Bay State Monthly, Vol. II. No. 5, February, 1885 written by Various
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Various >> Bay State Monthly, Vol. II. No. 5, February, 1885
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9 [Illustration: W'm Gaston.]
THE
BAY STATE MONTHLY.
_A Massachusetts Magazine_.
VOL. II.
FEBRUARY, 1885.
No. 5.
* * * * *
WILLIAM GASTON.
By ARTHUR P. DODGE.
Victor Hugo has written: "The historian of morals and ideas has a
mission no less austere than that of the historian of events. The latter
has the surface of civilization, the struggles of the crowns, the births
of princes, the marriages of Kings, the battles, the assemblies, the
great public men, the revolutions in the sunlight, all exterior; the
other historian has the interior, the foundation, the people who work,
who suffer and who wait ... Have these historians of hearts and souls
lesser duties than the historian of exterior facts?"
There is much unwritten history of the Bay State: of the exterior, much
is recorded; of the interior, far less. Both are valuable to posterity.
It is believed that succeeding ages will hold of far greater value, and
the youth of our day be benefitted more by the study of the underlying
principles and causes of those events which are given a conspicuous
place in history, rather than by the mere record of the surface facts.
It is profitable to study the habits and methods of individuals who
stand out in bold relief in history. To derive the greatest interest and
value from such lives it is well to follow them from early childhood.
Indeed it is profitable to trace back the ancestry and lineage from
which the man has descended, to study the characteristics peculiar to
each generation, and to note the result of racial mixtures tending to
the typical and representative American of to-day.
Many prominent men received their first incentive to ambition and
industry and perseverence by reading--when their minds were immature,
but fresh and retentive--of the life and achievements of Benjamin
Franklin and such other grand models for the young.
No history of a country or state is complete without studies of the
lives of those men who have made and are making history.
William Gaston comes from an honored and distinguished ancestry on both
his paternal and maternal side as will be seen by the succeeding
genealogical notes.
He was born at Killingly, Connecticut, October 3, 1820.
GENEALOGY.
Jean Gaston was born in France, probably about the year 1600. There
are traditions about the particular family to which he belonged,
but only little is definitely known. He was a Huguenot, and is said
to have been banished from France on account of his religion. His
property was confiscated. His brothers and family, although
Catholics, sent money to him in Scotland for his support. He is
said to have been forty years of age and unmarried when he went to
Scotland. Between 1662 and 1668, during a season of persecution in
Scotland, his sons, John, William, and Alexander, went over into
the north of Ireland, whither many of their friends were fleeing
for safety and religious freedom. There is some uncertainty as to
which of these three brothers was the founder of this branch of the
family, but numerous facts point almost conclusively to John as
such founder. One generation was born in Ireland.
John Gaston had three sons born in Ireland: William, born about
1680; lived at Caranleigh Clough Water; John, born 1703-4, died in
America 1783; Alexander, born 1714, died in America.
The former lived all his days in Caranleigh Clough Water, Ireland,
where he died about 1770. John and Alexander came to New England
during or shortly prior to 1730. Tradition has it that they landed
at Marblehead. From this place they went soon, if not immediately,
to Connecticut. As their ancestors had done, so did they, seek
religious liberty in a foreign land. They were Separatists and
probably were drawn to Voluntown because a Church holding that
faith was there established. Alexander returned to Massachusetts a
few years later, residing in Richmond, where some of his
descendants now reside; but most of that branch of the family are
living in the western states.
John Gaston was made a freeman of Voluntown at the organization of
its town government in 1736-7. He was a prominent member of the
Separatists Church in that town, the meeting for the settlement of
Reverend Alexander Miller, their pastor, being held at his house.
He was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. His
three children were born in America: Margaret, born 1737, died
1810; Alexander, born 1739, was a commissioned officer in the
French and Indian War; John, born 1750, died 1805.
John Gaston married Ruth Miller, daughter of Reverend Alexander
Miller. Their children were Alexander, born in Voluntown, August 2,
1772; Margaret, born December 13, 1781. The latter died in early
childhood.
Alexander Gaston married Olive Dunlap, a daughter of Joshua Dunlap,
of Plainfield, Connecticut, who was born 1769, died in Killingly,
September 7, 1814. He married for his second wife in Killingly, in
April, 1816, Kezia Arnold, daughter of Aaron Arnold, born in
Burrillville, Rhode Island, November, 1779, died in Roxbury,
Massachusetts, January 30, 1856. His death occurred in Roxbury,
February 11, 1856. The children of first marriage: Esther, born
1804, died 1860; John, born 1806, died 1824. William Gaston, of
whom this sketch is written, was the sole issue of the second
marriage. He was born at Killingly October 3, 1820. With his
parents he moved to Roxbury in the summer of 1838. On December 27,
1830, was born at Boston, Louisa A. Beecher to whom Mr. Gaston was
married May 27, 1852. Mrs. Gaston is a daughter of Laban S. and
Frances A. (Lines) Beecher, both of whom were natives of New Haven,
Connecticut, and were direct descendants of the very first settlers
of Connecticut in 1638. The children of Governor and Mrs. Gaston
were: Sarah Howard, William Alexander, and Theodore Beecher. The
latter was born February 8, 1861; died July 16, 1869.
The death of Theodore was a severe blow to his family. He was a
beautiful and promising boy. This sad calamity seemed like the
withdrawal of sunlight from the household, causing his loving
parents the keenest anguish.
Of this branch of the family there are but very few relatives of
Governor Gaston. His son William is the only male representative of
his generation. It is, singularly enough, true that in his family
line of descent there have been three generations where each had
but one male representative, and two generations having but one
representative of either sex. Thus the Carolina Gastons are of the
nearest kindred to Governor Gaston's particular branch.
Kezia (Arnold) Gaston, the mother of Governor Gaston, was a
daughter of Aaron Arnold and Rhoda (Hunt) Arnold, and a lineal
descendant of Thomas Arnold, who, with his brother William, came to
New England in 1636. William Arnold went to Rhode Island with Roger
Williams, being one of the fifty-four proprietors of that
Plantation. His brother Thomas followed him there in 1654. The
latter was born in England in 1599, probably in Leamington, that
being the birth-place of his brother William. His second wife was
Phoebe Parkhurst, daughter of George Parkhurst of Watertown,
Massachusetts. The family record is carried back to 1100, being
undoubtedly accurate to about the year 1570, when the name Arnold
was first used as a surname; possibly accurate throughout.
The arms of the Family; Gules, a chevron ermine between three
Pheons, or; appear on the tombstone of Oliver Arnold, and of
William Arnold, the original settler. The same arms are on a tablet
in the Parish Church of Churcham in Gloucestershire, England,
placed there in memory of his ancestor John Arnold of Lanthony,
Monmouthshire, afterwards of Hingham, who acquired the manor of
Churcham in 1541.
TRADITIONS.
The most ancient written record of the family which the writer has
consulted was written by John Roseborough, late Clerk of the
Circuit Court, Chester District, South Carolina. He was the son of
Alexander Roseborough and Martha Gaston, whose father, William
Gaston of Caranleigh Clough Water, Ireland, was grandson of Jean
Gaston, the Huguenot ancestor of the family.
The statement is as follows, the words enclosed in parenthesis
being supplied by way of information.
"Jean Gaston emigrated from France to Scotland on account of his
religion, as a persecution then raged against the Protestants. He
had two sons who emigrated from Scotland to Ireland between 1662
and 1668 during a time of persecution in Scotland. There was a John
and a William, but which of them was the ancestor of our
grandfather is not known. William Gaston, my grandfather, lived at
Caranleigh Clough Water. He married Miss Lemmon and had four sons
and as many daughters: John Gaston (King's Justice) died on Fishing
Creek, near Cedar Shoal, Chester District, South Carolina; Rev.
Hugh Gaston, author of 'Concordance and Collections'; Dr. Alexander
Gaston, killed by the British at Newbern, South Carolina (father of
Judge William Gaston); Robert Gaston, and William Gaston."
One fact is established, that many of Jean Gaston's descendants had
settled in America before the Revolution and were actively engaged
in that contest for liberty.
Springing from such ancestry in which are joined the characteristics of
the French Huguenot, the Scotch Presbyterian, the Scotch-Irish patriot,
the follower of Roger Williams, the May Flower Pilgrim, one is not
surprised to find in William Gaston a strong man; a man who inherited as
a birthright the qualities of leadership.
His father was a well known merchant of Connecticut, of sterling
integrity, and of remarkably strong force of character. He was
commissioned a Captain at the early age of twenty-two, and was for many
years in the Legislature. The father of the latter was also in the
Connecticut Legislature for many years.
In early youth William gave promise of a superb manhood by displaying
those qualities which have since distinguished him. He was a studious
boy, eager for knowledge. He attended the Academy in Brooklyn,
Connecticut, and subsequently fitted for College at the Plainfield
Academy. At the age of fifteen he left his quiet village home for Brown
University, where his intellect was trained in a routine sanctioned by
the experience of centuries, and where contact with his fellows soon
roused his ambition and gave him confidence in his own ability to enter
the struggle with the world for place and honor. William, having a
married sister, who was many years his senior, residing in Providence,
his father decided to send him, then scarcely more than a lad, to Brown
University where he would be surrounded by family influences and enjoy
the social advantages offered by his sister's home. He maintained a high
rank, graduating with honors in 1840.
For his life work he decided upon the legal profession--a wise choice as
subsequent time has shown his peculiar fitness therefor. He first
entered the office of Judge Francis Hilliard of Roxbury, remaining for a
time and then continued his legal studies with the distinguished
lawyers and jurists Charles P. and Benjamin R. Curtis of Boston, with
whom he remained until his admission to the Bar in 1844.
At Roxbury in 1846 he opened his first law office, taking comparatively
soon a leading position at the Bar. He there continued his practice
until 1865 when he formed with the late Hon. Harvey Jewell and the since
associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Hon. Walbridge A.
Field, the famous and successful law firm, having offices at number 5
Tremont street, of Jewell, Gaston and Field. This firm continued until
the election of Mr. Gaston to the gubernatorial chair of Massachusetts
in 1874. He was the Democratic candidate the year previous for this
office, his competitor being Mr. Washburn, who was elected but did not
long retain the chair of State, being elected to the United States
Senate. At the convention nominating William B. Washburn for Governor
there were four other candidates for the honor: Alexander H. Rice,
George B. Loring, Harvey Jewell and Benjamin F. Butler. The latter
created no little unquiet by the zeal and strength of his support. The
upshot was that there was a harmonious combination of the forces of the
four contestants of Butler upon Mr. Washburn. It is remembered that some
of the party organs were upon nettles, fearing that General Butler would
bolt the nomination, but he came out squarely and declared that as he
had staked his issues with the convention he would abide the result.
In the canvass of 1874 Mr. Gaston was opposed by Hon. Thomas Talbot,
who, by reason of Governor Washburn's election to the Senate as stated,
was acting as Governor, having been elected Lieutenant Governor on the
ticket with Mr. Washburn. Governor Gaston's majority over Mr. Talbot was
7,033. In the following canvass of 1875, Mr. Gaston having been
re-nominated by the Democracy, his competitor was Hon. Alexander H.
Rice. By this time, that part of the country represented by the
strongly-intrenched Republican party, was fully aroused to the exigency
of the hour. The edict came from the political centre at Washington to
the effect that the Republican party could not stand another defeat in
Massachusetts, especially on the eve of a presidential campaign. The
national organization concentrated a wonderfully _efficient_ auxiliary
force in aid of the intense activity already exerted by the local
managers, who so well understood the popularity of Mr. Gaston and of the
strong hold he had upon the people. It seems now that the Democratic
managers accepted or anticipated failure as a foregone conclusion, and
no great fight was made; otherwise they would probably have won the
election, as Mr. Rice was elected by only the small plurality of 5,306
votes. This is very significant, taken in connection with the fact that
General Grant carried Massachusetts in 1872 by 74,212 majority.
In 1876, that memorable year--memorable as the year of the electoral
commission--Governor Gaston magnanimously declined the re-nomination,
which a large majority of the convention was undoubtedly eager to
confer. The nomination of Charles Francis Adams was to the rank and file
and to the party managers a disappointment, and the enthusiasm that he
was expected to arouse was not materialized.
The press of the State justly commended Mr. Gaston's conduct in not
forcing his own nomination, a course so completely in accord with his
character, and his entire devotion to the party welfare. He did not
display the least semblance of self-seeking.
He has seen not a little of public life, but with the exception of five
years, has succeeded in conducting his large and important professional
practice the entire period from his early beginning to this day. The
five years referred to were: two years, 1861 and 1862, while he was
Mayor of the city of Roxbury; the two years, 1871 and 1872, as Mayor of
Boston (this being after the annexation of Roxbury), and the year 1875
when Governor.
His mayoralty term of Roxbury antedated the years he was Mayor of Boston
by just ten years. While such Mayor of Roxbury in 1861-2 he was very
active in speechmaking and raising troops in preservation of the
American Union. He went to the front several times, and was
enthusiastically patriotic during the entire critical period.
He was five years City Solicitor of Roxbuxy. In 1853 and 1854 he was
elected to the Legislature as a Whig, and in 1856 was re-elected by a
fusion of Whigs and Democrats in opposition to the Know-Nothing
candidate. In 1868, although the district was strongly Republican, he
was elected as a Democrat to the State Senate.
In the fall of 1872 Mr. Gaston positively declined the further use of
his name in the Mayoralty election in Boston that year. He concluded to
be a candidate, however, upon the earnest solicitation of so many of the
best citizens, and of the press, and in consideration of the perfectly
unanimous action of the ward and city committee, in reporting in favor
of his re-nomination and speaking of him as a man pre-eminently
qualified for the duties which required "wisdom, discretion, firmness
and courage when needed, combined with the most exalted integrity and
unselfish devotion to the honor, welfare, and prosperity of the city."
In commenting on this subject the _Post_ in an editorial, November 26,
1872, said in commendation of the above words of the committee: "The
language employed is none too strong or emphatic. The history of Mayor
Gaston's two administrations is an eminently successful one, so far as
he is personally responsible for them, and there is not the least room
to question that if he were to be re-elected and supported by a board of
aldermen of similar character and purpose the city would at once find
the uttermost requirements of its government satisfied." In that
election in December, 1872, for the year 1873 his opponent, Hon. Henry
L. Pierce, was declared elected Mayor by only seventy-nine plurality.
This fact indicates Mr. Gaston's popularity, as General Grant had
carried Boston the year previous by about 5,500 majority. As her
Representative, her presiding officer, her head of affairs, Mayor Gaston
was a success; an honor to the great city which honored him.
In 1870 he was a candidate for Congress, but failed of an election, Hon.
Ginery Twitchell receiving a majority of the votes.
In 1875 Harvard College and also his Alma Mater, Brown University,
conferred upon him the degree of LL.D.
While he was Governor the somewhat notorious Jesse Pomeroy case was the
occasion of more or less criticism; the Governor himself receiving _pro_
and _con_ his full share thereof. He was in some instances charged with
a lack of firmness, but time has completely vindicated his course. Many
of those alleging at the time the Governor's want of "back-bone" have
lived long enough to fully realize that his firmness consisted in
adhering with an honest persistency to his convictions, indicating the
identical course he pursued in that as in all other matters of public
import.
Among those who know him best there exists the consciousness that Mr.
Gaston is not only an exceedingly cautious man, but consistently
conscientious. Bringing such lofty principles, together with a
discerning mind and sound judgement, into activity in the discharge of
his duty, his administration was, it was generally conceded, a wise one.
It should be borne in mind that he occupied a somewhat novel position,
there having been no Democratic Governor of the State for many years.
The scrutiny directed to him and his acts was intense. His success in
bringing his official relations as excessive to such a happy termination
is abundant proof of his being the man this paper endeavors to picture
him.
It was during his term of office that the lamented Henry Wilson died. At
the State House, in Doric Hall, in November, 1875, Governor Gaston, on
receiving the sacred remains in behalf of the Commonwealth, said in his
address to the committee: "Massachusetts receives from you her
illustrious dead. She will see to it that he whose dead body you bear to
us, but whose spirit has entered upon its higher service, shall receive
honors befitting the great office which in life he held, and I need not
assure you that her people, with hearts full of respect, of love, and of
veneration, will not only guard and protect the body, the coffin, and
the grave, but will also ever cherish his name and fame. Gentlemen, for
the pious service which you have so kindly and tenderly rendered, accept
the thanks of a grateful Commonwealth."
Among the appointments made by Governor Gaston were the following: that
of the late Hon. Otis P. Lord to be Associate Justice of the Supreme
Judicial Court; Honorable Waldo Colburn and Honorable William S. Gardner
to Associate Justiceships of the Superior Court.
The writer has preserved in his scrap books various selections from Mr.
Gaston's public utterances, so excellent and so numerous that it would
be difficult to single out any of them for insertion here, even would
space permit so doing.
It is incomparable, the duties he has performed, the labors he has
accomplished. His life is, and ever has been, a busy life. One marvels
to know how he accomplishes so much.
In the political world, in literature, in the legal profession,
monuments have arisen in testimony of his toil.
As a lawyer his successes have been such as have been vouchsafed to but
few. The word success is applied both where it ought to be applied and
where not deserved. Gaining great wealth, distinguished professional
standing, extensive political renown, pre-eminence in other avenues may
be, or may not be, in the highest sense, success. Most men of strong
points are sadly deficient in other and essential traits needed to
constitute a well-biased, grandly-rounded life. It is rare, indeed, that
a person is encountered possessing such well-proportioned,
evenly-balanced, distinguishing characteristics as it has been Mr.
Gaston's lot to enjoy.
His steady, onward march over the rough places and up the hill in his
learned profession abundantly attest his greatness. No being can occupy,
nor even approach, the very foremost rank in the legal arena save he be
great. Of all representatives of human experiences the lawyer, and more
particularly the advocate, has the least opportunity to occupy falsely a
position of real prominence. Advocacy is the most jealous of
mistresses. Undoubtedly it is true that nowhere else must there be ever
present and ever ready to respond at a moment's notice such a happy
combination of those qualities already noted.
It is not long ago that one of the most worthy of Boston's Judges
remarked to the writer: "You can count the really excellent advocates at
the Suffolk Bar upon the fingers of both hands." He began by naming the
subject of this sketch, following with the names of Honorable A.A.
Ranney, Honorable William G. Russell, Honorable Robert M. Morse, Jr.,
and others. The learned Judge must, it seems, have had in mind a very
high standard of advocacy, for there are not a few among the something
like two thousand Boston lawyers who have well earned, and justly, the
right to be called able and eloquent.
In his historical article entitled "The Bench and Bar," by Erastus
Worthington, and contained in the "History of Norfolk County,
Massachusetts," after writing of those eminent advocates, Ezra Wilkinson
and John J. Clarke, he refers to Governor Gaston and Judge Colburn in
the following words: "The successors to the leadership of the bar, after
the retirement of Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Clarke, were William Gaston of
Roxbury, and Waldo Colburn of Dedham. Mr. Gaston was not admitted to
practice in this county, but he studied law with Mr. Clarke, and
practiced in this county for many years, and considered himself a
Norfolk lawyer. He was an eloquent and successful advocate and had an
excellent practice. He had removed to Boston prior to the annexation of
Roxbury.
"Mr. Colburn practiced in Dedham until he was appointed an Associate
Justice of the Superior Court in 1875. He attained a high position in
his profession as a wise counsellor, an able trier of causes, and a
lawyer in whose hands the interests of his clients were always safe."
On his election to the Governorship Mr. Gaston absolutely relinquished
his practice and gave his undivided attention to the duties of his
office. He had been quite unable to devote his customary labor to the
benefit of his law partnership and the good of their clientage during
the two years that he was Mayor of Boston.
When he retired from the executive chair it is said that he had neither
a "case" nor a client.
He took offices in Sears Building and it was not long before he was
again enjoying a large and lucrative practice. In 1879 he took into
partnership C.L.B. Whitney, Esq.; and last year William A. Gaston, Esq.,
was admitted to the firm.
An imperishable chain binds Ex-Governor Gaston to the bright side of the
history of the Commonwealth. His life and its renown are one and
inseparable. Such is the inevitable result of a life that has ever been
linked to honorable endeavors and principles. So thoroughly identified
with, and endeared to, her best interests, it is difficult to believe
that Massachusetts can claim him by adoption only. In private life Mr.
Gaston is all that can be desired. He is quiet, and remarkably modest
and unassuming.
He enjoys the delightful home quietness away from his labors. But what
little time he has for such enjoyment! He seems to love work. How he has
performed so much of it is a wonder, although it is well known that he
inherits and enjoys remarkable powers of endurance. Among his favorite
authors are Scott and Burke. He is temperate, refined in his habits, has
the manners of a perfect gentleman, and deserves the blessed fruits of a
well directed life.
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