Brockton Massachusetts

Brockton, Massachusetts, a city within Plymouth County, is historically significant and geographically positioned as a central hub in the region. Officially incorporated as a city in 1881, Brockton evolved from being part of an original settlement known as Bridgewater, established in the 17th century, to becoming an independent entity recognized for its industrial prowess. The city’s name, adopted in 1874, honors the British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, reflecting a period when naming conventions often paid tribute to military figures. Brockton gained fame in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a world leader in the shoe and leather goods industry, earning the nickname “The City of Shoes.” This industrial boom contributed to its rapid growth and development, establishing a diverse and densely populated urban center. Furthermore, Brockton’s geographical features include a varied urban landscape, intersected by waterways that once powered its mills, shaping its economic and social fabric.

Ancestry of Lysander Franklin Gurney

LYSANDER FRANKLIN GURNEY, late of Brockton, Plymouth Co., Mass., was a descendant of some of the earliest settlers of this section. Going back to the mother country, we find the following general information in “The Gurneys of Earlham” (two volumes, Hart, Mich., March 16, 1906).

The Norfolk Gurneys claim descent from the ancient Barons of Gournay in Normandy, where the curious Ports Ibert with many old towers of the walls and the twelfth century church of Saint Hildevert attest the wealth and power of its ancient lords. Several members of the House accompanied William the Conqueror to England, and fought at the battle of Hastings, after which the valor of the aged Hugh de Gurney III. was rewarded by the establishment of the English Barony of Gourney, held by tenure of military service and by large grants of land, so that he has left his name of Baron Gourney in Somerset and several other places in England. The story of the “House of Gourney” is told in a magnificent history by Daniel Gurney of Juncton Hall, near Norwich, County of Norfolk, England, which possesses historic interest and shows much antiquarian research.

Descendants of Charles Keith of Bridgewater, Massachusetts

For the ancestry of Charles Keith, please see Descendants of Rev. James Keith of Bridgewater, Massachusetts (VI) Charles Keith, son of Benjamin, was born Aug. 8, 1794, and married Dec. 8, 1817, Mehitable Perkins, born March 23, 1795, daughter of Josiah and Anna (Reynolds) Perkins, of North Bridgewater, both of whom were descendants of historic old New England families. To this union were born children as follows: Damaris Williams Keith, born Oct. 8, 1818, married Vinal Lyon, of North Bridgewater, where she died Charles Perkins Keith, born June 20, 1820, is mentioned below Anna Reynolds Keith, born Nov. 11, 1822, … Read more

Descendants of Davis Snow Packard of Bridgewater, Massachusetts

In the death of Davis Snow Packard, which occurred in Brockton, Mass., July 31, 1900, the city lost one of its foremost citizens as well as one of its most successful manufacturers. Mr. Packard was a native of the town of North Bridgewater, now the city of Brockton, born June 24, 1826, son of Apollos and Betsey (Packard) Packard, and a descendant of one of the oldest and most prominent families of the old Bay State. (I) Samuel Packard, the founder of the family in America, was a native of England, his home being at Windham, near Hingham. In 1638 … Read more

Ancestors of John Jay Whipple of Brockton, Massachusetts

For nearly fifty years the name of Whipple has been one of Brockton citizenship, representing a family here of substance and exceptional prominence in the community. Reference is made to the late Ferdinand Whipple and his son, the present Hon. John Jay Whipple, who together and in turn have been among Brockton’s successful business men, the son having figured conspicuously in public affairs, filling most of the offices within the gift of his fellow citizens, among other honors having been four times elected to the mayoralty of the city of Brockton. The Whipple family is one long prominent in the country, the earlier generations having been conspicuous in Rhode Island’s Colonial period, it being a Rhode Island family.

Ancestors of George Mitchell Hooper of Bridgewater, MA

The Hooper family, to which belonged the late George Mitchell Hooper, one of Bridgewater’s well-known citizens, is an old and distinguished one in New England. George Mitchell Hooper, son of Mitchell, was born in the town of Bridgewater Sept. 1, 1838. He received his education in the public schools and Bridgewater Academy, later attending Peirce Academy and the State normal school at Bridgewater, graduating from the latter institution in 1857. After leaving school he engaged in teaching, a profession he followed for one year and then began the manufacture of brick with his father, a business in which he engaged for half a century. He was also a surveyor. He was identified with the banking interests of Bridgewater, having been one of the trustees of the Bridgewater Savings Bank, also filling the office of clerk. He was clerk and treasurer of the Bridgewater Cemetery Association; a member of the Plymouth County Agricultural Association, of which for years he was treasurer, and was secretary; and trustee of the Memorial Public Library. He died July 2, 1909, in his seventy-first year. On Oct. 16, 1861, Mr. Hooper was married to Mary E. Josselyn, who was born at Hanson, Mass., daughter of Hervey and Elizabeth (Howland) Josselyn. She died Jan. 30, 1884, and was buried in Mount Prospect cemetery. Eight children were born of this marriage.

Descendants of John Saxton Kent of North Bridgewater, MA

HON. JOHN SAXTON KENT, ex-mayor of the city of Brockton, and one of that city’s leading manufacturers, is as well one of the most enterprising and progressive citizens who have made their way to success in this Commonwealth. Merit commands recognition, and the deserving find doors opening and the way growing plainer as they go onward. In the life of Mr. Kent we have a noble example of the result of pluck, untiring energy and perseverance, combined with natural business acumen, he being the architect of his own successful career, and having acquired, through his own capabilities, a place among … Read more

Ancestry of Herbert Isam Mitchell of Brockton, MA

The family bearing the name of Mitchell is one of the oldest in the New World, its progenitor being Experience Mitchell, who came over in 1623 in the “Ann,” and from that time to the present the records of various towns of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, chiefly Plymouth, Duxbury and the Bridgewaters, bear mute testimony of the prominence in peace and war of the members of the family in the different generations, and the present head of the family in Brockton, Isam Mitchell, president of Isam Mitchell & Co., lumber dealers and contractors, and his son, the late Herbert Isam Mitchell, active in business with his father and prominent in fraternal circles, have proved themselves firm in purpose and able in business.

Biography of Aberdeen Keith

Among the representative men of Riverside who have been prominently connected with its horticultural and other industries, is the subject of this sketch. His long residence in Riverside, and association with the financial interests of the city, as well as San Bernardino County, are well known, and render such facts as are given regarding his life of interest in the annals of Riverside. Mr. Keith is a native of Massachusetts, dating his birth in Middletown, March 19, 1821. His father, Isaac Keith, was of Scotch descent, and inherited, as well as transmitted to his children, many of the well-known and … Read more

Howard Family of Brockton Massachusetts

This article is to treat particularly of the John Haward/Howard branch of the family to which belonged the late Daniel S. Howard, who was one of Brockton’s foremost citizens and most successful shoe manufacturers; his brother, Gorham B. Howard, now retired, who for a number of years was one of that city’s successful merchants, engaged in the dry goods business; and the former’s sons, Warren A. Howard, now deceased, who for years was extensively engaged in the manufacture of shoes, and Daniel S. Howard, Jr., who is president of the Emerson Shoe Company, of Rockland, Massachusetts.

Ancestry of Charles Oliver Emerson of Brockton and Rockland, Massachusetts

Charles Oliver Emerson, treasurer of the Emerson Shoe Company, of Rockland, Mass., one who has been prominently identified with the shoe manufacturing industry for a number of years, is a native of what at the time of his birth, July 14, 1856, was known as the town of North Bridgewater, now the city of Brockton, Mass., where he resides. He is a son of the late John Oliver Emerson and his wife, Caroline Augusta Packard, and is descended from historic old New England ancestry on both the paternal and maternal sides.

Ancestors of Horace Alden Keith of Brockton, MA

Horace Alden Keith, founder of the Brockton Webbing Company, one of the successful and thriving industries of Brockton, and one of that city’s enterprising and progressive business men, is a descendant on both his paternal and maternal sides of historic old New England ancestry. Mr. Keith was born in West Bridgewater May 25, 1862, eldest son of the late Henry Snell and Thalia (Alden) Keith. The ancestral line of the branch of the Keith family in this country to which Horace Alden Keith belongs, and which follows, is given in chronological order from the first American ancestor. Rev. James Keith, born in 1644, was educated in Aberdeen, Scotland (as tradition says at the expense of a maiden aunt), where he was graduated likely from Marischal College, his name appearing on the roll of 1657, said college having been founded by George, the fifth Earl of Keith Marischal, in 1593. At the age of eighteen years he emigrated to this country, arriving at Boston in 1662. He was introduced to the church at Bridgewater by Dr. Increase Mather, and became settled as the minister of the Bridgewater Church Feb. 18, 1664. Rev. James Keith passed away in West Bridgewater July 23, 1719, aged seventy-six years, having labored in the ministry of the town for fifty-six years.

Descendants of Veranus Filoon of North Bridgewater, MA

For several generation the family bearing the name of Filoon has live in Abington and North Bridgewater (now Brockton), where evidence of their thrift, solidity and respectability are manifest, and there also have lived the Bretty and Fullerton families, with which the more recent generations of the Filoons have been allied through marriage, the Brett family being one of the ancient families of the Old Colony and its progenitor an original proprietor of Bridgewater. This article is to particularly treat of the branch of the Filoon family to which belonged the late Veranus Filoon, who was long and prominently identified with the business and social circles of North Bridgewater and Brockton, and his son, the present Fred W. Filoon, who as his father’s successor is continuing the business with marked success, as well as the former’s brother, the present Henry H. Filoon, who has long been a leading and successful practicing dentist.

Biography of George M. Skinner

George M. Skinner, was born in Easton, Massachusetts, in 1833, son of Harrison G. O. Skinner, a native of Massachusetts, and now a resident of Riverside. His mother, Betsey Holmes, was also a native of Massachusetts. Mr. Skinner was reared and schooled in his native place, and given the advantage of a common-school education until seventeen years of age. He then located in Brockton, Massachusetts, working in the boot and shoe manufactories until 1863. In that year he responded to the call of his country for troops, and enlisted in Company F, Fifty-Eighth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. His attention to duty … Read more

Ancestors of Nelson Sherman of Carver and Brockton, Massachusetts

Nelson Sherman, who was for many years extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits in the town of Carver, Mass., and is now making his home in the city of Brockton, is regarded as one of the substantial men of Plymouth county. He is a descendant of several of this Commonwealth’s earliest settled and most prominent families, and was born March 14, 1841, in North Carver, son of Henry and Christinai (Crocker) Sherman.

Gurney Family of Brockton, MA

Lysander Franklin Gurney, late of Brockton, Plymouth Co., Mass., was a descendant of some of the earliest settlers of this section. Going back to the mother country, we find the following general information in “The Gurneys of Earlham” (two volumes, Hart, Mich., March 16, 1906).

Ancestry of Moses Adams Packard of Brockton, Massachusetts

Moses Adams Packard, of Brockton, where he has been so long and so successfully engaged in the manufacture of shoes, is as well one of that city’s highly honored and respected citizens. Mr. Packard began life with little capital save boundless energy and a resolute purpose, and has pushed his way upward against almost every kind of obstacle until he now holds a foremost position among the leading manufacturers in this Commonwealth, vindicating the old saying, “Labor is king.” He was born Feb. 28, 1843, in New London, N. H., which was the home of his mother, while his father was a native of North Bridgewater, and a descendant of one of the old and historical families of Massachusetts.

Since its coming to this Bridgewater settlement, which was the first interior settlement of the Old Colony, as early as 1664, to the present time, for nearly two hundred and fifty years, the Packard family has been one prominent and influential in this community, and has become a most numerous family, many, too, of its members both at home and abroad having given a good account of themselves.

Descendants of Nicholas Snow of Eastham, MA

Nicholas Snow, a native of England, came to this country in 1623 in the ship “Ann,” locating in Plymouth, where he had a share in the division of land in 1624. In 1634 he removed to Eastham, where he became a prominent citizen. His home was on the road from Plymouth to Eel river, on the Westerly side. He was admitted a freeman in 1633, and was elected town clerk at the first meeting of the town of Eastham, holding that office sixteen years. He was deputy to the General Court from 1648, three years; selectman from 1663, seven years. He and his son Mark signed the call to Rev. John Mayo to settle as their minister in 1655. He was one of Gov. Thomas Prence’s associates. He married at Plymouth, Constance, daughter of Stephen Hopkins, who came over in the “Mayflower.” Constance herself came in the “Mayflower.” She died in October, 1677. Mr. Snow died Nov. 15, 1676, in Eastham, Mass.

Thompson Family of Brockton, MA

Albert Cranston Thompson, a resident of Brockton, Plymouth county, for over forty years, was a citizen of proved worth in business and public life. His influence in both is a permanent factor in the city’s development, a force which dominates the policy of at least one phase of its civil administration, and his memory is cherished by the many with whom he had long sustained commercial and social relations. As the head of an important industrial concern for a period of over thirty years, as chairman for nearly ten years, up to the time of his death, of the sewerage commissioners of Brockton, as president of the Commercial Club, as an active worker in church and social organizations, he had a diversity of interests which brought him into contact with all sorts and conditions of men and broadened his life to an unusual degree. Good will and sympathy characterized his intercourse with all his fellows. As may be judged from his numerous interests and his activity in all he was a man of many accomplishments, of unusual ability, of attractive personality and un-questionable integrity. He was earnest in everything which commanded his attention and zealous in promoting the welfare of any object which appealed to him, and his executive ability and untiring energy made him an ideal worker in the different organizations of every kind with which he was connected. Mr. Thompson was a native of the county in which he passed all his life, having been born Dec. 19, 1843, in Halifax, a descendant of one of the oldest and best known families of that town. The families of Thompson and Fuller were very numerous and prominent in that region, so much so that according to tradition a public speaker once, in opening his address, instead of beginning with the customary “Ladies and Gentlemen” said “Fullers and Thompsons.” So much for their numbers. The line of descent is traced back to early Colonial days.

Ancestry of the Embert Howard Family of Brockton Massachusetts

EMBERT HOWARD, long one of the most successful business men of Brockton, of which city he is also one of the foremost citizens, is a worthy representative of a family which has historic identity with the earliest settling of New England. For two hundred and sixty and more years the family bearing this name has dwelt in the Bridgewaters and in the region of country thereabouts, the posterity of John Haward, who was one of the early settlers of Duxbury, Mass. The genealogy following traces the line in chronological order from this immigrant ancestor.

Biography of Hon. Elmer Wallace Holmes

Hon. Elmer Wallace Holmes is the accomplished editor of the Riverside Daily Press and Weekly Press and Horticulturist. He has been identified with the growth and prosperity of Riverside since 1875, and it is safe to say that there are few men in the community who have done more to advance the horticultural and other industries of that city, and show to the world its possible resources and productions of its prolific lands than Mr. Holmes. The subject of this sketch came to Riverside, broken in health and seeking a desirable home and quiet pursuits. He early saw the possibilities … Read more