served in the Revolutionary war in 1775 and
are enumerated among the minute-men.

Among the effects of William Kempton, who
died in 1787, were the following books:
Thought on Religion, Grace Defendeth, Anno-
tations of the Bible and Ship Builders As-
sistant.

Ephraim Kempton, who died in 1758, had
among his effects' one large Bible, one small
Bible, four books of Psalms, thirteen old paper



1030



SOUTHEASTEKN MASSACHUSETTS



books, two pewter platters, twelve pewter
plates, one looking glass.

Ephraira Kempton, who died in 1802, had
among his effects a Bible, a silver watch, six
silver spoons, and a pew in the Bedford meet-
inghouse.

It is fashionable in articles on the origin
of New England families to claim as belong-
ing to tliem the coat of arms of an English
family of the same name; it may seem to am-
bitious persons a matter of regret that no
Kempton ever claimed the heraldic rank above
a tradesman.

BROWNELL (Taunton family). (I)
Thomas Brownell, born in 1619, appears in
Portsmouth, R. I., in 1647, when, at the for-
mation of the government under the charter
of 1643, with John Cook he was chosen "water
baillie" for the Colony, having charge of the
fisheries, then as now an important industry
and a source of wealth. Mr. Brownell was a
freeman in 1655. He was commissioner in
1655, 1661, 1662 and 1663, and deputy in
1664. The Christian name of his wife was
Ann. Mr. Brownell died in 1665, and his wife
also passed away that year. Their children
were: Mary; Sarah; Martha, born in 1644,
died Feb. 15, 1743; George, born in 1646, died
April 20, 1718; William, born in 1648, died
in 1715; Thomas, born in 1650, died May 18,
1732; Robert, born in 1652, died July 12,
1728; and Anna, born in 1654, died April 2,
1747.

(II) Thomas Brownell, born in 1650, mar-
ried Mary Pearce, born May 6, 1654, daughter
of Richard and Susanna (Wright) Pearce.

Mr. Brownell became one of the proprietors
and first settlers of the town of Little Comp-
ton, R. I. He died May 18, 1732, and his
widow Mary died May 4, 1735-1736. Their
children were: Thomas, born Feb. 16, 1679,
died Jan. 1, 1752; John, born Feb. 21, 1682,
died in March, 1759; George, born Jan. 19,
1685, died Sept. 22, 1756; Jeremiah, born
Oct. 10, 1689, died in June, 1756 ; Mary, born
March or May 22, 1692, died July 31, 1717;
and Charles, born Dec. 23, 1694, died in Feb-
ruary, 1774.

(III) George Brownell, born Jan. 19, 1685,
married July 6, 1706, Mary Thurston, born
March 20, 1685. Mr. Brownell in 1702 pur-
chased a tract of land two miles square, in
the southeast corner of Westport, embracing
what is now Coaxet, Mass. Mr. Brownell died
Sept. 22, 1756, and his wife Mary passed away
Feb. 23, 1740. Their children «'ere : Giles,
born March 1, 1707; Phebe, born June 19,



1708; Mary, born Nov. 9, 1709, died Oct. 6,
1791; George, born June 21, 1711; Thomas,
born Feb. 1, 1713; Elizabeth, born Sept. 15,
1717; Jonathan, born March 19, 1719, died
June 11, 1776; Paul, born June 12, 1721,
died March 21, 1760; Stephen, born Nov. 29,
1726. George Brownell married (second)
April 18, 1745, Comfort Taylor, born March

12, 1703, and to them was born a daughter,
Mary, March 3, 1747.

(IV) Stephen Brownell, son of George and
Mary (Thurston) Brownell, born Nov. 29,
1726, married Jan. 5, 1747, Edith Wilbor,
born April 22, 1727. He married (second)
Feb. 14, 1771, Mary Eldridge. His children
by the first marriage were: Phebe, born Sept.
4, 1747; William, born July 17, 1749, died in
1810; Abigail, born March 15, 1751; Edith,
born Nov. 2, 1752; Mary, born July 5, 1754;
George, born Oct. 29, 1756; and Stephen, born
March 18, 1762, died March 12, 1855.

(V) George Brownell, son of Stephen and
Edith (Wilbor), born Oct. 29, 1756, married
March 26, 1780, Elizabeth Peckham. They
had children: Rlioda, born Jan. 6, 1781;
Daniel, March 14, 1782 (father of George
Brownell, of New Bedford) ; Rachel, Nov. 22,
1784; Mary, July 29, 1786; Drusilla, Oct. 22,
1788; Ezra, Dec. 24, 1791; Nancy, Aug. 31,
1793; Sarah, Jan. 22, 1795; Peleg, March 13,
1798; Cook, Oct. 4, 1800; and Elizabeth, July
19, 1803.

(VI) Peleg Brownell, son of George and
Elizabeth (Peckliam) Brownell, born March

13, 1798, married in 1819 Lydia Randall
Church, daughter of Caleb and Hannah
Church. They had children: Laura A., born
April 7, 1821; Rachel, Jan. 9, 1823; Maria,
May 26, 1825; Horatio Lorenzo, June 6, 1830,
died in August, 1908; Esther Wilbur, April
17, 1832; and Alvin Church, Sept. 28, 1835.

(VII) Alvin Church Brownell, son of
Peleg and Lydia Randall (Church) Brownell,
was born ,in Little Compton, R. I., Sept. 28,
1835. He was educated in the public schools
of Little Compton, his attendance at school
about four months in winter alternating with
work upon his father's farm in summer. This
he continued until he was seventeen years of
age, when he went to Fall River, where he
spent two )'ears as clerk for J. B. Marvel.
From there, on June 8, 1854, he went to
Taunton, where he took a position with the
firm of J. B. Rounds, the predecessor of Mr.
N. H. Skinner. He remained in this position
until June, 1857. In August of that year,
wishing to advance his interests and position
in the business world, he formed a copartner-



SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS



1031



ship in the dry goods business with John
Henry Harris, imder the firm name of Harris
& Brownell. They located in the same store
where Mr. Brownell now is, which they occu-
pied for six or seven years, at which time,
on account of the ill health of Mr. Harris, the
firm dissolved business. Having a lease upon
the store which the firm had occupied, and
his father-in-law, Lemuel M. Leonard, being
a foundry man, Mr. Brownell had the store
stocked by him, and began business again over
forty-six (1909) years ago, and he is still con-
ducting the same in the same place. He has
been successful in his business. At the advanced
age of seventy-three years, he conducts his own
business alone and with as much energy and
close attention as many a younger man. He
is a Republican in politics, but has taken no
active part in pa^rty work, giving his entire
attention to his business. The church of the
family is the Unitarian.

Mr. Brownell married in April, 1857, Miss
Amelia E. Leonard, daughter of Lemuel M.
and Mary L. (Babbitt) Leonard, grand-
daughter of Charles Babbitt, and great-grand-
daughter of Nathaniel Babbitt. To this mar-
riage have been born children as follows :
Mary Abby; and Hattie, who married Chester
N. Leonard, of Taunton.

SAMUEL HUDSON COOK, who for a
number of years was one of the foremost in-
surance men and w-ell-kno«Ti citizens of New
Bedford, was a native of that city, born Feb. 5,
1842, son of Thomas Cook, and grandson of
Thomas Cook, who was a native of England
and was a seafaring man, making his home in
Newport, R. L He married a Miss Tompkins.

Thomas Cook (2), son of Thomas Cook, of
Newport, was born Feb. 5, 1801, in Newport,
E. I., in the public schools of which place he
acquired his education. He early found em-

filoyment in a store, intending, however, to
ollow the sea, as did his father; but on ac-
count of partial deafness lie was induced to
abandon this intention. He learned the tailor's
trade under the direction of a Mr. Swan of
his native place. In the early twenties of the
last century the young tailor went to New
Bedford on foot, seeking a wider field for
business in his line of work. At New Bedford
he entered the employ of the late William H.
Allen, and afterward was for a time clerk
for and then later partner of Col. Lysander
Washburn. On the death of the latter Mr.
Cook found a partnership with the late Loum
Snow, who, too, had been a clerk in the store
of Colonel Washburn, and for nearly forty



years the firm of Cook & Snow carried on
business as wholesale and retail dealers in dry
goods, and merchant tailors, and for many
years as owners and agents of whale ships. On
the withdrawal of Mr. Snow from the firm, in
the late fifties, Mr. Cook continued the busi-
ness first with Abner W. Snow, and his son
William Cook, and then with Abner W. Snow
alone. After perhaps half a dozen years this
firm was dissolved and Mr. Cook retired from
active business. For a year or so he occupied
himself in assisting a son engaged in the
manufacture and sale of paints, out soon gave
up all pretense of business, making his head-
quarters when downtown at the insurance
office of another son, Mr. Samuel H. Cook,
there meeting and greeting his old friends and
keeping up his interest in current events and
opinions by a daily perusal of the leading
newspapers. In the store at Newport, where
in his youth he first found employment, was a
circulating library. Access to this gav» him
a taste for reading, which no cares of business
disturbed and which was a solace in his old
age. In his long business career Mr. Cook
was industrious, prudent and successful, retir-
ing with all that he craved — a competence,
with a reputation for spotless integrity, thor-
oughly deserved, and of which no misfortune
could rob him. In all the relations of life, as
a citizen, neighbor and friend, he was public-
puirited, kind, generous and faithful. During
all the years of his residence in New Bedford
he was a member of the LTnitarian Society, and
one of its most active and efficient supporters.
Mr. Cook belonged to that old-fashioned class
of men, now so sadly thinned out in most
congregations, whose absence from church is
the rare exception.

Mr. Cook married Mary A., daughter of
Samuel G. and Phoebe Hudson, of Newport,
R. I. Mrs. Cook died March 27, 1879, aged
seventy-five years. Mr. Cook died Sept. 20,
1890, aged eighty-nine years, seven months,
fifteen days.

Samuel Hudson Cook, son of Thomas and
Mary A. (Hudson) Cook, was born Feb. 5,
1842, in New Bedford, Mass. He was edu-
cated in the Friends' Academy. He then en-
tered the employ of the Mutual Marine Insur-
ance Company, an organization at that time
doing a large business, and continued with this
company until the decline of the whaling in-
dustry, when it went out of existence. Mr.
•"'ook then established a majine and fire insur-
ance agency which he continued with marked
success the remainder of his active life. For
vears he was the only agent in the marine line



1032



SOUTHEASTEEN MASSACHUSETTS



of insurance in New Bedford. He represented
also the largest fire insurance companies of
this country and England. Being capable,
energetic and industrious, he built up one of
the largest insurance businesses in this section
of the State, and at the time of his retirement
was the most successful insurance man in the
city. His successors in business are Paul,
Dixon & Cook. In February, 1908, Mr. Cook
retired from active business because of poor
health.

Mr. Cook, though a lifelong resident of New
Bedford and a most capable man, never was
active or prominent in politics, being content
to give his whole energy to his business, which
as stated he made a prosperous one. He was
well and favorably known throughout New
Bedford, respected by all who knew him, and
had a reputation for honesty and straightfor-
wardness in all matters. His death occurred
March 19, 1910, and he was buried in the
Rural cemetery. He was a member of Wam-
sutta Club, and an attendant of the Unitarian
Church.

On April 19, 1865, Mr. Cook married in
Boston Sarah Perry Smith, born in Boston,
daughter of Harrison and Sarah M. (Perry)
Smith. One child was born to them, Caroline
Perry, who with her mother resides on Madi-
son street.

TEIBOU. The Tribou family first ap-
peared in Bridgewater in the early half of
the eighteenth century, and its members in
each succeeding generation have been known
as industrious, honest and patriotic citizens.
In the present day Charles E. Tribou, who
led that memorable charge in the battle of the
Crater, before Petersburg, in July, 1864, and
who though now well past fourscore years is
actively interested in the welfare of liis native
city ; and his nephew, John Adams Tribou,
long connected with the W. L. Douglas shoe
factory, are worthy representatives.

(I) Thomas Tribou, a Frenchman, settled
in Bridgewater, Mass., as early as 1745. In
1746 he married Margery Pratt, daughter of
John Pratt, and their children were : Relief,
who died in infancy; Isaac, born in 1748;
William, born in 1753; Rhoda, born in 1754,
who married Daniel French ; Anna, born in
1757, who married Jacob Hill ; Amasa, born
in 1760; and Melzar, born in 1766, who settled
in Middleboro, Mass. Thomas Tribou, the
father, died Dec. 29, 1811.

(II) William Tribou, son of Thomas, was
born April 1, 1752, in West Bridgewater, and
there engaged in farming and died. He was a



soldier in the Revolutionary war. In 1784 he
married Amy Belcher, daughter of Jeremiah
Belcher, of Sharon, Mass. Jeremiah was. also-
a Revolutionary soldier, serving from Sha-
ron, Mass. The children of William and Amy.
Tribou were: (1) Peter, born in 1786, was
a farmer and died in West Bridgewater. In
1817 he married Martha Hall, of Plympton,.
and had a son, Martin, born in 1818. (2)
John, born in 1788, was a wood turner by
trade, and died in Hanover, Mass. In 1810'
he married Mary Tilden, of Hanover. (3)
Daniel, born in 1790, was a stone cutter and
died in East Bridgewater. He married Cor-
delia Ashley, of Freetown. (4) William, born
Feb. 4, 1793, married in 1816 Polly Ford,,
daughter of Asa Ford, and (second) Vesta
Dunbar. (5) Francis, born in 1795, was a.
farmer and died in West Bridgewater. In
1816 he married Sally Thayer, of Randolph^
Mass. (6) Charles, born in 1797, was a shoe-
maker, and died unmarried in Abington. (7)
Walter Spooner, born iu 1799, a tackmaker
by trade, died in East Bridgewater. He mar-
ried Huldah, daughter of Howland Holmes.
(8) Sally S., born in 1802, married Joseph
Packard, of North Bridgewater, where she-
died.

(Ill) William Tribou, son of William and
Amy (Belcher) Tribou, was born in West
Bridgewater Feb. 4, 1793, and died in North
Bridgewater Feb. 5, 1855. At the age of nine
years he went to live with Capt. Lloyd How-
ard, of West Bridgewater, and remained with
him until he was twenty-one years old. He-
became a farmer, and lived en his father's
farm in Campello until his death. In 181S
he married Polly Ford, daughter of Asa Ford,
of North Bridgewater, and the children of
this union were: (1) Samuel Ford, bom
Nov. 13, 1816, was a shoemaker and lived and
died in North Bridgewater. He married Abi-
gail Britton and (second) Lucretia Rounds.
(2) Asa, born Feb. 15, 1823, married Dec. 31^
1851, Dolly P. Adams, and is mentioned in
full below. (3) Sarah, born Feb. 15, 1823,.
twin to Asa, died Oct. 31, 1849, unmarried.
(4) Charles Edward, born May 15, 1825, is
mentioned below. The mother died Dec. 31,.

1831. Mr. Tribou married (second) Vesta,
daughter of Ebenezer Dunbar, in August,

1832. To this second union was born a daugh-
ter, Emma Frances, April 15, 1838, who mar-
ried Richard M. Fullerton, of Brockton, where-
they reside (see sketch in full elsewhere in
this work). In politics William Tribou was
a stanch Whig, and he was a Universalist
in religious belief. He was one of the strong





c^-^jyVcA CP J ^idyi^^^-^-'^-^



SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS



1033



men of the community, and had the well mer-
ited respect of all who knew him.

(IV) Charles Edward Tribou, son of
William and Polly (Ford) Tribou, was born
May 15, 1825, in North Bridgewater, and re-
ceived his education in the common schools,
which he attended until he was about fifteen
years old. He then began shoemaking, tak-
ing borne the work from the factories, as was
then the custom, and returning same ready
for the market. About 1861 he began to learn
the carpenter's trade with Jarvis Thayer, and
this work was interrupted by his enlistment
Sept. 15, 1862, in Company G, 45th Mass. V.
I. He participated in the skirmishes in North
Carolina, and was discharged at Eeadville
July 7, 1863. Reenlisting March 31, 186-i,
he was enrolled as sergeant of Company
I, 58th Mass. V. I., and took part in
the Wilderness campaign, and at Petersburg
led the spectacular charge of the battle of the
Crater. He was taken prisoner and was sent
to Danville, but on account of illness was pa-
roled. He was honorably discharged at Bos-
ton, July 5, 1865.

Upon taking up the pursuits of peace once
more he started in again at carpentering, and
as a contractor and builder worked until 1895,
meeting with marked success in his work. He
built the R. M. Fullerton shoe factory and a
number of the best residences in the town.
He was industrious and the investment of his
savings was always conservative, and he has
realized excellent returns from his real estate
holdings. He has an orange grove in southern
California, and there he has spent several
winters.

On Feb. 24, 1848, Mr. Tribou married
Elizabeth Ellms, daughter of Gushing 0. and
Susan (Litchfield) Ellms, of Scituate, Mass.
Two children were bofn of this union, namely :
Walter Edward, born Nov. 2, 1852, in North
Bridgewater, and now engaged in teaming in
Brockton, married Dec. 10, 1873, Anna E.
Reed, daughter of Timothy Reed, of Whitman,
Mass. Charles Otis, -born March 19, 1854, a
shoemaker by trade, but now engaged in orange
growing in California, married Charlotte E.
Howland, daughter of Frederick Rowland, of
Plymouth. Mr. and Mrs. Tribou celebrated
the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage in
1908, giving an oyster supper to members of
the G. A. R., the W. R. C, and other friends
in G. A. R. hall in honor of the occasion.

Mr. Tribou is an active member of Fletcher
Webster Post, No. 13,, G. A. R., Joining the
same in 1869, and in 1907 serving as its com-
mander. He is a Spiritualist in religious be-



lief. In politics he was formerly a Free-soiler
and a strong Abolitionist, but is now a stanch
Republican. In his earlier years he served on
the school committee and was its clerk, and he
also gave efficient service as road surveyor.
Throughout his long life he has stood for
good government, and in whatever place he
has been called to fill he has been faithful
to his trust. Now in the evening of his well
spent life he is enjoying the respect and esteem
he so richly deserves.



(IV) Asa Tribou, son of William and Polly
(Ford), was born Feb. 15, 1823, in North
Bridgewater, and died in Brockton Sept. 9,
1880. His education was all acquired in the
common schools, and he early became identified
with shoemaking, taking the stock home from
the factories, and on completing the shoes
returning same ready for the market. He
also engaged in farming, and made his home
at Campello, on a part of the old homestead.
He was industrious, and was possessed of
great strength, being six feet, two inches tall,
and weighing 250 pounds, and he was strong
in proportion. In the early days of the party
he was a Republican, but later became a Demo-
crat. He had no ambition for office holding
and was always devoted to his home.

On Dec. 31, 1851, Mr. Tribou married Dolly
P. Adams, daughter of Moses Adams, of New
London, N. H. She died Dec. 6, 1894. Their
children were : George Packard, who died in
infancy; John Adams, born Sept. 30, 1861
(twin to George Packard) ; Georgiana Maria,
who died young; Mary Lizzie, wlio died young.

(V) John Adams Tribou, son of Asa and
Dolly P. (Adams), was born Sept. 30, 1861,
and was educated in the Campello schools.
Leaving, school at the age of seventeen he en-
tered a shoe shop to learn cutting. This was
in the Moses A. Packard shoe factory, and
there the young man remained seven years,
receiving the best of instruction. He, how-
ever, at the end of this time thought he would
like a change, and accordingly engaged in the
butchering business for a year. He then re-
turned to shoemaking and for three years was
with the late Albert Barrows. At the end of
that time he was thrown out of work by the
burning of the factory, and found work later
as a cutter with W. L. Douglas, remaining
seven years. For a few months he worked
for Packard & Field, and for three years with
R. B. Grover. Ill health compelled him to
be idle for about three years, and at the expira-
tion of that time he again went to the W. L.
Douglas factory, where he has since remained.



1034



SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS



Mr. Tribou has been much interested in
Masonry. He belongs to Paul Severe Lodge,
A. F. & A. M.; Satucket Chapter, R. A. M.;
and Bay State Cominandery, K. T., of Brock-
ton. In politics he is an independent voter,
not being bound by j'arty, particularly on local
issues. He and his wife belong to the Uni-
versalist Church.

Mr. Tribou was married Sept. 30, 1884, to
Carrie S. Ransom, of Plympton, Mass., daugh-
ter of John and Susan (Washburn) Ransom.
By this union there has been one child, George
Parley, born Oct. 25, 1885, who died at the
age of seven years, thi-ee months.

GEORGE R. SAMPSON, a successful brick
manufacturer of Middleboro, and one of the
trustees of the Thomas S. Peirce estate, was
born in that town Oct. 2, 1852, a member of
one of Plymouth county's old and respected
families.

(I) Henry and Abraham* Sampson, sup-
posed to have been brothers, were among the
early immigrants to New England, Henry,
a member of the family of his kinsman (a
cousin, says Pope), Edward Tilley, being a
passenger of the "Mayflower," 1620; while
Abraham came later, as early as 1638, and was
one of the list of persons in Duxbury, 1643,
able to bear arms. He was one of the fifty-
four original grantees of Bridgewater, 1645,
all of whom were residents of Du.xbury, the
latter town including the territory that be-
came Bridgewater in 1656. Mr. Sampson and
most of the grantees never removed there. Mr.
Sampson was surveyor of highways, 1648;
constable, 1653. He was admitted a freeman
of Plymouth colony in 1654. He was living in
1686, after which there is no record of him.
He married a daughter of Lieut. Samuel Nash,
of the Duxbury company, the latter being an
officer in nearly all the military expeditions
of the Colony and sheriff or chief marshal of
the Colony for more than twenty years from
1652. Winsor gives him a second wife, not
naming her, however. Of his children only the
names of the following four are seemingly
preserved: Samuel, George, Abraham and
Isaac, the two latter marrying sisters, Sarah
or Loah and Lydia Standish, respectively.

(II) Samuel Sampson, son of Abraham,
born about 1646, in Duxbury, married Esther.
Mr. Sampson lived in Duxbury; was killed in
King Philip's war. His widow remarried,
marrying in 1678 John Soule, of Duxbury,
son of George Soule, who came over in the
"Mayflower," 1620. She died Sept. 12, 1733,
aged ninety-five years. The children of Samuel



and Esther Sampson were : Samuel, born in
1670; and Ichabod.

(Ill) Samuel Sampson (2), son of Samuel,
born in 1670, married Mercy, daughter of
Obadiah Eddy, of Middleboro, and grand-
daughter of Samuel Eddy, who came from
England in 1630, settling in Plymouth and
afterward in Middleboro. Mr. Sampson lived
in the town of Middleboro; was a member of
the First Church in that town; and was one
of the fifty proprietors or purchasers in March,
1717, of the First Parish burying ground. He
died in September, 1744, aged seventy-four
years. His children were : Obadiah ; Gershom,
married to Bethiah Clark; Ichabod, married
to Mercy Savory ; Esther, married to Abraham
Borden, of Middleboro (his second wife) ; and
Mary, married to Issachar Fuller.

(IV) Obadiah Sampson, son of Samuel (2)
and Mercy (Eddy), of Middleboro, Mass.,
married in 1731 Mary Soule, born m 1709, a
direct descendant of George Soule, one of the
"Mayflower" Pilgrims. Mr. Sampson first set-
tled in Marshfield ; was admitted to the church
there May 30, 1730. He removed not long
after to his native town, and was received in
the first church there July 20, 1731. He died
early in 1766. His children were: Ruth;
Israel, born in 1734, who died in that same
year; Samuel, born in 1735, who died Aug.
31, 1757; Mary and Martha (twins), born in
1737, who died in 1738; Obadiah, born in
1739; John, born in 1741; Ezekiel, born in
1744, a soldier in the Revolution; and Esther,
born in 1749.

(V) John Sampson, son of Obadiah, of
Middleboro, born in 1741, married Elizabeth
Cobb, of Plymouth (intentions published
April 2, 1763). Mr. Sampson was a soldier
during the war of the Revolution, serving as
a private in Capt. Nathaniel Allen's company,
Col. Theophilus Cotton's regiment, for thirty-
one days, in an expedition to Rhode Island,
September and October, 1777. His children