FRANCIS. FRENCH. ber of, various benevolent and literary so- cieties. The four grandparents of Judge Fox could trace their ancestry back almost to the first settlement of this country : Thomas Fox, Cambridge, 1637 ; William Hodges, Boston, 1633 ; Kenelm Winslow, Plymouth, brother of Edward, 1629. and Richard Burt, one of the first settlers of Taunton in 1639. With this ancestry it is to be ex- pected that Judge Fox would be the thor- ough American he is. His influence is always for the right, intelligent and good, and while conservative in judgment, he is prompt in decision, and acts as he decides. He possesses the entire esteem and confi- dence of his fellow-citizens and profes- sional associates. FRANCIS, JAMES BlCHENO, was born in Oxfordshire, England, May 18, 1815. At the early age of fourteen he commenced his apprenticeship as a civil engineer, being engaged in duck construction in Wales, tinder Alexander Nimmo, chief engineer, and on the Grand Western Canal in Dev- onshire and Somersetshire, under James Green, chief engineer. On these works he spent four years, after which, in 1833, ne came to this coun- try, obtaining employment at once as an assistant engineer on the Stonington R. R. under William Gibbs McNeil and George W. Whistler. In 1834 Mr. Francis went to Lowell with Mr. Whistler, in charge of the locks and canals on the Merrimack River. In 1837 Mr. Francis became chief engineer, and in 1845 he was appointed agent of the corporation. He retained both offices until 1884, when, after fifty years' service with the company, he retired. He was subse- quently appointed their consulting enirineer, ail office he still holds. In 1855 Mr. Francis published his " Low- ell Hydraulic Experiments, - ' being a selec- tion from experiments made by him in connection with the distribution of the water power at Lowell, and in 1865 a work on cast-iron pillars, which was suggested by the fall of the Pemberton Mill at Law- rence in i860. — a disaster attributable to the weakness of the pillars. In [880-81 he held the office of president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and he has contributed several papers to their trans- actions. Mr. Francis was married in Lowell, 1837, to Sarah W., daughter of George and Lydia W. (Sweet) Browned. Of this union are tour children surviving : George E., lames, Charles and Elizabeth, wife of Henry H. Bennett. FRENCH, JOB B., son of Enoch and Sarah (Read) French, was born in Fall River, Bristol county, March 6, 1806. His education was limited to the com- mon schools of those days. His first con- nection in business was as a clerk in his father's store, in 1820, the first shoe store ever opened in the town. He entered as a partner with his father and two brothers in 1827, managing a tannery, and manu- facturing boots, shoes and leather. In 1832 they divided their interest, the sub- ject of this sketch taking the store with his father. At the. decease of his father, in 1847, he assumed the control of the business and continued it alone until 1S64, when he took in his son as partner, under the firm name of J. B. French & Son. Mr. French was married in Fall River, in 1831, to Abby Allan, who was born in Newport, R. I., daughter of William S. N. and Mehitabel Allan. She died in 1870. In 1873 Mr. French was again married, to Mary B., daughter of Robert and Hope Cook ; she died in [882. His children are : Mary E., wife of D. 11. Dyer (now de- ceased). James R. (now deceased), Edward A. (now deceased), Abby M.. Julia W., Sarah |. (wife of William Lindsey, of Fall River). Mr. French was representative to the General Court in 1836 and '41 ; was presi- dent of the Fall River Savings Hank some sixteen years, and trustee nearly half a cen- tury ; was a member of the common coun- cil several years, and has served on the board of assessors; has been president of the Weetamoe ( lotton Manufacturing Com- pany from its commencement, 1870, to the present time. He has been a member of the First Baptist church since [830. FRENCH, Jonas Harrod, son of William and Sarah (Baldwin) French, was born in Boston, November 4, 1829. He was educated in the Boston public schools, graduating from the English high school in 1845. lie began his business career as a gro- cer. He afterwards became largely inter- ested in distilling ; loan otherwise varied and extensive business he has addeil the granite industry, managing a large inter- est as president of the Cape Ann Granite Company, Mr. French was married in Boston, in 1857, to Fanny E., daughter of Newell A. and Susan (Wyman) Thompson. Of this union are two children: Fanny T. and Henry G. French. In 1883 he married Nella J., daughter of William and Lucin la Pearson of Boston.
