History of North Abington, (Plymouth County) Massachusetts United States of America

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Charles Francis Meserve, educator, was born in North Abington, Mass., July 15, 1850; son of Charles and Susanna (Blanchard) Meserve; grandson of Solomon Meserve, of Dresden, Maine, who died in the service of his country in the war of 1812, and a descendant of Clement Meserve, who came from the Isle of Jersey and settled in New Hampshire about 1670. He attended the public schools of North Abington; assisted his father in shoemaking, 1864-69; was prepared for college at the Classical institute, Waterville, Maine, and was graduated at Colby university, Waterville, A.B., 1877, A.M., 1880. He was the principal of the high school at Rockland, Mass., 1877-85; principal of the Oak Street school, Springfield, Mass., 1885-89; superintendent of Haskell institute, the U.S. Indian industrial training school at Lawrence, Kan., 1889-94, and in 1894 became president of Shaw university at Raleigh, N.C. He served as a special agent of the National Indian Rights association of Philadelphia in 1896, making a personal investigation of the work of the Dawes Commission among the five civilized tribes in the Indian Territory. His report was favorable to the work of the commission, Ex-Senator Dawes stating that this report made possible the subsequent success of the Dawes Commission. He was married, Dec. 19, 1878, to Abbie Mary, daughter of David and Mary (Ricker) Whittier, of Bangor, Maine. His wife died Oct. 6, 1898, leaving a daughter, Alice Whittier, who was in 1902 a student at, Vassar college. On May 16, 1900, he was married to Julia Francis, daughter of John White and Julia (Moore) Philbrick, of Waterville, Maine. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Colby in 1900. He delivered addresses, contributed articles on the Negro and Indian problems, and is the author of the History of the Towns of Abington, Whitman and Rockland, in Lewis's History of Plymouth County, Mass. (1884).

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

History of North Abington, (Plymouth County) Massachusetts

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