History of Taunton, (Bristol County) Massachusetts United States of America

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Local History Notes:

TAUNTON, a post-town and semi-capital of Bristol county, Massachusetts, is situated at the head of navigation on Taunton river, and on the New Bedford and Taunton railroad, 35 miles S. from Boston, and 30 miles E. N. E. from Providence. Lat. 41? 54' 11" N., lon. 71? 5' 55" W. It is handsomely built, and contains a beautiful enclosure in the centre, called ?Taunton Green.? Besides the court house and jail, there are in the place 10 or 11 churches, a handsome town house, several fine hotels, and 3 banks. Three newspapers are issued here. A beautiful cemetery, called the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, has been laid out a short distance from the green, upon the Mount Auburn plan. The manufactures of Taunton are extensive and various, consisting of paper, leather, nails, steam engines, and hardware of various kinds. One of the most extensive locomotive and steam-engine establishments is that of Messrs. Mason & Co. Upon the completion of the extensive additions now being made to their shops, the company will be prepared to turn out on an average one engine a week throughout the year. There are two print-works, which turn out about 2,500,000 yards of cloth annually. The Taunton river furnishes excellent water-power. it is navigable for small vessels, and some coast trade is carried on. Pop. in 1840, 7645; in 1850, 10,431; in 1853, about 11,300.

Biographies:

George Leonard, jurist, was born in Taunton, Mass., March 4, 1698; son of Maj. George and Anna (Tisdale) Leonard; grandson of Thomas and Mary (Watson) Leonard; and great grandson of James and Margaret Leonard who emigrated from Wales with Henry Leonard, brother of James, in 1652, and settled in Taunton, Mass., in. 1653, where they engaged in the manufacture of iron. George Leonard was admitted to the bar about 1720. He was married in 1721 to Rachel Clap of Scituate. He was justice of the peace, 1723-37; judge of the court of common pleas, 1725-30, 1733-40, and 1746-74; and judge of the probate court, 1747-78. He died in Norton, Mass., Dec. 4, 1778.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Charles Henry Payne, clergyman and educator, was born in Taunton, Mass., Oct. 24, 1830. He was graduated at Wesleyan university, Connecticut, in 1856; was a private tutor in Newark, N.J., 1856; studied at the Biblical institute, Concord, N.H., and joined the Providence conference of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1857. He was married March 24, 1857, to Mary Eleanor Gardiner, of Wickford, R.I.; was pastor in Sandwich, East Bridgewater, and Fall River, Mass., in Providence, R.I., Brooklyn, N.Y., Philadelphia, Pa., and in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1857-76. He erected St. John's church, Brooklyn, N.Y., at a cost of $200,000, and the Arch Street church, Philadelphia, at a cost of $260,000. He was president of Ohio Wesleyan uuiversity, Delaware, Ohio, 1876-88, succeeding Dr. Frederick Merrick, and was corresponding secretary of the board of education of the Methodist Episcopal church, 1888-99. He was a member of the committee to revise the hymn-book of his denomination in 1876, a delegate to the General conferences of 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892 and 1896, and to the Ecumenical conference in London in 1881. He traveled extensively in Europe, Egypt, Greece, Syria and the Holy Land. He received the degrees D.D. from Dickinson college in 1870, and LL.D. from Ohio State university in 1875, and is the author of: The Social Glass and Christian Obligation (1868); Daniel the Uncompromising Young Man (1872); Methodism, its History and Results (1881); Women and their Work in Methodism (1881); Temperance (1881); Education (1881); and Guides in Character Building (1883). He died at Clifton Springs N.Y., May 5, 1899.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

George Herric Billings, metallurgist, was born at Taunton, Mass., Feb. 8, 1845. In 1847 his parents removed to Ohio, and thence a few years later to Pittsburg, Pa., where he attended school. In 1860 he was sent by his father to Calhoun, Ky., where he took charge of the machinery and acted as clerk in an oil property in which his father was interested. The outbreak of the civil war caused a cessation in the business and he returned to Pittsburg, where he volunteered as a private in the 45th Pennsylvania regiment. Being under the acceptable age he was not enrolled, and secured employment in an iron mill. With his earnings he purchased books on natural philosophy and physics, which he studied with interest, testing his knowledge by chemical experiments. In 1868 he went to Boston, where he secured a position in one of the iron foundries, devoting, as before, his spare time to study, and attending an evening draughting school. He then attended the free course in chemistry given by the Lowell institute at the Massachusetts institute of technology, and with the facilities offered there for practice he gained a practical knowledge which secured for him a position as metallurgical chemist with the Norway iron and steel company. While occupying this position he devised a process of manufacturing compressed steel shafting, and also devoted much time and study to investigating the influence of the various metals alloyed with iron. Mr. Billings was elected a member of the American institute of mining engineers, which is indebted to him for many valuable papers contributed to its "transactions."

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Samuel Leonard Crocker, representative, was born in Taunton, Mass., March 31, 1804; son of William Augustus and Sally (Ingalls) Richmond Creeker; grandson of Josiah, and great-grandson of the Rev. Josiah Crocker, the sixth minister of Taunton. He was graduated at Brown university in 1882, and engaged in business in his native town as a copper manufacturer. He was president of the Taunton locomotive works; director Of the Old Colony iron works; of the Old Colony railroad; of the Taunton brick company; of the Bristol County savings bank; of the Machinists' national bank and of the Taunton lunatic asylum. He was a member of the council of Governor Briggs in 1849; a representative in the 33d congress, 1853-55, and defeated in the election for the 34th congress. He was a trustee of the General theological seminary, New York city, and was elected a trustee of Brown university in 1882, but did not enter office. He was married June 15, 1825, to Hannah Weld Thomas, who died in 1827. Their daughter, Mary Caroline, was the wife of Maj.-Gen. Darius N. Couch. On April 13, 1830, he was married to Caroline Thomas, a sister of his deceased wife, and their daughter, Sally, was the wife of Edmund H. Bennett, judge of probate and insolvency of Bristol county, and dean of the Boston university law school, and their son, Samuel Leonard, Jr., lawyer, was graduated at Brown university in 1856, and at the Harvard law school in 1859, afterward residing in Naples, Italy. Mr. Crocker died in Boston, Mass., Feb. 10, 1883.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor