Medway, Norfolk co, Mass Bios ************************************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************************************ Transcribed by Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 4:15 PM THE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT PERSONS, AND The Genealogical Records OF MANY EARLY AND OTHER FAMILIES IN MEDWAY, MASS. 1713-1886. Illustrated WITH NUMEROUS STEEL AND WOOD ENGRAVINGS. BY E. O. JAMESON, THE AUTHOR OK "THE COGSWELLS IN AMERICA," "THE HISTORY OF MEDWAY, MASS.." ETC. MILLIS, MASS. 1886. Copyright, 1886. E. O. JAMESON, MILLIS, MASS. All Rights Reserved. J. A. & R. A. REID, PRINTERS, PROVIDENCE, R. I. _______________________________________________ REV. JASPER ADAMS, D. D. JASPER ADAMS, son of Jasper and Anna (Rounds) Adams, was born Aug. 27, 1793, in EastMedway. He fitted for college under the Rev. Luther Wright, and graduated in 1815 from Brown University, Rhode Island. Mr. Adams studied theology for two years in Andover Theological Seminary and taught in Phillips Academy. He was a tutor in Brown University in 1818-'19, and ordained to the ministry, Aug. 4, 1820, in the Episcopal Church. For five years prior to 1824, he was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in Brown University, Rhode Island. Professor Adams married, May 16, 1820, Miss Mercy D. Wheeler, of East Medway, who died Nov. n, 1821, while they resided in Providence, R. I. In 1824 he was called to the Presidency of the Charleston College, S. C, and soon after married Miss May rant, of that city. In 1826 he resigned his position to accept the Presidency of Geneva College, N. Y., which he held until 1828, when he resumed the Presidency of Charleston College, where he remained until 1836, when he was appointed chaplain and professor of ethics in the United States Military Academy at West Point, N. Y. In 1840, circumstances making it desirable for him to reside South, he resigned his position, purchased an estate in Pendleton, S. C, for his home, and preached in an Episcopal Church in that vicinity, lie received the degree of D. D. in 1827, from Columbia College, N. Y. he was a line scholar and a writer of ability, he published a book on moral philosophy, and was recognized as a man of eminence in the literary world. Several of his occasional addresses and sermons were printed. The Rev. Dr. Adams died after a brief illness, Oct. 25, 1841, at the age of forty-eight years. His sister, Mrs. Elizabeth (Adams) Bigelow, widow of Dea. Calvin Bigelow, of Dover, Mass., now resides with her son, Charles A. Bigelow, Esq., of Millis, in vigorous health, and in the full enjoyment of her mental powers, having passed her ninetieth birthday, Sept. 26, 1885. She is the last survivor of her father's family. ______________________________________________ REV. EZRA ADAMS. EZRA ADAMS, son of Ezra and Abigail (Partridge) Adams, was born Aug. 28, 1809, in West Medway. he graduated in 1835 from Amherst College, Massachusetts, and in 1838 from the East Windsor Theological Seminary, Connecticut. He was ordained to the Gospel ministry, and installed April 28, 1840, pastor of the Congregational Church in Surry, N. H. After a ministry of three years he removed to Roxbury, N. H., where he labored from Jan. 1, 1843, to 1850, when he commenced preaching in Gilsum, N. H., where he was installed, March 19, 1851, pastor of the church, in which office he continued until his death, which occurred at the age of fifty-four years, March 20, 1864. As a minister of the Gospel he has been spoken of as faithful and persevering in his work and discreet in all things, the crowning excellence of the man being his cheerful spirit and self-sacrifice for the Master. As a preacher he was clear and forcible, his sermons being the plain and practical presentations of the truth. The pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Adams in Gilsum, N. H., continued through a period of nearly fourteen years. He was beloved by his people, much respected in the town as a wise counsellor and a man of tact in business affairs. He was superintendent of schools for thirteen years. His ministry was one of usefulness, and his life a great public good. "Of few men could it as well be said 'Behold an Israelite, indeed, in whom is no guile.' " Vid. The History of Gilsum, N. H. ______________________________________________ REV. EDWIN AUGUSTUS ADAMS. EDWIN AUGUSTUS ADAMS, son of Newell and Abigail Fales (Blake) Adams, was born Oct. 21, 1837, in Franklin, Mass. His parents soon after became residents of Medway. He graduated in 1861 from Amherst College, Massachusetts. In 1861-2 he was a teacher in West Boylston, Mass. Mr. Adams pursued his professional studies in Union Theological Seminary, New York, and in the Theological Seminary, Andover, Mass. He was ordained and installed, Sept. 3, 1868, pastor of the church in North Manchester, Conn. In 1872 he was appointed a missionary of the American Board, and stationed in Prague, Austria, where he labored for ten years. He then returned to this country, and succeeded to the pastorate of Northboro, Mass., then recently made vacant by the death of his younger brother, the Rev. George B. Adams. He remained in Northboro some two years, and then removed to Chicago, Ill., and became the pastor of a church of the Bohemians in that city. ______________________________________________ REV. GEORGE BURTON ADAMS. GEORGE BURTON ADAMS, son of Newell and Abigail Fales (Blake) Adams, was born Oct. 4, 1841, in Medway, Mass. He graduated in 1875 from Amherst College, Massachusetts, and in 1876 from the Hartford Theological Seminary, Connecticut. He was ordained and installed Nov. 19, 1879, pastor of the Congregational Church in Northboro, Mass. He married, Oct. 26, 1880, Emma C. Noble, daughter of James and Eliza Ann (Smith) Noble, of Hartford, Conn. He had entered upon a useful ministry, and was much beloved by his people, when he died Aug. 25, 1881. He was succeeded by his elder brother, the Rev. Edwin Augustus Adams, recently returned from a mission to Prague, Austria. ______________________________________________ HON. PHINEHAS ADAMS. PHINEHAS ADAMS, son of Phinehas and Sarah W. (Barber) Adams, was born June 20, 1814, in Medway. His father was a manufacturer, and started, in 1814, the first power-loom in this country, in Waltham, Mass. Mr. Adams learned his father's business. In 1829, leaving school, he went to work in the Merrimack Mills, Lowell, Mass., where he soon held the position of an overseer. In December, 1833, Mr. Adams removed, and was an overseer in the mills of which his father was then the agent, in Hooksett, N. H. Subsequently he was an overseer in the mills in Pittsfield, N. H., and later he returned to Lowell, Mass., where he was for some time a clerk in the counting-room of the Merrimack Mills. In 1846 he left Lowell and became the agent of the Old Mills at Amoskeag Falls, N. H., and Nov. 6, 1847, he was appointed agent of the Stark Mills, Manchester, N. H. This position he held for more than twenty years. Mr. Adams was a director in several banking institutions in Manchester, also a director of the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association. In 1872 he was elected a Presidential Elector for New Hampshire, and in 1872 and 1873 he was chief on the staff of Governor Straw, with the title of colonel. His only daughter married Daniel C. Gould, Esq., paymaster of the Stark Mills, Manchester, N. H., and his only son was Phinehas Adams, Jr., a partner in the cotton business of E. C. Bigelow, Esq., of Boston, Mass. " Mr. Adams was a man whose life was based upon the highest ideas of right and wrong. Kindly and affable, of remarkable generosity, he was highly respected by all his fellow-citizens, and his personal popularity would have insured his election to any office in their gift, if he could have been induced to accept it." "His death was a great public loss." Vid. The History of Manchester, N. H.