Clement Bates, of Hertfordshire, England, aged 40, with his wife Ann, and their children, James, Clement, Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin, came to America in the ship Elisabeth,” April 6th, 1635, and settled in Hingham, Mass. Clement Bates died in Hingham, September 17th, 1671. His son Joseph, by wife Hester, was the father of Joseph, who was the father of eight children, settled in that part of Scituate now Hanover, in 1695, and died there July 9th, 1740. His son, Joseph, married Mary Bowker, who died a widow, July 30th, 1759. Jacob Bates, the ancestor of the Thompson branch of the Bates family, left Hingham as early as 1730, and after spending some years in Bellingham, Mass., settled in Thompson with his two sons, John and Elijah. His son, Elijah, spent his life as a farmer in his native town, and was the father of George, Tyler, Reuben, Moses, Elijah, William and Jacob. William Bates, born 1784, whose life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, married Sally, daughter of Edward Joslin, whose children were three sons-William, Walter and Winsor-and five daughters. Walter Bates, a manufacturer of furniture, was born in Thompson, January 31st, 1814, and still resides in his native town. He married Mary Jacobs, daughter of Thomas Elliott, of the same town, and became the father of eleven children: Jerome E., Lowell H., Mary J., William N., George F., Julia A., John L., Josephine W., Frank J., and two who died in infancy. The coat of arms presented to the early English branch of the Bates family was for valorous deeds performed during the Crusades.
Jerome E. Bates was born in Thompson, and began his business career as clerk in a country store in the same town. In October, 1863, he removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., and entered a retail boot and shoe store as clerk. In February, 1866, Mr. Bates established himself as a wholesale dealer in boots and shoes in New York, under the firm name of A. J. Bates & Co. This venture from small beginnings gradually increased in dimensions. Their business requires the. room afforded by three stores, and has, from its first inception, steadily grown in importance and in its successful results. In 1884 the firm added the manufacture of boots and shoes in Webster, Mass. Mr. Bates is a director of the Clinton Bank of New York. He was married in 1873 to Eliza Whitmore, daughter of Woodruff L. Barnes, who was a son of Doctor Enos Barnes, a leading man and one of the early settlers of western New York. They have had five children, two of whom, Jessie W. and Edna B., died in youth. The survivors are Clara W., Leonard W. and Ethel E.
