impression for giood which he left upon those he came to enlighten, h^jr the Stockbridge Indians proved a tower of defense to New Fngland, and so liighly did \\'ash- ington esteem their services durine the Revolution that, at the close 24 BERKSHIRE COUNTY of the struggle, in l::eh:ilf of the infant nation and for himself, he puh- liclv hore witness to his appreciation and gratitude. John Sergeant undert()o>k his mission under the auspices of the Church of England Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the work enlisted a widesjiread interest among chiu'chmen and hunrmita- rians in th.e Ahither Countr}-. The Re\-. Isaac Hollis, of London (a nephew of Hollis, the dis- tinguished l^enefactor of Har\-ard College), of- fered to support twent}' of the Stockbridge Indians at an annual charge of five hundred pounds. The Rev. Dr. Watts sent to Sergeant se\'enty pounds, collected from among- his friends, and also a copy of his treatise on " The Im- provement of the Mind," a little volume which is a cherished memorial among the descendants of Sergeant to the pres- ent day. Among other su|)porters of Sergeant were the Prince of AA^ales, the Duke of Cumberland, the Duke of Dorset, Lord Cower, and others. iM'ancis Ayscough, clerk of the closet and first chaplain to the Prince of Wales, sent to Sergeant a copy of the Holy Scriptures, in two large folio \ (flumes, embellished with engravings, in which was inscribed : " Presented by Dr. Ayscough to Rev. John Sergeant, mis- Stockbridge iMonument. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 25 sionary to the Stockliridge Tndi:ins, in the vast wilderness called Xew England."' Sergeant found greater obstacles to contend against than the pa- ganism of the Indians, in the lawlessness and imnioralitv of many of the white settlers. Rum was a principal agency of the white traders, but happily the influence of the missi(,nary was so commanding and the good sense and moral ])rinci]ile of many of the red men so strong that a barrier was reared against this demoralizing traflic. A year after Sergeant had begun his labors, the Indians formally agreed " to have no trading in rum."' The General Court further protected them by the enactment of a law (antedating the Maine liquor law by more than a century) making the sale of strong drink to an Indian a criminal of- fense. The traders endeavored to influence the Indians against this policy by the same arguments used in opposition to present-day prohibi- tion, urging that the inhi1)ition was depri\'ation ci their personal lilierty rights; but the influence of their pastor was sufficiently great to con- vince them that the law was enacted for their welfare. A curious side- !ight ui-'on this matter appears in the deplorable fact that the prohibition of liquor applied to the In.dians only, and the records of a neighboring town show that, at the raising- of the frame of a church, among other pro\'isions made, it was ^•oted to procure three l)arrels of beer and twenty gallons of rum. Sergeant, in his work among the Indians, anticipated one of the foremost sociological mo\-ements of the present day, the principle of the Uni\'ersity Settlement and the establishment of a school such as that at Hampton Court, where the Indians should be t.aught not only from l)Ooks, but along jiractical lines, farming, tiie ordinar_\- industrial avocations, liousekeeping and domestic cconomw At the same time, Sergeant anticipated the home missionary effort of the present age, by 26 BERKSHIRE COUNTY training- native preachers to carry the Gospel to distant tribes. Among his scholars were some \vho, inspired by him, studied later at Harvard and Dartmcjuth, and proved shining lights in their day and generation. Of this early day there is pleasant reminiscence in a letter to the " Boston Post Boy " of September 3. 1739, written from Stockbridge, and which contains the following: "There is a church gathering and fourteen Indian communicants; the number of the baptiz'd is near sixty. While I was at Stockbridge, the Rev. Mr. Sargeant (the minister there) was married to Mrs. Abigail Williams, a virtuous and agreeable young gentlewoman, daughter of Ephraim Williams, Esq. There were ninety Indians present at the marriage, who behaved with great gravity while the prayers were beingt made, yea, during the whole ceremony, and seem'd exceedingly well pleased that their minister was married; they show him great respect, etc. And I hope he may prove yet a great blessing among them, and be instrumental of turning many of them from darkness to light." On the death of Jolin Sergeant, he was succeeded by Jonathan Edwards, even then a scholar of unusual ability, and who in his work as teacher among the mingled whites and Indians had an able assistant in his wife, Sarah Pierrepont Edwards. After his death the schools for Indians, male and female, were continued under succeeding teachers, the last being John Sergeant, son of the missionary. While he was their pastor the Stockbridge Indians, with him as their head, removed to the Oneida country, in central New York, and with their removal ends the story of their relation to Berkshire county. Originally a part of the old county of Hampshire, that of Berk- shire was given its identity under its present name in 1761, by action of the General Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in the first year of the reign of George III. This was fifteen years before the BERKSHIRE COUNTY 27 colonies declared their independence, and a little more than a half cen- tury before the neighboring counties of Hampshire and Franklin were created. Courts were first held at Great Barrington and Pittsfield al- ternately. Lenox was made the shire town in 1787, and remained such until 1868, when Pittsfield became the county seat, which it has since been to the present time. From the outset tlie people of Berkshire were foremost in all move- ments looking toward independence, and which were destined to re- sult in tlie l)irth of a new nation. They were a conglomerate of diverse character, but became substantially one in spirit. Many came from Connecticut, others from Boston. There were ulir^ Puritans, Ana- baptists and Free-thinkers. There were hardy i>ioneers and Indian fight- es, sturdily independent and aggressive, prepared to lead in opposition to whatever seemed to threaten abridg'ement of the natural liberties of the individual man. There were, also, in unusually large proportion for a new community, the highly educated, cultured, even aristocratic. Both were ecjually necessary for the day of great events which was already dawn.ing — the former to take upon themselves a foremost part in the actual revolutionary struggle, though the other class were not wanting here; the latter to exert a constructive influence in the estab- lishment of civil institutions after that struggle should have ended. As elsewhere in all the world's history during the progress of civilization and of man's advancement, neither class comprehended the importance of its own acts or their momentous effect upon the future of the country and of the world. To the people of Berkshire county belongs the honor of being among the first (if they were not, as is proba1)le, the very first) in the entire land to take pronounced action ag'ainst British authority. At Sheffield, on January 12, 1773 (more than two years before the famous 28 BERKSHIRE COUNTY " Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence " proclaimed at Mecklen- burg". North Carolina. ]\Iay 20, 1775), the people assembled to con- sider " The grievances which the Americans in general and the inhabit- ants of this province in particular labor under." The report of the committee appointed to \'oice the sentiments of the people, v/ie\ved "with deepest sorrow the design of Great Britain (which is too appar- ent to everv virtuous lover of his country) gradually to deprive us of in\aluable rights and privileges which were transmitted to us by our worthy and independent ancestors;" and professed "the most ami- cable regard and attachment to our most precious sovereign and protest- ant succession as by law established;" but "with that deference and re- spect due to the country on which we are and always hope to be de- pendent, enter upon the following resolves." The first two of the resolutions are remarkable as being almost identical in language to a portion of the Declaration of Independence of July the Fourth, 1776, at Philadelphia: " Resolved, that ]\Iankind in a State of Nature are equal, free and independent of each other, and have a right to the undisturbed Enjoy- ment of their lives, their Liberty and Property. " Resoked, that the great end of Political Society is to secure in a more effectual manner those rights and privileges wherewith God and Nature have made us free." These resolutions (which recited every grievance complained of then or thereafter in any of the Colonies) were read twice in town meet- ing, and unanimously adopted. They were penned by the celebrated Theodore Sedgwick. He was already prominent in national councils, and it is not impossible that the Stockbridge proclamation had a close relationship to the document which was subsequently adopted at Phila- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 29 (lelphia, through iiis association with the leaders of the Congress of 1776. In this connection it is interesting to note that, when the Declara- tion of Independence of 1776, penned hy Thomas Jefferson, was read in a church at Sheffield, a poor slave girl hearing it, said : " It stands to reason that I am free." She sought ]\Ir. (afterwards Judge) Sedg- wick, then a young lawyer, who brought suit to establish her freedom, which the court adjudged upon his plea. These facts were narrated in an address at the Edwards family meeting in Stockbridge in Septem- ber, 1870, by Hon. David Dudley Field, who said this was " the first instance where that famous Declaration was held to mean what it said." From the time of the Sheffield meeting of 1773 there was no halt- ing. Incidentall}- it may be mentioned that at the town meeting- on February 25, 1775, " the present inhuman practice of enslaving our fel- low creatures, the natives of Africa." was called up, but action was de- ferred, " the subject being under the consideration of the General Court." In the same }ear, when British aggression had become so pro- nounced as to threaten the virtual reduction of Massachusetts to the condition of a conquererl province, when, to quote " The Boston Gazette," " The whole continent seemed inspired by one soul, and that a rigorous and determined one," Berkshire was first to hold a county convention, at Stockbridge, ami which body adopted a solemn league and covenant " that we will not import, purchase or consume, or suf- fer any person for. by, or under us. to import, purchase, or consume, in any manner whatever, any goods, wares, or manufactures, which shall arrive in Great Britain, from and after the first day of October next * "^ * until our charter and constitutional rights shall be re- stored."' Shortly afterward a libert}- pole in Sheffield was cut down, and, the two doers cf the deed being identified, one was compelled to 30 BERKSHIRE COUNTY pass before a long line of the inhabitants, beg-ging" pardon of each one; ^v]^!le the other w-as tarred and feathered, and in such dire pbght was forced to knc^dv at the door of every house in the town and make bumble apology. As another instance of the spirit of the times may be noted the fact that, some time liefore tbe Declaration of Independence, tbe people of Pittsfield by vote ordered the erasure of the name of King George from all official insignia, and, as if to sbow their contempt for that sovereign, coupled witb this x-ote a number of miscellaneous pro- visions, one being against hogs running at large. This determined spirit of independence was further made mani- fest even in the relations of the county to the provincial authority. For a considerable period Berkshire was practicalK- administered as an independent principalitv. its inhabitants holding that, 1))- the act of revolution, each political entity had relapsed to entire dependence upon its own inherent powers, that the old provincial charter had been abrogated, and that they would recognize no courts or authority origin- ating in Boston, but would rest upon their own self-government until a state convention should be held and a lawful government organized de novo. To effect the latter end the people of Berkshire took primary action, and it is a well estalilisbed fact that Jonathan Smith, of Lanes- boro, contributed more than all others to the ratification of the Federal Constitution l)y the people of Massachusetts and the erection of a stable government. Concerning this important event the commissioners charged with the publication of the jMassachusetts Colonial Records wM-ote recently to ]\Ir. Charles T. Palmer, of Pittsfield : " While all our people seem to ha\'e shown a genius for code-making and a wonderful apprehension of the j)hilosophv of Republican grjvernment, the honor of being first and most zealous in insisting upon a new constitution, prop- erlv and luwfullv formed, undoubtedlv belongs to the little communitv BERKSHIRE COUNTY 31 scattered along- the extreme western liorder of the province along the beautiful and fertile valleys of the Housatonic. And yet how little ])roniinence is given to this fact in our books of history. It is certainly very modest in the intelligent people of Berkshire not to have claimed more than they have for the achievements of their forefathers." Al- though not immediately related to this subject, it is interesting" to note that it was owing to the earnest and determined effc^rt of men of Pitts- tield that Massachusetts finall}- removed the remaining relics of the most objectionable Puritan legislation, and gave io all religious bodies absolute inde]3endence. and equality in the eyes of the law. Berkshire performed its full share during the Revolutionarv war. Its minute-men marched to Boston on recei\'ip.g" the Lexington alarm. Three of its regiments fought in the liattle (f Bennington, August i6, 1777. With one of these was Pittsfield's famous "Fighting Parson Allen.'' When the news of the approaching conflict came to the vil- lage, Parson Allen assembled his congregation in the meeting iiouse and, musket in hand, called upon his people to accompany him to th^i field. It is claimed for him that lie fired the first shot at Bennington on the American side. Berkshire men were present in the campaign culmina- ting in the capture of Burgoyne and his army at Saratoga. During the war between the I'nited States and Great Britain, 1812-1814, Pittsfield v.as the rendezvous for the Berkshire county vol- u.nteers. There also were congregated the British soldiers captured during the v.ar. The ground occupied by the cantonment then belonged to the United Stales, and comi^-ised, among other territory, the p^round since occupied by the Maplewood Young Ladies' Institute, St. Joseph's (Roman Catholic) Church, and buildings pertaining thereto. At the outlireak of the Civil war, Berkshire county responded with cheerful alacrity, as it did to all subsequent calls, and, wdien the final 32 BERKSHIRE COUNTY accounting was made, it was shown that it sent to the front nearly six thousand men — nearly four hundred ( three hundred and eighty- eight) more than its aggre- gated quota. The county was largely represented in the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment under President Lincoln's first call for sev- enty-five thousand men. The Forty-ninth Regiment was almost entirely made up in the county, which also con- trihuted largely to the ranks of the Tenth, Twenty-first, Thirty-first, Thirty-fourth and Thirty-seventh Regi- ments, and to many others in smaller numbers. One of the most beautiful and impressive soldiers' mcniuments in the United States is that in the* City Park in Pittsfield. The striking figure of the colur-sergeant, in bronze, was modeled by the noted sculptor, Launt Thompson. Among the inscriptions upon the granite column, which are peculiar!}- touching and expressive, are the following: Soldiers" Monument. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 33 " For the Dead, a Tribute." " For the Living, a Memory." " For Posterity, an Emblem of Loyalty to the Flag of their country." It was upon the occasion of the unveiling of this monument, on September 24, 1872, that George William Curtis pronounced one of his most eloquent orations, and his fervent praise is equally applicable to the Soldier of the Union, from whatever town or whatever state: " Let us be grateful for Greece two thousand years ago, and thank God that we live in America today ! The war scattered the glamour of the past and showed us that we, too, live among great virtues, great characters and greaf men. Through these streets the culture of Greece, the heroism of Rome, the patriotism of our own revolution, have marched before your eyes. These elms, like the trees of Ardennes, have shed their tears in dew drops over the unreturning brave. The ground upon which we stand is consecrated by the tread of feet gladly goingi to the noblest sacrifice. And from these throbbing drums and wail- ing horns, still peals the music to which they marched away. They were your sons, Pittsfield and green Berkshire ! They were your com- rades, Massachusetts soldiers ! They were the darlings of your homes, tender hearts that hear me ! And here in this fair figure of heroic youth, they stand as }'ou will alwa\'S recall them — the bloom of immortal youth upon their cheeks; the divine hope of youth in their hearts; the perpetual inspiration of youth to ever}'- beholder. For this is the Ameri- can soldier of the Union ; the messenger of liberty to the captive, and of peace to the nation. This is the perpetual but silent preacher of the gospel of liberty and justice as the only sure foundation of states. ' Beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth glad tid- ings, that publisheth peace, that said untO' Zion, thy God reigiieth! ' " In the same park with " the Color Sergeant " is a lofty flagstaff erected by the city at the opening of the Spanish-American war, from which floats, on occasion, a handsome national flag, the gift of the children of the public schools. How quickly the people of the revolutionary period turned to the arts of peace as soon as war was over, is discernible in the fact that 34 BERKSHIRE COUNTY education l^ecame r)ne of their chief est concerns. Wilhams College, without question the most im]>ortant institution in the Berkshires, from humhle and unpromising beginnings rose to the front rank among American colleges. It has not only been a pioneer in more than one field of scholarship and research, but its religious intluence has been felt to the ends of the earth. A pertinent illustration is found in the folloA\ing: It is related that in the early days of the last century the students were accustomed to meet in the fields for prayer. On one occasion a thunder storm drove them to the shelter of a haystack, and, amid the war of elements, there came to some of them the purpose to "preach the gospel to e\ery creature." Several of the students be- came the first and most notable of American foreign missionaries, and the conferences of \\'illiams CV>llege students led to the organization of that wonderfull}- efficient body, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Other potent educational agencies were the many academies which early dotted the county, and which were the resort of pupils from New York and Boston, indeed, from all over the land, making Berk- shire the seat of a great share of the influence which has made Massa- chusetts the center of literary and educational acti\'ity and helpfulness for the v.hole land. To quote Mr. Palmer : " Every one of these schools was no mere jjlace for giving the fashionable veneering of the ordinary boarding school, but rather the severe round of training in the Spartan virtues of hard, severe, honest, legitimate toil, and earning" QXQvy step of acK'ance achieved. And from these schools, as well as from the mountain farms and hillside slopes (:;'f the Housatonic, there has flowed a constant stream of manlv vigor which has served to re- plenish the wear and waste and strain of manv a town and city in every portion of the land." Nor must be overlooked, as a potent educational Haystack Momiineiit. .if BERKSHIRE COUNTY 37 agency, the libraries which were early established in various towns. The latter contained no flashy novels, but were filled with standard works of history, biography, travels and poetry, and social circles were formed for reading these works. Mr. Hyde, previously quoted, says that young ladies, as they spun wool and flax, would have " Paradise Lost '' or Young's " Night Thoughts " or some other book before them, and read as they spun. Many young women committed to mem- ory entire poems, and were well versed in Rollin's " Ancient History " and " Plutarch's Lives." and (remarks Mr. Hyde) " it has been claimed by some, who had an eye on the first half century of Berkshire as well as the last half, that the matrons of the first period were more con- versant with standard English authors than are their daughters and grand-daughters." Pertinent tO' the same topic is the following from the " Autobiography and Letters of Orville Dewey, D. D. :" " For books to read, the old Sheftield Library was my main re- source. It consisted of about two hundred volumes, — books of the good old fashion, well printed, well bound in calf, and well thumbed, too. What a treasure was there for me! I thought the mine could never be exhausted. At least, it contained all that I wanted then, and better reading, I think, than that which generally engages our youth now- adays, — the great English classics in prose and verse, Addison and Johnson and Milton and Shakespeare, 'histories, travels, and a few novels. The most of these books I read, some of them over and over, often by torchhght, sitting on the floor (for we had a rich bed of old pine-knots on the farm) ; and to this library I owe more than to any- thing that helped me in my boyhood. * * * I remember the time when there were eminent men in Sheffield. Judge Sedgwick com- menced the practice of the law^ here; and there were Esquire Lee, and John W. Hurlbut, and later, Charles Dewey, and a number of profes- sional men besides, and several others who were not professional, but readers, and could quote Johnson and Pope and Shakespeare; my father himself could repeat the ' F.ssay on Man.' 'uid whole books of the ' Paradise Lost.' " 38 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Berksliire was the liome of a notable array of professional men — clergymen, lawyers and physicians — who left a deep impress not only npon their own hvX succeeding' generations. At the beginning the set- tlers were for the greater number Puritan Congregationalists. The business of building churches, settling ministers and providing for their support was transacted in town meeting. To quote Alexander Hyde ('* Early Life and Customs"), "Pastors were settled for life. With scarecely an exception they were graduates from college, and eminent for scholarship, ])iety and practical wisdom. They constituted the aristocracy of the county, using- the term in its original meaning — government by the best. To them the people looked not only for re- ligious instruction, but for counsel in all matters of education and civil polity." Jonathan Hubl^ard, the first pastor in the county, w^as settled in Sheffield in 1735, and died there in 1765. He was settled in the same year John Sergeant was ordained at Deerfield. Mr. Sergeant was succeeded by Jonathan Edwards, pronounced by many to be " the giant intellect of America." After Mr. Edwards was called to the presidencv of Princeton College he was succeeded in his pastoral office by Dr. West, a famous tlieologian, who in the absence of theological seminaries taught numerous divinity students. Dr. West was jsuc- ceeded by Dr. Field. In 1743 Samuel Hopkins, who was to come to large distinction, was settled at Great Barrington, \\here he remained until 1770. when he removed to Newport, Rhode Island. There were also famous preachers in the mountain towns. Rew lliomas Strong settled at New Marlborougii, was succeeded by Dr. Alexander, and he by Dr. Catlin, who' was author of "A Comi>endium oi Theology." Adonijah Bidwell, settled at Tyringham in 175O', was another strong figure, his pastorate covering a period of thirty-four years. Clergy- men were settled in central and northern Berkshire about a cjuarter of BE: .SHIRE COUNTY 39 a century after those in t _ aithern part of the county. The renowned Thomas Allen, the first ;;-i" field pastor, was settled in 1764. He died in 18 10, and was succeecNi '.)y his son, \Villiam Allen, afterward presi- dent of Bowdoin College, . 1 he by Herman Humphrey, who was later called to the presidency ' \mherst College. Dr. Hyde was settled in Lee in 1792, and Dr. S' •.-, \\ at Lenox in 1795. To illustrate the deep feeling of that day, Mr. Rollin H. Cooke, in his paper on the Rev. John Todd, D. D. (published in the Collec- tions of the Berkshire Historical and Scientific Society, 1899), notes a letter written by that eminent divine, in which he refused to attend the funeral of a friend, on account of having tO' take part with a Unitarian minister, ])eginning l^y saying, " I do believe that Unitarianism is not the Gospel of Christ," and closing: " By acceding to your polite invita- tion I come alongside of a L'nitarian minister, and thereby puljlicly ac- knowledge him to be a minister of Jesus Christ. Sir, in \-iew of the judgment day, I dare not do it." And JNIr. Cooke observes : " Yet we criticise the doctrine of papal infallibility." The lawyers of the county, from its foundation, were ever in the lead in social rank, and more especially in jjublic life. \A'hen the county was incorporated (1761) there were only fi\e lawyers in active prac- tice, but they were men of great a1)ility. Among them were John Hug- gins and John Ashley, in Sheftield ; Alark Hopkins, in Great Barring- ton, and Theodore Sedgwick, in Stockl)ridge. The first lawyer in Pittsfield was Woodbridge Little, who began practice there in 1770. David Noble settled in Williamstown about the same time, and Daniel Dewey came in 1790. The last named rose to the supreme l)ench of the state, and his legal and judicial traits reached to the third genera- tion. Later came to Lenox, Samuel (juinc}-, a graduate of Har\ard, and to Pittsfield. John Chandler Wilhams. All these and other illus- 40 BERKSHIRE COUNTY trioiis lawyers and jurists exerted a strong- influence upon the life of the community and upon the jurisprudence of Massachusetts. As early as 1815 a Law Library Association was formed by the members of the Berkshire county l)ar, to procure law books for use during court sessions. By 1829 the Association had collected upwards of three hun- dred volumes, and it has now grown to more than ten times this num- ber. The physicians exerted less moulding' influence than did the law- yers, but there were men of lofty character and hig"h attainments among them. The early practitioners were generally college graduates and men of broad intellig-ence. Among them were William Bull and Lemuel Barnard, of Sheffield ; John Buck and William Whiting, of Great Bar- rington; Erastus Sergeant, of Stockbridge ; John Crocker and Hugo Burkhardt, of Richmond ; Oliver Brewster, of Becket, and Timothy Childs, of rittsfield. Adaptability for the profession seems to have been hereditary in some families, especially the Sergeant, Brewster and Childs families. Dr. Erastus Sergeant and Dr. Oliver Partridge, of Stockbridge, were appointed in 1785 a county corresponding committee to act in conjunction with the Massachusetts Medical Society, incorporated in 1 78 1. This lerl to the organization in 1787 of a medical society at Stockbridge, and in 1791 a second county association was formed, but existed only two years. Li 18 18 the legislature chartered the Berk- shire Medical Society, but its organization was not perfected until 182O'. The I'ittsfield Medical Society was formed in 1871, and the North Berk- shire Medical Society in 1876. in 1821 a movement was set on foot for the establishment of a medical school, but plans were long delayed on account of the opposi- tion of the friends of the one connected with Harvard Collep-e. The BERKSHIRE COUNTY 41 Berkshire Medical College was chattered January 4, 1823, and opened its doors Septemher 1 1 of the same year, with the following- faculty : Dr. H. H. Childs, theory and practice of medicine ; Dr. J- P- Batch- elder, anatomy, surgery and physiology ; Dr. Asa Burhank, materia medica; Professor Chester Dewey, of Williams College, chemistry, bot- any and mineralogy. Lectures on obstetrics were tO' be delivered, but the lecturer was not named. In 1821 the old Pittsfield Hotel was bougiht for school uses, and received about twenty-five students. In 1823 the legislature made the college a grant of $5,000, to be paid in five annual installments. The building used as a lecture room was de- stroyed by fire in 1850, and the legislature made a further erant of $10,000, while the citizens of Berkshire contributed $5,000, and a new edifice was erected, the dedication taking place August 5, 185 1. After many vicissitudes the college closed its doors in 187 1, sellino- its build- ing to the town, which remodeled it for school purposes. The sum accruing from the sale, after paying the college indebtedness, was turned over to the Berkshire Athenaeum. During its forty-four years' existence, the Berkshire Medical Col- lege graduated eleven hundred and thirty-eight doctors in medicine, who held a rank equal tO' that of those sent out by any American school of medicine of that day. As was observed by J. E. A. Snu'th (*' His- tory of Berkshire County "), " It had a large share in the advancem.ent of medical science and the elevation of medical character. It had at- tracted to Pittsfield, in its faculty and others, persons of culture who had adorned the society of the village while they mingled with it, and left it the better for their presence, and, when it could no longer cred- itably perform the work which was entrusted to it, it gracefully yielded the place to those who could." During the existence of the college voluntary associations were formed among the students for mutual 42 BERKSHIRE COUNTY literary and professional improvement. In these toc^k part some who^ achieved a high place in educational life, among them President Mark Hopkins, of Williams College, and Dr. J. G. Holland. Drs. Thayer and Stiles entered upon the publication of the Berkshire Medical Jour- nal in 1861 ; it greatly intensified the local esprit du corps of the pro- fession, and, though it was continued but one year, left an enduring influence. The local press is not to be overlooked in epitomizine the influ- ences which were potent in the education of the people and the advance- ment of the interests of the community at large. The first newspaper established was the American Centinel, by E. Russell. The first num- ber appeared December i, 1787, and its existence was but brief. At tluit time there \Aere but two other papers in ^Massachusetts west of Worcester. The Centinel was succeeded by the Berkshire Chronicle, which issued its first number May 8, 178S, Roger Storrs being the pub- lisher. It was only twelve by eight inches in size, but at its thirtv-first number was amplified to eighteen by twelve inches. It was ably con- ducted and enjoyed a wide popularity. There was then no postoffice in the county (the first, at Stockbridge, was not opened until 1792), and post riders were irregular, making their trips at long- intervals. In January, 1790. the Chronicle announced that " the printer (Mr. Storrs), ever endeavoring to furnish his customers with the earliest intelligence, had engaged a post to ride weekly from his office in Pittsfield to Spring- field on Mondays and return on Wednesdays, with the papers published in tlie different States in the Lhiion, when matters of importance (brought) by them will be published by the Chronicle on Thursday, and immediately circulated to the several towns by the different post riders." In 1827 the people of northern Berkshire determined ujion the establishment of a newspaper in that portion of the county, and a BERKSHIRE COUNTY 43 strong rivalry grew up 1>et\veen North Adams, South Adams and Wil- hamstown, aspiring pohticians heing the principal factors in hehalf of their respective towns. A committee of North Adams people achieved the victor}', and in one night hrought from Pittsfield a press and types and workmen. From this equipment was produced on Fel^ruary 23, 1827, the first number of the Berkshire American, published by Asa Green, a man of character and a ready writer. The journals thus named were the forerunners of many, some ephemeral, some of permanent es- tablishment, and all contributing in less or larger degree to the develop- ment of the county along material lines, and the upholding of higher standards of education and intelligence. In various lines the county of Berkshire has ever been an advanced leader in thought and action. Indeed, one writer (Mr. H. M. Plunkett) has said " we claim that more of those first things that draw the chariot of progress forward so that people can see it has moved, ha^•e been planned and executed In- the inhabitants of the nine hundred and fifty square miles that constitute the territory of Berkshire, than can be credited to any other tract of equal extent in the United States." A student of Williams College, as early as 1806 (long before a railroad had been constructed in the world), broached the idea of a railroad from Boston to Albany. In 1826, through the effort of people of Stockbridge, the scheme was seriously advanced in the legislature, and in the subsequent construction over the Berkshire hills was first demon- strated the practicabilitv of operating railroads on severe ascending and descending grades, as well as upon the level. Here was overcome the steepest grade of the day (eighty-five feet to the mile), and the feat was deemed such a man-el of engineering that the point was visited and studied bv railroad builders from Great Britain and various of the M BERKSHIRE COUNTY continental countries. Tn the same year was suggested the (ireat Hoosac Tunnel, one of the largest in the world, the construction of which was, however, long delayed. It was begun in 1863 and completed in 1873, and so accurate was the work, begun at opposite sides of the mountain, that, when the w-orkmen met, it was found that the variation in the alignment was less than an inch, and in the level less than three inches, in the entire length of four and three-fourths mJles. In JS26 also, an elevated railroad w^as proposed by Theodore Sedgwick, of Stockbridge. The principle of electric railroads was patented by Stephen Field, of the same town ; and the Atlantic telegraph cable had its inception in the brain of another Stockbridge man, Cyrus W. Field, w'ho carried the project forward to its consummation. ]n more recent days have been founded within the borders of the county manufacturing enterprises of first importance, tlie products of ^^'hich are familiar in every market reached by American commerce, and which have made the names of Pittsfield, Dalton, Hinsdale, Great Barrington, Adams, North Adams. Williamstown, Lee, and others, widely known. At Lee was made tlie first wood pulp, and the first paper from that material; and at Dalton are located the mills where is made the distinctive paper upon which is printed the bonds and bills of the United States, all the manufacturing operations being carried on under the direct supervision of agents of the United States Treasury Department. The natural beauties of old Berkshire, its churches and its grave- yards with their hallowed memories, its ancestral homes with their annals and traditions, have been, through the years, an inspiration to men and women of letters, historians and poets, some native to the soil, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 45 others A\ho came to dwell for a time and ply their pens con aniore, in midst of congenial and suggestive surroundings. Dr. Jonathan Edwards resided in Stockbridge from the time he came to succeed the Rev. John Sergeant as teacher and preacher, until he was called to the presiden.cy of Princeton (New Jersey) Col- lege. Here, in a house known a? Edwards Hall (torn down only a few years ago) in a room six by fifteen feet, he wTote his great treatises on "Freedom of the Will," "The Nature of Virtue," and "Original Sin." A remarkable instance of his precocious genius and knowledge is afforded in the following, \\ritten by him when he was about twelve vears old : " There are some things that I have happily seen of the wondrous way of the working of the spider. * * * Every- body that is used to the country knows their marching in the air from one tree to another, sometimes to the distance of five or six rods. Nor can one go out in a dewy morning in the latter end of Au- gust and the beginning of September but he shall see multitudes of webs, made vis- ible by the dew that hangs on them, reaching from one tree, branch, or shrub, to another; which webs are commonly thought to be made in the night, be- cause they appear only in the morn- ing; whereas none of them are made in the night, as these spiders never come out in the night when it is dark, as the dew is then falling. But these webs may be seen well enough in the day-time by an observing eye, by their reflection in the sunbeams. Especially late in the afternoon may these webs that are betw'een the eye and that part of the horizon that is under the sun, be seen very plainly. * * * And the spiders themseb-es may be \tvy often seen traveling in the air, from one stage to another amongst the trees, in a \-ery unaccountable manner. But I have often seen that which is much more astonishing. In very calm and serene days in the forenientioned time of year, standing at some distance 1:>ehind the end of a house or Jonathan Edwards. 46 BERKSHIRE COUNTY some other opaque Ixxly, so as just to hide the (hsk of the sun and keep off his dazzHng- rays, and looking along- close by the side of it, I have seen a vast multitude of little shining webs and glistening strines brightly reflecting the sunbeams, and some of them of great length, and of such height that one would think thev were tacked to the vault of the heavens." His old study table is preser^'ed in the Stockbridge ^•illage library, and a monument to his memory, erected by his descendants, stands upon the church lawn. Among other eminent divines resident in Berkshire was the Rev. John Todd, for thirty years pastor of the First Church in Pittsfield. He was famous not only as a preacher but as an author, and the greater i:umber of his works were here written. He was an adept in writing for yoiith, and am')ng- his most widely distributed volumes were '' Lec- tures to Children," which went through many editions, in Ensiand as well as in America, and was translated into the French, German, Greek, Bulgarian, Tamil and other languages; and the "Student's Manual," of which more than one hundred and fifty thousand copies were sold \n London, England. Among others of his works were: " Truth Made Simple," and " Nuts for Boys to Crack." In his " Simple Sketches," and i^articularly in his " Summer Gleanings," he gave poetical descrip- tion of the Berkshire country, interspersed with moraliziups at times delightful, and at times sweetly if rather mournfully pathetic, as in 'his narrati\'e of the dedication of the new cemetery: " We have just returned from dedicating our new cemetery. It is of very great extent. Solemn woods, sunny lawns, pleasant hills and dales, and a singing stream, which, stopping once in its course, forms a beautiful little lakelet, — all are found in our chosen restinp--nlace for the dead. Miles of smooth carriage road wind among- the hillocks and trees, and as the stranger rides now in sunlight and now in shade, he confesses that no expense has been spared, and that it is an honor to the town. But the dedication. The morning- was beautifully clear, and, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 47 as the thousands gathered to mo\'e in procession, no banner or martial music clisturlied the solemnity of the occasion. The liell tolling, a single bass-drum beating time to our footsteps, the procession, a mile in lengih, went forward to tlie grounds. In one of the beautiful giroves, and on the side of a hill, the seats and the platform were arranged, and at least three thousand sat down in silence. The exercises consisted of prayer, reading the Scriptures, singing, addresses, and a sweet poem from a most gifted mind, — Dr. Holmes. We seemed to be standing between the living and the dead. " We were drawn back to the past and connected with our fathers: for \\Q are to remove, as far as possible, all the dead who have been buried in this town since its first settlement, and lay their bones here, to be disturbed no more, we trust, till the resurrection day. " \\q were solemn, for we seemed to lie looking into our own graves; for though it is now 'a new sepulchre wherein never man was yet laid,' yet we knew that the first graves would soon be opened, and that beneath these lofty trees our own dust must shortly sleep. \\'t were connected with the future, for we knew that it would be at least two hundred, perhaps five hundred years, before the dead will again call for nioi"e room. We were doing what will not be again done here for centuries, and here the dust of our cliildren and of our posteritv is to be g'athered. And we thought how we should then 1>e centuries old ourselves, and through how many strange scenes of thinking, feeling, hoping, fearing, suffering, and enjoying, we should pass ere that day conies." — Eroiii "Suiiiiiicr Gleanings." Dr. W^illiam Ellery Clianning, the first leader among Unitarian clergymen and writers, and who upon the platform was not surpassed bv any American orator, passed se\eral summers in Lenox, in quest of health. Among his congenial friends while there were Catherine Sedg- wick and Fannie Kemble. At Lenox, on August ist, 1842, he delivered an address on the anniversary of the enianci]iation of slaves in the British West Indies, an effort of great power and elociuence. The Rev. Mark Hopkins, D. D., the revered president of Williams College for a period of thirty years, was born in (ireat Barrin^ton. Among his published works was his " Outline Study of Man." He was intensely loyal to his town and county, and prided in their remarkable 48 BERKSHIRE COUNTY history. In an address delivered at the Edwards family meeting in Stcckbridge. in vSeptember, 1870, he said: " For a town no larger than this, there have been and are connected with it, by residence or birth, an unusual number of those whose names will live in history. In the same line with Edwards, West and Field were great men, and were worthy of the tablets in this church by which they are commemorated in connection with him. In another line are the names of Judge Sedgwick, and Miss Catharine Sedgwick, and Mrs. Theo- dore Sedgwick. We have also among the living a codifier of laws, the riiost eminent of this age (David Dudley Field) ; a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States (Stephen J. Field) ; and still another (Cyrus W. Field), whose name will be remem- bered as long as the swift messages of the telegraph shall make the ocean-bed their highway, and shall outrun the sun in his course. At the head of these, Edwards stands, the greatest of all * * * ; not great before God (for, that no man can be), but great as walking humbly with him." Mark Hopkins. Henry Ward Beecher owned a farm in Lenox, and passed several summers there with his family. Many of the brilliant word-pictures which he drew for his hearers in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, were drawn from the hills and streams of Berkshire, and his religious and ethical teachings were inspired in many instances by recollections of Jonathan Edwards and Mark Hopkins, as he traversed the paths once trodden by them. Here he wrote his famous " Star Papers," in which he drew lessons of pregnant import from most inconsequential objects: " Ten million wings of despised flies and useless insects are mightier than hand or foot of mine. Each mortal thing carries some quality of BERKSHIRE COUNTY 49 distinguishing excellence by which it may glory, and say, ' In this, 1 am first in all the world ! ' " Since the same hand made me that made them, and the same care feeds them that spreads my board, let there be fellowship between us. =!< * * i^ |;oo, am but an insect on a larger scale. Are there not those who tread w^ith unsounding feet through the invisible air, of being so vast, that I seem to them but a mite, a flitting insect ? And of capac- ities so noble and eminent, that all the stories which I could bring of thought and feeling- to them would be but as the communing of a grass- hopper with me, or the chirp of a sparrow? " The line that divides between the animal and the divine is the line of suffering. The animal, for its own pleasure, inflicts suffering. The divine endures suffering- for another's pleasure. Xot then when he went up to the proportions of original glory was Christ the greatest ; but when he descended, and wore our form, and bore our sins and sor- rows, that by his stripes we might be healed ! " Dr. Orville Dewey, an eminent Unitarian preacher, was born in Sheffield, and came back to spend his declining days and pass awav. His " Autobiography " is rich in description of Berkshire countv scenes and recollections of the active men of a past generation, as evidenced bv the follow'ine frao-ment : " * * '•' I remember nothing till the first event in my early childhood, and that was acting in a play. It was performed in the church, as a part of a school exhibition.' The stage was laid upon the pews, and the audience seated in the gallery. I must have -been about five years old then, and I acted the part of a little son. * * * We are apt to think of the Puritan times as all rigor and strictness. .\nd yet here, nearly 60 years ago, was a play acted in the meeting-house : the church turned into a theatre. And I remember my mother's telling me that when she was a girl her father carried her on a pillion to the raising of a church in Pittsfield ; and the occasion was celebrated Ijy a ball' in the evening. * * * " The next thing that I remember, as an event in m_\- childhood. was the funeral of General Ashley, one of our townsmen, who had served as colonel, I think, in the \\'ar of the Revolution. I was then in my sixth year. It was a military funeral ; and the procession, for a long distance, filled the wide street. The music, the solemn march, the 50 BERKSHIRE COUNTY bier borne in the midst, the crowd! — it seemed to me as if the whole world was at a funeral. * ''" * " * =i'- - I remember the time when I really feared that if T went out into the fields to walk on Sunday, bears would come down from the mountain and catch me. * * * What mistaken notions of life, of the world, — the great, gay. garish world, all full of cloud- castles, ships laden with gold, pleasures endless and entrancing! \'\niat mistaken impressions about nature ; about the material world upon which childhood has alighted, and of which it must necessarily be ignorant; about clouds and storms and tempests ; and of the heavens al>ove, sun and moon and stars!" Among the authors of Berkshire county must be named the Rev. David Dudley Field, of Stockbridge. who performed a labor of love and on^ of permanent value in his " History of Berkshire County." He was the father of four notable sons, three of ^^■hom are eulogized upon another page of this work in a quotation from the Rev. Mark Hopkins. The fourth son. Dr. Henry M. Field, was a well known traveler and author, whose " From Egypt to Japan," and "Among the Holy Hills," gave pleasure to a past gen.eration. and whose " History of the .Vtlantic Telegraph" (the great achievement of his brother), will ever remain as an authentic narrative of that stupendous undertaking. Nor must be left unmentioned one whose indefatigable labor has gi\en to the county and country a work of monumental importance, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 51 Mr. J. E. A. Smith, who A\rote the " History of Pittsfield," the first vokime |ni1;hshecl in 1869, and the second in 1876. At Stockljridge was 1»rn Catherine Maria Sedgiwick, the first among American women to achieve a real fame in hteratnre. and here repose her remains in the Sedgwick family plat in the village cemetery. Her works found admiring" readers even in England, unfriendh' as were its people to New A\'orld authors. Among" her most widelv and favor- ably known books are: "The Linwoods," and "Hope Leslie." She charmingly pictured many of the natural beauties of the Berkshire re- gion and vividly described the New England life of her dav. She was the peer of Cooper in dejecting' the Indian, e\en then well nigh \'anished from view : " The Indian strang-er was tall for her years, which did not exceed fifteen. Her form was slender, flexible and graceful; and there was a freedom and loftiness in her movement which, though tempered with modesty, expressed a consciousness of high birth. Her face, although marked b}- the peculiarities of her race, was beautiful even to a Euro- pean eye. Her features were regular, and her teeth white as pearls ; but there must be something beyond symmetry of feature to fix the attention, and it was an expression of dignity, thoughtfulness, and deep dejection that made the eye linger on Magawiska's face, as if it were perusing there the legible record of her birth and wrongs. Her hair, contrary to the fashion of the Massachusetts Indians, was parted on her forehead, braided, and confined to her head by a liand of small feathers, jet black, and interwoven, and attached at equal distances by rings of polished bone. She wore a waistcoat of deerskin, fastened at the throat by a richly-wrought collar. Her arms, a model for sculpture, were bare. A mantle of purple cloth hung gracefully from her shoul- ders, and was confined at the waist l>y a broad band ornamented with rude hieroglyphics. The mantle, and her strait short petticoat, or kilt, of the same rare and costly material, had been obtained, i)robal)h-, from the English traders. Stockings were an unknown luxur\- : but leggins, similar to those worn by the ladies of Queen Elizabeth's court, were no bad substitute. The moccasin, neatly fitted to a delicate foot and ankle, and tastefull}- ornamented with bead-work, completed the apparel of this daughter of a chieftain." — Eroni "' Hope Leslie : or Ear/x Times in The Alassaciiuseffs," bv Cat liar ine Maria Sed^^ieiek. 52 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Here, in Sheffield, was born George F. Root, author of many pop- ular hymns and ballads, and whose war songs quickened the feet of hundreds of thousands of " Boys in Blue " as they marched to battle and final \'ictory during the days of the slaveholders' rel^ellion. His services to the Union during that dreadful epoch were immeasurable. The writer of this narrative has in mind an incident pertinent to the present mention. It was at a great gathering in tlie Auditorium in Chi- cago, shortly before the death of General William T. Sherman, who presided. The assemblage was in large part made ui> of veterans of the war, and among them were many officers of high rank and national fame. A principal feature was a program of war songs sung by a great chorus of children and young people. The audience broke into storms of applause in listening to " Yes, we'll rally 'round the flag, boys, Rally once again. Shouting the battle-cry of freedom, " and " Tramp, tramp, tramp, the bo}'s are marching. Cheer up, comrades, they will come," and broke into sobs when the voices of the singers tremulously sang " Just before the battle, mother, I am tinnking most of you. Farewell, mother, you may never Press me to your heart again." A one-armed veteran, who had \^•orn the star of a general, saw Mr. Root in the audience, immediatelv in front of him, leaned over and BERKSHIRE COUNTY 53 grasped his hand, and said, " Mr. Root, I would rather have been the writer of your songs than to have commanded an army corps of ten thousand men." Men turned to witness the interruption, and, as Mr. Root came to be recognized, his name was \'ociferously called out from all parts of the house. He was obliged to mount a chair, having in his diffidence declined a call to the stage, and received an ovation which his voice could not acknowledge, and to which his tears were the only response. Another native of Berkshire county was Henr}- Shaw, who, as " Josh Billings," has been called " the queerest and wisest of humor- ists," and who ga^-e to his countrymen an old philosophy of life in quaintest phrase. In pretended ignorance, he broke into many eccen- tricities of expression : '' The village of New Ashford iz one ov them towns that don't make ennv fuss, but for pure water, pure morals and good rye and injun bread it stands on tiptoze. * * * If yu luv a mountain cum up here and see me. Right in front ov the little tavern whare I am staying rizes up a chunk ov land that will make yu feel week tew look at it. I ha\- bin on its top, and far above w^az the brite blu ski, wdthout a kloud swimmin in it, while belo me the rain shot slantin on the valley, and the litenin plade its mad pranks. * '•' * The fust thing i do in the morning when i git up iz tew go out and look at the mountain and see if it iz thare. If this mountain should go away, how lonesum i should be. Yesterday i picked one quart ov field strawberries, kaught 27 trout and gathered a whole parcell ov wintergreen leaves, a big daze work. When i got 'home last nite tired, no- man kould hav lx)ught them ov me for 700 dollars, but i suppoze after all that it waz the th'cd that waz wuth the munnv. Thare iz a grate deal ov raw^ bliss in gittin tired." At ]\It. Washington lived Elaine and Dora Read Goodale, known as the " Skv Farm Poets," who began their \'erse making at the early age of nine years. 54 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Of later day authors are H. H. Ballard, author of the " World of Matter," and various text-hooks and special pages; William Stearns Davis, author of "A Friend of Cjcsar; '" Mrs. H. M. Plunkett. author of " Life of Dr. J. G. Holland: "' and Anna L. Dawes, author of " The World of Matter." Lenox \\'\\\ ever preserve as a tender reminiscence the memorv of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who, coming- to Berkshire in search of health, in the " Little Red House '' (and probably at his desk which is preserved in the Berk- shire Athenaeum), wrote some of his most delightful works — " The House of the Seven Gables," and his " Tangiewoo-d Tales," the book taking its title from the name by which his home place was known. His ".\merican Xote-Book " contained many excellent descriptions of Berkshire county scenery : " Hudson's Cave is formed by Hudson's Brook. There is a natu- ral arch of marble stiJl in one part of it. The cliffs are partly made verdant w ith green moss, chiefly gray with oxidation ; on some parts the white of the marble is seen ; * * '•' there is naked sublimity seen through a good deal of clustering beaut}-. Above, the birch, pop- lars, and pines grow on the utmost verge of the cliffs, which jut far over, so that they are suspended in air ; and whenever the sunshine finds its wav into the depths of the chasm the l>ranches wave across it. There is a lightness, however, about their foliage, which greatly re- lieves what would otherwise be a gloomy scene. After the passage of the stream through the cliffs of marble, the cliffs separate on either side, and lea^•e it to flow onward ; intercepting its passage, however, by frag- ments of marble, some of them huge ones, which the cliff's have flung down, thundering into the bed of the stream through numberless ages. BERKSHIRE COUNTY Oi) Doubtless some of these immense fragments had trees growing on them, which have now mouldered away. Decaying trunks are heaped in va- rious parts of the gorge. The pieces of marble that are washed by the water are of a snow-white, and partially covered with a bright green water-moss, making a beautiful contrast. " Among the cliffs strips of earth-beach extend downward, and trees and large shrubs root themseh'cs in that earth, thus further contrasting the nakedness of the stone with their green foliage. But the immediate part where the stream forces its winding passage through the rock is stern, dark, and mysterious. * * * " The cave makes a fresh impression upon me every time I visit it, — so deep, so irregular, so gloomy, so stern. * * * I stand and look into its depths at various points, and hear the roar of the stream re- echoing up. It is like a heart that has been rent asunder by a torrent of passion." — From Ha-LvtJwrncs " Aiucrican Nofc- Book." Nathaniel Hriwllu r;.c. Among those whose memory is most pleasantly treasured is Fanny Keml^le. At- tracted to Lenox, she here built a cottage \\hich was her summer home for a space of thirty years, and where she wrote a number of works, poetry and prose, among them " Sketches of a Girlhood." A gift from her remains in a clock in the Congregational Church, and it is pleasantly remembered that the purchase was made with means earned by her Shakesperian readings one evening in the long-ago. She penned an ode for the Berkshire Jubilee of 1844, <'^'''t^ which contained the followino- stanza : " And may God guard thee, oh, thou loxely land. Danger, rior evil, nigh thy borders come. Green towers of freedom may thy hills still stand. Still be each valley peace and virtue's home ; The stranger's grateful blessing rest on thee, And firm as Heaven be thy prosperit}' ! '' 56 BERKSHIRE COUNTY At Lenox also was the Rev. John T. Headley, who on stirring' pages fought again the l^attles of Napoleon, and Washington, and Grant ; the scliolarly Dean Stanley, of England; and the romantic novelist, G. P. R. James. At " Arrowhead," near Pittsfield, abode for a time Herman Mel- ville, traveler, author and lecturer, and who gave name to the place through the incident of his there picking- up a flint arrow-point, and here wrote his famous " Piazza Tales." " In the summer, too, Canute-like, sitting" here, one is often reminded of the sea. For not only do long- ground-swells roll the slanting grain, and httle wavelets of the grass ripple over upon the low piazza, as their beach, and the blown down of dandelions is wafted like the spray, and th.e purple of the mountains is just the ])urple of the billows, and a still August noon broods upon the deep meadows, as a calm upon the Line : but the vastness and the loneso-meness are so oceanic, and the silence and the sameness, too, that the first peep of a strange house, rising be- vond the trees, is for all the world like spying, on the Barbai*y coast, an unknown sail." — From " The P{a::::a," one of " The Piazza Tales," by Heniian Mehille. \\'illiam Cullen Bryant. The Berkshire hills and vales \\ere ever a favorite resort of poets. A\'ilham Cullen Bryant, in his young manhood, resided in Great Bar- rington, where he was town clerk for several years and practiced law. But he frequently turned aside to the fields and streams to indulge his poetic fancies, as lie de])icts in his poem on " Green River '' : " That fairy music I never hear, Nor gaze on those waters so green and clear. And mark them winding away from sight, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 57 Darkened with shade or flashing with Hght, While o'er them the vine to its thicket cHngs, And the zephyr stoops to freshen his wings, But I wnsh that fate had left me free To wander these quiet 'haunts wath thee, Till the eating cares of earth should depart, And the peace of the scene pass into my heart ; And T envy thy stream as it glides along Through its beautiful banks in a trance of song." In " The Bryant House/' where he re- sided, he wrote much of his choicest verse, including " The Indian at the Burial Place of His Fathers." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his bride, Miss Frances Appleton, visited Pitts- field w^hile on their bridal tour, and passed several successive summers there. They made their stay in the house on East street, now the home of the Plunkett family, which w^as then the country home of Mrs. Longfellow''s father, Hon. Nathan Appleton, of Boston. There the ^Doet found that which gave him inspiration for one of his most pathetic poetic musings — " The Old Clock on the Stairs " — Henry W. Longfellow. " By day its voice is low and light; But in the silent dead of night. Distinct as a passing footstep's fall. It echoes along the vacant hall, Along the ceiling, along the floor, And seems to say at each chamber-door,- Forever — never ! Never — forever ! " There, also he wrote " Evangeline," " The Belfry at Bruges," and sev- eral minor poems. 58 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Oliver Wendell Holmes, poet, essayist, novelist and philosopher, passed what he termed " seven hlessed summers " on the old Lenox road, about two miles from the park at Pittsfield. In his novel, " Elsie Venner," it is believed he pictured vari- ous bits of neighborhood scenerv^ and more than one well known local charac- ter. Here he also wrote several of his most widely known and generously praised poems, among them " Dedication of the Pittsfield Cemetery." and " The Ploughman." The latter he read at the anniversary of the Berkshire Agricultural Oliver Wendell Holmes. Society on October 4, 1849. I^ contained the following stanza, v/orthy of Cowper or Gray : " O gracious Mother, whose benignant breast Wakes us to life, and lulls us all to rest. How thy sweet features, kind to every clime, Mock with their smile the wrinkled front of time! We stain thy flowers — they blossom o'er the dead; We rend thy bosom, and it gives us bread; O'er the red field that trampling strife has torn. Waves the green plumage of thy tasselled corn ; Our maddening conflicts scar thy fairest plain, Still thy soft answer is the growing grain. Yet, O our Mother, while uncounted charms Steal round our hearts in thine embracing arms. Let not our virtues in thy love decay, And thy fond sweetness waste our strength away." A pathetic interest attaches to the residence in Berkshire county of Rose (Terry) Cooke, the gifted poet and stoi*y writer. Her ad- miration for the beauties of the region was intense, and shortly after BERKSHIRE COUNTY 59 her marriage to Kollm Hillyer Cooke she prevailed upon him to estab- hsh their home in Pittstield. There the pair performed their most meri- torious and useful work — he in his historical and genealogical investi- gations and writings; she in the production of some of her most charm- ing volumes, with their faithful and attractive portraiture of rural New England life and character, and the collation of her complete poetical writings. Her j^laintive poem on " The Two Villages " might well stand as a requiem for both herself and her husliand : "■ Over th.e ri\-er, on the hill, Lieth a ^■illage. white and still; All around it the forest trees Shiver and whisper in the breeze, Over it sailing shadows go Of soaring hawk and screaming crow, And mountain grasses, low and sweet. Grow in the middle of every street. " Over the ri\er, under the hill. Another village lieth still ; There I see in the cloudy night Twinkling stars of household light. Fires that gleam from the smithy's door, Mists that curl on the river shore; And in the roads no grasses grow. For the wheels that hasten to and fro. " In that village on the hill Never is sound of smithy or mill ; The houses are thatched with grass and flowers ; Never a clock to tell the hours ; The marble doors are always shut. You cannot enter in hall or hut ; All the villagers lie asleep; Ne^^er a grain to sow or reap ; Never in dreams to moan or sigh ; Silent and idle and low thev lie. 60 BERKSHIRE COUNTY " 111 that village under the hill. When the night is starry and still, Many a weary soul in prayer Looks to the other village there. And weeping and sighing, longs to go Up to that home from this below ; Longs to sleep in the forest wild. Whither have vanished wife and child. And heareth, praying, his answer fall : ' Patience! that village shall hold ye all. Berkshire Historical and Scientific Society. This society had its origin in a meeting held at the Berkshire Athenaeum, January 21, 1878, at which were present Ensign H. Kel- logg, who presided; Henry W. Taft, William R. Plunkett, Henry L. Dawes, James M. Barker, James W. Hull, Thomas P. Pingree, J. E. A. Smith, Robert W. Adam, John P. Brown, Dr. J. F. A. Adams, and E. G. LIubbell, curator and librarian of the Athenaeum. At this meet- ing the purpose was expressed of forming " a society for increasing an interest in archaeological science, to rescue from oblivion such historical matter as might otherwise be lost," and to promote a knowledge of natural science. A further meeting was held on February 22d following, at which were present the gentlemen before named, and a considerable number of others, a general invitation having been extended to all citizens of Berkshire county who were in sympathy with the objects expressed at the initial conference. At this meeting thirty-two persons were en- rolled as members, a constitution was adopted, and the following offi- cers were elected : Alexander Hyde, of Lee, president ; Joseph White, of Williamstown, and James M. Barker, of Pittsfield, vice-presidents; BERKSHIRE COUNTY 61 E. .G. Hubbell of Pittsfield. secretary: Henry W. Taft. William, R. Plnnkett. of PittsfieVl, and Charles J. Taylor, of Great Barrington, executive committee. At a siibsecjiient meeting the use of the Athenaeum was granted by its trustees to the society for holding meetings, and as a place of deposit for valuable documents, specimens, relics, etc. From the first the society has been highly successful in its work, having had in its membership, from its founding to the present day, a large proportion of the most scholarly and enthusiastic ]ieo])le of the county, male and female, who have labored with commendable zeal for the promotion of the objects for which it was establislied. It is here pertinent to obsen^e that Berkshire was the last county in the state to be organized, and its peopling was one hundred years later than that of the Connecti- cut Valley. Yet it possesses a most interestin.g- history, and is making history daily. The work of the society has been most valuable in record- ing for future generations much that, but for its existence and accom- plishments, would be irretrievably lost. The society holds regular quarterly meetings, and, besides, an an- nual field meeting in the sumn::er season, and on some spot of historic interest in the county. At these meetings \erv man}- al)le and interest- ing papers on historical and scientific subjects ha\e been presented and discussions held. These ha\e been preserved in the " Collections of the Berkshire Historical and Scientific Societv," whicli is a welcome visitor to the leading libraries and historical and antiquarian societies of the country. The first paper printed was by Professor Perry, of W'illiamstown, on " The Battle of Bennington." Professor Perrv was for many years president of the society, and took great interest in its work. 1 he writers on scientific topics have inchuled such widelv known authorities as Professor Dana, of "^'ale Ccjllege, who wrote on " The 62 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Formation of Greylock Mountain," anrl other interesting subjects. " The Juchcial History of the County," " Tnchan Missions at Stockbridge," and " Shay's RebelHon," are among the subjects treated of l)y members who had made careful study of their subjects. Among the scientific papers the botany and geology of the county have been carefully treated. In the archives of the society are histories of Ihe manufactures of the county — paper, glass, woolens, etc.. — and biographies of Parson Allen, Jonathan Edwards, Theodore Sedgwick, John Chandler Williams and others are preserved for future investigators. The scientific department was thoroughly developed by the present secretary, Harlan H. Ballard, whose re]>utation as president of the Agassiz Association has extended throughout the countr}-. The present ofiicers of the societv are: Joseph E. Peirson, president; E. H. Robbins, vice-president ; Harlan H. Ballard, secretary ; W. G. Harding, assistant secretary; Rev. R. D. W. Mallory, T. Nelson Dale and Rev. C. J. Palmer, executive committee. The following is the membership roll of the society; address. Pittsfield, unless otherwise civen : W. R. Allen. Theo. L. Allen. Edgar D. Aldrich, Dalton. R. W. Adam. W. L. Adam. O. A. Archer, Blackinton. Dr. J. E. A. Adams. Prof. John Bascom, Williamstown. Henry W. Bishop, 164 Rush street. Chicago. Henry A. Brewster. Miss E. E. Brewster. O. C. Bidwell, Great Barrington. E. Burlingame, Adams. J. H. Burghart, Stockbridge. Dr. B. O. Barber, Pownal, Vt. Judge H. H. Bixby, Adams. J. L. Barker, Adams. L. L. Barnes, Canaan, Conn. Henry A. Barton, Dalton. L. W. Brayton, North Adams. Miss Ella S. Brown, Dalton. H. W. Bowen, Adams. Mrs. S. W. Brown, Cheshire. Mrs. J. S. Bracken. H. C. Bowen, Cheshire. H. W. Brock, Adams. G. W. Bliss, Cheshire. D. M. Collins. Dr. Henrv Colt. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 63 Mrs. Frank Colt. Mrs. G. W. Campbell. Zenas Crane, Dalton. Fred G. Crane, Dalton. Hon. W. Alurray Crane. Dalton. Miss M. E. Crane, Dalton. Clinton W. Curtiss. C. K. Collins. Great Barrington. A. W. Curtis. Sheffield. Mrs. James D. Colt. W. D. Curtis, Lenox. Mrs. W. H. Cooley. L. A. Cole, Cheshire. Miss Annie B. Clapp. Rev. Silas P. Cook. A. B. Clark, Lee. H. H. Dyer, 223 Washington St., Boston. Miss S. Jane Dean. Adams. Mrs. Anna Dunbar. R. B. Dickie. Dalton. John A. Duggan, North Adams. Mrs. John H'. Fells. J. W. Ferry, Lee. L D. Ferrey. L. J. Fisk, Cheshire. Arthur Follett. Adams. Mrs. James H. Francis. C. C. Gamwell. \\\ A. Gallui>. North Adams. T. B. Gale. Williamstown. W. D. Goodwin. Miss Anna K. Green, Adams. W. B. Green, Adams. AA". G. Harding. Tames H. Hinsdale. James W. Hull. Mrs. B. F. Huntting. T. Hooper Durham. Centre, Conn. "W. Harrison. Lebanon Springs. N. Y. C. W. Kniffen. \\'est Stockbridge. D. .\. Kimball. Stf^ckbridge. C. W. Kellogg. H. F. Keith. Mount Washington. L. S. Kellogg. South Lee. Dr. Orville L. Lane. Great Bar- rington. Mrs. Mary H. Lane. Great Bar- rington. Dr. W. W. Lea\itt. Rali>h Little. Sheffield. J. Ward Lewis. Rev. Arthur Lawrence, Stock- bridge. W. C. Lane, Harvard College Li- brary, Cambridge. Dr. W. M. Mercer. Mrs. Dr. Miller, Sheffield. F. E. Merchant. Adams. J. H. Manning. James Magenis. Adams. C. W. Miller, Adams. Charles A. Mills. Hon. L. E. Munson, New Haven. Conn. Rev. T. W. Nickerson. Mrs. T. W. Nickerson. Mrs. C. D. Nichols. 302 C street, N. \\\. Washington. D. C. E. H. Nash. William Nugent. Mrs. F. C. Parker. 4 W. School street. Westfield. J. E. Parsons. Trinity Bldg.. New- York Citv. W. M. Prince. J. C. Partridge. G. T. Plunkett. Hinsdale. Don M. Peck. Mrs. Don M. Peck. C. Ouackenbush. Hoosac. N. Y. C. S. Rackemann. 39 Court street. Boston. Mrs. C. B. Redfield. W. B. Rice. 64: BERKSHIRE COUNTY Mrs. F. W. Rockwell. Miss Dora Radio, 9 Cherry street, North Adams. E. H. Robbins. Dr. O. S. Roberts. H. T. Robbins, Great Barrington. Robert C. Rockwell. H. S. Russell. Mrs. S. S. Roys, Sheffield. Mrs. E. H. Robbins. George Wiley Roberts, Le^ Wellington Smith, Lee. N. H. Sabin, Williamstown. Mrs. L. W. Streeter, Adams. George Shipton. Hon. E. T. Slocum. Mrs. Seraph H. Stevenson. Dr. H. H. Smith, Lee. John M. Stevenson. Gen. Morris Schaff, Boston. Mrs. S. M. Smith. W. P. Small, Sheffield. Mrs. Clarence L. Sherman, Adams. Mrs. Louise P. Shedd. Rev. Nathaniel Seaver. Hon. Joseph Tucker. Mrs. Daniel Upton, Adams. Marshall Wilcox. Miss Maria R. Warriner. F. H. Wright, Great Barrington. W. A. Whittlesey. Henry C. Warner, Great Barring- ton. Mrs. Charles E. West. Rev. A. B. Whipple. Mrs. Wm. P. Wood. Dr. D. M. Wilcox, Lee. Mrs. Dr. W. H. Wentworth. Berkshire Athenaeum and Museum. The trustees of the Berkshire Athenaeum were organized as a cor- poration on May 13, 1872, under a charter granted in the preceding year, that instrument reciting its purpose to be " establishing and main- taining in the town of Pittsfield an institution to aid in promoting edu- cation, culture and refinement, and diffusing knowledge by means of a library, reading rooms, lectures, museums and cabinets of art, and of historical and natural curiosities." Power was also granted to the town to appropriate money toward the support of the institution so long as it maintained a free library for the use of the inhabitants. It succeeded ihe Pittsfield Athenaeum, and took over its well selected collection of books, which had been received in greater part from the Pittsfield Li- brary Association, a proprietary organization established in 1850. Of the original trustees of the Berkshire Athenaeum were Thomas Allen Berkshire Athenseum. BERKSHIRE COl^NTY 07 and Henry L. Dawes, wlio were among ils most acti\e siij^porters and liberal benefactors. At the organization of the corporation a deed was made to it for a tract of land formerl\- occupied by the Agricultural National Bank, which was purchased with a fund to which Cahin jMartin had con- tributed $5,000, the remainder being gi\'en b\- Thomas Allen and Thomas F. Plunkett. The corporation also received, in 1869, in ac- cordance with an enactment l)y the legislature, the library, museum and apparatus of the Berkshire Medical College, and $4,400 from the trus- tees of that institution, which, after a long and useful career, though sadly hampered for want of means, had gone out of existence. The latter sum of money was paid out for land additional to that pre\'iously conveyed. In 1874 the town of Pittsfield appropriated $24,000 for the purchase of additional land and for the pa}ment of certain mortgages on that already in its possession, and $22,400 was devoted to that pur- pose. Thomas Allen then proceeded to the erection of the Athenaeum building, upon the condition that the town would contribute to the support of the free public library maintained by the trustees, an obli- gation which has l^een religiously carried out to the present time. The Athenaeum building pro\ided by Air. Allen having served its pur]wses for a period of twenty-one years, from the accretions to the library came to be no longer adequate for the proper storing of the books and for such an administration of the library as was demanded by its increasing use by the people of Pittsfield. This fact was called to public attention by the president in 1890, and resulted in the com- pletion of an addition in 1897, at a cost for land and building of about $50,000, and which will for a long time aftord all suhicicnt accommo- dation. Among the benefactors of the Athenaeum were Phinehas Allen, who died in 1873, who made a bequest amcjunting to $91,525.92. In 68 BERKSHIRE COUNTY re -cataloguing, rearranging and adding to tlie Library and Art Gal- lery, $10,000 was expended in 1883, and this amount, as well as the cost of the new addition to the Library building and repairs upon the old one, was taken from this fund. Since 189T the income from the remainder has been applied to the current expense account. Bradford Allen, son of Hon. Thomas Allen, bequeathed to the corporation the sum of fi\'e thousand dollars, the income to be applied to the purchase of works of art. The most notaljle purchases made from this fund have been " Mid Ocean," by Woodbury, and a copy of the Sistine Madonna by Bardi, of Naples. Li 1880 Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell Clapp gave to the trustees $1,000 to be expended in the piu"- chase of books. Her death occurred the same year, and she left a further sum of $4,000, the income to be expended annually for books. Prior to her death in 189 1, Miss Elizabeth S. Newton made a bequest of a valuable collection of paintings, engravings and books, many of the former having been purchased in 1835 in London, England, by her father, Hon. Edward A. Newton. From Mr. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes the library received about one thousand volumes from the library of his namesake father, the beloved " Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," who during his lifetime maintained his interest in Pittsfield, his grand- father, Jacob Wendell, having been one of the original proprietors of the township, and it was for a number of years his own place of sum- mer residence. These books are appropriately marked with Dr. Holmes' own bookplate. Li 1903 Hon. Zenas Crane, of Dalton, presented the fine Museum of Natural History and Art, located on land contiguous to the Athenaeum, the property and its contents representing a value of more than one hundred thousand dollars. This benefaction grew out of the donor's conviction that the similarity of the purposes of the Athenaeum and the Museum pointed to the desirability of their being BERKSHIRE COUNTY <59 united under one management. The name of the corporation was ac- cordingly changed to that of the Berkshire Athenaeum and Museum, and additional trustees were pro\'ided for. With reference to this union Mr. F. M. Cruden wrote as follows in Tlic Outlook: " It would be ungracious not to acknowledge the appreciation of the trustees, in which they are confident the entire community shares, of the fine gift from the Hon. Zenas Crane, of the Museum of Natural History and Art, with its admirably selected works of art, specimens of natural history and objects of curiosity and interest. Its reception bv the public has been cordial and enthusiastic, and the praise of it has been universal. It will long continue to be an object of pride to the citizens of this county, a wise contribution to education in art and natiu'al history, and an incentive to the high citizenship that is helpful in promoting institutions that are educational and uplifting." The Museum of Natural History and :\rt is located in South street, a few rods from the Pittsfield Park, where stands, as Pittsfield's soldiers' monument, the Launt Thompson heroic bronze statue of " The Color Bearer." and near where flourished and faded the Old Elm. fa- mous in history, its place novx- marked by the sun dial set up in 1903 by the Patriotic Order of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Adjoining is the massive Athenaeum edifice, one of the princi[)al archi- tectural ornameiits of the city. The Museum building is constructed of gra}- limestcnie and gray Roman 1)rick, in the Italian renaissance style of architecture. The extericjr is severe in design, and depends for its architectural effect ui>on its extreme sinijilicily, refinement, and care- fully studied pr()|><)rtions. Jn this building have been assembled works of art representing both ancient and modern schools, examples of statuar}' from casts of famous works: samples t)i |)ro(luctions in bronze and ])ottery. and cu- rious specimens (jf ancient glass, chiy and the metals, in decorative de- 70 BERKSHIRE COUNTY signs, ill coins and jewelry, in articles for nse and ornament, some of them but crude attempts, yet possessing a Ijeauty and interest of much \'alue as representing- the progress made from the days of old to the present perfection of productions in art and the trades. One of the most interesting of the exhibits of the Archaeological Department is a model of what is knoAvn as the black obelisk of Shal- maneser II, who ruled the Assyrian empire, 858 to 823 B. C, and which was found overthrown under the debris covering the palace of Shal- maneser, among' the extensive ruins at Nimroud, identifiecl by Sir Henry Rawlinsou and others as Calah, and situated about thirty miles below Nineveh, on the Tigris. In the same department are thirty-four clay tablets with cuneiform inscriptions, representing an empire earlier than that of the Assvrians — tlie Chaldaean, or First Babylonian. There is also a replica of the famous Rosetta stone, the original of which is in the British Museum, and which has proven to be practically the key to the great temple of knowledge of ancient Egypt, its two inscriptions in Egyptian (B. C. 195, 205-181) representing different periods, and first introducing Egyptologists tO' an accjuaintance with the language of the Pharaohs. The collection of Greek and Roman curios, useful and ornamental, is replete with fine specimens, and includes one case of sixty-five glass vases of the third and second centuries before Christ, of unicjue beauty, many of them carrying the opalescence of rare gems, and others pre- senting the scale of the rainbow. There are also Greek and Roman gold ornaments of the fourth and third centuries B. C. ; specimens of Greek and Roman bronze \'ases and implements of the fourth to the second centin-ies B. C. ; and a collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman beads, coins, etc., of great antiquity. Other objects of beauty and inter- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 71 est are Phoenician and Chinese curios, and a rare array of rehcs of the Indians of North America. Besides the statuary in the entrance hall, there are three pieces of splendid sculpture in the Museum — the Discobolus, of Myron, about the fifth century ; St. George, the slayer of the Dragon, by Donatell(\ 1 386- 1466; and the \\'restlers, a well knoAvn Greek group. The Natu- ral History Department has for its principal adornments a series of Berkshire mineral specimens, collected and presented by Daniel Clark, of Tyring-ham ; a collection of marine curiosities, including beautiful algae; and a hortus siccus of plants and ferns collected by members of the Agassiz Association. A representati\'e collection of birds is of pecu- liar interest and beauty. The officers of the Berkshire Athenaeum and Museum for 1904-5 are as follows: President, W. R. Allen; Vice-President, James M. Barker; Treasurer, George H. Tucker; Librarian and Clerk, Harlan H. Ballard; Auditor, Henrv Colt. Investigating Committee — President, Treasurer, Auditor [cx-officio), C. W. Kellogg and I. D. Kerrey. Li- brary Committee — Dr. Henry Colt, Walter Hawkins, Dr. J. F. A. Adams. Art and Museum Committee — C. W". Kellogg, I. D. Ferrey, George Harding. Trustees — Morris Schaff, Wibiam ]\1. Mercer, Henry W. Taft, Walter Cutting, Hairy D. Sisson, Joseph Tucker. W'm. E. Tillotson, Erwin H. Kennedy, Henry R. Peirson, Henry A. Francis, Theo. L. Pomeroy, fames L. Bacon, John C. Crosby. The Agassiz Associ.mion. Perhaps no ^vork originating in Berkshire county has been more widely instructive and beneficial than that inaugurated l\y the Agassiz Association. It v^^as an earnest desire of the distinguished naturalist, 72 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Louis Ag'assiz (whose last work was the estabhshment of a School of Natural History on the island of Penikese. Rhode Island), that socie- ties should be formed in towns for the purpose of studying the district for a radius of five or ten miles. It is probable that this desire found root in some considerable degree from his knowledge of the natural beauties of the Berkshires, with which region he became familiar while a professor at Harvard College. It was full of interest to students of nature ; its geological structure had for many years attracted the atten- tion of eminent scientists; its flora found high appreciation for its rich- ness and \arietv ; and it was alive with birds of most numerous species for tb.e extent of its territory. In the desire to^ realize in some degree the views of Professor Agassiz, in 1875 Harlan PI. Ballard effected the organization of the Lenox High School Association, its membership made up from among his pupils. The members entered upon their investigations with genu- ine enthusiasm, and in many of their excursions came upon a flower or a vein of quartz crystals quite out of the ordinary. In 1880 the name of the society was changed to the Agassiz Association, and it was incor- porated with an efficient directory. In the same year the association published a report of its work, and a general invitation was extended to all who might feel interest, to form local clubs and unite with the association, for the interchange of scientific information, exchange of specimens, etc. The association now numbers some ten thousand mem- bers, grouped in about one thousand chapters. In 1893 the Agassiz Association made an exhibition at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the exhibit comprising specimens collected by various chapters, prepared collections of minerals, photo- graphs, courses of study, and a quantity of literature fully setting forth the work performed by the association. The exhibits of the association BERKSHIRE COUNTY 73 have l>een gixen place in the rooms of the Berkshire Athenaeum, whose hbrarian and curator is Harlan H. Ballard, president of the Agassiz Association. How fertile a field is Berkshire county for such investigations is evidenced by a citation from the illustrated catalogue pamphlet issued by the Athenaeum authorities in 1904, with reference to the ornitho- logical display in the Museum. This recites the interesting fact that during the months of May and June there is in the eastern United States no better place to study bird life than on the grounds of the Pittsfield Country Club. From the club house, almost any morning in mid-May, can be identified by sight or hearing at least twenty-five species of birds. Du.ring a three hours stroll through the grounds, on May 14, 1904, fifty-one species were recognized, while in one single minute the notes of no less than nine different species were heard. According to Ralph HofTman. of the one hundred and ninety-seven species of birds that inhabit the highways, water-courses, fields and forests of Berkshire, about ninety are residential, remaining during the entire year. Of " cottagers," to use a local term, there are sixteen species. These spend the winter in the south, some as far away as Central or South America, returning in the spring to build their nests and rear their broods. Then there are the " transients." that winter either in the north or south, and are only seen as they pass over in their migrations. All these many and interesting species are displayed in the ornithological dejiartment of the Museum. Fort Ma.ssachusetts Historical Society. The Fort Massachusetts Historical Society grew primarily out of the effort of ^Irs. Tennie Paul Ciondrich, and tlie ladies whom she 7i BERKSHIRE COUNTY associated with lierself for the patriotic purpose of preserving tlie identity of the site of the famous old stockade known as Fort Massachusetts, buih in T745, and destroyed by the French and Indians in August, 1746, and afterwards rebuik. The site is about one and a quarter miles west of the centre of the city of North Adams, and its only marker for many years was " The Perry Elm," a tree planted in 1857, near where stood the northeast corner of the stockade, by Proifessor Arthur Perry, of Williams College, assisted by students of that institution. This is now a large and flourishing tree. Some years ago- the owner of the land including the stockade site purposed di^iding the tract into- building sites, and Mrs. Goodrich's proposal to purchase that portion wdiich was of historic worth met with a cordial response from the women of North Adams. In order to- pro- cure means for their purpose, they obtained the use of the Hoosac Val- ley Ncii'S, through the generous cooperation of its proprietor, Edward A. McMillin, and put out a special issue of that paper on November 23, 1895, comprising" twenty-four pages, and of which five thousand copies were printed. All the lalx)r upon this issue, except that purely me- chanical, was performed by the women who- had lent themselves to this praiseworthy task, and women alone contributed to its columns, their essays and other writings ]jresenting- a most meritorious array of orig- inal work ; while they also secured through their own efforts a, very large advertising patronage. This venture brought to its authors a sum of thirteen hundred dollars, wdiich was used in the purchase of a portion of the land desired. More needed to be obtained, however, and to accom- plish this purpose eighteen persons, representatives of the older fam- ilies of North Adams, met on October 14, 1896, in St. John's Parish House, to perfect the organization of the Fort Massachusetts His- torical Societ}, a charter for which they had procured January i8th, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 75 preceding. .Xccnrdino- to the terms of this instrument " the purpose for which this corporation is formed is to purcliase, preserve and improve the site of Fort Massachusetts." Accordingly one and a half acres were purchased, covering a trifle more than the original stockade ground, at an outlay of three thousand dollars, all of which has heen liquidated except about four hundred dollars. In 1897 a flagstaff was reared upon the stockade site by the Societv. and from it was displayed on October 23d of that year, a beautiful na- tional flag, the gift of Mrs. Hiram Sibley, a former resident of North Adams. The flag was drawn tO' its place by Professor Lewis Perry, of Williams College, son of Professor Arthur Perr)-. who forty years before had planted the commemorative elm. This flag has since been displayed on all patriotic occasions. The intention of the Society is, as soon as practicable, to^ erect a permanent monument tO' mark the historic site of Fort Massachusetts. What form this \\ill take has not yet been decided, luit it is safe to as- sume that it will l)e in every manner worthy of the spot and of the Society. Mr. A. C. Houghton, then first mayor of the city of Xorth Adams, in 1897 donated to the city a building for a public library. In his deed of gift he reserved two rooms for the use of the b'ort [Massachusetts Historical Society. In these rooms are contained a valuable collection of portraits of early pioneers, manuscripts, maps, prints, engravings, to- gether with domestic utensils, weapons, agricultural implements, and other relics of the pioneer days, all possessing peculiar historical inter- est, and wliich will ha\e an ever increasing \alue as the years go by. The rooms are much frequented by school teachers and students of the neighborhood, as well as 1)y the hundreds of tourists who visit the Berkshires during the summer months. 76 BERKSHIRE COUNTY The annual meetings of the Society have been largely educative to the public, and on these occasions are heard speakers of high ability and wide reputation. At the October meeting in 1905 the Society dined at the Wellington, two hundred persons being present. Among the speakers were Mr. C O. Richmond, toastmaster; Judge George P. Lawrence; F. F. Murdock, principal of the Normal School; Dr. John Bascom, of the Greylock Reservation Commission ; and Professor Lewis Perry, of Williams College. Tlie original officers of the Society were as follows: S. W. Bray- ton, since deceased, president; Colonel F. S. Richardson, secretary; Mrs. C. O. Richmond, treasurer; Mrs. Jennie Paul Goodrich, registrar. For the past six years Dr. John Bascom has been president; and the other officers are : W. Arthur Gallup, vice-president ; Edward A. Mc- Millin, secretary; Mrs. Hannah B. Richmond, treasurer; Mrs. Jennie Paul Goodrich, registrar and custodian. There is also an executive committee consisting of Charles H. Cutting, F. W. Wilcoxson, C. Q. Richmond, Valmore Whitaker, Mrs. Edward W. Blackinton, Mrs. S. W. Brayton, Mrs. Mary Hunter Williams, Miss Angle Blackinton. Sons American Revolution. Berkshire County Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, was founded through the action of a meeting held in Pittsfield, April 15, 1887, ^s a result of which a committee representing every town in the county was appointed to secure members. The application to the State .Society for a charter was signed by thirty-one citizens of Berkshire cou.nty, and the charter was granted April 19, 1889. ^ constitution was adopted and the first board of officers elected was as follows : Wel- lington Smith, president; John M. Stevenson, A. J. McCulloch and BERKSHIRE COUNTY 11 Charles H. Evans, vice-presidents: Rollin H. Cooke, secretarv and registrar ; Donelson M. Peck, treasurer ; J. F. L. Adams, historian ; Rev. S. L. Rowland, chaplain : T. W. Richmond, James ^^^ Hull. Keyes Danforth, F. J. Barrett, A. T. Treadway, managers. The Society has brought about the placing of markers at the graves of many re^•olutionar^■ soldiers in everv^ town in the county, hav- ing met with the willing cooperation of all the town officials concerned. The Chapter is now completing a laborious task well begTin by Mr. Rol- lin H. Cooke (and whose ambition it was to bring it to completion, a consummation defeated by his tragic death), the compilation of a record of all revolulionar}- soldiers from Berkshire county, with the dates of birth and death, the roll being intended to include the very many w'ho emigrated to other states after the revolution. The present officers of the Chapter are as follows : Allen H. Bagg, president; Edward T. Slocum, James H. Punderson, Roscoe C. Taft, vice-presidents; Joseph E. Peirson. secretary and registrar; William C. .Stevenson, treasurer; J. F. Alleyne Adams, historian; Rev. J. E. C. Sawyer, chaplain ; N. H. Sabin, A. J. McCulloch, H. D. Sisson, John M. Stevenson, Edward H. Brewer, board of managers. The following is the list of members : Adams, J. F. Alleyne, Pittsfield. Bagg, Allen H., Pittsfield. Barrett, Frank J., Lenox. Brewer, Edward H., Dalton. Brown, Howard P., Pittsfield. Brown, W. T. Kendall, Pittsfield. Bush, Edw-ard H., Dalton. Brooks, Thomas L., Pittsfield. Chapin, Clifford S., Great Barrington. Clark, Eliot A., Pittsfield. Drowne, Charles N., Pittsfield. Evans, Charles H., Great Barrington. 78 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Gale, Bennett T., Lee. Hale, Edward P., Lenox. Hull, James W., Pittsfield. Joyner, Frank H., Pittsfield. Kellog-g, Charles W., Pittsfield. Kimball, Daniel A., Stockhridge. Lawrence, Edgar T., Pittsfield. Manning, John H., Pittsfield. McCulloch, Almiron J.. Savoy. Moore, Marcus T., Pittsfield. Peck, Donelson M., Pittsfield. Peirson, Frank E., Pittsfield. Peirson, Joseph E., Pittsfield. Punderson, James H., Stockliridge. Root, Henry A., Pittsfield. Sabin, N. Henry, Williamstown. Sawyer. J. E. C.. Williamstown. Sisson, Harry D.. Pittsfield. Slocnm, Edward T., Pittsfield. Smith, Wellington, Lee. Smith, Augustus. R., Lee. Stevenson, John M., Pittsfield. Stevenson, William C, Pittsfield. Taft, Roscoe C, Egremont. Tread way, Allen T., Stockhridge. Warner, Milton B., Pittsfield. Whittlesey. William A., Pittsfield. Daughters American Revolution. The Peace Party Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, was organized February 5, 1897, '^^'i^I'' twenty charter members, through the efforts of Mrs. James B. Crane, who was afterward chosen regent. The name of the chapter was chosen in commemoration of a large party given by the citizens of Pittsfield in the autumn of 1783 to celebrate the ratification of peace following the termination of the Revolutionary war. The Chapter Day occurs in November, the month in which occurred the famous Peace Partv above mentioned. The annual election of BERKSHIRE COUNTY ' 79 officers takes place in January. Until recently four meetings have been held each year, the others being, in addition to those just named, in April and Auo-ust, nearly all on dates commemorating some Revolutionary^ war event in which ancestors of chapter members were present. In the month of October, 1905. it was decided to hold meetings once each month during the ensuing \\inter. In April is commemorated the battle of Lexington, by awarding prizes to pupils in the high school of Pittsfield for the best essay on some Revolutionary subject. In August, or near the date of the battle of Bennington, a field meeting has been held which thus far has proven one of the mOiSt satisfactory meetings of the year. In 1902 the Chap- ter made a pilgrimage to the scene of this memorable encounter. Soon after the organization of the Chapter the nation became in- volved in the war with Spain. Althong'h the Chapter, as a body, took no prominent part in relie\ ing the sufferings of the sick and wounded of the American army, many indixidual meml>ers gave generously of money as well as of time, their gifts amounting in the aggregate to not less than four thousand dollars. In its corporate capacity the Chapter has contributed liberally to the national work of the Daughters of the American Revolution ; to the erection of the tomb of Mary Washing- ton ; to the building of the home in \\'ashington for the Society at large; to the statue of Washington designed by Mr. Daniel French, and erected in Paris during the year of the Exposition: and tc^ other objects of general interest. It has erected in the park in the centre of the city of Pittsfield a beautiful sun-dial to commemorate the famous " Old Elm," a native forest tree particularly identified with the history of the city and county. Through the aid of the late Rollin H. Cooke and the efforts of a very callable committee, the Chapter has located more graves of Revo- so BERKSHIRE COUNTY lutionary soldiers than any other Chapter in the Union. The Chapter has provided Revolutionary markers for these graves, cleaned and straightened the headstones, and on Decoration Day adorns them with wreaths of evergreen. During the eight years of its existence the Chapter has increased in membership from twenty to seventy-two. It has had two real Daugh- ters of the Revolution: Mrs. Ann Eliza Prentice, who^ is yet living; and Mrs. Mary Thompson, deceased. Other members who have passed away are as follows : Mrs. Julia C. Mitchell Weston, Mrs. Mary Brew- ster Adam, Mrs. Mary Goodrich Crane, who was the first regent ; and Mrs. Frances Stevenson Beach. The present ofticers of the Chapter are : Mrs. Caroline Whittle- sey, regent; Mrs. Harriet O. Slocum, vice-regent; Mrs. Florence N. Peirson, secretary; Miss Clara Bridgman, assistant secretary; Mrs. Mabel W. Peirson, treasurer; Mrs. Margaret Baldwin, registrar; Mrs. Hattie C. Stevenson, historian. The following is the membership roll : Miss Lilian B. Adams. Mrs. Sara Andrews (G. W.), Dalton. Mrs. Margaret Baldwin (E. G.). Mrs. Emma Bardwell (R. G.). Miss Olive Barker. Mrs. Achsah A. Beach (W. N.), Williamstown. Mrs. Marion Brackin (J. A.). Miss Fanny Brewster. Miss Clara Bridgman, Dalton. Mrs. Mary Bridgman (E. A.). Dalton. Mrs. Anna F. Bennett, Lanesboro. Mrs. Ella C. Br^^ant (C. M.), Williamstown. Mrs. Avis E. Burton (S. C). Mrs. Elizabeth Chapin (A. N.). Mrs. Harriet Chickering. Miss Annie Clapp. Mrs. S. H. Clapp. Mrs. Kate Clarv. Mrs. Mary Clark (Eliot). BERKSHIRE COUNTY 81 Mrs. Abbie Cooley (W. .H.), Abroad. Mrs. Almira Cooley (S. M.). Mrs. Ellen J. Crane (Zenas), Daltcn. Miss Clara L. Crane, Daltcn. Mrs. Ellen H. Cranston (W. H.). Mrs. Nancy M. Dodge. Mrs. Mary Eoote (W. B.). Miss Emeline Foxcroft. Mrs. Harriette W. Francis. Mrs. Nellie Gardener ( W. R.). Miss Mary J. Goodricli, Stockbridge. Miss Ethel Hawkins. Mrs. Lilian Haynes (S. T. ). Mrs. Frances Hammond, Abroad. Mrs. Mary L. Hinsdale (J. H.). Mrs. Isabel A. Jones (E. A.). Miss Harriet Kilbourne. Mrs. Anna Laird (J. H.), Hinsdale. Mrs. Minnie M. lament (Flarry). Mrs. Eliza L. Lane. Mrs. A. M. A. Lombard (L. A.), Abroad. Mrs. Sylvia Loveless. Mrs. Madeline B. Norton (A. A.), Boston. Mrs. Alice Nachtmann, Albany. Mrs. Alida Orr (Jobn). Mrs. Henrietta Parker (R. T.). Mrs. Elizabeth Partridge (H. W.). Mrs. Mary Allen Peck"(T. L.). Mrs. Florence N. Peirson (F. E.). Mrs. Mabel W. Peirson (J. E.). Mrs. Louise C. Pomerov (T. L.). Mrs. Kate C. Plnnkett (G. T.), Hinsdale. Miss Mary E. Porter. Mrs. Eliza Prentice. Mrs. Martha Read (F. F.). Miss Florence Read, Pontoosnc. Mrs. Mary Rifenbergh. Mrs. Florence Roberts (Fred). Mrs. Jennie Root (J. A.). Mrs. Fannie Robbins( F. A.). Springfield. Mrs. Lena Robertson (M. W.). Mrs. Caroline Smart (W. S.). Adams. Mrs. Louise P. Shedd (Horace). Mrs. Anna Stevens (L. A.). 82 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Mrs. Harriet O. Slociim (E. T.). Mrs. Hattie C. Stevenson (J. M.). Mrs. Sarah G. Stevenson (Will). Mrs. Seraph H. Stevenson. Mrs. Isabel J. Stone (J. B.). Mrs. Susan B. Snyder (Henry), Cheyenne. Wvo. Mrs. Emilv Tilden (George). Mrs. Ellen Tracy (W. A.). Mrs. Martha Wadhan-is. Miss Maria Warriner. Miss Mary Wellington. Mrs. Anna M. Wentworth (^W. H.). Mrs. Caroline W. Whittlesey (W. A.). Mrs. Olivia L. Wilson ( N. H.). Dr. Alfreda Witliington. Miss Minnie H. WV-lfe. Mrs. Luella S. W^icdruff (R. A.). Mrs. Helen M. Wright (C. H.). Mrs. Kate Clary. Mrs. Ford. Mrs. S. Harold Cla])p. Berkshire Agricultural Society. This notable society had its beginning in a meeting held in Pitts- field, on January 30, 1808, at the tavern of Captain Pepoon. This meeting had been brought about by Elkanah Watson, who had exhib- ited the ])revious fall two fine merino sheep, a ram and a ewe, the first of that breed ever brought to New England. They attracted much attention, and he reasoned that a display- of more animals, on a large scale, would ha\e a good effect. During the winter he urged the intro- duction of merino sheep, and finall)" Ijrought about the meeting" of Jan- uary 30th. Air. W^atson's first exhibit was on a spot about which cluster many historical associations, the present Citv Park, and which remained in its natural state until about 181J. Its most conspicuous feature was BERKSHIRE COUNTY 83 " The Old Elm," a magnificent tree standing near the present centre of the Pariv, rearing itself to a height of one hnndred and twenty feet, its first limh branching out ninety feet above the ground. In its shade much transpired which made the history of Pittsfield notable. In 1825 it looked down upon the great ovation given to General Lafayette, who made a visit to the town and was received with great ceremonv and en- thusiasm. The tree finally became unsafe, and in 1862 was cut down. It Vv'as commemorated in " Taghconic," by Joseph E. A. Smith : " You must ha\e heard of the old Elm of Pittsfield Park. It has its place of fame among The Trees of America; and has had this many a year. It is not long since it rose here, among" the young green growth, the scarred and seared veteran of centuries. Straight into the air it sprang, one hundred and twenty-six feet ; a tall grey pillar, bearing for sole capital a few green branches, and a few withered, shattered and bare limbs. From Greylock to Monument Mountain there was no inanimate thing so revered and venerable. Nor had it grown thus without a story, and one with which the stories of others, and human lives, were closely entwined." Under " the Old Elm " Elkanah Watson exhibited his sheep, and here was held, in 1810, the first " cattle show,'' notable as the real be- ginning of the Berkshire Agricultural Society, which, while not the first organization of the kind in the coimtry, was the first in Alassa- chusetts. True, " The Western Society of Middlesex Farmers " had been formed in 1794, and was incorporated in 1803, but it was not in purpose ^^hat the Berkshire Society was. The farmers present at the cattle show of 1810, under the inspiration of Mr. ^^'atson, determined tliat the institution should he made permanent, .and at the next session of the legislature a chcU'ter was procured for the " Berkshire Agricult- ural Societv for the Promotion of Agriculture and Manufactures." The officers at organization were: Elkanah Watson, president; William 84 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Walker and S. H. Wheeler, vice-presidents; Caleb Hyde, corresponding secretary ; Thomas B. Strong, recording secretary ; John B. Root, treas- urer; Joseph Shearer, Ezekiel Bacon, and Jonathan Allen, trustees. The fair of 1811 witnessed a procession of domestic animals, including sixty yoke of oxen drawing a plow, and floats containing cloth making ma- chinery in operation, and specimens of Berkshire county manufactures. Premiums were first awarded, in 1812 and 1813, to women for articles of their own production. A decided innoA'ation was introduced in 18 14, a committee of practical farmers being sent into the fields through- out the county to award premiums for standing crops. A legislative appropriation of two hundred dollars annually for three years was made in 1816, and this was followed two years later by an act granting aid to all county societies which should comply wath certain conditions. The Berkshire Society first awarded premiinns in plowing matches in 18 18. As the Society gradually developed it became a principal model for others, and Thomas Gold, the third president, said in 1822: " The fame and influence have extended over the entire surface of the United States, its example followed, its approbation courted by its ex- tended offspring. It has been recognized, as well in Europe as in America, as an original novel plan, and the most excellent organization e\"er conceived to promote the great interests under its patronage." An effort was made in 1823 to procure a permanent location for fair grounds, but it languished until 1855, "^'^'hen ^ tract of nearly thirty acres of land v/as purchased from William W. Goodman, at an outlay of twenty-two hundred dollars. The grounds lie about a mile and a half north of the Pittsfield Park, and command a magnificent view of the surrounding country. There was erected an Agricultural Hall, and later a dining hall, wdiile suitable sheds and barns have been built from time to time. On the grounds is a half-mile track for speeding purposes. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 85 Elkanah Watson declined a re-election as president in 1814, and in 18 1 6 removed from the county. He died in Port Kent, New York, in 1842, aged eighty-four years. He always regarded with great pride his labors in Berkshire county, and the inscription upon his monument records him as " The Founder and First President of the Berkshire Agricnltural Society." Berkshire and Columbia Missionary Society. This society was organized February 21, 1798, and has the dis- tinction of being the first missionary society in the United States. At the first meeting twenty-three were enrolled as members, each pledging to give one dollar annually. The object of the society was " to send missionaries to destitute fields to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to distribute Bibles, Vincent's Catechism, and tracts." The territory which supported the society embraced Berkshire coimt}' and the adjoining county, Columbia, New York. Collections were taken annually in the Cong^regational churches of these counties. The first collection received was from the church in Spencertown, Columbia county, and amounted to $5.64. The first year two missionaries were sent out : Rev. Joseph Brog'en to the Susquehanna, and Rev. Beriah Hotchkin to the " Western Settle- ments," which extended westward from the Mohawk Valley. For man}' years missions Vx-ere sustained in the states of Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont. In 1805 a donation of " Bibles, Testaments, Prim- ers and Dialogues " was received from a gentleman in Boston. Dona- tions came in from other distant places. Female cent societies figure among the donors. In time, after the formation of national and state missionary, Bible and tract societies, Columljia county ceased to con- 86 BERKSHIRE COUNTY tribute, but Berkshire county has still an org-anization and a fund, the income from which still is devoted to home work among the feeble churches of the county. At its last an.nual meeting, held February 20, 1905. it was voted to make efforts to increase the present fund so that a sufficient income can be realized to support in full a county missionary. The present officers of the society are : President, Judge Edward T. Slocum, of Pittsfield; Vice-President. Rev. George A. Andrews, of Dalton ; Treas- urer, John L. Kilburn, of Lee; Secretary, ^^'illiam G. Harding, of Pitts- field; auditor. Edward S. Rogers, of Lee; and a board of seven trus- tees. Berkspiire County Home for Aged Women. In 1899 the sons of Mr. Zenas ALirshal Crane erected at Pittsfield. as a memorial to their father, the elegant edifice known as the Berk- shire County Home for Aged Women, and which, since its founding, has supplied to many lonely ones the lack of love and kindly attention of Kindred. In June of the same year the matron and two old ladies entered upon the occupancy of the building. At the outset many peo- ple, and among them some who^ gave to the institution their most de- voted effort, were skeptical as to the real necessity of such a Home, and seriously doubted if there could be found a sufficient number of persons of the class for which it was intended, to justify its main- tenance. But if it was slow in making known its reasons for its exist- once, it has amply vindicated itself and taken an enduring place among the worthy charities of Berkshire county. Since the institution opened its doors, sixty-one old ladies have been received as inmates, thirtv have died, nine have withdrawn or been /SCI BERKSHIRE COUNTY 87 dismissed, and twenty-two are now inmates. The Board of Control is officered as follows: Mrs. Zenas Crane, president; Airs. C. W. Kel- logg, vice-president; Mrs. William Newton, honorary vice-president; Mrs. Edward T. Slocnm, secretary; Mrs. Minnie R. Trowhridge. treas- urer. The corporation numbers two hundrerl and thirty contributing mem- bers. Besides the home care provided for the inmates of the institu- tion, each year various entertainments are gotten up for their enjov- ment — teas at private residences, sociables, and seats at lectures, theat- rical performances, concerts, etc. The annual cost of maintaining the Home is about $ii,ooo. The endowment fund is nearly $50,000. and the property is valued at about $35,000. Applicants for admission to the Home must not be less than sixtv years of age, and must have been residents of Berkshire countv for five years preceding application for admission. The entrance fee is three hundred dollars, and after this payment no charg-e whatever is made for maintenance. CRANE FAMILY. The Crane family of Massachusetts, numerously represented in present generations, has been conspicuous in the history of the com- monwealth from early colonial days. Henry Crane, Iwrn in England, i)rol)ably about 1621, died in Mil- ton, Massachusetts, Alarch 21, 1709. married TaJjitha Kinsley, daugh- ter of Ste])hen Kinsley. She died soon after 1681. and he married (second) about 1683, Elizabeth (name unknown) who survived him. The selectmen's records of Dorchester show that he had a farm (;f one hundred and twent}" acres, \\ith a house which he had a])])arcntly occu- pied several years prior to 1654. He was a selectman in Millon. 1O79- 8S BERKSHIRE COUNTY 80-81. and a trustee of the first meeting' house built there. xAn auto- graph letter of May 7, 1677, is in Vol. 30, p. 239, Massachusetts Ar- chi\'es. He had ten children. The second by his first wife was : Stephen Crane, born about 1657, died July 20, 1738; married, Julv 2, 1676, Mary Denison, born 1660, died June 17, 1721. He mar- ried (second) .Vugust 13, 1723, Comfort, widow of Samuel Belcher, at Braintree, Massachusetts; she died at Milton, December 21, 1745. He had six children by his first wife. The sixth was: Benjamin Crane, born December 17. 1692, married, December 27, 1722, Abigail Houghton. They had eight children. The seventh was : Stephen Crane, born May 19, 1734, married, November 13, 1762, Susannah Badcock, born in Milton, Massachusetts, February 7, 1742. daughter of Nathaniel and Susannah (Tucker) Badcock. Stephen Crane remo\'ed tO' Canton, Massachusetts, and built a house on Punka- poag* brook, near its junction with Neponset ri\-er. His g^randmother, Susannah Tucker, was baptized August 23, 1719, she was a daug'hter of Ebenezer Tucker, and granddaughter of Manasseh Tucker, of Mil- ton, who was born about 1681, son of Deacon Manasseh Tucker, who before 168 1 married Waitstill Sumner, probably daughter of Roger and Mary (Josselyn) Sumner, of Dorchester, and granddaughter of William Sumner, who was in Dorchester as early as 1636. Deacon Manasseh Tucker was probably son of Robert Tucker, who was in W^e^mouth in 1638, and remox'ed to that part of Dorchester which l)ecame ^Milton, and was representative in 1669-80-81. Nathaniel Badcock, who married Susannah Tucker, was baptized in Milton, July 5, 1719, son of Nathaniel Badcock, Jr.. who was born December 16, 1684, and died January 22, 1719; he married May 3, T710, Mary Field, born 1682, died December 3, 1759. He was a son of BERKSHIRE COUNTY 89 Nathaniel Badcock, born March 14, 1658, died January 7. 1719, and had a wife Hannah and four children. This Nathaniel was son of Robert Badcock, A\ho was in Dorchester as early as 1648. In 1730, Daniel Henchman, a Boston bookseller, having- had some encouragement from the general court, built at Milton the first paper mill in New England, but it ceased operations in a few years from a lack of skilled workmen. In 1760 it was revived. In 1775 Massa- chusetts had only three small mills. The home of Stephen Crane was in that corner of Canton, now near Dedham, Hyde Park and ]\Iilton, near the paper mill. His son Stephen having learned the business there, established himself at Newton Lower Falls. He had five chil- dren besides Stephen J. The sixth child was : Zenas Crane, born May 9, 1777, died in Dalton, June 20, 1845, married, November 30, 1809, Lucinda Brewer, born 1788, died May 2, 1872, jetat. 84, daughter of Gains and Lucretia (Babcock) Brewer, ■of Wilbraham. Wlien he had to choose his life employment, he went to his brother Stephen and learned the rudiments of the business of paper making, then he went to Worcester and completed his studies in the mill of General Burljank. In 1799 he started westward on horselrick in search of a suitable location. At Springfield he found a mill established be- fore 1788, probably by Eleazer Wright, and went further west until he reached the upper Housatonic, and passed his first night in Berk- shire at an inn near the border line between Dalton and Pittsfield. not far from where his sons, Zenas M. and James B.. afterward built fine mansions, and where the Crane mills are still turning out products that hrive a worldwide as well as a national fame. In 1799 Dalton had nearly one thousand inhabitants, chiefiv en- gaged in agriculture, among them were such men as William Williams, 90 BERKSHIRE COUNTY soil of the distinguished loyahst. Colonel and Judge Israel Williams, of Hatfield, and a cousin of Ephraim Williams, founder of Williams College, who entrusted to him chiefly the execution of his plans; Cal- vin AValdo, a graduate of Dartsmouth. and a prominent lawyer; Dr. Perez Marsh, a graduate of Harvard, and a county judge; and other men of like character. At that time the nearest mills were at Spring- field, Massachu'setts ; Bennington. Vermont ; Troy, New York ; and Hartford. Connecticut, \\diile the site was selected in 1799, the mill was not huilt until the spring of 1801. as is shown by the following advertisement in the Piftsticld Sun of February 8, 1801 : " Americans ! '' Encourage your ok'u Manufactories, and they ivill improve. " Ladies, fave your RAGS. '' As the Subfcribers have it in contemplation to erect a PAPER- MILL in Dalton, the enfuing fpring-; and the bufiness being very ben- eficial to the community at large, they flatter themfelves that they shall meet with due encouragement: Ancl that every woman, who has the good of her country, and the intereft of her own family at heart will patronize them, by laving th.eir rags, and fending them to their Manu- • factory, or to the neareft Storekeeper — for which the Subfcrihers will give a generous price. HENRY WISWALL, ZENAS CRANE. JOHN WILLARD. Worcefter, Feb. 8, i8ot." Martin Chamberlain, a son of Joseph, who was an earlv settler of the town, was at first apparently skeptical, and would give onlv oral permission to erect a building and make the experiment, but finallv ( De- cember 25, 1801) executed a deed to Henry Wiswell, Zenas Crane and Daniel Gilbert for about fourteen acres of land, with a paper mill and appendages thereon standing, for $194. Gilbert had taken the place of John Willard. The building was a one-vat mill, and its main part BERKSHIRE COUNTY n was of two stories, of which the upper one was used as a drying loft. Its capacity was twenty posts, a post being one hundred and twenty-five sheets of paper. When tlie mill started there were two weekly news- papers in the county, and one of them purchased much of its supply from this mill. In 1779 there were only five iX)stoffices in Berkshire coimty. and in 1801 only seven. The nearest one tO' Dalton was at Pittsfield. where Mr. Crane received his mail matter until 1812, when the Dalton postofiice was established. Mr. Crane conducted the mill since known as the " Old Berkshire " until 1807, when he sold his undivided third to his partner, Wiswell, and went into the mercantile business in the eastern part of town, in which he continued until 1810. In that year (April 28), he bought David Carson's interest in what was later known as the " Old Red Mill," which was run for a time by Crane, V.'iswell, Chamberlin and Cole until 1822. when Mr. Crane, who had from the date of his purchase been superintendent and chief manager, hecame sole owner. In 1842 he transferred his interest in the Old Red Alill to his sons, Zenas ^Marshall and James Brewer, who were alread}- his partners. That vear the B. & A. railroad was opened. In the fall of 1870 the mill was l)urned, but was rebuilt. In 1879 the firm was awarded the contract for sup- plying the United States government with paper for bank bills. United States bonds, etc. To fill this contract the firm Ixmght the brick mill which had been liuilt a few years Ix-fore by Thomas Colt, in Pittsfield, very near the Dalton line, not far from the site of the inn where the first Zenas Crane passed his first night in Berkshire. It is now known as the Government Mill. Several of its employees are detailed from the Treasury Department at A\'ashington. and not the slightest irregularity has ever come to light, such is Ihe perfection of the svstem employed. The introduction of silk tlu'eads into the fibre of the paper was the 92 BERKSHIRE COUNTY discovery of Zenas Marshall Crane, in 1846, but he did not apply for a patent at the time, although his idea was adopted by several state banks. Twenty years later, when the United States government adopted the plan, an Englishman endeavored to establish a claim as the patentee, but the fact that the state banks could show issues made by them at an earlier date saved the government much more in royalties than any profit the Cranes may have received. In 1850 the firm of Crane & Wilson leased a stone factory which had been built in 1836 as a woolen factory, between the Old Red Mill and the Government Mill, the youngest son of the pioneer, Seymour Crane, being then a member of the firm. In 1865 the property was rented by Zenas Crane, Jr., the eldest son of Zenas M. Crane. The mill was burned May 15, 1877, and rebuilt on a larger scale, and has since been operated by Z. and W. M. Crane. Mr. Crane was several times in the legislature after 181 1, and was in the executive council in 1836-37 with Governor Everitt. November 30, 1809, he married Lucinda Brewer, daughter of Gaius and Lucretia (Babcock) Brewer, of Wilbraham, Massachusetts. The children of Zenas and Lucinda (Brewer) Crane were: 1. Lucinda, born March 19, 18 13. 2. Zenas Marshall, born January 21, 1815; married Caroline E. Laflin; married (second) Louise F. Laflin. 3. James Brewer, born April 31. 18 17, married Eliza B. Thomp- son; married (second) Mary E. Goodrich. 4. Lindley Murray, born March 17, 1822. 5. Seymour, born September 16, 1826. In 1847, Lindley Murray, third son of Zenas Crane, established a mill at Ballston Spa, New York, where he died, 1879. Robert B. and James, sons of James B. Crane, as Crane Brothers, established paper mills at Westfield, Massachusetts. ^II[^^§ li^AL^SfrGAL CLKi/?\[?ai /rS'S'O. BERKSHIRE COUNTY n ZENAS MARSHALL CRANE. Zenas Marshall Crane, second child and eldest son of Zenas and Lncinda (Brewer) Crane, whose history appears in the Crane family sketch which precedes this in the work, was born January 21, 18 15, in Dalton, Massachusetts. Zenas M. Crane was a man whose name will not fade as long as Berkshire has a history, as he was a maker of the history of this county. His life was an ideal one, and success was his in everything he under- took. As a paper manufacturer he had no peer in Massachusetts or any- where else in this country. But it is not alone as a paper maker that he was strong. He had a large brain and a large heart, w-as strong in intellect, in sympathy, in eveiything which goes to make up the best in man which we call character. There was no sham about iiim, nothing which could be criticised as on a low plane. He never reached down except to grasp the hand of the lowly who needed lifting up. He was always reaching for those things which are known as the good, the true and the beautiful. It was not in his nature to do a man a wrong, and there is evidence on every hand tO' show that all these elevating char- acteristics were true of him. The living men and women who were employed in the Crane paper mills in Dalton during any part of the time while he conducted them are ever ready to speak of his kindness and generosity, and those who have passed over to the majartv was founded in 1856 be became one of its most zealous members, and was connected v\itb tliat part}' during the remainrler of his life. He was one of the leaders of this party not only in his native county, but throughout the state of Massachusetts. The party honored him bv sending him to the state senate, to which be was elected in 1856 and 1857. It canniit be said that he was ambitious politically, as he rather assisted other men in the party to succeed in securing ])olitical offices tlian to be elected himself. He was a staunch friend of the late Senator Dawes, and whenever the latter was a candidate for congress- man he was one of the most influential men in the district to further his interests. Mr. Crane was a lifelong pf)litical and personal friend of the late Judge James Robinson, of North Adams, and when the latter came to Pittsfield to hold probate court, Mr. Crane usually came in from Dalton and they would spend an liour tog'ether delightfully, usually talking over political matters and indulging in reminiscences. These conversations often resulted in furnishing" Judge Robinson themes for editorials in his North Adoiiis Transcript. This was especially true during the administration of President Cleveland, when Judge Robin- son was editorially delivering those memorai)le philippics against the president. Mr. Crane took the liveliest interest in the war of the rebellion. During the administration of Governor .\ndrews he was a member of the executi\e council in 1862 and 1863, and in this jx^sition he exhibited qualities of sound sense, business ability and adherence to principle 9«; BERKSHIRE COUNTY which so strong"]}' cliaracterized him in private hfe and assisted the " war governor " greatly during those trying times of the nation. It is not to be wondered at that Mr. Crane was a great lover of the " Berkshire Hills." as he spent his whole life among them. His father. Zenas Crane, removed from his native town of Canton, in Nor- folk county, to Daltoii in 1801. Here he built the first paper mill west of the Coinnecticut river, and became well es1:ablished in his business. He was a man of wide and general information, and had such sterling business ability that properly crowned his efforts in the paper making business from the first. Under the training and teaching of such a father, the mind and character of Zenas M. Crane was formed. The father gave him and his younger brother, James Brewer Crane, a thorough business education, including a minute knowledge of the de- tails of the paper manufacturing as it was at that early time conducted. In 1842 the father transferred the business toi his sons, Zenas M. and James B., and they, like their father, were successful to such a degree that they were obliged to enlarge the plant from time to- time. The Cranes always made " honest paper," and the product has always stood high in the market. Much of their success was due tO' the fact that they always had the most modern machinery, but the great business abilit}^ and manufacturing skill of the senior partner must not be over- looked. During the coin-se of Mr. Crane's business life a great many inventions changed the process of paper making, and many of them were the results of his own ingenuity. He invented an attachment to the Fourdrinier machine to^ regulate the flow of paper and create an even surface, and in 1846 a way of introducing into the fibre of bank bills numbers corresponding to their value toi prevent the raising of their denomination without detection. He did not apply for a patent on the latter ingenious contrivance, but some twenty years later, when BERKSHIRE COUNTY 97 the national banking' system was established, the ])ractical men at the head of financial affairs adopted a plan essentially the same as Air. Crane's, to pre\'ent the connterfeiting of the ])aper. Soon after the gOA'ernment had adopted Mr. Crane's ideas in this regard, an English- man came to A\'ashington claiming the inxention. bnt as bank bills in the Alahaine Bank in Great Barrington and some (;thers had adopted Mr. Crane's inxention long before the date of the Englishman's patent, it saved the government from paying the foreigner royalty. If Mr. Crane had secnred patents on his various inventions thev would un- doubtedly have brought to him a large fortune in themselves. Bv neglecting to do so other paper manufacturers profited In- them \\ ithout extra cost of paying royalties. Mr. Crane married, August 29, 1839, Caroline E. Lafhn, of Lee, Massachusetts, born May 31, 1818, died January 16, 1849. He mar- ried (second) Louise E. Laflin, born July i, 1830, sister of his first wife. His children are: Zenas, born December 6, 1840, married Ellen J. Kittredge; Kate E., born October 17, 1843; Caroline L., born April 26, 1851 ; \\'inthrop Murray, born April it,, 1852, married Mary Benner. Air. Crane died March 12, 1887. JAMES BREWER CRANE. James Brewer Crane, who succeeded to a share in his father's busi- ness as heretofore narrated, was the third child and second son of Zenas and Lucinda (Brewer) Crane, born in Dalton, Massachusetts, April 30, 1817, and died August 4, 1891. He married (first) Eliza Barlow Thompson, of Dalton, and (second) Mary E. (kiodrich, who died Octo- ber 10. 1904. (Eor her ancestry see below.) He had four children by his first wife: 98 BERKSHIRE COUNTY 1. Robert B. 2. James. 3. Lizzie L.,, who married Dr. \Villiam L. Paddock, a leading physician of Pittsfield. 4. Jennie L., who married Dr. Frank M. Couch, a prominent physician in Dalton. By his second wife, James B. Crane had : 5. Frederick G., who married Rose Paddock, daughter of the late Dr. Frank K. Paddock, of Pittsfield, and through her mother a grand- daughter of Dr. John Todd, one of the leading clergymen of his day. Frederick G. Crane succeeded to his father's share in the business of Crane & Co. 6. Mollie, who married the Rev. Herbert S. Johnson, now a well known Baptist minister in Boston. Besides generous gifts to public institutions in his lifetime, Mr. Crane left in hi.-, will $15,000' to the Home for Aged Women, and $10,- 000 to the House of Mercy, both in Pittsfield, besides $22,000' for public purposes not named. The Goodrich family, of which the late Mrs. Mary E. Crane was a member, had its American founder in the person of William Goodrich (i), born in England, probably in or near Bury street, Edmunds, county of Suffolk, who presumably came to America with his brother John as early as 1643. "J^^e first entry on the Connecticut records is October 4, 1648, the date of his marriage to Sarah Marwin. She came in the ship "Increase" from London in 1635, at the age of three years, with her father, Matthew Marwin, her mother Elizabeth, and one brother and three sisters. Matthew Marwin was in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1638, an original proprietor. He was one of the original grantees of Nonvalk, Connecticut, settled there in 1653, and was a representative BERKSHIRE COUXTV 99 the next year. He had three more children Ijorn in Hartford. Tn Hartford he H\'ed on tlie corner of Village (now Pleasant) and Front streets. Sarah was christened at Great Bentley, in England, Decem- ber 21, 1 63 1, where her father had been baptized, at St. Mary's Church, March 26, 1700. Her mother, Elizabeth, was born in 1604. Great Bentley is sixty-two miles from London, on the Tendring Hundred branch of the Great Eastern Railway in county Essex. Matthew Marwin was a son of Edward and Margaret, grandson of Reinold and John, and descended from Roger Merwyn, who was born as early as 1430 and left a wife Matilda. His will, written in Latin, is recorded at Ipswich, county of Suffolk. He directed that his body should be buried there in the parish church at St. Stephen's, which is one of the oldest churches in Ipswich, and is mentioned in " Domesday Book." Much interesting matter may be found in the " Marwin Eng- lish Ancestry," published in 1900 by William I. R. Manvin. William Goodrich (i) was admitted a freeman of Connecticut in 1656, and was one of the early settlers of Wethersfield, was a deputy to the general court at Hartford, May 15, 1662, and one of the grand jury. He was appointed ensign of the train band at Wethersfieid in 1663, and is called " Ensign " William Goodrich in 1676, just after the close of King Philip's war. He died in 1676 and his widow married (second) Captain William Curtis, of Stratford, and died in 1702. Goodwin's "Genealogical Notes" state that William and John Good- rich were hrst at Watertown, Massachusetts, coming- to Wethersfieid with the first com-settlers about 1636. William Goodrich had nine children. John Goodrich (2) son of \\'illiam Goodrich, was born May 20, 1653, ^'"i^^ f^'^d September 5, 1730. He married, March 28, 1678, Re- becca Allen, who was born February, 1660, daughter of Cajit-;'!:: ] hn 1(10 BERKSHIRE COUNTY and Sarah Allen, of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Captain John Allen lived in W'ethersfield, Connecticut. He came from the county of Kent, England, in 1635, in the ship *' Abigail," with his wife Ann, each of the age of thirty vears. Ann died and he married Sarah as his second wife. He joined the church May 22, 1641, was admitted freeman in June, 1642, was of the artdlery company in 1639, was the wealthiest man in the town in 1657, and captain and representative in 1668. He died March 2/, 1675. John and Rebecca Goodrich had nine children. The seventh was : Allyn Goodrich (3), born at Wethersfield, Connecticut, Xcivember 13, 1690, died April 8, 1764. He married, December 29, 1709, Eliza- beth Goodrich, who was born November 19, 1691, and died at Farming- ton, Connecticut, August 25, 1726, daughter of Colonel David and Hannah (Wright) Goodrich. Colonel David Goodrich was born May 4, 1667, a son of William (T), so that Allyn and Elizabeth were cousins; he was a lieutenant-colonel in the old Erench war. Allyn Goodrich married (second) December 10, 1729, Hannah Seymour, who was born March 28, 1707, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (North) Seymour. Mr. Goodrich settled first in Wethersfield, but removed to that part of Farmington called " Great Swamp Village." where he was a blacksmith. He had seven children by his first wife, and two by the second. His second child was : Elisha Goodrich (4), born September 2, 17 12. He married No- vember 21, 1734, Rebecca Seymour, who was born June 25, 171 1, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (North) Seymour, and sister to his stepmother. Samuel Seymour and his wife were original members of the church in Kensington. Connecticut, then called the " Second Church in Farmington." which included Kensington at that time. Mr. Sey- mour was son of Richard and Hannah (Woodruff) SevnKxu", and BERKSHIRE COrXTV KH grandson of Richard Seymonr, one of the original proprietors of Hart- ford in 1639. Ehsha Goodrich. (4), was on the "town hst " of Pittsfield. Xo- vemher 16, 1772, withi a fann'Iy of four persons, and with his wife Rebecca, was admitted to the church June 5, 1722. He had two chil- dren. The second was : Josiah Goodrich (5), born at Wethersfield, Connecticut, January 15, 1740, died at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, October 24. 1798. He married, September 10, 1767, Ruth (iill)ert, who was born August 14. 1743, and died August 4, 1777. He married (second) in Wethersfield, Connecticut. February 25, 1779, widow Abigail (W^olcott) Wright, who was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, .\i)ril 21, 1752, and died at South Hadley, Massachusetts. December 24. 1831, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Wyatt) W^olcott ; her first husband was Levi Wright, to whom she was married January 30, 1772. Church records in Pittsfield show that Josiah Goodrich was admitted as a meml)er, September, 178 1, by letter from church in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Thev also show that Josiah (Goodrich and Abigail, his wife, were admitted March 2, 1794. Mr. (loodricli had one child b}- his first wife and seven b^• the second wife. His fifth child, the fourth by his second wife, was: Levi Gooclricli (6), Ix.-n in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. December 9, 1785, and died August 8, j868. He married, February 2/, 1806. Wealthy W'liitney. who was born January 6. 1788. and died Julv 24. 1858. daughter of Josliua and Anna (Ashley) \\'hitney. of Pittsfield. The family Bible calls him Zevi Wright, hut other records have the name Levi. He and his wife were admitted to the Congregational church in 1832. and lived at Pittsfield. He was an active and success- ful imsiness man, as a farmer, builder and contractor. He had contracts on the Harlem. Housatonic, Western and Xorth Adams railroads. He 1U2 BERKSHIRE COUNTY was many times called to hold office, and wielded a great influence in town affairs. He had ten children, of whom the third was: Noah Whitney Goodrich (7), born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, May 17, 181 1, and died January 9, 1875. He married, September 16, 1832, Abigail Porter Goodrich, bom November 28, 1812, died Septem- ber 2, 1 89 1, daughter of Butler and Lydia (White) Goodrich. He lived ou Summer street in Pittsfield, and with his wife was admitted to the Congregational church in 1832. Having spent his life in Pitts- field he was well acquainted with its history, and was regarded as an authority in the matter of roads and boundaries. While he was de- scended from William Goodrich, the settler, through his son John, his wife was descended through another son, Ephraim, whose wife was Sarah Treat, daughter of Richard Treat and grand-daughter of Richard Treat, an early settler in Wethersfield. Ephraim Goodrich had a son Gideon, who married Sarah, and he had Caleb, who married Huldah Butler, and they were the parents of Butler Goodrich, whose wife was Lydia White. Noah W. Goodrich and his wife were fourth cousins. Lydia White was descended from Elder John White, who came from England in the ship " Lion " in 1632, settled in Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, but removed to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1636. Lydia White's father, Ebenezer, leased the mill privilege near Elm street in Pittsfield, in 1778. He was admitted to- the church in 1776, and his wife Abigail (Porter) in 1774. She was daughter of Abraham Por- ter, Oif Hartford, Connecticut. Noah W. Goodrich had the following children, all born in Pittsfield: 1. Harriet, born June 6, 1834; 2. Levi W., born May 31, 1836. married Alice Battle; 3. Mary E., bom June 21, 1838, married James B. Crane; 4. Lydia L.. born August 24, 1840, married William H. Cooley ; 5. Lydia W., born September i. BERKSHIRE COUNTY K'3 1842, married John Feeley; 6. Frank Hinsdale, born April 7, 1846, married Elda Hoyt; 7. Fanny, born May 4, 1855, married Frank A. Robbins. WINTHROP MURRAY CRANE. The achievements of representatives O'f the Crane family in the mannfacturing ^vorld and their services in the councils of the state have had their natnral culmination in these opening years of the Twentieth Century in the appointment of Hon. Winthrop ]>^lurray Crane to the senate of the United States as successor to that venerable statesman, the late George F. Hoar. In this dawning of the new century, too, his resourcefulness as a business man has been recognized by his election to a number of import- ant directorates. These responsibilities, in conjunction with extensive paper making, large property and other important interests, constitute the gentleman in Cjuestion one of the m.ost interesting figin'es in this most interesting national era in both the political and the business world. Tliat Senator Crane owes much to heredity for the distinction and suc- cesses which he has attained, the records of the Crane family herein contained serve to demonstrate conclusively, and he would be the hrst to admit, indeed, he has many times with characteristic modesty and filial devotion insisted that the honors thrust upon him were practically so many testimonials to the ^^■orth of both father and grandfather of unusual 'business capacity and enterprise, of uncompromising integrity, and of generally recognized public and pri\ate usefulness. That W. Murray C'rane has done much more than to simply pre- serve untarnished the excellence of the famil}' name is. however, current history, and the details of his personal career have an entirel}- indixidual as well as an extreniclN' al s(.rl)intive e\-idence of diplomatic ability by obtaining- at Washington, whither he had gone on his own initiative, the government bank-note paper contract which the Crane establishment has held for nearly thirty vears. This contract secured he succeeded, after one month's personal work in an old mill turned over to him by his father for experimental purposes, in perfecting a pa]>er product that has fully satisfied the re- quirements of the government for bank-note purposes. Until 1892 W. Murray Crane was not known in politics. That year he was made a delegate to the Republican national convention, and was reluctlantlv persuaded to accept the place of national committeeman from Massachusetts. He si]eedily came to exercise a strong influence on the committee, and so his pcditical career began. In 1896 he was the manager of ihe Ree'l forces in the St. Louis convention, to which he was a delegate. In 1897 he was elected lieutenant-governor, and was re-elected in 1898 and 1899. The n.ext year he was elected governor, and held the state's chief office for three years. After Theodore Roose- velt was called to the duties of the presidency by the death of President McKinley. he early sought the counsel of Mr. Crane. The two men have maintained close relations, and the president invited the governor of Massachusetts to become secretary of the treasury, which offer was declined, as Avas a tender of the navy portfolio. In 1902 Governor Crane was in the carriage with President Roosevelt when the bodyguard of the latter was killed by the car collision in Pittsfield. Mr. Crane BERKSHIRE COUNTY 105 Avas a member of the Republican national committee, and one of Mr. Cortelyou's advisers in the conduct of the national campaign of 1904. On the 12th of October. 1904. Governor Bates tendered the place in \A'ashington left x-acant by the decease oi Senator Hoar to the ex-Governor, who accepted the appointment. Although Mr. Crane is essentially and strongl}- partisan politically, his friends and admirers are by no means confined to his political associates, as will be gathered from the following Springfield (Massachii.'^cfts) Republican editorial com- ment on his appointment as senator and his gubernatorial career: " Arguing from his success as governor, the usefulness of Mr. Crane in this national office is likely to be so demonstrated and estab- lished by 1907 as to insure his continuance in it. He has not sought public office, and he has not failed to demonstrate his capacity when dis- charging a trust which has been conferred by the people. " Senator Crane will not be an orator after the fashion of the tra- ditional senatorial type, albeit he is not without the power of clear, strong and convincing statement. This ability of his will be cultivated as it has not been before. In the large affairs of business, where he has been allied with men of national reputation on important directorates, Mr. Crane has made himself felt in a manner that the public does not realize. He will be effective in the senate in this way, and powerful in committee service. In shaping results he will surpass senators of the oratorical sort. This may be confidently expected. Power in the United States senate has been passing from the orators to the men of affairs, who know ho\\- to handle men and tO' control results as they are obtained in the world of business. Senators Aldrich and Quay, and Piatt, of New York, have been masterh' hands in the game of politics and of legislation. It is more desirable, in behalf of the public interest, the cause of the people and of good g'overnment. that Massachusetts send to serve in the senate some one who can manage men with tact and tireless industr}- in the shaping of legislation, guided by high ])rin- ciples, than that she be represented there by a ])leasing orator, when the influence of results is looked for. In this light the wisdom of the choice which Governor Bates has made promises to be established. That it is a selection agreealjle to the state is certain. WHiere Senator Hoar, with all his virtues, was unable to play tlie modern game. Mr. Crane ought to be and will be strong" as a conserving influence for that which is right and ])ractical. His influence with the administration, alread}- 106 BERKSHIRE COUNTY strong, will be increased. He can serve the state and the country to advantage in Washington." Massachusetts has come to know Mr. Crane and to regard him with increasing respect. His record as governor stands out conspicu- oiisly in the long list of those who have served the state in its chief office. During the three years that he served, things were done and reforms achieved wath an industry a,nd force that was exceptional and fruitful. When, in Januaiy, 1903, Governor Crane retired from office, leading citizens of Boston tendered him a complimentary dinner, which the late executive declined in an appreciative letter. The invitation to him set forth the grounds upon which the recognition was based, as follows : " Three years ago you entered upon your duties as governor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, a position associated with strong cliar- acters and high traditions. During your terms of office you have con- served the traditions, added luster to the office and gained for yourself the confidence of the whole people. Your administration has been pure and just. You have devoted your marked executive abilities to the de- tails as well as to the greater duties of your position. You have been accessible to the humblest citizen, and have carefully weighed the counsel of strong men. You have acted upon your decisions with confidence and courage. You have been a leader in the promotion of industrial peace and the mutual understanding of employers and employed. You have knit the whole people into a more sympathetic and united bodv." Such was the impression produced by the three administrations of Governor Crane, and it was the verdict of the state. Again TIic Clin's- tiaii Register recorded a verdict that was general in these words : " There has just gone out of the governor's office in the common- wealth of Massachusetts a man whom we can commend all the more heartily because he is not a Unitarian. For he is one who illustrates what we call the Unitarian idea of public service. He is a rich man who had the confidence of the poor. He is a man capable of control- ling great business operations, and yet apparently is without personal ambition or desire for official advancement. He regarded his office as BERKSHIRE COUNTY 107 an op|X)rtunity to- serve the people. All its showy accessories he gladly relinquished to others. He could not make an eloquent speech, and he never tried to. He has shown by his example that people of all classes, from teamsters to college presidents, could understand and appreciate modesty, simplicity, honesty and unfaltering devotion to the interests of the people. As he passes out of office, it would be difficult for a stranger to learn by the record of his acts and utterances to what polit- ical party he belongs, to what church, and what was his attitude in re- gard to national questions that did not come directly in the line of his personal duty and responsibility. The moral of it is that he who minds his own business, and minds it well, deserves credit, gets honor, and shows the way in which loyal men and women may best serve the country." Some brief particularizing will show the grounds upon which this praise rested. Governor Crane's work was after the pattern of the old, self-contained New England accomplishment. His first message de- clared that " Massachusetts has reached a limit of indebtedness beyond which she should not go,'' and it was the text on which he acted. His first inaugural address was the shortest on record in Massachusetts, and it was confined to reform recommendations, eveiw one of which was enacted into law during the year 1900'. Tlie second inaugural was longer, because the governor had results to report and more reforms to block out; all he asked for was accomplished. The third inaugural made another batch of definite recommendations, and they were acted upon. In the first year 50,000 shares of the Fitchburg railroad com- mon stock — held for thirteen years and carried on the books of the state treasurer as an asset, so worthless were they considered — were sold to the Boston and Maine railroad for «$5, 000,000; and the last year of Governor Crane's administration the New York, New Haven and Hart- ford railroad paid a price for the state's reclaimed lands in Boston that surprised that company and the public. He knew business and how to do it. Neither Greenhalge nor Russell insisted more successfully upon 108 BERKSHIRE COUNTY the principle of home nile as applied to cities. Salaries were not raised in the three years, save in the single instance of the chairman of the railroad commission, and that was to^ insure the work of Chairman Jackson, \\hose services were very important to the state. The over- expansion of state commissions was checked, and consolidations were achieved — that of the cattle commission with the lx)ard of agriculture, of the state fire marshal's expensive establishment with the district police, of the inspector-general of fish with the commission on inland fish- eries and game, and of the state pension agent and commissioner of state aid in one body, with a deputv\ An unpaid board of publication was created to edit state reports. In promoting results. Governor Crane placed himself upon frank working terms with the legislature, wielding the inlluence of the leader- ship in both branches to the support of what was agreed to be for the pulilic interest. He vetoed an undesirable Washington street subway bill in Boston, which failed duly to protect the interests of the ])ublic, and there was a furious fight to pass the nieasure over his head, which happily ended in his favor; and the next year, by tactful yet masterful co-operation with Mayor Collins and the elevated railway people, proper legislation was achieved. One of Governor Crane's important successes was in unofficiallv but none the less effectually bringing' peace out of the great strike which sadly disturbed Boston and threatened all New England, in March, 1902. The method then employed was subsecjuently taken by President Roose- velt, upon the urgent insistence of the Massachusetts governor, in set- tling the great coal strike. The story of the Massachusetts strike was thus told in the Boston Post: " Thousands of men from the different railroads of Boston, and many more thousands engaged in trucking the city's merchandise, threw /^^-^. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 109 up their hands and quit work. There was httle \iolence. The inten- sity of the storm seemed only mcreased by the outward calm. The strikers sought to ally every laboring interest with their own. Scarcely a team was driven about the streets. Boston merchants were distracted. Every day of the strike meant a loss of thousands of dollars. The rail- road companies, against whom the strike was directed, remained as unyielding as the coal barons. The threatening disaster to the city be- came the calamity of the state. Governor Crane was appealed to, and not in "vain. For days the indomitable state leader bent himself to- the task of relie\-ing the situation. All his personal and official influence was brought to bear ujxju the leaders of both sides of the strike. Con- ferences at the statehouse were held daily. Both sides were for a time inexorable. But Crovernor Crane's diplomacy won in the end. The striking teamsters and the railroad men returned to work and one of the greatest calamities that ever threatened Boston was averted. "Senator Crane is a modest and resourceful man of business, who has developed aptitude for ])olitics and public afifairs, and has been and will be absolutel}- de\oted to that which he believes to be right and for the best interests of the people and the countr\^ Self-seeking and self-interest \\\\\ never dominate him. He has deserA'ed the faith of his state and holds it in full measure. He is a man of the people, and men of all parties trust him." Senator Crane married, February 5, 1880, Mary Brenner, of As- toria. Long Island, who* died February 16, 1884, lea\ing one son, Win- throp Murra\' Crane, Jr.. a graduate of Yale, class of 1903. W. J\l. Crane, Jr.. emulated his father's example in learning the paper niaking Imsiness in the mills at Dalton, and is now of the com- pany. He married in b'ebruary, 1905. ]\liss Fthel. daughter of Arthur W. Eaton, president of the Faton-Hur]l)ut Paper Companv. Pittsfield. ZENAS CRANE. Senior member of the firm of Z. & \V. AI. Crane, operating the chain of paper mills elsewhere referred to herein, the gentlemrui whose name introduces this narratixe has jjrox'en equal in fullest measure to the large res])onsil)ilities which ha\e devolved ujKjn him. no BERKSHIRE COUNTY He was born December 6, 1840, eldest of the children of the late Zenas Marshall Crane. He received a liberal general and thorough business education. In 1865 he rented the Bay State Mill, subsequently purchasing it and operating it successfully up to its destruction by fire, May 15, 1877. Upon its site there was immediately erected a larger mill by the new firm of Zenas Crane, Jr., & Brother, the junior jKirtner being- Winthrop Murray Crane. Subsequent to 1887 the firm was known as Z. & \N . M. Crane. Mr. Crane has served as a member of the state legislature, and as executi\'e councillor in 1885, Governor Robinson's administration. The Art Museum, Pittsfield, was the gift of Mr. Zenas Crane. The struct- ure at Dalton designed to accommodate a town hall, opera house and public library, was given by the Cranes, who were also largely instru- mental in the erection in 1888 of the Congtregational church, Dalton. Mr. Crane married Ellen J., daughter of Charles J. and Frances M. (Birchard) Kittredge, of Hinsdale. Charles J. Kittredge was a son of Dr. Abel Kittredge (see sketch, Charles H. Plunkett). Charles J. Kittredge, ninth child of Dr. Abel and Eunice (Chamber- lain) Kittredge, born in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, April i, 18 18. died March i, 1893; married, June 17, 1845, Fi'ances M. Birchard. Their daughter, Ellen J., married Zenas Crane, of Dalton, of Crane & Co., paper manufacturers, and of the firm of Z. & W. M. Crane. The sixth child of Dr. Abel Kittredge was Eunice C, born in Hinsdale, January 18, 181O'; married, January 16, 1839, Hiram P. Paddock, of Hamilton. Their sons were Dr. Erank K. Paddock, of Pittsfield, now deceased, who married Anna Todd, and Dr. ^\'illiam L. Paddock, now a physician in Pittsfield. Rose, the daughter of Dr. Erank K. Paddock, is the wife of Frederick G. Crane. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 111 JAMES WELLS HULL. The science, for it is nothing less, of conducting an insurance insti- tution upon sound business principles has been the life stud}^ of the gen- tleman whose name introduces these memoirs, and the substantial basis upon which thousands of families are to-day afforded the security of insurance protection through the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, at as low a cost to the insured as is possible with the absolute safeguarding of the general interests, is in no small measure due tti the wisdom of his conduct of the offices which he has held therewith, particularly that of which he is incumbent, the presidency. The branch of the Hull family of which James Wells Hull is a member had its American founder in the person of Rev. Joseph Hull, who was born in Somersetshire, England, in 1594; matriculated at St. Mary Magdalen Hall, Oxford, May 12. 1612; was instituted rector of Northleigh, Diocese of Exeter, De\-onshire, .\pril 14, 1621, and sailed from Weymouth for America with his family, a wife, two sons, five daughters, and three servants. March 20, 1635. Rev. Hull assisted in the erection of the plantations which subsequently be- came the townships of Weymouth and Barnstable, Massachusetts; was twice deputy to the general court: and in 1638, one of the local magis- trates of Hingham, Massachusetts; was elected freeman and deputy for Barnstable at the first general court held at Plymouth; was preach- ing at York, Maine, in 1642-43, and at the Isles of Shoals; returned to England in 1652, where he was given the living at St. Burian, Corn- wail, where he remained until after the Restoration. In 1662 he re- turned to America and settled as minister at Oyster River, now Dover, New Ham])shire, and again at the Isles of Shoals, where he died No- vember 19, 1665. Of his children, 1 1 2 BERKSHIRE CO UNTY Ca]3tain Tristram Hull. Ijorn in England in 1624. died at Barn- stable, February 22, 1662. That he was humane and had the courage of his conviction is suggested by records of February. 1656, and again in 1657, Boston, disclosing his having been tined for coming to the rescue and relief of persecuted Quakers. He had a son, Joseph Hull, born at Barnstable, June, 1652; married, Octoher, 1676, Experience, daughter of Robert Har])er, who was one of the first of the Quakers to suffer in body and estate: was in 1660 banished from Boston, located in South Kingston, Rhode Island, where he died about 1709. Of the children of Joseph and Experience (Harper) Hull, Tristram Hull married Elizabeth Dyer, whose mother Mary was hanged in Boston Common, June i, 1660, for the crime of being a Quakeress. Tristram Hull's descendants were among the settlers of Providence, Newport, South Kingston and Jamestown, Rhode Island. Of the children of Tristram and Elizabeth (Dyer) Hull. Stephen Hull, born 1714, of Westerly, Rhode Island, married Mary Mowry, granddaughter of Benjamin Mowry, and great-grand- daughter of Roger Mowry and of Thomas Hazard. A son of Stephen, Latham Hull, born in 1749. died in 1807, of Stonington, Con- necticut, married Anne Wheeler, a descendant of Thomas Wheeler. A son t^f Latham and Anne ( Wheeler) Hull, Jeremiah Hull, lx)rn 1770, also of Stonington, married Keturah Randall Williams, descended from Rohert Williams, of Foxbury, Mas- sachusetts. Of their children, Charles Williams Huh, lx;rn in Stonington in 1798, located in 1819 in New Lebanon, New York, where he became a leading agri- culturist and sheep breeder. He married, September 10, 1834, Lucena Ann Churchill, of Winfield, Madison county, New York, a descendant BERKSHIRE COUNTY 113 of Josias Churchill, of Wethersfiekl, Massachusetts. Charles Williams Hull died in 1866: his wife in 1890. Of their children. James Wells Hull was horn in New Lehanon. Xew York. Seji- tember 20, 1842. His general education was received in pul)lic and private schools of New Lebanon and this was supplemented by his attendance in 1862 at Eastman's Business College. Poughkeepsie, New York, on the staff of teachers of which institution he was retained for the term of '63-'64. The following year he tanght in the public school at New Lebanon. On February 6, 1865. he reuKued to Pittslield to accept a position in the Pittsfield (now Pittsfield National) Bank, where he remained for seven years, resigning his bank cimnection tt:) assume in February. 1872, the duties of secretary of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, succeeding to its treasurership, vice Edward Boltwood, deceased, April 15, 1878; and to its presidency, vice Will- iam R. Plunkett, deceased, December 21. 1903. jNIr. Hull is a member also of the directorates of tlie Pittsfield Electric Street Railway Com- pany, Pittsfield Coal Gas Company, and is one of the original directors of the Pittsfield Electric Company. He was one of the founders of the Third National Bank of Pittsfield, and an original stockholder of the Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company. Mr. Hull's contribu- tions to the structural growth of Pittsfield are his handsome home ou Appieton avenue and the Hull-Morton Blod<, North street, in which latter he is jointly interested with W. G. Morton, of Albany, New York. Mr. Hull is a Democrat who has exercised a very large measure of independence in disposing of his franchise, being animated therein rather by patriotism than partisanship. He was elected to the school committee of Pittsfield in 1877, and served as chairman of that body for five years, when he was compelled to resign on account of pressure 114 BERKSHIRE COUNTY of business. He was apj^ointed a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Health by Govtninr Russell in 1893, reappointed by Gov- ernor Wolcott in 1898. and again reap];;::inted by Governor Douglas in 1905. ]\Ir. Hull was a delegate of the Actu.arial Society of Amer- ica to the International Congress of Actuaries at Paris in 1900, and was a member of the same Congress x3f Actuaries in New York in 1903. He was a member of the board of assessors of the First Con- gregational Parish of Pittsfield for a period of twenty-five years, end- ing in 1902, and declining re-election. He married, November 22, 1876, Helen Edwards, daughter of the late Thomas F. Plunkett, of Pittsfield. (See Plunkett family.) Mr. and Mrs. Hull have three daughters and two sons : Helen : Rosamond. a graduate of Smith College; Norman C, a graduate of Yale; Edward B., class of 1906, Yale; and Carolyn. DR. OSCAR SAMUEL ROBERTS. New England's centers of population are well endowed with medi- cal talent, and a large proportion of her physicians trace their ancestry to the sturdy pioneers who blazed their way through the wildernesses of the new world. Their sons and daughters, and the progeny of these, in turn, were infused with the same spirit of enterprise, with the same bravery, thrift and conscientiousness that characterized the fathers. And the aggregation of great states that constitute this great nation are foundationally their achievements. During the closing years of the eighteenth century James Roberts, then of Greenfield, Massachusetts, took his newly wedded wife, Eunice Nimms, to the ne\vly founded village of Whitingham, Vermont. He had a well grounded kno^^dedge of agriculture through practical ex- ^.5 /U^' BERKSHIRE CO I 'N TV 115 perieiice in his youth on tlic homestead farm in Connecticut, where his English ancestors had settled, and he had a well defined love for books, the natural outcome of studious habits as a school boy. In those days of the young republic each ambitious dweller in the inland towns and \'illages especial!}- was by stress of circumstances com- pelled to l^ecome well informed and indeed expert at more than one call- ing". Thus the farmer was always a miller ; the shoemaker often a teacher; the blacksmith, an oracle upon all subjects. James Roberts successfully tilled the soil of a large farm at Whit- ingham, a part of a three thousand acre tract granted to him and seven others, March 15, 1780. Contemporaneously and with equal success he practiced law there. His ser\ices, too, w^ere in constant requisition in discharging the duties of town clerk (1795-99), selectman (ten years), and other local offices, and he represented his town in the state legisla- ture continuously from 1797 to 1801, and again during 1806 and 1807. He proved equal to his responsibilities in full measure, growing with their development. He was in short, a type of that aggressive, progres- sive and capable American manhood that has builded a nation. He died March 12, 1825, surviving his wife but two months. He had four sons and three daughters : John, who^ became a lead- ing lawyer of Townshend, Vermont, which he represented in the legis- lature, 1819 to 1823, and again 1832-33; Horace, also a lawyer, who died in early manliood in Whitingham; James, who' followed farming, and w ith whom he continued to reside until his decease ; Thomas, the fourth son, who was a cripple. The son James had the same habits of thought that characterized the father although his business was confined to agriculture, which by the time he had attained his majority was becoming much more of a science than in former years. His services, too, were sought and freely 1 1 G BERKSHIRE CO UN T Y given in various local offices of trust, where the sole emolument was the consciousness of duty well performed, and he represented his town with credit in the state legislature. In his early manhood he belonged to the local company of militia which served in the war of 1812. He married three times. His first wife was Susan Brown, a na- tive of Whitingham, by whom he had four children : Susan Minerva, who married Dr. John W. Bement, of Townshend, Vermont; James M., deceased, farmer of Whitingham; Sarah M., who married Joseph R. Goodnow, of Whitingham ; and Martha Ann, who died in early woman- hood. His second wife, Joanna Haskell, bore him four children: B. Franklin, farmer of Whitinghami; Edward L., formerly a merchant of Brattleborc; Oscar .Samuel, the immediate subject of these memoirs; and Henry M., farmer of Whitingham. Oscar Samuel Roberts, born at Whitingham, Vermont, September 17, 1837, supplemented the usual local school attendance with a high school course at Shelbu.rne Falls, Massachusetts, and academic instruc- tion at Leland and Gray's Seminary, Townshend. During his two years stay at Shelburne Falls he was a member of the family of his sis- ter, whose husband, Dr. J. W. Bement, was a leading physician of that place. This association first directed his attention to the practice of medi- cine as a desirable profession, and immediately following the close of his school life at Townshend he took up its study under Dr. Bement's pre- ceptorship. In 1861 he came to Pittsfield for the course of lectures of Berkshire Medical College, and the following year was appointed acting medical cadet at one of the United States army hospitals in Philadelphia. His service in this connection covered a period of two' years and afforded him the opportunity which he embraced O'f attending the medi- cal department and clinics of the University of Pennsylvania. Return- BERKSHIRE COJ^NTV 117 ing to Vermont he went to Burlington to enter the medical department of the University of Vermont, and was graduated therefrom Avith the class of 1864. He then entered upon the practice of his profession at Belchertown, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1868, when he returned to Philadelphia for a final course in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and was graduated therefrom with the class of '69. In the same year he located in Pittsfield. He is a mem- ber of Berkshire District Tvledical Society, Massachusetts Medical So- ciety, and American Medical Association. He served for a number of years as a member of Pittsfield Board of Health, and has been since 1884 secretary of the board of examining surgeons for pensions, at Pitts- field. Dr. Roberts is one of those born healers of men whose natural in- clination and aptitude for his profession have been augmented by a splendid education, and to this equipment have been added these many }'ears of varied and constantly increasing practice. But the gentleman is something more than the medical expert qualified to accurately diagnose the disease and prescribe the remedy diat will assist nature to the best advantage in repairing the damage, something more than the self-reliant surgeon with the requisite skill and nerve for the multiple and trying duties of that branch of the profession. He is a generous, philanthropic man as well, one whose broad humanitarianism is felt by every one with V\hom 'he comes in contact, and whose kind face genuinely expressive of interest is illumined by an optimism that bids the most greatly afflicted to hope, and the consequent mental repose of the patient is an instant important factor toward the accomplishment of the de- sired end. The beneficence of Dr. Roberts is not confined to his contact with his fellow man professionally, but is characteristic. Certainly no finer 118 BERKSHIRE COUNTY trilnite could be paid to another than t'he remark of one of Dr. Roberts' friends to the writer : " I have known Dr. Roberts for nearly forty years and have known hundreds of his friends, neig-hbors, acquaintances and patients, and I have yet to hear the first word impugning his integrity as a man or his ability as a physician." In 1900 Dr. Roberts took into partnership association a nephew. Dr. Fred A. Roberts, and has since given freer rein to the aesthetic side of his nature, with its love for good literature, music and the arts, and enjoys that which he esteems more highly — the opportunities for more frequent association with his friends. Dr. Roberts was the first Pitts- field man to use an automobile, erected and for a time conducted through a representative the automol)ile station, and was one of the leading spirits in the founding of the Berkshire Automobile Club. HON. JOSEPH TUCKER. One of the oldest and most distinguished of the families of \\'est- ern Massachusetts is that of which the gentleman whose name in- troduces these memoirs is a member. Four generations of Tuckers have resided in Berkshire county and e^ch of these generations has included one or more indivifluals wh(;^~e careers have l)een a beneficence to the community. An extraordinary and perhaps unparalleled record of public service is included in the interesting annals of this interesting family in that for seventy-seven years the ofiice of register of deeds and for ninety years that of county treasurer were continuously held by its members, and the duties of these important trusts were fulfilled with an unvarying efticiency and integrity th.at speaks in no uncer- tain way of an ancestral rugged honesty, indefatigable in.lustrv, an;l general native worth. BERKSHIRE COrXTY 119 Robert Tucker, the founder of the family, was in Weymouth. Massachusetts, in 1635, from whence he remoxed to (iloucester. where lie held the office of recorder, later returned to Weymouth, where he held several offices, and finally settling in Milton, Massachusetts, at about the time of its incorporation, in 1662. He bought one hundred and seventeen acres adjoining land previously purchased by his son James. Mr. Tucker was town clerk of Milton for several years, a member of the legislature, and prominent in the church. That he was a man of decided opinions and in the habit of expressing them is indicated by the fact that, in 1640, he was fined for upbraiding a wit- ness, and calling him a liar. The witness was afterward hanged for adultery. Robert Tucker was born in 1604, died March 11. 1682. aged seventy-eight years. His wife w'as Elizabeth, and probably Elizabeth Allen, for he refers to his brother-in-law, Deacon Henry Allen, in his will, althouffh the latter mav have married a Tucker. Thev were the parents of nine children. The fifth was Benjamin Tucker, born in Weymouth. Massachusetts. 1646. died Eeln-uarv jy, 1713-14, married Ann Payson. daughter of Edw:ird a:i 1 Mary (Eliot) I'ayson, of Dorchester. Mary (Eliot) Paysjn was a sister of Johr. Eli<.t. the apostle to the Indiims. Mr. TucI.er settled in Roxbury. and had eleven children. The first was Benjamin Tucker, born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, March " New England Genealogical and Historical Register/" \^j1. \'II. p. i8o, and his children are named. One of his descendants was Edward Richmond 1>orn in Tannton, Massichnsetts, 1756. He served in the Revolutionary war. His son was Josiah Richmond, who served in the Plattsburg campaign during the war with Great Britain in 181 2. He moved with his family from Pittston, New York, to Hoosick, New York, and kejjt a hotel for many years on the old stage road from North Adams to Troy. His son was Albert E. Richmond, born in Pittston, New York, September 23, 1819; died May 31, 1895. Although brought up in the hotel business, he gave it up at his father's death and entered the mercantile luisiness at Hoosick. He removed to North Adams, Massachusetts, in i860, and purchased the Berkshire House, which he conducted for twenty -seven years, with the exception of a short time when he kept the Mansion House in Troy, New York. He also kept the Wilson House in North Adams for a few years, and built the Richmond House, which he man- aged until 1887. Mr. Richmond served in the New York assembly, and in 1888 in the Massachusetts legislature, and was a member of the prudential committee of the fire district in North Adams, and of the water works board. He was a member of the North Adams Glub. Pie married, October 22, 1857, Anna AL Ouacken])ush, born in Hoosick, New York, in 1836 (for genealog}' see Cebra Ouackenbush^ this work). They had three children: Clinton O., William W., treas- urer of the Hoosick Savings Bank, and Grace V., wife of T. E. Dore- mus, of Wilmington, Delaware. Clinton Quackenbush Richmond, born December 17. 1859, at Hoo- sick, New York, graduated from Drury high school, 1877, and from Amherst College with the degree B. A., class of "81. and is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Society. His first business association was with his father in the conduct of the Richmond Hotel. North Adams. 130 BERKSHIRE COUNTY His next enterprise was the establishing of a plant at North Adams for the manufacture of carbon for electric lighting apparatus, and this busi- ness was sufficiently successful to challenge the interest of the Thomson- Houston Electric Company, which purchased the same and removed the plant to Fremont, Ohio. With others Mr. Richmond, in 1888, pur- chased the street railway line between Adams and Xorth Adams, then operated with horse cars ; an electric equipuient was installed, and the Hoosick Valley Street Railway Company incorporated, one of the earliest of the electric roads of Massachusetts. Mr. Richmond served as president of this company from 1888 txj 1902. During Mr. Rich- mond's term of ser\ice as its presiding official the road was extended to Williamstown at the west and to Cheshire at the south, at the latter point connecting with lines to Pittsfield, one line running from the latter place to Great Barrington through Lenox, Lee and Stockbridge. Especially substantial contributions to the architecture and business of North Adams by Messrs. C. Q. and W . \V. Richmond were the erection of the New Richmond Hotel and Richmond Theater, both of which were conducted initially by them. Mr. Clinton Q. Richmond was espe- cially interested and assisted in securing the location of the State Nor- mal School at North Adams, and rendered service also in securing the necessary appropriations for the Greylock Mountain Reservation. Mr. Richmond's political affiliation is with the Republican party, which has called his services into recpiisition to numerous offices of trust and high responsibility. He represented North Adams in the state legislature in 1896 and 1897, serving efficiently on numerous important committees, is a member of the Massachusetts state board of education, to which he was appointed in 1901 by Governor Crane to fill the unexpired term of President Carter of Williams College, and reappointed by Governor Douglas for the 1905-13 term. He was f(jr nine years a member of the BERKSHIRE COUNTY 131 North Adams scIkkjI l):)ar(l and ad\ance:l the cause of education locahy by successfuHy championing many wise measures. He also served for a period as president of the North Adams board of trade. Mr. Richmond married Hannah AI. Bates, daughter of Ehsworth N. Bates, a native of Cummington, Massachusetts, and who read law under the preceptorship of the late Senator Henry L. Dawes, subsequently re- moving to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he practiced law. He was captain in Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry during the civil war, and ill health engendered at the siege of Vicksburg resulted in his demise in 1863. His wife was a native of North Adams, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Richmond have a son, Clinton Whitman, born October 22, 1890, and a daughter, Mary Quackenbush Richmond, born November 24, 1900. JOSEPH HENRY WOOD. Joseph Henry Wood, senior member of the firm of Wood Brothers, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was born August 5, 1850, in Nails- worth, a suburban district of Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, son of John Pooley W^ood, who located in i860 in Pittsfield, where he was engaged in the shoe manufacturing business for six years with Alvin Leffingwell under the firm name of Leffingwell & Wood. In 1866 John Pooley Wood purchased his partner's interest in the establis-hmcnt, and conducted the same with marked success during the long period of thirty-one years. He early won and always retained the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens. Since 1897 he has been living in retirement in Pittsfield. His wife was Elizabeth Hemming, also a native of Gloucestershire. She died in 1901, leaving three sons and two daughters, the immediate subject of this sketch being the eldest of the children. 132 . BERKSHIRE COUNTY Joseph Henry Wood received his initial schoohng in London, England, a tuition which was supplemented by attendance in the public schools of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1882, in partnership associa- tion with his brother, William P. Wood, he became established in busi- ness in Pittsfield for the sale of pianos, organs, music and musical in- struments and goods generally, under the firm name of Wood Brothers. From an extremely modest beginning" the business developed until it became the leading one in its line in western Massachusetts. This magnificent result has been attained by dint of industry, enterprise and business integrity. Its growth has necessitated the establishment of a branch house at North Adams, and for a long period the two stores practically monopolized the music business of Berkshire county. In advancing the musical interests and cultivating the musical taste of the people of this community the firm of Wood Brothers has been a most important factor, both through the handling of instruments of superior make and in securing numerous public entertainments by distinguished artists, vocal and instrumental. ,\ further business connection of Mr. Joseph H. Wood is a considerable interest in the Musgrove Knitting Company, manufacturers of cotton and worsted underwear, at 76 West street, Pittsfield, of which concern Mr. Wood is president. He is also a stockholder and director in the Spark Coil Company, Pittsfield. Mr. Wood is one of the executive committee of the state central committee for the Protection of Fish and Game, and in that capacity has rendered valuable service to the state. He was one of the first of the citizens of Pittsfield to urge the formation of what was originally known as the Riverside Rifle and Gun Club, with which and its successor, the Pitts- field Rod and Gun Club, he has had almost constant official connection since its formation in 1875. He is a member of Crescent Lodge, F. and A. M.; Berkshire Chapter, R. A. M.; Berkshire Council, R. and x^^^^T^^^^^^^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 133 S. M. ; and Berkshire Commandery, K. T. He married, January 20, 1872, Clara M., daughter of the late Daniel and Eliza (Clark) Dainty. Daniel Dainty was for many years a highly respected merchant of Pittsfield. The children of this union were Clara Mabel, now wife of the Rev. John M. Harris, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Hoosic Falls, New York; the Misses Laura, Maud, and Jessie Alberta Wood, the latter a graduate of Pittsfield high school, class of 1903 ; and Albert William Wood, graduate of Pittsfield high school, class of 1904. Mrs. Clara M. (Dainty) Wood died November 2, 1893. Two years later Mr. Wood married Miss Melvena Frances Nickerson, daugh- ter of the late Captain Francis and Melvena (Cook) Nickerson, of Provincetown, Cape Cod. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal church, Pittsfield. WILLIAM PORTER W^OOD. I'he gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs is one of Pittsfield's substantial business men, who, notwithstanding the demands upon his time of a great and growing business, has ever been dominated by a desire to further every interest and influence that makes for public weal and whose services have been brought into requisition frecjuently and have been given freely and efficiently in the discharge of numerous and diverse private and public trusts. William Porter \Vood was born June 9, 1853, ^^'^ Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England, son of John Pooley Wood (see sketch of Joseph Henry Wood). W^illiam P. Wood, second of the children of John Pooley Wood, received his preliminary schooling in London, England, and this was followed by attendance upon the public schools and Carter's Business College of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His first business connection was as clerk in John Breakey's shoe store on North street. He then learned 134 BERKSHIRE COUNTY shoemaking- with his father, and this association continued for four years. The following eight years found him in the employ of the AMieeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Company, for six years of which period he was located in Berkshire county, for one year in Worcester and for one year in Waltham, Massachusetts. He then accepted the management of Cluett & Sons' music house at Pittsfield, and in this connection secured the foundational practical knowledge which with subsequent similar experience and employment so well equippe;! him for the business which he with his eldest brother, Mr. Joseph H. \Vood, established in 1882 under the firm name of Wood Brothers in Pitts- field, Massachusetts, for the sale of pianos, organs, music and musical instruments and goods generally. From an extremely modest start this business has developed rapidly and is now the leading one in its line in western Massachusetts. This magnificent result has been attained by dint of industry, enterprise and business integrity. Its growth has necessitated the establishment of a branch house at North Adams, and the two stores combined practically monopolize the music business of Berkshire county. William P. Wood is a director of the Wilcox & Wdiite Company, of Meriden, Connecticut, manufacturers of the " Angelus," the best of automatic piano players. He has from time to time undertaken, with other public-spirited citizens, to advance the business and general inter- ests of the community in securing the location of various manufacturing plants in or near the county seat. In advancing the musical interests and cultivating the musical taste of the people of Berkshire county the firm of Wood Brothers has been a most important factor both through the handling of instruments of superior make, and securing public en- tertainments by distinguished artists, vocal and instrumental. William P. Wood was president of the Berkshire County Musical Society, which BERKSHIRE COUNTY 135 for a term of years gave annual musical festivals wherein such soloists as Nordica, Blauvelt, Watkins Mills, and others of like fame were participants. Mr. Wood is staunchly Republican in his political prc^clivities and has given unstintedly of time, talent and means to secure the success of his partv. His services have been in constant requisition as delegate tO' conventions, local, county and state, since 1888; he has served as a member of the city committee, and continuously since 1898 as member and treasurer of the county committee. In 1892, as a resident o\ the sixth ward. j\Ir. Wood was sought by his party as the aldernrmic can- didate most likely to carry that Democratic stronghold which up to that time had never returned a Republican to the board of aldermen. He w-as elected to that board, and his exceptionally efficient service in claims and fire department committee work in that Ixxly attestetl the wisdom of his constituents in their choice of a representative. In 1896 he was a member of the state central committee, and in that year also was nominated for the office of county commissioner, to which he was elected by the flattering majority of 3,999. He was re-elected in 1899, and again in 1902. As count}- commissioner Mr. Wood and his asso- ciates ha^■e succeeded in establishing a new order ol things in the countv buildings, especially in the improved f"cilities installed for their ventilation; and nijtably in the substitution for a i)roposed exten.sive addition, of an admirable plan of re-arrangement whereby mucli addi- tional space needed f(jr the transaction of the imblic Imsiness was gained at a saving for the people of the sum of v$50,C30. The county debt has been reduced $60,000 during this period of excellent management with no ajjpreciable addition to the tax rate. b'raternally Mr. Wood is a member x^f Crescent Lodge, F. and A. M.; Berkshire Chaj^ter. R. A. M.; Berkshire Council and Berkshire Comnr'ndery. Kniglits 136 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Templar. He is past master of his lodge: past high priest of the chap- ter; past commander of the commander\' ; past district deputy grand master of the district, and past district deputy grand high priest. He is past chancellor of Berkshire Lodge, Knights of Pythias, a memher also of Royal Arcanum, and past master workman nf Ancient Order United \\'orkmen. He was married December 25, 1873, to Ida M., daughter of Edwin Davis, of Pittsfield. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have two sons and two daughters: John E., who is now preparing in the most practical way possible for ultimately engaging in the pian;) business bv learning piano making in the Kranich & Bach factory, New York; George E., clerk in Pittsfield National Bank: E. Grace, wife of A. R. Norton, organist of Simpson Methodist Episcopal church, Brooklyn, New^ York, and who have one child. Ida Laura Norton; and Elizabeth M., wife of A. U. Brander, ^■oc^l te'cher. New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, to whom has been born a son, \\'illiam Wallace Brander. ]\Irs. A. R. Norton is solo soprano of St. James Episcopal church, Brooklvn. Mr. and Mrs. Wood reside at 48 Onota street, and are members of the South Congregational church. LAWRENCE C. SWTFT, M. D. Dr. Lawrence Chew Swift, lor a number of years a leading phvsi- cian of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was of excellent ancestry, numbering among his forebears several who rendered conspicuous service to the patriot cause during the Revolutionary period. Thomas Swift, the founder of the family of that name in America, was a son of Robert Swift, of Rotherham, Yorkshire, England. The town records of Dorchester, Massachusetts, show that he had land granted him there in November, 1634, was admitted freeman in 1635. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 13T and was a member of the Rev. Mr. Wareham's church in 1636. with his wife Elizabeth. She was probably a daughter of Bernard Capen. who came from Dorchester. England, and died in Dorchester. Massachu- setts, November 8. 1638, and who had been a representative several times, and was prominent in public affairs. Thomas Swift held many town offices, and town meetings were held at his house. He had ten children. The second was Thomas Swift, born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, June 17, 1635, died at Milton, Massachusetts, January 26, 1717-18. He married. De- cember 9, 1657, Elizabeth Vose, died January 26, 1676, daughter of Robert Vose, of Milton. He married (second), October 16. 1676. Sarah Clapp, who died February 4. 17 17-18. He received land in Milton from his father-in-law in 1659, and that with other lots was the original homestead and remained in the family until 1835. He was a member of the church in Dorchester, and a founder of the First Church in Mil- ton, April 24. 1678, and became a deacon August 20, 1682. His wife was admitted to the church October 2, 1681, by letter from the church in Dorchester. He held many town offices, was representative and a lieutenant, and was appointed to take charge of the Neponset Indians. The youngest of his six children was Colonel Samuel Swift, born in Milton, December 10, 1683, died October 13, 1747. He married, November 6, 1707, Ann Holman. who died May 19, 1769, daughter of Thomas Holman, of ^lilton. Colonel Swift was one of the wealthiest and most influential men in Milton, was a judge of the court of common pleas, colonel of militia, representa- tive, and selectman for .upwards of twent}- \ears. He was father of eleven children, of whom the fifth was Sanuiel Swift, born in Milton. June le and esteemed lady, survives her husliand, and she is now the able and beloved president of the college. Closing a tribute to the memory of Dr. Mills a college publication says: "When we contemplate the life of this noble man, and remem- ber the hun(h-eds of young lives that came under his influence, we realize that no mathematician can compute the far-reaching and blessed results for good which his earnest life bestowed upon the world." Mr. Wilcox married, January 7, 1857, Nancy B. Bradley, a native of Lee. A son, Charles M. Wilcox, born at Lee, August 31, 1861, was edu- cated at (h-evlock Institute and Williston Seminary, Easthampton, studied law under his father and in the law school of Boston University, was admitted to the bar March 6, 1886, and is engaged in the practice of his jirofession in Pittsfield. He represented Pittsfield in the state legislature in 1889. He married May 2, 1892, Katherine, daughter of the late Al- bert ThonqDfon, of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Wilcox have two children, Minerva, ix)rn June 10, 1893. and Evelyn B., born Decem- ber 24, 1897. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 1T9 REV. JOHN TODD, D. D. The Todd family originated in England, and the American branch was planted by Christopher Todd, of Pontefract, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, who became one of the original settlers of the New Haven colony in 1639. He became a large land owner, and lived to a ripe old age, leaving three sons and three daughters. This distinguished divine was born in Rutland, Vermont, Octtiber 9, 1800, son of Dr. Timothy and Phebe (Buel) Todd. Timothy Todd was one of nine children of Timothy Todd, who was a farmer, merchant and magistrate, and was an ardent patriot in Revo- lutionary times. It is worthy of note that when, at his death, his estate was found to be insolvent on account of the depreciation of the con- tinental currency, his sons, with a fine sense of honor, assumed his in- debtedness and paid it in full. Timothy Todd, father of Dr. John Todd, bore a part in the bat- tle of Bennington. After the Revolution he studied medicine and en- gaged in practice at Arlington, Vermont, after having visited Killing- worth (now Clinton, Connecticut), to marry Phebe, daughter of Cap- tain Jehiel Buel. Near Arlington he built a lirick house, which was standing in 1875, ''^"^^ ^""^^'^ '^'^'^^"^ ^^'^''''' ^'^ "^ ^^'^^ seven children. He served in the General Assembly and in the governor's council. He wrote manv articles for the press, and delivered addresses upon special occasions. Shortly before the birth of his son John he was seriously injured in an accident, and his wife, who had long been ill, lost her reason when her husband was erroneously reported to her as killed. Dr. Todd removed to East Guilford, and finally settled at Killingworth. Connecticut, where he died. John Todd was left parentless when six years old, and wn^ 1;)Kcn ISO BERKSHIRE COUNTY into the home of his aunt, Mrs. John Hamilton, of North Kilhngworth. Later he went to Charlestown, Massachusetts, making the journey afoot, and hved for several years in the family of a Mr. Evarts. He then entered Yale College, during his vacations teaching school. During his senior year in college he engaged in that writing which became a life habit. His first articles were published in The Seaman's Magazine, and later in a little volume. Aside from his text books, his reading hours were principally occupied with works of the Baxter's " Saint's Rest '' and Doddridge's " Rise and Progress " class. On leaving college Mr. Todd was urged to teach in a school at Weston, of which he had charge during one of his vacations. He had determined, however, upon the ministry, and at the age of twenty-two he entered the seminary at Andover. That place was then a great center of theological interest; the classes were large, and the professors were men of distinguished reputation, among them being Dr. Ebenezer Porter, Dr. Leonard Woods, Dr. Moses Stuart and others equally able. It was during the floodtide of the great conflict between orthodoxy and Unitarianism, and teachers and students were alike full of white-heat enthusiasm. Soon after entering the seminary, ]\'Ir. Todd began to develop his jTOwers as a preacher. Hi? first attempt brought upon him the dis- pleasure of the faculty. Having made srme remarks at a religious meeting, he was reprimanded for preaching without a license, and he was required to make confession of his fault. Lie comnlied by rising and saving, " L John Todd, in the presence of this august assembly, with feelings of the deepest contrition and repentance, do express my most heartfelt regret and sorrow for having on — day, in the vilbge of , in a small school house, exhorted the people to repentance. ?nd to seek tlicir eternal s:^lvatinn through God; ?nd for BERKSHIRE COUNTY 181 such a crime may I be pardoned." It is not recorded that the faculty pursued the wrongdoer further. W hile a student, Air. Todd wrote a pungent article on Swedenbor- gianisni, which was irritating to the exponents of that belief. In his autobiography he notes that on February 14, 1823, he began the writing of his first sermon. He was not physically strong, and he was obliged to abandon his studies in search of recuperation, his condition being then so unpromising that one of the professors expressed the belief that he was not long for this world. After a short respite, in course of which he did some editorial work in Boston, he returned to Andover .Seminary, and was appointed lil)rarian. He now began to attract atten- tion as a speaker and writer, and frequently appeared before public assemblages. In the midst of his literary work he was broug^ht into the family of Mr. Willis, proprietor of the Recorder, ^^•ho was the father of N. P. Willis and of a daughter who was a popular writer under the pen-name of Fanny Fern. In June, 1823, when he was twenty-three years old, Mr. Todd was licensed as a preacher by the Suffolk Associa- tion, which included the orthodox ministers of Boston. After speaking in the Park Street church he was invited to settle in Holliston. Soon after he deli\ ered an orthodox discourse at Groton, a hotbed of Unita- rianism. At this tinie he had received four offers^ — a mission in Maine, one in Virginia, one to South Carolina, and another tO' Savannah. .Ml . of these he declined, as he did a fellowship in the seminary. He again preached orthodoxv at Groton. and so plainly that one of his Unitarian hearers said, " evervbodA- who comes from Andover has hell-fire enough to send us all to misery." The chinx"h voted to extend to him a call. but the parish, comprising all the legal voters in the town, would not agree to it. As a sidelight upon the conditions at that time, it is curious to note that at the election rum was served by the pailful, and was even 182 BERKSHIRE COUNTY taken into the meeting house. He continued, however, to preach in Groton, and during this time dechned the editorship of the New York Observer. After the building of a church, he was ordained on January 3, 1827, being then twxnty-seven 3-ears old. In a revival which followed, Mr. Todd was taken ill as the result of over-exertion. He recovered, however, in time to be married to Mary, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Brace, of Newington. His bride had been a fellow-pupil in the Rev. Charles Herrick's school. Shortly after entering Andover Seminary, Mr. Todd visited Mr. Brace, who was so pleased with the young man that he consented to a correspondence with his daughter. Later, wdien Mr. Todd was twenty-three years old. and on Miss Brace's eighteenth birthday, the two young people drew up a formal contract of engage- ment, in which it was specified that they should marry " when circum- stances should render it convenient." The convenient time had now arrived, and the marriage occurred March 11, 1827, the ceremony being performed by the father of the bride. Mr. Todd had preached twice on that day, previous to his marriage. Mr. Todd remained all his life a member of the church in Yale Col- lege, being opposed on principle to holding such relationship with any church of wliich he was pastor. He remained at Groton until 1832, when he accepted a call to Northampton, and he delivered his first ser- mon there on January 20, 1833, in the town hall. Ten days later the organization of the cliurch was completed, and he was installed as pastor. A meeting house was built and was dedicated on the following Christ- mas. In 1835 he aided in the organization of a Congregational church in Philadelphia, and he was installed as its pastor November 17. 1836, when thirty-six years old. A church edifice was Iniilt and was dedicated just a year later. In his dedication sermon Mr. Todd made what he termed " a simple comparison of Congregationalism with other church BERKSHIRE COUNTY 18^ systems," and with such \igor that, to use the language of a letter writ- ten at the time, '" one universal howl of rage went up from Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Unitarians alike." Mr. Todd's course lay not through unrultied seas. There were dissensions at times, many of his people desiring a return to Presb)terian forms. The eventual downfall of the church was, howe^■er, due to an unpayable debt. In 1842, at the age of forty-two, Mr. Todd was installed as pastor of the First church of Pittsficld, the Rev. Dr. Shepard, of Lenox, preach- ing the sermon, in the spring of the same year he brought his family and settled in the place which was destined to be his home during the remainder of liis life. Shorlly after his arrival, his house burned down, and his famil}' l^arely escaped with their lives. Within a year a par- sonage was built which was their shelter for thirty years. His life was a particularl)- busy one in all these years, and his letters containing the narrative are of intense interest. They record the completion of the new church building in 1853: the various happenings to his people; his own experiences with "all scrts and conditions of men;" the death of his mother after a Ifmg life in which her diseased mind was her constant affliction; the six years' sta}' in the home of his father-in-law. the Rev. Dr. Brace: and much. more. His re]:utation had nnw extended throughout the C( untry. As early as 1855 ^^^ \i^'ited the west and spoke to twenty-two dilierent audiences. His health b.ecame inipaired, and he found some restr.ration in a \isit to Europe. Tn 1869 he journeyed to California with a comi;any of Pitts- field people, and tO( k part in the ceremonies of laying the last rail uniting the Central Pacific and Ui'ii n Pacific r'u'lroads. making the praver upon that interesting occasion, and which wns jirinted in ;'lm(^st every newspaper in the land, lie deliAered se\'en lectures in California, and with such acceptabilit\- lliat he was in\-ited to a pastorate in San 184: BERKSHIRE COUNTY Francisco at a salary of $ig,coo in gold. In 1870, after a pastorate of nearly thirty years, during' whkh he had declined numerous offers to go elsewhere, he resigned, feeling- that he had served as long as could l)e expected of him. and heing desirous of rest. It was not unlil 1872, however, that his successor was installed in the person of the Rev. E. O. Bartlett, of Providence. In 1873 l^^ delivered an historical discourse narrating the career of the cli.urch from its toundation to that time. As minister and man his inflrence over the ccnnmunity was com- manding. He advocated fearlessly whatever he lielieved to lie right, and, later in life, was free from that higotry which has lessened the effect of the preaching of many sincere and really good men. In his " Life," as edited by his son, in the analysis of the preaching of this excellent man, especial note is made of the simplicity of his style, his infrequent use of scientific theology, his great use of illustration and comparison, wlrlch his retentive memory facilitated, the gravitv and solemnitv of his sermrais, and his strong common sense and deep knowledge of human nature. He did not often denounce particular sins or inculcate specific duties, but aimed rather to purify the fountain of human action. His power of pathos, which led him to sometimes indulge in what might be called the luxury of woe, and affect his hearers to the point of weep- ing, gave him a certain strong hold upon many. His enthusiasm was great, and he had fine imaginative faculties. In spite of his fondness for the pathetic, he was fond of humor, but never allow^ed that side of his nature of appear A\'hen in the pulpit. His industry as a writ':^r continued throughout his life. In 1835 he published his " Student's Manual," wdn'ch w^as wddelv dstributed in the United States, and of w'hich 150,000 copies were sold in England. His " Sabbath S'diool Teacher." published about 1840, met with great sr.ccess. In 18 14 he wrote a very interesting history of the BERKSHIRE COUNTY 185 Berkshire Jubilee, of which he was one of the principal managers. In 1848 he was induced to assume the editorial work on the " Berkshire Agriculturist," but he continued the work only eleven weeks. His " Lecture to Children," which was really his first book, went through many editions in England, as well as in the United States, and was translated into French, German, Greek, Bulgarian, Tamil, and other lan- gxiages. His " Stories on the Shorter Catechism " were well received. In 1867 he published a " Treatise on Woman's Rights," wdiich brought upon him the se\'erest criticism of Gail Hamilton. Dr. Todd maintained the most pleasant relations with other pro- fessions, and especially with medical men, who made him an honorary member of the Berkshire ]\Iedical Society. To the end of his life he kept up interest in the progress of science, and in all the progressive movements of the day. He kept a workshop well stocked with lathes and tools, and many specimens of his mechanical skill are highly treas- ured by their possessors. He was especially devoted to his home, his church and his town, and county, and never allowed opportunity to praise them go unimproved. He was an earnest advocate of all public improvements. His social (jualities were surpassing, and his extreme aptness for after-dinner speeches made him much sought after. For more than twenty years of his later life he visited the Adirondacks, hunt- ing and fishing. He was an expert authority upon fishing apparatus, yet preferred hunting- as a personal sport. In boating he was as venture- some as a youngster. In all his trit)s on pleasure bent, he was one of the most genial and comijanionable of men. Dr. Todd was a trustee of Williams College, and he received the degree of Doctor of Di^'inity from that institution in 1845. He died August 2, 1S73, at the age of seventy-three, and the entire body of |:)eople, of all denominations and of none, attended his funeral. J 86 BERKSHIRE COUNTY CEBRA QUACKENBUSH. Among the men whose pubHc spirit and enterprise liave contributed in large measure to the substantial development of Pittsfield the gentle- man whose name forms the caption for these memoirs is justly entitled to the general recognition which he receives as a public benefactor. He is of Hollandese extraction, a representative of that splendid American type that has been so important a factor in our national progress, which through numerous generations has retained the characteristics of the early Dutch settlers of the Hudson valley, indomitable will, persever- ance, thrift and conscientiousness. Of the ancestors of Cebra Ouack- enbush William Cebra, maternal grandfather, was a soldier in the Pa- triot army during the war of the revolution. Anthony Bries. great- great-great-grandfather, held the office of high constable in Albany, New York, in 1696; deacon of the Dutch Reformed church, 1697, and one of the number who attained title for the city of Albany to the "Beaver Creek" lands. His son Hendrick (great-great-grandfather) was a free holder in Albany in 1731, and alderman 1738. He married a Van Vechten, and the son. Gerret Theumisse Bries (now spelled Breese) held numerous offices of trust in Albany. Gerret married a Grosbeck in 1774. The families Bries, Van Vechten and Grosbeck were all rep- resented prominently in the military and civic life of the colonial and revolutionary periods. The Van Schaicks are also among the collateral connections of Major Quackenbush. The founder of the American family now known as Quackenbush was Pieter Quackenboss (originally Van Ouackenbosch) who as early as 1668 was engaged in the making of brick in Albany, New York. His son was Adrian Quackenboss, who married in 1699, Catherine, daughter CUr^ CL (gju^^ine'xff^^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 187 of S3'brant Van Schaick. and settled at Schaghticoke. To this couple eight children were born and their names show the habit of educated Dutch people of that period of Latinizing'. The records show that these children were l)ai)tized on dates ranging from January 7, 1700, to October 29, 1719. Sybrant, baptized June 14, 1702, married Elizabeth Knickerbocker, February 7, 1725. and of their children John served in the French and Indian war, was captured by the Indians, from whom after suffering many hardships he succeeded in making his escape. Of the children of Adrian Ouackenboss the one in direct line with the immediate subject of these memoirs began an Anglicization of the family name by adopting the spelling Ouackenbush. He was John Quackenbush. born October 28. 1710, married Elizabeth Rumbley, December 22, 1730. He purchased a farm in 1765 on what was then known as the " Schneyder Patent," which had been granted by the crown in 1762, a 10,000 acre tract on the eastern border of the present town of Hoosick, New York, subsequently called Mapletown. He had six children, three sons and three daughters. His son Adrian, born in 1746. died a Patriot soldier on a revolutionary battlefield. Of these children the great-grandfather of Cebra Quackenbush was Gosen (English rendition Hosea) Quackenbush, born Mav 27, 1744, rendered valuable service during the war of the res^olution in the field, at the head of his command and as colonel in the second military,'' department at Albany. FTe married and left three children, the eldest, grandfather of the immediate subject of these n^emoirs, being John Quackenbush, who' married Hannah, daughter of Peter Ostrander. The children of this marriage were Peter. Benjamin. Jobn L. and Susannah. Of these Peter Quackenbush. born at Hoosick, Mav 31. 1807. Avas for a number of years senior mcniber of the leading powder manufacturing 188 BERKSHIRE COUNTY firm of Quackenbush, Steer & Armstrong, whose plant was located at Fair Haven, Vermont. He was married November 13, 1833, to Mary Cebra, daughter of James and Maria (Cebra) Breese. James Breese was a descendant of Hendrick Breese, one of the early settlers of Al- bany, New York, and whose son Anthony w^as high constable of that citv in 1696. Mr. Peter Quackenbush purchased a farm of his wife's father at Hoosick, upon which he resided for'many years. Mrs. Quack- enbush is described in the " Annals of Hoosick " as " a lady rich in graces and virtues." Collaterally connected with this family was Maria Bogardus, whose mother was Anneke Jans, from wdiom Trinity Church acquired its now priceless real estate. Anthony Breese, son of Henr\' Breese and Wyntje Van Vechten Breese, married Carayutje Yates about 1759. John Yates Cebra, a great-uncle, from wdiom the subject of this sketch received his given name, married in April, 1809, Mary Harriman, a daughter of a distinguished Long Island family. Cebra Quackenbush w^as born at Hoosick, Rensselaer county, New York, September 7, 1838. He attended Ball Seminary, Hoosick, and Hudson River Institute, Claverack. He immediately thereafter entered upon the serious duty of obtaining a business education by ac- cepting a clerkship in the store of A. Thayer & Son, Hoosick Falls, where the service and salary were in inverse ratio, the latter being $5 a month and board, the former long hours and miscellaneous drudgery. Mr. Ouackenbush's inceptive business experience on his own account w^as in Hoosick Falls, whence in 1865 he came to Pittsfield and pur- chased the American House, a then comparatively unknown hostelry, and within a few years had secured a patronage of the best class of travelers wdiich tested its utmost capacity and necessitated its material enlargement. In 1876 he practically retired from his business activ- ities still, however, retaining his proprietary interest in the American BERKSHIRE COUNTY 189 House until 1889, when he leased the property to Messrs. Plumb and Clark, who have had continuous and conspicuous success in the con- duct of the hotel, which since 1898 has been known as The New Ameri- can. The year last named dates the completion of the commodious and elegant new structure and the remodelling and refitting of the rear of the original structure, the building in its entirety being one of the im- posing edifices of North street. It was built upon plans of J. AIc- Arthur Vance, architect, by ]\Iessrs. Dodge and De\-annay. builders, and may justly be pronounced upon both mechanical and architectural grounds a most substantial improvement to the county seat. As a hostelry it is only necessary to say that it almost monopolizes the patronage of that best informed class of all patrons of hotels, the commercial traveler. Many puljlic dinners have been gi\en at the hotel, a notable and interest- ingly unique one during Mr. Quackenbush's administration being that of June 30, 1870, to the citizens of Pittsfield, who had reached or passed the age of seventy, at which the late Hon. Thomas F. Plunkett presided. Another of the building enterprises of Air. Ouackenbush was his erection in 1871-72. in conjunction with Messrs. ]\Iun}'an. ])ui]ders, of the Academy of Music, which shortly after its dedication in 1872 came into the sole possession of Mr. Ouackenl)ush. In i88o four stores were added by him to the building. Throughout a long- term of years the academy was the only building in Pittsfield suitable for iniblic meet- ings, theatrical or musical entertainments, and its owner has many times donated its use for benevolent and patriotic jiurposes. The great storm of 1877 destroyed a portion of one of the end walls of the building, and its owner was accorded a complimentary benefit by lead- ing citizens of Pittsfield, who voiced the appreciative sentiment of the commimitv in announcing the benefit in question in this wise : " The 190 BERKSHIRE COUNTY obligations of the town of Pittsfield to the proprietorship of the Acad- emy of Music are not diminished by the fact that its ownership is un- divided and has not sought aid outside of itself in erecting and main- taining a building which contributes to the pleasure of every liberal minded citizen. Had the injury inflicted by the late gale been sufficient to destroy the building, the town might have waited long for another like it." From 1874 to 1878 Mr. Quackenbush experimented in manu- facturing investments upon tlie favorable, but as it proved, over-sanguine representations of friends interested in the Eagle Mowing & Reaping Machine Company of Albany, New York. During this period he served as a director of the company, and for a part of the time as its treas- urer, an experience which cost him $100,000, but left him with an un- blemished reputation for business integrity. Mr. Quackenbush retains the old homestead in the place of his nativity and there passes his sum- mers, while the winter seasons have been spent mainly in New York city and abroad. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revo- lution and Holland Society of New York; of the Young Men's Asso- ciation of Albany, and since 1863 of Rensselaer Lodge No. 400, F. and A. M., of Hoosick Falls, New York. Mrs. Quackenbush died September 22, 1891, leaving three daugh- ters, Ada Cebra McLean, Mary Annette McCandliss and Florence Dew- ey Graves. On December 7. 1892, Major Quackenbush married Minna Wilk- inson Millard, an accomplished lady of New York city. CLAPP FAMILY. The familv from which is descended Mrs. Mary Campbell Bagg, of Pittsfield. Massachusetts, was ]:ilanted in America by Captain Roger Clapp, wh(^ was born in Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England, April 6. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 191 1609, died in Boston, Massachusetts, February 2, 1691 ; married, No- vember 6, 1633. Johanna Ford, born June 8, 161 7, died in Boston, Massachusetts, June 29, 1695, daughter of Thomas Ford, of Dorchester, England, and of W indsor, Connecticut. He came o\er in ihe ship " Mary and John," with the first settlers of Dorchester, whc arri\ed there about June 17, 1630. He was select- man in Boston in 1^137. and fourteen times thereafter. In 1665 he took command of a stone castle on a small island about three miles from Boston, of which castle he was captain for twentv-one years. Previous to that time it is thought that he lived near the causewav leading to Little Necl:. now South Boston. The " Memoirs of Captain Roger Clapp " were printed in 1731. extracts from which, wth a verbatim copy of his will, are given in the Clapp genealogy. He was a founder of the church in Dorchester. He had fourteen children. The sixth was PreserA'ed Clapp (2). born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Novem- ber 23. 1643: died in Northampton, Massachusetts, September 20, 1720; married, June 4, t668, Sarah Newbur\ , died October 3, 1716, daughter of Benjamin Newbury, of A^'indsor, Connecticut. He settled in North- ampton at about the age of twenty, when it was a week's journey from Boston, over a path through the forest where the trees were marked. He was a leading man in the town, a captain, representative to the gen- eral court, and a ruling elder in the chtirch. He had eight children. The fifth was Lieutenant Samuel Clapp (^^. born in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1677: died in 1761: married, in 1697, Sarah Bartlett, who died Au- gust 7, 1703. He married (second) September 15, 1704, Thankful King, who died September 18, 1705. He married (third) ]\[arch 17, 1708, Mary Sheldon, born in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1687, daughter of John and Hannah Sheldon. Mary Sheldon was taken cap- l'^2 BERKSHIRE COUNTY live at Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1704, by the Indians, who took her to Canada. Slie was engaged to Jonathan Strong, who supposed she was dead and married some one else, so that when she returned she married Mr. Clapp, but on his death, Mr. Strong, being a widower, she married him when she vvas between seventy and eighty years old. Mr. Clapp was lieutenant of a military company in Northampton. He had seven children. His seventh child, the first by his third wife, was Ebenezer Clapp (4), bnrn in Northampton, Massachusetts, October 13, 1726; died September 22, 1797; married in Deerfield, Massachusetts, January 10, 1750, Catherine Catlin. born, January 8, 1728-9, died April 21, 1798, daughte'; of Captain John and Mary (Munn) Catlin. He lived in Northampton, and served in the French and Indian war in 1746 and 1747. He had ten children. The first was Ebenezer Clapp (5), born in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1757; died in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, June 16, 1833; married. May 5, 1778, Ann Tileston. of Dorchester. He lived in Northampton, and served his time at the tanning business with Colonel Ebenezer Clapp, of Dor- chester. He had six children. The third was Jason Clapp (6), born in Northampton, Massachusetts, Novem- ber 5, 1782; died in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, October 29, 1868;. mar- ried Patience Stockbridge. who died July 18, 1839. He married (sec- ond) widow Cecelia (Eldredge) Luce. He and his wife Patience were admitted to the church in 1827. Mrs. Luce was admitted in 1830. He canie to Pittsfield, and, having been an apprentice in the carriage busi- ness from the age of seventeen, became the foreman of L. Pomeroy's manufactorv and remained with him for six years. In 18 10 he began business for himself, and in 1840^ associated his son Edwin with 'him under the firm name of Jason Clapp & Son. He employed from forty to fiftv men, and in 18^6 he had had about three hundred apiprentices /f^/tv^'^^ljnu-.-^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 193 since beginnirg business. He turned cut the best kind of work, one of his carriages being given to President Pierce by some Boston friends. He had medals awarded for his fine carriages. He owned and operated the stage route between Albany and Boston, in the conduct of this Ivusi- ness having an associate in his son Edwin. He was twice elected repre- sentative to the general court. He had three children. The second was Edwin Clapp (7), born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, ]\Iay i, 1809; died July 27, 18S4: '.narried, June 2(\ 1834, Emily Peck, who was born in 181 3, died, April i;i^, 1840, daughter of Captain Jabez and Alice (Alillard) Peck. He married (second), December 30, 1851, Alary Mar- tin, who was born July 30, 1818, died No\ember 4, 19GI, daughter of Honorable Calvin and JMary (Campbell) Martin.. Mr. Clapp was taken into partnership with his father in the carriage business in 1840, and was a successful business man and prominent in public affairs. He took an interest in the fire department and was at one time foreman of the Housatonic Engine Company. He v^'as a di- rector of the Agricidtural National Bank, the Berkshire County Savings Bank, the Pittsfield Coal Gas Company, and a trustee of the Berkshire Athenaeum. He had three children by his first wife and they dicl in infancv. Of his two children by his second wife, the one surviving is Mary Campbell Clapp, wife of :\llen H. Bagg (see sketch). AUCxUSTUS KEEPER BOOAL A leading physician of Adams, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, is Dr. A. K. Boom, a native of Albany, New York, born Alay 13, 1866, son of James and Lucy (Selby) Boom. Paternally he is descended from Alatthaus Boom, who with a brother Johannas, were among the IIH BERKSHIRE COUNTY early Dutch settlers df I'^ort Orange (now Albany), New York, Matthaus Boom married Maria Hilten, April 25, 1752. They had one child. Maria (Hilten) Boom died and Matthaus Boom then married Josina Seger, by whom he had eight children. Of these Nicholas Boom, born November 23, 1763, entered the Colonial army -when fourteen years of age, serving in Captain Nicholas Van Rensselaer's company, belonging to the First Regiment, New York Line, Colonel Van Schaick, commandant. Nicholas Boom while on a scouting expedition out of Fort Stanwix in 1778 met with an accident that crippled him for life, ultimately losing" his leg". He married Elizabeth Wands, by whom he had two children, Margaret and John. Nicholas died in 18 16. His son John married Mary Patterson and their children were: James and Elizabeth. James married Lucy Selby and their son is the immediate subject of these memoirs. Augustus Keefer Boom received his preliminary education in the public and high schools of Albany, New York, and there took up the study of medicir.e under the preceptorship of Dr. John Swinburne, one of the most distinguished physicians and surgeons of the Empire state. He was graduated from the medical department of Wooster Univer- sity, Cleveland, Ohio (now College of Physicians and Surgeons) and immediately thereafter entered upon the practice of his profession at Adams. Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where he has ever since been located. He is a member of the Northern Berkshire Society, and a Fellow of Massachusetts Medical Society. Fraternally his association is with T. O. O. F. and B. P. O: E. His public service has been as town phvsician and memlier of the brjard of health, in both of which cai:iacities he offci:ite(l for a number of years. He also rendered effective service as assistant engineer of Adams fire department, an elective of- fice. His political affiliation is Republican. Dr. Boom is one of the BERKSHIRE COUNTY . 105 Ijoard of United States pension examiners, his associates being- Drs. O. S. Roberts of Pittsfield. and Dorville M. Wilcox of Lee. He was married Jannar}^ 26, 1887, to Maria, daughter of Anthony and Harriet de Rouville of Albany. Of the children born to Dr. and Mrs. Boom, the first born. Lulu May, died when eleven years of age. The surviving children are Florence and Hazel. JAMES MADLSOX BARKER. The death of Judge James Madison Barker, which occurred at the Union Club in Boston, Massachusetts, October 2, 1905. removed from Berkshire county. Massachusetts, one of its representative citizens, a man widely known for his high character, great ability and rare personal charm, a man of high ideals, a wise and sound adviser in business af- fairs, both of the individual, corporation and the community, identified widi healthy and honorable institutions, and \\\\o served his native state in a judicial capacity for about a fjuarter (,f a century, first on the supe- rior bench, ?a^^\ later as a jndge of the highest court in the common- wealth. He was born hi Pittsfield, ?yTassachusetts, October 21^, 1839, a son of John V. and Sarah ( Apthorj^) Barker, and grandson on the maternal =ide of James Apthorp, of Hinsdale, IMassachusetts, whose house was situated on the road running north, past the cemetery. He pursued his preparatory studies at \ariou.s schools and academies and entered \\\\\- iams College, \\here he took high rank, and from which he was gradu- ated with the class of i860. He studied law in New York city and at the Llarvrird Law School, and was admitted to the bar January 13, 1863. .Shortly afterward he opened an office in Pittsfield and continued in practice, being associated at different times with Charles N. Emerson 196 BERKSHIRE COUNTY and Thomas P. Pingree, and also for a time ^vas in the office of Rock- well & Colt. In Decemher, 1873, he was chosen a director of the Berk- shire Life Insurance Company of Pittsfield, and in 1876 became vice- president, succeeding the late Edward Boltwood, who became president as the successor of the late Thomas F. Plunkett. He was chief legal adviser of the company, and his counsel was of great value to all of his associates in the c(.'nduct of the business. Pie was a m.ember of the stale house of representatives in 1872-73 and served on the committee on railroads, which included in its member- ship two men \\ho afterward ser\-ed with him in the superior court, Judges Charles P. Thompson and John ^^^ Hammond, the latter being witli him also on the supreme bench. It was during that vear that the great Boston fire <:>ccurred and Governor ^^'ashburn convened the legis- lature in special session. That sitting of the great and general court will be especially rememl::ered because of the resolution censuring Charles Sinnner, which was adopted in the house b}' a vote of one hundred and three years to sixty-six na}'S, an act of which Massachusetts was after- ward heartily ashamed. It was to the credit of Mr. Barker that he was recorded in the negative on that vote. The following' year the harsh and unseemly action was rescinded by both branches of the legislature, happily before Senator Sumrer died. The next }-ear Mr. Barker was re-elected, and served on the same committee, one of whose members was the late A. L. Soule. of Springfield. In 1873-75 Air. Barker was a commissioner to iriCjuire into the expediency of tax and exemption law revision, and in 1881-82 Avas a member of the commission on consolida- tion of the public statutes. In 1882 he was appointed to the superior court bench h\ Governor Long, to whom fell the duty of making an unusual number of judges, and in 1891, was promoted to the bench of the supreme iudicial court by Governor Russell. Mr. Barker possessed BERKSHIRE COUNTY 197 a finel} -balanced mind, and in his long career as judge his opinions were valued ])y al! those who love justice and right. The distinction he sought was to faithfully discharge the exacting duties incident to his position, and he never was satisfied unless he reached the heart of a case and viewed it from e\-ery standpoint. He was a prominent delegate to the Republican national convention, which was dield in Chicago in June, 1880. That was the year when the movement for a third term for Gen- eral Grant failed, anJ. a disposition to turn to Mr. Blaine as the alterna- tive was headed off by the nomination of Garfield and Arthur. In the issue between those Vx'ho' called for a higher standard in the civil service and those who demanded a continuance of the spoils system, Mr. Barker allied himself with the reform ^^■ing, and labored earnestly with his asso- ciates on the Massachusetts delegation to secure in the party platform an honest expression in favor of reforming the ci\ il service. On the occasion of the inaugtu'ation of Pittsfield's first city government Judge Barker delivered an address remarkable for its review of the past and its prophecy for the future. He also delivered the address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Thompson Memorial chapel at Williamstown. At the time of the celebration of the centennial of the Congreg'ational church at Hinsdale in 1895, Ji-idge Barker was one of the speakers. Interested in all things relating to the history of the county, Judge Barker was a member of th.e IMassachusetts Historical Society and the Berkshire Historical and Scientific Society. He w-as president of the Berkshire Athenaeum and Museum, a director of the Pittsfield National Bank, a member of the First church parish, though not of the churcli societv, the Monday Evening Club, the Park Club and the Country Club of Pittsfield. He was also deeply interested in educational matters and served as a trustee of Williams College, his alma mater, and of the Clark Institution for Deaf Mutes. He was literary in his tastes and 3 98 BERKSHIRE COUNTY his pajDers, covering a wide range of subjects, were invariably charac- terized by a breadth of vision, depth of thought and hicidity of expres- sion that were most charming. One of the most recent of his essays that found its way to the pubhc had to do with the Museum of Natural History and Art which Zenas Crane, of Dalton, presented to Pittsfield. When the addition to the institution w^as completed, Judge Barker wrote an appreciation of it, which was remarkable for its elegant diction and expressiveness He dwelt upon the new opportunty for rational enjoy- ment in this community and of the widened field for study and reflec- tion it offered. He was a good listener as well as a forcible and able speaker, and his judgment on a variety of matters commanded instant respect. He was an earnest ad^ ocate of out-door life and activity, was an habitual visitor to the golf course and a player of ability, and also got much enjoyment from hunting, being a good shot. A favorite resort of his in the Eerkshires was Windsor hill, where a shooting box is main- tained and where he went frequently. Judge Barker married in Bath, New York, September 21, 1864, Helena Whiting, daughter of Levi Carter and Pamelia Nelson (Woods) Whiting. Mrs. Barker died several years ago. The surviving relatives are: Olive and Elizabeth Barker, who live at the home, 76 Bartlett avenue; Alice Barker, a student in Smith College; Mrs. Harry Day, of New Haven, Connecticut, daughters; a son John, who is a practicing attorney in Boston; two brothers, John V. Barker, Jr., of Barkersville, and Charles Barker, and a sister. Miss Sarah Barker, of Barkersville. The funeral services of Judge Barker were held at the First Church of Christ in Pittsfield, October 5, 1905, and were attended by the justices . of the supreme and superior courts. The various courts adjourned as a mark of respect to his memory, and the flag on the court house was placed at half-staff as soon as his death was announced. On the bench ^■-d BERKSHIRE CO UNTY 1 !»9 Tiuige Barker was tlie keen, far-seeing, aljle and nnineju.diced servant, viewing from the broad plane of intelligent interpretation of the law, all cases that came before hin^ At home he was the interested, earnest and useful citizen, and his life came as near the ideal as it is possible to attain. He stro\e always lo do exact and equal justice to all men. and that he succeeded will l:;e the verdict of those who knew his worth. CUMMINGS C. CHESNEY. Few New England counties of approximate population can present as great an array of strong men who have been factors in their develop- ment as can the county of Berkshire, Massachusetts. To the extended list of those nati\-e to the territory in question wdio may be appropriately grouped in this connection must be added also a number alien to the soil, in various fields of thought and labor, wdiom force of circumstances ha\-e located wdthin its borders. Of the latter class the gentleman whose name forms the caption for these memoirs is a conspicuous example. Cumm.ings C. Chesney, first vice-president of Stanley Electric Manu- facturing Company, was born in Selins Grove. Snyder county, Pennsyl- vania. October 28, 1863, son of John C. and Jane (McFall) Chesney, both natives of Pennsylvania. His attendance upon the public and high school of Northumberland was supplemented 1)}' the course of Blooms- burg State Normal school, and this ^^'as followetl b}- his entrance into Pennsylvania State C( liege, from which institution he was graduated with the class of '85. The honors which ni.arked his college course were the sophomore prize for mathematics, junior i)rize for chemistry, and junior prize for oratory. His schola'^tic achievements were not his only dis- tinction during these student days, as he was keenly interested in athletics generall}- and baseball particularl}-. and won renown on the '200 BERKSHIRE COUNTY InW field as one of the best catchers and coaches in the country. Dur- ing;" the year fohowing' his graduation he was assistant to the professor of chemistry of his ahna mater, and during this period also captained the college ball team with such splendid success as to challenge the attention of lovers of the national game throughout the country. It was perhaps not an unmixed evil that he was seriously injured on the ball field at the close of the season of "86, if thereby he was deterred from entering the ranks of professional league ball players as a number of his associates were induced to do. However brilliant his career might and doubtless would liave been in this field of athletics, it could in no measure have compensated for an}/ slightest deviation from that ]}ath which he seems to ha\^e been destined to follow, and which has placed his name with those of Franklin. Tesla, Edison, the Fields, Morse. Marconi. Stanlev, Kelly, Thompson, and others wdio through wonderful in\-ention and discovery have applied that mighty force, elec- tricity, to the world's use. When partially recovered from the effects of the accident mentioned, Mr. Chesnev accepted the position of professor of mathematics and natural science at Doylestown (Pennsylvania) Seminary. This con- nection continued until November, 1888, when he resigned to accept a position as experimentnl chemist in the laboratory of William Stanley, at Great Barrington. which A\as operated in the interests of the West- inghouse Electric Compariy. In the summer of 1889 this laboratory was transferred to the shops of the United States Electric Lighting Com- ]>anv, Newark, New Jersey, then a recent addition to the Westinghouse plants. Here Mr. Chesney continued to be employed until November, 1890, in experimenting along electro-chemical lines and in designing' electric dynamos and motors. He then in company with Mr. William Stanlev, Jr., returned to Berkshire county for the purpose of estab- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 201 lishing- an electric maiuifactnring- company. A stock company was formed at Pittsfiekl with a capital of $25,000 to which Messrs. W. A. \\aiittlesey. W. R. Plunkett, W. W. Gamwell, Charles E. Hihbard, and others were snhscribers, and the Stanley Electric Manufacturing- Com- pany was then modestly installed among the manufacturing- plants of the Berkshire Hills. In 1891 the Stanley Laboratory Company was formed in which Messrs. William Stanley, Jr., C. C. Chesney and John F. Kelly were associated in electrical engineeringi experimental work, with the especial end in view- of designing- and inventing new ap- paratus for the Stanley Company. From this plant emanated much of the best inceptive work in alternating- generators and the first suc- cessful experiments in long distance transmission. As a result of this collaborative experimenting and invention in its behalf the Stanley Com- pany under Mr. Chesney's chief electrical engineership developed with amazing rapidity, becoming so important a factor in the manufacturing' world as to challenge the attention of the great general electric com- pany, with which a combination was effected in 1903, when the capital stock of the Stanley Company was $4,000,000. Mr. Chesney was elected to the office of which he is the incumbent in 1904. The following quo- tation from Vol. XXXVTIT, No. 22, of the "Electrical World and Engineer " serves to indicate Mr. Chesney's standing among electrical engineers as well as to furnish interesting detail relative to his con- nection with the Stanley Company and his individual achievements in the field of applied electricity : " .A.fter the incorporation of the Stanley Manufacturing Company, it soon became apparent to those associated with Mr. Chesney that his broad general knowledge and clear conservative judgment indicated him as the man to guide the electric departments of the manufacturing es- tablishment, and the future demonstrated that this estimation was not at fault. With his associates and staff of assistants. Mr. Chesney early per- 202 BERKSHIRE COUNTY feclied the induction type of alternator tO' a point far beyond anything before reached in this country and not surpassed in the world. To' him is due the credit of having- laid out the first polyphase transmission plant to be put into^ successful operation in America. The plant is at the present day supplying light and poAver for use in the towns of Housatonic and Great Barrington, Massachusetts. When Mr. Ches- ney and those around him contended that alternating-current generators could be run in parallel under conditions prevailing in practical opera- tion they were opposed by all American engineers of standing, yet the fight proved a winning one. When others were preparing tO' prove that the winding of 10,000 to 12,000 volt generators was an impracticability Mr. Chesnev designed alternating-current generators for such voltages vv'ith great success. It might be added that for even lower voltages Mr. Chesney was the pioneer as the first 6,000-volt generators built and successfully operated in America are of his design, and are still furnish- ing alternating-current power to Quebec. " When it became apparent that transformers of large capacities would be a valuable addition to the electrical plants of the time, not- withstanding predictions to the contrary by those presumably in a position to know, he with his associates again realized their convictions in a most satisfactory manner, and to him is due the design of the first commercial loo-lig'ht transformer ever used in this country, which was made by the Stanley Electric }>Ianufacturing Company in 1891. *' A long list might be given of electrical developments in which Mr. Chesney has been a pioneer. Among other work switch-board instru- ments, high-tension arc-breaking devices, frequency indicators, indicat- ing wattmeters, lightning protection for high- and low-tension circuits, and many other appliances have all had a share of attention and always with satisfactory results. One of the most striking and practical ex- hibits at the Pan-American Exposition was the ' S-K-C ' phase and frequency-changer, which transformed the three-phase, 25-cycle Niagara current to two-phase, 50-cycle currents for lighting and power pur- poses in the Electricity Building. This is one of Mr. Chesney's more recent inventions. " Mr. Chesney is seldom idle, and an idea of value has little chance of escaping him, as is shown in some degree by the numerous patents is^upd to him, and by the many unique and valuable details to be found in the ' S-K-C ' apparatus. His friends like to think of him not only as the man of resource and energy, always ready to seize the best that can be found and incorporate it into his work, but they also remember his enthusiasm for athletic sports and the time Avhen he was one of the most clear-minded college baseball catchers and coaches in the country. His control over his fellow-students was remarkable at all times and BERKSHIRE COUNTY 203 he had an intuitive knowledge of their strong- points. When it was a question of organizing a champion baseball team, he saw quickly how to use the available material at hand. This characteristic of prompt thought and the ability to make the most of men and things about him has remained with him through all of his engineering and research work, and has been one of the potent factors in placing that work in the rank of highest order. He has, in short, always been a man of action rather than of w^ords, but when the latter prove necessary they are for- cible and cogent." Mr. Chesney is president of Vermont Power and Maufacturing Company, of St. Albans, Vermont; and a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Society of Arts and Man- ufacturers of England. He was married October 28, 189 1, to Eliza- beth, daughter of the late J. E. Cutler, for a number of years a prom- inent contractor of East Orange, New Jersey, whose wife was of the historic New Jersey Ford and Kitchell families. Mr. and Mrs. Ches- ney have four children : Malcolm L., Elizabeth, Margaret and Kath- erine. They reside on Dawes avenue, Pittsfield, and attend the First Conereeational church. ALLEN HENRY BAGG. Allen Henry Bagg, mayor of Pittsfield, 1905 and 1906, is a native of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, born April 4, 1867, son of Edwin and Catharine (Hull) Bagg. He received a public school education, and found his first employment wher, sixteen years of age with the Peirson Hardware Company, Pittsfield, remaining therewith twenty years, being engaged in a managerial capacity at the time of his resignation. During the period of the above business Mr. Bagg made very successful invest- ments in local realty, much of which was imprcived by him. His connection with Re])ublican parly politics has l)een close and active. Two vears' efl^icient service in the Pittsfield citv council was 204 BERKSHIRE COUNTY followed ill 1903 by his inauguration of a movement for the nomination of business men of unquestioned character and standing for the various city offices. A committee was appointed to wait upon the gentlemen whose candidacies ^^•ere sought, and a large majority of these consented and were subsequently nominated and elected. Mr. Bagg was elected to the board of aldermen of Pittsfield, and served as president of that body in 190 j. He was elected to the mayoralty for 1905, and re-elected for the ensnii\§' year. He has taken an interest in ^^:iung Men's Christian Association work, assisting in the establishment of the Pittsfield branch, and serving for thirteen vears as director and recording secretary. He is of the directorate of Pittsfield Cemetery Company, and had charge of the build- ing of the cliapel given by the late ]\Irs. Edwin Clapp. He is a member of the Masonic fraternitv and Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Berk- shire Chapter. Sons of the American Revolution, and the First Congre- gational church, Pittsfield. He manied, Fe1>ruary 24, iqO'3, Mary Campbell Clapp, daughter of the late Edwin Clapp. THE RUSSELL FAMILY. The Russell s of Pittsfield are lineally descended from William Rus- sell, who came from England between 1636 and 1645. He brought with him his wife Martha, and son Joseph, who was born in 1636. He and his wife were members of the church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1645, and their children were baptized there, although the second, who died in 1642, may have been born in England. He died in Cambridge, February 14, 1662. and his widow married, March 24, 1665, Humphrey Bradshaw, and (third) May 24. 1683. Thomas Hall. She died in 1694. William Russell had ten children. The fourth was BERKSHIRE COUNTY 205 John Russell, born in Cambridge, September ii, 1645, <^lied March 6, 1723. He married Elizabeth Fiske, born probably 1654, daughter of David Fiske, the son of David Fiske, who was at Watertown in 1638. Mr. Russell was at Cambridge Farms, Massachusetts, at the or- ganization of the parish in 1693. and the largest subscriber for the meeting house. He was an original member of the church in 1696. His wife was soon after a member of the chin-c'h in Lexington. He was. a wealthy and leading citizen, and held many offices in town and parish. (There was another John Russell who removed to Wethersfield.) Of his children the eldest was John Russell, born in Lexington, Massachusetts. November 9, 1671. He married Rebecca ■ . Thev were admitted to the church in Lexington, April 10, 1715. He was one of the proprietors of Brimfield. Massachusetts, which was laid out in 170T, but not settled for over twenty years. Lt 1731 Mr. Russell was moderator of the town meeting, and in 1732 of the proprietors' meeting. All of his children settled in Brimfield. He had six children. Tlie fourth was John Russell, born in Brimfield, March 22. 1749, died in Chester- field, November 12, 1828. He married at Chesterfield. December 5, 1786, Sarah Rice, born in Brookfield, November 17, 1762. died in Pittsfield, Jime t8. 1847, daughter of Peter and Dinah Rice. He lived in Chesterfield. He was blind from the age of sixteen. Solomon Lincoln Russell, born in Chesterfield. Februarv 4, 1791, died in Pittsfield. Ranunry 8, 1882. FTe married. May 31, 1821, Wealthy Nash, born Februarv 8, 1797, died in Pittsfield. May 2T, 1858, daughter of Fh'iah and Paulina (AVarner) Nash, of Conway. Massachusetts. He had cicht children : 206 . BERKSHIRE COUNTY 1. Solomon Nash, born in Conway, August i, 1822, married Caroline A. Wheeler. 2. Charles Lewis, born January 14, 1824, died February 13, 1872, unmarried. 3. Joseph, born May 17, 1826, married Sarah Rowley. He was a farmer in Hinsdale, Massachusetts. 4. Mary, born October 7, 1828, died September 7, 1862, unmar- ried. 5. Sarah, born October 7, 1828, married George L. Weed. Mr. Weed was superintendent of deaf and dumb asylums in Columbus, Ohio, and Wisconsin, later removing to Philadelphia, where they now reside. 6. Zeno, born May 19, 1834, married Charlotte M. Rice, of Con- way, whoi survives him, with two children, Jane Austin and Henry Ruland. Mr. Russell died in 18S1, and had been in the woolen business with the firm of S. N. and C. Russell. 7. Hezekiah Stone, born December 7, 1835, married Martha A. Rowley. He has been a manufacturer since 1863. ^^ was a select- man of the town in 1887 and 1888, and was mayor of the city in 1900. He has had nine children, of whom three are married, 8. Franklin West, born August 22, 1841, is manager of the woolen business of the S. N. and C. R. Russell Manufacturing Com- pany. SOLOMON NASH RUSSELL. The Russell records heretofore given serve to show conclusively that from early colonial days the immediate descendants of William Rus- sell were useful and honorable members of society in Eastern Massa- chusetts. It is equally true that his more remote posterity have been and are important factors in the development of Western Massachusetts. 5 cAr l^^i>u<5yi^.c-t>0 r .4. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 20T The first of these to locate in Berkshire county was Solomon Lincoln Russell, third of the eleven children of John and Sarah (Rice) Russell above referred to. Solomon L. Russell was born in Chesterfield, Hamp- shire county, Massachusetts, February 4, 1791, living to attain the great age of ninety-one years, his death occurring at Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, January 8, 1882. He married, May 31, 1821, Wealthy Nash, born February 8, 1797, died in Pittsfield, May 21, 1858, daughter of Elijah and Paulina (War- ner) Nash, of Conway, Massachusetts. Solomon L. Russell came to Pittsfield in 1827 with his brother Zeno', and purchased and for nine years conducted the Berkshire Hotel located on the corner now occupied by the Berkshire Life Lisurance Company's block at the northwest corner of North and West streets. Upon the sale of this property in 1835, Mr. Russell settled on a farm about three-ciuarters of a mile north, now owned and occupied in part by the widow of his son Solomon N. Russell. It was in the cause of education that Solomon L. Russell took especial interest and demon- strated an especial capacity for usefulness. He had been for a time at Northampton, Massachusetts, a town which was much in advance of her sister towns of the state in the educational facilities afforded her citizens. Mr. Russell bent his best efforts toward the establishment of a puljlic school system in Pittsfield. As prudential committeeman he diverted the school tax fund from its customary pro rata division among families having children of school ag'e, to the exchequers of two pri\'ate schools which thereafter received and educated these children free of cost. Mr. Russell was therefore the practical father of the present public school system of Pittsfield, and the appn)])riateness of naming one of its imposing structures, the Peck's road schoolhouse, after him is obvious. He was largely instrumental in the establishment, laying 208 BERKSHIRE COUNTY out and beautifying of the Pittsfield cemetery, serving for a number of years as one of its directors and keeping an especially close personal supervision of the initial work done thereupon. Solomon Nash Russell, eldest of the children of Solomon L. and Wealthy (Nash) Russell, was born in Conway, August i, 1822, died February 16, 1899. He married, September i, 1864, Caroline A. Wheeler, born December 8, 183 1, daughter of Horatio^ N. and Hannah B. Wheeler, of Old Chatham, New York. The inception of Mr. Russell's career as a manufacturer was in 1843 when he purchased a small shop on Onota creek and engaged in the making of cotton-batting. Two years later, in association with his brother Charles, the shop and manufacturing facilities were enlarged and the manufacture of wadding added. In 1857 the manufacture of woolen goods in the stone mill on Waconah street was begun, and in 1863 the present factory of the S. N. & C. Russell Manufacturing Company Avas erected. The product of this plant obtained early recog- nition as a superior article, attracting the favorable notice oi Alexander T. Stewart, the then merchant prince of America, who from 1861 to 1865 absorbed its entire output, directly, and for some years following the close of" the war controlled it on a commission basis. No more favorable commentary on the super-excellence of this company's early manufactures than the preceding statement could be given, and it is in strictest accordance with the facts that the company has kept fully abreast of the times and today enjoys the same splendid reputation which it so speedily acquired. During the period oi A. T. Stewart's commission handling of the Russell plant's output, Mr. Frank \\'. Rus- sell, the present president of the company, looked after its interests while in the employ of Mr. A. T. Stewart. The latter, youngest of the children of Solomon L. Russell, was i7/W^^ 7f v\aU4^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 209 associated from boyhood with the manufacturing interest estabhshed by his brothers and succeeded to^ their management upon-tlie decease of Solomon Nash Russell. The late Solomon N. Russell was a valued and valuable citizen, contributing in many ways toi the healthy growth and development of this locality. He, with Mr. E. D. G. Jones, l)uilt the Central Block on North street, Pittsfield. at the time considered a verv important addi- tion to the business blocks of the county seat. He was a member of the Cemetery corporation, the Berkshire ]\Iutual Fire Insurance Company, a director in the Third National Bank, and an attendant of and liberal contributor to the First Congregational church. He served efficiently as selectman and representative and was prominent in all local affairs. He was greatly interested in the House of Mercy and his memory has been perpetuated in connection therewith by his gift of the property known as the " Russell Elms,"' upon which the hospital stands. Mrs. Rus- sell is living in the old mansion on North street, and has been one of the managers of the House of Mercy since the establishment of that benef- icent institution and has been one of its liberal benefactors. FRANKLIN WEST RUSSELL. The gentleman whose name introduces this article has abundantly demonstrated his capacity as presiding officer of the Russell Manufac- turing" Company, his substantial equipment therefor being set forth in the story of the career of his brother, Solomon N. Russell, with wlmm he was long associated and succeeded oflicially. Flis serxices in a pub- lic way have been limited to his representation of \\'ard i in the lioard of aldermen of Pittsfield. 210 BERKSHIRE COUNTY HEZEKIAH STONE RUSSELL. The mental and physical vig"r:)r, the spirit of prog'ressiveness, and the industry and integrity which were the characteristics of so many of the Russells heretofore dwelt upon, find still another exponent in the g"entleman whose name introduces these memoirs and who was the sev- enth of the children of the late Solomon L. and Wealthy (Nash) Rus- sell. Hezekiah Stone Russell w-as born in Pittsfield, December 7, 1835. His initial schooling- was obtained at Pittsfield and he was one of the scholars in attendance on the day of the opening* of its first hig^h school in 1852. He subsequently entered Mt. Pleasant Academy, Amherst. Tn 1853 he went west, where he was for four years variously employed in connection with railroad and lumbering interests. In 1857 he went to Melbourne, Australia, and undertook mining, which he abandoned soon to engage in telegraph contract w-ork. Returning to America in i860 he w-as for one year engaged in a clerical capacity with the Pomeroy Oil Factory's ofiice in Toronto, Can- t'lda. In 1862 he resumed residence in Pittsfield where he was em- ])loyed for several years in his brothers' woolen , mills. In 1865 he ])urcliased an interest in the old McKay & Hoadley Machine Shop, of which he became sole owner in 1872. In 1874 he sold the machine shop to E. D. Jones, retaining the boiler-making plant which he con- tinued to operate successfully up tO' 1902, when he disposed of it to the E. D. Jones Company and retired from business. Mr. Russell has been a Re]niblic;in of the stalwart type since the formation of that ])'irt}' and Ins been active in advancing its interests in town, county and state. Although not in any sense an active politician his services have been sought and efficiently and freely given in the discharge of the BERKSHIRE CO UNTY 2 1 1 duties of iinmerous offices. He was selectman in 1887-88; councilman from the fourth ward in 1897-98; and was elected to the mayoralty in 1900. and re-elected to that office the following year. It was during Mr. Russell's incumhency of the office of mayor of Pittsfield that the Berkshire Cx>mpany added its lines to the trolley systems of the yicinity, and material extensions to the Pittsfield Company's lines were made. During this period also the initial steps Ayere taken looking toward the increase of storage capacity for Pittsfield's water supply. Mr. Russell was one of the original members of Pittsfield Co-Operatiye Bank, and has been one of the board of directors and security committee since the organization of that institution. He is a member of Crescent Lodge, of Pittsfield, F. and A. M., Berkshire Chapter, R. A. M.. Berkshire Council, R. and-S. M., and Berkshire Commandery, K. T. He was a charter member of Crescent Podge, Berksliire Council, Berkshire Com- mandery and Lodge of Perfection, and presiding officer in all saye the last mentioned. He was married July 4, 1863, to Martha, daughter of Julius and Anna Rowley. Of nine children born of this union a son. Frank A., liyed to attain his twentieth year, four died in childhood, and four suryiye. The latter are: Kate, the wife of L. A. Merchant (see sketch herein) ; Helen, wife of Frank A. Bradley, whose children are Alton anrl Grace; Anna, wife of Edgar R. Whiting"; and ALartha, wife of George L. Waterman, l)y whom she has a soil, Laurence. HENRY R. RUSSELL. Henry R. Russell, son of late Zeno Russell, was born Septemljer 23, T874; attended Pittsfield high school and Amherst College, and entered the office employ of the S. N. and C. Russell Manufacturing 212 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Company in 1893. He has been treasurer of the company since 1899. He is a member and treasurer of the First Congregational church, of the CountiT Park Chib and Pittsfield Boat Ckili. OLIVER LESLIE BARTLETT. Oliver Leslie Bartlett was born in Rockland, Maine, October 19, 1859, son of the late Edward H. and Mary E. (Lawson) Bartlett, the former a native of Maine, the latter of England. Their son Oliver L. received his initial schooling and academic in- struction in his native city and then entered Bates College (Lewiston, Maine), from which institution he was graduated with the class of '83, practically earning his way through college by teaching. His study of medicine was taken up under the preceptorship of Dr. E. L. Esterbrook, of Rockland, and continued in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the medical department of Columbia University, from which he received his diploma in 1887. Immediately thereafter he entered upon the gen- eral practice of his profession in Rockland, remaining there for a period of seven years, during three years of which he was the city physician. The multiplicity of cases of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat that were brought to his notice as incumbent of the office named aroused Dr. Bartlett's especial interest and necessitated especial investigation and study along- those lines, leading him to determine to specialize thereafter his practice. With this end in view he sold his Rockland practice and took courses at the Chicago Polyclinic, the New York Ophthalmic and Aural Institute and New York Polyclinic. Thus well equipped he opened ofhces at Brockton, Massachusetts, where he remained for nine years. In 1903 he came to Pittsfield to purchase the business of Drs. H. A. arid W. E. Noyes, with offices in Central block. Dr. Bartlett is a ?/^ ^^ ?zc^ t.J^-'hoofl was passed upon a farm in a s])arseiy ]iopulated re- gion, and the life developed in him a vigorous physical manhood. School advantages were meagre, and he was in large degree self-elucated, but so well did lie apply himself to his studies that at the age of seventeen he taught a district school and was an acknowledged authority in land surveying. At the age of twenty-three, with about two hundred dollars as Ins enth"e possessions, he became a student of engineering in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, from which he graduated with high honor in 1856. He had paid his way by teaching in a part;chird school, and by gi\'ing private instruction to his fellows, and proved so capable a teacher that after his graduation he remained for one vear as a member of the regular instructional corps. In after years he was repeatedly ottered a professorship in the institution, and as often declined, in 1891 he was unanimously elected director of the Institute, the duties being those pertaining to the president of other like schools. Imt this high compliment he also declined. Imr.iediatelv after leaving I'he Institute, ]\Ir. Martin became rod- man on the Ji'rooklyn ( Xew York) Water Works, at a wage of $1.50 a dav. Pie remained with the company for two years, advancing from place to place, until he was appointed assistant engineer under James P. Kirkwood, and was given charge of the construction of three of the great reservcjirs and eight miles of the conduit. After the completion of the work, he entered the employ of the Trenton Locomotive and BERKSHIRE COUNTY 21T Machine Manufacturing' C(mpan}'. his ])rincipal ohject heing to acquire famiharity with iron work and Ijridge construction. He proved so apt in ah pertaining- to the operations of the company tliat he was called to the superintendency. At the outhreak of the civil war, Air. Martin was engaged in the construction of an iron hridge across the Savannah (Georgia) river for the Sawannah & Charleston Railroad. Railroad communication along the seaboard was interrupted, and he had much difficulty in making- his wa}' north, leaving- Savannah on the last train, and making- his journey by a long detour by way of Nashville, Tennessee. During the greater part of th.e war period he was engaged in the manu- facture of arms for the government, from the Springfield rifle to the great ele\'en-inch Dahlgren gun, the largest piece of ordnance of that day. In 18G4 he was employed by the government as an expert to con- duct boiler experiments at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in order to test the relative merits of horizontal and vertical tubular boilers for naval vessels. After the w.ar he superintended the laying of the forty-eight-inch Avater main to the Ridgewood reservoir, of the Brooklyn water system. He was subsequently chief engineer of Prospect Park, in that city, and inaugurated the present satisfactory road and sub-drainage systems, and he carried to cou-ipletion the construction of the great jxirk well, at that time the largest A\ork of its kind in the world. This was accomplished at moderate cost and without accident — a feat which attracted wide attention, his predecessor haA-ing pronounced the accomplishment well- nigh impossible, and in\-olving "a nu'nt of money and a perpetual funeral procession." In Januarv, 1870, ]\lr. Martin l:!ecame first assistant engineer on the Brooklyn Bridge, under Colonel ^^^ A. Roebling, and he occupied that position from the day the first earth w^as removed until the com- 218 BERKSHIRE COUNTY pletion of the structure. At the outset his practical knoAvledge of the pneumatic process of bridg-e foundations, drawn from his experience in similar work on a mucli smaller scale on the Savannah and Santee rivers found immediate application, and his methods were followed in sinking the caissons in both the New York and Brooklyn ends. From first to last he had full charge of the execution of the work, the employ- ment of workmen, the purchase of material and the auditing of accounts. So masterly was his directionary power, and so ecjuable his temperament, that the engineer c(M-ps was maintained intact, and not a symptom of jealousy or ill feeling- marred the relations between its various members. For nineteen years, and until the office was abolished by the con- solidation of the ne]>artment of Bridges, in January, igoz, he held the position of cliief engineer and superintendent of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. In January, 1903, shortly before his death (which occurred July iith of the same year, at Far Rockaway, Long Island), he completed t]iirt}--three years of service on the great bridge, and more than forty years of professional work on the public works of Brooklyn. His professional skih and his accomplished work as an engineer, his tact and ability, were all truly admiral:)le, but more wonderful than all his achievements was the uniform exercise and beneficent eft'ect of his personal influence upon all his sulwrdinates and associates. His wise counsel, tender sympathy and generous treatment made of each a friend, and with surprising unanimity they characterized him as '' the best friend I ever knev;." His integrity was unassailable. Owing- to changes in plans of construction, advanced prices of materials and labor, and the great rise oi value of real estate, the cost of the bridge largely exceeded the estimates of Colonel Roebling. In spite of these disadvantages, and with opportunity for speculation, Mr. Martin's skirts were never touched with the faintest odor of suspicion. He made his contracts and scrutin- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 219 izecl the accounts as carefully as though the work had been at his per- sonal cost, and the various reports of public officials and investigating committees bore cheerful testimony to his strict impartiality and spotless honesty. ]\lr. Martin was a member of tlie American Society of Civil Engi- neers, and an honorary member of the Brooklyn Engineers' Club. Mis personal life was a model of practical Christianity, based upon a careful and undeviating application of the Golden Rule. In August, i860, Mr. Martin was married to Miss Mary A. Read, a daughter of General Jonathan Read, of Rensselaer county. New' York, and a direct descendant of Governor Bradford and other Puritan sires. She was a lady of intellectual ability, of varied and extensive reading in English and German, and of most amiable disposition. Mr. Martin's home life was of the most serene and restful character, to wdiich he brought the joyous spirit of a schoolboy and the heart of a child when surrounded by his children and grandchildren. He never hesitated to assert that he owed much of his success in life and all of his happiness to his estimable wife. To Mr. and Mrs. Martin were born four children: Mrs. J. J. Hopper, of New- York; Mrs. George Blatchford, of Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts ; Charles Boynton Martin, an electrical engineer, and Lieutenant Kingsley Leverich Martin, resident engineer on the Williamsburg Sus- pension Bridge. JOHN MARK SEELEY. John Mark Seeley, formerly a prominent business man of Housa- tonic, was born in Great Barrington, April 17, 1814, son of John and Mary, (Hart) Seeley. His father, w^ho w-as a native of Connecticut, 220 BERKSHIRE COUNTY settled in Great Barrington and engag-ed in mercantile business. Tic also kept the Seeley tavern. John Mark Seeley acquired a better education than most of the youths of his neighborhood, first attending the common schools in Avhicli Squire Seeley was a teacher, later becoming a pupil at the Lenox Acad- emy, and completing his studies at a school in Stockbridge said to have been presided over by Dr. Mark Hopkins. After serving an appren- ticeship in a cottonmill at Van Deusenville, in 1847, ^^^ engaged in busi- ness with Judge Lyman Munson in that village. Later he was inter- ested in the Maple Grove mills at South Adams. Returning to Hous- atonic in 1856 he was appointed treasurer, agent, and general man- ager of the Monument mills, founded in 1850, and under his able direction this enterprise became so prosperous that in 1864 a mill for the manufacture of cotton warp was added tO' the plant. In i860 he assisted in organizing the Waubeck IMills Company, which engaged in the manufacture of bedspreads, and in 1866 that concern also erected a 1>rick factory for the production of cotton warps. He was a director of the National Mahaiwe Bank of Great Barrington, and the growth and business development of Housatonic was in a great measure due to his superior business ability. In 1864 he was elected a representative to the legislature from Housatonic. He was a member of the board of selectmen in Great Barrington for the years 1863, 1864, 1865 and 1876; was again a member of the house of representatives in 1874, was a state senator from southern Berkshire district for the years 1882 and 1883, and held the appointment of postmaster at Housatonic for thirty years. In politics he was a Republican. September 20, 1837, Mr. Seeley was joined in marriage with Sarah ]Montgt)mery, who was born in Salisbuiy, Connecticut, December 2, 1813, daughter of John R. and Rachel Montgomery. The only child BERKSHIRE COUNTY 221 of this union is Lanra E.. who is now Mrs. Fuller, and resides in Hous- atonic. John i\Iark Seeley died November i6, 1888, and his wife sur- vived him less than two years, passing away October 13. 1890. He was noted for his genial disposition, and widely respected for his many admirable qualities, chief among which was his liberality in contribut- ing toward the support of all charitable olijects to which his attention was called. For many years he was chorister in the Congregational church. HON. ENSIGN HOSMER KELLOGG. Hon. Ensign Hosmer Kellogg, counsellor-at-law, late a well-known and much esteemed citizen of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, long a resident of Pittsfield, prominent in business circles and in public life, was born in July, 18 12, at Sheffield, a small country town a few miles farther south in the Housatonic Valley, where two or three generations of his family had made their home. His parents were Elisha and Jane fSaxton) Kellogg, and his paternal grandparents were Ephraim and Ruth (Hosmer) Kellogg, all of Sheffield, the grandmother being a descendant of Governor \\'illiam Bradford, of the Plymouth Colonv. Ephraim Kellogg was a son of Silas and Ruth (Root) Kellogg, and grandson of Stephen and Lydia (Belding) Kellogg, who lived in Westfield. ]\Lassachusetts. The father of Stephen was Lieutenant Joseph Kellogg", who died at Fladley, Alassa- chusetts, about 1707, ha^•ing removed to that place from Boston about 1662. He had pre\^iousl}' lived a few years at Farmington, Connecticut. Ephraim Kellogg grandfather of E. H. Kellogo-. was a soldier of the Rex'dlulion. in service in the expediti<;n against Burgoyne in 1777. Elisha Kellogg vras a farmer and spent his life at the Sheffield homestead. He and his wife were members of the Congregational 222 BERKSHIRE COUNTY church. They reared five children, namely : Ensign Hosmer ; I^'red- erick, who went west; James, now living' in Galeshnrg, Illinois; Mary, Mrs. Ward, of Geneseo, in that state; and Ruth (Mrs. Arnold), who died in OregxDn. At Amherst College, in the thirties of this century, Ensign H. Kel- logg was a classmate of Henry Ward Beecher, Alexander H. Bullock, and other men of later prominence. He received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1836. He then read law with L. Parker Hall, of Sheffield, and after his admission to the har settled for practice in Pittsfield, in 1838 becoming a partner of Mr. Hall, who had removed to this city. Destiny, however, had not marked out for him a distinctively legal career. His interest in municipal, county and state affairs, his knowl- edge of governmental questions, his business ability, led to his being called to fill various offices of public trust and responsibility. He served a number of terms as a member of the lower branch of the state legis- lature in 1843, 1844, 1847, 1849, 1850;, and other shortly succeeding years, also in 1870 and 1871, being speaker of the house in 1850; and in 1854 he was state senator. In 1861, buying out the interest of Socrates Squire in the Pontoosuc Woolen Manufacturing Company, the oldest concern of the kind in western Massachusetts, he succeeded him as its president, and continued in that position, in the conduct of affairs displaying signal business sagacity for many years, or until his death. He was also for a long period president of the Pittsfield Life Insurance Company, and of the Agricultural Bank of this city. He was one of the charter members and a trustee of the Berkshire Athenaeum. In his later years, while leading a life of comparative leisure, he gave some attention to real estate dealings, buying a large farm then a mile from town, and laying out streets, developing what is now the Morningside property. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 223 To mention only a few of his public services — it was Mr. Kellogg, who, after the burning- of the Berkshire Medical College in 1850. se- cured from the legislature an appropriation of ten thousand dollars for the erection of a new building ; he was one of the committee to super- intend the building of the new Congregational church, one of the com- mittee on the organization of the first fire officials, one of the first water commissioners of the city, and one of the most active citizens in secur- ing the removal of the county seat from Lenox to Pittsfield. During the war he did much by his patriotic eloquence and practical efficiency to promote the raising of troops in this vicinity, and after its close he was one of the committee to whom was entrusted the full charge of erecting a soldiers' monument. He was an attendant and supporter of the First Congregational church. His death, after a brief illness, oc- curred in February, 1881, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. Mr. Kellogg was married in 1841 to Miss Caroline L. Campbell, who, with one daughter, Caroline, wife of William F. Cushing, of Cleveland, Ohio, survives him. They had two other children, daughters, both of whom died in early womanhood ; namely, Elizabeth, the first wife of William R. Plunkett ; and May, Mr. Plunkett's second wife, who left three children — Elizabeth, Marion, and Thomas Fitzpatrick. Mrs. Kellogg was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, daughter of David, Jr., and Nancy (Pepoon) Campbell, and on the paternal side is of Scottish descent. Her grandfather. Captain David Campbell, was the youngest son of Robert and Mary (Pierce) Campbell, of South- wick, Massachusetts, where he w^as born April 30, 1758. He married Luc)-, daughter of Matthew and Lucy (Loomis) Laflin, of that town, and about the year 1787 removed to Pittsfield, where, with the excep- lion of a brief sojourn in Lenox, he lix'ed till the close of his eartlilv days. The date of his death was February 27, 1836. " He was a man 224 BERKSHIRE COUNTY of strong cliaracter," we are told, and " of great enterprise, especially as a dealer in real estate." The exaggeration of tradition represents him as having been at one time or another the owner of almost every desirable piece of land in the vicinity of Pittsfield. For many years he was owner and landlord of the Pittsfield Coffee House, and in 1818 he was one of the incorporators of the Agricultural Bank. His children were Richard, David, Lucy, Winthrop, Mary, Electa, Elizabeth, Rob- ert, IMatthew, and George Washington. David, Jr., Robert and George W. became prominent citizens of Pittsfield. Richard died at Bethle- hem, New York; Winthrop removed to the west; and Matthew died in St. Louis, Missouri. David Campbell, Jr., was born in Suffield, Connecticut, December 12, 1782, and was about five years of age when his parents removed to Pittsfield. Li 1805. forming a partnership with Ebenezer Center, under the firm name of Center & Campbell, he went into mercantile business. The next year he was one of the incorporators of the unfortunate Berk- shire Bank. On the incorporation of the Pittsfield W^oolen and Cotton Factory Company, in 1814, he was one of its five directors, holding thir- teen shares of stock. The factory went into operation in 18 15, he with Lemuel Pomeroy having general control of its affairs. In those years Mr. Campbell also engaged with much success in the manufacture and export of the oil of peppermint. In 1825 the Pontoosuc Woolen INIanufacturing Company was chartered and the building of the factory begun. It was completed and went into operation in 1827. At the formal organization Henry Shaw was chosen president of the company ; David Campbell, Jr., general agent ; Thaddeus Clapp, superintendent, and George W. Campbell, clerk and treasurer. Here power looms were first used in Berkshire. The " History of Pittsfield " thus speaks of Mr. David Campbell. Jr., and '^ 1^. X'^ww^ jA„ /)L€sl^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY I'-io the esteem in which he was held: "The confidence of his associates in his knowledge, sound jndgment and integrity was nnhounded. and his contem]>oraries paint h.im as shrewd, reticent, a cUse ohserver of men and things, strict in his dealings, Imt with a warm heart and a kindly manner for those who dealt fairly and frankly with him."' He was active in business till his death, June 30, 1835. "^vhen he left an interest enjoyed by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren at this day. He married, October 4, i8oc), Xancy, daughter of Daniel and La- vina (Phelps) Pepoon, and was the father of the following children: George; Caroline Lavina ( jNIrs. Kellogg): David, third: Edward, who died in infancy : Edward Warner ; and Robert Pepoon. Mrs. Xancv Campbell died at Pittsfield. Jime 8. 1823. TOHX H. COFFIXG. A strong man and of the type whose monuments are great thri\'- ing industries, was he wht)se name introduces these memoirs. Like many other of the descendants of those rugged English colonists who sought an early opportunity to escape a t}-rannous home rule, including" religious persecution, and who eventually revolted against a slaxisb col- onial dependence. John H. Cx)fhng proved to be a man (^f progress equal to the dnt}- of the hour, a leader among his fellowmen. a man of ideas, and with the full courage of his con\'ictions always. Tristram Coffin, the Englishman who founded the -American fa.m- ily of Coffin (here Coffing — the terminal letter having been afhxed by the father of the immediate subject of these memoirs), was located in the Island of Xantucket as its records show as early as 1660, and his rude habitation erected in 1O86 still stands, a most interesting memorial of old colonial days. ^•2i) BERKSHIRE COUNTY John H. Coffing- was born at Salisbury, Connecticut, February 3, 181 1. His father, Captain John C. Coffing, had an interest in the iron manufacturing' of that locahty, and conducted also a g^eneral store. The son received for the period an unusually liberal education, attending the famous Vermont military school conducted by Captain Alden Part- ridge, then entering Westfield (Massachusetts) Academy and being latterly under tuition of Dr. Mark Hopkins. His earliest employment ■was in his father's store at Salisbury, and it was there that he had early opportunity to familiarize himself with many of the details of iron manufacturing. Captain John C. Coffing" having sold out his Connec- ticut interests and located in Berkshire county. Massachusetts, was largely instrumental in the erection in 1829 of the iron furnace at Richmond, and in 1833-4, with others, built the furnace for pig-iron manufacturing at Van Deusenville. With the operation of this latter plant the son became in 1836 actively identified. In 1844, upon the incorporation of the Richmond Iron Works, uniting the Richmond and Van Deusen\il]e iron manufacturing- interests, John H. Coffing became the manager and Inisiness agent of the company, a connection which con- tinued up to his practical retirement from active business life in 1867. It was largely through his personal technical knowledge of iron manu- facture that the product of the Richmond Iron Works was soon of the highest standard of excellence, and it was in large measure due to his business acumen that it speedily attained that reputation, finding favor with the United States government and being extensively used there- h\, after the most heroic tests in the manufacture of cannon. Mr. Cof- fing was essentiallv a builder. Having estal)lished with his associates u]3on the firmest of foundations the iron making interests above referred to, he sought (^.ther fields for investment. He became a stockholder in the Monument Mills, still and for many years the great industry of BERKSHIRE COUNTY 227 Honsatonic. He interested himself actively also in the promotion of the local railroad interests, particularly the Stockbridge & Pittsfield and Berkshire Railroads, serving for a number of years as president of the latter. He was on the directorates of the Mechanics and Savings Bank of Great Barrington. and the Honsatonic National Bank. Stock- bridge. His public spirit was evinced in many ways. It was he who fur- nished the model of the Soldiers' Monument, Great Barrington, and he contributed largely to the cost of its erection. He defrayed a large share of the expense of Trinity church building at Van Deusenville. He devised a sum for the building of the House of Mercy Mortuary Chapel at Pittsfield. Politically he was originally an old line Whig, and from its formation a member of the Republican party, serving as a dele- gate to the national convention which in i860 nominated Abraham Lin- coln for the iiresidenxy. His patriotism found free vent during the dark days of the rebellion when voice and purse were ever at his country's serv- ice. A life-time associate of Mr. Coffing pays this tribute to his old friend : " In matters of business Mr. Coffing exercised sound judgment and great foresight, weighing carefully the subject presented, express- ing his views with originality and clearness and acting promptly and ef- ficiently. Open and frank, proverbially truthful and honest himself he would brook no duplicity or deceit in others. With more than ordinary mechanical skill, he combined good taste and an appreciation of the beau- tiful; he did well what he did; built well what he built, always with an eye to usefulness and durability, and benevolent and generous in his public contributions, he was e\'er ready to assist in a worthy object. His private gifts to the needy were numerous, unostentatious — often unsolicited. Many young men have profited by his counsel and many have recei\ed from him substantial pecimiary aid." His declining years '228 BERKSHIRE COUNTY were spent in improving' his farm and beautifying his home at Van Deu- senville, A\]iere he died August 14. 1S82. He married, Feljruary 27, 1833, Rebecca F. Bostwick, of SaHsbnry. She died October 16, 1903. JAMES FESTUS MILLER. James F. Aliller, deceased, who during a long and active hfe bore a most useful part in the community among whom his years were passed, was born July 30, 1825, in the town of Middlefield, Hampshire county. Massachusetts. James ]\Iiller, father of James F. Miller, was born in Chester, Mas- sachusetts, in 1798. He was a man of strong' mentality, business ability and unerring judgment, and for the long' period of thirty-five years served in the capacity of superintendent of the Plunkett Woolen Alanu- facturing' Company's mills in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, this record speak- ing" for itself. In 1824, by the Rev. Jonathan Nash, Mr. ]\Iiller was united in marriage to Lucy Starr, born in Lanesljoro, Massachusetts, in 1796, and the following named children were born to them: James Festus, mentioned hereinafter. Eliza A., who became the wife of Sum- ner Church, of Middlefield, Massachusetts. Emily, who became the wife of a Mr. Smith, and they with their two children reside in Chi- cago, Illinois. Ellen, who became the A\ife of Frank Sawyer, of Hins- dale, and they and their three children — Fred, Robert and Alary — make iheir home in Chicago, Illin(jis. James F. Miller obtained a knowledge of the rudimentary branches of education in the rural district school, and this was supplemented by attendance for a few years at a private boarding school at Poultney, VermcMit. After completing- his studies he secured a position as clerk in the store nf *^inp Plunkett Woolen Manufacturing Company in Hins- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 229 dale, in Avhose ser\ice his father was also employed, remaining- there for a numl)er of years. At the breaking- out of the Civil war. when the country was in sore need of the services of her lo}'al citizens, Air. Miller went to New York city and enlisted in the One Hundred and Se\-enty- sixth Reg'iment, New York Volunteers. Throughout all the engage- ments in which his regiment participated he ser\ed creditably and faith- fully, and at the expiration of his term returned to the position he re- signed in order to serve his country. For about ten years he resided on the old Miller homestead, and in 1886 removed to Pittsfield, where for a period of six years lie carried the United States mail from the depot to the postoliice. About the year 1895 he retired from active pursuits, and thereafter up to the time of his decease enjoyed the reward of a well spent life. He was an attendant of the South Congregational church, and in all worthy enterprises gave a strong and earnest support. He was a staunch advocate of the principles of Democracy, casting" his vote with that party from the time he attained his majority. He was a member of Berkshire Post, Grand Army of the Republic. In 1876 Mr. Miller married Jennie E. Day, daughter of Alvin and Esther (Cross) Day. of Hinsdale, Massachusetts, who were the parents of several children, among whom were: Carrie I., who resides with Mrs. Miller; Edward W'., who is engaged in the printing business in Pittsfield; Homer I., who also re- sides with Mrs. Miller; and Eugene A. Day, who resides in the neigh- boring town of Hinsdale. Mr. Miller passed away at his pleasant home. No. 22 First street, Pittstield, February 11, 1904. His widow, prior to her marriage, taught school in Hinsdale for a period of twelve years, and many of the residents of that town will recall the amount of per- suasive power she used in her endeavors to instill in their minds the knowledge she wished to impart. 230 BERKSHIRE COUNTY ALEXANDER KENNEDY. Even'where the sons of Scotia have proved equal to large respon- sibilities and the Berkshire Hill country has its share of men oi that nationality or ancestry whose careers have made for progress. Of these the g^entleman whose name introduces tliese memoirs is a generally recognized exponent. Alexander Kennedy was born December 14, 1840, in Dumfries- shire, Scotland, quitting school and his country home to become appren- ticed for a four years' term to learn the dry goods business in the lead- ing house of Dumfries by which he continued to be employed for an additional four years. Thus initially well equipped for the business which was destined to be his life work, and ambitious to enter a field of broader and more promising prospects, he came to the United States in 1865 and secured immediate employment with the well-known Church- ill, Watsou & Company dry goods house of Boston, Massachusetts, thus early becoming inducted to the best possible advantage into the new world business methods of his trade. Three years later he entered into business for himself in Worcester, Massachusetts, subsequently removing to Albany, New York, to engage in the same line, remaining in the last named cities for periods of three years and finding each alike well supplied with dry goods merchants of large means and abundant enter- prise. The proferred sale of the Smith & Wallace dry goods business at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, coming to the notice of Mr. Kennedy and Mr. W. D. Maclnnes resulted in its purchase by them and the subse- quent building up of one of the largest mercantile establishments in M^estern Massachusetts, drawing a constantly increasing and well satis- fied patronag'e from Berkshire and adjoining counties. The firm trans- acted lousiness as Kennedy & Maclnnes Company up to February i, 1905, T Ue I.eii,is J^ubU'^ancj L'o BERKSHIRE COUNTY 231 when it was incorporated as The Kennedy-^laclnnes Company, ]\Ir. Kennedy being its treasinxr. Mr. Kennedy is a valued and ^'ahlable citizen keenly interested in and contributory to all methods, measures and enterprises that appealed to him as calculated to advance the interests of the home of his adop- tion. He served with efficiency as president of Pittsfield's board of trade; is a director of Pittsfield National Bank, and Pittsfield Street Railway Company ; president of the Pittsfield Electric Light Companv and one of the founders and first president of the local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. He is a member of the board of investment .of the Berkshire County Savings Bank. He married Mary, daughter of the late John Rodgers, the well known machinist and builder of engines of Albany, New York. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedv are: Ethel, Mary R., Alexander, Jr., and Isabel. The son is a Cornell University junior. The family are members of the Eirst Congrega- tional church, j\Ir. Kennedy being one of its board of deacons. FRED EOREST DO^^'LIN. Fred Forest Dowlin, who is known as a man of high attainments and as one wdio has achie\'ed success at the bar, was born in North Adams, June 19, 1868, being a son of Marshall R. and Sophia (Mc- Goon) Dowlin. The father was a native of Bradford, New Hamp- shire, and there grew to years of maturity and resided until 1861, when he removed to Concord, where he learned the harness maker's trade. About 1864 he took up his abode in North Adams, and with the excep- tion of about four years while engaged in business in Westfield he re- sided here until his life's labors were ended in death, passing away November 3, 1904. In addition to the success which he achieved as a 232 BERKSHIRE COUNTY harness maker, he inx'entecl several articles which proNed valnahle and l)roughl him handsome retnrns, one of the most prominent of these l:)eing the Dowlin hook swivel for headstalls, while another was the I)()wlin donble-pnrchase trnnk strap. Some of the articles which he in\ented were manufactured by himself and some l)y others, he receiving- royal- ties. He was an energetic and straightfor^\•ard luisiness man. a staunch Republican, and for many years a member of the Methtxlist church. As a citizen, neighbor and friend he Avas upright, kind and charitable, and as husband and father he faithfullv fulfilled e\ery obligation. At his death he left his widow and three sons, Ralijh, who succeeded to his fath- er's leather goods manufacturing at North Adams; Dr. Winfred M., of Claremont. Xew Hampshire; and Fred F., whose name introduces this review. Fred Forest Dowlin received his early educational training in the public schools of North Adams, this being supijlemented by a course of study in St. Joseph's College, Ottawa, Canada, and sulisequent atten- dance at Troy Conference, from which institution he was graduated. His professional studies were pursued in the Boston University Law School, where he receiAcd the degree of B. L. Returning to North Adams he entered into a partnership association for the practice of law with E. H. Beer, under the firm name Beer & Dowlin. and this was continued for twelve years, when, the partnership was dissolved, June i, 1903. Mr. Dowlin's especial value to the place of his nativity is in the extent and character of his Ijuilding operations, which resulted in the erection of sc^ne of the most notaljle and Ijeautiful of the business blocks and residential structures of North Adams. In the boldness of his con- ceptions and the \\gor and succe'^s of his achie\-ements in this direction Mr. Dowlin stands alone. ha\'ing accomplished more than any other one man in this most substantial of all lines of progress. He built the Dowlin BERKSHIRE COUNTY -233 block, one of the handsomest buil(hno-s in the city. It is located on Main street, six stories high, eight}' feet front and contains seventy-two thousand square feet of floor space, which is devoted to the use of stores, offices, clubs, society rooms and liachelor apartments. Its front eleva- tion is of Rutland blue and Avhite marble; it is supplied with an electric elevator, electric lights and all modern im])rovements and is entirely fire proof. Another notable structure for which he is partly responsi- ble is the Beer & Dowlin block at No. 85 Eagle street, erected in 1893. It is a four-story granite structure fronting on Eagle and Luther streets. Avhile still another is the Dowlin block on Holder street, built by Mr. Dowlin in i8g6. It is a four-story brick building with white marble trimmings. ]\Ir. Dowlin has also erected over one hundred and twenty- five dwellings in the city. The Dowlin block and other propertv are now owned by the Dowlin Realty Trust, Judge C. T. Phelps. Charles W. Ford and Fred F. Dowlin, trustees. In the line of his profession he has also achieved a high degree of success, and has been engaged on many trial cases. He was the junior counsel for the defense in the celebrated O'Xeil murder case tried in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and of which the state published a complete report, this being one of the first cases of its kind so published. On the 8th of September. 1892, Mr. Dowlin was united in mar- riage to Julia I. E. Royce. a daughter of George and Martha A. Royce, of Orwell, Vermont. She became the mother of one son, Marshall R., who died in infancy, and her death occurred on the 13th of October, 1893. On the 14th of September. 1898. Mr. Dowlin married Jennie Belle Bingham, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David B. Bingham, of North Adams. Massachusetts. Mr. and ]\Irs. Dowlin have two children, Fred Forest, born June 13. 1899. and Glendore Marshall, born July 30, 1903: a third son. Myrle, died in infancy. 234 BERKSHIRE COUNTY ANDREW J. WATERMAN. Andrew J. \\^ate.rm.an, late attorney-general and leading attorney of the commonwealth, was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, June 23, 1825, son of William and Sarah (Bucklin) Waterman. A liberal general education was followed by his study of law initial- ly under the preceptorship of Hon. Keyes Danforth and subsequently with Hon. Daniel N. Dewey, Williamstown, and he was admitted to the bar of Berkshire county, March 18, 1854. His initial practice was in partnership association at Williamstown with Mr. Danforth. He was appointed register of probate in 1855, and in 1858, after the courts of probate and insolvency were consolidated, he was chosen register of probate and insolvency, which office he resigned in 1881. In 1880, he was appointed district attorney to fill an unexpired term and was chosen for that office for the three succeeding terms, resigning therefrom in 1887, when nominated by the Republican party to the state attorne}- generalship, to which he was elected in 1887-88-89. Mr. Waterman was president for a number of years of the Pittsfield National Bank and one of its directors for many years, one of the founders of the City Savings Bank, and active in his interest and identification with numerous other important institutions-. He married, at East Boston, Massachusetts, January 7, 1858, Ellen, daughter of Henry H. and Nancy (Comstock) Cooke. The following is a tribute paid to the memoiy of the late Andrew J. Waterman by Hon. John F. Noxon, delivered at a meeting of the Berkshire County Bar Association : " My acquaintance with Mr. Waterman began in 1881, when I com- menced the practice of law in his office. He had but recently been ap- pointed tO' fill a vacancy in the office of district attorney. During most of the time from that lime until his death, we were associated in busi- ^l^tJL BERKSHIRE COUNTY 235 ness and in the trial of cases. The relationship so long continued grew in its intimacy with the progress of time. He early made me his friend. The ties of love and esteem which bound me to him strengthened to the end. When his summons came, I felt that there had gone out of my life something which was never to be filled. '' What I have to say to-day must necessarily be personal in its character. If it shall appear to be over-laudatory, it is perhaps sufficient to say it is the natural expression of one, who long ago learned the wisdom of the injunction ' the friends thou hast and their affections tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops- of steel.' " There is no time in the life of a lawyer when assistance in the vexatious questions that arise in the prosecution of his profession meets with such grateful acceptance as during the first few years of his prac- tice. And fortunate, indeed, is one if he finds some lawyer of ripe ex- perience and good judgment to whom he can turn for advice in his extremity with the feeling that help will be given in such a way as to leave the impression that it was a pleasure to give, and more important still so that the recipient shall not feel as he turns away that the mouse has been to the mountain. Such a man in my early practice I found Mr. Waterman tO' be; and this side of his nature was not exhibited alone to me as my brethren of the bar will bear me witness. " I think it is safe to say that no lawyer of his county was so- much consulted by the younger members of the bar as he, when his duties were such that his assistance was available. He liked young men and he wanted them to succeed. We all know that it was a common occur- rence for him in the trial of cases when he was associated as senior counsel to urge that the junior make the argument in the case to the jury. He knew it would give confidence and would be a benefit to the young practitioner, and he was so good a judge of human nature as to know that it would not prejudice the client's case. He was fortunate in his disposition towards young men. This trait built up around him a friendship from among the younger members of the bar that was always eager to assert itself when occasion presented. "As a lawyer he won for himself early a position in the bar of Western Massachusetts of the first influence. His advancement was ■ not in any degree procured or promoted by adventitious circumstances. Possessing in more than ordinary degree a knowledge of human na- ture, endowed with great common sense, a man of sound moral prin- ciples, a willingness and capacity for hard work, these were the pre- eminent- qualities of the man. "On a legal proposition he never could split hairs. He was not a great orator — he never carried cases in his hat, but possessed a judi- cial mind, and as a trier of cases before either court or jury he achieved 236 BERKSHIRE COUNTY results. He liad a faculty of winning his cases. His understanding of the principles of law was seldom at fault. His method of preparing a case where questions of law were involved was to get at the correct prin- ciple of law underlying it and when he had satisfied himself on that he hammered awa}', if you will permit the expression, on the reason of the thing. He believed that the law was based on justice; that his client's interests were l:iest subser\'ed by adxising him to do what was nght. " His experience for so many years, in the office of register of pro- bate where he had heen called upon so often to smooth out differences that arise in the settlement of estates probably nurtured this disposition on his part, but it was his heritage, innate. I have known many in- stances where both parties to a controversy have called upon him to adjust their differences. He was a gentleman always — in the trial of cases his attitude towards hostile witnesses was never irritating. He ne\ er created sympathy for the other side by rudeness of attack. " He was as honest a man as I e\^er knew. He wanted to know the exact facts in a case and he was just as insistent in getting at the exact law that should govern them. I do not believe he ever argued wittingly unsound law, something- I fear that a good many of us in the stress of a hard case find it pretty hard not to do. This honesty of the man- earned for him the well known sobriquet ' Honest Jack Waterman,' and this well known quality gave him great influence not only before jurors but before judges as well. He was an open-minded man. He wel- comed light always. He was a man furthermore of strong convictions. He allowed no influence to muflle the voice of duty. He would not sacrifice principle or temporize with the plain indication of duty to secure preferment. He always had the courage of his conviction. Whether as a citizen, a lawyer, a public servant or holding important position in business institutions, he was positive and outspoken. " H^is views on public questions were always well known and they were ne\-er clothed to fit his audience. Always a strong temperance man, on his first appearance on the platform when a candidate for the office of district attorney he fairly frightened some of his political friends by his strong utterances on that question. Apparently he never counted the cost when facing what he believed to be a duty. He cared nothing for a smooth road. Notable instances of this he furnished when dis- trict attorney in the vigorous prosecution of a manufacturer in this county for maintaining a dam which he belie\-ed to be a nuisance, which act was opposed to the interests of every manufacturer in his district. Another instance was seen in his investigation of certain acts of the West End Railway Company of Bostou while he was attorney general, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 287 whereby he brought against himself the whole influence of that power- ful corporation. " In the eyes of a politician, these various acts were mistakes. Thev endangererl his hold upon office. In the estimation of such a one he should have been governed in his course by his own interest. It was impossible for Mr. Waterman to be moved by considerations of this character. There was nothing of the politician in him. It was not in him to shape his course by anything but the star of his conscience. Tlie world has few of such men. These are the really true men, and thev are the men wh.o influence their fellows. The bar of this county do A\cll to cherish his memory — such men give standing to the whole bnr. Thev are tlie tvpe of men to 1)e emulated." FREDERICK ALPHA ROBERTS. Practicing in partnership association at Pittsfield with Dr. Oscar S. Roberts, whose personal and genealogical memoirs are contained here- in, is his nephew. Dr. Frederick A. Roberts, son of Mr. Edward L. Rob- erts, retired merchant of Brattleboro, Vermont. The younger gentle- man, like the elder, has given abundant demonstration tlia:t his choice of a profession was well ad\ised, and he, too, evinces possession of his full share of those most \'aluable and useful of hereditaments from his sturdy New England ancestors, industry and integrity. Frederick Alpha Roberts was born at Jacksonxille, \'ermnnt, June i8. 1863; attended the public schools of his nati\e place, and shortly after attaining his majority established himself in the b.jot and shoe business at Brattleboro. Vermont. He subsequently engag'ed in mer- cantile pursuits in New York, and while in the latter city in 1893 ^on- cei\e(l the idea of adopting the practice of medicine as his life \\()rk. To this end he immediately entered ui)on the study of the standard medical text books in conjunction with his clerical mercantile labors, devoting himself more and more attcntivel}- to the former, while his interest in commercial pursuits as steadily abated and final h" in 1894 he aban- 238 BERKSHIRE COUNTY donecl the latter upon his entrance to the medical department of the Uni- versity of New York. After one year's attendance upon the lectures and clinics of this institution, he entered the College of Physicians and Sur- geons, Baltimore, Maryland, from which he was graduated with the class of 1897. In June of that year he established himself in the practice of his profession at Pittsfield, in the office of his uncle heretofore referred to, and it is a sufficient attestation of his general equipment as a prac- titioner that since 1900 he has been in partnership association with Dr. O. S. Roberts, sharing with that distinguished physician a full measure of the responsibilities of a great practice. Dr. F. A. Roberts is a mem- ber of the Massachusetts State Medical Association, and the Berkshire Medical Society. His fraternal connection is with Free ]Masonry and Odd Fellowship, being a member in the former of Mystic Lodge, F. and A. M., Berkshire Chapter, R. A. M., and Pittsfield Commandery, K. T. ; and in the latter a member of Wantasticjuet Lodge, Brattleboro. He married. May 2, 1901. Florence A., daughter of Mr. Wallace A. Bard- well, a native of Hampden county, Massachusetts, but more recently of Flmira, New York ; now an expert accountant in Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, where he also has charge of the books of the E. D. Jones Com- pany. THEODORE GEORGE RAMSDELL. Theodore G. Ramsdell, deceased, whose successful business career in Housatonic, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, displayed executive abilit}- of a high order, admirable judgment and foresight, traces his ancestr}- to Abijah Ramsdell. Avho was born in England in 1695, and upon his arrival in .Vmerica settled in Lynn, Massachusetts. The line of descent is through his son, Abijah Ramsdell, to Ramsdell, Captain \\"illiam. who was born in Lynn, ]\Iassachusetts, s^C^ t^^^^^^^^^<^^^^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY . 239 April ic, 1/66. He followed the sea from early youth until about fifty years of age, when he retired to a farm in Milford, New Hampshire, and remained there until his death in 1842. His education was gained in the various parts of the world which he visited. He was a sailor of unusually wide experience, and a successful captain, commanding an East India merchantman sailing from Salem harbor. He was a charter member of " Milford Lyceum " (educational and literary society) and one of its most active and efficient workers. He was the father of Ramsdell. John, born December 30, 1809, in Salem, Massachusetts. He was educated in the common schools of Milford and at a private school in Nashua. For two years he served before the mast, and for three years as third mate and supercargo on merchantmen to- South America, Sumatra, the Mediterranean and Holland. He then took up farming and tanning in Milford. New Hampshire, and later acted as stat"'on agent at Amherst and Milford four years. In middle life he moved to Tama, Iowa, and became one of its pioneer settlers, finishing his days as a farmer. He served in the capacity of supervisor of Tama count}', mayor of Tama city, and county superintendent of schools. He was an active member of " Milford Lyceum " while a resident of Mil- ford, and its poetic agent, he ha\ing been an excellent writer of prose and poetry. As one of the original abolitionists, he wrote, talked and Avorked fervently for the cause. The demand of the south that the north should render up fugitive slaves brought from him a poem, which appeared in the public prints of almost every northern paper. He was a Ccngregationalist, and was one of the " Comers-Out " who withdrew from the church or, account of its lukewarmness on the question of sla\ er}-. Mr. Ramsdell married Taska Theresa Moore, who was born Jan- uary 7, 18 lo, in Milford, New Hampshire, a daughter of the Rev. 240 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Humphrey and Hannah (Peal^ody) Moore. Dr. Moore was a graduate of Harvard College, was a noted lecturer and preacher, many of his sermons and learned treatises on theological subjects 'having- been pub- lished. He ser\'ed one term each in the senate and legislature, taking an active part in anti-slavery movements. He was a son of Humphrey M(;ore, of Princeton, Massachusetts; a grandson of Paul Moore; a great- grar.dson of John Moore; and a great-great-grandson of John Moore, the en'j'grant ancestor from England. William Peabody, Jr., the father of Hannah (Peabodv) ]\Toore, was a prominent citizen of Milford, New Hampshire, serving four terms in the legislature. He was one of the original signers of a paper drawn up by citizens of New Hampshire in- veighing ?gainst British rule and announcing their intention of joining other colonists in revolution. His father, William Peabody, Sr., was the first settler of Milford, also a signer of the above mentioned paper. The farm which he cleared up was part of an estate which had been in the fan-;ily for over one hundred years; it was presented to his father, Captain Steven Peabody, by the state of Massachusetts for distinguished services rendered b}' his father, Lieutenant Francis Peabody, in King Philip's war. Captain Steven Peabody enlisted at the age of fourteen, was an enthusiastic patriot, but was later removed from public office by George HI because of sympathy with colonists. He w'as adjutant- general of Colonel Reid's regiment at Bunker Hill, became major of a regiment sent under Colonel Wyman to reinforce troops in Canada in 1776, was volunteer captain in the alarm at Ticonderoga, aide to Gen- eral Stark in the battle of Bennington, lieutenant-colonel under General WvnK:n during the defense of Rhode Island. His father. Lieutenant Frr..i;cis Peabody, who rendered such distinguished seiwices in King Plii lip's war, was the emigrant ancestor from England. He came over in tiie ship " Planter " to New England, was one of the first settlers in BERKSHIRE COUNTY 241 Hampton, and later removed to Topsfield, Massachusetts, where he be- came a large landholder and was prominent for enterprise and wealth. John and Taska T. (Moore) Ramsdeli were the parents of Ramsdell, Theodore George, born February 8, 1833. He attended the pi-blic schools of Milford, New Hampsliire, until he was eleven years old, and two years later began his active career by working in a cot- ton mill in Mason village, now Greenville, New Hampshire. He worked successively in the Nashua Manufacturing Company and the old mill in Milford, and at the age of sixteen was appointed overseer of a spin- ning room in the new Souhegan mill, New Hampshire. After remain- ing tlicre three years, he resigned and spent a year at Appleton Academy v;ilh his life-long friend and double cousin, George A. Ramsdeli, who later became governor of New Hampshire. Subsequentlv he was em- ployed in the cotton mills of Nashua, Holyoke, Manchester, and Indian Orchard, usually as an overseer, until October 18, 1864, when he was c.-dled to Housatonic as superintendent of Monument Mills, and remained there until his death, March i, 1903. In 1886 he was appointed agent and general manager of the mills, becoming subsequently a director in the company, its vice-president, and a considerable stockholder. The exceptional success and growth of the cotton industrv in Housatonic was due in a great measure to his wise supervision and mas- tery of details. In the life of the village he was a quiet liut almostt controlling force, which was known and recognized in every agency which sought improvement. Though not a member, he was a regular attendant of the Congregational church of Housatonic, was a member of the prudential committee, gave largely to its support, endowing it generously at his death. His public bequests, besides gifts to the church and House of Mercy in Pittsfield, included liberal provision for the building and establishment of a free library for the village of Housa- tonic. He was a Republican in his political affiliations. 242 BERKSHIRE COUNTY In West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, June 12, 1873, Mr. .Ramsdell married Mary Brainard Spencer, w'ho' was educated in the pubhc schools of West Stockbridge and New York city, finishing with a two years' course at Hudson River Institute (later Claverack College). Her parents were Tliomas Hall and Hannah Brainard (Smith) Spencer. Thomas Spencer was a mechanic, and served as representative and in several minor public offices. Asa Smith, father of Mrs. Thomas Hall Spencer, born November 28, 1781, died May 11, 1858, built the first cotton mill in Connecticut. The children of this union are as follows : George Spencer, born August 7, 1874, in Housatonic, died in infancy. Edith Moore, born April 2, 1876, in Housatonic, was educated in the pul>lic schools of Housatonic and Great Barrington, Housatonic • Hall (Great Barrington), Howard Seminary (West Bridgewater, Massachu- setts), and Wellesley College. She became the wife of Charles Gid- dings, a lawyer, who resides in Housatonic. Theodore Ellis, born Sep- tember 18, 1877, '^'^'^s educated at Housatonic public school, Sedgwick Institute (Great Barrington), Amherst College, Lowell Textile School. He is now a cotton manufacturer, and succeeded his father as agent of the Monument Mills. He resides in Housatonic. Thomas Spencer, born May 15, 18S1, was educated in the Housatonic public school, Sedg- wick Institute (Great Barrington), Cascadilla School (Ithaca, New York), and Cornell l^niversity. He is now a mechanical engineer, and resides at Housatonic. Mary Louise, born Eebruary 17, 1883, attended the Housatonic and Great Barrington public schools, the schools of A^ienna and Berlin, Dana Hall (Wellesley, Massachusetts). BERKSHIRE COUNTY 243 RANDALL HOWARD BLANCHARD. The wisdom of specializing on the practice of a profession that has developed so broadly upon many lines as that of medicine and surgery cannot be gainsaid and is being more resorted to each year. The gentleman wliose name introduces this sketch is a practitioner of that type. Randall Ho\\ard Blanchard was born ]\Iay 3, 1872, in Portland. Maine, son of William F. and the late Harriet (Sturdivant) Blanchard, also natives of Cumberland county. He received his initial schooling in Portland and took his academic course at St. Johnsbury, during which latter period he decided upon the adoption of the medical profession, and took up the study of medicine in conjunction with his general studies under the preceptorship of Dr. J. E. Hartshorn, a leading phy- sician of that locality. In 1893 he entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College (since merged with the medical department of New York Uni- versity), and was graduated with the class of 1896. During the fol- ing year he had the advantage of service in various hospitals of New York city, and then entered u]:)on general practice at Deering, Maine, . where he remained for one }ear. His preceptor, Dr. Hartshorn, having in the meantime specialized his practice to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, Dr. Blanchard determined upon following in his footsteps and pursued his subsequent study along these lines under Dr. Harts- horn, adding thereto the jjrescribed clinical course of the New York Ophthalmic and Aurnl Institute. He located in Pittsfield in 1902. He is one of the staff of physicians of the House of Mercy, Pittsfield. a memljer of tlie Elaine Medical Society, Massachusetts Medical Society and American Medical Association. Fraternally, his connection is with Crescent Lodge (Pittsfield), F. and A. M. Dr. Blanchard married, 244 BERKSHIRE COUNTY June i6, 1899. Caroline, daugbiter of John S. and Abbie Harris, of Port- land, Maine. Thev baAT two children, Norman Harris and Kenneth William Blanchard. They reside at 134 Appleton avenue. SAMUEL CAMP. Samuel Camp, of Great Barrington, was a native of Connecticut, born in Winsted, Litchfield county. May 5, 1829, and died in Great Barrington February 24, 1901, son of Samuel Sheldon and Betsy (Mal- lory) Camp. His parents were also natives of Winsted, and moved to Norfolk, Connecticut, the year of his birth, having purchased a fann and established a chair factory in that town. Samuel Sheldon Camp was the son of Samuel and Mercy (Shel- don) Camp. Samuel, with his brother Moses, in 1796, moved from Norfolk to Winsted, where they bought farms and also carried on the hc;tter's trade. They continued their residence there until 1824. Their father, Moses Camp, was born in Durham, Connecticut, where he mar- ried Thankful Gaylord, daughter of Lieutenant Samuel Gaylord. He received a deed of land in Norfolk, Connecticut, in 1764, and was a man prominent in the affairs of the town. He was a member of Cap- tain Charles Webb's regiment, which crossed the Delaware at Trenton on the eve of December 25, 1776. Moses was the son of (Captain) Doctor Abraham Camp, who went from Milford, Connecticut, to Dur- ham, where he married Martha Parsons, and moved to Norfolk in 1763. He was the son of John Camp, Jr., who married Phebe Canfield, and moved from Milford to Durham in 1762. Jolin, Jr.'s father, Edward, and his wnfe. Mehitable (Smith) Camp, were natives of Milford, in which place his father, Edward, the first of the name in this counti^y, located, after remaining a time in New Haven, where he was one of the first settlers. He died in 1659. \ o/VQl/, L«»js Pj,bliskinf Co BERKSHIRE COUNTY 245 Samuel Camp's genealogy contains the names of many of the early settlers who were men of attainments and prominent in the af- fairs of church and state, among them being Richard Lyman, Governor Thomas Welles. Governor John Webster, Robert Treat, John Robbins, Josiah Churchill, Nathaniel Foote, Rev. Thomas Carter, first minister of Coburn, Massachusets, Elder John Strong, Richard Clapp, Thomas Ford, John Stanley, Thomas. Bliss, Joseph Parsons, Jasper Crane, Lieut. John Smith, who was slain by the Indians. Other names are Pritchard, Buck, Atwater, Funduson, Grant, Hitchcock, Merrill, Marsh, Olney, Woodford, Ball, Burt, Stebbins and Jackson. Colonel Giles Jackson, brother of his great-grandmother, was chief officer on General Gates' staff, and drew up the articles of capitulation at the surrender of Bur- goyne. Samuel Camp obtained his preliminary education in Norfolk and Winsted. Fie studied medicine with Dr. William Welch, of Norfolk, who- was also the preceptor of his three brothers, William, Moses and Charles, all graduates of the University of New York. His collegiate training also was for a short time at Woodstock, Vermont. He was graduated from the University of New York March 5, 185 1, and imme- diately after graduation established himself in New Marlborough. Four years later he removed to St. Joseph, Michigan. Then returning to Berkshire county in 1859, he settled in Great Barrington, and resided there from that time until his death, engaged in active practice as a physician and surgeon. At the opening of the Civil war he was ap- pointed by Governor Andrews to examine excepts from draft and as recruiting agent and on the 21st of September, 1861, he was made as- sistant surgeon of the Twenty-seventh Regiment, Massachusetts Vol- unteers. In the following May, however, on the 27th, he resigned the latter commission on account of ill health. When his health was re- 246 BERKSHIRE COUNTY stored he renewed his interest in procuring recruits, and October 17, 1863, when the call for three hundred thousand men for three years was made he w'as again appointed at a special town meeting to enlist men. This agency be held until January, 1865. In 1872 with Colonel Robert Leonard he established a flock mill in Barrington, manufacturing the flocks by a machine invented by him- self. This mill was burned in 1874 and was not rebuilt. Dr. Camp w^as surgeon of the D. G. Anderson Post, No. 196, of the Grand Army of the Republic from its organization. From 1877 to 1892 he w-as medical examiner for Southern Berkshire and from 1889 to 1 901 w^as United States pension examiner under appointments of Presidents Harrison and McKinley. He w?a& admitted to^ member- ship in the Massachusetts Medical Society, and the Berkshire County Medical Society in 1852. In politics he was a lifelong Republican. Dr. Camp was married August 12, 1852, to Miss Sarah J. Jones of New York city, daughter of Joseph Whiting and Rebecca (Merritt) Jones, of Huguenot and English descent. They had four children : H. Isabel, Charles Morton (deceased), founders of the Riverdale Mills; Frank Barnum (deceased), and Mary Emily Camp. DR. WILFRID A. MILLET. Dr. Wilfrid A. Millet, city physician of Pittsfield, is a native of Canada, having been born October 30, 1869, in St. Dominique, Province of Quebec. His father, Elie Millet, born in 1822, came to the United States in early manhood and for a number of years conducted the trad- ing post at Fort Benton, Colorado. He was one of the army of Cali- fornia gold seekers in historic '49, and at one time held the governmental contract for carr}ing the mails between St. Louis and San Francisco, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 24T when that extra Iiazardous business was undertaken Init twice a vear, and danger, privation and fatigue were the daih' incidents and comfort and ease the infrequent accidents of the trail. He returned to Canada in 1865, and the following 3-ear married Marie Ste])hanie Chagnon, of vSt. Dominique, where he continued to reside up to the time of his decease, December 12, 1887. His son, AA'ilfrid A. ]\Iillet, was graduated with the degree A.B. from St. Hyacinthe Seminar}', Province of Quebec, in 1889. His initial study of medicine was under the preceptorship of a brother-in-law, Dr. Gideon Blanchette, of St. Dominique. He then entered the medical department of the University of Vermont, from which institution he was graduated with the class of "93. For the purpose of still further pursuing his meJical studies he went abroad, and for one vear attended the clinics and lectures und.er Dr. Pean, of the International Hospital, Paris. France. \\'ith tliis excellent ecjuipment for practice he returned to the United States, locating at Fall River, Avhere he passed the state board examination, and a\ hence in 1896 he came to Pittsfield, where lie has since been engaged in the practice of his profession with present offices in the Wright block. Dr. ]\Tillet has won the esteem of his C(il- leagues and the confidence of th.e communit}-. as is attested Ijy his in- cumbency of the city jViiysicianship to which he was elected in 1904, and re-elected in 1905. Pie is a nieniber of .'uul physician for several beneficial orders, and examining jihysician for the Lhiion Mutual (Port- land, Maine), John Hancock (Boston, Massachusetts), and ]\Ietropolitan (New York) Life Insurance Companies. lie is a member of the Berk- shire Medical Society and the American Medical Association. It is an interesting fact and worthv of remark that eight of I^r. ^Millet's kinsmen are medical practitioners, viz.: a brother, two uncles, two cousins and three brothers-in-law. Dr. ^ylillct married, October ii, 1904, Louise, 248 BERKSHIRE COUNTY daughter of Emile Pierre Roy, of St. Pie, Province of Quebec, now and for many years prefect of bis county and now ser\'ing bis second term as bis county's representative in tbe provincial chamber and the lower bouse of parliament of the Province of Quebec. Dr. and Mrs. Millet reside at 131 Bradford street, the former home of Judge John C. Crosby, recently purchased by Dr. Millet. JOHN HENRY COFFIN CHURCH. One of those energetic and enterprising business men of the younger generation whose presence is essential to tbe financial prosperity of any community, and of whom Berkshire county has a full representation, is John H. C. Church, of Great Barrington. He is the son of Colonel George and Maria Louise (Bostwick) Church, and was born January 22, 1870. Mr. Church completed his primary education in the high school, Great Barrington, from which he w^as graduated. For three years there- after be studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy, Boston, and subsecjuently learned tbe pig iron business at the Richmond Iron Works. In 1903 he became associated with tbe Monu- ment Mills, Housatonic, as assistant treasurer and secretary, and now holds tbe position of treasurer and general manager. Notwithstand- ing the urgent and imperative demands of this responsible office Mr. Chi-.rch finds time for attention to several other important financial interests. He is treasurer of tbe Berkshire Glass Sand Company, sec- retary of the Stanley Instrument Company, of Great Barrington, and one of the directors of the Richmond Iron Company. He is vice-presi- dent of tbe Great Barrington Savings Bank and director of the Na- tional Bank of Mabaiwe. In 1903 he Vv^as elected associate county com- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 249 niL^sioner to fill the unexpired term of Henry Phelps, who resigned, and in 1904 was elected for a full term. He married, January 31, 1894, Mary Adele, daughter of the late Charles E. Loop, mechanical engineer, and for a long time a resident of St. Joseph, Missouri. The children horn of this marriage were : Ruth, George, and Mary. Loop. Mr. Church is vestry-man of St. James church, and his family attend the Congregational church, Great Barrington. JOHN DAVLSON SMITH. John D. Smith, of Dalton, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, a veteran of the civil war, was born at Goat Island, Niagara Falls, New York, ]\Iarch 18. T835. His father, Asa Smith, was the owner of the island and witli his family, which consisted of father, mother, one sister Rachel, who married Mr. ^Vright. and a half-brother, Waldo Fuller, of Becket, Berksliire county, Massachusetts, were the sole occupants. Mr. and Mrs. Wright took up their residence in the west in the middle of the nineteenth century. Asa Smith was born in 1810, died in 1886, aged seventy-six years, and his wife, Sarah Louisa Smith, died September 6, 1891. Their children were: Filander F. Smith, who was born at Goat Island, New York, and subsequent!}' removed to the state of Vermont, where he lived for many years; his death occurred in l^vliddlefield, Massachusetts. John Da\ison Smith, mentioned hereinafter. Julia A. Smith, who was born in New York. Her first husband was Edwin Thayer, of Plainfield, Massachusetts, and they were the parents of one son, Irving Thayer, of that place. Her second husband, Sylvester Packard, of Plainfield, Massachusetts, no. issue. About this 250 BERKSHIRE COUNTY time Asa Smith removed his family to Dalton, Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, and the first child born tO' them there was Willard S. Smith, who married Mary J. Ferris, of Middlefield, where they now live. Their children Avere : Jennie, Eva, Fred, Frank, Nat, deceased, and Clarence, deceased. Sarah A. Smith, born October 27, 1845, became the wife of Aaron T. Bardin, of Windsor. Mr. Bardin was one of the noted characters of Dalton. In his native town he conducted a successful farm business, and was the incumbent of several township offices. He had a keen memory, a ready \\\i and he gained much notoriety on account of the readiness v/ith which he wrote verses. Their children are: George W., of Middlefield, Massachusetts; Granville D., and Almira M., who is a graduate of the State Normal school at Westford, Massachusetts, and is now one of the most successful teachers in the vicinity. William D. Smith, v\ho married Ellen Buck, of Northampton, where they reside. They are the parents of the following children : Nellie, Mary, Fred, Hattie, Henry. Fred is deceased. George A. Smith, who with his two children reside in Preston, New York. The names of the children are Charles and Burton. Charles S. Smith, who married Catherine Bennett, of Becket, both of whom are now deceased. Their children are: Nettie, Leroy, Charles, Julia and Blanche. Elizabeth Smith, who became the wife of Lester Parker, of Plain- field, Massachusetts, and their family consists of two children — Eugene and Harriet. Harriet A. Smith, who became the wife of Edward P. Eldredge, of Ashfield, and the issue of this union was one daughter, Ruth. Maria W. Smith, who died at the age of ten years. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 251 Man' ]\.T. Smith, who became the wife of Silas Stockwell. of Dalton. no issue. Frank vSmilh, who married Ehzabeth Burnett, and they are at pres- ent Hving in Cumming-ton, Massachusetts. No children. John D. Smith, the second of the thirteen children born to Asa and Sarah L. Smith, was six years of age when his parents removed to Dal- ton, Berkshire county. He attended school for a short period of time during his first five years' residence in Dalton, but was soon utilized by his father in the wood business which he conducted in connection with the operation of a farm in the locality known as Goosebill, the family having given that name to the place. At the age of fourteen years he was apprer.ticed to the carpenter and machinist trades, serving for four years. He then learned the trade of millwright, and the greater part of his business career was devoted to that occupation. He was employed by the Byron Weston Com.pany in Dalton, Massachusetts, for eighteen consecutive years. He has served the county as a deputy sheriff for five terms, and as constable in the township for ten years. His religious views are in accord with those adopted by the Methodist Episcopal church, and his political affiliations are with the Republican party. In 1862 he enlisted in Company K, Tliirty-fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry, from Dalton, and was promoted to the rank of first coi'poral in the company. He participated in seventeen battles and skirmishes, the most severe having been the battle of Fort Gregg on April 2, 1865. In i860 Mr. Smith was married to Lucy E. Adams, of Landesfield, Massachusetts, who is now deceased. Mr. Smith now makes his home W"ith his sister, Mrs. Sarah Bardin, of Dalton, Massachusetts. 252 BERKSHIRE COUNTY JOHN McAllister stevenson. Few men in Berkshire county have developed a greater capacity for hard work or a more capably helpful spirit in important and diverse public relations than the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs. Although not to the manor born, he has won recognition as one of the most valuable citizens of the county seat. He was born in Cambridge, Washington county, New York, August 31, 1846, son of the late John M. and Seraph Huldah (Newton) Stevenson, the former also a native of Cambridge, the latter of Marlboro, Vermont. The late John M. Stevenson Avas a son of William Stevenson, who was born in 1771, in Stranrear, near Glasgow, Scotland, whence he came to the United States in 1795, locating in Cambridge, New York, where he eventually became a leading merchant. He was thrice mar- ried, his second wife having been Frances Wardale McAllister, a daugh- ter of a well known merchant of Philadelphia, John McAllister. Of the children of William and Frances Wardale (McAllister) Stevenson, John McAllister Stevenson (i), born October 22, 1818, was graduated from Union College, class of 1839, took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar, but devoted his time largely to the management of his father's and his own personal estate. Originally an old line Whig he assisted in the formation of the Republican party, and remained stalwart in his devotion to its principles, and contributing tO' the extent of his ability to its success throughout the remainder of his life. He died September 8, 1872. Of his children, Holland New- ton Stevenson is Commodore (retired). United States navy; Jean H. (Stevenson) March, is the widow of Daniel March, Jr., late of Win- chester, Massachusetts; Frances Wardale Stevenson married Charles Y. Beach, and died in October, 1904; Sarah Mary Stevenson married De- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 253 Witt Bruce, of Pittsfield, and died December i, 1905; \\'illiam Chipman Stevenson is associated with his brother, the immediate subject of this sketch, in the fire insurance business at Pittsfield; EHza A. is the widow of the late John P. Lane; Edward P. Stevenson is a resident of Lee, Massachusetts, and treasurer of the Mountain Mill Paper Com- pany, East Lee; and McLaren Stevenson, of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mrs. Seraph Huldah (Newton) Stevenson, born in Marlboro, Ver- mont, August 6, 1823, and now a resident of Pittsfield, is a daughter of Ephraim Holland and Huldah (Chipman) Newton, and a lineal de- scendant in the maternal line of John Howland, one of the Pilgrim Fathers, and a signer of the Mayflower compact. Among her ancestors in the maternal line, also, was Thomas Chipman. who lived in Shef- field. Berkshire county, during the Revolutionary war, and served in the patriot army, as did his son, Timothy Fuller Chipman, her grand- father, in the campaign against General Burgoyne. On her father's side she is descended from Marshall Newton, Jr., of Shrewsbury, Massa- chusetts, a soldier in the patriot army during nearly the entire period of that protracted stiiiggle for independence. His father, also Mar- shall Newton, was a lieutenant in the French and Indian war, render- ing efficient service during the campaign which embraced the battle of Lake George. John McAllister Stevenson, second of the children of Juhn M. and Seraph H. (Newton) Stevenson, attended the public schools of Cam- bridge, and Cambridge Washington Academy, Walnut Hill School, Geneva, New York, and Phillips Academy. Andover, Massachusetts, from which last named institution he was graduated with the class of 1865. He then entered Yale College, class of 1869. remaining there but two years, his completion of the full four years' course being pre- vented bv ill health. He was thereafter at his home in Cambridge, ^54 BERKSHIRE COUNTY incidentally assisting his father in the care of diiTerent business inter- ests, one of which was a planing mill and lumber plant at that place, until the winter of 1872, during which time he was in the office employ of George L^w, capitalist, of New York. In September, 1872, he came to Pittsfield to accept a position in the Pittsfield office of David W. Bartlett, g-eneral agent of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, the office being located in the West Block, with those occupied by the firm of Gilmore & Francis. This connection continued until January i, 1874, when Mr. Stevenson accepted a clerical position with Tillotson & Col- lins, manufacturers of woolens, and remained in their employ until October i, 1876. He then re-entered the insurance business as clerk for Captain Fred A. Francis, successor of Gilmore & Francis. In April, 1877, he entered intO' partnership association with George D. Button to purchase and conduct, under the firm name of Stevenson and But- ton, the insurance agency business last mentioned. Mr. Stevenson sub- sequently purchased his partner's interest, and has ever since been en- gaged therein, for a period with Thomas N. Enright, and latterly in connection with his brother, William Chipman Stevenson, and Will- iam C. Moulton, with offices in the Savings Bank Building, which oc- cupies the site of the old block in which he began his business career in Pittsfield, being now conducted under the name of Stevenson & Com- pany. On September 29, 1879, Mr. Stevenson was elected to the position he has since held, O'f secretary and treasurer of the Berkshire Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a local institution, that has grown more sub- stantial with its growing responsibilities and constantly widening sphere of usefulness. To advancing the interests of this old Berkshire institution he has given his time, his energy and constant thought. Un- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 255 der his administration he has seen it grow from a company having- $4,500,000 at risk to one oi over $11,000,000. A purely mutual organ- ization, it has maintained its record of ahvays returning a dividend to its members. Since April 10, 1882, he has been clerk and treasurer of the Pro- prietors of the Pittsfield Cemetery. During his term of office the ceme- tery has been enlarged, the gateway and Clapp Memorial Chapel erected, and many other improvements made. The laying out of streets and sale of building lots on the land owned by the corporation adjacent to Onota street has been done largely under his personal supervision. October 13, 1890, Mr. Stevenson was elected clerk of the Pittsfield Electric Street Railway Company, and since 1892 has also been on its board of directors, taking an active part in the promotion of its inter- ests. From 1883 to 1896 he sen-ed as clerk and treasurer of the Pitts- field Board of Underwriters, and since April 18, 1881, as clerk of the First Congregational parish, of which he has been a member for many years. Mr. Stevenson's devotion to the interests of the institutions which he has served as secretary or clerk may gathered from the rather re- markable fact, that during all these years he has never missed a meet- ing where his presence was officially required. Politically he has always affiliated with the Republican party, and is an ardent champion of its interests. His only political office was as member of the general court, to which he was elected Februai-y 9, 1895, tO' fill a vacancy caused by the decease of E. H. Robbins, and to whicli office he was returned by election for the ensuing year. The other institutions with which he is and has been connected are numerous. He is a member and w^as one of the founders of the Pittsfield branch of the Young Men's Christian Association; was one of the original mem- bers of the Park Club, and for twelve years a member of its executive 256 BERKSHIRE COUNTY committee; is one of the board of trustees of the Berkshire County Sav- ings Bank since May 3, 1882; he is a member and was for a period president of the Pittsfield Rod and Gun Club, and takes especial pride in having been considered qualified to be a member of its rifle team. He is trustee of the Union for Home Work, and. for a number of years was a member and treasurer of its board of managers. He has filled the office of auditor for the Berkshire County Home for Aged Women since its organization; was one of the incorporators of the Berkshire County Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and for two years held the office of president; and he is a member of the Massa- chusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants. He has been a member of the Massachusetts Mutual Fire Insurance Union since 1879, and is now one of its vice-presidents. Reading between the lines it will be readily gathered that Mr. Stevenson is O'f a type that stands for progress — a valued, valuable citizen. Mr. Stevenson married, January 27, 1880, Hattie, daughter of the late Samuel Mather Cooley and Almira L. (Tillotson) Cooley, of Pitts- field. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson are: John McAllister Stevenson (3d), a graduate of Yale, class of 1903, now with the Gen- eral Electric Company; Louis Tillotson Stevenson, a student of Yale, class of 1906, taking the Sheffield Scientific Course; Holland Newton Stevenson (2d), also a student of Yale, class of 1908, taking the Shef- field Scientific Course; and Clara Cooley Stevenson. The family resi- dence is No'. 28 Reed street, a residential street which has been im- proved and laid out as a city way largely through Mr. Stevenson's efforts. :' BERKSHIRE COUNTY 257 JOHN FRANKLIN NONON. An able attorney and an efficient and trnstwortln- puldic servant, is the record of the gentleman whose name introcUices this narrative. He was born in Great Barrington, Berkshire connty, ^lassachnsetts, November 19, 1856. son of the late John David and Elizabeth (New- man) Noxon, the tVirmer a native of the state of New York, the latter of Egremont, Berkshire connty, INIassachnsetts. John D. Noxon. bcjrn Febrnar}- 4. 1820-. located in earh- manhood at Great Barringt')n. where he established a blacksmith and wagon- making business, which he conducted successfully for two decades, when he retired therefrom. de\'oting his time thereafter to the improvement of liis realty holdings, during this periotl contributing in a most substantial way to the home of his adoption by the erection of a numl)er of dwelling" houses. He died in September, 1900. John Franklin Noxon read hu\' under the preceptorship of Judge Justin Dewey, and was admitted to the bar in September. 188 1. He established himself f<:)r the practice of his profession in Pittsfield. occu- pying offices ^\•ith the late A. J. Waterman, a leader of the bar in western Massachusett''. subsequently attorney-general of the commonwealth. January i. 1895. Mr. Noxon entered into partnership re!ati(>ns with John C. Crosby, an association which, under the firm name of Crosby & Noxon. attained a very large and notably successful practice. The part- nership was dissolved upon the elevation of ]\Ir. Crosby tO' the superior court bench, Mr. Michael Eisner entering the firm, wdiich is now- known as Noxon & Eisner. Mr. Noxon served as city solicitor of Pittsfield in 1896 and 1897, and was elected in 190 1 district attorney for the western district of Massachusetts, and was re-elected thereto in 1904. He is a member of Crescent Lodge, b'ree and Accepted ]\Lisons; Berkshire ^58 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Chapter, Rov'al Arch J\fasons; Berkshire Council, and Berkshire Coni- mandery, Kniolits Tempkir. Mr. Noxon married, April 17, 1890, Mary S., daughter of the late Henry B. and Electa (Slosson) Wadhanis, of Pittsfield. The late Henry Wadhams was a weh-kncwn lumber merchant of the county seat. Mr. and Mrs. Noxon have a son, John F. Ncxon, Jr. HON. EDWARD TINKER SLOCUM. A descendant in both maternal and paternal lines from English colonial settlers of New England, the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs has abundantly evidenced in his own useful and honor- able career the value of a heritage of devotion to- right principles. In his prolonged judicial incumbency Judge Slocum has demonstrated a capacity for public service and a reputation for official integrity that has obtained for him general recognition as one of the especially valu- able citizens of Pittsfield. The founder of the Slocum family of America, Anthony Slocumbe, was one of the first purchasers oi Cohannet, New Plymouth (now Taun- ton, Massachusetts), in 1637, and according to the Slocum genealogy, remo\'ed to that part of New Plymouth which was incorporated as Dartmouth in 1664, and he and one Ralph Russell were first settlers. He married a sister of William Harvey, according to an old letter writ- ten by him. His name appears on the Taunton records from 1643, ^^^~ quently serving in official capacities. He was the father of four chil- dren. The first was Giles Slocumlie, born probably in Somersetshire, England, died in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1682. He married Joan , who died in Portsmouth, 31st day, 6th month, 1679. He settled in Ports- '^c>Co(A:2^Y^dI^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 259 mouth, Rhode Island, probably in the year 1638, the place then being called Pocasset. He and his wife were early members of the Society of Friends, in whose affairs he appears to have been prominent, and he became an extensive land owner. He was the father of nine children. The ninth w^as Eleazer Slocum, born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 25th day, loth month, 1664, died 1727. He married Elephel Fitzgerald, who died in 1748. He became a resident of Portsmouth, New Plymouth, in 1684. His will and that of his father are given in full in the Slocum genealogy. His family consisted of seven children. The seventh was Ebenezer Slocum, born in Dartniouth, Massachusetts, about 1705, married in Friends' Meeting, at Newport, Rhode Island, 4th day, 2d month, 1728, Bathsheba Hull, daughter of Tristram and Elizabeth (Dyer) Hull. They removed from Dartmouth to Tiverton, Rhode Island, before 1756, and were there living in 1774, with a household of twenty-one heads. Bathsheba was fifth in descent from the Rev. Joseph Hull, born in 1594, who was rector of Northleigh, Devonshire, England, and the first minister at Weymouth, in 1635. The son and descendants became Friends. Ebenezer and Bathsheba Slocum had twelve children. The seventh was David Slocum, born in or near Dartmouth., Massachusetts, Sep- tember 23, 1740, died in Tolland, Massachusetts, December 7, tSi8. He married, in Tiverton, Rhode Island, Phebe Manchester, born July 21, 1743, died in Tolland, Massachusetts, March i, 1819, daughter of Godfrey Manchester, of Tiverton. David Slocum removed to Tiver- ton with his parents before 1756, and settled on a farm in Tolland, Mas- sachusetts, about 1770. They had seven children. The second was Eleazer Slocum, horn in Tiverton, Rhode Island, May 27, 1768, died in Tollrmd, Massachusetts, November 17, 1834. He married Mrs. 260 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Lois (Couch) Stillman. born in Sandisfeld, Massachusetts, June i, 1772, daughter of Benoni and Phebe (Miller) Couch, and widow of Captain Stillman, who died at sea. Mr. Slocum was a farmer in Tol- land, Massachusetts, and was sheriff of the county for several years. He was the father of seven children. The second was Oliver Ellsworth Slocum, born in Tolland, Massachusetts, August 16, 1 80 1, died March 7, 1884. He married, in Tolland, in 1821, Polly Mills, born May 17, i8co, died March 7, 1883, daughter of Cephas and Hannah (Easton) Mills. Cephas Mills, a soldiev of the revolution, was a lineal descendant of Sir Peter Wales Van der Mulen, of Holland, who was knighted for his great service to the public in the improvement of the dikes and canals in Amsterdam. Sir Peter's eldest son, Peter Van der Mulen, born in Amsterdam in 1622, came to America in 165O' from Leyden, where lie was studying for the ministry. The immigrant's son, Peter, second of the name in this country, married Dorcas Messenger, of Windsor, Connecticut, and died May 18, 1688. Their son Peter (3), born in 1663, married Joanna Porter, and lived in East Windsor until his death, in 1756. By an act of the Connecticut legislature in 1707 he had his name changed from Van der Mulen, which in Dutch means "The Man of the Mill," to Mills. His son Peter Mills (4), a tailor by trade, married Ruth Loomis, and died at the age of seventy years. Stone Mills, son of Peter and Ruth, married Miriam Wolcott. a cousin of Governor Wolcott, of Connecticut, and was the father of Cephas Mills above named. Cephas Mills was born at Ellington, Con- necticut, June 17, 1759: he married, March 23, 1778, Hannah Easton, who was born at Manchester, Connecticut, April 26, 1761. and in 1788 they removed to Tolland, Massachusetts. Mr. Slocum lived on a farm in West Granville, Massachusetts, and was an early abolitionist. Mr. Slocum was the father of eight children. The first was BERKSHIRE COUNTY 261 Hon. William Frederick Slocum, born in Tolland, Massachusetts, January 31, 1822, died September 4, 1896. After his graduation from the academy in Winsted, Connecticut, he studied law with Billings Palmer, in Sheffield, Massachusetts, and was admitted to the Berkshire county bar in Lenox, then the shire town, in October, 1846. He was engaged in the practice of his profession in Grafton from 1848 to 1865, when he removed his office to Boston and made his home in the suburban city of Newton. While a resident of Grafton he served as selectman and school committeeman, and represented the town in the state legislature in 1 86 1. After removing to Newton he was trial justice for a num- ber of years. During a portion of his residence in Boston he was the partner of H. B. Staples, Esq. In 187 1 ]\Ir. Slocum received the de- gree of Master of Arts from Amherst College. He was a member of the Congregational church, in which he held the office of deacon. A sister of Mr. Slocum was the wife of the late Chief Justice Depue, of the New Jersey supreme court. Hon. William Frederick Slocum married, April 21, 1847, Margaret Tinker, born in Tolland, July 4, 1827, died in Newtonville, January 25, 1888, daughter of Edward Day and Laura (Steele) Tinker. They had four children, namely : Winfield Scott, Edward Tinker, William F., and Henry Oliver, who died at the age of twenty-four years. All are graduates of Amherst College save the last named. The emigrant ancestor of the Tinker family was John Tinker (i), who came from England. Thomas Tinker and his wife and child were passengers on the " Mayflower," and all died during the first winter after landing at Plymouth. John Tinker came from' England a few years later, and settled first in Windsor, Connecticut, was made a free- man in Boston in 165.)., and was afterward town clerk and selectman. In 1659 he removed to Pequod, now New London, Connecticut, and 262 BERKSHIRE COUNTY became oue of the most active and influential citizens of the place. His wife Alice died at Lyme, Connecticut, November 20, 1714, aged eighty- five years. Their son Amos, born October 28, 1657, married, at Lyme, June I, 1682, Sarah Durant. Amos, Jr., married, January 17, 17 16, Lucy Lee, who was born in Lyme, June 20, 1699. Martin, the next in line, born June 28, 1739, at Lyme, married Mrs. Mary Peck and was the father of Edward Lay Tinker, father of Margaret (Tinker) Slocum. Edward Lay Tinker was born at Westfield, Massachusetts, October i, 1791, and died July 21, 1872. He married, November 28, 1816, Laura Steele, a direct descendant of John Steele, who was born in Essex county, England, and, on coming to this country in 163 1, settled first in Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, and in 1635 became one of the founders of Hart- ford, Connecticut. His son, James Steele, was a trooper in 1657 in the Pequot war; in 1662 he was appointed by the general court to lay out lands of Hammanassett, and in 1675 was commissary in King Philip's war. He married Anna Bishop. Their son, John Steele, married Malathiah, daughter of Major William Bradford, of Plymouth. Eben- ezer, son of John, born in 1695, married Susan West, and removed in 1725 to Killingsworth. John (2), son of Ebenezer, was the father of Ebenezer, born August 5, 1753, who married Rachel Seymour, and died November 8, 1805. They were the parents of Mrs. Luara Steele Tinker. Judge Edward Tinker Slocum was born in Grafton, Massachusetts, October 29, 1849. ^^ graduated at Amherst College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1871, received the degree of Master of Arts from that college in 1874, and the same year graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws from Boston University Law School. In the mean- time he was engaged in civil engineering along railway lines, and in teaching the high school in Upton, Massachusetts. In early manhood he served three years in the State Militia. He was admitted to the bar BERKSHIRE COUNTY 263 at Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 24, 1874, and after practicing- law for three years in Boston removed to Lee, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1881, when he came to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1 881 he was elected register of probate and insolvency of Berkshire county, which office he held for fourteen years, when in December, 1894, he was appointed judge x^f the same courts, a life office. Judge Slocum took a prominent part in the movement for the adoption of a city charter for Pittsfield, and was elected president of the first council under city government, although the political majority of the board was against him. He was president of the Berkshire County Bar Associa- tion from 1903 to 1905, and is a memher of the National Bar Associa- tion. Judge Slocum was appointed to represent the First Congressional District of Massachusetts as a delegate to the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists, one of the unique features of the St. Louis World's Fair, 1904. He has done much acti\-e work in religious and charitable organizations, as well as in civic affairs. From 1886 to 1894 he was superintendent of the Sunday school of the First Congregational church ; for five years he was a member of the executive committee of the ]Massa- chusetts State Sunday School Association ; and he was the first presi- dent of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was made a Ma- son at Lee, and admitted to Crescent Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Pittsfield, and is a member also' of Berkshire County Chapter, Berk- shire Commandery, and Aleppo Temple of the Mystic Shrine. For four years he was president of the Business Men's Association, now the Park Club, and is a member of the Pittsfield Country ("lub and the Berkshire Automobile Club. He also holds membership in the Sons of the Ameri- can Revolution. He has always taken interest in athletics, especially in acjuatic sports, yachting and' rowing, hunting and fishing, and has been a member of the various local organizations of that character. 264 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Judge Edward Tinker Slocum married, August 3, 1881, Harriet Olivia Palmer, daughter of Billings and Harriet Davis (Holbrook) Palmer, of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Billings Palmer was a prominent attorney of Great Barrington, and for some time a member of the house of representatives and of the state senate. Mrs. Slocum is a graduate of Vassar College, and prior to her marriage was assistant lady principal of that institution. Judge and Mrs. Slocum are members of the First Congregational church. Judge Slocum nimibers among his ancestors Governor AX^illiam Bradford, Mary Dyer, the Quaker martyr, and such early colonial families as the Wolcotts, of Connecticut, the Pitkins, the Allyns, Milles, Eastons, and Hulls. WILLIAM B. McNULTY. That the subject of this memoir spent practically his entire busi- ness life in the employ of one company, the Boston & Albany Railroad, is a sufficient commentary on his ability, industry and integrity, and the fact that this career was a series of speedily won promotions leads to the inevitable conclusion that his untimely demise alone prevented his attainment to large responsibilities in his chosen vocation. He was a Berkshire county boy, born in 1867 ^^ Dalton, whence his parents removed in his early childhood to Adams, where William received a public school education and was for a short time thereafter in employ at Millard's news room. This was followed by his appointment as baggage master at Ren- frew Station. In 1893 l""^ ^'^"^^ made station agent at Renfrew. He was next promoted to the charge of the station at Niversville, and one year later was transferred to the company's station at Hudson, New York, following which he took the North Adams office. Since 1903 he has BERKSHIRE COUNTY 265 occupied the office of station agent at Pittsfield, where he died suddenly on October ii, 1905. PoHtically Mr. McNuUy affiHated with the Democratic party. He had a wide circle of friends and was held in especially affection- ate esteem by the fellow employees under his management. ROLLIN H. COOKE. Rollin Hillyer Cooke, widely famed as a genealogist and litterateur, was a native of Connecticut, born in Winsted, in 1843. He was edu- cated in the schools of his native town, and entered upon a business career as a traveling salesman for his father, who was a manufacturer in that place O'f wagon axles, nuts, bolts, etc. At a later day he became a clerk in the private banking house of Gilbert & Gay, in Winsted. While residing in that village he married, and of his marriage were born two children, both of whom survived the father: Mrs. James Brasie, of Winsted, Connecticut; and IMrs. George D. Hurlock, of New York. His second marriage was tO' Rose Terry Cooke, a pleasing writer of both poetry and prose, and this event gave a different direction to the life of the husband. Learning of an opening for a banking Imsiness in Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, and having had experience in that line, Mr. Cooke inclined to locating in that city, and his purpose was seconded with genuine enthus- ia,sm by his wife, whose artistic temperament made her an ardent ad- mirer of the scenery of the Berkshires. U|)on first coming tO' the city, Mr. Cooke became associated with J^'^mes j\I. Burns in the banking firm O'f Burns & Cooke. They continued in this business about a year, when Mr. Burns withdrew, ]\Ir. Cooke remaining as sole manager. Shortly afterward, however, he abandoned the Imsiness to de^•ote himself ex- 266 BERKSHIRE COUNTY clusively to genealogical and kindred research, fields in which he made for himself high reputation and contributed materially to the fund of knowledge along these lines. He was indefatigable in his investiga- tions, and not only made familiar acquaintance with record material in the court house of Berkshire county and the Berkshire Athenaeum, but repeatedly visited distant cities in his search for missing links in fam- ily chains, and his services were called into requisition by people of standing in all parts of the United States, scarcely a day passing but he received inquiries for information, or solicitation to enter upon some special genealogical work. About a year before his death, was issued from the press his " Genealogy of the Phelps Family," in two volumes. His most laborious and notable undertaking was that upon which he was engaged when he came to his tragic end — the '' Genealogy of the Bradford Family." In the compilation of this monumental work he had obtained ten thousand names of descendants of the original Bradford, and their proper arrangement and relation involved incessant and most painstaking effort. At the same time he was giving editorial direction to the preparation of our present volumes, " Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Berkshire County, Massachusetts," and writing a portion of their contents. That he was not permitted to bring to a conclusion either of these works is to be deeply regretted, and by none more than by the publishers of that last mentioned, who treasure his memory as not only a careful and use- ful collaborator, but a sincere personal friend. That his labors along these his chosen lines were labors of love, is amply attested not alone by the enthusiasm with which he responded to every call, but by the dis- position he made of his genealogical and historical memorabilia. Real- izing the uncertainty of life, and determined to place these accumulations of a lifetime beyond the possibility of dispersion, a little more than a BERKSHIRE COUNTY 267 year before his death (October 15, 1903), Mr. Cooke presented to the Berkshire Athenaeum his most vakiable records, accompanying his gift with a letter in which he said that it was his design that it should cover all of his papers and records, reserving the possession and use of them during his lifetime. Mr. Cooke's published letters and articles upon special topics would fill a good sized volume. He was also author of a handsome brochure issued by the Berkshire Life Insurance Company, " Rides and Drives in Berkshire." He was an enthusiastic lover of nature, and the beautiful scenery of this region had no more enthusiastic admirer than he. He was the most noted pedestrian in Pittsfield, covering long distances with- out apparent fatigue, his walks frequently extending to his old home at Winsted, Connecticut, as well as tO' Norfolk and Canaan. Greylock Mountain was a constant source of pleasure to him. When winter be- gan to die and the snows tO' melt away, he would set off for the summit of " the great hill," and when he returned he invariably had a pleasant story to tell of his trip. Strange markings upon the mountain side were to him full of suggestion and interest, and as a naturalist he found much pleasure in identifying animals and birds by their footprints. It often occurred that he conducted parties on trips up the mountain to see the sun rise, and on such occasions his good comradeship was manifested at its best. Before others took much interest in Gre}dock Mountain, he blazed a way to its summit, and many of the subsequent improvements upon the reservation were directly traceable to his unflagging interest, enthusiasm and suggestion. He knew the needs of the mountain, and he wrote of them frequently, sometimes over his own proper signature, and again under a nom de plume. His interest in historical subjects also led him into arduous explorations, and he was recognized along these lines as the most eminently useful member of the local chapter of 268 BERKSHIRE CO UN TY the Sons of the American Revohition. At the meeting of the Berkshire Chapter, Sons of the American Revohition, held within a week hefore his death, he urged that the site of Easton's Tavern shoiihl be in some way indicated for the benefit of future generations. In his journeyings through the county on his errands of investigation, he made a rare col- lection of singular inscriptions upon old gravestones, many of them so nearly obliterated by the elements that their deciphering involved much time and patience. During his residence in Pittsfield, Mr. Cooke performed efficient service in connection with various institutions and enterprises. Besides the Sons of the American Revolution, he was one of the best ec[uipped and most active members of the Berkshire Historical and Scientific So- ciety, the Monday Evening Club and other organizations, and in the palmy days of its existence he was secretai-y of the Berkshire County Agricultural Society. He it was who installed the index system, so- called, w'hich from that day has been used with excellent success in connection with local records. He remarked shortly before his death that the system so long used by him had just been copyrighted, and said, "I should have done the same thing; I might be rich now if I had." But he gave little thought to money-making. His occupations were tO' him fertile fields for labor wdiich should have enduring value, for the good they would yield to others, not the compensation which would accrue to him. He was an ardent Republican his life through, was at one time sec- retary of the city committee of his party, and performed a great deal of efficient service in the party ranks. To him the party represented much more than a mere name. He revered it for its principles and its tradi- tions. His first presidential vote was cast for the second election of Abraham Lincoln, whose memory he held in love and honor for his BERKSHIRE COUNTY 269 personal lofty character, his martyrdom, as well as for the noble princi- ples for which he stood, lived and died. His last presidential vote was for Theodore Roosevelt, whom he ardently admired, regarding him as one of the greatest products of his generation. Mr. Cooke was in every fibre of his being a model Christian gentle- man. He detested shams, and with the lance of his good-natured sar- casm would pierce the shield of pretence and unreality. He was, how- ever, abundant in charity, and was wont to say that the perfect man does not exist on earth. Such a one, he declared, would be so lonesome that he would needs be relegated to a settlement of which he was the sole inhabitant. He possessed a fine literary taste, and his excellent library, containing many rare volumes, was his most delightful resort. He delighted in good fellowship, and enjoyed sitting by the hour with' congenial spirits, discussing current topics, old tales and old poems. His mind, alert and keen, was C[uick to grasp and hold the meaning- of the beautiful and true. His humor was bright and sparkling. He enjoyed a pointed Ixit clean story, and, like a true artist, could give one a clever telling. He was quick to discern an opening for a pun. and was an adept in such wit. Until the death of his second wife (Rose Terry Cooke) ab(3ut ele\'en years ago, the couple occupied the Brewster house on East street, in Pittsfield. After her death he occupied apartments in the ]\Iartin Block, on Bank Row, and later in the Wendell annex on West street, where he sustained the injuries that resulted in his death, in the evening of Friday, December 9, 1904. Clad only in his underclothes, al)laze from head to foot, and crying piteously for help, he was found b_\' those at- tracted by his cries, in the hallway in front of his room, and before assistance could be rendered was so severely burned that he died about midnight at the House of Mercy, to which institution lie was hurriedly 270 BERKSHIRE COUNTY removed. Just how the accident occurred is not known, but the pre- sumption was that as he was about to retire a kerosene lamp exploded, scattering the burning oil over his garments, wrapping him in a sheet O'f flame, and practically burning the skin from off his entire body. His anguish was so unsupportable that he kept feebly saying to the physician who was endeavoring to alleviate his sufferings, " Please let me die." The funeral services were held on Monday. December 12, 1904, conducted by the Rev. T. W. Nickerson, Jr., rector of St. Stephen's (Protestant Episcopal) church, of which Mr. Cooke was a communi- cant. CHARLES DWIGHT SABIN. Youngest of the six children of the late Dr. Sabin, of Williams- town, is Charles Dwight Sabin, born at Williamstown, July 22, 1849. He received his initial schooling under Professor Griffin, then taking an academic course at Greylock Institute, and entering Williams Col- lege with the intention of eventually studying medicine. He developed business ambition along mercantile lines, however, before matriculation, leaving college to enter the employ of Miller & Company, commission merchants, 82 Broadway, New York city, and subsequently became associated with McFarlane & Randell, produce commission merchants, 17 Front street. New York. Upon the retire- ment of the senior member of the latter firm, Mr. Sabin attained to the junior partnership, and three years later was sole proprietor of the business. From 1881 to 1891 a brother, Henry Sabin, was his busi- ness associate. Mr. Sabin is a member of the Produce Exchange, and was one of the board of managers during the erection of the splendid structure which is the home of that most important trade institution of the metropolis. Mr. Sabin served for six years as member and first ^n-: (^. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 271 lieutenant in tlie Twenty-second Regiment New York National Guard. He is a member of the Union League and New York Athletic Clubs, and the New York Chapter of Sons of American Revolution. He married, September i8, 1890, Susie G., daughter of the late Henry A. Tilden, a brother of the late Samuel J. Tilden, Democratic leader and statesman. Mr. Sabin is the present owner of Samuel J. Tilden' s farm estate at Gramercy Park. Mr. and Mrs. Sabin's children are Elizabeth T., born October 9, 1892, and Charles D. Sabin, Jr., born December 4, 1895. The New York residence of the family is 175 W. 58th street, and the summer home on South street, Pittsfield. Mrs. Sabin is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames, and the Mayflower Association. GEORGE WINSLOW CLARK. The traveling public has long since learned that there is no surer index of the prosperity of a community than the character and conduct of its principal hostelries. Given a center of population, great or small, whose hotels are devoid of attractiveness and that place will invariably be discovered to be in a state of business apathy. On the other hand such towns as have their visitors well cared for are characterized by a general progressiveness. It follows therefore that the up-to-date land- lord is an important factor in civilization. To the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs is due no inconsiderable measure of the credit for the substantial growth of Pittsfield during recent years. As a member of the firm of Plumb and Clark, proprietors of the New Amer- ican, Mr. Clark's managerial capacity has been eminently of the type that stands for progress. 272 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Mr. Clark is a product of that sturdy stock, the physical and mental A'igor of which proved ahundantly equal to the stalwart stand which it took against the tyranny of the Old and built up the magnificent cluster of commonwealths which constitute the New' Engdand. He is a repre- sentative of the fourth of the generations of the Clark family to hold residence in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, his paternal great-grand- father, Samuel Clark, a native of Haddam, Connecticut, having located upon a small farm in Lenox more than one hundred years ago. Sam- uel Clark was a revolutionary soldier and was one of the patriot pris- oners who while confined in the " Old Sugar House " in New York city were poisoned through drinking the water from the well at their place of confinement. Whether a dastard attempt to kill these prisoners by dropping poison into the well which supplied them was really made or the water \\'as thus contaminated through other causes is a mooted question. Certain it is, however, that a number of victim.s perished as a result of a diabolical deed or ecjually criminal neglect, and that Samuel Clark narrowly escaped with his life and suffered a seriously impaired constitution thereafter in consequence. His wife, Hannay Way, was also a native of Haddam. Among their children was Joseph Rice Clark, who was born at Tolland, Connecticut, conducted a wagon making estab- lishment in Lenox, subsequently piuxhasing a farm at the same place, adjoining that formerly owned by Henry Ward Beecher. This tract of land Mr. Clark continued to cultivate for a g^i'iocl of fifty years. He died February 6, 1875. Llis wife was Susan Smith, a native of Lee, Massachusetts. Joseph Rice Clark was sergeant in a cavalry company enlisted for service in the war of 18 12. His son, William Marshall Clark, was born at Lenox, February 12, 1823, completed his education at Lenox Academy and soon there- after embarked in business by establishing a general store at Lenox, BERKSHIRE COUNTY :273 which lie conducted with fair success up to the historic hard times of '57 when he was compelled to ahandon this enterjirise. He was there- after variously employed up to 1878 when he located at Pittsfield. where he has since resided. For eighteen years continuous!}- Air. Clark has discharged most efficiently the duties of the office of assessor, of which he is still the incumhent. He is a true gentleman of the old school of unljlemishe'l reputation, a man of unf[uestioned prohity and generally recognized usefulness. He married in 1850 Irene, daughter of the late Ocran Curtis, of Lenox, Massachusetts. ( See Curtis Fam- ily, this puhlication.) Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. William Mar- shall Clark, the eldest son, \\'illiam R. Clark, is an assistant in his father's office, and Henry S. Clark, the youngest son, is a physician whose general education was completed at Williams College, who was graduated from Jefferson Medical College and has been eng'aged in the successful practice of his profession for nearly twenty years in New York city. Georg'e W^inslow Clark, second in order of birth of the sons of William M. Clark, was born at Lenox, May 16, 1854. He attended the pu1)lic schools of his native place and took a preparatory course at Lenox Xcademy for the scientific course at Ann Arbor. Prei:)ared for entrance at the latter institution, in 1872, he de\'iated from the plan which he iiad formed for his life work by an offer of employment at a tempting salary frcmi the Berkshire Life Insurance Company at the official home of that great local institution in Pittsfield. This associa- tion continued for a period of seventeen years, during \\hich time Mr. Clark was promoted from time to time, occup}-ing the position of cashier at the time of his resignation in i88(). This latter ste]) was taken for the purpose of entering into partnersliip association with Mr. Arthur W^. Plumb (see sketch, this work) to conduct the American House, 274 BERKSHIRE COUNTY at Pittsfield. the good will, fixtures and furniture of which were pur- chased from ]\lr. Cebra Ouackenbush, former proprietor of the hotel and then and still owner of the premises. The success attendant upon the venture of Messrs. Plumb and Clark necessitated the material en- largement and general improvement of the original structure, and the present commodious and thoroughly well-equipped edifice, since known as the " New American," was built in 1898-9. During this interim the firm of Plumb and Clark took a lease of the Wendell Hotel and con- ducted that house from February to the close of 1899. That Mr. Clark has mastered the multitudinous details attendant upon the successful conduct of the modern hotel is attested by the popularity of the New American with the traveling public and the justifiable pride with which it is regarded by the citizens of Pittsfield especially and the people of Berkshire county generally. Mr. Clark married in 1879 Fannie, daugh- ter of the late William Dexter Brown Linn, for many years a dealer in marble and monuments at Pittsfield. THEODORE RODNEY GLENTZ. The subject of this memoir was one of that fortunately large group of men, natives of Berkshire county, w^ho, naturally endowed with capability, courage and conscience, wrought within its borders to its splendid development. He was bom in 1835, son of George F. Glentz, one of the early merchants of Pittsfield, who died in 1881. Theodore R. Glentz received a limited public school education, and after a brief period of employment as a boy in one of the woolen mills of Pittsfield was apprenticed to learn the trade of carpenter. He mas- tered it readily and was doing journeyman's work and receiving jour- neyman's pay while yet a youth. He had barely attained his majority BERKSHIRE COUNTY 275 when, in association with Thomas Atwoocl, he established a planing mill business on North street, Pittsfield. This business relation was severed a few years later upon Mr. Glentz's removal to Vergennes, Ver- mont, where he was engaged in manufacturing for a short period, re- turning thence to renew his residence in Pittsfield, where he entered the employ of Butler & Aierrill, planing mill proprietors. He founded a planing mill and contracting and building business in Pittsfield in 1880, and, having acquired a most excellent reputation for skillful workmanship and business integrity, was speedily possessed of a patronage which included a large share of the work of the leading invest- ors in realty improvements in the county seat and vicinity. He was always the interested mechanic given to burthen himself with much man- ual labor in showing his employees right methods, the while bearing as well all of the burdens of the contractors' responsibilities. This double duty told heavily upon him, and when at sixty-three he should have been in the full vigor of manhood, he suffered a collapse of the nervous sys- tem and a few years later died. He had little time or taste for politics, holding office but once, when he was elected as Republican nominee to represent the third ward in Pittsfield's board of aldermen. He was a lifelong and consistent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. There is but one opinion of Theodore Rodney Glentz, viz. : that he was a Christian gentleman. He married Millicent, daughter of the late Cyrus Cleveland, farmer, of Dalton. Mrs. Glentz, who resides in Pittsfield, had three children, one of whom, the eldest, Olin Glentz, is deceased. The surviving chil- dren are Bessie G., wife of Fred L. Cheney, lumber dealer of Pittsfield ; and Harley C. Glentz, since 1902 engaged in a managerial capacity with the Glentz Woodworking Company. 276 BERKSHTRE COUNTY i THOMAS WHITE NTCKERSON, Jr. The gentleman Avhose name introduces these memoirs, rector of St. Stephen's, Pittsfield. has demonstrated his eminent fitness for his' high calhng by the aljimdant success of his ministrations, the parish being in a most flourishing condition and a recognized vahiable factor in the moral uplift of the community. He was born in Boston, Massa- chusetts, January 25, 1858, son of the Rev. Thomas White and Martha Tillinghast (Westcott) Nickerson, both natives of Massachusetts, and descended from the earliest English settlers of New England. The founder of the American family was William Nickerson, born in England, in 1604, and who came from Norwich with his wife and children in 1637 to the American colonies, temporarily locating in Boston, thence removing to Yarmouth and eventually settling on the present site of the town of Chatham, ha\ing purchased there from the Indians a large tract of land, some of which is still in the possession of his direct descendants. He married Anne Busby, daughter of Nicholas Busby, also an English colonist, resident of Boston, Massa- chusetts. Nicholas Nicker.son, eldest of the sons of William and Anne (Busby) Nickersou, was born in Norwich. England, in 1630, and mar- ried Esther Bassett, w^iose father was one of the early settlers of Cape Cod. Their eldest son, William Nickerson, born in 1658, married Mary Snow, whose ancestors included Governor Prince and Stephen Hop- kins, of Mayflower fame. Ebenezer Nickerson. third son of the last mentioned William Nickerson, born June 13, 1697, married Elizabeth Mayo, great-grand- daughter of the Rev. John Mayo, the first minister of the second church BERKSHIRE COUNTY 277 established in Boston, and nunibering among her Hneal connections those chstinguished Pnritans, John Freeman, Governor Prince and Elder Brewster. Seth Nickerson, eldest son of Ebenezer Nickerson, was born Octo- ber 21, 1737, and married Mary Smith, of Chatham, also descended from Mayflower stock. Their son Ebenezer Nickerson, grandfather of the immediate sub- ject of these memoirs, was born August 17, 1768, in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and married, secondly, September 29, 1805, Eudoxa, daughter of Thomas White, of Lexington-Concord stock. Ebenezer Nickerson achieved remarkable business success, being accounted one of the leading merchants of his day and having quite extensive shipping interests. His son, Rev. Thomas White Nickerson, a retired Episcopal clergy- man, married a daughter of Stephen Westcott, a leading" leather mer- chant. Stephen Westcott was lineally descended from Stukeley West- cott, one of the original proprietors of Providence, Rhode Island, in which state many of his descendants continue to reside. The direct line from Stukeley to Stephen Westcott is through Jeremiah, Samuel, Ben- jamin, Captain James and James Westcott. The wife of Stephen West- cott, Mary Smith Barker, was of old colony stock. Thomas White Nickerson, Jr., received his preliminary schooling in Boston, was graduated from Phillips Academy, Ando'ver, with the class of 'yf-), and from Harvard College, class of '80. He then entered the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal church. New York city, graduating in 1884, and receiving his B.D. degree therefrom in 1886. He was ordained deacon, June 18, 1884, in Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, by Bishop Paddock ; and ordained priest in New York city. May 31, 1885, by Bishop Henry C. Potter, b'rom September, 1884, to June, 278 BERKSHIRE COUNTY 1887, Mr. Nickerson was assistant to the rector of Calvary church, New York, Dr. Henry Y. Satterlee, now Bishop of Washington. From June, 1887, to June, 1895, he was rector of St. Paul's, Paterson, New Jersey, and this initial charge developed a capacity for splendid service. He early established a mission (now St. Luke's), and upon his own congregation growing to unwieldy proportions divided the parish, thus founding the present St. Mark's church. During his ministry a new church site was purchased by his congregation, and the initial work generally accom- plished which resulted in the erection of one of the most beautiful church edifices in New Jersey. His next charge was the rectorship of the Church of the Messiah, Boston, where he remained from 1895 to 1898. In the spring of 1900 he was secured as rector of St. Stephen's, Pitts- field, which he has since served as heretofore indicated with beneficent results to both congregation and community. He has taken an es- pecially active interest in the local union for Home Work serving as chairman of its executive committee. He is secretary of the standing committee of the diocese of western Massachusetts; a member of the Pittsfield Monday Evening and Park Clubs, and of the Colonial Wars and Mayflower Societies of Massachusetts. He married, January 10, 1888, Mary Louisa, daughter of the late Rev. Eugene Augustus Hoffman, the distinguished dean of the General Theological Seminary, New York. One son born of this union Decem- ber 6, 1888, Hoffman Nickerson, is a student of St. Mark's school, Southborough, Massachusetts. JOHN FORREST KELLY. John Forrest Kelly, of Pittsfield, who has materially contributed to electrical science and its applications, is a type of those foreign-born citizens who unite with the steady forceful characteristics of their an- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 270 cestors a ready adaptability to new conditions, a well-directed spirit of enterprise, and an unswerving- lovalt}- to the institutions and g-overnment cf their adopted country. He is a representative of one of the most ancient and honorable families in Ireland, and several of his ancestors and their collateral relatives achieved distinction in various professional lines. He was born near Carrick-on-Suir, Ireland, March 28. 1859, '^ son of Jeremiah and Kate (Forrest) Kelly, both of whom served in the capacity of teachers. John F. Kell}- received the degrees of B.L. and Ph.D. in 1878 and 188 1, respectively, from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. He gained his first practical business knowledge as assist- ant to Thomas .\. Edison_ in IMenlo Park laboratory, his work then prin- cipally relating to the chemistry of rare earths. During the latter part of the }-ear 1879 Mr. Kelly became electrical engineer of the New York branch of the Western Electric Compan}', this being the time when the telephone was being generally introduced and when dynamos were being first applic^l to telegraphic purposes. In the construction and installment of instruments for telegraphy and telephones and of such measuring in- struments as were then known, lie recei^•ed a thorough training which proved valuable to him in his later career. In 1882 he became lal)oratory assistant to Edwarrl Weston, then chief electrician of the United States Electric Lighting Company, and with the exception of a year which he spent in connection w ith the Remingtons, continued his association with Mr. Weston until Jidy, 1886. Some of the most important work, such as the research which ended in the discovery of high resistance alloys of very low or even negative temperature coefticients, were substantially carried out by Mr. Kelly under a few general directions from Mr. Weston, whom Mr. Kelly succeeded as chief electrician of the United States Electric Lighting Comi)an}-, which in 1889 passed to the Westing- 280 BERKSHIRE COUNTY house interesis, Mr. Kelly reinainint^- in this position until January, 1892, ^vhen he resipned to join. William Stanle\- in ex])erimental work. Mr. Kelly's inventive work is partially represented hv eighty patents. The art of building transformers and g"enerators of alternating currents was revolutionized and Mr. Kelly and his colleagues were the first to put polyphase motors into actual commercial service. That success naturallv led to long-distance transmission work and the first long-distance trans- mission plants in California (indeed tlie first in the world) were under- taken on Mr Kelly's recommendation and advice. M(;st of his v,')rk has been of too technical a character to command i^opular appreciation, such, for instance, as that of impro\ing the cpiality of steel. He was the first one to make an h.ystcrically stable steel, a matter of vastly m.ore importance than the comparatively spectacular transmission work. At the present time ( 1905) Air. Kelly occupies the position of president of tiie John V. Kelly Engineering Company, the Cokel Companv, the Tele- lectric C(;n^pan\-, the Conchas River Power Company, and director of the Soiitlrwestern Exploration Company. The Cokel Compan^• is or- ganized to exploit the in\erition of E. W. Cooke, bv means of winch food stufl may be perfectly dehydrated, losing on the average ninetv per cent in weight. Ecods dehydrated by this process, although free from all chemical preservatives, are entirely stable, and yet preserve their pristine freshnes'^ through extremes of temperature, and when ser\'ed are indistinguishable from fresh foods of the ordinary type. The Telelectric Compan.y is organized for the manufacture of electric piano plavers, which are either entirely automatic or entirely controllable at will. Mr. Kelly is a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engi- neers, American Electrc^chen Society, American Academy of Political .Science, American Economical Association, American Statistical So- ciety, American-Irish Historical, and Engineers' Clulx all of the United BERKSHIRE COUNTY 281 States, and also has menil:;ersliip in the Institute of Electrical Engineers, Society of Arts and Irisli Texts Society of England and the Societe Internationale des Electricicns of Erance. Mr. Kelly was married in Xew York city in 1892 to Helen Eischer, and the^• are the parents of two children : Eoghan and Domnall Kelly. JACOB GIMLICH. Among the progressi\'e citizens of Pittsfield few have had a wider sphere of usefulness than he whose name introduces these memoirs. From the outset of an unusually successful and active business career the large demands upon his time have not prevented attention to diverse pubhc interests and this public spiritedness has been manifest in liberal coi Iributions of coin as well as of counsel. Withal Mr. Gimlich is of unimpeachable integrity, and that time tried and often misapplied sen- ter.ce, '' his word is as good as his bond," is widely and with generally recognized propriety used in characterizing him. Jacob Gimlich, Sr., who lived in Rheinpfalz, near Mannheim, Ba- varia, where he was owner of a productive fruit farm and vineyard, was one of those who, with Schurz. Hecker, Boernstein and others, were forced to Hee from their native land on account of their unsuccessful attempt tc bring about a change of government in 1848. He came to the United States in that year with his wife and six children, and settled in Alban}\ Xew York, where he engaged in the fruit business. His wife was a widow before his marriage with her. and a son oi her former marriage, Da\id Gre1)er, ser^-ed in the Union army during the Civil war, and died from illness contracted in the line of duty. Mr. Gim- lich, Sr., subsequently (i860) took up his residence in Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts. In 1862 he enlisted in the Eifth Regiment, New^ Jersey In- '28-2 BERKSHIRE COUNTY fantry, with which he participated in the siege of Yorktown and other operations of the Army of the Potomac under General McClellan. He performed faithful and courageous service until he was prostrated by disease which necessitated his discharge, and he died soon after his re- turn to Pittsfield. Of his children Jacob Gimlich, born in Weisenheim, Bavaria, October 4, 1845, married Louisa Ellen, daughter of the late William Feige, of Pittsfield. Their children are: David J., in business with his father; he married Marie, daughter of William Wilcox, of Pittsfield. Matilda L., married Carl Cyrus, of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Minnie, married George H. Bennett, of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Marie, married Ernest Humphrey, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Carrie, who died at the age of eighteen moj.thi\ Amelia. Caroline. Clifford, died at eleven years of age. Ar- thur, also died at eleven years of age. Soon after coming to Pittsfield with his father, Mr. Gimlich en- tered the Taconic woolen mill and learned designing, and was offered a good position in that department. He preferred, however, to enter into business with his brother-in-law, John White, and the two purchased a small brewery in w^hich they began operations on a small scale, and now they are owners of a mammoth establishment two hundred feet long, operated under the corporate title of Berkshire Brewing Association with a ca[»ital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, and a capacity of seventy thousand barrels w^ith a gratifying yearly increase of output. Mr. Gimlicli was one of the organizers of the City Savings Bank, and is yet a director. He also holds the same position in the Berkshire Loan and Trust Company and the Co-Operative Bank, and is interested in the Third National Bank, of which he was an original stockholder. He is past chancellor in the Knights of Pythias, and has been a member of the Grand Lodae of Massachusetts. He is a member of Kas- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 283 Sid Senate, Ancient Essenic Order, and of the local camp of Sons of Veterans. Mr. Gimlich is a Democrat of the stalwart type, and has been delegated to numerous conventions, municipal, county, state and con- gressional, and has acceptably represented Pittsfield in the state assem- bly, sessions of 1883 and 1884, serving on the printing and towns com- mittees. Mr. Gimlich has been for more than forty years a member of Zion Evangelical Lutheran church; he served as chairman of the build- ing committee in the erection of the edifice in which the congregation now worship, was for thirt}-four years a member of the church choir, and has always taken an active interest in its welfare. For many years he was active in his connection with the Volunteer Fire Department of Pittsfield. He is a director of the Musgrove Knitting Mill and Berk- shire Automobile Company, and a stockholder of the Spark Coil Com- pany, of Pittsfield, and Telelectric Piano Player Company, in all of which connections he interested himself rather in the promotion of the general industrial interests of the community than for personal profit. Mr. Gimlich purchased in May, 1905, the Colonnade Hotel, Sea Breeze, Daytona, Florida, w^iere he established his son-in-law, Mr. George H. Bennett, as lessee, and there Mr. Gimlich spends portions of each win- ter. EUGENE BOUTON, A. M., Ph. D. Eugene Bouton, A. M., Ph. D., late superintendent of the public schools, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is a lineal descendant of John Bouton, a Huguenot who fled to England at the time of the persecution of the Huguenots in France. He is supposed to have been the son of the Count Nicholas Bouton. John Bouton sailed from Gravcsend, England, July, 1635, in the bark " Issuance," and landed at Boston in December of the same year, 284 BERKSHIRE COUNTY aged twenty years. He married Joan Turney, and resided first in Bos- ton and then in Watertown, Connecticut. He was an early settler in Hartford, Connecticut. remD^'ing• to Norwalk in 165 1, and served in many official positions in the town, and was a representative for several years previous to 1671. His wife died at Norwalk, and he married (second), January i. 1656, Abigail Marvin, daughter of Matthew Mar- vin, who came from London, England. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, about 1640, and died about 1672. He married (third), about 1673, Mary Stevenson, widow of Jonathan Stevenson, who was killed in an Indian fight near Norwalk. John Bouton himself died in Danbury, Connecticut, and left an estate in Norwalk, part of which is still in the hands of his descendants. He had two children by his first wife, five by the second, and four by the third. The first child by the third wife was Joseph Bouton, born in Norwalk, Connecticut. He was a captain under General Montgomery in his march on Quebec, and after the war settled near South Salem, New York, and was an elder in the Presby- terian church there until he died, July 8, 1747. He had nine children. The third was Joseph Bouton, born in Norwalk, about 1725, died about 1778. He married, August 25, 1748, Susannah Raymond. He enlisted in the French war at the age of nineteen, according to die " History of Nor- walk." He had eleven children. The first was William Bouton, born in Norwalk. in the year 1749, died May 30, 1828. He married, February 15, 1769, Sarah Benedict, born in Nor- walk, June 15, 1752, died August 16, 1844, daughter of John and Eliza- beth Benedict. They lived in Norwalk. and were both buried in Pine Island Cemetery, at South Norwalk. They had fourteen children. The third was BERKSHIRE COUNTY 285 William Bonton, born in Norwalk. ]\larch 4, 1774. died at Meredith Square, Delaware county, New York, August 4, 1845. He married, March 26, 1795, Hannah Carrington, born August 2, 1777, died Au- gust 7, 1845. They lived in Meredith, New York. They had ten chil- dren. The third was Ira Bouton, born in ^^^atertown, Connecticut, May 4, 1799, died in Jefferson, New York. August 30, 1864. He married, at Jefferson, Cath- erine Marie Stanley, born January i, 1805, died November 29. 1844. He married (second) Emma Foote. born 1810, died October 7, 1863. He removed with his father to Meredith. New York, in 1808, and from there to Jefferson. New York. He was lieutenant in the 104th Regiment New York Infantry in 1828. He had eleven children by his first wife, and one by the second, w'ho was Eugene Bouton, born in Jefferson, New York. December 8, 1850. He married, June 29, 1887, Elizabeth Renville Gladwin, 1)orn in Sher- burne. New York, October 9, 1865. daughter of Albert R. Gladwin. Esq. Mr. Bouton entered Yale College, after a course at the seminary at Cazenovia, New York, where he secured numerous prizes, and gradu- ated in 1875, and was the class poet. He taught in the academy at Norwich, New York, for two years, was principal of the union school at Sherburne for three years and professor in the academy at Albany, New York, for three and a half years. While in the latter place he was elected a professor in the college at Charleston. South Carolina, but re- mained in Albany. In 1881 he received the degree of Master of Arts from Yale College, and made a trip to Europe. He receixed the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Syracuse Uni\-ersity. Januar}- 1. 1884. was appointed a member of the institute faculty of the state of New "N'ork, January, 1886, deputy superintendent of public instruction, and soon 286 BERKSHIRE COUNTY after principal of the State Normal School at New Paltz, New York. He was until recently superintendent of public schools in Pittsfield, Mas- sachusetts. He published an educational work in 1884, and has written many papers on other topic?, as well as on education. He was a warden of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal church, while a resident of Pitts- field. He has a child, Katherine, born in Sherburne, New York, Janu- ary 26, 1889. GEORGE HENRY TUCKER. Another of the worthy members of an old and honored family of the colony and commonwealth is he whose name is the caption for this narrative. He was born in Lenox, Massachusetts, September 12, 1856, youngest of the children of the late George J. and Harriet (Sill) Tucker, and half-brother of Hon. Joseph Tucker, whose personal history and genealogical memoirs are contained herein. George H. Tucker prepared for college in Pittsfield high school and was graduated from Williams College, class of 1878. He succeeded his father as county treasurer in 1878, and served with the characteristic efficiency and uncompromising integrity of his predecessors up to July, 1902, when he was called to the cashiership of the Pittsfield National Bank, of which he is incumbent. He has been a director of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company since 1888, and a member of the finance committee since 1894; was a director and vice-president of the Third National Bank of Pittsfield up to 1902; has been a director of the Housatonic National Bank of Stock- bridge since 1898, and of Pittsfield Gas, Coal Company since 1890, and a director of the Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company from its organization until it was merged with the General Electric Company. George J. Tucker. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 287 In all these important business relations, Mr. Tucker has won and re- tained the confidence and esteem of his business associates. He married September 7, 1892, Mary Talcott Briggs, who was torn in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, July 4, 1853, and died November 4, 1895, and who was a daughter of General Henry Shaw Briggs and Mary Elizabeth (Talcott) Briggs. General Henry S. Briggs was a son of George Nixon Briggs, who was a member of congress for twelve years from 1831, and governor for seven years from 1843. Governor Briggs was born in Adams, Mas- sachusetts, April 12, 1796, son of Allen and Nancy (Brown) Briggs, of Cumberland, Rhode Island. He married in 18 18, Harriet Hall, daughter of Ezra and Triphena Hall, of Lanesborough. CHARLES ALBERT BROWNE. Charles Albert Browne, inventor of the electric fuse, which proved such a valuable and effective agent in hastening the completion of the Hoosac tunnel, is of early colonial ancestry and traces his line of de- scent, directly and collaterally, from several of the most distinguished founders of New England, including Governor Bradford, John Tilley, George Soule, Richard Warren, William Brewster, Miles Standish and Edmund Dotey, all of whom were Mayflow^er Pilgrims; also from Ed- w^ard Bobit, the early Taunton settler, who was killed in King Philip's war, and others. On the maternal side he is a lineal descendant in the eight genera- tion of Chad Browne, from whom the line of descent is through Daniel (2), Jabez (3), William (4), Eleazor (5), Isaac (6) and Albert (7). Chad Browne, who was among the first settlers of Providence, Rhode Island, was the friend and associate of Roger Williams in establishing 288 BERKSHIRE COUNTY the first church of the Baptist denomination in America. The maiden name of his ^vife, whose Christian name was Ehzabeth, is unknown. He was the origin of a numerous progen_y, and Brown University \\^as founded by one of his descendants. Daniel (2) Browne, died in 17 10, married Ahce Hearnden, daughter of Benjamin and Ehzabeth (White) Hearnden. Jabez (3) Browne, died in 1724. married Anne — ; and Wilham (4) Browne, whose death occurred in 1757, married Patience Cobb. Eleazor (5) Browne, born December 31, 1732, died in 18 15. married Sarah Scott, daughter of Nathaniel (4) and a descendant of Richard through John (2) and Sylvanus (3) Scott, who married Joanna Jenckes, the latter a daughter of Joseph (2) and granddaughter of Joseph (i) Jenckes. Isaac (6) Browne, born August 24, 1776, died August 31, 1865. married Susanna Bradford Browne, born February 15, 1782, died January 22, 1876, was a descendant in the sixth genera- tion of Governor William Bradford, through William (2), Israel (3), Abner (4), and "Elisha (5) Bradford. She was also of the eighth gen- eration from Richard W^arren and William Brewster, and of the sev- enth from Love Brewster and John Alden. Albert Gallatin (7) Browne, Charles A. Browne's father, was bom in Adams, Massachusetts, October 3, 1810. He resided in Cheshire, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, from whence he removed to Lanes- boro, and finally settled in North Adams, where his death occurred No- vember 13, 1888. He was married April 29, 1837, at Cheshire, by Rev. John Leland, to Adeline Babbitt, who was born in Hancock, Mas- sachusetts, April 25, 1815. She was a daughter of Dr. "Snell and Jael (Edson) Babbitt, and a descendant in the seventh generation of Ed- ward Bobit, previously referred to, through Edward (2), Nathan (3), Nathan (4), Snellum (5) and Snell (6). Mrs. Adeline (Babbitt) Browne died July 7, 1888. She was a member of the Congregational BERKSHIRE COUNTY 2S9 church. Albert Gallatin (7) and Adeline (Babbitt) Browne were the parents of five children, namely: Frances, born March 7, 1838 (died August 16, 1867) ; Ann Eliza, born March 30 (died August 4, i860) ; Charles Albert, the principal subject of this sketch; Isaac, born Septem- ber 23, 1850; and William, born January 9, 1854 (died August 20 of the same year). Charles Albert (8) Browne was born in Adams, July 17. 1842. He was educated in the public schools, including the Drury High School, and completed his studies with a commercial course at Comer's Business College, Boston. As a young man he was a close student of electrical science, which he not only mastered theoretically, but became a prac- tical electrician of world wide reputation. He is the inventor of an irhproved form of the now indispensable electric fuse ; his fuse being used w^ith such wonderful effect during the construction of the Hoosac tun- nel, and has since proved of inestimable value to modern engineering. This device he manufactured until the fruits of his invention enabled him to retire permanently from active business pursuits, and he is now residing in North Adams. In politics he generally supports the Repub- lican party but prefers to act independently when occasion demands, voting for the candidates who in his opinion are the. best qualified to hold public office. He is a member of the First Congregational church. On June 9, 1869, Mr. Brownie was joined in marriage with Miss Susan McCallum. who was born in North Adams, Fd^ruary 26, 1847, daughter of Miller and Sarah (Arnold) McCallum. She is of Scotch descent on the paternal side, being of the fifth generation in direct line from John McCallum, through John (2), William (3) and Miller (4) McCallum. The first John McCallum mentioned here was an iron- monger of Glasgow, and seems to have been a man of considerable im- |x>rtance, as he was buried in the cryiit of the Glasgow Cathedral. The 290 BERKSHIRE COUNTY second John McCallrm married Margaret Morrison, and his son, Will- iam (3) McCallum, whose death occurred in 1813, married Agnes Flem- ing, daughter of John Fleming, who belonged to a famous Scotch family of remote antiquity. Miller (4) McCallum, Mrs. Browne's father, who was born January 15, 1806 fdied June 7, 1875), acquired a knowledge of the woollen manufacturing- business in Scotland, and emigrating to the United States was for many years in charge of the dyeing depart- ment of the Blackinton Woolen Mills, North Adams. Shortly after the discovery of gold in California he went there by the way of Cape Horn, and he also resided for some time in Brazil. On April 21, 1846, he married Sarah Arnold, \>ho was born March 15, 1820 (died March 4, T864). She was a daughter of John and Susanna (Sherman) Arnold, and a granddaugliter of Ebenezer Arnold. Susanna Sherman was a daughter of John and Amy (Gardner) Sherman, the latter a daughter of George Gardner. John Sherman was a son of Jacob Sherman and through AViliiam and Ebenezer ^vas a descendant of Philip Sherman, who was a colleague of Roger Williams in the settlement of Rhode Island. Miller and Sarah (Arnold) McCallum were the parents of one child, Susan, who married Charles A. Browne as above stated. Mr. and Mrs. Browne have five children, all born in North Adams, and gradu- ates of the Drury high school : 1. Charles A. Browne, Jr., born August 12, 1870. He was gradu- ated from Williams College with the class of 1892, subsequently studied at the University of Gottingen, wdiere he took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1902, and is now the official chemist at Audubon Park, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2. Frances Eliza Browne, born August 31, 1872. She is a grad- uate of Smith College, and is now teaching in the Drury High School. 3. W^illiam Bradford Browne, born May 7, 1875. He graduated 'YTTy m-fu^j BERKSHIRE COUNTY 291 from Drnry Academy in 1893. He spent seven years in Holyoke, Massachusetts, learning the stationery and tablet business, and when he left that place was foreman for the Smith Tablet Company. After spending two and a half years in North Adams, in the office of the Arnold Print Works, he resumed the paper business, and is now- fore- man for the Hampden Pad and Paper Company, of Springfield, Massa- chusetts. 4. Sarah Arnold Browne, born May 2, 1879. She was gradu- ated from the North Adams Normal School in 1898. She was mar- ried September 18. 1901, to Clifford Campbell Haskins, who was grad- uated from Williams in 1898, and is now of the firm of Haskins Broth- ers, local insurance agents. Their children are : Frances Alden, born May 21, 1902; and Stuart Campbell, born February 26, 1904. 5. Agnes Fleming Browne, born November 13, 1881. She is stenographer for the AA'aterhouse and Howard A\^oolen Company of North Adams. JOHN WHITE. Four years' brave service for the country of his adoption and forty years of close and successful attention to a business which developed from meagre proportions to a leading industry of western Massachusetts are the main features of the career of John White. He was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, December 27. 1839, son of Conrad and Elizabeth (Lange) White. Conrad White, who was a farmer, died in 1867, and his widow and five children immediately there- after came to the United States, eventually locating in Pittsfield, Mas- sachusetts, where she died in 1888. Of her children, Henr}' died in Pittsfield; Elizabeth married Francis Stein, of New York city; Mary 292 BERKSHIRE COUNTY married John Van Nida, of Pittsiield; Lizzie married John Frisch: and Libbie married Paul Koepke, of Pittsfield. John White, eldest of the children, was educated in Germany and came to the United States at the age of eighteen. He spent the first four years (1857-61) in New York city, and in August -of the latter year enlisted in the Thirteenth New York Independent Battery. He participated in some of the most notable campaigns and bloody battles of the Civil war, and bore a soldierly part in the engagements at Bull Run, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He re-enlisted for three years in the same battery, which was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, and while serving in that command he was engaged in the battles of Murfreesboro and Nashville, and was with Sherman in the operations against Atlanta. He was honorably discharged July 28, 1865, the war having ended, and returned to New York city, where he resumed the baking business in which he had been engaged when he entered the army. in January, 1866, Mr. White removed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and in September, 1868, entered into the partnership relations with Jacob Gimlich, which have ever since been maintained, and which resulted in the establishment of the extensive brewing plant at Pittsfield, now oper- ated by them under the name of Berkshire Brewing- Association. Mr. White is a member of several societies — the order of Odd Pellows, the Harugari, the German Society, and the Turn Verein. He is past com- mander of Rockwell Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and in 1897 served on the staff of General Clarkson, department commander, at the state encampment at Buffalo, New York. He has been a leading mem- ber of the Lutheran church for nearly forty years, and has served the congregation as secretary and treasurer continuously since 1872. Mr. White was married September 19, 1867, to Miss Rachel Gim- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 293 lich, a sister of Jacob Gimlich. his partner. Their children are : George, engaged in- the cflice of GimHch & AVhite, and who married J\Iary Ho- dacker and has two children, Ruth and Marion; Frederick, who' mar- ried Elizabeth Engel, has two children, David J. and Dorothy, and is owner of a brew'ei'y in Schenectady, New York. Agnes married John . Vogei, of Albany, New York, and has three children, Martha, John and Marguerite; Ellen, recently graduated from Nurses' Training School, Providence, Rhode Island; Emma, wife of Charles W. Gamwell, of Pittsfield; John A., engaged in the office of Gimlich & White; Dorothy, wife of Charles \\\ Hodacker; Lillie; David L., Walter G. and W. W. Rockwell White. HENRY COLT, M. D. Dr. Henry Colt, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is descended from an- cestors of the early colonial times, and from those who were conspicuous in military and community affairs during the Revolutionary period. Captain James Denison Colt, born 1740, married Phebe Ely. (See Ely genealogy in this work.) He married (second) in Pittsfield, pub- lished December 18, 1773, Miriam Williams, born February 6, 1756, died March 30, 181 1, daughter of Colonel William and Sarah (Wells) Williams. He and his wife were admitted to the First Congregational church in Pittsfield in 1767. Captain Colt was a Revolutionary soldier, and was prominent in town affairs, serving on the various committees appointed during the war, and also on a committee appointed to settle church matters concerning which some difficulties arose. He was one of the heaviest taxpayers in town, and held one thousand acres of land in the southwest part of the town. He w'as selectman in 1782. He had three children by his first wife and ten by the second. His first child was James Danielson Colt, baptized in Pittsfield, October 17, 1768, died '294: BERKSHIRE COUNTY December i, 1856. He married, May 8, 1791, Sarah Root, born June 24, 1771, died April 8, 1865, daughter of Ezekiel and Ruth (Noble) Root. He began business in 1799 with his brother Samuel D. Colt, as J. D. & S. D. Colt, on the corner of South and West streets, the map of 1800 locating the store at No. i South street, and his house at No. i West street. Mrs. Colt was descended from John Root, who came from Bad- by, England, and was a first settler of Farmington, Connecticut, in 1640, and from Thomas Noble, an early settler of Westfield, Massachusetts. She was admitted to the church June 30, 1799, and was an original member of the Union church, August 22, 1809. By her marriage with James D. Colt she became the mother of seven children, of whom the youngest was Henry Colt, born November 2, 181 2, baptized June 27, 181 3, died January 16, 1888. He was married, at Utica, New York, September 24, 1839, to Elizabeth Goldthwait. She was the eldest daughter of Judge Ezekiel and Abigail (Smith) Bacon, and was born February 12, 1812, at the corner of Pomeroy avenue and East street, where the resi- dence of Mr. E. D. G. Jones now stands. She lived in Utica, New York (whither her parents removed), until 1839, when she married Mr. Colt, and resided thereafter in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Mrs. Colt was a descendant of one of the most distinguished of Berkshire county fami- lies. Her grandfather, Hon. and Rev. John Bacon, was born in Con- necticut, and graduated from Princeton College with the class of 1765. In 1 77 1 he was installed assistant pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, in which connection he remained until 1775. He then located in Stockbridge, Berkshire county, where he found early recognition as one of the master minds of that community, and his services were brought into reciuisition in the discharge of the duties of many important posi- tions. He was a member of the state senate, and president of that BERKSHIRE COUNTY 295 body ; judge and chief justice of the court of common pleas of Berkshire county, and from 1801 to 18 16 served as a member of congress. He married Elizabeth Goldthwait. Their son Ezekiel, the father of Mrs. Colt, was born at Boston, September i, 1775. was graduated from Yale College with the class of 1794, read law with Hon. Nathan Dane, and commenced the practice of his profession at Williamstown. Berkshire county. He removed to Pittsfield in 1806, in which year he was elected to congress, receiving every vote cast in Pittsfield. He was war chair- man of the cong'ressional committee of ways and means in 18 12, and proved abundantly equal to the onerous task then thrust upon him. After leaving congress Mr. Bacon was on the bench in Massachusetts. but ultimately removed to Utica, New York, where he died at an ad- vanced age. A volume of his poems was published in 1842. ]\Irs. Eliza- beth Goldthwait Colt died September 9, 1890. Henry Colt was a farmer in early life, and was prominent in the County Agricultural Society. As a wool dealer he became interested in a factory, and was the first president of the Pittsfield Woolen Company in 1852, and the plant was sold to the Bel Air Company in 1S73. He was a selectman from 1852 to 1856, and through the Civil war, when the duties of such an oflicer were strenuous and exacting, in all of which he accjuitted himself with ability and integrity. He was a water com- missioner in 1864, a director of the Pittsfield National Bank, a trustee of the Massachusetts Agriculturrd Society, and a director of the Boston & Albany Railroad Company from 1878 until his death. He was a member of the First Congregational Church ])arish, and always took an interest in its growth and usefulness. Of his four children, the youngest was Dr. Henry Colt, born November 9, 1856. He attended the public schools of Pittsfield, and was graduated from Williams Col- lege with the class of 1878. He graduated from the Harvard ^ledical 2fH^. BERKSHIRE COUNTY School in 1 88 1, and is a practicing physician in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He is associate medical director of the Berkshire Life Insurance Com- pany; medical examiner Berkshire county; chairman of the medical and suro-ical board. House of Mercy Hospital, Pittsfield; trustee of the Berkshire Athenaeum; director in the Pittsfield National Bank, and the Berkshire Loan and Trust Company, Pittsfield. Richard Ely, from whom is descended Dr. Henry Colt in the ma- ternal line, was a native of England, and died in Lyme, Connecticut, November 24, 1684. He married in England, Joan Phipps, who died at Plymouth, England, January 7, 1660. He married (second) at Bos- ton, Massachusetts, in 1664, Mrs. Elizabeth Cullick, widow of Captain John Cullick, and sister of Hon. George Fenwick; she died at Lyme, Connecticut, November 12, 1683. Richard Ely came from Plymouth, England, between 1660 and 1663. with his son Richard, and after re- siding in Boston for a short time settled in Lyme, Connecticut, which was in 1660 a part of Saybrook. He had three thousand acres of land in Lyme, and was prominent in colonial affairs. His tombstone of brown stone has the Ely coat-of-arms at one end, and is a sarcophagus of stately appearance. He was among the first to give freedom to his slaves. His wife is supposed to have been a sister of Constantine John Phipps, Baron Mulgrau, the great navigator and admiralty com- missioner, and of Viscount Normandy, an officer in the British army. She bore to Richard Ely four of his five children (his fifth being bv his second wife), and their 1>irths are recorded in Plymouth, England. The third of the children was Richard Ely (2), l^orn in 1656. baptized in Plymouth, England, June 19, 1657. He married, in Lyme, Connecticut, Mary Marvin, born 1666, daughter of Lieutenant Reinold and Sarah (Clark) Marvin, of v-^N2^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 297 Lyme. He came with his father to America, and settled with him at Lyme. Of his four children the youngest was Deacon Richard Ely, born in Lyme. October 27, 1697. died Feb- ruary 24, 1777. He married Elizabeth Peck, who died October 8, 1730. He married (second), October 26, 1732, Phebe Hubbard, born 1705, daughter of Robert and Abigail (Adams) Hubbard, of Middle- town, Connecticut. She was descended from George Hubbard, one of the original settlers of Hartford, Connecticut. Deacon Ely was the. father of thirteen children. The eleventh, who was the seventh by his second wife, was Phebe Ely, born in Lyme, Connecticut, May 16, 1743, who be- came the wife of Captain James Denison Colt, the progenitor of the Pittsfield family of that name. She died in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, December 25, 1772. WILLIAM H. GROSS. Many causes have combined to render world-famous the Berkshire Hills county, pre-eminently, of course, its abounding beauties of land- scape, ag'ain through its wonderful development in the manufacturing world, and in no small measure through the beauty, density and durabil- ity of the white marble there quarried. In the early '50s Charles Heeb- ner, in company with Messrs. Rice and Baird, opened quarries at Lee, the development of which has been one of the significant business suc- cesses of Berkshire county, Massachusetts. The original firm was suc- ceeded by Mr. Heebner, who took into partnership assistance a nephew, Frank S. Gross, who succeeded to the quarry ownership upon his uncle's decease. William H. Gross was born May i, 1844. in Trappe. Pennsylvania. 298 BERKSHIRE COUNTY son of Thomas J. and Catherine (Heebner) Gross. As a youth he be- came, in association with his brother, Charles H. Gross, an assistant of the brother Frank S. Gross, and upon the decease of the latter attained to the proprietorship of the business. Two years later he formed a part- nership with Gray & Sons, but this connection was dissolved at the end of fifteen months, since which time (1896) William H. Gross has been sole owner of the plant. The product of the Lee quarries is a pure, •white marble, fine enough for statuaiy, and capable of taking a beauti- ful polish. From its density it has long been regarded by scientific building experts as superior tO' any other variety of native marble now in use for building purposes. The extent of the deposit is about one mile in length and a quarter of a mile wide. The quarry and works are equipped with the latest and best machinery and the workmen are the best to be found in the country. Many notable edifices are con- structed of Lee marble; the new public building, on Broad and Market streets, Philadelphia; the First National Bank building, postoffice build- ing, and wings and terrace of the capitol at Washington, D. C. ; the new addition to- the capitol at Boston, Massachusetts; the Cathedral and many other New York buildings ; the Foster mansion at Lenox ; the Farm- ers' and Mechanics', Fidelity and Drexel Buildings, the Caldwell, Jaynes and Messchents stores, Philadelphia; the Newell and Jones buildings of Boston, and very many others. There is a constant shipment of carved trimmings to all parts of the country. Mr. Gross by his administrative ability and his adherence to the strictest principles of integrity com- mands the respect of his fellow citizens, and his generous nature and genial manner have won for him the cordial regard of all. Mr. Gross' Democracy is of the stalwart type, his active suppori of men and measures and the characteristic generosity of his pecuniar) BERKSHIRE COUNTY 299 assistance in every campaign being relied upon with absolute certainty and invariably and unhesitatingly given. He married, August 27, 1903, Miss Kate Tobey, of Thomaston, Maine. HARVEY STEARNS CROWELL. The Crowell family is of English origin, and the name is popu- larly supposed to be a contraction of the name Cromwell which took place during the days of Cromwell's unpopularity. The name Crowell is one of the earliest that appears in our New England history, and seems to have spread from the early settlers of Cape Cod. The paternal grandfather of Harvey S. Crowell with his family removed inland and were among the early settlers in the town of West Brookfield, Massachusetts. His family consisted of two sons, Ste- phen, w^ho was born, married, lived and died in West Brookfield, and whose family became extinct by the death of his only son George; and Nathaniel S., also a native of W^est Brookfield, where he became a leading citizen. He married a daughter of New Hampshire, Susan Page Stearns, and the issue of this union was two sons : Charles Page Crowell, born 1838, who died in August, 1870, in Holyoke, Massa- chusetts, leaving two daughters, and Harvey Stearns Crowell. The latter was born in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, October 6, 1834. He spent his boyhood days on his father's farm, and acquired a good English education in the district schools of that village. When he was only fifteen years of age he went to work with his brother Charles, w4io was a millwright, with whom he remained four years and then accepted a clerkship in a grocery store in Ware, Massachu- setts, which occupation he followed four years. He then went on a visit to his uncle, Reuben Button, in Messena, New York, where he 300 BERKSHIRE COUNTY established himself in a small gTocery store of his own. He conducted two or three stores in different villages in New York state, including one in Hoosic Falls, which he conducted for a period of twelve years. After disposing of the latter he spent one year in Windsor, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. In 1871 he purchased the stock and fixtures of a grocer}' establishment at the corner of Fenn and North streets, which he conducted with success up to 1888. since which time he has been living in retirement. His political affiliations are with the Dem- ocratic party. January 25, 1865, Mr. Crowell married Martha A. Merithew, daughter of Horace and Lucy INIerithew, of Petersburg, New York, and the first year of their married life was passed in Hoosic Falls, New York. In 1869, while a resident of AVindsor, Massachu- setts, their only child, Charles H., was born. Charles H. Crowell has been employed for about fifteen years by the A. H. Rice Silk Company of Pittsfield, serving now in the capacity of bookkeeper. He married Julia Phelps Van Rensselaer, daughter of Dr. Walter and Jane Van Rensselaer, of Kingston, New York, and they are the parents of two children : Harvey and Merithew Crowell. They make their home at 88 Bradford street, Pittsfield, with Mr. and Mrs. Harvey S. Crowell. Mr. Crowell is not actively identified with any church ; his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his son is an attendant at the Protestant Episcopal church. GEORGE H. COOPER. George H. Cooper, whose name forms the caption for the memoirs of an old Berkshire family with which he is allied by marriage, is one of the substantial and progressive young merchants of Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, a dealer in coal and wood. His excellent business training was BERKSHIRE COUNTY 301 gained llunugh his employment at the Pbmeroy Mills, and subsequently with W. G. Morton, leading coal merchant of Albany, New York. Mr. Cooper was united in marriage to Etta Ayres, daughter of Perry J. Ayers, whose great-grandfather was one of the early settlers of Shuteibury, Massachusetts, and whose grandfather, Jesse Ayres, was a native of that town and became a prosperous farmer of Franklin county. The father of Perry J. Ayres, Tyler Ayres, was born April 7, 1804, resided in Franklin county until 1824, and subsequently settled in vStephenson, New York, where he cultivated the soil and followed the trade of tanner for twenty-five years. At the expiration of this period of time he located at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he spent the remain- der of his long and useful career, and there died at the advanced age of eighty years. He married, at Stephenson, Marian Jane Potter, daugh- ter of William Potter, who, with his father Robert Potter, removed from Potter county, Rhode Island, to New York state. Robert Potter served throughout the Revolutionary war as a soldier in the patriot army, and his son William was in the United States army during the war of 1812. Tyler Ayres was the father of seven children, of whom Perry J. Ayres was second in order of birth. He was born February 11, 1830, He obtained the educational advantages that \\ere to be deri\-ed in the public schools of his locality, which he attended during the winter months up to his twelfth year, and at that early age was compelled to turn his attention to the serious business of earning a livelihood. He was a farm- er's boy primarily, and followed the vocation of a tiller of the soil up to the year 1855. He then changed his place of residence to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he entered the employ of Silas N. Fxjot. with whom he remained for four years, and the succeeding seven years was actively connected with the firm of Noble & Brewster. In 1870 he established a 302 BERKSHIRE COUNTY meat and provision business, and in this new enterprise achieved a large degree of success. Mr. Ayers married. February 13, 185 1, Marietta Clark, daughter of William D. Clark, a native of Pittsfield. Her paternal grandmother, Hannah Fairfield, a daughter of Nathaniel Fairfield, one of the first set- tlers of Pittsfield, was the first white female born in Pittsfield, and her mother, who was Martha Weir, was a daughter of a revolutionary sol- dier, and a granddaughter of Zebediah Stiles, a noted man among the early settlers of Pittsfield. JOHN CHURCHILL. John Churchill, an honored and respected citizen -of Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, who has held various important of- fices in the city government, is descended from an old family dating back to colonial days. He is in the fourth generation from the an- cestor of that name, who. early in the history of Massachusetts, came from England and settled in and about the historic town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. His christian name, John, has appeared in almost every generation of the family. His grandfather, John Churchill (2), a son of John Churchill (i), was the first to settle in the frontier county of Berkshire, Massachu- setts, and he purchased a farm there as early as 1750, when farming was carried on under most hazardous conditions. The farm was worked and improved by honest effort and toil until at the time of his decease it was in a most productive state. He was a man of broad intelligence and excellent judgment, was resorted to by his neighbors to do their legal business, and was also called to various public positions. He served as county commissioner, and was a representative to the general BERKSHIRE COUNTY 303 court for twelve years. He married Miss Mehitable Hubbard, and to them a large family was born, of whom eight children grew to adult life: Martha, born 1789; Sophia, 1792; Charles, 1796; Laura, 1797; Lucy, 1799; Jane, 1800; Sarah, 1809; and Samuel A. Samuel A., youngest son of John (2) and Mehitable (Hubbard) Churchill, was born on the old farm, where he spent his entire life con- tinuing the work which had been begun by his father. Like his sire he was a born leader. He became prominent in public affairs ; repre- sented his district as county commissioner, served in the state legisla- ture three terms, and was recognized as a useful member of that body. At the inspection of the Hoosac tunnel, which was seeking legislative support against some opposition, he contracted a cold which resulted in his death from pneumonia on September 23, 1870. He was origi- nally a Whig in politics, but subsequently connected himself with the Democratic party. He married Miss Esther G. Brooks, of Lenox, a member of one of the oldest and most respected families of that place, but who are now all passed away. The following children were born to them: Jane, 1842; John, of whom mention is hereafter made. at greater length. John Churchill (4), youngest child and only son of Samuel A. and Esther G. (Brooks) Churchill, was born December 12, 1844. He obtained such education as he could in the district schools of his native place, and completed his studies at the Lanesboro Academy. He then returned to the farm and engaged in its management, as his father was devoting much of his time to public duties. In due time he became the owner of the farm, and this he successfully cultivated until 1894, when he retired from active labor and moved from the old homestead into the city proper. Thus the old farm of the Churchills on the border of Onota Lake was vacated after a steady occupancy by the family which 304 BERKSHIRE COUNTY had created it; although it is still owned by Mr. Churchill, its cultiva- tion will be carried on by others. Mr. Churchill possesses the natural talents and disposition of his predecessors, and has the abilities of a born leader. He has always been identified with the Democratic party, and is much respected by all parties for his ability. He has been an active participant in the municipal affairs of Pittsfield. having- served on the common council, and as alderman, and has also been a member of many committees and commissions chosen from time to time to carry out the will of the public. On April 8, 1868, Mr. Churchill mar- ried Miss Mary E. Belden, daughter of Samuel and Abbie (Mattoon) Belden. The Beldens were for many years one of the leading farming families of Lenox, where they were associated with the management of the town and of the Congregational church corporation. The Belden family have long since passed out of Lenox as an abiding place, they having moved to the eastern part of New England, the sole survivor, aside from Mrs. Churchill, being a sister, Mrs. Harmon Babcock, of Providence, Rhode Island. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Churchill: Samuel Belden, 1872, who received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Brown University, and subsequently completed his education in Germany, and at present has charge of the large high school in Honesdale, Pennsylvania ; he married Clara Bonneville, of Pocomoke City, Pennsylvania. Jennie, 1876; died when only three years of age. Eva B., 1884, has just completed her studies at the high school and makes her home w^ith her parents. The family are much respected and are members of the Congregational church. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 305 ARTHUR \\\ PLUMB. That delightful summer hotel, The Maplewood, Pittsheld. the crea- tion of Arthur W. Plumb, is in its large and ever increasing patronage of a fastidious clientele a most elocjuent tribute to his genius as a host. When less than twenty years ago he leased the premises formerly occu- pied as the Maplewood School for Girls, with a view to the conversion of the dismantled, long disused and seriously impaired structure into a summer hotel, there were many to predict failure for and few to encour- age him in the enterprise. The ambitious young gentleman was fortun- ately not to be dissuaded from his purpose and by dint of industry and a natural capacity for the business which developed as the responsibili- ties increased, has realized his most sanguine expectations. Mr. Plumb is one of that large group of valuable men of western Massachusetts wdiose ancestors were among the early English settlers of New Eng- land. The genealogist of the Plumb family states that the first of the name is found on the " Great Roll of Normandy," in 1180, and the name ap- pears, in 1274, in Somerset, Herts, Norfolk, and six of the name in Cambridge. There is a Plumb coat of arms described as follows : Er- mine, a bend vair or, and gules cottised vert. Crest. Eng. Out of a ducal coronet or, a plume of ostrich feathers, argent. The English ancestor from whom the immediate subject of these memoirs is lineally descended was George Plumb, of Neworth, County Essex, England, who married first, Grace , and second, Sarah . His parentage has not been ascertained. His will, July 25, 1667, proved July 18. 1670, named wife Grace and sons John and Timothy, cutting off the former 306 BERKSHIRE COUNTY with a shilling. When he died he left a widow Sarah. His first child by his first wife was John Plumbe, born in England, in 1634, died about 1696, married, probably about 1662, Elizabeth Green, daughter of Samuel and Jane (Bainbridge) Green. He was in Hartford in 1663, and in New London, Connecticut, in 1678. One of his letters may be found in the " Win- throp Papers," of date of 1665, ^^d he is mentioned in 1696. He had seven children and perhaps more. His second ch.ild was Samuel Plumbe, born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1670, died in Mil ford, Connecticut, in May, 1728, married, probably in the year 1693, Mehitable Hinde. When a child his parents removed to New London, Connecticut, but subsequently he located in Milford, Connecticut, where he resided for the remainder of his life. His tombstone is still stand- ing in one of the cemeteries of that tow^i. He was the father of nine children, and the fifth was Ebenezer Plumb, born in Milford, Connecticut, March 25, 1705, died in Guilford. Connecticut, September 13, 1759. In the town of New Haven, Connecticut, November 13, 1737, he was married to Patience Nails, of Guilford. He settled in Guilford, Connecticut, as early as 1730, and in that place he and his wife reared a family of ten children. The third was Ebenezer Plumb, born in Guilford, Connecticut, August 5, 1739, died in Stockbridge. Massachusetts, April 17. 182 1. He was married about the year 1765, to Mary . He settled in Stockbridge or Richmond, Massachusetts, before 1777. as he enlisted as a Revolution- ary soldier July 17, 1777, from Berkshire county. The records of the Stockbridge church show his admission, September 27, 1795, from Richmond. His family consisted of twelve children. The seventh was Luther Plumb, born in Richmond, Massachusetts, in 1778, died in • BERKSHIRE COUNTY 307 Albany, New York, November 23, 1831. He married, November 4, 1808, Mary Fairchikl, who died. He married for his second wife, at West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, September 3, 18 14, Lydia Hemp- stead, of West Stockbridge. His residence was recorded in the town of Stockbridge in 1808, but in 1814 he settled in Albany, New York. His second wife bore him seven children. The third was Henry L. Plumb, born September 28, 1820. He married, about 1846, Sarah Stuart, who died. On January 16, 1850, at Albany, New York, he married Frances Seymour, daughter of Seth Seymour, of Stockbridge. His first wife bore him one son, Charles Stuart Plumb, and by the second marriage he was the father of two children, the first of whom was Avthur W. Plumb, born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, April 18, 1853, cirnpleted his schooling at Williams Academy, Stockbridge, where he foimd his first employment in the grocery store of which his father was the proprietor. In 1874 h.e went "to New York city and was there ^'f^&i^R^'^^^- ^^^' ^"^'^ years in a commission house. The years 1880 and 1881 found him interested at Chicago, Illinois, in the manufacture of gas stoves. Returning to Stockbridge in the fall of 1881, he entered the employ of his uncle, Charles H. Plumb, proprietor of the old " Stockbridge House '' which as " Plumb's Hotel " was one of the most famous and successful of the hostelries of the Berkshire Hill country. It is now known as " The Red Lion Inn." Five years of such associa- tion by an oljservant. enterprising and ambitious man resulted in Mr. Plumb's ample ecpjinment, as the results proved, to undertake the es- tablishment in ]886 of The Maplewood, as hereinbefore narrated. Another n;(^st successful hotel venture of Mr. Phimb is his joint pro- prietorsliip with Mr. George W. Clark, under the firm name of Plumb 308 BERKSHIRE COUNTY & Clark, of The New American Hotel, generally recognized as one of the iDest commercial houses in New England. Mr. Plumb's political affiliation is with the Republican party which he has served as delegate to numerous conventions and as executive con'mitteet^:an in several campaigns. He served acceptably as a mem- ber from Ward Six of the board of aldermen, of Pittsfield. In 1905 he was his party's nominee for the office of county commissioner, and was elected by a vote that led his ticket in both county and county seat. He is of the board of trustees and vice-president of the City Savings Bank, of Pittsfield. He married. January 12, 1897, Nellie, daughter of Oliver Duprey, of KeeseviHe, Essex county. New York. Mr. and Mrs. Plumb have a daughter Frances J. born October 12, 1897. WILLIAM HORACE COLEMAN. William Horace Coleman, one of the pioneer builders of Berk- shire county, was born in Cheshire, Massachusetts, in 1827, a son of Rufus and Wealthy (Russell) Coleman, of Stephentown, New York, who were descendants in the third generation from William Coleman, of England. The family owned a large and prosperous farm in Ste- phentown, and Mr. and Mrs. Coleman gave their children the best educational advantages obtainable in the schools of that early day. The family subsequently moved to Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and settled on a farm in the town of Cheshire. The members of the family were ambitious and active, and being endowed with clear judgment and keen foresight, they sought to make the world as comfortable an abiding place as was possible. Rufus Coleman, a brother of William H. Coleman, was ordained to the ministry. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 309 William H. Coleman removed from his native town, Cheshire, to Adams, where he resided nntil 1880, in which year he located in Pitts- field and there continued to carry on his trade of a building contractor. He erected many dwelling houses during the most progressive period in the history of the city of Pittsfield, and being of a prudent and care- ful disposition accumulated quite a sum of money, which he invested in such a manner as to bring him in a substantial income for his de- clining years. Whatever he undertook to do he did well, and this fact hampered him to some extent in undertaking what he was doubtful about being able to accomplish to his own satisfaction. He devoted considerable time to reading good literature, was well informed on a variety of subjects, and never let an opportunity pass for bettering his own condition or placing his family on a higher social plane. He was an earnest worker in the Methodist denomination, and manifested great interest in Sunday school work. He was a staunch Republican in poli- tics, but never could be induced to aspire to public office. He belonged to no secret societies, preferring to spend his leisure time with his fam- ily. In 1853 ^^^- Coleman was married to Sarah Brown, a daughter of George and Clarissa (Cowen) Brown, of Lanesboro, Massachusetts. The Cowen family were of old Rhode Island stock, and for a number of years resided in Cheshire, Massachusetts. Mr. Coleman died at his home in Pittsfield, September 29, 1901, mourned not only by his relatives but by a large circle of intimate friends. His widow and son survive him. The former resides at her hom.e in Tyler street, Pitts- field, Massachusetts. The latter, George L. Coleman, has forsaken the county of his birth and now makes his home in Springfield, Massa- chusetts. 310 BERKSHIRE COUNTY LOUIS ALBERT MERCHANT. Although ah'en to Massachusetts soil the gentleman whose name in- troduces these memoirs is second to none in fidelity to the interests of Pittsfield, the home of his adoption. He was born in Amenia, New Yoik, January i8, i860, son of the late Albert and Ellen J. (Watroiis) Merchant. Albert Merchant was born March 4, 1820, in Sharon, Litchfield county. Connecticut, married Ellen J. Watrous, and died in Amenia, New York, in 1874. His father, Ager Merchant, who was a native of Sherman. Connecticut, rlied at Sharon, Connecticut. Ager Merchant married Sally Downs born at Sherman, Connecticut, in 1790, died at Amenia, New York. December 24, 1873. Ellen J. (Watrous) Merchant, born Bennington, A^ermont, January i, 1823, was a daughter of Handley Bushnell ^^^atrous who was. born in Saybrooke, Connecticut, November 12, 1794, and died in Washington Hollow, New York, in 1838. His wife was Huldah Kellogg Gillette. The general education of Louis Albert' Merchant completed at Amenia Seminary, he took a sboit business course at a commercial college, Pittsfield, where in 1878 he found his first employmient as bookkeeper in the china, glass and qu^ensware establishment of A. A. Mills & Company.- Failing health led to his resignation of this position. Seeking re- cuperation and employment in the oil district of McKean county, Penn- sylvania, he was soon restored to normal health. In 1879 h^ visited New York city, and A\'hile there took up telegraphy as a pastime, but applying himself to such good purpose as enabled him to secure a posi- tion as operator with the Western Union Telegraph Company upon his return to Pittsfield. In 188 1 he accepted a clerkship in the freight de- partment of the Housatonic Railroad Company at Pittsfield, incident to which he liad charge of that company's local telegraph ofiice. He was .^rj^^r^ 04 /y^^^.^.^^^*^^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY ?»11 subsequently at various times in the employ at Pittsfield of the Boston and Albany Railroad in both passenger and freight offices and as teleg- rapher. He was also bookkeeper for a period of the Pittsfield Trans- portation Company and clerked one summer at Columbia Hall and an- other at the Maplewood summer hotel, Pittsfield. In 1893 he was appointed inspector for the New England Insurance Exchange, covering central Berkshire county, and was elected to the secretaryship of Pittsfield Board of Fire Underwriters. In the same year also he accepted a clerkship in the office of the Berkshire Life In- surance Company, at Pittsfield, and two years later (1895) was pro- m.oted to the cashiership, of which he is still the incumbent. He was one of the founders and since its incorporation president of the Pitts- field co-operative store, located on Columbus avenue. On January i, 1903, in association with Mr. Harry E. Jeffers, Mr. Merchant purchased the automobile station established at Pittsfield by Dr. O. S. Roberts and continued in successful conduct of the business as a partnership until April i, 1905, when the stock company was formed with Mr. Franklin ^^>ston, president, and Mr. Merchant, treas- urer. Mr. Merchant was one of the organizers and is secretary and treasurer of the Berkshire Automobile Club. Fraternally he is con- nected with the I. O. O. F., New England Order of Protection and B. P. O. E. He is Republican in political affiliation, lias served as delegate to municipal, county and state conventions ; for two terms representing ward seven in Pittsfield city council, an.d is now (1905) serving his sec- ond term in that body as the representative from the sixth ward. He has the gratifying distinction of being the only Republican ever elected to the cit\ council from the sixth ward. His councilmanic service has been honest and effixient, his fire department committee work having 312 BERKSHIRE COUNTY been especially valuable to tbe municipality on account of his broad education along the lines of fire insurance. He is also on the salaries and finance committees. Mr. Merchant married, May 7, 1884. Kate, daughter of Hezekiah S. Russell, whose personal and genealogical memoirs are herein con- tained. Mr. and Mrs. Merchant have lost a son. Albert, who died in infancy, and have a daughter, Alice R. Merchant. The family reside at 42 Linden street, and attend the Methodist Episcopal church. EDGERTON E. DODGE. Edgerton Ellis Dodge, up to the time of his decease ( 1904) pro- prietor of the extensive and elegantly appointed Maplewood Livery Stables, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was a descendant in the ninth gen- eration from English ancestors of the early colonial period. The found- er of the Dodge family in America was : Richard Dodge, born in Somersetshire, England, probably about 1602; died at Beverly, Massachusetts, June 15, 1671. He married, in England, Edith (name unknown), who died June 27, 1678, aged seventy-five. Richard Dodge was a son of John and Margery Dodge. He came to this country in 1638, and at first lived on land belonging to his brother William, who had come over in 1629. He settled on Dodge Row, in North Beverly, not far east of Wenham Lake, and his house stood near the present south line of Beverly. In 1653 his name headed a list of twenty-one subscribers to Harvard College, the next largest donor contributing onl}^ one-fourth as much as he. He also dedicated a part of his land for a burying ground, and it is now known as " tlie cemetery on Dodge Row." He left an estate of £1,764 2S, and he gave farms to three of his sons and the homestead to the other BERKSHIRE COUNTY 313 two. He and his wife were members of the church in Wenham before 1648. They were the parents of seven children, several of whom were born in England, as shown by the parish records of East Coker, Somer- setshire. The fourth in his family was Richard Dodge (2), born in Beverly, Massachusetts, 1643, died in Wenham, April 13, 1705. He married, February 23, 1667, Mary Eaton, born 1641, died November 28, 17 16, aged seventy-five years. He was a farmer and lived in the south part of Wenham, and owned a large farm in Ipswich, which he gave to his eldest son Richard, to whom he also gave his negro man, Mingo, about two years before his death, when he made division of his property among his children. He and his wife were both buried at North Beverly, where their gravestones still may be seen. They were the parents of three children, of whom the eldest was Richard Dodge (3), born in Wenham, July 12, 1670, died at Ipswich, July 7, 1739. He married, November 16, 1694, Martha Low, died aged sixty-eight years and nine months, daughter of Deacon Thomas Low, of Chebacco, in Ipswich. Both were buried in the old cemetery in Dodge Row. He received the farm on which he lived, by deed from his father, December i, 1703, and his negro man, as before mentioned. Of his eight children the youngest was Richard Dodge (4), born probably in Hamlet parish, in 171 1 or 1 7 12, died in Sutton, Massachusetts, about 1776. His banns of mar- riage with Sarah Tuttle were published August 16, 1734. He sold his land in Ipswich in 1759, and bought one hundred acres in Sutton, a little later buying two hundred acres partly in Sutton and partly in Uxbridge. Among his nine children was Richard Dodge (5), born in Hamlet parish, Ipswich, probably about 1750, died November 25, 1833, aged about eighty-three years. 314 BERKSHIRE COUNTY He married, July 19, 1770, Lois Lune, of Sutton, born 1752, died Sep- tember 7, 18 12, aged sixty years. They were buried in Croydon, New Hampshire, where they had gone to make their home with a son. The gravestone gives the age of Mr. Dodge as eighty-one years and eight months. In 1776 Richard Dodge bought the interest of his brother and sister in the paternal estate, and probably lived there until he removed to Croydon, although a mortgage in 1787 (discharged in 18 13) was given by Richard and Lois " of Charlton." Freeman Dodge (7), born in Croydon, New Hampshire, February 17, 18091, died in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, January 15, 1886. He married, at Troy, New York, Candace Stockwell, of Croydon, New Hampshire. He was a policeman in Troy, New York, and \\'ent from there to Palmer, Massachusetts, later removing to Pittsfield, where he was engaged in a meat business. He was a deacon in the Congrega- tional church for several years. The youngest of his two^ children was Freeman Morgan Dodge (8), born in Milton, New York, August 22, 1840. He married, in Palmer, Massachusetts, Adelaide Witt, born at Tliree Rivers, Massachusetts, October 22, 1845, adopted daughter of the late John B. Squier, a leading' manufacturer of Palmer. Mr. Dodge is a trainer of horses at Pleasure Park, near Pittsfield. The children of Mr. Dodge, all born in Palmer, are: i. Everett Morgan, born June 22, 1864; married, June 16, 1886, Nellie Irene Gilbert, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Ingraliam) Gilbert. He has been a trainer on the Allen farm in Pittsfield, but is now (1903) clerk at the New American House in the same city. Mrs. Dodge has been for several years a leading contralto sing^er and prominent in musical circles. 2. Edger- ton Ellis, to be further mentioned. 3. Fanny Louise, born March 17, 1869, married October 13, 1890, to Fred D. Sprague, of Pittsfield. Chil- dren : Miriam, born August 22, 1891 ; Murray, born August 26, 1896. yi /}7-trvi^-i^ Tl'.e LeuiS FiMishin^ Co. BERKSHIRE CO UNTY 3 1 5 4. Arthur Freeman, born September 17, 1870. He was formerly as- sistant to his father at Pleasure Park, and is now engaged in harness and saddle manufacturing with his father-in-law, John Smith, in Pitts- field. Edgerton Ellis Dodge (9), second son and child of Freeman M. Dodge, was born November 23, 1865. He was a trainer of horses on Mr. Forbes' Fatherland Farm, at B}field, Massachusetts. Subsequently he was employed in the same capacity with C. W. Wheeler, at Orange, Massachusetts, and still later had charge of the stock for William Pol- lock, at Pittsfield. From 1896 until his decease in 1904 he was pro- prietor of the extensive Maplewood Livery Stables. Mr. Dodge vvas married, November 26, 189 1, to Miss Katherine Irene, daughter of the late Bruce Humphreyville, a fanner of Lanes- boro. Their children are Freeman Forbes, born December 23, 1892, and Helen Dodge, born May 22, 1896. CHARLES NYE DROWNE. Among the important business interests of Pittsfield is the Berk- sliire Manufacturing Company, the outgrowth of a small business es- tablished in 1879 by the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs and who is one of the considerable stockholders of the com- pany named. He was born in Lee, Massachusetts, August 16, 1854, son of the late Reuben Olmsted and ]\Iartha Peabody (Buckley) Drowne. He is a descendant of an early Welsh settler of the colonies. Leonard Drowne, the founder of the American family of that name, was born in 1646 and when a young man came to America, locat- ing in Boston, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth, daughter of 316 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Richard Abbott, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He died October 31, 1729; his wife May 5, 1706. Of their children Simeon Drowne was lx)rn April 9, 1686, lived in Boston,, where he followed the trade of shipwright, died August 2, 1734, and is buried at Copp's Hill. He married Mary Paine, born June 8, 1683, daughter of Hon. Colonel Nathaniel and Dorothy (Rainsford) Paine, of Bristol, Rhode Island. The only son of Simeon and Mary (Paine) Drowne was Jonathan Drowne, born in 171 1. married, July 27, 1732, Sarah Kent, daughter of Joshua and Mary (Toogood) Kent, born October 17, 171 1. The first authentic records of this couple are found at Bris- tol, Rhode Island. They were of strong religious faith and believed in the doctrines preached by Elder Wight. They were the parents of six children. Captain Jonathan Drowne died a short time prior to June 24, 1757, the date of the record of her power of attorney by his widow. She married, October 11, 1759, in Rehoboth, James Smith, of Warren, who is described as a " gentleman of high character and much esteemed." He died in Barrington, April 3, 1774, and his widow subsequently and until her decease, October 8, 1777, lived with her son Nathaniel Drowne in Rehoboth, where her remains lie. The stones marking her grave are still intact and the headstone bears this quaint inscription : " Beneath this ston Deaths Prisoner Lies The ston shall move the Prisoner rise When Jesus withs Almity word Calls his dead saints To meet their Lord." Of her sons by Captain Jonathan Drowne three were soldiers in the Patriot army during the Revolutionary war, viz. : Nathaniel, Frederick and BERKSHIRE COUNTY 3 IT Jonathan Drowne (II), born May 5, 1745; died in 1808; married, Janiiar}^ 21, 1770, Sarah ^Mleeler, daughter of Valentine and Sarah Wheeler, born September 14. 1749; died June 7, 1841. Jonathan Drowne (II), was an able man, honest and steadfast. "He believed in liberty and gave the best portion of his life to the colonial struggle for inde- pendence." He participated in the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, serving as captain, and at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, where he ranked as paymaster. Certified abstracts of his Revolutionarv^ war service from the office of the secretary of the commonwealth of Massachusetts are as follows : " Jonathan Drowne, appears with rank of lieutenant on com- pany returns of Captain Keith's Company. Colonel Sargent's regiment, dated AugTist 16, 1775. Enlisted July 9, 1775 — residence Rehoboth." " Jonathan Drowne : appears with rank of lieutenant on company returns of Captain Keith's Company, Colonel Sargent's regiment — probably Oc- tober returns 1775. Residence Rehoboth." "Jonathan Drowne: appears with rank of first lieutenant on muster and pay-roll of Captain James Perry's Company, i6th Regt. ; enlisted January i, 1776." "Jonathan DroAvne : appears with rank of captain on Continental army pay accounts Col. Henry Jackson's Regiment, for services from January i, 1777, to October 5, 1778 — residence, Rehoboth; returns dated Pawtuxet, Sept. 19. ^77^- "(Signed) Jonathan Drowne."'' Of the children of Jonathan and Sarah (Wheeler) Drowne Anah Drowne was born in Rehoboth, August i, 1782; died Janu- ary 21, 1858; married Ruth Olmsted. Of the children of Anah and Ruth (Olmsted) Drowne was Reuben Olmsted Drowne, who was born in Canaan, New York, lanuary 5. 1820. and died January 12, 1892. He was educated in his native place where he became one of the leading stockholders of its prin- 318 - BERKSHIRE COUNTY cipal industry, the Canaan Paper Company. His wife, IMartha Pea- body Buckley, born April 9, 1822, was a daughter of James Buckley, for many years in the employ of Plattner & Smith, founders of the Smith Paper Company, of Lee, Massachusetts, and whose wife Clarissa (Rodgers) Buckley, died December 22, 1855. Mrs. Reuben O. Drowne died Octoter 9, 1893. Of her children Charles Nye Drowne, introduced in the opening lines of these me- moirs, was educated in Canaan, New York, and in 1874 came to Pittsficld and in 1878 established a modest plant for the manufacture of overalls, pantaloons, etc. His success inspired him to seek larger manufacturing facilities, and to accomplish this end the Berkshire Manufacturing Com- pany was incorporated with John S. Wolfe, president ; George W. Pease, treasurer, and Messrs. George H. Bliss and Charles N. Drowne, direc- tors. The original line of manufactures was continued by the company for a period of about ten years, since which time pantaloons alone has been its product. The growth of the business warranting enlarged in- vestment, the capital stock was increased in 1898, Messrs. E. H. Robbins and W. W. Gamwell of Pittsfield nurchasing the company's additional stock. The present output of the plant is many times in excess of the original product, indicating it as one of the substantial business suc- cesses of Pittsfield. Mr. Drowne married, December 15, 1886, Fanny E., daughter of the late George E. Royce, of Rutland, Vermont. Their children are Royce Carver Drowne, born October 15, 1887; Brewer Campbell Drowne, born June 7, 1894; and Fanny Olmsted Drowne, born October 12, 1896. Mr. Drowne is a Democrat in political affiliation, and a memljer of the Masonic fraternity, the Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revolution, and of Berkshire Cb'-inter. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 319 HENRY C. BENZ. Henry C. Benz, a prominent business man of Pittsfield Massa- chusetts, was born in Metzinger, Germany, April 6, 1828, and came to this country in 1854, locating in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His father was a man of education and culture, and a public-spirited, patriotic citizen of his native town. He secured a position with the Pontoosuc Woolen Company, then managed by the late Thaddeus Clapp. and for eighteen years was gen- eral overseer of the mill. He invented the manufacture of Balmoral skirts and carriage lap robes. At that time about one hundred hand looms were in operation at this mill. In 1872 Mr. Benz went to An- sonia, Connecticut, where he became associated with the Slade Woolen Company, having charge of the pressing department, and this position he retained for four years thereafter, then returning to the Pontoosuc Company. He remained with the latter until 1885, when he purchased a farm on the Southeast Mountain road. Mr. Benz then gave up work in the mill and gave his entire time to the farm, which he conducted very successfully. In the death of Henry C. Benz. which occurred November 7, 1904, the community lost an honest, upright, industrious citizen, and his family a kind and loving father. Henry C. Benz was united in marriage to Anna Maria Stole, a native of Germany, who died March 26, 1899. Of this union the following named children were born: Henry, in 1855, married Bertha Irons, and they have one child, Edward, who resided on the home farm for a short period of time and now lives in Pittsfield; Henry married a second time and now lives in Utica, New York. John, in 1863 ; Charles, in 1865. The last two named work on the home farm. Ered Jacob, in 1869, married, October 21, 1896, Caroline E. Dewey, daughter of Chauncey and Caro- 320 BERKSHIRE COUNTY line Dewey, a member of one of the most prominent and highly re- spected families in Lenox ; of this marriage two children were born : Frederick D., August 24, 1898, and Marie, who died at the age of three years. Fred Jacob Benz was a Republican in politics, and was deeply and actively interested in the affairs of that organization. He was an energetic, up-to-date young farmer and assisted very materially in the improvement of the farm. He was stricken suddenly with a fatal disease, and on February 28, 1905, his death occurred, and he was buried on the twentieth anniversary of the day the family took up their residence on the farm. His widow, Mrs. Caroline E. Benz, makes her home on the farm. SELDEN DEMING ANDREWS. A significant industry of the county seat, the Berkshire Hardware Company, ranking among the leading wholesale and retail establish- ments of its kind in western Massachusetts, owes its proportions in large measure to the industry and business acumen of the gentleman whose name introduces this narrative and, who, as the subjoined genealogical data will show, is a representative of one of the historic families of west- ern Massachusetts. He was born Februar}' 11, 1865, in Richmond, Berkshire county, son of Deming Lewis and Sarah (Werden) Andrews, the former also a native of Richmond and the latter of Connecticut. Selden Deming Andrews completed his general education with his graduation in 1881 from the Pittsfield high school. Immediately thereafter he found em- ployment in the hardware establishment of a brother-in-law, Mr. E. Williams, a one-half interest in which he purchased in 1898, this part- nership association continuing to conduct an increasingly successful q) ^ ,/0'"~txl.--t----i--c:^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 3l>1 hardware business. Mr. \\'illianis (lispcisecl of liis interest therein to Mr. John H. Eells, in J 902, and it has since 1>een conducted under the name of Berkshire Hardware Company, Mr. Eells being the oi^ce man- ager, and Mr. /Vndrews general manager. Mr. .Xndrews is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Royal Arcanum. ti& married, August 13, 1889, Carrie, daughter of Abraham Volk. Their children are Harold Volk Andrews, born June 9, 1892, and Ed- Avard Deming Andrews, born March 6, 1894. The famdy reside at 42 Clinton street, with summer home at Richmond, Berkshire county, Mas- sachusetts. The Andrews family of Berkshire county is linealh- descended from John Andrus (or, as spelled in earliest land records, Andrews, a spell- ing generally adopted by his posterity) who was one of the eighty-four jjroprietors of the ancient town -of Tunxis (the name of an Indian tribe), afterwards "ffarmingtowne," now Earmington, Connecticut. He died in i68t, and his wife Mary in May, 1694. Of their children, the young- est was Benjamin Andrews, who was married thrice, first on May 26, T682. to Mary Smith, who died in January, 1707. Her eldest son Benjamin Andrews, Jr.. born August 20, 1683, died in 1729, mar- ried December 6, 171 1, Elizabeth Gridley, born at Earmington, Con- necticut, October 20, 1693. She was a daughter of Thomas and Eliza- beth (Clark) Gridley, who were constituent members of Southington, Connecticut, C<;ngregational church. Jonathan .Vndrews, eldest son of Benjamin, Jr., and Elizabeth (Gridley) Andrews, was born at Southington. Connecticut, .Vpril 4. 1715. He married June 5. 1735. Susannah Andrews, born at Hartford, Connecticut, May t2, 1718, daughter of Thomas and Abigail (Turner) Andrews. Both Jonathan Andrews and his wife were admitted to the church in Southington, October 19, 1735. He died Decemljer 2, 1797, 322 BERKSHIRE COUNTY and his wife February 6, 1809. Jonathan Andrews was in 1779 ap- pointed with the deacons to confer with Rev. Robinson to agree upon a church covenant, confession and discipHne. His second son Ozias Andrews, born at Southington, Connecticut, March 20, 1742; married December 28, 1768, Ann Nott (or Knott) of Berhn, Connecti- cut. They settled in 1781 in Richmond, Berkshire county, where he became a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He had a short term of service in the patriot army during the closing years of the Revolutionary war. He died in April, 1812, and his wife, January 24, 1839. Of their children Jonathan Andrews, born at Richmond, March 18, 1874, married, January 16, 181 1, a lady of Canaan, New York, Betsey Rood, born in 1788, died in June, 1866. Their youngest child Lewis Deming Andrews, born at Richmond, April 2, 1820, and twice man-ied, first in 1848 to Rebecca Barney, who died two years later; second, in January, 1852, to Sarah A. Werden, of Richmond. Four children were born of the latter marriage, two of whom died in infancy; a son, Selden Deming Andrews, the immediate subject of these memoirs, and a daughter. Elizabeth Irene, born in September, 1857, who is the wife of Eleazer Williams, former hardware merchant of Pittsfield, and has four children: Florence; Eleazer, Jr.; Henry and Elizabeth. ALMON AUBREY DESMOND. Almon A. Desmond, a prominent and leading citizen of Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where he was born in the year 1862, is a lineal descendant of a family of English origin, who settled in New York state at an early date. His parents were William and Phoebe (Mapes) Desmond, and his paternal grandfather was William Des- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 323 mond, a mechanic of more than ordinary abihty, who resided with his family in the vicinity of Stephentown, New York. Wilham Desmond (father) was born in Stephentown, New York, in 1830. He received the meager educational advantages afforded by attendance at the ungraded schools of that early period, and at the age of thirteen years was bound out to a farmer. During this period of time he became so thoroughly familiar with farming in all its details, and it proving so congenial to his tastes, he decided to follow that line of work throughout his actiA'e career. He drifted from New York state to Massachusetts, working for a time in Hancock, and about the year 1858 went to work for the Stearns family, after which he worked for J. P. Clark, of West Pittsfield, and for a number of years there- after conducted a milk business on his own account. He was the head farmer for the Barker Brothers, of Barkersville, during the flourishing days of that concern, performing his work in a highly satisfactory and efficient manner. During his residence in Berkshire county, Mr. Des- mond has witnessed the decline of the villages of Barkersville and Stearnsville, which at one time was the ver}- hive of industr}', with busi- ness booming and labor in great demand, but at the present time ( 1904) it is so different, ruin and destruction everywhere and the empty mills and tenements giving it the look of abandonment. William Desmond was united in marriage to Phoebe Alapes, of West Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, and the following named- children were born to them : Will- iam, 1858, is now a resident of Bristol, Connecticut; he married Amelia Beitzel, of Pittsfield, and they are the parents of two children. Almon Aubrey, mentioned hereinafter. Sanford L., 1867, a resident of Pitts- field ; he married Effie Stickles, and tlu'ec children are the issue of this union. The father of Mrs. Desmond died before her birth, and her mother when she was only three years of age, and thus her bringing up 824 BERKSHIRE COUNTY ^vas entrusted t(j the Shakers of West Pittstield. with whom she resided until she was sixteen years of age. The Shakers gave her a good edu- cation and taught her such things in the early years of her life as to make her an admired girl, a devoted and heloved wife and a mother that her three sons are proud to speak of. She passed away in 1895, and her death was bemoaned by all who had ever come in contact with her, especially was she missed in church circles, where she took an active and keen interest. Almon A. Desmond accjuired his preliminary education in the dis- trict school, and this was supplemented by a three years' course at the high school. \Mien this was completed his father g"ave him the choice of continuing his studies or learning a trade, but he chose the latter, and at the age of sixteen years, as was the custom with the majority of boys reared in that town, went to work m Barker Brothers' Woolen Mills, where he remained two years. He then entered the employ of W^illiam \A'hiting, ex-mayor, who was eng"aged in the wholesale station- ery business, remaining with him for a period of four years. The fol- lowing two years he was employed at the woolen business in Rockville, Connecticut, after which the longing for home came upon him and he returned to Pittsfield, securing employment with Joseph D. Shearer in the stationery business, with whom he remained for seven years. In 1901 Mr. Desmond was appointed caretaker of the high school of Pitts- field, which is one of the most beautiful structures in that vicinity of the county, and the citizens of Pittsfield, especially those who ha^'e chil- dren attending that school, are to be congratulated in having such a trustworthy official on duty. In 1902 he was appointed a member of the city council, and for several terms ser\ed on the school board of Pittsfield. He is prominently identified with the Improved Order of Red Men, Knights of Pythias, Royal iVrcanum, and the Daughters of .&^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 325 Pocahontas. In 18S5 Mr. Desmond married Mary S. Beitzel, daughter of John and Ameha Beitzel. a liighly respected German family of Pitts- field. Then- children are : Amy Amelia, born 1888, in Rockville, Connecticut, and Aubrey Mordaunt, liorn 1893, in Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts. The former named is now attending- the high school of Pitts- field, and the latter is a student in the grammar school. The family are members of the Baptist church of Pittsfield. They reside in a com- fortable home on East street, where the utmost hospitality is extended to their numerous friends. JOHN HENRY EELLS. A leading merchant of Berkshire county, half-owner of the Berk- shire Hardware Company, Pittsfield, is he whose name is the caption for this article. He was born in Lenox, October i. 1846, son of the late David B. and Sarah (\\'ells) Eells, both natives of Berkshire county, and descendants of early English settlers of New England. John Eells, founder of the American family -of this name, came from England in 1634. Of his children Samuel Eells, who was born June 23, 1639, had a large family, among whom was Rev. Nathaniel Eells, born November 26, 1677; settled at Scituate. Massachusetts, and died August 25, 1750. Of his sons Rev. Edward Eells was horn June 3, 1712, or 1713, settled at Mid- dletown, Connecticut, where he was pastor of the North Society from 1738 until his decease, October 12, 1776. An amusing incident in the history of Rev. John Eells, a cousin of Rev. Edward Eells, which is in sul)stance contained in the record of the clerk of the Congregational church of New Canaan, Connecticut. It nar- 31^6 BERKSHIRE COUNTY rates that upon being aroused late upon a stormy night by a couple de- sirous of being married, Rev. Eells appeared at a window opening upon a piazza where the couple stood and summarily tied the knot with these words : " Under this window in stormy weather, I join this man and woman together. Let none but Him who made this thunder E'er part these married two asunder." The dominie then remarked : " It is the custom to offer prayer, but under the circumstances we will dispense with that," then adding, '' It is also the custom to have music, but that will be omitted," and after a moment's pause, " and it is the custom also to kiss the bride, but that will likewise be dispensed with." Here the new made Benedict tucked his bride under his arm, and remarking " It is also customary to fee the parson, but under the circumstances that will be dispensed with," disap- peared into the storm. John Eells, son of Rev. Edward Eells, born July 20, 1753, was a soldier in the patriot army during the War of the Revolution. A copy of the official record of service is as follows : " John Eells, Lanesboro, private, Capt. Ebenezer Newell's Co., Col. Symond's Regiment; service 21 days; company marched from Lanesboro to Manchester, July 9, 1777, on an alarm; also same company and regiment, service, six days; com- pany marched fi-om Lanesboro on an alarm, Aug. 14, 1777, also Lieu- tenant Joseph Farnum's Co., Col. Benjamin Symond's regiment; enlisted Sept. 5, 1777, discharged Sept. 30, 1777; service 26 days. Company marched from Lanesboro to P'awlet; also on list of men mustered by Truman Wheeler, muster master for Berkshire county, dated Great Barrington, June 5, 1778. Residence, Lanesboro; term, nine months." Of his children John Eells born in Connecticut, May 11, 1780, located in Berk- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 3-27 shire county with his parents, and died October 17, 1826. He was a farmer, as was his son, who died July 30, 1879, and who was David B. Eells, father of the immediate subject of these memoirs. John H. Eells was educated in the schools of Lenox and under the tuition of George P. Bradley, near Stockbridge. For a short period thereafter he assisted his father in the cultivation of the homestead farm, and from 1875 to 1880 was in the employ of an uncle, Richard P. Eells, an insurance and real estate agent of Nyack, New York. Returning to Berkshire count}^ in the latter year, he became bookkeeper for the shoe manufacturing establishment of Robbins & Kellogg, and remained wdth this company and its successors until the shutting down of the plant in 1900. A short period of service as tax collector of Pittsfield was fol- lowed by his purchase in September, 1902, of Mr. E. Williams' half- interest of the hardware business on North street, Pittsfield, since oper- ated under the name of the Berkshire Hardware Company. Mr. Eells married, October, 1892, Harriet, daughter of the late Erastus Parker, of Lenox. Mr. Eells has been a member of South Con- gregational church, Pittsfield, since 1882, one of its board of deacons since 1894, and clerk of the parish since 1884. ]\.[rs. Eells is a member of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal church. Pittsfield. The residence is 364 South street. REV. CLOVIS N. BAUDOLIN. The French Catholics of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, ha\"e been for- tunate in having appointed to attend to tlieir spiritual and religious needs the Rev. Clovis N. Baudouin, who since he has come among them has endeared himself to them in an extraordinar)- degree. He was bom in the village of Repentigny, province of Quebec, Canada, in the year 1854, a son of Pierre and Alargueritc (Hetu) Baudouin. ?,!>S BERKSHIRE COUNTY The family were among tlie earliest French settlers that came from the Fatherland and settled in the Canadian wilderness. They are sup- posed to have come from the district of Normandie, France. Among the early records we find that Gnillanme Bandouin was a settler in the village of Repentigny as early as 170O'. and he reared his family in that vicinity. Among his descendants was Pierre Bandouin, aforementioned, who hv his marriage to Marguerite Hetu became the father of the fol- lowing named children: Pierre, born 1831, now deceased; he was a practicing physician in St. Jean, where he died. Philibert, born 1836, a resident of Montreal, Canada, where he is engaged as notary. Del- vina, born 1841, died at the age of seventeen years. Joel, born 1843, deceased ; he was a man of excellent education and sound judgment, and his entire life was sperit on the old homestead. Osina Marguerite, born 1845. became the wife of Joseph La Rose; they made their home in St. Paul, Canada, where she died. Albert, born 1848, died when only eighteen years of age, when in the sixth year of his college course. Clovis N., mentioned at length in the following paragraph. Clovis N. Bandouin early evinced a desire to extend his educa- tional advantages as far as possible, and at twelve years of age entered L'Assomptinn College, \>here he pursued the full course, completing the same in the year 1876, and thus he ga\'e the best years of his life in endeavoring to secure the knowledge that he is anxious and willing to impart to all people who come in contact with him. After his gradua- tion from L'Assomption College he entered Varennes Seminary, where he pursued his studies for four vears, and on December 20, 1879, he was ordained to the priesthood in Montreal. The following two years he taught French literature in Varennes College, and then was assigned to assist the pastor at St. John's, Quebec, where he labored for about two years. He was then successively assistant pastor in St. Paul and BERKSHIRE COUNTY 329 Montreal, in 1884 was sent to North Adams. Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, as assistant pastor, and in 1885 was transferred to Ware, Massachusetts, where lie Avas located for aljout one year. In 1886 he was given a pastorate at Fitchhurg, Massachusetts, where he organized a parish, which today stands as a monument to his labor. After four years' work in Fitc'hburg- he AAcnt to Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, where he spent seven years, during which time he established schools and a convent. He was then transferred to Williamstown, Massa- chusetts, and after three years in that field was appointed pastor of the Notre Dame church, Pittsfieid. Massachusetts, assuming charge in Januar}', 1901, this house of worship being for the French speaking residents of Pittsfieid. Since that time, a period of almost five years, he has accomplished remarkable achie\'ements. He has purchased a parochial residence for the parish, has purchased a parcel of land for school purposes on Pearl street, \\hereon will be erected a Catholic school for French people about the year 1906, and has reduced the church debt some seven thousand dollars. There are about seventeen hundred attendants in three hundred and seventy-five families, all of whom are faithful and conscientious in the performance of their duties, and loyal to their church, and the work done by Father Baudouin was successful. During the past }ears he has had an assistant in the per- son of the Rev. A. J. Jacques. Father Baudouin is greatly beloved by his parishioners for his earnestness and untiring labors in their behalf. JOHN SEELEY .\DAMS. For nearly fifty years the late John Seeley Adams was closely iden- tified \\\i\\ the manufacturing interests of Adams, and he was one of the most ])rominent factors in developing the natural resources of that locality, thus bringing" it forward tx) the position of importance it now 330 BERKSHIRE COUNTY occupies in the industrial world. He came from a family of manufac- turers, being a son of Washington and Laura (Seeley) Adams, and is, therefore, a representative of two well known western Massachusetts families. Washington Adams came from Great Barrington to Adams about the year 1852 and engaged in the manufacturing of cotton warp, as a member of the firm of Adams & Seeley, which erected the factory and inaugurated the business now conducted under the style of the Adams Brothers Manufacturing Company. He was one of the leading business men of Adams in his day, and resided here for the remainder of his life. Washington and Laura (Seeley) Adams were the parents of seven children, namely: George Washington, John Seeley, Mar}^ Charles, Henry, Frank and Ruth. Of these the only one now living is Henry, who resides in Adams. John Seeley Adams was born at Vandeusenville, in the town of Great Barrington, February 3, 1832. He attended school in southern Berkshire and resided there until the removal of his parents to Adams, and as a young man he entered the employ of his father. After the death of his father he entered the firm which became known as Adams Brothers and Company, the partners being George W. and John S. Adams. They produced large quantities of cotton warp of a superior quality which is extensively used in the textile industries, and the high standard of their products were never allowed to deteriorate, thus giv- ing them a prestige in the market which has been steadily maintained to the present time. The business expanded into such large proportions as to necessitate the superseding of the individual partnership concern by a corporation, which was duly organized as the Adams Brothers Manu- facturing Company, and John S. Adams eventually became its presi- dent, a position he was superabundantly qualified to occupy. He con- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 331 tinued to direct the affairs of the concern for the remainder of his Hfe, and his business career was marked by a spirit of enterprise and opti- mism which not only brought substantial profits to his own corporation, but proved exceedingly beneficial to the general business interests of the town. In politics Mr. Adams acted with the Republican party and for two terms represented the third Berkshire district in the lower branch of the state legislature, serving- with credit to himself and his constituency upon several important committees. He also served the town of Adams in various capacities, notably as water commissioner for a number of years, and for a period of six years in succession served as assessor without political opposition. He was prominently identified with the Masonic order, and one of the leading members of St. Mark's (Protes- tant Episcopal) church, in which latter he was for many years the senior warden; was one of its most liberal supporters financially, and was an- nually chosen to represent it in the diocesan convention. To the church as well as to his other trusts he gave the benefit of his superior business ability, and his death, which occurred September 13, 1903, was regarded as an irretrievable loss to the entire community. On November 10, 1857, Mr. Adams was joined in marriage with Miss Mar-/ K^ing, daughter of Dr. King, a well known Greek missionary of his lished themselves in a woolen manufactorv at Oueensburv, New York. 334 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Tliey conducted a successful business for a period of eight years, when misfortune paid them a second visit, their mill being burned down, as had been one during the lifetime of their father, then removed to Fair Ha\'en, Vermont, but after a short stay there in 1870 William A. Daly returned to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he entered the employ of E. B. Whit- tlesey, and subsequently became superintendent in the mill of J. L. Peck. After a sojourn here of eight months he returned to the mills of L. Pomeroy & Sons, to^ take the position of overseer in the weaving room. He acquitted himself in this capacity most usefully and creditably for five years, then removing to ]\Iiddlefield, Massachusetts, where he ac- cepted a similar position in the mills of J. K. West & Company. He was so employed when (in 1880) he had premonitions of failing health, and he went south in hope of beneficial results, remaining eight years, and during a portion of this time serving as superintendent of a woolen mill near Atlanta, Georgia. Returning in 1888, he entered the Taconic mills at Pittsfield, where he remained for three years, and for the fol- lowing seven years worked in the Pontoosuc mills at Pittsfield. In 1902 he again went south and again entered the employ of the same company for which he b.ad served more than twenty years before, and with which he yet remains. Mr. Daly is known as one of the most capable wajolen manufacturers in the countiy. He has w'itnessed and participated in every stage of the development of the woolen industry from its primitive to the most advanced methods, and is able to point back to many im- provements in processes as the fruits of his own labor and thought. His life has been one of phenomenal industry, and a census of the labor- ers in his peculiar field would discover few whose experiences would equal his own, and none who could surpass him. His personal traits are such as are befitting one with so excellent a business record. Like the others of his family, he has been strictly temperate through his life, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 335 and to this fact he attributes in large degree the success which he has achieved and the vigor which has enabled him to continue in a life of unremittent effort, not unattended with disappointments and sorrow. A Roman Catholic in religion, he has always taken an active interest in the maintenance of St. Joseph's church, Pittsfield, and its large and varied benevolences, while at the same time he is liberal in his response to the call of the individual distressed and afflicted. In politics 'his affiliations are with the Democratic party. In 1857 Mr. Daly married Miss Mary Donohue, daughter of James and Margaret (Hughes) Donohue. Of this marriage were born eight children, of whom six survive: i. Margaret, born in 1858, died at the age of eighteen years. 2. Augustin J., born 186 1, who is a lawyer by profession and mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, years 1904 to 1905. 3. William, born in 1863, died when three and one-half years old. 4, Elizabeth, born in 1867, who is unmarried, and makes her home with her brother, Augustin J., in Cambridge. 5. Jennie, born in 1870, who married John Rencenhausen. 6. Frank, born in 1872, who is a printer, and a member of the firm of Gorman & Daly, and makes his home with his father. 7. William, born in 1876, who is an overseer in the Taconic Mills. 8. Annie, born in 1880, married Edward Hall, a contractor of Pittsfield. The mother of these children, a most exemplary woman, and de- voted wife and mother, departed this life in 1898. The bereaved hus- band has never ceased to suffer under this deep affliction, and it has left its impression upon his health, notwithstanding" his robust appearance. The parents have reared to manhood and womanhood a noble family of children, all of whom have entered upon lives of usefulness and enjoy the esteem of a wide circle of friends. 336 BERKSHIRE COUNTY REV. HOWARD MURRAY DUMBELL. The Rev. Howard Murray Dumbell, rector of the Protestant Epis- copal Church of St. James, at Great Barrington, Berkshire county, Masr- sachusetts, comes of an excellent English stock, and members of the fam- ily are borne upon the titled rolls of Great Britain. His paternal uncle. Sir Alfred Dumbell, was high bailiff (or chief magistrate) of Ramsey, Isle-of-Man, deemster, and clerk of the rolls. He was knighted by Queen Victoria shortly before the death of that most excellent sovereign. A paternal aunt of Mr. Dumbell is Lady Cuyler. Howard Murray Dumbell was born December 12, 1864, in Liver- pool, England, son of George William and Georgiana Mary (Cox) Dum- bell. The father, born November 6, 1832, son of George William Dum- bell, banker, of Douglas, was educated at the Rugby school (so well known to American readers through "Tom Brown's School Days"), by Hon. Thomas Hughes, M. P.. and at the University of Cambridge. He was secretary of the Hull Dock Company, in Hull. England, for ten years, and held a commission as captain in the First East York Rifles. He came to the United States in November, 1876, and settled in Texas, where he acquired a large ranch near the Mexican frontier. He was brought up in the Church of England, and in 1878 received priest's orders in the Protestant Episcopal church. He built two church edifices in Chattanooga, Tennessee, remodeled one in Jackson, in the same state, and built a church in Sherbrooke, Quebec. His wife, Georgiana Mary Cox, was a daughter of the Hon. Austin Cox, one of the Puisne judges of British Honduras. Their son. Howard Murray Dumbell, received his early instruction luider a governess and tutors in England, and further pursued his educa- tion under tutors in his home on the Texas frontier. He entered the BERKSHIRE COUNTY 337 University of the South, at Sewanee, Tennessee, and made his theolog- ical studies in the Theological Seminary of the same institution. As a young man he entered the service of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company, at headquarters, Oscar G. Murray, Esq., general freight agent, now president of that corporation. He also aided in run- ning the line over the International and Great Northern Railway from San Antonio, Texas (the first line in Texas to use the steel rails), to Laredo, Mexico. In 1891 Mr. Dumhell was ordained to the priest- hood of the Protestant Episcopal church, and at once entered upon a career of great usefulness. He was dean of the Cathedral of Tennessee from January, 1893, until Fehruary, 1895. I" ^^^^^ year he was called to the rectorship of St. Paul's church in Brooklyn, New York city. He served with this church until Christmas day, 1899, when he accepted a call to the rectorship of St. James' church at Great Barrington, Massa- chusetts, and has since that time devoted his energies to the interests of his parish. Inheriting the hest traditions of the historic old church of time-hallowed memories, and familiar with its practice and usages through his early associations in a section where it flourished without contamination, he came to his service as a clerg}'man with deep-rooted principles as well as an admirahle mental ecjuipment. He has endeared liimself to his peo]3le perhaps more closely than had he been " Native here and to the manner born." though it is to be said is a thoroug"h American by free choice and out of an ardent appreciation of American institutions and opportunities for usefulness. He became a naturalized citizen shortly after coming to Great Barrington. It is worthy of re- niark that under the Rev. Dumbell's efficient rectorship St. James parish has materially increased its membership, property interests and service attendance, particularly the last named, having developed a power for good in the community that cannot be overestimated. He has allied 338 BERKSHIRE COUNTY himself with no pohtical organization, hnt inchnes toward Repubhcan- ism. His energetic services as first president of the board of trade at- tested his interest in local affairs. He is a member and thaplain of Cincinnatns Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Dumbell married, April 8, 1890, Miss Anna Pattison Sherrod, daughter of Dr. John I. Sherrod, who was a veteran of the great civil war, and niece of the Hon. Henry Sherrod, who was United States senator from Tennessee. Mrs. Dumbell is a graduate of Tipton Female Seminary at Covington, near Memphis, Tennessee. The children of the Rev. Howard Murray and Anna Pattison (Sherrod) Dumbell are: Howard Murray Dumbell, born in Memphis, Tennessee, July 3, 1891 ; George William Dumbell, born in Memphis, Tennessee. September 5, 1893; Eric Sherrod Dumbell, born in New York City, March 4, 1896; Edith Dumbell, born in Great Barrington, April 17, 1903. CHARLES GIDDINGS. A prominent meml^er of the legal profession of Berkshire county is Charles Giddings, of Great Barrington. J\Ir. Giddings is a representa- tive of an old New England family, tracing his descent from George Giddings, who came from England about 1700 and settled in the eastern part of Massachusetts. His descendants participated in the colonial wars. Edward J. Giddings was a minister of the Congregational church and filled pastorates at different places in Massachusetts. He married Rebecca J. Fuller, a lineal descendant of Dr. Fuller of the " May- flower " company. Of the five children born to them four are now living: Franklin H., a member of the faculty of Columbia College, oc- cupying the chair of Sociology; Edward F., a lawyer in New York; BERKSHIRE COUNTY 339 Carrie L.. of Chicago; and Charles, mentioned at length hereinafter. Some time before his death Mr. Giddings retired from the active worU- of the ministry, and closed his life of unostentatious usefulness April l^, 1904. at Boston, while visiting- his son Charles, then a member of 1he legislature. Charles Giddings, son of Edward J. and Rebecca J. (Fuller) Gid- dings, \vas born May 10. 1867, at Housatonic. Berkshire county, where he received his preparatory education in the Great Barrington high school, and afterward entered Williams College, class of '89. He was prepared for his chosen profession in the law department of New York Universitv. from which he received his degree in 1891, and in 1893 "^^'^^ admitted to the bar. January t, 1895, he entered upon the active prac- tice of his profession. Mr. Giddings has always taken a leading part in public affairs and is well and favorably known as a political speaker. In 1892 he was actively engaged in the Cleveland campaign. He has acted as moderator at town meetings, and served as deleg'ate to Demo- cratic state conventions. Tn the autumn of 1893 he was elected to the legislature, and again in 1902 was elected to the legislature and also in 1903. Tn the latter named year he served on the judiciary committee, and in 1904 on that committee and also on the committee on rules. He was his party's nominee for congress in the first congressional district of Massachusetts. 1904. Notwithstanding the constant pressure of urgent professional and political demands ?^rr. Giddings takes an active interest in local affairs, and is chairman of the school committee of Great Barrington. It was ]\Ir. Gidding's' vigorous work as a member of the legislature in the face of equally vigorous opposition that led to the removal from the heart of the village of Housatonic its progress blocking relic of a former da\'. the ancient burying ground. He is a member of the Masonic order, and the college Greek letter societies. 340 BERKSHIRE COUNTY He attends the Congregational church. i\lr. Gicldings married, Sep- tember 20, 1899, Edith M., daughter of the late Theodore G. Ramsdell, of Housatonic, and they are the parents of two children : Mary R. and Janet F. Joshua R. Giddings, the noted Ohio abolitionist, was a col- lateral connection of the family of which Mr. Giddings is a represent- ative, REV. THOMAS H. McLAUGHLIN. It is reasonable to infer that there were Cathxilic people residing in Adams prior to the year 1840', as menticMi is made of a considerable number of Irish families having established themselves in North Adams as early as 1825, and some of them no doubt found homes within the precincts of the present town of Adams. The first Roman Catholic religious service in Adams, of which there is any record, was held in the dwelling house of Michael Madden, where the Rev. Bernard Cav- anagh, then pastor of the Pittsfield parish, celebrated mass in 1845. On various occasions afterwards, as opportunity permitted, the same clergyman continued to keep alive the religious spirit among the Cath- olics by celebrating mass in a house located on the mill grounds until a small hall on Main street was secured for this purpose. During the rectorship of Father Cuddihy and that of his successor. Father Purcell, the mission was fostered by these zealous Pittsfield priests, who gave to it as much time as could be spared from their regular duties, which in those early days were exceedingly arduous. In 1863 the Rev. Father Charles Lynch was appointed pastor at North Adams, and that clergy- man was able thereafter to give Adams more attention. This fact he soon manifested by purchasing the old Congregational meeting house, which he removed to a lot on Park street and remodeled into an edifice suitable for Roman Catholic worship. On September 12, 1875, Adams BERKSHIRE COUNTY 341 was raised from a mission to the dignity of a parish, which became known as that of St. Thomas, and the Rev. E. F. ]\IcCourt Avas ap- pointed its first rector. Father McCourt purchased for the sum of six- teen thousand dohars the land on which the church and rectory now stand, and he continued to labor in the interests of the parish diligently and along progTessi\"e lines for the remainder of his life. He died in January, 1880, deeply regretted by his parishioners, and in February, 188 1, was succeeded by the Rev. Dennis C. Moran. For some years the old church had been inadequate to the needs of the parish, and Father jNIoran continued the work of his predecessor leading to the erection of a larger church edifice, the corner stone of which was laid by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Beaven. of the Spring-field diocese. May 17, 1896. and the building, sufficiently advanced in construction for pur- poses of worship, was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies by the same prelate. May 9, 1897. Rev Father Dennis C. Moran, who labored so earnestly and success- fullv in behalf of St. Thomas' church, was born in Luffaney, parish of Carrigan, county Kilkenny, Ireland, ]\\\y 11, 1841. His education, which was begun under the direction of the Christian Brothers, was con- tinued at St. John's College, Waterford, from whence he came to the United States and resumed his studies at Holy Cross College, ^^'orcester, Massachusetts, in 1863. He studied theologv at St. Sulpice, Paris, for two vears, at the expiration of which time he entered St. Patrick's Col- lege, Carlow, Ireland, where his theological preparations were com- pleted, and he was ordained to the priesthood there for the Boston dio- cese, November 5, 1865. Returning to America he was in April, 1866, assigned to duty as curate under his uncle. Rev. William Moran. then rector at Ware, this state, and five months later was transferred to Lowell. In May, 1868, he began the duties of his first pastorate, that 342 BERKSHIRE COUNTY of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, where he remained until selected to organ- ize the parish at Winchendon, this state. July 31, 1871, and he continued his labors there until appointed to the rectorate of St. Thomas" church, Adams. His labors in that town during" the succeeding nineteen years are fully attested by the importance acquired b}' the parisx. under his charge, and the successful culmination of its Iniilding operations, and his passing away, which occurred on Sunday morning. July zt^. 1899, as the result of a lingering illness brought on by long continued overwork, not only saddened the hearts of his devoted parishioners, but was regarded by all classes, irrespective of race or creed, as a severe loss to the entire community. Rev. Thomas H. McLaughlin, present rector of St. Thomas' church, was born January i, 1861, in Clinton. Massachusetts, which has fur- nished the Roman Catholic church with so many able and energetic clergymen. His parents, Patrick J. and Honorah T. (Kittridge) Mc- Laughlin, wTre natives of county Mayo, L^eland, who sought a new home in the United States, where labor received a more adecjuate re- muneration, and they were worthy, industrious people, who, in spite of their arduous toil, devoted much time to the moral training of their chil- dren. Patrick J. McLaughlin died October 29, 1904, surviving his wife, whose death occurred July 31. 1897. Their son Thomas was edu- cated preliminarily in the Clinton public schools, and having decided at an early age to devote his life to the service of the church, he began his preparations at the Ottawa (Canada) College, from which he entered Boston College, where he took his bachelor's degree with the class of 1882. Two years later (1884) he received the degree of Bachelor of Theology at the Catholic Theological Seminary in Montreal. On De- cember 19, 1885, he was ordained to the priesthood in Springfield, this state, by the Rt. Rev. P. J. O'Riely, then bishop of that diocese, who was BERKSHIRE COUNTY 343 the officiating- priest at his baptism, and as a bishop had confirmed him when a boy. That ]jrelate certainly performed his duty toward him, spiritnahy speaking-, and it may be added that in America, at least, it seldom falls to the lot of a clergyman to officiate at so many rehgions rites extended to one Avhom he had been called upon to recei\'e into the church at the baptismal font. On January 5, 1886, he was appointed assistant rector of St. Joseph's church, Pittsfield, in which capacity he continued tO' labor zealously and without interruption for a period of eleven years, endearing himself to the parishioners not onlv as their spiritual counselor, but also for his kindly iuterest in their everv-day life, which has ever since loeen one -of the chief characteristics of his professional labors. In 1897 Father McLaughlin went to Hunting- ton, Massachusetts, as rector of St. Thomas" church, where he remained for two years and eight months or until called to the rectorship of St. Thomas' Parish, Adams, August 2y. 1899. tx) succeed the lamented Father Moran. His six years of ministerial work in this town ha^•e been productive of so much visible benefit to the parish, both individually and as a whole, as to cause the hope that his rectorship may continue for many years to come, and with a priest of his superabundant quali- fications at its head it may be expected to still further increase in im- portance and usefulness. / The present St. Thomas' church edifice is of Gothic architecture somewhat modified, and was built according to plans furnished by James Murphy, an architect of Providence, Rhode Island. It is of brick with white stone trimmings; is 135 feet long and 61 feet wide; the main por- tion is 75 feet high and the main tower from the sidewalk to the cross on the io\) measures 130 feet. Its surroundings are exceedingly attractive and the rectory occupies one of the most pictures(jue sites in this locality. The basement, wherein the parishioners are now wor- 344 BERKSHIRE COUNTY shipping, seats seven hundred and forty, but the upper portion, or church proper when completed will have a seating capacity of nine hundred and fifty. The parish contains nineteen hundred souls, and the average attendance at Sunday school is two hundred and eighty. Connected with it is the Holy Name Society, having a membership of one hundred and seventy-five; the League of the Sacred Heart with six hundred and sixty-five members ; and the Rosary Society. There is also connected with it a mission chapel in Cheshire known as the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption, which was dedicated August 8, 1879, under the pastorate of Father McCourt. Father McLaughlin is considered one of the best church financiers in the diocese. When he took charge of St. Thomas' parish there was a debt upon the church property amounting to fifty-one thousand seven hundred and twenty-one dollars, which he has entirely cancelled and there is now five thousand dollars in the treasury. He is state chaplain of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and deputy grand knight of the Catholic Order of Foresters, of Berkshire county. TITUS E. EDDY. Since 1875 the gentleman whose name introduces this article has been a summer resident of Pittsfield, one of that interesting and con- stantly increasing group of summer home builders in the Berkshires — the New York city contingent. Mr. Eddy was born November 2, 1834, in Troy, New York, son of Titus Eddy, a native of Vermont and descended from early English settlers of Rhode Island. Mr. Eddy was engaged in the white lead busi- ness in New York and is now retired. His New York residence is No. " 13 East Forty-seventh street. (OguVx^ -^. ^JUco)v>^— rke Lewis Tuhlishm^ Cc BERKSHIRE COUNTY 345 He married Mary, daughter of the late David L. Seymour, a lead- ing lawyer of Troy, and of the historic Seymour family of Connecticut and New York, whose ancestors were English colonial settlers of New England. The parish house, St. Luke's, at Laneshoro, near Pittsfield, a memorial to the late Mrs. Maria L. Seymour, mother of Mrs. Titus E. Eddy, was the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eddy. CLIFFORD SAMUEL CHAPIN, M. D. Among the younger members of the medical profession in Berk- shire county whose successful practice has demonstrated especial fitness and equipment therefor, Clifford Samuel Chapin, of Great Barrington, may be appropriately numbered. He is descended in both paternal and maternal lines from early English colonial settlers. The founder of the Chapin family in America, Deacon Samuel W. Chapin, landed in Boston in 1637, and was one of the founders of Springfield, J\Lassachusetts. Of his descendants, Caleb Chapin was a captain in the French and Indian war. and his son Caleb Chapin (2) had the same rank in the Patriot army during the Revolutionary war. Curtis Chapin, grandson of Caleb Chapin (2), was a prosperous farmer and leading citizen of Bernardston, Massachusetts. He married Jeannette, daughter of John Nelson, also prominent in business and social circles of Bernardston. and who held numerous local offices. Curtis Chapin died March 28. 1875. Of his children. Clifford Samuel Chapin. born January 2^. 1873. in Bernardston. attended the pul)lic schools and Powers* Institute, Bernardston. and W'il- liston Seminary, Easthampton. For three years thereafter he taught 346 BERKSHIRE COUNTY school, and during this period took up the study of medicine, determining" upon the adoption of that profession as his hfe work. He was gradu- ated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York city, in 1896, and two years later established offices at Great Barrington, where he has won recognition as a capal^le and conscientious physician, and is in the enjoyment of a lucrative practice. He is a member of the Berkshire Medical Society, the ^Massachusetts Medical Association, and the American Medical Association ; of the Ma- sonic fraternity, Berkshire Automobile Club, Sons of the American Rev- olution, and Chapin Family Association of America. He married, June 29, 1899, Mary Redfield WYight. daughter of William Wright. Two sons born of this marriage are Curtis W. and Clififord S. Chapin. Mrs. Dr. Chapin is lineally descended from John and Priscilla Alden, the story \yi whose courtship has been immortalized In' Longfellow. CONSTANT SOUTHWORTH. One of the honored citizens of Berkshire county whose names belong to the past was Constant Southworth, who was for more than half a century a resident of Great Barrington. The Southworth family is a celebrated one in the annals of New England. The founder was Mrs. Alice (Carpenter) Southworth, who came with her children to the Plymouth colony in the early years of its history. Before her mar- riage one of her suitors had been William Bradford, afterward g'ov- ernor of the Plymouth colony, and everything seemed to point to a favorable termination of the courtship. Separated bv the force of cir- cumstances, Alice Carpenter became the wife of Edward Southworth. of London, England, and their marriage w^as consummated in Leyden, Holland, in May, 161 3. William Bradford, having also married, sailed BERKSHIRE COUNTY 347 with his wife in the " Mayflower." Losing his wife by death shortly after their arrival in Massachusetts, and hearing that j\Irs. Sonthworth had become a widow, he requested her to join him, and she arrived at Plymouth on the ship " Anne "' about August i, 1623. Her marriage to Governor Bradford, August 14, 1623, was the beginning of a long and happy union. Her descendants were prominently identified with the subsequent history of the colonies. Constant Southworth, son of Constant and Statira (Adams) Southworth, was born in 1802, in Berlin, Connecticut. P>om child- hood he lived in Berkshire county, and subsequent to 1825 made his home in Great Barrington, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying November 14, 1876. He was a public-spirited citizen, taking a keen interest in all township and county affairs, and giving his influ- ence always on the side which appeared to him to be that of right and justice. To all projects which in liis judgment had a tendency to promote the welfare of the communitv, he gave his hearty stipport and concurrence. In the sphere of politics his influence was strongly felt, and invariably in a way which made for the general good. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity, in the affairs of which he took a prominent part, and was an active member of the Protestant Episcopal church, holding the offices of warden and vestryman. Mr. Southworth married Juliette Maria, daughter of Captain Eber Yale, of a very old New England family. Captain Thomas Yale lost his life at Louisville, Prince Edward's Island, during the colonial wars. Mr. and Mrs. Southworth were the parents of six children, two of whom are living, a son and a daughter. The son, John H., is a rail- road engineer, residing in New Haven. The daughter, Grace Elliott, became the wife of James K. Parker, a member of a New York family of English origin and ancient pedigree. Of the fl\'e children l^orn to 348 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Mr. and Mrs. Parker three are now living: James Sonthworth, of Salem, New York, who is a member of the legislature ; Constance Eliza- beth, who is the wife of Benjamin D. Ticknor, of Great Barrington; and Edward Constant Sonthworth Parker, who is an ensign in the . navy, second in command of the " Channcey," when in Chinese waters during the Japanese-Russian war. He is an active member of the Protestant Episcopal church. The deceased children of James K. and Grace Elliott (Sonthworth) Parker were: Charles and Carolyn Yale Parker. The death of Mr. Sonthworth, which occurred in 1876, when he had reached the age of seventy-four, was mourned by all classes of the community in which he had so long resided. It was felt that both the town and the county had lost one whose life had been an example, the memory of which would be an inspiration to those coming after him. Mrs. Sonthworth, who was a woman universally beloved, sur- vived her husband a number of years, passing away in 1892. THOMAS P. WELCH. The genial and popular proprietor of the Greylock hotel, Adams, is a native of Berkshire county and was born in the town of Cheshire, August 2, i860. His parents were the late Patrick and Charlotte (Ryan) Welch, who were natives of county Tipperary. Ireland, and emigrated to the United States at an early age. Soon after their arrival they came to Berkshire county, where they resided for the remainder of their lives, and died in Cheshire, which had l)een their home for many years. Patrick \\'elch was a tanner by trade and followed that useful calling industriously during his active life. His wife, Charlotte (Ryan) Welch, became the mother of seven children, namelv: Richard, who is te c^^Y> /Ml BERKSHIRE COUNTY 349 residing in Adams; x\lice, who died in childhood; James, also deceased; Thomas P., the principal subject of th.is sketch; Ellen, who is now the wife of Martin McShehan; Mary, the wife of John Ford; and Frank Welch, whose heroic death while endeavoring to save property at a fire in Cheshire some ten years ago is well remembered by residents of that town. Thomas P. Welch was educated in the Cheshire pul)lic schools. During the early years of his actix-e life he was engaged in agricultural pursuits in his native town, hut life upon a farm was far too sluggish for a young man endowed with an earnest desire for a more rapid advance- ment, and he accordingly utilized his inherent resources for the pur- pose of adopting a more congenial calling. In 1883 he opened a cafe in Adams, which was a successful \enture from the start, made so in no small measure by his genial natiu'e and open-handed hospitality, and he immediately acquired a wide spread popularity as a public caterer in the way of refreshments. That establishment, although profitable and congenial to him, proved entirely inadequate to conform to his ad\'anced ideas of business expansion, and when a favoralile opportunity pre- sented itself he donned the habiliments of a full-fiedg'ed Ijoniface, he- coming" in 1895 proprietor of the Hoosac Valley House. Cheshire, which is now known as the Cheshire Inn. He next acquired posses- sion of the Adams House, Adams, which he conducted successfully for a few years or until 1901, when he purchased h.is present hotel ])rop- erty in that town. Under his able management the (ireylock Hotel has obtained a high reputation with the traxeling ])ublic for its open hospi- tal itv and genuine pood cheer, and one of its most prominent features is the genial landlord himself, whose pleasant manner of greeting- his guests and kindly interest in providing- for their comfort are heartily appreciated bv the numerous commercial tourists and other travelers who make the Greylock their head(|uartcrs during their sojourn in Adams. 360 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Aside from his popularity as a hotel man Mr. A\'elch is a general favor- ite in social and fraternal circles. He is an active member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the .\ncient Order of Hiber- nians, the Robert Emmet Benevolent Association. Alert Hose Com- pany (volnnteer firemen), and the Veteran Eire Company of Pitts- field. Though not an aspirant fx3r public office he takes a conspicuous part in the councils of the local Democratic party organization, has been a member of the state committee and a delegate to state conventions, also delegate to national Democratic convention at St. Louis. IQ04. On July 26. 1882. Mr. Welch was united in marriage by the late Rev. Eather Moran. with Miss Marcella Roman, daughter of Michael Roman, of Pittsfield. Massachusetts. Of this union there are two children, namely : Charles P. and Stella. JAMES M. BURNS. Among- the residents of Pittsfield retired from the activities of business life whose careers are recognized as having been contributory to the substantial business, social and general development of the com- munity is the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs. He was Ixjrn in Thompsonville. Connecticut, in 1848. son of Will- iam and Elizabeth (Stevens) Burns (see sketch of LoUis Burns in this publication). James M. Burns completed his education at Wilbraham Academy and shortlv thereafter with an elder brother. David, entered into the grocerv business in the store formerly occupied by Burns-McLean. Sub- sequentlv a department for the sale of house-furnishing- g-oods was added to the operations of Burns Brothers, and this branch soon be- came the especially significant and profitable feature of the business of BERKSHIRE COUNTY 351 the firm and led to its establishment of a house-furnishing goods store in the Upper Burbank Block, North street, Pittsfield. After some years of association of unusual pecuniary advantage, Messrs. David and James M. Burns dissohed partnership and divided their business proper- ties, the latter retaining the Pittsfield store. He subsequently removed from the Burbank to his own structure, the Burns Block, on North street, and continued in successful conduct of the business until its disposal by him to H. P. Wellington. He was for a short time there- after engaged in the private banking business with Air. Rollin H. Cooke, under the firm name of Burns & Cooke, at Pittsfield, a business which was abandoned when ^Mr. Burns accepted the cashiership of Sciioharie C( unty Bank, Schoharie, New ^'ork. where he resided with his family until the decease of his daughter, Miss May Burns, when he severed his .Schoharie bank connection and returned to Pittsfield, where he has since lived in retirement. He married Lilla Daniels, of Hartford, Cx^nnecticut. Thev have had two children : William A. Burns, hereinafter mentioned, and the daughter deceased, as above set forth, WILUAM A. BURNS. Of the younger members of the Massachusetts bar practicing at Pittsfield, who have won the respect of their professional colleagues and the confidence of the public, AA'illiam A. Burns finds appropriate men- tion. He is a son of James M. and Lilla (Daniels) Burns and was born at Thompsonville, Connecticut, January 9, 1875. His initial schooling was obtained at Pittsfield and his general edu- cation completed at \\'illiams College, from which institution he was graduated with the class of ICS97. He then entered Harvard Law 352 BERKSHIRE COUNTY School, graduating therefrom and being admitted to the bar in 1900. Returning to Pittsfield he entered the employ of the law firm of Dawes & Burke, an association which continued until July i, 1901, when Mr. Burns established himself in the practice of his profession with offices in the Backus Block. As a stalwart and active Republican Mr. Burns has already obtained party recognition, being elected as a representative from Pittsfield to the state legislature in 1903, and re-elected in 1904, serving acceptably during the former year on public service and engrossed bills committees and as a member also of the special recess committee on compensation of state and county officials. During 1904 he served on engrossed bills and street railway committees, being chairman of the former. Mr. Burns is junior warden of Crescent Lodge, F. & A. M., and was a charter member of the Country Club. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church of Pittsfield. THOMAS HENRY HAYDEN. A member of a very valuable class of Berkshire county's foreign- born citizens is Thomas Henry Hayden, a well known resident of Lee. He was born in county Mayo, Ireland, in 1843. His parents came to the United States in 1847, locating at Lenox Furnace (now Lenox- dale), where the father, John Hayden, followed the blacksmithing trade until 1852. In that year he moved to Lee, where he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1856. At the age of twelve the son Thomas H. went to work in the old woolen mill known as the Saxony mill, owned by Plattner & Smith. This hrm also operated a paper mill and were the founders of the great Smith Paper Company of today. After working about six years in the woolen mill IMr. Havden went to the firm's machine shop to learn TJ^^ ■ ifr'^'^iiiiSliir'^ ' •-■- ' fl f ^^1 s ^^^^B ^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 353 his trade, and how well he acquired it is shown by the fact that in 1878 he took charge of the shop and has been the foreman ever since. He holds the position of master machinist of the Smith paper mills. The fact that he has worked for nearly half a century for the same firm speaks volumes for his ability and integrity. Mr. Hayden has always manifested a commendable public spirit, and in nothing has this been more evident than in his devotion to the Lee fire department. His con- nection with this organization began in 1856, when as a boy he used to carry the flag of the company in parade. During a period of more than twenty years he served successively as fireman, foreman and first assist- ant engineer, and on the death of Captain Shannon, the chief engineer, was chosen to fill the office, which he still retains. Mr. Hayden is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and holds the office of president in the Lee Cornet Band, of which he has been a member for the last twenty-five years. Both as a citizen and a neigh1>or ]\Ir. Hayden is deservedly popular. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church of Lee. ]\Ir. Hayden was married, November 26, 1870, to Magdalena Stumpf, daughter of Philip Stumpf, an old resident of Lee, who died from the effects of wounds received in battle as a Federal soldier. Mr. and Mrs. Hayden are the parents of the following children: Thomas H., deceased; Mag- dalena (Hayden) Moran, deceased; Katharyn E. ; Ellen J.; John P.; Robert H. ; Francis S. ; Mary G. ; Agnes P. ; Joseph T. ; and William L. They are the grandparents of the following children : Magdalen M. ]\Ioran, T. Joseph Moran, and Gertrude E. Moran, deceased ; A. Mag- dalen Havden and Cathleen M. Havden. 354 BERKSHIRE COUNTY LEVI MORRIS HOLMES. Levi Morris Holmes, proprietor of the Berkshire Business Col- lege and leading instructor of the faculty (jf that important and pro- gressive educational institution, was born in Adams countv. Indiana. August II, 1864. His primary education was derived from the public schools of his native place, and this was supplemented bv a full course at the Normal University, Lebanon. Ohio. Added to this and in fur- ther jDreparation for his subsequent career as teacher, he pursued spe- cial studies at the Eastern Indiana, Central Indiana and Xorthern In- diana Normal schools, and also took the full course at Oberlin (Ohio) Business College. His inceptive work as teacher was in the public schools of Adams, Jay and Delaware counties. Indiana, and following this was for eight years principal of the business and elocution depart- ments in Central Indiana and Eastern Indiana Normal schools. For two years immediately prior to coming to New England, he was em- ploved as an expert accountant for indi'\'idual. companv and corporate interests. In 1897 he came to Massachusetts, and for one year was one of the instructors and in charge of the business department of Bliss Business College, North Adams. One year later, July. 1898. he purchased from Mr. A. S. Friese the Berkshire Business College. This institution is the development of a small school founded in Pittsfield in the '60s by a Mr. Carter, and was then known as Carter's Coiumercial School. Mr. Carter was succeeded by Benjamin Chick- ering, who changed its name to Chickering Commercial College, and upon the latter's demise it was conducted by his widow. She in turn sold it to one of her teachers, Miss Carrie Weaser, and her successors were Messrs. Shaw and Tang\^e. who changed the name of the insti- tution to that bv which it has ever since been known. Upon the de- BERKSHIRE COUNTY ?.55 cease of ^Nlr. Tangye, Mr. Friese. above named. ])iirchased the 1:)usiness from the siirvixing partner. ]Mr. Sliaw. who was conducting" a similar institution at XcM'th Adams. From the outset of Mr. Hohnes' man- agement the sphere of usefuhiess has been broadened by a constantly increasing patronage and an added demand for the services of its grad- uates, and has incidentall}' contrilnited in no small measure to the well deserved reputation of Berkshire county for superiority in her educa- tional resources. An interesting fact in connection with the work of the college is that fourteen of the graduates from one of its classes, that of T903, were added to the staff of office employes of one of Berk- shire countv's greatest manufacturing plants. The curriculum of the college includes thorough instruction in all of the studies essential to a complete business education, namely : The business course, short- hand and tvpewriting course and the Fngiish course. The first includes bookkeeping, double and single entry, lousiness forms, rapid calcula- tions, business arithmetic, business penmanship, business law. practical grammar, business practice, general office work, commercial paper, bank- ing, spelling and definitions and office customs. The second includes shorthand, spelling, penmanship, typewriting, punctuation, letter-press copying, business correspondence, business forms, practical office work, arrangement, filing letters, invoices, and court work. The third in- cludes arithmetic, grammar, reading-, spelling, penmanship, letter writ- ing, business forms and rajiid addition. These courses are distinct and separate. A student may take either the business or shorthand course, or combine the two. The Engiish course may be taken for itself or as a preparatorv to the others. ]\Ir. Holmes is of a quiet, unassuming, unpretentious disposition; careful in methods and habits and thoroughly aljve to the practical and modern ideas which enter into all the work under his charge. He is an earnest and firm believer in the power and 356 BERKSHIRE COUNTY success of individual efforts,, holding that great benefit is derived for both parties from the placing of good, well-prepared help with good, well-meaning employers — the right person in the right place meaning brilliant success for both. From the many young men and women who have gone out from his care and tuition into the active duties of business life in every avenue, making success for themselves and em- ployers, thus with his plan of solving the labor problem, Mr. Holmes derives the greatest pleasure in placing his energies and institution at the service of the business world. With these sterling qualifications and exalted methods of organizing and presenting a course of study for an active business life work it makes the environment of Berkshire Business College most fitting to inspire zeal, energy and higher business motives. Mr. Holmes was married November 8, 1888, to x\manda Merrill, daughter of J. S. Merrill, of Jay county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes have three children : Eva Beatrice, Arthur William and Clarence Merrill. They reside at 20 Wallace place, Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts, and are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Holmes is a member of the Indenendent Order of Odd Fellows. WILLIAM ANDREW FAHEY. Among the younger merchants of Pittsfield whose private enter- prise and public service have alike appealed to the favor of the citizens of the county seat, the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs may be appropriately mentioned. Born in Pittsfield, July 26, 1875, educated in the public schools of that city, and finding his initial and all subsequent employment there, he is essentially a home product. Early recognized by his political associates as a man to whom the duties and responsibilities of office could be safely entrusted, at the age of twenty- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 357 seven he was nominated by the Democratic party and elected to the State Legislature, and re-elected the following- year. He demonstrated the wisdom of his constituents l3y ser^■ing acceptably during the first year upon the Fisheries and Game, committee, and the second year upon the Mercantile Aft'airs committee. As a boy of fourteen \\'illiam A. Fahev entered the employ of J. H. & J. J. Enright, shoe merchants of Pittsfield, and continued with this firm up to September, 1905, having been promoted from time to time to increasingly responsible duties, until he was recognized as the leading salesman in the employ of the firm, buying as well as selling therefor, and thus gaining such general insight into the business as well equipped him for his entrance into the same line on his own account. At the date last mentioned ]\Ir. Fahey, in association with Mr. Francis A. Farrell, opened an admirably fitted ancT thoroughly well stocked retail shoe house in the IMerrill Block, on North street, an enter- prise which met with most gratifying success from the outset, and which gives promise of attaining a position second to none in that trade. Among the local organizations A\hich ha\'e had an especial interest for Mr. Fahey and for which his services have been valuable is the Retail Clerks' Protective Association, in aftiliation with the American Federation of Labor, Mr. Fahey serving one year as its president. He is also actively interested in the work of the Father Matthew Total Abstinence Society, a branch of the Diocesan Union, and has served as its president, is now (1905) treasurer of the society, and has served as delegate to all of the temperance conventions that ha^•e been held in the Springfield diocese for the past fifteen years. He is a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Pittsfield, of St. Joseph's church, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division No. 12. The parents of Mr. Fahey, Patrick and Anne (Hynes) Fahey, both 358 BERKSHIRE COUNTY of whom are deceased, were married in the ccuinty Gahvay, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1864, locating in Pittsfield, where he was for thirty years in the employ of the Boston and Albany railroad. Five ■oi the brothers of the late Patrick Fahey also came to Berkshire county, and three of these are still residents of Pittsfield, viz : John, Edward and Michael — John for thirty-four years also an employe of the Bos- ton and Albany railroad ; Michael, a memljer of the police force of Pittsfield; and Edward, employed in mercantile pursuits. ALMON EVERETT HALL. Almon E. Hall, of Williamstown, Massachusetts, is a representa- tive of one of the old New England families. His paternal grandfather was Loton Hall, a native of Enfield, Connecticut, who removed to Ver- mont and settled upon a farm in Halifax. He married Rhoda Nichols and they became the parents of four sons and five daughters. Obed Hall, son of Loton and Rhoda (Nichols) Hall, was born in Halifax, Vermont, October 12, 1821. He spent his boyhood days under the parental roof, while in the public schools he acquired his edu- cation. He taught school for several terms, learned and followed the trade of blacksmith and then entered mercantile life in Stamford, Ver- mont, but afterward turned his attention to the manufacture of lumber. He served for a time as town clerk and filled other local offices, taking an active part in the management of the town affairs and rendering capable services because of his patriotic and progressive spirit that de- sired first the welfare of his community. His fellow townsmen recog- nizing his worth and ability called him to still higher offices, and he acted as associate judge of Bennington county, also served as a dele- ofate to the constitutional convention, where he aided in framing the BERKSHIRE COUNTY 359 organic law of the state, and was also chosen as a representative to the general assembly of Vermont. He acted as superintendent of schools in his home town, and contributed to the material, political, intellectual and moral activities of the place. He served as class leader and steward of the Methodist Episcopal church for fifty years, and was superin- tendent of the Sunday school for thirty years. He died in Montpelier, Vermont. October 27, 1898. while attending the legislature as a mem- ber. His influence was ever given on the side of reform, right and progress, and he was known as one of the distinctly representative men of Bennington county, honored and respected by all with whom he was associated. Judge Hall married Miss Susan Everett, a native of Hali- fax, and a daughter of Jacob Everett, a prosperous farmer. Her grand- father was Dr. Jeremiah Everett, a physician of Westminster, Massa- chusetts, who served as a surgeon in the Patriot army during the Revo- lutionary war. He is descended from a common ancestor with Gov- ernor Edward Everett. Mrs. Hall, who survived her husband, made her home with her son, Almon E.. up to the time of her decease. Octo- ber 7, 1900. Of her children, the daughter. Adelia M., is the wife of Rev. Fayette Nichols, a Methodist minister belonging to the New Eng- land conference. Almon E. Hall, the elder of the children, was born in Stamford, Vermont, December 6. 1846, and was educated in the public schools of that town and at the Wesleyan Academy, at \\^ilbraham, Massachu- setts, subsequent to which tinie he entered the ^^'esleyan University of !Middletown. Connecticut, froui which institution he was graduated with the class of 1872. winning the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later lie received the degree of Master of Arts from the same institution. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, with which he became affiliated during his college days. After completing his course in the 360 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Boston University Theological School, he joined the New England Southern Conference in 1874 and was assigned to a church in Dighton, Massachusetts, the pulpit of which he had supplied during the previous 3'ear. A year later he took charge of St. Paul's church in Providence, Rhode Island, and afterward went to West Dennis, Massachusetts, where his labors were attended with gratifying results, but in 1878, owing to ill health, he was forced to relinquish the work of the min- istry and for the next few years was obliged to abstain from active labor. After a period of rest on the farm at Stamford he took charge of a grist mill and small store at Clarksburg, Massachusetts, where he remained for two years. In 1886 he purchased S. T. Mather's general store, which he enlarged and conducted until December, 1901. He then sold that property to Arthur G. Bratton, of Williamstown, and in November, 1901, he turned his attention to the manufacture of brushes under the firm name of the Hall-Hef¥erman Brush Company, at 46 Lincoln street, North Adams. The firm manufactures power rotary brushes which are used in cotton mills, print works, shoe and brass factories, and for general polishing. Mr. Hall is president of the Will- iamstown Savings Bank, of which he has been a trustee since its incor- poration. During the summer of 1904 he was elected to the former office to fill out the unexpired term of Dr. John Bascom, who retired on account of ill health, and in November of the same year was regularly elected president for a full term. He is thus actively identified with the financial interests in Williamstown, as well as with the productive industries of northern Berkshire. As his moneyed resources have in- creased with his success in business he has invested quite largely in real estate, having developed a tract of land and laid out Hall and Maple streets, Windsor. He has erected several dwellings on this and other property in the town. Aside from his business interests BERKSHIRE COUNTY 361 Mr. Hall .has contributed in large measure to various activities of W'ill- iamstown. He is a Republican in his politics, active in the work of the party and has been a delegate to various Republican conventions. He takes a special interest in educational matters, assisting materially in improving the public schools of Stamford, Vermont, and is also chair- man of the committee that erected the \Villiamstown high school ; while as a member of the school board he rendered signal service in advanc- ing the standard of public education. He was postmaster of Williams- town station from the time the office was opened in 1889 until 1896, when he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature and his son succeeded the father as postmaster. In 1897 Mr. Hall was re- elected to the general assembly, and during the two years he spent in the house was active on the floor and in the committee rooms. He served on the ways and means committee, the liquor law commission, and was clerk of the committee on education. He assisted in passing an act requiring all liquors carried by express companies from license to no license towns to be properly labeled and a record kept of same. He was also instrumental in securing the passage of the Greylock Park bill, in securing" the North Adams Normal School appropriation, and in passing the law for the further protection of song birds. He also assisted in defeating a bill to exempt college property from further taxation. On April 2, 1874, Almon E. Hall was married to Caroline E. Beard, of Dighton, Massachusetts, a daughter of Captain Elisha D. Beard. He has two children, Damon Everett Hall, who won the de- gree of Bachelor of Arts upon his graduation from Williams College with the class of 1897, and who, having studied law at the Boston Uni- versity Law School, w^as admitted to the bar and is now with the law firm of Hurllnn-t, Tones & Cabot in Boston. He married Miss Isabel 362 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Leig-hton, in October. 1902. a daughter of John Leig"hton, of Somer- vihe, Massachusetts. EHzabeth M. Hall is at home with her parents. The family reside at Williamstown, where they are prominent socially. Fraternally Mr. Hall is a Royal Arch ]\Iason and also one of the Sons of the American Revolution. Controlling- extensive business interests, his efforts along- public lines have at the same time been far-reaching and beneficial and he is to-day honored and respected throughout the state. His efficient labors on behalf of the public good have won for him general recognition. FRANKLIN BURT COOK. Although alien to Berkshire countv the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this article has l:)een for so long a period identified with one or other of its important interests as to have long since been accepted as a son of its soil, his general education ha\'ing been com- pleted at Hinsdale and a ^•ery large share of his luisiness carreer having been within the borders of the county. He was born in Chester, Hampden county, Massachusetts, March 16, 1835, son of the late John J. and Lucy S. (Taylor) Cook, also na- tives of Chester and descendants of early English settlers of New Eng- land. l"he late John J. Cook was a son of Parley Cook, a Guilford, Con- necticut, farmer, who settled in Chester toward the close of the eighteenth century. His wife was Lovina Burt, whose father was a soldier in the patriot army during the Revolutionary war. The late John J. Cook, born July 13, 1806, owned and operated a small cotton mill at North Chester, where he was also engaged in other manufacturing. He died in March, 1890. m- c?^.<^.^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY 363 John J. and Lucy S. (Taylor) Cook had three children, a son (the immediate subject of this sketch) and two daughters, Marion L. and Anna E. Cook, both deceased, the former dying in July, 1887, the latter in April, 1884. Franklin Burt Cook received his initial schooling in North Ches- ter and attended Hinsdale Academy for one year, during the latter period being a member of the family of the late Charles H. IMunkett, whose \vife, N^ancy (Taylor) Plunkett, was a maternal aunt of the young student. His schooling finished he returned to Chester, where he remained in his father's employ until 1855. when he returned to Hinsdale to enter the service of Charles H. Plunkett, in the latter's general store at that place, acting latterly as manager of the business. Upon the latter's de- cease five years later Mr. Cook and Amory E. Taylvir ]nu-chased the store in (juestion and continued its successful conduct in ])artnershi]:) association under the firm name of F. B. Cook & Com])an\', up to April I, 1864, when Mr. Cook sold his interest therein to his partner. The following year he entered the employ of Hayden, Gere & Com- pany, water faucet, gas and steam valve manufacturers, of \\'illiams- burg, ^Massachusetts. Three years later the firm located a l)ranc]i plant at S])ringfiel(l and the com])any was incorporated, Mr. Cook purchasing stock therein and being installed a.s manager and treasurer of the Spring- field branch, which was operated under the name of the E. Stebbins Company. In 'iS/^ Mr. Cook, in connection with Mr. A\'. A. Tavlor, purchased the remainder of the stock of the company not owned In- Mr. Cook, and operated the ])lant in partnership association u]) to its destruction 1)v fire in 1875. Additional capital was then secured and a new plant built 3fi4 BERKSHIRE COUNTY and operated at Brightwood, Mr. Cook selling his interest therein in 1879. The following" year, having- returned to Hinsdale, he re-established himself in general merchandising and continued to he thus engaged until 1894. A period of rest and recuperation was followed in 1896-7 by his charge of the Albany ofifice of L. M. Payne, General Agent New Eng- land ]\Iutual Life Insurance Company. In 1898 he was appointed to office, of which he is incumbent, deputy collector of internal revenue for the Ninth Division Massachusetts. Mr. Cook's name is a synonym for uncompromising integrity, and his friends are onh' limited by the number of his acquaintances. He married, June 8. 1870-, Aurelia W., daughter of Charles H. and Mary Granger of Saco, Maine. One child born of this union died in infancy; Mrs. Cook died April 7, 1871. Mr. Cook is a member of Hinsdale Congregational Church and was its treasurer for a number of years. He was one of the founders and for eight years treasurer and general manager of Hinsdale Co-operative Creamerv Company. ORLANDO CURTIS BIDWELL. The legal profession of Berkshire county has an able and active representative in Orlando Curtis Bidwell, of Great Barrington. Mr. Bidwell belongs to a family which was founded in America by Thomas Bidwell, W'ho came to and located at Hartford, Connecticut. His son, the Rev. Adonijah Bidwell, came thence in 1749 to w^estern Massa- chusetts, locating in Tyringham, then known as towmship No. i, and soon became conspicuous in that section of Tyringham w'hich now con- stitutes the town of Monterey. He was a man of property and pastor of the first Congregational church in that vicinity. His son and name- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 365 sake, Adonijah Bichvell. great-grandfather of Orlando C. Bidwell, was a farmer. Another of the sons of Rev. Adonijah Bidwell, while a resi- dent of Stockhridge, served as one of the early treasnrers of Berkshire county and also as attorney-general of Massachusetts. Adonijah Bid- well (2) had a son, Barnabas Bidwell, who also followed agricultural pursuits. Marshall S. Bidwell, son of Barnabas Bidwell. was the largest landowner in the town of Monterey, using his estate as a stock farm and raising great numbers of horses and cattle. He took a prominent part in public affairs, served several vears as chairman of the board of selectmen, and represented his town in 1881 in the state legislature. He was one of the trustees of Hampton Institute, Virginia. In re- ligious matters he adhered Xo the Congregational denomination, and was one of the trustees of the church of which he was an active mem- ber. He married Sophia P., daughter of John D. Bidwell, a farmer, and they were the parents of two sons : William S., who resides at Monterey, Massachusetts ; and Orlando Curtis, mentioned at length hereinafter. Mrs. Bidwell died in 1901, and the death of Mr. Bidwell occurred in July, 1902. Orlando Curtis Bidwell, son of Marshall S. and Sophia P. (Bid- well) Bidwell, was born ]\Iarch 17, 1862, in Monterey, Massachusetts, and received his preparatxiry education at the Lehigh school. He then entered Williams College, from which he was graduated in 1886. Choosing to devote himself to the profession of the law. he began its study under the preceptorship of Judge Seymour Dexter, at Elmira, New York, and in 1889 was admitted to the bar. In 1890 he settled in Great Barrington, where he has since remained and where he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession, in which he has secured for himself an honoral)le standing both for legal penetration 366 BERKSHIRE COUNTY and fair-minded dealing. He also negotiates transactions in insurance and real estate. He is a member and chairman of the prudential com- mittee of the fire district and a member of the school committee. He is a member of the Library Association, in which he holds the office of clerk. Since 1895 he has been treasurer of the Housatonic Agricultural Society, and since 1900 one of the trustees of Great Barrington and a member of the in\'estment committee and attorney for the Great Bar- rington Savings Bank. He is a member of Cincinnatus Lodge. F. & A. M.. and Alonument Chapter. R. A. ]\L. and has served as district deputy grand master of the Fifteenth Masonic District of ALissachu- setts. He is a Republican politically and a member of the Congrega- tional church. He married, in 1891. Helen B.. daughter of Rev. Henry M. Higiey. a Congregational minister of Salamanca. New York. Mr. and Mrs. Bidwell ha^-e four children : Margaret. ]Marshall. Gertrude and Helen. Both i\Ir. and Mrs. Bidwell are active in church work. \MLLL\M J. DE VALL. A machinist of exceptional ability, a merchant of enterprise and a citizen of excellent renute is he whose name is the title of this narrative. He was born in Ldster county, New York, June 22. 1848, son of the late \\^illiam and Hannah (Purdy) De Vail, also natives of Ulster county, the former of French, the latter of Dutch lineage. George De Vail, the grandfather of the late \\'illiam De Vail, emi- grated from France and came to the .\merican colonies some years prior to the \\'ar of the Revolution, locating in Ulster county. New York, where he juuxhased and cultivated a farm. Of his children, John De Vail succeeded to the homestead farm, married Betsey Longyer and reared a laree familv of children, of whom the second in order of birth £^. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 307 was William De Vail, born 1786. He, too. tilled the soil of a farm in Ulster county, purchased for him li}- his father, and to this he added to his holdings other adjoining farming" lands until he had become the lead- ing' realt^• owner in the valley which earl)- Ijecame and is still known as De Vail Hollow. He was a leading man in community affairs and held various local otiices. He met his death in 1859 through being thrown by a restive young" horse. Of his children, \\'illiam J. De Vail received a public school education and as a young" man was employed in the freight carrying business on the Hudson river. He suh-sequently found employ- ment in the mills of the A. T. Stewart Company, at Catskill, Xew York, where he served as overseer in the shawl niaking plant and incidental to this — being' of a decided mechanical turn of mind — acquired a very thorough knowledge of sewing machine construction. Through this his services were sought in 1883 bv John L. Bradv, then agent at Pittsfield for the Singer Sewing Machine Companv, and for two years Mr. De A-'all assisted Mr. Brad}- in hoth the sales and re- pair departments of his estal)lishment. In 1885, upon the recommendation of Mr. Bradv, Mr. De Avail's ser^■ices were secured for the charge of the numerous Singer machines in the D. ^[. Collins Company's Knitting Mills at Pittsfield, an associa- tion which was maintained to the mutual satisfaction and profit of em- ployers and employed up to 1896. In the latter year, when the merits of the then new safety bicycles were the sulqect of press and general comment, ^Ir. De Y'aW, helieving" that there was a promising future for that industry, established himself in a Ijicyclc salesroom and repair shop on Bank Row, Pittsfield, remaining in that exclusive business at the lo- cation named until 1900. By this time the automohile had usurped the first place in popular favor at the expense of the bicycle, and Mr. De Wall decided uix>n engaging in mercantile pursuits in conjunction with the 368 BERKSHIRE COUNTY old business. He consequently removed the latter to the rear of zyy North street, stocking the large store — the front of the premises nameu — with miscellaneous merchandise, having as specialties news, maga- zine, stationery and phonograph departments. He also established a cir- culating library, the institution of its kind of the county seat. He married, Januai^ 23, 186S, Mary, daughter of the late John Van Steenberg, a farmer of Delaware county. New York, of Holland extraction. Two daughters born of this marriage are Barbara, wife of Charles Linberg, patternmaker for E. D. Jones Sons' Company, and Georgianna De Vall. The family residence is 265 West street and its members belong to^ the Methodist Episcopal church, Pittsfield. GEORGE BROWNING. The Browning family are of English descent, and first settled in this country in what is now the state of Rhode Island. Ephraim Browning, of Charleston, Rhode Island, the founder of the family in America, and Rebecca Clark, of South Kingston, Rhode Island, were married on March i, 1787. and were the parents of the family of children who settled in this section of the country. Their children were: Gideon C, born in 1788; Rebecca, born in 1792; Charles, born in 1795; Betsey, born in 1797; Matilda, born in 1799; John C. born in 1801 ; Anson, born in 1804; and Horace Browning, born December 31, 1808, married, December 31, 1834, Catherine R. ^^'e^ls, of Rowe. Massachusetts, and this mar- riage united the most prominent family of the neighboring county of Franklin and the Brow^iing family of this vicinity. They made their home in Rowe. Massachusetts, and were the parents of the following named children: Noah Wells, born March 15. 1836: Sarah Reid, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 369 born April 3, 1838, became the wife of Pratt Stone, and they reside in Florence, Alabama; Frederic, born Julv 11. 1840, and his death oc- cnricd in New Orleans in 1869; Arthur, born January 6, 1843, died at Rowe in 1882; Catherine W., born February 15, 1846, became the wife of Dr. D. \\\ Deane, of \\'ashington, D. C. ; George, born July 6, 1848, mentioned hereinafter; John W., born February 24, 1851, is married, and resides with his family in Washington, D. C. ; Helen, born November 2, 1853, died at the age of four years. George Browning, of Dalton, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, was born July 6, 1848, at Rowe, Massachusetts, and spent the first nine years of his life there. He attended the public schools of the town, which was then an enterprising village, in which his grandfather oper- ated a mill and his father was a manufacturer of wooden planes such as carpenters use. George spent four years of his life in Deerfield, where he attended school, and at the age of thirteen years he went to live W'ith John ^^'ells, late judge of the Massachusetts supreme bench, in Chicopee, Massachusetts. For two years he was ai) employe of the First National Bank of Chicopee. When only seventeen years of age he formed a partnership with D. C. Colby in the harness business in Holyoke, and this is the trade he has followed more or less ever since. On account of impaired health he has tried to secure lighter work, but each time has been compelled to relinquish his position. He was clerk in the patent office in Washington, D. C, for a short period of time; traveled for \\'. l'. Lyht, a whip manufacturer of Westfield, Massa- chusetts; in 1872 he settled in Cheshire, buying out the shop of W. R. Scrivens, which he conducted for nine years, and it is now occupied by the postoffice ; for a number of years he managed a branch store for a large Waterbury concern at Thompston, Connecticut; in 1886 he re- turned to Cheshire, resided there until 189 1, during which time he was 370 BERKSHIRE COUNTY in poor health, and in 1892 built a home in Dalton. where he has since resided. February 18, 1873, Mr. Browning- married Imogene Bryant, born September i, 1852, a daughter of James and Jennette (Ryder) Bryant, of Cheshire, Massachusetts. Their children are : Imogene Bry- ant, born March T2, 1875, died in infancy; Julian, born July 23. 1877, deceased; Roy, born December 23, 1880; and Robert Wells, born June 8, 1884. The two boys reside with their parents on John street, Dalton. Massachusetts. EARLE GREY BALDWIN. The gentleman whose name introduces this narrative was principal of the high school of Pittsfield from 1877 to 1881, and is accredited with having rendered as ei^cient service in that capacity as any of the edu- cators who had preceded or have succeeded him. Immediately following his retirement from the principalship named he established a preparatory school, the Wendell Hall School, which was successfully conducted for several years. Earle G. Baldwin was a native of Coventry, Orleans county, Ver- mont, born December 9, 1847, son of John and Emeline (Tlirasher) Baldwin, the former a native of Westminster, the latter of Coventry, Vermont, and both descendants of early English settlers of New Eng- land. The late John Baldwin was a Baptist preacher whose ministerial serA'ices, covering more than a quarter of a century, were given to various charges in the state of his nativity. He was born in 1808, married in earlv manhood and died in 1875. Of his children, Earle Grey Baldwin received a liberal general education, which was completed at Amherst College in 1871. Immediately thereafter his services were sought for the position of principal of the high school at Norwalk, Connecticut, Avhence he went to Palmer, Massachusetts, to occupy a similar position ^,e.-^£^-^ ^ BERKSHIRE COUNTY ;^.71 for the following- year. In 1877 he accepted the Pittsfield position as above mentioned. Since the close of his school connection Mr. Baldwin lias been \-ariously engaged in journalistic work, for four years of the period publishing a Lenox society paper, Lenox Life. He ser\'ed as president of the Berkshire County Teachers' Association in 1879 and 1880, and during this time a number oi the most distinguished edu- cators of the period lectured before that body. He married in 1872, at Amherst. Margaret E.. daughter of Rev. Pliny H. AMiite, a former Congregational minister of Coventry. Rev. White was widely and favorably kno\\ n in Vermont as one of the most able and brilliant pulpit orators, a trenchant, forceful writer, and with an especially wide range of historical knowledge. For some years prior to his decease he was president of the A'ermont Historical Society, and it was during his incumbency of that ofhce that some of the most valuable accjuisitions to its archives were secured. Mrs. Margaret E. (White) Baldwin is registrar of Peace Party Chapter, Daughters American Rev- olution, of Pittsfield. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin have two children: William Earle Baldwin, one of the proprietors of the New York weekly magazine known as "zA.utomoliile Topics." He married Edith Brigham, a young lady of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The second child, Winifred May Balchvin, is an operatic sing'er with a mezzo-soprano \'oice, now (1905) under engagement with that well-known impresario, Henry \\\ Savage. The famil}- reside at 66 Pomeroy avenue and attend the First Congregational church. 372 BERKSHIRE COUNTY MARTIN M. BROWN, M. D. This successful medical practitioner and prominent citizen of North Adams is of early New England origin on both sides, being a lineal descendant in the ninth generation of Chad Browne, through Daniel, Jabez, William, Eleazar, Jonas, Harvey and Russell D. Brown. He is also descended, directly and collaterally, from several of the Mayflower Pil- grims, namely : Governor William Bradford, through William, Will- iam, William, Israel, Abner, Elisha and Susanna, who married Jonas Browne; Richard Warren, Elder William Brewster, John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, througli their daughter Elizabeth, who married Will- iam Pabodie, and her daughter Ruth, Edward Dotey, George Soule, Jolm Howlanci and J'jhn Tilley. The Elearnden, White, Scott, Jencks, Ballard, Smith, Angell, Mowry, Inman, Cook, Thompson, Reed, Por- ter, Bartlett, Delano, Peterson, Edson, and Bennett families were also among his ancestral connections. Daniel Brown, son of Chad Browne, married Alice Hearnden, daughter of Benjamin Hearnden. Martin M. Brown, M. D., son of Russell D. Brown, was born in Jacksonville, Windham county, Vermont, July 13, 1863, son of Russell D'. and Eliza (Millard) Brown. His grandparents were Harvey and Lucinda (Fuller) Brown, the former of whom was born December 8, 1801, and his wife was born August 14, 1808. Both were natives and life long residents of Vermont, belonging to early settled families of that state. Harvey Brown was one of the prosperous farmers and prominent residents of Jacksonville in his day, having sensed upon the board of selectmen, represented his district in the legislature and acted as a justice of the peace. His death occurred February. 1873, and his wife, whom he married in 1827, died July 8, 1882. They were the parents of eight chiklren. namely: Philo Harvey, born January 16, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 373 1829, died November 29, 1856; Horton Lewis, born September 12, 1830; Elliott Al'vin and Alma Eleanor, twins, who were born August 16, 1832; Russell D., whose birth will be recorded presently; Frederick P., born March 31, 1840, died January 14, 1887; Nancy A., born Febru- ary 28, 1842; and Orland J., born February 2, 1848. Philo H. Brown married Lucy Sophia Dairy mple, who is no longer living. Horton Lewis Brown, who is now an extensive produce merchant in Chicago, Illinois, married Cassendana L. Hicks. Elliott A. Brown, who is residing in Jacksonville, Vermont, married Mary Hamilton. Alma E. is now the widow of Charles Franklin Griihn, of Halifax, Vermont. Fred- erick P. Brown married Ella Preston. Nancy A. is the wife of William M. Sanford, of Stamford, Vermont. Orland J. Brown is now a leading physician and surgeon of North Adams. Ru=sell D. BroAN'n. the father of Dr. Martin M. Brown, was born in Jacksonville, AugusL 18, 1835. Having acquired a good education he taught in the district schools of his native town for some time dur- ing the winter season, but with this exception the active period of his life has been devoted to agriculture, in vvhich he has realized excellent results. In 1899 he retired from the activities of life and is now re- siding in North Adams. He was married in Clarksburg, Massachusetts, August 28, 1862, to Miss Eliza C. Millard, a native of Stamford, Ver- mont. The children of this union are : Martin M., M. D., the principal subject of this sketch ; Eugene Henr}-, born April 9, 1865, married Angle Bishop; Edgar Russell, born March 10, 1870, married Flelen Miner, of New Haven. Vermont; Eflie Loretta, born August 31, 1871, is now the wife of Burton B. Fitch, of North Adams; and Rufus Leslie, born May 24, 1877, also a resident of that city. Having studied preliminarily in the district schools of Jacksonville, Martin M. Brown went to Chicago when sixteen years old and was em- 374 BERKSHIRE COUNTY ployed in his uncle's store. At the expiration of two years he returned to New England for the purpose of preparing himself for a professional life, and took up the preliminary study of medicine under the direction of his uncle, Dr. Orland J. Brown, of North Adams, at the same time attending the high school in that city, from which he was graduated in 1886. He immediately entered the Rush Medical College, Chicago, wdiere he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine two years later, and was at once appointed house physician and surgeon to the Chicago Pres- byterian Hospital. Resigning that post a year later to accept one of a similar character in the Cook County Hospital, he served that institu- tion with marked efficiency for one year, at the end of which time he resigned and for the succeeding fifteen months served as surgeon to the Union Hospital at Ironwood, Michigan. In 1891 he returned to North Adams, where he has ever since practiced his profession with gratifying success, and his ability as a general practitioner has obtained wide-spread recognition. Although practicing with equal skill both medicine and surgery he has a decided preference for the last named branch of his profession, and is now serving as visiting surgeon to the North Adams Hospital. Dr. Brown is quite active in civic affairs, especiallv in mat- ters relative to public education, and has served two terms upon the school board, a portion of that time as its chairman. He is a member of the Massachusetts State, the Berkshire District, the North Berkshire and the Union Medical Societies, having served as president of the two county organizations, and in addition to tlie above he affiliates with Lafayette Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Composite Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; St. Paul's Commandery, Knight Templars, of North Adams, and Melha Temple, Ancient and Accei)ted Nobles of the Order of the Mystic Shrine, of Springfield. He is also a member of Onega Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Wells Encampment, and BERKSHIRE COUNTY ' 375 of Oiympian Lodge, Knights of Pythias. Aside from his endeavors to safeguard as far as possible the health of the community, he is act- ively interested in its moral and religious welfare as well, being a leading member of the Universalist church, and for the past twelve years he has served upon its executive board, and as superintendent of its Sunday school. On June 3, 1893, Dr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Mary L. Blakeslee, daughter of Lorenzo S. and Lestina (Bemis) Blakeslee. They have had two sons, Lawrence and Orland B., neither of whom are now li\'ing. HON. HENRY LAURENS DAWES. Henry Laurens Dawes was born at Cummington, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, October 13, 18 16. His family is a branch of that of the same name which is distinguislied in politics and literature in eastern Massachusetts. He graduated at Yale University in the class of 1839. While a student at law he taught school and edited the Green- field Gazette. He was admitted to the bar in 1842, and commenced prac- tice at North Adams, where, for a time, he edited the Transcript. He also represented the town in the legislatures of 1848, 1849 '^'^'^^ 1852, and in the constitutional convention of 1853. In 1850 he was elected to the state senate. From 1853 until 1857 he was district attorney for the western district of Massachusetts. In 1857, there being a xtxy decisive contest pending regarding the future status of political parties, Mr. Dawes, being the exponent of Republican principles in the westernmost district of Massachusetts, was chosen by a large majority over the Dem- ocratic and American candidates. And he represented this district until 1874, when he declined a renomination. In the following session of the legislature he was chosen a senator of the United States, and served in 87r. BERKSHIRE COUNTY that capacity for many years. Upon the expiration of his last term he dechned re-election, and Henry Cabot Lodge was his successor. Hon. Henry L. Dawes was for many years a citizen of Pittsfield, Massachu- setts. His death occurred February 5, 1903. GEORGE FRANKLIN MILLER. George Franklin Miller, whose business activity, extensive con- nections with fraternal interest and efficient labor in behalf of public good ha^^e brought him a general recognition in North Adams and west- ern Massachusetts, was born in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer county, New York, January 16, 1847. His father, Joseph Miller, the carriage manu- facturer of Greenwich, New York, resided at that place for seventy years, a period exceeding that of any other inhabitant, and died there in the spring of 1905. George F. Miller accjuired his preliminary education in the schools of his native town, and subsequently attended Union Village Academy, Greenwich, of which institution Chester Arthur was also a pupil. He arrived in North Adams in 1867, when a young man of twenty years, and here received the appointment of internal revenue collector, acting in that capacity for three years, on the expiration of which period he became bookkeeper for Mr. Walden, one of the selectmen of the old town. Later he turned his attention to the line of insurance, conduct- ing a general fire insurance business on Main street from 1867 to 1878, and since then in the Burhngame Block. In public affairs he has con- tinued prominent, serving as treasurer of the North Adams fire district for five years, while for eleven years he was chairman of the board of assessors. Mr. Miller is identified with various fraternal organizations. He belongs to Grevlcck Lodge A. F. & A. M. ; Composite Chapter, R. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 3TT A. M. : St. Paul Commanclerv, K. T. ; and is chairman of the board of trustees of the Masonic Hall. He has held office of district deputy grand high priest of Berkshire county, and was one of the charter mem- bers of his lodge, chapter, aiid commandery, while of the chapter he is a past master, past high ]iriest and past commander. He is in thorough sympathy with the work, the tenets and teachings of the order, and in him is exemplified the beneficent spirit of th.e craft. Mr. Miller was married to Miss Idella Adams, a daughter of Jasper Hyde Adams, who was a prominent and highh' respected business man of North Adams and was a descendant in the eighthi generation of Henry Adams, of Brain- tree, ]\Iassachusetts. ]NJr. and ]\Irs. Miller had two children, Harry A., and Elsie, but the son died in his twenty-fourth year. He was a grad- uate of Amherst College, and following the completion of his education joined his father in business, but died very suddenl}- about a year later. GEORGE COFFIN HUBBEL. A conscientious and skillful dental practitioner and a good citizen is he whose name introduces this sketch. He was born June i, 1870, in Hudson, New York, son of Edgar G. and Josephine (Groat) Hub- bel, both natives of Hudson and respectively of English and French descent. Edgar G. Hubbel, a former resident of Pittsfield, and for sixteen years librarian of the Athenaeum, is now a resident of New Haven, Connecticut, where he represents the New York Mutual Life Insurance Comi)any as special agent. Mr. Hubbel served in the civil war as second lieutenant in the One Hundred and Fift}-ninth New York, the famous regiment known as " Molineux Bears." George Coffi.n Hubbel was graduated from Pittsfiield's high school, class of '87, then entering the dental deitartmcnt of the University of 37S BERKSHIRE COUNTY Pennsylvania, subsequently attending and being graduated from Phila- delphia Dental College, class of '90. The first year of his practice was spent in Bristol, Connecticut, following which he was engaged in prac- tice at Torrington, Connecticut, up to 1895, when failing health mani- fest in pulmonary weakness, caused by too close application to a large and growing practice, necessitated his temporary withdrawal from his profession. Two years of out-door life and exercise, spent largely in Florida, restored him to gox3d health, and in 1897 '""e returned to Pitts- field, resuming his dental practice, in which he has continued to be suc- cessfully engaged. He is a member of the Massachusetts and Western District Dental Societies; the Berkshire Automobile Club, and Pitts- field Rod and Gun Club, being secretary and treasurer of the last named organization. A trophy belonging to Dr. Hubbel, of which he is justly proud, is the stuffed skin of a nine pound and two ounce black bass taken by him, the largest fish of its kind that has ever been caught in Berkshire county. Dr. Hubbel married, October 5, 1892, Love Le- Baron, daughter of Hon. John H. Manning (see sketch, this work). Dr. and Mrs. Hubbel have two children : Huelat Newton and Grace Josephine Hubbel. The family reside at 104 Elizabeth street, and attend St. Stephen's Episcopal church. SALMON BURLINGAME. Salmon Burlingame, at one time a prominent husiness man of North Adams and a prominent representative of the manufacturing in- terests, was a native of Rhode Island, his birth having occurred in Scituate, February 11, 1800. He was the son of Cyrus and Mercy (Salisbury) Burlingame. When a youth of twelve years his parents, with their six children, came to North Adams. Massachusetts. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 379 At the age of seventeen Salmon Bnrlingame went to Pownal, Vermont, where he entered upon a two years' apprenticeship with Mr. Artemas Crittenden, in order to learn the trade of making- satinet. When he had completed his term of indenture he returned to North Adams. In 1826, in connection with Mr. Crittenden, he built a mill on the present site of the Miner school at the "Union." Here they conducted business until 1829, when he sold out. He afterward occupied a mill owned at the time by Turner and Laflin, subsecjuently the Gould mill, situated on the river bank between the Eagle mill and Union street. Here he manufactured woolen g^oods, principallv satinets, and was con- ducting a prosperous business when the year 1837 invoh'ed the country in a disastrous financial panic, and Mr. Bnrlingame, together with many others, met with serious business re\erses. The failure of others caused his own failure. All which he had invested, together with the manufac- tured products of the business, was lost, and he was left almost penni- less. There was also the burden of a large indeijtedness still upon him, but years afterward he discharg-ed this to the full extent, paying- both principal and interest. It became the one great object of his life, and although there was no legal obligation that he should follow this course, he found it to be a moral duty, and was not content until he had fully recompensed every one to whom he was indebted. Following the fail- ure of his business as a woolen manufacturer he started out again in life, the second time without capital. He was resolute and determined, how- ever, and this pro\e(l the basis of the success which came to him in later years. In 1839 he purchased the drug store of Dr. E. Norman, which was kept in a building" belonging to Captain Edward Richmond on Main street, and for eight years conducted this mercantile enterprise alone. In 1847 Mr. G. W. Bradford was admitted lo ]>artnershi|), and at the same time, he ha\ing bought the real estate of ]\Ir. Richnmnd. erected on 3S0 BERKSHIRE COUNTY the same site a laroe three-story brick biiildinsf known as the New Brad- ford block, in tlie lower story of which their business was located. They dealt in drugs and medicines, hardware, mill supplies and building- ma- terials. In 1850 Addison J. Ray purchased Mr. Bradford's interest and became one of the proprietors, under the firm name of Burlingame & Ray. At this time the store was removed to a building owned by E. Southwick on the opposite side of the street. A fire in 185 1 nearly de- stroyed the establishment. Burlingame & Ray then purchased the prop- erty, also an adjoining building, and replaced the wooden structure with a three-story brick block. In 1868, when Mr. Ray sold his interest in the company, Mr. Burlingame became sole proprietor of the real estate, and George M. Darby a partner in the Imsiness. Later W. F. Darbv be- came a member of the firm, which has since been known as Burlingame & Darby. September iS, 1822, Mr. Burlingame was married to Miss Sophia Darby, a daughter of Joseph Darby, who was one of the early settle of North Adams. They had one son and four daughters. The son died in infancy, Julia in 1877. and Fannie in 1903, the others, Phebe and Cynthia, are still living. The last named became the wife of W. H. Dumville in 1867. The death of Mr. Burlingame occurred in 1882. Almost fifty years before that time he had joined the Baptist church of North Adams and remained a worthy member there until his death. For twenty-one years he served as church treasurer and was always active and helpful in the church work. In matters of citizenship he was patriotic and progressive, served as selectman for se^'eral terms, twice represented the town of North Adams in the general court and was also one of the state valuation committee. He was a trustee and vice president of the North Adams Savings Bank and treasurer of the Hoosac Vallev Agricultural Societv- He was a most conscientious man, true to BERKSHIRE COUNTY 381 every trust reposed in him and every obligation that devolved upon him, and his course was so straightforward and honorable that he left to his family an untarnished name. F. W. WHITLOCK. Among those who found among the Berkshire hills a place of rest- ful retirement after the cares and excitements of business, was F. W. Whitlock, of Great Barrington. Mr. W'hitlock belonged to an old New York family, the male members of which have been for genera- tions merchants and sailing masters. His grandfather and great-uncle saw service in the war of 1812. AI. Ludlow A\'hitlock was a man of great enterprise and was re- markably successful in his undertakings. He organized the first line of clipper ships which crossed the Atlantic. He took an active part in public affairs, and about 1868 was a candidate for the legislature. In 1857 he retired from business and in 1859 came to reside in Berkshire county. He married Lucy A., daughter of Thomas J. Chew, an officer in the United States Navy, and of the four children born to them only one is now living, F. W'., mentioned at length hereinafter. The death of ]\Ir. Whitlock occurred in 1887, and his wife passed away in 1890. F. W. W'hitlock, son of M. Ludlow and Lucy (Chew) \\'hitIock, was born December 19, 1849, "'' Havre, h'rance, and received his early education under a private tutor, by whom he was prepared to enter Trinity College, Hartford. He afterward studied at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Listitute in Tnjy, New ^'ork, and in 1872 entered upon the active practice of his ])rofession as a ci\il engineer. From tliat year until 1878 he was assistant at the IJoston water-works. He as- sisted in the C(_)nstruction of the New \ovV and Brooklxn bridge and 882 BERKSHIRE COUNTY the Metropolitan ele\'ated railroad. For ten years he filled the position of assistant city engineer at Waterbury, Connecticut. Mr. Whitlock was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Con- necticut Association of Civil Engineers and Surveyors, in which for three ^'ears he held the oftice of secretary, the Masonic order, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. W'diitlock died September i8. 1904. Mr. Whitlock married Zella A., daughter of Rollins A. Kempton, who died October 23, 1896, and they had one child, Pauline \\\, who is the wife of Leon A. Goodsell. THOMAS ENRIGHT. Ever since the birth of the greatest of republics the tide of emigra- tion from the Emerald Isle has been toward its shores. And these Celtic settlers have furnished in all communities throughout the United States men who have pro^'ed ^•aluable factors in their development. Their stout hearts, strong' and willing hands and natural business acumen have been everywhere in evidence. Among the number of these in Berkshire county was the gentleman whose name introduces these memoirs. He was born September 9, 1827, in the town of Glin. county Lim- erick, Ireland, where he recei^•ed a rudimentary education and mastered shoe-making, and with this trade as his sole capital embarked in 1847 for America, temporarily locating in Albany, New York. The following year (1848) he came to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and found immediate employment with the Weller Brothers, John and P'rederick, who then practically monopolized the making of boots and shoes in Pittsfield. This connection continued a period of ten years, when, with money saved from his wages and an ample fund of ex- c/-iy^yLacbruarv 16. 1822. died October 14, 1889. Their children are: i. Edith. Ixirn August 7. 1859. who became the wife of Gideon Iv. Ferr\'. of Becket, Massa- chusetts, and their children are: Amos Smith. Walter A., and Julia C. Ferrv; tbev make their home on the site of the old Amos Smith 39U BERKSHIRE COUNTY house on North street, Dalton. 2. Belle Lambdin, born May 13, 1863; she is unmarried and is one of the enterprising women of the state. Her father died in 1893, and left a large number of acres of valuable timber land. She purchased her sister's share and proceeded to conduct a sawmill, the cutting and sawing of the timber being performed under her own supervision. The lumber being sold for building purposes in Dalton and Pittsfield. She has been very successful in her undertaking. MORTIMER T. CAVANAUGH, M. D. One of the well-known physicians of Berkshire county is Dr. Mor- timer T. Cavanaugh of Great Barrington. Dr. Cavanaugh is of Irish parentage. He is the son of Thomas J. Cavanaugh, who was a native of county Clare, Ireland, and in 1865 emigrated to the United States, landing in New York. He subseciuently moved to Hartford, Connecti- cut, where he followed his trade, which was that of a blacksmith. In 1867 he established himself in the general blacksmithing and wagon- making business at North Adams, Massachusetts. He was for a num- ber of years proprietor of the American House at North Adams and con- ducted the establishment successfully until his retirement in 1893. He married Margaret Kehoe, and of the eight children born to them six are now living, among them being Mortimer T., mentioned at length hereinafter. Mrs. Cavanaugh, the mother of these children, died April 20, 1903, sincerely mourned by her family and friends. Mr. Cavanaugh, the father, is still living, esteemed by all who know him as a man whose success is the result not only of ability but also of strict rectitude. Mortimer T. Cavanaugh, son of Thomas J. and Margaret (Kehoe) Cavanaugh, was born July 31, 1872, in North Adams, Massachusetts, and received his education at the Drury Academy. He was prepared >5^^£;:i^ c/ & /<«^^2^, BERKSHIRE COUNTY 391 for the practice of his chosen profession at Baltimore Medical College, which he entered in 1895 and from which he received in 1898 the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After one year's hospital service in Baltimore (Maryland) General Hospital, and as demonstrator of pathology^ and bacteriology during sessions of 1898-99 at the Baltimore Medical Col- lege, he entered upon the practice of his profession at North Adams in 1899, and in May, 1901, established his present office in Great Barring- ton, where he has a large and constantly increasing practice of a gen- eral character. He is a member and secretary of the board of health, also a member of the Great Barrington school board. REV. DANIEL F. CRONIN. As the senior Roman Catholic pastor in Berkshire county, and chair- man of the board of diocesan examiners, the Rev. Father Cronin, rector of St. Patrick's Church, Flinsdale, stands pre-eminent among the clergy of that denomination in western Massachusetts, and his long period of strenuous labor, which has now passed the quarter-centuiy mark, forms no small part of the history and development of the Catholic faith in that locality. Daniel T. Cronin was born in Ireland. He pursued the primary branches of his education in the Worcester public schools, and was grad- uated from Holy Cross College, that city, with the class of 1869. His theological studies were directed by the Sulpician fathers in Montreal, Canada, and his ordination to the priesthood took place in the winter of 1872. His first assignment was as curate at Brookfield, this state, where he remained for four years, and in 1876 he was appointed to the Hins- dale pastorate, which he has retained continuously to the present time. St. Patrick's Church was erected in 1852 through the efforts of 392 BERKSHIRE COUNTY the Rev. Father Cuddih.y, of Pittsfielcl who had for some time prior to that date attended to tlie spiritual needs of the faithful in that locality. As early as 1832 Father Fitton, one of the first Catholic priests to visit Westoii, Massachusetts, celehrated mass as far west as Great Bar- rington, and in other villages of Berkshire county, but makes no men- tion of having visited Hinsdale. As pre\'iously stated Father Cuddihy and other clergymen from Pittsfield attended the Catholic people there until their numbers were stich as to warrant the estal)lishment of a separate parish, and in 1868 the Rev. Father Romano became the first resident pastor. The new parish of St. Patrick included Dalton, Becket, Middlefield, Washington, Windsor and Peru. Father Romano was succeeded in May, 1872, by the Rev. P. V.Moyce, an able instructor, ripe scholar and eloquent preacher, who died in the following July. Rev. P. J. Sheehan, the curate at Pittsfield, was next assigned to the Hinsdale pastorate, which he retained until called to his reward the ensuing year, and he was succeeded by Rev. Patrick McManus in April, 1873. The latter died in December, 1874, and the parish was in charge of Rev. E. B. McKeeney, as " locum tenens " for a short time, or until the arrival, in the following January, of Rev. John B. Daley, who was succeeded by the Rev. Daniel T. Cronin, in July, 1876. Young, energetic and vigilant. Father Cronin found ample oppor- tunitv to display his power of endurance as well as his indefatigable zeal, for the Hinsdale parish, together with its dependent missions, is far from being a sinecure, and the spirit of energy and optimism which char- acterized his labors in this locality have proved of inestimable value to the moral and religious welfare of the community. Next in importance to the parish seat is the village of Dalton, famous for its industries and the moral and intellectual superiority of its inhabitants. Here the Catholics and Protestants enjoy the blessings of neighborl}- unity, fac- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 393 tional discord in relii^ioiis matters 1)cing entirely unknown, and here the fruitage oi" Father Cronin's intiiience and IrJjor is visihl\- apparent in the handsome cliurch at St. Agnes, tlie somewhiat unusual circumstances relative to the erection of which \vili he shi^rtlv referred to. As a (,:ith(ilic center of poinilaticn. Dalton is ah-out as old as Hins- dale. Mass was celeliratcd liere as earl\- as 1842. Ijy the Rev. Father Brad)-, who from that time until his death made frequent visits to the town. Suhsequentl}- the Catholic residents received the attention of Fathers Cuddihy and Pureed, of St. Joseph's Church, Pittsfield, and it was one of the dependent missions of the Pittsfield parish from 1861 to 1873. In the latter year it was attached to St. Patrick's parish, Hins- dale, and when Father Cronin l)ecame conxersant with the situatiou he comprehended the necessity for a chiu'ch edifice which would he more in keei)ing \\ith the ad\-anced condition of the Catholic people of Dal- ton, and he :icted accordingly. His efforts in that direction resulted in th.e erection of St. Agnes' Church, in 1883, at a cost of seventeen thou- sand dollars, and he not (»nly recei\ed the sym[)athy and financial sup- port of his own dock. I;ut the Protestant residents as well entered heartily into the work in order to demcMistrate in a sul)stantial manner their interest in the religious work of their Catholic fellow-townsmen, and also their sincere ajipreciation of heather Cronin's endeavors in he- half of the high moral standing of the community. Among the latter were !^Iessrs. Crane, Weston. Carson and Brown. Mr. Brown donated the land, the well-known Crane family, of which ex-Ciovernor and now Senator W. Murra}' Crane is a distinguished representatix'e. contrihuted the sum of one thousand dollars to the huilding fund, and the Hon. Byron Weston presented a fine church 1)ell. "J'he contrihutions as a whole were so liljeral as to enahle I'ather Cronin to present the Bishop with a new cluu'ch which on the (la\- of its dedication was hut sliyhtlv 394 BERKSHIRE COUNTY encumbered with debt. St. Agnes' Church, which is considered the handsomest rehgious edifice in Berkshire county, is of the Gothic style of architecture, has a seating capacity of five hundred, and is located upon the handsomest street in the town. Father Cronin is gentle in manner, intellectual in his tastes, and exceedingly domestic in his habits, taking special delight in his home and people. His moral and religious influence in both Hinsdale and Dalton is far-reaching, and his interest in educational matters has been pro- ductive of much public benefit. The curates who have labored at St. Agnes' include Revs. George M. Fitzgerald, 1883-85; Thomas J. Fitz- gernkl, 1885-87; John T. Nelligan, 1888-90; William C. McCaughan, 1891-94; James M. Pendergrast. 1894-98; and James A. O'Malley, 1898 to the present time. Father O'Malley is a native of Clinton, Massachusetts, which is becoming quite famous as the birthplace of Catholic clergymen. He is a graduate of Holy Cross College, Worcester, this state, and studied theology at the Brighton Seminary, where his ordination to the priest- hood took place. His first duty was as curate at St. John's Church, Worcester, and he was subsequently '' locum tenens '' at Cordavillc a'ld Florence, from whence he was assigned to Hinsdale and Dalton. He is a zealous, scholarly priest, and with his superior shares the ^ove and con- fidence of both parishes. LOUIS BURNS. Prominent among the successful merchants of W^estern Massachu- setts is ]Mr. Louis Burns, proprietor of the extensive house-furnishing goods establishment in the Burns block on North street, Pittsfield. He was born in Thompsonville, Connecticut, January 17, i860, son of Wil- liam and Elizabeth (Stevens) Burns. tytd BERKSHIRE COUNTY 395 \\^illiani Burns \\as a native of the county Monaghan, north of Ire- land, where he was born in 1809 and whence he came to the United States, locating- in New York city in 1830. After several years" resi- dence in the latter city he was induced by Orin Thompson, the founder of the Thompson Carpet Company, to locate in Thompson\'ille, wdiere he was installed as superintendent of a department of that gigantic in- dustry, then and still the largest manufacturing establishment of its kind in the world. This connection continued for a period approximating fifteen years, when Mr. Burns retired therefrom and invested his con- siderable savings in establishing the Burns-McLean Grocery Company at Thompsonville. After years of successful business he sold out his in- terest to his partner and purchased a farm, upon which he continued to live in retirement throughout the remainder of his life. William Burns was a prominent type of that large and splendid body of men from the north of Ireland whose brain and brawn, industry and integrity have wrought so beneficently to the commercial develop- ment of the United States. Mr. Burns was one of the founders of the United Presbyterian church of Thompsonville, and took upon himself a large share of the expense incident to the erection of the edifice in which that congregation worshiped. His wife was a daughter of James Stev- ens, who came from Scotland early in the nineteenth century and located at Thompsonville, w'here he was stove dealer, tinsmith and coal mer- chant. Louis Burns received his general education in the public and hig'h schools of Thompsonville and began his preparation for business life by taking the course at Hannum Business College, Hartford, Connecticut. Immediately thereafter he entered the employ of William Calderw^ood, who conducted a general store, at Thompsonville; following this he clerked for A. Sloan & Sons at the same place. 390 BERKSHIRE COl'NTY In 1880 he went to Springfield to take charge of the draperies de- partment of Forbes & Wallace. In 1882 he resigned the last mentioned position to purchase in conjunction with C. W. Wright the Sloan busi- ness heretofore mentioned. This partnership association was success- fully continued for nearly five years, when Mr. Burns' impaired health led to his retirement from the firm and temporar}' withdrawal from busi- ness. In 1888 he reassociated himself with Mr. Wright, a house fur- nishing goods l)usiness being established by them on Fenn street, Pitts- field, under the firm name of Wright & Burns. In T892 Mr. Bums sold his interest in this store to Mr. Wright for the purpose of embarking in business in Troy, New York. This project was abandoned, however, and a promising opportunity for investment presenting itself through the purchase of the Stockl)ridge House (now Red Lion Inn) livery, Mr. Burns a\-ailed himself thereof, holding- and successfullv conducting the same until its achantageous sale a vear later. He then formed a part- nership association with \\^. T. Petherbridge and re-entered the house furnishing goods business at Pittsfield in the Upper Burbank block, where the business was conducted until 1898, when a removal was made to the present location in the New Burns block. North street. Mr. Burns purchased his partner's interest therein in 1899 and is now its sole pro- prietor, the business conducted by him being the largest of its kind in western Massachusetts. He married, in October, 1883. Elizabeth Ingraham Allen, daugh- ter of Isaac A. Allen, manufacturer of Enfield. Connecticut. Properly patriotic in his devotion to the land of his nati\'ity. Mr. Burns cherishes with equal enthusiasm a love for Bonnie Scotland, A\hence his ancestors found their way to the north of Ireland, and his eloquent addresses have been the features of numerous anni\-ersary oc- casions in Berkshire countv in honor of the memorv of Scotland's most BERKSHIRE COUNTY 397 distinguished and l)est-loved poet— Bobby Burns. He frequently quotes that lieautiful tri1)ute to the immortal l)ard from the inspired pen of the late Robert G. in.oersoll upon the occasion of the latter's visit to the humble cot, August 19, 1878: THE BIRTHPLACE OF BURNS. Though Scotland boasts a thousand names Of patriot, king and peer, The noblest, grandest of them all Was loved and cradled here. Here lived the gentle peasant iirince. The loving cotter king, Compared with whom the greatest lord Is but a titled thing. Tis but a cot roofed in with straw, A hovel made of clay. One door shuts out the snow and storm. One window greets the da>- ; And yet 1 stand within this room And hold all thrones in scorn. For here beneath this lowly thatch Love's sweetest bard was born. Within this hallowed hut 1 feel Like one who clasps a shrine. When the glad lips at last have touched The something deemed divine; And here the world through all the years, As long as day returns. The tribute of it's love and tears Will pav to Robert Burns. THADDEUS Z. AYERS. The subject of this narrative, now living in retirement at his home in Pittsfiekl passed his b.usiness life in the funnturc trade, for some vears as traveling representative for an eastern house, subsequently as ienior member of the hrms of .\yers & Jones and Ayers & Renne, in 39S BERKSHIRE COUNTY the conduct of a Fenn street (Pittsfield) store and latterly in the man- agement of the furniture establishment of James Burns and his suc- cessors, H. B. Wellington, Burns (Louis) & Petherbridge, and Louis Burns. Lnpaired health led to his retirement in 1905. Mr. Avers was generally recognized as one of the best informed and most capable men in his line of trade in western Massachusetts. By his marriage to Harriet Harder he has three surviving children : Herbert and Robert Ayers, in the employ of the Pittsfield office of the American Express Company ; and T. Z. Ayers, Jr., with the Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company, Morningside. FREDERICK S. AYMAR. Prominent among- the progressive men of Berkshire county is the gentleman whose name forms the caption for these memoirs. He was born in the city of New York, March 24, 1839. His parents were Samuel and Mary (Seymour) Aymar, the former of French, the latter of English ancestry. Samuel Aymar was born in New York, and for many years carried on a successful ship-chandlery business. His wife, a native of Norwalk, Connecticut, was a descendant of Captain Thomas Seymour, who won his title by valiant service as a soldier of the patriot army in the Revolutionary war. Samuel Aymar removed his family from the neighborhood of the Battery, in New York city, where his son Frederick was born, to Brooklyn, when the latter was four years of age, and in private schools of that city the lad received his general education. His business career began when he was but fifteen years of age as a clerk in a ship-chandler's establishment, and two years later be entered his father's employ in a similar capacity. In 1870 he was ad- BERKSHIRE COUNTY 399 niitted to partnership in the concern which was known as Wilham Aymar & Company. He retired from bnsiness in 1879. It was in 1878 that he took np his residence in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he has ever taken an active interest in all measures that have con- tributed in a substantial way to the (le\-elopment of the home of his adoption. Obtaining early recognition as a most valuable member of society, his services have been almost constantly in requisition as an official, and he has discharged in fullest measure e\ery duty that has devolved upon him. For a long term of }ears he was a member and chairman of the board of selectmen; served as overseer of the poor; chairman of the board of health ; chief engineer of the fire department, for the organ- ization of which he was largely responsible, and member of the execu- tive committee of the Stockbridge Library Association. Mr. Aymar was the especially active executive committeeman in the securing of plans for and erection of the recently completed town hall of Stock- bridge. Politically, he is a Democrat, and religiously an Episcopalian, and has served since 1884 continuously as clerk and treasurer of St. Paul's church. He was made a Mason in Montauk lodge, Brooklyn, and is an honorary member of Occidental Lodge of Stockbridge. He married Mary Seymour, of Stockbridge. Four children were born to JNIr. and Mrs. Aymar, of whom one, h'rederick S. Avmar, Jr., survives. DR. GEORGE W. BRADLEY. A graduate of a regular college of o]itical science, wherein is taught the proper adjustment of glasses as an aid to obstructed vision, is a recognized necessitx- in every ])rogressive community, and the subject of this sketch, who is now devoting his energies to the useful calling of 4U0 BERKSHIRE COUNTY an optical specialist in North Adams, is a regularly equipped exponent of that science. Dr. Georg'e W. Bradley, eyesight specialist, was born in Meriden, Connecticut, July 19, 18G6. He is a son of Leonard H. and Martha M. (Talmage) Bradley, the former of whom w^as born m Branford, Con- necticut, in February, 1839, and his wife's birth took place at Cheshire, that state, in January of the same year. Both are now residing in Meri- den, and Leonard H. Bradley is a well known carriage manufacturer of that town. They have three sons living, namely : Oscar L., George W. and Arthur C. Bradley. After concluding his attendance at the puijlic schools of his native town George W. Bradley became connected with the silverware business, which he followed for a period of three and one-half years, and the en- suing three years he devoted exclusively to the interests of the Young Men's Christian Association. Becoming convinced that the profession of an optician offered extraordinary inducements to a young man de- sirous of a scientific as well as a useful calling, he decided to thoroughly prepare himself for the work. Entering the Philadelphia Optical Col- lege he pursued the regular course in optics as relating to the principles of human eyesight and the proper manner of protecting' and increasing it by artificial means, graduating from that institution in 1890. Re- turning to Meriden he estalilished himself in practice. In 1896 he re- moved to North Adams, and has ever since practiced his specialty suc- cessfully in that city. Dr. Bradley is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has taken the Royal Arch degree. He also affiliates with the Royal Arcanum, Foresters of America, New England Order of Pro- tection and the Workmen's Benefit Association. In politics he is a Democrat. He attends the Baptist chiu'ch. At Meriden, Connecticut, July 22, 1891, Dr. Bradley was united in marriage with Miss Alice R. Peck, daughter of Julius C. and Grace L. Peck. Of this union there is one son, Harold T. Bradley, born June 6, 1892. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 401 WESTON FAMILY. The \\>ston family, one of the best known in Berkshire county, has had four generations of its representatives located in Dalton, and in each of these generations one or more of its members has left the impress of an individuality standing for progress. Rev. Isaac Weston, born in 1773. received a liberal education and became a Unitarian minister. By appointment of President Madison he filled the office of collector of the port of New Bedford, where he was aggressively active and successful in his measures for the protection of that coast against British cruisers. He married Sarah, daughter of Eliah Dean, of Taunton, who represented the Bristol district in Congress. Rev. Weston came in 1814 to Dalton, Massachusetts, where a brother-in-law. Colonel Thomas Green, had previously located. With the latter gentle- man he immediately entered into business relations in the operation of a smelting furnace and foundry. The ore used in this pioneer plant was abundantly found in the brown hematite boulders of that vicinage, and its products were potash kettles, plowshares and stoves. He also in the same year built Dalton's first woolen mill. He died in 1821, leaving five children — Grenville, Franklin, Sarah, Isaiah and Josiah. Of these, Gren- ville (born in 1797), better known as "Colonel" Weston through his efficient military service, was a man of strong and winning personality, endowed, moreover, with excellent business capacity, which was utilized to the advantage of his native county by his capable discharge of the duties of numerous offices of trust, and latterly the county commission- ship, wherein his services were especially ^'aluable. He had a large prop- erty, most of which had to be sacrified to meet obligations incurred by him through the business failure of a friend for whom he had endorsed heavily. He died in 1866, leaving three children, Grenville, Sarah and 402 BERKSHIRE COUNTY Harriet, all of whom removed to western states. Franklin, second in order of birth of Rev. ^^^eston's children, eno:aged at Dalton in woolen mannfacture. He took an especial interest in Free Masonrv. He died in 1867. Josiah Weston, third son of Rev. Isaiah Weston, was a grad- uate of Berkshire INIedical College, and was for a few years immediatelv following established in the practice of his profession in Natchez, Mis- sissippi. Returning to Dalton he married Lucinda, daughter of Zenas Crane. In 1857 he was the Democratc nominee for congress, and al- though in enfeebled health he made a vigorous and brilliant canvass of his district. His opponents were the Re^^ Mark Trafford of Westfield, the Know-nothing candidate, and Henry L. Dawes, of Pittsfield, who had been put in nomination by the new Republican party. The obnoxious Kansas-Nebraska bill had worked ruin to the Democratic party in Massa- chusetts, and Dr. Weston, although personally very popular, was defeated by his Republican competitor. A few months later Dr. Weston died in Washington, D. C, aged forty-seven years. Isaiah Weston, fourth of the sons of Rev. Weston, had a partner- ship association with his brother Franklin in the woolen mill heretofore referred to, and the store operated in connection therewith. He was a man of means, and indulged to an extent a taste for agriculture. He removed in 1835 *o Fremont, Illinois, where he died a few years later. He married, at Dakon, Caroline Curtis, by whom he had four children — Isaiah, who located in Colorado, two who are deceased, and Byron Weston, born in Dalton in 1832, three years before the re- moval of his father to Illinois. The inception of his career as a business man put him in touch with that branch of manufacture with which he was destined to be identified throughout a useful and signally successful business life. He was a bookkeeper at Saugerties, New York, in a mill, the specialties of which were the making of news and book paper, and BERKSHIRE COUNTY 403 which was managed hy one of his uncles. Interested from the outset in paper making, he determined to master its details, and supplemented his initial training along that line hy terms of employment at Lindlev Murray Crane's mill for the manufacture of fine writing papers, at Ballston, New York, and in some of the leading mills of Hartford. Connecticut, and at Lee, Massachusetts. Shortly after the lireaking out of the war of the re- bellion Mr. Weston proceeded to raise a company for the Forty-ninth Massachusetts Regiment, of which company he was chosen captain. This regiment, which was enlisted for nine months, served for one rear in the Department of the Gulf, sharing its full measure of the arduous cam- paigns of 1862-63, including the siege of Port Hudson. Returning to Dalton, and restored after a brief period of rest from the debilitation in- cident to the hardships of army life, he set to work with characteristic energy to establish himself in the paper manufacturing business, and pur- chased the Messrs. Henry and A. S. Chamberlain plant, located in the center of the town, which was the outgrowth of the old " Defiance " mill built by David Carson in 1824. Captain Weston enlarged and prac- tically rebuilt this structure, and equipped it with the latest and best ma- chinery for its proposed product — linen record and ledger papers. He also bought from General William F. Bartlett and Colonel Walter Cut- ting the mill site about six hundred feet distant from Defiance mill, where, in 1855, Captain A. S. Chamberlain had built and sul)se(juentl_\- ()|)erated a paper making plant. This null, which was Ijurned in 1875, was not rebuilt. Here Captain Weston erected the extensive mill known as " the Centennial." The operation of these mills has been among the conspicu- ously successful achievements in the great manufacturing interests of western Massachusetts, because of both the quantit}- and quality of the output. Placed in competition with similar products of the greatest mills of the w(jrld, the ledger papers of the mills have received gold medals 404 BERKSHIRE COUNTY and other testimonials of super-excellence wherever exhibited, notably at Philadelphia, in 1876; Paris, 1878; Australia, 1882; at similar exposi- tions in New York, Boston, Cincinnati, Louisville, Atlanta; World's Fair, Chicago, in 1893 ; and the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1902. Mr. Weston was the author of a comprehensive and most instructive and en- tertaining history of paper making read by him at the request of the Berkshire Historical and Scientific Society at a meeting of that body in 1881, and which he subsequently used in part in occasional lectures. Among the noteworthy features incident to the growth of this industry at Dalton, has been the sinking of great artesian wells in obtaining the necessary supply of absolutely pure water. In 1892 the present company was formed, being incorporated under the name of the Byron Weston Company, of which Governor Weston was president until his decease, November 8, 1898. In addition to the multiple benefits which have been the direct outcome to this community of these enterprises, such as the laying out of streets and the building- of many homes for employes. Gov- ernor Weston has done much to contribute to the healthy and rapid de\-el- opment of the town, notably in the erection of his own spacious home, with its beautiful grounds, and the substantial business block, with public hall, built in 1882. His business counsel was highly esteemed and his association secured in the directorates of numerous important institutions, and his service to the commonwealth embraced a term in the state as- sembly of 1874 as senator from northern Berkshire, and his efficient and dignified discharge of the duties of the office of lieutenant-governor of the state, to which he was elected in 1879, 1880, and 188 1, with Hon. John D. Long as the candidate for first gubernatorial honors. Governor Weston was as happy in his marital relations as he was successful as a business man. The lady of his choice was Miss Julia Mitchell, to whom he was married in 1865. To them were born seven BERKSHIRE COUNTY 405 children: Franklin; Ellen, wife of Hale Holden, of Kansas Citv, Alis- souri; Louisa B.. Julia Caroline, Philip, Dorothy D., and Donald M. Weston. Mrs. Weston was beloved and lionored by all, and her demise on September 4, 1902, was a profound grief in the community which she had for so many years graced with her presence and beneficence. Of her children the first born was Franklin Weston. Although the decease of Governor Weston was a recognized great loss to Berkshire county, and was naturally felt with especial force in the place of his nativity, where his life work was so splendidly contriljutory to its well being and development, he most for- tunately left, as a heritage to that community, a son trained under his own wise counsel to assume the burden of large responsibility which he laid down. Franklin Weston was born August 13, 1866. He attended Grevlock Institute, Phillips Academy and was graduated from Andover with the class of 1887. \\'ith this substantial general education as a foundation, he immediately entered his father's mill, there to obtain that practical knowledge of paper making in all its branches that equipped him for his subsequent business career. Upon the incorporation in 1892 of the Bynjn Weston Company, of which his father was president, the son became treasurer, and in 1899, the year following Governor Weston's decease, w^as elected to its presidency. The continued prosperity of this great industry is a sufficient attestation of the business capacity and is as well a certain indication of the business integrity of its efficient representatives. The recognized equipment of Mr. Franklin Weston for valuable service in the business w^orld is further suggested by his directorship in the Berk- shire Life Insurance Company, the Third National Bank of Pittsfield, and as trustee of the Berkshire County Savings Bank. He was one of the incorporators and original stockholders and is one of the board of 406 BERKSHIRE COUNTY directors of the Berkshire Street Raihvay Company. He takes an active interest in Grace Episcopal church, of DaUon, of which he has heen a warden since its estabhshment in 1892. He was married, June 14, 1893, to Edith C, daughter of Edward S. Brewer, of Springfield, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. ^^^eston have four children : Corinne, Byron, Elizabeth, and Julia Caroline. WILLL\M HENRY DEMONT. William Henry Demont, who occupies a high place in the business circles of Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, was born July 26, 1841, a son of John Demont (sometimes spelled Dermont), and one of six children, namely: Elizabeth, who married William Miller; they make their home in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Jeannette, who married Joseph Home, of Adams, Massachusetts ; ^^'illiam H., mentioned at length hereinafter; 'Ann, who married Henry Waters, of Adams; James, who married Adeline , of Adams; jNIarion, the wife of Ed- ward Andrews; they reside in Adams, and have one child, Lena, who is the supervisor of drawing in Huntington, Massachusetts, and a very talented young woman. The father of these children, John Demont, was a native of Renfrewshire Bridge, Scotland, who in 1854 emigrated to this country, locating in Adams, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where he was engaged for a year in the cotton industries. In 1855 he was enabled to send for his family. William Henry Demont accjuired but a limited education. At the age cf nine years he was in actual employment as assistant to a cotton and silk printer in his native land, and three years later was employed in a cotton mill. After his removal to Waterbury, Connecticut, he learned the trade of machinist, which occupation he followed during BERKSHIRE COUNTY 407 the remainder of bis active, working life. In 1873 he removed to Pitts- field, where he was engaged at his trade in the Taconic mill. After a few years' service in the latter place Mr. Demont entered the Bell Ais mill remaining there for eleven years, and the succeeding fifteen years he was engaged in the Pontoosnc Woolen Company as millwright and machinist. "Mr. Demont is a first-class mechanic and excellent business man. He was one of the pioneer builders of the North street heights, which is now covered with many beautiful attractne homes. He is ex- tensively interested in real estate, and since his retirement from active business life in 1898 has devoted his attention to his real estate interests. Mr. Demont is a man who lias reached a high place in business circles through his own exertion and perseverance. He started in life with very- few advantages, a limited education, and no capital except those success-bringing qualities, unfailing energy, determination and perse- verance, and has reached an enviable place in the ranks of successful and prosperous business men. Politically, ^Ir. Demont affiliates with the Republican party. He and his family are regular and consistent at- tendants of the South Congregational church. In 1864 William Henry Demont was united in marriage to Elizabeth ^leal. and the following named children were the issue of this union: Carrie, born 1865. married Thomas Holmes; they reside in Pittsfield and have one child, Florence E.; Fred Albert, born in 1871, married Annie Wright, of North Adams; they make tlicir home in Watcrvliet. New York, and have one daughter. In 1871 Airs. Demont died, and William H. Demont married for his second wife Eliza O'Brien. One son. William Henry, Jr., was born to them. He married Jessie Dickie and they live in W^atertown, New York. In 1880 Eliza (O'Brien) Demont died, and Mr. Demont took for his third ^^•ife Susan E. Teeling, a daughter of Charles and Susan Teeling, of Rensselaer, New York. 408 BERKSHIRE COUNTY FRANK MORTIMER WATERS. That the gentleman whose name introduces this narrative has been a valnalDle citizen of the place of his nativity, is attested by many monu- ments of a most enduring kind there and elsewhere in Berkshire county — beautiful homes and imposing business edifices, the stone and brickwork of wdiich were erected by him ; and this work is standing- the test of time, silent but forceful tokens of the rugged honesty which is the crowning characteristic of the builder. He was born in Adams, April 27, 1844, son of the late William and Harriet (Kane) Waters, natives of Berkshire county, of Scotch-Irish descent. Tbe late William Waters was for many years the leading mason of Adams, and the son, Frank Mortimer Waters, inherited the father's mechanical skill. The latter attended the public schools in Adams and began the learning of the mason's trade under his father and continued it at Waterbury, Connecticut, whither he had gone with the expectation of remaining. Visiting Adams in 1864, his patriotism was aroused and he enlisted in the Eighth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, with which command he served until the close of the civil war. Returning to Adams, he was employed as a journeyman mason until 1870, when he entered into business as a contractor for mason work, which vocation he has followed continuously since, meeting with the suc- cess to which honest workmanship, honest materials and general business integrity entitled him. His own home is located upon one of the most charming sites for residences in the Berkshires, and near it are a number of dwelling houses erected and owned by him. His building operations have extended throughout western Massachusetts, including numerous large structures in Pittsfield and North Adams. Mr. \\'aters was one of the original stockholders of the Greylock National and Co-operative ^'' ^%. ^ V. olitical support is gis-en to the Republican part}' and he is unfaltering in the advocacy of its principles, believing that they contain the best elements of good government. He has been a student of the signs of the times, has informed himself concerning the needs and possibilities of his city, and his efforts have been discerningly directed along lines resulting in successful accomplishment for North Adams. In 1867 Mr. A\nutaker was married to Miss Sara Reins, of New York city, who died in November, 1871, and in December, 1873, he was joined in wedlock to Miss Emma L. Beckwith, of East Lyme, Con- necticut. She Avas a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Beckwith, and at the time of her marriage accompanied her husband to North Adams, where she continued to reside until her demise. Tn her earlv girlhood she joined the Ba]itist church, and was a consistent meml;er of that de- nomination for more than half a century. She was acti\e in the work of the church and its societies until her health forbade further labors in that direction. Her interest centered in her home, and while her life in many respects was quietly passed, she, nevertheless, possessed a charm- ing personality, a familiarity with literature and a kindly spirit that 41 G BERKSHIRE COUNTY gained her warm and enduring friendships and caused her death to be deeply deplored. She was a charter member of Fort Massachusetts Chapter, D. A. R.. and continued her connection therewith up to the time of her death, November 29, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker had one son, Ezra D. Whitaker, who is the assistant treasurer of North Adams Savings Bank, and who' was elected a member of the city coun- cil, December 20, 1904. Mr. V. A. Whitaker was made a Mason at Greylock Lodg'e in 187 1, and became a member of the Composite Chapter, R. A. M. He was at one time trustee of the public library, and was actively connected therewith until the city charter went into effect. Since 1850' he has been a member of the Baptist church, and he was elected its clerk on March 17, 1876, while on the 23d of May, 1887, he was chosen one of its deacons. Largely instrumental in securing the erection of the present edifice, he is now serving as one of the church trustees and for twenty-five years was connected with the Sunday school. He was largely influential in founding" a local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association, and acted as chairman of the first meeting assembled for that purpose. Whatever has tended to promote the material, intellectual and moral advancement of the community has received his endorsement and co-operation and he, therefore, stands to-day as one of the representative and valued citizens of North Adams, He resides at the corner of Ashland and Ouincv streets. WILLIAM STERLING MORTON. William Sterling Morton, engaged in the practice of law at Adams, Massachusetts, was born November 5, 1865, in Paisley, Scotland. He comes of one of the old families of Scotland, and his grandfather was engaged in the weaving of shawls at Paisley. The family were identified BERKSHIRE COUNTY 417 with the Presbyterian cjiurch in the land of the heather, but in America became connected with the Congregational denomination. Alexander Morton, father of William Sterling Morton, was born in Paisley, Scotland, May 28, 1842. He was a self-educated as well as self-made man, acquiring his knowledge largely through his reading, observation and experience after he had passed the period of early youth. In December, 1868, he emigrated with his family to America and settled in North Adams, Massachusetts, where he secured employment in a mill and was thus engaged for ten or more years. Eventually he removed to the west and followed farming in Crawford county, Iowa. His wife bore the maiden name of Ellen Logan, and was also born in Paisley, Scotland, November 10, 1842, her parents being William and Catherine (Emery) Logan. The parents were identified with the Presbyterian church in their native land, and in America joined the Congregational church. William Sterling Morton was a little lad of only two years of age when brought to America by his parents, arriving at Briggsville, Massa- chusetts on the loth of August, 1867. When he was only eleven years of age he was employed in the old Broadley mill at Adams, Massachu- setts, and subsequentlv removed with his parents to Crawford county, Iowa, living upon the old farm there. Pie attended the district schools during the winter months, and in the summer seasons was largely en- gaged at the work of the fields and meadow. He taught school for a year, and in 1884 entered Drake university at Des Moines, Iowa, being graduated from the law department of that institution with the class of June, 1889. He then entered upon the practice of law at Castena, Iowa, but in the fall of that year abandoned his practice and removed to Chi- cago, where he entered the employ of the Pullman Palace Car Company in its machinery department. Returning to Crawford county. Iowa, he ^18 BERKSHIRE COUNTY again became engaged in teaching school and in September, 1891, re- entered the practice of law at Guthrie, Oklahoma. In June, 1893, he re- located in Adams, Massachusetts, and from February, 1894, to the present time has been a member of the bar and enjoys a distinctively representative clientage. He has been connected with much of the im- portant litigation tried in the courts of his district, and has long since demonstrated his right to rank with the leading members of the bar here. In his political views Mr. Morton was a Democrat until the cam- paign of 1896, when he endorsed the Repulilican platform and has since been an advocate of the principles of that party. In 1900 he was a candidate for representative from this district, but was defeated. In 1901 he w-as appointed special justice of the fourth district court of Berkshire. He is regarded as one of the leading men of his community. He belongs to the First Congregational chiuxh of Adams, and in 1891 became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Dow City, Iowa. He belongs to the Benevolent Caledonian Club, of wdiich he is past chief. On the first of October, igoi, Mr. Morton was married at Adams, Massachusetts, to Miss Edith ^Villiams Marsh, a graduate of the high school of this city and afterward a successful teacher here. Her parents are Oscar W. and Delia (Williams) Marsh. Her father was employed by the Boston & Albany Railroad Company at the time of his death. He enlisted in the Forty-ninth Massachusetts \"olunteers at the time of the civil war and served until the close of hostilities. His W'ife is a descendent of one of the first families of Lanesboro, Massa- chusetts, and among" her collateral ancestral connections was the founder of Williams College. Mr. and Mrs. Morton have a daughter, Edith, born April 18, 1905. BERKSHIRE COUNTY il'J PATRICK HENRY BOSSIDY. Patrick Henry Bossidy is the genial and popular proprietor of the Morgan House, Lee, Massachusetts, who in 1902 thoroughly repaired the interior, built a new veranda and put in electric lights, steam heat, bath rooms, and made the house in every respect a modern and com- fortable place for the traveling public. Since these changes the house has become more popular and its patronage has greatly increased. The Morgan House has always borne a good reputation, even in the days when the landlords were handicapped for want of modern conveniences, and to-day its bill of fare is abreast with public houses far more pre- tentious in size and location. The Abjrgan House has been a ]mblic house in Lee for nearly half a century, and clustered about it are many pleasant memories of a bygone generation, of stories told before its hospitable fireplace, of suppers by lodges, societies, and priwate parties enjoyed ab(^ut its board, and many things of a pul^lic nature which have made it a center of interest from the days when it was a country tavern to its position to-dav as a modern, comiuercial hotel. Before it became a taverti, even as the priA-ate residence of Esquire Porter, it had an at- traction beyond that of an ordinary dwelling house, for Esquire Porter was the leading man of the town in his day. the most hospitable and influential. There are manv things in the past history- of Lee's taverns and hotels which our histories are silent about, and the few facts we are able to give concerning the Morgan PTouse are from deeds and the memories of older residents. The first hotel or public house was a log cabin, six- teen feet square, located in the hollow near the residence of B. H. Taintor. and there was a similar structure in East Lee. The first build- ing deserving; the name of a tavern was the Red Lion Tnn at the corner 420 BERKSHIRE COUNTY of Park and Housatonic streets. This was built in 1778 by Nathan Dilhngham, and conducted as a pubHc house until 1834. This old tavern was situated at what was a vantage point in those early days, near the confluence of the stage road to Cape street and beyond, now known as Maple, and roads leading north and south. Housatonic street was not cut through in those days. The Red Lion Inn was in the corner of Pease's yard, near the big elm, and after it outlived its usefulness as a hotel was moved south of the school house, at a point now between E. B. Ramsdell's and F. A. Phelps' residences. In 1778 a man by the name of William Coal built the Housatonic house where Memorial Hall now stands. The Housatonic house was bought by Mr. Hicks and remodeled in 1864 to a large and fine looking hotel. Two years later it was burned and never rebuilt. In 1803 Jedediah Crocker had a public house in East Lee. Pliny Shaylor had won a mile or two farther east, and in 1820 " Sam " Sturgis opened the Strickland house. In old stage coach times the Merrill, T. L. Foote and Jared Bradley houses were used for some years as hotels. In 1854 George Van Deusen opened the Center hotel in the Ives house at the north end of Main street and conducted it until 1871 or '72, when it was boug'ht by Thomas Norton and continued until his fancy cake manufacturing business grew to such proportions as to claim all his time and attention. William Porter came to Lee in 181 7, and from that time to 1853 was the leading lawyer. When he came into possession of his residence, or how, we have been unable to find, even after much research. Edward Morgan, a stone cutter, came to Lee in 1852, and a short time after the death of Mr. Porter he went tO' live in his house and began taking boarders, one of them being the late Lieu- tenant Governor Byron Weston, then learning the paper business in May & Rogers' Mill. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 421 After the Hicks house was burned in 1867, Mr. Morgan opened his residence as a hotel. He enlarged the house in 1868 and again in 1 87 1, and conducted it until August, 1880, when he sold the business to H. C. Winegar & Son. He bought it back, however, in November of that year and continued as landlord to the time of his death in January, 1885. Lee was a horse town of much note in those days, and Mr. Mor- gan was a lover of horses and kept a stable in connection with the house. We find that the building was deeded to Benjamin Dean by Benjamin Bosworth, March 29, 1858; by Benjamin Dean to William Taylor, in i860; by William Taylor to Edwin Morgan, August 26, 1864; by Edwin Morgan to F. S. Gross, March 3, 1883; by F. S. Gross to Henry M. Pitt (W. P. Burbank), September 28, 1891 ; by Henry M. Pitt to P. H. and E. H. Bossidy, April 15, 1902. The landlords following Edward Morgan were W. C. Winegar in May, 1883; C. E. Morgan in January, 1884; John Benjamin, October, 1885; C. E. Morgan, Febru- ary, 1887; J. H. Wood, May, 1889; C. E. Morgan, October, 1892; P. H. Bossidy, April, 1902. HENRY MARCELLUS SMITH, M. D. As that of an able physician and public-spirited citizen the name of Dr. Henry j^.J. Smith, of Lee. is familiar throughout Berkshire county. He is the son of Eli and Mary (Chapin) Smith, and was born March 12, 1852, in Sheffield, Massachusetts. Dr. Smith received his primary education in the common schools, afterward attending the Berkshire Institute at New Marlborough. On leaving school he became clerk in a drug store, where he remained four- teen years, thus gaining experience which proved no doubt of great value to him in his professional career. Dr. John Swinburne, of Albany, 422 BERKSHIRE COUNTY was the preceptor of Dr. Smith and the latter was matriculated in the medical department of the University of Vermont, and 1885 received from that institution the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He has since been engaged in the active practice of his profession. For sixteen years he has served on the board of health and is still a member of that body. Although devoted to his profession, he participates actively in com- munity affairs and for the last seven years has held the office of select- man. He is also a member of the Lee fire department. Dr. Smith was induced to enter for a brief period the wider field of state politics and in 1895 represented the Sixth Berkshire District in the legislature of Massachusetts, serving on public health and agriculture committees. He is a member of Evening Star Lodge, F. and A. M., (Lee) Royal Arch Chapter, Great Barrington; Berkshire Council, Pittsfield ; Berkshire Com- mandery, and Lenox Consistory. He is a charter member of the Lee Grange, and belongs to the Shaw Pond Fishing Club. Dr. Smith mar- ried, November 3, 1875, Mary, daughter of John Cahill, formerly of Lee. Dr. and Mrs. Smith have one son, Edgar M., who is a member of the grocery firm of Smith & Smith, of Lee. HENRY MORGAN WHITE. There are probably few persons in the state of Massachusetts who would not at once recognize the name of Henry Morgan White, of Lee, as that of the editor and proprietor of the Berkshire Gleaner. Through both his parents Mr. White comes of good colonial and Rev- olutionary stock. His family is allied to that of the Hookers, and his ancestors were among the first settlers of Springfield, Massachusetts. He is of the blood of Miles Morgan, whose statue adorns the court square of that historic city. BERKSHIRE COUNTY 423 Henry Morg-an W'liite was horn June 24, 1847, i" Elba, New York, and is the son of the late George Hall and Eliza (Morgan) AMiite. He was educated in the public schools and Eranklin Academy, Shel- burne Falls, Massachusetts. At the age of eighteen he obtained em- ployment with the Northampton Cutlery Company, by which he was successively jjromoted until he had attained a position second to that of its superintendent, having charge of three of the departments of that estate. Subseciuently he became a traveler for a New York hardware firm, with which he contirmed to be associated for a period of five years. In 1882 he purchased a half interest in the Torriiigtoii {Connecticut) Register, a weekly newspaper, shortl}- thereafter purchasing the re- maining interest. He continued this work with a constant increase of success, and in seven years recognized the wisdom of establishing a daily in conjunction with the weekly publication, and the Torring- ton Daily Register was the first daily paper in a town of like size in the state. Under his skillful management the journal grew until it at- tained to the size of an eight-page paper and gave employment to twelve persons. During this period Mr. White took an active interest in lit- erary work, being one of the founders of the '' Twenty-One Club,"" the membership of which grew to about eighty acti\e workers. In 1898 Mr. White disposed of the paper to a syndicate and went to Boston, where he bought the Dorchester Beacon. After the expiration of two years he returned to Torrington, where he accepted a position in the office of an electric company. November 15, 1902, Mr. White purchased the Berkshire Gleaner. This ]:iaper was founded in 1857 by Charles French and Josiah A. Royce, and in the hands of the present editor and proprietor is fully sustaining its reputation as a vigorous and able pub- lication. Mr. \\'hite has once and only once been prevailed upon to exchange the field of literature to enter the political field. In iSgr he 424 BERKSHIRE COUNTY was elected on the Republican ticket to the general assembly, and served on the committee on education, of which John Addison Porter was chairman. For nine years he was a director in the Young Men's Chris- tian Association of I'orrington. He was superintendent for five years of a Baptist Sunday school in Northampton, Massachusetts, and held the same position in a Sunday school in Torrington for four }'ears. the latter school being attached to a Congregational church. At one time he presided o\-er the social work of the Hanson Place Baptist church, Brooklyn. New York. Personally Mr. White is extremely popular. He was married December 8, 1874. in Brooklyn, New York, to H. Minnie, daughter of the late John B. Cole. WILLIAM HENRY WEASER. William Henry Weaser, a leading optician in the city of his nativ- ity, was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, July 31, 1869. He is a son of Frank and Veronica (Siegfried) Weaser, natives of Bavaria, whence they came in youth to the United States, resided for a few years in New York, were there married and came thence to Pittsfield. William H. Weaser attended the public and high schools of Pitts- field, and then entered Pernin Business College of Detroit, Michigan, for the special purpose of accpiiring the Pernin system of stenography. Two interests served to divert him from a half-formed purpose to enter mercantile life, the one an ardent love of music, the other a strong inclination to study medicine. The first led to his early connection with the Pittsfield band and other semi-professional musical organiza- tions, and he subsequently became a member of the Musicians' Union and as an accomplished cornetist made his last professional appearance in 1893 during the World's Fair at Chicago. His inclination to the BERKSHIRE COUNTY 425 study of medicine led to his devotion to that science of his spare time from musical culture, and this was subsecpently supplemented by two years of close and constant application under competent medical pre- ceptorship. Concentrating his attention upon- diseases of the eye and disordered vision generally, he eventually determined upon the profes- sion of an optician as his life work, and to this end entered the New York College of Optics and was graduated from that institution in September, 1900. Immediately thereafter he returned to Pittsfield, where he established himself in business in the Wright block, and has met with substantial success in his chosen profession. An invention of Mr. Weaser's, recently patented, which obtained instant recognition as a most valuable addition for optical appliances, is an eye-glass mount- ing designed to prevent a change in the axis of the lens. With the mounting in question the lens may be raised or lowered by placing the guards above or below the stud, enabling the best results obtainable in correcting astigmatism. An additional valuable feature of this mount- ing is that there are no side screws to loosen or to cause irritation to the nose, as is the case with all other mountings. ERNST OSCAR ENGSTROM. Ernst O. Engstrom, a pharmacist of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was born at Trelleborg, the extreme southern town of Sweden, August 7, 1865. His father, a leading merchant of Trelleborg, died during the early childhood of the son, and his mother remarried and came to America with her family in 1882, locating in Boston, Massachusetts. Ernst O. Engstrom received his initial schooling in his native town and completed his education by a four years' high school course, latter- ly at Malmoe, the third largest city of Sweden. The following three 426 BERKSHIRE COUNTY years were spent as one of tlie office force in the salvage and commis- sion business of his father's former partner, and this was interrupted by the removal of the family to America. Upon his arrival here he found immediate employment with an uncle, Mr. Franz L. Braconier, a pharmacist of Brockton, Massachusetts. During" the period of this service he entered the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and was graduated from that institution with first honors in 1887. In that year his uncle, aforementioned, concluded to retire from business and to re- turn to his native land, and his nephew being equipped to succeed him at once entered the pharmacy at Brockton and conducted the business successfully for three years. At the end of this period of time his uncle returned to the United States, repurchased his old store, and Mr. Eng- strom applied the money that he had made and saved in the drug busi- ness in establishing, in conjunction with others, a shoe manufacturing" business at Brockton under the name of the Brockton Shoe Co., of which Mr. Engstrom was elected president. Depressed business condi- tions of 1892 led to the dissolution of this company in that year, pay- ing, however, one hundred cents on every dollar of its indebtedness, and leaving Mr. Engstrom with little save a dearly purchased experi- ence and an untarnished reputation for business integrity. He then ac- cepted a position as tra\eling salesman for Fox, Fulz & Co., wholesale druggists' sundries, dealers of New York and Boston, and this connec- tion continued until July i, 1899, the date of his purchase of a half- interest with Carl Hydren of a pharmacy which the latter had opened at Pittsfield, nine years earlier. Two years later Mr. Engstrom pur- chased his partner's interest in the business, and he has since continued to conduct the same with a satisfactory measure of success. He is a member of Mystic Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Berkshire Chap- ter, Royal Arch Masons; Osceola Lodge, No. 125, Independent Order BERKSHIRE COUNTY 427 of Odd Fell'nvs: Onota Lodge, No. 90, Ancient Order of United Workmen; and Onota Conncil, No. 568, Royal Arcanum. ^Ir. Eng- strom was married in September, 1896, to Mida Louise Hooper, daugh- ter of the late William Hooper, late president of the Ticonderoga Na- tional Bank and manager of the Dixon Graphite Company's mines at Ticonderoga, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Engstrom are members of the Pittsfield Methodist Episcopal church, the latter named taking an especial and active official interest in the work of the home and foreign missionary societies of that congregation. GEORGE BARKER. The mandolin of song and story and that of modern workman- ship differentiate as markedly as do the old and new devices in utili- tarian directions, and from being used solely as a crude accompaniment to the voice, it has been demonstrated to contain rare possibilities of instrumentation under the touch of cultured musicians. In tonal quali- ties more penetrating, yet daintier and sweeter than the guitar, the mandolin has long since supplanted that instrument in popular favor and is fast gaining ground upon its most formidable rival, the violin. Its study is now one of the special features of all well-equipped con- servatories of music. Among the master minds along this line of mod- ern musical development a hrst place must be accorded George Barker, of Pittsfield, who has the distinction of having been the author of the first mandolin instructor and the composer of the first music puljlished in the Lnited States for that instrument, and the first teacher of the mandolin in New England. He was born March 9, 1852, in Boston, Massachusetts, a son of Thomas T. and Jane L. (Fuller) Barker, the former a native of Not- 428 BERKSHIRE COUNTY tingham, England, and the latter of Dorchester, Massachusetts, a lineal descendant of Samuel Fuller, one of the Pilgrim Fathers. Thomas T. Barker (father) was a lace merchant, a business to which he naturally turned as a native of one of the most famous of lace manufacturing towns, and in which he continued to be engaged up to the time of his decease. He was born in 1813, and died in 1873; ^'^^^ wife was born June 17, 1830, and died December 4, 1888. George Barker acquired his general education and early business training in Boston, his first employment being with the Henry Tolman music house, with which he was associated for several years. He then yielded tO' a youthful longing for travel and adventure, and shipped as an ordinary seaman on the whaling vessel " Alcyone " bound for the Indian Ocean, the smallest American schooner (92 tons burthen) that up to that time had rounded the Cape of Good Hope. His seafaring career of two years and a half and his subsequent travels completed his circumnavigation of the globe, and involved him in varied experiences in many lands and satisfied to the full his thirst for adventure. He recalls with especial vividness a landing effected by the little craft upon which he sailed at a point in Tulu Bay, Madagascar, where the vessel was boarded on a sultry summer day by the native king, whose royal costume consisted solely of a heavy winter overcoat and a plug hat. The king condescended to accept as port charges a bucket of hard tack and a roll of calico, and he took personal charge of the goods. It is strik- ingly illustrative of civilization's giant strides that at this very point there now flourishes a town containing many fine dwelling houses and business blocks, and which is supplied with such up-to-date equipments as trolley car lines and electric light plants. The captains of such ves- sels as the " Alcyone " were anything but tender in the treatment of their crews, and the hardships and brutality to which he was subjected BERKSHIRE COUNTY 429 led young- Barker to put into execution a long cherished plan for de- sertion of the whaler, and when at a port in the Island of Mauritius he succeeded in stowing- himself away in the hold of an English vessel bound for Melbourne. Australia. His Australian experiences embraced four years' employment in a Melbourne mercantile establishment. After his return to America he entered into business relations with a brother and they established a laundry in Boston, Massachusetts, and at the same time he resumed his interest in music and again took up the study of the same. In 1882 he determined to devote his entire time to the vocation of musical instructor, and it was in that year that he opened a studio in Boston and instructed pupils on the gxiitar and shortly there- after on the banjo and mandolin. In 1886 his first mandolin music and his mandolin instructor, mentioned above, were published. He acquired instant recognition as a capable writer of music, and speedily won an enviable reputation for ability as a teacher, securing a large patronage from individual pupils, also classes, and was successively employed as instructor of mandolin, guitar and banjo in the music departments of Harvard, Wellesley and Tufts Colleges and Groton School for Boys. His Pittsfield studio is in the Wright block. 3475 Of 8