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Norfolk
County
ADAMS, Mrs.
Abigail, wife of John Adams , second
President of the
United
States,
born 22nd November, 1744, in
Weymouth,
Mass.
She was
a daughter of the Rev. William Smith, for forty
years minister of the Congregational church in
Weymouth
. Her
mother was Elizabeth Quincy, a
great-great-granddaughter of Rev. Thomas
Shepard, an eminent Puritan clergyman of
Cambridge, and a
great-grandniece of the Rev. John Norton of
Boston
. Abigail
Adams was one of the most distinguished women of
the Revolutionary period. She was in delicate
health in youth and unable to attend school, but
she became a far better scholar than most of the
women of her day. She read widely and wrote in
terse, vigorous and elegant language. Her youth
was passed in converse with persons of learning,
experience and political sagacity. She was
married on 25th October, 1764, to John Adams,
then a young lawyer practicing in
Boston
. During
the next ten years her quiet and happy life was
devoted to her husband and her four children,
three sons and one daughter. Then came the
troubled times that were marked by the disputes
between the Colonies and
England
.
Mrs. Adams seconded her husband in his
opposition to the English oppression, and
encouraged him in his zeal and determination in
urging the Colonies to declare their
independence. She remained in
Braintree, Mass, while Mr.
Adams was absent as a delegate to the
Continental Congress and afterwards on
diplomatic missions in
Europe. In 1784 she joined
her husband in
France, and in
1785 they went to
London
, whither
Mr. Adams was sent as Minister Plenipotentiary
to the Court of Great Britain. Remembering the
patriotic zeal and independence of Mrs. Adams
during the Revolution, George III and his queen,
still smarting over the loss of the American
Colonies, treated her with marked rudeness. Mrs.
Adams remembered their rudeness, and afterwards
wrote: "Humiliation for
Charlotte is no
sorrow for me" After spending one year in
France and three
in
England
,
Mrs. Adams returned to the United Slates in
1788. In 1789, after her husband was appointed
Vice-President of the
United
States,
she went to reside in
Philadelphia,
Pa.
, then the
seat of government. In 1797 Mr. Adams was chosen
President. In 18oo, after his defeat, they
retired to
Quincy,
Mass.
, where
Mrs. Adams died 28th October, 1818. She was a
woman of elevated mind and strong powers of
judgment and observation. Her letters have been
collected and published with a biographical
sketch by her grandson, Charles F. Adams, in a
volume entitled "Familiar Letters of John Adams
and his Wife, Abigail Adams, During the
Revolution."
(American Women, Fifteen Hundred
Biographies, Vol 1, Publ. 1897. Transcribed by
Marla Snow.)
ADAMS,
Miss Hannah,
the first woman in the
United States to make a profession
of literature was born in Medfield, Mass., in 1755, and died
in Brookline, Mass., 15th
November, 1832. Her father was a well-to-do
farmer of considerable education and culture.
Hannah was a delicate child fond of reading and
study. In childhood she memorized most of the
poetical works of Milton, Pope. Thomson, Young
and others. Her studies were varied, including
Greek and Latin, in which she was instructed by
the divinity students who made their home with
her family. In 1772 her father lost his
property, and the children were forced to
provide for themselves. Hannah supported herself
during the Revolutionary War by making lace and
by teaching school. After the war she opened a
school to prepare young men for college, in
which she was very successful. Her principal
work, a volume entitled "A View of Religious
Opinions," appeared in 1784. The labor necessary
for so great a work resulted in a serious
illness that threatened her with mental
derangement. That book passed through
several editions in the United States and
was republished in England.
It is a work of great research and erudition.
When the fourth edition was published, she
changed the title to "A Dictionary of
Religions." It was long a standard volume. Her
second work, "A History of New England,"
appeared in 1799, and her third, "Evidences of
Christianity," in 18o1. Her income from these
successful works was meager, as she did not
understand the art of making money so well as
she knew the art of making books. Her reputation
extended to Europe and won her many friends,
among whom was Abbe Gregoire, who was then
laboring to secure the emancipation of the Jews
in France.
With him she corresponded, and from him she
received valuable aid in preparing her "History
of the Jews," which appeared in 1812. Her next
book, "A Controversy with Dr. Morse," appeared
in 1814, and her "Letters on the Gospels" in
1826. All her books passed through many
editions. Miss Adams was a woman of great
modesty and simplicity. Her life was very quiet;
her only journey by water was the ten-mile trip
from Boston to
Nahant and her longest land journey was from
Boston to
Chelmsford. The
closing years of her life she spent in
Boston,
supported by an annuity settled upon her by
three wealthy men of that city. She was
buried in Mount Auburn,
being the first one to be buried in that
cemetery.
Her autobiography, edited with additions
by Mrs. Hannah F. Lee, was published in
Boston in
1832.
(American Women, Fifteen Hundred
Biographies, Vol 1, Publ. 1897. Transcribed by
Marla Snow.)
CHARLES FRANCIS
ADAMS
Biographical Directory
of the United States Congress,
1771-Present
ADAMS,
Charles Francis, (son of John Quincy Adams and
grandson of John Adams), a Representative from
Massachusetts; born in Boston, Mass., August 18,
1807; spent several years with his parents in
St. Petersburg, Russia; attended the Boston
Latin School, and was graduated from Harvard
University in 1825; studied law; was admitted to
the bar on January 6, 1829, and commenced
practice in Boston; member of the State house of
representatives in 1831; served in the State
senate 1835-1840; founded the Boston Whig in
1846; unsuccessful candidate of the Free-Soil
Party for Vice President of the United States in
1848; elected as a Republican to the
Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses and
served from March 4, 1859, to May 1, 1861, when
he resigned to accept a diplomatic position;
chairman, Committee on Manufactures
(Thirty-sixth Congress); appointed by President
Lincoln as Minister to England and served from
March 20, 1861, to May 13, 1868; declined the
presidency of Harvard University but became one
of its overseers in 1869; died in Boston, Mass.,
November 21, 1886; interment in Mount Wollaston
Cemetery, Quincy, Norfolk County, Mass.
Contributed by Anna Newell
ADAMS, Mrs. Louise
Catherine,
wife of John Quincy Adams,
born in London, England,
in 1775. She was a daughter of Joshua Johnson,
of Maryland,
but passed her early years in
England and
France.
Her father's house in London was the resort of
Americans in England.
She was married to Mr. Adams in 1797. Mr. Adams
had been resident minister at The
Hague, and when his
father was elected President of the
United
States, he went as minister
to Berlin, Germany.
There the young wife sustained herself with
dignity in social and political life. In 1801
she returned with her husband to the United
States. Mr.
Adams was elected to the United States Senate,
and they passed their winters in Washington, D. C., and
their summers in Boston. In 1808
Mr. Adams was appointed by President Madison the
first accredited minister to Russia.
Mrs. Adams accompanied him to Russia,
and she was the first American woman presented
at the Russian court. She made an eminently
favorable impression on Russian society. She
passed one winter alone in St.
Petersburg, while Mr.
Adams was in Ghent negotiating a treaty
between the United
States and England. In the
spring, accompanied by her eight-year-old son
and servants, she set out to travel to
Paris by
land.
The journey was a memorable one to her,
as the time were troublous, the traveling very
bad and the country full of soldiers. She
reached Paris in March,
1815.
There she witnessed all the momentous
affairs that preluded the famous "Hundred Days."
Mr. Adams was next appointed Minister to
England, and they
made their home near London. In 1817
they returned to the United
States. Mr.
Adams served as Secretary of State for eight
years, and Mrs. Adams did the honors of their
home in Washington.
When her husband was elected President, she
became the mistress of the White House. There
she displayed the same quiet elegance and
simplicity that had distinguish her in so many
prominent situations. Failing health forced her
into semi-retirement. She ceased to appear in
fashionable circles, but still presided at
public receptions. After the expiration of
President Adams' term of office, her retirement
was complete. The closing years of her life were
spent in the care of her family and the practice
of domestic virtues. She died on 14th May, 1852,
and was buried by the side of her husband in the
family burying ground at Quincy,
Mass.
(American Women, Fifteen
Hundred Biographies, Vol 1, Publ. 1897.
Transcribed by Marla Snow.)
Seth Ames, son
of Fisher Ames, was born in Dedham, Mass., April
19, 1805, and graduated at Harvard in 1825. Ho
studied law at the Harvard Law School, in the
office of George Bliss in Springfield, and in
the office of Lemuel Shaw in Boston and was
admitted to the Court of Common Pleas in Dedham
in 1828 and to the Supreme Judicial Court in
Cambridge in 1830. He began practice in Lowell,
was Representative in 1832, Senator in 1841 and
City Solicitor of Lowell from 1842 to 1849. In
1849 he was appointed Clerk of the Courts for
Middlesex County and removed to Cambridge, and
in 1859 was appointed to the bench of the
Superior Court of which he was made Chief
Justice in 1867. In 1869 he was appointed Judge
of the Supreme Judicial Court and removed to
Brookline. He resigned his seat January 15,
1881, and died in Brookline, August 15 in the
same year. He married in 1830 Margaret, daughter
of Gamaliel Bradford of Boston, and in 1849
Abigail Fisher, daughter of Rev. Samuel Dana of
Marblehead.
[Source: History of the Judiciary of
Massachusetts: By William Thomas Davis;
Publ. 1900; Transcribe for Genealogy Trails by
Andrea Stawski Pack.]
Atkinson, Henry
Morrell, capitalist, founder, was born
Nov. 13, 1862, in Brookline, Mass. He was
educated at Harvard College. Since 1886 he has
been a citizen of Atlanta, Ga.; and until 1889
was engaged in the cotton business. He then
established the Title guarantee and trust
company, of which he is president. He is
chairman of the board of directors of the
Georgia railway and electric company;
and is an officer and director in
various other corporations.
[Herringshaw's National Library of
American Biography: Contains Thirty-five
Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders
of Life and Thought of the United States, by
William Herringshaw, 1909 – Transcribed by
Therman Kellar]
Joseph McKean
Churchill, son of Asaph and Mary
(Gardner) Churchill, was born in Milton, Mass.,
April 29, 1821, and graduated at Harvard in
1840. He graduated at the Harvard Law School in
1845 and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in
1845. He was an Overseer of Harvard from 1856 to
1858, Representative in 1858-59, Councilor in
1860, member of the Constitutional Convention of
1853, Captain of Co. B, 45th Massachusetts
Regiment in the war of 1861, and was appointed
March 3, 1871, Associate Justice of the
Municipal Court of the city of Boston. He
married Augusta Phillips Gardner, and died in
Milton, March 23, 1886.
[Source: History of the Judiciary of
Massachusetts: By William Thomas Davis;
Publ. 1900; Transcribe for Genealogy Trails by
Andrea Stawski Pack.]
Waldo Colburn, son of
Thatcher and Hattie Cleveland Colburn, was born
in Dedham, Mass., November 13, 1824. He was
educated at the public schools and at Phillips
Andover Academy. In 1847 he began to read law
with Ira Colburn, of Dedham, and was admitted to
the Norfolk bar May 3, 1850, after spending a
short time at the Harvard Law School. In 1875 he
was appointed Judge of the Superior Court,
serving until 1882 when be was appointed to the
bench of the Supreme Judicial Court. He was a
Representative in 1853-54, Senator in 1870 and
for several years the Democratic candidate for
Attorney General. He married first, November 21,
1852, Mary Ellis, daughter of Bunker Gay, of
Dedham, and second, August 5, 1861, Elizabeth C,
daughter of Ezra W. Sampson of Dedham. He
remained on the bench until his death September
26, 1885.
William Crowninshield Endicott,
son of William Putnam and Mary (Crowninshield)
Endicott, was born in Salem November 26, 1826,
and graduated at Harvard in 18-17, receiving the
degree of LL. D. in 1882. He studied law at the
Harvard Law School and in the office of
Nathaniel J. Lord of Salem and was admitted to
the Essex bar in 1850. He established himself in
Salem, and from 1857 to 1864 was City Solicitor
of Salem. In 1870 he was the Democratic
candidate for Congress, and in 1871-2-3 the
Democratic candidate for Attorney General. In
1873 he was appointed to the Supreme Judicial
Court and resigned in 1882. In 1884 he was the
Democratic candidate for Governor, and in 1885
was appointed Secretary of War by President
Cleveland. In 1889 he resumed practice in Salem.
He married Ellen, daughter of George Peabody of
Salem, December 13, 1859, and died in Boston May
6, 1900.
[Source: History of
the Judiciary of Massachusetts: By William
Thomas Davis; Publ. 1900; Transcribe for
Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
Frederick D. Ely, son of
Nathan and Amelia Maria (Partridge) Ely, was
born in Wrentham, Mass., September 24, 1838, and
graduated at Brown in 1859. He studied law in
the office of Waldo Colburn of Dedham, and was
admitted to the Norfolk bar in October, 1862. He
was a Representative from Dedham in 1873, a
Senator in 1878-79, and a member of the
Forty-ninth Congress. He was appointed October
10, 1888, Associate Justice of the Municipal
Court of the city of Boston and is now on the
bench. He married, first, in Boston, December 6,
1866, Eliza, daughter of Seth and Harriet E.
(Rice) Whittin, and second, at Dedham, August
10, 1885, Anna, daughter of Lyman and Olive
Emerson.
[Source: History of the Judiciary of
Massachusetts: By William Thomas Davis;
Publ. 1900; Transcribe for Genealogy Trails by
Andrea Stawski Pack.]
HOLLIS, CHARLES H.,
attorney and counselor at law, real estate and
loan broker and abstracter of land titles,
Marion; born in Randolph, Norfolk Co., Mass.,
Aug.1,1837; came to Cedar Rapids in April, 1861;
resided there until 1866, being publisher and
editor of the Cedar Rapids Times during that
period; Mr. H. has been engaged in present
business since he came to Marion in 1866. Mrs.
Hollis is a daughter of Rev. J. V. DeWitt; she
was born in New York State. Mr. and Mrs. Hollis
are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. H. is a
graduate of Middlebury College at Middlebury,
Vt., class of 1860; he read law in Essex Co., N. Y.,
and at Cedar Rapids. He has held
various township offices
here.
[Source: The history of
Linn County Iowa; Western Historical Company;
1878; transcribed by Andaleen Whitney]
MEDBURY, Charles
Franklin; born, Foxboro, Mass., (
Norfolk Co) Aug. 6, 1866; son of Charles E. and
Elizabeth (Butters) Medbury; educated in Foxboro
public schools and at Brown University,
graduating, degree of A.B., 1888; married at
Lynn, Mass., Oct. 17, 1889, Mary Durfee. Began
active career in employ of Thomson-Houston
Electric Co., Jan. 1, 1889; at Lynn, Mass., and
Boston, until 1890; manager Montreal office
Canadian General Electric Co. from 1890-3; with
Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Co. at
Ottawa, 1893-6; manager (for short time business
manager) of Electrical World, New York, has been
manager at Detroit since Nov., 1897. Member
Detroit Engineering Society, Delta Phi. Mason.
recreations: Outdoor sports. Clubs; Detroit,
Detroit Golf. Office: 27-29 Woodward Av.
Residence: 36 Delaware Av.
[The Book of Detroiters.
Edited by Albert Nelson Marquis Copyright 1908 -
Submitted by Andrea Strawski Pack]
OAKES
AMES
Biographical History of
Massachusetts Biographies and Autobiographies
of the Leading Men in the State by Samuel
Atkins Eliot, M. D.D. 1916
. OAKES
AMES was born in Canton, Massachusetts, February
24, 1863. He died at his home in Milton,
Massachusetts, February 23,1914. He was the son
of Frank Morton Ames (born August 14, 1833; died
August 23, 1898) and Catherine Hay ward
(Copeland) Ames; and a grandson of Oakes Ames
(born July 10, 1804; died May 8, 1873) and
Evelyn 0. Gilmore Ames; and on his mother's
side, of Hiram Copeland (born February 9, 1798;
died July 13, 1861) and Lurana Copeland.
The ancestor of the family in New England was
William Ames, who was born at Bruton,
Somersetshire, England, in 1666, a great
grandson of John Ames, who died in Bruton,
England, in 1560. He settled in Braintree,
Massachusetts, in 1641, and died there in 1654.
Mr. Ames' grandfather, Oakes Ames, was a
Congressman from Massachusetts, and one of the
chief promoters and builders of the Union
Pacific Railroad. His uncle, Oliver Ames, was a
former Governor of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts.
His father, Frank M. Ames, was a prominent
Massachusetts manufacturer, having been for many
years the President of the Kinsley Iron and
Machine Works at Canton, and was also President
of the Lamson Store Service Company of Boston.
Oakes Ames had an aptitude for mechanics. In
early life he took a great interest in
athletics, being principally interested in
baseball, in which he was locally celebrated as
a pitcher, and in bicycle contests in which he
took a number of prizes.
He attended the primary schools of Canton,
was graduated from the Canton High School, and
then entered the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology with the class of 1885. After two
years at the Institute he entered upon the
active duties of life with the Kinsley Iron and
Machine Works of Canton, of which he eventually
became President. Upon his father's death he
became President of the Lamson Store Service
Company and recognizing the great possibilities
of pneumatic transmission he developed apparatus
along this line. The Lamgon Company became
connected with the American Pneumatic Service
Company of which he was elected vice-president.
At the time of his death he was, in addition to
the above positions, President of the Martin
Cash Carrier Company and the Air Line Carrier
Company, Director of the Batcheller Pneumatic
Company, Chicago Postal Pneumatic Tube Company,
Boston Pneumatic Transit Company, International
Pneumatic Service Company, Massachusetts
Pneumatic Tube Company, New York Mail &
Transportation Company and St. Louis Pneumatic
Tube Company. He was also associated with gas
and electric companies in several Massachusetts
cities and with other corporations. He was a
member of the Massachusetts Automobile Club, the
Country Club, the Norfolk Country Club, the
Hoosick Whisick, and the Engineers Clubs.
Mr. Ames was a Republican in his
affiliations, but in the late division of the
party, joined with the Progressive wing. He
never aspired to political office, but was
content to devote his energies to the promotion
of the large interests with which he was
connected.
Mr. Ames was married October 28, 1886, to
Florence, daughter of Joshua S. and H. Amelia
(Thurber) Ingalls of Detroit, Michigan, who
survives him. Mrs. Ames is a granddaughter of
Ira A. and Huldah (Clark) Thurber and of Simeon
and Rhoda (Smith) Ingalls. Mr. Ames is also
survived by their three children, Amelia C.
Ames, who resides at home, Oakes Ingalls Ames,
and Charles E. Ames, both students at Harvard
University.
Mr. Ames died in the full tide of a life of
great success. He did much, and made a point of
doing well everything that he undertook. He was
a leader among men, and used his executive
ability in promoting financial ventures with a
masterly hand. He never betrayed the confidence
of those who followed his lead.
His interest in his college class was
unusually strong, and his relations with his
classmates were among his greatest pleasures. In
a tribute to his memory one of his classmates
says: "It is twelve years since Death has
entered the ranks of the class of '85. He could
have taken no more loyal member, more steadfast
friend or truer gentleman than Oakes Ames, whose
memory we shall hold perennially fragrant in our
hearts."
Contributed by Barb
Ziegenmeyer
George Partridge
Sanger, son of Rev. Ralph and Charlotte
(Kingman) Sanger, was born in Dover, Mass.,
November 27, 1819, and graduated at Harvard in
1840. He studied law at the Harvard Law School
and while in the school was a tutor in Latin at
Harvard. He was admitted to the Suffolk bar
February 9, 1816, and after practicing as a
partner first with Stephen H. Phillips and
afterwards with Charles G. Davis, was appointed
Assistant United States District Attorney in
1849. In January, 1853, he was appointed to the
staff of Governor John H. Clifford, and on the
30th of September in that year was appointed
Commonwealth or District Attorney. In 1854 he
was appointed Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas, and remained on the bench until the
dissolution of the Court in 1859. In 1861 he was
reappointed District Attorney, serving until his
resignation in 1866. In 1873 he was appointed
United States Attorney by President Grant and
reappointed by Presidents Hayes and Arthur. He
was a Representative in 1873 and was editor of
the American Almanac from 1848 to 1860. He
married, September 14, 1846, Elizabeth
Sherburne, daughter of William Whipple and
Eleanor (Sherburne) Thompson, of Portsmouth, N.
H., and died at Swampscott, July 3,
1890.
[Source: History of the Judiciary of
Massachusetts: By William Thomas Davis;
Publ. 1900; Transcribe for Genealogy Trails by
Andrea Stawski Pack.]
Charles Perkins
Thompson, son of Frederick M. and
Susannah (Cheeseman) Thompson, was born in
Braintree, Mass., July 30, 1827, and after
studying law in the office of Benjamin F.
Hallett in Boston, was admitted to the Suffolk
bar in 1854. In 1857 he moved to Gloucester,
from which place he was a Representative in
1871-2. From 1874 to 1876 he was a member of
Congress, in 1877 received an honorary degree of
Master of Arts from Amherst, and in 1880 and
1881 was the Democratic candidate for Governor
of Massachusetts. He married, in 1861, Abbie
Herrick of Gloucester. In 1885 he was appointed
Judge of the Superior Court, and died while on
the bench, in Gloucester, January 19,
1894.
[Source: History of the Judiciary of
Massachusetts: By William Thomas Davis;
Publ. 1900; Transcribe for Genealogy Trails by
Andrea Stawski Pack.]
Samuel White,
son of Samuel and Ann (Bingley) White, was born
in Weymouth, Mass., April 2, 1710, and graduated
at Harvard in 1731. He studied law while in
service as Deputy Sheriff, and after admission
to the bar settled in Taunton in 1739. In 1746,
the year Taunton became the shire of Bristol
County, to succeed the town of Bristol, which
had been declared by a Royal Commission to
belong to Rhode Island, he was appointed King's
Attorney and held that office until his death.
He was a Representative from Taunton from 1749
to 1753, and from 1756 to 1759, and in 1764 and
1765, serving as Speaker of the House of
Representatives in 1750-1764 and 1765. He was
also a member of the Council from 1767 to 1769.
He married, in November, 1735, Prudence,
daughter of Samuel Williams of Taunton, and died
March 20, 1769.
[Source: History of the Judiciary of
Massachusetts: By William Thomas Davis;
Publ. 1900; Transcribe for Genealogy Trails by
Andrea Stawski Pack.]
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