Those who built Chelsea – A, B

Franklin O. Barnes

Franklin Osgood Barnes was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on November
14, 1841. He was the son of Benjamin H. Barnes who moved here in
1839. Franklin was educated in the Chelsea public schools. He
enlisted in the service during the Civil War as a Private but was
soon promoted to Corporal in Company H, 43rd. Massachusetts
Volunteers. During his enlistment he was engaged in action in North
Caarolina. After the war he was employed for several years with the
Internal Revenue Service in Boston. In 1874 he was made clerk of the
police court of Chelsea and served in that capacity until 1879 when
the office was abolished. He was president of the common council in
1870-71 and in 1875-76. In 1878 he was elected a member of the school
board. In 1889 he was elected to the state legislature and re-elected
in 1890, 1895, 1896 and 1897. Mr. Barnes was active in many fraternal
and social organizations in the city.

John Bell

Born:

Died:

Dr. John Bell married Caroline Francis Pratt the daughter of Caleb
Pratt. They lived at 179 Harvard Street, Chelsea.

Richard Bellingham

Born: 1592

Died: Dec. 7, 1672

Benjamin Britnall

Born: 1716

Died: July 26, 1786

Benjamin Britnall was born in 1716 the son of John and Deborah
Britnall. He moved to Chelsea from Malden in 1748. He married
Elizabeth Waite of Lynn on March 7, 1741. She died on September 24,
1758 at age 48. They had 11 children, Benjamin, born October 8, 1743,
Elizabeth, born December 23, 1745, Esther, born July 21, 1747 and
died October 8, 1747, Ezra, born January 21, 1749, Abigail, born
October 15, 1750, Esther, born June 5, 1752, Phebe, born September
26, 1754, Jonathan, born September 1, 1756, Mary, born June 5, 1758,
Thomas, born January 3, 1760, William, born July 28, 1761 and Samuel,
born March 3, 1763. He held many town offiices including that of town
treasurer. In 1749 he was chosen deacon of the church. He was a
selectman in 1760. On September 1, 1761 the Town of Chelsea chose
Benjamin as town clerk. Occasionally he taught school at Winnisimmet
and was schoolmaster in 1740. During the Revolutionary War he was a
member of the Chelsea Company under the command of Captain Samuel
Sprague. He took part in the Battle of Chelsea Creek, firing 60 times
at the British barges near the salt works. On August 3, 1780 he
married Rebecca, daughter of Reverend Joseph Emerson of Malden and
widow of Jacob Parker. He moved to Malden where he died on July 26, 1786.

 Alfred W. Brown

Alfred W. Brown was born in Hingham, Massachusetts in 1857. His
parents moved to Boston when he was a young boy. He was educated in
the Boston public schools and graduated with honors from Boston
English High School class of 1874. He later moved to Chelsea. He was
active in politics as a Republican and for six years was secretary of
the city committee. In April of 1893 he became chairman of thr
Seventh Congressional District Republican Committee. He held elective
office in city government and was president of the common council
from 1890 to 1892. He was nominated for mayor in 1895 but declined.
He was a member of the board of park commissioners and secretary of
the Frost Hospital. In December of 1897 he was nominated by President
McKinley as assistant appraiser of merchandise for the Port of Boston
and Charlestown and his appointment was promptly confirmed by the
senate. He was also active in many social and fraternal organizations.

George H. Buck

George H. Buck was born in Bucksport, Maine on March 31, 1843. His
parents moved to Chelsea when he was 4 years old and he was educated
in the Chelsea public schools. In 1859 he attended Chauncy Hall
School in Boston. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted in Company
G, 40th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He served from 1862 to the
close of the war. In 1867 he engaged in the lumber business with his
brother, Theodore, as a member of the large concern of T. H. Buck and
Company. In 1891 he sold his interests and became proprietor of the
Eastern Storage wharehouse, one of the largest of its kind for the
storage of goods in Boston or vicinity. He served four years in city
government and was a member of both branches of the council. He was a
member of the board of park commisioners and in 1893-94 represented
the 26th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

In 1893 he was on the committee on liquor law and probate insolvency
and house chairman the following year. He was a member of the Chelsea
Board of Trade and director of some of Chelsea’s banks. He resided on
Chestnut Street and was regarded as a zealous worker in furthering
the many interests of Chelsea.

Rev. R. Perry Bush

Reverand R. Perry Bush was born in Provincetown, Massachusetts on
June 2, 1855. He was the son of Mr. & Mrs. Richard P. Bush, a
seafaring family. His father was a sailor on many warships and
merchant ships. During his early years he worked as a clerk in the
Arnold Small Grocery Store at 52-56 Winnisimmet St. He entered Tufts
University in 1875 and studied nights while working. He graduated in
1879 with a Doctor of Divinity degree. He was ordained on July 30,
1879 in the old Universalist Church at Fourth and Chestnut Streets.
His first pastorate was at the First Universalist Church in Everett
where he served as pastor for thirteen years. He was called to the
Universalist Church in Chelsea on March 1, 1892 where he remained for
the next thirty years. The church burned in the 1908 fire and the
land was sold. After the fire, services were held at the chapel on
Reynolds Avenue.

 He then purchased the estate of former mayor Samuel P. Tenney
at the corner of Cary and Clark Avenue. The house was moved from the
corner and fitted as a rectory. Two years after the fire a new church
was built and dedicated. He received numerous and generous
contributions to finish the new church and to pay bills. He was
always in demand for weddings, funerals and eulogies for important
persons. He was elected to the school committee and served for twenty
six years. On November 23, 1881 he married Emma Linwood Paine of
Provincetown. They had three children, Edith L. Bush, dean at Jackson
College for Women at Tufts University. Mrs. Reba Lawrence, wife of R.
R. Lawrence professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and Professor Vannevar Bush, head of electrical engineering at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Reverand R. Perry Bush retired
in 1922 and died on April 2. 1926.

Simeon Butterfield, Sr.

Simeon Butterfield Senior was born in Cornish, New Hampshire on
January 24, 1798. In 1830 he moved to Boston and engaged in business
on Long Wharf. On June 1, 1834, he purchased a residence in Chelsea,
then called Winnisimmet Village, a small hamlet of about ten
families. He was one of the first to join with others who desired to
form societies for the improvement and attraction of the growing
village. When the Garden Cemetary was organized, he was its president
for a number of years. In 1842, when the anti-slavery feeling began
to develop, a caucus was called to form the “Liberty Party.”
Simeon Butterfield was nominated as a candidate for representative.
He received fourteen votes and from this small beginning arose the
party that controlled the town and helped elect Abraham Lincoln
president. He was active in all town affairs and interested in all
movements for its benefit and welfare. He died in 1850

Simeon Butterfield, Jr.

Simeon Butterfield Junior was born in Boston in 1828. In 1834 his
parents moved to Chelsea. He received his education in the Boston
public schools and afterwards graduated from the Chauncy-Hall school.
He then attended the academy at New Hampton, N. H. He worked in his
fathers store on Long Wharf. When his father died in 1850, he took
over the business and ran it for the next twelve years. In 1869 and
1870 he served on the common council. In 1871-1872 he served on the
board of aldermman. He also served as a member of the state
legislature in 1884, 1885 and 1886. In 1861-62 he was a member of the
Republican State Central Committee, and in 1866 he presided at a
memorable Republican rally held at the Academy of Music. He also
served on the ward and city committees as chairman and for many years
was chairman of the Fifth Congressional District Committee. Mr.
Butterfield when in public life did much for the benefit of Chelsea
and its institutions, as well as looking closely after the interest
of his constituents.