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CHARLES CHANDLER, son of
Aaron and Mary Chandler, was born in Shutesbury,
Franklin Co., Mass., on the 17th of December, 1828. His
father was born in Petersham, Mass., on the 28th of
January, 1797, He was a farmer by occupation; and took
an active interest in the religious and educational
interests of the community in which he lived. In the
autumn of 1850 he removed to Wendell, and during his
residence in that town held various public offices;
among others those of selectman and assessor. He died in New Salem,
on the 15th of October, 1867. His wife was a daughter of
Luther Clark, of Leverett, Mass., born in that town on
the 18th of March, 1795.
She was married to Mr.
Chandler on the 11th of February, 1823. To them were
born five children, of whom only two are now living,
viz.: Mary, the wife of Samuel H. Stowell, and Charles,
the subject of this sketch. The latter remained in the
paternal home, working during a part of each year for
his father on the farm, until the latter removed to
Wendell.
Charles then united with him
in farming, and also engaged in the lumbering business
upon his own account, which he carried on successfully
for several years. On the 27th of January, 1859, he
married Abbie S., daughter of Luther Wyman, of Woburn,
Mass. In 1862, Mr. Chandler removed to New Salem and
located on West Street, on what was known as the "old
Porter farm." He remained there seven years, when,
purchasing his present property, he removed to New Salem
Hill, where he has since resided. He has taken a
prominent part in local public, religions, and
educational interests; has held the offices of town
clerk and treasurer three years, and contributed largely
to the building of the new church edifice and parsonage
in Lock's village.
As a citizen he is public-spirited and
enterprising, and as a man he is respected by all for
his many sterling qualities. His mother, Mrs. Mary
Chandler, resides with him, at the advanced age of
eighty-four years.
Mr. and Mrs. Chandler have
two children, both born in New Salem. They are Mary S.,
born Aug.
24, 1865, and Abbie Belle, born on the 18th of
February, 1867.
OLIVER CHAPIN, Elisha Chapin,
father of the subject of this notice, was born in
Leyden, Franklin Co. Mass., May 24, 1782. He was the son
of Selah and Jerusha Chapin, and grandson of Caleb and
Catharine Chapin. Elisha Chapin was a prominent man in
the town, and held various offices of trust; he was a
member of the Legislature four years, and, in 1820,
assisted in revising the constitution of the State; he
was justice of the peace fifteen years, and a member of
the board of selectmen thirteen
terms.
Oliver
Chapin was born in Leyden, on the place where lie now
resides, Feb. 12, 1811. He received a common-school
education, and also attended the Northfield Academy two
terms. When he reached his majority he was employed by
his father to work upon the farm during the summer, and
received for his labor eleven dollars per month. This he
continued two years, and in the mean time taught school
during the winter months ; he afterward took charge of
the farm, receiving a monthly salary until his father's
decease, which occurred in 1835. He then assumed the
management of the estate, and subsequently bought the
farm, consisting of one hundred and fifty acres, by
paying off the co-heirs. He has since been engaged in
farming. He has served in the capacity of selectman
eleven years. Is a man of strict integrity, and has been
uniformly successful in his undertakings; takes an
active interest in educational matters, and in all
things pertaining: to the benefit of the community in
which he lives.
He was married, June 13,
1848, to Caroline L., daughter of James C. Root, of
Bernardston.
They have no children.
Mr. and
Mrs. Chapin are members of the Universalist Church of
Leyden, and contribute liberally to its support.
JAMES CHILDS was born in
Wapping, Deerfield, Mass., July 31, 1813. His parents,
Erastus and Mercy (Hawks) Childs, were both natives of
that town. The former was born Oct. 31, 1783, and died
in 1858. The latter was horn in June, 1794, and died in
1854.
James Childs, the subject of
this biography, was the second of a family of seven
children. He Spent his minority upon his fathers farm.
During this time he attended the common school, and also
for a number of terms the Deerfield Academy. At the age of
twenty-one he went to Wilmington, Vt., and engaged as a
clerk in a store, where he remained but a few months.
Returning to Deerfield, he entered a store in the same
capacity, and remained four years. He then went to
Hatfield, and engaged in the mercantile business upon
his own account. At the
expiration of a year he disposed of his interest and
returned to Wapping, Deerfield, where he has since
resided. He has been assessor of Deerfield eleven years,
and is a deacon in the Congregational Church, of which
he has been a member a number of years. In politics he
is a Republican, but chooses rather to be a worker for
the success of others than a seeker of office for
himself. As a man he is well and favorably known in the
town in which he has spent tlie greater part of his
life, and he is respected and esteemed by all his
associates.
He was united in marriage,
May 22, 1844, to Maronette Pease, who was born in
Ashfield, Nov.
20, 1813. They have one child, a son, George
H. Childs (residing with his father), who, although
very young, enlisted in the Union army in 1863, and
remained until the close of the war. In 1864 he was
severely wounded; but his life, which was so precious to
those at home, was spared, and at the close of the war
he returned honorably discharged.
LUTHER
O. CHITTENDEN.
was born in Leverett, Franklin Co., Mass., June
7, 1821, His ancestors were natives of England. There were three
brothers, who came to this country at an early date. One
settled in Vermont, and was afterward governor of that
State; one located in New York; and the other in
Massachusetts.
There is no authentic record of their descendants
until we find Isaac Chittenden, of Princeton, Mass. He
had six children, viz., Luther, Isaac, Desire, Betsey,
Mary, and Lucy.
Isaac, the second son,
married Aseneth Brewer, of Wendell. They had no
children.
He died in Wendell, in
1822.
Luther Chittenden removed to
Wendell in 1812, and was married, on the 19th of May,
1814. to Mary, daughter of Dea, Elihu Osgood. In the
spring of 1819 be removed to North Leverett, where he
purchased three hundred or more acres of land, built a
house the same year, and engaged in the farming
business. He also had a store, and carried on his trade
of chair-making, sending his chairs to various towns
near the Connecticut River, and as far south as
Hartford, Conn. He died at the age of thirty-five, on
the 3d of November, 1824, of consumption, occasioned
partly by over work. He had two
children,-Otis and Luther O., the latter of whom was but
little more than three years old at the time of his
father's decease.
He lived on the farm,
attending the district school, until sixteen years of
age, when he attended the Shelburne Falls Academy one
year. In April, 1848, he and his mother removed to
Wendell, and there he entered his brother's store as a
clerk, and remained with him five years. May 29,1850, he
was married to Maria E., only daughter of Calvin Davis,
of Rindge, N. H. They have one child,-Edgar Davis, born
on the 10th of November, 1859.
In 1852, Mr. Otis
Chittenden's store and other buildings, with most of
their contents, were destroyed by fire. Luther then
removed to Sunderland, where he has since resided. He purchased the
farm which he now owns, and erected his residence and
other buildings.
Mr. Chittenden has been
mainly engaged in agriculture, and has devoted his
attention more particularly to the cultivation of
tobacco than to other branches. He is a prosperous and
influential citizen, and takes an active and intelligent
interest in educational subjects, and all other matters
pertaining to the general welfare. As a man he is
respected by all who know him. Mr. Chittenden's
mother resides with him in Sunderland. Her life has
extended beyond the allotted "threescore years and ten,"
she being now (March, 1879) in her eighty-ninth
year.
OTIS CHITTENDEN, eldest son
of Luther and Mary Chittenden, was born in Wendell.
Franklin Co., Mass., on the 4th of March, 1815, and
received a common-school and academic education. His
early life was spent chiefly upon his father's
farm. In
1842 he engaged in the mercantile business in Wendell,
which he carried on very successfully until 1852, when,
during his absence, his buildings were destroyed by
fire, he erected new buildings, and remained in that
place until 1857, when he removed to Holyoke, where he
engaged in trade. After a short residence in that town
he located in North Leverett, where he has since
resided.
He was postmaster in Wendell
about seven years, and has held that office in North
Leverett twenty years, and has also been town clerk and
treasurer.
As a member of the Baptist Church he takes an
active interest in promoting the welfare of that
society.
Mr. Chittenden was married,
in 1843, to Sibil S. Parmenter, who died in 1862. By
this union he had one child,-Corrie M., born on the 30th
of September, 1844. In 1866 he was married to Harriet L.
Field, of Greenfield,
Corrie M. Chittenden was
married, on the 30th of May, 1871, to Theodore L. Conant, of Shelburne. They have two
children,-Otis L. and Mary S.
HON. CEPHAS CLAPP. It has been said
that a truthful representation of a worthy life is a
legacy to humanity and as such we present a brief
outline of the life and character of Cephas Clapp. He was the son
of Erastus and Katie (Ross) Clapp, who were natives of
Deerfield. His father was born July 30, 1771 ; his
mother, May 14, 1773. The former died Sept. 12, 1801,
and the latter June 17, 1853. They were married in
Deerfield, May 15, 1704, and had nine children, of whom
the subject of this memoir was the second.
Cephas Clapp was born in Pine
Nook, Deerfield, Jan. 1, 1797. When he was twelve years
of age his father removed to Mill River, where he bought
a farm. Although an industrious and worthy man, he was
in straitened circumstances, and could give his son but
few educational advantages. Mr. Clapp's education for
this reason was confined to an attendance at the common
school during the winter. He exhibited, however, at an
early age a determined and enterprising spirit. When
twenty-one years old he purchased his father's farm, and
successfully engaged in farming and stock-raising. By
the energy and integrity which he displayed in all his
pursuits he won the confidence of his townsmen, and in
1850 represented Deerfield in the Legislature. He served
also nine consecutive years as selectman, and was
elected the tenth, but he declined serving. He was for
two years a trustee of Smith Charities, and by the sound
judgment which he displayed in discharging the duties
pertaining to that office he gained the respect and
esteem of all officers of that institution. The Smith
Charities and the savings-bank often called into
requisition his superior judgment to make appraisals of
property on which loans were to be made, and it is
remarkable that in no instance was loss incurred when
his advice was strictly followed. He acted as referee in
numerous cases, to the satisfaction of all parties
concerned. He was quick to sec the right, and when once
convinced no amount of argument could induce him to
change his decision. In
polities he was a Whig of the staunchest kind.
Mr. Clapp was united in
marriage, April 17, 1828, to Emily Borden, of
Deerfield.
They had seven children, of whom three died in
infancy. Those living are Cephas Gerry, Francis, Emily
B., wife of .J. C. Melendy, and Charlotte M., wife of A.
A. Cooley. Francis is living upon the old homestead, and
contributes this memoir and the portrait of his father
to this work.
Mrs. Clapp died in 1872, and
her husband mourned her loss so deeply as to materially
affect his health and spirits, he survived her three
years, when after an illness of but six days he died,
March 7, 1875. The following, from the Franklin County
Times of April 9, 1875, is a just tribute to a good man
:
"The death of Mr. Cephas
Clapp, of Smith Deerfield, an old and respected citizen,
was sudden and unexpected, and is a loss to the
community which will be long and deeply felt, he was not
only loved and honored by his own family, but by all who
came in contact with him in social or business
relations.
In all his
intercourse and dealings he was frank, open hearted,
honest in the strictest sense of the word, always ready
and willing to do what he thought right in the face of
all opposition, and without reference to any injury to
self which might be caused by so doing. He was one of
the staunch men of the past generation, deep in thought,
high-minded, pure in heart, and a liberal supporter of
the Congregational Church, of which he was a member. He
was also liberal in his aid to the missionary cause and
other fields of labor. We can all exclaim, and
truly, that we have lost a great and good man, one of
the noblest of the noble works of God, a beacon-light
whose rays will never grow dim till those who have known
and loved him pass too over that river to the shore
beyond."
HON. ANDREW J. CLARK,
president of the Gold Medal Sewing-Machine Company, of
Orange, and owner of the largest interest therein, was
born in Rutland, Mass., Oct. 9, 1835. He traces his
family genealogy back to Hugh Clark, who emigrated,
about 1630, from England to America, and settled in
Watertown, Mass.
From this, the early ancestor of the Clarks,
hereinafter to be mentioned, descended in a lateral line
Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, United States Senator from Maine,
and in 1861-65 Vice-President of the United States. His
mother was a Livermore, whose mother was a direct
descendant of Hugh Clark.
Andrew J. Clark's
grandfather, Luther, was born in Hubbardston, Mass., and
his father, Ira, in Leominster, Mass., in 1799. Ira
removed to Rutland, and in 1835, as already observed,
his son, Andrew J,, was born upon his father's farm in
Rutland, just over the Hubbardston line. His mother was a
daughter of Nathaniel Woods, of Hardwick, Mass., who
migrated to Rochester, N. Y., in 1810, whence she, with
her sister, returned to Hardwick in 1813, and in 1827
married Ira Clark. After his death, in 1845, she married
Ethan Hemingway, of Hubbardston, and lives now, a widow,
in East Templeton, Mass.
Besides Andrew J. there were
four children, daughters, of whom Lois, the widow of
Simeon G. Pomeroy, lives in East Templeton, Mass.;
Rebecca married A. M. Graves, of Westminster, and died
in Dana; Calista is the widow of Brooks E. Bixby, and
resides in Templeton; Abbie married Lafayette Williams,
and died in Petersham.
In 1842, at the early age of
seven, Andrew entered upon an active business life,
which, from that period to the present, for a space of
thirty-eight years, has been uninterruptedly pursued.
His parents being in straitened circumstances, he boldly
undertook to lift the burden of his own support from
their shoulders, and in 1842, having in 1841 removed
with his father's family to Ware, Mass., he entered the
cotton-mill of the Otis Company, of the latter place,
and remained until 1845, when the mill was destroyed by
fire. In the spring of 1845 he removed to New England
village, in the town of Grafton, Mass., and in July of
that year his father died. Just previous to
that event, at the age of ten years, Andrew became an
employee in the cotton-mill of Smith & Pratt, at New
England village, and, after serving them until 1840,
again struck his tent, and with his mother and sisters
took up a residence in Bramanville, town of Milbury,
Mass,, where he once more renewed his experience as a
cotton-mill operative, this time in the employ of
Golding.
In 1852, his mother having meanwhile, in 1851,
married Ethan Hemingway, of Hubbardston, and removed
thither, young Clark again changed his habitation to
Hubbardston, where he was employed in the chair-factory
of George Williams, and, remaining with him until 1853,
accepted an offer from Weller & Co.,
chair-manufacturers, of East Templeton, Mass., and while
in their employ, in November, 1855, married Abbie B.,
daughter of Capt, Cummings Lesure, of Warwick. About
that time he transferred his services to Parker &
Sawyer, chair-manufacturers, of East Templeton, and,
continuing with them until January, 1857, removed to
Orange, Mass., where, upon the south side of Miller's
River, he began the manufacture of children's carriages
on his own account. In 1858 he associated Mr. Jotham Lord with
him in the business, which the firm continued
successfully until 1860, when Mr. Clark disposed of his
interest and opened a store in Carpenter's block, where
until 1863 he carried on a trade in flour and grain,
which he then disposed of, to commence, with William P.
Barker, the manufacture of sewing-machines. The firm
leased a small building, now occupied by the Chase
Turbine Water-Wheel Company, and began making a
low-priced single-thread hand sewing-machine, known as
the New England single-thread sewing-machine, in the
production of which they employed at first but two
men.
The business steadily
expanded, and in 1865, when Mr. Clark purchased
Mr. Barker's interest, the employees numbered about
forty, and the production of machines had risen to
between three and four hundred per week. From 1865 to
1867, Mr. Clark conducted the business upon his
individual account, and in the latter year the firm of
Johnson, Clark & Co. was organized. This firm,
purchasing from A. F. Johnson
sewing-machine patents, etc., including a patent on n
machine which took the first prize at the Mechanics'
Fair, in Boston, in 1860, materially enlarged the
manufactory buildings, and began to manufacture the Gold
Medal sewing-ma-chine and the Home shuttle-machine, in
connection with the New England single-thread
machine.
In 1869, Johnson, Clark &
Co., without
making any change, save in the name of the
company, were incorporated as the Gold Medal
Sewing-Machine Company, with Mr. Andrew J. Clark as
president, which position he has held to the present
time.
In that year the company
effected a compromise with what was known as the
"Sewing-Machine Combination," claiming certain patents
over which there had been protracted and expensive
litigation, and under the license received from the "
Combination" the company operated until 1877, when all
patents expired by limitation.
In 1870 the manufacture of
the Gold Modal machine was succeeded by the manufacture
of the Home sewing-machine, and this in turn, in 1877,
by the New Home sewing-machine, in which year also the
manufacture of the New England single-thread machine was
discontinued.
The total number of people employed in the
company's interests aggregate upward of 450, and for
1879 the estimated yield of machines is
50,000.
In 1805, Mr. Clark was
chairman of the Hoard of Selectmen of Orange. In 1864 and
1867 he was a member of the House of Representatives,
and in 1870, 1871, and 1875 he represented his district
in the State Senate. In 1860 he became a member of the
Masonic fraternity; from 1863 to 1868 he was "Worshipful
Master" of Orange Lodge, F. and A. M.; and from 1868 to
1871 was District Deputy Grand Master for the eighth
district. He is president of the Orange Savings Bank,
vice-president and director of the Orange National Bank,
and a member of the committee of the town library, in
whose success he has for years taken a lively
interest.
CHELSEA COOK Stephen Cook,
father of the subject of this notice, was born in
Tolland, Conn., in 1784. He was a descendant of Aaron
Cook, one of the early settlers of Windsor, Conn., and
married Elizabeth Tucker, of Tolland, by whom he had
seven children, four sons and three daughters, viz.:
James, Marcellus, Hiram, Chelsea, Sarah, Harriet, and
Eliza.
Chelsea Cook was born in
Tolland, March 1, 1828. His father removed to
Manchester, Conn., in 1837, and engaged in
manufacturing, and there the children received a
common-school education and were instructed in their
father's business. To Chelsea was given the
superintendence of the Globe Cotton Mill, of South
Manchester.
He was married, Nov. 24, 1850, to Julia R.,
daughter of Richard and Delia R, Tucker, of South
Manchester.
He removed to Conway,
Franklin Co., Mass., Sept. 1, 1858, and
there engaged in the manufacture of cotton warps in
company with R. Tucker, his father-in-law, under the
firm names of
R. Tucker & Co. and of Tucker
& Cook. The business has always been in a
flourishing condition, and from year to year has taken a
wider range, and in the twenty years which have elapsed
their establishment has never been closed. Their success
is due not only to good management and perseverance, but
also to the excellent quality of the goods they
manufacture.
They have devoted their attention exclusively to
the manufacture of cotton warps, yarns, and knitting
cottons, of which the firm turns out one-half million
pounds annually.
In politics Mr. Cook is a
Republican, but has never sought political preferment.
In the social, religious, and educational enterprises of
the town, however, he has always been actively
interested.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church
of Conway, to the support of which he has been a liberal
contributor. In the Sunday-school connected therewith,
of which he is superintendent, he has been an earnest
worker, and has given his example and influence to aid
in the cause of Christianity and the well-being of
society.
Mr. Cook's first wife died in 1864, and he
married, for his second wife, Helen M., daughter of
Rev. Edwin
Jennison, of Winchester, N. H. She was born April 23,
1844.
Mr. Cook's children were
Arthur M., bookkeeper and paymaster for R. Tucker &
Co. and Tucker & Cook; Marcellus T., who died in
1864; Richard M., bookkeeper for R. M. Tucker, Charles
L., engineer for Tucker & Cook ; Edward S., who died
in 1864; and Chelsea, Jr., by his first marriage. Of the present union there are Julia R., Edwin,
Cyrus, Walden, and May Delia. They are all now living at
home, February, 1879.
EDWIN COOLEY was born in
Conway, Franklin Co., Mass., March 24, 1819. His father,
Gideon Cooley, was also a native of Conway, and was born
April 17, 1781. He was married, in 1808, to Julia Waite,
who was born in Hatfield, Mass., Nov. 14,
1778.
The subject of this biography
is one of a family of nine children. He acquired the
elements of his education in the common schools of his
native town, and was afterward classically instructed in
the Conway Select School and Amherst Academy. At the age
of twenty-one he commenced teaching school during the
winter months, and worked upon the farm in the summer.
This he continued for ten years, and at the age of
twenty-six assumed the entire charge of the farm until
his father's decease, in 1854.
He subsequently purchased the
property by paying off the other heirs, and has always
resided upon the old homestead. He has filled many
offices of trust in such a manner as to gain public
approbation.
In 1839 he was elected a member of the board of
selectmen, and has filled that office, with a few
intermissions, up to the present time, a period of
thirty years, and has also been chairman of the board a
greater part of the time. During the
same time he has been assessor, and also justice of the
peace two terms. In politics he was formerly a Whig, as
have been all the members of the family for a great many
years, but he is now a Republican, and in 1845 was
elected to the Legislature, and was the first Republican
representative from the town of Conway. He is a man of
particularly keen perceptions and sound judgment, and in
consideration of these qualities he has frequently been
called upon to appraise property and to settle up
estates.
Mr. Cooley is a deacon in the
Congregational Church of Conway, of which he has been a
member thirty years. He is an earnest worker in the
cause of religion. He is also a member of the
agricultural society, and has been trustee in the same
at different times.
He married for his first
wife, Gracie K. Vining, who was born in Hawley, Franklin
Co., Mass., in January, 1824. She died
May 14, 1854.
His present wife,
Caroline E. Taylor, is a native of Williamsburg, Mass.,
and was born March 25, 1826. By this union he has had
three children,-Edwin Homer, born Dec. 1, 1857; Lizzie
Grace, born July 3, 1859; and Clara White, born Oct. 3,
1862.
HON. HENRY W. CUSHMAN, the
only child of Hon. Polycarpus L. Cushman and Sally Wyles
Cushman, born in Bernardston, Aug. 9, 1803, was in his
day, and for many years, one of the most active,
influential, and useful citizens of Bernardston, and no
citizen of the town was more widely known or more highly
respected.
He was a lineal descendant of Robert Cushman,-the
first of the name who came to this country, and who was
one of the most active promoters of the migration from
Holland, in 1620, of the Pilgrims of the "Mayflower,
''-as follows: Robert Cushman, Elder Thomas Cushman,
Rev. Isaac Cushman, Lieut. Isaac Cushman, Capt.
Nathaniel Cushman, Dr. Polycarpus Cushman, Hon.
Polycarpus Cushman, and Henry Wyles Cushman.
He received his early
education in the common schools, and in the well-known
academics of Deerfield and New Salem. At the age of
eighteen he entered the military academy of Capt. Alden
Partridge, at Norwich, Vt.. where he pursued his studies
for two years. From this institution, in 1827, he
received the honorary degree of Master of
Arts.
After leaving the military academy,
he for some years labored on his father's farm in the
summers and taught school in the winters. Then, for a
short time, he had charge of apublic-house in Bernardston,
which, under his care, was noted for perfection of
management ; then, and to the close of his life, he
devoted himself to political and public trusts, to the
care of his own means and of the means of others, to
literary and antiquarian researches, to a round of
recurring duties, public and private, which he
discharged with unfailing precision, honesty, and
judgment. The mention of a portion of the offices and
trusts which he tilled will best indicate the amount and
variety of his labors. He was for nineteen years the
clerk and treasurer of his town, and for fifteen years a
member of its school committee. In 1837, 1839, 1840, and
1844 he represented his town in the State Legislature.
In 1844 he was chosen by the Legislature to fill a
vacancy in the Senate caused by the death of Hon.
William Whitaker. Here, by a singular coincidence, he
sat side by side with his father, Hon. P. L. Cushman, of
opposite politics, who had been elected to the Senate
for that term by the votes of the people of Franklin
County. In 1847, and for five years thereafter, he was
the Democratic candidate for lieutenant-governor; and in
1851- 1852, there having been no choice by the people,
he was elected by the Legislature to that office. In
1853 he represented his town as a delegate to the
convention held for the purpose of revising the State
constitution. His legislative record is that of an
industrious and judicious legislator. He was a director
of the State Life Assurance Company, at Worcester, and
of the Conway Fire Insurance Company, and a member of
the State Board of Agriculture, which he actively aided
in founding in 1852. he was a trustee of the New Salem
and Deerfield Academies, a resident member of the New
England Historic Genealogical Society, and a
corresponding member of the State Historical Society of
Wisconsin. He became, in 1849, the first president of
the Franklin County Bank, located at Greenfield, and so
continued by annual re-elections till his death. He was
for many years a trustee of the Franklin Savings
Institution, and president of it when he died. He was
also for many years president of the Franklin County
Agricultural Society, and held that position when he
died. He
held for many years the position of a trustee of the
State Reform School at Westboro. He gave much of his
time and attention to the Powers Institute, an
institution of education situated in his own town, and
also to the Common School Association of Franklin
County. In his own religious denomination his views were
well defined, and his labors incessant. For many years
he was superintendent of the Sabbath-school of his
religious society. He was a life member of the American
Unitarian Association and of the American Bible Society,
he was much resorted to for the settlement and
management of estates, and as an arbiter in
controversies between men; and all that he undertook to
do was sure to be faithfully and exactly
performed.
In 1834, Mr. Cushman
published in the Franklin Mercury, a newspaper printed
in Greenfield. an historical sketch of Bernardston,
carefully prepared and constituting the foundation of a
more elaborate work, which he had nearly completed at
the time of his death, he prepared and delivered several
able and instructive lectures, among them a lecture on "
The Shays Insurrection," which combined and preserved
many interesting local details. He prepared and
published, in 1855, in a volume of 650 pages, embodying
a vast amount of labor, a genealogy of the Cushman
family, from 1617 to 1855, a work remarkable for
accuracy and thoroughness. In 1855 and 1858 he was
active in promoting, and presided at, the great
gatherings, at Plymouth, Mass., of members of the
Cushman family, who then assembled from all parts of the
United States to do honor to the ancestry whose virtues
had rendered the name illustrious.
In August, 1863, one of the
most cherished plans of his life took shape in the
completion and dedication of a public library, now well
known as the Cushman Library, in which he had endowed
and presented to the town of Bernardston, under
conditions and limitations which make it practically
certain that all the people, without distinction of sect
or position, will, for generations to come, enjoy the
benefits of his wise beneficence.
In his domestic relations
.Mr. Cushman was fortunate and happy. In 1828, June
16th, he married Miss Maria Louisa Dickman, daughter of
Thomas Dickman, Esq., whose tombstone bears the record
that he was " the first printer, the first bookseller,
and the first postmaster of Greenfield." This lady died
Oct. 11, 1855. In 1858, June 2d, he married Miss Anne
Williams Fettyplace, daughter of the late Thomas
Fettyplace, Esq., of Salem, who is (in 1879;) still
living. He left no children. He died in Bernardston,
Nov. 21, 1863, after a severe illness of some weeks'
duration, and was followed to the grave by the regrets
of the community in which his life had been passed, and
on which he had exerted an influence equally conspicuous
and beneficial. In his will, prepared by himself not
long before his death, leaving the bulk of his large
estate to public uses, is embodied the prevailing idea
to which the labors and economies of his life were
mainly directed,-that, in the region where, he and so
many successive generations of his ancestors had lived,
the name of Cushman "should be identified from
generation to generation, and from age to age, with
education, and with the moral and industrial progress of
the people."
"And his works
do follow him."
NAHUM S. CUTLER was born in
Vernon, Vt., on the 7th of April, 1837. His grandfather,
Thomas Cutler, was a native of Guilford, Vt., and was
born on the 24th of May, 1774. His great-grandfather,
whose name was also Thomas, was a native of Paxton,
Mass., and removed to Guilford, Vt., where he and his
brothers were the first settlers. Zenas Cutler,
his father, was born in Wilmington, Vt., on the 18th of
March, 1804. He was married on the 5th of December,
1826, to Lucy, daughter of Thomas Wood, of Warwick, by
whom he had seven children, viz.: Lucy J., born Oct.
14,1828 (deceased) ; George T., born Oct. 9,1830
(deceased) ; Leroy Z., born Aug. 14, 1834, and is now a
resident of Springfield, Mass.; Nahum S.; Laura S., born
Dec. 16, 1840, and married D. C. Warner, of Springfield;
George T. born Aug. 18, 1844, and now residing in
Nebraska; and Ella B., born Nov. 21, 1849
(deceased).
Mr. Zenas Cutler removed to Vernon, Vt., in 1840,
and thence to Bernardston, and bought what was known as
the Connable farm, in the north part of the town, where
he resided until his children reached their majority. He
now lives with his son, and, at the advanced age of
seventy-five years, retains a fair degree of health and
vigor.
He has occupied various town offices, and now
holds the office of deacon in the Unitarian Church, of
which he has been a member for many years, and as a man
is highly esteemed by all who know
him.
The subject of this sketch,
after pursuing the usual elementary branches in the
common schools, was also classically instructed in the
Goodale Academy and Powers'
Institute.
A part of his minority was
spent on the farm. He also taught school two winters.
When he reached his majority he entered the employ of L.
C. Smith, of Springfield. Mass., as clerk
in his boot and shoe store, and remained with him three
years, when be formed a co partnership with his
brother-in-law, D. C. Warner, in the same business. He remained with
Mr. Warner something over two years, when they sold out,
and engaged in the wholesale boot and shoe trade as
members of the firm of Cutler, McIntosh & Co. They
also manufactured a few goods, and the business was
carried on very successfully for nine years, at which
time Mr. Cutler withdrew from the firm, and removed to
Bernardston, where he purchased what was known as the "
Dr. John Brooks' place," and established a manufactory
of ladies', misses', and children's fine shoes. His
goods have always been in good demand, being made of
first-class material and by good workmen. He employs
from thirty-five to sixty hands, and turns out from two
hundred to three hundred pair of shoes per
day.
Mr. Cutler is a thorough
business man, but also takes an active part in promoting
the social and educational interests of the community in
which he lives. He is a trustee of Powers' Institute,
and has been prominent in all the important public
enterprises of his town. He is a great lover of music
and a good musician, possesses a genial and generous
disposition, and throughout his life has been governed
by principles of honor and integrity.
He was married on the 24th of
November, 1864, to Hattie I. Hoyt, by whom he has two
children,-Lucy J., born Oct. 3, 1866, and Henry H., born
Oct. 15, 1868.
Mrs. Cutler is a daughter of Richard Hoyt, of
Bernardston, who is a descendant of the Deerfield family
of that name renowned in the Indian war, and a prominent
and influential citizen ; he has held many public
offices of trust, is now a member of the Legislature, a
trustee of Powers' Institute and of the Cushman
Library.
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