Nannie , the daughter of Benjamin and Abbie Bristow, was the mother of Dorothy Draper (Gannett) Hamlen and the grandmother of John and Bill Gannett. Photos are from Benjamin Helm Bristow - Border State Politician. Thanks to Bob Gannett for the book. |
Hopedale History March 1, 2016 No. 295 Benjamin Helm Bristow Hopedale in February Then and Now - Lowell's Dairy The Fire at Lowell's Farming Road Controversy, Mendon, 1755 - 1774 The Blackstone History Museum The Carousel at Lake Nipmuc Park During the past two weeks, additions to hope1842.com have been made to existing pages, including: The Iceout (Photos of Hopedale Pond, clear of ice at the lower end, on February 26.) Deaths <><><><><><><><><><> Twenty-five years ago - March 1991 - Iraqi forces suppress rebellions in the southern and northern parts of the country, creating a humanitarian disaster on the borders of Turkey and Iran. An amateur video captures the beating of motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. 540,000 American troops begin to leave the Persian Gulf. Exxon agrees to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. The Acid Rain Treaty of 1991 is signed between the American and Canadian governments. Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers relinquish all remaining rights. Fifty years ago - March 1966 - Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks sets the National Hockey League single season scoring record against the New York Rangers with his 51st goal. The Texas Western Miners defeat the Kentucky Wildcats with five African-American starters, ushering in desegregation in athletic recruiting. General Motors President James M. Roche appears before a Senate subcommittee, and apologizes to consumer advocate Ralph Nader for the company's intimidation and harassment campaign against him. Demonstrations are held across the United States against the Vietnam War.
<><><><><><><><><><> Benjamin Helm Bristow, Part 1 Since Eben Sumner Draper married Nannie Bristow (Nancy, but always called Nannie) in 1883, the name Bristow has been in Hopedale. Eben and Nannie named their first son, Benjamin Helm Bristow Draper. He was generally known as B.H. Bristow Draper, or familiarly, Bristow. He and his wife, Queena named their first son Benjamin Helm Bristow Draper, Jr. In 2016, the name is still here, as the middle name of Bill Gannett, grandson of Nannie and the governor. Considering the significance of the name Bristow, I thought it was time to look into the source of it. That would be Nannie's father, Benjamin Helm Bristow. In November I sent two ezines on some of the Kentucky relatives of the Drapers of Hopedale. The Bristows were from Kentucky also, but they were quite different from the Prestons, Wickliffe's and others of the earlier stories. While those Kentuckians were Confederates and among the largest slave owners in the state, Mr. Bristow remained loyal to the Union in a very active way. Here's a bit about him from the Memorial of Benjamin Helm Bristow. Benjamin Helm Bristow was born at Elkton, Kentucky on June 20, 1842. He was graduated from Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1851. After studying law in his father's office, Mr. Bristow was admitted to the bar in 1853, and for a time practiced at Elkton in partnership with his father. Upon November 21, 1854, at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, he was married to Abbie Slaughter Briscoe. Their two children are now Nannie Bristow Draper, wife of Eben S. Draper, of Hopedale, Massachusetts, and William B. Bristow, of New York. In 1858, Mr. Bristow removed to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and formed a partnership with Judge R.T. Petrie, and afterward with Mr. John Feland, which continued until he entered the volunteer service. At the outbreak of the Rebellion, as Kentucky was a slave state, the sympathies of many of its citizens were with the seceding states. Mr. Bristow, however, animated by the anti-slavery principles learned from his father, and by the spirit of patriotism which was always characteristic, an once gave himself up to the work of preserving the Union. He aided largely in recruiting the Twenty-fifth Kentucky Infantry, and on September 20, 1861, was mustered into the service as its lieutenant-colonel. With his regiment he took part in the engagements about Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and in the Battle of Shiloh. In the latter action, he was seriously wounded, and the regiment was so reduced in numbers that it became necessary to consolidate it with another regiment. After recovering, Mr. Bristow devoted himself to raising the Eighth Kentucky Cavalry. That regiment was mustered into the service for one year on September 8, 1862, with Mr. Bristow as its lieutenant-colonel, and on April 1, 1863, he was commissioned as its colonel. With the regiment he was engaged in many cavalry skirmishes in Kentucky in 1862 and 1863. When General John H. Morgan of the Confederate cavalry make his greatest raid through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, Mr. Bristow and his regiment were engaged in pursuit, and were present at the capture of Morgan and his command near Wellsville, Ohio, on July 26, 1863. Mr. Bristow's decision of character and complete self-possession in the presence of danger admirably fitted him for a cavalry officer, and his military service was successful and distinguished. A brevet as brigadier-general was offered to him, but as his service had then terminated, he declined the honorary rank. In August 1863, while Mr. Bristow was engaged in this active service, he was elected to represent Christian County in the State Senate of Kentucky. This was done without his knowledge. The emancipation proclamation of January 1, 1863, had been met in Kentucky with organized and determined opposition upon the part of some of the so-called Unionists, led by ex-Gov. Charles A. Wickliffe. The political situation was very critical, for it was feared that this movement might lead, even at that late day, to some effort to arbitrarily drag Kentucky into secession, as had been done in the case of Tennessee. Those who were in good faith supporting the National Government, deemed it of great importance that Mr. Bristow's well-known personal force in argument and in counsel should be employed in combating any such scheme in the legislature. Inasmuch as the term of service of his regimen expired in the month following, and as his election seemed to be a call to duty, Mr. Bristow reluctantly gave up further military service and accepted the position of Senator. He never ceased, however, to feel that interest in the events and the actors in the great struggle to preserve the Union, which is peculiarly intense in those who themselves have had their part in its trials and its victories. Memorial of Benjamin Helm Bristow, Privately printed, 1897 Benjamin Helm Bristow, Part 2 More on Benjamin Bristow (All of the Memorial, and some pages from Border State Politician.) Bristow, Queena and family Ezine Menu HOME |
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