French Oxford Joy Tarbox (1861-1924)

Portrait from the Representative Men of Somerville, 1897.

   It isn't often that one stumbles across a man whose name combines a nationality, a city in England, an alternate word for happiness, and the funny last name "Tarbox", but that is exactly the case of obscure Massachusetts legislator French Oxford Joy Tarbox, a distinguished figure in the city of Somerville. The son of Ephraim and Clara Tarbox, French O .J. Tarbox was born on September 1, 1861, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He attended the public school system of that city and "graduated from the grammar school in the class of 1877." He would later attend the Boston Commercial College for a period of about six months, leaving behind his studies to begin a life on the high seas. Tarbox would serve on board a number of vessels and is recorded by the 1900 Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators as:

 "Following the seas for several years in the East India and China trade as well as a coast service on the Pacific between San Francisco and adjacent ports."

   After giving up the sea-faring life Tarbox returned home and was engaged in the oil business and later worked as a steam and air brake fitter, being in the employ of the Fitchburg Railroad and the Walworth Manufacturing Co. of Boston. He married in Boston on September 22, 1890, to Sarah E. Magrath, and the couple would later become the parents of three children: Sarah Jennie (birth-date unknown), Wilfred (birth-date unknown), and Ida (born ca. 1899).
  French O.J. Tarbox entered Somerville politics in the mid-1890s, beginning service on the city's common council in 1896. In the following year, he served as a member of the Somerville Board of Aldermen (from 1898-1899) and in the latter year was elected as one of Middlesex County's representatives to the Massachusetts General Court, winning with a vote total of 1552. Taking office at the start of the 1900 term, Tarbox held a seat on the House Committee on Taxation during his one term at the state capitol.
   Following his brief stint in state government, little else could be located on the remaining years of French O.J. Tarbox's life, and aside from political activity, he maintained memberships in the Bunker Hill Odd Fellows Lodge # 114, the Loyal Orange Institute, and the Fitchburg Railroad Relief Association. He is recorded in the 1913 Somerville Annual Report as a "mechanic", being employed by the Boston Elevated Railway Company. A death date and burial location couldn't be located for French O.J. Tarbox, although he is listed in the 1920 census as being a 58-year-old resident of Ward 7 in Somerville, residing with his wife, children, son-in-law, and two boarders. Tarbox is not listed in the 1930 census, placing his death at some point between 1920 and 1930.

  From the 1900 Souvenir of Massachusetts Legislators.

  In an addendum to this article on August 19, 2019, I'd like to give a hail and hearty thank you to SNIAPH site fan Connor Mah, who not only located a death date and location for French O.J. Tarbox (died April 25, 1924 in West Somerville), but also sent along the following obituary, which denotes Tarbox's death as being caused by peritonitis and pneumonia. A week prior to his death, Tarbox was admitted to the Somerville Hospital due to appendicitis but didn't recover.

From the Boston Globe, April 25, 1924. Courtesy of Connor Mah.