Descendants of Rev. George Shove of Fall River, MA

SHOVE. Rev. George Shove, gentleman, son of Margery, who was admitted to the church at Boston as a widow in 1638, and who subsequently was of Rowley and a proprietor and still later of Roxbury, where she married in 1654 Richard Peacock, became the third minister of Taunton, ordained Nov. 17, 1665. Of his ministerial life little is known except that be “preached acceptably,” and taught the Taunton school; and it is said that “no rumor of strife or discord in connection with him comes down to us.” His fame, however, as a land bolder and dealer in real estate bas not failed to reach us. He is represented as having been largely concerned in the secular transactions of the town and possessed of considerable wealth. He was one of the six original proprietors of Assonet Neck, when that purchase was made in 1680. His home lot was that of William Phillips, one of the first settlers on the east side of what is now High street, between Cohannet and Winthrop streets.

On July 14, 1664, Mr. Shove married Hopestill, daughter of Rev. Samuel Newman, a learned man, the distinguished minister of Rehoboth. She died March 7, 1673, and he married Feb. 17, 1674-75, Mrs. Hannah Walley. She died in September, 1685, and he married Dec. 3, 1686, Mrs. Sarah Farwell. He died April 21, 1687. His mother Margery was buried at Taunton in 1680, with note that she was “mother of Mr. George Shove.”

The children of Minister Shove were:

1. Edward, born April 28, 1665 (buried Aug. 7, 1665);
2. Elizabeth, born Aug. 10, 1666;
3. Seth, born Sept. 10, 1667;
4. Nathaniel, born Jan. 29, 1668-69;
5. Samuel, born June 16, 1670;
6. Sarah, born July 30, 1671;
7. Mary, born Aug. 11, 1676;
8. Joanna, born Sept. 28,’ 1678;
9. Edward (2), born Oct. 3, 1680; and
10. Yetmercy, born Nov. 7, 1682.

Edward Shove, son of Rev. George, born Oct. 3, 1680, died in 1746. He married in 1704 Lydia, granddaughter of Rev. William Witherell, of Scituate. Their children were:

1. George and Mary (twins), born June 2, 1705;
2. Lydia, born July 31, 1707;
3. Ruth, born Sept. 10, 1709;
4. Elizabeth, born March 10, 1710-11;
5. Theophilus, born April 7, 1715;
6. Edward, born Dec. 21, 1716 (died July 22, 1778);
7. Hannah, born June 19, 1719; and
8. Nathaniel, born May 19 (or 9), 1723.

Theophilus Shove, son of Edward, born in what is now Dighton, Mass., “7th of 2d month,” 1715, was a minister of the Society of Friends for about fifty years, and traveled extensively attending meetings. He married Philadelphia, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Osborn, 16th of 8th month, 1718, in Salem, Mass. They died, Mr. Shove 30th of 3d month, 1796, and Mrs. Shove 27th of 2d month, 1792, and both were buried in the Friends’ yard at Freetown, Mass. Their children were:

1. Theophilus, born 21st of 11th month, 1741, in Swansea; and
2. Edward, born 13th of 1st month, 1743,
3. Sarah, born 24th of 12th month, 1747, and
4. Azariah, born 2d of 8th month, 1749, all three born in Dighton.

Theophilus Shove (2), son of Theophilus and Philadelphia, born 21st of 11th month, 1741, in Swansea, Mass., married Lydia, daughter of Clarke Purinton and his wife Sarah (Sherman), of Swansea and Somerset, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Shove were of Somerset, which formerly was a part of the town of Swansea. He was chosen one of the first board of select-men, assessors and overseers of the poor at the first meeting of Somerset held after the incorporation of the town, Dec. 15, 1790. He was dead at the time of his son Clarke’s marriage in 1814. His wife Lydia survived him and died 22d of 11th month, 1829, at Troy (now Fall River), Mass., and her remains were interred in the Friends’ yard in Somerset. Their children were:

1. Samuel, born 28th of 3d month, 1784;
2. Clarke, born 11th of 10th month, 1786;
3. Theophilus, born 23d of 6th month, 1788;
4. Sarah, born 12th of 2d month, 1791; and
5. Mary, born 12th of 10th month, 1798.

Clarke Shove, son of Theophilus (2) and Lydia (Purinton) Shove, born in that part of Swansea that became Somerset, Mass., 11th of 10th month, 1786, died 18th of 11th month, 1841. He was one of the incorporators of the Fall River Bank. He married 2d of 6th month, 1814, Elizabeth, born 25th of 10th month, 1787, daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Slade, of Swansea. Mrs. Shove died 28th of 8th month, 1855. Their children were:

1. Samuel, born 18th of 5th month, 1815 (died 27th of 5th month, 1850);
2. Elizabeth R., born 27th of 4th month, 1817;
3. Abner S., born 9th of 2d month, 1819 (died 31st of 3d month, 1837);
4. Clarke, born 24th of 6th month, 1821;
5. Charles O., born 20th of 11th month, 1823; and
6. Benjamin Slade, born 25th of 10th month, 1826, all excepting the first and last two born in Swansea, and they respectively in Wellington and Troy (now Fall River), Massachusetts.

Charles O. Shove, son of the late Clarke and Elizabeth Shove, was born in Fall River, Nov. 20, 1823. He was educated at the schools of his native city and the Friends’ Boarding School in Providence, R. I., and on reaching manhood entered an apothecary store then kept by his brother, Samuel Shove. Soon afterward, however, he accepted a position as bookkeeper in the Fall River Manufactory, and thence was transferred to the Metacomet Mill in the same capacity. Leaving that place, he was for a time associated with Robert K. Remington, Esq., in the drug and chemical business, and afterward joined as partner Mr. Joseph C. Anthony, in the manufacture of cotton yarns, their location being on Almond street. The establishment being burned, Mr. Shove turned his attention toward the manufacture of printing cloth, and became a stockholder and director of the Union Mill that had started. He soon after, in 1863, projected the Granite Mills, and along with the late Lazarus Borden got up the plan, the corporation being chartered in 1863. He was connected with that enterprise ever after, to the end of his days, holding the office of agent and treasurer; and the great success attending its management was largely due to his sagacity, industry and energetic application to business. He was considered one of the most competent and successful manufacturers in his line. The disaster that befell the No. 1 mill in September, 1874, was a terrible draft on his naturally sensitive nature, and, combined with the great task of rebuilding and the care of the suits brought against the corporation as a consequence of the catastrophe, the wear and tear to his constitution was so constant and severe as to result fatally. He died at his home on Highland avenue in 1875, in his fifty-second year. At a meeting of the directors of the Granite Mills the death of the treasurer was announced by the president, and the following memorial was adopted:

“We have learned with deep sadness of the death of our esteemed friend and associate Mr. Charles O. Shove, the treasurer of this corporation, and while we feel that words fail to express our appreciation of his life and services and our sorrow at his death, we have a melancholy satisfaction in placing on record our sense of the loss which this corporation, the community in which he lived and his friends have sustained by this sad event.

“Mr. Shove was a man of marked ability and strength of character. He possessed in an unusual degree energy and foresight and these qualities with his untiring industry and strict honesty had secured for him, while yet in the prime of life, an ample fortune and a large circle of warm friends.

“As a citizen he was interested in all that pertained to the welfare of this city and encouraged by his counsel and influence a faithful administration of its affairs and a wise expenditure of money for public improvements. He was largely identified with other business interests of Fall River and the advice and suggestions which his long experience and his ability so well qualified him to give and make were sought and received with respect and attention.

“It is with this corporation, however, that his name will be most intimately connected. The Granite Mills owes its existence to his energy and enterprise. He gave to it the strength of the best years of his life; it was his pride that it should be excelled by none.

“It has reached its great prosperity through his wise and judicious management and his close attention to its interests and it will be his enduring monument.

“Mr. Shove was frank, genial, cheerful in his intercourse with others, but he was loyal and constant in his friendship; he enjoyed more than most the society of his friends, and was always ready with sympathy and aid. He was manly and upright in his dealings, shirking no responsibility and performing every duty with the grace of a Christian gentleman.

“Of what he was in his domestic circle it does not become us to speak, or to intrude upon the sacredness of private grief; but as a token of our sympathy we will attend the funeral services in a body, and the mills of the corporation will suspend operations on that day.

“The clerk is requested to furnish the family and the press for publication with a copy of our doings and to enter the same upon the records of the corporation.

“William Mason,

“Pres.

“John P. Slade,

“Sec’y.”

Mr. Shove was the one who prepared the plans in the building of the new Shove Mill which bears his name and of which corporation he was president. He was also a trustee and a member of the board of investment of the Five Cents Savings Bank, and a director of the Fall River National Bank. He represented Ward Five (now Ward Seven) on the board of aldermen. He was an efficient member of the First Baptist Church of Fall River.

In 1849 Mr. Shove married Rachel E. Haines, of Lockport, N. Y., daughter of Jesse P. Haines, and they had a family of six children: Ellen M., Charles M., Sarah (deceased), Alice (married Edward Brooks), Mary and Edward. Early in 1874 Mr. Shove completed the elegant family mansion on Highland avenue, having sold his former homestead to the Central Congregational Society, whose beautiful new church was erected upon the site.

Charles M. Shove, son of Charles 0. and Rachel E. (Haines) Shove, was born in Fall River July 15, 1853. He was educated in the public schools, and graduated from the high school in 1870. After spending two years in the Institute of Technology, he in 1872 entered the office of the Granite Mills as clerk and draftsman, in which capacity he continued until his father’s death, in 1875. On Sept. 1, 1875, he succeeded to his father’s position as treasurer of the Granite Mills, and has held that position to the present time, a period of thirty-five years. In 1893 Mr. Shove built the No. 3 Mill. Since the beginning of his treasurership the character of the business has changed entirely, and the equipment has almost doubled, to say nothing of the progress which has been made to keep the establishment abreast of the vast strides which have been made in this particular line of manufacturing. The original plant had 78,000 spindles. The plant now has 3,040 looms and 122,000 spindles. Mr. Shove has proved himself a man of large capacity, with the ability to manage great interests and develop them to their best advantage. He has other interests besides those in the Granite Mills, having been one of the original directors of the Bourne Mills and still a member of the board; was a director in the Shove Mill, and has been a director of the Massasoit Bank and its successor, the Massasoit-Pocasset Bank, since 1876; he has been president of the latter institution for a number of years. He is also director of the Fall River Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Mr. Shove has not taken an active interest in politics or other public matters except such as every good citizen feels and exercises for the furtherance of good government.

In 1880 Mr. Shove married (first) Annie H. Stickney, daughter of Charles P. Stickney. His second marriage, in 1893, was to Laura Gross, and his third to Mrs. Lucy G. (Hayes) Booth. His children are

1. Margaret,
2. Helen (who married Robert E. Borden) and
3. Eleanor.

Edward Shove, son of Charles O. and Rachel E. (Haines) Shove, was born Dec. 13, 1864, in Fall River. He received his education in the local public schools and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and spent some time in foreign travel before settling down to business. Entering the office of the Granite Mills, he remained in the establishment for several years, becoming familiar with the technical part of the business as well as with office work, and in time went into business on his own account, as a cotton broker, in which line he did well. In 1892 he was elected treasurer of the Mechanics’ Mills, which position he held until 1905, when he resigned because of a nervous breakdown which he suffered. He spent the next winter in New York State, and then engaged in business in Boston for a short time, about two years before his death returning to Fall River, where he again became a cotton broker. He had an office at No. 12 Bedford street, and represented S. M. Weld & Co. Though the illness which proved fatal had probably been developing for several years Mr. Shove continued to attend regularly to his affairs until about two months before his death, which occurred July 27, 1909, in Pall River. Like other members of his family he had a wide acquaintance and reputation among cotton manufacturers. He had practically grown up in the midst of enterprises of such magnitude, and showed such aptitude in mastering and understanding their management, that the ability he displayed in the conduct of his large interests seemed most natural. Nevertheless he was active and diligent in business matters, and de-voted himself to their successful prosecution with a care which in itself would have insured prosperity in any line. His long connection with the Mechanics’ Mills was an evidence of the value placed upon his services by those most competent to judge.

On Oct. 12, 1892, Mr. Shove married Sarah Elmendorf, who was born May 14, 1866, daughter of the late Rev. Joachim Elmendorf, of New York. She survives him, as do also the two daughters born to this marriage,

1. Katharine, born Sept. 24, 1895, and
2. Baehel, born March 19, 1901.

Benjamin Slade Shove, son of Clarke and Elizabeth (Slade) Shove, was born 25th of 10th month, 1826, in Troy (now Fall River), Mass. In early life he was a shipmaster, and not being in good health he followed the sea for some years. In 1849 he went to California and while there was half owner in a vessel engaged in trade on that coast. He sold this vessel interest and returned home at the time of his mother’s death. He was also a rigger of vessels, and at the time of his death had just formed a partnership in Fall River with Clarke Shove, to engage in the coal business. Mr. Shove died April 12, 1867. He was a member of the Second Baptist Church. He married Annie F. Coolidge, who was born in Weymouth, July 12, 1835, and they had three children:

1. Walter Frank, born Aug. 12, 1858;
2. Benjamin Clarke, born Oct. 4, 1860, who is living in Fall River; and
3. Annie Borden, born Jan. 29, 1865, who married William Hampton, of Fall River.

Walter Frank Shove, son of Benjamin S. and Annie F. (Coolidge) Shove, was born in Fall River Aug. 12, 1858. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, going as far as the second year in the high school, and left school for good when in his sixteenth year. In May, 1874, he went to work in the Fall River post office, first under Postmaster Shaw and later under Chester Green, and remained there until July, 1880. For one and a half years immediately thereafter he worked as second clerk in the Union Mill and then became bookkeeper, which position he held for eleven years. In April, 1891, he was elected treasurer of the Pocasset Mill, succeeding Bradford D. Davol, and has continued in that position to the present time. When Mr. Shove came to the Pocasset Mill it had 60,000 spindles; it now has 120,000. He was elected treasurer of the Metacomet and Anawan Mills in 1894 and served until they were sold to the Iron Works Company. In 1900 he was elected treasurer of the Fall River Manufactory (since purchased by the Pocasset Mills). He was treasurer of the Windham Manufacturing Company, of Willimantic, Conn.; and has been treasurer of the Wampanoag Mills since February, 1905. He is a director of the National Association of Cotton Manufacturers.

Mr. Shove is independent in politics and has taken no active part in public matters. He is a member of King Philip Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Fall River, of the Royal Arch Chapter and of Godfrey de Bouillon Commandery (of which he is a past commander).

On Sept. 5, 1883, Mr. Shove married Clara L. Ackley, daughter of Almerin L. and Elizabeth (Holman) Ackley. They have had two children:

1. Ethel, born Jan. 10, 1887, who died Jan. 24, 1887; and
2. Ackley, born Feb. 5, 1896.