Samuel Foster Jaques of Newburyport Massachusetts

From R-L Samuel Foster Jaques (1865-1916) and J R McColl, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville from 1896-1902.  Ca. 1891-92 C.M. McClung Historical Collection, Knox County Public Library

Samuel Foster Jaques born in Newburyport, MA on November 29, 1865 son of Edmund Jaques (1826-1899) and Rachel Ann Foster (1826-1906).

Edmund Jaques (1826-1899) son of William Jaques (18-00-1832) and Elizabeth Savory (1801-1876) of Newbury, Massachusetts

 

Captain Richard Jaques (1771-1851) grandfather of Samuel Foster Jacques

Samuel married Abbie Parish Noyes (1861-1957) daughter of Joseph Hale Noyes (1825-1896) and Abbie Maria Young (1828-1871) Below from 'Obituary record of the graduates of Bowdoin College.."

 
Abbie was a teacher with the New West Education Commission and she is in the photo below taken in 1890 from the project of the Utah Women's History Association and cosponsored by the Utah State Historical Society (see Abbie Parish Noyes Papers -Utah State Historical Society and Newburyport Blog)

 

Samuel Foster Jaques

 According to an obit published in "Journal of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers," Mr. Jaques was educated in the public schools of Newburyport and then started to learn the engraver's trade. In 1886 he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he remained two years. From I887 to I891 he was with Wm. H. Whitney, of Boston, Mass., and from there went South to Tennessee and Georgia on engineering work. During 1892 he was engaged on preliminary sewer work in Brockton, Mass., and after a short engagement with Aspinwall & Lincoln, of Boston, in 1893, he returned to Brockton.
Jaques entered the engineering service of the United States Government at Portland Head, Maine and went from there to Dover, N. H. During I895 he was in the employ of F. Herbert Snow, then city engineer of Brockton, Mass. In 1896 Mr. Jaques was with George A. Kimball on sewer construction in Arlington, Mass., and with Percy M. Blake in 1897-98, at Hyde Park, Mass. From I898 to 1903 Mr. Jaques was in the city engineer's office at Worcester, Mass., and from there went to Dover, N. H., where he was engaged in private engineering practice until I905. He went to Lestershire, N. Y., to construct a sewer system for Morrison & Farrington, of Syracuse, N. Y., and entered the employ of the city of Binghamton, N. Y., as assistant city engineer in I905, which position he held until his untimely death. Mr. Jaques joined the Boston Society of Civil Engineers in I903. He was a member of the Binghamton Engineering Society; Binghamton Lodge No. 77, F. & A. M.; Binghamton Chapter No. 139, R. A. M., and Malta Commandery No. 21, Knights Templar. In his religious life he was a Congregationalist, and was a very active and faithful worker in the church. He was a man of quiet tastes, and was very devoted to his family and profession. Uniformly kind, courteous and considerate of others, he enjoyed a wide circle of friends.

• Jaques Family Genealogy Roger Jaques R. Jaques and P. Jacques, 1995 
• Noyes Genealogy http://noyesgenealogy.com/ 
•  The Sons and Daughters of the First Settlers of Newbury MA https://www.sonsanddaughtersofnewbury.org/

The Lost Customs Records of Colonial Massachusetts

Article by Sandra Webber See PDF View
https://ijms.nmdl.org/article/view/18924

The disappearance of the Colonial Customs records of Massachusetts has long been lamented by maritime and economic historians. Many people have tried to locate whatever records might have survived from the various Customs districts, primarily those of Boston and Salem. What little has been published on the topic is clouded in myth and conjecture, some of which sounds logical, yet searches have repeatedly ended in frustration. My own interest in the Customs service stems from years of research towards a biography of Boston Customs officer Benjamin Hallowell. A challenge from a maritime history friend brought me to the many questions surrounding the story of the missing Customs records. 1 Although definitive answers remain elusive, retracing and weaving together what is known about the early events and the subsequent searches, while presenting new evidence, reveals the probable fate of these records.

Although scattered Naval Office Returns, Admiralty Court records, newspapers, and shipping insurance papers survive in America and London, they are only fragments of the larger story of maritime Massachusetts. Boston and Salem were the busiest ports in the Province during the years just prior to the Revolution, and Boston had been the center of British Customs for New England since the late seventeenth century. After the arrival of the five-man American Board of Customs Commissioners in 1767, the town also became the supervisory center for all British North American Customs operations. It had been hoped that having a Board in the colonies would alleviate problems for both merchants and Customs officers, who previously had to channel their complaints through London. The Port Books kept by Custom House officers recorded shipping entrances and clearances, destination points, vessel name, rig type and tonnage, master, owners, and cargoes. Port records were also kept by Naval Officers, direct appointees of Colonial governments, including those residing at several ports in Massachusetts. The Customs information was tracked in order to charge the appropriate duties and bonds under the British Navigation Laws, and to collect the fees that supplemented the officers’ salaries. The Commissioners and their staff oversaw all North American Customs officers, and collated and summarized their records, including the collected revenues. As such, the early Custom House Port Books, as well as the Commissioners’ Records, would be an unparalleled resource… if they still existed and could be found.
The story of the disappearance of the Massachusetts Customs Records is traditionally associated with the Evacuation of Boston in March 1776, when the British Army and Navy suddenly withdrew from the harbor. Lord Germain’s order to evacuate had arrived in December 1775, too late to implement, so despite food and fuel shortages the British troops wintered in place. General William Howe had also delayed leaving Boston due to insufficient transports, so he began detaining incoming cargo vessels, knowing he would need to remove the besieged Loyalists along with his troops. Although the evacuation was being planned in February 1776, once the rebellious Americans took over Dorchester Heights on March 4, and bad weather intervened, negotiations followed to allow the British departure.2 During the chaos of the embarkation, which began in earnest on March 10, military supplies and many already packed personal belongings had to be left behind to afford space for 12,000 British troops and over 1100 fleeing civilians, including many Customs employees and their families.3 Transports had to be quickly loaded with passengers and moved away from the wharves, to gather in the lower harbor among the British Navy escort ships. The first clue in the story comes from an original 1776 Loyalist witness, writing thirty-five years after the fact.4 Speculation on the whereabouts of the Customs records depended to some extent on the presumed veracity of this correspondence.
In 1811, George W. Murray of New York contacted Edward Winslow in New Brunswick, seeking information about two volumes missing from the Suffolk County Register of Deeds. Rumor alleged that two books marked “Suffolk”, found by the family of Samuel Fitch,5 had supposedly been given to someone to return to Boston. One assumes Murray had a direct real estate interest in locating these volumes. In his response, Winslow stated that in 1776 he was Register of Probate for Suffolk County, as well as Boston’s Acting Collector of Customs.6 During the Evacuation British troops were looting supplies under command, but were also damaging and stealing property as they departed, despite a death penalty warning from General Howe. Witnessing the mayhem, Winslow stated that he feared for the safety of the Government records. The previous night the Custom House had been occupied as a military guard room, so he considered the Customs records to be especially vulnerable. The Boston Custom House at this time stood several doors down from the east end of the Town (Old State) House on King (State) Street, which ran in a direct line to Long Wharf, Boston’s principle deep-water dock. Having a party of men at his command7, Winslow stated that he “found means to pack up and place on board a transport, the Probate Records, the Registry of Deeds, and the Custom House books.”

Albert J Proulx and Diana Gill

Albert Joseph Proulx (1881-1953) was born in St Guillaume D'upton, Canada to Olivier Proulx (1855-1919) and Emelina Chapdelaine. 
He married Diana Gill (1885-1971) born in Canada to William "Willie" Henry Gill (1860-1895) and Malvina Bergeron (1863-1907)
Diana a direct descendant of Samuel Gill (1651-1709) and Sarah Worth (1654-1715) parents of Samuel Gill (1687-1723) who was abducted from his home in Salisbury, Massachusetts, in 1697. He was one of the captives who did NOT return. Samuel stayed with his native family and his oldest child, Joseph Louis Gill, became known as the White Chief of the Abenaki. see https://maplestarsandstripes.com/shownotes/mss-078-samuel-gill-english-captive-to-abenaki-chief/

Albert's father was a carriage-maker in Canada (St. Guillaumo d'Upton Quebec) and inspired his sons to learn the trade. Joseph attended school to learn the trade of a draftsman.

His father encouraged him to relocate to Amesbury, Massachusetts  and make his way in the booming carriage industry.

Albert and his family lived at 39 Church Street and later moved to 11 Chester Street in Amesbury, Massachusetts. He started out at Atlantic Corp and later worked as an engineer draftsman for Biddle & Smart, Walker Body Company, and American Specialty Company. 

His sons played on the famous ice hockey team the Maples:  The History of the Amesbury Maples, America's Oldest Amateur Hockey Club

Photo of Albert and Diana

Photo of children, Alice (sister), Olivier (father), Albert age 17, and Joe Alpheche (far right) taken in 1900

Obit Page 3 of Newburyport Daily News published in Newburyport, Massachusetts on Tuesday, October 13th, 1953

Tambour Desk made by

 

A small tambour desk with a flat top with maple strung edges. The plain tambour shutters flank a cabinet door inlaid with a central diamond of curly maple in a rectangular frame with cut corners/ On the stiles of the upper section are two reeded pilasters with square capitals and bases. Around the desk flap is a string of maple, and the flap is covered on the inside with green baize. There are three drawers bordered with mapleand inlaid with rectangular panels with cut corners. They have oval brasse and inset brass keyholes. On the stiles are inlaid ovals with snail shells on a green ground set within shaped frames, and below are long panels of curly maple with cut corners. The square legs are tapered and inlaid with a panel and a long triangular drop with burned cross markings. There is a maple cuff with stained stripes. The interior of the cabinet has a drawer below a cabinet with a small scalloped edge drawer at the top, and on each side behind the tambours are three pigeonholes with three drawers above. The pigeonholes have shaped arched heads with a small ball piercing in the center. The interior wood is pine. https://collections.mfa.org/objects/44479
Provenance: 1929, gift of Dudley Leavitt Pickman (Accession Date April 4, 1929); October 25, 2012, deaccessioned by the MFA for sale through Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.