In 1844, two brothers, Dr. Silas L. Loomis, and Dr. Lafayette Charles
Loomis, came from their native town, North Coventry, Connecticut, to
North Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and established the Adelphian
Academy. Both were graduated Doctors of Medicine from Georgetown
College, but neither of them practiced medicine in this county.
They were writers of books, teachers in colleges and academies, and men
of unusual attainments. Dr. Silas L. Loomis was a soldier in the
Civil War.
Source: "History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Page 127
Dr.
Richards
Dr. Richards was a practicing physician in Whitman, formerly
South Abington, commencing about 1806. In addition to his
practice he, in 1812, manufactured cloth, associated with Mr. Tirrell
of Boston. He removed to Cummington, Massachusetts.
Source: "History of Plymouth,
Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Page 127
Dr.
John Champney
Dr. John Champney was a physician in Abington, following his service in
the War of 1812.
Source: "History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Page 127
Dr.
Gideon Barstow
Dr. Gideon Barstow was an early member of the Massachusetts
Medical Society, having been admitted in 1808. HE was a member of the
convention for revising the Constitution of Massachusetts in 1820, and
the two following years a member of Congress from Massachusetts.
He was a graduate from Brown University and had practiced medicine in
Salem before locating in Hanover. Still later he moved to
Brookline, Massachusetts, and died in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1852,
where he had gone for his health.
Source: "History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Page 127
Dr.
Gideon Barstow's Biography is also found on the Biographical
Directory of the United States Congress Website.
Source: "History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Pages 127-128
1788 -
____
Plymouth District Medical Society-The
first president of
the Plymouth District Medical Society, Dr. Paul Louis Nichols of
Kingston-which, by the way, was the home of the first physician in what
is now Plymouth County, Dr. Samuel Fuller of the "Mayflower"-was born
in Cohasset, September 24, 1788 He remained president of the
society until 1867. He practiced in Kingston more than fifty-five years
and during that time never left his practice, except to attend the
Massachusetts Medical Society's annual meetings and one visit of a week
in New York. His death came after he had attained the age of an
octogenarian.
Source: "History of
Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Pages 129
Dr.
Frank George Wheatley
1851 -
1926
Dr. Frank George Wheatley of Abington, an honored member of the
society, passed away in 1926. The anna[u]ltown report of that
year was printed with a good likeness of the doctor as a frontispiece,
inasmuch as every family in Abington wanted a picture of their friend
and townsman. He had acted as moderator at the town meetings
since 1891. In the same town report the library trustees had a
memorial tribute printed as a part of their report. It was as
follows:
"In the passing of Frank G. Wheatley,
chairman since 1911 and member from 1896, the Board of Library Trustees
met the heaviest loss it could sustain. For thirty years, during
a public life of exceptional distinction, he gave generously of his
time and interest to the library. The Trustees desire to place on
record their deep appreciation of the value of this service, to do
honor to the qualities that made Dr. Wheatley a great figure in this
community, and to offer to his memory the tribute of their lasting
gratitude."
Dr. Wheatley was born in Woodbury,
Vermont, in 1851. He was educated at the Vermont Seminary,
Dartmouth College, and at the Vermont State Normal School. He was
employed for a time as a teacher, but took his degree of Doctor of
Medicine from Dartmouth in 1883. He practiced in Norwich,
Vermont, before coming to North Abington. He had served as a
trustee of the Massachusetts School for Feeble Minded, as a United
States Pensioner Examiner, as associate medical examiner of the Second
Plymouth District, professor of materia medica at Tufts
College Medical School; was a member of the American Medical
Association, Massachusetts Medical Society, American Therapeutic
Society, Massachusetts Association of Boards of Health, John Cutler
Lodge, Free and Accepted Mason; Pilgrim Royal Arch Chapter, Old Colony
commandery, Knights Templar; Winthrop Lodge, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows; member of the Abington School Commitee; served in the
Massachusetts General Court as a representative in 1904 and 1905 and in
the Senate in 1907 and 1908.
Source: "History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Page 130
Dr.
Wallace C. Keith
1858 -
____
Death of Dr. Wallace C. Keith-The society lost one of its most
popular and devoted members in June, 1927, by the death of Dr. Wallace
C. Keith, of Brockton, after a long illness. He had held
several positions in the community life of Brockton, having served on
the school committee with especial distinction several terms.
Dr. Wallace Cushing Keith was born in
West Bridgewater November 15, 1858. He married Helen Richmond
Ford, of Brockton, January 14, 1885. He was educated at the North
Bridgewater High School, Adams Academy, Quincy; Amhearst Colleg; and
Harvard Medical School. He had practiced in Brockton since 1885
and was associated with the staffs of the Boston City Hospital and
Brockton Hospital. He was a member of the Boylston Medical
Society, Massachusetts Medical Society since 1884, Brockton Medical
Society, Brockton Board of United States Pension Examining Surgeons,
Association State Inspectors of Health, Loyal Legion, Masonic bodies of
Brockton and Scottish Rite bodies of Boston.
Dr. Keith was president of the Plymouth
District Medical Society at the time it observed its sixtieth
anniversary in 1911. In his address of introduction, on that
occasion, he said: "I find that Dr. Samuel Fuller, one of the company
who landed in Plymouth in 1620, was the first physician in New
England. History tells us that for twelve years he went in and
out among the people, like a guardian angel, making all happy with whom
he was associated." The same words, uttered by Dr. Keith, might
truthfully be said of Dr. Keith, "he went in and out among the
people, like a guardian angel, making all happy with whom he was
associated."
Source: "History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Page 131
Dr. A.
Elliot Paine
Medical Examiner Nearly Fifty Years-Dr. A. Elliot Paine of
Brockton in March, 1926, tendered his resignation as medical examiner
in the Brockton district, after serving in that capacity more than
forty-nine years. He had hoped to hold the position and even half
century but failing health made it desirable that he tender his
resignation to Governor Fuller who accepted the same. Undoubtedly
he served longer as medical examiner in Plymouth County than any other
man ever had or ever will. So far as known he was the oldest
medical examiner in the country in both age and service. He was
at that time eighty-two years of age and had served since his
appointment in 1877 by Governor Rice. During that time he handled
many cases which became nationally known. He had qualified in
courts as an expert on medical investigations and his opinions were
always regarded highly by judges, juries and attorneys. He was
succeeded as medical examiner by Dr. Walter W. Fullerton, also of
Brockton, who had served as assistant medical examiner seven years.
Dr. Pain was a native of Truro,
Cape Cod. He entered Harvard Medical School in 1862, but the same
year enlisted for service in the Civil War, and was assigned to Company
E, Forty-third Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and became assistant
to the surgeon. As a medical practitioner following the war he
was located at Wellfleet, Taunton and North Bridgewater. He was
president of the Massachusetts Medical Association in 1891 and 1892 and
for several years was treasurer of the Massachusetts Medico-Legal
Society. He is a member of the American Medical Society and the
Plymouth District Medical Society. He was vice-president of the
Brockton Hospital association in its early years and was for several
years a member of the consulting staff of that institution. For
more than forty years he had charge of the emergency hospital at the
Brockton Fair Grounds during successive Brockton Fairs.
The first autopsy performed by Dr. Paine
in his capacity as medical examiner of the First Plymouth District was
on the body of Barney McMennihan, whose body was found near the
railroad between West Bridgewater and Matfield. Foul play was
suspected but no one was ever apprehended for the deed.
Dr. Paine's first murder case was that of
Justin L. Gunn of Bridgewater, killed by gunshot. His son was
arrested, tried and convicted, sentenced, pardoned, and finally met his
fate by jumping in front of a train in New Jersey, meeting death by
suicide.
There were several unusual and unsolved murder
cases within the experience of Dr. Paine. On April 27, 1892,
Collin Leaman, a Brockton barber, was murdered by having his skull
crushed by an unknown assailant as he was walking home from his shop in
Montello in the evening. A man was arrested in Rhode Island in
whose pocket was found a wallet, said to have belonged to Leaman, but,
at the trial, the evidence was conflicting and the witnesses
unsatisfactory. The man was not convicted and no one was ever
apprehended as the rightful murderer. The deed was done with a
sword or a sword fish, one of the strangest weapons ever used in
committing a crime in Massachusetts.
Another unsolved murder was that of Elijah
Godfrey of West Bridgewater, a recluse, living alone, who furnished
evidence against a group of people charged with violation of the liquor
laws. Before the case against the men came up in court Godfrey's
shanty was blown to bits. The verdict at the inquest was: "The
man met his death by an explosive thrown into this dwelling by persons
unknown," and they are still unknown.
The bodied of Thomas and Grace Ball, small
children, were found in the woods off Oak Street in Brockton several
years ago. They had been killed and buried by their mother, and
insane person, later committed to an asylum in Taunton. For many
days and nights following their disappearance searching parties scoured
the woods, fields and every place where they might be found, dead or
alive, but without success. They had disappeared int he winter
and it is supposed their mother took them into the woods, strangled
them and buried them in leaves and such loose earth as she could get
together with her hands, as the ground was frozen. Their bodies
were discovered May 29, 1908.
Dr. Paine played an important part in
unraveling the evidence in the murder of Admiral Eaton of Norwell
several years ago, on account of his knowledge of anatomy.
On March 20, 1909, the R. B. Grover &
Company shoe factory in Brockton was demolished by explosion of the
engine boiler and fire. It was one of the worst catastrophes in
New England, in the number killed and the horrible manner in which the
shoe workers were pinned down beneath their machines and roasted to
death in the holocaust Dr. Paine was called upon to work days and
nights, as bodies were being discovered and brought out for
identification. He refers to this as the worst experience of his
life.
There were probably five thousand cases in
which Dr. Paine figured officially during his half century as a medical
examiner and during all that time he served faithfully and was
re-appointed term after term without question, until age and failing
health made it impossible for him to continue. Dr. Paine said
after his retirement that a majority of accidental death were traceable
to drunkenness and things were fully as bad before as since the
Volstead act changed liquor laws.
Source: "History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Page 131-133
William
Henry Cobb
1846 -
____
Cobb,
William Henry, clergyman and librarian of Boston, Mass., was born April
2, 1846, in Rochester, Mass. In 1872 he was ordained to the ministry;
and in 1878-87 was pastor in Uxbridge, Mass. Since 1887, he has
been librarian of the Congregational library of Boston,
Mass. He is the author of "A Criticism of Systems of Hebrew
Metre," and other works.
Source: Biographical sketches from the book, Men of 1914
Elmer
Lawrence Corthell
1840 -
____
Corthell, Elmer Lawrence, civil engineer of New York City, was born
Sept. 30, 1840, in South Abington, Mass. He was educated at Phillips
Exeter Academy and at Brown University of Providence, R.I. He is
a civil engineer of distinction and has an office in New York
City. In 1898 he was a delegate from the United States Government to
International Congress of Navigation at Brussels. He is the
author of History of the Jetties at the Mouth of the
Mississippi
; Maritime Commerce, Past, Present and Future; also articles on
Jetties, Levees
and Ship Canals and Ship Railways, in Johnson's Cyclopedia.
Source: Biographical sketches from the book, Men of 1914
Alonzo
Willard Damon
1847 -
____
Damon, Alonzo Willard, fire and marine insurance president, born
Norwell, Mass., Feb. 1847; son of Davis and Lucy (Damon) Damon;
educated in public schools of Boston, Mass. Began business life
as clerk in office of Washington Fire and Marine Insurance Co., of
Boston, 1862; became secretary of company, 1880-1887; special agent for
Franklin Insurance Co., of Philadelphia, 1888-1889; became special
agent Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance, 1890; was assistant
secretary 1891-1895; and in 1895 became president, which position he
has held ever since. Elected president National Board of Fire
Underwriters in May, 1910. Is director Third National Bank of
Springfield, Mass., Springfield Street Railway Co., Holyoke Water
Power Co., Cheney-Bigelow Wire Works; trustee Springfield Institution
for Savings, New England Investment and Security Co.; commissioner of
Sinking Fund, City of Springfield, Mass. Republican.
Unitarian. Recreation: Golf. Clubs: Nayasset, Country
(Springfield). Hosea Kingman, son of Philip D. and Betsey B.
(Washburne) Kingman, was born
April 11, 1843, at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He began his classical
studies at Appleton Academy, New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and entered
college at the beginning of Sophomore year, in the Fall of 1861.
During Junior year, he enlisted in the army and served for one year,
when he returned to our class and completed the regular course.
Immediately after graduating, he entered the office of William Latham,
Esq., in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and commenced the study of law. He
continued his studies there until June 21, 1866, when he was
admitted to the bar of Plymouth county, Massachusetts. He
immediately
entered upon the practice of his profession in company with William
Latham, Esq., at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This copartnership
continued until October, 1873, at which time Mr. Latham retired from
practice, and he has continued alone up to the present
time. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace November 8, 1865.
He was also appointed a Captain in the State Militia in 1866, and held
that position for one year. He has been a Notary Public since
November 25, 1873; Commissioner of Insolvency since November 23, 1877;
Special Justice of the First District Court of Plymouth County since
November 12, 1878, and City Solicitor of the city of Brockton,
Massachusetts, since March 5, 1883. All of these official
positions he continues to hold at the present time, with the
single exception of Captain of Militia, and, taken in connection with
his regular legal practice, they keep him crowded full of work all the
time.
His religious preferences are Unitarian. In politics, he is a
Republican. He was married June 21, 1866, to Miss Carrie Cole, of
North Carver, Massachusetts. They have one child, Agnes Cole, born
October 28, 1867.
Source: "Memorialia of the Class of '64 in Dartmouth
College" complied by John C. Webster, Shepard & Johnston, Printers,
1884, Chicago
Jacob
Osborne Sanborn
1840 -
____
Jacob Osborne Sanborn, son of Daniel Ladd and Adah Shepard (Moore)
Sanborn, was born July 6, 1840, at Loudon Centre, New Hampshire. He
received his Academic education at New Hampton, New Hampshire,
and entered Dartmouth at the beginning of the Fall term, August 24,
1860. He had resolved in early youth to adopt the profession of
teaching, his first attempt being a school at Gilmanton, New Hampshire,
when he was sixteen years of age. In the light of modern
ideas, he now questions whether he taught or simply kept the
school. Before graduating, he was engaged to take charge of the
Grammar
School at South Hingham, Massachusetts, and entered upon his
duties there in
August, 1864. He remained there until the Spring of 1866, when,
in a competitive examination, he was the successful candidate for the
position of
Principal of the Cradock Grammar School at Medford, Massachusetts. He
was soon after elected Principal of the High School at Needham,
Massachusetts, but for good and sufficient reasons he declined the
position and remained at Medford until November, 1868, at which time he
removed to Winchester, Massachusetts, and assumed the duties of
Principal of the Grammar School. While there, he was presented
with a handsome gold watch, which would indicate the esteem
in which he was held. Although he had a liberal salary
among a very intelligent and appreciative people, he preferred to teach
in a school of higher grade, and accepted an invitation to become
Master of the High School at Hingham, Massachusetts. In the
Summer of 1872, he moved to his present field of labor. In this ancient
and honorable town there had been an Academy for nearly
seventy-five years; but as it did not meet the growing wants of
all its people, the town made a very liberal appropriation to
establish a free High School. He had the pleasure of organizing the
school in September, 1872, and has been its only Principal. In
the Fall of 1873, he was invited and urged to return to Winchester,
Massachusetts, as Principal of the High School, but thought best to
decline. With no further fluctuations of place, he has been, for
the past twelve years, anchored to the South Shore, so near to Plymouth
Rock that he frequently hears from the Pilgrim Fathers. He
feels a pride, in common with other residents of Hingham, that the town
is taxed more proportionately for educational purposes than most towns
in Massachusetts, and has the
reputation of supporting good schools. They also have the oldest church
in the United States used for public worship, and have given the State
two noble Governors, Andrew and Long. He is still teaching, and
hopes to die in the harness. He has been absent from school but three
or four days on account of sickness since leaving college, and, were he
to begin life again, would select the same calling, from which it may
be inferred that he does not find it irksome. His school has a good
physical apparatus and chemical laboratory, and he aims to teach
according to the latest and best methods. He has been honored
with no title but pedagogue, and although living where governors are
made, does not expect or aspire to be one. He has twice been
elected President of the Plymouth County Teachers' Association,
and has read papers on educational topics before local, county and
state organizations. He is a Trustee of the Hingham Public
Library. He is a deacon in the Evangelical Congregational Church
of Hingham. In politics, he has always been a Republican. He was
married October 30, 1869, to Miss Louisa Attelia Slader, daughter
of the late Edward A. Slader, of Nashua, New Hampshire. He
says: "Let me add by way of advice to my bachelor classmates,
especially my old chum,' that the step has proved a wise one, for
in my wife I have a devoted companion and an invaluable aid."
They have no children.
Source: "Memorialia of the Class of '64 in Dartmouth College"
complied by John C. Webster, Shepard & Johnston, Printers, 1884,
Chicago
REED, John, (son of John Reed [1751-1831]), a Representative from
Massachusetts; born in West Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Mass.,
September 2, 1781; was graduated from Brown University, Providence,
R.I., in 1803; tutor of languages in that institution for two years and
principal of the Bridgewater (Mass.) Academy in 1806 and 1807; studied
law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Yarmouth, Mass.;
elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Seventeenth
Congresses (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1817); elected as an Adams-Clay
Federalist to the Eighteenth Congress, reelected as an Adams candidate
to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses, elected as an
Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-first through the Twenty-third
Congresses, elected as an Anti-Masonic candidate to the Twenty-fourth
Congress, and reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth
Congresses (March 4, 1821-March 3, 1841); chairman, Committee on
Revisal and Unfinished Business (Twenty-second Congress); declined to
be candidate for reelection in 1840; lieutenant governor of
Massachusetts 1845-1851; died in West Bridgewater, Plymouth County,
Mass., November 25, 1860.
Father:
John Reed
Born: 11 Nov
1751
Framingham, Middlesex,
Massachusetts, USA
Died: 17 Feb
1831
Mother:
Hannah Sampson
Born: 15 Apr 1755 in
Middleborough, Plymouth, Massachusetts, New England
Died: 13 Nov 1815 in
Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
Marriage of Parents: 14 Oct
1780 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts,
USA
Spouse: Olive Alger
Born: 26 May 1785 in
Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
Died: 25 Oct 1859
Marriage: 1809 in Yarmouth,
Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
Children Sex
Birth
John Reed M
2 Sep 1781 in Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts,
USA
Daniel Reed
M 1783
Solomon Reed
M 22 Mar 1788 in Bridgewater, Plymouth,
Massachusetts, USA
Hannah Reed
F 7 Jul 1790 in Bridgewater, Plymouth,
Massachusetts, USA
Sarah Reed F
1793
Caleb Reed M
1797
Caleb Reed F
1797
Sampson Reed
M 10 Jun 1800
Dr.
Walter W. Fullerton
____ -
____
March 24, 1926, Dr. Walter W. Fullerton, a native of Brockton,
succeeded Dr. A. Elliot Paine as medical examiner of the brockton
district. For seven years before that he had been assistant
medical examiner and during the latter part of the time had much of the
work assigned to him, owing to failing health of the veteran examiner,
who nearly completed fifty years in office before resigning.
Dr. Fullerton has practiced since 1896,
following his graduation the previous year from the College of
Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland. He took a
post-graduate course in medicine and pathology at the Johns Hopkins
Hospital in Baltimore. For nine years he was visiting physician
and pathologist at the Brockton Hospital. He served as city
physician of Brockton three years. He has done post-graduate work
in pthology, laboratory and autopsy training at the Massachusetts
General Hospital.
He served with the American medical units in
the World War, as captain int he United States Medical Corps.
Source: "History of Plymouth,
Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Page 133-134
Giles
Heale
____ -
1653
Strangely enough, the first physicain to
minister to the Pilgrims proffessionally has never had his name
mentioned in any history in the United States and presumable has not
appeared in any history printed in the world. He was a regularly
educated and recognized physician, according to the standards and
customs of his day, and practiced his profession throughout his
lifetime, so far as known, living respected and dying regretted.
Dr. Samuel Fuller has always been mentioned as the first physician in
New England but the Pilgrims were first under the care of the
"Mayflower's" ship's doctor, Giles Heale. His bones and those of
the "Mayflower" itself have recently been discovered in England, the
latter by people from Plymouth County.
Source:
"History of Plymouth,
Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Pages 142-143
"Mayflower's" Man Overboard-Many times
is has been said that when the "Mayflower" sailed on the return trip to
England in April, 1621, not one of the passengers accepted the
invitation of Captain Jones to return. In February, 1927,
something came to light to repute that statement, providing one wants
to include in the list of passengers one whom William Bradford
evidently decided did not belong there. This mas was Giles Heale,
the man-overboard from the "Mayflower" story, who has been missing so
long that it makes the long, lost Charlie Ross seem a recent neighbor.
Giles Heale was the ship's doctor and colonel
Charles E. Banks came across his signature as a witness to the last
will and testament of William Mullins, who died in the early spring
following the landing of the Pilgrims. Since he returned on the
"Mayflower", he may rightfully have been excluded from the list of
Plymouth colonists, the same as other members of the "Mayflower" crew,
although they all took part in the investigations made by means of the
shallop from the "Mayflower" and were very useful while they remained,
during that first winter, with its suffering and toll of death.
Heale went back to London and lived and died in "Marry England",
missing his chance of being a Forefather and remaining unheard of by
his shipmates of the Pilgrim band and their decedents for three
centuries. what his record was with the Pilgrims, we have no way
of knowing. The "Boston Transcript" takes it for granted that he
was a poor doctor because so many of the Pilgrims died while he was at
Plymouth. So was Dr. Samuel Fuller. Why condemn one and
honor the other" Presumably those who endured that first winder in
Plymouth were either very busily engaged in humane ministrations or
among those "on the danger list." We can easily imagine a slacker
would have had his head and feet tied together and if that had happened
to Giles Heale, he would be on Bradford's records. Colonel
Charles E. Banks, who brought Dr. Giles Heale out of obscurity, is a
retired United States Army officer who has spent years in historical
research. He brought back with him from
London a photograph of the nuncupative will of William
Mullins, made on his deathbed in Plymouth in February, 1621,
in the presence of John Carver, the first governor of Plymouth Colony,
chosen the day the Compact was signed in the "Mayflower"cabin in Cape
Cod Harbor; Christopher Jones, captain of the "Mayflower;" and Dr.
Giles Heale, the "Mayflower" surgeon. This he presented to the
Massachusetts Historical Society.
Investigation by Colonel Banks showed the
apprenticeship of Heale in the Guild of Barber Surgeons of London and
his freedom in 1619, the year before he sailed on the
"Mayflower." He practiced medicine in London and lived in Drury
Lane. The will is in the handwriting of Governor Carver and is in
the provincial Probate Court of the County of Surrey.
Not only were many of the Pilgrims laid low by
disease after landing at Plymouth, but there was considerable sickness
on board the little vessel tossed about on the broad Atlantic when it
was uncertain where it was going but was on its way. Dr. GIles
Heale must have been a busy physician on the voyage. It is likely
that he officiated at the birth of Peregrine White when the "Mayflower"
lay in the harbor. It is evident that he was the physician in
charge at the sick bed of William Mullins
and it may have been at his suggestion that the latter made his will,
after being informed by his physician that death was near. So
near was death, as a matter of fact, that Mullins
was unable to write the will but this was done for him by Governor
Carver. The will appears in the handwriting of Carver and, so far
as known, it is the only piece of writing still existence from his
quill.
Emaciated by the "general sickness," knowing
full well his struggle to retain the breath of life would only last a
brief time, surrounded by his wife and young children, amongst them
Priscilla, later destined to become the wife of John Alden, perhaps Mullins dictated his will to Governor
Carver, in the presence of his physician and Captain Christopher Jones,
believing that hose who survived until the time of the return of the
"Mayflower" would return with it. Knowing that Captain Jones and
Dr. Heale would return, if they escaped the "general sickness", may
have prompted him to select them as witnesses, believing that the will
would be administered in England and the witnesses who would be
there. It was the first will made in New England, what is legally
known as a nuncupative will. It was unsigned. He merely
expressed his desires for the distribution of his few belongings and it
it is probable that the actual language of the will was not written out
until after his death. It was finally filed with the Probate
records of the Archdeaconry of Surrey. The elder children of William Mullins resided at Dorking in
that county.
It does not seem especially strange that
Bradford did not mention Dr. Heale as one of the Plymouth colonists, as
presumable he was employed n the capacity of ship's surgeon by Thomas
Weston, a London merchant who was the moving spirit in the emigration
and who chartered the "Mayflower" for the use of the Pilgrims, acting
for his associates, The Merchant Adventurers. Much interest has
been aroused in Dr. Heale, nevertheless, since he was first heard
of last February, as a sort of Rip Van Winkle of the "Mayflower" who
had been sleeping, not twenty years, but three hundred and six.
Dr. Heale was the first physician who practiced in New England and
Governor Carver wrote the first will, two facts discovered in 1927.
As for this Dr. Heale, there is on record in
the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, his own last will and tetament,
which reads as follows:
In the
name of God, Amen:
I Giles Heale of the
parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields in the Countie of Midd(lesex)
Chirurgeon beinge infirme and weake of Bodie but Sound
and perfect memorye praysed be God doe
make and ordaine this my last will and Testament in maner and forme
following:
First I bequeathe my Soule into the hands of Almighty God my Creator
and my Body I comitt to the Earth to be decently interred at the
discretion of my deare and loving wife
and Executrix heeafter named: And concerning my small portion of
worldly goods I dispose therof as
followeth Vizt:
Imprimis I
give unto my Brother Henry Heale my gray Cloth Cloke my best Hatt and a
Satten Capp and one Hollond shirt. The rest and
residue of all and singular my
Goods and Chattles and Debts whatsoever and wheresoever I give and
bequeath unto my beloved wife Mary
Heale whom I make constitute and
appoint full and sole Executrix of this my last will and Testament
hereby revoking all former Wills and
Bequests. In witness wherof I
have hereunto sett my hand seale this fourth day of Aprill one thousand
six hundred fifty and two.
Giles
Heale.
The parish records show that "Mr. Giles Heale"
ws buried February 3, 1652-3, doubtless in the church of churchyard, of
St. Giles-in-the-Fields. This edifice still stands in London,
near Drury Lane.
The signature to his will as above shown, is a
complete proof of identification as the same Giles Heale, chirurgeon,
who witnessed in Plymouth thirty-two years before the dying statement
of William Mullins.
Source:
"History of Plymouth,
Norfolk and Barnstable Counties
Massachusetts; Volume I" by Elroy S. Thompson. Pub. 1928. Pages 144-147
Also check out: The
Mayflower's Crew on MayflowerHistory.com.
Henry Rowley
____ -
____
Henry Rowley was an early
planter at Plymouth, Mass., where
he was taxed in 1632. It is possible that he was one of the company
that came over from
Leyden to Plymouth in 1630. It has also been conjectured that he came
with Mr. Hatherly in
1632. 1 have found nothing by which either conjecture can be verified.
It is probable that
he was married when he came over, and that his three children were born
before that time.
It has been declared that his first wife was Sarah, daughter of William
Palmer Senior, of
Duxbury. The latter came over in the Fortune in 1621, and his wife Frances came in
the Anne
in 1623. In his will, dated 1637, William Palmer names
"Moyses Rowley
(son of Henry1), whom I love," and provides for his bringing
up, but does
not state what relation Moses was to himself. Henry Rowley m.
Oct.
17, 1633, Anne,
widow of Dea. Thomas Blossom, who embarked in the Speedwell at
Leyden in 1620, but
being obliged to return to Leyden, came over to Plymouth in 1629, where
he d. previous to
March 1632-3. Henry and Anne Rowley removed to Scituate in1634, the
year he was elected
freeman. Both were members of Rev. John Lothrop's church on Jan. 8,
1634-5, and removed
with him to Barnstable in 1638. He was a deputy from Barnstable to the
General Court of
Plymouth at least once.
Thomas and Peter Blossom came to Barnstable
with their mother, Mrs.
Rowley, and were
probably members of the family of their father-in-law. In 1650 Henry
Rowley removed, with
his son-in-law, Peter Blossom, to West Barnstable, and later to
Falmouth. Henry Rowley d.
in 1673. Inventory of the estate of "henery Rowley of Sacconessett,"
exhibited
in Court, July, z673, on oath of Moses Rowley. "Item: a debt of
twenty-nine pounds
due from Jonathan Hatch upon the repurchase of a parsell of land which
the said Hatch sold
to said Henery Rowley with that limitation provided." Plymouth Colony
Records, Vol.
iii, part 2, p. 93.
Source: "The New York
Genealogical and Biographical Record" by Homer W.
Brainard.
Pub. January
1906. Page 58-59
Harry
Irving Thayer
1869 -
1926
Thayer, Harry Irving (1869-1926), a Representative from Massachusetts;
born in Pembroke, Plymouth County, Mass., September 10, 1869; attended
the
public schools of Hanover, Mass.; engaged in the leather business;
organizer
and president of the Thayer-Ross Co.; president of the New England Shoe
and
Leather Association 1916-1921; was president of the Tanners’ Council of
the United States in 1920 and 1921; was a delegate to the Republican
National
Convention in 1924; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-ninth Congress
and served from March 4, 1925, until his death in Wakefield, Middlesex
County,
Mass., March 10, 1926; interment in Lakeside Cemetery.
Parents: Wendell Phillips Thayer, Amelia J Josselyn
Spouse: Emma L [Thayer]
Born: Dec. 21, 1871 in Scituate, Massachusetts
Children:
Lloyd J Thayer b. abt 1893 Massachusetts
Raymond H Thayer b. abt 1897 Massachusetts
Phillip Thayer b. abt 1908 Massachusetts
Wendell P Thayer b. abt 1909 Massachusetts
Sources:
New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
U.S. Federal Census
The Political Graveyard
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Eugene Francis Loud
1847 - 1908
Loud, Eugene Francis (1847-1908), a Representative from California;
born in Abington, Plymouth County, Mass., March 12, 1847; went to sea
and
afterward
settled in California; during the Civil War enlisted in a California
Cavalry battalion in 1862, which formed a part of the Second Regiment,
Massachusetts
Volunteer Cavalry; returned to California; engaged in mining and as
clerk for fifteen years; studied law; clerk in the customs service at
San Francisco, Calif.; member of the State assembly in 1884; cashier of
the
city and county of San Francisco; elected as a Republican to the
Fifty-second and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1891-March
3, 1903);
chairman, Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads (Fifty-fourth
through Fifty-seventh Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for
reelection in
1902 to the Fifty-eighth Congress; died in San Francisco, Calif.,
December 19,
1908; remains were cremated and the ashes interred in the Odd Fellows
Cemetery.
Father's First Name: Reuben
Mother's First Name: Betsey
Sources:
Vital Records
U.S. Federal Census
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Wiliam Sarsfield McNary
1863 - 1930
McNary, William Sarsfield (1863-1930), a Representative from
Massachusetts; born in Abington, Plymouth County, Mass., March 29,
1863; attended the
public schools of Abington and graduated from the Boston English High
School; engaged in newspaper work; reporter and managing editor of the
Boston Commercial Bulletin 1880-1892; also engaged in the retail and
wholesale furniture business; member of the Boston City Council in 1887
and
1888; member of the State house of representatives in 1889 and 1890;
served in the State senate in 1891 and 1892; water commissioner of
Boston in
1893
and 1894; again a member of the State house of representatives
1900-1902; engaged in the insurance business and a dealer in real
estate; delegate
to
the Democratic National Convention in 1900 and 1904; elected as a
Democrat to the Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Congresses (March 4,
1903-March 3,
1907); was not a candidate for renomination in 1906; continued his
former business pursuits in Boston, Mass., until his death in that city
on
June 26,
1930; interment in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, West Roxbury, Mass.
Father's Birth Place: Ireland
Mother's Birth Place: Ireland
Spouse: Abertine Martin
Born: abt 1861 Massachusetts
Married: abt 1893
Children:
Helen McNary b. abt 1894 Massachusetts
William McNary Jr. b. abt 1903 Massachusetts
Sources:
U.S. Federal Census
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Martin Kinsley
1754 - 1835
Kinsley, Martin (1754-1835), a Representative from Massachusetts; born
in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Mass., June 2, 1754; was graduated
from
Harvard College in 1778; studied medicine; purveyor of supplies in the
Revolutionary Army; member of the State house of representatives in
1787,
1788, 1790-1792, 1794-1796, 1801-1804, and 1806; treasurer of Hardwick,
Mass., 1787-1792; moved to Hampden in 1797; representative of Hampden
in the general court 1801-1804 and 1806; member of the executive
council in
1810 and 1811; judge of the court of common pleas in 1811; judge of the
probate court; served in the state senate in 1814; elected as a
Republican to
the Sixteenth Congress (March 4, 1819-March 3, 1821); unsuccessful
candidate for reelection in 1820 to the Seventeenth Congress; died in
Roxbury,
Suffolk County, Mass., June 20, 1835.
Parents: Samuel Kingsley, Sophia White
Sources:
Family Collections LDS
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Barzillai
Gannett
1764 - 1832
Gannett, Barzillai (1764-1832), a Representative from Massachusetts;
born in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Mass., June 17, 1764; was
graduated from
Harvard University in 1785; studied theology, but did not enter the
ministry; selectman of Pittston, Maine (then a district of
Massachusetts), in 1793, 1794, 1796-1798, 1801, and 1802; town clerk in
1794; moderator
1797-1802; selectman and assessor, Gardiner, Maine, 1803-1808;
appointed as the first postmaster of Gardiner and served from September
30, 1804, to
October 1, 1809; moderator 1804-1806, 1808, 1809, and 1811; member of
the
Massachusetts house of representatives in 1805 and 1806; served in the
Massachusetts senate in 1807 and 1808; elected as a Republican to the
Eleventh and Twelfth Congresses and served from March 4, 1809, until
his resignation in 1812; died in New York City in 1832.
Parents: Joseph Gannett, Elizabeth Latham
Spouse: Elizabeth Farley
Born: 7 Jul 1774 in Newcastle, Maine
Died: 18 Sep 1845
Marriage: 30 Apr 1797
Children:
Edward F GANNETT 1798–1826
Elizabeth L GANNETT 1800–1836
Michael F GANNETT 1802–1889
Catherine GANNETT 1804–1861
Joseph GANNETT 1806–1807
Joseph Farley GANNETT 1810–1888
Sources:
Vital Records
Family Collections LDS
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Benjamin Winslow Harris
1823 - 1907
Harris, Benjamin Winslow
(1823-1907) Father of Robert Orr Harris. A Representative from
Massachusetts; born in East Bridgewater, Plymouth
County, Mass., November 10, 1823; pursued an academic course and was
graduated from Dane Law School, Harvard University, in 1849; was
admitted to
the bar in Boston in 1850 and commenced practice in East Bridgewater;
served in the State senate in 1857; member of the State house of
representatives in
1858; district attorney for the southeastern district of Massachusetts
from July 1, 1858, to June 30, 1866; collector of internal revenue for
the
second
district of Massachusetts from June 30, 1866, to March 1, 1873; elected
as a Republican to the Forty-third and to the four succeeding
Congresses
(March
4, 1873-March 3, 1883); chairman, Committee on Naval Affairs
(Forty-seventh Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1882;
resumed the
practice of law in East Bridgewater, Plymouth County; judge of probate
for the county of Plymouth 1887-1906; died in East Bridgewater, Mass.,
on
February 7, 1907; interment in Union Cemetery.
Father's First Name: William
Mother's First Name: Mary W.
Spouse: Unknown Orr (died bef 1880)
Children:
Mary M. Harris b. abt 1852 Massachusetts
Robert O. Harris b. abt 1855
Massachusetts
Alice M. Harris b. abt 1857 Massachusetts
Sources:
U.S. Federal Census
Massachusetts Town Birth Records
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Raymond
Percival Palmer
1895 -
____
Palmer, Raymond Percival (b. 1895) — also known as Raymond P. Palmer —
of Braintree, Norfolk County, Mass. Born in East Bridgewater, Plymouth
County,
Mass., December 27, 1895. Republican. Served in the U.S. Navy during
World War I; member of Massachusetts state house of representatives,
1939-43,
1947-50; alternate delegate to Republican National Convention from
Massachusetts, 1940; served in the U.S. Army Air Force in World War II.
Congregationalist.
Father's name: Frank H
Father's Birth Place: Massachusetts
Mother's name: Jessie D
Mother's Birth Place: Canada English
Spouse: Margaret L Campbell
Born: abt 1893 Massachusetts
Married: abt 1914
Children:
Marjorie K Palmer b. abt 1923
Sources:
U.S. Federal Census
The Political Graveyard
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Reed, John (1781-1860) Son of John Reed [1751-1831];
father-in-law of James F. Joy. A Representative from Massachusetts;
born in West Bridgewater,
Plymouth County, Mass., September 2, 1781; was graduated from Brown
University, Providence, R.I., in 1803; tutor of languages in that
institution for two years and principal of the Bridgewater (Mass.)
Academy in 1806 and 1807; studied law; was admitted to the bar and
commenced
practice in Yarmouth, Mass.; elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth,
Fourteenth, and Seventeenth Congresses (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1817);
elected as an Adams-Clay Federalist to the Eighteenth Congress,
reelected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth
Congresses, elected
as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-first through the Twenty-third
Congresses, elected as an Anti-Masonic candidate to the Twenty-fourth
Congress, and
reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses
(March 4, 1821-March 3, 1841); chairman, Committee on Revisal and
Unfinished
Business (Twenty-second Congress); declined to be candidate for
reelection in 1840; lieutenant governor of Massachusetts 1845-1851;
died in West
Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Mass., November 25, 1860.
Parents: John Reed, Hannah Sampson
Spouse: Olive Alger
Born: 26 May 1785 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts
Died: 25 Oct 1859
Marriage: 1809 in Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Sources:
U.S. Federal Census
Family Collections LDS
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
The Political Graveyard
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Edward Gilmore
1867 - 1924
Gilmore, Edward (1867-1924), a Representative from Massachusetts; born
in Brockton, Plymouth County, Mass., January 4, 1867; attended the
graded
schools, the high school, and Massachusetts State University extension
classes; engaged in mercantile pursuits; member of the Democratic State
committee 1896-1903; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in
1900 and 1904; president of the Brockton Board of Aldermen 1901-1906;
member
of the State house of representatives in 1907 and 1908; elected as a
Democrat to the Sixty-third Congress (March 4, 1913-March 3, 1915);
postmaster
of Brockton 1915-1923; city assessor in 1923 and 1924; died in Boston,
Mass., April 10, 1924; interment in Calvary Cemetery, Brockton, Mass.
Father: John Gilmore b. abt 1829 Ireland
Mother: Ellen [Gilmore] b. abt 1829
Ireland
Spouse: Annie M [Gilmore] b. abt 1867
Massachusetts
Children:
John E Gilmore b. abt 1888 Massachusetts
Charles F Gilmore b. abt 1893 Massachusetts
Robert O Gilmore b. abt 1897 Massachusetts
Edward B Gilmore b. abt 1900 Massachusetts
Philip S Gilmore b. abt 1903 Massachusetts
Sources:
U.S. Federal Census
Family Collections LDS
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
George
Partridge
1740 - 1828
Partridge, George (1740-1828), a Delegate and a Representative from
Massachusetts; born in Duxbury, Plymouth County, Mass., February 8,
1740;
was graduated from Harvard College in 1762; taught school in Kingston,
Mass.; studied theology; delegate to the Provincial Congress in 1774
and
1775; member of the state house of representatives 1775-1779; sheriff
of Plymouth County 1777-1812; Member of the Continental Congress
1779-1785;
member of the state house of representatives in 1788; elected as a
Pro-Administration candidate to the First Congress and served from
March 4,
1789, to August 14, 1790, when he resigned; endowed Partridge Seminary
in Duxbury; died in Duxbury, Plymouth County, Mass., on July 7, 1828;
interment in Mayflower Cemetery.
Parents: George Partridge, Hannah Foster
Sources:
Family Data Collections LDS
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Joshua
Cushman
1761 -
1834
Cushman, Joshua (1761-1834), a Representative from Massachusetts and
from Maine; born in Halifax, Plymouth County, Mass., April 11, 1761;
served in
the Revolutionary Army from April 1, 1777, until March 1780; was
graduated from Harvard University in 1787; studied theology; was
ordained to the
ministry and licensed to preach; located in Winslow, Maine (then a
district of Massachusetts), and was pastor of the Congregational Church
for nearly
twenty years; served in the Massachusetts senate in 1810; member of the
Massachusetts house of representatives in 1811 and 1812; elected as
Republican from Massachusetts to the Sixteenth Congress (March 4,
1819-March 3, 1821); when the State of Maine was separated from
Massachusetts and
admitted as a State into the Union was elected as a Republican
Representative from Maine to the Seventeenth Congress; and reelected as
an
Adams-Clay Republican to the Eighteenth Congress (March 4, 1821-March
3, 1825); served in the Maine senate in 1828; member of the Maine house
of
representatives in 1834; died in Augusta, Kennebec County, Maine, on
January 27, 1834; interment in a tomb on the State grounds, Augusta,
Maine.
Parents: Abner Cushman, Mary Tilson
Spouse: Lucy Jones
Born: abt 1760 in Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Died: 13 Jan 1847 in Winslow, Kennebec, Maine
Children Sex Birth
Charles Cushman M 28 Sep 1802 in
Winslow, Kennebec, Maine
Sources:
Family Data Collections LDS
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
Lincoln, Levi (1749-1820) Father of Enoch Lincoln and Levi Lincoln
[1782-1868]), great-granduncle of Frederick Robie. A
Representative from
Massachusetts; born in Hingham, Plymouth County, Mass., May 15, 1749;
attended the common schools; was graduated from Harvard College in
1772;
studied law in Newburyport and Northampton, Mass.; joined the Minutemen
in Cambridge at the outbreak of the Revolution; moved to Worcester,
Mass.; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in 1775; member
of the committee of public safety; clerk of the court and judge of
probate for Worcester
County 1775-1781; was specially designated to prosecute the claims of
the Commonwealth to the numerous estates of loyalists in 1779; delegate
to the
state constitutional convention in 1779; elected a Member of the
Continental Congress in 1781, but declined to serve; member of the
state house of
representatives in 1796; served in the state senate in 1797 and 1798;
elected as a Republican to the Seventh Congress; subsequently elected
to the
Sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dwight
Foster and served from December 15, 1800, to March 5, 1801, when he
resigned; appointed Attorney General of the United States in the
cabinet of President Jefferson and served from March 5, 1801, to
December 31, 1804, and
as Acting Secretary of State from March 5 to May 2, 1801; member of the
governor’s council of Massachusetts in 1806; lieutenant governor of
Massachusetts in 1807 and 1808; became governor upon the death of
Governor Sullivan and served in this capacity from December 10, 1808,
to May 1, 1809; appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States by President Madison, but declined to accept by reason of
failing eyesight;
again a member of the governor’s council in 1810 and 1811; died in
Worcester, Worcester County, Mass., April 14, 1820; interment in the
Rural
Cemetery.
Parents:
Enoch Lincoln, Rachel Fearing
Spouse: Martha Waldo
Born: 14 Sep 1761 in Boston,
Suffolk, Massachusetts
Died: 28 Mar 1828 in Worcester,
Worcester, Massachusetts
Marriage: 25 Nov 1781 in
Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts
Children Sex
Birth
Amos Lincoln
M 1754
Levi Lincoln
M 25 Oct 1782 in Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts
Daniel Waldo Lincoln
M 2 Mar 1784 in Worcester,
Massachusetts
Martha Lincoln
F 19 Oct 1785 in Worcester,
Massachusetts
Enoch Lincoln
M 28 Dec 1788 in Worcester,
Massachusetts
Rebecca Lincoln
F 11 Jan 1792 in Worcester,
Massachusetts
Waldo Lincoln
M 3 May 1800 in Worcester,
Worcester, Massachusetts
William Lincoln
M 26 Sep 1801 in Worcester,
Massachusetts
Sources:
Vital Records
Family Data Collections LDS
Biographical Directory of the
U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell
John
Forrester Andrew
1850 -
1895
Andrew, John Forrester (1850-1895), a Representative from
Massachusetts; born in Hingham, Plymouth County, Mass., November 26,
1850; attended private schools in Hingham and the Phillips School and
Brooks School in Boston; was graduated from Harvard University in
1872 and from Harvard Law School in 1875; was admitted to the
Suffolk bar in 1875 and commenced practice in Boston; member of
the State house of representatives 1880-1882; served in the State
senate in 1884 and 1885; commissioner of parks for Boston
1885-1890 and again in 1894; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for
Governor in 1886; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first and
Fifty-second Congresses (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1893); chairman,
Committee on Reform in the Civil Service (Fifty-second Congress);
unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1892 to the Fifty-third
Congress; resumed the practice of his
profession; died in Boston, Suffolk County, Mass., May 30, 1895;
interment in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass.
Parents: John
Albion Andrew, Eliza Jones Hersey
Spouse: Harriett Bayard Thayer
Born: 6 Feb 1853 in Boston,
Suffolk, Massachusetts
Died: 16 Sep 1891 in Dublin,
Cheshire, New Hampshire
Marriage: 11 Oct 1883
Children Sex
Birth
Cornelia Thayer Andrew
F 19 Nov 1884
Sources:
U.S. Federal Census
Family Data Collections LDS
Biographical Directory of the
U.S. Congress
Submitted by Deborah Crowell