for a time was acting captain of his company.
Fraternally Mr. Flagg is a member of the
Masonic organization. In political faith he
is a stanch supporter of Republican principles,
and has been an active worker in the interests
of the party. He has served as a member of
the lower house of the Legislature of the State
of Vermont, and in 1909 and 1910 was a
member of the State Senate, in both bodies
giving faithful service to his constituents. On
May 16, 1865, Mr. Flagg was united in mar-
riage to Adelia A. Howard, daughter of Whit-
man and Elmira (Smith) Howard, of Ran-
dolph, Vt., and to this union were born two
sons, namely : Lester Geary, born Jan 27,
1867, who is mentioned below; and Burt C,
born Feb. 26, 1878, who died Jan. 17, 1896.
The mother of these children passed away
Jan. 15, 1910.
(VIII) Lester Geary Flagg, the eldest
son of George W. and Adelia A. (Howard)
Flagg, was born Jan. 27, 1867, in Braintree,
Vt., and acquired his early educational train-
ing in the common schools of his native town
and at Randolph, Vt., later attending the Ran-
dolph high school. At the age of seventeen
years he was engaged in teaching school at
Brookfield, Vt., being thus occupied for two
terms. Leaving school when about nineteen
years of age, he remained on the home farm
until he had reached his majority. The fol-
lowing year he came to Brockton, Mass., where
he became employed by his uncle, Wallace C.
Flagg, who was then engaged in the coal and
ice business, and continued in his employ for
a period of about fourteen years, during a part
of that time being foreman of the yards. He
then accepted the position of superintendent
of the Brockton Ice and Coal Company, in
which capacity he remained for about two
years. Mr. Flagg then engaged in the coal
business on his own account, and the follow-
ing year purchased the ice business then con-
ducted by Oscar D. Thomas, which business has
since been conducted under the name of the
Flagg Ice, Coal and Coke Company. In con-
nection with his coal, ice and charcoal busi-
ness Mr. Flagg is also engaged in general
teaming, and under his able management and
untiring energy this business has been a suc-
cess from the start and has grown rapidly, un-
til now he requires the use of about thirty
teams in its conduct. His office and coaL
yards, the latter having been equipped with
modern coal and coke chutes, which are con-
nected with a spur railroad track, are located
at No. 444 Main street.
Fraternally Mr. Flagg is a member of Paul
Revere Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Brockton.
Socially he is a member of the Commercial
Club and the Board of Trade, of Brockton.
In political faith he is a firm supporter of the-
principles of the Republican party. He and
his wife attend the Universalist Church, to-
which they give their support.
On Nov. 10, 1891, Mr. Flagg married Min-
nie Florence Flint, daughter of the late Rufus
N. and Mary A. (Thayer) Flint, of Brain-
tree, Vt. Mrs. Flagg passed away in Brock-
ton Sept. 2.3, 1903, without issue, and Mr.
Flaea: married (second) Jan. 15, 1905, Edith
E. Kidder, of Brockton, daughter of Charles
and Zeruah A. (Cogswell) Kidder, of Bridge-
water, Maine. This union has been blessed
with one daughter, Louise Howard, bom Nov.
19, 1908, in Brockton.
Mrs. George W. Flagg, mother of Lester G.
FlasET, was also a descendant of historic old
New England ancestry, being in the seventh
generation from John Howard, one of the first
settlers of and original proprietors of the an-
cient town of Bridgewater, this Common-
wealth, the ancestral branch of her family be-
ing given 'herewith in chronological order,
from the first American ancestor.
(I) John Howard, with his brother .James,
came from England and settled in Duxbury.
James removed to Bermuda. John removed to
the West parish of Bridgewater, and became
one of the first settlers of the town, in 1651, of
which he was also one of the original fifty-
four proprietors. He was a man of great in-
fluence in the new plantation, and one of the
first military officers of Bridgewater. His
children were : John, James, Jonathan, Eliza-
beth, Sarah, Bethiah and Ephraim.
(II) Jonathan Howard, son of John, mar-
ried in 1689 Susanna Keith, daughter of Rev.
James Keith. She died without issue, prob-
ably the same year, and he married (second)
in 1692 Sarah Dean, by whom he ha(J chil-
dren as follows: Jonathan, Joshua, Susanna,
Ebenezer, Seth, Abiel, Sarah, Henry and Keziah.
(III) Abiel Howard, son of Jonathan, was
SOUTHEASTEEN MASSACHUSETTS
765
torn Nov. 6, 1704, and married April 26,
1737, Silence, daughter of Nehemiah Wash-
burn, of Bridgewater. He graduated from
Harvard University in 1729, and is said to
have been the first to graduate from that uni-
versity from Plymouth county. He was a
physician. He died in West Bridgewater Jan.
10, 1777. Their children were: Silence, who
married Dr. Philip Bryant; Nehemiaii; Jane,
who married Ebenezer Ames ; John ; Daniel ;
Charity, who died unmarried; Anna, who mar-
ried Jacob Foster, and removed to Maine; and
â– Joshua.
(IV) Nehemiah Howard, son of Dr. Abiel,
was born April 13, 1740, and married Feb.
27, 1770, Hannah, daughter of Deacon James
and Hannah (Hay ward) Dean, of Easton,
Mass., where he died Sept. 30, 1825. Their
children were : Abiel ; Dean ; Asa ; Hannah,
who married Eliphalet Mitchell, of Easton;
Jeptha, and Nathaniel.
(V) Jeptlia Howard, son of Nehemiah, was
born April 22, 1780, and married Dec. 1,
1803, Betsey Knapp, daughter of Abijah
Knapp, of Taunton, Mass. He resided in
Easton, Mass., until 1817, when he removed
-to Braintree, Vt. He died Nov. 13, 1839.
They were the parents of ten children, namely :
Phebe, born in 1804, who died in infancy ;
Whitman, bom in 1807 ; Betsey Knapp, horn
in 1808. who married Zela Smith, of Middle-
sex, Vt. ; Jeptha, born in 1810; Lewis Strong,
Ijorn in 1812; Alnieda, born in 1814, who mar-
ried William W. Woodward, of Roxbury, Vt. ;
Cyrus, bom in 1816; Daniel, born in 1818;
Samuel, born in 1821 ; and Mary Gurney, born
in 1825, wlio died in 1832.
(VI) Whitman Howard, son of Jeptha, was
born Feb. 26, 1807, and married Nov. 29,
1832. Elmira Smith, daughter of Zeba and
Ruth (Thayer) Smith. She died July 11,
1854, and he married (second) Sept. 30, 1861,
Sophia Hatch, of Randolph, Vt. He resided
in Randolph, Vt., where he died Jan. 27, 1882.
His five children were born in Randolph, as
follows: Lucinda Elmira, born Oct. 17, 1833.
married Joseph Partridge, of Braintree. Vt. ;
Ruth Ann, born May 24, 1836, married Joel
A. W^hiting, of Braintree ; Adelia Augusta,
born March 1, 1840, married May 16, 1865,
George W. Flagg; Almeda 0., born Feb. 7,
1842, died the same day; and Frank Whitman,
bom Oct. 12, 1853, married Eva P. Martin,
of Randolph, Vt., and they reside in Brockton,
Massachusetts.
SIMMONS. The Brock-ton family of this
name is a branch of the Old Colony Simons
or Simmons family, the ancestor of which was
(I) Moses Simmons, formerly written
"Moyses Symonson," who came to Plymouth in
tlie "Fortune" in 1621, and is usually reck-
oned as one of the Pilgrims, being among the
early settlers of Plymouth, and to whom Wins-
low referred as "a child of one that was in
communion with the Dutch Church at Ley-
den," and as being "admitted also to baptism
as well as our own." Mr. Simmons received
land in the division in 1623, and also shared
in the division of cattle in 1627. He was in
Duxbury before 1637 and in 1638-39 received
a grant of forty acres of land in the town. He
became one of the original proprietors of
Bridgewater, but soon after sold his share. He
was one of the proprietors of Middleboro
in 1662.
Through the two sons of the settler — Moses
and Thomas Simmons — have descended the
numerous Simmonses of southeastern Massa-
chusetts. Of these sons, Moses was the ances-
tor of John Simmons, at present a prominent
business man of Brockton, whose line we are
tracing in this article. Thomas, the other son
of the settler, was a householder in the town
of Scituate before 1647, his house being on
the "Green field," between those of Samuel
Nash and John Turner, Jr. He had sons
Moses and Aaron.
From the town of Kingston, which was origi-
nally a part of Plymouth, came to North
Bridgewater (now Brockton) the head of the
family here in the person of the late Weston
Simmons. This was in about 1828, and here
the family have since resided and been among
the substantial men and women of the com-
munity, one of the sons of Weston — the John
Simmons mentioned above — being at the head
of one of the extensive manufacturing concerns
of the city, a man of substance and influence. '
(II) Moses Simmons (2), son of Moses,
lived in Duxbury, where he died in 1689. He
married Sarah, and their children, several of
whom married into the "Mayflower" families,
as will be seen, were: John (married Mercy
Pabodie), Aaron, Mary (married Joseph
Alden), Elizabeth (married as his second wife
Richard Dwelley), Sarah (married James
Nash, of Duxbury).
(III) Aaron Simmons, of Duxbury, son of
Moses (2), married, and.Winsor makes him
the father of children: John; Benjamin, who
married Sarah Sampson and (second) Pris-
cilla Delano; Joseph, bora in 1683, who mar-
ried Mary Weston ; Joshua, born in 1688,
who married Sarah Delano; and Rebecca, who
married Constant Southworth.
YGfi
SOUTHEASTEEN MASSACHUSETTS
(IV) John Simmons, of Duxbury, son of
Aaron, married Nov. 4, 1715, Susanna Tracy,
â– who died Sept. 12, 1756, aged eighty-two years.
Thledr cliildren were: John, bom Aug. 22,
1716; Ruth, bom April 26, 1719; Joel, born
Feb. 5, 1723; and Leah, born Sept. 7, 1728.
(V) John Simmons (2), son of John, born
Aug. 22, 1716, married Oct. 21, 1736, Hope-
still, daughter of Elisha Stetson, of Plymouth
as early as 1699, in which year the town was
divided into two military districts and Elisha
was in the southern district. After the town
of Kingston was set off he became a resident
of that town and lived and died there; all of
his children, Hopestill included, were baptized
March 19, 1721. The children of John and
Hopestill (Stetson) Simmons, all of Kingston
town record, were: Faith, born June 27, 1738;
Noah, born Jan. 15, 1739-40; Eunice, born
March 8, 1742-43; and John, bom Aug. 29,
1746.
(VI) Noah Simmons, son of John and Hope-
still, born Jan. 15, 1739-40, in Kingston,
Mass., married (intentions expressed Aug. 17,
1771) Diana Keene, of Duxbury, Mass., and
among their children was Hezekiali.
(VII) Hezekiah Simmons, son of Noah and
Diana (Keene), was bom Jan. 17, 1772, in
Kingston, Mass. He was master of a coasting
vessel which plied the waters between Kingston
and ports of the Southern States, and in 1816
his vessel encountered a severe storm and was
lost, neither the vessel nor any of the crew
ever being heard of. He married Lydia Wes-
ton, of Duxbury, who upon the loss of her
husband was left a widow with seven small
children, the oldest then but thirteen years
of age. She married (second) Capt. John
McLaughlin, of Kingston, where she died in
1850. To Capt. Hezekiah and Lydia (Weston)
Simmons were born children as follows: (1)
Charles, born in 1803, died in Kingston in
1863 ; he was a shoemaker by trade. He mar-
ried Almira Bisbee, of East Bridgewater. (2)
Lydia married Elijah Witherell and (second)
Nathaniel Waterman, of Kingston, where she
died. (3) Hezekiah, Jr., became one of the
early settlers of Monmouth county, 111., making
the trip to the Western country by team, and
became a prominent and influential citizen
there, where he died. He married Zoa Dailey,
of Easton, Mass. (4) Diana was an invalid,
and died in Kingston -at the age of forty-two
years, unmarried. (5) Maria, who became the
wife of George Croome, of Boston, died in
Arlington, Mass., in 1890, in the eighty-first
year of her age. (6) Weston is mentioned
below. (7) Levi, who died in the West, mar-
ried Sarah Shepardson and (second) Lucy
Shepardson, sisters.
(VIII) Weston Simmons, son of Capt. Heze-
kiah, was born July 15, 1811, in Kingston,
Mass. In early life he learned the trade of
blacksmith, and for a number of years followed
that occupation. His older brother, Hezekiah
Simmons, was engaged in the manufacture of
hay forks for several years prior to his removal
to Illinois, during which time he was associated
with him, and after the departure of his
brother he continued the business for some time
himself. In about 1828 Mr. Simmons came to
North Bridgewater, now Brockton, where for
a number of years he continued to follow his
trade in the employ of the late Tyler Cobb, the
late Silas V. Tuck, and others in the manufac-
ture of shoe tools. He was of an industrious
nature, and recognized as a fiTst-cJass me-
chanic. In April, 1855, he became warden of
the almshouse, and continued in that capacity
for a period of about ten years. In political
faith he was in early life an old-line Whig,
and after the formation of the Republican
party he continued a stanch supporter of the
principles of that party during the remainder
of his life. He was interested in educational
matters, and for several years served in the
capacity of hiring the teachers for Prudential
district No. 7, prior to the consolidation of the
various school districts. In early life he at-
tended the Church of the New Jerusalem, later
becoming a regular attendant of the First Con-
gregational Church. On Oct. 13, 1842, Mr.
Simmons was married to Esther Hayward,
daughter of Joseph and Esther (Ripley) Hay-
ward, of Easton, Mass., she being a direct de-
scendant in the fifth generation from Thomas
Hayward, who came from England, and settled
in Duxbury, Mass., previous to 1638, later be-
coming an original proprietor and one of the
first settlers of the old mother town of Bridge-
water. To Mr. and Mrs. Simmons were bom
children as follows: Weston Hayward, born
Aug. 21, 1843, died Sept. 3, 1843. George
Weston, born July 28, 1844, died in Brockton
in March, 1896. Esther Minerva, born Nov.
4, 1846, is the widow of Thomas A. Baxendale,
of Brockton, where she resides. John, bom
April 29, 1850, is mentioned below. Joseph
Lyman, bom March 29, 1859, died Sept. 18,
1859.
Weston Simmons, the father, died in Brock-
ton Jan. 20, 1883, aged seventy-one years, six
months, five days. He had been a resident and
identified with the growth of the town for
more than fifty years, and for more than thirty
years was identified with the industrial affairs
SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
^-67
of the town, with intervals during which he
followed farming. His service as warden of the
almshouse for a period of ten years, and his
kind treatment of the unfortunate poor, as
well as his economical and conscientious admin-
istration in that office, are recognized facts.
He built one of the first houses erected on
Pleasant street, where he resided until his
death. Mr. Simmons was not only a very kind-
hearted man and devoted to his family, but was
a considerate and friendly neighbor. He led
a good life, and although of a quiet and unas-
suming nature readily made friends, and was
universally, respected and esteemed by all who
knew him.
(IX) John Simmons, proprietor of the
Baxendale Box Toe Company, of Brockton,
Mass., one of the successfully conducted and
extensive manufacturing concerns of that city,
is a man of influence and honorable standing
in the community, and as a business man is
enterprising and progressive. Mr. Simmons is
a native of the city (which was at the time of
his birth the town of North Bridgewater), born
April 29, 1850, son of Weston and Esther
(Hayward) Simmons. He acquired his early
educational training in the common schools
of his native town and the high school, which
he attended for a time when the latter was first
opened to the public in 1864. After leaving
school he entered the employ of John L. Hollis,
wdth whom he was engaged at sole leather cut-
ting, and after remaining in his employ for
several years he accepted a similar position with
Frederick G. Jones & Co., shoe manufacturers,
with which firm he continued for about two
years. Mr. Simmons then entered the employ
of his brother-in-law, the late Thomas A. Baxen-
dale, manufacturer of box toes for men's boots
and shoes, and about one year later assumed
charge of the sales department of this exten-
sive business, in which capacity he served effi-
ciently until 1898, with the exception of about
one year when he was foreman in the shoe fac-
tory of Frederick G. Jones & Co., at Plymouth,
Mass., to which town their shoe factory had in
the meantime been removed. In the latter year,
1898, Mr. Simmons purchased the business of
Mr. Baxendale, since which time he has suc-
cessfully conducted it under the name of the
Baxendale Box Toe Company, of which he is
the sole proprietor. Mr. Simmons gives em-
ployment to from twenty-five to thirty hands
in the manufacture of his box toes, which have
an extensive reputation with the shoe trade for
quality and workmanship, and which are sold
in every country where shoes are manufactured.
In political faith Mr. Simmons is a stanch
supporter of the principles of the Republican
party, but being of a home-loving nature and
devotedly attached to his business interests he
has never aspired to public office. He and his
^nfe are active and devoted members of the
First Congregational Church, and are liberal
in their support of the same as well as of all
charitable and benevolent objects.
On Jan. 3, 1871, Mr. Simmons was united
in marriage to Ella Maria Thayer, daughter
of the late Eliphalet Loring Thayer, and his
wife, Nancy Fisher (Guild) Thayer, of North
Bridgewater, and this happy union has been
blessed with children as follows: Alice Ger-
trude is the wife of John Carroll, of Bridge-
water, who is a teacher by profession, now
engaged in the Longfellow school at Roslin-
dale, Boston, and they reside in Brockton;
they are the parents of two daughters, Dorothy
Simmons and Ruth Robbins. Estella died
when one year old. John Weston, born Nov.
14, 1877, was graduated from the Brockton
high school and from Bryant & Stratton's
business college, of Boston, and is now associated
in business with his father; he married Ruby
W. Alley, of Brockton, where she passed away
April 4, 1910.
Mr. Simmons and his family reside in a
handsome home which he erected in 1904 on
Simmons avenue, which thoroughfare he
opened up and improved, and which bears his
name. As a business man he is upright and
supremely honest, having it always in mind
to deal fairly with those who have commercial
relations with him, and as a citizen he has ever
held high ideals of the duties and responsi-
bilities which of necessity devolve upon a man
of worth in any community. In his native city
he enjoys the highest confidence, and is ever
ready to lend himself to any advancement of
its best interests or any project which has for
its object the betterment of its moral and so-
cial conditions. His home life and surround-
ings, to which he is much devoted, are ideal,
and he has the respect and esteem of the whole
community.
Mrs. Simmons is also descended from historic
old New England ancestry, numbered among
whom were also patriots of the Revolutionary
war. Her line is as follows:
(I) Richard Thayer, probably brother of
Thomas, who was born at Thombury, England,
and the former baptized there in April, 1601,
came, bringing eight children, in 1640, and
in 1641 settled in Braintree. He sold land to
his soil Richard in 1648. He removed to Bos-
ton. He had married at Thombury, April 5,
1624, Dorothy Mortimore. He married (sec-
768
SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
ond) Jane, widow of John Parker. His chil-
dren were : Ricliard, Cornelius, Deborah, Jael,
Sarah, Hannah, Zachariah, Nathaniel.
(II) Richard Thayer married 24th of 10th
month, 1651, Dorothy Pray, and settled in
Braintree. They died, he Dec. 4, 1705, and
she Dec. 11, 1705. Their children were:
Dorothy, born in 1653; Richard, bom in 1655;
Nathaniel, born; in 1658; A'bigail, born in
1661 ; Johanna, born in 1665 ; Sarali, born in
1667; and Cornelius, born in 1670.
(III) Nathaniel Thayer, born Jan. 1, 1658,
married May 27, 1679, Hannah Hayden and
settled in Braintree. He died March 28, 1729,
and his estate was settled by liis widow, Han-
nah. Their children were : Nathaniel, born
in 1680; Richard, bom in 1683; Hannah W.,
born in 1685; Zachariah, born in 1687; Ruth,
bom in 1689 ; Dorothy L., born in 1692 ; Lydia
H., baptized in 1715; and David, born in 1695.
(IV) Richard Thayer (3), bom in 1683,
married in 1708 Susanna, daughter of Samuel
White, and settled in Braintree, Mass. He died
Feb. 7, 1759. His wife died Feb. 1, 1760.
Mitchell says that Mr. Thayer removed to
West Bridgewater, Mass. The children of Rich-
ard and Susanna were : Susanna, bom in 1710
Jemima, bom in 1713; Enos, born in 1716
Aima, born in 1718; Seth, born in 1721
Micah, born in 1724; Abijah, born in 1726
Jeremiah, born in 1729; and Thankful, born
in 1731.
(V) Seth Thayer, son of Richard (3), born
Aug. 17, 1721, married May 19, 1743, Hannah
Pray, and settled in 1744" in North Bridge-
water. He died in 1798, aged seventy-seven
years. His children, according to Kingman,
were: Enos, born Sept. 27, 1744, married Re-
becca Curtis; Hannah, born May 16, 1748,
m.arried Daniel Cary; Susanna, born Dec. 15,
1749; Michael, bom June 24, 1753, died
young; Molly, born Feb. 18, 1756, married
Silas Hayward; and Seth, born Feb. 12, 1760.
(VI) Seth Thaver (2), son of Seth, bom
Feb. 12, 1760, married Molly Tliayer. Their
children were bom as follows: Enos, March
30, 1788; Hannah, July 11, 1789; Micah,
March 28, 1791; Seth, Aug. 8, 1793; Elipha-
let, Oct. 15, 1795; Zachariah, April 27, 1797;
Zeba, Feb. 15, 1799; Samuel, Dec. 1, 1800;
Charles, Oct. 19, 1802. The fatiier died May
18, 1806, aged forty-six years, the mother
Sept. 29, 1828, aged sixty-seven years.
(VII) Eliphalet Thayer, son of Seth (2),
was bom Oct. 15, 1795, in North Bridgewater,
where he died Aug. 27, 1862. The greater
part of his life was spent in farming in his
native town on a tract of land situated on
Pleasant street, where he removed in about
1819. He was also engaged in making shoes,
and for a time worked in the United States
AiTUory, at Springfield, Mass., where his broth-
ers Micah and Seth were also employed as
blacksmiths for a number of years. He owned,
a large tract of land which extended north and
south from Oak street to Belmont street, and
about forty rods wide. In early life he
attended the Unitarian Church, later becoming
identified with the Congregational Church.
He married Oct. 10, 1819, Lydia Stone, daugh-
ter of Solomon Stone, of North Easton, Mass.,
and she died in North Bridgewater July 6,
1862, the mother of the following children:
Charlotte, born March 10, 1821, married Isaac
Brett ; Eliphalet Loring, born July 2, 1824,
married Nancy F. Guild; John Davis, born
Oct. 24, 1833, married Bethiah Hayward, now
deceased, and he resides in Brockton ; Lydia-
ette, born Sept. 15, 1837, is the wife of Charles
W. Tilton, of Brockton; Rufus Harrison, born
June 29, 1840, died Dec. 31, 1844; and Julia
Frances, bora Oct. 11, 1843, is the wife of Mel-
vin F. James, of Brockton.
(VIII) Eliphalet Loring Thayer, son of
Eliphalet, was bom in North Bridgewater
(now Brockton) July 2, 1824, and in that town
his life was spent; he died there Aug. 10, 1876,
aged fifty-two years, one month, eight days.
Mr. Thayer was for a number of years en-
gaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes
in his native town, and was known in this and
neighboring town? as a man of honest and up-
right purposes, and although somewhat quiet
and retiring in disposition was, nevertheless,
strong and steadfast in his eon\'ictions and
principles. He was among the oldest of the
town's boot and shoe manufacturers, and for
many years had met with marked success in
his business enterprises, but during the panic
of 1873, through the failure of several of his
patrons, Mr. Thayer experienced financial re-
verses. An unusual degree of public sympathy
was manifested because of the business embar-
rassments with which the latter years of his life
were weiglited, and which doubtless contributed
more than anything else to bring about the
sickness wliich resulted in his death, when yet
in the prime of life.
In early life Mr. Thayer had affiliated with
the Whig party, and after the formation of the
Republican party continued loyal in his support
of the principles of that party. He twice rep-
resented his native town in the General Court