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FREDERICK TAYLOR, one of the
oldest native born citizens of Granby where his birth
occurred July 26, 1816, has been intimately associated
with the agricultural, manufacturing, and financial
interests of Hampshire County for more than half a
century.
His parents, Willard and Sarah
(Cook) Taylor, were both lifelong residents of
Granby. Willard's death
occurred in January, 1834, and his wife's in January,
1842. The father was a farmer by occupation, in which he
met with signal success. He and his wife had eleven
children, as follows: Francis, who died in infancy;
Sarah, born in 1810, the widow of the late David S.
Cook, and now living with her son in Lexington, Mass. ;
Francis (second), who died in infancy; George W.,
deceased, the father of Willard A. Taylor, Frederick,
the subject of this notice; Speedy, born in 1818, who
died at the age of twenty-seven years; Willard, who died
at the age of two and one-half years; Francis E., born
in 1820, who died in March, 1894; Horace W., born in
1823, now a prominent attorney of Rockford, ILL. ;
Pamelia, the wife of Julius G.
Lyman, of Hartford, Conn. ; and one other who
died in infancy.
Frederick Taylor, in common with his brothers and
sisters, had every advantage that the county afforded
for acquiring an education.
After the death of his father, which occurred
when he was eighteen years old, he and his brother
assumed the management of the home farm. He had
been employed in this way for twelve or more years, when
he engaged in the manufacture of paper.
Purchasing a mill he started the business and had
acquired an extensive trade, when in 1865 his mill was
burned. He then
bought a mill in South Hadley
and resumed business,
continuing until 1883, when he was
again burned out. After this second
conflagration he remained in the business but one year
longer. By his
excellent management and superior business tact he has
accumulated an ample competency, and is now living
retired from the activities of business, enjoying the
fruits of his earlier years of unwearied
toil.
Mr. Taylor has been twice married.
On January 5, 1840, he was united in marriage with Miss
Sarah H. Knight, who was born in Stafford, Conn.,
November 21, 1819, a daughter of the Rev.
Joseph Knight, who subsequently located in
Granby. Her death
occurred October 5, 1855. They had five
children, as follows: Joseph K., born December 6, 1840,
who served in the late rebellion, and at the battle in
Charleston, W.Va., August 21, 1864, received injuries
that caused his death nine days later; a child, born
April 1, 1848, who died in infancy; Frank A., born
August 25. 1851, who died March 2, 1858; Henry F., born
September 26, 1853, who died April 25, 1854; and Sarah
H., born April 3, 1855, who died October 7, 1855. Mr.
Taylor's second marriage was with Mary Ingraham Cowles,
on November 2,
1856. She is
a native of Granby,
born May 29, 1835, being a daughter of Lucius and Mary
(Ingraham) Cowles. The father was born in Granby, and
died in this place April 6, 1810. Mrs.
Cowles was born in South Hadley, her death occurring in
that town also, on September
12, 1885. They were
the parents of
three children: Mary Ingraham (Mrs.
Taylor), Ruth Eliza, and
Sarah Irene. Ten
children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Taylor,
the following being their record: Georgie, born
January 5, 1858, died on the 21st of the following
March; Helen Irene, born March 30, 1859, died March 21,
1865; Frederick Cowles, horn November 4, 1860, now
pastor of the Congregational Church in Hyde Park, Vt. ;
Arthur Strong, born August 17,
1862, died September 11, 1864;
Angeline Cook, born September 24, 1864, died
March 11, 1865; Horace Sanders, born March 19,
1866, a farmer in Granby; Mary Irene, born June
22, 1868, formerly a successful teacher, but now living
at home; Harry Horton, born July 26, 1870, on the staff
of the Boston Herald; an infant, born October 24, 1874,
lived but a brief time; and Grace Agnes, born August 7,
1880.
Mr. Taylor has been the
architect of his own fortunes. This he
accomplished by giving close attention to his business,
and the exercise of other qualities which won for him
the confidence and respect of the business
community. In his
earlier years he was identified with the Whigs, but
since the formation of the Republican party has been one
of its warmest supporters. He has
served most satisfactorily in various town offices,
having been Assessor, Selectman, and also a Justice of
the Peace for fourteen years. He
is a Trustee of the People's
Bank, and a stockholder in the Park Bank and the Home
Bank, of Holyoke. He has been a Director in the latter
institution for years. He is an active worker in
religious circles, and, with his family, belongs to the
Congregational church.
HIRAM TAYLOR, who
is a well to do farmer of Middlefield, was born in this
county, December 16, 1818,son of Worcester and Phoebe
(Loveland) Taylor. The father, who was a native of the
county, throughout his life was engaged in farming, in
which he was unusually successful. He was Captain of a
military company; and he died on June 6, 1826. His wife,
also born in the county, died on the same day and month,
but fifty-nine years later, having attained the age of
eighty-nine. Their union was made happy by the birth of
four sons and a daughter: Worcester, Hiram, Lewis,
Caroline, and Royal. Both parents were members of the
Congregational church, in which they were zealous
workers.
Hiram Taylor, who at his father's
death was but eight years old, was then put out with the
family of Deacon Gamwell, with whom he lived until he
was twenty-one years of age. At that time he got
possession of the old homestead by purchasing the rights
of the other heirs, and with his mother he has resided
there since. He deals quite extensively in stock, and
makes a specialty of fattening and shipping cattle to
market. His stock is mostly short-horn and Hereford. He
now owns about seven hundred acres of land, the larger
part of which is divided between pasturage and meadow.
Not until after his mother's death and he was well
advanced in years did Mr. Taylor seek a wife. On
November 1, 1889, he was married to Miss Carrie Porter.
She was born on September 17, 1853, and is a daughter of
Theodore Porter, a native of Hatfield, Mass., who is now
residing in Florence, where he is profitably engaged in
farming.
Mr. Taylor is a loyal Republican
and an ardent advocate of the principles of his
party. Among the offices of
trust, and responsibility which he has filled may be
mentioned those of Constable and Collector for eight
years, Assessor for six years; and for three years he
has served as a delegate to the State Board of
Agriculture. In 1893 he was sent by his district as a
Representative to the State legislature. For upward of
fifty years Mr. Taylor has been a communicant of the
Congregational church, which for a long time he has
served as Deacon and Trustee, and has always been one of
its most liberal supporters.
HIRAM TAYLOR, of Northampton,
has a wide reputation as a railway contractor, having
been identified with the work on many of the New England
roads and several of the Southern roads. He is a native
of the Empire State, having been born in June, 1835, in
Schoharie County, son of Hiram Taylor, Sr., who was born
in Connecticut in 1796.
The father was a lawyer, and after
his admission to the bar settled in Schoharie County,
New York, practicing in Livingstonville, where his death
occurred when sixty-three years of age, in 1859. He
married Susan Ingram, a native of Albany; and of the ten
children born to them, five sons and four daughters grew
to years of discretion. The six following still survive:
McKay, a farmer, residing at Wellsbridge, N.Y. ; James,
like-wise engaged in farming, a resident of Durham, N.Y.
; Hiram, the subject of this short biography; Alfred, in
California, if living Mrs. Beulah Snyder, of Oak Hill,
N.Y. ; Phoebe, a resident of Wellsbridge, N.Y. The
mother died the year prior to her husband's decease.
Hiram Taylor spent his early life
in his New York home, where his opportunities for
securing an education were limited to a few months
each year in
the district school.
Being a boy of high ambitions with a spirit of
resolute determination, he struck out for himself when
but fifteen years of age, beginning work on a railway,
where he drove spikes or did anything that could be
expected of a boy, receiving one dollar per day and
boarding himself. He worked
faithfully, and was amply rewarded by being made foreman
the second year, a position seldom given to one so
young. He was employed on
various New England railways, notably the Connecticut
River, the Boston & Albany, the old Hartford, P.
& F. now the New England, the Hartford to
Willimantic, the Shore Line from
New London, and the Hudson River Railroad from
Albany to Poughkeepsie. On this latter
road Mr. Taylor was first
employed in contracting, and was at one time road master
there; and he was likewise road master for five years on
the Connecticut River road. Before the war Mr.
Taylor spent some time on the Georgia Central
Railway, and from 1884 until 1889 was in the Carolinas
and Alabama, connected with the railways of those
States. In defense of the nation's flag he enlisted in
1862 from New London in the Twenty-first Connecticut
Volunteer Infantry, and for thirty-five months
thereafter served in the ranks, but, fortunately,
escaped the missiles of war, although he had some hair
breadth escapes, at one time his gun having been
actually shot from his hands.
Mr. Taylor has been three times
married. His first wife,
formerly Lizzie Lasher, to whom he was united in 1856,
died in 1860, leaving one daughter, Carrie, now the wife
of Burr Leavenworth, of New Haven, Conn., and mother of
one son, Harold. He subsequently married Mrs. Frances
Comstock Billings, the widow of George Billings, a sea
captain, who was lost during a voyage, leaving her with
one daughter, Fannie. Mrs. Frances C B. Taylor lived but
three years after their union, dying in this city in
1869, leaving one daughter, Harriet W. On February 4,
1870, Mr. Taylor married Miss
Emma Paul, of Palmer. The fruits of this
union are three children, namely: Susan M., who married
Harry Hillman, of Schenectady, N. Y., and has one
daughter; Irene Elizabeth; and Beulah, now in the high
school.
Mr. Taylor has always evinced an
active and generous interest in the advancement of the
welfare of city, county, and State, but has refused
office as a general thing, although he did serve one
term as superintendent of streets.
He is an ardent Republican in his political
affiliations; and socially he belongs to the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, to the Red Men, and to the William
L. Baker Post, No. 86, Grand Army of the Republic.
Religiously, he is bound by no creed, but is a firm
believer that in doing good deeds he may find the way to
better things to come. In 1890 he bought his delightful
home, located on Prospect Street, where he has seven
acres of land, on which is a fine grove of native trees,
mostly the fragrant pine. The house commands an extended
and charming view of the surrounding landscape, and the
attractive home is the centre of a liberal
hospitality.
HORACE S.
TAYLOR, a progressive agriculturist
of Granby, was born March
19, 1866, son of Frederick and Mary I.
(Cowles) Taylor. Mr. Taylor
began the battle of life when a youth of eighteen
years. He first
obtained employment as a clerk in the store of J. S. Preston &
Co., gentlemen's furnishing
goods, in Holyoke.
Afterward he occupied a similar position in the
store of Brown Brothers. Having
remained in Holyoke three years he went West, and spent
a season visiting in Chicago and in the neighboring city
of Rockford. Returning East in 1889, he was employed in
the creamery for two years. After
this he bought his present property, formerly known as
the Stebbins farm, which he has since conducted very
successfully. It contains one hundred and sixty acres of
land. The larger part of it is in a high state of
cultivation, and gives fine crops of corn and hay each
season. He also keeps a large dairy, selling the milk to
the creamery, of which he is a Director.
On February
15, 1893, Mr.
Taylor was united in marriage with Miss Jessie
May Bell, a native of Bethel, Conn., and a daughter of
the Rev. R.
C. Bell, pastor of the
Granby Congregational Church, of which both
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are
estimable members. Politically, Mr.
Taylor is an adherent of the Republican
party. A worthy
and valued member of society, his reputation for
integrity and honorable dealing is
unblemished.
SYLVESTER H. TAYLOR, a
practical and prosperous member of the agricultural
community, and a descendant of one of the pioneer
families of Granby, first saw the light on the farm he
now occupies, May 5, 1833. His father, Chester Taylor,
was a lifelong farmer; and, with the exception of a
short time spent in Southampton, pursued his independent
vocation on the family homestead. He married Eunice
Strong, a native of Southampton, and of the union nine
children were born, namely: Dexter S., deceased; Lydia,
who lived to the age of seventy-nine years; Job S., a
resident of Lake County, Ohio; Thankful, now living in
Ludlow, Mass. ; Susan, who resides in Granby; William,
deceased; Andrew J., deceased; Charles Henry of Granby;
and Sylvester H. Neither of the
parents is now living, the father having passed away
August 4, 1854, and the mother ten years
later.
Sylvester H. Taylor, the subject of
this sketch, enjoyed but limited educational advantages,
having been obliged from his early boyhood to assist in
the manual labor incidental to life on a farm. However,
in this way he received a practical training in the
occupation that was to be his life work. In May, 1861,
he married Miss Caroline F. Boynton, a daughter of Emery
Boynton, and a native of Pelham, this county. Mr.
Taylor brought his bride directly to the old homestead,
and continued in the calling to which he was
reared. On August 25, 1862,
inspired by patriotic motives, he enlisted, under
Captain William Perkins, in company H of the
Fifty-second Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, then
commanded by Colonel H. S. Greenleaf. With his regiment
he took part in many engagements, including those at
Irish Bend, La., and at Port Hudson. The term of his
enlistment having expired, Mr. Taylor received his
discharge August 14, 1863, and at once returned home. He
was much debilitated at that time, and has never fully
recovered his health since.
His farm is a fine property, consisting of one
hundred and thirty acres of fertile land, and in
excellent cultivation. The greater part of the
improvements have been made by him, and are convincing
testimony of the perseverance and energy that have
created them.
Of his marriage with Mrs. Taylor
there have been born seven children, all of whom are
well educated, some having completed their school life
at the seminary in South Hadley.
Their record is as follows: Edwin B., residing in
Swampscott, Mass. ; William, now deceased, formerly an
employee of the Adams Express Company; Leon, living near
the home farm; Jennie, a teacher in the school at Granby
Centre; Homer, assisting on the farm ; Carrie L. ; and
Mabel.
Mr. Taylor has always had a
pioneer's liking for the chase, and in former years made
a reputation for killing foxes.
He is a stanch member of the Republican party, is
prominent in local affairs, and faithfully and
acceptably served in various offices, having been
Assessor, Road Supervisor, and seven years a Selectman
of Granby. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic,
Post No. 183, of South Hadley Falls. In religious belief
both he and his wife are Congregationalists.
WILLARD A.
TAYLOR, a farmer and
insurance agent residing on the homestead farm in
Granby, where his birth occurred June 19, 1848,
is one of the substantial citizens of the place and a
representative of one of the first settlers of this
section of the county. He traces his ancestry back
through several generations to Ebenezer Taylor, one of
the three original settlers of Granby. Ebenezer's
grandson, Levi, who was great-grandfather of the present
Willard A., served in the Revolutionary War at the age
of sixteen. It is related of the youthful soldier that
his mother's parting injunction was, "Levi, never let me
hear of your being a coward."
George W. Taylor, the father of
Willard A., spent his entire life on the ancestral
acres. He was born July 17,
1814, and departed this life August 3, 1887. His wife,
Elvira L. Knight, was born in
Brimfield, Mass., January 5, 1817, and died December 10,
1883. He succeeded to the family estate and followed the
occupation of his father, which was that of general
husbandry. Two children were born to him and his wife,
namely: Willard A., the subject of this sketch ; and
Abbie W., the wife of Arthur W. Fiske, a well-known
farmer of Granby. Both children received a good
education, Mrs. Fiske having completed her school life
at Mount Holyoke Seminary.
Willard A. Taylor, born and bred to
farming, is continually improving the estate, which is
one of the oldest and best cared for in the county. It
has been in the Taylor family for more than one hundred
and fifty years, as shown by the deed, bounding the
homestead on common land, bearing the date of 1744. He,
as well as his present wife, has also been a teacher in
the public schools. Mr. Taylor has been
twice married. His first marriage was with Ruth S.
Lyman, a native of Huntington and the daughter of the
late Jairus Lyman, and was performed December 6, 1877.
Their married life was of brief duration, as her death
occurred August 19, 1884, no issue being left. On the
second occasion, October 21, 1886,
Mr. Taylor was united to
Miss Clara L. Goldthwait, who was born in Glastonbury,
Conn., May 4, 1856, being a daughter of Ebenezer
Goldthwait, a prosperous farmer. Of this union there has
been one child born, named George Goldthwait Taylor. Mr.
Taylor has always been actively identified with the best
interests of the town. He has taken special interest in
the schools, and has been for many years, and is still,
a member of the School Committee. He is also a Trustee
of the free public library, in the establishment of
which he took an active part. He is prominent in
political affairs, being an earnest Republican, and
being now one of the Republican Town Committee.
To the advancement of the moral and religious
welfare of the town, he contributes his full share of
effort. Both Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are valued members of
the Congregational church, he being superintendent of
the Sunday-school connected with that
organization.
WALTER
H. THAYER, an extensive
and eminently successful hardware manufacturer of
Williamsburg, Mass., was born there on September 5,
1862, son of William E. and Harriet E. (Dickinson)
Thayer.
William E.
Thayer's birth took place in Peru, Berkshire
County, on October 11, 1816.
His parents were Eliphalet and Mary (Sears)
Thayer, the former of
whom was a son of Oliver Thayer, and was born in Braintree,
Mass., in 1776. When
Eliphalet was a child his parents moved to the northern
part of the town of Williamsburg, where they purchased a
farm, which is now owned by A. W. Alexander. The son also
followed the life of an agriculturist. He
married Miss Mary Sears, a descendant of one of the
first families of Ashfield; and both lived to a
good age. His death occurred in 1840, when sixty-four
years of age. Seven of
the ten children born to them grew to maturity, and
were: Marietta, Rhoda, Ezra, Williston, Louisa, Roland,
and William E. At the
age of twelve years William E. Thayer came from Peru to
Williamsburg to work as a clerk in the store of his
brothers, Ezra and Williston Thayer. Later on he
traveled for about five years selling clocks, after
which he entered into partnership with his brother Ezra
in the manufacture of steel pens, to which they
afterward added the manufacture of hardware, kitchen
utensils, and furniture. In 1856
they separated, he taking the hardware branch of the
business to the old stand that had previously been used
as a button and buckle manufactory, and which, with its
water-power, he had
purchased of D. W.
Graves. Five years
later he took down the old buildings and erected the
present structures, together with tenement-houses and
other necessary buildings. The
factory gives employment to twenty-five men, and its
products won for its proprietor a reputation throughout
the New England and the Western States of first-class
manufacturer. In
addition to his. factory he conducted a large general
store, which received a large share of the patronage of
the surrounding country. About
1842 he bought the fine brick house on Main Street built
by his brother Ezra. In his
political relations he was a Republican; and he served
most acceptably as a Selectman of the town.
He contributed largely toward the support of the
Congregational church,
and was in all walks of life a man whom to know
was to respect. On
October 20, 1840, he was joined
in marriage with Miss Maria H. Dickinson, of Saybrook,
Conn. Three of the
five children born to them grew to maturity; namely,
Frederick W., Alice M., and George D. Their mother died
on August 14, 1859. On
December 25, 1860, Mr. Thayer was again married, this
time to Miss Harriet E. Dickinson, of Saybrook, Conn., a
daughter of Captain John Dickinson, who followed the sea
in his early life, but spent his last years on a farm.
Three children were the fruit of this second marriage;
namely, Walter H., Edith E., and H.
Winifred. The
latter is the wife of E. C.
Clark, who is engaged in the insurance and real
estate business at Northampton and Holyoke, Mass. Mr.
Thayer died in 1893, and his widow now occupies the old
homestead.
Walter H. Thayer received a good
practical education in the schools of Williamsburg and
at the academies of Easthampton, Mass., and
Cheshire, Conn. He
also took a business course at the
Bryant & Stratton Business College in
Manchester, N. H., where he graduated in 1881. He then
went into his father's store as a general assistant, and
traveled as a representative of the manufacturing
department of the business a portion of the time.
At his father's death he took full charge of the
factory, put in new machinery, and made various other
improvements. He
has met with much success; and, though a young man, he
ranks among the leading business men and manufacturers
of the State.
Mr. Thayer casts his vote with the
Republican party. He is
connected with several fraternal organizations, among
which may be mentioned the Hampshire Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., the Northampton Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and
the Northampton Commandery of Knights Templars. He is
also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In
his religious views he is liberal.
WILLIAM M. THIEME, an esteemed
resident of
South Hadley Falls, having
been connected with its
manufacturing interests for forty years, was born in Saxony, January
6, 1831. Mr.
Thieme's father, Benjamin T. Thieme, also a
native of Saxony, born April 24, 1795, was a prosperous
manufacturer, owning a woolen-mill, and was quite an
influential man in the place where he resided. His death,
October 4, 1851, was considered
a public loss. In 1822 he married Elenora
Yehnig, also a native of
Saxony, born April 15, 1799. She died January 18, 1834,
having borne her husband five children, as follows:
Julia Augusta, deceased: Henrietta Amelia and Amelia
Therese, both living in Germany; William M., the subject
of this sketch; and a child that died in infancy.
William M. Thieme received a
substantial education in the public schools of the
Father-land, and began the battle of life when twenty
years of age. His father dying at that time, he assumed
charge of the woolen-mill, and held it in partnership
with the other heirs for four years. With a desire
to better his condition, he then bade good-by to his
relatives and friends, and embarked in July, 1855, on
board the ship "Atlantic" for this country.
After landing in New York, he came
directly to this
county, took
up his residence in
Northampton, and worked in a woolen-mill until the
following January. He next
obtained employment in a cotton-mill at Chicopee
until March, 1857,
when he came to South Hadley Falls to fill a
position in the Glasgow Cotton Mill. Being an
industrious and faithful workman, it was not long before
he was made an overseer. After this,
when the occasion served, he was promoted to the
responsible position of superintendent of the mill. He
resigned this position some years ago, after spending
twenty-eight years in the employment of the firm, and
bought the Holyoke Journal the German newspaper of this
village. He
conducted this publication alone for some time. Subsequently he
took a partner; and the firm is now known as the
German-American Publishing Company, of which Mr. Thieme
is the President. In 1893 he retired from active
participation in business.
Under his administration the name of the paper
was changed to the New England Ruidschau its circulation
was greatly increased, and it became the leading German
paper of this section of the State. He is also president
of the water company of his town.
On November 23, 1859,. Mr. Thieme
was united in marriage with Paulina Otto, who was born
October 25, 1840, in Saxony, being the daughter of
Ludwig and Johanna (Uenzler) Otto, neither of whom is
now living. The union has been
blessed by the birth of five children, as follows:
Paulina, who died in 1891; Emma, the wife of Robert
Johannis, of Holyoke; Morris William, who lives in South
Hadley Falls; Alfred Hermann, a painter, who resides in
New York City; and Edward Frank, a plumber, in South
Hadley Falls. Mr. Thieme has
taken a warm interest in the prosperity of his adopted
town. His approval and support have been given to all
worthy efforts to promote its interests. For some years
he was a member of the Prudential Committee, and he has
been President of the local Turner Halle Society. In politics he
is bound by no party ties, but votes for the men
and measures he deems best. Although
neither Mr. nor Mrs.
Thieme is connected with any religious
organization, their children have been regular
attendants at the Congregational church.
GEORGE
F. THOMSON, M.D., a
well-known physician of Belchertown and a veteran of the
Civil War, was born in Belchertown, Mass., January 9,
1833. His father, Dr.
Horatio Thomson, was born at Tolland, Conn., October 6,
1804; and his grandfather, Gideon Thomson, also a
physician, was born at Mansfield, Conn.
Dr. Gideon Thomson was a well-known physician and
surgeon at Tolland, where he practiced until his
decease. The maiden name of his wife, Dr. Thomson's
grandmother, was Elizabeth Steele. Dr. Horatio Thomson
turned his attention to the study of medicine at a very
early age. Subsequent to
following the occupation of an educator for a time, he
commenced his preparations for professional life by
studying with his father. Later he attended
lectures at Yale College. He graduated from the
medical department of that university in the year 1827,
and settled in Belchertown, Mass., where he continued in
active practice until his decease. This event
occurred in his fifty-sixth year on the anniversary of
his birth. His first wife,
who died at the age of twenty-nine years, was before
marriage Cordelia Chapman, of Tolland, daughter of
Eliakim and Nancy Willes Chapman. She had
two sons, namely: Charles H.; and George
F., of this article. Charles H.
became an attorney, and died at Corning, N.Y.
The second wife was Lucy Maria Doolittle,
daughter of the Hon. Mark Doolittle, of
Belchertown. She bore him
four children, all of whom died in infancy.
George F. Thomson, M.D., received a
liberal education in the academies at New Salem,
Easthampton, Hadley, and
Monson. After teaching for
some time in the schools at Monson and
Brinifield, he commenced the
study of medicine at
the age of eighteen years, first with his father
and later with Dr. Palmer,
of Woodstock, Vt. He
graduated from the University of New York in 1855, and
soon after was appointed surgeon of the emigrant ship
"New World," plying between New York and Liverpool. After holding
this position, for three years, he established himself
at Belchertown. In
1862 he received the
appointment of Assistant Surgeon of the
Thirty-eighth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry, and for more than two years served in the
Department of the Gulf, under Major-general N. P.
Banks. He was
subsequently promoted to the rank of Surgeon, and
assigned to
the Eighteenth
Massachusetts Volunteers; but ill health prevented him
from undertaking the duties of that post. Early in the
month of January, 1865, he was appointed by Governor
Andrew and commissioned by Governor Fenton as Surgeon of
the Twenty-sixth New York Volunteer Cavalry, which was
stationed upon the Canadian frontier until July of that
year. He was then honor-ably discharged, and returned to
Belchertown. In the following
January, having recovered his health, he resumed his
practice, and has continued it without interruption to
the present day. During this time Dr. Thomson has had
practice in three different counties; but at one time he
attended a large number of patients in seventeen
different towns. At present he has an extensive practice
in a section which includes eight towns.
In 1865 he wedded Miss Sophia M.
Brown, daughter of Asa Brown, Esq., of Hadley.
They have two children, Edmund S. and Lucy D. The
former, a graduate of Harvard University and the New
York College of Physicians and Surgeons, is now
practicing at New Haven, Conn. Lucy D. is a graduate of
Smith College, and will graduate in 1896 at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Thomson is a member of Bethel Lodge, A. F.
& A. M., and a comrade of E. J.
Griggs Post, No. 97, Grand Army of the
Republic.
ANDREW N. THORINGTON, turnkey
of the Hampshire County Jail at Northampton for the past
twelve years, was born in Sturbridge, Worcester County,
Mass., June 6, 1844, the only child of Andrew B. and
Mary (Haskell) Thorington.
He comes of heroic Revolutionary stock, his
great-grandfather, William Thorington, having been a
soldier of the Revolutionary army.
His name was written on the muster roll as
William Thornton, and his widow was obliged to use that
name in applying for a pension.
After the close of the great struggle he settled
in Rensselaer County, New York, where his son Abraham,
grandfather of the present Mr. Thorington, was
born.
Abraham Thorington was reared to
farming. After his marriage
with Miss Breninthol, whose father came over from
Germany as a stowaway on one of the large sailing
vessels, he purchased a farm in Pittstown, Rensselaer
County, where he engaged in general farming during the
remainder of his life. His wife died in 1849, aged
threescore years. His death occurred some ten years
later, at the age of seventy years. They reared two sons
and two daughters, of whom the only one now living is
Mrs. Elizabeth Dean, a widow residing in Iowa. Andrew B.
Thorington was born at Troy, N.Y., in September, 1822.
In 1840, before reaching his majority, he was united in
marriage with Mary Haskell, a native of Whitingham, Vt.,
where their union was celebrated. He was a farmer by
occupation, and lived in Massachusetts many years of his
life, finally locating in Charlemont, where he departed
this life in March, 1895. His wife died in 1882, aged
sixty-one years.
Andrew N. Thorington, the subject
of this short biography, received a good education.
At the age of eighteen years he left home, and
became an attendant in the Asylum for the Insane in
Northampton, at first under the instruction of Dr..
Prince, but subsequently under the regime of Dr. Pliny
Earle. He has been engaged in similar work much of his
lifetime, having been with Dr. Shaw in Middletown,
Conn., and in Worcester under Dr. Bemis. He was a
salesman in Malone, N.Y., for two years, and an employee
in a shoe factory at Brookfield, Mass., for a time.
In August, 1883, he accepted his present
position, in which he has given general
satisfaction.
On August 4, 1887, Mr. Thorington
was married to Clara E. Cooley, one of the eight
children of the late Calvin Cooley. They have one son,
Carl Haskell Thorington, now three years old.
Politically, Mr. Thorington is a steadfast Republican.
He is a Knight Templar and a Past Sachem of the tribe of
Red Men. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the
Republic, and has been Junior Vice-Commander of the
William L. Bake Post, No. 66. He was a soldier in the
lat Civil War, having enlisted from Shelburn Falls, July
21, 1864, in the Sixtieth Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry, going out as ; one hundred days
man.
JOHN C. THORPE, a respected and
popular farmer and dairyman at Mountain Park,
Northampton, was born in his present home March 19,
1832, son of Sherlock D. and Hannah (Allen) Thorpe, the
former born on this same farm in 1804, the latter a
native of Holyoke.
William Thorpe came from
England and settled in the New Haven Colony in
Connecticut in 1638. His descendant, Timothy Thorpe,
great-grandfather of Mr. Thorpe, was a farmer; and he
removed from North Haven, Conn., with his son Collins
about one hundred years ago. The latter, who was born
about 1776, was a cooper by trade, and on the farm made
many barrels, which were in much demand for cider, cider
brandy, and vinegar -leading commodities in those days.
He died in his sixty-fifth year. The wife of
Grand-father Collins Thorpe was before marriage
Rachel Abbott, of Wallingford, Conn. She lived well into
the seventies, and now rests in the Holyoke cemetery on
Northampton Street beside her husband. They reared four
sons and four daughters, of whom the only survivors are:
Lyman F., a resident of Holyoke, who is nearly eighty
years old; and Delia, now Mrs.
Conklin, of New Haven, Conn. Grandfather Thorpe
acquired a good deal of property for his time, and gave
to each of his children several hundred dollars. He and
his wife were exemplary Christians, living up almost to
the letter, as well as the spirit, of the law.
Sherlock D. Thorpe devoted his life
to agriculture, spending his days on the farm where he
was born. The farm contained over one hundred acres at
the time of his death, which occurred in 1876, in his
seventy-third year. He was twice married.
In the early autumn of 1830 he took for his first
helpmate Hannah Allen, of Holyoke, daughter of Bishop
Allen. Her grandfather, Amos
Allen, was a cousin of Ethan Allen, the hero colonel of
the Green Mountain Boys, and took an active part in the
French and Indian War, being taken prisoner and held by
the enemy four years. He also served in the Revolution.
Mrs. Thorpe lived to the age of sixty-eight years, dying
in 1872. Mrs. Hannah (Allen) Thorpe was the mother of
five children, four of whom grew to maturity. Of these,
Jane R., wife of Wesson E. Mansfield, of Shelburne
Falls, died in 1877, aged about forty, leaving five
children; Hettie M., the youngest of the family, wife of
Henry M. Bartlett, of Holyoke, died in 1887, in her
forty-ninth year, leaving three children; Eugene died in
the spring of 1895, at Faribault, Minn., in his
sixty-second year, leaving one son, Herbert; Dana W.
died in consumption when fifteen years of age; John C.
Thorpe is the only survivor of his parents' family. The
second wife of Sherlock D.
Thorpe is living on the farm with her
stepson.
John C. Thorpe received
a grammar school education, attending Wilbraham
Academy. He has spent his life
on the paternal acres with the exception of two years,
during which he was in the grocery business in
Holyoke. He has been
extensively engaged in dairying for thirty or forty
years, at one time keeping sixteen cows and delivering
the milk to customers in Holyoke. Mr. Thorpe now
keeps but ten cows, and disposes of his milk by
wholesale at the door. Mr.
Thorpe has sold some sixteen acres of his best arable
land, but has left a fine estate of one hundred
acres.
On December 16, 1863, he
was married to Mary E., daughter of Dr. William G.
Smith, of Chicopee. Mrs. Thorpe is a graduate of the
Westfield Normal School, and was a teacher for some time
previous to her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Thorpe
are the parents of three sons, namely: William S., a
resident of Holyoke, book keeper for William Whiting
& Co., coal dealers; Arthur B., book-keeper and
pay-master for the Franklin Paper Company at Holyoke;
and Frederick D., draftsman for the Coburn Trolley
Company at Holyoke. Mr. Thorpe votes the
Republican ticket, but takes no active part in politics.
He and his wife are valued members of the First
Congregational Church of Holyoke, the church of his
maternal great-grandfather, Amos Allen. His dwelling is
a cozy farm cottage built by his father sixty-six years
ago.
LYSANDER THURSTON, a well-known
resident of Enfield and one of the most enterprising and
successful farmers of the town, was born in Pelham,
Hampshire County, on May 25, 1837, son of James and
Maria (Gleason) Thurston.
Grandfather Thurston was a native
of Litchfield, Conn; but both he and his father removed
to Pelham, Mass., of which they were early
settlers. James Thurston
was born in Pelham, February 8, 1787. At an early age
he turned his attention to agriculture, and engaged in
it near his birthplace until about 1846, when he removed
to Enfield, and settled on the farm now
occupied by two of his sons.
He died there on April 7, 1866. On religious
questions he was liberal. He gave
considerable attention to town affairs, and served the
town acceptably as Selectman and in other
capacities. In
1843 he was elected to the State
legislature. He cast the
vote which elected Governor Morton,
although at the time he was in
a condition that made it necessary to carry him to the
polling-place upon a stretcher. As a souvenir
of that event his Democratic friends shortly after
presented him with a cane.
He was
twice married.
Three children were
born of the first union and six of the second. Six still
survive; namely, Susan
M., Olive, Almira, Royal G., Lysander, and Jason.
Those deceased were: John T.; James; and
Philander, who was born in 1837, and was the twin
brother of Lysander. After graduating from Amherst
College, Philander Thurston took a theological course at
Andover Seminary. Soon after he
engaged in preaching; and of his pastoral charges, all
of which were in New England, the longest was that at
Dorchester, Mass., where he remained for eleven
years. During his
lifetime he visited Europe. His last days
were spent in Enfield, where he died, fifty-six years of
age. His mother's death occurred on the same date as
that on which his father
died - April 7, 1866.
Lysander Thurston acquired his
education in the public schools of Pelham and Enfield,
after which he attended Monson Academy.
During the next ten winters he engaged in
teaching; but he has since confined his attention to
farming, in company with his brother Jason, who is three
years younger than he. They have two hundred and fifty
acres of land, the tillage portion of which is kept in
good condition. They raise a variety of grains, make a
specialty of apples and other fruit, and also do a good
dairy business. Their residence and general farm
buildings are all in fine condition, and everything
about the place betokens their thrift and enterprise.
Neither of the brothers has ever married.
In politics Lysander
Thurston is a Democrat, and was chosen a member of the
legislature in 1890-91. He has also been active in town
affairs, has been Assessor, and for nine terms has been
a Selectman. Jason Thurston is also a Democrat.
Regarding religious questions, both brothers hold
liberal opinions.
CAPTAIN CHARLES E. TILESTON, a
prosperous farmer of Williamsburg and veteran of the
Civil War, son of Cornelius and Elvira (Williams)
Tileston, was born in Williamsburg, October 20,
1829. His grandfather,
Cornelius Tileston, Sr., was an early settler in
Williamsburg, and resided upon the farm which is now
owned by Mr. Breckenridge. He served as a private in the
Revolutionary War, and died in Williamsburg at the
advanced age of ninety-seven years. He married Sarah
Ludden, of Williamsburg, and became the father of the
following children: John, Sabra, Elisha, Wales, Betsey,
and Cornelius. The mother died in her ninetieth
year.
Cornelius Tileston, Jr., Captain
Tileston's father, was born in Williamsburg in
1798. He resided with his
parents until reaching manhood, when he bought a farm,
and engaged in agriculture. He also conducted a store
and a hotel successfully, becoming in the course of time
a prosperous business man.
He was prominent in public affairs, serving with
ability as Selectman and in other town offices.
Cornelius Tileston, Jr., died at the age of sixty-four
years. His wife, Elvira Williams, was a daughter of
Gross and Mary (Washburn) Williams, and her eight
children were named as follows: George; Madeline;
Charles E.; Henry; Faxon; Elizabeth; Edward; and Mary
Ann, who died young.
Charles E. Tileston remained at
home until he reached the age of twenty-two years, at
which time he commenced to learn the carpenter's trade.
After serving an apprenticeship of three years, he has
adopted that trade as his principal occupation, working
for some time in New York, and also in Ohio. In the
latter State he resided eight years, in which period he
purchased some land and engaged in agriculture. In 1862
he enlisted in Company I, Fifty-second Regiment,
Massachusetts Volunteers, under Colonel H. S. Greenleaf;
and at the organization of the company he was appointed
its Captain. He served eleven months, and participated
in the battles of Franklin and Port Hudson, La., under
General Banks, and at Jackson Crossroads.
After receiving his discharge, he returned to
Williamsburg, and resumed his former occupation. He
later engaged in farming upon the property he now
occupies; and in 1866 he built a new house, completing a
new barn four years later. He carries on a small dairy,
and is interested in the Co-operative
Creamery.
In 1861 Captain Tileston was united
in marriage to Maria Thayer. She was the daughter of
Minot and Cynthia (Hill) Thayer, the father having been
a well-to-do farmer and a highly respected citizen of
Williamsburg. He died at an advanced age, leaving his
farm of seventy acres to his daughter Maria. His other
children were: Henry, Henry C, Cordelia, Willard H.,
Sarah B., Sedate M., Alvin E., Charles M., and Cynthia
M. Mrs. Tileston's mother died at a ripe old age.
Captain and Mrs. Tileston have one daughter, named Inez
B., who, with her husband, G. H. Bisbee, resides with
them upon the farm. Since taking
possession of the farm, Captain Tileston has improved
the property, and added ten acres of adjoining land. He
is a Republican in politics and a comrade of Post No.
86, Grand Army of the Republic, of
Northampton.
GEORGE W. TINKER, a practical
and successful agriculturist of Worthington, Mass., who
began in life as a poor boy, is now the owner of the
well-stocked and highly cultivated farm of one hundred
and forty-five acres on which he resides. He was born
here, April 13, 1839, son of Omri and Salome (Crozier)
Tinker, the former of whom was a native of Connecticut,
from which place he came with his parents to
Massachusetts.
Omri Tinker was then a young man,
and for several years he continued to live at the
parental home. When his
father and mother moved to
Rochester, Lorain
County, Ohio, he remained
behind and soon purchased the farm in Worthington on
which his son now lives.
The estate at that time contained one hundred and forty
acres, but he later on purchased fifty acres
additional. He was a
hard working and enterprising farmer; and besides
performing his ordinary farm duties he was often
employed by others in laying stone walls, being an
excellent workman in that line. He
continued to carry on his farm until his death on March
12, 1892, at the age of eighty-nine years and eleven months. His first
wife, Salome Crozier, bore him four children,
namely: George (deceased); Louisa
(deceased); George; and Mary, the wife
of Charles Cole, who is now living in Hinsdale, Mass.
Their mother died in 1854. Mr.
Tinker's second wife was Sarah Chapman, a native
of Becket, Mass. Of this union one daughter was born:
Ella, the wife of Lewis Walsh, a prosperous farmer
residing in Pittsfield, Mass. In political affiliation
Mr. Omri Tinker was a Republican, and an active worker
for his party. He and his wife were communicants of the
Methodist Episcopal church, in which they were well
known as faithful helpers.
At twenty years of age George W.
Tinker left the paternal roof to gain a livelihood for
himself. He began by working out during the first year,
after which he went to Chester, Mass., where during the
succeeding six years he was successfully engaged in
conducting a saw-mill. Buying a farm from Lawrence Smith
he thenceforward profitably turned his attention to
agricultural pursuits, having received good practical
instruction therein during his boyhood and youth. He
continued to carry on this place for fifteen years, and
then purchased the old Tinker homestead, on which he has
since resided. He is successfully engaged in general
farming, raising for his principal products corn, oats,
and wheat; and he is also engaged to some extent in
dairying. On his farm is a fine
sugar orchard, which yields yearly from two to three
thousand pounds of maple syrup and sugar of nice
quality.
He married Miss Mary
Bidwell, who was born in Connecticut on February 17,
1854; and their union was blessed by the birth of four
children, as follows: Harry, born November 4, 1877;
Lottie J., born November 9, 1879; Charlie, who died in
infancy; and Agnes, born June 26, 1881. The children
have received the advantages not only of the schools of
Worthington, but have also attended school at
Pittsfield, Mass. Mrs. Tinker died on July 20,
1890. Mr.
Tinker has always been a stanch supporter of the
Republican party. He is well known and universally liked
by his associates.
ASA A. TODD, deceased, an
esteemed resident of Chesterfield for nearly his entire
lifetime, was born in that town, August 12, 1820, son of
Lyman and Sarah (Kinney) Todd; respectively natives of
Chesterfield and Worthington. Lyman Todd died in
November, 1846. He was the father of thirteen children,
three of whom are now living. These are: Horace, who
resides in Heath, Mass. ; Aurelia Frances, wife of
Joseph Cudworth, of Worthington; and Effie Deliza, wife
of Samuel Eddy, of Chesterfield.
Lyman Todd's widow, now deceased, married Ouartus
Rust, of New York, and spent the last years of her life
in that State.
Asa A. Todd received a
common-school education. He was a man of many
resources. He was for three
years employed in a tannery, giving entire satisfaction
to his employers. In 1847 he engaged in
general farming, in which he was also very successful.
In that year he settled on the farm where his widow now
resides; and, excepting one year spent with his family
in Chesterfield, it was his home up to the time of his
death. Mr. Todd was a good business man. He had the
faculty of applying himself closely to whatever he
undertook. In time he attained a comfortable degree of
prosperity. His death occurred January 23, 1895.
Mr. Todd was twice married. His
first wife, Mary Cudworth, of Chesterfield, died nine
months after marriage. Subsequently, on June 2, 1847, he
was united to Ellen J. Cudworth, a native of
Chesterfield, born March 7, 1829, daughter of Charles
and Susanna (Keith) Cudworth. The father was a native of
Chesterfield, and the mother of Scituate, Mass. Mr.
Cudworth, who was a farmer, is now deceased; and his
wife also has passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Todd were the
parents of seven children, namely: Isabelle, wife of
Walter B. Trow, of Providence, R.I. ; Mary, who died
some time since; Esther S., who also is deceased; Lyman,
who married Mary Pease, and lives in Worthington;
Monroe, who now manages the homestead; Flora E., wife of
William A. Trow, of Westfield; and Asa Augustus,
likewise deceased. All the children were given a good
education, their father fully realizing the advantage
thereof. Monroe, who was born
March 18, 1862, learned the mason's trade and followed
the same for some years. After his
father's death he took charge of the home farm, of which
he is the present proprietor, his mother making her home
with him. He
is married, his wife's
maiden name having been Letty L.
Middlebrook. In politics
Monroe Todd is independent, voting for the candidate he
considers best fitted to further the interests of the
people. He is a
member of
the Masonic fraternity,
belonging to Huntington Lodge, A. F. & A. M-,
of Huntington. He is
carrying on the work begun by his father with
satisfactory results. He also
possesses the esteem in which his father was
held.
WILLIAM H. TODD, manager of the
Academy of Music at Northampton, is a native of New York
City, born May 16, 1838, a son of Calvin and Emma (Todd)
Todd, who were not related by consanguinity. His father
was born in Mendon, Worcester County, Mass., and for
many years was one of the substantial business men of
Fitchburg, Mass.
Mr. Todd was deprived by death of a
mother's care when but an infant. For a time he was
cared for at Ashburnham, Mass., by a nurse, subsequently
by his maternal grandmother, and later by an aunt in
Northampton. He completed his education at the Moravian
Academy in Nazareth, Pa. At the age of sixteen years he
began an apprentice-ship to the hardware trade with
Luther I. Washburn, husband of
his aunt, Mary C. Todd. Five years
later Mr. Todd became a clerk in a hardware store at
Elkhart, Ind. On the death of Mr. Washburn, which
occurred shortly after his departure, he returned to
take charge of the business he left. This he managed
successfully from 1859 until 1878, when F. I. Washburn,
his aunt's son, succeeded him. Mr. Todd
again went West. He bought out a
hardware store in Oskaloosa, Ia., ran it for nearly two
years, and then sold out at an advantage. He next became
interested in a stock company established at Lorain,
Ohio, for the manufacture of brass goods, acting as
secretary for the company for a few years. From 18S1
until 1886 he was the New York agent of the Lorain
Manufacturing Company. He then came to Northampton,
which he has since made his home. For the past few years
he has been the efficient manager of the Academy of
Music.
The union of Mr. Todd with Nancy,
daughter of Charles P. Kingsley, of this city, occurred
in 1862. They had four children, one of whom, a
daughter, died in infancy. Those living are as follows:
Emma, the wife of John W. Hartwell, of this place;
William Baker Todd, a resident of Lorain, Ohio, married,
and father of three children - Thomas G., William Henry,
and Mina; and Elizabeth N., who lives with her parents.
Mr. Todd has ever evinced a warm interest in local
improvement, heartily indorsing all enterprises
calculated to advance the welfare of the city. He
accepts the principles of the Democratic party. He is
connected with the Masonic fraternity as a Knight
Templar.
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