Augustus Bradford Endicott

Augustus Bradford Endicott
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1872–1872
In office 1874–1874
Sheriff of Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Member of the Dedham, Massachusetts Board of Selectman
Overseer of the Poor Dedham, Massachusetts
Personal details
Born	September 10, 1818 Canton, Massachusetts
Died	November 21, 1910 Dedham, Massachusetts
Spouse(s)	Sarah Fairbanks

Augustus Bradford Endicott (September 10, 1818 – November 21, 1910) was a Massachusetts state legislator and sheriff of Norfolk County.^[1]

Endicott, the son of Elijah Endicott and Cynthia (Childs) Endicott, was born September 10, 1818 in Canton, Massachusetts. He was a direct descendant of Gilbert Endicott, who arrived in Massachusetts from England in 1658. Following an apprenticeship as a carpenter, Endicott moved to Chelsea, Massachusetts at age 21 where he was employed for ten years as a pattern maker in a foundry.

In 1853, Endicott moved to Dedham, Massachusetts, and was appointed deputy sheriff of Norfolk County for Dedham the same year. He served in that position until 1885. In 1885, he was elected sheriff of Norfolk County, a position in which he served for ten years. Endicott represented Dedham in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1872 and 1874.

Endicott was active in Dedham civic affairs, and served as a member of the town's Board of Selectmen for twenty years. Endicott also served as overseer of the poor, and was on the Board of Health for twenty-one years. Endicott served as president of both the Dedham National Bank and the Dedham Institution for Savings, until there was a law passed by the Massachusetts state legislature that a person could not hold office in a savings bank and a national bank at the same time. Endicott also served as director of the Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1907 he was elected to as the clerk and treasurer of The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves.^[2] He was also on the committee that built Memorial Hall, Dedham's Town Hall and monument to the soldiers who died in the Civil War.^[3]

Endicott married Sarah Fairbanks (1821–1895), July 22, 1845. She was the daughter of William and Millie Fairbanks and was a direct descendant of Jonathan Fairbanks of Dedham. Endicott and his wife had three children who lived to adulthood. Their first daughter, Mary Augusta (1846–1902), married William H. Lord. Their second daughter, Elizabeth Blanche (1849–1936), married George Henry Young. The Youngs' son, Philip Endicott Young (1885–1955), was founder and president of the Acushnet Company. The Endicotts' only son who lived to adulthood, Henry Bradford (1853–1920), married Caroline Williams Russell. Henry Bradford was the founder of the Endicott Shoe Company and the builder of the Endicott Estate. He was also the father of Henry Wendell Endicott (1880–1954), whose family donated the Endicott House to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955.

Augustus Bradford Endicott died November 21, 1910, in Dedham.

References

• Cutter, William Richard, ed., Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume III (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1908), 1163-1164.

• Herndon, Richard, Men of Progress: One Thousand Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Leaders in Business and Professional life in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, (Boston: New England Magazine, 1896), page 383.

Footnotes