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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

ACQUIRED BY EXCHANGE

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

THIS VOLUME CONTAINS BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES OF

THE LEADING CITIZENS OF
HAMPDEN COUNTY
MASSACHUSETTS

Biography is the home aspect of history '

BOSTON
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1895

PREFACE.

THE present age is happily awake to the duty of writing its own records, setting down
what is best worth remembering in the lives of the busy toilers of to-day, noting, not
in vain glory, but with an honest pride and sense of fitness, things worthy of emula
tion, that thus the good men do may live after them. The accounts here rendered are not of
buried talents, but of used ability and opportunity. The conquests recited are- of mind over
matter, of cheerful labor directed by thought, not of shrewdness in getting "something for
nothing," but of honest, earnest endeavor which subdues the earth in the divinely appointed
way. While the plaii of the work did not call for minute genealogical research, we have gladly
made use of such data for filling out family histories as have been furnished us, and in nu
merous cases have verified or corrected and extended the same by consultation of the valuable
library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, to which we tender our sincere
thanks. In these pages we have briefly chronicled the life-stories of descendants of some of
the first settlers of New England, progenitors who have a claim on what a wise speaker has
termed "a moral and philosophical respect which elevates the character and improves the
heart " ; passengers in the " ' Mayflower' of a forlorn hope," and others who came in ships that
closely followed in her wake, as the " Fortune," the " Lion," the " Mary and John" ; repre
sentatives, too, of later immigrants to the shores of Massachusetts Bay, imbued with the true
Pilgrim spirit, together with stanch and progressive compatriots of foreign birth. It has
seemed worth while to write and to publish these biographies, because, to borrow the words
of an eloquent speaker, such men and women as are here commemorated "by their industrious
toil and faithful citizenship have kept sweet the heart of New England civilization." Where
fore the book should commend itself as of more than passing iaterest and fleeting worth, — a
volume to be prized by children's children. "The great lesson of biography," it has been
said, " is to show what man can be and do at his best. " A noble life put fairly on record acts
like an inspiration. September, 1895.

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BIOSRAPHIGAL.

'ANIEL LESTER HARRIS,
whose reputation as a civil
engineer extended over the
United States, but especially
throughout New England, was
born at Providence, R. I. ,
February 6, 1818. His earli
est ancestor in America was
Thomas Harris, who crossed
the Atlantic in company with
Roger Williams and others,
including a brother, William Harris, in the
ship "Lyon," which sailed from Bristol, Eng
land, late in December, 1630, and reached
Massachusetts early in the February follow
ing. Thomas Harris was one of those who
aided Roger Williams in founding the town
of Providence. He was active in the colony
from an early period, his name first .appearing
in the records under the date August 20,
1637. The line of descent is as follows:
Thomas Harris, Jr., only son of Thomas, Sr. ,
a surveyor and treasurer of the city of Provi
dence; Richard, second son of Thomas, Jr. ;
Jonathan, a son of Richard; Abner, eldest son
of Jonathan; William, fourth son of Abner;
Allen, eldest son of William ; Daniel Lester,
son of Allen.
In 1800 Allen Harris moved with his par
ents from Smithfield, R. I., to Plainfield, Conn.
He received a good education, and after teach
ing for two winters took a position as clerk in
a mercantile house. On May 7, 1 816, he was
married to Hart Lester, a daughter of Colonel
Timothy Lester, of Shepherd Hill, Plainfield.
A year later he moved to Providence, R.I.,
and entered mercantile business, but in 1820
returned to Connecticut, where for many years
he was engaged in manufacturing business.

Mrs. Harris died on August 24, 1826; and
Mr. Harris formed a second marriage later
with Almira Vaughn, of Plainfield. In 1840
he sold his interest in the factory, and in 1843
moved to Worcester, where he became a com
mission merchant, in which business he con
tinued until his death in 1864. In manner he
was courteous and dignified, in disposition
firm and reliable. His patriotism was strongly
manifested during the Civil War, during
which, although seventy years of age, he en
listed in the State Guard, doing escort duty on
more than one occasion. His natural fondness
for antiquarian research and genealogical study
led. him to' preserve with the greatest care the
original deeds and papers of his ancestors.
He was High Sheriff, Justice of the Peace,
and Postmaster in Connecticut, all of which
offices he filled honorably and satisfactorily.
Daniel L. Harris, son of Allen and Hart
(Lester) Harris, was endowed with an energy
and perseverance that might well be emulated
by the young men of the present generation.
Out of school hours he worked in the mill in
order to secure a business education. He at
tended the Plainfield Academy, walking three
miles night and morning, and afterward spent
three years in the scientific department of the
Wesleyan University of Middletown, Conn.,
from which he was graduated in 1838 with the
degree of B. A. Perhaps it was a bit of hered
ity come down from the long-gone surveyor
ancestor that manifested itself in Mr. Harris's
decision to adopt civil engineering as a pro
fession. At all events, it certainly proved to
be a line of work in which his natural ability
found ample scope. He was employed on the
Norwich & Worcester Road with the famous
Scotch engineer, James Laurie, whom he also

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

accompanied in 1839 on one of the early sur
veys of the Erie Railway in the then wild
region of Allegany and Steuben Counties in
New York. P'rom 1840 to 1843 he was as
sistant civil engineer on the Albany & Troy
line; and in the latter year, coming to Spring
field to survey the proposed route to Hartford,
he decided to settle here. His scientific
knowledge and accurate work soon ranked him
among the leaders of his profession in the Con
necticut valley, his industry and capacity ren
dering him fitted to fill the wider and more
important position of railroad president, and
the more profitable one of railroad contractor
and bridge builder.
He associated himself with Azariah Boody
and Amasa Stone, who were already famous in
that line of work, the firm name becoming
Boody, Stone & Harris. This firm purchased
the right to build the "Howe Truss Bridge"
for all New England and the Canadas, build
ing among others the bridges for the Con
necticut River Railroad, New London &
Northern, Springfield & Hartford, and New
York & Harlem. They built the first iron
bridge in the country, at Seekonk, on the
Boston & Providence Road, and the truss
roofs over the passenger depots at Boston,
Rochester, Springfield, Albany, and Troy. In
his various enterprises Dwight Briggs, Will
iam Birnie, John Ross, Sidney Dillon, M.
Clyde, and R. F. Hawkins were also associ
ated. In 1855, upon the resignation of
Chester W. Chapin, Mr. Harris was elected
to succeed him as President of the Connecticut
River Railroad, an office which he filled ad
mirably for the period of twenty-five years,
notwithstanding all of his other business ; for
he had a thorough practical knowledge of rail
roading, combined with rare executive ability.
Ex-President Chapin remarked of him, "He
had few equals in his work, and no superior."
Early in the year of 1859 Mr. Harris re
ceived an offer from the Russian government
to go to St. Petersburg, make an examination,
and report upon the condition and safety of the
bridges of the St. Petersburg & Moscow Rail
road. He accepted; and so just and thorough
was his work that the Czar, in recognition of
his probity and efficiency, presented him, in

addition to his salary, with a valuable jewel.
Mr. Harris was also appointed, by President
Grant, a Government Director on the Union
Pacific Railroad, and served in this capacity
for one year. It was at his suggestion that
the Eastern Railroad Association was formed
for the protection of patents, and to this for
twelve years he gave conspicuous^ service.
While office-holding in itself presented no
allurements to him, in public life he gained
honorable distinction, keeping constantly in
view the public need, serving with credit in
the State legislature of 1859, 1863, 1864,
and 1869. With a discernment that was al
most prophetic, he opposed the building of the
Hoosac "Tunnel, clearly foreseeing the financial
failure of the projected plan. Mr. Harris
possessed the art of presenting his point of
view clearly and persuasively either in private
or public debate, and was a fearless advocate of
what he considered was for the public good,
regardless of the opinions of others.
In politics he was a Republican; and in the
early days of the party he and his partner, Mr.
Briggs, rendered some efficient service in their
efforts to save Kansas to the free States, using
their office at one time as a depot for the arms
designed for the Kansas settlers. During the
thirty-six years of his residence in Springfield
he was actively interested in all that concerned
the city, and in i860 he filled the office of
Mayor. In 1872 he was elected on the first
Board of Water Commissioners, and took a
prominent part in their investigations which
led to the choice of Ludlow Reservoir for the
water supply. In 1875 he became a member
of the Common Council for Ward Four; and
for three years he rendered valuable services,
pointing out the necessity of restrictions in
taxation and expenditures, and warning against
the depreciation of values, which he foresaw
with a clearness of vision that seems to have
been a gift.
In 1848 Mr. Harris joined the Congrega
tional church; but he was not sectarian in his
feelings, being a liberal suioporter of the Wes
leyan University, which was his Alma Mater.
He was deeply interested in the Springfield
Library, and was at the time of his death
President of the City Library Association.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

His extensive travels in his own and other
countries had made him a cosmopolitan in
tastes as well as interests, and his large liber
ality and public spirit made him a citizen
whose death has been a very general loss.
His marriage with Harriet O. Corson, of Can-
astota, N.Y., was a happy one, and was blessed
by the birth of eleven children, four of whom
died young. Mr. Harris died July ii, 1879.
The fine steel portrait of Mr. Harris which
appears on an adjoining page is a faithful pre
sentment of his physical personality, and as
such will be to many of the readers of this
volume a welcome and interesting addition to
the memoir given above.

lEV. SAMUEL G. BUCKINGHAM,
D.D., a distinguished Springfield
I Id V pastor for nearly half a century,
was born in Lebanon, Conn., on
November 18, 18 12, at the beginning of the
last war with England. His native town is
noted for having furnished the State with five
governors, holding the office for an aggregate
of thirty-five terms. Among them were Gov
ernor Trumbull, who ruled during the Revo
lution, and our clergyman's brother, who was
Connecticut's war governor, elected in 1859,
and holding the position eight consecutive
years. Their parents were Samuel and Jo
hanna (Matson) Buckingham. The father,
who belonged to a race of stalwart farmers,
went to Lebanon, where he was married, and
served as Deacon of the old Congregational
church forty years. Minister Buckingham, of
Saybrook, who helped to establish Yale Col
lege, was among the ancestors, and so were
several provincial army chaplains. The Mat-
sons were a fine old family of Lyme; Chief
Justice Waite, of Connecticut, father of
United States Chief Justice Waite, was a
nephew of Mrs. Samuel Buckingham, our sub
ject's mother.
The Rev. Mr. Buckingham received his
early education in Lebanon, but was fitted for
college in Plainfield Academy, and entered
Yale in 1829, at the same time with Professor
Dana, the first mineralogist in the world, and
Judge Taft, formerly Secretary of War. Their

graduating class, that of 1833, was very large,
numbering eighty-seven. Of course Mr.
Buckingham received the customary degree of
A.B., and three years later he applied for and
received the degree of A.M. After a four
years' course in the New Haven Theological
Seminary he accepted a call to Millbury,
Mass., where he was ordained in 1837, and
remained ten years. In 1842 he received a
call to the South Church in Springfield, then
only a village; but, not being ready to accept,
his brother-in-law, Dr. Noah Porter, accepted
the charge, and remained in Springfield four
years, when he was called to take a profes
sorship at Yale College, afterward becom
ing President ; and Mr. Buckingham came to
the Springfield church, then worshipping in a
small building on Bliss Street. During his
pastorate he had the satisfaction of seeing and
sharing the progress of the town, both in sec
ular and sacred affairs. The present meeting
house is on the corner of Maple and .High
Streets, on a lot costing thirty-eight thousand
dollars, the edifice itself costing a hundred
and forty-five thousand dollars. Dr. Buck
ingham served this church actively from 1846
to 1885, nearly forty years, gathering a soci
ety of wealthy, influential, and cultivated
members, whereof he is now the pastor emeri
tus. He has been largely identified with
educational interests, doing much for the bet
terment of the local schools. In recognition
of these efforts the school near Winchester
Square received his name. During forty
years he has been a Trustee of Williston
Seminary, Easthampton, watching its devel
opment with especial pride. He has also
been actively connected with the theological
department of Yale, serving on the recon
struction and building committees. His
wife, whom he married in 1838, was Harriet,
daughter of Nathaniel W. Taylor, for many
years a theological professor in the college.
She died about 1864, leaving one child, Har
riet Taylor Buckingham, born in 1840. The
parents also adopted a daughter, who died, leav
ing four sons to grow up under the good Doctor's
protecting care. To him might be, and often
have been, well applied Oliver Goldsmith's
familiar lines about the village pastor: —

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

" Even children followed with endearing wile.
And plucked his gown, to share the good man's smile.
" As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, —
Though round its breast the rolhng clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head."

'TEPHEN WALLACE BOWLES,
A.B., A.M., M.D., late the oldest
medical practitioner in Springfield,
reckoning by his period of service,
was born in Machias, Me., in 1835, and began
his work here in 1872. The ancestry runs
back into the Colonial days of Roxbury, Mass.,
where John Bowles married a daughter of the
famous apostle to the Indians, John Eliot.
The Doctor's grandfather, Ralph Hart Bowles,
was an early Maine pioneer. In the Revolu
tion he was Adjutant in Captain Woolsey's
company, and served throughout the war, after
which he was the Postmaster at Jonesville.
His wife, Hannah Crockett, belonged to an
old Boston family.
Ralph Bowles's
was Stephen Jones

subject's father.
He was a native

son, our
Bowles.
of Machias, and there dealt in lumber, owning
mills and ships as well as extensive pine lands.
Being a leader in his line, he accumulated a
fortune, and was able to retire from active life
in 1840, making his home in Roxbury, Mass.,
where he died five years later, when our boy
was only ten years old. Mr. Bowles was
never much in politics, but was proud of his
membership in the Society of Cincinnati,
which came to him through his father's con
nection with the Revolution, and has since
descended to his son, the Doctor. Mr.
Bowles, like his father, was prominent in the
Congregational church. The Doctor's middle
name came from his mother, who was Eliza
beth Wallace. She was born in Cherryfield,
Me., in 1794; and we can trace her forefathers
back to the Scotch Wallaces. She outlived
her husband forty-one years, not dying till
1886, when past the allotted threescore and
ten. They had several children. Hannah,
deceased, was the wife of Rev. Philippe Wolff,
of Boston. Elizabeth married J. Wingate
Thorndyke, the noted Boston genealogist.

Mary married Charles Pike, now of St. Paul,
Minn. Next in order came the Doctor, of
whom more hereafter. Lucy D., deceased,
was the wife of Arthur Lyman, of New York
City. John Eliot died at the early age of ten.
Stephen W. Bowles was educated in the
public schools of Roxbury and by private
tutors, and was graduated at Williams College
in the same class with President Garfield in
1856, receiving the customary degree of A.B.,
and three years later, in due course, the higher
degree of A.M. He studied medicine at the
New York College of Physicians and Sur
geons, under the special charge of Dr. J.
Freeman Bumstead, one of the foremost pro
fessors. There he was graduated in 1859.
Successfully passing a competitive examina
tion, he was appointed House Surgeon in St.
Luke's Hospital, and remained there a year.
In i860 he married and went abroad, and stud
ied in Paris, which was in those days consid
ered the medical centre of the world, though
he also attended lectures in Vienna. At the
expiration of thirteen months the news of the
Southern outbreak brought him home ; and he
at once found army employment as Assistant
Surgeon in the hospital at Nashville, Tenn.,
where he remained till sickness compelled a
return to Boston. Recovering his health in
the course of three months, he was sent to the
United States General Hospital at Brattleboro,
Vt., whereof he was Director till the war was
over, his military service covering three and
a half years, though he was employed as Ex
amining Surgeon for a year longer. In Brat
tleboro he remained till 1870, and thence
went to Yonkers, N. Y., for a couple of years,
thence coming to his late post, where he built
up a fine practice, his office most of the time
being situated at the corner of State and Main
Streets. The Doctor belonged to the Hamp
den District Medical Society, of which he has
been President, to the Massachusetts Medical
Society, and to the Connecticut Valley Medi
cal Society. Four years he was on the Massa
chusetts Prison Commission. From its organ
ization he was on the staff of the Springfield
Hospital. Though like his father in not car
ing for political honors, he has always voted
the straight Republican ticket.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

J3

His wife, Elizabeth Belden, was the daugh
ter of Dr. Chauncey Belden, of West Spring
field. They were married October 12, i860,
and had four children — Elizabeth Bowles,
born in 1861 ; Stephen Bowles, Jr., a gradu
ate of the Institute of Technology; John Eliot
Bowles, a Springfield bi'oker; Harry Thornton
Bowles, of Yale College. The Bowles family
attend the Congregational church.
Dr. Bowles died February 13, 1895; and
the following heartfelt tribute to his worth
was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Trask before
the remains were taken to Mount Auburn for
burial : —
"There is no person who comes nearer to
us in life than our physician. The ties that
bind us to him are as delicate as silk, but it
takes a deal to crush them ; and, when they
are sundered by death, a break is made in the
chain that is never filled. . . . Personality is
not a trait : it is the atmosphere in which the
characteristics of our mind and heart grow
luminous. . . . Our beloved and departed
friend had a most charming and distinguished
personality. His atmosphere was as pro
nounced and as fair as the aureola with which
the old artists loved to environ the heads of
the saints. There was something unique in
his build. . . . The unique frame surrounded
an unusual mind. He must have had uncom
mon powers of acquisition, for in the midst
of a large practice it seemed as if he had read
everything. If you spoke of any new specific,
he could give you its name, tell you where it
had been tried and what results had come
from the application. . . . Many patients need
mental diversion quite as much as prescrip
tions. If one can 'minister to a mind dis
eased,' the professional call is worth the
charge which is made for it. The best tablet
is oftenest a mental one. It was thus that our
friend administered healing to some, at least,
of his patrons. I wonder if he learned the art
of healing among the balsam forests of Maine,
on whose far borders he was born ; for, like
them, he gave us relief by his" atmosphere.
He felt of the pulse after he had told the last
thing he had read, and found it beating more
regularly because the mind had been called
away from its depressing mood. His talk was

antifebrile. How could a gracious person
ality suffused with ample lore fail to be charm
ing.? . . . Many a mother blesses him through
her tears; and many a man in middle life, as
he looks upon this silent face and these hands
so cold and still, will recall with welcome
emotion the hour when, under the leadership
of this companion, he came back to his wonted
task. Rare insight had this man of disease,
and vigilant and tireless was he in hunting it
down. . . . He had trials of his own to carry,
of which I need not speak. They were sore
ones, too, which weighed upon his sensitive
heart and increased the burden of an overbur
dened life. He spoke of them, but not with
complaint. . . . And these last years of pain
— still doing his work, while his slight form
was being daily undermined! By protracted
periods of rest he prolonged his ministry of
healing. It now seems that he was giving
to others the strength he needed for himself.
He went on 1 pouring out the precious wine
until there were no grapes left for the vintage.
No scanty manhood here, or mean and petty
measures of affection, but a real brother to us
all, whom it was a joy to meet, and from whom
we part with dejected spirits and with tears."

ILLIAM ARNOLD, whose face is
familiar to most residents of West-
field, was born in that town,
December 23, 1836. His ancestors were sup
posed to be of Scottish origin, but came from
England at an early date in the history of this
country, and settled in Connecticut, and are
known as one of the old established families
of that State, Arnold Station being named
in their honor. Grandfather Joseph Arnold
and his wife were both natives of old Had-
dam. Conn., he being a wholesale and retail
merchant of note in that town. He was one
of the most prominent men of the community
in his time, and was very successful in busi
ness. He was a liberal supporter and active
worker in the Baptist church, and in politics
was a Democrat of the old school. His wife's
maiden name was Thankful Clark. She bore
her husband six sons and two daughters, who
grew to manhood and womanhood, but none of

14

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

whom are now living. Grandfather Arnold
and wife lived and died in their native vil
lage, beloved and revered by all who knew
them. Elijah and Samuel Arnold, two
brothers of Joseph, settled in Westfield,
Mass., at an early day, and were among its
first merchants, owning the principal part of
the business portion of the place, Arnold
Street being named for them.
Joseph Arnold, father of William, the sub
ject of this sketch, was born in Haddam,
Conn., in 1802. He came to Westfield in
1836, and bought a farm of over seventy-five
acres, and followed farming the rest of his
life. He became very prominent in West-
field, identifying himself with all its inter
ests. He successfully filled the offices of
Selectman and Assessor of his town for sev
eral terms, and in 1838 was sent to the State
legislature. Twice he ran for State Senator,
and was only defeated by a small majority.
In 1859 he was appointed by -the United
States Marshal to take the national census
for a part of his county. In i860 Governor
Banks appointed him Justice of the Peace.
In politics Mr. Arnold was a Jacksonian
Democrat, in religion a Calvinist and an ear
nest Christian man. He died at his resi
dence in Westfield, March 11, 1869, at the
age of sixty-seven. His wife, whose maiden
name was Clarinda Hubbard, died July 25,
1881, aged seventy-seven. The children of
Joseph and Clarinda Arnold numbered ten, of
whom only three are now living, namely:
Henry, now retired from business, residing
at Haddam; William; and Daniel, a whip-
maker, now living at Westfield. The names
of those who died are Joseph, Lizzie, Samuel,
Sarah, Jane, Hubbard, and George.
William Arnold, to whom this narrative
chiefly relates, grew to manhood in Westfield,
the place of his birth. He was educated in
the village academy, then assisted on the
home farm until attaining his twenty-seventh
year. Wishing for a change of occupation,
he secured employment in the Springfield
Armory,' and remained three years engaged in
the manufacture of arms. He then entered
the United States navy, in which he served
one year. After leaving the navy he went to

Syracuse, and there engaged in the manufact
ure of cigars, remaining in this business until
his father's health failed, which necessitated
his return home, when he again took up agri
cultural pursuits. His labors have not proved
fruitless, as he now owns a part of the old
home farm, some fifty or more valuable acres
in the suburbs of Westfield. Mr. Arnold was
united in marriage September 27, 1868, to
Miss Annie Leffingwell, who was born in
Southampton, daughter of William and Zil-
pah (Wait) Leffingwell. Her father was born
in Norwich (now called Huntington), Mass.,
and her mother in Montgomery, Mass. The
former was by trade a farmer, in politics a
Democrat, and held very liberal religious
views. The mother was a member of the
Methodist church. Both are still living.
Mr. and Mrs. Lefifingwell were blessed with
two daughters, Mrs. Arnold being the eldest.
The youngest, Emogene, became the wife of ,
Mr. H. C. Pratt, of New York City.
William Arnold is a stanch Republican
and a member of Lyon Post, No. 41, Grand
Army of the Republic. He and his wife are
both members of the Second Congregational
Church. The hand of sorrow has rested heav
ily on Mr. and Mrs. Arnold, they having been
deprived of their only child, who was born in
1873, and died at the age of seventeen
months. Their present residence is one of
the most ancient in the town, having been
built about two hundred years ago. It has
been remodelled, and- is in a good state of
preservation, a more substantial building than
most modern houses. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold
are people of high social standing in the com
munity where they have lived so long, their
innate worth and generous hospitality attract
ing hosts of friends.

NDREW GALE, Mayor of the city of
Chicopee, and Superintendent of the
Belcher & Taylor Agricultural Tool
Company of Chicopee Falls, where
his services as an inventor are not less valua
ble than his executive ability as a manager,
was born March 8, 1836, at Stanstead, Quebec.
The first ancestor of the name in America was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

IS

Richard Gale, an Englishman who settled at
Watertown, Mass., in 1640, and there devoted
himself to farming. Mr. Andrew Gale's great-
grandparents were Abraham and Esther (Cun
ningham) Gale, the former of whom was born
in Weston, Mass., in 1720, and besides being
a farmer, as was his father, was also a black
smith by trade and occupation. He showed
a rarely inventive mind as a boy, and the
talent has been handed down through succes
sive generations to the descendant whose name
appears at the head of this sketch. The grand
father, Elisha, was born in Millbury, Mass.,
and married Mary, daughter of the Hon. Amos
W. Singletery, who served in the French and
Indian War, and also in the war of the Revo
lution, in the latter struggle holding the rank
of Second Lieutenant. Elisha and Mary Gale,
who lived to a green old age, were the parents
of ten children, of whom Amos C, born in
Barre, Vt., November 26, 1793, was the father
of Andrew Gale. He was married December
4, 1 818, to Rhoda Royce, who was born No
vember 24, 1797. They were prosperous
farmers, and reared a family of six children —
Lorena, Warren, George, Martha and Mary
(who were twins), and Andrew. The parents
led long and happily contented lives, the
father reaching his ninety-third year, and the
mother attaining "fourscore, by reason of
strength. ' ' Both were of the Baptist faith.
Andrew Gale acquired his education in the
district schools and in the academies at Derby
and Barre, and at twenty-one years of age be
came a travelling salesman, representing firms
manufacturing agricultural implements, and
having Buffalo as a starting-point from which he
radiated. Not long after, he and his brother
bought several patents, and had the goods
manufactured by the Whitmore & Belcher
Company of Chicopee Falls. Buying out his
brother's interests in these patents, he in
vested in stock in the Belcher & Taylor manu
factory, of which he has been Superintendent
for the past quarter of a century. Mr. Gale
has remodelled various implements manufact
ured by the company, and by his improvements
has given them superior durability, conven
ience, and finish. Each year he has produced
a new invention in the line of farming imple

ments, all of which have immediately found
i-eady sale and gained great popularity.
On the 6th of February, 1867, Mr. Gale
was married to Miss Semira M. Thayer, who
was born August 23, 1836, in Westmoreland,
N. H., daughter of Carlton and Louisa (Albee)
Thayer, the former a native of Westmoreland,
N. H., and the latter of Chester, in the same
State. Mr. and Mrs. Thayer were parents
of a prolific family, numbering fifteen, thir
teen of whom married, and ten of whom are
now living. Each parent lived to be fifty-
seven years old. The shadow of an irreparable
sorrow has darkened this otherwise happy
union, in the deaths of their three promising
children — Amos R., Andrew N. , and Jessie;
and the handsome residence on Bond Street
hears no sound of the childish patter and prat
tle of child or grandchild.
Mr. Gale is an active politician, and ren
ders stanch support to the Republican party,
to which he is loyally attached. He served as
Alderman during 1892 and 1893, and was
Chief Engineer of the fire department for
several years. He was elected Mayor in De
cember, 1894, which honor testifies to the
esteem in which he is held by his fellow-
townsmen. Mrs. Gale is a member of the
Congregational church.

t NDREW BRABNER WALLACE, of
the firm of Forbes & Wallac-e, was born
at Newburgh, Fifeshire, Scotland,
^"^ March 27, 1842, the year when
China was compelled to open five seaports to
British commerce. His parents were David
and Christina (Brabner) Wallace, the father
being a wood dealer, who lived in the ances
tral home, where he died in 1894. He be
longed to the Presbyterian church, and was a
member of the town council, being a man of
considerable local influence.
Andrew Wallace attended school in his
native town, and at the age of fifteen was ap
prenticed for four years to a dry-goods mer
chant. In 1 86 1 he left home, going first to
Sterling and then to Glasgow, remaining in
these two places until 1867, when he came to
America, and began life in Boston as a clerk

i6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

for the noted dry-goods merchants, Hogg,
Brown & Taylor. Later he went to Pittsfield,
Mass., where he was engaged four years as
partner in the firm of Smith & Wallace. In
1874 he came to Springfield, when the firm of
P'orbes & Wallace was formed. Through as
siduous industry there has been a wonderful
growth in this enterprise, which now does the
largest business in Western Massachusetts.
Outside of the duties entailed by his connec
tion with this colossal enterprise the business
interests of Mr. Wallace are varied, and in
clude the 'Warwick Bicycle Company, the
Springfield Knitting Company, the Pettis Dry-
goods Company in Indianapolis, the Spring
field Electric Light Company, the Denholm
& MacKay Dry-goods Company in Worcester.
He is also a Director and one of the incorpo
rators of the Springfield Loan and Trust
Company. In politics Mr. Wallace is a Re
publican, but no office-seeker. He belongs to
the Court Square Congregational Church, on
whose committees he has served many years;
and he is also one of the Directors of the
Young Men's Christian Association, and was
a member of its building committee during the
construction of the new edifice.
By his first wife Mr. Wallace had one son,
Robert Miller, who is now in his father's
store. His second wife was Medora Vaille,
daughter of Dr. Vaille, an old resident of
Springfield. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace have five
children — Douglas, Medora, Andrew, Ruth,
and Norman — who are so fortunate as to have
one of the most beautiful homes in the State.
On Locust Hill, South Main Street, in a pict
uresque fork of the road, surrounded by hand
some grounds, stands the Wallace residence,
one of the rewards of unremitting energy.

"ENRY S. DICKINSON, a native of
Springfield, Mass., and a prominent
manufacturer of Plolyoke, was born
on September 26, 1863. Mr. Dick
inson's grandfather, Caleb Dickinson, was a
farmer in Vermont, in which State, at Reads-
boro, George R., the father of Henry S. Dick
inson, was born, September 15, 1832.
Finding farm life distasteful, George, upon

attaining his majority, after having supple
mented the common-school education received
in Readsboro by an additional term at a local
seminar}', embarked in a new line of business
for himself. His first venture was peddling
tin. From North Adams he drove a capacious
cart through the neighboring towns, supplying
the housewives of the farms with all varieties
of tinware, taking in exchange " paper rags"
and farm produce. Paper stock, in a small
way, was connected thus with his first enter
prise, which broadened from this humble be
ginning to the wide scope of its present opera
tions. He removed his headquarters to Tem-
pleton, Mass., shortly, where he continued to
canvass the country until he was able to set up
a more pretentious business. The conjoined
handling of tinware and paper stock was chosen
as a line of business when he came to Spring
field in 1857, in which city a partnership with
Colonel Henry Smith was formed. The capi
tal was three thousand dollars, of which eight
hundred and fifty-seven dollars was contributed
by Mr. Dickinson. His efforts were crowned
with marked success, and in 1864 he entered
into partnership in a similar house in New
Haven, Conn., under the title of R. C. Dick
inson & Co., his brother being senior partner.
Three years later another branch house was
established in Norwich, Conn. ; and a third
enterprise, in conjunction with his brother-in-
law, David B. Clark, was established in
Waterbury. In the same year Colonel Smith's
interest in the Springfield house was pur
chased; and by the admission of Alfred N.
Mayo, who had been an employee of the com
pany, the firm of Dickinson & Mayo was
formed. From this business the transition to
paper-making was natural; and in 1874 the
firm of Dickinson & Mayo, in connection with
R. C. Dickinson, purchased the property and
stock of the Excelsior Paper Company of Hol-
yoke. On the organization of the Dickinson &
Clark Paper Company, he became half-owner,
and in the following year bought a quarter-
interest in the Syms & Dudley Paper Company.
The fruits of a wide observation and a long
experience were embodied in the ideal of a
perfect paper - manufacturing establishment,
which resulted in the George R. Dickinson

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

17

Paper Company's plant in 1883. But the
uncertainty of human life had a forcible illus
tration in the sad death of Mr. Dickinson on
December 29, 1887, from a fall through an
open trap-door in a store where he was about
to make a trifling purchase. He was but fifty-
five years old, in the prime of manhood and at
the height of business activity as President,
Treasurer, Manager, and almost entire owner of
the company bearing his name. The direction
and care of this large establishment then
devolved upon his son, Henry S. Dickinson,
who had been his father's "right-hand man "
in the mill. Though not twenty-five, the
young man displayed such executive ability as
to inspire all with whom he came in contact
with absolute confidence; and under his able
management the interests of the Dickinson
Paper Company have expanded rapidly.
There is a natural interest felt regarding the
character and personality of the young man
who has so creditably filled the difficult and
responsible position so suddenly put upon him.
Henry S. Dickinson's first connection with
the Dickinson & Clark Company was as book
keeper for that firm in 1880, a position he filled
until the new mill of the George R. Dickinson
Paper Company began its' operations. At that
time he was his father's chief aid, and it was
largely due to his exertions on the road that
the products of the mill were sold. He made
four annual journeys, going West as far as
Omaha and southward to Louisville in the
interests of the great manufacture; and his
judgment and tact were valuable factors in his
successful sales. The knowledge gained in
his early experience has been an essential aid
in his later career; and since his father's
death the plant has been enlarged, and the
capacity practically doubled. Close touch has
been kept with all the developments of sci
ence, and the desks are fitted with the most
approved electrical means of communication
with the business world. All business of the
firm is done from the Holyoke headquarters.
Mr. Dickinson's achievements have been phe
nomenal, when his comparative youth is con
sidered ; and his life presents an illustration
of what the combined forces of ambition and
energy may produce.

Mr. Dickinson, besides being Treasurer and
Manager of the paper company, is a Trustee of
the Five Cent Savings Bank and a Director
of the John Hancock National Bank, both
Springfield institutions. He is a Mason, a
Knight Templar, and a member of Aleppo
Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Bos
ton. In politics Mr. Dickinson is earnestly
Republican, as was his father, and, though
still so young, has already filled many civic
positions of honor. In 1893 he was a dele
gate from Massachusetts to the National Re
publican Convention at Minneapolis, and was
in that year chairman of the Republican City
Committee of Springfield. In 1889 he was
elected Alderman from Ward Six, and was
made chairman of the Committee on Fire De
partment. In 1890 he was elected President
of the Board of Aldermen, and was a member
of the Committee on Finance. In the follow
ing year, 1891, he was chosen as representa
tive from the Eighth Hampden District to the
legislature of Massachusetts, where he was
placed on the Committee on Railroads, and
was also appointed to represent the State of
Massachusetts at the dedication of the Ben
nington Battle Monument. In 1892 he de
clined a renomination, and, with a judgment
and modesty as rare as admirable, has not
permitted his name to be used as candidate for
city Mayor, though strongly urged to do so by
his friends, believing that at his years there is
ample time for any embryo political ambition
to develop. Mr. Dickinson has shown in
numerous substantial ways his public spirit.
In connection with the Grand Army fair held
at Springfield in 1888, he presented to the
Central Street Grammar School the first
United States flag that ever floated over a
Springfield school-house. He also gave to the
Masonic Association a handsome tower clock
for their building, which has been a general
benefit to the people of the vicinity. His
favorite recreations are fishing, yachting, and
driving. Each summer season finds him seek
ing in Canadian waters the angling for which
that region is so famous. The sloop-rigged
yacht "Rival," formerly owned by Commo
dore Sanford, of the Atlantic Yacht Club of
Brooklyn, is now one of Mr. Dickinson's pos-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

sessions. This is quite a famous boat, as it
has won thirteen of the fourteen races in which
it has been a competitor. Its latest victory,
achieved since owned by Mr. Dickinson, was
the winning of the "Rival" cup of the New
Haven Yacht Club.
Mr. Dickinson was married March 2, 1885,
to a daughter of Mr. William H. Paige, of
Cleveland, Ohio. His father-in-law was for
merly connected with the Wason Car Works
of Springfield, but moved to the West. Four
bright children gladden the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Dickinson — George R., Henry Ray
mond, Stewart Winthrop, and an infant daugh
ter. The family life of Mr. Dickinson and
his father was exceptionally beautiful; and
there existed the reciprocal interest and sym
pathy of thought between them in their home
intercourse which was so marked a feature of
their business relation. Until the present
year Mr. Dickinson has lived in his father's
home on Maple Street; but in the spring he
bought a handsome residence on Pearl Street,
into which he has lately moved.

'ON. EDMUND P. KENDRICK, ex-
Mayor of Springfield, and a promi
nent attorney of that city, was born
at Lebanon, N.H., February i,
1849. He is the son of George S. and Han
nah (Lyman) Kendrick, and traces his ances
try back in a direct line to John Kendrick,
son of a Lord Mayor of London, who was born
in England in 1604, and arrived in Boston as
early as 1639, afterward settling in Newton;
but the immediate ancestors of Mr. Kendrick
were the Amesbury branch of the family, his
great-grandfather having been a ship builder
there. Mr. Kendrick's grandfather, Stephen, was
born at Amesbury, Mass., and removed to
Lebanon, where he entered mercantile life,
and became a prominent resident, serving as
Trial Justice and Town Clerk for a long pe
riod of years. He married Thankful Howe,
daughter of Abner Howe, a Captain in the
Revolutionary War, who served at the battle of
Bunker Hill and other memorable engage
ments.

Their son, George S. Lyman, father of the
subject of this sketch, was a native of
Lebanon. He received his education in the
schools of this place and in the academy at
Meriden, N.H. He engaged in the drug
business at Lebanon, which he conducted for
many years. Mr. Kendrick was a man of
considerable business ability and a very prom
inent citizen, serving as Postmaster for sev
eral years and taking an ardent interest iii the
abolition cause. He died at Lebanon in
1876, at the age of seventy years. His wife,
whose maiden name was Hannah Lyman, a
native of Hartford, Vt., was the daughter of
Elias Lyman, a prominent merchant and influ
ential citizen of Hartford, whose ances
tors served in the Revolutionary and early
Indian Wars. She was educated in the
schools of her native town, and also attended
the academy at Thetford, Vt. She was the
mother of three children — Martha ]., now
Mrs. Charles P. Alden, of Springfield, Mass. ;
Mrs. W. S. Ela, of Lebanon, N.H.; and the
Hon. Edmund P. Kendrick, the subject of this
sketch. Edmund P. Kendrick commenced his educa
tion in the schools of his native town; and
after finishing the prescribed course he at
tended the Kimball Union Academy at Meri
den, N.H., from which he graduated. He
fitted for college, but was prevented by ill-
health from entering, pursuing, however, a
thorough course of study at home under a pri
vate tutor. In 1867 he came to Springfield,
where he attended a business college. Later
he read law in the office of Judge Henry W.
Bosworth, then of the firm of Green & Bos-
worth, and subsequently entered the Law
School of Boston University; and in 1876,
after passing the examination, he was ad
mitted to the bar at Springfield. Mr. Ken
drick immediately began the practice of his
profession, and has steadily increased the
number and importance of his clientage. He
is prominent as an attorney for different cor
porations and Director of the Connecticut
River Railroad, and as a counsellor in legal
matters his knowledge and advice are in great
demand. He has always been an ardent Re
publican, taking an active part in political

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

19

campaigns and speaking with eloquence at
important meetings in different parts of the
State, thus winning the sincere regard of his
party, who have elected him to several offices.
In 1 88 1 he was made a member of the Com
mon Council, and re-elected in 1882 and 1883,
the latter two years being President of that
body. In 1884 and 1885 he was a member
of the legislature, where he served upon the
Judiciary and Public Service Committees, also
upon the Committee of Rules, and was largely
instrumental in passing the present civil ser
vice law. In 1890 he was elected to the
Board of Aldermen. In 1892 he was elected
Mayor for 1893, giving the city such a strong
and progressive administration as to cause his
re-election for the year 1894. In both of
these elections he was chosen by over fifteen
hundred majority. During Mr. Kendrick's
administration much advancement was made
in many directions, especially in educational
matters, the result of which has been the erec
tion of several school-houses. Among the
notable accomplishments were the widening of
Fort Pleasant Avenue, the laying out of the
Plainfield Street triangle, the establishment
of the Fire and License Commissions, the
opening of the Wayfarers' Lodge, and the
suppression of pool selling on Hampden Park.
Although the people would have willingly
supported his re-election for a third term, Mr.
Kendrick declined the nomination, preferring
to devote his time to private interests and a
close attention to his extensive law practice.
He, however, accepted from his successor the
appointment as City Solicitor, which ofifice he
now holds.
In Masonic circles Mr. Kendrick occupies
an exalted station, having been recently
elected to the thirty-third degree. He is a
member of Hampden Lodge, Morning Star
Chapter, Springfield Council, Springfield
Commandery, Evening Star Lodge of Perfec
tion, and of Massasoit Council, Princes of
Jerusalem, and has held the highest offices in
all of these bodies. Besides the above he is
a member of Mount Olivet and Springfield
Chapters of the Rose Croix and of the Massa
chusetts Consistory of Boston. He has been
District Deput)? of the Sixteenth Masonic

District, and Grand King of the Grand Chap
ter of Massachusetts, and Deputy Grand Mas
ter of the Grand Council of Massachusetts.
He was appointed a Trustee of the Masonic
Building, before its erection, and since its
completion continues to act in the same capac
ity. Mr. Kendrick is also a member of De
Soto Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows, in which he has held several offices.
He has always been an adherent to the pre
cepts of Christianity, and is a communicant of
Christ (Episcopal) Church of Springfield, in
which he has been Vestryman and Parish
Clerk for many years. Mr. Kendrick has
been a voluminous writer on legal topics,
articles written by him having been published
in the Central Law yoiLrnal, the American
Agriculturist, Farm and Home, New England
Homestead, the Orange Judd Farmer, and the
American and English EncyclopcEdia of Laiv.
He is a lover of home and fireside, and occu
pies a pleasant residence on the beautiful St.
James Avenue.
On April 9, 1885, Mr. Kendrick was united
in marriage to Miss Clara A. Holmes, daugh
ter of the late Otis Holmes, at one time mas
ter armorer in the United States Armory in
Springfield. They have one son — Raymond
Holmes Kendrick.

JARNABAS N. COOLEY, one of the
oldest native-born citizens of this
section of Hampden County, was
born in Springfield, March 13, 1816,
and bears with ease and grace his burden of
nearly fourscore years. He possesses great
mental and physical vigor, enjoying excellent
health, and retaining all of his faculties un-
dimmed by the mists of time, his memory of
things occurring in his boyhood days being
bright and interesting. In those early days
Springfield was but a small village; and the
few groceries required by its citizens were
brought here by boat during the summer sea
sons, and in the winter were transported by
teams from Hartford, and the dry goods,
brought in the same manner, came from New
York. Mr. Cooley is of English ancestry, his pa-

20

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ternal great-grandfather having settled in
Western Massachusetts, where he married a
Miss Chapin, who belonged to one of the old
est families of the place; and they reared a
fine family of sons and daughters. Earl Coo
ley, the grandfather of Barnabas N., was, it
is supposed, born in Springfield, and there
owned a good farm, a portion of which is now
included in that part of the city occupied by
the county jail. His farm-house, in which he
spent his last years, was located on the corner
of Main and York Streets, and was for a long
time a well-known landmark. He married
Amy Stebbins, who bore him several chil
dren; namely, Samuel, Jacob, Edward, Earl,
Harvey, Betsey, Amy, and Sophia. Mrs.
Cooley survived her husband, and formed a
second matrimonial alliance, becoming the
wife of Captain Hitchcock.
Samuel Cooley, the father of our subject,
was reared to farming pursuits, but left the
plough for a while and purchased the stage
route from Springfield to Wilbraham, becom
ing very well known and popular as a stage
driver. There were then no railways in the
country, and the stage was a very important
factor of civilization. He subsequently
turned his attention to general farming, spend
ing the sunset years of his life in Springfield,
although he died at the home of his son
Thomas in South wick. He was a sturdy pa
triot; and at the call to arms in 1812 he
shouldered a musket, and marched in defence
of his country. The maiden name of his
wife was Ruth Ferry, a daughter of Thaddeus
P'erry, who was a Fife-major in the army.
Mrs. Cooley was a bright and intelligent old
lady of ninety-three years when she met with
an accident which caused her death. She
reared a family of six children, the following
being their names: Alvah, lidmund, Samuel,
Ruth, Thomas, and Barnabas.
Barnabas N. Cooley received the rudiments
of his education in the public schools of
Springfield and Agawam, and subsequently
attended the select school of the Rev. Mr.
Lawton in Springfield. At the age of fifteen
years he came to Agawam, to assist in run
ning the ferry, a position which he occupied
two years. 'The following five winters he

taught in the district school ; and in the
mean while, being strongly interested in me
chanics and mechanical work, he learned the
carpenter's trade, which he followed for sev
eral years. After his marriage, deciding to
settle permanently, he purchased the land
where he' now lives, and erected the house
which he has since occupied, and which is
finely located on the west bank of the Con
necticut River, commanding an extensive view
of the surrounding country.
In 1 84 1 Mr. Cooley was united in marriage
to Miss Adeline A. Warriner, a native of
Agawam, the daughter of Ruel and Anna
(Chaffee) Warriner. Their only daughter,
Anna A., who married Stephen A. Gilmore,
died in young womanhood, leaving an infant
daughter, Lura W. Gilmore, who has since
lived with her grandparents, cheering their
hearts and making their home bright and
pleasant. There are few people in this sec
tion of Hampden County held in higher es
teem than Mr. and Mrs. Cooley, and their
declining years should be comforted by the
reflection that they have ever done what they
could to aid and assist in the advancement
and prosperity of their community.

ILLIAM BIRNIE, formerly of the
firm of Goodhue & Birnie, promi
nent Springfield contractors, was
born at Porto Bello, in Midlothian, a suburb
of PZdinburgh, Scotland, on November 11,
1 8 18, and died at his home in Springfield,
Mass., on December 2, 1889. His parents
were George and Ann (Inery) Birnie, and he
was the youngest of twelve children. George
Birnie, who was a stone mason and contractor,
was a native of Aberdeenshire. In 1827,
when William was about nine years of age,
he emigrated to America with his family,
and settled in Morristown, N.J., one of his
older sons, George Birnie, Jr., having pre
viously come to this country. The Morris &
Essex Canal was in process of construction,
and Mr. Birnie took its contract for masonry;
but he died a year later, in 1S28, leaving his
son Alexander, then a young man of twenty-
five, to go on with the work.

JE^^

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

23

After the father's death the family removed
to New York, where William attended school,
and also learned the family trade of stone-cut
ting. Sometimes in after years, when pass
ing the sub-treasury building on Wall Street,
New York, in company with a friend or kins
man, he would proudly point out certain cap
ping stones on that building which were his
own handiwork. After Alexander Birnie fin
ished the Morris Canal contract, he made
another for the Patterson & Hudson River
Railroad, and later was engaged in the con
struction of the Boston, Providence & Ston-
ington line. When the Western Railroad,
now the Boston & Albany, was constructed,
Alexander Birnie, who was then living in
North Becket, took a contract for building
a section between Chester and Washington,
with headquarters at Middlefield, Mass. At
that time his brother William, who had been
associated 'with him several years, became
general outside manager; and the late John
B. Adams, of Springfield, whose sister had
married Alexander Birnie, was in charge of
the finances. While William was a subcon
tractor, working under Alexander, he took his
first independent contract for work near Ches
ter, Mass., and from this undertaking- cleared
a thousand dollars.
When at work on this Western Road, he met
Azariah Boody, Daniel L. Harris, and Amasa
Stone, with whom he subsequently formed a
business connection. In 1842, when his
brother Alexander moved to Hastings, N.Y.,
William joined these gentlemen, who were
already interested in the Howes Truss Bridge
Patent. They took joint contracts for rail
road bridges, Mr. Birnie building the ma
sonry; and they thus built nearly all of the
bridges on the Richmond & Danville Road,
Virginia, for the Providence & Stonington
Railroad, and for the Harlem Railroad. Mr.
Birnie constructed the watershops and race
way, and laid the foundation for the Spring
field Armory fence. D. D. Warren and Wil
lis Phelps, associated with Mr. Birnie, took
the contract for building the Springfield &'
New. London Railroad, eight miles to the
Connecticut border. Mr. Birnie was assisted
by D. L. Harris in the bridge-work at North-

field and other places on the Vermont Central
and the Vermont & Massachusetts line; and
he was at various times associated with Sid
ney Dillon, of New York City, with D. D.
Warren, with Willis Phelps, and with Joseph
Stone. After Amasa Stone went West, Joseph
Stone, father of Harlon B. Stone, was asso
ciated with Mr. Birnie, as was also Major
Whistler; and the part those gentlemen have
taken, both in railway construction and devel
opment, has been notable. With the early
operation of the Western Railroad (Boston &
Albany) they were all more or less connected.
The late John Delaney, of Holyoke, father of
ex-Mayor Delaney, a well-known contractor,
did his first work on this road, under Alexan
der Birnie. William Birnie and Daniel L.
Harris in partnership built the Belle Isle
bridge across the James Tliver at Richmond,
and, in fact, all the bridges on the Richmond
& Danville Road. Mr. Birnie superintended
the work; and William S. Marsh, of Spring
field, was clerk and book-keeper for the firm
at Richmond. To Harris & Birnie, in com
petition with many others, was awarded a con
tract for the masonry and bridge at Havre
de Grace; but the Philadelphia, Wilmington
& Baltimore Railroad Company, becoming
alarmed at the magnitude of the undertaking,
paid the contractors five thousand dollars and
all expenses to stop work. During the latter
part of Mr. Birnie's business connection with
Mr. Harris, Richard F. Hawkins was their
clerk and accountant; and for many years
after they dissolved the partnership he served
them both as confidential book-keeper. Har
ris & Birnie built the Agawam foundry on
Liberty Street, Springfield, which they sold
to Wright & Emerson, and which is now
owned and occupied by the Springfield Foun
dry Company. They also built the stone arch
and canal at the Water Slope.
With Dr. Josiah B. Weston, of Dalton, Mr.
Birnie bought the government property now
owned by the Springfield Waste Company on
Mill River. For a time Birnie & 'Weston,
under the name of the Nayasset Paper Com
pany, made fine writing paper at Mill River;
but, that enterprise not proving a pecuniary

24

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

success, the stock and machinery were sold to
the Hampshire Paper Company. After his
practical retirement from business as a con
tractor, Mr. Birnie invested in the shoe trade
with John R. Hixon, but soon closed out his
interest. From 1855 to 1865 Mr. Birnie,
having already acquired a fortune, spent
much of his time in stock-raising on the
North Chestnut Street farm. He was then a
member of the State Board of Agriculture,
and was considered one of the leading breeders
of New England, his Ayrshires having a
national reputation. As an expert on that
breed of cattle he was appointed judge at the
Centennial Fair at Philadelphia in 1876.
Being actively identified with the Hampden
County Agricultural Society, he served as
judge of cattle at the Bay State Fair.
Having experienced heavy reverses, Mr.
Birnie in 1873, at the age of fifty-five, began
business anew by becoming the financial man
ager of the firm of Goodhue & Birnie, which
was very successful in the construction of
water works in all parts of the country. His
first contract with C. L. Goodhue involved
signing a bond for a hundred thousand dollars
that a contract with St. Albans, Vt., should
be fulfilled. Another bond was made for a
contract at Leominster, Mass.; and out of this
grew a more definite partnership. One of
Mr. Birnie's sons, Thomas N., was associated
with them: and few firms can point to a larger
or more important list of contracts completed.
Water works were built entirely by them in
sixty cities and towns, and they partially did
the work in twenty more. Among the con
tracts undertaken at a distance were the water
works at Ann Arbor, Mich., Malone, N.Y.,
Jacksonville, Fla., Streator, 111., Xenia,
Ohio. In Vermont they contracted for water
works at St. Albans, St. Johnsbury, and
Barre; in Massachusetts, for Leominster,
Spencer, Plymouth, Wakefield, Amherst,
Hingham, Northboro, Lee, Revere, West
Springfield, Swampscott, and Saugus; in
Connecticut, at Stafford Springs and Thomp-
sonville; and in New Hampshire, at Bristol
and Hillsboro. The Ludlow main in Spring
field was also constructed by them; and ex
tensive additions, sometimes greater than the

originals, have been made in Concord, N.H.,
and in Palmer and Haverhill, Mass. During
the summer of 1889 water-mains were extended
in Massachusetts from Saugus to Cliftondale,
and in Connecticut from Thompsonville to
Warehouse Point; and, at the time of Mr.
Birnie's death, pipes were being laid in Brad
ford, Mass. Mr. Birnie with Daniel D. War
ren was interested in the building of the Long
Meadow Railroad; and he also built eighteen
or more houses on his land at Brightwood, a
suburb of Springfield. The latest years of
his business life were very pleasant and suc
cessful, yielding good returns; and his career
was unusually varied and extensive. He
owned two farms and a Main Street block,
besides considerable city real estate on
Spring, Byers, and Liberty Streets.
His first wife, whom he married in Febru
ary, 1 84 1, was Sarah L. Perkins, daughter of
Origen Augustus Perkins, a farmer of Becket.
The first house owned by Mr. Birnie was in
that town, where his two sons, Charles Au
gustus and William Perkins Birnie, were
born, respectively in 1842 and 1844. This
wife died in 1850; and on February 11, 1852,
he marrie'd Martha Noyes Perkins, daughter of
Henry Perkins, of Lyme, Conn. A few
months later they came to Springfield, hav
ing previously bought of Daniel L. Harris
a lot of land on the south-east corner of
Chestnut and Pearl Streets. The surviving
children of this marriage are: Thomas Noyes;
Sarah Perkins; the Rev. Douglas Putnam, of
Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands; Alfred; Don
ald ; and Walter. The second wife died Oc
tober 15, 1871; and on November 28, 1872,
Mr. Birnie married Harriet Stowe Chapin,
daughter of Marvin Chapin, who has outlived
her husband, and has three children — ^ Grace
C, Rebecca, and Marvin C. Mr. Birnie was
an attendant of the First Congregational
Church for many years, but latterly went to
the South Church. Although a man of strong
religious convictions, he never united with any
church. His late home in Springfield adjoins
the property of his last father-in-law, Marvin
Chapin. For years the families were practi
cally one, and many a happy reunion has been
held on the lawn between the two residences.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

25

Mr. Birnie had neither the leisure nor the
inclination to take a conspicuous part in pub
lic affairs, but he was naturalized in time to
vote for William Henry Harrison in 1840.
Afterward he served the Republican party,
and his last vote was cast for Benjamin Harri
son. In 1857 and again in i860 he was on-
the Common Council. In 1875 he was Vice-
, President of the Springfield & New London
Railroad. He gave generously to the Public
Library, and during the war was active in his
efforts for the soldiers. When the Tenth and
TMrty-seventh Regiments at the front in No
vember, 1862, were suffering for food and
clothing, he made a memorable journey South,
overcoming many obstacles, in order to supply
the men with a genuine Thanksgiving dinner;
and they always held him in grateful remem
brance therefor. Mr. Birnie had many inter
esting reminiscences of early days to relate,
and always took pleasure in joking with Sid
ney Dillon about once giving security for a
bag of meal when they were building the
Stonington Road. Six of Mr. Birnie's
brothers and sisters, like himself, lived to
maturity. Three sisters survived him — Mrs.
Annie Lemon, of Oxford, Canada; Mrs. Eu-
phemia Ross, of Batavia, N.Y. ; and Mrs.
Catharine Robb, of Genesee, Wis. The chil
dren of William's brother, Alexander Birnie,
four in number, are now living — Mrs. An
drew S. Bryant, of Springfield; Mrs, Charles
Dresser; William A. Birnie, of New York;
and George Alexander Birnie, of Ludlow,
Mass. A faithful representation of the clear-cut
features and open countenance of Mr. Birnie
accompanies this brief record of his useful
and honorable career.

I^AMUEL BOWLES, editor-in-chief
of the Springfield Republican, as
well as President and Treasurer of
its publishing company, is the third
of his name in control of this admirable news
paper. Located in a provincial city, it might
at first seem as if the Republican could occupy
only a secondary place in the broad field of
American journalism; but observation shows

that it stands in the front rank, honored and
influential, deriving brighter lustre from the
sharp competition attending its every triumph,
won not only in its own limited environment
but on more distant battle-grounds.
The story of the first Samuel Bowles in
journalism is the story of an earnest life.
Industrious, thrifty, economical, he deter
mined to make for himself a name and fame
by establishing a weekly paper in a growing
community. He was born in Hartford,
Conn., on September 8, 1797, during John
Adams's presidency, a son of the first Samuel
Bowles noted in the records, descended from
the famous apostle to the Indians, John Eliot.
This son Samuel lived to be only fifty-four
years old, dying on September 8, 1851; but
Grandfather Bowles had already accomplished
his purpose, the Republican having been estab
lished in 1824, just as General Jackson was
coming into supremacy and changing the com
plexion of' political affairs. Our young pub
lisher was then twenty-seven years old; and
this was also the age of his paper when he
died; so that precisely half his life was de
voted to its development. He had already
served his apprenticeship in Hartford, and
brought with him to Springfield a small hand
press, with enough type for a village paper.
After the fashion of those days his freight was
poled up the smooth-flowing Connecticut
River from Hartford, and unloaded upon the
landing at the foot of Elm Street, where one
team proved big enough to transport his ap
paratus to the office he had provided. Small
as the enterprise may now appear, it was
really a momentous undertaking; and the
arrival of such a man for such a purpose was a
matter for congratulation among the towns
folk, and merited as much commendation as
the later and much greater achievements of
the Republican. The first issue was dated
September 8, 1824. The sheet was a folio,
with six columns on each page, thirteen by
seventeen inches square. Its subscription list
included three hundred and fifty names, and
there were only one and a half columns of
advertisements. The new 'weekly was de
signed to be a family sheet, with a distinct
literary flavor; and the founder's son Samuel

26

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

had to make himself useful in his father's
ofhce whenever a helping hand was needed.
A complete history of the bantling is not
here feasible, nor can the fullest details be
given of its second publisher, whose biography
has been so well presented to the public by
George S. Merriam, in his "Life and Times
of Samuel Bowles." He was born in Spring
field, on February 9, 1826, and died on Janu
ary 16, 1878, aged fifty-two, two years younger
than his father when he passed away twenty-
seven years before — a fact which makes this
number a third time conspicuous in the family
records. His limited education was received
in an excellent private school then flourishing
in the town, but he absorbed more informa
tion in his father's ofifice. When only eigh
teen, he persuaded that somewhat reluctant
gentleman to try the experiment of making
their paper a daily — a hazardous venture, as
there was not a daily in the State outside of
Boston; but it was done on March 29, 1844.
The youth's sanguine faith was more than
realized, for by the second year the daily was
on a paying basis. At first it was an evening
publication, but December 4, 1846, found it
a morning though by no means a mourning
herald. Ten years later the Republican had
fairly won the position accorded it by the
New York Tribune, as the best and ablest
country journal on this continent, an eminence
due to its editor's hard work and natural
genius, superadded to a great political oppor
tunity; for his ingrained Whig proclivities
and love of freedom and progress prepared his
mind to appreciate and welcome the new-born
party, bearing the name already belonging to
his paper, adopted as by far-seeing prophetic
instinct. In 1855, at the head of a circular
calling a Boston conference of leaders ready
to aid in breaking down the control of the
Know-nothing, or anti-Catholic, party in Mas
sachusetts, was Mr. Bowles's name; and he
thus became chairman of the convention which
inaugurated Republicanism in the old Bay
State, though this was almost his only appear
ance on the political stage, for he was a jour
nalist, not a politician. In his columns he
was foremost in advocating impartial suffrage,
independent of race or color; and he was also

an early champion of woman suffrage. He
found small occasion for serious variance with
the Republican party till the era of Southern
reconstruction following the Rebellion; but
then the divergence grew steadily till 1872,
when the Republican declared itself indepen
dent of party lines, and advocated the election
of Horace Greeley to the White House. In
the centennial year, recognizing President
Hayes's liberal policy toward the South and
his advocacy of civil service reform principles,
for which Mr. Bowles had contended, his
paper once more wheeled into line with the
dominant party, though he also steadfastly
urged a gradual tendency toward free trade,
which he believed would be warranted by a
wise financial system. Mr. Bowles had an
instinct for news and newspaper management;
and he had the opportunity of rightly influ
encing scores of younger men, who began
their journalistic career under his training.
In no other office could a beginner so soon
and so thoroughly gain the knowledge he
needed. The Republican' s columns became
the opening door for young writers, since hon
ored as men of letters — such men as Dr. J. G.
Holland, who was sixteen years associated
with Mr. Bowles editorially, wrote the popu
lar Timothy Titcomb Letters, the poem called
"Bittersweet," and various stories, and subse
quently became one of the founders of Sci-ib-
ner's Magazine,, now called the Cottury.
Other popular contributors to the Republican
were Mary Clemmer Ames and Mr. Robinson,
better known as "Warrington," whose Boston
letters stirred the thought of the whole Com
monwealth. Though not a writer of books,
Mr. Bowles's newspaper sketches were gath
ered into volumes, especially his descriptions
of a journey overland to California in 1865,
in company with Schuyler Colfax and Lieu
tenant Governor Bross, of Illinois. Another
volume, "The Switzerland of America," was
a picturesque description of his excursions
among the mountains and parks of Colorado
in the summer of 1868. "Our New West"
was published by the Hartford Subscription
Company in 1869. His last book, a brochure
on the Pacific Railway, first saw the light in
the Atlantic Monthly, and did much to en-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

27

lighten the East in regard to the Far West,
wherewith it now became more vitally con
nected. Four times he visited Europe, in
1862, 1870, 1 87 1, and 1874, always making
his travels an educational help. His trips
naturally brought him into near acquaintance
with prominent men on both sides of the
ocean. Though never holding public ofifice,
he was always ready to aid the administration
of any local charity, and was several years a
Trustee of Amherst College.
His m.arried life began in 1848, when he
was twenty-two; and his wife was Mary San
ford Dwight Schermerhorn, of Geneva, N.Y.
Seven of their children survive, the eldest son
being the special subject of this sketch, the
fourth lineal successor of him of whom it
might have been scripturally said, "Thou
shalt call his name Samuel." The father's
comparatively early death, at fifty-two, was
occasioned by repeated strokes of paralysis;
but these were only the result of a mental
strain lasting full thirty years.
The first office of the Republican was at the
corner of Main and Sanford Streets; the sec
ond, in rooms over the Chicopee Bank; the
third, at the corner of Sanford and Market
Streets; the fourth, in a building now owned
by D. H. Brigham & Co. on Main Street; the
fifth, in the Second National Bank Building;
the sixth, in the block belonging to the Five
Cent Savings Bank. Its present and most
commodious home is at the corner of Main
Street and Harrison Avenue. The flourishing
Sunday Republican, taking a high rank, was
established by the present Samuel Bowles in
1878, a few months after his father's death,
and soon after the occupancy of the Savings
Bank building, so it has had but one change
of domicile.
Our direct subject was born in Springfield,
October 15, 185 1, and grew up amid the
heated discussions which led to the formation
of the Republican party and to the war for the
Union. He was educated in the public
schools, including two years at the high, till
he was fifteen, and then spent two more in a
private preparatory school. He decided to go
into the family ofifice awhile before entering
the college; but failing health made a West

ern trip advisable, in connection with a party
sent out by the Flarvard College Mining
School. After exploring the iron and copper
region of Lake Superior, they went to Colo
rado, where they made some of the earliest
Rocky Mountain measurements. When the
party mission was ended, Mr. Bowles went on
to California, returning to his home the next-
November. After a brief rest he went to
Europe, and spent two years in Germany,
studying special branches at the Berlin Uni
versity in the cooler season and travelling
about in summer. In 1871 he returned to
his native land, and took a course in history
and political economy at Yale College. In
the summer of 1873 he again went West with
a company of gentlemen, some of them jour
nalists, and then did what he considers his
first regular journalistic work by writing a
series of letters to his father's paper. On
his return he joined the staff as reporter, and
during the next two years gained a full knowl
edge of the different departments of news
paper work, doing duty sometimes in the
counting-room. In 1875, '•f the age of
twenty-four, he became temporary business
manager of the paper during the absence of
his uncle, B. F. Bowles, whose death abroad
made permanent the position of the nephew,
upon whose shoulders, three years later, the
death of his father threw the responsibilities
of editor-in-chief. These double duties leave
Mr. Bowles little time for writing; but he
maintains a close control over his columns,
indicates the policy of the sheet, and decides
any question that may arise. Would you see
the true Samuel Bowles monument, look at the
Republican.

ZRA I. ALLEN, a substantial and pros
perous member of the agricultural com
munity and a respected citizen of
Westfield, is especially deserving of mention
in this biographical work, being not only a
native of the town, where his birth occurred
March 20, 1826, but the worthy descendant of
one of the early settlers of this section of
Hampden County.
His father, Ezra Allen, was born in West-

28

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

field in 1798, and having learned the trade of
a stone mason was a quarryman and a general
contractor, doing heavy jobs on the canals and
railroads in his day. In 1825 he bought the
farm now occupied by his son and namesake,
and engaged in husbandry, improving the
land, and being numbered among the most in
dustrious and thrifty farmers of the locality,
where he lived until his decease, at the age of
eighty-two years. As a man he was held in
high esteem, and exerted a good influence in
the community, being very public-spirited and
possessing excellent judgment. He served as
Selectman several years, and was one of the
prominent Democrats of the town. He mar
ried Olive Egleston, also a native of West-
field, born in 1800. She lived to the good
old age of fourscore years, and dying at about
the same time that her husband did was
buried in the same grave. Nine children
were born to their household circle, of whom
four died when young and two in middle life.
The three now living are: Isaac, a farmer, at
Southampton; Ezra I., the subject of this
sketch; and Chauncey, a builder and contrac
tor, residing in Westfield.
Ezra I. Allen was the recipient of excellent
educational advantages, after leaving the dis
trict school attending the academies of West-
field and Chicopee. He remained an inmate
of the parental homestead until twenty-three
years of age, and there acquired practical
knowledge of the art of tilling the soil. He
bought his first tract of land in Northampton,
Hampshire County; and there he farmed
thirteen years, gjoing thence to Easthamp
ton, where for three years he carried on a suc
cessful butchering business. Removing to
Granby, he bought a small farm, on which he
carried on general farming four years; and
during the time he was a resident of the place
he was Constable and Sheriff. He owned
three different farms while in that town, and
was quite successful in his labors. In 1871
Mr. Allen returned to Westfield, and buying
the old homestead on which he was reared has
since been industriously engaged in agricult
ural pursuits. His farm consists of two hun
dred and seventy-five acres of the rich land,
the Connecticut valley, and is well managed.

He was formerly an extensive raiser of to
bacco, but of late years has relinquished that
branch of business, and is paying more atten
tion to stock-raising, dealing largely in Jersey
cattle. In February, 1877, Mr. Allen had
the misfortune to be burned out of house and
home, but erected his present commodious
dwelling the same year.
Mr. Allen was married May 31, 1849, to
Emily M. Underwood, a native of Belcher-
town, Mass., born October 21, 1829, daughter
of Charles and Abilene (Bennett) Underwood.
Mr. Underwood was born in Woodstock,
Conn., September 30, 1801. He settled in
Belchertown, where he was engaged in farm
ing, living there until his death, November i,
1875, aged seventy-four years. His wife,
Abilene Bennett, was born in Belchertown,
March 25, 1809, and died September 29,
1889, at eighty years. They reared eight
children, seven of whom grew to maturity,
and the following four are yet living: Emily
M. (Mrs. Allen); Mrs. Minerva M. Olds,
of Belchertown; Mrs. Jessie Johnson, of
Westfield; Richard F., of Northampton.
The family circle of Mr. and Mrs. Allen
was gradually increased and brightened by the
birth of six children, four of whom have
passed to the higher life, namely: AUie, who
was taken away at the tender age of three and
one-half months; Hattie, called at the age of
nineteen years; Fred E., at the age of thir
teen; and Homer A., at forty years of age.
The latter was a man of excellent business
ability, and of great worth and nobleness of
character. He was much beloved in the fam
ily circle, and deservedly held in high esteem
throughout the circle of his acquaintance.
He was a member of the firm of Allen
Brothers, of Westfield, dealers in ice, and at
his death, which was deeply mourned, left a
widow and two children — Howard A. and
Raymond, who reside in the village. The
two children now living are: Emma I., now
the widow of Edward C. .Allen, a mechanic,
of Westfield, who died March 15, 1895, of
consumption, leaving four children — Harry,
Herbert, Hattie, and Maud; and Frank I.
Allen, ice dealer and general contractor, of
Westfield, where he is married, and has had

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

29

three children — Fred, Millie, and Chauncy.
Little Chauncy died March i, 1895. Frank
I. Allen was appointed Deputy Sheriff when
twenty-three years old, held the ofifice six
years, and then resigned on account of
pressing business.

(sTTLBERT HARLEIGH KIRKHAM, a
P\ retired government officer in Spring-
yJ^X field, was born there on November
— ' II, 1825, the year when the first
railroad in the United States was built, at
the Ouincy quarries. His great-grandfather,
Henry Kirkham, served in the French and
Indian War, and died near Saratoga. The
grandfather, John Kirkham, belonged in
Wethersfield, Conn., and was a Fife-major in
the Revolution, though only a boy in his teens.
He was with Washington at Valley Forge, and
was wounded at the battle of Monmouth. His
son, John Butler Kirkham, was born at Weth
ersfield, Conn., November 20, 1791. During
the War of 1812 he worked in the Springfield
Arsenal, and presently was sent by the governor
to Vergennes, Vt., then a frontier town, to
look after the small arms belonging to the
United States government. After the war he
returned to his duties in Springfield, where he
remained until 1840, nearly thirty years. He
was prominently connected with town affairs
as Selectman, Assessor, Collector, and mem
ber of the School Committee. During the
construction of the Terre Haute & Alton Rail
road he was paymaster. Masonically, he was
Master of Hampden Lodge, High Priest of
Morning Star Chapter, Thrice Illustrious
Master of the Council, and Eminent Com
mander of Springfield Commandery. His
wife, Betsey Wilson, whom he married De
cember 27, 1 818, was a daughter of Martin
Wilson, of Agawam, where she was born Jan
uary 30, 1 79 1. They had five children, all
of whom came to maturity, though Albert H.
is the only survivor. Their father died Au
gust II, 1857; and the mother, on April 12,
1 88 1. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kirkham were
members of the First Congregational Church.
Albert H. Kirkham was educated in Spring
field, graduating at the high school, and sub

sequently was prepared for college ; but he
decided to learn jewelry work with Horace
Goodwin, 2d, of Hartford, Conn. At the
expiration of his four years' apprenticeship he
continued a year in the same trade with his
brother-in-law, James Kirkham, of Springfield,
but gave up this industry on account of my
opia. Next he became associated with Robert
Crossett in a furniture store on Main Street.
In' 1 85 1 he bought out his partner, and con
ducted the business alone for three years, hav
ing one of the chief stores in town. In
1854 he sold out, and the next year began
work in the United States Armory under Lieu
tenant, afterward Colonel, James G. Benton.
In 1856, shortly after the incorporation of
Davenport, la., Mr. Kirkham went into the
lumber business in that city. While he was
there, the bridge across the Mississippi was
built, causing great excitement ; and there
were three attempts to burn this supposed ob
struction to navigation. In 1859 he returned
to the Springfield Armory, and remained
until 1 86 1, when the war broke out; and he
was appointed government inspector of the
arms made by contract at Chicopee Falls,
Chicopee, Hartford, and New York, a position
he retained until February, 1863, when he
was appointed assistant foreman in the armory,
where, during the rush of war, work was carried
on night and day. So great was the physical
strain that his health was seriously impaired ;
and he was obliged to resign in December,
1867. In 1880 he took a place in the Census
Bureau, and the next year was appointed on
the Board of Assessors, a position he retained
eight years, during five of which he was
chairman. From 1890 to 1892 he was em
ployed by the Census Bureau in collecting
statistics of Springfield manufacturers. Like
his father, he is a Mason, and has filled the
same offices, having been High Priest of Morn
ing Star Chapter, Thrice Illustrious Master of
Springfield Council of Royal and Select Mas
ters, Eminent Commander of Springfield Com
mandery, Deputy Grand High Priest of the
Grand Chapter of Massachusetts. He is also
a member of the Winthrop Club, formerly
known as the Rod and Gun Club. Mr. Kirk
ham attends the South Congregational Church,

30

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

where he has been very active for twenty-seven
years, part of the time as superintendent of the
Sunday-school ; and he superintended the Hope
Chapel School prior to the organization of that
mission into a church. In 1889 he was elected
Deacon, and is now the senior occupant of that
ofifice. For many years he has been a member
of the Connecticut Valley Congregational
Club, and for five years corresponding secre
tary of the Connecticut Valley Historical So
ciety. He resides in his pleasant house, 88
Spring Street, which he built in i860.
Mrs. Kirkham was Elizabeth Ann Trask,
daughter of Lauren Trask, one of the earliest
iron-founders of Springfield, and a niece of ex-
Governor Eliphalet Trask. She was born in
Stafford, Conn., in 1830, and died April i,
1892. Mr. and Mrs. Kirkham were married
June 3, 1850, and have two children — John
Stuart Kirkham, of the firm of Whitcomb,
Kirkham & Hazen; and Ralph Wilson Kirk
ham, Assistant Secretary of the Consolidated
Car-heating Company of Albany.

WILLIAM W. phe:
wick, worthily repi
ing agriculturists

PHELPS, of South-
spresents the thriv-
and stock dealers
of Hampden County, who have attained suc
cess in their useful occupation by sagacious
management, keen foresight, and persistent
effort in their line of business. He was born
in the town of Otis, Berkshire County, April
20, 1839. His parents were Marcus and
Susan (Smith) Phelps, both of whom were
born in Connecticut — the father at Windsor,
and the mother in Suffield. The paternal
grandfather, Isaac Phelps, was a prominent
resident of that State, a capable business man,
and well endowed with the sterling qualities
that rendered him one of the most useful and
honored citizens of his town. An extended
sketch of his life may be found in connection
with the history of Mrs. Henry Holland, his
grand-daughter, on another page of this volume.
Marcus Phelps was a practical agriculturist,
and the owner of a valuable farm in Otis,
where he carried on general fanning during
his active years, and was one of the valued
citizens of the county. While residing in

Otis, he served with ability as Deputy Sheriff
for a number of years, and was Selectman for
a long term, performing his duties faithfully
and satisfactorily. In 1865 he removed to
Southwick, purchasing the farm now owned
and occupied by his son William ; and here he
and his wife spent their remaining days, both
attaining the age of eighty-one years. His
value as a citizen was recognized after coming
to Southwick ; and he was here elected to pub
lic office, and served as Selectman one term.
He was liberal in religion, but attended the
Episcopal church, of which his wife was a
communicant, and toward the support of which
he generously contributed. They were the
parents of nine children, of whom three are
deceased, namely : George, who died in in
fancy; Frances, at the age of eighteen years;
and Mrs. Cecilia Shepard, at the age of forty-
nine years. The six now living are the fol
lowing: Henry, a resident of Scranton, la.,
an extensive landholder, and a prominent
farmer and stock dealer; Charles, a farmer
and stock-raiser in Wellington, Ohio; Mrs.
Julia Peckham, a resident of Sufifield, Conn. ;
Mrs. Henrietta Holland, of Westfield; Will
iam W. , of Southwick; and Mrs. Josephine
Saunders, of Wellington, Ohio.
The subject of this biographical notice was
educated in the place of his nativity, and began
his active career at the age of eighteen years as
a dealer in live stock, and, having a natural
aptitude for speculation, and possessing good
knowledge and judgment regarding cattle, met
with marked success in his operations. After
continuing in this business in Otis for some
years, in 1865 he came to Southwick, where,
in addition to stock dealing, he engaged in
butchering and farming, and still occupies the
farm on which he first settled. He is a wide
awake, keen business man, energetic and per
severing, active in advancing the welfare of
his adopted town, which he has served with
ability as Treasurer and as Clerk for several
years, and is most heartily accorded that re
spect which is ever due to those who assist in
promoting the highest interests of their com
munity. He affiliates with the Republican
party in politics, and with his good wife is
liberal in his religious views.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

31

The marriage of Mr. Phelps and Miss Jane
Boyle took place October i, 1868. Mrs.
Phelps was a native of Southwick, born No
vember 7, 1842, daughter of John and Emily
(Stevens) Boyle, the latter of whom was born
in Southwick, October 18, 181 1. Mr. Boyle
was a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, where his
birth occurred August 7, 1803. He emigrated
from Ireland to Prince Edward's Island, going
thence to Montreal, Canada, and afterward
coming to the United States, locating in
Southwick in 1826. He began life as a day
laborer, but, being a man of more than aver
age capability, gradually worked his way up
ward, becoming a contractor of railways and
canals, and accumulating a good property.
He settled down to farming in Southwick, and
also dealt somewhat in real estate, remaining
a resident of this town until his decease,
December 27, 1890. His first wife, Betsey
Stevens, died in 1832, October 20, leaving
two children, namely: Robert, who died Oc
tober 10, 1893; and William, of Southwick.
Of his second union five children were born,
namely: John; Richard, first; Edward; Jane,
Mrs. Phelps; and Richard, second, none of
whom are now living. Mrs. Boyle died Au
gust 22, 1877.
Mrs. Phelps died January 24, 1895. She
and her husband had reared four children,
their record being as follows: Mary B., the
eldest child, married Calvin E. West, a pub
lic-school teacher, now engaged in his profes
sional duties at Bath, N.H. Frances Jane,
born October 21, 1870, married December
31, 1894, John S. Struthers. George W., a
farmer, was born P'ebruary 6, 1872. Charles
Henry, born February 11, 1873, is engaged in
farming with his father.

Wi

'ILLIAM HUBBARD SYMONDS,
formerly one of the prominent busi
ness men of Springfield, was born
in South Manchester, Conn., April i, 1815.
His parents, Samuel C. and Hancy (Hubbard)
Symonds, were natives of Haddam, Conn. In
Manchester and Hartford, William Symonds
received a plain education, and at seventeen
was apprenticed to Balch & Hart to learn the

carriage-maker's trade. After serving an ap
prenticeship of five years with this firm, whose
factory was on Asylum Street, he was ad
mitted to a partnership, which continued until
the factory was burned three years later. Mr.
Symonds then, in 1839, moved to Springfield,
where he entered into a partnership with E. H.
Corning, a merchant tailor, on Main Street.
He purchased a lot on West Bridge Street
soon after coming to Springfield, and shortly
after built a house and moved his family to the
city, where he was a householder during the
rest of his life. This building is now occu
pied by O B. Dean, taxidermist. The con
nection with Mr. Corning continued several
years ; and in the mean time Mr. Symonds had
taken up his former pursuits, building a car
riage and wagon factory and conducting a
large business. The old North Church stood
upon the site formerly covered by this factory
for some years, but it is now occupied by the
Graves Block. His next venture was in the
livery business, which was eminently profita
ble, and which he conducted until 1869, when
he sold out and retired from the active pursuits
and pressing cares of business life, having cer
tainly earned a respite from toil. Mr. Sy
monds was a noted marksman in his youth, and
at eighteen was Captain of the Hartford Rifle
Company. After the completion of his resi
dence on West Bridge Street in the spring of
1842, he became a member of the Horse
Guards, an organization which made a strik
ingly handsome appearance when on parade,
and which some of the Springfield residents
still vividly remember. He died at his home,
525 Chestnut Street, January 20, 1893, aged
seventy-seven years, nine months, and twenty
days. On June 26, 1837, Mr. Symonds was mar
ried to Miss Wealthy Corning, "whose birth
date was October 28, 1816. Mrs. Symonds' s
father, Ezra Corning, of Hartford, a furrier
and hatter there, was born April i, 1 770.
Her mother was Miss Mary Barnard, born July
6, 1776, two days after the Declaration of
Independence was announced, and the colonies
cast off their allegiance to Great Britain. She
was a daughter of Captain William Barnard,
who ran a vessel between Hartford and New

32

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

York, and made several trips to the West
Indies. Mrs. Symonds lives at her home on
Chestnut Street, and is still in full possession
of all her faculties and extraordinarily bright
and active for one of her years.
Mr. and Mrs. Symonds were the parents of
nine children, four of whom are now living.
The family attend the North Congregational
Church of Springfield.

ITHUR B. UNDERHILL, a retired
mechanic, who has since 1880 been a
resident of Springfield, Mass., was
born at Chester, N.PL, October 23,
His grandfather, Josiah Underbill,
was one of the first settlers in Chester, and
was a maker of edge tools ; and his father,
Flagg T. Underbill, was born in Chester,
where he also manufactured edge tools. Later
he went to Manchester, where he was a promi
nent manufacturer until the time of his death.
Mr. Flagg Underbill married Miss Mary
Brown, a native of Newburyport, who went to
Chester in her girlhood with her father, Mr.
Nathaniel Brown, who became a farmer in
Chester. Mrs. Underbill had a brother, who
participated in the War of 181 2. Of the three
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Underbill, Ar
thur B. is the only one living. Mr. Under
bill died in 1850 at forty-six years of age; and
his wife attained the age of sixty-two, dying
in 1872. Both belonged to the Orthodox
church of Manchester, under the pastorate of
Dr. Wallace at that time.
Arthur Underbill, after attending the dis
trict school, entered the high school at Man
chester, N. H., from which he graduated.
Following the law of heredity, he chose a
somewhat similar line of work to that which
his grandfather and his father had followed.
He served an apprenticeship of three years in
the Amoskeag Locomotive Works at Manches
ter, where he became a skilful machinist. At
the end of his three years' training he secured
a contract from the Manchester Locomotive
Works, which continued until the financial
depression of 1857, when the works virtually
ceased operations for a time. He then went
to Boston and secured contracts from the H ink-

ley Works of that city, besides having control
of one special department. At the end of one
year he accepted the position of foreman of the
Boston & Worcester Railroad Repair Shops,
which he held for three years, when he went
to Meadville, Pa., where he became Division
Master Mechanic of the Atlantic & Great West
ern Railroad Company. This position he gave
up after a year, having in May, 1 864, received
the appointment of Master Mechanic of " the
Boston & Worcester Railroad. Mr. Underbill
filled this responsible place until 1880, when
he was appointed superintendent of motive
power of the Boston & Albany Railroad. In
the mean time the Boston & Worcester line had
consolidated with the Western Railroad, form
ing the Boston & Albany line, and increasing
the number of engines to be supplied, and also
the mechanical work. On January i, 1894,
Mr. Underbill resigned the position he had
filled so efificiently, being compelled to do so
because of his impaired health. During his
career as a mechanic he had observed great
and important changes in method and style of
work. Twenty-four tons, which had been the
heaviest known weight of an engine in the
days of his apprenticeship, had given place to
leviathan propellers weighing sixty tons; and
the use of coal had universally taken the place
of wood as fuel. Mr. Underbill has been
Trustee of the Hampden County Savings Bank
for the past two years. , He is a stanch Repub
lican, though he has never been an aspirant for
any office within the gift of the party. He
attends and supports the Church of the Unity,
a Unitarian house of worship in Springfield.
The charming home which he has occupied
since 1881, No. 38 Westminster Street, is one
of the most beautiful in the vicinity of its
location. Mr. Underbill is deeply interested still in
all modern scientific and mechanical invention;
and his expression of approval in regard to the
various new appurtenances of machinery is
heard with respect, as coming from one who in
such matters speaks with authority.
On April 11, i860, Mr. Underbill was mar
ried to Miss Hannah Morrison Perley, of Dun-
barton, N.H. Their one son and only child,
Arthur Perley Underbill, is a graduate of the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

33

high school of Springfield, and is now a Junior
at the School of Technology in Boston.

_^„|X(JCH PHELPS is a well-known and
much respected native citizen of West-
field, where his birth took place on
the 25th of F"ebruary, 1835. For many years
the family have been prominently identified
with the best interests of the town. The line
of descent in America is as follows : George
Phelps, the emigrant ancestor, was born in
England, and in 1630, accompanied by his
brother William, came to this country, his
first location being in Dorchester, Mass. He
resided there for five years, in 1635 going to
Windsor, Conn., where he remained for thirty-
two years. He then came to Westfield, hav
ing received a grant of land in the eastern part
of the town, residing here until his death in
1678. He married Philera Randall, a daugh
ter of Philip Randall.
Thdr son, Captain Isaac Phelps, was born
in Windsor, Conn., and upon coming to West-
field became a teacher, being a pioneer in the
profession here. His wife was Ann Gay lord,
also a native of Windsor, Conn. Their son,
Lieutenant John Phelps, was born in the town
of Westfield, and married Thankful Hitch
cock, both, as far as known, being life-long
residents of their native town. Their son
George was born in Westfield, and married
Huldah Bush, they being life-long residents
here. They had thirteen children. Their
son Noah, who also was born here, married
Lydia Bush. His home was on the main road
leading from Boston to Albany; and, in addi
tion to farming, he kept a tavern, his house
being a stage station. Both he and his wife
spent their last days there.
Their son William, . the grandfather of the
Rev. Enoch Phelps, succeeded to the ownership
and management of the farm and tavern, and
passed his entire life on the place. His wife
was Abigail Holcomb, also a native of West-
field. Her father was one of the old-time
tavern-keepers, his location being at the corner
of Court and Mill Streets. Enoch Phelps, son
of William and Abigail (Holcomb) Phelps, was
born in Westfield, and inherited a portion of

the old homestead. In addition, he purchased
land about one-eighth of a mile distant, and
made his home here all his life. The maiden
name of his wife was Catherine Gleason ; and
their union was blessed by the birth of four
children — Charlotte A., Sarah ]., William G.,
and Enoch.
Enoch Phelps was reared and educated in
his native town, and at the age of eighteen
commenced to learn the trade of whip-making,
which trade he followed until 1858, when he
engaged in carpentry, so continuing until
1875. In that year he began the manufacture
of whips and lashes, which business he has
since successfully conducted. In 1866 he be
came converted, and embraced the faith of the
Second Adventists, becoming a preacher in
that denomination in 1871, since which time
he has supplied many pulpits, and done great
good in evangelistic work, like the Apostle
Paul, both laboring with his hands and preach
ing the gospel. He was ordained for the min
istry in 1872.
The union of Mr. Phelps with Miss Sarah
Brazee was solemnized in 1861. Mrs. Phelps
was born in Ellsworth, Conn., and is a daugh
ter of Samuel and Laura (Tyler) Brazee. To
bless this happy household three children have
been given — Cora L. , Grace May, and Nellie
E. The last-named died in 1868, aged six
years.

LEXANDER B. FORBES, senior
member of the well-known firm of
Forbes & Wallace, proprietors of
the extensive department stores sit
uated on Main, Vernon, and Pynfchon Streets,
Springfield, Mass., was born at Stracathro,
near Brechin, Forfarshire, Scotland, Decem
ber 24, 1837, and is the son of Alexander and
Elizabeth (Barclay) Forbes. His father, a
skilful gardener, was superintendent of fores
try upon a large estate, where he had over
thirty assistants. He was a sturdy old Pres
byterian, and the strong yet simple truths of
that religious belief were instilled into the
mind of young Forbes at a very early age.
Mr. Forbes received a fair education in his
native town ; and at the age of fourteen, after

34

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the death of his parents — who were buried in
the old historic kirkyard, the scene of Baliol's
humiliating resignation of his crown to Ed
ward I. of England — he was apprenticed to a
dry-goods merchant of Brechin, the agreement
calling for seven years of service, in the last
three of which he was to receive remuneration.
At the end of the fourth year, however, Mr.
Forbes yearned for a broader field, and being
willing to throw up his position, thus losing
what remuneration he might reasonably expect
in the future for the time already served, pro
cured his release, receiving a suit of clothes at
parting, left his first employers, and went to
Glasgow, where he was employed as a dry-
goods clerk for some time. In 1858 he crossed
the ocean and settled in Boston, where he ob
tained a position with George Turnbull & Co.,
prominent dry-goods merchants of that day.
In 1866 he went to Springfield and formed a
copartnership with John M. Smith, under the
firm name of Forbes & Smith. Their store,
which was situated at the corner of Main and
Vernon Streets, and has since been replaced
by the present firm's mammoth establishment,
was twenty-five by ninety feet, and considered
quite a large shop in those days. The firm
did a good, paying business, employing six
salesmen, Mr. Forbes also filling a position
behind the counter himself. This firm con
tinued until 1874, at which time it was
changed to Forbes & Wallace; and the new
company increased their capacity by purchas
ing the next store and connecting it with their
o'wn. In 1876 they purchased the entire
block. Mr. Forbes has given his personal at-
'tention and extensive experience to the busi
ness ; and improvements have been made from
time to time, as necessity demanded, until the
year 1893, when the new Pynchon Street addi
tion was' completed, thus swelling the store
capacity to one hundred and thirty thousand
square feet, or more than three acres of floor
space, making the present establishment one
of the largest department stores in New Eng
land. The store was originally confined to the
north side of the Barnes Block, at the corner
of Main and Vernon Streets; and the main
entrance is still there, though the demands of
an increasing business have constantly called

for additional room. The Barnes Block is now
owned jointly by Forbes & Wallace and J. S.
Marsh & Son, Forbes & Wallace occupying
the three stores taking up the northern quar
ters of the first floor and part of the second.
The two low buildings and the four-story
building in the rear, all three on Vernon
Street, have also been occupied by the firm for
some time. Their facilities for doing busi
ness have been increased by the handsome six-
story brick building, one hundred and twenty-
eight by sixty-four feet, fronting on Pynchon
Street, but joined in the rear, so that in effect
the store occupies a single vast building. The
rear wall of the four-story block on Vernon
Street has been removed, and the place of
joining with the new building is not noticea
ble. Another connecting link is the small
two-story building adjoining the four-story
block on the east. There was formerly at this
point an arched passageway for teams, with
one floor above, which was occupied by the
millinery department, and was reached by a
broad stairway from the main floor of the
store. In holiday seasons the archway has
been closed and a temporary passageway made,
connecting the main building with the four-
story block in the rear. The archway has now
been bricked up, and a permanent connection
has been made by cutting through between the
buildings. The cellar has been dug out be
neath the archway, and the walls supported by
steel beams and cast-iron columns. Satisfied
with the unvarying success of his mercantile
projects, Mr. Forbes is a sturdy, conscien
tious, and progressive business man. Al
though having political opinions of his own,
he has always firmly declined to be a candidate
for any public office, believing that his own
private affairs were paramount to all others,
and leaving political spoils for those who most
need' and appreciate them. He has one hobby
besides his business, that of breeding horses,
and at his Fortierland farm in Byfield he dis
courses the speed and possibilities of choice-
bred colts with much interest.
Mr. and Mrs. Forbes are members of the
Olivet Congregational Church, and for seven
or eight years he was one of the parish com
mittee.

- -x • I"-

IJA„^yQ^

//{ C-^t-i/i',

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

37

On August 7, 1859, Mr. Forbes was united
in marriage to Miss Susan E. P. Brown, of
New Hampshire; and they have one child,
Gertrude, who has been carefully educated at
Norton and Danvers.

¦OHN FRANCIS HAMILTON, a much
respected and well-to-do farmer of the
town of Agawam, owns and occupies
a comfortable homestead on Feeding
Hills, and ig a worthy representative of the
self-made men of Hampden County, having
attained his present prosperous condition by
untiring energy, prudent economy, and the
exercise of sound judgment in his business
affairs. He was born September 15, 1830, in
the town of Enfield, Hampshire County, Mass.,
and on the paternal side is of excellent Scotch
ancestry, being descended from John Llamil-
ton, who emigrated from Scotland in the early
part of the last century, and settled, it is sup
posed, in Shaftsbury, 'Vt.
James Hamilton, son' of John the emigrant,
and great-grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, was a farmer by occupation, and made
his home in Palmer, Mass., where he carried
on general husbandry. He married Esther
Brackenridge. Their son, John Hamilton,
named for his grandfather, was also engaged in
agricultural pursuits during his years of activ
ity. He was twice married, his second wife
being Chloe Converse, who was born and
reared in Thompson, Conn., but spent her last
years on the home farm in Palmer.
Jacob Converse Hamilton, son of John and
Chloe, and the father of John Francis, was
born and reared to man's estate in the town of
Palmer. After his marriage he lived for a
period of six years in the town of Enfield, but
subsequently returned to the parental home
stead, where he resided until 1839. Coming
then to Feeding Hills, he bought a farm a
half-mile south of Johnson's Corners, where
he carried on general farming until about three
years before his death, when he moved a mile
north of the Corners, where he passed away at
the ripe old age of eighty-one years. He mar
ried Fannie Robinson, a native of Hartford,
Conn., daughter of Charles and Content Rob

inson. She was a woman of much force of
character, and a true helpmeet to her husband,
whom she survived, living to the age of eighty-
two years. Five children were born to them;
namely, Fannie Elizabeth, John Francis,
James O M., Mary PYanklin, and Ellen Jane.
John Francis Hamilton was about eight
years old when his parents removed to Feeding
Hills; and during his early years he attended
school during the winter seasons, also making
himself useful at home, beginning as a chore
boy and continuing until he counted as a reg
ular farm hand. At the age of seventeen years
he began working out by the month ; and, his
father being in limited circumstances, he
helped support the family, giving to them a
large percentage of his wages. After five
years thus spent Mr. Hamilton worked a farm
on shares for sixteen years ; and, having then
saved up enough money to warrant him in buy
ing a place of his own, he settled on the farm
where he now lives, and which was formerly
the home of his wife's parents. Here he is
successfully engaged in tilling the soil and
dairying, and by the diligent industry and
sagacious management of his property is con
tinually adding to its value, his homestead,
with its well-kept buildings, giving ample
evidence of his skill and good taste as a prac
tical farmer.
Mr. Hamilton was married in 1868 to An
toinette Roberts, who was born on Feeding
Hills, daughter of William and Sophronia
(Colton) Roberts. Mrs. Hamilton died in
1879, after a wedded life of little more than
ten years. Politically, Mr. Hamilton pos
sesses the courage of his opinions and votes
irrespective of party lines, and in his religious
views is liberal.

TT^HARLES MERRIAM was one of
I Y^ Springfield's most distinguished citi-
V^ ^ zens, and a founder of the famous
publishing firm of G. and C. Mer
riam & Co. He was born in West Brookfield,
Mass., November 21, 1806. His father was
Daniel Merriam, and his mother's maiden
name was Thyrza Clapp. Tracing his ances
try farther back, we find that a hundred years

38

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ago, in the latter part of the eighteenth cen
tury, certain Merriams were printers, book
makers, and booksellers in Worcester County,
Daniel Merriam and his brother Ebenezer
having started a newspaper in West Brookfield
in 1789, at the very beginning of the "more
perfect union" of the States, with the adop
tion of the Constitution and the election of
Washington to the presidency.
E. Merriam & Co. was the style of the firm ;
and their general business kept on, though
their journal loerished after a precarious exist
ence of three years. Daniel Merriam had thor
oughly mastered the art of book-binding, while
his brother Ebenezer was an equal adept with
types and presses ; and in those days the me
chanical element in book-making was the most
important factor of the publishing business,
the methods being wholly different from those
of to-day. One of the Merriams would go to
some one of the large cities and solicit patron
age, agreeing to take a modicum of the pay in
stock, which would consist chiefly of books for
which there was virtually no sale in a small
place like Brookfield. They were, therefore,
exchanged with various dealers here and there
for other goods, particularly school books, for
which there was an immediate local demand.
In this way the book store was maintained, and
the ability of the Merriams became widely
known, so that their facilities were increased
and larger ventures undertaken.
They published law books for the trade, and
in the interest of the churches sent out the
"Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Watts" and an
octavo edition of twelve thousand Bibles.
This was an unusually hazardous venture," in
asmuch as stereotyping had not been heard of,
and a whole edition had to be printed at once,
the same types being needed for other pur
poses. To-day the pages can be cast and kept
on hand, a few hundred copies being printed
from time to time, as the laws of demand and
supply warrant. But in old times, if the sale
did not reach expectations, the whole edition
was a dead loss; while, on the other hand, if
a book was successful, the expense of resetting
the type had to be renewed with each succes
sive edition, thus vastly increasing the cost.
There still can be found copies of Perry's Dic

tionary, published by E. Merriam & Co., the
first edition issued in 1801 ; and this was,
doubtless, the spark which subsequently burst
into a flame of dictionary publishing, which
has waxed with the growth of the nineteenth
century. Daniel Merriam died in 1823, leaving eight
children. George Merriam, the eldest of
these, was born in Worcester, June 19, 1803,
and worked on the paternal farm in West
Brookfield till 1818, when the boy was fifteen
years old, and the country was in the midst of
the flooding prosperity which followed the set
tlement of irksome difificulties with Great Brit
ain. After a few months' experience in a
country store our lad was apprenticed to his
uncle Ebenezer Merriam. By the time he was
twenty-one George had fully learned " the art
preservative," and was now admitted into the
firm in place of his father, who had recently
died. The second of Daniel Merriam's sons was
Charles, the more direct subject of this biog
raphy. Both summer and winter he attended
the old-fashioned district school at the road
corners in West Brookfield; but mornings,
evenings, and the long vacations had to be
devoted to farm work. In 1820, at the early
age of fourteen, his father took him to Hart
ford, Conn., and there apprenticed him to a
printer named William Goodwin, with whom
he stayed three years, till he was seventeen,
and his father died. Thereupon Charles
returned to West Brookfield, and finished his
training with the Merriam firm, now consist
ing of his uncle Ebenezer and brother George.
At twenty Charles closed his apprenticeship,
and spent a year at the then flourishing acad
emies in the old towns of Mendon and Had-
ley. The next winter, 1827-28, he taught
school-not far from home, in South Brookfield;
and the season after he did the same for a few
months in Philadelphia. Then he went to
Boston and spent a few years, first as journey
man, and afterward as foreman, in the ofifice
of T. R. Marvin, a well-known printer of that
era. Charles's Boston home was with an old
friend, the publisher of a Baptist paper called
the Christian Watchman, to whose care his
boarder's letters were addressed.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

39

One day in 1831 Charles was carelessly
sauntering by the post-office, then kept in the
historic old State House, at the head of State
Street. With no special purpose he strolled
inside, and while there glanced over the list of
advertised letters hanging in the vestibule.
What was his surprise to see his own name
there. Of course, he at once called for the
delinquent missive, and found it to be from
the Rev. Dr. Osgood, pastor of the leading
church in Springfield, urging him to come to
that city and start a paper, as he had been
recommended by the Brookfield Congregational
pastor for such an undertaking. This led
Charles Merriam to go to Springfield with his
elder brother, George, and look over the field.
Though not satisfied with it as a journalistic
opening, they decided it would be a good place
for the book trade. So George sold out his
share of the West Brookfield establishment,
Charles resigned his position with Marvin, and
together they began their Springfield career,
but in a small way, preferring to creep before
they tried to walk or fly. Their store was in
part of the building on State Street of late
years occupied by Whitcomb & Co., stove
dealers. George Merriam had married into
the Little family, and a brother-in-law was
for a short time associated with the Merriams;
but after his withdrawal in 1832 the firm be
came G. & C. Merriam, as it remained for half
a. century, till 1882, though a third brother.
Homer Merriam, had in 1856 been added to
the partnership.
At first George Merriam was the bookseller
and Charles the printer; but, as their plant
enlarged, its mechanical branches devolved
more and more upon the apprentices, who
every Sunday, with Charles Merriam at their
head, used to fill up a long pewin the back
corner of the gallery, at Dr. Osgood's left
hand, in the First Church. For some years
George Merriam's ill-health compelled long
absences from home and store; and this threw
a still heavier burden upon the shoulders of
the younger brother, who was thus gradually
drawn into the mercantile department. So
that John M. Noah was taken into the print
ing-office, the style being Merriam, Wood &
Co. Still later the book store was carried on

under the name of Merriam, Chapin & Co.,
the new owner being Charles O. Chapin. The
publishing department, however, did not
change, but still belonged to G. and C. Mer
riam. They put forth several law books, a
series of school books, and pocket and family
Bibles by the thousand, besides various lesser
volumes. Their most celebrated undertaking, through
which the firm has become known to the
English - speaking world, was Webster's
Unabridged Dictionary. This was not merely
a piece of luck, whereinto they stumbled by
accident. To every business house come great
opportunities, but often in such a quiet and
unpromising guise that only the farthest-
sighted and most sagacious are able to profit
by its advent. Noah Webster died in 1843.
He had issued his dictionary in the most ex
pensive way, in two big volumes. Stereotyp
ing was now in use; but Dr. Webster's cele
brated work was not stereotyped, because he
was constantly revising, enlarging, and rear
ranging his material. The copyright was put
up at auction in Hartford, Conn., and bought
by J. S. & C. Adams, of Amherst, Mass. As
it proved too heavy a load for them to carry,
they gladly conveyed their rights, together
with the residue of the last edition of the dic
tionary, to the Springfield house for a thou
sand dollars. Pleretofore the work had been
sold at fifteen or twenty dollars a copy. Its
new owners at once had it revised by Professor
Chauncey Goodrich, of Yale College. Then
they stereotyped and printed it, issuing it in
1847, in one compact crown quarto volume,
which they advertised for six dollars. The
heirs of the great lexicographer deemed this
a mistake, and that ten dollars would be a
price too low for such a valuable book ; but
nothing convinces like success. Not only did
large sales reward the new departure, but the
wide attention called to Dr. Webster's service
led to a call for earlier abridged editions,
which the Merriams at once bought up. Their
arrangements with the Webster estate were
such that a certain sum was annually paid to
the legatees, whether the sales were large or
small ; and it is understood that the heirs
have received from the publishers nearly three

40

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

hundred thousand dollars in the half-century
between 1845 and 1895.
Till he had reached his threescore and ten
years, in our centennial year, Charles Mer
riam continued in active business. In 1877
he sold out his share in the firm, though still
retaining his chair and desk in the office,
where he was to be found nearly every day,
both before noon and after, for the next
decade. Even after his retirement from the
publishing firm he arranged an elegantly illus
trated edition of Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Prog
ress," besides taking a hand in lesser projects.
As he became an octogenarian, however, his
steps gradually faltered. In the autumn of
1886 it might have been said of him, m the
language of Gray's "Elegy," "One morn we
missed him from his accustomed place " ; and
for some months prior to his death, which oc
curred the next summer, July 9, 1887, the
venerable gentleman was unable to leave his
home. He had united with the Congrega-
tional church in 1828, at the early age of
twenty-two, while at work in Boston, and
thereafter was always an efificient helper of the
cause he had espoused. His profession of re
ligion was made at the Bowdoin Street Church,
Boston. On coming to Springfield in 1832,
he was admitted to the old church of the First
Parish by letter. Ten years later he became
one of the founders of the New South Church
in Springfield. Beginning adult life without
capital, and obliged to be very economical,
though always generous in proportion to his
means, he was able eventually to contribute
thousands of dollars to missions and other
philanthropic objects. To his native town.
West Brookfield, he gave a handsome public
library building, besides a fund for the pur
chase of books; and he was similarly generous
toward the city library of Springfield, which
he persistently urged should be ab.solutely free
to all classes of people.
The first wife of Mr. Charles Merriam was
was Miss Sophia Warriner, daughter of Colonel
Solomon Warriner, of Springfield. Their five
children were as follows: Charles Merriam,
who was named for his father, but died
in babyhood; William Merriam, late a school
master on Long Island, who died in 1889;

Mrs. Eleanor S. Woods, of San Francisco ;
Elizabeth Merriam, born in 1844, and Mrs.
Harriet Plasley, born in" 1842, both still liv
ing in Springfield. Mr. Merriam's second
wife, whom he married in i860, was Mrs.
Ruth (White) Gray, the widow of Dr. James
Harrison Gray, of Springfield. By this mar
riage there was one daughter, born in 1862,
Ruth White Merriam, now the wife of Will
iam C. Lawton, of Springfield, a son of the
late Dr. Sanford and Harriet (Ford) Lawton.
Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Lawton have two daugh
ters and a son — Rachel Merriam Lawton, .born
in 1885; Ruth White Lawton, born in 1887;
Sanford Lawton, born in 1893. The widowed
grandmother of these children, Mrs. Charles
Merriam, finds her home with the Lawton fam
ily, at 620 Washington Street, Springfield.
It is a pleasure to put on record the plain but
interesting facts concerning the name of Mer
riam, which has become a household word in
America. Among the steel portraits which enrich this
volume will be recognized and highly appre
ciated the likeness of Mr. Charles Merriam,
whose eminent services to American letters, as
well as his worth as a man and his deeds of
beneficence, will cause him to be long and
widely held in honored remembrance. As was
said by Dr. Samuel Johnson, the dictionary-
maker of an earlier century, "And sure th'
Eternal Master found his single talent well
employed. "

/T^HARLES E. COOLEY, junior mem-
( Y^ ber of the firm of Cooley Brothers,
\^^U__^, leading clothiers of the village of
Westfield, is a native of Hampden
County, his birth having occurred in South
wick on August 25,' 1848. He is a son of
Thomas and Elvira (Stevens) Cooley, the
former of whom was born in the city of Spring
field, Mass., a son of Samuel Cooley, who
was also a native of Springfield. The pa
ternal great-grandfather. Earl Cooley, was born
in the same city, and was of English ancestry.
He was an agriculturist, and the owner of a
good farm, which comprised land which is now
the site of the county jail. His entire life

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

41

was passed in Springfield. The maiden name
of his wife was Amy Stebbins.
Their son Samuel, the grandfather of Charles
E. Cooley, was a stage driver in his younger
days, and a contemporary of Chester 'W.
Chapin, one of the most prominent men in
Western Massachusetts, of whom an extended
sketch appears in this volume. Samuel Cooley
spent his life in his native town, but at the
time of his death was at the home of his son
in Southwick. He married Ruth Ferry, a
daughter of Thaddeus Ferry. The latter was
a musician in the Revolutionary War, his
flute, which he played at the execution of
Major Andrd, being now preserved in the
museum of the Old South Church in Boston.
Mrs. Ruth Cooley attained the great age of
ninety-three years.
Thomas Cooley, the father of Charles E.,
was reared and educated in his native city,
removing in young manhood to Southwick,
where he purchased a farm and engaged in
agricultural pursuits, meeting with success in
his chosen calling. Upon the homestead thus
established he passed the remainder of his life,
dying in his prime, at the age of fifty-five.
His wife, before marriage Elvira Stevens, was
born in Southwick, a daughter of Jesse and
Polly (Taylor) Stevens. She survived her
husband many years, dying at the age of
seventy-five. The parental household included
four children, all sons — Reuben V., Dexter
S. , Charles E. , and Thomas J.
Charles E. Cooley attended the public
schools and assisted in the multifarious duties
of the farm until he attained the age of eigh
teen, then commenced clerking in a general
store in Southwick, continuing in that position
one year, when he removed to Springfield, and
was there employed as clerk in the grocery
store of E. B. Haskell, remaining with him.
four 3'ears. He then went to Chicopee Falls,
clerking there a year and a half, when he
returned to Springfield and opened a restaurant.
In this enterprise he was very successful, and
continued to conduct it until 1888, in which
year he formed a partnership with his brother,
Thomas J., purchasing an interest in the busi
ness of the latter at Westfield, the firm name
becoming Cooley Brothers. In this undertak

ing they have been most prosperous, enjoying
a first-class patronage from the start ; and in
the spring of 1895 they moved into the new
Parks Block. This is a finer block than can be
found in any other village the size of West-
field, and is one that would be a credit to a
large city. Here the Cooley Brothers occupy
handsome and spacious quarters, their large
and well-selected stock, consisting of clothing
and gentlemen's furnishing goods, being fully
in keeping with the same. Socially, Mr.
Cooley is connected with the Masonic frater
nity, belonging to Roswell Lee Lodge, A. V.
& A. M., Morning Star Chapter, R. A. M.,
and Springfield Commandery, Knights Tem
plars. In 1884 Mr. Cooley was united in the bonds
of matrimony with Miss Mary E. Fiske, for
merly of Wilbraham ; and they make their
home in the city of Springfield. Mrs. Cooley
is a member of the North Church.

AMES R. WELLS, Register of Deeds
for Hampden County, is a prominent
and respected native citizen of Spring
field, and a worthy representative of an
ancient and honored family. His paternal
grandfather, James Wells, came here in the
early part of the present century, and, buying
largely of real estate, subsequently established
himself in the mercantile business, opening
a grocery store opposite Court Square, where
he carried on a very successful trade.
James Wells, Jr., was born in Springfield,
July 18, 1820, and here spent the larger por
tion of his life. He first entered into business
with the John Ames Paper Company ; but after
the building of the Western Railway, now the
Boston & Albany, he became connected with
that; and for nearly forty years prior to his
death, which occurred in April, 1880, he was
ticket agent for that company. He married
Miss Lydia A. Patterson, a native of New
Hampshire, who is still living, and is the
mother of two children — T. H. Wells; and
James R., the subject of this brief record.
The birth date of James R. Wells was Octo
ber 5, 1851. Having obtained a substantial
education in the common and high schools of

42

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Springfield, he entered the employ of the well-
known firm of Ray & Taylor, with whom he
remained until 1870, when he became a clerk
in the ofifice of the Register of Deeds, James
E. Russell, who held the position for many
years. Mr. Wells subsequently became As
sistant Register of Deeds ; and on the resig
nation of Mr. Russell he was unanimously
elected to the office of Register, for which no
man could be found better fitted, and which he
has since filled with credit to himself and to
the universal satisfaction of the public. Al
though elected on the Republican ticket, Mr.
'Wells takes no active part in politics, and has
never been an aspirant for political honors.
Socially, he is a member pi Brigham Lodge,
A. F. & A. M., of Ludlow, and in his relig
ious views is advanced and liberal, being an
attendant of the Unitarian church.
Mr. Wells was united in marriage — it is now
seventeen years since — with Miss Mary B.
Simons, daughter of Cicero and Hannah Si
mons, of Springfield, their nuptials being sol
emnized February 21, 1878, at the residence
of the bride's brother, Henry K. Simons, of
Greenfield. Their union has been blessed by
the birth of four children — Edith B., Marion
R. , Frank C, and J. Howard. The attractive
home of Mr. Wells is situated on the hill, on
Clarendon Street, where he has resided with
his family for the past nine years, sharing
life's duties and pleasures, and cheerfully doing
his part to promote the common weal.

/^^"

ILBERT H. SQUIRES, a well-to-do
% i) I farmer and popular resident of the
town of Montgomery, Hampden
County, Mass., is a native of this town, his
birth having taken place on the 21st of Sep
tember, 1825. His parents were Peter and
Dorcas (Finney) Squires, the former of whom
was also born in the town of Montgomery.
The paternal grandfather. Captain Sylvester
Squires, was a soldier in the war of the Revo
lution, being in command of a company. He
was a farmer by occupation, and spent his
declining years in Montgomery.
Peter Squires, following in the footsteps of
his father, took up farming as his vocation, and

was a life-long resident of his native town,
spending his last years on the farm where his
son Gilbert now resides, and here passing
from earthly scenes at the age of eighty-one.
His wife, Sarah Finney, was born in Farm-
ington. Conn. She died at the age of
seventy-one. Five of their children were
reared; namely, Lucina, Gilbert H., Addi
son, Marilla, and Gardner.
Gilbert H. Squires, who was the eldest of
three sons, was educated in the district school,
in the mean time assisting his father on the
farm, and always made his home with his par
ents, death alone separating them. In his
early youth there were none of the advantages
which we of the present day are in the enjoy
ment of. Railroads were unknown, and all
travel was made by teams or on foot. The
people were obliged to subsist chiefly off the
products of their land, supplemented by game,
of which there was an abundance in the wild
woods; and the women, in addition to cook
ing and other household duties and practices
in vogue at the present day, used to card,
spin, and weave, the clothing of both parents
and children being of homespun web. The
mother of Mr. Squires was no exception to the
rule, and brought up her children to habits of
industry and economy, all of them becoming
useful and honored citizens.
Gilbert H, Squires succeeded to the ovimer-
ship of the home farm, upon which he has
made many improvements, among others hav
ing erected a good set of frame buildings.
The farm is a large one for New England,
comprising three hundred acres, and occupies
a pleasant location on the Montgomery road,
five miles from the Westfield railway station.
Mr. Squires has never become a benedict, pre
ferring to be untrammelled from the cares and
anxieties of the wedded state. Politically, he
is a firm supporter of the Democratic party.

AMUEL D. SMITH, a veteran of
the late Civil War and a respected
citizen of West Springfield, is ac
tively engaged as a tiller of the soil
on the homestead where he was born, Novem
ber 13, 1830. He is of good old English

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

43

stock, his great-grandfather, Nathan Smith,
having emigrated from England to the United
States in Colonial days, and taken up his
abode in Connecticut.
Simeon Smith, son of Nathan, a native of
the southern part of Connecticut, served
gallantly during the Revolutionary War, and
afterward was avvarded a pension. He was a
shoemaker and tanner by trade, and having
removed to Westfield there conducted a tan
nery and engaged in the manufacture of
shoes, living until he attained the remarkable
age of ninety-eight years. To him and his
wife, whose maiden name was Abigal Fowler,
seven children were born; namely, Charles,
Hiram, John, Nathan, Horace, Daniel, and
Caroline. Horace Smith, long known as Deacon
Smith, was born in Westfield, Mass., August
15, 1792, and was reared on the parental
farm, living there until after his marriage,
when he purchased the homestead in West
Springfield now occupied by his son, Samuel
D., the subject of this sketch. In addition to
cultivating his land he carried on dairying,
^beginning in a modest way to supply the resi
dents of (ihicopee, then Cabotville, with milk.
That now flourishing city was then a small
hamlet, containing about a dozen houses;
and, there being no bridge across the river,
he carried the milk over in a skiff. He con
tinued a resident of the place until his death,
in 1869. He married Grata Bagg, a native of
West Springfield, and a daughter of Oliver
and Tryphena Bagg, the former of whom was
a veteran of the Revolution, and in the later
years of his life drew a pension. Deacon
Horace Smith and his wife reared eight chil
dren — Henry B., Joseph A., Franklin F.,
Margaret, Harriet A., William H., Samuel
D., and Caroline T.
Samuel D., who was the youngest of five
brothers, completed his studies at the West-
field Academy, and at the age of twenty years
commenced teaching school, which he con
tinued for a number of terms during the
winter season. After his marriage he bought
a farm near his birthplace, and engaged in
general husbandry until 1862. In July of
that year Mr. Smith enrolled himself among

the brave defenders of his country's flag, en
listing in Company D, Thirty-fourth Massa
chusetts Volunteer Infantry, and served until
the cessation of hostilities. He was an ac
tive participant in many of the severest con
tests of the war, among the more important
being the engagements at New Market, Win
chester, Piedmont, Lexington, and Lynch
burg. In 1864 he was wounded at Berryville,
Va., while with his regiment on a reconnois-
sance, a spent ball hitting him square in the
mouth and knocking out nine of his teeth.
He was not able to do active service after that,
and was honorably discharged from McClellan
Hospital in Philadelphia in June, 1865.
Returning to civil life, Mr. Smith resumed
his former occupation, and in 1869 removed
to the homestead where he was born and
reared, and of which he is now the owner.
This farm is finely located, being on the main
road from Springfield to Holyoke, and about
midway between the two cities. In 1866 Mr.
Smith entered the service of the Connecticut
River Railway Company as baggage master at
Chicopee Junction, and the following year
was promoted to assistant station agent, and
remained thus employed eight years. Re
signing his position, he next engaged in the
drug business in Chicopee, going from there
to West Warren, where he continued the busi
ness for seven years. Giving it up at that
time, he resumed farming operations, as indi
cated above, and is numbered among the pros
perous and enterprising agriculturists of the
locality. On May 15, 1855, Mr. Smith was united in
wedlock to Mary J. Taylor, a native of Ches
terfield, Hampshire County, and the descend
ant of a well-known family of this section of
Massachusetts. Her grandfather, Seth Tay
lor, was born and reared in Conway, but later
moved to Chesterfield, where he purchased a
farm, which he carried on until his decease.
He married Ruth Dickinson, who was also a
native of Conway. Their son, George Taylor,
the father of Mrs. Smith, was a farmer by
occupation, and removed to the town of Aga
wam, where on Feeding Hills he purchased a
good farm, on which he spent the remainder
of his days. He married Juliana House, who

44

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lived to the age of sixty-two years, and bore
him six children — Mary Jane, Edward D.,
Antoinette, Frances, Albert G., and Charles.
The sons were all veterans of the late war,
Edward having been Captain of Company G,
Thirty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteer In
fantry, in which company Albert was Orderly
Sergeant, while Charles was a member of the
Forty-sixth Regiment.
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Smith, namely: Mary Grata, who married
Gilbert A. Smith, and has two children —
Alonzo G. and George ; Charles L. ; Amanda,
the wife of Edward Jackson, and mother of
one son, Clifford; Grace B., the wife of Ruel
Stevens; and Emma. Socially, Mr. Smith is
a member of the E. K. 'Wilcox Post, No. i6,
Department of Massachusetts, Grand Army of
the Republic, and also belongs to the Hamp
den County Agricultural Society, being an
active and influential member.

January

kEV. NICHOLAS VAN DER PYL,
pastor of the Congregational church
at North Wilbraham, was born in
the Province of Zealand, Holland,
II, 1867, but spent his boyhood
mostly in the city of Boston, Mass., his par
ents, John and Mary Van der Pyl, with six
children, accompanied by their grandfather
Adrian, having come to this country in 1872.
Adrian Van der Pyl, who had buried his wife
in Holland, died in Boston in 1879.
John Van der Pyl was born in the Province
of Zealand in 1829, or near that date, and was
there married about forty years ago to Mary
Smallegange. Six of their seven children
were born in Holland; namely, Adrian, Jo
hanna, Cornelius, Cornelia, Adriana, and
Nicholas, the subject of this sketch. Jo
hanna, Cornelia, and Nella, the youngest,
who was born in Boston, are still living at
the home of their parents in that city.
Adriana is the wife of M. Horrigan at Athol,
Mass.; Adrian is purchasing agent for Bar
nard, Sumner & Co., dealers in dry goods
at Worcester; Cornelius is with the Chicker-
ing Piano Company in Boston. Their mater
nal grandfather, Cornelius Smallegange, came

to this country about 1880, and returned two
years later to Holland, where he died shortly
after. Nicholas Van der Pyl was educated in the
public schools of Boston. After graduating
he took a course preparatory to college at the
Pinkerton Academy, Derry, N.H., and from
there went to Hartford Theological Seminary,
where he graduated in 1893, taking the
Hebrew Prize, and was Class Day Orator. In
February, 1893, he was called to East Hamp
ton, Conn., and to North Wilbraham. Ac
cepting the latter call, he was here ordained
and installed on September 13, 1893. The
Rev. Nicholas Van der Pyl is an active mem
ber of the Hampden County Ministerial Asso
ciation, being on the executive committee.
He is a great reader and student, as is attested
by the fine library of over seven hundred vol
umes which he has accumulated, and in which
he takes great pleasure and pride.
On June 21, 1893, he was united in mar
riage to Ada Alice Forbes, of Boston, eldest
daughter of Alexander and Charlotte (Gay)
Forbes, and a graduate of the Boston public
schools. Their union has been blessed with
one daughter, Doris Gay Van der Pyl. The
Rev. Mr. Van der Pyl, though yet a young
man, has shown himself an earnest and efifi
cient laborer in the gospel, one called to bear
"testimony to the greatness and dignity of the
Christian preachership, " and is well beloved
by his parishioners.

1851.

OHN HOSEA CARMICHAEL, M.D.,
one of the leading physicians and sur
geons of Springfield, Mass., was born
at Sand Lake, N.Y., on January 29,
He is a homoeopathist, but was first
trained in the allopathic school.
His grandfather, Peter Carmichael, came
from Scotland, and located at Sand Lake.
He had a son, William, who married Mary
Kelley, and became the father of our doctor.
William Carmichael and his son John were
both born on the same farm, the father in
1780, the year when Benedict Arnold tried to
betray West Point to the enemy. Mr. Will
iam Carmichael was rather young to fight in

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

45

the Revolution, but served his country as
Captain in the War of i8i2. He was a citi
zen of much prominence. Besides caring for
the home farm of two hundred and fifty acres,
he did a large business in real estate, and was
many years a Justice of the Peace, an office
which is elective in the Empire State. He
also received a government appointment as
head surveyor, which post he held until he
was obliged to resign on account of a severe
illness. The first cast-iron ploughshare and
mould board were the inventive work of Will
iam Carmichael, who drove to Boston with a
specimen of his ingenuity, which he there
placed on exhibition. Afterward with his
son-in-law. Dr. Judson, of West Sand Lake,
he engaged in manufacturing business. As a
Mason he was also prominent, holding various
high ofifices in that fraternity. His wife was
a native of Nassau, N.Y., and died in 1868;
but Mr. Carmichael lived until 1876, our
centennial year, d)dng at the age of ninety-
six, leaving six sons and three daughters. In
politics he was a leading Democrat and in
religion a highly respected member of the
Baptist church.
The subject of our sketch was educated in
the common schools and Seram's Academy in
Sand Lake, graduating from the latter first
in the class of 1867. Thereafter he became
a teacher, serving one year at Chatham and
another at Lebanon Springs, N.Y., besides
teaching at Sand Lake during the winter. In
North Chatham, N.Y., he read medicine with
Dr. O. J. Peck, remaining with him continu
ously until 1874, during that time taking a
course of study in the medical department of
Union University at Albany. In 1874, after
three years of studious application, during
which he spent much time in the office of Dr.
J. M. Bigelow, he was duly graduated. After
graduation he went to 'Worcester, Mass.,
where he had a lucrative practice for nine
years. His attention was next devoted to the
study of surgery, under Drs: Thomas and
Emmet," the leading surgeons of New York
City in their line, gynaecology. After a
year's study with Drs. Thomas and Emmet
at the Women's Hospital, he returned to
Worcester in 1879, and remained until 1883,

performing many capital operations. He is
distinguished as being the first resident
Worcester physician who was a successful
operator in ovariotomy. In January, 1883,
he removed to Boston, to take up a surgical
and gynaecological practice; but, finding the
seashore did not agree with his condition, he
relinquished a good practice, and came farther
inland, to Springfield, where he began a gen
eral as well as a surgical practice, performing
operations for the other homoeopathic physi
cians in and about the city, being the only
special surgeon of that school in Springfield.
His practice, one of the largest in the neigh
borhood, is largely due to his fine and genial
nature. The Massachusetts Homoeopathic
Society, the Worcester County Homoeopathic
Medical Society, the Western Massachusetts
Homoeopathic Medical Society, and the Amer
ican Institute of Homoeopathy all number Dr.
Carmichael in their membership. He is an
ex-President of the Massachusetts Surgical
and Gynjecological Society. He belongs also
to the Springfield and Roswell Lee Masonic
Lodges; and two clubs, the Nayasset and
Masonic, claim a part of his attention. The
Doctor has always had more or less to do with
fine horses, for which he has a great liking;
and he attends to their breeding and train
ing as a recreation. Among the well-known
horses he has raised and owned are: Sterling,
time 2.iii; Germaine, 2.20; Bella Wilkes,
2. i8i;. Mermaid, 2.26; Jubilee, 2.25^; Daisy
Queen, 2.24^; and Winnie Wilkes, 2.28^.
He has also owned excellent horses which he
did not himself develop; and among them are:
David L., 2.19!-; Chance, 2.22^; and Walter
A., 2.254. He takes pleasure in owning the
fastest animals ever known in the country,
and also enjoys working and driving them on
the track.
His wife, whom he married March 17,
1875, was Anna E. Spencer, a daughter of
Charles H. Spencer, of New Lebanon, N.Y.
They have one daughter, Pauline, born in
1892. Their pleasant home is at 41 Maple
Street, Springfield.
"Science is knowledge certain and evident
in itself, or by the principles from which it is
deducted or with which it is certainly con-

46

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

nected. It is subjective, as existing in the
mind; objective, as embodied in truths; spec
ulative, as leading us to do something, as in
practical science."

¦fn)"rENRY SHERMAN, a veteran agri-
Y^\ culturist of Hampden County, owns
llg I a well-improved and well-kept farm
in the town of Westfield, where he
is pleasantly passing the autumn of his life.
He was born November 22, 18 19, in the town
of Savoy, Berkshire County, Mass., his grand
father, Jacob Sherman, having been one of the
original settlers of that place. He took up a
claim of heavily timbered land, and clearing
a space erected a log house in the midst of the
dense woods for himself and family. Wolves
and deer then roamed through the country at
will ; and game of all kinds was abundant, and
furnished food for the few settlers of the
vicinity. By dint of hard and constant labor
Jacob Sherman cleared and cultivated a farm,
on which he resided until his death, at the
age of seventy-five years. He married Betsey
Williams, who in the later years of her life
became a Shaker, joining their community in
New York State, where she lived to the re
markable age of ninety-nine years and seven
months. They reared eleven children, all of
whom grew to full age, but have long since
joined the silent majority.
One of their sons was Jos^^eph Sherman, who
was born and reared to a farmer's life in Berk
shire County, and followed that independent
calling during his years of activity. He
owned land in different places in his native
county, living there until after sixty years
old, when he removed to Canaan, Columbia
County, N.Y., where he died, aged eighty-
nine years. He married Candace Lewis, also
a native of Berkshire County; and three chil
dren were born to them, namely: Nelson, a
farmer, living in Canaan, N.Y.; Henry; and
Armeda, who died at the age of thirty-eight
years. The father was broad and liberal in
his religious views, and the mother was a firm
believer in the Shaker faith.
Henry Sherman had but limited opportuni
ties for acquiring an education, but attended

the district schools of Savoy whenever he
could be spared from home. He early began
to work on his father's farm, and there gained
valuable experimental knowledge of the im
portant branch of industry which was to be his
occupation for life. Three years after his
marriage he left the parental homestead, of
which he had had charge, and moving to New
York State lived on a rented farm in Canaan
for sixteen years, being successfully engaged
in general agriculture. In 1859, returning
to Massachusetts, Mr. Sherman bought sev
enty acres of land in Westfield, and there pur
sued mixed husbandry for seventeen years,
coming thence to the farm in the same town
which he now owns and occupies. In addi
tion to this choice, though not very large,
estate, he owns valuable woodlands in the
town of Southwick, and deals somewhat in
lumber. He has made good use of his time,
and by dint of persevering toil and wise man
agement has placed himself in comfortable
circumstances. At the age of twenty-one years, September
24, 1840, Henry Sherman was united in mar
riage to Cynthia Cain, daughter of Rufus and
Melinda (Leonard) Cain, both natives of
Massachusetts, but for some years residents of
Canaan, N.Y. Rufus Cain passed away at
the age of fifty years, and his wife when
eighty-eight years of age. He was a farmer
by occupation, and in addition thereto fol
lowed for a time the trade of a stone mason.
Their family consisted of four daughters, all
of whom are now living, namely: Mrs. Annie
Pierce, of Savoy; Mrs. Sherman; Mrs. Sylvia
Cloe, of Chester; and Mary Eveline Cain, of
Adams, Mass.
Six children have been born of the union of
Mr. and Mrs. Sherman, the following being a
brief mention of them: Albert Dwight, a
farmer and miller, resides in Westfield;
Emma E., wife of Proctor John Bowker, lives
in North Adams; Charles Milton, a farmer,
resides in Westfield; Dallas J. is in West-
field; Harvey Fenner lives in North Adams;
Jesse died at the age of six years and seven
months. Mr. Sherman has led a busy and
useful life, and holds a good position among
the worthy and respected citizens of the town.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

47

Politically, he is an adherent of the Republi
can party, and both he and his wife are liberal
in their religious views.

|LIJAH AMES NEWELL, the popular
City Clerk of Springfield, was iDorn at
Enfield, Mass., December 21, 1840,
in what was then known as the old Gate house,
having been at one time used as a turnpike
toll-house on the road between Enfield and
Belchertown. When he was a few months old,
the family moved to Springfield, already a
thriving town ; and his first recollection is of
living in a house on State Street in the rear
of the brick building now occupied by Whit
comb, Kirkham & Hazen' s stove store, then
called the Clinton House, a favorite hostelry
with circus and theatrical people.
His parents were William and Caroline
(Keith) Newell, both natives of Enfield. The
father was a noted painter of churches, stee
ples, and other elevated structures, but in
later years he became foreman in Warner's
large painting establishment. He was first
a Whig, and then a Republican, but never an
office-seeker. He died in 1887; but his wife
outlived him, dying in 1891. They had nine
children, five of whom are now living — Elijah
A., and two of his brothers and two sisters,
namely : Joseph Keith Newell, Captain in the
Tenth Massachusetts Regiment, and belonging
to the firm of T. M. Walker & Co. ; William
Alexander Newell, also of Springfield; Han
nah Annette Newell, now the wife of Lucius
E. Poole, and a magazine writer, living in
Greenfield, Mass. ; Julia Emeline Newell,
now the wife of William Pratt, of West Gard
ner, Mass.
Elijah A. Newell received his education in
the public schools, beginning with the school-
house at the corner of School and High
Streets. The elderly teacher was Miss Hol-
. brook, whose snowy hair was high crowned
with a rufifled cap. Her large rocking-chair
was covered with the bright-figured cotton
print known as copperplate. With knitting-
needles snapping in hand, she would peer
benevolently over her glasses, yet conduct the
school with the greatest decorum, looking at

a boy as tenderly as his own mother, yet
spanking him with equal firmness. After
leaving the old school young Newell drove a
milk wagon for a time; but later he worked in
Gardner Adams's millinery on State Street,
and afterward was a railroad newsboy. Next
he learned wood carving of W. L. Washburn,
finally buying out the shop. Almost his first
work was on the large cornice brackets still
to be seen supporting the cornice of the Mas
sasoit House. Church organs were in those
days furnished with elaborately carved cases,
and there was also a great demand for archi
tectural carving. Specimens of Mr. Newell's
work may be seen here and there all over the
country. In 1862 he enlisted in Company A, Forty-
sixth Regiment, serving with that organiza
tion in North Carolina. While the intrench-
ments about Newbern were being strengthened,
he was prostrated by exposure to the broiling
sun, and was sent to the hospital. After a
time, with five hundred other sick men, he
was placed on board the steamer "Convoy, "
which left Newbern for Boston. The steamer
went ashore in a fog near Scituate, and lay in
a perilous position all night, but was floated
soon after daybreak the next morning, and duly
reached her destination. In a critical condi
tion he was taken to the Beach Street bar
racks, and undoubtedly owes his life to the
kindness and attention of the late Chester W.
Chapin, who not only secured medical attend
ance, but remained by Newell's bedside until
he was able to be sent home, caring for him as
tenderly as for an own son. After his recov
ery Mr. Newell resumed for a time his old
trade, his shops being successively on Market
Street and Main Street. While in the former,
the C. D. Leet Cartridge Factory exploded,
on the opposite side of' the street, fatally in
juring nine persons. The window was shat
tered at which Mr. Newell was working, and
he was covered with broken glass and splin
ters ; but he jumped through the opening into
the street and assisted in caring for the in
jured. Later he gave up wood carving and
entered the pension claim and insurance office
of his old friend and commander. Captain
L. A. Tifft.

48

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

On June i, 1867, he began work with the
Daily Union as city reporter, but soon became
its city editor, a position he retained until the
close of 1887, having had an experience of
twenty years and seven months. From the
very first he kept his department free from
scandals, not liking sensational journalism or
coloring an item at the expense of reliability.
His articles covered the widest range of sub
jects. Though without musical pretensions,
he wrote for the Union excellent criticisms
of light operas, the Thomas Orchestra, Ole
Bull, Miss Carey, and many other artists ; and
also dramatic criticism of Booth, Fechter,
Barrett, Ristori, Janauschek, Modjeska, Sara
Bernhardt, Charlotte Cushman, and Henry
Irving. He also compiled a valuable record
of the authorship, origin, and production of
over three thousand dramatic works. In art
criticism, also, he had a hand, and was natu
rally brought into contact with such celebrities
as Charles Dickens, General Grant, and others.
He was on the committee of fifty which en
gineered the two hundred and fiftieth anniver
sary of Springfield's settlement, and outside
his journalistic work has published an account
of the city's growth, compiled articles for the
"History of the Connecticut Valley," and writ
ten poetry and stories. Among the latter are
"Tom Tilden," "My Brother's Wife," "Only
a Tramp." At the dedication of the soldiers'
monument on Court Square he made the his
toric address, on "Springfield's Part in the
War." Mr. Newell was a member of the
Common Council in 1872 and 1873, and clerk
of that body for fourteen years. He has been
elected City Clerk every year since 1887, its
duties nearly doubling within that period, the
Australian ballot system having gone smoothly
into operation under his management ; and he
is also clerk of the Electoral Registration
Board. In 1888 the Union office was destroyed
by fire, eight persons being killed and others
injured; and Mr. Newell was appointed on
a committee to disburse a relief fund amount
ing to four thousand dollars. As City Clerk,
he is also ex-officio clerk of the Board of Alder
men. He was Commander of Wilcox Post,
Grand Army of the Republic, for two years,
and belongs to the Royal Arcanum and to

Hampden Lodge of Odd Fellows. Mis wife,
Alice Dawley Bidwell, whom he married on
New Year's Day, 1868, is a native of Moodus,
Conn. ; and they have two children — Julia E.,
born in 1869, wife of H. A. Holland, of
Springfield, and the contralto in St. Paul's
Church, which the family attend; and Harry
W. , still in school. The career of the subject
of our sketch clearly proves the triumph of
versatility.

JB

AVID S. HAMILTON, a practical
farmer of the town of Blandford, is
the owner of a choice farm of three
hundred and twenty acres, with a
convenient house and barn, and all the modern
machinery and appliances pertaining to a first-
class estate. His life exemplifies in a marked
degree the success to be attained by industry,
economy, and thrift, he having worked his way
from comparative poverty to a place of influ
ence and afifluence. He was born October 26,
1 82 1, in the town of Blandford, thus being
now numbered among the oldest of its native
citizens, and is a worthy descendant of one of
the earliest pioneers of this section of Hamp
den County, his grandfather. Captain David
Hamilton, having been one of the original
settlers of Blandford.
David Hamilton was born in Ireland, July
II, 1742; and his wife, Mary Knox, was born
February 17, 1752. He emigrated to the
United States prior to the Revolutionary War ;
and in that struggle between the colonies and
the mother country he actively participated,
being Captain of a company in the Continental
army. He afterward settled in Blandford,
where he and his good wife suffered all the
privations incidental to pioneer life, the set
tlements hereabout being then few and far
between. Captain Hamilton improved a farm,
on which his thirteen children were born and
reared, and where he and his faithful helpmeet
died, both well advanced in years. A Bible
formerly belonging to him, printed in 161 5
and still in a good state of preservation, is now
in the possession of his grandson, David S.,
and is valuable on account of its antiquity, as
well as being an heirloom.

JOHN MULLIGAN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

SI

Samuel Hamilton, son of the emigrant and
his wife, Laura Cannon Hamilton, were both
natives and life-long residents of this town, he
living threescore years, while she attained the
venerable age of eighty-eight years. He was
a farmer by occupation, and, buying out the
interest of the remaining children in the pa
ternal homestead, here successfully carried on
mixed husbandry. Politically, he was a stanch
adherent of the Democratic party, and, relig
iously, attended the Methodist Episcopal
church, of which his wife was one of the lead
ing members. They reared three children,
namely : Elizabeth, who died at the age of
seventy-one years; Sally, who lived fifty years;
and David S. , of whom we write.
David S. Hamilton has spent his life within
the limits of the town of his birth, where he
acquired his education in the public schools
and was reared to habits of industry and econ
omy. He early began to be self-supporting,
at the age of ten years working on a neighbor
ing farm and receiving the sum of four dollars
a month for his services — most excellent wages
for a boy in those days. He continued work
ing at any honorable employment he could find,
and, being very frugal and saving, accumulated
enough money when only twenty-three years
old to buy fifty-eight acres of land, now in
cluded in his present farm. He has labored
unweariedly, and by the exercise of the fore
sight and good judgment with which he is
blessed he has prospered in his various under
takings. From time to time Mr. Hamilton
has bought additional land; and besides his
home property, which contains one hundred
and ninety-one acres, he was at one time the
owner of four hundred and fifty-three acres.
A part of this having been disposed of, his
land aggregates three hundred and twenty
acres. Mr. Hamilton was united in marriage May
28, 1848, to Renewah Clark, who was born in
Blandford, June 24, 1823, daughter of Stephen
and Anna (Nye) Clark, and died March 18,
189s, aged seventy-one years, nine months.
Of their union two children were born, namely :
Sally E., born January 24, 1858, and died
October 9, 1861; and Laura, who married
Roscoe O. Ripley, a farmer, of Blandford, they

being the parents of three children — Nellie
R., Clifford R., and Grace E. In Mr. Ham
ilton the Democratic party finds one of its
warmest supporters; and, religiously, he at
tends and supports the Methodist Episcopal
church, of which his wife was a valued and
devout member.

OHN MULLIGAN, President of the
Connecticut River Railroad, was born
in Hartford, Conn., January 12, 1820,
during the Monroe administration. His
father, bearing the same name, was a north of
Ireland man, who came to this country in
1 8 19, and settled in Hartford, where he died
in 1 841, aged only forty-three. The mother
was also Irish, and they were married before
leaving the old country. She reached the ad
vanced age of eighty, living thirty-four years
a widow, and dying in 1875.
Our subject was the eldest of seven chil
dren, and the first child born of Irish parents
in Hartford. Till the age of sixteen he at
tended the common schools, and was then
apprenticed to Daniel Copeland, a builder of
steam - engines and other machinery, with
whom he remained three years. Subsequently
he was in the same work, employed by Guild
& Douglas, of Middletown, Conn., and still
later spent two years in Philadelphia with
William Norris, the celebrated locomotive-
maker. Possessed with the desire to be an
engineer, in 1841 he returned to Hartford and
took that position on the tow-boat "William
Hall," plying weekly between Hartford and
Willimansett Falls. The next season, for
the Hon. Chester W. Chapin, he ran very suc
cessfully the passenger boat "Phoenix," on
the river between Springfield and Hartford.
In 1842 the Boston & Albany Road, then
called the Western, offered Mr. Mulligan a
position; and this he held a decade. The
Connecticut River Railroad emioloyed him as
Master Mechanic from 1852 to 1868, placing
in his charge all the rolling stock, his ofificial
headquarters being at Northampton, though
his home was still in Springfield. In 1868
he was appointed acting Superintendent of the
road, in addition to his duties as Mechanic.

52

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

After four years of this double service he
began to confine his work to the superintend-
ency, and did so till 1890. In that year he
was chosen Director of the road, and presently
made its President. Meanwhile the Ashuelot
Road was consolidated with the Connecticut
River Road and the Vermont Valley and Sul
livan County Roads operated by the Connecti
cut River Railroad Company. Mr. Mulligan
has given his personal attention to the machin
ery and rolling stock, his early training afford
ing just the practical knowledge needed.
His wife, whom he married in 1845, was
Lydia Ann, daughter of Hastings Bridges, of
Worcester County, Massachusetts. She died
suddenly September 11, 1887, aged fifty-seven
years, leaving two children — Charles Henry
Mulligan, born in 1846, and now Superintend
ent of the Hawkins Foundry; and Mary Hen
rietta Mulligan, born in 1849, "^^"0 was first
married to J. Milton Fuller, of Springfield,
and second to James T. Abbe, also a Spring
field resident, of whom a separate sketch is
given in this work.
For many years Mr. Mulligan has been
called to fill important city ofifices, having
served two years as Alderman and five years in
the Common Council. In 1878 he was elected
a Trustee of the Hampden Savings Bank,
which institution he now serves as President ;
and he is a Director of the Chapin National
Bank. At one time he was chairman of the
Fire Commissioners, a department in which he
was many years practically interested. Politi
cally, he is a loyal Republican; and his life
course has been marked by perseverance and
strict integrity, making him respected by all
with whom he is associated.
This condensed record of a busy career is
happily supplemented by a lifelike portrait of
Mr. Mulligan, to be found on another page.

LEXANDER WHITNEY, a prosperous
agriculturist of the town of Ludlow,
was born in Dana, Worcester
County, Mass., on October 25,
1824, the year when Lafayette made his mem
orable tour of this country, landing in New
York in August, and visiting every State in

the Union before sailing for home. Mr. Whit
ney's parents were Artemas Hammond and
Abigail (Skinner) Whitney, the former of
whom was a native of the town of Shrewsbury,
Mass., and the latter of Dana.
Artemas Whitney was reared on a farm, fol
lowing agricultural pursuits as his life occupa
tion. He purchased an estate in the town of
Dana, residing upon it for a number of years,
but in 1827 came to Flampden County, he and
his eldest son making the journey with an ox
team, and conveying the household goods,
while the other members of the family came
with a horse and wagon. He resided in the
town of Springfield until 1834, in that year
removing to Ludlow, where he worked a farm
on shares for five years, and then became the
owner of one comprising about one hundred
acres, located in the eastern part of the town,
upon it residing the greater part of the time
until his death, which occurred when he had
reached the advanced age of eighty-two. He
was twice married, the maiden name of his
first wife being Abigail Skinner. She was
born on August 12, 1797, and was a daughter
of Benjamin Skinner, a veteran of the Revo
lutionary War. Mrs. Abigail Whitney died
when about sixty years of age, having reared
five children, as follows: Adin, Zuri, Alexan
der, Merrick, and Lovina.
Alexander Whitney was but three years old
when he was brought by his parents to Hamp
den County, and at the tender age of eight
commenced work in the cotton-mill at Ludlow,
then called Put's Bridge, remaining there
about a year and a half. He then assisted his
father in the labors of the farm, in the mean
time attending school a portion of each year.
When he had attained his eighteenth year, his
father gave him his time; and he started in
life for himself, first finding employment as
a farm hand for about three years, at the ex
piration of which time he worked a farm on
shares, finally purchasing a tract of land ad
joining the old homestead. This he improved,
and upon it resided until 1883, when he re
moved to the estate where he now resides.
On January 15, 1845, Mr. Whitney was
united in marriage with Martha Maria Hayden,
a native of the town of Ludlow, and a daugh-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

S3

ter of Walter and Orpha Hayden. She passed
to the higher life in 1881. Mr. Whitney
was a second time married December 14,
1883, when Lucy Clarissa (Plumley) Keith
became his wife. Mrs. Whitney was born in
Ludlow, her parents being Elijah and Clarissa
(Hayden) Plumley, an extended sketch of
whom appears in this work. At the time of
her marriage to Mr. Whitney she was the
widow of Reuben Farnham Keith, a brief his
tory of whom is also given elsewhere in this
volume. Mr. and Mrs. Whitney are both
members of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and in all respects are worthy and honored
citizens of their community.

FARNHAM KEITH, de
ceased, a former resident of Ludlow,
was born in the town of Enfield,
Hampshire County, Mass., on No
vember 17, 1820, and was a son of Daniel and
Lydia (Frost) Keith, the former of whom was
a native of the same State, removing from
Enfield to Chicopee, where he resided a few
years, and thence going to Ludlow, where
he made his home for a time, finally remov
ing to Belchertown, where he passed his last
years. Reuben Farnham Keith attended the public
schools, and upon reaching man's estate turned
his attention to 'agriculture, at the time of
marriage settling on a farm in Belchertown,
where he resided, industriously engaged in its
development and improvement, until 1878, in
which year he removed to the Plumley neigh
borhood, locating on a farm, which continued
to be his home the remainder of his life. His
death took place in 1881, when he was sixty-
one years old.
Mr. Keith married Lucy Clarissa Plumley,
a daughter of Elijah and Clarissa (Hayden)
Plumley, an extended sketch of whom is given
in this work. Mrs. Keith was born in Lud
low. She was a second time married Decem
ber 14, 1883, becoming the wife of Alexander
Whitney, for a history of whom see sketch
elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. Keith was a devoted member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, taking a deep

interest in all projects having for their object
the furtherance of Christ's kingdom and the
good of humanity, his pure and upright life
being a bright evidence of his faith.

ON. JOSEPH LUCIEN SHIPLEY,
an able journalist, for many years
editor of the Springfield Union, and
a member of the State legislature
from the Sixth Hampden District for the term
of 1893 and 1894, was born in Londonderry,
N. H., on the last day of March, 1836, in the
second term of Jackson's administration, and
was the son of John and Rebecca (Dickey)
Shipley. John Shipley, born in Londonderry, April
10, 1809, the son of Amos Shipley, became
a farmer and house carpenter, and was all his
life a leading man in his native town, holding
various local offices, and elected twice to the
State legislature. He died in January, 1875.
His wife, a native of the same town, born in
December, 181 3, was a daughter of Captain
Joseph Dickey, a soldier of the War of 1812,
and a descendant of emigrants from London
derry, Ireland, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Her
death took place April 10, 1886. Mr. and
Mrs. John Shipley were members of the Pres
byterian church. Of their two children, the
subject of this sketch was the eldest; and his
sister Julia is still living, the wife of William
P. Nevins, of Londonderry.
As a boy, Joseph Shipley displayed the
same serious and earnest qualities which char
acterized him in manhood, working faithfully
on the farm, and improving to the fullest ex
tent the opportunities afforded in town schools.
Very early he determined to go to college.
With this end in view, he was fitted for col
lege at Kimball Academy, Meriden, N.H.
At Yale College he worked hard, and left a
good record when he graduated in 1861. He
always took much pride in his class, and made
strong and lasting friendships among its mem
bers. After receiving his degree he was two
years principal of Bacon Academy, at Colches
ter, Conn., there making the acquaintance of
the lady who became his wife. In 1863 Mr.
Shipley came to Springfield and entered jour-

54

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

nalistic life as night editor and general assist
ant in the office of the Republican, which had
upon its staff Dr. Holland and Clark W.
Bryan, besides the proprietor, Mr. Bowles.
The new-comer was at the telegraphic desk
during the exciting days of the Civil War,
when the news was full of thrilling interest for
thousands of eager readers. After three years'
faithful service in different departments of this
paper he joined the editorial staff of the Bos
ton Journal, where he remained a similar
period. Then for one year he was managing
editor of the Republican at Scranton, Pa. , and
for more than two years editor of the Regis
ter and Chronicle at Allentown, Pa., owning a
half-interest. Early in 1872 he went to Taun
ton, Mass., to take charge of the Gazette , but
in August of the same year he was called to
Springfield to take a position on the Union,
then an evening sheet, with which he was
closely connected for the next twenty years.
This paper was started in 1864 by Edmund
Anthony, of New Bedford, but passed into the
hands of Clark W. Bryan & Co. before Mr.
Shipley came to it as assistant editor under
Mr. Pomeroy. Such was his ability that in
1 88 1 he became editor and chief owner, form
ing a corporate company, with a capital of
twenty-five thousand dollars. He was the first
President and Treasurer, and shouldered the
entire responsibility of management. At this
time the Union was four pages in size, and
not on a paying basis, and had to be built
up under the very shadow of the Republican.
Mr. Shipley doubled its size and infused new
life into its veins by his own energy. Its cir
culation immediately widened, and its influ
ence increased, until it became one of the
ablest and oftenest quoted papers in New Eng
land. Every one had confidence in the paper
because of the man behind it. It was pub
lished on straight Republican principles ; but
its manager, though a partisan, held broad
views of public questions, and never failed to
treat opponents fairly. His political articles
were convincingly strong, and Massachusetts
Republicans owe much to his untiring efforts.
Mr. Shipley was the hardest-working member
of the corps, and never demanded service he
was not ready to give. He conscientiously

believed in the elevating mission of the press,
and acted accordingly. In March, 1888, when
the prosperity of the Union was at last firmly
established, came a disastrous fire. Several
lives were lost, the Union building was nearly
destroyed, and the overworked director suffered
a nervous and financial shock, resulting in a
severe illness. When partially recovered, he
went abroad for a few weeks, coming back
much improved ; and on his return a banquet
was given him at the Glendower Hotel by his
newspaper associates. He soon rallied to his
chosen work, his recovery accelerated by the
steady gain of the Union, which was so great
that there arose a demand for a morning as
well as an evening edition. In 1892, his
health becoming unequal to the strain, he sev
ered his connection with the office, to the deep
regret of his constituents. Loving his paper,
this step was the greatest trial of his life; but
he knew that any attempt at larger duties
would be at the risk of life itself. The Unioii
came into the hands of its present owners on
June I, 1892; and his heartily tender farewell
appeared next day in its columns. From every
department of the paper he received a joint
testimonial of warm appreciation. After a
rest of a few months Mr. Shipley's health was
much improved; and in the fall of 1893 he
was elected to the legislature, where he ren
dered valuable service to his city as a member
of the mercantile committee. In the fall of
1894 he was re-elected' by an overwhelming
majority. Heretofore, absorbed in his paper,
he had never been an oflfice-seeker ; yet there
was now reason for believing him destined for
higher political honors. But on December 17,
1894, he died suddenly from heart disease,
while at home in Springfield. When the sad
news was announced in the House of Represen
tatives, that body respectfully adjourned until
fitting eulogies had been offered. The grief
over his loss was general, both among his per
sonal acquaintances and readers.
Mr. Shipley was prominently identified with
local benevolent enterprises, being one of the
incorporators of the hospital. For many years
he was an active member of the First Church,'
and for some time one of its Deacons. He
was Vice-President and an active member of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

55

the Connecticut Valley Congregational Club,
and was a State delegate to the Congregational
Council in Chicago in 1886. He was a mem
ber of the Winthrop Club, and, as an editor,
was one of the si.xteen prominent literarians
composing what was known simply as The
Club. Among the business enterprises in
which he was interested was the Massasoit
Paper Manufacturing Company of Holyoke, of
which he was a Director. For twenty years
his home was at 89 High Street, where his
widow still resides. He was a man true to
every obligation, whether public or private.
Those who knew him best loved him most and
rated him highest. His broadly tender sym
pathies made him an earnest worker in every
worthy cause ; and he was proud of the city,
for whose welfare he was ready to do his
utmost, and which is the poorer by his de
cease. Mrs. Shipley was Margaret H., daughter of
Captain Hiram Weeks, of Colchester, Conn.
They were married October 4, 1864, at the
home of her brother, Theodore C. Weeks, of
Maiden, Mass., by the Rev. H. A. Stevens,
subsequently of Hartford.

-AMES T. ABBE, of Springfield, Mass.,
President of the Holyoke Envelope
Company, was born in East Windsor,
Conn., March 16, 1849, the year Zach-
ary Taylor came into the presidency. His
parents were James and Caroline E. (Terry)
Abbe. The father was born in Enfield,
Conn., June 1, 1822, and was educated at
Westfield Academy, after which he learned
tinsmithing at "Thompsonville, Conn. At
Hazardville, Conn., he went into the trade for
himself. He came to Springfield in 185 1,
James T. being then two years old, and there
for two years had a shop directly opposite the
post-ofifice. For the next two years they lived
in East Greenwich, R.I., after which they
returned to Springfield, where Mr. Abbe
continued the stove and tinware business on
the site of the present post-ofifice. His son,
James T., went into business with him in
1869 under the style of James Abbe & Son.
In 1870 they removed to 309 Main Street,

having erected a building for their business.
In 1882 Mr. Abbe, Sr., retired from active
business, but continued to live in the city.
In 1875 ^i^d 1876 he represented his district
in the State legislature. The mother lives
(in 1895) at the homestead, 79 Spring Street,
where the father resided for twenty-eight years
previous to his death, which occurred on May
7, 1889.
Mr. and Mrs. Abbe had two children, our
subject and Caroline Louise, wife of Charles
D. Rood, of this city. The mother's family
came from old Connecticut stock, and she is a
member of Trinity Methodist Church.
James T. Abbe, after attending the high
school in Springfield, went to Wilbraham
Academy one year, and then entered Amherst
College in the class of 1870, continuing there
until the end of his Sophomore year. His
father then employed him for a year, at the
end of which the son was given a half-interest
in the shop. In April, 1881, James left his
father in order to engage in the manufacture
of envelopes. The Holyoke Company was
organized in December, 1880, by James Abbe,
George N. Tyner, and James T. Abbe.
Later James Abbe sold his interest to James
D. Whitmore, of New York City; and subse
quently George N. Tyner and our subject pur
chased the Whitmore interest. They began
in the Water Power Company's building on
Cabot Street, which was entirely destroyed by
fire in January, 1888. Then they built their
present factory on Main Street, Holyoke,
where they employ three hundred hands. No
single factory in the country produces so many
staple envelopes, the daily output being three
and one-half million; and the machinery was
not only constructed under their own patents,
but built by them. After the completion of
their building at 309 Main Street, the Abbes
purchased the adjoining building at 305 and
307 Main Street, heretofore known as the
Farrar Block. In 1889 both buildings gave
place to a new block with a brown-stone front.
Fire came again in November, 1893; and
then Mr. Abbe erected the Phoenix Building,
the best of its kind in Western Massachusetts,
and containing two exceptionally fine stores,
thirty-five ofifices, and two apartments under

56

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the sidewalk. Its site is in the very heart of
Springfield, on Main Street, opposite the post-
office and custom-house. The Phoenix has an
imposing entrance and admirable interior
finish, with marble wainscoting, mosaic hall
floors, and superior toilet conveniences. The
hydraulic elevators, hoisting apparatus, fire-
escapes, lighting, and heating are thoroughly
arranged; and there is a government mail-box
on each floor, with an accessible telegraph and
messenger call. Every part has running hot
and cold water, electricity, steam, and gas ;
and it is exclusively an office building above
the ground floor. The stores have elegant
windows, and are level with the sidewalk,
while the upper floors command a grand out
look. There is perhaps no handsomer and
more convenient edifice in town, while every
precaution has been taken against fire from
within or without.
Mr. Abbe is a Director in the Pynchon
National Bank of Springfield, the Home Na
tional Bank of Holyoke, and of the Park
National Bank of Holyoke, to which he was
an original subscriber. Of the company pub
lishing the Springfield Daily Union he is
President, as also of the Board of Trade, in
which he has been an efficient worker. He is
a gentleman of cultivated tastes, and in addi
tion to his reputation as a capable and far-
sighted business man is widely known as an
art connoisseur and critic. After familiariz
ing himself thoroughly with the aims and
methods of the best native artists and acquir
ing possession of many fine paintings, the
choicest products of home talent, his atten
tion was diverted into European art channels,
and he became an enthusiastic admirer of the
works of the best foreign masters. Many
valuable paintings, representative of the best
foreign schools, masterpieces in conception
and admirable in treatment, adorn his rooms
at the Massasoit House, where he makes his
home.

]ClDWARD CLIFFORD, a very prosperous
R farmer of Granville, is a native of the
'^*««— ' County Kerry, Ireland, and was born
March 14, 1843. He is a son of Timothy

and Bridget Clifford, who were tenant farmers
in Ireland, and came to the United States in
1857, settling in Granville the same year,
where Timothy worked as a farm laborer for
some years. He died at the age of seventy-
five, and his wife was called to her final rest
at the age of sixty-five years. They were
faithful communicants of the Roman Catholic
church and highly respected by all. Timothy
Clifford was an honest, reliable man and a
Democrat in politics. Of their seven chil
dren five are still living, as follows: Dennis,
who resides in Granville; Eugene, who re
sides in Westfield; Edward, of this record;
Mary, also of Granville; and Bridget, who re
sides in Springfield.
Edward Clifford was educated in the schools
of Granville, and at the age of sixteen com
menced work by the month, receiving five dol
lars for his first month's labor. He continued
to labor diligently, and by his frugal habits
managed to accumulate considerable means,
which he invested in real estate, first purchas
ing sixty acres. Five years later he sold this
property, and in 1871 he bought the farm
upon which he now resides, consisting of one
hundred acres of excellent farm land; and he
has since conducted general farming and
dairying, together with cultivating fruit. He
has thoroughly remodelled his residence, and
has good substantial farm buildings. His
estate during the growing season always pre
sents a pleasing appearance, and thrift is ap
parent on every side.
On February 5, 1865, he was married to
Miss Nancy Miorty, who was also a native
of Ireland and a daughter of Daniel and Cath
erine (Lavin) Miorty, both of whom are now
deceased. Mrs. Clifford was summoned to
her final rest on December 2, 1879, ^-^d died,
as she had lived, a devout Christian woman.
She left five children, as follows: Mary,
Sarah, John, Edward, and William, all of
whom are as yet unmarried, and reside with
their father.
In politics Mr. Clifford is a Democrat.
He still actively superintends the cultivation
of his farm, with the able assistance of his
children, and enjoys the respect and esteem
of his fellow-townsmen.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

57

/2)eorge WHITEFIELD WINCHES-
Y '3 1 TER, formerly President of the
Springfield Building and Loan Asso
ciation, was born at Westmoreland, Cheshire
County, N.H., on February 25, 1804, during
the Jefferson administration. The earliest
known ancestor of this family was John Win
chester, who came to Massachusetts in 1634,
soon after the settlement of Boston, and was
made a freeman in the town of Brookline in
1635, receiving a grant of land the next year.
Our subject's father, Samuel Winchester, was
an active merchant, and he held the office of
Justice of the Peace in Westmoreland, where
he owned the hotel; and it was through his
instrumentality that the second bridge across
the Connecticut River was built. He was a
member of the first General Assembly of New
Hampshire. His wife was Maria Edson; and
they had four children, of whom George was
the eldest, and named after the famous Eng
lish preacher, himself the son of an inn
keeper. Almira Winchester married Winslow
Tuel; the next child was Emeline; and the
youngest, Rufus King Winchester, died in
childhood- George Winchester was educated at the
Chesterfield Academy, six miles from home,
where he attracted attention by his scholarly
bearing, intellectual grasp, and quick appre
hension, afid gave especial attention to pen
manship and book-keeping. After leaving
school he taught for a short time in Putney,
Vt., and therefrom went successively to New
Haven, Hartford, and Philadelphia, where he
taught painting and drawing, but gave par
ticular attention to writing, being the first to
improve the method of teaching by means of
printed copy at the head of each page. He
was also the inventor of the dotted outlines,
by which the pupil can trace his letters more
readily and accurately, till eye and hand are
trained to correct forms. While teaching
book-keeping at Hartford he published a work
on that subject, which had an extensive sale;
and the copyright was bought by a New Y ork
firm not long before the war. In 1848, when
the full military regime was adopted at the
Springfield Armory, General Ripley offered
Mr. Winchester the head clerkship, which

involved auditing and book-keeping duties.
This gave him an excellent opportunity to
put into thorough practical operation his own
methods, which were found to furnish the best
results, whereof no better proof can be offered
than the fact that he retained this office nearly
half a century, a period including our great
war, when the armory was roused into tre
mendous activity, and unprecedented burdens
were thrust upon it; nor would he have re
signed in 1892 but for the pressure of ill
health. Religiously, Mr. Winchester was an Epis
copalian, and generously interested in the
building of Christ Church, which he also
served as Warden, Vestryman, and Sunday-
school superintendent. With the aid of a few
friends, especially the Hon. John B. Steb
bins, he organized a book club, which eventu
ally led to the formation of the City Library
Association. During his connection with the
armory his residence was within its grounds,
in a government house; but after his retire
ment his home was with his adopted daughter,
Mrs. Ella Winchester Felt, at 44 Firglade
Avenue, and there he passed away on the
evening of February 21, 1895, after a year, of
failing health, though he was not long con
fined to the house, the immediate cause of -his
death being pneumonia. The character and
aims of Mr. Winchester were both exalted.
An earnest Christian gentleman, he looked
always at the bright side, even of those who
least deserved his respect; for he could not
speak an unkind word. In four days he was
to celebrate his ninety-first birthday, and to
this he looked forward with happy thoughts;
but on that day it was left for his friends to
speak of him with tearful respect and tender
remembrance. Old enough to recall the War
of 1812, the famous cold summer, the rise of
the temperance and antislavery movements,
the panic of 1837, the Whig triumph and de
cadence, the advent of the Republican party,
the great Rebellion, his life was charged with
memories of the progress of the beloved coun
try whereof he was an honored citizen, and
whose cause he served by his faithful official
service. Mr. Winchester's wife was Mary Rogers,

58

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

daughter of Dr. Benjamin Rogers, formerly
of Great Barrington, and later of Hartford,
where she made the acquaintance with Mr.
Winchester, which ripened into their union,
and where her father shared an office with the
celebrated poet, William Cullen Bryant, their
intimacy having begun in Great Barrington.
The Winchesters had two children — George,
who died in infancy; and Frank, a promising
college graduate, who died while in search of
health off the coast of California. Late in
life Mr. Winchester adopted his cousin, Ella
Winchester Felt, widow of W. W. Felt, one
of the proprietors of the old Planter's and new
Lindell hotel at St. Louis, Mo., where Mrs.
Felt resided until her husband's death.
Then after a sojourn in the San Luis val
ley, Colorado, she returned to Springfield in
May, 1893, to preside over the home of Mr.
Winchester during the last years of his life.
Mrs. Felt has four children. William Sher
man Felt is named for his godfather. General
William T. Sherman. Pauline is the wife of
F. F. Hyatt, of Colorado. Emily May mar
ried Frank Anderson, of Colorado. Win
chester Whipple Felt was named for General
William D. Whipple, of the United States
army. The Felts are reasonably proud of
their descent from Marie Stuart and from the
famous Governor Bradford of Plymouth.

|?tIb:RSON S. CROSIER, a well-known
and prosperous gentleman of Spring
field, where he has resided for over
fifty years, was born at Belchertown, Mass.,
April I, 1822. His father and mother were
Moses and Lucinda (Danforth) Crosier. The
former was a native of the town of Pelham,
but lived most of his life at Belchertown.
He was one of the old-time geniuses, by trade
a gunsmith, and owned a shop, where he plied
his trade; but so versatile was he that arti
cles of all kinds, from fine watches, needing
skilled workmanship to adjust their intricate
machinery, to rifles, were brought to his shop
in all stages of dilapidation, and soon emerged
therefrom nearly as good as new. Mr. Crosier
owned a blacksmith-shop, and also a farm.
His wife. Miss Lucinda Danforth, was born at

Sutton, but later moved to Pelham, where they
were married. They had four children, three
of whom lived to maturity. The oldest is
Emerson S. , our subject; James C. now lives
at Amherst ; and Florania is the wife of
L. V. B. Cook, of West Springfield.
Mr. Emerson S. Crosier received a practical
education in the schools at Belchertown, and
also at a select school. After finishing his
studies he learned the mason's trade, and when
but twenty years old left home and came to
Springfield, where he worked for Samuel B.
Spooner, and subsequently for Howe &
Spooner. Most of his time he worked as a
journeyman, and many fine buildings standing
in Springfield to-day bear the marks of his
handiwork. Mr. Crosier was married on January 8, 1846,
to Miss Susan Hannum, daughter of Araunah
Hannum. This name is a^ Biblical one, and
is remarkable from the fact that it occurs only
once in the Bible. Mr. Hannum went from
Belchertown to Palmer, and from there to
Springfield, where he lived until his death.
Mrs. Crosier was born February 19, 1820.
She has had three children, two of whom are
now living, namely: George W. , who is in
New York State, and has one son, George E. ;
and Carrie, wife of Frank H. Copeland, Sur
veyor (Deputy) of Customs, who has one child.
For twenty years Mr. Crosier worked faith
fully at his trade as mason. After that he
took an active part in municipal affairs, serv
ing as Assistant Marshal for two terms, the
last three years of his service under Mayor
Winchester. He was also apjiointed Deputy
Sheriff, but resigned the office on account of
poor health. For the past forty years, until
recently, he has been engaged in the business
of house-renting, having acquired a taste for
real estate when working at his trade. He
has been particularly successful at his chosen
work; and his patrons placed implicit confi
dence in him, as is evidenced by the number
of houses which he has had under his charge,
for which he collected rents, and which, in
fact, he looked after in every particular.
Prior to the year 1887 he lived on Central
Street. He bought his present residence at
5 1 Harvard Street in April of that year ; and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

59

in this pleasant home he lives his peaceful
life, surrounded by friends. Surely, he has
all " that should accompany old age.
As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends."

JRA B. ALLEN, Treasurer of the Spring
field Gas Light Company, with which
organization he has been connected since
February, 1872, has resided in the city
of Springfield the past thirty-two years. Mr.
Allen was born in the town of Thompsonville,
Hartford County, Conn., February 24, 1854,
son of George B. and Isabel le (Kenyon)
Allen. His father was for many years Super
intendent of the Hartford Carpet Company, in
Thompsonville; but about the time of the
Civil War, when the manufacture of fire-arms
was a leading industry, he removed to Spring
field, and worked at the armory. Subse
quently, the war having closed, he was en
gaged in the meat business till he retired
from active labor, continuing, however, to
reside in Springfield up to the time of his
death, which occurred March 25, 1882. His
wife died in December, 1879. Mr. George B.
Allen left six children, Ira B. of this narra
tive being the youngest son. The family
were descendants of Samuel Allen, a pioneer
settler in Connecticut, the date of his arrival
being 1632.
Ira B. Allen received his early education
in the public schools of Springfield, and on
finishing his course entered the employ of the
Gas Light Company as office boy, doing work
at first and gradually climbing up through
various grades till he became book-keeper and
clerk. At length, in January of 1890, he was
elected Treasurer of the corporation, which
position he continues to hold at the present
time. The Springfield Gas Light Company
was organized in 1848. It has been success
ful from the start, and now has a capital stock
of five hundred thousand dollars, with a yearly
output of about one hundred million cubic
feet of gas, supplying five thousand con
sumers. Mr. Allen has full control of the
financial department. So far the use of gas
has not been materially affected by the intro

duction of electric light. Many a year must
pass before it can entirely supersede gas, if,
indeed, it ever does this; for modes of living
in the great cities now call for the use of gas
for domestic and heating purposes, and its
manufacture will be naturally on the increase
to supply the growing demand. The success
of the business in which Mr. Allen is engaged
has therefore a prospect of increasing year by
year. Mr. Allen was married September 13, 1876,
to Miss Dora Cross, a daughter of the late
Porter Cross, of Springfield, her native place
being the old picturesque town of Wilbraham,
where she grew up and attended the Wesleyan
Academy during the course of her education.
They have one daughter, Mary I., who is a
student in the schools of Springfield. The
family residence was built by Mr. Allen in
1886, at No. 165 St. James Avenue, a very
agreeable situation, and furnishing a delight
ful home among pleasant neighbors.
Mr. Allen, being Treasurer of the Church
Extension Society, representing the various
Methodist Episcopal organizations of Spring
field, set forward the movement which resulted
in the erection of St. Luke's Church on the
hill, which he attends with his family, ad
vancing its influence by personal active work.
Mr. Allen served as superintendent of the
Sunday-school for the first four years, and has
always held the office of Trustee, besides
being a strong financial supporter.

NSEL D. KING, a well-known citizen
of Westfield, where he is Deputy
Sheriff, and a real estate dealer
and auctioneer, was born in Gran
ville, Hampden County, Mass., December 20,
1828. From the best available information
it is believed that the paternal great-great
grandfather, William King, removed about
1730 from Westfield to Great Barrington,
where he resided until his death, which took
place in 1773- His son Asahel was born in
1720, and in 1744 was united in marriage
with Rebecca Nash. He died in Great Bar
rington on October 30, 1756. His son Asa
hel, the grandfather of Ansel D., was, it is

6o

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

supposed, born in Great Barrington. He was
a blacksmith by trade, and established him
self in business on Silver Street, Granville,
of which town he remained a resident until
his death. Miss Rebecca Barlow, a native of
Granville, became his wife, and bore him two
sons — Edmund and George. The latter
never married.
Edmund King, the father of Ansel D., was
born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and
was brought up to agricultural pursuits, after
marriage settling on a tract of land which his
wife had inherited and to which one of her
ancestors had received a grant from the king.
On this farm Edmund King passed the re
mainder of his life, dying December ii, 1854.
The maiden name of his wife was Clarissa
Bancroft. She was a native of Granville and
a daughter of Enoch and Sarah Bancroft.
She passed away on April 29, 1858, having
reared a family of five children, as follows:
Edmund Major, who died in 1894; Sybil C. ;
George T., who is now deceased; Ansel D. ;
and Justus W.
When Ansel D. King was nine years old,
he went to live with the family of Rufus
Barlow, a farmer, and assisted in the various
duties incident to a country life, attending
school in the winter seasons. He made his
home with Mr. Barlow until he attained the
age of sixteen, when he went to the city of
Springfield, and was engaged as a clerk in a
restaurant for a few months, finally returning
to Granville, where he was employed as a
clerk for two years. He then entered Gran
ville Academy, studying there one winter
term, and then resumed clerking. In 1853
he decided to go West, his destination being
Iowa, making the journey via railroad to
Freeport, 111., then the western terminus of
the road, and thence by stage to Bridgeport,
Jackson County, la. There he was engaged
at carpentry for a year and a half; but, not
being favorably impressed with the West, he
concluded to return home, and for a number
of years was employed as a clerk in Spring
field. During the time of the late war he
commenced his career as an auctioneer, meet
ing with flattering success in this line of busi
ness, and conducting sales in the different

towns and cities of Hampden County. In
1874 he was appointed Justice of the Peace
by Governor William B. Washburn, and held
the office for seven years. In 1881 he moved
from Granville to Westfield, and did not see
fit to have the appointment renewed, although
the office was offered him. In Westfield he
has since been a useful and honored citizen,
exerting his influence in the cause of right,
and advocating all measures looking toward
the upbuilding of the community.
Mr. King was married in 1854, Mrs. Clara
Waters becoming his wife. Mrs. King is a
native of Middletown, Conn., and a daughter
of Mr. Crowell. Her mother's maiden name
was Mary Hubbard. The family are members
of the Universalist society. Fraternally, Mr.
King is connected with Woronoco Lodge, In
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and Meta-
comet Tribe of Red Men, and occupies the
chair of Prophet in the Chief's degree team.

HARLES W. TALMADGE, one of
the most skilful and enterprising of
^ the practical agriculturists of Hamp
den County, was born on the farm
he now occupies, in Southwick, November 3,
1843, a son of Thomas and Amanda (Gillett)
Talmadge, both natives of this town. Thomas
Gillett, one of his maternal ancestors, was an
early settler of Granville, Mass., where his
death occurred April 27, 1821. His wife,
Mary, survived him, living until September 4,
1827. Mr. Talmadge' s paternal grandfather, Selah
Talmadge, was born in Connecticut, but re
moved from there to Massachusetts, and,
settling in Southwick, here engaged as a whip-
maker, cabinet-maker, and farmer, being one
of the well-to-do agriculturists of the town.
He was born January i, 1789, and departed
this life October 6, 1859. His wife, whose
maiden name was Laura Gillett, was a native
of Granville, Mass., born August 4, 1791, and
lived until November 28, 1845. Seven of
their children grew to years of maturity, and
three of them are now living, namely: Selah,
a resident of Canada; Mary, of Southwick;
and Philura, of Canada.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

63

Thomas Talmadge, one of the sons of
Selah and Laura (Gillett) Talmadge, passed
the larger part of his life in the place of his
nativity, and in addition to general farming
was a manufacturer of whip lashes, carrying on
a substantial business. He was quite an ex
tensive landholder, owning at one time some
two hundred acres ; but his homestead property
contained but one hundred and fifty. By in
dustry and good management he placed his
land in an excellent condition, and made a
pleasant and desirable home for his family,
where he continued to reside until his demise,
February 25, 1887. He was an important and
influential citizen of the town, in politics an
ardent supporter of the Republican party ; and,
religiously, he and his wife were active mem
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, of
which he was an officer. His wife, Mrs.
Amanda Gillett Talmadge, was a life-long
resident of Southwick. She died on the
homestead, October 11, 1886. The six chil
dren born to them are all living. Leslie D. ,
born August 22, 1841, is' a resident of Mis
souri. . Charles W., of Southwick, is the next
-in order of birth. Newell T. , born January
28, 1846, lives in Springfield. William H.,
born July 29, 1848, resides in Westfield.
Levi G. , born April 10, 185 i, is a resident of
Southwick. Mary Luella, born September
27, 1853, is the wife of Clifton L. Holcomb,
of Springfield.
Charles W. Talmadge was educated in the
district and grammar schools of his native
town, remaining at home until seventeen years
old, having early begun to take practical les
sons in agriculture. Going then to Connecti
cut, Mr. Talmadge worked on the farm of
Stevens Brothers for seven months, receiving
one hundred dollars for his labors. At the
breaking out of the Rebellion he was little
more than a boy, but the fire of patriotism
surged through his veins; and on August 25,
1862, he was impelled to enlist, joining Com
pany E, Twenty-fifth Connecticut Volunteer
Infantry, commanded by Colonel George P.
Bissell. He was sent with his regiment di
rectly to the .front, and at the battle of Brazier
City, La., was taken prisoner. He was sent
from the hospital on parole, but never ex

changed until his term of enlistment had ex
pired and he was honorably discharged, August
26, 1863. Mr. Talmadge subsequently bought
his first land in Southwick, and here engaged
in lumbering, carrying on an extensive and
profitable business until a sudden flood washed
away his mill and otherwise so damaged his
property that he sold out. In 1867 he returned
to the old homestead, assuming its manage
ment, and, at the death of his father having
bought out the remaining heirs, has here con
tinued as a tiller of the soil. His farm con
tains one hundred and fifty acres of rich land,
and under his careful cultivation yields abun
dant harvests of tobacco and the small grains.
He also makes a specialty of dairy products,
having from twelve to fifteen head of graded
and full-blood Jerseys, this branch of his bus
iness being as prosperous as the others.
On April 13, 1.875, Mr. Talmadge was
united in marriage to Celia Arthur, a native of
Tolland, Mass., and a daughter of Frederick
and Mary (McMillan) Arthur, neither of whom
is now living, the father having departed this
life at about middle age, and the mother at the
age of sixty-nine. They were the parents of
seven children, of whom but two now survive
— Franklin F. Arthur, of Westfield; and Mrs.
Talmadge. Mr. and Mrs. Talmadge have one
child only, Fred C, who was born September
14, IJ876. In politics Mr. Talmadge is a sin
cere Republican; and both he and his excel
lent wife are liberal in their religious views
and true-hearted, worthy people.

DWARD COVELL ROGERS, Presi
dent and Treasurer of the Massasoit
Paper Company, and a resident of
the city of Springfield, Mass., since 1856,
was born in Ogden, Monroe County, N.Y.,
May 6, 1838. He is the son of John and Bet
sey Nye (Covell) Rogers, and grandson of
Hanson Rogers, a farmer of Walden, who
married Miss Hannah Webster, a first cousin
of the renowned statesman and orator, Daniel
Webster. The Websters came originally from
New Hampshire to Walden in the first years
of its settlement. Vermont then had not long
been designated as a State. It was as late as

64

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1 79 1 that the people residing in the "New
Hampshire Grants " petitionecl Cangress that
they might be separated. Other "grants"
made by Governor Wentworth, of lands west
of the Connecticut River, were considered as
encroachments by New York State, which
regarded Vermont as under its jurisdiction.
There was therefore great opposition ; but
an act was finally passed, and Vermont
took her place among the other representa
tives of the Union. She began to increase in
population. New towns sprang up; and New
Hampshire herself contributed a citizen and
family now and then, of whom the Webster
family may be mentioned.
John Rogers, the father of Edward Covell,
was a native of the town of Walden, Cale
donia County, Vt., and migrated to Monroe
County in 1837, when that locality was con
sidered the Far West. Here he engaged in
farming, and remained until 1845, a period of
eight years, when he removed to the town of
Alpine, Kent County, Mich. There he culti
vated quite an extent of land, and succeeded
so well that he remained till his death, which
occurred December 23, 1864. John Rogers
was for many years a member of various
school boards, taking an active part in the
general scheme of education, and, so far as
possible for one removed from the chief- cen
tres of intellectual life, keeping in touch with
the advanced ideas of the times. He was a
Whig in his political principles, a man of
genial temperament, one who could tell a
good story, and was so hospitable that "his
latch-string was always out." The wife of
John Rogers, to whom he was married in 1829,
was Miss Betsey Covell, daughter of Philip
Covell, one of the pioneers of Walden. She
was born in Walden in 1808, and passed away
in 1880 at the age of seventy-two. Her relig
ious preferences were with the Baptists, and
she died a member of their communion. Of
the eight children of John Rogers but five
reached maturity, of whom Edward C. Rogers
was the youngest.
Edward C. Rogers went with his parents to
Michigan when he was seven years old, an,d
began his education there in the district
schools, later attending the grammar school

in Grand Rapids, about seven miles distant
from Alpine. In 1856 he came to Spring
field, and attended the grammar school of
that city. Afterward he entered the high
school, where he was a pupil for two winters,
working during the vacations for his uncle,
Mr. C. L. Covell, with whom he made his
home. Mr. Covell some years previous had
taken a trip to Michigan, to invite his nephew
to take advantage of the greater educational
opportunities of this Eastern city. Young
Edward could not, however, accept the chance
till he was eighteen years old. Mr. Covell
was a prominent lumber-dealer; and the
nephew spent his summer vacations in the
lumber yard, helping there in various ways,
and getting an insight into business methods.
This continued for about seven years, only
three of which were spent in school. At the
time he finished his studies, his uncle, being
Director in the firm of Greenleaf & Taylor, a
paper manufacturing company, doing business
opposite the old Massasoit House on Main
Street, was able to secure the position of
book-keeper for him; and here Edward C.
Rogers got his first ideas of paper manu
facture. The building which the firm occu
pied was the identical one in which the noted
John Brown carried on a wool business. All
Mr. Rogers's time was not yet devoted to
the new business, as he still set apart half
of it for his uncle's work in the lumber
yard; but both kinds of work ceased for him
on the breaking out of the war. He enlisted
for service on the call for volunteers, and
was soon on his way to Boston as Sergeant
in Company A, Forty-sixth Regiment, Mas
sachusetts "Volunteer Militia. The company
had for other officers Colonel William S.
Shurtleff, Major S. B. Spooner, Captain
L. A. Tifft, Daniel J. Marsh as First Ser
geant, and Judge Gideon Wells as Second
Sergeant. All of these survived their period
of service, and are well-known and prominent
men in the community at the -present time.
From Boston the company set out by boat for
Newbern, N.C. This trip takes but a few
days by steamer. The track leads about five
hundred miles from the Atlantic coast, and
gives the landsman a good glimpse of sea life.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

6S

Taken in a time of peace, there is a great
charm in the approach off Cape Hatteras,
with its light, past Shoal Rock, a barren bit
of island with but a few scrubby bushes to
shade the oyster hunter from the burning sun,
on and up the quiet waters of the Neuse River,
where, if he is becalmed for a few hours, he
will be given a chance to study the swaying
form of the exquisite purple sea anemone in
the clear waters; but in time of war the
stern realities of the hour preclude quiet
pastime. Edward C. Rogers took part in all the va
rious engagements in and around Newbern.
The little town of Washington, but thirty
miles distant, was invested by troops; and
serious encounters took place in its vicinity,
desolating the country and reducing the in
habitants to the verge of starvation, so that
Mr. Rogers early became accustomed to the
horrors of war.
In 1863 he went to Norfolk, Va., on the
way to Baltimore, with ten thousand men,
who had been transferred by General Foster,
preparatory for the great battle of Gettysburg.
After this they were on Maryland Heights
(opposite Harper's Ferry) for a week, and
then came a time of great suffering, when
provisions gave out entirely, and the men
were forced to the greatest extremities, even
so far as to devour the drie^l beans which they
scraped up from the dust where they had been
lying for days under the passing foot. The
regiments soon went to Hagerstown, and got
into 1-ine with General Butler's forces, expect
ing to fight the enemy, who advanced to meet
them; but they were only making a feint to
cover a retreat. From there they were or
dered to Point of Rocks, in Maryland, where
pontoon bridges were thrown across the Po
tomac River to enable them to pass into Vir
ginia; and soon after the regiment, which
had enlisted for only a specified time, was
dismissed and allowed to return home. Ed
ward C. Rogers, who went away as Sergeant,
came back promoted to the rank of Orderly
Sergeant. He had been once in the hospital,
sick with the measles, but returned in fairly
good health considering the hardships which
fell to his lot.

Mr. Rogers found his old positi-on open to
him on his return; and he went on with the
paper company till 1866, still as book-keeper.
In that year, while retaining his Springfield
residence, he accepted the office of Treasurer
of the Holyoke Paper Company, which office
he retained till 1868, when he returned to
Springfield to fill the position of Treasurer
and Manager of the old firm of Greenleaf &
Taylor, where he first began. That firm, hav
ing at its start in 1871 a capital of one hun
dred thousand dollars, was able to increase its
capital to three hundred thousand dollars, and
by special act of the legislature changed its
name to the Massasoit Paper Manufacturing
Company. They also built another mill at
Holyoke in 1872, where they have located
their various offices and established their
headquarters; and Mr. Rogers has continued
to be the company's Director till the present
time. The Massasoit Company is one of the
largest in the country, having an output of six
tons of finished writing paper per day and giv
ing employment to about two hundred people.
During all the time this business has been
progressing at Holyoke the company has been
carrying on another mill at Huntington,
Mass., which has seventy-five employees, and
makes two and one-half tons of finished paper
per day. This company, known as the Ches
ter Paper Company, with a capital stock of
seventy-five thousand dollars, has also Mr.
Rogers for its President, he being a successor
of the late C. L. Covell, his uncle, the former
President of both companies. Mr. Rogers is
now one of the oldest men in the paper busi
ness in point of service.
Mr. Rogers is a member of the National
Paper Makers' Association, a body composed
of all the manufacturers in the United States,
and was for two years its President; and pre
vious to that he was for two years its Secre
tary and Treasurer. He is also one of the
Directors and a member of the Paper Mill
Fire Insurance Company of Boston, of which
he was one of the originators. For many
years he has been Director of the John Han
cock National Bank, also of the United Elec
tric Light Company, being one of the active
promoters of the latter organization from the

66

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

time of its establishment. He was one of the
originators and early Directors of the Asso
ciation for Improved Tenement Dwellings,
and also of the Home Bank of Holyoke, with
drawing from both these only for want of time
to give them necessary oversight. He has
been a Director of the Indian Orchard Com
pany and a Trustee of the Union Relief Asso
ciation. In 1888 he was an elector on the
Republican national ticket, and he was a
member of the Common Council from Ward
Four for two years. The year following he
was elected President of the Common Council
on the Republican ticket. Mr. Rogers is a
member of a prominent literary club, known
as The Club, an organization which has ex
isted for twenty-four or more years. It is
very exclusive, and is made up of the leading
literary people of the city. He is also a
member of the Wilcox Post, Grand Army of
the Republic, of Springfield. He belongs to
the F'irst Congregational Church, with which
he has been connected since 1858, filling at
one time the office of assistant superintend
ent of the Sunday-school. He is now a
Trustee of the church. Clerk and Trustee of
the parish, a Deacon, and member of the
parish committee. He is Trustee of the
School for Christian Workers, and from the
start has been on the Executive Board, being
one of the twelve originators of the school.
Mr. Edward C. Rogers was married to Miss
Eliza B. Reynolds, of Springfield, on January
25, 1868. Miss Reynolds was a daughter of
Daniel Reynolds, and finished her education
at the same high school which Mr. Rogers
attended. Her father, Daniel Reynolds, was
born in East Hartford, and was left an orphan
at an early age. He came to Springfield
when a boy, and there learned the trade of
blacksmith, which served him well in the
time of the Civil War, when he was appointed
Inspector in connection with the cavalry de
partment. He was also an Alderman, serving
on the first board after Springfield was made
a city. Mr. Reynolds was a prominent Mason, be
longing to the Knights Templars; and for
many years he was a Deacon of the P"irst
Church. He married Miss Emily Bliss, of

Springfield, whose death occurred January 7,
1 88 1. Mrs. Rogers is a member of the Con
gregational church, and has been very active
in philanthropic and society work. She was
one of the ten originators of the Women's
Club, and has been a Director as well as Sec
retary for many years; she was also one of the
originators of the Home for Aged Women,
and is and has been for a long period of time
Secretary of the Board of Managers. Mr. and
Mrs. Rogers have had five children, two of
whom are still living — Julia Covell and Clif
ford Reynolds.
A portrait of Mr. Rogers in the form of a
fine steel engraving will be found on another
page of this volume.

OSIAH BUMSTEAD, formerly con
nected with the Wason Manufacturing
Company, but now a retired resident of
Springfield, Mass., was born in South
Wilbraham, July 18, 1820, while James Mon
roe was President. His parents were Simeon
and Anna (Bliss) Bumstead. The father was
also born in South Wilbraham, and grew up a
farm laborer. The mother was a native of
Monson, Mass.; and she had five children —
four girls and one boy. Two of the girls
died when they were young ladies, preparing
by study to go into the mission field in India
or Africa. Amanda Bumstead, another daugh
ter, married Deacon Elbridge Gerry Bugbee,
of Belchertown, and bore two children —
Albert Elbridge Bugbee, of Minnesota; and
Rosa Bugbee, wife of William Barley, now
living in Wisconsin. Mrs. Bugbee died at
the home of her son-in-law in Minnesota.
Sarah Bumstead, the other daughter, now de
ceased, married the Rev. Mr. Hover, of Cali
fornia, who afterward gave up the ministry
on account of a throat difficulty, and entered
the medical profession.
Josiah Bumstead attended school in South
Wilbraham until he was fourteen, when his
father sent him to Windbury (now Bloom-
field), Conn., to learn the trade of tanner;
but this work was so distasteful to him that
he ran away in a year, and went to work for a
farmer, Seth Colwell, in Barre, Mass., where

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

67

he remained for seven months. His parents
advertised for him, but he did not let them
know his whereabouts. At last, however, the
home attraction, which is as powerful and un
failing as that of gravitation, prevailed; and
he went home of his own accord, and remained
through the winter, going to Chicopee in the
spring, in order to learn the machinist's trade
with the Ames Manufacturing Company.
With the exception of three months spent at
a private school in South Wilbraham, he re
mained with the Ames Manufacturing Com
pany three years. Having acquired the trade,
he worked for the company eight months as
journeyman, and then went to Manchester,
Mass., to make factory implements, such as
shuttles and bobbins, and stayed there three
months. But the spirit of adventure prompted
him to go to sea; and he sailed from Fair-
haven, Mass., in the "Clifford Wain" in
1 841, so that Josiah's twenty-second birthday
was celebrated off the coast of Africa. When
the port of Otahiti, Society Islands, was
reached, our youth went ashore, and entered
for six months into partnership with a man
named Smith, who sold goods to sailors. Of
course his ship had left him there; but about
this time the "William Penn," of Falmouth,
came into port in a leaky condition and need
ing repairs. The crew discharged the cargo,
and then mutinied, declaring they had not
engaged to unload and reload a vessel. There
was a warship in the harbor, however, and
the rebellious hands were forthwith sentenced
to be lashed; and young Bumstead was an eye
witness of this infliction. Then the captain
hired another crew, among whom was Josiah.
He went with the vessel to Honolulu, where
he was left, his contract having expired. The
war sloop "Boston" was in the harbor at
Honolulu; and he shipped therein as an able
seaman, cruising with her three months, then
returning to Honolulu to ship as helmsman in
the whaling bark "Shepherdess," commanded
by Captain Clifford, and in her he came home,
arriving at New London in the fall of 1846,
while the Mexican War was in progress. His
mother had died while he was at sea; but his
father was living at Chicopee, or Cabotville
as it was then called. In this place Josiah

Bumstead became a contractor for building
cotton machinery, and there remained until he
became a member of the Wason Manufactur
ing Company. With this company he was
associated until 1874, when he retired from
active business. In politics Mr. Bumstead
has always been a Republican, and in 1881
was a member of the Massachusetts House of
Representatives, belonging, among other com
mittees, to those on the Meigs Elevated Rail
road and the Woman Suffrage Bill. He has
been a member of the Springfield Common
Council and the Board of Aldermen, and for
six successive years he was on the Board of
Public Works. He is a Knight Templar, and
has received the Scottish rites; and he is also
a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. Of the Winthrop Club he was an
early member.
His first wife was Rosalinda Hathaway, of
Hartsgrove, Ashtabula County, Ohio; but she
lived only nine months. Mrs. Mary Bennett,
widow of Sylvester S. Bennett, was his sec
ond wife. A son by her first marriage, Syl
vester Bennett, Jr., has received the name of
Bumstead, and is in the carpet business on
Harrison Avenue, Springfield. With the ex
ception of this stepson Mr. Bumstead has no
children. He and his wife are constant sup
porters of the Universalist church. Well has
it been said by Lord Beaconsfield, and the
word applies to such men as the subject of
our present sketch, "No conjunction can
possibly occur, however fearful, however tre
mendous it may appear, from which a man
by his own energy may not extricate himself,
as a mariner by the rattling of his cannon can
dissipate the impending waterspout."

LIJAH HOLCOMB DRAKE, of West-
field, a cigar manufacturer, is a native-
born citizen of Hampden County,
having been born in Southwick on May 6,
1 84 1. His parents were Henry and Betsy
(Holcomb) Drake, the former of whom was
born in 'Windsor, Conn., a son of Joseph
Drake, who was of early English ancestry,
and removed from Windsor to Southwick,
Conn., spending his last years there.

68

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Henry Drake was but six years old when
his father died; and he was taken into the
home of Judge Henry Ellsworth, where he
was surrounded by good influences, and re
ceived excellent care. When but a boy in his
teens, he entered the coasting service, and
followed a seafaring life for a number of
years. He then engaged in the manufacture
of powder, in connection with agricultural
pursuits, and resided in Southwick until
1885, in which year he came to Westfield to
make his home with his son Elijah, and here
died at the age of eighty-nine. During his
long career, he met with many serious mis
haps, and at the age of eighty had the mis
fortune to fall from a wagon, being so badly
injured that it was found necessary to ampu
tate one of his limbs. He was an Ensign
in the State militia; and his son Elijah still
has his commission, which was signed by
Governor Lincoln. Mrs. Betsy (Holcomb)
Drake was born in Southwick on the 4th of
July, 1808, a daughter of Elijah and Betsy
(Ives) Holcomb, the former of whom was a
native of the same town.
Elijah Holcomb, the maternal grandfather
of Elijah Holcomb Drake, learned the trade
of a cooper, which he followed in New York
City and also in Southwick. In the latter
town he owned a good farm, and upon it spent
his last years. He was a Revolutionary sol
dier and a member of the Connecticut State
militia; and his grandson, Mr. Drake, has
his commission as Lieutenant of the Eighth
Regiment, which is signed by Governor
Trumbull. He was very prominent in town
affairs and a worthy member of the Masonic
fraternity. He was three times married, and
reared eleven children. The grandmother of
the subject of this biography, Betsy (Ives)
Holcomb, was a native of Southwick, Mass.,
and a daughter of David and Dolly (Hough)
Ives. She died at the age of sixty-nine, her
husband attaining the age of eighty-four.
Henry and Betsy (Holcomb) Drake reared
three children of their own, and also an
adopted son.
Elijah Holcomb Drake was reared and edu
cated in his native town, and when but a boy
commenced to learn the trade of cigar-mak

ing. After mastering it, he continued as a
journeyman for a few years, and then accepted
a position as foreman in a shop in Hadley,
Mass. In 1872 he started out as a travelling
salesman, his territory embracing all the New
England States and also the State of New
York, and was so engaged for a number of
years. He finally commenced 'the manufact
ure of cigars on his own account, first in
Northampton and later in Holyoke and South
wick, in 1 88 1 coming to Westfield, where he
has been continuously engaged in the business
since. On November 25, 1861, Mr. Drake was
united in marriage with Elvira Tirzah Spen
cer, a daughter of George and Sally (Barker)
Spencer, and a native of Flampden County,
her birth taking place at Feeding Hills on
December 9, 1839. Her paternal grandfather
was Charles Spencer, who, it is thought, was
a native of New York State, and was an old-
time stage driver, his route being between
Hartford and Northampton. He died at
Feeding Hills. His wife, Mrs. Drake's
grandmother, was Ruth Scoville, of Saybrook,
Conn. She died at the same place as her
husband. Their son George was born on
board ship on Lake Ontario. In his younger
days he was engaged as a dyer; and in later
life he purchased a farm at Feeding Hills, en
gaging in agricultural pursuits there. He
finally sold that place, however, and removed
to the farm owned by his father-in-law in
Holyoke, and upon it passed the remainder
of his life. Ephraim Barker, the maternal
grandfather of Mrs. Drake, was a farmer by
occupation and an early settler of Holyoke,
removing there from Branfort, Conn. He
spent the last years of his life upon his farm
in Holyoke. The maiden name of his wife
was Sarah Jones.
Mr. and Mrs. Drake are the parents of one
child, Nellie Elvira, born September 16,
1862, who is the wife of John Wesley Wel
come, and has one child, Carl E. W. W.
Fraternally, Mr. Drake is a member of
Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of
Evening Star Chapter, R. A. M., Springfield
Commandery, Knights Templars, Woronoco
Lodge, No. 74, Independent Order of Odd

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

69

Fellows, of which he is Past Grand, and of
Wildey Encampment. Mr. Drake, as will be
seen, comes of a long-lived family, his father
living to the great age of eighty-nine, while
his mother, who still survives, is now in her
eighty-seventh year. She is of a gracious
disposition, genial, and of most engaging
manners, and although so aged is still in the
possession of good health, enjoying the use of
all her faculties. It is a fact worthy of note
that there are four generations now living
beneath the same roof.

[APTAIN ARTHUR H. SMITH, at
present truant officer for the city of
Springfield, a position which he has
held since the ist of January, 1881,
is a native of Hampden County, having been
born in the town of Brimfield, August 22,
1 84 1. He was one of the volunteers during
the late war, and fought bravely and suffered
much for the sake of the old flag, and since
his return to civic life has been among the
foremost in promoting order and peace, and
has ever been a conscientious and law-abiding
citizen. He is a son of Orson and Sarah D.
(Austin) Henry, but having been reared by
his uncle, Orlando Smith (who also married a
Miss Austin, a sister of Captain Smith's
mother), he took the name of Smith. He is
descended from pioneer stock on both the
paternal and maternal side of the house, his
grandfather Henry having been well known in
Hampden County as one of its early settlers,
and the Austins having also settled in this
part of Massachusetts in Colonial times.
Mr. Orlando Smith formerly lived in old
Hadley, and the earliest recollections of Cap
tain Smith are associated with that place. In
1845 the family removed to Jenksville, now
Ward Eight, Springfield, where Arthur, the
adopted son, attended school five years, going
thence to Chicopee, where he completed his
education in the high school, and where his
father Smith died in 1856. Captain Smith
then partially learned the trade of a chaser at
the Ames works, and was afterward errand
boy in a store in Northampton for a year.
That life being too confining for his health,

he worked for two years on a farm, and after
that engaged in various occupations, for a
time being with his own father, Mr. Henry,
at Palmer. At the breaking out of the war
he was on a farm in Brimfield, and, leaving
his occupation, he enlisted in Company C,
Twenty-first Massachusetts Volunteer Infan
try, and on the ist of August, 1861, was sent
with his regiment to headquarters at Annap
olis; and Mr. Smith was one of fifteen men
sent to guard the old Camden Station, Balti
more, where the first three hundred thousand
soldiers passed through. In the fall of that
year he rejoined his regiment at Annapolis,
going then on the Burnside expedition to
North Carolina, being in the campaign of that
State at the engagements of Roanoke Island
and Newbern. At the latter place he was
wounded in the thigh, and afterward was con
fined for a time in the Newbern Hospital, but
as soon as able to travel went home on fur
lough. In June, 1862, he rejoined his regi
ment at Newbern, and with it very soon went
by ship to Newport News to join the Army of
the Potomac, and after remaining awhile at
Newport News was sent to Fredericksburg,
from whence they started on the campaign
known as "Pope's skedaddle." Mr. Smith
was subsequently in the second battle of Bull
Run and the three days' fight that followed,
the old brigade of seven hundred men to
which he belonged being the last to leave the
field. On the ist of September, 1862, he was
an active and brave participant in the terrible
conflict at Chantilly, when nearly half of the
men were killed, and the gallant Phil Kear
ney, who had lost an arm at the gates of Mex
ico, was mortally wounded by a rebel bullet.
" Oh, evil the black shroud of night at Chantilly
That hid him from sight of his brave men and tried !
Foul, foul sped the bullet that clipped the white lily.
The flower of our knighthood, the whole army's
pride !
Yet we dream that he still, in that shadowy region
Where the dead form their ranks at the wan drum
mer's sign,
Rides on, as of old, down the length of his legion ;
And the word still is ' Forward I ' along the whole
line."
In the battle of South Mountain Mr. Smith
was again wounded, and was in the Frederick

70

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Hospital three weeks, and subsequently in the
Broadway Hospital in New York City several
weeks, being from there discharged from his
first service for general disability. He en
tered the army as a private, and was dis
charged with the rank of Corporal. After
-being at home sick during the following win
ter Mr. Smith came to Springfield, and se
cured work in the watershops of the United
States Armory, and while there was drafted
into service. As he had served as a volun
teer, he decided he would not go on draft if
he could avoid it, and accordingly went to
Boston to see one of the higher officials, who
promised to place him in some home office.
He was then sent to recruit for the heavy
artillery, and afterward was stationed at Read-
ville, near Boston, where he was to organize
two companies. The promises made to him
were not fulfilled; and he was sent to Nor
folk, Va., going out as Orderly Sergeant, and
a month later was ordered to Plymouth, N.C,
where he remained through the siege of that
place. Being taken prisoner, he was sent to
Andersonville for five months, thence to Flor
ence Prison, where he had quite an experi
ence, escaping for one week and getting eighty
miles away before he was captured again and
returned to Florence, where he was confined
for another three months, and suffered all the
hellish tortures of prison life. Out of the
one hundred and thirty-four men of his com
pany that went to prison when he did, only
twenty-one came out; and Mr. Smith, whose
average weight was one hundred and sixty-five
pounds, tipped the scales at one hundred and
eighteen pounds when he was released. He
was paroled in December; and the following
March, being exchanged, he returned to duty
at Fort Macon, Ga. He was there commis
sioned Second Lieutenant, and soon after
came home, staying until the war ended.
Returning to Chicopee, Mr. Smith resumed
his old trade at the Ames works, working on
silverware and bronze; but, having lost one
eye in the service, the other became affected,
and he had to give up the business. After
working for a while in the Springfield armory,
he started out to find some other profitable
business, going to Chicago, and three months

later entering the service of the Union Pacific
Railway Company, taking charge of a carload
of workingmen to Omaha. While there he
was assigned by Mr. Hoxie, Assistant Super
intendent of the road, as foreman on the
levee, and had charge of the distribution of
all material brought across the river, every
thing in the construction department, from a
rail to a locomotive, being sent according to
his directions. When the river froze over,
the services of Mr. Smith were no longer
needed in Omaha; and he took letters of
recommendation from the officials of the road
in Omaha to Mr. Carmichael, and spent the
winter working under his instructions in Salt
Lake valley and vicinity, being in as much
danger on the frontier as when in the army.
Having had a varied experience in Western
life, he returned to Springfield, and in Janu
ary, 1870, was appointed patrolman upon the
police force, a position which he filled two
years, and the next two years was captain of
the city police, resigning to accept a position
on the State force, the office, which he occu
pied for a year, being known as State Con
stable. The following three years Mr. Smith
was engaged in the mercantile business in
Springfield, selling cigars, tobacco, and sport
ing goods. After being out of business for a
year, the Captain served as patrolman again
for two years, when he entered the railway
mail service, running from Springfield to
Canada, until he was obliged to relinquish his
position on account of failing eyesight; and
since that time he has held his present posi
tion. He is a most efficient and trustworthy
officer, devoting his time and attention to his
duties and assisting as far as possible in up
holding the law relating to truants.
Captain Smith has never meddled with poli
tics, but uniformly casts his vote with the
Republican party. Socially, he is a member
of Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., having
joined in 1863, and of Morning Star Chapter,
having been King and Acting High Priest.
He also belongs to the Springfield Council
and Commandery, in the latter of which he
has been Junior Warden for three years. He
is an official member of the Grand Army of
the Republic, and during centennial year was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

71

Commander of the Post, and has attended
National Encampments at different cities.
Religiously, he was reared to the faith of the
Orthodox Congregational church, but after
years of study and deliberation has accepted
the more liberal faith of the Unitarian church.
Captain Smith was twice married. His
first wife was Miss Delia Browning, of Brim
field, who died after some years of married
life, leaving two sons, namely: Ernest B., a
ranchman in Southern California; and Lewis
J., a machinist in Warren.

jZRA GILBERT GAYLORD, a prosper
ous and progressive member of the
agricultural community of Feeding
Hills, in the town of Agawam, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in Killingworth,
Conn., December 8, 1818, being a son of Gil
bert and Damaris (Nettleton) Gaylord. For
fifteen years he has been a Deacon of the
Congregational church, of which he and his
wife are worthy and valued members. Being
a native of Connecticut, he is probably a de
scendant of William Gaylord, who is recorded
in Munsell's "American Ancestry," vol. v.,
as of England, Dorchester, Mass., and Wind
sor, Conn., and is elsewhere mentioned as the
progenitor of a numerous posterity. He is
said to have been of Huguenot descent, to
have emigrated to Massachusetts in the
"Mary and John" in 1630, and to have set
tled a few years later in Windsor, Conn.,
where he was a man of much prominence,
until his death in 1673.
Gilbert Gaylord, having lost his father
when a young boy, was bound out to a farmer
in Killingworth, for whom he worked for his
board and clothes until twenty-one years old,
when he started life for himself, even with
the world. Fie was a hard-working man, and
successfully followed agricultural pursuits.
In 1839 he came to Agawam, and here pur
chasing a home spent the remainder of his
life, dying at the remarkable age of ninety-
nine years. His wife, whose maiden name
was Damaris Nettleton, was a life-long resi
dent of Killingworth, Conn., where she died
in 1826, aged forty-two years. She bore her

husband five children; namely, Damaris Flo-
rilla, William Seward, Ezra Gilbert, Sylvia,
and Mary Clarissa.
When sixteen years old Ezra Gilbert Gay
lord went to North Guilford, Conn., to learn
the trade of shoemaking, at which he worked
four years. When twenty-four years old he
came to Feeding Hills, and settled on the
valuable farm he now owns and occupies.
The place was then comparatively unim
proved; but by industrious application and
good management he has placed his land in
good cultivation, and has erected a substantial
set of buildings, having now one of the finest
estates in the locality. He carries on general
farming skilfully and profitably, and makes a
specialty of raising small fruits, in which he
has met with excellent success.
Mr. Gaylord was first married in 1842 to
Adeline Parmelee. She was a native of Kil
lingworth, being a daughter of Lewis Parme
lee, and lived but four short years after her
marriage. He next married Julia Pomeroy,
who was born in West Springfield, a daugh
ter of Clark Pomeroy; but after four years of
wedded life she, too, passed to the better
world. Their only child, Clark Pomeroy
Gaylord, died in infancy. In 1855 Mr. Gay
lord married his third wife. Miss Julia A.
Randall. She was born in Belchertown,
Hampshire County, of which place her father,
the late Chester Randall, was a life-long
resident and a highly esteemed farmer. He
married Laura Towne, a native of Granby,
Mass., being the daughter of Abner and the
niece of Salem Towne. Both parents lived to
advanced ages, the father dying at the age of
fourscore and two years and the mother when
seventy-three years old. They reared the fol
lowing children: Almira, Lucretia, Nelson,
Julia A., Chester, Emeline, Josiah, Abner,
Henry, and Laura E. The paternal grand
father of Mrs. Gaylord, Jotham Randall, was
for many years a well-known farmer of Bel
chertown, having been taken there by his
uncle Israel when quite young, after the death
of his father. He there married Rhoda Shum-
way, a life-long resident of the place. Jotham
Randall was born in Easton, Bristol County,
Mass., in 1764, son of Nehemiah, whose

72

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

father, Ephraim, was a son of Thomas and
grandson of Robert Randall, the first of the
family to come to New England.
By his first marriage Mr. Gaylord has one
son, Lewis Gilbert, who is married, and lives
in St. Paul, Minn., where he has two sons,
Charles Edward and Gilbert Lewis. Two
children of his present union are also living,
namely: Adeline J., the wife of Homer "W.
Halliday, who has but two children — Giles
Watson and Julianna S. ; and William S., a
resident of Springfield, who is married, and
has one child, Viola Swain. Mr. Gaylord is a
man of high moral principles and un'olem-
ished reputation. In politics he is a stanch
adherent of the Republican party, upholding
its principles by voice and vote.

"~fty(^^ARQUIS L. WRIGHT occupies a
In: I =# prominent position among the well-
J e)|b I known and thriving farmers of
Hampden County; and having
inherited the paternal homestead, which is
situated in the town of Holyoke, he is now
devoting his entire time to the tilling of the
land and to the general interests of the farm.
He was born in that part of West Springfield
that is now included within the limits of Hol
yoke, December 30, 1824; and his father,
Ephraim Wright, was also a native of Hamp
den County, having been born in Chicopee,
March 3, 1786. Ephraim Wright was a son
of Benjamin Wright, also a native of this
county, who when a young man learned the
carpenter's trade, which he followed for sev
eral years in Ludlow and vicinity. He pur
chased a farm in Ludlow, and during the last
years of his life carried on farming. He mar
ried, and reared a family of children.
Ephraim Wright had much native mechani
cal ability, and was likewise interested in the
pursuit of agriculture; and during his younger
days he hewed a great deal of timber. After
his marriage, desiring to make a permanent
home for himself and family, he bought a
tract of wild land in what is now the city of
Holyoke; and by diligent and untiring labor
he cleared and improved a good farm, resid
ing there until his demise, August 6, 1863.

The maiden name of his wife was Naomi
Danks, a daughter of Caleb and Princess
Danks. She was born in Southampton, No
vember II, 1794, and died January 21, 1876,
leaving five children; namely, Ephraim, Mar
quis L., Andrew J., Hannah, and Naomi.
Marquis L. Wright was reared on the home
farm in Holyoke, which was but a small ham
let, there having been at that time a grist
mill, one small factory, and three tenement
houses on the site of the present flourishing
and populous city, the rapid growth and de
velopment of which he has watched with pride
and interest, cheerfully giving his aid to en
terprises for public improvement. After ar
riving at man's estate, Mr. Wright rented a
farm on shares for a while, but being better
fitted for mechanical labor turned his atten
tion to carpentering, which he followed suc
cessfully for several years. He eventually
succeeded his father in the ownership of the
old homestead, and has since carried on gen
eral farming with excellent results.
An important step in the life of Mr.
Wright was his marriage December 30, 1856,
to Miss Orcelia L. Sumner, who was born in
Stamford, Vt., August 13, 1837. Her father,
Austin W. Sumner, a son of Levi Sumner,
was born and reared on a farm in Whiting-
ham, Vt. When a young man, he became a
pioneer of Stamford, Bennington County, Vt.,
where he bought a tract of heavily timbered
land, from which he had to cut down trees to
make room for buildings. The town was then
very thinly populated. Wolves prowled about
the clearing; and bears and other game were
abundant, and furnished much of the meat for
the family larder. There being neither rail
ways nor convenient markets, the people lived
chiefly on the products of the soil, and were
clothed in garments of homespun. Mr. Sum
ner married Alice Kingsbury, a native of
Whitingham, being a daughter of John and
Lovisa (Hall) Kingsbury. Mrs. Sumner is
still living, a bright and active old lady of
eighty-two years. She and her husband
reared six children — William L., Cornelia
E., Orcelia L. (Mrs. Wright), Miranda D.,
Plmma J., and John Henry.
Two children have been born to Mr. and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

73

Mrs. Marquis Wright — Austin E. and Alice
N. Wright. Austin E. married Mattie Dye;
and they have one child — Freddie A.
Wright. Mrs. Wright has ever been devoted
to the best interests of her family, and is a
sincere Christian woman, exemplifying in her
daily life the teachings of the Methodist Epis
copal church, of which she is a consistent
member.

EORGE NYE, a well-known wholesale
^j" dealer in dressed meats, corner of
Lyman and Chestnut Streets, Spring
field, was born in Conway, Mass., on May 28,
1840, just before the overthrow of the Van
Buren administration by the Whigs. His
parents were Calvin E. and Eliza (Pease)
Nye. The father was born in November,
1802, when Jefferson was President, and died
in 1883, while President Arthur was in office.
The mother, who was born in 1804, is still
living in 1895. Mrs. Calvin Nye's father,
Asher Pease, was a soldier in the War of
1812. Calvin E. Nye owned a farm in Conway,
and in that town his son George received his
early education. At the age of eleven he left
home, and went to live with his brother,
Dwight B. Nye, at Northampton, where he
received further schooling for a few years.
In 1855, when fifteen years old, he came to
Springfield, and found employment in Levi
Hitchcock's grocery and market, remaining
with him until 1857, two years, when he went
to Urbana, 111., to work for his brother
Dwight, who had gone into the meat business
there. In 1859 he returned to Springfield,
and was a year with David A. Adams in the
tripe business, thereafter .going to work for
Perkins & Purple, with whom he remained
until 1 861, when he attained his majority.
He then entered into partnership with Thomas
S. Chaffee in a retail provision store, in what
was at that time known as Burt's Block on
Main, between State and Bliss Streets. The
firm of Chaffee & Nye continued for ten years,
until New Year's Day, 1871, when Mr. Nye
formed a partnership in the wholesale meat
trade with Virgil Perkins, under the sign of

Perkins & Nye. This association lasted until
August I, 1889, when with G. F. Swift, of
Chicago, and E. C. Swift, of Boston, Mr. Nye
went into business under the style of George
Nye & Co., at the corner of Lyman and
Chestnut Streets. This partnership still con
tinues, in 1895, the business being very ex
tensive, perhaps the largest of its kind in the
western part of our State. In politics Mr.
Nye is a Republican. He has been a member
of the Board of Aldermen five years, and has
served on the Board of Public Works eight
years. The Roswell Lee Masonic Lodge and
the Springfield Masonic Commandery both
number him among their members. He also
belongs to Hampden Lodge of Odd Fellows,
and to the two social clubs, Winthrop and
Nayasset. His wife, Martha Stone, bormjune 6, 1844,
was a daughter of Colonel Oren and Jane
(Bryant) Stone, of Worth ington. ¦ They were
married October 25, 1864, at the respective
ages of twenty-four and twenty, and have two
living children — George Nye, Jr., born in
1865; and Theodore Herbert Nye, born in
1868. The family are attendants at the Park
Congregational Church, and their residence is
at 670 'Worthington Street. Well has it been
said by that terse philosopher, Ralph Waldo
Emerson: "Every man has his own vocation.
There is one direction in which all space is
open to him. He has faculties silently invit
ing him thither to endless exertion. He is
like a ship in a river. He runs against ob
structions on every side but one. On that
side all obstruction is taken away, and he
sweeps serenely over a deepening channel into
an infinite sea."

-AMES W. KIRKHAM, Treasurer of the
Agawam Manufacturing Company, was
born in Springfield, April 8, 1850,
the year when the fugitive slave law
was passed. His grandparents were William
and Sophia (Leffingwell) Kirkham, who
moved to Springfield when their son James,
our subject's father, was a lad. The mother,
James Kirkham's wife, Frances, was a Kirk
ham also before marriage, being the daughter

74

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

of John B. Kirkham. She died on December
23, 1892, aged sixty-nine years, and her hus
band on February 8, 1893. .Additional family
particulars may be found in our biography of
Mr. James Kirkham, elsewhere in this volume.
In 1866, after our subject's attendance at
the common schools, he entered Williston
Seminary, Easthampton, Mass., and was grad
uated in 1868. Thereafter he went to Yale
College, and was graduated a Bachelor of Arts
in 1872. After enjoying the advantages of
travel in Europe for a year, James became
book-keeper in the First National Bank, of
which his father was President; and this posi
tion he filled till he was elected Assistant
Cashier. This higher office he held until
1892, when the Agawam Manufacturing Com
pany was reorganized with a capital stock of
two hundred thousand dollars, the mills on
Morris Street being purchased by Mr. Kirk
ham, his father, and J. M. Smith, who man
aged the plant, giving employment to nearly
two hundred and fifty people in the manu
facture of woollen underwear and hosiery, this
being the largest concern of its kind in West
ern Massachusetts and turning out a hundred
and twenty-five dozen garments every day.
Though giving his chief attention to this en
terprise, Mr. J. W. Kirkham is also a Direc
tor of the First National Bank, of the City
Library, of the Agawam Company, and of the
Seven Mile Beach Company at Avalon, N.J.,
Vice-President of the Chemical Paper Com
pany of Holyoke, and a member of the Win
throp and Nayasset Clubs. He usually votes
the Democratic ticket, but cares naught for
political honors.
On September 4, 1878, Mr. Kirkham mar
ried Fanny C. Barri, of Cambridgeport,
Mass.; and they have one son — William
Barri Kirkham, born in 1879. The family
attend and support the South Congregational
Church. Mr. Kirkham's liberal education, broadened
by travel, eminently fits him to adorn his
beautiful home, which is at 259 State Street,
opposite the City Library. Like his honored
father, he is an important social as well as
business factor in the community, a type of
the American business man whom character

and bearing place on a level with the nobility
of Europe.

¦AMES KIRKHAM, formerly President
of the First National Ba:nk, Spring
field, was born in Newington, Con.,
April 24, 1 82 1. His parents were
William and Sophia (Leffingwell) Kirkham,
elsewhere alluded to in our sketch of Mr.
James W. Kirkham. They moved to Spring
field when James was ten years old. Six
years later the boy was graduated from the
high school, and then was employed as clerk
in Henry Sargent's jewelry store for eight
years, leaving there in 1845, to enter into
partnership in the same trade with Earl
Woodworth. In 1852 Mr. Woodworth re
tired, and Mr. Kirkham's brother William
became his partner. In the midst of the
memorable panic of 1857 James Kirkham,
who had long been a stockholder and Director
in the Pynchon Bank, was called to its presi
dency, which position he retained until the
First National Bank was formed in 1863,
when he was elected President of that institu
tion. This bank was the first to apply for a
national charter under the new Congressional
provisions germinated by the war, and was the
fourteenth to receive it. Though Mr. Kirk
ham had long before won reputation as a
sound financier in a career dating from his
early connection with the Pynchon Bank, he
was now more widely recognized as a prime
mover in the prosperity of the city, his inter
ests being many and diversified. He was a
Director in the Mutual Fire Assurance Asso
ciation and the Springfield Street Railway
Company; and the high standing of the Pub
lic Library is largely due to Mr. Kirkham,
who, among others, so generously backed the
efforts of Librarian Rice. He was a Direc
tor in the Springfield Gas Company, Vice-
President of the Chemical and George C. Gill
Paper Companies, Holyoke, Treasurer of the
Oak Grove Cemetery Association from the
time of its formation. Treasurer of the French
Protestant College, President of the Agawam
Woollen Company, and prominently identified
with real estate interests, owning half of the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

75

Kirkham and Shaw Block on Main Street.
In politics he was a life-long Democrat, being
in 1856 President of the Common Council,
and an Alderman in 1883. At the time of
his death he was one of the Park Commis
sioners. Though urged to take other offices
he quietly refused, preferring to attend closely
to his private interests; yet he cherished a
deep interest in public affairs. His wife,
whom he married in 1846, was Frances Kirk
ham, daughter of John B. Kirkham; and a
sketch of their only son appears on another
page. Mrs. Kirkham died December 23,
1892, aged sixty-nine years, and her husband
on February 8, 1893, at the age of seventy-
two. At the time of his death he was the
oldest bank president in town, none other
having been so continuously in the harness.

T^HARLES FOSTER HUNN, who is
I \r^ prosperously engaged in agricultural
\j^ labors on his well-kept farm in the
town of East Long Meadow, is a
man of good business capacity, great intelli
gence and enterprise, and a fine representative
of the native-born citizens of the town, his
birth having occurred on the homestead where
he resides, August 26, 1831. He is a son of
Erastus Hunn, who was a native of the same
place. The Hunn family originated in England,
three brothers coming from there to America
in Colonial days, one of them being Charles
Hunn's great-grandfather, who afterward
fought in the French and Indian War. He
located in Vermont at a time when the coun
try was in its primitive wildness, and the
dense woods were inhabited by the wild beasts
common to that section of the land. He sub
sequently removed to Connecticut, where in
the town of Haddam Ephraim T. Hunn, the
grandfather of Charles, was born.
Ephraim T. Hunn had the misfortune to
lose his father when only seven years old;
and, being one of a large family left to his
widowed mother, he had to begin earning his
living at a very early age. After working at
farming for several years in the place of his
nativity, he migrated to Hampden County,

where he bought a tract of unimproved land,
containing a few hundred acres, in the town
of East Long Meadow, and clearing a small
space erected a log house as a residence. He
divided his property into small farms; and,
erecting other log houses on the various di
visions, he disposed of his land at a profit, re
serving only his own homestead lot, on which
he resided for many years, departing this life
at the age of ninety-six. He married Submit
Lothrop, of Colerain, Mass. ; and the newly
wedded pair performed the journey from the
home of the bride's parents to East Long
Meadow on horseback, Mrs. Hunn riding be
hind her husband, as was the custom in those
days, and carrying with her the tailor's goose,
which she afterward used in plying her trade
among her neighbors.
Erastus Hunn during his boyhood days
attended the district school when it was in
session, and in the interim worked on the
parental farm; but later in life he learned the
trade of a gunsmith in Enfield. He subse
quently was engaged in the manufacture of
guns at Troy, N.Y., where he continued until
his health failed, when he returned to the
place of his nativity, and taking charge of the
old homestead married and settled down to
farming, remaining there until his death,
April 24, 1894, at the age of eighty-eight
years. He married Caroline Foster, who was
born in South Westerlo, N.Y., and died at
the homestead when seventy-six years old.
They reared three children, all of whom are
living; namely, Charles F., Benjamin W.,
and Mary Jane.
Charles F. Hunn received a practical edu
cation in the district school, and was well
drilled in the labors incidental to farm life
when young. When of a suitable age, he was
taken into partnership with his father; and
they carried on general farming with most
excellent and lucrative results. He has a
good residence and comfortable and conven
ient farm buildings, everything about the
premises indicating the care and supervision
of a wise manager and a thorough -going and
skilful farmer. Politically, Mr. Hunn is a
stanch adherent of the Republican party.
The union of Mr. Hunn with Miss Venila

76

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Richards, of Milford, Otsego County, N.Y.,
was solemnized in 1859. Mrs. Hunn was a
daughter of Darius Richards, who was a na
tive of Cummington, Mass. One child only
was born to Mr. and Mrs. Hunn, Caroline J.,
now the wife of Mervin H. Pease, of East
Long Meadow, and the mother of two children
— Edith and Harold Pease. Mr. and Mrs.
Hunn are agreeable and genial people, and
enjoy the esteem and respect of their many
neighbors and friends. The entire family are
valued and consistent members of the Congre-
arational church.

-OSEPH W. WEEKS, superintendent
of the Springfield Hospital, a position
which he has held since January i,
1892, is a man of excellent business
qualifications, earnest and thorough in his
work, and eminently adapted for his present
office. He was born in Hardwick, Mass., July
2, 1823, being a son of Shiverick and Celia
(Hathaway) Weeks, both natives of the same
place. He is the descendant of a well-known
and honored family of Worcester County, his
paternal grandfather, Nathan Weeks, having
been a successful farmer in Hardwick and a
veteran of the War of 18 12. The father of
Joseph Weeks was born in 1801, and was
reared to a farmer's life. In 1837 he removed
to the town of Ware, where he established the
first livery in the place, which he conducted,
in connection v/ith a stage line, until i860,
when he retired from the active pursuits of
life. He died in 1873, leaving six children.
His wife was the daughter of Joseph Hatha
way, a sea captain and well known in the
community where he lived as an upright, con
scientious man. She preceded her husband to
the better land, dying in 187 1.
Joseph W. Weeks received his education
mostly in the town of Ware, and as soon as
old enough to be of any practical assistance to
his father began driving stage teams and help
ing in the care of the livery stable, remaining
at home until attaining his majority.^ The
following year he spent as a clerk in the
Ware Hotel, obtaining an insight into
the business, and going from there to Palmer,

thence to Hartford, Conn., where he occupied
a similar position in the City Hotel. Becom
ing familiar with the business, and finding it
congenial to his tastes, Mr. Weeks next
opened the Wauregan House in Norwich,
Conn., that being then the largest hotel in
that State, and in company with a Mr. Morris
conducted the business for three years under
the firm name of Morris & Weeks. Disposing
of the Norwich property, Mr. Weeks returned
to Hartford, where he had charge of the
American House, the leading hotel of the
city, for the next three years. Being very
successful in the hotel business, Mr. Weeks
next leased the Wassowanno House in Palmer
for a period of ten years, and at the expiration
of the lease bought the old Railroad House,
which he entirely remodelled, enlarging and
otherwise putting it in first-class shape, and
changing the name to the Weeks House.
This he conducted for twenty-one years, his
excellent management, genial manners, and
prompt attention to his guests making it the
most popular public house in this section of
the county, and winning for himself a fine
reputation in his character of " mine host."
After the disastrous conflagration that de
stroyed the Weeks House the proprietor was
earnestly solicited by the Board of Trustees
to take charge of the Springfield Hospital, a
position which he accepted a few months
later, and in which he has given universal sat
isfaction. He has entire charge of the insti
tution, buying all the supplies for the house,
including the medicines, and looking after
the management of the farm of forty acres and
the dairy of ten cows connected with it, giv
ing employment to about thirty people in all.
The hospital has sixty beds and an average
of forty patients, the number having been
doubled since he accepted the superintend-
ency. Mr. Weeks rebuilt the Weeks House
in Palmer; and this he still owns, and in ad
dition thereto has the mail contract in Palmer,
a substantial business, his teams transferring
forty mails a day. In politics he affiliates
with the Republican party, but has steadily
refused office. Socially, he was made a mem
ber of the Masonic fraternity in 1855 at Nor
wich, Conn. Religiously, he and his family

dJ't^^^^^ ^ ^^

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

79

attend and support the Congregational church,
being members of the Palmer society.
In September, 1858, Mr. Weeks was united
in marriage to Chloe L. Needham, of New
Braintree, Mass. ; and to them two children
were born, a son and a daughter. The son,
Joseph W., Jr., is proprietor of Hotel Savoy,
the leading family hotel of Springfield. He
married Madeline Townsend, a daughter of
Richard Townsend, M.C., of Southern Illi
nois; and they are the parents of two children
— Madeline and Augusta Chloe. The daugh
ter, Alice, died ten weeks after birth. Mr.
Weeks is a strong and able business man,
keen in his perceptions and cool in his judg
ments, and is admirably fitted by courtesy as
well as capability for his present position,
having the good will of the patients and em
ployees and the entire confidence of the direc
tors and trustees of the hospital and of the
general public.

-USTIN MORTON COOLEY, long the
landlord of the Springfield hotel known
by his name, was born in Amherst,
Mass., on May 12, 181 5, just after the
last war with Great Britain. There is very
little record of his grandfather Cooley; but
his maternal grandfather was a resident of
Whately, Mass., and lived to the ripe age of
ninety-four. Several pages of the genealogi
cal record which forms an appendix to the
Long Meadow centennial volume are devoted
to the Cooley family. Benjamin Cooley, it is
said, was one of the first settlers of that part
of Spriiigfield called Long Meadow; and from
Benjamin and his wife Sarah are supposed to
have descended most, if not all, of that name
in this vicinity. He died August 17,
his wife seven days later. They had
children, five sons and three daughters.
tin Cooley's parents were Dennis and
(Morton) Cooley. In early manhood the
father was an Amherst farmer, but removed to
Whately while Justin, his only child, was an
infant, there remaining the rest of his life,
with the exception of a few years in Plain-
field, where he united with the Baptist church.
Justin M. Cooley attended school' while in

1684, eight Jus-
Phila

Plainfield, being only ten years old when his
father's health began to fail; and six years
later the lad learned to make brooms, a trade
he followed some years. At the age of
twenty, in 1835, he had a shop of his own
and several assistants. In 1844 he went to
New York City, engaging in the broom and
woodenware business at 12 Fulton Street,
where he remained until 1847, when he came
to Springfield, which at that time had a pop
ulation of about eight thousand, including
Chicopee. He foresaw the future growth and
development of the place, and notwithstand
ing the many first-class hotels here decided to
erect another, and soon commenced operations
on the house that now bears his name, and
which was opened by him in 1849, when the
air was resonant with stories of California
gold. He soon proved his adaptability for
the business; and, distancing his competitors,
his house became the foremost hotel of the
place, and is to-day recognized as one of the
leading hostelries of Western Massachusetts.
Mr. Cooley devoted his personal attention to
its management until 1892, and still makes
it his home, occupying a fine suite of rooms.
Since his retirement the hotel has been con
ducted by Henry E. Marsh, a nephew of Mrs.
Cooley, and continues to maintain its well-
won high reputation, especially among com
mercial travellers.
On the 1st of September, 1836, Mr. Cooley
was united in marriage with Anna B. Marsh,
daughter of Calvin Marsh, of North Hadley,
Mass. To this union were given three chil
dren — Eliza Ann, born in 1837; Mary
Emma, in 1846; and Phila Isabel, in 1848.
The two last named died at the ages respec
tively of three and one-half and ,six years.
Eliza Ann makes her home with her father,
being to him a solace and comfort in his de
clining years. Mr. and Mrs. Cooley lived
together for the long period of fifty-seven
years, or until January 13, 1894, when their
happy union was broken' by the death of Mrs.
Cooley. Mr. Cooley is still, in 1895, hale,
hearty, and active. He is an attendant at the
Congregational church. He has been largely
interested in public affairs, having served in
the Common Council, and was a member of

8o

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the Board of Aldermen for eight years. In
1870 he was elected to the State legislature,
and served on the State House Committee.
In 1 87 1 he was re-elected, and served on the
Hoosac Tunnel Committee, this enterprise
being at that time uppermost in the public
mind. The frosts of eighty winters have lightly
touched the original of the foregoing pen
sketch and of the accompanying steel engraved
portrait, which will be of interest to the gen
eral reader as well as to numerous friends and
acquaintances. Self-helpful from an early
age, as will have been gathered from what is
here recorded of him, Mr. Cooley has contin
uously exercised his natural abilities, used his
opportunities from time to time to better his
condition and to take fresh starts in life, ever
applying himself diligently to the work in
hand, and has thus won his way onward, se
curing a competency and raising himself to a
position of influence and honor, in all this
seeking not his own pleasure merely, but tak
ing a humane interest in the general welfare,
making for himself a name worthy of being
long held in remembrance.

Ji

EACON SAMUEL SMITH, who has
been identified with the agricultural
and business interests of Hampden
County for many years, is now liv
ing partially retired from the active pursuits
of life at his beautiful home in the village
of West Springfield. He was born Decem
ber 14, 1827, in the town of Hebron, Conn.,
and is of substantial English ancestry. His
grandfather, Simon Smith, was a native of
Lyme, Conn., and was there bred and edu
cated. He was a son of Nathan Smith and
grandson of Benjamin, whose father, Francis
Smith, lived and died in England. After be
coming proficient in the tanner's trade Simon
Smith removed to Westfield, Mass., where he
afterward resided, dying there at a ripe old
age. The maiden name of his wife was Abi
gail Fowler; and one of the children born to
them was Nathan, the father of Samuel.
Nathan Smith was a native of Westfield,
and lived beneath the parental roof until ten

years old, when he went to the home of the
uncle for whom he was named, Nathan Smith
the first, at Hebron, Conn. He was reared to
farming pursuits, and on the decease of his
uncle inherited the farm on which he spent
his early life, and there engaged in tilling the
soil until his death, at the age of sixty-eight
years. He married Jerusha Ashley, who was
born in West Springfield, being a daughter
of Moses and Sarah (Rogers) Ashley. Moses
Ashley, the father of Mrs. Smith, was born in
the part of West Springfield that is now in
cluded within the limits of Holyoke. His
father, Moses Ashley, Sr., son of Benjamin
Ashley, was an extensive landholder, who
owned nearly all the land bordering on Ash
ley Pond, where he was accidentally drowned.
When Moses Ashley was a young man, he
went to live with an uncle, Aaron Ashley,
who owned a farm in the locality known as
Ashleyville, and there spent the remainder of
his days. To Nathan Smith and his wife five
children were born; namely, Martha, Sarah,
Seth, Samuel, and Moses Smith.
Samuel Smith received a practical education
in the place of his nativity, and subsequently
taught school four winter terms. When
twenty-five years of age he came to West
Springfield to reside with his maternal uncle,
Moses Ashley, third, on the old Ashley home
stead; and, having fallen heir to the same on
the decease of his uncle, he carried it on with
good success until 1871, when he sold the
property, and removed to the village. Pur
chasing the place where he now resides, Mr.
Smith erected his commodious frame house,
which is built in modern style and hand
somely furnished and equipped with desirable
comforts, and has since been kept busily em
ployed in looking after his private interests.
On April 21, 1858, Samuel Smith married
Ellen Lucinda Kellogg, a native of South
Windsor, Conn., daughter of William Smith
Kellogg, who was born in Greenwich, Mass.,
and grand-daughter of Amos Kellogg. Will
iam S. Kellogg possessed great native me
chanical ability. For several years he lived
in Hartford, Conn., where he had a wide
reputation as a skilled workman, residing
there until his removal to South Windsor,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

where he lived on the farm of his father-in-
law until his death, at the age of fifty-one
years. He married Margaret Bissell Barber,
a daughter of Eldad and Lois (Bissell) Bar
ber, both of whom were life-long residents of
South Windsor, Mr. Barber being of ancient
English ancestry and his wife of French ante
cedents. Mrs. Kellogg outlived her husband,
dying at the age of threescore years. She
reared five children, as follows: Mary Louise,
Ellen Lucinda (Mrs. Smith), Jane Eliza,
William Eldad, and Charles.
Of the union of Deacon Samuel and Mrs.
Smith four children have been born — Emily
Jerusha, the wife of James H. Howland, of
Worcester, who has one child, Justine; Jen
nie Margaret, the wife of Edward W. Newton,
of West Newton; George Kellogg, who mar
ried Bertha Luckey, and has two children —
Marion and Florence ; and Cecil Stanley, who
was born March 14, 1875, ^^i^ died at the age
of nineteen years, while yet enrolled as a
pupil in the Springfield High School. Mr.
and Mrs. Smith are both devoted members
of the Park Street Congregational Church,
where he has given twenty-five years of faith
ful service as Deacon. Politically, Deacon
Smith was a Free Seller during his younger
days, but since the formation of the Republi
can party has been one of its most loyal ad
herents.

The

'OHN WEST, a retired grocer of Spring
field, was born at Hampden, Mass.,
September 6, 1828, the last year of
John Quincy Adams's administration.
Wests were of old Connecticut stock.
They have been prominent office-holders, and
in the State legislature the name has been
continuously recognized for seventy-five years.
Solomon West, the great-great-grandfather of
Mr. John West, lived for some years in Leba
non, Conn., and in 1743 married Abigail
Strong, of the same town, but at length re
moved to Tolland, where his son Stephen
West was born, August 19, 1759. Stephen
came to Hampden, Mass., and started one of
the earliest tanneries in the vicinity. He
became an extensive land-owner, and erected

the first brick house in the town. His wife
was Bathsheba Chafl'ee, and he was a Deacon
of the Congregational church.
Their son, Stephen Strong West, the next
in line, married Lucinda Humiston. He was
born in Hampden, September 22, 1784, and
was a tanner like his father; but he also made
boots, shoes, and harnesses, and continued
dealing in leather till his death, March 25,
1844. His wife, born November 4, 1790, at
Litchfield, Conn., was a daughter of Joel
Humiston. She bore ten children, nine of
whom lived to maturity — Lucinda Humiston
West, who married David F. Pease, of Mon
son, Mass. ; Strong West, who succeeded to
the father's business; Solomon West, who
died in Hampden; Anna Humiston West;
Stephen Otis West, who died in Springfield;
George Spencer West, of Rushford, Minn. ;
John, our direct subject; Nancy Flynt
West, who married Reuben Whittemore, of
Sherwood, Tenn.; Joel West, of Burlington,
la., a master railway mechanic. Their
mother died August 4, 1870.
John West first attended the common
schools at Hampden, and then came to
Springfield to study with the Rev. Sandford
Lawton, who kept a good private school. At
the age of twelve John entered Samuel Friz-
zell's store as clerk; and he remained two
years, after which he was employed by F. M.
Carew & Co. and their successors, Bowdoin &
Bond, until 1847. Then he went to Mount
Savage, Md., in the employ of the Maryland
Sz: New York Iron and Coal Company; but on
account of the company's suspension he re
mained only one year, and then came back
to his old position, which he retained until
1850. His next move was to Columbus,
Ga., where he worked in a variety store;
but the unfavorable Southern climate drove
him back to Springfield. With Levi J. Holt
he now bought out Mr. Bond, of the old firm ;
and they began business under the title of
Holt & West. The new firm dissolved part
nership in 1854, when Mr. West sold out;
and in 1858 he entered the grocery firm of
James W. Hale & Co., on the corner of Main
and Court Streets. Mr. Hale died in 1863;
and the new firm of Bemis, West & Co. was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

formed, and continued two years, Mr. Bemis
then retiring. Henceforward under West,
Stone & Co. the traffic was exclusively whole
sale; but in 1867 the store was moved to
Hampden Street.
Mr. West was one of the earliest wholesale
dealers in the city, and among the first to
employ travelling agents. The firm's success
enabled them to build a fine warehouse on
Fort Street and a branch store at Holyoke,
which they managed ten years, and which is
still running. Mr. West also owned at one
time the store at the corner of Main and East
Court Streets; and the building on Market
Street, now occupied by T. M. Walker, was
erected by his firm. He retired from trade in
1890, but the firm name was not given up.
He is a Director of the First National Bank
and the Springfield Mutual Fire Insurance
Company. In 1862 he was a member of the
City Council from Ward Two, where he then
resided. Counting years of membership, he
is the Nestor of Hampden Masonic Lodge,
succeeding the elder Samuel Bowles as one of
its officers. In politics he is a Republican.
On November 12, 1851, Mr. West was
united in marriage to Jane McCray, daughter
of Colonel John McCray, a prominent militia
officer, farmer, and hotel proprietor. The
Wests have had but one son, John McCray
West, who was born April 6, 1853, became
one of the leading men in the firm, was an ex
tensive traveller in Europe and America, but
died at home on January 18, 1890. Mr. West
also has travelled extensively in his own
country. He and his wife are both members
of the North Congregational Church.

/pTTo

EORGE S. BURT, D.D.S., one of
\ i) I the prominent dentists of Spring
field, Hampden County, Mass.,
where he has worked at his profession the
past eight years, was born at South Hawley,
Franklin County, June 10, 1852. He is the
son of Sumner and Sophronia (Terrell) Burt,
grandson of Royal Burt, of Southampton,
and great-grandson of Noah Burt, who was in
the Revolutionary War, and was one of the
early settlers of that town. The wife of

Royal Burt was Miss Chloe Washburn, of
Bridge water, Mass., where she was born May
18, 1780.
Sumner Burt, father of George S., of
Springfield, was born in Southampton, Febru
ary 15, 1 8 16. He was brought up a farmer,
and after spending his youth on the home
farm went to Plainfield, where in 1840 he
married. Soon afterward he went to South
Hawley, and there remained until the spring
of 1867, when he returned to Plainfield, where
he still resides. His wife, Sophronia, who
was born in Plainfield, August 13, 1820, was
the mother of seven children, the two young
est of whom died in youth. The remaining
children are: Charles R., now of Ilion, N.Y. ;
George S., of this sketch; Edmund and Lafay
ette, of Plainfield, Hampshire County; and
Mary S., of Springfield. Mr. and Mrs. Sum
ner Burt are both now on the shady side of
life, and have relinquished some of its more
active burdens and cares to their son Edmund,
with whom they live in their old home. They
are both members of the Congregational
church. Sumner Burt was never an office-
seeker; but he has always advocated the prin
ciples of the Republican party, and voted
accordingly. George S. Burt is of the eighth generaition
from Henry Burt, of Springfield, Mass. He
grew up a farmer's boy; but, after he had re
ceived what education the common schools of
South Hawley and Plainfield could give him,
he took a position in a country store at Hat
field, Hampshire County, which was carried
on by E. A. Bardwell, and there he continued
for nine months. At the end of that time he
went into the employ of E. A. Graves & Son
at Haydenville, a town in the same county,
where he remained until the breaking up of
the establishment by the great Mill River dis
aster. E. A. Graves's store was right in the
line of the flood, and was swept away with
others. This disaster is now on record as a
matter of history, and need not be reviewed in
these pages. Mr. Burt's vivid experience was
the going to the cellar to investigate its con
dition, rushing up for a moment, impelled by
some unseen power, to see what was the out
look in the open air, and being, with Mr.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

83

Graves and his son, just saved as by a hair's
breadth, as the resistless flood bore down upon
the property and swept everything away before
their eyes. Young Burt then went to West-
field, and worked for Loomis, Lewis & Co. in
their clothing and furnishing department for
about eight months.
Feeling the need of a better education, he
gave up his position, and went to Eastman's
Business College at Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He
was twenty- three years old when he finished
his course there; and, feeling better equipped
for business, he came to Springfield in 1875,
and engaged as book-keeper and salesman in
a fruit and confectionery store conducted by
James L. Amsden. At the end of a year he
went into the post-office as stamp clerk under
Colonel Horace C. Lee, and here showed a
good record for stability, as he remained in
this department nine and a half years under
Colonel Lee and for a while under E. P.
Chapin. In 1885 he resigned his position,
and took an apprenticeship in dentistry under
Dr. Miller, of Westfield, after which he en
tered the New York Dental College, where he
was graduated two years later with high
honors, being chosen valedictorian of his
class. When he returned to Springfield, it
was in a new capacity, for which he was well
prepared; and so he set up his office, and
began the practice of his profession. This
has been successful from the first, and he has
acquired an enviable reputation for the quality
and durability of his work.
Dr. Burt has been twice married, the first
time, June 10, 1877, to Miss Nettie C. Fisk,
of West Deerfield; and the second time, No
vember 3, 1894, to Mrs. Norma E. Bliss,
widow of William H. Bliss, and daughter of
Dr. Ebenezer Skinner, who at one time prac
tised medicine in this city. The Doctor and
Mrs. Burt are both members of the First Con
gregational Church of this city. Dr. Burt is
somewhat interested in real estate, but his
chief attention is given to his profession.
He has never changed the location of his
office, which is at No. 487 Main Street. He
is a member of Hampden Lodge of Odd Fel
lows, No. 27. His residence is at No. 83
Pearl Street.

(sTrUGUSTUS W. HOLTON, the well-
t^ known architect, stands in the front
/j|^V rank among the leading men of his
/' — ' profession, and is one of West-
field's most highly esteemed and valued citi
zens. He was gifted by nature with great
mechanical ability and the quick eye and ar
tistic perceptions of one born to the trade;
and during the years he has been engaged in
his chosen work he has made a constant and
thorough study of the art of building, and has
proved himself a competent and skilled work
man. Many of the public buildings in this
section of Hampden County have been erected
from plans made by Mr. Holton, and built
under his personal supervision, among them
being the W. Warren Thread Works, Foster
Machine Works, Edwin Hedges factory. Pease
Laundry buildings. Park Square Hotel, Uni
versalist church. El Bethel chapel. Baptist
church at Huntington, Congregational church
parsonage at Worthington, the Southwick
Public Library, and the Congregational
church at North Blandford, the Shaw Block
at Wales, Mass., Hamilton Block, Chester,
Mass., Cross Block, Huntington, Mass., Bap
tist church. North Easton, Mass.; while among
the handsome dwellings of his design we
may mention the residences of Dr. George
A. Walley, R. D. Gillett, Tekoa Avenue,
James R. Gladwin, Mill Street, R. L. Scott,
Silver Street, C. H. Snow and E. L. Hildreth,
Holland Avenue, F. A. Pitcher and S. A.
Weaver, Western Avenue, G. C. Webb,
Pleasant Street, F. P. Carruth's and F. S.
Ewing's residences. Orange, Mass., besides
many others of superior beauty and finish.
Mr. Holton was born in Northfield, P'ranklin
County, Mass., June 26, 1850, that town
being the place of nativity of both of his par
ents, his father, Samuel S. Holton, having
been born December 8, 181 1, and his mother,
Esther S. Field, November 4, 1813.
From chronological records we find that the
first member of the family to settle in Amer
ica was one William Houlton, the name being
then spelled with a u, who was born in Eng
land, of Scotch parentage, and emigrated to
New England prior to the Revolution. He
located in Hartford, Conn., but afterward re-

84

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

moved to Northampton, where he and his
descendants resided many years. Samuel S.
Holton, Sr., the grandfather of the subject of
this notice, was, however, a native of North-
field and a life-long resident of the town,
being one of its prominent and prosperous
farmers and a representative citizen, living
until 185 1. He married a Miss Stratton, a
native of Northfield.
The father of Augustus Holton was reared
to agricultural pursuits, but when a young
man learned the carpenter's trade, which he
followed the greater part of his life, being
very successful in his occupation and one of
the influential men of the town. In politics
he was a sound Democrat, and served satisfac
torily in the various local offices within the
gift of his fellow-townsmen, among others
having been Selectman of Northfield for sev
eral years. In his religious beliefs he was
very liberal, being strongly impressed with
the firm faith of the Unitarians. He spent
his last years in Northfield, where his death
occurred in 1883. To him and his wife seven
children were born, six of whom grew to
mature years, and four are now living, the
following being their record: Samuel C, a
carpenter, lives in Northfield; Augustus W.
is the subject of this memoir; Ellen M.,
widow of Thomas Mason, resides in North-
field; Nancy S. is the wife of William A.
Priest, of Erving, Mass. ; Alfred M. died in
Boston, June 22, 1893, aged fifty-two years;
Herbert A. died at Creston, la., at the age of
thirty-nine; and Samuel C. died at the age of
eleven months.
Augustus W. Holton grew to man's estate
in Northfield, acquiring a substantial educa
tion in its public schools, and at the age of
seventeen years began learning the carpenter's
trade with one Jonathan Turner at Keene,
N.H. Three years later he bought the entire
business, and after carrying it on for a short
time sold out, and removed to Springfield,
where he was engaged in carpentering for
two years with fair success. On October 10,
1872, Mr. Holton came to Westfield, and has
since devoted his time to his present occupa
tion, and has a large and lucrative patronage,
his work having increased until he is now

obliged to employ assistants in his office in
Parks Block on Elm Street, where he is ever
ready and willing to respond to the demands
of his many customers, and endeavors to
please them. He has a very pleasant, mod
ern-built residence at No. 71 Orange Street,
where he delights to entertain his friends, of
whom he has a large and choice circle. Po
litically, Mr. Holton affiliates with the Re
publican party, and has held various town
offices, being at the present time Assessor, a
position to which he was elected in March,
1894, for a term of three years. He is also a
Director of the Westfield Co-operative Bank
and chairman of the Security Committee.
Socially, he is an influential member of the
Woronoco Lodge, No. 74, Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, having been chairman of
Trustees for years, and in religious matters is
a believer in the doctrines of the Baptist
church, uniting with the State Street Baptist
Church in April, 1871; and Mrs. Holton is a
Methodist in faith.
Mr. Holton was united in marriage May 30,
1877, to Maria R. Bliss, a native of Gill,
Mass., and a daughter of Abel and Rhoda
(Dean) Bliss, the former of whom died ere
reaching middle age, leaving his widow with
four children, namely: George R., proprietor
of a gentlemen's furnishing goods store in
Worcester; Maria (Mrs. Holton); William
A., a grocer in Orange, Mass. ; and James
O., a grocer at Bernardston, Mass. Mrs.
Bliss makes her home with her daughter, Mrs.
Holton, where she enjoys all the pleasures
and comforts that make life desirable. She
is a woman of deep religious convictions and
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Her husband was a Spiritualist in belief.

djT

iHARLES AMOS CALL, the well-
known wholesale and retail grocer at
:44 State Street, Springfield, was
born in this city on June 3, 1839.
The family tradition is that early in the set
tlement of the colonies three Call brothers
came from Wales, one settling in Vermont,
another in Connecticut, and the third in Mas
sachusetts. From the Massachusetts settler

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

85

was descended Isaiah Call, grandfather of the
subject of this sketch. Mr. Charles A. Call's
parents were Amos and Ruhema C. (Skeele)
Call. The father was a native of Springfield;
and, with the exception of a few years spent
in Hartford when a young man, he always
lived here. He was President of the Bemis &
Call Hardware and Tool Company, one of the
first large manufacturing establishments in
the city, until his death, August 30, 1888, at
the age of seventy-four. He belonged to
the Baptist church. His wife died on May
14, 1892, aged seventy-seven. Among Free
Masons Amos Call was very prominent, and
he also held various city offices.
Of his three children who grew to maturity
Charles Amos was the eldest. He was edu
cated in the public schools of the city. After
graduating at the high school, he entered as
Superintendent the Bemis & Call Hardware
and Tool Company, with which his father
was connected. At that time there were fifty
employees, whom he continued to oversee
until 1864, at the age of twenty-five, when he
started a small retail grocery at the south end
of the city. Here he built up a large trade,
and remained a score of years. In 1888 he
bought the excellent four-story granite-front
block he still occupies (1895).
Mr. Call was elected a member of the Com
mon Council in 1866, and was on the commit
tee to meet President Johnson and Secretary
Seward when they visited the city. In 1883
he was elected Alderman from Ward Six,
which ¦ position he held three consecutive
years, officiating as President of the board in
1885. His first vote was cast for Abraham
Lincoln in i860. In the fire, pauper, and
sewer departments he has at different times
been greatly interested. In 1888 he was
elected a member of the legislature from Ward
Six, and was re-elected in 1889, serving on
the Committee of Banks and Banking, and in
the last year as its chairman. In 1889 he
voted for George F. Hoar as United States
Senator. He belongs to the Roswell Lee
Masonic Lodge and the Morning Star Chap
ter. In this connection must be mentioned
an unusual fact, that the Springfield Com
mandery has had four generations of Calls in

its membership — grandfather Isaiah, father
Amos, Charles Amos, and his son, Arthur
Amos Call. The Masonic Hall Association,
the Winthrop, Nayasset, and Masonic Clubs,
all claim a share of Mr. Call's attention.
It is now nearly twenty years since Mr.
Call was bereft of his wife, Eugenia Louisa
Stillman, of Springfield, who died January 5,
1876. She had been the mother of two chil
dren. Their only daughter, Jennie Stillman
Call, died December 30, 1875; and the son,
Arthur Amos Call, a graduate of the high
school, is now associated in business with his
father. The only remaining members of the
family, the father and son, reside at their
pleasant home, 829 Locust Street.

UMNER SESSIONS, deceased, vi^as
for many years a man of prominence
and influence in the section of
Hampden County in which he re
sided, and one of its most respected and pros
perous farmers. He was a man of upright
moral principles, possessing a deeply sympa
thetic and religious nature; and his bountiful
generosity was extended to all the distressed
and needy. The oppressed in every clime
and country found in him a ready and cheerful
helper; and he not only contributed liberally
toward ameliorating the condition of the
heathen in foreign lands and redeeming them
from their spiritual bondage, but the poor
and down-trodden of our own land aroused his
sympathies, and he was one of the foremost in
organizing the Antislavery Society in Wil
braham more than half a century ago, when to
uphold the cause of the slave was deemed rank
heresy, and was liable to bring down the vials
of wrath upon the head of the offender. He
was also one of the founders of the temperance
movement in Hampden County, and system
atically abstained from the use of all strong
beverages. He was of renowned Revolution
ary stock and the descendant of one of the
oldest of New England's early settlers, his
great-great-grandfather, Alexander Sessions,
having immigrated from England, and located
near the Atlantic coast. His son, Nathaniel
Sessions, was the great-grandfather of the

86

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

subject of this sketch, and was born in An-
dover, Mass., but after arriving at years of
maturity settled in Pomfret, Conn., the date
of his location being 1704. Darius Sessions,
a son of Nathaniel Sessions, and a great-uncle
of Sumner, was Deputy Governor of Rhode
Island at the commencement of the Revolu
tionary War, and won distinction for his
heroic action in relation to the burning of the
"Gaspe," a British revenue schooner, in
1772. Mr. Sessions in his official capacity
was one of a court of inquiry convened at
Newport, consisting of the admiral, the judge
of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Boston, the
governor of Rhode Island, and the chief jus
tices of Massachusetts, New York, and New
Jersey, to judge the guilty parties. Mr. Ses
sions and Stephen Hopkins, Chief Justice of
Rhode Island, insisted that there had been no
fault on the part of Rhode Island; but the
others thought that she should forfeit her
charter. It is likely that the other judges
wished to keep the good opinion of the crown;
but Mr. Sessions and his colleague dared the
displeasure of England, and manfully stood
up in defence of patriotic rights. (See
Ellis's "Youth's History of the United
States," vol. i. chap, xxx.)
Amasa Sessions, the grandfather of Sum
ner, was a native of Pomfret, Conn. ; and
there his son Robert, the father, was born
March 15, 1752. Robert left an honorable
record as a soldier of the Revolution, having
been one of that stern and silent band of
patriots who, disguised as Indians, on the
evening of December 16, 1773, hurled the
chests of tea into the waters of Boston harbor.
Soon after, giving up his position as clerk
in a Boston store, he joined the Continental
army, in which he served faithfully, being
one of the trusted and able officers, and at one
time was deputed as the bearer of despatches
to General 'Washington. During this time he
traversed a large part of New England, and
was so favorably impressed with the natural
advantages of Hampden County that in 1781
he located there. He married Anna Ruggles,
of Pomfret, in 1778; and three years later
they settled in what was then South Wilbra
ham, now Hampden.

To him and his wife thirteen children were
born, one of whom died in infancy and two at
about the age of thirty years. One, Francis,
left a son, F. C. Sessions, now of Columbus,
Ohio ; the other, Horace, who was graduated
from Hamilton College and from Andover
Theological Seminary, was ordained an evan
gelist, and went to Liberia, Africa, as agent
for the Colonization Society, but died at sea
on his return trip, March 4, 1826, of a fever
contracted in the wilds of Africa. Robert,
Jr., lived and died in Wilbraham; and his
son, H. M. Sessions, inherited the home
farm. One son removed to Michigan and one
daughter to Ohio when those States were
under territorial government. The third
daughter became the wife of Cyrus Newell,
of Long Meadow. Another son and three
other daughters passed their lives in Wilbra
ham. Sumner, of whom we write, was the
sixth son and eleventh child. The youngest
child, William V. Sessions, is still living on
the old homestead, the only survivor of Robert
Sessions's family.
Sumner Sessions was born December 29,
1797, in the parish of South Wilbraham, and
died January 18, 1880, having outlived the
allotted threescore and ten years of man's life
by more than a dozen years. He was a man
of unusual worth, as shown by the synopsis of
his career given above. He was a close stu
dent of the Bible, and when a young man
joined the Congregational church in Wilbra
ham, and two years later, in 1823, was hon
ored by being elected to the office of Deacon
of the church, and served in that capacity the
remaining years of his life. He was ever
devoted to the cause and diffusion of the
gospel, and was a stanch supporter of the
various missionary enterprises of his time,
being above all other considerations a true
and conscientious follower of the principles
taught by the Great Master.
In 1826 Sumner Sessions married Mary
Wood, who was born September 16, 1797, in
Wilbraham, the daughter of Jacob and Mary
(Langdon) Wood. She passed to the higher
life April i, 1845. Four children were born
of their union — Harriet E., Mary E.,
Frances E., and Edward Payson. The latter

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

87

lived but seven years on earth. Harriet E.,
who has been prominent as an educator, was
graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary in
1856, and after teaching for a short time in
Ohio and Michigan returned to her Alma
Mater, and was for more than three decades
one of its corps' of instructors. The maiden
name of the second wife of Mr. Sessions was
Martha M. Saxton. They were married in
1846; and she lived but a few years after
ward, dying September i, 1850.

{W^O

EORGE E. EDWARDS, dealer in
\ •) I fancy and staple groceries at the
— corner of Oak and Tyler Streets,
Springfield, is a live, alert, and capable young
man, possessing rare business tact and a good
knowledge of mercantile affairs. Fle was
born in Brattleboro, Vt., July 4, 1862, a son
of Willard and Lucy (Minor) Edwards, and of
English antecedents on both sides of the
house. Willard Edwards was for a score of years
foreman and head carpenter at the Brattleboro
Retreat for Insane, and after that occupied a
position in the Estey Organ Factory for a
period of twenty-six years, his long terms of
service in these two positions testifying to
ability and trustworthiness. He served the
community for a number of years as a member
of the fire department ; and for many years
he has been an attendant at the Baptist
church. To him and his wife four children
have come, but three of whom are now living,
namely: H. W., of Brattleboro; Jennie S., of
Westfield; and George E., the subject of this
sketch. George E. Edwards was naturally a boy of
quick perceptions, very fond of his books;
and, after completing the course at the gram
mar schools of his native town, he attended a
select school at Guilford Centre, subsequently
finishing his studies at Power's Institute in
Bernardston, Mass. When nineteen years
old he began life for himself, his first em
ployment being in Bernardston, where he was
engaged as a clerk for two years with R. L.
Crowell & Son. The next year he spent in
Bellows Falls, Vt., clerking for O. F. Woods

& Co., wholesale and retail grocers, and there
obtained quite an insight into the business.
In 1885 Mr. Edwards came to Springfield,
engaging in November of that year with A. F.
Niles & Son as clerk, remaining with them
five years. There he became still more famil
iar with the details of trade, the experience
which he gained being of inestimable value
to him in his present undertaking. Subse
quently he was interested for a couple of
years in the business of Rood & Woodbury,
being a clerk the first year and a member of
the firm the second. Disposing of his inter
est in that firm, Mr. Edwards came to his
present location, buying out the business of
F. R. Hawley. He took possession in Au
gust, 1894, succeeding to a well-established
trade of ten years' standing. He has met
with unusual success during the time he has
been in business here, and his prospects are
exceedingly bright and encouraging for a suc
cessful career. He deals in groceries, fruits,
and farmers' produce; and his store is one of
the largest in the vicinity, requiring the ser
vices of three clerks.
Mr. Edwards, besides being prominent in
business circles, is quite influential in social
organizations, belonging to Hampden Lodge,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which
he is Past Grand, to Agawam Encampment,
Canton of Springfield, and to the Daughters of
Rebecca. He has represented his lodge in the
State Grand Lodge, and takes an active part
in everything connected with the order. He
was formerly a member of the Springfield
Bicycle Club, but was obliged to relinquish
his membership on account of his business.
He is a stanch adherent of the Republican
party and a firm believer in the tenets of the
Congregational church, of which he is an es
teemed member.

^^ENJAMIN F. NICHOLS, a resident
of Springfield, Mass., for the past
^-» twenty-six years, and prominent in
business circles for his manufactur
ing enterprises, was born in the town of Fall
River in the same State, December 26, 1848.
Mr. Nichols's father, Benjamin T. Nichols,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was a sea captain, a native of Newport, R.I.,
where he .lived with his family for a time,
later moving to Fall River. He died of yel
low fever in 1855 at Havana, Cuba, leaving
a family of four children. Mr. Nichols's wife
was Miss Rebecca H. Lewis, also a native of
Rhode Island. She lived until her fifty-ninth
year. Benjamin F. Nichols attended the schools
in Fall River for a time; and at the age of
sixteen, the war having broken out, he en
listed as private in Company E, Sixtieth Regi
ment, which was a provisional regiment for
one hundred days' time. He was soon trans
ferred to the Sixty-first Regiment; and, when
the term of service had expired, he went to
the front, and was in the famous battle of
Petersburg, April 2, 1865. Mr. Nichols
served till the expiration of the war, and then
returned home, and went into the leather and
belting business. This he continued till
1874, when he came to Springfield, and estab
lished the F. Nichols Belting Company at
Holyoke, Mass. This was on a small scale
at first. He resided in Springfield, which
was but eight miles distant, and was able to
attend to the business with regularity, adding
to the capital from time to time till 1890.
The company was then incorporated with a
capital stock of forty thousand dollars, bear
ing the same name as formerly. Mr. Nichols
was both President and Treasurer, as he prac
tically owned all the stock. The business
rapidly increased; and in 1891 Mr. Nichols
closed up his interest in it, and incorporated
the Metallic Drawing-roll Company, with a
capital stock of eighty thousand dollars. In
this company he filled the office of Treasurer
and Manager till 1893, when he closed out
most of his stock to go to Europe to form the
England Metallic Drawing-roll Company, the
roll being used for cotton mills. This com
pany was established at Manchester, England,
and put up a large structure to accommodate
its equipment. In order to form the company
from residents on that side of the Atlantic,
Mr. Nichols remained in London for a year;
and in connection with the work he visited
Germany, England, France, Spain, and Rus
sia. Stockholders in those countries volun

teered their interest, and the company has
gone straight forward to success. After it
was incorporated, Mr. Nichols was elected one
of three Directors for a term of five years.
This necessitates frequent trips to England,
and he has already been five times since the
month of June, 1894. The American com
pany built a large brick building at Indian
Orchard, one of the suburbs of Springfield, to
serve as headquarters for the first manufactur
ing establishment of the Metallic Drawing-
roll Company. This is as large as the one in
Manchester, England, and gives employment
to sixty men. Although the duties incum
bent upon him in his connection with this
enterprise make great inroads upon his ener
gies and time, Mr. Nichols finds occasion to
attend to other interests. In 1894 he was
elected President of the Universal Electric
Messenger Call Company, which he helped to
organize, which manufactures the Universal
Electric Call now in use in the finer office
blocks of the city. He has also been elected
President of the Narcotic Chemical Company,
which manufactures a new remedy for the
tobacco habit, believed to be a thing that will
soon have a reputation. This company has a
capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars,
and the home office is in Springfield.
He is a member of Hampden Lodge, A. F.
& A. M., of the Morning Star Chapter,
Springfield Council, the Springfield Com
mandery, the Massachusetts Consistory at
Boston, the Aleppo Temple and Nobles of
Mystic Shrine, Boston. In politics he is a
pronounced Republican. In closing this brief
sketch the reader cannot but note that Mr.
Nichols is a striking instance of what may be
done by practical ingenuity, acquired skill,
and, what is of most consequence, an untiring
devotion to business. Opportunity is the
great thing in any life; and this record of Mr.
Nichols's career proves that wealth maybe ac
quired, the advantages of travel secured, and
the respect of men obtained by making the
most of the simple opportunities which lie
within the reach of all youth, united to the
qualities of perseverance and a determined
spirit. Mr. Nichols has been twice married; and

JOHN W. HERSEY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

91

three children were the result of the first
union — Bert F., who is now thirteen years
old; Ray L., ten years old; and Zorah L.,
aged seven. Mr. Nichols married for his
second wife Miss Lepha Lee, of Vergennes,
Vt. ; and the family reside at Ingersol's
Grove, a very beautiful part of the city.

iDWIN H. SEYMOUR has been a life
long resident of Granville, born in
this town, June 7, 1834, a son of a
native-born citizen of the place and the grand
son of one of its early and prominent pioneer
settlers; and since attaining manhood he has
been conspicuously identified with its highest
and best interests. His grandfather, Asa
Seymour, was one of the early farmers of the
town, and ably assisted in developing its
resources, and at the same time labored dili
gently to clear and improve a farm from the
wilderness, remaining here until his demise
in 1837. He reared a family of six sons and
three daughters, all of whom grew to adult
life. He was a stanch member of the old
Whig party, and he and his wife were active
and esteemed members of the Congregational
church. Alexander Seymour, the father of him of
whom we write, was born in Granville in
1789, and as soon as old enough began to
assist in the pioneer labors of the farm, con
tinuing in agricultural pursuits several years.
He was subsequently engaged in manufact
uring, which was afterward his occupation
through his years of activity. He was a well-
educated man, possessing a quick and active
brain, and had a more than local reputation as
a mathematician, his apt and ready solution of
difficult problems being almost phenomenal.
Politically, he was a stalwart supporter of the
principles of the Republican party. He mar
ried Electa Parker, whose birth occurred in
1802 in Southwick, Mass., and her death in
1864. Both were active in religious works
and members of the Congregational church.
Of the seven children born into their home
circle all grew to maturity, but three have
passed to the life eternal; namely, Abigail,
Electa, and Frank. The four now living are

placed as follows: Harriet, wife of Nelson
Henry, lives in Granville; Calista, wife of
S. Hendricks, resides at Easthampton; Eliza
J., wife of "Warren Reynolds, is a resident of
Plainville, Conn.; Edwin H. is the subject of
this brief sketch.
Edwin H. Seymour was bred and educated
in his native town, receiving lessons in hon
esty, thrift, and industry from his worthy par
ents. He early began to assist in the various
kinds of labor incidental to agricultural life,
finally selecting farming as his life occupa
tion. He made a business of general agri-
cfulture, although his specialty was raising
and dealing in leaf tobacco, a most profitable
industry. He is now living retired from
active farming, giving his undivided atten
tion to the interests of his town offices, which
occupy the larger part of his time.
Mr. Seymour was married May i, 1856, to
Miss Ellen Merriam, a native of Granby,
Conn., and a daughter of Elizur and Nancy
Merriam. Their union has been blessed by
the birth of two children, one son and one
daughter, namely : Hattie, wife of George
Oysler; and Milo E., who is a resident of
the village of Granville.
Mr. Seymour's course as a business man
has been most honorable; and, his character
and capability eminently fitting him for posi
tions of responsibility, he has been many
times elected as a member of the Board of
Selectmen, of which he has served as chair
man for several years. Since 1874 he has
performed the duties of Justice of the Peace
to the satisfaction of all concerned. He like
wise served his district as a member of the
State legislature in 1874, having been elected
by the Republican party, of which he is a
stalwart representative. He and his wife are
faithful members of the Baptist church.

OHN W. HERSEY, of the popular
firm of J. W. Hersey & Son, 387
Rfain Street, Springfield, was born
at Spencer, Worcester County, Mass.,
January 23, 1842, the year made memorable
by the adjustment of the north-western boun
dary under Daniel Webster. Elijah Hersey,

92

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

his grandfather, went to Spencer from Leices
ter, Mass. He was born in Hingham, Mass.,
and was a descendant of William Hersey, of
England, who settled in that town in 1635.
His father, Elijah Hersey, Sr., was a son of
Joshua, who was a son of William, Jr., and a
grandson of William the emigrant. Elijah
Hersey is mentioned in Washburn's "History
of Leicester " as having served in the war of
the Revolution. He died in Spencer in
March, 1850, a centenarian, it is believed,
although elsewhere recorded as aged ninety-
nine. The family tradition in regard to the
date of his birth makes his age to have been
one hundred years two months and twenty-one
days. He was an intelligent Episcopalian,
and necessarily a great student and reader, for
he wrote several books on religious subjects.
His wife, who survived him, died at the ripe
age of ninety-nine.
John W. Hersey' s parents were Martin and
Sarah (Adams) Hersey. Martin was born in
Leicester in 1801, the last year of John
Adams's presidency. When a young man he
moved with his father's family to Spencer,
where he remained most of his life, dying in
1880. His wife, whom he married in 1826,
was a daughter of Ezra Adams, of the old
Brookfield family of that name, and was born
in 181 1. Mr. and Mrs. Martin Hersey had
ten children, six of whom died in infancy.
The others were: Charles Martin Hersey,
who was in the war of the Rebellion three
years, and died in California in 1886; John
W. ; Anna Hersey, wife of Albert L. Oilman,
a carriage manufacturer in Worcester; Sarah
Hersey, wife of Levi Herideen, of Oxford,
Mass. Their parents were good old-fashioned
Methodists and enthusiastic singers. The
father was a prosperous farmer, and was a man
of the highest respectability.
John W. Hersey was educated in the public
schools of Spencer, Mass. In 1861, at the
age of nineteen, he took a position in the
United States Armory at Springfield, but
gave it up when he volunteered in the service
of his country. Being under twenty years old
when the war broke out, and engaged to be
married, he controlled his warlike inclina
tions one year; but on August 20, 1862, he

hired a team, and taking his intended bride to
the parsonage was there married, and half an
hour later enlisted for three years in Company
H, Tenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry. The recruiting tent was pitched on
Court Square, where the soldiers' monument
now stands. Our recruit was first sent to
Boston, thence to Washington, and then hur
ried on to Antietam, where he was rushed into
the front ranks in the heat of the encounter.
There being no chance to secure arms and
equipment in the usual way, he with a number
of other recruits who joined the regiment at
the same time was furnished with arms and
equipments actually taken from dead men on
the field of battle. Mr. Hersey saw the dead
and wounded borne from the field; but he and
his comrades held their position all day and
night, a terrible first experience. He was
afterward in the battles of Fredericksburg,
Rappahannock Station, Gettysburg, Mine
Run, and the Wilderness. In the second
Fredericksburg fight he was wounded in the
foot, and in the Wilderness was injured in
the head while on the skirmish line. In
1864 he re-enlisted for a second three years,
and being accorded a thirty days' furlough
came home to visit his wife, whom he had not
seen for two years. On his return from his
re-enlistment furlough he was just in time to
join his regiment in the famous Wilderness
campaign. After the term of his original en
listment had expired, he with a large number
of other re-enlisted soldiers was transferred to
the Thirty-seventh Regiment, Volunteer In
fantry. On July 20, 1865, the war being over, he
was discharged, came home, and lived at
South Hadley Falls for a few years, engaged
in the grocery and ice business, after which
he came to Springfield as a real estate dealer
and auctioneer. The business grew rapidly
in his hands, but after twenty years' experi
ence he sold out in 1892. During that time
he was Deputy Sheriff a number of years,
with the duties of court crier. In 1886 he
began the house-furnishing business in a
small way on a side street, but soon outgrew
his location. In 1888 he took his son George
into partnership, giving him a one-third in-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

93

terest in the business and its active manage
ment. In 1892 they moved into what is
known as the Kibbe Block, corner of Main
Street and Harrison Avenue, occupying a
large store facing on both streets. Now, how
ever, they have another store, twenty by a
hundred and sixty-five feet, in the same block,
extending from Main Street to Market, where
their extensive floor space will give them one
of the largest stores of the kind in Western
Massachusetts. Mr. Hersey was Senior Vice-Commander of
Wilcox Post, No. 16, Grand Army of the
Republic, for several years; and in 1885 he
was elected Commander, but resigned in Feb
ruary of the same year to accept the position
of Commander of the Massachusetts Depart
ment of the Grand Army of the Republic,
having already served that organization as
Senior Vice-Commander. In 1883 he was a
delegate to the National Encampment at Den
ver, Col., and since that time has attended
the National Encampments at San Francisco,
St. Louis, Detroit, Washington, Boston, Min
neapolis, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Port
land, Me. As Department Commander he is
a life member of the National Encampment.
Since 1884 he has been a Trustee of the Mas
sachusetts Soldiers' Home, and he advised
in the erection of its commodious buildings.
In 1 891 a Springfield firm offered a gold
Grand Army badge, worth two hundred dol
lars, for the most popular Grand Army man in
Western Massachusetts or Northern Connecti
cut; and Mr. Hersey won the prize, receiving
seventy-two thousand votes therefor. He is
decidedly a clubable man, has been a Mason
for over twenty-five years, and belongs to the
Knights of Honor, the Royal Arcanum, the
Ancient Order of United "Workmen, and the
United Order of Fraternal Helpers. Some
years ago he was twice a candidate for legisla
tive honors, and lacked only six votes of elec
tion, though in a strong Democratic district.
His wife, Ellen Chapin, was born in Chico
pee, February i, 1843, and was a daughter of
N. S. and Sarah (Fowler) Chapin, of the old
Chapin and Fowler families. Mr. and Mrs.
Hersey have had six children, the oldest and
youngest still living. As already stated,

George Lincoln Hersey, born in 1865, is in
partnership with his father; and his sister,
Mabel Edith, lives at home. The family are
members of St. Luke's Methodist Episcopal
Church. Since 1872 they have resided at
their pleasant home on Stebbins Street. As
was said by the dramatist, John Webster,
nigh three hundred years ago —
"Old soldiers, sweetheart, are surest; and
old lovers are soundest."
The excellent portrait of Mr. Hersey which
graces another page of this volume will be
recognized with pleasure by his many friends
and acquaintances.

KREDERIC ALFRED JOHNSON, a
substantial and prosperous agriculturist
of Hampden County, owns and occu
pies a fine farm at Feeding Hills, where he
has lived for more than twoscore years. He
was born June 4, 1826, at Feeding Hills Par
ish, and is a son of Leonard and Maria (Prout)
Johnson, an extended sketch of whose lives
maybe found in connection with the history
of Frank L. Johnson, on another page of this
volume. Mr. Johnson was reared and educated in the
place of his nativity, remaining with his par
ents until sixteen years of age, when he began
his business career as clerk in a general store
at Feeding Hills Corners, spending two years
in that employment. Going then to Spring
field, he secured a similar position in the store
of J. W. Hale, and while with him drove the
first delivery wagon ever used in that city.
He afterward clerked for John C. Stebbins,
continuing with him until the time of his
marriage, when, desiring to have a permanent
home, he bought the farm where he now lives,
and has carried on mixed farming with most
excellent results. He is a man of good busi
ness ability and great enterprise, and during
the time of the late war added butchering and
dairying to his other work, realizing a good
income from his extra labor.
Mr. Johnson was first married April 19,
1849, being then united to Ruth Ann Smith,
who was born in Catskill, Greene County,
N.Y., March 17, 1829, a daughter of Orson

94

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and Mary Smith and a grand-daughter of
Alexander Smith. She passed to the higher
life December 5, 1874, leaving four children,
of whom the following is recorded: Charles
F. married Sarah A. Ingell, and they are the
parents of seven children — namely, Elbert,
William L., Anna May, Frederic L., Charles
J., Cora, and Arthur; Edward L. married
Celia M. Brooks, and they have had six chil
dren — namely, Ruth A., Lewis E., Winfield
S., Lillian M., Harry, and Thaddeus; Yovo,
Lettie, and Carrie have died; Frederic A.,
Jr., married Florence A. Jobes, and they have
one child, Hattie Florence; Leonard A. mar
ried Ella M. Taylor, and they have two chil
dren — Bertha Louise and an infant daughter
not named.
In July, 1880, Mr. Johnson was united in
marriage with Salome Nelly Griswold, who
was born in Westfield, Mass., February 4,
1 84 1. Her paternal grandfather, Abel Gris
wold, was born in Windsor, Conn., and at the
age of sixteen years enlisted in the Revolu
tionary army, and served until the close of
the war. After returning to his home, he
sought his fortune in Massachusetts, living in
different places in the State, but spending his
last years with his children in Hampden
County. He was twice married. The maiden
name of his first wife was Laura Forward, and
by her he had several children. His oldest
son, Avery, was in the army during the War
of 18 1 2, and at Sackett's Harbor received a
bullet in the foot which crippled him for life.
The Griswold men were all tall. Abel and
his son Avery were six feet two inches in
height, and Virgil was six feet and one-half
inch. The maiden name of his second wife was
Deidamia Easton, and her son Virgil was the
father of Mrs. Johnson. Virgil Griswold was
born in Southampton, Mass., March 29, 1807,
and after arriving at years of maturity was en
gaged for a number of years in the whip busi
ness in Westfield. In 1848 he removed to
Portland, Me., where he carried on a flourish
ing business in whips and cigars until some
time during the war, when he was burned
out. He continued as a dealer in cigars in
that city until 1866, when he removed to St.

Louis, where he died in September, 1867.
His wife, the mother of Mrs. Johnson, was
Nelly, daughter of James Jeffrey, of Kenne-
bunkport. Me., and the widow of Captain
James Burnham. She died while yet in the
prime of life, passing away February 9, 1858.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are important members
of the farming community where they have
lived so many years, and are esteemed as kind
and sincere neighbors and friends, ever ready
to do a kind act or a charitable deed.

RED EMERY, superintendent of the
Springfield Cemetery, that beautiful
resting-place of the dead, has had en
tire charge of its management since 1891, his
excellent taste and skill in landscape garden
ing and floriculture rendering him a most
efficient man for the position. He is a native
of Worcester County, Mass., having been born
in Lunenburg, July 21, 1841, and is de
scended on both the paternal and maternal
sides from substantial Puritan stock.
His father, George Emery, was born in
Dorchester, Mass., in 1789, and was very
familiar with the historical events of the early
part of the century. During the War of 1812
he drove a team from Boston to Philadelphia.
He afterward moved to Worcester County,
settling at Lunenburg, where he lived for
thirty-one years, going thence to Rutland,
Mass., which was his home until 1865, when
he sold his farm there, and, removing to
Westfield to the home of his daughter, died
there soon after. His wife, whose maiden
name was Nancy Macintosh, and who was a
native of Dorchester, outlived him many
years, and died in Westfield in 1882. Both
she and her husband were devoted members of
the Methodist Episcopal church.
The subject of this brief biography was the
youngest of a family of twelve children born
to the parental household, and he was edu
cated in the district schools of Lunenburg and
Rutland. On attaining his majority he en
listed in the service of his country, becoming
a member of Company B, Fifty-first Massa
chusetts Volunteer Infantry, in July, 1863.
This regiment was in or near Newbern, N.C,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

95

much of the time, and actively participated
in the Goldsboro engagement. At the expi
ration of his term of enlistment Mr. Emery,
being sick, returned home, and after spending
a short time in West Springfield secured em
ployment in the watershops at the United
States Armory, remaining there until the
close of the war, when his services were no
longer needed. Returning to West Spring
field, he worked for a time for Mr. Demond
in the hotel and livery business, and afterward
entered the employ of the Union Paper Com
pany. He subsequently worked three years
for Brown & Pinney, and during the succeed
ing three years was a member of the police
force of Springfield. After a year's respite
from that work Mr. Emery again joined the
police force, and for eight years travelled his
beat with regularity. Mr. Emery then ac
cepted a situation with James A. Rumrill as
superintendent of his Goshen farm, remaining
with him ten years, having the general over
sight of the place and employees. It was
while thus engaged that Mr. Emery obtained
the knowledge of gardening that has so well
fitted him for the position he now occupies.
Since October, 1891, he has had charge of the
cemetery, in which he employs from twenty
to twenty-three men, and keeps the sixty acres
of land within its enclosure in perfect order,
the natural beauties of the place being en
hanced by the deft hand of art.
On May 25, 1869, Mr. Emery was united
in marriage with Miss Julia P. Davis, a na
tive of Springfield, daughter of H. G. Davis,
who has been a member of the police force of
this city for many years. Two children have
been born of their union — L. Louise and
George Gilbert, the latter of whom works with
his father. Mr. Emery, his wife, and chil
dren are attendants of the Methodist Episco
pal church, following the religious belief of
their forefathers.

^OLONEL JAMES A. RUMRILL,
whose name stands high in railroad
circles in Western New England,
is a leading citizen of Springfield.
He was born in the, city of New York , April

8, 1837, son of James Bliss and Rebecca
(Pierce) Rumrill. His earliest American
ancestor, Simon Rumrill, was one of the
original settlers of Enfield, Conn., which at
the time he went there, about 1630, formed a
part of the town of Springfield. Hampden
County has been the home of the family for
several generations. Alexander Rumrill, the
father of James Bliss, was a resident of what
is now the city of Springfield; and most of
the male members of the family in his day
were farmers. He fought the British in the
War of 1 812, and a member of an eastern
branch of the family battled for the cause of
American independence at Bunker Hill. His
sword is now in the possession of Colonel
Rumrill. James Bliss Rumrill was born in Spring
field, where he resided for some years, but
later went to New York City, and engaged in
manufacturing gold chains, in which he was
very successful. In 1848 he returned to
Springfield, and established a similar factory
here, giving employment to a large number of
people. He retired from business in 1870,
and resided for many years on the old Maple
Street homestead, his death occurring in
1885. To the close of his life he was promi
nently identified with leading business inter
ests in Springfield, being Director at different
times of the Pynchon National Bank, the
Chicopee National, and the John Hancock
National Bank. He was a man of broad
mind and catholic tastes and a warm and ap
preciative lover of the fine arts. After re
tiring from business he spent some time trav
elling in Europe, visiting Italy and France,
and collecting art treasures in books and pict
ures. He was a prominent and active mem
ber of the Unitarian church, and was one of
half a dozen men who drew largely on their
bank accounts, and practically built the
Church of the Unity, the finest church of
that denomination in the State. His death
was a loss to the community, and was widely
mourned. He left his wife and two children
— James A. ; and Grace, who married Charles
P. Miller, an attorney of New York, but is
now deceased. The mother died on April 2,
1890. She was a daughter of Aaron Pierce,

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

a member of an old Quaker family of Rhode
Island. James A. Rumrill accompanied his parents
to Springfield at the age of eleven, and after
attending the Springfield public schools pre
pared for college at Phillips Academy at
Andover, Mass. He then entered Harvard
College, from which he took his degree with
the class of 1859. This class numbered
among its students men who have since at
tained prominence in the various professions,
among them the late Henry Hobson Richard
son, the architect of Trinity Church, Boston,
and Sever Hall, Cambridge, whose name
stands at the head of his profession in this
country, and Professor Gray, now of the Cam
bridge Law School. Mr. Rumrill entered the
Harvard Law School in the class of 1861.
Part of his legal knowledge, however, was
acquired in the office of Chapman & Chamber
lain, of Springfield, the senior member of this
firm afterward becoming Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Massachusetts. After tak
ing his degree of LL.B., Mr. Rumirill trav
elled abroad for one year, studying Roman or
civil law at the University of Berlin, having
been admitted to the bar, however, before
going abroad. On his return he formed a
partnership with T. M. Brown, Esq., with
whom he had been a fellow-student in the law
office of Chapman & Chamberlain.
He practised with Mr. Brown for two years,
or until 1865, when he was elected Secretary
and attorney of the old Western Railroad, in
which double capacity he acted until 1880,
then becoming Vice-President, an act of con
solidation having taken place in 1868, and
the name of the road changed to the Boston &
Albany Railroad. Mr. Rumrill now gave up
his general law practice, and devoted his time
exclusively to railroad business, having his
office in Corporation Building, Springfield.
In 1892, owing to ill health, he resigned the
vice-presidency, but is still a Director of the
road, in which, during his active career as
Secretary and Vice-President, many changes
in equipment and management and many im
portant improvements were made. He is still
prominently connected with various railroad
enterprises, being President of the Pittsfield

& North Adams Railroad, and of the Ware
River Railroad Company. He was for some
time a Director of the Union Pacific, the Con
necticut River, and the Monadnock Railroads,
and has also been a Director of the New Lon
don and Northern and Connecticut & Pas-
sumpsic Railroads, having probably taken a
more active part in general railroad business
than any other man in Western Massachusetts.
Mr. Rumrill is now a Director of the
Chapin National Bank, of which institution
he became President after the resignation of
Mr. Chapin, and is one of the Vice-Presi
dents of the Hampden Savings Bank. He is
also closely identified with the City Hospital,
being one of the founders of the new hos
pital, a Trustee, and a member of the building
committee. In addition to holding the above
important positions he is President of the City
Library Association, which office he has held
since the death of Mr. E. W. Bond. He was
on the building committee when the William
Rice Library building was erected; and he
with a few other of the Directors gave five
thousand dollars each to help defray the build
ing expenses, the rest being collected by pub
lic subscription. Colonel Rumrill was one
of the original founders of the Springfield
Club, and has been its President, is a member
of the Somerset and St. Botolph Clubs of
Boston, the University, Metropolitan, and
Harvard Clubs of New York, and is a life
member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
at Central Park, New York. He was one of
the building committee of the new art build
ing of Springfield, he and others looking after
the finances, while Mr. G. W. V. Smith took
charge of the building. He served on the
staff of Governor Gaston, and in 1892 received
the offer of a nomination for Congress, which
he declined. He has been one of the city
fathers, being elected Alderman of the First
Ward, in which his office was located, while
residing in Ward Four.
May 22, 1 861, Mr. Rumrill was united in
marriage to Miss Anna Chapin, daughter of
Chester W. Chapin, of Springfield, one of the
foremost public men in the State. After the
marriage he went abroad, as above narrated,
his wife accompanying him on the journey,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

97

her sympathetic companionship enhancing the
pleasure and interest of his foreign rambles.
Three children have been born to them —
Rebecca, Anna, and Chester Chapin Rumrill,
the latter named for his grandfather, and now
a member of the Harvard class of 1897.
The family reside at the beautiful old
homestead of Chester W. Chapin at 149
Chestnut Street; and Colonel Rumrill also
owns a fine summer residence at New London,
Conn. He is a Unitarian in religious belief,
and was for twenty years Clerk of the Unita
rian church in this city. It is almost need
less to say, in view of his life's history, thus
briefly sketched, that he and his family stand
high in Springfield society, and are among
those who have borne a distinguished part in
making the history of Hampden County.

rOSEPH J. FOWLER, an extensive
landholder of Hampden County, has a
well-managed and highly productive
farm, finely located in the town of
Westfield, of which he has been a life-long
resident, having been born May 7, 1836, on
the homestead which he now owns and occu
pies. He is a very genial and popular man,
holding a prominent position among the more
intelligent, enterprising, and active citizens
of this section of the county. He is a
descendant of one of the oldest families of the
place, his great-grandfather, Luther Fowler,
having been one of the original settlers of
Westfield, where he rounded out a full period
of years.
Ashbell Fowler, Sr., the grandfather of
Joseph, was born and reared in Westfield, and
in 1784 bought of his father, Luther Fowler,
the farm where the subject of this sketch now
resides. This land was given to Luther
Fowler by the town of Westfield when it was
disposing of its outlying land according to the
rate of its citizens. When it came into the
possession of Ashbell Fowler, it was in its
pristine wildness, being covered with a heavy
growth of timber, a part of which he had to
hew to make room for a dwelling-house. He
worked with diligence and energy; and ere his
death, which occurred when he was about

threescore and ten years of age, he had a large
part of the one hundred and fifty acres under
cultivation. He was a very smart and active
man, and performed his part in developing the
resources of the town, being one of its most
valued citizens. He was liberal in his relig
ious beliefs and a stanch Democrat in his
political views. To him and his wife, whose
maiden name was Lucinda Kellogg, eight
children were born, three sons and five daugh
ters, none of whom are now living.
Ashbell Fowler, Jr., the father of the sub
ject of this sketch, grew to manhood on the
parental homestead, and having had practical
experience in the care and management of a
farm chose farming as his life occupation, and
on the death of his father bought out the in
terests of the other heirs in the home farm,
and there engaged in agricultural pursuits,
spending his entire life, from May 14, 1801,
until December 26, 1862, on the old home
stead. He was a man of fine physique, six
feet in height and well proportioned, and was
one of the influential citizens of the town.
One of his brothers, Luther Fowler, was a
soldier of the War of '1812. The maiden
name of Joseph Fowler's mother was Laura
Everton. She was a native of Westfield,
where she was born March 4, 1809, and died
October 10, 1886. Her union with Mr.
Fowler was celebrated May 16, 1832; and of
the children born to them five grew to matu
rity. We have record of the following: Emer
son, a resident of California; Joseph J., the
subject; Josephine, the wife of Stanton Mal-
lory, of Westfield; and Lauraett, deceased,
who was born March 16, 1834, married Will
iam Palmer, of Southwick, and died December
31, 1883.
Joseph J. Fowler has spent his years of boy
hood and manhood on the farm which he now
owns, having assisted his father in tilling the
soil, and from him learned the art of agricult
ure in all of its various forms. His father
had added to the original acreage of the home
stead property, which now consists of three
hundred acres of choice and fertile land, and
is one of the best and finest improved estates
in the vicinity. Mr. Fowler purchased the
farm after the death of his father in 1862,

98

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and has been continuously engaged in gen
eral farming since.
On December ii, 1856, Mr. Fowler was
united in marriage to Anngenette, the daugh
ter of Aretas and Nancy (Allen) Fowler,
both natives of Southwick, where her birth
occurred, October 16, 1835. Aretas Fowler
was a very prosperous and prominent farmer
of his town, of which he was a resident until
his early death, at the age of forty-two years.
His widow survived him, living to the age
of seventy-three years. They reared several
children, five of whom are now living,
namely: Mrs. Maria Palmer, of Westfield;
Anngenette, the wife of the subject; Bennett
A., of Westfield; Mrs. Pluma Russell, of
Springfield; and Osmyn K., of Westfield.
The names of the deceased are Mrs. Mary
Clark, Mrs. Philena Dibble, Morton W.,
Mrs. Jane D. Davis, and James D., the latter
two having been twins. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler
are the parents of two children, namely: Ann
genette, born April 9, 1861, the wife of
Reuben Noble, of Westfield, in which town
she is a practising physician; and Mabel E.,
born May 15, 1869, the wife of Merrill H.
Hosmer, of Westfield, and mother of one
child, Merrill F., who was born November
24, 1891. Among the esteemed citizens of
Westfield Mr. Fowler holds an assured place,
his industry, uprightness, and neighborly
dealing having gained for him the confidence
and good will of the community. In politi
cal matters he is independent, though he in
clines toward the principles of the Re
publican party. Socially, he is a member
of Westfield Lodge, No. 152, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows.

W\

ALLACE SHAW, a retired Spring
field brewer, was born in Sheffield,
England, in 1833, not long before
Queen Victoria came to the throne. The
grandfather, Richard Shaw, and the father,
Joseph Shaw, were both merchant tailors ; and
for many years this was the occupation of va
rious members of the family. Joseph Shaw
spent his entire life in Sheffield, and was a
prominent tradesman. Flis wife, Elizabeth

Brodhead, the mother of Wallace, was a daugh
ter of a British army officer belonging to a
somewhat distinguished family of adherents to
the Established Church. Joseph Shaw, how
ever, was a radical, possessed with a high re
spect for principle, but caring little for form.
He died in 1880, and was the father of seven
children, of whom Wallace is the only sur
vivor, a brother, Walter, having died in Bir
mingham, England, in September, 1894.
Wallace Shaw received his education in his
native English town, and learned the family
trade. In 1855, at the age of twenty-two, he
came with friends to America, and went to
Albany, N. Y. , where for two years he worked
for a brother who has since passed away. The
next year he was in Montreal, and thence went
to Schenectady, N. Y. , where he was engaged
in the development of the dawning art of pho
tography. In 1859 he went by way of Panama
to California ; but, six months' experience
with frontier life being sufficient for him, he
returned to Schenectady and bought back his
old gallery, which he managed very success
fully for several years. After a year's rest he
came to Springfield, and with his brother
Joseph started a brewery, under the style of
of Shaw & Co., in the only building .they
could obtain suitable for the purpose. Later
Mr. Shaw built the second genuine brewery in
the city; and the business was run by the
Springfield Brewing Company, giving employ
ment to ten men. In the centennial year it
was found necessary to enlarge their building;
and in 1880 Mr. Shaw sold out and retired
from active life, at the same time buying a
beautiful farm at Schodack Landing on the
Hudson River, where he became a gentleman
farmer for seven years, thereafter returning to
Springfield. He has twice revisited Europe,
travelling extensively through the British
Isles. In 1888 he bought a fine residence in
Buckingham Place, opposite the park ; and
there is the family home. His wife, Joseph
ine Knight, to whom he was married in
1880, belonged to an old family in Charles-
town, Mass. They have six children — Percy
M. ; Daisy; Sidney Hurbert, now in Kansas;
Allen W. ; Elizabeth L. ; and Gladstone M.
The family attend the Episcopal church.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

99

though inheriting the liberal sentiments of
Father Joseph Shaw.

/^HARLES HENRY BURLEIGH, a
I V-' well-to-do agriculturist in the early
^^^ ^ prime of life, is prosperously en
gaged in his independent vocation
on one of the most desirable homesteads in the
town of Hampden, where he has resided since
his marriage. He is a native of this State
and county, having been born November 17,
1844, in the town of South Wilbraham, but
is of Connecticut ancestry, his grandfather,
Abner Burleigh, having been born in Union,
Tolland County, Conn., April 24, 1776. He
was reared to agricultural pursuits, and, re
moving to Massachusetts, lived for a time in
Wilbraham, going thence to Monson, and in
vesting his money in a farm on Silver Street,
where he lived until his decease, February 14,
i860. He married Lovisa Cleveland, who was
born August 12, 1781, a daughter of Elisha
and Ada Cleveland. She died in March,
1824, being then but forty-two years of age.
(For genealogy of the Burleigh family, see the
work compiled by Charles Burleigh, of Port
land, Me. ; also, see the "Cleveland Book of
Genealogy. ")
Abner Cleveland Burleigh, the father of
Charles Henry, was born June 22, 1807, in
the town of "Wilbraham. He was reared on
the home farm, and received good educational
advantages, attending the Wilbraham Academy
after leaving the district schools. He com
menced life for himself as a teacher, and, hav
ing taught school until he had saved up some
money, invested his earnings in land, buying
a farm in the western part of his native town,
where he resided for some time. Selling that
property, he leased a farm in the south portion
of the town, and two years later bought the
Captain Crocker farm, located in what is now
the northern part of the place, residing there
until his death, at an advanced age, January
16, 1 89 1. He was a very successful business
man, using good sense and sound judgment in
his purchases, and at the time of his death was
one of the most extensive landholders in this
section of Hampden County. He was a great

reader, and had a thorough knowledge of af
fairs. In politics he was not ambitious, but
served his town as Selectman. At the age of
fifteen he was converted under the preaching
of the Rev. Dr. Nettleton in the famous re
vival of 1822, when over one hundred persons
were converted, and ninety joined the Congre
gational church at South "Wilbraham. He had
been an honored and exemplary member of this
church all these years, contributing liberally
to its support. In 1833 he married Cynthia
Alden, who was born January 20, 1801, in
Bellingham, Mass., and died in Wilbraham in
1884. She bore her husband six children,
their names being: Albert; Joanna, Mrs.
Charles Holt, of Stafford, Conn. ; Cynthia
Ann ; Esther Cordelia ; Lucius Alden ; and
Charles Henry, four of whom are now living.
Charles H. Burleigh received his education
in his native town, attending the public
schools and the Wilbraham Academy, and on
the paternal homestead was initiated into the
mysteries of agriculture. After his marriage
he settled on the farm where he now resides;
and, putting into practice the lessons he re
ceived when young, he has become one of the
most skilful and thorough-going farmers in
this vicinity. With the exception of about
eighteen months, when he was associated in
business with his brother Albert in Palmer,
he has devoted his time to his agricultural in
terests. At times he has paid especial atten
tion to dairying, having a few years since had
the largest dairy in the town.
The union of Mr. Burleigh with Miss Julia
Adelaide Burleigh was solemnized January 4,
1882. She was born September 26, 1849, in
the town of Palmer, and is a daughter of Ben
jamin Abalard Burleigh, and a grand-daughter
of Abner and Lovisa (Cleveland) Burleigh.
Her father was born in Wilbraham ; and after
graduating from the academy of that town he
became an architect, and followed that busi
ness until he located on the Burleigh home
stead at Palmer, giving his attention quite
largely to gardening until his death occurred,
April 3, 1866, in the fifty-fifth year of his
age. He served his town as Constable seven
years. It was largely due to his great efforts
that the Eastern Hampden Agricultural So-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ciety was instituted. He was a noble-hearted,
generous man, a great friend to education, and
an earnest church member, contributing liber
ally of his means for the support of the gospel.
He died in the bright hope of a blessed im
mortality. The maiden name of his wife was
Hannah Smith Cook. She was a native of
West Springfield, and a daughter of Elizur and
Marcia (Dennison) Cook. She was a school
teacher in her younger days; and her life after
the decease of her husband was devoted to the
training of her children, carrying out the plans
her husband and self had for them as regarded
their education. She was a beautiful mother
and an earnest Christian woman, having a
power to make all happy in her society, and
died prayerful, even as she had lived. She
lived until May 22, 1888. They had nine
children, of whom the following is recorded :
Julia Ann died in 1849; Dr. William E. died
in San P'rancisco, July 14, 1892; Marcia L.
died in Tekonsha, Mich., December 20, 1871 ;
Lucia E. , Julia Adelaide (Mrs. Burleigh),
Sarah Marion, George R. , Charles I., and Inez
are yet living.
Mrs. Burleigh is a woman of refinement and
broad culture, and from her girlhood days has
been interested in literary and philanthropic
subjects. She was educated at the Palmer
High School and the Wesleyan Academy at
Wilbraham, and from the age of sixteen years
until her marriage was engaged in teaching,
being a popular and well-known educator.
She taught principally in schools of a high
grade, a part of the time being principal of
the school. Among the places in which she
was professionally engaged were Marshall,
Mich., and Ware, Mass. She is a woman of
prominence in local societies, being an influ
ential member of the Woman's Christian Tem
perance Union and the organizer of the Dema-
rest Society connected with it, which in 1894'
won ten silver medals and two gold ones.
Both she and her husband are members of the
Hampden, Grange, No. 165, which she was
largely instrumental in organizing, and of
which she was lecturer for four years. They
likewise belong to the Pomona Grange, being
among its most active members. Religiously,
both Mr. and Mrs. Burleigh arc valued and es

teemed members of the First Congregational
Church, of which he is Treasurer. Politi
cally, Mr. Burleigh is a strong champion of
the principles of the Republican party, and
has served his townsmen for upward of ten
years as a member of the Board of Selectmen.
He belongs to the Eastern Hampden Agricult
ural Society, of which he was formerly a Di
rector. It was due to his vigorous efforts that
the Springfield Mountain Creamery Associa
tion was organized, and of this he was Treas
urer for six years.
Mr. and Mrs. Burleigh have no children of
their own ; but a lad of seventeen years, named
Charles Daniel Fiske, has lived with them
since he was eight years old. And to him
they devote parental care and attention.

USTIN B. BUSH, a prominent citizen
and business man of Springfield, was
born in Willimansett on December
21, 1829. His great-grandfather,
Rufus Bush, was a native of Enfield, Conn. ;
and his grandfather, who bore the same name,
was a master builder by vocation, and did
some of the best work in his locality.
David A. Bush, the father of Austin B.
Bush, was born in Enfield, Conn., in 1803,
and there remained until he was fifteen years
of age. He was then employed by Potter &
King, plough manufacturers, and remained
with them until he went to Chicopee Falls,
where he worked on the first water wheels and
flumes until they were completed. A curious
thing happened at this time, which illustrates
the autocratic power then exercised in church
matters. Mr. Bush's coat was taken to pay
a church tax which he had refused to recog
nize, as he neither attended the services nor
believed in the doctrines of that particular re
ligious body. From Chicopee Falls he went
to Providence, and later removed to Williman
sett, in which place the subject of this sketch
was born some years later. In 1830 David
Bush moved to Springfield, where he bought
out Ebenezer Crane's plough and wagon manu
factory and succeeded in establishing a very
extensive business in a comparatively short
time. His factory occupied the corner of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Main and Cross Streets. As he grew prosper
ous, he invested in real estate ; and in the
course of time he owned the line of residences
that occupied Cross Street, the well-known
Bush Block, besides other property beyond the
city limits.
On April 30, 1827, David A. Bush was
married to Miss Betsy Williams, of "Westfield,
Mass., a daughter of Naboth Williams, who
died in 1821. Of the four children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Bush, all are dead with the ex
ception of Austin B. Bush. The first-born
daughter, who bore the name of Elizabeth
Page, died in infancy. The second daughter
was called by the same Christian name. She
grew up and married Mr. Dennis S. Goff, of
Springfield, but is now deceased. She left a
daughter, Jessie, who is the wife of Henry S.
Safford, of this city. Melanchthon Whita-
more died in his youth, and Austin B. was
the only child left to cheer and comfort the
declining years of his parents.
Mr. Bush gave to his son Austin the advan
tages of military training as well as those of
a liberal education, sending him to Clinton In
stitute in New York after he had completed
the prescribed courses of the Springfield
schools, and then giving him a year at the
Norwich Military Academy of Vermont under
Captain Alden Partridge. After finishing his
studies in the latter institution he returned to
Springfield and began to learn wagon-making,
an occupation he gave up to go into the gro
cery business ; and six years later he took a
position in the United States Armory, where
he was engaged in the stocking department
under "Boss " Stillman until the war closed in
1865. During this period of distraction and
confusion he found it necessary to look care
fully after the large amount of real estate
owned by his father, and has since then de
voted his time and attention to the supervision
of the family interests, which include a large
number of tenement houses and other valua
ble property. Mr. Bush's knowledge of the
joiner's craft has enabled him to keep his
property in excellent order; and he makes a
point of doing the repairs himself, in order
that he may feel sure that the work has been
thoroughly done. He has been clerk of the

returning board of Democratic Ward Three,
and has once received the nomination for
Alderman in this Republican ward. For some
time he was a member of the Cataract Engine
Company, No. 2. Mr. Bush, who has seen
the steady growth of Springfield during his
long residence in that city, is one of the well-
known figures about its streets. For many
years he has occupied the commodious brick
house at 565 Main Street, where cordial hospi
tality has been dispensed to his many friends.
He has been an extensive traveller in his own
country, and is familiar with the varying
phases of American life, having visited the
Province of Nova Scotia, the Pacific Coast,
and the Far South, and received the impress
of cosmopolitan thought that only comes by
contact with "all sorts and conditions of
men. On January 11, 1854, Mr. Bush was united
in marriage to Miss Susan P. Millard, of
Levant, Me. Miss Millard, who was a daugh
ter of David and Rebecca Millard, was born in
Levant, November 7, 1832. Two children
were the issue of this union — James, who died
in infancy ; and Harry Dean, a civil engineer
in Portland, Ore. This son was a graduate of
the Springfield High School and a student at
the Worcester Institute of Technology, from
which he graduated in 1879. He has held
many prominent positions on the Pacific Coast,
among them that of Superintendent of the
Dominion Bridge Company of Canada. He
has also been employed with George Morrison,
the bridge builder in New York, and later
engaged on the water works of Portland, Ore.
He married Miss Emma Wetherbee, of Gard
ner, Mass.
Mrs. Austin Bush died on August 8, 1891.
Her piety and charities made her generally
beloved. She was an active worker in the
church ; and both she and her husband were
teachers for many years in the Sunday-school
of St. Paul's Church, of which he was Collec
tor for fifteen years, and of which he is now
Treasurer. On February 15, 1892, Mr. Bush took for
his second wife Mrs. Persis (Crawford) Pros-
ser.- This lady is a daughter of William and
Almira (Cheney) Crawford, of Oakham, Mass.

102

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mrs. Bush's paternal grandfather, Alexander
Crawford, worked at one time in the United
States Armory, and finished the first rifle ever
made in the Springfield Armory. Her mater
nal grandfather was Dr. Enoch Cheney, a
leading physician of Groton, N. H., and Can-
andaigua, N.Y. In Clayville, N. Y., where
the years of her girlhood were passed, she met
and married Mr. Charles M. Prosser. She
came to Springfield a widow in 1880.

'RANCKE W. DICKINSON, funeral
director, was born in Springfield, Feb
ruary 19, 1849. His parents, Elijah
W. and Mary A. (Crossett) Dickinson, were
born respectively in i8i6.and 1814. The
father, who was a native of Hadley, Mass.,
began life as a school teacher. This profes
sion he abandoned and engaged in the furni
ture business, in which he continued for many
years in the city of Springfield, retiring in
1868. In 1869 he became a partner in the
firm of Fisk & Dickinson, who succeeded the
firm of Pomeroy & Fisk in the business now so
successfully conducted by his son, the subject
of the present sketch.
Francke W. Dickinson was educated in the
public and private schools of the city, and at
an early age went into active life, taking a
position in his father's furniture business when
he was seventeen years of age. This furniture
and upholstering house was the principal es
tablishment of the sort in the city, occupying
a part of the Union Block ; and here the inval
uable lessons of business method and detail
were learned. Two years later the establish
ment was sold, and the young man began cler
ical work. For a period of four years he was
employed in the prominent house of David
Warner, then a large dealer in paints, oils, and
builders' supplies. His health becoming im
paired, his physicians recommended some oc
cupation that would be less sedentary and more
in the open air. He accordingly formed a
partnership in the undertaking business with
his father, under the firm name of E. W.
Dickinson & Co., succeeding Fisk & Dickin
son, whose stand was then on the corner of
State and Willow Streets. From the start the

business prospered, and later the firm moved
into better quarters on the north side of State
Street. In September of 1885 Mr. Elijah W. Dick
inson died; and his son became sole owner of
the business, which he in 1886 moved into its
present location, the block erected by Mr.
Dickinson, and which occupies the most ad
vantageous corner in the city. So satisfactory
has Mr. Dickinson been in his special line of
work that, besides supplying the demand in
Springfield and the surrounding country, he
has calls to Boston, New Haven, and other
distant cities. As a funeral director, Mr.
Dickinson's good taste, common sense, ready
tact, and scientific knowledge have acquired
for him a high reputation; and his patrons are
among the best class of Springfield citizens.
During the three years of Mayor Bradford's
administration he served in the Common Coun
cil of his native city, holding during the last
year the office of President of that body. He
was also on the Finance and City Property
Committees, a circumstance which gives abun
dant evidence of the appreciation in which he
was held. As a member of the city govern
ment, Mr. Dickinson's conservatism com
mended him to the esteem and confidence of
all good citizens ; for he was equally con
siderate of the city and of the tax-payers.
Mr. Dickinson was for two years President
of the New England Undertakers' Association,
and has served on the executive committee of
the National Funeral Directors' Association,
of which he is now First Vice-President. He
holds membership in a number of societies,
among which are the Springfield Lodge, A. F.
& A. M., the Springfield Council, Royal Arch
Chapter, Springfield Commandery, Knights
Templars, Hampden Lodge, No. 27, and Aga
wam Encampment, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, Equity Council, No. 96, Royal Ar
canum. He is also a member of the Grand
Council, Royal Arcanum, of the State of Mas
sachusetts, the Pynchon Council of United
Friends, the Springfield Improvement Asso
ciation and Board of Trade, and is enrolled
among the list of those who enjoy the priv
ileges of the Winthrop and Nayasset Clubs.
On the 1 6th of January, 1873, he was married

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

103

to Miss Katie May Allgood, a daughter of
Professor James Allgood, of Cincinnati, Ohio.
They have two children, a son and a daughter.
One of the factors of Mr. Dickinson's suc
cess in his calling is the conscientious care
with which he guards against too lavish expen
diture at a time when the bereaved are willing
to incur it as an evidence of devotion to
departed friends. To be a successful funeral
director a man must have a thorough and prac
tical knowledge of everything pertaining to
his art, keen discernment of character, and
withal good taste and an unfailing sense of
propriety. These requisites certainly belong
in a marked degree to Mr. Francke "W. Dick
inson, in whose establishment all things are
done "decently and in order."

rOHN R. WEST, now living somewhat
retired after fifty-five years of active
work, his health having been greatly.
impaired the last few years, is well
known throughout the town of Hampden and
vicinity as a mechanic of intelligence and
skill, and in his capacity of carpenter has
worked at building and repairing on three-
fourths of the dwellings and other edifices in
the town, including mills, school-houses, and
churches, and has superintended the erection
and finish of some of the best buildings of his
time in surrounding towns, his workmanship
standing well the test of time and weather.
He is a native of Hampden County, having
been born in South Wilbraham Parish, Febru
ary 15, 1819. .
His father, John West, who was born in the
same place, October i, 1793, was a son of
Stephen West, born in 1759, at Tolland, Hart
ford County, Conn. His father and mother,
Solomon and Abigail West, were from Leba
non, Conn., where Mr. West died, August 22,
1777. In 1782 Stephen West bought a tract
of land in South Wilbraham Parish. He mar
ried Bathsheba Chaffee, of the same town,
erected a large house, and kept tavern many
years, also doing a large business tanning and
currying, making harnesses, saddles, shoes,
and so forth, and was widely known as an
honest, upright man in all his dealings. He

was Deacon of the Congregational church sev
eral years. He died in 1814. His widow
survived him many years, and died at the
home of her grandson in Tolland, Conn., aged
eighty-nine years. John West joined the
State militia when a young man, and for meri
torious conduct was soon promoted to the rank
of Major, and afterward was made Colonel of
his regiment, though his commission as such
was not received until after his death, which
occurred July 12, 1826. His wife, whose
maiden name was Martha Sessions, was a na
tive of South Wilbraham Parish, .where she
was born June 23, 1795, and where she died
at the advanced age of eighty-three years.
She was a deeply religious woman, and a sin
cere member of the Congregational church.
Three children were born to her and her hus
band, as follows: John R., of whom we write;
Martha Jane, deceased, who married Solomon
C. Spellman, of South Wilbraham ; and Rob
ert Sessions, formerly engaged in a mercantile
business, who died in Dubuque, la., at the age
of sixty-six years.
Almost the entire life of Mr. John R. West
has been spent in the place of his nativity, his
present residence in the village of Hampden
being near the homestead on which he was
born and where he lived until the death of his
father, when he went to live with his maternal
grandparents. At the age of sixteen years he
began to learn the carpenter's trade of Gideon
M. Murphy, of Springfield, serving an appren
ticeship of five years, and receiving the small
sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, from
which he had to buy his own clothes. He was
particularly adapted for the occupation which
he made his life work, having natural taste
and talent for mechanical labor; and, while
his capability ever met with ready recognition,
he has had but a fair reward for his toil. On
April 7, 1847, Mr. West was united in mar
riage, in the village of South Wilbraham, to
Miss Dolly Chaffee, who was born January 19,
1830, on the old Chaffee homestead, near
Burt's Mills.
Mrs. West's father, Norman Chaffee, was
a life-long resident of South Wilbraham,
where his birth occurred in April, 1790, and
his death March 8, 1864. In early life he

I04

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

learned the tanner's trade, but never followed
it very much, being more iiiclined by nature to
a mechanical trade, and able to turn his hand
to wood work of any kind. His occupation for
many years was that of a millwright, to which
he also added carpentry. The house in which
he lived he built seventy-five years ago, and so
thoroughly and of such good material that it
is still in a fine state of repair. He built his
own burial vault and coffin, and cut and made
his own monument. He was a self-educated
man, firm in his opinions, and considered a
sincere believer in the doctrines of the Uni
versalist church; but, in reality, his religious
views were many years ahead of his time, and
quite in accord with some of the most ad
vanced thinkers of the present day. He mar
ried Betsey Norris, a native of Stafford, Conn.,
and the grand-daughter of a veteran of the
Revolution, who fought the British in many
important battles. She died in 1864, at the
age of sixty-nine years, having been his second
wife. His first wife bore him nine children;
and of his second union three children were
born, Mrs. West being the eldest. Of the
other two, Leonora is the wife of William
Johnson, of Hampden, and Almira is the
widow of Augustus H. Thompson, of the same
place. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs.
West two are now living. The son, John W. ,
a commercial traveller, residing in East Brain-
tree, married Clara E. Filer, of East Boston;
and they have one child, Clara P., who is a
graduate of Vassar College. The daughter,
Frances E. West, married Oscar A. Jones, of
Suffield, Conn. ; and their only child, Arthur
Albert Jones, lives with his grandparents in
Hampden. Betsey A., the third child, died
in infancy. Ida Jane, the fourth child, died
at the age of ten years. Arthur Norris, the
youngest of the family, and a young man of
great promise, passed to the higher existence
when twenty-three years of age. In politics
Mr. West is perfectly independent, and with
the courage born of his convictions votes for
principles rather than for men.
Mrs. West is an active, enterprising woman,
seemingly in the prime of life, and for the
benefit of the travelling public keeps a friendly

inn, where the hungry and weary receive gen
erous and kindly entertainment, and are always
sure of a refreshing meal and a warm and com
fortable bed. She has been an attendant of
the Methodist church many years and an ear
nest worker in every good cause, endeavoring
to exemplify the Golden Rule in her daily life.
She is one who courageously thinks for her
self, being more than ordinarily progressive,
and was the first woman to cast a political
ballot in the town of Hampden — an honor
that some of her own sex who at that time
greatly opposed the extension of the elective
franchise to women would now gladly claim.

Y?®\ATHAN ADAMS, M.D., formerly a
I — 7 most distinguished citizen and physi-
|ls I cian of Springfield, Mass., was born
in Canterbury, Conn., on May 6,
181 3. His father was Judge Rufus Adams, of
Canterbury, a Yale graduate of 1795, who mar
ried Joanna Byers, of Springfield, a sister of
James Byers, a prominent leader of public
opinion in that city, for whom Byers Street
was named.
The Doctor's youth was spent in his native
town, in the usual ways of a well-bred New
England boy. After attending the local
schools he spent two years in Hartford, where
he was fully fitted for Yale College, from the
medical department of which institution he
was graduated with honors in 1836. He then
spent six years in Bellevue Hospital, New
York City, and later for a year or more was
a resident of the State of Connecticut. In the
autumn of 1844 he settled in Springfield, and
for a third of a century was one of the leading
physicians of that rapidly growing town, his
genial disposition making him popular with all
classes of patients. To his professional breth
ren he always gave a kindly welcome, as many
of them remember; for he was a faithful friend
to every struggling doctor, and had no tinge of
petty jealousy in his composition. In the de
velopment of Springfield he took great interest
and an active part, and in 1856 represented
Ward Three in the Common Council. On a
bitterly cold night in January, 1865, Dr.
Adams was thrown from his carriage; and he

•if ^ %

¦^M

/^ , ^^-^^^--^-^r^^^^-^i

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

107

was a long time recovering from the effects of
the accident, which finally led to the relin
quishment of professional life. Disposing of
his Springfield property, he removed to New
Haven, Conn., and for five years lived very
quietly. He then travelled extensively with
his family as many years more. But they
loved Springfield ; and in the centennial year,
when the Doctor was past his threescore, the
Adamses returned thither. The next year, in
April, his only daughter, Ellen Watkinson
Adams, became the wife of the Rev. John L.
Egbert. In 1886, two years before the Doc-.
tor's death, he purchased a house on Worth
ington Street; but the family had hardly
occupied it a year when he was so attracted
by the surroundings of a fine mansion being
built by the McKnights at Ingersoll Grove
that he bought it. He, however, did not live
long enough to make there the new home he
had confidently anticipated. Naturally very
fond of his daughter and grandchildren, he
went to their Marblehead home to spend a
few weeks before settling down in the new
house among the Springfield elms and oaks.
While there he was smitten with heart disease,
and died on October 2, 1888. Dr. Adams
was a man of great force of character, and
impressed his individuality upon all with
whom he came in contact; but his determi
nation assumed a form so pleasing that it fas
cinated, but did not repel. His generosity
was unbounded, and did more good than the
world will ever know; for he will long be
remembered by many a striving student and
poor person to whom he was a guardian angel
in most extreme need. Though never a com
municant, his warm and practical religious
interest centred in the Episcopal church,
which could ill afford to lose such a loyal
adherent. Trinity Parish, Vineland, found in
him a liberal supporter, especially while his
son-in-law, Mr. Egbert, was its rector. In
all. Dr. Adams lived in Springfield some forty
years, most of the time in his home on How
ard Street, now numbered 29. Among his
early contemporaries were Drs. Gray, Church,
and Chaffee, and Dr. Smith, father of the late
Dr. David- P. Smith.
Dr. Adams's wife, Elizabeth Watkinson, of

Hartford, was born September 18, 181 7; and
they were married May 11, 1843. Her father
was Robert Watkinson, of Hartford ; and her
mother was Maria Champion. The latter was
a daughter of a distinguished family, whose
history, which has been published and is avail
able for reference, is one of much interest.
To Dr. Adams and his wife were given three
children. Ellen Watkinson Adams, born Feb
ruary 6, 1 844, is the wife of the Rev. John L.
Egbert. Nathan Adams, born July 12, 1845,
is unmarried, and resides in Springfield.
William Rufus Adams, born January 3, 1853,
died March 7, 1854.
The interest of the foregoing biographical
memoir is enhanced by the accompanying steel
engraving of this eminent and beloved physi
cian and true-hearted philanthropist, whose
name will long be held in grateful remem
brance.

AMES P. FREEMAN, who has served
for a number of years as a member of
the Board of Selectmen of the town
of Westfield, is a native-born citizen
of Hampden County, his birth having taken
place in the town of Agawam on December
28, 1840, the year of the log cabin and hard
cider campaign, when ardent Whigs sang and
shouted for "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too."
His father, Samuel Freeman, was born in
Lisbon, Conn., of which place his parents
were, as far as known, life-long residents.
When a young man he removed to the town of
Agawam, becoming superintendent in a
woollen mill; and in that town he spent the
remainder of his days, dying at the age of
sixty-seven years. The maiden name of his
wife was Harriet Lathrop. She was a native
of the town of Agawam, where she passed
her entire life, dying at the age of sixty-two.
James P. Freeman ig the only one of his
parents' household who is now living. He
received his early education in the district
school, later attending a select school in Long
Meadow, taught by William C. Goldthwait.
He studied there for two terms, and then went
to West Springfield, where he was in the milk
business for three years; and the year follow-

io8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ing he sold garden produce. He then ac
cepted a position as clerk in a shoe store,
occupying it one year, when he engaged with
Kibbe Brothers, confectioners, remaining with
them three years, at the expiration of which
time he came to Westfield, and here conducted
a confectionery store for one year. He then
decided to go into the hotel business, and in
company with another gentleman purchased
the furnishings of the Woronoco House, now
the Park Square Hotel. A few months later,
failing to secure a lease, he was obliged to
dispose of the furniture at a great loss.
Shortly afterward he engaged in the business
of trucking, which he has since successfully
conducted. On October 19, 1868, Mr. Freeman was
united in marriage with Miss Harriet J.
Humphreville, a native of Lanesborough, Berk
shire County, Mass., and a daughter of Reu
ben M. Humphreville. The union of Mr. and
Mrs. Freeman has been blessed by the birth
of four children — Fannie, Samuel B., Clara
Louise, and James H. Mr. Freeman has
always been a stanch supporter of the princi
ples of the Republican party, and cast his first
Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, add
ing his mite to a sum total that changed the
entire destiny of the country. He has filled
various local offices, and for three years was
chairman of the Board of Selectmen. Both
he and his wife are Congregationalists in
their religious belief.

lAPTAIN JOHN J. LEONARD,
chairman of the Board of Assessors
i^ ^ of the city of Springfield, was first
elected to the assessorship in 1884
to fill a vacancy, he having already served for
five years as Assistant Assessor, being thus
eminently qualified for his official duties, and
two years later was re-elected to a full term.
His re-election to the same position in 1889
and again in 1892, at the latter time being
made chairman of the board, is a speaking
tribute to his fidelity and ability and a wise
expression of the high esteem in which he is
held by his fellow-citizens. The honor thus
accorded him is all the more appreciated by

himself and his friends when it is remembered
that he is a stanch Democrat in politics, and
that the city is a Republican stronghold.
Captain Leonard is a native of New York,
his birth having occurred in Alden, Erie
County, May 22, 1856. His father, the late
Michael Leonard, was born in County Clare,
Ireland, in 1830, and when a young man
sought the shores of America, settling in
Buffalo, N.Y., where he was first engaged in
the railway business, but subsequently carried
on general farming for many years. In 1869
he removed with his family to Springfield,
Mass., and opening a grocery store was con
nected with the mercantile interests of this
city until his decease, December 27, 1881.
He married Ann Mongovan, who was born in
Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, in 1837, and
died in Springfield, Mass., December 23,
1874, leaving a family of five sons and two
daughters, one of whom, Henry S., died in
1892. The others are residents of Springfield
— John J., of whom we write; Lucy A., wife
of Nicholas J. Murphy; Frank C. ; Michael
J.; Stephen E. ; and Catherine T.
In the days of his childhood and youth
the subject of this brief biography attended the
public schools of his native town during the
winter seasons, and in the summers assisted
on the farm, attending to the chores about the
place, and doing such work in the field as he
was able. When about thirteen years old his
parents removed to Springfield, and he con
tinued his studies at the Worthington Street
Grammar School. After his graduation he
found employment with the Boston & Albany
Railway Company, having charge of the oil
room for two years. He next became a clerk
in his father's grocery store, which was sit
uated on Ferry Street, and after the death of
his father continued the business for several
years, giving it up in 1887, his duties as as
sessor requiring his entire time. The work
of his office has largely increased during the
last decade; and thirteen clerks are now kept
busy the larger part of the year, whereas in
1885 six clerks only were employed, and they
but a portion of the time.
The military record of Captain Leonard is
worthy of note, reflecting credit on his prac-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

109

tical judgment and wisdom. Joining Com
pany G, Second Regiment, Massachusetts
Infantry, April 11, 1877, as a private, he was
appointed Fifth Sergeant two years later, and
in 1880 was promoted to be First Sergeant.
June 27, 1882, he was elected First Lieuten
ant, holding the rank until March 7, 1887,
when he was again promoted, becoming Cap
tain, a capacity in which he has since served
with efficiency. For many years Captain
Leonard has taken a conspicuous part in dif
ferent social organizations of the city, and is
now the only charter member of the Father
Mathew Total Abstinence Society, of which
he became a member in 1877. He has served
as Secretary of the Union of that society,
which includes the five western counties of
the State, and has represented the Union at
thirteen national conventions, held in various
important cities, including St. Paul, Minn.,
Boston, and Washington. When the conven
tion assembled in Springfield in 1892, Cap
tain Leonard was chairman of the reception
committee, whose duties were particularly
arduous, as under the auspices of the Father
Mathew Society thirty-three thousand people
assembled in Hampden Park, including among
other noted public men Governor Russell,
Lieutenant Governor Haile, Congressman
Crosby, and the mayors of several neighboring
cities. Besides being a member of the Recep
tion Committee, the Captain was also chair
man of the executive committee, and to his
sagacious efforts was largely due the grand
success of that great demonstration of the
temperance societies. Captain Leonard was
likewise one of the organizers of the Gal la
ger Court of Foresters, which was chartered
in 1887, having been one of the original
executive officers of the lodge, and being at
the present time a State officer in the organ
ization. He is also a member of the Cathe
dral Parish, a Director in the Springfield
Improvement Association, and President of
the Father Mathew P'raternal Accident Asso
ciation of Pittsfield, Mass., an incorporated
company, which has been doing business on a
sound financial basis for the past two years.
The marriage of Captain John J. Leonard
and Miss Alice Louise Murphy was solem

nized February 22, 1881, and six of the seven
children born of their happy union are now
living; namely, Alice Ann, John J., Jr., Frank
C, Robert M., Henry G., and William P.
Mrs. Leonard was born in Ireland, and emi
grated to Massachusetts with her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Michael Murphy, who settled in the
town of Monson in this county. Mr. and
Mrs. Leonard have recently bought a very
pleasant home at No. 1 1 1 Wilbraham Avenue,
where their large circle of friends ever re
ceive a most cordial welcome.

-r^TlRAM QUINCY SANDERSON was
1-^-1 born in Middletown, Conn., Decem-
I ig) I ber 20, 1824. His parents were
Hiram and Hetta (Dorman) San
derson. In his infancy they removed to
Whitneyville, near New Haven, where the
father was employed as gun-maker. Upon
removing to Springfield he was employed at
the United States Armory, and died in this
city in 1873, having done his country effi
cient mechanical service during the great
Rebellion. When a boy H. Q. Sanderson attended the
famous Lancasterian school in New Haven,
Conn., taught by Mr. Lovell, after which, at
the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to a
Fair Haven druggist. Three years later he
came to Springfield to become a clerk in a
grocery store. Only a year elapsed before he
became its proprietor; but in 1848 he sold
out the business, and became corporation clerk
at the American Machine Works, where cot
ton gins and presses were made for the South.
Meanwhile in 1845, on September 10, he
married Mary Hannis, born in Philadelphia,
Pa., December 17, 1826, daughter of Captain
Joseph Hannis, inspector of arms at the
armory, who with his wife Eliza (Glading)
Hannis, came to this city when the daughter
was nine years old. He lived here until his
death in 1867. In 1852 Mr. Sanderson went
West as paymaster and book-keeper for the
firm of Phelps, Mattoon & Barnes, who were
constructing the Terre Haute, Alton & St.
Louis Railroad. After its construction he
became General Freight and Passenger Agent

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

of the new line, with headquarters at St.
Louis. The Civil War breaking out, as Mr.
Sanderson was a Massachusetts Yankee, his
life seemed in danger, and he was sent to New
York City as Eastern agent of the road.
Sleeping-cars were then coming into vogue.
With a friend Mr. Sanderson went into this
new business; and they soon had sleepers run
ning from New York to Chicago, St. Louis,
and Louisville. This enterprise they finally
sold to George M. Pullman, now so promi
nently before the public. Their undertaking
marked an epoch in railroad progress.
One year, 1857-58, was spent in Spring
field; and the people showed their regard for
Mr. Sanderson by electing him to the House
of Representatives. He was also a member
of the first City Council ever chosen in this
city. In 1 87 1 he returned to Springfield, and
made it his permanent home, but took no part
in politics until 1875, when after his return
from a trip to Europe he was appointed City
Marshal. This office he held for two years,
and then was elected High Sheriff of Hamp
den County, serving in this capacity for nine
years. Mr. Sanderson was largely instru
mental in building the new jail. He was
elected chairman of the Water Board in 1881,
which office he held until his death. May i,
1892. It was through his efforts that the city
of Springfield has such a pure and abundant
supply of water.
One daughter survives him — Mrs. Ellen
E. Melius, widow of the late Dr. R. H. Me
lius, of New York City, and born February
24, 1847. She has two daughters — Pauline
Charlotte and Lilla Marion Melius, both in
Smith College. His son, Charles J., born in
1849, was a prominent resident of Spring
field. He was at one time President of the
Common Council, and was a leading Knight
Templar. At the time of his death, March i,
1892, he was local freight agent for New York
& New England Railroad. A wife survives
him. Lilla Kate Sanderson, born in 1864,
married Frank A. Holden, who is employed
by the Springfield Water Board. She died
May 10, 1888, leaving one daughter, Rachel
Holden. Mrs. H. Q. Sanderson resides at her home.

103 Spring Street, which her husband pur
chased in 1 87 1. She attends the North
Church, of which her husband was a sup
porter.

KRANK F. ARTHUR, a leading citizen
of Westfield, Hampden County, Mass.,
was born in Owasco, Cayuga County,
N.Y., on June 29, 1827, a son of Frederick
and Polly (McMillen) Arthur, the former of
whom was a native of Westfield and a descend
ant of early Scotch ancestry, the name being
formerly spelled McArthur. Frederick Ar
thur learned the trade of a hatter, and in
young manhood, this being before the day of
either railroads or canals, removed to Owasco,
the journey being made by stage, and neces
sarily a wearisome one, but doubtless enjoy
able none the less. Upon arriving in Owasco,
where he was an early settler, he engaged at
his trade, and resided there until the year
1834, when he returned to Westfield. His
wife, Polly McMillen Arthur, was a native of
York State and also of Scotch ancestry. She
reared a family of five children.
Frank F. Arthur began in his youth to
assist in the support of the family, and was
employed at various kinds of work until the
age of twenty-one, when he decided to learn
the trades of house painting, graining, glaz
ing, and paper hanging, and thereafter served
an apprenticeship of two years. In 1850 he
removed to the town of Mexico, Oswego
County, N.Y., and there conducted business
for ten years, at the expiration of which
period he went to East Brookfield, Mass., and
was there engaged for a year in the provision
trade. Coming thence to the town of West-
field, he here followed agricultural pursuits
three years, and next entered the employ of
the Boston & Albany Railroad Company, re
maining with them two years, resigning then
to accept a position with the New Haven &
Northampton Railroad Company, which posi
tion he occupied five years. For the ensuing
two years Mr. Arthur was again engaged in
agriculture, which he finally left to take the
position of Superintendent of the water-works.
This he held during the time of their con-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

struction, and for three years in all. He was
then appointed Superintendent of the Poor
Farm, which position he occupied three years,
then served for the same length of time as
Selectman, and has since been engaged on
public works.
On the 3d of September, 1851, the mar
riage was solemnized of Mr. Arthur with Miss
Marietta Ferris. Mrs. Arthur was born in
New Milford, Conn., on September 4, 1831, a
daughter of John and Catherine (Hamilton)
Ferris. Her father was by occupation a
farmer, and was a life-long resident of New
Milford. The paternal grandfather of Mrs.
Arthur was Daniel Ferris. Mrs. Catherine
Hamilton Ferris was a native of Chester,
Mass., and a daughter of John Hamilton, who
was born in Worcester, Mass., but removed to
the town of Chester, where he was a pioneer
settler, his first home being a log cabin and
the cradle in which his first-born child was
rocked being a sap trough. He was a Lieu
tenant in the Revolutionary War, and after
ward became prominent in public affairs, and
possessed much influence in his community.
Three of his sons were ministers in the Con
gregational church, and a daughter became the
wife of a lay preacher in that denomination.
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur are the parents of one
child, a daughter, Mary A., who is the wife
of William H. Talmadge and the mother of
two sons — Arthur T. and Edwin L. The
former is a graduate of Wesleyan University,
Middletown, Conn., and the latter is engaged
in the grocery business in Westfield. Mr.
and Mrs. Arthur, with their daughter and her
family, are members of the Methodist Epis
copal church. Mr. Arthur was for many
years an adherent of the Republican party,
but differing in his views on the liquor ques
tion is at the present time a strong Prohi
bitionist.

r^c

EORGE R. TOWNSLEY, an enter-
t •) I prising and public-spirited citizen,
— who did much toward developing the
city of Springfield to its present proportions,
was born at Erimfield, Mass., October 7, 1820.
His father, Abishai Townsley, was a wheel

wright in humble circumstances, who left him
no other legacy save an honest name and in
domitable energy of character. His wife, the
mother of George R., was a niece of Timothy
Pickering, of Salem, Mass., who was one of
President Washington's cabinet officers.
Having received a good plain education in
the common schools, George R. Townsley was
compelled to set out on the journey of life on
his own account earlier than it falls to the
lot of most boys. He went to Hartford, and
engaged in tool-fitting as applied to shoemak
ing, and from that city in 1838 came to
Springfield. He was so poor at that time
that for three nights he slept in an empty
wagon, and had not money enough to buy a
cracker to appease his hunger. Too proud to
accept assistance, he immediately set about to
find work, which he soon did, establishing a
reputation as a good workman very soon. In
1843 he started a small boot and shoe-making
business of his own. He invested all of his
small savings in this enterprise, and worked
with a perseverance and energy that was pro
phetic of success. His work became popular;
and it was not a great while before customers
came from long distances to get the Townsley
boots, which were acquiring local fame, and
which in time were sold in every State in the
Union. In 1853 he began speculating in real estate,
buying up land north of the recognized centre
of the town. These investments were made
in direct opposition to the advice of his
friends; but he relied upon his own judgment,
avowing his belief that the growth of the
town, which had hitherto been southward from
Court Square, would in the future gradually
and inevitably gravitate toward the railway
station. Strong in this conviction he bought
a number of lots in the locality, saying that
Main Street would in his lifetime be built up
to the railroad track, a prophecy he lived to
see verified. He owned valuable property on
Main Street, erecting thereon a block still
known as the Townsley Block, now owned by
Mr. G. W. V. Smith. Behind this block Mr.
Townsley had the wisdom to have built large
feeding stables and hitching sheds, with com
modious accommodations, made for the con-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

venience of persons from all over the county,
and especially the farmers, who might need a
place for their teams or carriages when they
came to town. He laid out, built, and gen
erally beautified Avon Place, and was influ
ential in getting a handsome railway station
for the city and in having the railroad tracks
elevated. He worked with his own hands
until he had amassed a sufficient sum to jus
tify him in retiring from the business.
With a personal and disinterested love for
the town of his adoption he did everything
within his power to enhance its beauty and
advance its development; and one of his
efforts in this direction was the removal of
his front fence, an example he urged his
neighbors to follow. The improvement on
Maple Street was so marked that many began
to do likewise, until open lawns have become
a general feature of the city. Mr. Townsley
was a, strong Republican from the organization
of that party, taking a native interest in local
political affairs; and during the war he was
patriotically devoted to the cause of the
Union, contributing liberally to help suppress
the Rebellion. In i860 Mr. Townsley was
elected a member of the Common Council,
and was re-elected a number of times after
ward. He was Alderman and County Com
missioner for three years, and it was through
his energetic efforts that the projected plan
for the building of the court-house was put
into execution. As an evidence of his disin
terested love for Springfield, he, having dis
covered that the only available substance for
macadamizing the pavements was a hill of
trap rock that lay between Springfield and
Westfield, and knowing that should the pur
pose of the purchase be known an enormous
price would be put upon it, quietly bought
the property for eight hundred dollars, selling
it for the same amount to the city. Mr.
George R. Townsley was almost brusque in
his manner of speech some times, and never
in any manner courted popularity; but his
sincerity and probity were so self-evident that
those who came in contact with him involun
tarily both respected and liked him.
He was married in 1844 to Mrs. Mary
Hitchcock, of Springfield, who died June i.

1867, and left one daughter, now Mrs. G. W. V.
Smith. In 1869 Mr. Townsley was a second
time married to Miss Adele Aweng, of
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., who died in 1888, leav
ing three children — Marie, George, and
Eleanor. Quick penetration, sound judg
ment, executive ability, liberality, and strict
integrity were the characteristics that resulted
in his unusually successful career, which may
surely serve as an encouraging example to
other men who have to fight the same battle
with poverty and obscurity. His death was
sincerely mourned by the whole community,
for Springfield's citizens felt how much the
present prosperity of their city was due to his
untiring efforts in her behalf.

YgTENRY SMITH LEE, Treasurer of
f^A the Springfield Institution for Sav-
[is I ings, was born in this city on Sep-
tember 19, 1834. His parents
were Horace and Laura (Clark) Lee, his
father being a native of Westfield. Mrs. Lee
was a daughter of David Clark, and was born
in Westminster, Vt., but came early in life to
Northampton, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Horace
Lee belonged to the old First Congregational
Society of Springfield, and had four sons, the
brothers of Henry S. Lee being General Hor
ace Clark Lee, of whom we publish a special
sketch; David Kingsley Lee; and Charles
Merrick Lee.
Henry Smith Lee was educated in the
Springfield public schools, and subsequently,
before engaging in any permanent employ,
made a visit to the West. After spending
two years in Chicago and St. Louis he re
turned home to enter the Chicopee Bank as
clerk, and was advanced to the position of
teller, an office he held until he received the
appointment to his present treasurership in
1858. At that time the bank had but six hun
dred thousand dollars in deposits, while now, in
1895, they amount to twelve million. Mr.
Lee is well known in financial circles, having
been identified with several different corpora
tions in the city. Masonically, he is a Past
Master of Hampden Lodge. In politics he is
Republican, and has been an Alderman, be-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

"3

sides serving for several years as President of
the Common Council. Financially, he is a
Director in the Chicopee National Bank and
in the Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance
Company, Vice-President of the Massachu
setts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and a
Director of the New York, New Haven &
Hartford Railroad.

ENERAL HORACE CLARK LEE
•)|" was born in Springfield, on the last
day of January, 1822. After grad
uation from the city public schools his educa
tion was supplemented by courses of study at
the academies in Greenfield, Mass., and East
Hartford, Conn. His first business venture
was with dry goods in Boston, but later he
followed the same trade in Springfield.
At the age of twenty Horace C. Lee dis
played a military bent, and in 1842 was the
organizer of a military company known as the
Springfield Light Guards, and after serving
in the subordinate grades a few years was
elected Captain. When the City Guards of
to-day was organized, he was elected Captain,
and continued as its commander for several
years. In 1854 he was chosen Colonel of the
Third Massachusetts Artillery, which was
reorganized the following year, and afterward
known as the Twelfth Regiment of Infantry,
Colonel Lee retaining command. In 1858 he
served the city as Tax Collector, and the ne.xt
year became city Treasurer, which office he
held until he entered the army. It was
mainly through his efforts that the Twenty-
seventh Regiment of Massachusetts Volun
teers was organized; and on September 20,
1861, he received his commission as Colonel.
This regiment took a prominent part in the
battles of Roanoke Island and Newbern.
After the latter engagement Colonel Lee was
appointed Acting Brigadier-general, and re
ceived honorable mention for his gallantry at
the battle of Goldsboro, N.C. He served in
this capacity until January, 1864, winning
many commendations from his superiors for
the faithful discharge of every duty.
General Foster appointed him Provost
Marshal-general of the Department of Vir

ginia and North Carolina, which position he
held until January, 1864. He served upon
commissions and court martial, and in May
following again took command of the Twenty-
seventh Regiment. He participated in the
battle of Drury's Bluff, where after a brave
defence he was captured by the Confederates
and taken to Libby Prison at Richmond, from
which he was transferred to Camp Ogle
thorpe, Macon, Ga. Thence fifty Federal of
ficers of highest rank were ordered to Charles
ton, S.C., where they were exposed to the
fire of the Union guns. Our government in
retaliation sent fifty Confederate officers to
Morris Island, where they were similarly ex
posed. As a result there was an exchange of
prisoners on April 2, 1864; and Colonel Lee
rejoined his regiment, serving it until Sep
tember 27, 1864, when he was mustered out as
Brigadier-general by brevet. He then entered
the Boston Custom-house, where he remained
four years.
In 1886 he re-entered business in Spring
field; and in 1872 he was appointed Post
master by President Grant, a position he held
through the administrations of the succeeding
Republican Presidents, Garfield, Arthur, and
Hayes. He assisted in the organization of
E. K. Wilcox Post of the Grand Army of the
Republic, and served as its first Commander.
In 1855, when he assumed the command of
the Twelfth Regiment, his fellow-citizens, in
proof of his military and civic popularity,
presented him with a handsome sword, on one
side of which was afterward recorded a brief
summary of his army experience: "Entered
service as Colonel, September 3, 1861. Pro
vost Marshal, General Department, North
Carolina, June, 1863. Brevet Brigadier-gen
eral, March i, 1864. Captured, May 16,
1864. Prisoner in Libby at Richmond.
Prison pen at Macon, Ga. With fifty com
rades placed under fire of our batteries at
Charleston, S.C., June 15, 1864, and each
day until exchanged, August 2, 1864." On
the other side of the sword, from point to
hilt, we read: "Roanoke Island, February 8,
1862. Newbern, March 14, 1862. Trenton,
July 26, 1862. Kingston, December 14,
1862. Whitehall, December 16, 1862.

114

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Goldsboro, December 17, 1862. Whitehall
Junction, May 7, 1864. Arrowfield Church,
May 9, 1864. Petersburg, May 9 and 10,
1864. Drury's Bluff, May 12 to 16, 1864.
Mustered out September 27, 1864."
General Horace Clark Lee died June 22,
1884. He was a member of the Knights
Templars, of the Loyal Legion, and of the
Boston Ancient and Honorable Artillery
Company. His sword is now in the posses
sion of his brother Charles.
" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power.
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave.
Await alike the inevitable hour :
The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

rm^

EORGE HUBBARD is one of the old-
V I^^T ^^^ residents of Little River, in the
^^ — ^ town of Westfield, where he is ac
tively engaged in farming pursuits, his home
stead property being one of the best in regard
to its appointments and improvements in the
vicinity. The Hubbard family originated in
England, and was first represented in this
country by emigrants who came to New Eng
land in the early half of the seventeenth cen
tury, among them a William who settled in
Ipswich, Mass., in 1635, and a George who
went to Connecticut and about 1650 or 1652
took up his abode with his family in Middle-
town. The subject of the present sketch, bear
ing the same name, was born September 12,
1829, in Westfield, at the home of his parents,
Allen and Mary (Shepard) Hubbard, the
former having been a native of Middletown,
Conn., born April 17, 1793; and the latter,
February 7, 1799. His grandfather, Roswell
Hubbard, a son of Samuel, of Haddam, Conn.,
was mostly engaged in tilling the soil, living
for some years in Connecticut, but died in
New Matamoras, Ohio, at the home of one of
his sons. To him and his wife were born a
large family of children, none of whom are
now living.
Allen Hubbard spent a large part of his life
in Hampden County, growing to manhood in
the towns of Westfield and Blandford. When
a young man he entered upon a mercantile
career, being at first employed as a clerk, and

afterward became a peddler of tinware. He
then engaged in the manufacture of cigars and
whips at Westfield, afterward buying land in
Little River, owning at one time about one
hundred acres. . He improved a good farm, on
which he spent the latter part of his long
life of ninety-two years. His first wife died
at the early age of thirty-eight years, and he
subsequently married again. He reared two
children by his first union, namely: Henry,
who was born March 19, 1822, and died April
27, 1893; and George. He was a man of up
right. Christian character, and an esteemed
member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
In politics he was a Democrat in his earlier
years, but in the latter part of his life sup
ported the principles of the Republican party.
George Hubbard profited by the facilities
afforded him for obtaining an education in his
youthful days, attending the district school
when it was in session, and at other times as
sisted in the labors of the farm. At the age
of twenty-one years he engaged in the manu
facture and selling of cigars, at which he con
tinued for three years, returning then to the
paternal homestead, which he worked on shares
for a long time, and which he now owns. He
has bought additional land, having one hundred
acres, and has added to the improvements be
fore commenced, and by sturdy labor and judi
cious management has placed his property
among the most valuable of any in the local
ity. He carries on general farming, but
makes a specialty of tobacco raising, which is
very profitable in this section of the country.
Mr. Hubbard was united in marriage Jan
uary 10, 1855, to Miss Clarissa M. Edd)', who
was born in Oneida County, New York, Jan
uary 20, 1834. Her father, William Eddy,
was a native of the same county, and there
learned the blacksmith's trade, which he made
his life occupation. He eventually settled in
Erie County, Pennsylvania, where he lived to
the advanced age of fourscore and four years.
He married Mary Morton, a native of Franklin
County, Massachusetts, and they reared a
family of five children, namely: Mrs. Sarah
E. Johnston, of Ohio; Mrs. Clarissa M. Hub
bard; Benjamin F. Eddy, of Oil City, Pa.;
Mrs. Lois A., widow of Amos Ensign, of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

IIS

Little River; and Henry Eddy, who died at
the age of forty-nine years. Mrs. Eddy de
parted this life at her Pennsylvania home,
aged fifty-six years. Both she and her hus
band were active and esteemed members of the
Methodist Episcopal church.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard has
been blessed by the birth of four children, as
follows: Leora C, born September 3, 1858,
now the wife of Dallas Sherman, of Little
River; Allen, born December 9, i860, now
living in Boston; Agnes M., born October 18,
1868; and George E. , born February 22, 1871.
Mr. Hubbard is a man of keen intelligence
and observation, and has profited by his own
and others' experiences, his sound sense and
excellent judgment having been important fac
tors in his success as an agriculturist and a
business man. Politically, he is a stanch Re
publican; and, religiously, he attends the Bap
tist church, of which Mrs. Hubbard is an
active and valued member.

lAPTAIN HOSEA C. LOMBARD,
Special Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff for
Hampden County, was born in
Springfield, February 19, 1832, and
is the descendant of an early pioneer settler,
his ancestry being traced in a direct line to
one John Lombard, who came to Springfield in
1690. His allotment of land was on Main
Street, near where York Street is now; and
there he built his first house, occupying it
until the town was burned by the Indians.
Then, removing to Long Hill, he took up the
tract of land known for many years as the
Lombard estate, but which is now included
within the limits of Forest Park.
Joseph Lombard, the grandfather of Captain
Lombard, was born and bred in Springfield,
and for many years, including the period of the
War of 18 12, was connected with the United
States Armory, being for some time superin
tendent of the three watershops. He owned
the homestead property on the corner of Mill
and Hancock Streets; and there his son Hosea
and his grandson, Hosea C, were both born,
the property remaining in possession of the
Lombard family for many years. Hosea Lom

bard was connected with the armory from boy
hood until the time of his death, at the age of
forty-four years. He married Olive Bangs, a
native of Hawley, daughter of Joseph Bangs,
who migrated from Cape Cod to the town of
Hawley, where he spent his declining years.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Hosea Lombard, as follows: Joseph Bangs;
Elizabeth Olive, the wife of F. S. Bailey,
Cashier of the Agawam Bank; and Hosea C. ,
of whom we write.
The subject of this sketch was educated in
the public schools of Springfield, and at an
early age began learning the trade of tool-mak
ing with the Bemis & Call Hardware Com
pany, serving a regular apprenticeship of seven
years, from 1849 until 1857. Engaging then
in the manufacture of pistols and cartridges on
his own account, Mr. Lombard continued in
that business until the breaking-out of the
Civil War, when he enlisted on May 10, 1861,
with the Springfield City Guards, which
became Company F, Tenth Massachusetts
Volunteer Infantry, he being mustered into
service the 21st of the following month as
Captain of the company. The regiment was
ordered to join the Army of the Potomac, and
was among the foremost in the various engage
ments of the Peninsular campaign. Meeting
with an accident that disabled him from active
service. Captain Lombard was obliged to re
sign; and in November, 1862, he returned to
the place of his nativity, where he recruited
for a year or more before again attempting to
work. Fie then entered the employment of
Samuel Morris as an inspector, but was after
ward made Superintendent of the Morris Gun
Works, which was then running off large con
tracts. Captain Lombard subsequently returned to
the Bemis & Call Company as a contractor in
their works, and later was employed as inspec
tor of pistols at Smith & "Wesson's factory.
In 1872, when the city fire department was
changed from a volunteer to a paid department,
he was appointed Chief Engineer of the com
pany, and organized it on its present fine sys
tem, he having been previously connected with
the department as Chief Engineer in 1866.
Two years later he was appointed Captain of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the police department of Springfield, retaining
that position for four years, and the next year
being Assistant Marshal. In 1879 Captain
Lombard received the appointment of Deputy
Sheriff, and was also State district policeman,
holding the latter office one year, and since
that time has held a commission as Special
Sheriff and as Deputy Sheriff. In performing
the duties of his responsible position Captain
Lombard ever has the interests of his native
city and county at heart, and that his labors
are well appreciated is evidenced by his long
tenure of office. He has also held other places
of trust, having been a member of the City
Council in 1859 and again in 1888. Socially,
he is a prominent member of the De Soto
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and of the Wilcox Post, Grand Army of the
Republic. The home of Captain Lombard, at 70 Ver
non Street, is presided over by his estimable
wife, whose maiden name was Malina Pine.
They were married January 14, 1863. Mrs.
Lombard was born in the town of Walton,
N. Y. , and is a daughter of Cornelius Pine, of
that place. One child has been born of their
union, Joseph Bangs Lombard, who was edu
cated in the Springfield High School and the
Springfield Business College, and, after serv
ing as a clerk for eight years in the office of
his father, was commissioned Deputy Sheriff.
He now occupies a prominent position among
the rising young officials of Hampden County.

)EEMAN PALMER, late of Southwick,
Hampden County, Mass., was for
many years well known in this
locality as an industrious and enter
prising fanner, an honest and honored citizen,
a kind neighbor, a loving husband and father;
and his death. May 15, 1868, at the home
stead now occupied by his widow and two of
his sons, was a cause of universal regret. He
was a native of this town, where his entire life
was spent, the date of his birth being August
26, 1800.
He was of excellent stock, his father, Levi
Palmer, a native of Westfield, having fought
in the Revolution for the rights now enjoyed

by the present generation. Levi was a son of
Eldad Palmer, who was the first of his name
in Hampden County, where he was one of the
early pioneers. He was later one of the origi
nal settlers of the town of Southwick, buying a
tract of forest-covered land which now consti
tutes the well -improved farm of one of his de
scendants. He married a Miss Stiles, and both
rounded out a full period of years, leaving a
large family of children to inherit their name
and property. Levi Palmer married Dorothy
Lee, likewise a native of Westfield ; and they
were the parents of ten children, three of whom
died in infancy. The seven who grew to ma
turity were : Charity, Sophia, Almira, Daniel,
Beeman, Joseph, and Leeman.
Leeman Palmer, of whom we write, received
his education in the district schools of his
native town, and during the days of his mi
nority assisted in clearing and improving the
parental homestead property, the greater part
of the country about here being then a pri
meval forest, which had but just begun to feel
the fateful blows of the pioneer's axe. After
attaining his majority, he began life for him
self, working for the farmers of this vicinity,
receiving for his wages ten dollars a month.
Having by close economy saved some money,
he, in company with his brothers, bought a
large tract of land on the Southwick hillside,
a portion of which is now owned and occupied
by Dwight Palmer. Leeman retained a fourth
interest in the land for a number of years, but
rented a farm belonging to Thaddeus Foot, and
worked that sixteen years. F'rom that place
he removed to Sheep Pasture, where he worked
a farm owned by David Latham, continuing
there until i860, when he bought the home
stead estate now occupied by his family, and
which he managed until his decease. He was
a man of indomitable perseverance and resolu
tion, by his untiring labors clearing a good
portion of his lands and making many needful
and substantial improvements.
Mr. Palmer was united in marriage, Febru
ary 14, 1830, to Salome Root, a daughter of
John and Lydia (Stevens) Root, who was born
in Southwick, April 19, 1809, being now one
of the oldest residents of the place, and wear
ing with apparent ease her burden of years.

GEORGE L. WRIGHT.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

119

She has retained to a degree worthy of remark
the use of her faculties, being as brisk and as
actively interested in affairs as many who have
passed a score less of the milestones of life.
She is a most estimable woman, and a valued
member of the Congregational church, Her
husband was a man of high moral principles
and liberal in his religious views. The six
children born of their union are all living, as
follows: Joseph, born December 13, 1831,
and Benjamin, born November 25, 1832, are
both living on the home farm and unmarried.
Simeon, born May 25, 1834, and Asher, born
May 25, 1836, are each engaged in farming in
Southwick. Sarah S. , born September 27,
1840, is the wife of William "W. Gillette.
Mary L. , born July 5, 1849, married Bernia
G. Holcomb, of Southwick.
Joseph and Benjamin F. Palmer, who have
purchased the interests of the other heirs in
the old home farm of one hundred and ninety
acres, are carrying it on with gratifying suc
cess, devoting themselves to its culture and
improvement, raising annually good crops of
corn, potatoes, rye, and tobacco. They are
men of sterling integrity and honesty, oblig
ing neighbors and loyal citizens, much inter
ested in everything pertaining, to the general
welfare. The elder brother has been a town
official many years, for the past eleven having
served with ability and fidelity as Justice of
the Peace, and for six years as a member of
the School Board. They are highly respected
throughout the community, and steadfast mem
bers of the Democratic party, while in their
religious belief they are quite liberal.

/^TeORGE L. WRIGHT, Treasurer of
\ ST the Worthy Paper Company at Mit-
— ^ tineague and President of the Aga
wam Paper Company, Mittineague, was born
in that part of Wilbraham now called Hamp
den, on April 5, 1815, the memorable year of
Bonaparte's overthrow at Waterloo. His par
ents were Solomon and Hepsibah (Russell)
Wright. The father was doubtless born in
Wilbraham, where he died after a life spent in
farming. He was an intelligent man, inter
ested in education and often a member of the

School Committee. Mr. Wright's maternal
grandfather, Robert Russell, was also during the
latter portion of his life a Wilbraham farmer.
Solomon and Hepsibah Wright were blessed
with a family of seven children, of whom three
are yet living — Solomon Wright, a resident of
Jefferson, Ohio; Robert Russell Wright, still
living in Wilbraham ; and our subject.
George L. Wright obtained the foundation
for a good, practical education at the common
school in his native town ; and afterward he
enjoyed additional opportunities at a private
school for several winters, working on the
farm in his spare time. In 1831, when six
teen years of age, he entered the paper-mill of
D. & J. Ames, at Springfield, as an appren
tice, and worked until he was twenty-one and
a master of the art. He remained in the em
ploy of this company as a journeyman most of
the time till 1840, a part of the time acting as
foreman of the Chicopee mill, and at another
period being employed at South Hadley Falls.
Then he came to take the position of foreman
for the Southworth Company, which he filled
for nineteen years. In 1859 he organized the
Agawam Paper Company, which was incor
porated with a capital stock of fifty thousand
dollars, since increased to a quarter million,
he' becoming- its first Treasurer, Eliphalet
Trask being "elected its first President. This
office Mr. Trask held until his death, in 1891,
when Mr. Wright became his successor. The
concern began operations in a small mill, giv
ing employment to fifty people, and producing
one and a half tons of paper a day. After a
time the owners, desiring to increase their
facilities for manufacturing, enlarged their
original mill; and later they bought an old
cotton-mill, which they converted into another
paper-mill. These buildings collectively form
one of the largest paper factories in this
region, and can turn out twelve tons of fine
writing paper in a day, the pay-roll containing
nearly four hundred names. For many years
Mr. "Wright was practically the active rhanager
of the company, and by his thorough knowledge
of the business and the excellent judgment
with which he served its interests may be said
to have contributed not a little to its success.
In 1870 the Worthy Paper Company was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

organized, with a capital stock of a hundred
thousand dollars, J. L. Worthy being its Pres
ident ; and Mr. Wright, who was active in
starting the enterprise, has been its only Treas
urer. He superintended the building of the
mill, which was finished in the summer of
1871 ; and in August of that year machinery
was in motion capable of turning out nearly
two tons of writing paper a day, and keeping
seventy-five work-people busy. Besides his
connection with the Agawam and Worthy
Paper Companies, Mr. Wright has been more
or less closely identified with several other
manufacturing concerns ; for he has been in
the paper business since 1831, longer than any
other man in the country, his work covering
already a period of sixty-four years. He is a
stanch Republican, was a member of the State
legislature in 1859 and i860, and was once
nominated for Senator on the Republican
ticket. Since 1869 he has been a Director of
the Chicopee National Bank, and for many
years a Trustee of Trinity Methodist Episcopal
Church in Springfield, of which he is a worthy
and helpful member.
Mr. Wright married Caroline Rogers, daugh
ter of Thomas Rogers of Springfield, on March
8, 1837; and their happy union continued for
the unusual period of fifty-four years, broken
by her death in 1891, at the age of seventy-
four. They had two children — Caroline A.
Wright, now presiding over her father's home;
and George L. Wright, Jr., who is associated
with his father in trade. Young Mr. Wright
married Miss Worthy, daughter of Justin L.
Worthy ; and they have two children — How
ard and Alice Wright. For many years Mr.
Wright was a resident of West Springfield,
though passing his winters in Springfield
proper; but in 1891 he established himself in
his present abode at No. 83 Bowdoin Street,
which is a home of great comfort.
An excellent portrait of Mr. George L.
Wright may be seen on another page.

I DWARD NEWTON HITCHCOCK, one
of the most skilful and progressive ag-
-riculturists of Hampden County, has
a valuable homestead, containing one hundred

acres of the choicest and finest farming land in
the Connecticut valley, beautifully located in
the town of Hampden. It is under a high
state of culture, well equipped and well
stocked, amply supplied with the choicest
fruit, everything about the premises being in- •
dicative of the thrift, industry, and good man
agement of the owner.
Miner Hitchcock, the father of the subject
of this biographical record, was a native of
Becket, Mass., and when quite young began
working by the day or month for the neighbor
ing farmers. By careful and prudent economy
he was enabled after a few years of steady em
ployment to purchase a farm near Springfield,
where he carried on mixed husbandry for a
time, coming from there to Hampden, where
he and his son purchased the farm now occu
pied by Edward N. Hitchcock. Here he was
successfully engaged in his chosen vocation
for nearly half a century, his death occurring
there in 1882. He married Miss Asenath
Burt, who now, although eighty-seven years of
age, is a wonderfully bright and intelligent
woman, her faculties being undimmed by the
frosts of time. She bore her husband seven
children, of whom only two are living, namely:
Edward Newton ; and Abigal, the wife of
Silas W. Chapin, with whom the aged mother
makes her home.
Edward N. Hitchcock was born April 22,
1842, in the city of Springfield, and, when six
teen years of age, moved with his parents to the
farm which he now owns and occupies, there
taking up the duties of farm life. The rou
tine of his daily work was broken by a term of
service in Company I, Foity-sixth Regiment,
Massachusetts Volunteer Militia; but his life
work is among " The lowing herds and pastures fair.
The orchards sweet and harvests full."
On the death of his father Mr. Hitchcock suc
ceeded to the ownership of the home farm, and
is managing its interests with undisputed suc
cess. He was united in marriage, January 3,
1883, to Mrs. Annette (Calkins) Beebe, who
was born at North Wilbraham, February 13,
1843. She is a liberally educated and cult
ured woman, and ere her marriage taught

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121

school for a number of terms in different dis
tricts of Wilbraham and Hampden. She is an
active worker in social and religious circles,
and is a consistent member of the Methodist
Episcopal church. In politics Mr. Flitchcock
has ever affiliated with the Republican party,
and uniformly casts his vote with that organi
zation. Both he and his wife are people of
broad charity, and find their greatest pleasure
in advancing and promoting enterprises con
ducive to the welfare and best interests of the
community. They have no children of their
own, but are ever mindful of the needs of hu
manity, and cheerfully and generously contrib
ute toward all educational, moral, and social
reforms. They are held in high regard by all
who know them, and have a large circle of
friends and acquaintances.

LFRED WELLS RICHARDSON,
the well-known publisher and promi
nent Prohibitionist of Springfield,
was born at Mexico, Oswego
County, N.Y., January i, 1857. He is a son
of Henry D. and Emily A. (Wells) Richard
son, grandson of Fuller Richardson, and great-
grandson of Oliver Richardson. The latter,
known as Corporal Richardson, went to New
York State from Vermont, first settling in
Whitesboro, Oneida County, whence he after
ward moved to the town of Mexico, and, tak
ing up lands in the wilderness, gleared off the
dense growth of fimber and established a home,
which is still in possession of his family.
Fuller Richardson was a soldier in the War
of 1 81 2. He always resided at the homestead
in Mexico, and, following the trade of stone
cutter, was prominently coruiected with the con
struction of public works in the centre of the
State, among them the Erie Canal and the State
Insane Asylum at Utica. Henry D. Richard
son was born in 1829. He still resides at the
old homestead, and conducts the farm, being its
hereditary possessor in the third generation.
He is an influential citizen of the town, having
held various local offices, and was one of the lead
ers in establishing the order of Patrons of Hus
bandry. He married Emily A. Wells, daugh
ter of Alfred Wells and Mary (Childs) Wells.

Alfred Wells, also a resident of Mexico,
was a miller and farmer, and also preacher of
the society of Friends. He was widely known
as "Quaker Wells," and many stories are re
lated showing his broad spirit of benevolence
and his marked conscientiousness. On one oc
casion, having purchased a horse for a certain
sum, after using the animal a few weeks he
went to the former owner and gave him twenty-
five dollars more, because, as he remarked,
"the animal is worth it." He was an able
advocate of the leading reforms of that day,
being a warm personal friend of Gerrit Smith
and other antislavery agitators, who were fre
quent visitors at his hospitable home, where
they were always sure of a warm and sym
pathetic welcome. While a deeply religious
man, he was a brave thinker and a man of
independent nature, who could not be confined
within the narrow limits of the Orthodoxy of
those days. Although participating in many
heated discussions, he was ever charitable and
tolerant toward those who held less radical
views than his own. His father, the Rev.
William Wells, of Vermont, was for a period
of twenty-four years pastor of the West Brat
tleboro Congregational church. He figures
very prominently in the history of Brattleboro,
and is there described as a cultured, dignified
gentleman of great sweetness and beauty of
character. He was born and educated in Eng
land, and died in Brattleboro. His wife was
Jane Hancox.
Henry D. and Emily A. (Wells) Richard
son had nine children, of whom Alfred
Wells Richardson is the third. The mother
died November 29, 1887. Alfred Wells began
his education in the public schools of Mexico,
and, after attending the Pulaski Academy, pur
sued a four years' classical course at the Os
wego Normal School, from which he was
graduated with the class of 1879. He had
taught school previous to graduating ; and sub
sequent to that event he was principal of the
high school at Mannsville, N.Y. , which posi
tion he later resigned for the purpose of en
tering the book business with the Union
Publishing Company of New York City, where
he obtained much practical experience and
worked his way to a responsible position. He

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was appointed Manager of the Cincinnati
branch of the business, which he successfully
conducted for two years; and in 1882 he ac
quired an interest in the firm, which was an
incorporated concern, he having been elected
Treasurer and General Manager.
In 1887 he disposed of his interest; and,
after carrying on the publishing business for a
few months under the firm name of A. W.
Richardson & Co., with headquarters in the
Bible House, New York City, he came to
Springfield, at which time the firm of King,
Richardson & Co. was established, they being
successors to W. C. King & Co. This firm
continues the publication of books, which are
sold wholly by subscription, and conducts a
very large business, having branches in differ
ent parts of the United States, and giving em
ployment to several hundred men. The firm
of King, Richardson & Co. has lately become
prominent in educational circles as publishers
and proprietors of "The American Music Sys
tem for Public Schools." Mr. Richardson
was one of the organizers of the Springfield
National Bank, is Treasurer of the Atlantic
Starch Company of Westport, Conn., President
of the Westport Steamboat Company, a freight
line running between that place and New York
City, but devotes practically his whole time
and energy to the publishing business.
Politically, he is an active and thoroughly
earnest Prohibitionist, having united with
that party in 1885. He has been treasurer of
the city committee, and in 1889 and 1890 was
a member of the State committee, being chair
man during the latter year. In 1894, at the
Prohibition convention held at Worcester, he
was unanimously nominated for Governor on
that ticket, and controlled ten thousand votes,
an increase of fifteen hundred over the preced
ing year. During this campaign he delivered
thirteen speeches in support of his principles,
speaking on one occasion at a mass meeting at
Berkeley Temple, Boston, in company with
the veteran Prohibitionist, General Neal Dow.
On January 18, 1883, he wedded Miss
Minnie U. Fish, daughter of Norman Fish, of
Mannsville, N. Y. , and has one son, Norman
Dayton. Mrs. Richardson was called to rest
September 20, 1893. Mr. Richardson is a

member of the Church of the Unity, as was
also his wife.

ilLTON S. THOMPSON, a resident
of the town of Russell, where he is
profitably engaged in agricultural
pursuits, was born in Suffield,
Berkshire County, Mass., on January 14,
185 1, son of Sardine Thompson, who was a
native of the town of Monterey, in the same
county. His paternal grandfather was, it is
supposed, a native of the same town, born of
English parents, being a son of one of three
brothers who emigrated from England and
became pioneers of Monterey.
Sardine Thompson was a natural mechanic,
and learned the trades of carpentry and cooper
age. In 1854 he removed to New Marlboro,
residing there for two years, at the expiration
of which time he returned to Monterey, where
he engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1866,
when he went to Elwood, N. J., remaining
there only a brief period. F'rom Elwood he
went to Batsto in the same State, and thence
to Hammonton, in which place he resided
between two and three years, and then, return
ing to Massachusetts, settled in Otis, Berk
shire County. His last years were passed with
his son Milton S. , he departing this life at the
age of seventy-five. The maiden name of his
wife was Maria Stanton. She was born in
Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and died in
the prime of life, having seen but forty-three
years. Milton S. Thompson was educated in the
public schools, and worked at carpentering
with his father, following that trade for a
number of years. In 1886 he purchased a
farm of eighty-five acres, which he has since
carried on with profit, and upon which he now
resides. On the 14th of September, 1873,
was solemnized the union of Mr. Thompson
with Miss Celia Phelps. Mrs. Thompson was
born in the town of Otis, Berkshire County,
and is a daughter of Whiting Phelps. Her
great-grandfather, Aaron Phelps, was of Eng
lish ancestry, and, as far as known, a life-long
resident of Connecticut, in which State his
son Chauncey, the grandfather of Mrs. Thomp-

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123

son, was born. He became a pioneer settler
of the town of Otis, where he engaged in farm
ing, there spending his last years. He mar
ried Sally Shepard, of Barkhamsted, Conn.
Their son Whiting was born in Barkhamsted,
and accompanied his parents to the town of
Otis, thence removing to Russell, where he
passed the remainder of his life, dying at the
age of sixty-four. He married Emeline
Rogers, a native of Berkshire County, and a
daughter of Alvin and Charlotte Rogers. Mrs.
Phelps died at the age of fifty-eight.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents
of one child, Alvan. Mr. Thompson is inde
pendent in politics, voting for the best man for
the office, irrespective of party. He is a man
of sound judgment in the practical affairs to
which he gives attention, well and favorably
known in the town ; and both he and his wife
are held in high esteem by their neighbors and
friends.

kRS. HESTER A. R. (NYE)
MAYO, widow of Amaziah Mayo,
a prominent contractor and builder
of Springfield, was born in
Chatham, Mass., August 14, 1820, a daughter
of Isaiah Nye, of Sandwich, Mass. In early
manhood Mr. Nye was a village storekeeper,
and prominent in public affairs as United
States Deputy Collector of Customs and
County Registrar of Deeds. His wife was
Keziah Rider, of Chatham; and they had six
daughters and one son, of whom Mrs. Mayo is,
in 1895, the only survivor. The parents were
members of the Methodist Episcopal church ;
and both died the same year, 1835, Mr. Nye in
May, and his wife in September.
On April 16, 1843, Hester Nye married
Mr. Mayo, who was born in Truro, June 4,
1 812, a few days after the last war with
England was declared. His parents were
John and Hannah (Rich) Mayo. During his
younger days the father was a sea captain, but
later became a farmer in his native town,
where he was highly respected, though not
conspicuous in town affairs. Both father and
mother Mayo were Methodists, belonging to
the church in Truro. In that town they both

died at an advanced age, he being about eighty
and she ninety-six years old, leaving four chil
dren, of whom Amaziah was the eldest.
Mr. Amaziah Mayo finished his book edu
cation at Wilbraham Academy. He wisely
learned a trade; and in 1842, having com
pleted his four years' apprenticeship at carpen
try, and having finished his schooling, he came
to Springfield as a contractor and builder, and
soon established a thriving business. Among
his noteworthy Springfield structures are the
William Rice LilDrary, the State Street Meth
odist Church, the high and other school build
ings ; and he also held the contract for the
women's prison at Sherborn. He gave his
entire attention to his eminently successful
work, and became owner of considerable real
estate on North Chestnut Street. In Ward
One many streets were planned by him, and
many houses erected. He was greatly es
teemed in the community; and his loss was
deplored by many when he died, on January 8,
1892. He left his widow with three sons to
cheer her descent into the vale of declining
years. Alfred Nye Mayo, born in 1844, is a
successful merchant in Springfield. Amaziah
Mayo, Jr., born in 1846, still lives in Spring
field, extensively engaged in the brick trade.
Charles Sumner Mayo, born in 1858, is the
agent of the Merrimac Paper Mill in Law
rence, where he has resided since 1882. The
Mayos, following in the footsteps of their par
ents and grandparents, belong to the Methodist
church ; and Mr. Mayo was an office-holder in
that religious body. Mrs. Mayo now lives in
her attractive home at 169 Maple Street.

IRNEY G. HOLCOMB, an enterpris
ing and successful farmer in South
wick, was born in this town, Novem
ber 30, 1844. He is the son of
Milton and Elvira (Gillett) Holcomb, and
claims as an ancestor Thomas Holcomb, who
was born in England, and came to this country
in 1629, settling at Dorchester, Mass. From
there he removed to Windsor in 1635 ; and in
that town he died, September 7, 1657.
Mr. Birney Holcomb' s great-grandfather was
Elijah, son of Nathaniel Holcomb, born in

124

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1757. He was among the early settlers of
Southwick, and was a soldier in the Revolu
tionary War, holding the rank of Lieutenant.
He was a cooper by trade, but spent the
greater part of his life attending to his farm.
He was a hard-working man, one who shirked
none of the arduous labors of farm life. His
later years were spent in Southwick ; and there
he died, October 5, 1841. Mr. Holcomb was
married three times, and had a family of thir
teen children. By his first wife he had a
child who died in infancy, Silas, Amasa,
Lucy, Chandler, and Violet; by his second
wife. Chandler and Hiram; by his third wife,
Betsey, Fanny, Newton, Emmeline, and Dolly.
All of these children are now deceased.
Amasa Holcomb, son of Elijah by his first
wife, was born in the town then called Sims-
bury, in the State of Connecticut, later changed
to Granby, and now Southwick. He had but
scant resources for acquiring learning; for
there were no school-houses in the district,
and the school was held irregularly in the scat
tered farm-houses. But he was a remarkably
intelligent student, and soon had a good edu
cation for the time. He taught school before
he was sixteen years old, holding his first
school in Suffield. It was very large, and
some of the pupils were older than himself;
but he was quite successful as a teacher. He
had the good fortune to come into possession
of a valuable collection of books, which were
bequeathed him by an uncle, Abijah Holcomb,
who unaccountably disappeared, and was sup
posed to be lost at sea. In these books he
found such aid as shaped his whole life; for he
learned from them surveying, and also studied
astronomy, becoming so skilled in the latter
science that he predicted with accuracy the
solar eclipse of June, 1806. The mechanical
genius which later led to fame was early de
veloped, and he made the tools he used in sur
veying and instruments which facilitated the
study of astronomy. He published an almanac
in 1807-08, all the computations in which
were made by himself. At this time he was
in business as a surveyor.
For twenty years he taught astronomy, sur
veying, and navigation to students at his
home; and he had many apt pupils, some of

whom became famous. He gave up his teach
ing to take up the manufacture of surveying
instruments, magnets, electrical machines, and
levelling instruments. Surveying was his fa
vorite employment ; and in this he was chiefly
occupied in 1825, having more calls than he
could attend to. But, when he took up the
manufacture of telescopes, he found that he
must devote his whole time to that alone. He
began on a small scale, and worked up to a
good business, which he sustained for many
years. He invented in 1833 the achromatic
telescope, and sold glasses to Clark, the noted
telescope manufacturer. A committee of sa
vants inspected his instruments, and reported
favorably upon them, awarding them several
medals in 1835 for superior lenses and for
the best mountings. He was the first to sell
a telescope made in America. It was thought
such an instrument could not be made in this
country, but in 1845 it was a common article
of manufacture. Mr. Holcomb had the field
to himself for thirteen years; and, when com
petitors entered it, their instruments were
made after his process. In 1839 he began to
take pictures by the Daguerrean process, on
silver plates; and in this art he was also suc
cessful, and followed it for some years.
Amasa Holcomb also found time to minister
to the souls of men and to fill public office.
He was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal
church in 1831, and received license to preach,
of which he availed himself at intervals
throughout his life. In 1837 he received the
honorary degree of A.M. from Williams Col
lege. He was a Democrat in early years, and
later a Republican, always heedful of the best
interests of his town and the welfare of the
State. In 1816 he was Selectman of South
wick, and held that office for several terms.
In 1832 he was chosen to represent his district
in the House of Representatives, and served
three terms; and in 1852 he was elected to the
State Senate, and served one term. In 1833
he was made Justice of the Peace, and held
that office till late in life. He died at South
wick when nearly eighty-eight years old.
Amasa Holcomb was married in 1808 to
Gillett Kendall, who died February 2, 1861.
Mrs. Holcomb and her husband both passed

•Mi«S*''-W.. M ' •!-)«¦

JOSEPH S. NOBLE.

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125

away on the farm where Flenry Holcomb now
lives, and which came into the possession of
the family in 1844. They had eight children,
seven of whom reached maturity; but only
three are now living — Sophia, widow of Soc
rates Gillett, born September 12, 1810, now
residing in Southwick ; Candace, widow of
Sewall Lamberton, bcwrn July 22, 1820, living
in Westfield; and Henry Holcomb, a farmer
in Southwick, born March 5, 1823. The de
ceased are: Candace, born August 26, 181 5,
who died September 22, 1818; Amanda, born
May 29, 1825, who died January 3, 1844; Al
fred, born May 2, 181 8, who was engaged with
his father in the manufacture of telescopes,
and who died October 8, 1843 ; Franklin, born
September 22, 1827, who was in Company F,
Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Regiment, and
died at Annapolis, December 26, 1861 ; Mil
ton, born October 11, 181 2, who died in 1884,
a well-to-do farmer.
Milton Holcomb was born in Southwick in
1 8 12, and here grew to manhood, receiving his
education in the common schools. He early
gave his attention to farming on the farm
which he inherited from his father, and where
his son now lives. Milton Holcomb worked
early and late, and literally won success by the
"sweat of his brow." In politics he was a
Republican, and occupied a high place in the
esteem of his townsmen, who made him Select
man. He was a prominent member of the
Methodist Episcopal church and one of its
officers. He died on the old home farm when
seventy-four years of age. Mrs. Holcomb was
born in Southwick in 1812, and lived to be
seventy-five years old. She had eight chil
dren, six of whom reached maturity, but four
only are now living : Emma, wife of Simeon
'Palmer, residing in West Suffield ; Birney G.
Holcomb; Wallace Holcomb, a hardware,
furniture, and lumber dealer in Colorado;
Mary E., wife of Wilbert Osborne, residing in
West Springfield. The deceased are: Emma
and Emorette, who died in infancy; Chauncy
Holcomb, a volunteer enrolled in Company F,
Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Regiment, who
died in Libby Prison, June 6, 1864; Alfred
Holcomb, who was in the same company and
regiment, and was wounded in the service.

Birney G. Holcomb was born on the farm
where he now resides, and there grew to man
hood, meanwhile acquiring a fair education in
the schools of the town, supplemented by a
course of study at a select school in Granby.
He raises tobacco, hay, grain, and fruit, his
orchard and vines producing fine pears,
peaches, apples, and grapes. He is noted for
industry and perseverance — two qualities es
sential to the best success. Mr. Holcomb has
two hundred and twenty-five acres of land
under cultivation, one of the largest farms in
the town. The house and buildings are in
good condition, and the estate has a general air
of prosperity. Mr. Holcomb is a Republican,
and a very popular man, genial and open in all
his dealings. He is a member of the Metho
dist Episcopal church, in which he is Trustee
and Steward.
On June 5, 1870, Mr. Holcomb was mar
ried to Mary L. , daughter of Leeman Palmer.
She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, to which her two daughters, who are
yet with their parents, also belong. These
daughters are : Lizzie S. , who was born Octo
ber 15, 1872; and Helen E., born April 14,
1876.

OSEPH SHELDON NOBLE, whose
unusual experiences are as interesting
as any story of adventure, was born in
Westfield, Mass., June 5, 1829. His
paternal grandparents, Jacob and Eunice (Mos-
ley) Noble, were married November 29, 1792;
and his grandfather served in both the war of
the Revolution and that of 1812, being in the
latter a commissioned Colonel. Next to the
title-page of a little book containing Washing
ton's farewell address to the Benevolent Soci
ety of Springfield, and printed for that society
by Thomas Dickman, is a certificate bearing
testimony to "Colonel Jacob Noble's member
ship in the Society," signed by both president
and secretary. Mr. Noble's parents, Jacob
M. and Eliza (Alderman) Noble were married
on October 28, 1824. The dates of their
births were respectively January 13, 1797, and
September 15, 1800. The father died April
26, 1879; the mother on the 4th of July,

126

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1883. Jacob M. Noble was a wagon and car
riage maker in Westfield, where his son, the
subject of this biography, received his early
education, graduating from the academy of the
town at sixteen years of age. After gradua
tion he entered the machine-shop of Ira Tem-
mons, where he mastered the trade in two or
three years. He then secured a position in
the engineering department of a steam-tug
known as the "American Eagle, " plying be
tween Troy and Albany, on the Hudson; and
on board that craft he established a reputation
for skill and industry. With the proceeds of
his earnings he took another term at the acad
emy, feeling the need of further instruction,
after which he went to New York, and in Tay
lor's Hotel in that city became night clerk.
This was in 1849; and the young man, as he
heard guests talk of the great fortunes in the
Far West waiting to be claimed by those who
had the pluck and energy to journey to this
El Dorado, and as he watched from the wharves
the ships sail westward laden with passengers
for the Pacific slope, became filled with a de
sire to try his fortunes, too, in the City of the
Golden Gate. So in the spring of 1850 he
took passage on the steamer "Georgia" for
the Isthmus of Panama. Stopping in Panama,
and making a tour through a part of Central
America, he gratified a long ambition in see
ing out-of-the-way corners of the world. Set
ting sail from Panama at last for California on
board the Liverpool bark "Circassian," he fell
a victim to ""Yellow Jack," as the dreaded
fever was called by sea folk, and was one of
the few passengers who recovered from its rav
ages. In fifty-four days he arrived in San
Francisco. For eight years Mr. Noble re
mained on the California coast, and during
this time he saw many strange things. Living
a life of adventure, lassoing the wild cattle
of the plains, which were then driven to the
ranch where he lived, he came in contact with
some of the most notorious characters of that
time and period. Establishing friendly rela
tions with the Indians, he became the intimate
friend of the old chief, "Truckey, " of the
Piute tribe, who was Fremont's first guide
over the Rocky Mountains. The famous Span
ish freebooter, Joaquin, whose career was so

full of romance, danger, and tragedy, was well
known to the young New Englander, who was
no doubt fascinated by the dark-eyed despe
rado. "I have tried to make an honest liv
ing," said the outlaw to him one day; "but
the world is against me, and so I take what I
can get. Pouf ! pabilo ! Like that will 1 one
day go. " And the Robin Hood of the West
laughed lightly. There was not long after a
large reward offered for his head by the gov
ernment. "Texas Jack" and "Three-finger
Jack " were among the motley and incongruous
medley of Mr. Noble's acquaintances ; for one
meets strange companions among the Sierras,
and between ranchmen there is always the
touch of fellowship. Afterward, when he
went to San Francisco, and was employed in
the bonded warehouse on the corner of Cali
fornia and Davis Streets, he was in unpleasant
proximity to an alley where the victims of the
Vigilance Committee, which was scouring the
country in search of culprits, were executed.
Casey and Corea, Hethrington and Brace, paid
their last long debt to the world on the ghostly
gibbet which darkened the alleyway of Sacra
mento Street. To these horrors Mr. Noble
was a witness perforce, for this alley was right
in the line of view from the warehouse. Upon
leaving San Francisco Mr. Noble went to the
mouth of the Noyo River to put up some ma
chinery for a saw-mill, and was engaged by the
owners, who perceived his skill, as assistant
engineer under Charles A. Powers, chief.
The capacity of this mill was so great that,
while he was thus employed, thirty thousand
feet of lumber was sawed per day. So indus
triously did he work that the firm of Wetherby
& McPherson, the mill owners, paid him seven
months' pay for six months' labor, he having
worked thirteen hours per day. Upon return-r
ing to San Francisco, he decided to come East,
and immediately took passage for Panama on
the steamer "John L. Stevens," from which
point he sailed homeward on the "Star of the
West," which was afterward at Fort Sumter.
Soon after his return home he was employed
as turnkey under Sheriff Bush, at the Hamp
den County jail, Springfield, where he re
mained for five or six years. He then took a
position in New York City, in the office of the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

127

H. B. Smith Company, a steam-heating ma
chine manufactory, but shortly returned to
Springfield, where for three years he was jailer
under Sheriff Bradley. Mr. Noble then be
came a travelling salesman through New Eng
land, as agent for Western grain houses, and
held the position for three years, when he
bought out the trade of Mr. William Elliot,
and established the business in which he is
at present engaged. He formed a partnership
with Mr. Vilas E. Moore, which continued
until the old store building was torn down,
and they moved into the freight-house of the
Boston & Albany Railroad, a site now occu
pied by the new depot. Mr. George Carter
now purchased Mr. Moore's interest, and the
firm was changed to Noble & Carter. Since
the death of the latter in 1891,' Mr. Noble has
conducted the business alone. Hay, grain,
straw, and masons' supplies are included in
the large stock offered the public; and the
trade has grown so that Mr. Noble had to erect
a warehouse at the head of Lyman Street,
where the facilities for shipping are unusually
convenient, it being on the tracks of the rail
way line. Mr. Noble has always been a stanch
Republican. He has never been induced to
accept nomination for office except upon one
occasion, when he ran against Sheriff Brooks,
in which contest he was defeated by a very
small majority, though he ran ahead of his
ticket in one part of the county. He is a
member of the Springfield Commandery of
Knights Templars, and of the Massachusetts
Consistory of the Scottish Rite, Masonic Order,
Boston, Thirty-second Degree. He belongs
to the Board of Trade, the Builders' Exchange,
and is a member of the Winthrop Club.
On June 16, 1864, he was married to Miss
Lucy Watson Kent, a daughter of Daniel
Waldo and Harriet (Grosvenor) Kent. Both
parents were born on the 5th of May, the
father in 18 10, the mother eight years later.
Both are living in the town of Leicester,
Mass. Mrs. Noble's birth date is May 24,
1 841. Of the children born of this union,
three are living Caroline Edna, born Febru
ary 15, 1866, is a teacher in a high school at
Hempstead, Long Island, since her graduation
from Wellesley. Daniel Waldo, born Febru

ary 8, 1870, died March i of the same year.
Burton Ellsworth, born July 25, 1871, is now
connected with his father in business. Roscoe
Kent was born July 13, 1880.
Mr. Noble's eventful life has furnished
many hours of entertainment to his friends and
neighbors, and his powers as a raconteiLr make
him a popular companion.

/^HARLES E. HOAG, attorney and
I \/ counsellor-at-law and notary public,
^yU^^ owning and occupying a beautiful
home at Forest Park Heights,
Springfield, Mass., is a man of brilliant men
tal powers, well known among the legal practi
tioners of this State as a successful lawyer,
and also fills a distinguished position in the
literary world, being one of the foremost jour
nalists of New England. He is a native of
Moultonborough, Carroll County, N. H., where
his birth occurred September 18, 1849, and
was the eighth in succession of birth of the
nine children born to Uriah J. and Mary F.
(Bancroft) Hoag. Mr. Hoag is of Friend, or
Quaker, extraction, and is the lineal descend
ant of one John Hoag, a silversmith, who
emigrated from England in the seventeenth
century, and, with other members of his fam
ily, settled in Essex County, Mass., one of his
brothers subsequently marrying and locating in
Newbury, Mass., and another in New Hamp
shire. John Hoag, the great-grandfather of
the gentleman of whom we write, removed to
Carroll County, New Hampshire, where, buy
ing nearly, if not all of, an entire township, he
afterward passed the remainder of his years.
In the records of Essex County, Massachusetts,
mention is made of one Judge Hoag, who re
signed his seat uioon the bench rather than de
cide in the cases brought against the so-called
witches during the time of the witchcraft de
lusion. The Hoags of New Hampshire were,
almost without exception, preachers or teachers
in the Society of Friends, and were very influ
ential in the town of Sandwich, where the
society claimed a goodly membership. Of late
years, however, the family have scattered, and
the meeting-house has been closed since the
death of the late Paul Hoag, who for more

128

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

than a year went alone every first and fourth
day of the week to the church, opened it, and,
after holding his solitary service, closed the
doors and returned to his home.
The grandfather of the subject, John Hoag,
possessed deep spiritual convictions, and ex
erted a great influence in his community as a
preacher in the society of Friends. He was a
farmer by occupation, spending his entire life
on the homestead of his parents. His son,
Uriah J. Hoag, was read out of the society for
non-conformity in "dress and address"; that
is, he failed to use "thee" and "thou" in
conversation, and discarded the prescribed
Quaker garb. Another grievous charge against
him was his marriage with Mary Bancroft, the
descendant in a direct line from John and Pris-
cilla Alden, of Puritan fame, but not a mem
ber of the Quaker society. The Hoags are
also connected with other prominent New Eng
land families, being allied to the Merrills of
Maine and the Jillsons of Rhode Island.
Charles E. Hoag was the recipient of excel
lent educational advantages, and, having a
predilection for the legal profession, read law
in the office of' Judge David H. Hill, of Sand
wich, N. H., finishing his reading in the office
of his uncle, Sidney C. Bancroft, in Massachu
setts. In 1876 he was admitted to the bar in
Boston, Mass., and soon after opened an office
in Peabody, Mass., as well as in Boston, where
he met with assured success from the begin
ning. He built up a large practice ; but his
arduous labor resulted in nervous prostration,
causing him to relinquish professional work
for a time, and the year 1881 he spent in trav
elling throughout the South and West. Re
turning to his home much improved in health,
Mr. Hoag resumed his professional duties ;
but in 1884 he was again prostrated, and for
several weeks was seriously ill with typhoid
fever. Mr. Hoag was united in marriage, October
29, 1884, with Carrie W. Bemer, who is
of French extraction on the father's side, and
is descended from the Dodges of England on
the mother's side. After a prolonged wedding
trip Mr. Hoag returned to his home with the
intention of giving up the practice of law,
which taxed his physical strength to its ut

most. For amusement he subsequently pur
chased a legal paper but little known outside
of the town, but which, under his editorial
management, increased its circulation and
fame to such an extent as to necessitate its
removal to more spacious quarters within a very
few months. The paper soon became so popu
lar throughout the country that Mr. Hoag
issued a Boston edition. Again outgrowing
its quarters, and no other suitable office being
available, the proprietor built a block for it.
In the mean time Mr. Hoag had become inter
ested in other newspaper enterprises in Boston,
being director of one company and president of
another. This, with his law practice, of
which he had not entirely rid himself, threat
ened to again undermine his health ; and, con
sequently, in 1893 he resolved to sever all
connection with newspaper and legal work and
prepare for a protracted trip abroad. In trav
elling through the country prior to his depart
ure for foreign ports Mr. Hoag was so im
pressed with Springfield and its environment
that he purchased his present attractive home,
and moved thither the following December.
Mr. Hoag is a graceful and forcible writer,
and, besides contributing short stories to the
more prominent magazines of the day, is the
author of several novels, among them being
"A Double Life," " Starr Cross, " "The Fall
of Eona, " and "The New Commonwealth."
He is likewise the author of several pamphlets
published under a nom de plinne. A volume
of poems written by himself and his talented
wife has recently been published under the
title of "Chords and Discords," which met
with most favorable and cordial reception by
both friends and the public at large. Mr.
Hoag has never cared for political prominence,
and has never held public office except that he
was for six years a Trustee of the Peabody
Institute. In every walk of life he has met with signal
success, having in his legal career been con
nected with many important cases, both in and
out of Massachusetts, and in his literary work
winning distinction and fame. In his domes
tic relations he has found unalloyed happiness;
and the bond of respect, sympathy, and affec
tion that united himself and wife has been

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

strengthened by the birth of three interesting
children — Ena, Ila, and Dorothy.

lOLLINS POMEROY, one of the sub
stantial and progressive business men
of Westfield, is conducting a suc
cessful livery business, in connec
tion with which he has a large boarding stable,
where the horses placed in his charge have fine
accommodations and the best of care. He is
a native of the city, born January 20, 1847,
being a son of Titus and Fanny (Loomis)
Pomeroy. His father was born in Roxbury,
now a part of Boston, July 26, 1806; and his
mother was born in Westfield, Mass., May 24,
1810. Mr. Pomeroy' s grandparents, Titus Pomeroy,
Sr. , and his wife, Nancy Pomeroy, were life
long residents of the old Bay State, making
their home in different places, the grandfather
working at various occupations, although he
was principally engaged in farming. His
last years were spent in Hampshire County, on
a farm which he had bought in the town of
Huntington. He died there while in the
prime of life, being but little more than forty
years old. His wife survived him, reaching
the extreme age of ninety years, and having
reared four children, of whom Titus is the
only one living. Both she and her husband
were worthy members of the Methodist Epis
copal church.
Titus Pomeroy passed the days of his boy
hood and early manhood in Hampshire County,
in the towns of Norwich and Huntington, and
early learned the shoemaker's trade, which he
has made his life occupation, coming to West-
field in 1837, where he has also paid some
attention to farming, principally gardening.
His estimable wife, Fanny Loomis Pomeroy,
who died April 6, 1886, bore him nine chil
dren, four of whom are now living; namely,
Charles, Mary Jane, Nathan B., and Collins.
Charles is a shoemaker in Westfield. Mary
Jane, the wife of Frank Scott, resides at
Feeding Hills, Agawam. Nathan B., a resi
dent of Westfield, served in the late Rebell
ion as a member of Company F, Twenty-
seventh Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and

received wounds in battle which disabled him
for severe work.
Collins Pomeroy acquired an excellent edu
cation in the public schools of his native city,
and, as soon as through with his studies, began
to learn the whip-maker's trade under the in
struction of Milton Knowles, with whom he
remained seven years. He then entered the
employment of W. H. Owens, and some years
later engaged in business for himself, forming
a partnership with A. C. Barnes, the firm con
ducting a good business for two years under
the firm name of A. C. Barnes & Co. Mr.
Pomeroy then sold out his interest to Mr.
Barnes, and, becoming a member of the firm of
Atwater & Co., continued in the manufacture
of whips until the company was consolidated
with that of Chapman & Grant, being made a
stock company under the name of the Bay
State Whip Company, which was organized
in 1888. In 1892 Mr. Pomeroy severed his
connection with that firm in order to establish
his present business; and his enterprise has
met with excellent success, his prompt atten
tion, genial courtesy, and effort to please his
patrons having won for him a fine class of
custom. He keeps fourteen good horses, fine
carriages and sleighs, and aims to have every
thing in the best condition possible. He also
runs a hack to and from the railway station,
meeting all the trains, and makes a specialty
of furnishing carriages for funerals. He is an
honest, straightforward man of business, most
pleasant to deal with, and is very popular and
highly esteemed as a citizen.
Mr. Pomeroy has been twice married. His
first wife, Mary L. Bowers, to whom he was
wedded November 22, 1871, was born Febru
ary 27, 1849, in Connecticut. She passed to
the higher life August 21, 1892, leaving one
child, Silas P., born September 21, 1876, who
is now a clerk in the hardware store of James
H. Bryam in Westfield. On October 25,
1894, Mr. Pomeroy was married to Emma L.
Putney, a native of Suffield, Conn. Both he
and his wife are valued members of the Meth
odist Episcopal church of Westfield ; and, po
litically, he is a stalwart Republican. So
cially, he is an influential member of Foresters'
Lodge, No. 5019, of Westfield.

13°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

r^o

EORGE H. CLARK, probation offi-
\ •> I cer for the police court of Spring
field, which includes Springfield,
West Springfield, Agawam, Long Meadow,
East Long Meadow, Wilbraham, North Wil
braham, and Ludlow, was appointed to his
present position by Judge H. "W. Bosworth in
July, 1 89 1. He is a native of Hampden
County, having been born June 28, 1830, in
the town of Monson, on the farm of his parents,
Moses H. and Almira (Haynes) Clark. His
father was a native of Sturbridge, Worcester
County, Mass., where his ancestors had lived
for many generations. He followed farming
for his life occupation, and after locating in
Monson married Miss Haynes, of that town.
They reared a family of seven children, as
follows : Mary, who married Ransom Steb
bins; Sophia, who became the wife of Sylves
ter Balch; Caroline, who married John Gibson,
of Warren, Mass. — the three sisters being
now deceased ; Jane, now the widow of the
above-mentioned John Gibson, whom she mar
ried after the death of her sister Caroline;
John W. , deceased; B. Franklin, Yard Master
for Thorndike Company, of Thorndike, Mass. ;
and George H., of Springfield.
The subject of this brief biography received
his early education in the common schools and
academy of Monson, and later continued to
improve his mind by home reading and study.
When a lad of twelve years he began working
in the Monson cotton factory, where he learned
weaving, subsequently going to Jenksville to
work in the old Jenks Manufacturing Com
pany's factory, thence to Stafford Springs.
After a few months he returned to the Jenks
Manufacturing Company, and was employed as
an overseer of weaving until 1849. In that
year he obtained employment in Thorndike
with the Thorndike Manufacturing Company,
with whom he remained for twenty-two years,
at the time he left being Superintendent of the
factory, which gave employment to four hun
dred persons. Coming to Springfield in 1872,
Mr. Clark, in partnership with "William Mer
riam and Daniel C. Frost, purchased the Mar
tin Wesson webbing business, which they
carried on under the firm name of G. H. Clark
& Co., being first established on Willow

Street, but later on Taylor Street, where
they remained until burned out by the big
fire of May 31, 1875, when the firm dissolved.
Mr. Clark afterward went into business alone
on Main Street, but retained the firm name of
G. H. Clark & Co., continuing thus three
years. He then entered the employment of
Tucker & Cook, of Conway, Mass., he having
charge of the branch they established here for
thirteen years. After a year of retirement
from the activities of life Mr. Clark engaged
in the real estate business with Charles M.
Mather, under the firm name of C. M. Mather
& Co., and continued in this business until his
appointment to his present position. The
duties of his responsible office now take up his
entire time, and he is kept busy throughout
the day. He visits the police stations every
morning ; and after interviewing each pris
oner, if he finds one whom for any cause he
thinks it best to recommend for probation, he
so advises the judge, and that prisoner is
placed on probation. He interviews, on an
average, one hundred and twenty-five prisoners
per month, the larger number of the charges
against them being for drunkenness, it being
more particularly for that class of criminals
that he is employed ; and he makes a particular
study of each case, with the view of bettering
his or her condition.
Mr. Clark has been twice married. His
first wife, whom he married in May, 185 1, was
Juliette Cleveland, a daughter of Freeman
Cleveland. She was born in Middletown,
Conn., June 18, 1830, and passed to the higher
life in March, 1888, leaving no issue. In
August, 1 89 1, Mr. Clark was married to
Mrs. Patience U. Moody, of Springfield.
They have a beautiful home at No. 156 Buck
ingham Street, Mr. Clark having been one of
the very first to buy on the McKnight side,
which is now one of the most desirable resi
dence parts of the city. In politics Mr. Clark
is strongly Republican, and in the years 1890
and 1 89 1 was a member of the City Council,
being one of the Committee on City Property
the first year, and the last year also on the
Committee on Finance. Socially, he is an
influential member of Masonic circles, belong
ing to Roswell Lee Lodge, Springfield Coun-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

^33

cil, and Springfield Commandery, A. F. &
A. M. He was successively Junior and Sen
ior Warden of Thomas Lodge of Palmer,
where he first joined the Masons. He and
his wife attend and support the Park Church,
and he has also served as a member of the
prudential committee of Hope Church.

ARREN H. WILKINSON, lately
deceased, was a prominent and ex
tensive manufacturer, well and fa
vorably known in Springfield, Holyoke, and
throughout the western part of Massachusetts.
He was born in Marlboro, N. H., July 9, 1824,
and was a lineal descendant, in the sixth gen
eration, of John Wilkinson, who settled in
Attleboro, Mass., about the year 1700. The
grandfather of Warren H. was David Wilkin
son, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serv
ing under Benedict Arnold at West Point at
the time of the, latter' s memorable treason.
He was present at the execution of Major
Andre, and at the close of the war returned to
Walpole, where he finished learning the trade
of harness and saddlery making, removing later
to Marlboro, N. H. , where he died at about the
age of eighty-one years.
It was in Marlboro that his son, David Wil
kinson, Jr., was born; and here he received
his first school education and acquired a knowl
edge of his father's business, in which he
remained actively engaged until the advanced
age of seventy-nine. He was married in 1823
to Miss Patty Hubbard, of Putney, Vt. ; and
their children were nine in number, including
the subject of this sketch.
Warren H. Wilkinson in his business career
followed in the .steps of his father and grand
father, commencing work at the early age of
ten years in the harness-shop of his father.
Before reaching his majority he attended an
academy for two terms, which with some pre
vious schooling completed his education. Be
fore the age of twenty-one he had thoroughly
mastered the business by means of which he
mainly acquired the competence that he en
joyed in later years. At the age of twenty-
three he became a partner with his father, and
continued in the harness business in Marlboro

until 1853, the firm supplying not only the
home demand, but also stores in Keene, Peter-
boro, and Greenfield, Mass. Later he estab
lished his headquarters at Greenfield, and
continued in business there for six years. In
1859 Mr. Wilkinson moved to the city of
Springfield, and on the breaking out of the
war received orders for military goods from the
Quartermaster-general of the State of Connect
icut. The satisfactory character of the work
led to orders for similar goods from the United
States government, the patronage being con
tinued to the close of the war. For much
of this work he furnished improved patterns,
which were adopted by the government, and
are in general use in the United States army
to-day. The excellence of his work is also
attested by the fact that toward the close of
his life extensive orders came in from foreign
countries for various kinds of military work.
In 1869 Mr. Wilkinson engaged in the manu
facture of horse blankets, first in Marlboro
and then in Winchendon, Mass. The business
increasing rapidly, he removed to Holyoke,
Mass., where he had one of the largest facto
ries of its kind in the country, employing after
the war from two hundred and fifty to four
hundred and fifty people. Mr. "Wilkinson
made his home in Springfield most of the
time till the fall of 1884, when he removed to
his fine country residence and stock farm at
Brightside, Holyoke. There he died March
21, 1892.
Mr. Wilkinson's first marriage was to Miss
Almira Frost, of Marlboro, daughter of Asa
Frost, of that place. Her death occurred
in 1874; and Mr. Wilkinson married for his
second wife Miss Emily J. Brown, a daughter
of James Brown, of Brimfield, Mass., where
she was born May 7, 1833. Her grandfather,
Deacon David Brown, who removed from Ash-
ford, Conn., to Brimfield, Mass., in 1805, was
a direct descendant of John Brown who came
from England to new Plymouth in 1634, and
afterward settled at Wamesit, dying there
April 10, .1662. (For further facts concerning
this family, see "History of Brimfield,
Mass.," by the Rev. Charles W. Hyde, D.D.)
Her father, James Brown, was born in Ash-
ford, Conn., July 30, 1790, and was also en-

134

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

gaged in the harness business, combining that
occupation with that of farming. He was
Deputy Sheriff of his county for many years.
Mr, Brown died March i8, 1859. His wife,
whose name before her marriage was Emily
Field, was the mother of seven children, of
whom Emily, wife of Mr. Wilkinson, was the
youngest. Mrs. Brown's death took place
October 29, 1876, at the age of eighty-one.
Mrs. Emily J. Wilkinson received a liberal
education in Brimfield, which she regarded as
her home, although occupied as a teacher in
Springfield for some years before her marriage.
She now resides in Springfield, and is an at
tendant of the Memorial Church of that city.
For many years before his death Mr. "Wil
kinson was a Director of the John Hancock
Bank of Springfield; and, while most of his
time was necessarily devoted to business pur
suits, he was ever ready to show his apprecia
tion of practical philanthropy by giving of his
means to the support of worthy institutions
and to the Congregational church, of which
he with his wife was a member. He was
never active in politics, but took a citizen's
interest in the ordering of the government,
and, when the Republican party was formed,
gave up his Whig predilections and joined it.
A steel portrait of Mr. Wilkinson will 'be
found on another page of this volume, recalling
to those who knew him the thoughtful counte
nance that will be seen no more on earth.
"Their works live after them."

-r^T():\IER MERRIAM, the younger
l-^-l brother in the celebrated publishing
II9 I firm of G. & C. Merriam, of Spring-
field, was born in West Brookfield,
Mass., where he learned printing. Subse
quently he and his brother William went to
Greenfleld, Mass., and opened a bindery and
book store. Homer taking charge of the latter.
After a few years these two brothers started a
similar enterprise in Troy, N. Y. , disposing of
the Greenfield business to their brother Lewis,
who associated with himself Mr. Mirick in
charge of the printing. In 1856, after .spend
ing twelve years in Troy, Homer Merriam be
came a partner in the Springfield firm, which

was organized in 1832 under the style of G.
& C. Merriam, and has been so known for
more than half a century. At that time the
firm occupied the original premises on State
Street; but in 1835 the building so long
known as the "Old Corner Bookstore," erected
by Galen Ames at the corner of State and
Main Streets, was taken by the firm, who
themselves occupied the first and third floors,
the book store being on the lower story. In
the course of time the Merriams withdrew en
tirely from the book store department ; and it
passed successively into the hands of Chapin &
Bridgman, Bridgman & Whitney, and (more
recently) the F. W. Adams Company. While
all the Merriam brothers were men of marked
individuality, they harmonized well, being
"kindly affectioned one toward another."
Though ever on the alert for business opportu
nities, becoming energetic competitors in the
trade marts, they believed in the principle of
"Live and let live," and were never known to
stoop to any form of sharp practice. The
brothers were Congregationalists, active in
church work ; and their faith was never contra
dicted by their deeds. They recognized the
need of what has been alliteratively called
"grace, grit, and greenbacks," and enriched
themselves by enriching others. It is rare to
find business firms thus subordinating pecun
iary profits to higher interests. This age, with
its electric rapidity, has one disadvantage — in
accelerating all sorts of enterprises, to the
detriment of that steady and painstaking de
velopment which characterized the past. Ap
prenticeship has disappeared. Boys prefer
crossing the bridge to swimming the river.
Their ambitions so outrun their ability that
they rate themselves full grown, when they
have a mere smattering of knowledge. The
unparalleled success of the Merriam brothers
is due to the fact that the ability to perform
was always commensurate with their ambi
tions, and this is the only true road to victory.
They had mastered the whole art of printing ;
and this enabled them to ponder the project
of publishing the great Unabridged Webster
Dictionary from a practical standpoint, cal
culating the cost of every item to a nicety,
from typesetting to binding. In our sketch

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

13s

of Charles Merriam will be found a fuller
account of this undertaking. The compiler of
the dictionary was dead. When the Merriams
became possessors of the copyright, it was with
the understanding that the new editor should
be approved by the Webster family. Dr.
Webster's son-in-law. Professor Goodrich, of
Yale, was at first chosen; and later by his re
quest President Porter became his successor.
Professor Whitney also contributed largely to
its pages. When the Merriams proposed to
condense the typography, and so reduce the
size and price of the work, the Websters
thought this a mistake ; but the sagacity of the
publishers prevailed. In earlier days an oc
tavo edition was the leading dictionary of the
country, but the Merriams started out with a
quarto. It is a fact of local interest, not gen
erally known, that some years previous to the
purchase of the quarto the octavo plates came
into the possession of D. & J. Ames, and the
Merriams were urged to buy them ; but they
felt that their limited resources would not then
warrant the purchase. In Dr. Webster's time,
and until the revision of 1864, the quarto was
manufactured in Hartford, Conn., in the office
of Case, Lockwood & Brainard ; but after that
time the manufacture was transferred to the
Riverside Press at Cambridge, Mass., where it
remains. When the Merriams first issued the
dictionary, they sent a set of plates to England
for an English edition ; and Messrs. Bell &
Sons, whose sales in the English and Colonial
market are large, still continue the arrange
ment then made. Though in direct competi
tion with various dictionaries compiled by
British lexicographers, European scholarship
has always heartily acknowledged the Web-
sterian merits. When the first London edition
appeared, the preface stated that "Webster's
Dictionary is allowed, both in this country
and in America, to be superior to every other
dictionary hitherto published — more copious
in its vocabulary, more correct in its defini
tions, more comprehensive in its plan, and in
the etymological department unrivalled."
Webster's Dictionary is the prescribed text
book when staff officers of the Prussian army
are required to learn English.
It is sometimes instructive, in judging our

fellow-men, to take them at their own esti
mate. The Merriam brothers attribute their
success in a large measure to the concentration
of their efforts on one object, that being great
enough to demand all their time and resources.
They think if the dictionary had been pub
lished by some metropolitan house, having
hundreds of miscellaneous books to look after,
it could never have attained its present popu
larity. They regarded this one book as quite
large and worthy enough to absorb their time
and ambition ; and they devoted themselves to
it, body, heart, and soul. By careful observa
tion, judicious advertising, and progressive
scholarship they have reaped the reward of
persistent and consistent effort. In removing
such men from the world, death loved shining
marks. George Merriam died at Springfield,
June 15, 1880, aged seventy-seven. Charles
Merriam died at Springfield, July 9, 1887,
aged eighty; and those interested are referred
to our special sketch of this gentleman.
Lewis Merriam died at Greenfield, where he
was long Postmaster, on March 12, 1892, aged
eighty. In a list of the various firms with which the
Merriams have been connected, Homer Mer
riam's name first appears in 1838, from which
date until 1842 he was one of the firm of
W. & H. Merriam, Greenfield, booksellers,
binders, and publishers of pocket Bibles.
From 1842 to 1845 W. & H. Merriam were at
Troy, N.Y. ; and toy books and family Bibles
were added to their output. From 1845 to
1 85 1 the business was in the same city; but
the firm was Merriam, Moore & Co., the new
partner being Ransom B. Moore, and globes
a new item on their manufacturing list. From
185 I to 1853 the firm was Merriam & Moore,
William Merriam having withdrawn ; but there
was no change in the articles produced, pocket
and family Bibles still continuing at the head.
From 1853 to 1856 Homer Merriam was still
in Troy; and the firm was again Merriam,
Moore & Co., the new partner being Henry B.
Nims. At the expiration of this alliance,
1856, Homer Merriam joined his brothers in
the firm of G. & C. Merriam, forming the
Springfield copartnership, which ended only
with the death of the elder associates. Homer

136

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Merriam still lives, an active man of affairs,
sure to remain faithful unto the end.
He was married in 1838 to Jane Weeks, of
Clarendon, Vt., who died in 1868, leaving
three children — Henry H., Arthur G., and
Thirza. The latter is now the wife of H. C.
Rowley. In 1869 Mr. Merriam took for his
second wife Mrs. Ellen C. Clizbe.

I DWARD ALLEN KELLOGG is a fine
representative of the agricultural ele
ment of the town of Agawam, Hamp
den County, where he has a well-improved
farm, which he carefully cultivates, and is also
intimately identified with its manufacturing
and mercantile interests as an extensive dealer
in lumber and live stock. He is a son of the
late Richard Kellogg, and was born September
2, 1851, in Feeding Hills, in this town.
Richard Kellogg, it is thought, was a native
of Hampshire County, being a son of Whitney
C. and Betsey Kellogg. At the age of sixteen
years he bought his time of his father; and,
possessing the true Yankee's wit and love of
trade, he started out on foot with two trunks
of tin filled with notions, useful and orna
mental, and was so successful in disposing of
his wares that he continued in the business
several years, purchasing at length a pair of
horses and a wagon, with which he peddled
throughout this section of the country. Later,
he established himself in mercantile business
in Southampton, where he remained a number
of years, having a large and lucrative trade.
Coming then to Agawam, he bought a farm in
Feeding Hills; and in its cultivation and im
provement he spent the remainder of his years,
dying June 18, 1892. His second wife, whose
maiden name was Electa Allen, was born April
26, 1 8 19, at Roberts's Meadow, Northampton,
a daughter of Elijah and Electa (Warner)
Allen. She died in October, 1865, leaving
but one child, Edward Allen, of whom we write.
The father subsequently married Elizabeth F.
Spencer, who is now a resident of Springfield.
After receiving his preliminary education in
the district school, young Kellogg attended a
Springfield school, and later the Williston
Seminary in Easthampton. Having inherited

his father's taste for trade, and having practi
cally the entire charge of the home farm when
only seventeen years old, he made a specialty
of dealing in live stock, and, using excellent
judgment, made it profitable. Mr. Kellogg
subsequently became interested in the lumber
business, operating chiefly in Suffield, Conn.,
and Southwick, Mass., buying standing tim
ber, which he manufactured into lumber and
sold to dealers and builders. During all of
this time he has carried on the home farm
which he inherited, and which is pleasantly
located about a quarter of a mile from Feeding
Hills Corners. In his agricultural labors he
exhibits the same skill, enterprise, and keen
foresight that has ever characterized his other
dealings, and has met with excellent success in
all of his various undertakings.
On November 29, 1871, Mr. Kellogg was
united in marriage to Alice Martha Rising, a
native of Southwick, Mass., and the daughter
of Alvin Rising. Her father, who was a son
of Samuel and Sarah Rising, removed from
Suffield, Conn., the place of his nativity, to
Southwick, where he carried on general farm
ing the remainder of his days. His wife,
Lucinda Emily Sackett, was a native of South
wick, Mass., and the daughter of Royal and
Eunice (Hastings) Sackett, well-known and
highly esteemed residents of that town. Mr.
and Mrs. Kellogg have two children — Alvin
Richard and Frank Whipple.
Mr. Kellogg is held in high regard by his
neighbors and fellow-townsmen; and his influ
ence and assistance are always sought in behalf
of public enterprises, as a man who has at
heart the highest interests of the community.
In politics he is a firm supporter of the princi
ples of the Republican party, and for the past
three years has served as Superintendent of
Streets in the town of Agawam. Religiously,
he and his wife are valued members of the
Congregational church.

OHN L. R. TRASK, D.D., pastor of
the Memorial Church, Springfield, with
which he has been connected since
1888, was born in Hampden, Penobscot
County, Me., on December 19, 1842. The

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137

Rev. Dr. Trask's father, Joshua P. Trask, who
was a native of Gloucester, Mass., his almost
life-long home, was the first judge of the
municipal court of Gloucester, and held the
office until his death, the period of his stay in
Maine being of short duration, as he was in
business there only for a short time.
He was a prominent member of the Congre
gational church, and the founder of several
temperance orders, and was also the originator
of the fund which was raised for the benefit of
the widows and orphans of men drowned at sea.
In 1832 Judge Trask wrote a series of articles
for a village paper, which instigated the foun
dation of a public library. He will long be
remembered as a man who did much for the
benefit of his fellows. He died in September,
1862, regretted by all who knew him. Dr.
Trask's mother, Mary E. Rogers before her
marriage, was a descendant of the Rev. John
Rogers, President of Harvard College in 1684,
and' is the representative of an old and distin
guished family, several members of which
fought in the Revolutionary War and in the
War of 18 12. The Trask family settled at
Beverly in 1650, and there still stands an old
house which has been occupied by one of the
name since 1692. Ebenezer, first, the great
grandfather, and Ebenezer, second, grandfather
of the Judge, were soldiers in 1776. The
genealogical line runs in this wise : Ormand,
John, Ebenezer first, Ebenezer second, Jo
seph, Joshua P., John L. R.
The last named, and the subject of the
sketch, was educated at the Gloucester High
School, Dummer Academy, Byfield, Mass.,
and at Williams College, where he received
the degree of A.B. in the class of 1864, and
that of A.M. after a two years' course at
Princeton Theological School. A final year
of study at Andover in 1867 completed his
preparation for the ministry, and he was called
to the pastorate of the Second Congregational
Church in Holyoke. He was ordained, and
continued in charge there until 1883, when
his impaired health demanded a complete rest.
During his incumbency in Holyoke he had
raised money sufficient 'to pay for the site of
the handsome new church there, in which he
had almost a human interest. In 1884 he went

to Lawrence, Mass. , and became pastor of Trinity
Church in that city. The summer of 1888
was spent by him in European travel, which
was of great benefit to his health and spirits.
In May of that year he had been called to
the Memorial Church in Springfield, and in
November he was installed as its pastor. This
church, which is classed as Union Evangelical,
is entirely unsectarian in its government and
influence, and was built to meet the spiritual
needs of all classes. A handsome parish house
is now in process of erection at the corner
of Church and Main Streets, which upon its
completion will have cost thirty-five thousand
dollars. A well-attended Sunday-school and
the largest Christian Endeavor Society in the
city attest the flourishing condition of the
church and the activity of its members. Its
pastor is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa fra
ternity, and belongs to the Historical and
Genealogical Society of Boston. The Rev.
Dr. Trask is also a member of Winthrop Club,
and is one of the Sons of the Revolution.
Since 1878 he has been Secretary of Holyoke
College, of which he is Trustee. Almost his
entire time is devoted to ministerial work;
yet he finds opportunity to pursue genealogical
studies, and has been deeply interested in col
lecting data concerning the old and widely
scattered family of Trasks.
On August I, 1 871, Dr. Trask was married
to Miss Abbie J. Parker, of Dunbarton, N.H.,
a daughter of Daniel Hardy Parker. She was
educated at Adams Academy at Derry, and at
Hartford, Conn. Three children have blessed
this marriage — Frederick P., who is a mem
ber of the class of 1896 at Amherst; Elizabeth
Rogers; and Mary Ellery. Elizabeth is a stu
dent at Mount Holyoke, and Mary at the high
school. In a family so surrounded by Chris
tian influences and an atmosphere of intellect
ual culture one sees something very nearly akin
to the loftiest conception of an ideal home life.

ENAS C. LEFFINGWELL, one of the
most extensive and thriving agricultu
rists of Hampden County, owns and
occupies a valuable farm of four
hundred acres in the town of Westfield, where

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

he has established an enviable reputation as an
honest, upright, and keen business man and a
good citizen. He was born March 15, 1824,
in the town of Fluntington, and is of substan
tial and honored New England antecedents, his
paternal grandparents, Elisha and Betsey Lef
fingwell, having been of Connecticut birth.
Grandfather Leffingwell was a brave soldier of
the Revolution, and became an early settler of
Hampshire County, buying a farm in Hunting
ton, where he and his wife died, well advanced
in years.
Their son Elisha, who was born in Nor
wich, Conn., was but a young boy when they
removed to this State, where he was educated
and drilled in farm labor. He bought the in
terest of the other heirs in the old home farm,
which consisted of one hundred and sixty acres
of rich land, and was numbered among the
most enterprising farmers of Huntington. He
was a man of prominence in his community,
and served as Selectman several terms, and
was ever an active supporter of the Democratic
party. He married Louisa Clark, a native of
Southampton, Mass. ; and they had twelve
children, of whom eleven grew to maturity
and six are now living, their names being Zenas
C, Horace, Andrew, Anson, Caroline, and
Adaline. The names of the deceased are as
follows : Laurens, Louisa, Betsey, William,
Corinth, Emeline. Zenas C, the subject of
this sketch, was reared to man's estate on the
farm where he was born, and began life for
himself as a butcher, an occupation which he
has followed to some extent until the present
day. Coming to Westfield in 1844, Mr.
Leffingwell remained here about four years,
when he returned to the place of his nativity,
and there buying land engaged in agricultural
labor until 1853. In that year he disposed of
his property in Huntington, and again bought
land in Westfield, where he has since been a
resident and one of its most successful farmers.
Mr. Leffingwell moved in 1882 to the place
where he now resides, and, in addition to being
one of the largest general farmers of the neigh
borhood, has an extensive dairy, and pays much
attention to the rearing of fine cattle and
horses, being one of the leading stock dealers
in this section of the county. He raises good

crops of tobacco, to which he pays especial
attention, and of hay and the small grains.
His property is well improved, and his fine
dwelling-house and the commodious barn and
other farm buildings bespeak the supervision
and care of the intelligent and prosperous
owner. Mr. Leffingwell was married March 16,
1850, to Sarah Hull, who was born in Cleve
land, Ohio, July 17, 1830, being a daughter
of Charles and Mercy Hull, both of whom have
passed onward to the other life. Of the union
of Mr. and Mrs. Leffingwell two children were
born, namely : Hattie, now the widow of James
Harvey, who, with her son, Franklin Harvey,
lives with her parents; and Ellen, who married
Albert Hanchet, and died at the age of thirty-
seven years, leaving one son, Ernest Hanchet,
now living with his grandparents, his father
having died also. In politics Mr. Leffingwell
affiliates with the Democratic party. He and
his family are liberal in their religious
views, and hold a high position among the
most respected and esteemed people of their
community.

OUIS CAVALLI HYDE, Springfield,
Mass. On a gray and weather-beaten
monument in the old cemetery at
Hartford, Conn., is recorded as one
of the original settlers the name of William
Hyde, the earliest known ancestor of that fam
ily who emigrated to America. He was a con
temporary of Sir Robert Hyde, Chief Justice
of the Court of Common Pleas in 1660, and of
Sir Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, Lord
Chancellor at the time of the restoration of
Charles II., grandfather of Queen Mary and
Queen Anne. William Hyde is supposed to
have come over to this country in 1633 with
the Rev. Thomas Hooker (the first minister
settling at Hartford), and sojourned with him
for a time in Newtown (Cambridge), Mass., be
fore going to Hartford, where land was as
signed to him in 1636. Later he removed
to Saybrook and thence to Norwich, where he
was of considerable prominence, having been
frequently chosen one of the Selectmen of the
town. His only son, Samuel Hyde, married

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

139

Jane Lee, of East Saybrook (now Lyme), their
eldest daughter being the first white child born
in Norwich (1660). Samuel's occupation was
that of a farmer, lands having been assigned to
him at Norwich West Farms, where he died in
1677. His third son, William Hyde, second,
born in 1670, settled upon the home lot of his
grandfather. He was for many years one of
the magistrates of Norwich, a member of the
Colonial legislature, and was of very consid
erable wealth and influence. His wife was
Anna Bushnell, a relative of Governor Hunt
ington, one of the signers of the Declaration
of Independence, Jedediah Hyde, fifth son of
William, second, and Anna, was born in 171 2.
He married Jerusha Perkins, whose grandpar
ents came over with Roger Williams in the
good ship "Lyon of Bristol" in 1631. Jede
diah Hyde was ordained a minister in 1746, in
that division of the Congregational church
called Separatists. His only son was Jedediah
Hyde, Jr., born at Norwich, August 14, 1738,
who married Mary Waterman, a second cousin.
He was an officer in the Revolution, and
slightly wounded when First Lieutenant in
Captain Colt's company at the battle of
Bunker Hill. He afterward commanded a
company in the regular army. His wife died
in Norwich, while he was absent in the army.
His second wife was the relict of David
Parker, killed while a member of Captain
Hyde's company. Soon after Parker joined
the regular service, his wife applied for her
husband's release, when the captain jocosely
remarked that, should her husband fall in
battle and his wife die, he would himself be
come her husband.
Pitt William Hyde, fifth son of Jedediah
and Mary (Waterman) Hyde, born at Nor
wich, December 29, 1776, married Mary Kil-
burn, of Castleton, Vt, October 9, 1796. He
was a farmer and innkeeper, first at Hyde
Park and afterward at Sudbury, where he
established a tavern that is still in the pos
session of and successfully managed by his
descendants, and which has become famous as
a summer resort.
Oliver Moulton Hyde, his third son, was
born at Sudbury, Vt., March 10, 1804. FIis
early years were spent at the homestead ac

quiring such education as the village school
and the Castleton Seminary afforded. At the
age of twenty-three he married Julia Ann
Sprague, daughter of Daniel Sprague, of Poult-
ney, Vt., and subse_quently opened a dry-goods
store at Castleton. When about thirty, being
ambitious for some larger enterprise, he sold
out his store, and removed to Mount Hope,
N.Y. , where he established and successfully
managed two large blast furnaces. A few years
later, becoming possessed with the Western
fever, and owing somewhat to the influence of
his brother-in-law. Judge B. F. H. Witherell,
he located in Detroit, Mich., where in 1838
he first engaged in the hardware business.
Later he established an extensive foundry and
machine-shop, where for several years he manu
factured engines and steamboat machinery. In
1852 he became associated with Captain Eber
B. Ward in the construction of a floating dry
dock, a venture then regarded as of great im
portance. Mr. Hyde's personal popularity,
added to his admirable business capacity, often
brought him into official positions, assumed
against his inclination. He was a stanch
Whig until the formation of the Republican
party, and was frequently forced to accept
some office in an emergency, to save his party
from defeat. He was repeatedly a member of
the Common Council, and in 1854, 1856, and
1857 was elected Mayor. During the admin
istration of Taylor and Fillmore he was Collec
tor of the port. In his last year as Mayor he
recommended building a house of correction ;
and his communication to the Common Council
was the first link in the chain of events which
secured the present Detroit establishment,
which has a wide reputation for its architect
ural completeness and satisfactory results.
Mr. Flyde was a man of great energy and un
tiring activity. His private life was simple
and unostentatious. On November 25, 1863,
in the zenith of his popularity and usefulness,
he was stricken with j'jaralysis ; and from that
time, though only partially disabled, he was
mostly confined to the house. Four years
later a second shock rendered him completely
helpless; and in this condition he remained
three years, unselfishly deploring his inability
to be of service. Believing, however, that an

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

earnest expression by older citizens would re
sult in an increased military interest in the
younger, abler men, he planned a volunteer
company, the Silver Grays, a qualification for
membership being that the applicant should be
over fifty years of age and prepared for active
service should occasion require. During the
entire Rebellion Mr. Flyde's office building
was at the disposal of the United States re
cruiting agents; and he lived till five years
after the successful termination of the national
struggle, dying June 28, 1870. Kind and lib
eral by nature, he aided hundreds in private,
but never in any public way. His intimate
friends included the most prominent men of
that period, among whom were Zachariah
Chandler, General Lewis Cass, William A.
Howard, and Horace Greeley. Besides his
widow two sons and a daughter survived him —
Henry Stanley Hyde, of Springfield; Hattie
Sprague, the wife of Asa D. Dickinson, ap
pointed in 1893 United States Consul at Not
tingham, England ; and Louis Cavalli Hyde,
the subject of this sketch.
Louis Cavalli Hyde was born at Detroit,
Mich., October i, 1849. He was early placed
in charge of private tutors, and was sent to the
hill town of Leicester, Mass., to complete his
education at the academy. During the decline
of his father's health, and to the time of his
decease, Louis remained with him. Remov
ing to Springfield in 1876, he entered the em
ploy of the Wason Manufacturing Company
as book-keeper, was elected Clerk, or Secre
tary, of the company in 1882, and in 1889 was
chosen a member of its Board of Directors,
which positions he still retains. He is also a
Director of the E. Stebbing Manufacturing
Company, one of the Vice-Presidents of the
Springfield Board of Trade, a Trustee of the
Hampden Savings Bank and of the Springfield
Flospital. In 1890 he was elected to the
Common Council from Ward One, and in
the two following years elected to represent
the same ward in the Board of Aldermen, where
he did effective work as chairman of the Com
mittee on City Property, and was influential in
bringing about an advantageous change in the
method of the city's street lighting. During
his term of public service he made a special

study of school buildings, and superintended
the construction of the Buckingham, the
Pynchon, and the School Street edifices, and
selected the plans for the one on Carew Street,
all of which are model school buildings, both
as to size and architectural completeness.
Though a strong Republican, he is not an
active politician. He is Senior Warden of
Springfield Lodge, A. F. & A. M. , a member
of Morning Star Chapter and of Springfield
Council, and is Secretary of the Springfield
Masonic Club. In 1870 he married Mary
Cleveland, daughter of Ira B. Cleveland, of
Flint, Mich. They have three children —
Henry Cleveland Hyde, born February 15,
1872, and now (1895) in the Agawam National
Bank, Harriet Hyde, and Dorothy Hyde, all
of whom live at home. Their residence is on
North Main Street, Brightwood suburb ; and
the family are members of Christ Church, of
the Episcopal denomination.

bTRANCIS E. MORRIS, of Monson, son
p^ of George F. Morris, was born in this
village, August 2, 1853. He was edu
cated in the public schools and the Monson
Academy, and entered the National Bank as
teller in 1869. In 1872, a savings bank being
organized, he served as clerk of that institu
tion, in connection with his other duties. In
1893 the banks removed to separate quarters in
a fine new building, and since that time Mr.
Morris has filled most acceptably the office of
Treasurer of the savings bank. He is also en
gaged in the fire and life insurance business in
company with the Postmaster, G. W. Farring-
ton, theirs being the only local agency and
doing the principal business of the kind in the
place. Mr. Morris is interested in everything
pertaining to the public welfare. He has
served as Secretary of the Public Library As
sociation since its organization, and has been a
member of the School Committee for six years.
He is a prominent member of the Congrega
tional church, which he served as Secretary for
five years, when he felt obliged to resign on
account of other duties, and has also served as
Treasurer of the First Parish for the past ten
years. Politically, he is a stanch Republican.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

141

Septembers, 1877, Mr. Morris was married
to Jennie F. Davis, of Ware, daughter of Ben
jamin F. and Mary (Phillips) Davis. Her
mother died in 1881, aged forty-four, leaving
ten children, of whom Mrs. Morris was the
eldest. She excelled as a student at the Mon
son Academy, and afterward taught several
years. Her father still resides on his farm in
Ware, where he has held various public offices,
including those of Assessor and Selectman.
Her uncle, George R. Davis, of Illinois, was
one of the leading officials of the World's Co
lumbian Exposition, being Director-general of
the Exposition Association of Chicago. Mr.
and Mrs. Morris have three children; — the
eldest, Frank Arthur, aged sixteen, a bright
young man, and a Senior in the Monson Acad
emy; the next child, Ralph Davis Morris, a
youth of thirteen, in the grammar school ; and
the youngest, Hope, a winsome lassie of six
years. In 1881 Mr. Morris moved his family
to their present home, a spacious and comely
three-story dwelling, with mansard roof, on
the corner of Flint Avenue and Pleasant
Street.

B

R. STEPHEN FRANKLIN POM
EROY, a prominent physician and
surgeon of Springfield, was born at
Norwich, Chenango County, N. Y.,
on May 17, 1827, during the administration of
John Quincy Adams, and is a direct descend
ant of Eltweed Pomeroy, the immigrant an
cestor, who was born in England, and came to
America in 1630 in the ship "John and
Mary." He located at Dorchester, Mass., re
siding there five years, then removed to Wind
sor, Conn., where he spent the remainder of
his life, dying in March, 1673. The next in
line was his son Medad, who was born August
19, 1650. He was a deacon in the Congre
gational church, and a deputy to the General
Court. He died December 12, 1716. The
maiden name of his first wife was Experience
Woodward. The next in order of descent was
their son Joseph, who was born in 1672, and
died in 1712. He took for his wife Fanny
Seymour. Next came their son Benjamin,
who was born in 1706, and died in 1774. He

married Abigail Wheelock in 1734. The next
in line was their son Elihu, who was born in
1753, and in 1776 married Lydia Barber.
Next came their son, Stephen Barber Pomeroy,
the father of Stephen Franklin. He was born
in Hebron, Conn., in 1789, and removed from
his native State to New York, locating in Nor
wich, where he resided for a number of years.
In 1842 he again started West, going to Illi
nois, and locating in Fulton County. The
removal was made via the lakes from Buffalo
to Chicago, and thence by team to Fulton
County. Mr. Pomeroy was the owner of a sec
tion of land there; and upon it he settled, and
engaged in farming. At that early day there
were no railroads in Illinois ; and the farmers
were obliged to draw their products to Chicago,
one hundred and fifty miles or more distant.
For a time the post-office was at Lewiston, ten
miles away. Mr. Pomeroy resided there for a
few years, then disposed of his farm and re
moved to Greenfield, Ulster County, N.Y. ,
where his son, Frederick H., had a tannery,
saw-mill, and store. After a short residence
there he went to Bolton, Conn., and there
spent his last years. The maiden name of his
wife was Sarah L. Dimmock. Both she and
her husband were members of the Presbyterian
church. The parental household included the
following children : Sarah, the eldest, who be
came the wife of Chauncey Clark, of Coventry,
Conn., and the mother of four children; John,
a locomotive engineer, who lived the greater
part of his life in Bolton, and died in 1883;
Stephen Franklin, of whom we write ; Mary,
who died while in the West; Frederick H.,
who was accidentally killed at Greenfield,
N.Y., in 1859.
Stephen Franklin Pomeroy received his
early education in the district school. Later
he took an academic course at Norwich Acad
emy, and commenced teaching shortly after the
removal to Illinois. While a resident of that
State he made two trips East, one of which
was made overland with five horses, the round
trip being two thousand miles. This he now
looks back upon as one of the pleasantest jour
neys of his life. Upon his return East he
taught in Greenfield for a time, then took a
course at the Albany State Normal School,

142

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

subsequently taking charge of a tannery for
five years, having previously learned the tan
ner's trade. At the age of twenty-eight he
began the study of medicine with his uncle.
Dr. Timothy Dimmock, at South Coventry,
Conn., where he remained three years. Dr.
Pomeroy' s first practice was at Staffordville,
Tolland County, Conn., in a large manufactur
ing district, where he had an extensive country
ride of at least ten miles in each direction.
Here he remained for ten years, and for one
year practised in Hebron. While in Connect
icut he was a member of the Tolland County
Medical Society. His father, who was then
in Springfield, was the victim of an attack of
hemorrhage from the nose, and, receiving no
relief from local physicians, sent for his son,
who thus made his first professional visit to
that city. This led to a desire that he should
open an office there; and accordingly he lo
cated on State Street, in 1865, forming a
partnership with Dr. John Hooker, which,
however, was dissolved ten months later. Dr.
Pomeroy thereafter practising alone. He has
enjoyed a large general practice, has been con
nected with the City Hospital since its or
ganization, and is now senior member and
President of the entire surgical and medical
staff of the Springfield Hospital. He has also
been an officer of the Massachusetts Medical
Society. Masonically, Dr. Pomeroy belongs to Ros
well Lee Lodge, to Morning Star Chapter, to
the Springfield Commandery, and to the Rose
Croix Degree, and is now ready for the Con
sistory, which reaches the Thirty-second De
gree. He belongs to De Soto Lodge of Odd
Fellows, to the Encampment, and the Legion
of Honor, also to the Masonic Club. In 1892
the Doctor purchased a beautiful home, the
old Dr. Lambert place, at the corner of State
and Byers Streets, where he now has his office.
In 1855, after graduation from the medical
department of Yale College, Dr. Pomeroy mar
ried Joanna Latimer Watrous, daughter of
Henry R. and Mary (Chadwick) Watrous. Her
father was the High Sheriff of Tolland
County. Mrs. Pomeroy was born in South
Coventry, Tolland County, Conn., on the
homestead and "in the identical house in

which that noble patriot and martyr. Captain
Nathan Hale, spent his boyhood days. It was
the old Hale mansion, identified with the
memory of him who said, 'I only regret that I
have but one life to give for my country. ' "
Dr. Pomeroy' s only son, William Henry
Pomeroy, born in 1857, was graduated from
the city high school, from Brown University
in the class of 1882, and from the Harvard
Medical School in 1886. The following year
he was assistant in materia medica and thera
peutics in Harvard College. He was then
tendered the position of instructor, which
would eventually have led to a professorship ;
but he did not wish to make teaching his life
work, and after spending a year abroad he
became associated with his father in 1889.
The elder Dr. Pomeroy has had many calls for
expert testimony before the courts, and is
recognized as one of the finest physicians in
the county, being ably seconded in his arduous
labors by his son. He is an exceedingly well-
read man, with a wide and varied experience,
and keeps abreast of the times in all matters
relating to medical science.

ON. STEPHEN CHAPIN BEMIS,
who during his life was one of the
[3 \ most prominent figures in the busi
ness, financial, and official circles of
Springfield, was born in Harvard, Mass., No
vember 28, 1802. His father, the Rev.
Stephen Bemis, was a Congregational clergy
man, pastor of the Congregational church of
Harvard up to the time of his death, which
occurred November 11, 1828. His mother
was a Miss Chapin, the daughter of Captain
Phineas Chapin, of Chicopee; and the family
consisted of the parents and two children,
Stephen Chapin Bemis and a daughter, who
became the wife of Deacon John Pendleton,
of Willimansett, who died there many years
ago. At the early age of fourteen years Stephen
C. Bemis left school and went to Springfield,
where he entered the store of his uncle.
Deacon Pease, for whom he performed the
various duties usually consigned to the "store
boy." So much aptitude and natural tact did

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143

the youthful clerk display that the good deacon
began to rely almost entirely upon his
nephew's judgment, and in four years' time
admitted him into a partnership in the busi
ness. A few years later he sold out his inter
est to him iit toto. Stephen then formed a
partnership with Mr. Chester W. Chapin, a
distant relative on the maternal side. This
was a wise move on the part of the younger
man ; for Mr. Chapin had been for three years
conducting a rival shop on the opposite side of
the street, to the material detriment of the
Deacon's trade. The business connection be
tween Chapin & Bemis was dissolved at the
end of three years, when Mr. Chapin began
his career as a public carrier by stage from
Springfield to North Hampden, Mass. Mr.
Bemis's mercantile venture having proved a
decided financial success, the Springfield stock
of merchandise was sold and the mill privilege
at Willimansett purchased; and a large build
ing was erected there for the manufacture of
woollen machine cards, augers, and mechanical
tools. He, with much foresight, built tene
ments for his employees, and commenced oper
ations with a large number of workmen. The
following year he moved his family to Willi
mansett, and opened a country store where
family supplies might be conveniently near the
men who worked at the factory, and which
would also be an additional source of revenue.
Scarcely had the old business been thoroughly
established when the factory was burned to
the ground. This was a heavy loss, and led to
serious financial embarrassment a few years
later. Removing to Troy, N.Y., he engaged
in the hardware trade until 1843, when he re
turned to Springfield, and pursued a similar
line of business. In the mean time the Wil
limansett property had been sold, the card-
making department discontinued, and the tool
manufacture transferred to Springfield, where
the work was carried on in shops on the banks
of the Mill River. Mr. Amos Call, Mr.
Bemis's brother-in-law, was now connected
with him under the firm name of Bemis &
Call. In 1845 Mr. Bemis and his quondam
partner, Chester W. Chapin, established a coal
yard, the second one ever opened in the city
— ¦ an enterprise which proved of mutual benefit

to both buyer and seller. Mr. Chapin was
also interested in the Bemis & Call Tool
Manufactory; and, when Blanchard & Kim
ball's Locomotive Works, which formerly
occupied the site of the Wason Car Company,
were sold under the hammer, these two gentle
men, Messrs. Chapin and Bemis, purchased
the entire stock, which they immediately dis
posed of to a Missouri railroad, realizing con
siderable profit by the transaction, which was,
indeed, a large financial operation. In 1850
Mr. Bemis removed his business to the old
Pynchon Block, where, with increased facili
ties for trade, he added a line of iron and
steel implements. Three years afterward he
erected the buildings occupied by the Bemis &
Phillips and Bemis & Call Companies for some
time, but which now for several years past
have been used as offices of the tool company
and the coal company. The large hardware
department was now sold to his son, S. Au
gustus Bemis, who with H. C. Miner formed
a partnership under the title of S. Augustus
Bemis & Co.
During Mr. Bemis's long and useful life he
held many places of trust, his first official
duties dating back to 1830, when he was ap
pointed Postmaster of Chicopee. In 1834 he
was Tax Collector for the city, and in the fol
lowing year was made a member of the Board
of Selectmen; and in 1837, the year of Ed
ward Everett's election as Governor of the
State, he was sent to the State legislature from
Springfield. Up to this period Mr. Bemis
had been a Whig; thenceforth he affiliated
with the Democratic party, for which he was
an ardent worker. Under Governors Boutwell,
Banks, and Bullock he received the appoint
ment of Justice of the Peace, and was for a
time Coroner of Hampden County. In the old
days he was Fire Warden, and his long pole is
preserved as a family relic, and regarded with
veneration and interest by the young scions of
the house, who like to hear of the old days
when "grandpa was an engineer in the first
fire department of the city." In 1856, 1857,
and 1858 he was a member of the Board of
Aldermen, and in 1861 was elected by the
Democratic element to the office of Mayor,
defeating a popular candidate of the opposite

144

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

party, and in the following year was re-elected,
defeating Henry Alexander, Jr. Mr. Bemis
was of the party known at that time as "War
Democrat"; and all of the enthusiasm of his
nature was aroused in the early days of the
Civil War, and exerted in behalf of raising and
equipping troops. An ardent nature and an
inexorable will were conjoined in his charac
ter, and fitted him to fill places of prominence
during the emergencies of the period. In
manner Mr. Bemis was quick and impulsive,
at times almost passionate in his vehemence;
but those who knew him best were keenly
'aware of the warm, affectionate heart and ready
sympathy that were so easily enlisted in behalf
of suffering or need. In 1861 an incident
occurred which showed the confidence in which
the whole community held him. Wearied out
by the press of business consequent to the
management of a large manufacturing enter
prise and utterly exhausted by the strain of
official duties, Mr. Bemis had sought to recu
perate his energies by a short vacation at Ni
agara, whither he had gone with his family.
Leaving Niagara, he had gone to visit some
friends in Seneca, when Springfield was
thrown into consternation by the news of the
firing on Fort Sumter. Not knowing how to
reach their Mayor, the whole town was in a
state of the wildest excitement and perturba
tion as to what should be done. Several days
elapsed before the Mayor's arrival. At last
it became noised about that he was to arrive on
a certain day ; and, as the coach on which he
was a passenger rolled into the Springfield
depot, it was met by the citizens en masse,
who tendered an ovation of welcome to their
Mayor. Mr. Bemis began the very next day
to raise and equip troops to fight for the
Union. In 1868 he withdrew from active partici
pation in business, having previously disposed
of his affairs and placed his sons in charge of
the different branches of the mammoth enter
prise he had seen develop from its incipiency
to its present proportions. From that period
up to the date of his death, February 12,
1875, he lived quietly at home, occasionally
going down to the office, in which he still held
a keen interest. From 1863 to 1869 he was a

Director of the Agawam Bank, and he was
President of the Hampden Savings Bank for
the space of fifteen years, during which period
the bank did not lose a dollar.
On December 28, 1828, Mr. Bemis was
married to Miss Julia E. Skeele, a daughter
of Otis and Kezia (Chapin) Skeele. Mrs.
Julia Bemis was of a prolific family, and
has at this writing nineteen grandchildren
and eleven great-grandchildren, all living in
Springfield. The children of Mr. and Mrs.
Bemis were : Stephen Augustus ; William
Chapin ; Arthur Irving, who died December 2,
1893; Julia E., who married Warner F. Stur-
tevant, a wholesale grocer in the city; Thomas
Otis; Kate Chapin, who married Howard A.
Gibbs, the President and Treasurer of the
Nichols Belting Company of Holyoke. Mr.
and Mrs. Gibbs had two children, one of
whom, Henry Skeele, lives with them at the
old Bemis homestead. The other child, Ed
ward F. , died in infancy.
Mrs. Bemis, who is now in her eighty-fifth
year, resides with her daughter, Mrs. Gibbs,
at 209 Chestnut Street. She is singularly
strong. and active for her years, and retains her
mental vigor and physical faculties remark
ably. Her unostentatious charities have en
deared her to all who knew her; but those in
need or affliction most deeply recognize the
tender strength of her nature and the loving
pity of her heart. Both she and her husband
were within the fold of Christian belief, and
she who has outlived the protector of her youth
and the tender companion of her old age is
now the object of the loving care and venera
tion of her children. Her children's chil
dren's children "rise up and call her blessed."

UDSON WADE LEONARD, late an
important factor of the business inter
ests of the town of Hampden, his enter
prise and financial ability placing him
among the leading citizens of the county, was
born in Stafford, Conn., July 3, 1832, and
died at his home in Hampden, April 8, 1883.
He was a son of Jacob Leonard, who was born
January 16, 1796, in Woodstock, Conn.
Jacob Leonard was but three years old when

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

147

his parents removed to Stafford, where he was
reared and educated. He learned the stone
mason's trade, and in addition to working at
that was also a farmer and a contractor; and,
having erected a saw-mill on his farm, he
manufactured and sold lumber. In 1866 he
came to Massachusetts, and, taking up his
abode in Hampden, resided here until his
demise at the advanced age of eighty-one
years. The maiden name of his second wife,
the mother of Judson W. , to whom he was
united June 12, 1828, was Betsey A. Baker.
She was born April 26, 1808, in Stafford
Springs, Conn., where her father, John Baker,
who was a native of Norwich, Conn., was for
many years a cabinet-maker and a dealer in
furniture, residing there until his death, when
eighty-three years old. He married Betsey
Converse, a native of Stafford Springs, and the
daughter of Solva and Sarah (Holmes) Con
verse. Mrs. Betsey C. Baker survived her
husband, living to the venerable age of ninety-
four years ; and of their eight children four
are yet living. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Leonard
reared a family of "nine children, of whom six
are now living.
Judson Wade Leonard received his element
ary education in the iDublic schools, and was
subsequently fitted for college at Monson. He
passed a successful examination for admission
to Amherst College, but on account of ill
health started West, and settling on a farm
in Sangamon, 111., was for a time engaged in
sheep-raising. Going thence to Rockford,
Mr. Leonard had control of the ice business in
that city until after the beginning of the Civil
War, when he sold out and returned home.
Coming then to Hampden, he bought an inter
est in the Scantic Mill, which was subse
quently burned. A stock company was organ
ized, and the present mill built; and a few
years later Mr. Leonard purchased the inter
ests of the various stockholders, and remained
the proprietor until 1877, when on account of
rapidly failing health he was obliged to give
up his business, and sold the mill. He sought
to recuperate his vitality and strength by
travel, and, after visiting the South and West,
spent nearly a year in California. Receiving
no permanent benefit, he finally returned to his

home in Hampden, where he quietly passed
away, as noted above, April 8, 1883.
Mr. Leonard was married in 1864 to Anna
Sherman Stoddard, who was born in Wood
stock, Conn., a daughter of John R. Stoddard,
a native of the same town. Her father was
born in 1809, being a son of Parley and Nancy
(Hick) Stoddard. He moved from Woodstock
to Eastford, Conn., where he bought a farm
and carried it on for several years, but at
length came from there to the village of
Hampden, which he made his home until
called to the better land in July, 1892, at the
good old age of eighty-three years. The
maiden name of his wife, the mother of Mrs.
Leonard, was Lydia Sherman. She was a
daughter of William and Roxanna (Hyde)
Sherman, and was born January 25, 181 3, in
Pomfret, Conn. She died January 10, 1879,
leaving five children.
While residing in Connecticut, Mr. and
Mrs. Leonard both united with the Baptist
church, and were afterward admitted by letter
to the Baptist church of Hampden. The only
child born of their union was a son, Edgar B. ,
who lived but six months and twenty-two days.
In politics Mr. Leonard always supported the
Republican ticket. He was a man of firm con
victions, keenly alive to the best interests of
society, and with singleness of purpose helped
to advance the cause of truth and morality.
He was an earnest advocate of temperance,
and, possessing a broad and generous philan
thropy, gave liberally, without ostentation.
Through his benefactions was established the
Leonard Medical School in connection with
Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C.

LVAH FERDINAND JENNINGS,
late a leading dealer in fancy goods
and periodicals in Springfield, was
born in Hartford, Vt. , on May 8,
1824. His father, William Jennings, was
born on June 8, 1787; and his mother, Jane
Billings, was born May 21, 1792. William
Jennings was a carpenter and builder, and
during the War of 181 2 a soldier. He and
Jane Billings were married November 25,
1 81 3; and they had nine children — Zerah,

148

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

William, Eldad, Jane, Alvah Ferdinand,
Jesse, Henry, Charles, and Marcus Jennings.
Alvah F., the fifth child and fourth son,
attended the district school in the town of his
birth, varying the monotony of study by work
ing on the farm. Later he attended an acad
emy, and, after completing this course of
study, was engaged in teaching for a time in
Vermont. Subsequently he came to Spring
field, nearly a half-century ago. His first em
ployer was Mr. Besse, who kept a stationery
store under that widely known hotel, the
Massasoit House. Mr. Jennings was next
employed in the hardware store of Homer
Foote & Co., where he remained eight years.
In 1852 he left them, in order to open a sta
tionery store for himself in the Boutique
Block, which stood near where the First Na
tional Bank is now located, opposite Court
Square. Here Charles A. Nichols, the pub
lisher, served him as clerk four years. The
building was taken down to make way for the
bank; and this compelled Mr. Jennings to
move into what was then known as the post-
office rotunda, on the ground floor of the
Haynes House, or Glendower, as it is now
called. Later he sold out to Bond & Martin,
going for a time into the flour and feed busi
ness on State Street, in the firm of Jennings
& Smith ; but after a while his former busi
ness was resumed, and, when the post-office
was removed to the Opera House Block, he
went for a time into an adjoining store, and
then into Gilmore's Block, where he remained
until his death. The American News Com
pany then purchased his outfit, and the store
has since been conducted as the Springfield
News Company.
Mr. Jennings was always awake to the wel
fare of the community, as well as to the
personal interests to which he gave steady
attention. Though thoroughly outspoken in
his sentiments, he was also very conscientious
in forming his opinions. Many years ago he
was a member of the Archers, a crack military
company, which carried lances, bows, and
quivers, and included in its membership the
first citizens of the town. By a deed dated
January 19, 1867, the late Ephraim Bond con
veyed to Mr. Jennings the block adjoining the

First National Bank, on the corner of Main
and Sanford Streets, a property now belonging
to Mrs. Jennings, and very valuable. Mr.
Jennings was not an office-seeker; but he
always did, with a keen sense of his responsi
bility, whatever public service he was called
upon to perform. In 1862 he was a member
of the Common Council from Ward Seven,
and he was also an Odd Fellow.
His wife. Miss Harriet Currier, whom he
married in 1854, at Springfield, was a Boston
woman. Their daughter, Fannie Jennings,
married Charles E. Stevens, a Boston ian, now
in business on Bromfield Street, in that city.
Mr. Alvah F. Jennings was a member of the
South Congregational Church ; and so is his
wife, who at present, 1895, resides in her
pleasant house at 21 School Street, which she
has purchased since the death of her husband.
Two of Alvah's brothers and one sister —
Henry D. Jennings, of Ilion, N. Y., Jesse Jen
nings, of San Francisco, and Mrs. Jane L.
Moore, of Lyme, N.H. — have outlived him,
his demise having taken place on November
18, 1886.
This brief record of a busy life, with the ac
companying portrait, which will be recognized
as a very good specimen of steel engraving and
a correct likeness of its subject, constitutes an
interesting memorial of a useful and valued
citizen. " A ruddy drop of manly blood
The surging sea outweighs."

EORGE
V 3 I Wason

I [^TeORGE C. fisk. President of the
Manufacturing Company,
Springfield, was born in Hinsdale,
N. H., on March 4, 1831. Among Mr.
Fisk's ancestors were Robert and Sybil
Fisk, who lived at Broad Gates, Laxfield,
England, in the sixteenth century. Their
second son was Jeffrey Fisk ; and he had a
grandson, Nathaniel Fisk, who emigrated from
England and settled in Watertown, Mass., in
1642, being admitted as freeman the next year.
His children were John, David, Nathaniel,
and Sarah. The second Nathaniel Fisk was a
weaver, born July 12, 1653, and was married
April 13, 1677, to Mrs. Mary (Warren) Child,

biographical REVIEW

149

daughter of Daniel and Mary B. Warren, and
widow of John Child ; and their children were
Nathaniel, Hannah, John, Sarah, Lydia, Mary,
Elizabeth, and Abigail Fisk. The second
son, John Fisk, born March 17, 1683, married
July 21, 1706, Lydia Adams, of Sherborn,
Mass., where he died in 1730. Their children
were John, Lydia, Isaac, Daniel, Lydia, Peter,
Abigail, and Nathaniel Fisk. Of this family
Isaac Fisk, a weaver, was born in Sherborn,
August 24, 1 714, and married November
II, 1736, Hannah Haven, daughter of Rich
ard and Lydia Haven, of Framingham, Mass.
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Fisk at first lived in
Worcester, but later in F"ramingham. Their
children were Isaac, Hannah, John, Richard,
Daniel, Moses, and Lydia Fisk; and the two
youngest died in early life. Of these chil
dren, John Fisk, born in 1741, died December
17, 1 8 19. From 1808 to 181 5 he served as
Justice of the Peace, and as representative to
the General Court from Framingham. His
wife, Abigail How, died in April, 1829, aged
seventy-seven. Their children were Nathan
iel, Thomas, Sally, John Buckminster, Sally,
Edward, Nancy, William, and George Fisk.
The second son, Thomas Fisk, married Lu
cinda Trowbridge, of Eastford, Conn. ; and
they had four children — Thomas T. , Lucinda
D., Mary Ann B., and John B. Fisk. The
eldest son, Thomas T. Fisk, married Emily
Hildreth, of Chesterfield, N.H. ; and she died
January 6, 1849, aged forty-two. Her hus
band died on June 17, 1861, aged fifty-four.
Their children were George C, Lucius I., and
Noyes W. Fisk.
At the age of seventeen, in a country store
owned by Amidon & Holland and E. W. Hunt
at Hinsdale, N. FL, George C. Fisk began to
work for himself. Three years later, in 185 i,
he left his native town, with fifteen dollars,
his entire capital, and came to Springfield,
where he tried to work in a dry-goods store,
and also in a grocery. Neither position prov
ing congenial, after a few months he started
for the West, but stopped over in Cleveland,
Ohio, to renew the acquaintance of a friend.
While there he became a book agent, selling
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," which had just come
from the press. Next he went to Beloit, Wis.

After looking the ground over he decided that
a young man without capital had as few
chances for success in the West as in New
England, and turned his thoughts and his steps
eastward, until he once more saw Springfield.
Eleazer Ripley, being ready to begin the
manufacture of locomotives, was in need of a
book-keeper, and offered the place to young
Fisk. While waiting for the machinery to be
put in order, George went home to Hinsdale,
to make for himself a desk. Presently Mr.
Ripley sent for him to take a temporary place
in the Wason car-shops during Mr. "Wason' s
absence in the West. Mr. Fisk did so, and
on 'Mr. Wason' s return received the offer of a
permanent position, which with Mr. Ripley's
consent he accepted. On September 8, 1852,
he began his new service as clerk, at a salary
of a dollar a day, and soon made himself indis
pensable to the office. In December, 1854,
one of the partners, becoming discouraged,
sold his one-sixth interest to Mr. Fisk for three
thousand three hundred and thirty-three dol
lars ; but George C. continued to act as book
keeper and cashier until the company was
organized as a corporation, when he became
Treasurer. In addition to his financial duties
he had more or less to do with the general
management, and during the eleven years pre
vious to Mr. Wason's death he was Vice-Presi
dent. Mr. Wason died on February 6, 1871 ;
and then Mr. Fisk was chosen President, and
is now, 189s, still holding the same office,
owning one-quarter of the capital, and superin
tending a yearly business of fifteen hundred
thousand dollars. In planning and building
the new and extensive shops at Brightwood
Mr. Fisk had the sole direction. He owns a
half-interest in the Fisk Soap Manufacturing
Company, being President of the corporation,
with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars
and a large plant at the foot of Walker Street,
on the New York, New Haven & Hartford
Railroad ; and he is President of the Spring
field Steam Power Company, which has a capi
tal of two hundred thousand dollars. Mr.
Fisk is also President and Treasurer of the
Fisk Paper Company at Hinsdale, N. H., which
has a capital of fifty thousand dollars ; and
he practically holds the entire stock. He is a

ISO

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Director and stockholder of the B. L. Bagg
Company, and a director in other institutions.
Few men beginning at the bottom of the lad
der have climbed so securely and honorably to
the summit. He was long ago considered one
of Springfield's foremost men of 'affairs. Step
by step the Wason Manufacturing Company
has led the march of invention and improve
ment in the manufacture of the American pas
senger coach. The first sleeping-car was de
signed and built by the Wasons. Although
not the originators of the parlor car, they were
the second builders thereof, and constructed
the first combined drawing-room and compart
ment car which had an elevated roof and end
entrances, such as are now in general use.
Indeed, they have built this style of car for
nearly every railroad in the United States.
Their work includes the founding of heavy
wheels, the carpentry of freight cars, elegant
cabinet work, upholstering, decorative paint
ing and other ornamentation of the most
costly passenger coaches, and is all of the
highest order. As railroads have multiplied,
the company's range of custom has widened
until its carriages are to be seen on two hun
dred and thirty railroads in this country and
abroad. In 1858-60 they built for the Egyp
tian government sixty passenger cars of the
first, second, and third class, besides a hun
dred freight cars and the celebrated royal car
riage of the Khedive, which was on exhibition
in Springfield for two days after its comple
tion. Nearly every variety of wood, native
and foreign, entered into the construction of
this palace on wheels; and the wealth of its
ornamentation was fairly barbaric. Cuba,
Venezuela, Chile, and Brazil have each ordered
cars of the Wason Company. In the spring of
1 87 1 it became necessary to have larger quar
ters ; and the works were removed to their
present site, two miles from the city centre.
When the managers were seeking a name for
the growing village, Mr. Fisk suggested that
the place should be called Brightwood, owing
to its proximity to the poet Holland's beau
tiful home, which bore that name. The
project met with strenuous opposition ; but Mr.
Fisk carried his point, and he afterward bought
and improved the Dr. Holland estate, and

there he now resides. In 1885 he built an
opera house, called the Brightwood Casino,
to be devoted to any social or religious exer
cises tending to elevate, amuse, or instruct
the people. It is a modest wooden building,
of tasteful design, having the solid proportions
and the simple but effective ornamentation of
the Queen Anne style of architecture. The
pride of the building is its stage, with its mul
titudinous flats, wings, flies, pulleys, and other
paraphernalia, all packed into a small space,
with that skill in which car constructors are
only rivalled by yacht builders. Its propor
tions are taken from the Boston Hollis Street
Theatre, but it is just one-third the size of
that structure. The scenery is arranged after
the best patterns, and painted by a New York
artist. The Casino cost Mr. Fisk fifteen thou
sand dollars, and its theatre is the handsomest
and most complete of any devoted to amateur
dramatics in this country. Mr. Fisk is a man
of notable activity, and has a fresh, vivacious,
and forcible way of conveying his convictions
and executing his projects, both private and
public. He is alert, shrewd, cheerful ; and
he possesses a rare tact, which is better than
talent, in the management of the varied inter
ests committed to his charge.
Mr. Fisk married Maria E. Ripley, and by
her had several children, as follows : Charles
A., Belle R. , Elena M., George C, Jr., and
Robert Henry Fisk. Belle married Oliver H.
Dickinson, January 20, 1888. The latter three
children have passed away — Elena on Septem
ber 2, 1864, aged eight years; George C, Jr.,
on April 15, 1879, aged eleven years and four
months; Robert, on August 6, 1879, aged two
months and ten days.

-ACOB BOSSHART, a prosperous and
enterprising farmer of Hampden
County, owns a snug little farm of
thirty-six and one-half acres adjoining
the town of Westfield, where he is successfully
engaged in dairying and fruit-raising. He is
recognized as a citizen of genuine worth, his
business ability being of the highest order
and his character above reproach. He was
born December 29, 1830, in Switzerland,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

151

where his parents, Jacob and Barbara (Bruger)
Bosshart, spent their entire lives. The father
was a wheelwright by trade, and was also en
gaged in farming, both he and his wife dying
on their farm, he at the age of sixty-three
years, and she when one year older. They
reared three children, namely : Jacob, of whom
we write; John J., a resident of London, Eng
land ; and Mrs. Barbara Gross, who died in her
native country, at the age of thirty-four years.
The parents were deeply religious, and worthy
members of the church corresponding in its
teachings and forms to our Congregational
church. The subject of this short biographical record
was reared and educated in his native land, but
gave his attention to no particular trade, work
ing at whatever he could find to do. On Octo
ber 28, 1858, Mr. Bosshart was united in
matrimony with Miss Anna Keller, who was
born in Switzerland, March 25, 1836. Her
parents, Jacob and Catharine (Vogt) Keller,
are now dead. A few years subsequent to
their marriage, in June, 1866, Mr. and Mrs.
Bosshart sailed for America, landing in New
York City after a trip of eleven days. Com
ing directly to Westfield, he engaged in vari
ous occupations for several years, and, having
gained a fair knowledge of the science of agri
culture, rented in 1877 the farm on which
he now resides, carrying it on on shares for
twelve years. He was very industrious and
prudent, and, having acquired considerable
money, bought the estate in 1889, and has
since remodelled the house and out-buildings.
He is now the owner of one of the most
productive and best-improved farms in the
locality. Four children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Bosshart. Of these the eldest child died
in infancy. Jacob E. is a whip manufacturer
at San Francisco, Cal. Anna E. and Henry
A. are living at home. Mr. Bosshart faith
fully performs his obligations as a true and
loyal citizen, taking an active interest in the wel
fare of his adopted home, and is not sparing of
his time or energy in aiding its advancement
and improvement. In politics he is perfectly
independent, voting as his conscience dic
tates ; and he and his estimable wife are con

sistent members of the First Congregational
Church.

-r^TENRY M. WOOD, a well-known
l^-I resident and long established in the
\\s> I grocery business at the corner of Oak
— ' and "Walnut Streets, Springfield,
Mass., was born at Somers, Tolland County,
Conn., December 11, 1827. His parents were
Martin and Alania (Spencer) Wood; and
the family originally descended from three
brothers, who came to this country from Eng
land and settled in Norwich, New London
County, Conn. His grandfather, Asa Wood,
born August 4, 1761, was Captain over a com
pany of soldiers during the Revolution, and at
the close of the war settled in what is now
Burlington, in the western part of Vermont.
There were but three residents in the place on
his arrival ; and he made but a short stay,
after three years removing to Somers, Tolland
County, Conn., where he remained and fol
lowed farming as an occupation during the
remainder of his life. ' His death occurred
January 13, 1846.
Martin Wood, father of Henry, was one of
eleven children. He was a native of Burling:-
ton, Vt. , but, going in his childhood to Somers,
Conn., grew up in that town, attending school
and afterward helping his father about the
farm. Soon after reaching maturity he mar
ried, and most of the remainder of his life was
spent in agricultural pursuits. He spent five
years, however, in the oil regions at Centre-
ville. Pa., and after that came to Springfield,
living there the ten years preceding his death,
which took place June 25, 1881. Miss Spen
cer, whom he married at Somers, Conn., No
vember II, 1824, was born September 5, 1804,
and died March 2, 1872. Her father was
Jehial Spencer, of Somers. Mr. and Mrs.
Wood were the parents of three children —
Henry M., the subject of this sketch; Gains
O. , of Holyoke; and Isadore M., who died
March 4, 1840.
Henry M. Wood received his education in
the common schools, and later at a select
school in Somers, assisting his father on the
farm till he grew up, when he went to Worces-

152

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ter, Mass., to work in the employ of Wash
burn & Moen at their wire works. After a
time he concluded to go back to his native
State, and went to work at Windsor Locks,
Hartford County, Conn., at the same business,
carried on by Isaac Prouty. The work was
drawing wire, and the employees were paid by
the quarter ; but after six months the firm
failed, so that Mr. Wood practically lost three
months' pay. Leaving Windsor Locks, he
went to the oil works at Centreville, Pa.,
where he remained five years, and there saw
the putting down of the first well at Titus-
ville. In company with his father he took up
the industry of making shingles, for which
purpose they bought one hundred and fifty
acres of timber land, and employed help to
carry on the work, sending the goods directly
from the woods by raft to Pittsburg ; but this
business hardly suited Mr. Wood, and with a
partner he set up a general furnishing store at
Centreville, his first venture in the mercantile
line. At the end of a year he sold out his in
terest and built a store, which he stocked with
the same general line of goods, carrying on the
business independently; but, after some little
time had passed, he sold out the establishment
and went to his early home in Somers, Conn.,
where he remained for another year, after that
coming to Springfield, Mass. Here he started
a store on the corner of Oak and Walnut
Streets, and remained for a year. He then
sold out, and built on the corner of Pine and
Walnut Streets, where he was in business for
several years. He finally sold his stock of
goods, but retained the buildings — three
houses and two barns. At this time (1878)
Mr. Wood went back to his first location at
the corner of Oak Street, and has since con
tinued there, carrying on a very successful
business. Mr. Wood is also the owner of a
peach orchard of eleven acres, east of the city.
Henry M. Wood was married May 18, 1856,
to Miss Sophronia Clarinda Pease, daughter of
Hiram Pease, of Monson, and grand-daughter
of Abraham Pease, a descendant of one of the
early families in that vicinity. Hiram Pease,
her father, was born at Monson, Hampden
County, March 29, 181 1, and grew up a
farmer, carrying on a limited amount of trade

also. He is still living in Springfield, to
whose growth he has contributed, as he 'built
up the corner of Oak and Walnut Streets.
Mrs. Wood's mother was Miss Sophronia
Chaffee, a daughter of Dr. Jonathan Chaffee,
and an active member of the Congregational
church. Her death occurred January 2, 1876.
Mrs. Wood was born in Somers, Conn., Sep
tember 5, 1835, and was one of seven chil
dren. She received her education at Somers
and at Wilbraham Academy, and was engaged
in teaching for a time before her marriage.
She has made many friends in the community
in which she moves, and has become connected
with several societies. She is a charter mem
ber of Adelphi Chapter of the order of the
Eastern Star, which is the ladies' degree of
the A. F. & A. M., in which society she has
held the office of Worthy Matron, the highest
office in the chapter; and she is also a member
of the Grand Chapter of Massachusetts. Mrs.
Wood is an energetic worker in this order, and
has held many of its offices. She is also a
member of Morning Star Lodge, Daughters of
Rebecca, and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows for advanced women, in which she has
held the Vice-Grand's office.
Miss Lillian Idella Kibbe, a niece, has been
with Mr. and Mrs. Wood since five years of age,
and is a graduate of the high school. Her
own parents are still living, and with them she
spends her vacations ; but her home is with
Mr. and Mrs. Wood.
Henry M. Wood is the happy possessor of
the badge bestowed upon his grandfather, Asa
Wood, by the Washington Benevolent Society
— a rare possession, there being but one other
in the city. It is made of silk, and has a
vignette of Washington upon it. Mr. Wood is
a Democrat in his political views. He is a
member of the Roswell Lee Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., is also member of Hampden Lodge,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 25,
and High Priest of Agawam Encampment,
No. 27. With his family he resides at No.
10 Pine Street, and he is the owner of two
other houses which he has himself built for
rentage. As an active and enterprising busi
ness man, Mr. Wood fills his place in the com
munity. A great thinker once wrote: "The

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

153

distinction and end of a soundly constituted
man is his labor. Use is inscribed on all his
faculties. Use is the end to which he
exists." The idle rich man is condemned,
but the industrious is honored in his pros
perity.

IDWARD PAYSON BLAGUE, of the
New York, New Haven & Hartford
Railroad, Freight Department, was
born at Saybrook, Conn., December 26, 1835,
the son of Giles and Rebecca (Lynde) Blague.
His father was of English descent, and was
the fifth generation from Henry Blague, who
settled in Braintree, Mass., in 1642. His an
cestors, as well as those of his wife, were in
the Revolutionary War and also the War of
1812. Giles Blague was a merchant, though
in the latter part of his life he lived on a farm,
and at the time of his death was Surveyor of
Customs at Saybrook under President Lin
coln's administration. At different times he
held the offices of Justice of the Peace, Select
man, County Commissioner, and Representa
tive to the State legislature. For ma-ny years
he was a member of the Congregational church.
Ten children were born to him, eight boys and
two girls.
Edward Payson Blague was educated in the
public schools of Saybrook, where he lived
until he reached the age of twenty-two, when
he moved to Springfield, and entered the
wholesale boot and shoe business with John R.
Hixon, remaining with him until 1862. In
that year he- received an appointment from the
Secretary of the Navy as acting master's mate,
and reported for duty in Brooklyn, N. Y., on
February, 1862, to Commodore Paulding, who
assigned him temporarily to the line-of-battle
ship. North Carolina, for instruction in gun
nery, after which he was ordered to report to
the North Atlantic Squadron for blockade duty
off Charleston, S. C, and for twenty months
was in the service, blockading ports on the
coasts of North and South Carolina. The ship
was then ordered north for repairs, but was
lost off the coast of North Carolina, all hands
being transferred to the steamer "Fah-kee, "
which took them to Hampton Roads, Va.

Here they were given two weeks' leave of
absence, which time Mr. Blague spent at his
old home in Saybrook. At the expiration of
his furlough he was ordered to report to Com
modore Paulding, and to join the "Niphon"
at Hampton Roads ; but, as she had gone
north, he was ordered to the blockading fleet
at Wilmington, and took his place on board
the "Connecticut," under Commander Almy.
Wilmington was the principal outlet for cotton
and inlet for war supplies for the rebel forces.
After a short period of active service there
the "Connecticut" was ordered in search of
blockade runners between Wilmington and the
Bahamas. The ship was one of the fastest in
the navy; and many blockade runners were
captured, most of them being loaded with cot
ton, which was worth at that time one dollar
and seventy-five cents per pound. The sales
of ships and cargoes amounted to about two
million dollars, of which the government took
half, the remainder being divided between the
officers and crew in proportion to their pay.
Rosin and turpentine made up part of these
cargoes, the rosin, which is now worth only
one dollar and a half, selling for fifty dollars
per barrel. One English steamer captured,
the "Minnie," had as a passenger the rebel
spy called Belle Boyd, who was carrying
despatches to the rebel government. Mr.
Blague accompanied this English ship as sec
ond in command to Boston, where she was
sold for seven hundred thousand dollars. In
February, 1864, the "Connecticut" was or
dered to the Portsmouth (N. H. ) navy yard,
and ordered out of commission. Mr. Blague
was then sent to Hampton Roads to serve on
board the frigate "Colorado." After two
weeks' service he was ordered to the frigate
"Wabash," Captain Melanchthon Smith, one
of the fleet under Commodore Porter, which
attempted to capture the forts at the mouth of
the Cape Fear River, aided by the army under
General Butler. The fight commenced De
cember 26, 1864, and continued three days,
when for lack of co-operation by the land
forces the fleet withdrew to Hampton Roads.
In the mean time. General Butler having been
superseded by General Terry, the fleet re
turned to the attack ; and, after three days'

154

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

hard fighting, on January 15, 1865, Fort
Fisher surrendered. Then the "Wabash"
was ordered to Boston; and Mr. Blague was
again transferred to the "Connecticut," under
command of Captain Boggs, known as Varuna
Boggs, from his daring fight on a ship of that
name at the capture of New Orleans under
Farragut. They were then ordered to the
West Indies, to search for the "Alabama."
As is well known, she was not found, though
they spent three months cruising round this
garden of the tropics, visiting English,
French, Danish, Spanish, and other islands.
On their return they stopped at Aspinwall,
where Mr. Blague took the opportunity of
crossing the Isthmus, visiting Panama, and
catching a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.
After the fall of Richmond and the capture
of Jeff Davis they were ordered to Phila
delphia, where they arrived in June. The
country being no longer in need of his ser
vices, Mr. Blague resigned and was honorably
discharged. He then took the position of
purser on a steamship line running to Havana,
which office he held for a year; and for the en
suing two years he was with the North Ameri
can Steamship Company, running to Aspinwall
in connection with the California line. About
this time the Connecticut Valley Railroad was
built; and, being wearied of his roving life,
Mr. Blague entered the employ of the road,
and for eight years was agent at Saybrook
Point, Conn. He was then engaged by the
New York & New England Railroad, at Spring
field, as cashier, and afterward as agent.
On October 20, 1875, Mr. Blague married
Alice Maria Thayer, daughter of William E.
Thayer, of Williamsburg, Mass., who was a
prominent and well-known manufacturer of
hardware and cutlery. Mr. and Mrs. Blague
have three children — Giles, Mabel Thayer,
and Mary Lynde.
Mr. Blague is a Mason, belonging to Ros
well Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Morning
Star Chapter, Springfield Council of Royal
and Select Masters. Fle is also a member of
the Naval Veteran Association of Connecticut,
and the Grand Army of the Republic; and
Mrs. Blague is an active member of the
Woman's Relief Corps. Their pleasant home

is at No. 134 Carew Street, near the Carew
Street Baptist Church.

HARLES DENNISON ABELL has
been successfully engaged in farming
in the town of Southwick, Hampden
County, Mass., for more than two-
score years, and is widely known as one of its
most respected and valued citizens, a man of
integrity and enterprise. He was born January
6, 1 819, in the town of Lebanon, Conn., a son
of Charles and Abigail (Bates) Abell, the for
mer a native of Lebanon, and the latter of
Granville, Mass. The paternal grandfather
of Mr. Abell, also named Charles, was a tiller
of the soil, and a life-long resident of Lebanon,
as was his wife, Asenath Abell.
Their son, the second Charles Abell, was
one of the brave men who fought for the coun
try during the War of 181 2, being Captain of
a company throughout the time of active hos
tility. He was well endowed mentally, and,
having received a good education, was for sev
eral years successfully engaged in teaching, but
subsequently settled in Lebanon as a general
farmer, remaining there during his years of
active life. He was very influential and prom
inent in local affairs, serving as Selectman and
as Justice of the Peace, and was also Deacon of
the Congregational church. He removed to
Hampden County shortly before his demise,
dying in Springfield in the prime of life,
being but fifty-four years old. His widow
lived many years longer, passing away at the
venerable age of eighty-five years. They
reared three children, namely : Charles Denni
son ; Mrs. Fanny Booth, of Springfield ; and
Cornelia, who became the wife of Rensselaer
Hall, and who died at the early age of twenty-
eight years.
Charles D. Abell received his elementary
education in the place of his nativity, and,
having removed to Springfield when sixteen
years old, there completed his schooling. His
first employment was in the Springfield Ar
mory, where he remained six Or seven years,
and was afterward an employee of other facto
ries for about ten years. Fle began business
on his own account, in company with Mr. L.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

'55

Morgan, as a manufacturer of door knobs,
locks, and latches, being located at first in
Springfield and later in Meriden, Conn.
While there, in 1846, his firm received a
medal from the Franklin Institute of Phila
delphia for the finest display of goods in that
line of manufacturing, the medal being now
in the possession of Mr. Abell. He was also
interested in a pistol factory for some years,
and was an adept at the planer's trade. He
was a natural mechanic, and greatly interested
in mechanical pursuits, but owing to poor
health was obliged to give up indoor work,
and in 1852 settled on the farm which he has
since occupied. He has one hundred and fifty
acres of fine land, on which he has made sub
stantial improvements, his estate being one of
the most complete in its appointments of any
in the locality. Fle carries on general farming
quite extensively, raising tobacco, grass, and
all small grains, and has a fine dairy, keeping
ten or more cows, and raises a good deal of
young stock. In addition to all this, Mr.
Abell pays especial attention to his orchards,
his fruit crop being one of the largest and
finest in the town. He has always been noted
for his enterprise, and was the first to build
and launch a steamboat on Southwick Ponds, a
famed summer resort of this vicinity. In all
of his undertakings he has been eminently
successful, and he and his family are well
worthy of the high consideration in which
they are held throughout the town. In poli
tics he is a sound Republican and an active
worker. On October 20, 1842, Mr. Abell was mar
ried to Hannah Davis, of Marlboro, Mass.,
born February 10, 1821, being a daughter of
Eliphaz and Submit (Gassett) Davis, both
natives of Massachusetts, her father having been
born in Wrentham, and her mother in Town-
send. Mr. Davis was a carpenter and joiner
by trade, and spent his last years in Spring
field, where he died at ninety-two years of age.
He had a wide and varied experience, and
spent some time in travel, going on one sea
voyage, for the novelty of it, as a ship carpen
ter. In his early days he was a citizen of Bos
ton, and' was at one time Postmaster of that
city. He was three times married, and had a

family of eleven children, three of whom are
now living, all being of his last union, as fol
lows : Mrs. Abell ; George Davis, of Prescott ;
and John Davis, a paper-hanger and decorator
of Springfield. He and his third wife, who
lived to the advanced age of eighty-five years,
were firm believers in the doctrines of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and were active
church workers. Two children were born to
Mr. Abell and his wife, namely: Nellie, wife
of Perkins Batchelor; and Frederick E., who
died June 8, 1892, leaving a widow and three
children — Minnie, Nellie, and George D.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Abell are valued and con
scientious members of the Congregational
church, which he served with fidelity as
Deacon for thirty-nine consecutive years.

IMON BAILEY PARKER, watch
maker and jeweller at No. 342 Main
Street, Springfield, Mass., and also
occupying the position of time
keeper for the Boston & Albany Railroad, was
born in this city, September i, 1838, son of
Almon and Angeline (Bailey) Parker. His
father was a stone mason and a building mover,
and was born at Sharon, Vt. His ancestors
were among the earliest of the Puritan settlers
of Massachusetts. His wife's grandfather.
General Jacob Bayley, as the name was then
spelled, was a prominent man during the Revo
lutionary War. He was born in Newbury,
Mass., in 1728, and died in Newbury, Vt., in
1816; but his military services were rendered
in New Hampshire and other States. Many
of his letters are preserved in the archives of
the State; and copies have been published
in the State papers, a number of them being in
the fourth volume of the Revolutionary rolls
of New Hampshire, compiled by Isaac \Y.
Hammond. Jacob Bayley married Prudence
Noyes, October 16, 1745, settled in Hamp-
stead in the same year, and was a Captain in
the French War in 1756. He escaped from
the massacre at Fort William Henry, N.Y. ,
in August, 1757, was a Colonel at the taking
of Ticonderoga and Crown Point by Amherst
in 1759, and arrived in Newbury, Vt. , in Oc
tober, 1764. In 1776 he commenced the cele-

¦56

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

brated Hazen Road, which was designed as a
military road from the Connecticut River to
St. John's, Canada. General Bayley was Com
missary-general of the Northern Department
during the Revolutionary War, and Brigadier-
general of militia under the national govern
ment before the States were organized, serving
as such in Western Vermont. He was a lead
ing man in his town and county, serving as
representative, as a member of the State Coun
cil, and as Judge of Gloucester and Orange
County Courts. His son, Jacob Bailey, Jr.,
served several months in the Revolution as a
Captain, his name appearing as such on the
Vermont rolls, and also several months in New
Hampshire as Quartermaster.
Amos Parker, father of Almon, and grand
father of Simon B. , was born in Sharon, Vt. ,
and appears on the records as having served in
the Revolutionary War three months and one
day in the year 1780, in Benjamin Cox's com
pany of rangers. Major Ebenezer Allen's
detachment. Almon Parker fought at the
battle of Lake Champlain in the War of
1812. He was married three times. His sec
ond wife, the mother of Simon B. , was a
daughter of Timothy Bailey; and by this mar
riage there were two other children — Luella
E. and Angeline B. Mr. Almon Parker once
ran for the State Senate on the People's ticket,
and was defeated by Judge Morris. He was
a member of the Congregational church at
Springfield, Mass. Mrs. Timothy Bailey's
name before marriage was Phoebe Woodward.
Her father was Judge Woodward, of what was
formerly known as the Ox Bow, now a part of
Massachusetts. Simon Bailey Parker received his education
in the public schools at Springfield. After
reaching the age of twelve years, he left school
and learned the trade of jeweller and watch
maker with his uncle, Samuel E. Bailey.
When the term of his apprenticeship had ended,
he went to New York City, and remained there
until the breaking out of the Civil War, being
at that time engaged in business on Broadway.
He enlisted in the Fifth New York Volunteer
Duryee Zouaves, and rose from the ranks to be
First Lieutenant. Fle was badly wounded at
the battle of Gaines's Mills on June 27, 1862,

and resigned ,on account of disability caused by
his wounds, April 22, 1863.
Returning to Springfield, he here went into
business, and also joined the Massachusetts
Militia Veteran Company Peabody Guards as a
private, being subsequently promoted succes
sively to the ranks of Corporal, Sergeant, Sec
ond and First Lieutenant. In 1870 he went
to New York City and commenced business
again at Maiden Lane, where he continued
until 1 88 1. During this period he enlisted as
a private in the Thirteenth National Guards ;
and, when he resigned from the regiment on
account of the pressure of business, he was
Inspector of Rifle Practice, with the rank of
Captain. In the spring of 1881 he came
back to Springfield, and engaged in his present
business on Main Street.
Mr. Parker was a member of the Wide
awakes when Abraham Lincoln was nominated
for the Presidency, and with them helped in
the suppression of the riots at that time in
New York City. He is a member of the
Grand Army of the Republic, the military
order of Loyal Legion, and of the Sons of the
Revolution. He votes the Republican ticket.
On February 10, 1863, while in the army, he
married Adelaide Beggs, daughter of Robert
Beggs, of New York City. They had one
child, a daughter, Marrianne, who died at the
age of twenty-one years. Mr. Parker is the
inventor of eleven patents on novelties, which
have proved successful, and on one of which he
is now receiving a royalty. He and his wife
are members of the North Congregational
Church of this city.

"ARRY E. RICE, M.D., a leading
physician and surgeon of Springfield,
where he has been in practice since
March, 1884, was born in New
York City, July 22, i860, and is the son of
Edwin D. and Julia (Ripley) Rice, his father
being a native of Williamsburg, Mass., the
old ancestral home of the Rice family, whose
forefathers came originally from Wales, and
settled in that town. Edwin D. Rice was one
of the pioneer expressmen in this State, and at
the time of the birth of his son Henry was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

'57

connected with the Adams Company, having
previously been with Thompson's old express
concern. In i860 he went South, where he
was engaged on the Sea Islands raising cotton
for the United States government, having
charge of ten large plantations, and residing
on Lady's Island in Beaufort River. He re
turned North in 1865, and engaged in railroad
contracting with J. Dwight Ripley, of the firm
of Dillon & Ripley, and was afterward senior
member of the firm of Rice & Warner. He
became prominent in promoting and building
numerous lines, conducting a most successful
and profitable business, until 1892, when he
retired. His wife, Mrs. Julia (Ripley) Rice,
belonged to a family whose feudal ancestors
dwelt at Ripley Castle in England, and which
fills an important place in the book of her
aldry, their coat of arms being still extant.
She was a lineal descendant of William Rip
ley, who wedded the daughter of Governor
Bradford, the marriage ceremony being prob
ably the first performed in this section of the
colony. Dr. Rice's mother was born at Aga
wam, where the old family residence, which
was erected over two hundred years ago, is
still standing. She passed to her final rest
in 1892, while a resident of Springfield, where
the family has lived for the past twenty years.
Harry E. Rice attended the public schools
of Springfield, where he prepared for Yale
College; but circumstances prevented him
from entering, and he began the study of
medicine with Dr. Cocoran. In 1879 ^^ at
tended lectures at the New York Homoeo-
medical College, from which he graduated
in 1883, after which by competitive examina
tion he was appointed to the post of resident
surgeon at the Hahnemann Hospital in New
York City, and commenced the practice of his
profession at the expiration of one year spent
at the above-named institution, locating at 486
Main Street, with his former preceptor. Dr.
Cocoran, with whom he remained about eigh
teen months. He then continued his practice
alone, and now resides in a most convenient
and centrally located house at 236 State
Street, adjoining the City Library and known
as the old Wight place. While pursuing his
studies in New York, he was a pupil of the

eminent surgeon and professor, William Todd
Helmuth, M. D., with whom he became a
favorite, and advanced from second to first
assistant, gaining much valuable experience in
surgery, especially in the difficult practice of
gynaecology. He has created for himself a
large and profitable practice among the very
best and most influential citizens, and occupies
a position of influence in medical circles sel
dom attained by one so young; but his experi
ence has been such as to warrant his present
high standing.
On November 10, 1886, Dr. Rice wedded
Miss Lilian Stone, daughter of James B.
Stone, a resident of Hartford, Conn. ; and they
have had two children, but one of whom is
living. Dr. Rice is a member of the Winthrop and
Nayasset Clubs and the Springfield Canoe
Club. In general athletic sports he is very
proficient, especially as an oarsman ; and in
handling a canoe he is an expert, and has held
the championship of both the United States
and Canada. He is also a member of the Bi
cycle Club and an expert wheelman. An en
thusiastic fisherman, he visits the wilds of
Maine annually with rod and line ; and he is
an experienced yachtsman, and has travelled
extensively North and South in both inland
and salt water. Dr. Rice and his wife attend
the South Congregational Church.

ILAS LOOMIS, a well-known farmer
and horticulturist of Westfield, one
of its enterprising and worthy citi
zens, was born August 26, 1829, on
the farm where he now resides. He is a
descendant of Joseph Loomis, who sailed with
his wife and children from Plymouth, Eng
land, in the ship "Mary and John," March 20,
1634, and landed in Boston, Mass., May 30,
1634, and subsequently settled in Windsor,
Conn. The first of his posterity to locate in
Western Massachusetts was Jonathan Loomis,
the great-grandfather of Silas. Justus Loomis,
Sr. , son of Jonathan, was born March 7, 1754,
and in 1781 married Mary Bow, who was born
in 1758. During the Revolutionary War he
served bravely in the Continental army. He

158

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

owned a good farm at Feeding Hills, where he
departed this life May 14, 1818. His wife
died November 8 of the succeeding year.
Their son, Justus Loomis, Jr., was born at
Feeding Flills, West Springfield, February 3,
1782. In 1806 he bought the farm now occu
pied by the subject of this sketch. It was
then in its primitive condition, being but a
pathless wood, the abode of wild beasts and
the hunting-ground of Indians. He cleared and
improved a large portion of the land, of which
there were about thirty acres, and, being a nat
ural mechanic, did a great deal of the building
and repairing on the place himself. He was
a soldier in the War of 1812, engaged in sev
eral battles. He was twice married, his first
wife being Sarah Dewey. His second wife,
Irene Van Horn, mother of Silas and of one
daughter — Amanda, now Mrs. Bosworth, of
Westfield — was born in West Springfield, and
died September 17, 1861, aged about seventy-
nine years. He survived her nearly three years,
dying August 28, 1864. Both were people of
Christian principles, and liberal in their relig
ious belief. He had a family of six children
by his first union, all deceased, namely : Hi
ram ; Frederick; Mary Ann; Betsey; Emily;
and Huldah, Mrs. Chapin, who died in 1895.
Silas Loomis was educated in the district
schools of Little River, and, besides working
on the home farm, learned the trade of a car
penter. During the Civil War he worked in
the United States Armory at Springfield. He
afterward resumed his former trade, at which
he worked for a score of years ; and, being also
an expert machinist, he assisted in the inven
tion and manufacture of the Lombard round
ing whip machine, which was patented in
1878 by Hezekiah Lombard, and in which Mr.
Loomis owns one-fourth interest. Since the
decease of his father Mr. Loomis has carried on
the old home farm, which he now owns, and has
made many improvements, having remodelled
the house and other buildings. Lie makes a
specialty of raising fruits of all kinds, includ
ing peaches, pears, apples, grapes, and smaller
fruits. In the family of Mr. Loomis is a
treasured relic of Colonial times, a flint-lock
gun, with battered bayonet, of the kind called
the Queen's arms, an English piece made in

1746, used in the Revolution by Justus
Loomis, Sr., and by his son, Justus, Jr., in
the War of 181 2.
Mr. Loomis was married July 2, 1854, to
Susan A. Rowley, who was born in New Haven,
Conn., January 8, 1835. Their union has
been blessed by the birth of two children —
Eugene and Alice A. Eugene, a whip manu
facturer of Westfield, born May 14, 1855, was
married September i, 1880, to Sarah Fi-ances
Young, who has borne him four children —
Nellie M., born July 26, 1881 ; Lillian V.,
born December 9, 1885; Harold F. , who was
born April 11, 1887, and died January 12,
1888; and Earl S. , born June 13, 1894, died
February 17, 1895. Alice A. Loomis, born
December 21, 1862, was married September
29, 1887, to Irwin Bailey, a wagon-maker of
Springfield; and they have one child, Olive
Irene, born November 22, 1888. Mr. Loomis
is a strong supporter of the Democratic party,
and he and his wife are active and valued
members of the Advent church.
Mrs. Loom is' s father, Erastus Hale Rowley,
was born January 8, 1809, in Southampton,
Mass., a son of Thomas Rowley, Jr., and died
in Pittsfield, where he was buried June 19,
1852. He was a carriage-maker by trade,
being very skilful in carving and ornamental
work, and assisted in making the beautiful
carriage used by General Andrew Jackson.
His wife, Charlotte Taylor Rowley, was born
in New Haven, Conn., February 15, 18 13, a
daughter of Solomon Taylor ; and to them the
following children were born: Mrs. Susan A.
Loomis; Alice C, born in Southampton, No
vember 12, 1840, who married Asa Allen;
George E. , born May i6, 1843, in Greenfield,
a brave soldier in our Civil War, being in
many hard battles, escaping unhurt, who is
still living; Mrs. Nellie Drew, born at Shel-
burne Falls, September 11, 1845; Mrs. Ella
C. Sloan, born July 11, 1848; and Mrs. Emily
Parker, born September 24, 1851, at Green
field, Mass. The mother died in middle life.
She was a noble Christian woman, and taught
her children to walk in the paths of truth and
righteousness. Both parents were esteemed
members of the Baptist church.
Thomas Rowley, Jr., was born in Bloom-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

159

field, Conn., in 17S0, and died February 23,
1864. In 1806 he married Susanna, daughter
of Lieutenant Joel and Mary (Pomeroy) Clapp,
who died in 1S55, aged seventy years. They
were very strict and formal in their religious
belief and members of the Orthodox church.
His father, Thomas Rowley, Sr. , was a na
tive of Bloomfield, Conn., born December 29,
1753, and died in Southampton, October 7,
1S43. He was a soldier in the war of the
Revolution, and had several thrilling experi
ences, being at one time captured by a party of
Indians, and, with a companion who was taken
at the same time, stripped of his clothing and
bound to a stake, preparatory to being burned.
In some wav he escaped from his fiendish tor
mentors, and ran for fourteen miles without
stopping to look behind him. He married
Mary Havs, who was born in Granby, Conn. ,
in October, 1761, and died in Southampton,
Mass., February 13, 1852, on the old family
homestead, which is still standing. They
were people of sincere piety.
Gordon Rowley, brother of Thomas, Sr, ,
and grandfather of Professor Eugene B. Row-
lev, was born in Bloomfield, August 13, 1792,
and died February 22, 1890. In 1S13, when
twenty-one \ears old, he came to Blandford,
Mass., and worked as a carpenter or cabinet
maker in the shop of the Rev. Giles Da}-ton. a
local preacher in the Methodist church, and also
in that of Bates Brothers. A ]\Iethodist church
had been built on Beech Hill, Granville, and
a conference was held there in 179S, Bishop
Asburv presiding. Mr. Rowley married and
settled in Blandford, and was converted and
united with the :Methodists. His house was a
home for the early ]\Iethodist itinerant, and
often opened for religious services. He was a
faithful and cheerful Christian, and was one of
the five who formed the class that was the
origin of the ]\Iethodist Episcopal church in
Blandford. Another member of this family.
General Thomas A. Rowley, served with dis
tinction in the ^Mexican ^Var and in the war
of the Rebellion. He died in 1S93, aged
eighty-live. Mrs. Susan Loomis, being deeply imbued
with the religious spirit which characterized
so many of her ancestors, was impelled on

October 10, 1875, to go forth and preach the
gospelj and since that time has carried on her
evangelistic work in many cities and towns,
often hundreds of miles from home, preaching
as the Lord called, either in private dwell
ings, school-houses, halls, or churches. Dur
ing the thirteen years in which she was thus
engaged she made man^¦ conversions, and was
amply rewarded in bringing so many from
darkness unto the light, and in the conscious
approval of her Master. When ]\Irs. Loomis
first started out on her missionary work, Mr.
Loomis, her daughter Alice, and her niece,
Carrie, accompanied her. The girls, being-
nine or ten vears old, and having verv sweet
voices, especiall}- Carrie, were of wonderful as
sistance in selecting hymns and singing. Her
husband did no preaching, but offered most fer
vent prayers and gave searching testimony;
while she delivered extemporaneous discourses,
selecting the text therefor after she stood before
her audiences, being guided b}' the Holy Spirit.
The following extract from her journal mav
prove interesting to the readers of this volume :
"October 26, 1S77. had a call to labor in a
new gospel field seventy miles from Westfield,
and proceeded in a carriage to West Granville,
where we stopped two hours. Tarried over
night in Pleasant Valley, at the house of Elder
Ripley, Adventist preacher. The following
night we spent at the house of Elder Mix, in
\\'olcottville. Conn., having had a tedious but
pleasant journey, and arriving at Elder Spen
cer's church just in season to preach the word
to a waiting audience of eager listeners, ^^'e
held three meetings in that place, going from
there to Sharon, fifteen miles beyond, to break
the bread of life to the perishing and need\',
speaking Sunday and Monday evenings to
Accompanied by Brother
of the Advent church, we
n the town, and found the
people firm in the blessed faith. Returning
to A\'olcottville, we held a farewell meeting
Tuesday night, thence came home, satisfied
with our good work and strong in the trust of
God." Mrs. Loomis was obliged to give up
her good work many years ago. owing to ill
health, but, if again called from on high, will
cheerfully respond, as in times past.

crowded houses.
Potter, the pastor
made manv calls i

[6o

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

rm^

EORGE M. HENDEE, who for five
\ '3 I years held the one-mile championship
of America as a bicycle rider, and
who is now at the head of a bicycle manufac
tory in Springfield, was born October 2, 1866,
in Watertown, Conn., son of William G. and
Emma D. (Upton) Hendee. His great-grand
father was Captain Hendee, who is best re
membered as figuring prominently in Judge
Thompson's once popular romance of the Revo
lution, "The Green Mountain Boys," a breezy
American book, whose heroine is the Captain's
daughter, and which still has its readers, being
found to-day in the public libraries.
Captain Hendee is said to have had French
and Indian blood in his veins, being descended
from a Huguenot bearing the name Richard
Hendee, who settled in Vermont soon after his
arrival in this country, and married an Indian
squaw. A son of Captain Hendee, and the
grandfather of George M., the subject of this
sketch, was among the first to introduce the
culture of silk-worms in this country. In the
building where the worms were kept it was a
curious sight to see them feeding upon mul
berry leaves, which were strewn upon the trays
along the wall ; and it is said that the noise
that they made as they consumed the leaves
was as great as that made by a number of cattle
eating hay. The severity of the climate, how
ever, rendered this enterprise a failure, it
being found impossible to raise and keep alive
for any great length of time the mulberry-trees
needed for the food of the worms. Mr. Hen-
dee's father has charge of a department in the
Cheney Brothers' Silk Manufactory at Man
chester, Conn., which is the largest in the
world. Mr. Hendee 's maternal grandparents were
Nehemiah N. and Phebe (Babbitt) Upton, of
Charlemont, Franklin County, Mass. They
had a son, Barney N. Upton, who served in
the Mexican War, and died of wounds in the
city of Mexico in 1847. Nehemiah N. Upton
was a son of Elias, of Charlemont, and grand
son of Josiah Upton, also a resident of that
town, but a native of North Reading, Middle
sex County. Josiah was a descendant in the
fourth generation from John Upton, the emi
grant ancestor of the New England family of

Uptons, who came from England about 1635,
it is thought, lived many years in Essex
County, owning a farm in what was then a part
of Salem, and in the latter part of his life re
moving to what is now North Reading, where
he was a large landholder, and where he died
in 1699. Many interesting particulars con
cerning him and his descendants, and also of
the Uptons in England, may be found in the
"Upton Family Records," a valuable genea
logical work compiled by the Hon. William H.
Upton, of Walla Walla, Wash., himself also
one of the posterity of the above-named Josiah
Upton. William G. Hendee was a resident of
Springfield for twelve years before going to
Connecticut ; and George M. Hendee attended
the Central Street and high schools of that
city, leaving home in his sixteenth year to
enter Dr. N. P. Taylor's office in New Haven,
where he designed to prepare for the Yale Sci
entific School. Becoming interested, how
ever, in bicycling, he abandoned the idea of
the Scientific School, and gave himself up to
cycling races for the next five years, during
which he won and kept the one-mile American
championship against all competitors. In four
hundred races he was defeated only seven
times. Always hailing from Springfield,
which he claimed as his home, the citizens
naturally felt great interest in the young man;
and during the days of the bicycle tournaments
held in the city Mr. Hendee was a central
figure. Stores, factories, and shops all closed
their doors on those occasions ; and the owners
were wont to tack up placards on door panels
and shutters bearing this announcement to
would-be customers, "Gone to see Hendee
ride." There were Hendee hats, Hendee
suits, and Hendee cigars in the market; for
George M. had become a public favorite, and
the city papers gave him the sobriquet of "Our
George," which was popularly adopted. In
1886 Mr. Hendee became travelling salesman
of the Springfield Bicycle Manufacturing Com
pany, in the interests of which he canvassed
the entire United States. After eighteen
months of faithful work he went to Boston in
the employment of W. W. Stall, 509 Tremont
Street, which firm he left in order to accept

JOHN S. CARR.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

163

the position of Manager of the bicycle depart
ment of Merwin, Hulbert & Co., New York
City. He remained with the firm, which was
now changed to Flulbert Brothers, until 1893,
when he returned to Springfield and opened
his present place of business at 478 Main
Street. During the first year he sold the
Waverley bicycle ; but, believing that his
superior knowledge and experience would
render the venture a success, he determined to
manufacture himself. He accordingly opened
a wheel factory, where the "Silver King " was
soon put on the market, with the gratifying
result of an unprecedented- sale, which has con
tinued to steadily increase.
In 1888 Mr. Hendee married Miss Edith
Cordwell, of Trickingham, England, where she
was born September 11, 1865. Mr. Hendee is
a member of the Springfield Bicycle Club and
of the American League of Wheelmen, and has,
in addition to his salesroom, repairing depart
ment, and factory, a riding school, in which
during the present season five hundred persons
have learned to ride, two hundred of the num
ber being women; and the courteous and
pleasant manner of the teacher has been per
haps as great a factor in his popularity as his
renown as a wheelman.

-OHN STANTON CARR, one of the
foremost business men of Springfield,
may be considered in the best sense
a self-made man, ranking high
among those, comparatively few in any com
munity, whose diligence, enterprise, and intel
ligence place them not only in a commanding
position in the business world, but high in the
estimation of their fellow-men. Mr. Carr was
born in Danville, Vt, July 4, 1821, son of
James and Hannah (Page) Carr. His paternal
grandfather, Timothy Carr, was a noted musi
cian of the olden time when stringed instru
ments, principally, were in common use. He
emigrated to Londonderry, N.H., from the
north of Ireland, but was of Scotch ancestry.
James Carr, who was a highly respected
farmer, was a native of Londonderry, N.H.
John Stanton Carr lived on the Danville
farm until he attained his majority, and then

found employment in the famous Fairbanks
Scale Works in St. Johnsbury, Vt. When
twenty-five years old he removed to Boston,
and, forming a partnership with his brother-in-
law, Lewis F. Merrill, was for a few years
located for business in the old Quincy market.
Mr. Carr bought and filled up along the
Charles River a strip of land now occupied by
the pork-packing establishment founded by his
intimate business friend, the late John P.
Squire, also a son of Vermont. From Quincy
market Mr. Carr returned to the Green Moun
tain State at the solicitation of his former
employer. Governor Fairbanks, and established
at St. Johnsbury the first cracker bakery in
that part of the State — an enterprise which
rapidly grew in size and importance, its suc
cess iDcing the main factor in determining
his subsequent business career. In 1859 he
established another bakery at Sherbrooke,
Canada, which he afterward sold to his brother,
Milton Carr, who managed it successfully for
about fifteen years.
After selling his bakery in Vermont, Mr.
Carr came to Springfield in 1858, and pur
chased the business of W. C. Sturtevant, who
had previously carried on a small bakery on
Market Street. Here he put up the first reel
oven that was used in the State. The new
oven proved such a success that other bakers
all over the United States forthwith adopted it
for their higher grade of goods. Since that
time some improvements have been made on
this oven ; but the general plan is the same,
and the first oven used still stands in Mr.
Carr's bakery. An idea of Mr. Carr's busi
ness qualities may be obtained from the fact
that since he took the place the consumption
of flour has multiplied eightfold, and is now
from forty to fifty barrels daily. The cracker
factory is the largest in Western 'Massachu
setts, and gives employment to thirty-five or
forty skilled workmen. All the main build
ings on the grounds have been erected by the
present owner, and the property extends round
into Harrison Avenue. The Carr crackers are
famous throughout New England and the
Middle States; and, since commencing 'the
business, Mr. Carr has manufactured several
million barrels. In 1872 Mr. Carr built an-

164

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

other fine bakery in Wilkesbarre, Pa., for his
nephew, J. B. Carr, under whose management
it is now in successful operation. In North
ampton Mr. Carr bought an estate with a
primitive bakery attached, which he at once
replaced with a larger and more modern build
ing, placing therein his brother. Smith Carr,
who carried it on as long as he lived; and it
is still run under the name of Carr, although
now a rival establishment. Mr. Carr has built
three other cracker bakeries in different places,
all of which are in successful operation.
Other business interests have also claimed
his attention. He was one of the heaviest
stockholders in the Springfield Paper Collar
Company. This business was formerly located
on "Worthington Street, in a block owned by
Mr. Carr ; but after years of prosperity it was
sold to the Standarcl Collar Company of New
York. For over twenty years Mr. Carr has
been a Director in the First National Bank,
and is now one of the oldest officers in its ser
vice. For a long time, also, he owned the
patent of the Springfield hose coupler, which
he manufactured, and which is in regular use
in Springfield and Hartford, and is regarded
by firemen as the best coupler to be found.
Mr. Carr built and owned the block of stores
where the Haynes House now stands, and a
block which he owned in Worthington Street
was destroyed by fire. He has also been con
nected to some extent with real estate busi
ness. Some time ago Mr. Carr purchased
seventy-five acres of land on Long Meadow
Street, four miles out of Springfield, which
place is now his country seat, where he spends
his summers. It is a beautiful home, sur
rounded by pleasant shade-trees and many
acres of picturesque meadow lands.
Mr. Carr enjoyed the personal acquaintance
of James G. Blaine, who on many occasions
showed him especial attentions. When the
remains of the great Republican statesman
were conveyed to their last resting-place, Mr.
Carr was present, and witnessed with sorrowful
heart the obsequies of his old friend, whose
memory he still reveres. This identifies his
political affiliations, though formerly a mem
ber of the old Whig party, and voting for
Henry Clay in 1844. In 1875 and 1876 Mr.

Carr was a member of the City Council. In
Masonry he belongs to Roswell Lee Lodge and
Morning Star Chapter, and is the oldest living
member of the Springfield Commandery. In
religion he is a member and Trustee of the
State Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Carr's first wife was Maria L. Merrill, of
Boston, whom he married in 1848. They had
four children, three of whom are living —
Lewis F. , born in Cambridge, Mass., in 1850,
and now in business with his father; Florence
E., born in 185 1, and now the wife of F. P.
Hazen, of Cambridgeport ; and Hattie Merrill,
born in 1855, the wife of J. William Hazen,
manager of the Kennedy Biscuit Company, a
brother of F. P. Hazen. Their mother died in
1859. In August, 1 87 1, Mr. Carr married
Mrs. Harriet A. (Richardson) Hall, of Brook
field, Mass.
Mr. Carr has a wide knowledge of men and
affairs, and is a fluent and impressive speaker.
He was a delegate to the Republican National
Convention in 1892, and was a strong sup
porter of James G. Blaine as long as there was
any chance of his nomination. He is a man
whose wealth has been won by honorable trans
actions and by the exercise of the thoroughly
American qualities of diligence, perseverance,
and enterprise, directed by a keen and well-
trained mind, quick to see and wrest success
from opportunity, and whose example is worthy
of emulation by the younger generation now
coming to the front. In his latter years still
active and vigorous, as is the meed of those
who have lived well in sight of God and man,
he sees the labors of his younger days culmi
nate in a rich fruitage of wealth and honors
and the universal respect and good will of his
fellow-men. A portrait of Mr. Carr accom
panies and adds to the interest of this brief
memoir.

ARCUS M. STEERE, a thrifty
and prosperous representative of the
agricultural community of the town
of Southwick, is the proprietor of
a snug and highly improved farm of fifty acres,
where he has been engaged in general farming
for the past thirty years. He is a native of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

165

the place, having been born January 9, 1825,
son of Elisha and Eliza (Cushman) Steere.
His father was a native of Rhode Island, born
May 4, 1794, and his mother of Southwick,
her birth having occurred January 19, 1795.
His paternal grandfather, Elisha Steere,
Sr. , was a native of Rhode Island, where he
lived until after the close of the Revolution,
reaching manhood just in season to assist in
emancipating the colonies from the British
yoke, being a brave soldier of the Continental
army. In 1 797 he removed to Massachusetts,
settling in Southwick, where he took up a
tract of land, and by unremitting toil re
claimed a farm from the virgin wilderness,
being one of the foremost farmers as well as a
leading citizen of the town. He married Lois
Aldrich, who faithfully assisted him in his
worthy efforts, sharing the dangers and dis
comforts of pioneer life, and ministering well
to the wants of her household, which con
sisted of twelve children born of their union.
Both lived to an advanced age, he passing
away aged seventy-five years, and she living
until her ninetieth year. Both were people of
high moral worth, and were members of the
Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mrs.
Steere was an active worker.
Elisha Steere, Jr., had but limited opportu
nities for acquiring an education, and at an
early age began working on the home farm.
After deciding to settle as a householder, he
bought a farm of fifty acres in what he deemed
the most desirable section of Southwick, and
there carried on his chosen vocation during
his years of activity. He was an able agri
culturist and a prominent citizen of the place,
taking an important part in the public affairs.
For several years he was Selectman, and in
1839 represented his town in the legislature.
He was one of the stanchest supporters of the
principles of the Democratic party and very
liberal in his religious beliefs, although he
attended and generously supported the Meth
odist Episcopal church ; while, socially, he
was a member and an active worker of the
Masonic fraternity. His death, which oc
curred October 12, 1874, was a public loss.
His estimable wife died September 4, 1863.
Inheriting the loyal blood of his ancestors, he,

too, fought for his country, being a veteran of
the War of 181 2. Three of the six children
born to him and his wife grew to mature years,
namely: Charles M., deceased; Mrs. Eliza
Flolcomb, deceased, who married Orrin Hol
comb; and Marcus M., now to be further
mentioned. Marcus M. Steere acquired his elementary
education in the common schools of Southwick,
and supplemented this by a course of study at
the academy. His first work was with his
father on the farm, where he labored until
twenty-five years old. For a while thereafter
he worked at shoemaking, and subsequently
engaged for six years in the manufacture of
cigars, but finally invested his money in the
fine fifty-acre farm on which he now resides.
He owns, also, about fifteen acres in another
part of the town. He has carried on general
farming for more than thirty years, and is con
sidered one of the most successful agricultu
rists of the locality, being intelligent and
practical, and a man of good business capacity.
Mr. Steere was married June 6, 1850, to
Elmina A. Campbell, who was born Septem
ber 9, 1828, in Southwick, which was the
native place of her father, Robert Campbell,
the date of his birth being 1804. He married
Elmina Pomeroy, who was born in 1803 in
West Suffield, Conn. Mr. Campbell died at
the age of sixty-four years, and his wife at the
age of fourscore and three. They had three
children — Elmina A., the wife of Mr. Steere;
Robert B. , a cigar-maker in Southwick ; Au-
relia D. , who died in 1848, aged seventeen
years. Mr. and Mrs. Steere have had four
children — Dexter M. ; Charles Merrill, who
died aged two years ; Everett E. ; and Burton.
Dexter M. , of Agawam, married Adella King;
and they have two children — Howard D. and
Edna. Everett E. , who lives with his par
ents, married Alice E. Peck; and they have
two children — Ralph E. and Ruth M. Bur
ton, a cigar-maker of Springfield, married Lena
Ainsworth; and they have one child, Merrill.
Politically, Mr. Steere is a warm advocate of
the principles of the Democratic party, and
takes a deep interest in State and national
affairs. He has served as Selectman one year,
and as an official and a private citizen is held

i66

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

in high esteem. He is well informed on cur
rent topics, and is broad and independent in
his religious views.

ENJAMIN C. HARVEY, a promi
nent resident of Springfield, Mass.,
and a general agent for the National
Cash Register, was born at St.
Johnsbury, Vt., September 4, 1848, son of
Orange and Martha (Carr) Harvey, of that
town. Orange Harvey learned in his youth
the trade of mason ; and, as his experience
enlarged, he became in later life a contractor
and builder, and was known in St. Johnsbury,
where he lived till the time of his death, as a
leading man in that line of business. He also
held different town offices, and was a useful
and highly respected citizen. Martha Carr,
who was also a native of St. Johnsbury, be
came by her marriage the mother of five chil
dren — Mary, wife of J. C. Hanno, of
Fitchburg; Ira A., of Northampton; William
W. , of Springfield; Benjamin C. , of this
sketch; and Martha J. (deceased), wife of
A. E. Whiting, of St. Johnsbury.
Benjamin C. , the third son of his parents,
attended the graded schools of the neighbor
hood in his youth till he had acquired a good
practical knowledge of the fundamental
iDranches of learning, after which he went into
the Fairbanks Scale Works, where he remained
till he was twenty-four years of age. His
work was in the scaling department, where the
scales were severally tested and sealed before
being sent out. It was a good business, and
he succeeded well in it. In 1872 Mr. Harvey
came to Springfield, where he has since re
sided. He was first employed at Smith &
Wesson's as contractor and foreman, having
also charge of the apprentice department the
last four years of his stay, also contracting in
the polishing department until that system was
abolished. He remained connected with this
firm until 1893, a period of twenty-one years,
which fact is in itself a sufficient indication of
the valuable character of his work. For the
past two years Mr. Harvey has been connected
with the cash register business, and, judging
from his business prosperity in the past, as

agent of the National Cash Register Company,
of Dayton, Ohio, bids fair to win exceptional
success. In 1889 Mr. Harvey was elected on
the Republican ticket from Ward Seven mem
ber of the Common Council, in which he
served on the Pauper Department Committee
and on the Committee on Ordinances and En
rolment. These offices having been filled ac
ceptably, Mr. Harvey was continued in them
severally through 1890, 1891, and 1892, with
the addition of his being elected on the Board
of Aldermen, and to the office of chairman of
a Joint Committee on the Pauper Department,
and also elected one of the License Commit
tee. In 1893 Mr. Harvey was elected to
membership in the State legislature for the
Eighth Hampden District, where he served
on the Committee on Public Health ; and,
in addition to these manifold interests, he
has filled the office of Vice-President of the
Republican Club of Springfield since its
formation. Mr. Harvey has not been unmindful of social
opportunities, but has managed to find time for
the interests of local societies. He is Master
of Roswell Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at the
present time, and is a delegate to the Grand
Lodge, also a member of the Morning Star
Chapter, R. A. M., of which he is Past High
Priest. He belongs to the Springfield Coun
cil, to the Springfield Commandery, is Past
Grand Master of Caledonia Lodge, Indepen
dent Order of Odd Fellows, of St. Johnsbury,
Vt. , and is also Past Chief Patriarch of the
Encampment at St. Johnsbury. In addition to
these offices, he is President of the Springfield
Association of the Sons and Daughters of
Vermont. Mr. Harvey was married January 20, 188 1,
to Miss Ada L. Earned, a daughter of Luman
Earned, a well-known resident of Holyoke,
Mass. They attend and give their support to
the State Street Baptist Church, of which Mrs.
Harvey is a member. The bulk of the world's
workers consists of moderately successful
people; and only occasionally one appears
among them of unusual capacity for achieve
ment. Mr. Harvey has demonstrated that he
is one of these, and, as a man of ideas, of
capacity in business, and of undoubted recti-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

167

tude, has won the confidence and commenda
tion of his friends and fellow-citizens.

iHARLES H. DENISON, manufact
urer of water filters at Springfield
and for twenty years past known
throughout New England as an in
ventor and machinist, was born at Whiting
ham, Windham County, Vt. , on March i,
1 819. The grandfather of Mr. Denison, Cap
tain David Denison, who was an officer in the
War of 1812, lived and died at Leyden,
Franklin County, Mass., to which place he
and his brothers had come when the country
was but thinly settled. Here they bought
lands and made homes for themselves. The
family of Denison is an old and long-estab
lished one in New England, the first American
ancestor of the name, William Denison, born
in England in the year 1586, having come to
Massachusetts with his wife in 1631.
Captain Denison' s son, Charles H. Denison,
Sr. , who was a man of scholarly attainments,
having studied medicine, though he did not
engage in practice, removed from Leyden to
Whitingham, Vt., when a young man. He
was there prominent in local affairs, for many
years holding the office of Justice of the Peace ;
and Mr. Denison with vivid distinctness re
members how as a small boy he used to stand
in his father's office or in the family living-
room at home, and witness the marriage rites
performed over bashful country couples, who
looked far more like culprits than lovers. At
twelve years of age the subject of this sketch
was deprived of paternal guidance and protec
tion, the father being cut off in the prime of
manly vigor and strength by a fall which re
sulted in his death two months later. Three
children — Charles H., Amos B., of Keene,
N. H., and Fannie, now Mrs. Whittle, living
in Boston — ¦ survived their father. Their
mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Bil
lings, was from Guilford, Vt., and was an
earnest and conscientious member of the Meth
odist Episcopal church, striving to rear her
children in the fear and admonition of the
Lord. Charles H. Denison attended the public

schools of Whitingham, and was subsequently
a student at Wilbraham Academy, after which
he went to work on the farm of an uncle.
Finding farm labor very unremunerative for
the amount of physical toil expended, and
deciding to enter a mechanical employment, he
engaged as a workman in a wood-turning es
tablishment in Franklin County. After a few
years of diligent application he was enabled
to open a carriage and sleigh manufacturing
house at Green River, Vt. ; and in addition to
this business he was engaged by the Carpenter
& Burdette Melodeon Company of Brattleboro,
just beginning operation at this time, to man
ufacture a part of their instruments. The
senior member of this firm was a farmer of
irrepressible musical proclivities, by the name
of Carpenter, who had sold his farm and joined
his capital to that of a piano tuner named Bur
dette. The firm immediately made a contract
with Mr. Denison, who agreed to supply the
ornamental legs of the instruments. Thus
from small beginnings the large establishment
now known over the world as the Estey Organ
Manufactory has been evolved. When Car
penter & Burdette sold out to Mr. Estey, the
latter continued to employ Mr. Denison to
make certain parts of the woodwork. During
Mr. Denison' s boyhood he was thrown into
close contact with a young machinist who
worked in the organ factory doing drillings on
the castings. This youth became Governor
Fuller, of Vermont, in later years; but they
both retained a vivid -recollection of the old
days and each other.
At length selling out and giving up the
carriage factory and organ contracts, Mr. Deni
son became engaged in the invention of a
wood-planer, which he patented. This plane
was exhibited at the Crystal Palace, New
York, and won the gold medal awarded over
twelve competitors. Having once begun in
venting, Mr. Denison's mind seemed replete
with ideas; so he set to work to devise a
machine for constructing a certain part of car
riage wheels, which was patented and re-
patented, and has had an extensive sale. It is
a striking evidence of its perfection that dur
ing the twenty-one years of its sale it has not
been improved by any addition of any sort.

1 68

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

He was next engaged in manufacturing a small
sewing machine ; but after a short time he sold
out and signed a contract for supplying only
certain parts of it. In 1865 at the request
of Ray & Taylor he came to Springfield to
make an improvement in their paper collar
machine. After making a careful investiga
tion, he went home and made one which
proved so satisfactory that the firm offered him
the position of chief in charge of the machine.
This he accepted and held for two years. An
offer now came from Toledo, Ohio, which he
concluded to take ; but upon going to New
York a more advantageous offer was made by
a collar manufacturing company there, and he
remained in that city. During the six years
of his connection with this firm he did much
toward improving the machinery in use in the
factory, and, as a token of the esteem in which
he was held, was made the recipient of many
valuable presents, a six-hundred-dollar watch
being one of the most "elegant. His salary,
which was two thousand dollars per year, was
later raised to four thousand dollars.
Mr. Denison was one of the three men who
invented most of the practical machinery of
his time. In 1876 he returned to Springfield,
and until 1886 was connected with V. N. Tay
lor, afterward Taylor & Tapley. It was in
this year that Mr. Denison began to concen
trate his inventive faculties upon an improved
water filter, and he began getting the results
of his ideas patented, until at last after various
experiments he succeeded in producing a filter
that was satisfactory. The establishments of
several millionaires have been supplied with
the Denison filter, which is far and away the
best and at the same time simplest apparatus
for obtaining a pure water supply. Mr. Deni
son has distinct systems for different uses.
The large filter is to purify all the water for
the use of the house, and is permanent; while
the others are or may be detached. This en
terprise is just being put upon a sound, practi
cal business basis; and the large sale it has
already had while comparatively unknown en
courages the hope that it will be a most profit
able venture. Mr. Denison is independent in
his political views, though he usually votes
with the Republican party. He is a member

of Columbia Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Brat
tleboro, Vt.
On May 14, 1858, Mr. DenLson was married
to Miss Lucy Thomas, a daughter of Mr.
Henry Thomas, an old resident of Marlboro,
Vt., though a native of Hinsdale. Mrs. Deni
son is the mother of one daughter, Louise, who
is at home with her parents. By a former
marriage with a Miss Mary Bracket, Mr. Den
ison had three children — Charles F. , who is
in the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Company at Springfield; William C. , of Al
buquerque, N. M., employed by the Atlantic
& Pacific Railroad; and Mary L. , who died at
thirty years of age. Mr. Denison's beautiful
home at No. 648 State Street, where he and
his wife and daughter have lived for the last
ten years, is in the finest part of the city.

tober

KNRY MULLEN, an enterprising
business man, and present Chief of
Police in Westfield, Conn., was
born at Windsor Locks, Conn., Oc-
7, 1844. He is the son of John and
Ann (English) Mullen, the former a native of
Carlow, Ireland, who learned the trade of mill
wright when quite a young man, and was also
an expert at carpentry and cabinet-making.
He came to America in 1839, and located at
what was then known as Warehouse Point, sit
uated just across the river from Windsor
Locks, and there followed the trade of mill
wright. Throughout the surrounding country
he was well known as a man who excelled in
that business, and his services were greatly in
demand on account of the excellence of his
work. Fle put in the first wheel of the old
mill of Mundale, and also did work for the
firm of Jessep & Lathrop. He was an inde
fatigable worker, and met with the success he
so richly merited. During most of this period
of his life he lived at his home at Windsor
Locks ; and here it was that he died, at the
age of seventy-nine years. In politics Mr.
Mullen was a Democrat. He was a member
of the Catholic church, but in the latter part
of his life did not attend. His wife, Ann
(English) Mullen, was born in the city of
Dublin, Ireland, and died at Windsor Locks

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

169

at the age of fifty-six years. They had twelve
children, of whom seven reached maturity and
three now are living, namely : James E. Mul
len, of Mystic, Conn., by trade a millwright;
Mrs. Mary Flaherty, who resides at Windsor
Locks; and the subject of this sketch, Henry
Mullen, who is the youngest member of the
family. Those who reached maturity, but
have since departed this life, are: Kate, Jane,
Ann, and John P.
When Henry Mullen was six years of age, he
came to Westfield, and made his home with
his brother, John P. Mullen, where he lived
for three years, attending the schools of West-
field. At the end of this period he returned
to Windsor Locks, and lived with his parents
until 1857, when he returned to Westfield
with the intention of attending the academy;
but, changing his mind, he secured a position
in the office of Jasper J. Rand, manufacturer
of whips. Here he served two years' appren
ticeship, learning the whip trade, and then
secured a position in the American Whip Fac
tory. Beginning at the bench, he worked his
way up until he became foreman, which posi
tion he held for several years. His term of
service, however, was shortened by the break
ing out of the war, when he felt it his duty to
take an active part in the defence of his coun
try. December 3, 1861, he enlisted in Com
pany C, Twelfth Connecticut, under Captain
L. A. Dickenson, and was in many engage
ments, among them George's Landing, Laude-
ville, Pattersonville, and Bisland, La., siege of
Fort Hudson, Winchester, Va., Fisher's Hill,
and Cedar Creek; so that as a soldier Mr.
Mullen saw hard service. At Fisher's Hill, the
first successful battle for the Union forces in
the Shenandoah valley, he was wounded. He
was honorably discharged at Hartford, Conn.,
December 3, 1864, and returned to his former
employment of whip-making. In all, he was
employed in the American Whip Factory
twenty-nine years. In 1883, however, he
resigned his position, and started for him
self in business under the name of the West-
field Whip Company. At the end of five years
he sold out, and re-entered the employ of the
American Whip Factory, assuming the post of
foreman in this establishment. He also be

came a member of the firm of Bush & Mullen,
dealers in meat. After two years he gave up
active work at his trade of whip-making, but
still retains his interest in the meat market.
In politics Mr. Mullen believes that he can
best fulfil his duty as a voter by being inde
pendent of party, but leans strongly toward the
principles promulgated by the Democratic
party. He is a member of the Westfield
Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows, also of the 'Westfield Lodge, No. 328, of
Knights of Honor, and of Lyon Post of the
Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Mullen
has the respect and love of his fellow-citizens,
and is very popular among them. In May of
the year -1894 he was appointed Chief of
Police of Westfield, which position he still
fills, discharging his duties with good judg
ment and efficiency.
Mr. Mullen was married June 10, 1866, to
Miss Emma Easton, who was born at Suffield,
Conn., and was the daughter of Henry A. and
Susanna Eunice Easton, both of whom are now
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Mullen have two
children — Charles H. and Lottie E. Mullen.
Charles is married and resides in Westfield,
where he follows the trade of whip-maker.
He has one child, Katie May Mullen. Mrs.
Henry Mullen is a member of the Advent
church, but Mr. Mullen is liberal in his relig
ious views.

J"^ANIEL JAY MARSH, Treasurer of
=^ the Springfield P""ive Cent Savings
Sy Bank, was born in Hartford, Conn.,
on July 27, 1837, the year of the
great financial panic. He is a descendant of
John Marsh, who emigrated from Braintree,
Essex County, England, in 1633, and his
wife, Anne Webster, a daughter of Governor
John Webster, of Connecticut. John Marsh
was a pioneer, settling both in Hartford,
Conn., and in Hadley, Mass. Some of his
grandsons were among the first settlers in
Litchfield, New Hartford, and Lebanon,
Conn. ; and one. Colonel Ebenezer Marsh, led
a Connecticut regiment against Fort Ticon
deroga in the Revolution.
Among the Marsh ancestors were the famous

170

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mathers, one of whom, the Rev. Richard
Mather, grandson of John Mather, of Lowton,
Winwich Parish, Lancashire, England, landed
in Boston on August 17, 1635, and settled in
Dorchester. In his autobiography he says,
"The Mathers were of ancient families in
Lowton aforesaid, but by reason of some un
happy mortgages were reduced unto a low con
dition as to the world." The writer of this
record married for his second wife Sarah Story,
widow of the Rev. John Cotton. His first
wife, who was the mother of his six sons, was
Catharine Holt, of Lancashire, England.
Among his descendants have been many noted
divines and authors, including the Rev. Dr.
Increase Mather, sixth President of Harvard
College, and his son. Cotton Mather. Mi
chael Marsh, the father of Daniel Jay, was born
in Hartford, where he grew to maturity and
became a dry-goods merchant. About the
year 1840 he came to West Springfield, where
he died, having served both as Town Clerk and
Postmaster. His wife was Catherine Allyn,
whose earliest American ancestor was the Hon.
Matthew Allyn, who came from Brompton,
Devonshire, England, in 1632, and settled in
Charlestown, Mass. From 1648 to 1652, and
again from 1654 to 1658, he was a member of
the General Court. He was Commissioner to
the mother country for the united colonies
from 1660 to 1664, and a magistrate from
1657 to 1667. Many of his descendants
served with distinction in the French-Indian
War and the Revolution, there being two lieu
tenants, two captains, and one colonel among
them. Daniel J. Marsh completed his education at
Wilbraham Academy. In 1850 he came to
Springfield as a druggist's clerk, and afterward
was book-keeper in a dry-goods store. In 1856
he went to St. Louis, where he was three years
clerk and assistant paymaster for the builders
of the Ohio & Missouri Railroad, and also
worked on the North Missouri Railroad, run
ning the first passenger train as conductor from
St. Charles to St. Louis. After the comple
tion of these two roads he returned to Spring
field in 1857, taking a position in the Five
Cent Savings Bank. The Treasurer, Charles
Marsh, being also Secretary of the Massachu

setts Mutual Life Insurance Company, young
Mr. Marsh practically filled the office, though
not formally elected until 1859, when the
institution was removed to the new building it
had erected on the corner of Main and Court
Streets. Soon after the Civil War broke out, young
Marsh united with others in starting a drill
club, which sent many officers into the field.
In 1862 this club voted to enlist for nine
months as Company A, in the Forty-sixth
Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers. Mr.
Marsh was immediately appointed Orderly
Sergeant, and later was made Lieutenant, on
staff duty. The regiment was sent to North
Carolina, with headquarters at Newbern, where
he was an aide-de-camp on the staff of General
Horace C. Lee and a bearer of despatches
to and from Washington. Temporarily Mr.
Marsh was also with Generals John A. Dix
and John G. Foster; but on the breaking up
of the brigade, by order from Washington, he
was sent to North Carolina, with orders to
take all the men from the different hospitals,
in all fifteen hundred, to their Northern
homes. On his return, after eleven months'
service, he resumed his old place in the bank,
where he has remained ever since. When he
was elected Treasurer, the deposits were only
about two hundred thousand dollars, whereas
they now amount to four millions, the bank
ranking among the heaviest in Western Massa
chusetts. On May 27, 1864, just after his military
service, Mr. Marsh was united in marriage to
Harriet Mary Gay, daughter of N. Denslow
Gay, of Springfield, who married Mary Pom
eroy, of Somers. Mrs. Mary Pomeroy Gay
was a lineal descendant of Sir Ralph Pomeroy,
the owner of the castle at Berry Pomeroy, the
best-preserved example of ancient Norman
architecture in England. Edward Pomeroy,
the American emigrant, was born in Devon-
.shire in 161 5, came to America in 1635,
while yet a youth, and was the sixteenth per
son who died in Northampton, Mass.
Mr. Daniel J. Marsh was formerly a Director
in the Second National Bank, but resigned ih
1 89 1. Though not caring for office, he served
as Councilman one term, and since 1885 has

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

171

been President of the Park Commission.
Upon him has practically devolved the burden
of developing Forest Park, which has few
equals in the country. He was Treasurer of
the Flampden Park Association from 1870 to
1875, during which period some of its most
successful meetings were held in Springfield.
He was also an organizer of the Springfield
Club, to which he has belonged twenty-five
years. Mr. Marsh is a member of the Nay
asset Club, of the Loyal Legion, and of the
Wilcox Post of the Grand Army. The
Marshes have two children — Henry Daniel
Marsh, born in 1865, who is a clerk in his
father's bank; Oliver Allyn Marsh, born in
1868, who is in New York. Mr. Marsh has
travelled quite extensively in this country, and
has a very attractive home at 42 Maple Street.

(six LBERT D. MERRITT, Superintendent
fcjj of the Springfield Gas Light Com-
_/J|j,\ pany, has been an incumbent of his
present office since the year 1874,
and is one of the most respected citizens of the
city. He was born March 17, 1844, in War
ren, Mass., son of Isaac and Betsey (Davis)
Merritt. His father, an old and prominent
resident of Warren, was a soldier in the War
of 1 812, though but a boy at that time. He
spent the most of his life in Warren, where he
died in 1853. His widow survived him sev
eral years, dying in 1868, at the age of
seventy-three years. Both were regular attend
ants of the Methodist Episcopal church, al
though not identified with it by membership.
Nine children were born into their household
circle, two of whom died in infancy; and the
six mentioned below grew to mature age.
Flam, for many years a resident of Palmer,
was killed in battle during the late war.
Martha, deceased, married Flam Sherman, of
Warren. Horace, a farmer, resides in Brim
field. Elizabeth, deceased, married John
Cummings, of Springfield. Sylvester died in
Warren, at an early age. The other is Albert
D., the subject of the present sketch.
Albert D. Merritt was educated in the com
mon schools of Warren and Wales, and at the
3ge of eighteen years began to learn the steam -

fitter's trade, serving an apprenticeship of
three years with George Dwight, Jr., & Co.
After working at his trade in Springfield for a
while, Mr. Merritt removed to Stafford, Conn.,
where he was engaged in the livery business
for four years, conducting successfully the
leading stable of the town. In 1874 he sold
out his livery, and, returning to Springfield,
was at once "made Superintendent of the Gas
Light Company, which at that time covered
much less territory than at present, a much
smaller amount of gas being consumed. Very
few men were then employed by the company;
but Mr. Merritt has now forty-five men under
his supervision, the business having very
largely increased within the last decade. He is
also quite a large property owner, having a farm
in East Long Meadow, and some valuable real
estate in the city of Springfield, on South Hill.
Mr. Merritt was united in marriage Decem
ber 7, 1865, to Miss Emily A. Hatch, a
daughter of John B. Hatch, of Union, Conn. ;
and they are the parents of four children, as
follows : Rosa, wife of Frederick Roland Fish,
of New Bedford, Mass. ; Albert Henry, a stu
dent at Wilbraham Academy; Maud, who is at
home with her parents; and William H. Po
litically, Mr. Merritt is a true-blue Republi
can; and, religiously, he and his wife are
members of Grace Methodist Episcopal
Church, of which he is a Trustee. By reason
of his upright bearing in all the walks of life
Mr. Merritt has won the esteem and confidence
of his friends and associates, and is held in
high regard throughout the community.

SOTHROP LAMB HOOKER, an in
telligent and enterprising agriculturist
_ ^ of the town of Holyoke, Hampden
County, is one of those men who
bring to their calling good business methods
and excellent judgment, and whose labors con
sequently meet with success. He was born
October 16, 1831, in Sturbridge, Worcester
County, Mass., that town, of which his great-
great-grandfather, Pierre Hooker, was an early
settler, having been the birthplace of his an
cestors for several generations. Mr. Hooker's
father was Levens Hooker, son of Samuel

172

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Hooker, who was a son of Henry Hooker, a
son of the above-named Pierre Hooker.
Samuel Hooker was a farmer by occupation
and a life-long resident of Sturbridge. Fle
married Polly Nichols, and they reared several
children. He was brave and patriotic, and
served as a minute-man in the Revolutionary
War. His son, Levens Hooker, also of Stur
bridge, was a natural mechanic,, and a good
workman at the trades of carpenter, stone
mason, bricklayer, and basket-maker, spending
his entire life in Sturbridge. He married
Caroline Clemence, a native of Worcester
County, daughter of Aaron and Lucretia Clem
ence; and of the fifteen children born of
their union twelve grew to mature life, and
eleven are now living.
Lothrop L. began the struggle of life for
himself at the early age of fourteen years, en
tering a cotton-mill in Sturbridge, working
there for six years, and then coming to Hol
yoke. There were but two mills and a ma
chine-shop in the now busy city, but one of
the mills being then completed ; and the entire
population numbered only about two thousand
souls. He secured work in the Lyman Mill,
where he was employed until 1858, when he
accepted a similar position in a mill in Flor
ence. After two years' employment there
Mr. Hooker returned to the place of his nativ
ity, and in August, 1862, enlisted in Com
pany F, Fifty-first Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry, for a term of nine months. He
spent the larger portion of that time in North
Carolina; and among the more important en
gagements in which he was an active partici
pant were the battles of "Whitehall, Kingston,
and Goldsboro, while during the battle of
Gettysburg he was on garrison duty the most
of the time at Maryland Heights. After serv
ing eleven months he was honorably dis
charged with his regiment and returned home.
In 1864 he re-enlisted, becoming a member
of Company A, Second Heavy Artillery, and,
again being sent to North Carolina, served in
the commissary department until after the
close of the war, when he was again honorably
discharged. Returning to Sturbridge, Mr.
Hooker remained in that town until 1868,
when he came to Holyoke, a locality of which

he had most pleasant recollections, and, buy
ing the estate which he now owns and occu
pies, has since engaged in general , farming,
although he makes a specialty of market gar
dening and the raising of poultry, in which he
has had gratifying and praiseworthy success,
his sagacious painstaking being fruitful of
good results.
On September 5, 1856, Mr. Hooker was
united in marriage with Lucia Ann Elizabeth
Graves, who was born in Amherst, Mass.,
August 19, 1837. Her paternal grandfather,
Lucius Graves, was born and bred a farmer in
the town of Whately, Mass., from which he
moved during his later years to Chicopee
Falls, where he departed this life. He mar
ried Laurana Smith, who bore him six daugh
ters and two sons, of whom the elder son,
Sylvanus Graves, was the father of Mrs.
Hooker. Sylvanus Graves was born in
"Whately, and on the home farm was instructed
in the mysteries of agriculture. On the
removal of his parents to Chicopee Falls he
secured work in a cotton-mill, where he re
mained a number of years, going thence to
Ware, in which place he resided six years
prior to his removal to Westmoreland, N. H.,
where his declining years were spent. The
maiden name of his first wife, the mother of
his children, was Mary Elizabeth Chandler.
She died in Holyoke, aged forty-five years.
Mr. and Mrs. Hooker have reared three chil
dren — Anna M., Charles Simeon, and Freder
ick Lothrop. Charles S. married Kate Maria
Attenborough ; and they have one son, Alfred
Lothrop. Mr. Lothrop L. Hooker is an influ
ential member of Manhan Grange; and, politi
cally, he was formerly a Democrat, but voted
for Abraham Lincoln in i860, and has since
been a stanch supporter of the principles of
the Republican party. He is active in pro
moting the welfare of his community, and has
ably and satisfactorily represented the Seventh
Ward in the City Council.

R.XSTUS EDGAR MARYOTT, M.D.,
me of the prominent physicians and
surgeons of Springfield, was born
at North Stonington, Conn., September 29,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

173

1845. He is the son of Ichabod B. and Almira
(Miner) Maryott, his father having been a
prominent clergyman of the Baptist denomina
tion, born at Lisbon, Conn., August 4, 1810.
Dr. Maryott' s great-great-grandfather, Samuel
Maryott, was born in 1706, and was of Hugue
not extraction. Forced to flee from religious
persecution in England, he came to this coun
try and settled at Newport, R. I., as a Seventh-
day Baptist preacher. He died in 1802.
William Maryott, the Doctor's paternal grand
father, was born in 1783. He resided for
many years at Montrose, Susquehanna County,
Pa., and died in Brooklyn in 1852.
Ichabod Maryott's parents moved to Mon
trose when he was a child, and there his youth
and early manhood were passed. At an early
date he entered the ranks of Christian workers,
and became united with and a licentiate of the
Dimmock Baptist Church at Montrose; and,
after spending some time in teaching and also
preparing himself for his life work, he was
ordained as a preacher and called to the pasto
rate of the Baptist church at Warrenville,
Conn., sribsequently filling the pulpits of the
First Church at Hopkinton, R. I., the church
at New Storeham, R. I., the First Church at
North Stonington, Conn., and the one at Jones
Lake, Pa. He possessed a remarkably mild
and affectionate character, full of sweetness
and simplicity, but was a strong and forcible
preacher, who, being thoroughly convinced of
the power and grandeur of Christianity, im
parted his belief to others by his clear and
logical expounding of the Scriptures. He was
especially gifted in prayer. Mr. Maryott died
November 19, 1891. On September 20, 1828,
he was married to Miss Almira Miner, of
Stonington, Conn., a descendant of an old
Colonial family. Her father participated in
the battle of Stonington, and received a pen
sion for his services. He lived to be eighty-
four years old, and his wife reached the age of
ninety-seven. Mrs. Almira Maryott died in
April, 1867, leaving three sons and one daugh
ter, namely: Curtis E., now a physician of
Wickford, R. L ; Charles A., pastor of the
Mount Pleasant Baptist Church at Provi
dence; Dr. Erastus Edgar Maryott; and Ella,
who is now deceased. On April 26, 1869,

Ichabod Maryott took for his second wife
Susan A. Clarke, of Westerly, R.I., who is
still living.
Dr. Maryott attended the public schools of
North Stonington, Conn., where he obtained
the rudiments of his education, and fitted for
college at the Suffield Institute. He entered
Brown University in 1866, and graduated with
the class of 1870, which was an unusually not
able one, containing the names of such distin
guished scholars as President Andrews and
Professors Williams, English, and Monroe.
He received his bachelor's degree after pur
suing his studies for four years. Upon the
completion of his collegiate course he entered
the ministry, for which he was most admirably
fitted ; but, being particularly desirous of be
coming a medical practitioner, he later ma
triculated at the Albany Medical College,
which is the medical department of Union
University, and graduated in 1882. He first
located at Berlin, N.Y. , and while there be
came a member of the Rensselaer County
Medical Society. He rapidly acquired a repu
tation as a skilful practitioner, having been a
most careful student during his college course,
and profiting largely by the valuable instruc
tion he had received from the well-known Pro
fessor Albert Van Der Veer, his preceptor.
In 1883 he moved to West Springfield, where
he lived for three and one-half years. He
then removed into the city, and has since re
sided on Upper Main Street. A competent
and reliable physician. Dr. Maryott has a large
and lucrative general practice, and has become
recognized as a leading spirit among the medi
cal men of this section. He is a member of
the Massachusetts State Medical Society, is at
the present time President of the Hampden
County Medical Society, and was formerly
chairman of the Board of Censors. He is also
a Fellow of the American Academy of Medi
cine and of the American Academy of Politi
cal and Social Sciences. He is a member of
Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., High Priest
of Morning Star Chapter, and belongs to
Springfield Commandery.
In 1871 he married Miss Betsey M. Fisk, of
Valley Falls, R.I., and has six children —
Edgar F. ; Ella A., a teacher at the York

174

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Street School; Lillian C. ; Arthur Miner;
Carlton H. ; and Alfred J.
Dr. Maryott has written a work entitled
"The Latest and Best in Medicine," which is
soon to be issued.

TT^HARLES M. MATHER, for many
I Nt-' years a prominent resident of Spring-
^y^^^ field, and a member of the firm of
Mather & Mayott, extensive real
estate dealers, was born on January 26, 1834,
at Lyme, Conn., the ancestral home of the
Mather family, and is a lineal descendant of
Richard Mather, who left his native land to
join the New England colony in 1635. Mr.
Mather's paternal grandfather was the owner
of several merchant vessels, and conducted a
profitable business in his day. His son, Dan
Mather, the father of our subject, was a con
tracting builder and house painter, carrying on
a successful business through a long and busy
life. Although a prominent man in his com
munity, he never aspired to political honors,
preferring to devote his leisure time to efforts
for the furtherance of Christianity, liberally
contributing to the support of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and acting as Elder, class
leader, and Steward, besides holding other
offices in that denomination. He married
Miss Caroline E. Clark, and reared a family of
three children, all of whom lived to attain
their majority, and were named as follows :
Richard H., who resided during the greater
part of his life at Essex, Conn., where he was
a prominent citizen; Charles M., the subject
of this brief record; and Caroline E. , the wife
of Horace Dennison, residing at Niantic,
Conn. Charles M. Mather received the rudiments
of -his education in the public schools of Lyme,
and completed his studies at a private school,
after leaving which he served an apprentice
ship in the carriage-making trade. At the ex
piration of his term of service he settled at
East Lyme, and later established a manufac
tory in Middletown, Conn., where he re
mained until 1864. In that year he came to
Springfield to fulfil some contracts for the
Smith & Wesson Company in their stocking

or wood department. He was thus employed
during a period of twenty years, and furnished
employment for about twenty men. In 1889,
after the contract system was abandoned by the
above-named concern, Mr. Mather engaged in
the real estate and insurance business, the for
mer being his specialty, rapidly securing a
large list of first-class property both for busi
ness and residential purposes, together with
several important and well-located tracts for
subdivision. He first entered the business
with Mr. George H. Clark as a partner;
but after two years, that gentleman was
appointed probation officer, and retired. Mr.
Mather then associated himself with his pres
ent partner, Mr. L. H. Mayott, with whom
his relations are of the most cordial nature.
This firm was formed over five years ago,
locating where they are at the present time —
in the Republican building; and both gentle
men have been residents of Springfield about
thirty years. The firm handle a great deal of
property. In fact, it is doubtful if any agency
in the city has more large transactions.
Among their sales may be mentioned that of
the Barnes property, which they closed out last
spring, the tract of land which is now known
as the Oaklands, and the Oak Knoll tract.
They have at the present time on Maple Street
the Horatio N. Case and Captain Hatch prop
erties, both very desirable. They handle a
great variety of real estate, from the cheapest
to the highest, but principally the latter.
The firm also has the care of many estates,
collecting the rents, etc. Negotiating loans
is another important feature of their business.
Last year the volume of this branch exceeded
their sales. The city of Springfield has not a
more reliable and enterprising firm of real es
tate dealers than Mather & Mayott, and the
large business which they transact every year
is ample proof of this assertion.
In 1857 Mr. Mather was united in marriage
to Miss Maria T. Comstock, of PZast Lyme,
Conn., who died in 1859, leaving an infant
daughter, Maria T. , who still makes her home
with her father. In 1861 he married Miss
Helen W., daughter of J. R. Martin, of Ham
burg, Conn. Both Mr. Mather and Mr. Mayott
have handsome and comfortable homes, Mr.

A. H. GOETTING.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

177

Mather living on Fligh Street, and Mr. Mayott
on Summer Avenue, Forest Park. On one
question the members of the firm differ — that
is, politics. Mr. Mayott is a stanch Republican,
but he does not do much in politics. Mr.
Mather is a Democrat, and represented his party
in the Board of Aldermen in 1892. In the fall
of the same year he was nominated by his party
for the office of Mayor, but was defeated by
the present incumbent. He was elected to
the city government from Ward Four, which is
the strongest Republican ward in the city,
having successfully run against a very popular
Republican. During his connection with the
City Council he did much valuable service as
a member of the Committee on Fire Depart
ment, of which he was chairman, being mainly
instrumental in securing the erection of the
new engine house in Ward One. He also ren
dered efficient service in the pauper depart
ment and on the Board of Health. In
Masonry Mr. Mather has advanced to a high
position, being not only a member of Ros
well Lee Lodge, but also of the Morning
Star Chapter and Springfield Commandery.
He has been a member of the Winthrop
Club since its organization, and was a Trus
tee for three years. In his religious faith
he is a Methodist, and has been a Trustee
of the State Street Church since it was
erected.

^OLONEL AUGUST H. GOETTING,
of Springfield, Mass., Assistant Adju
tant-general of the staff of Governor
Greenhalge, was born in New York,
June 2, 1856. On coming to Springfield he
engaged in paper and leather business. He had
previously had . a good training in politics in
Brooklyn, N.Y., where he took a most active
part in the campaign which resulted in the
election of Seth Low, now President of Co
lumbia College, to the office of Mayor. He
was also a member of the New York State
delegation to the Republican National Conven
tion of 1880, which included such men as Ros
coe Conkling and Chester A. Arthur, who was
the choice of that convention for Vice-Presi
dent of the United States.

His interest in politics was by no means
abated by his removal hither; for in every
campaign in which he has taken part his own
private interests have been subordinate to pub
lic duties. Soon after his arrival here he was
elected a member of the Republican City Com
mittee, and during the Blaine campaign served
that organization as Secretary. In 1889, when
William H. Haile was nominated for Lieuten
ant Governor, Colonel Goetting succeeded him
on the Republican State Committee; and it
was a tribute to his ability that he was imme
diately placed on the Executive Committee.
He subsequently became chairman, being
recognized from the first as a leading spirit.
FIis military title was won as a member of
Governor John Q. A. Brackett's staff in 1889,
at which time he was also elected a member
of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery. In
1892 and 1893 he was elected chairman of the
Executive Committee of the Republican State
Central Committee, of which he is still a
member. Although under forty Colonel Goetting has
won a reputation for political shrewdness and
clever management, and is not only one of the
best-known Republicans in the State, but one
of its most able workers. In addition to his
duties as chairman, in 1892, he paid special
attention to the political situation in the west
ern part of the State; and it is due to his un
tiring energy that Massachusetts was carried
for President Harrison by so large a majority.
He is not only prominent in political affairs of
the State, but also in the business and social
life of Springfield, and is a member of nearly
all the leading social organizations of the city,
and has always used his influence for general
improvement. In 1886 he was one of the
committee of fifty appointed to arrange the two
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the city's
settlement, held on May 25 and 26 of that
year. The Colonel enjoys the confidence of
his fellow-citizens, who cordially predict for
him a brilliant career, with higher political
honors. The lifelike portrait of Colonel Goetting
herewith presented is an acceptable accompani
ment to this brief summary of his honorable
career to date.

178

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Wi

ILLIAM M. WILLIAMS is the pro
prietor of what is widely known as
the Connecticut Valley Dental and
Surgical Depot, located in the second story of
No. 445-449 Main Street, Springfield, and
having salesmen on the road, employing skil
ful artisans, and having an extensive trade
with all parts of New England, New York,
and New Jersey. He was born in Northamp
ton, Mass., on St. Valentine's Day, February
14, 1839. His father was a prominent mer
chant and citizen of Northampton. The first
carload of coal that ever entered the old town
was of his procuring; and he was consequently
the first local dealer in coal, afterward adding
thereto a flour and grain trade. His wife was
Caroline Clapp, of Northampton, the sixth
descendant from a Pilgrim of that name, who
came over in the second vessel after the "May
flower. " She was born in Northampton, and
made but one change of residence in her long
life of fourscore and two years, and that was
when she married Mr. Williams, and went to
live in the Williams homestead, only a few rods
away, where she and her husband both died.
"William Williams attended the public
schools, but at the early age of sixteen began
learning pharmacy in the Hillyer drug store in
his native town. In i860, being then twenty,
he kept books for his father a year; and then,
just as the Rebellion was beginning, removed
to Springfield as the junior member of the
firm of Bigelow & Co., on the ground floor
at 445 Main Street, beneath a portion of his
present store. After five years of success
ful copartnership Mr. Williams sold out his
interest, with the design of removing to Ore
gon, then far less accessible than at present ;
but, his expected pioneer companion being pre
vented from taking the proposed step, Mr.
Williams also gave it up. In the terms of
sale there had been a provision that he might
reclaim the dental goods department already
existing for five years, should he so desire;
and this he now did, hiring for the purpose the
floor upstairs. Soon he needed another room
over the adjoining store; and, as the quarters
gradually grew too small for the business, an
other floor was annexed. Besides professional
patronage, the old store also commands much

general traffic ; and there is a special ortho-
psedical department for the treatment of de
formed feet — the only place of the kind in all
Western Massachusetts.
Mr. Williams did not marry early in life;
but on October 7, 1885, was happily united to
Ella Wood, of New York City, who was born
in 1851, but died in 1890, on March 21, at
the age of thirty-nine, leaving two motherless
children — Wood Williams, born September
28, 1886; and Adeline Williams, born April
21, 1888. Their happy home had been at 169
Maple Street ; but, after the husband was so
sadly bereaved, the home was necessarily
broken up, and the two children, aged four and
two, were sent to the Northampton homestead,
to be with their paternal aunt. And now this
is the family centre, Mr. Williams going
home to it from Springfield every night.
In politics Mr. Williams is independent.
He belongs to the Episcopal church, is a mem
ber of Hampden Masonic Lodge, and has for
many years been Secretary of the Lodge of the
Knights of Pythias.

'TEPHEN SWIFT TAFT, an attor
ney and counsellor-at-law, who has
been a resident of Hampden County
since 1872, was born at Upton,
Worcester County, Mass., October 9, 1848,
and is the son of Velorus and Lucy (Bennett)
Taft. The family is of Colonial origin and
directly descended from Robert Taft, who
came from Braintree to Mendon in 1668, his
descendants still being residents of Mendon
and Uxbridge. General Royal Taft, of Rhode
Island, and Judge Alphonso Taft were of the
same family, which is largely distributed over
Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts.
The paternal grandfather was Stephen Taft,
a farmer and a miller, who erected the old
homestead in 1815, and was a Captain in the
State militia.
Velorus Taft, the father of Stephen, was
born at Upton, December 16, 181 8, and there
followed agriculture during his entire life,
dying in the house where he was born, June
23, 1890. He was one of the Selectmen of his
town for a period of seventeen or eighteen

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

'79

years, and moderator of its town meetings
nearly every year from 1847 until his decease.
A representative to the legislature in 1853 and
1855, and Senator in 1856 and 1857, he was
also a County Commissioner for eighteen years,
thirteen years of which he was chairman of the
board. He wedded Miss Lucy Bennett at
Framingham, November 16, 1847, by whom
he had a family of three children, Stephen
Swift being the eldest. The others are Annie
C, wife of Joshua R. Buckelew, of Washing
ton, D. C. ; and Rebekah L. , who married
Eugene J. Urban, of Dedham, Mass. The
mother died January 7, 1854.
Stephen S. Taft received the rudiments of
his education in the public schools of Fra
mingham, where he resided for ten years with
his grandfather, Nathaniel Swift Bennett. He
attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Phillips
Academy at Andover, and after completing
this most excellent preparatory course entered
Harvard College, from which he graduated in
the class of 1870, with his bachelor's degree.
He then read law in the office of Staples &
Goulding at Worcester, and also with Jewell,
Gaston & Field, of Boston, and after a year's
course at the Harvard Law School was admitted
to the bar at Worcester, April 23, 1872, hav
ing successfully passed the customary exami
nation. He immediately located in Palmer,
where he formed a partnership with James G.
Allen. Subsequently he took up the practice
of his profession alone in the latter town, and
has carried on a successful business ever since.
In October, 1891, he moved to Springfield,
still, however, retaining his office in Palmer;
and in February, 1894, he opened an office in
the Court Square Theatre Block, since which
time he has enjoyed a constantly increasing
influx of business, his time and energies being
taxed to their utmost capacity.
On October 23, 1873, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Mary Eliot Holbrook, of New
ton, Mass., daughter of Edward Holbrook, and
has three children — Mabel Eliot, Lucy Ben
nett, and Stephen Swift, Jr.
Mr. Taft held the position of School Com
mittee for nine years at Palmer, and was Sec
retary of the Savings Bank. He represented
that town in the legislature during 1886 and

1887, being chairman of the Committee on
Towns, and also chairman of the Committee on
Mercantile Affairs, and on the Judiciary Com
mittee. He is very active in politics, and has
been delegate to the State conventions for
probably fifteen years during his twenty years'
residence in Hampden County. He is a mem
ber of Thomas Lodge, A. F. & A. M. , and
Hampden Chapter of Palmer.
Mr. Taft and family attend worship at
Christ Church (Episcopal), and reside at 44
Avon Place, one of the pleasantest quarters of
the city.

¦J^ATHAN C. AVERY, whose face is
familiarly known throughout the town
Is V of Westfield, is spending these later
years of his useful life in compara
tive ease and plenty on his valuable farm,
which he bought from the fruits of his own
long-continued toil. He diligently worked his
way upward unaided from the foot of the
ladder of success, his only endowments in life
having been a stout heart, willing hands, and
a brain active and fertile in resources. He is
a representative of the native citizens, the date
of his birth being June 29, 1827.
His father, Walter Avery, was likewise a
native of Westfield, being the descendant of
the Averys of Groton, Conn. He was for many
years engaged in farming, owning a farm of
about fifty acres, where he resided until his
demise, before reaching the prime of manhood,
his birth having occurred April 20, 1795, and
his death, January 12, 1838. He married
Mary Chapman, who was born September 2,
1804, and passed away August i, 1859. Their
union was solemnized June 17, 1824, and they
had the following children : Orne Parks, who
was born May 24, 1825, and died December
30, 1836; Nathan C, of whom we write; and
Mary V., who was born August 18, 1836, and
died February 14, 1842. Walter Avery was a
man of much intelligence and sound sense, lib
eral in his religious views ; while his good wife
was an earnest member of the Baptist church.
Nathan C, the second son and only surviving
member of the family, having been educated
in the district school, during his minority

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

worked out on the neighboring farms, receiving
twenty-five cents a day for his labor, and later
worked by the month for some years. He
then began railroading, being employed as fire
man, brakeman, or baggageman on different
railways. Giving up this work, Mr. Avery at
length established himself in the trucking
business in Westfield, starting out with one
horse and a borrowed wagon, gradually work
ing up an extensive and paying business, being
the leading drayman in the city, and running
several teams, both single and double. By
paying strict attention to his work, being dili
gent, methodical, and prompt, he met with
unusual success, and, when he made up his
mind to settle down to agriculture, bought
the old Baker farm, containing one hundred
acres of good land, which he has occupied and
carried on since 1888.
On May 14, 185 1, Mr. Avery was united in
marriage to Maria L. Hamlin, a native of
Westfield, born August 31, 1831, a daughter
of Richard and Asenath (Fowler) Hamlin.
Mr. Hamlin was a native of Sharon, Conn. ;
and his wife was born in Westfield. He was
a well-known farmer of Little River, where he
died, aged sixty-eight years. His wife lived
to be eighty-eight years old. They had a fam
ily of nine children, namely: Eliza, wife of
Sherman Bates, of Little River; Timothy, of
Springfield; Maria L. , Mrs. Avery; Lucretia,
wife of Stiles Bush, of Westfield; Emily, wife
of Joseph Bardwell, of Holyoke; George, who
died in Illinois; Mrs. Juliet Fisher, who died
in Hartford; Mrs. Lucinda Weeks, who died
in New York; and Mrs. Elmira Jones, who
died in Westfield.
Three children have been born of the union
of Mr. and Mrs. Avery, as follows : Wilbert,
born August 6, 1853, died November 21,
1868. Robert N., born October i, 1866, re
sides in Springfield. Harry H. was born Feb
ruary 7, 1873. Mr. Avery is, politically, a
champion of the principles of the Democratic
party ; and, socially, is a member of Westfield
Lodge, No. 152, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. Religiously, both he and his wife
are independent and liberal in their views;
and they are held in high esteem for their
strong moral worth and upright, useful lives.

LIAS BROOKINGS, a prominent educa
tor of Springfield and principal of the
Central Street School since 1869, is
a native of the Pine Tree State, his birth
having occurred at Woolwich, Me. He is a
son of Elias and Elizabeth (Blinn) Brookings.
His father was a ship-builder and also a farmer
— a man of pronounced political views, who
instead of following the great majority of the
old Whig element, with whom he had always
affiliated, into the ranks of the Republican
party at its formation, joined the Democracy.
He was a member of the Baptist church.
Elias Brookings made the most of the lim
ited opportunities offered him for obtaining an
education in the district schools of Maine, and
at the age of seventeen years began his career
as a teacher by presiding over one of the dis
trict schools in that State. At the expiration
of his first term he attended the Litchfield
Academy with a view to fitting for college,
the realization of which he hoped to accom
plish by teaching winters and doing farm work
in summer. His manly struggle in this direc
tion was successful ; and he entered Colby
University at Waterville, Me., in 1858, grad
uating in 1862. He was immediately engaged
as principal of the Cherryfield Academy, and
labored in that capacity until December, 1864,
when he enlisted as a private in Company B,
Thirty-first Maine Regiment, and before leav
ing Augusta was promoted to the rank of
Orderly Sergeant, a short time later being
detailed on recruiting service. He was again
promoted, becoming First Lieutenant of. Com
pany FI of the same regiment, and continued
to serve as such until mustered out in July,
1865. The Thirty-first joined the army of the
Potomac at Alexandria, Va, , and participated
in the exciting campaign which followed,
being present and doing valuable service at the
battle of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold
Harbor, Petersburg, and the final assault upon
Richmond. During his service Lieutenant
Brookings was absent from duty but twenty-
four day-s, when he was in the hospital on
account of a slight wound received at the
battle of Cold Harbor. He was made a pris
oner, April 2, 1865, during the final assault on
Petersburg, and was with Lee's army on its

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

retreat, until its surrender at Appomattox
Court-house on April 9. These were among
the most eventful days of his army life,
crowded as they were with events of historic
moment. He had an opportunity to observe
the destitute condition of Lee's army, which
was held together only by the devotion of the
men to their commander-in-chief, their confi
dence in him almost equalling that manifested
by the followers of Napoleon for their chief.
After the surrender of the Confederate army
fifteen hundred prisoners, among whom was
Lieutenant Brookings, were distributed to their
respective regiments. As he had been re
ported missing, his return was a welcome sur
prise — a double surprise, for he was hardly
recognizable. On the verge of starvation
themselves, the Confederate army had little
to give their prisoners, and, emaciated with
hunger and exhausted and dusty from his three
days' march, Lieutenant Brookings was a piti
able object; and, when he presented himself
before the adjutant, that officer immediately
ordered his cook to prepare the best supper his
ability would permit, and also gave him his
own bed for the night. The war was now
ended; and from this time until the close of
his service life in the army amounted to little
less than a general and long-continued festival,
which finally culminated in the Thirty-first
being ordered home to be mustered out, which
event occurred at Bangor in July, 1865.
Mr. Brookings, after receiving his discharge,
resumed his duties as principal of Cherryfield
Academy, remaining until December, 1867,
when he accepted a similar position at the
Hitchcock Free High School of Brimfield,

Mass. In September, 1869, he came to
Springfield and commenced his labors as prin
cipal of the Central Street Grammar School,
where he .still presides, yearly adding to his
laurels as a thoroughly competent and most
successful educator. Mr. Brookings takes a
deep and unflagging interest in the welfare of
his pupils. He takes special pains to follow
their various movements after leaving his
charge. Their business or professional career
is carefully noted in books, which he main
tains for that purpose, in which are recorded
the marriage and other important events in

the life of each one, together with all possible
information he can ascertain relative to them
and their progress in life. It frequently hap
pens that former pupils come back to him for
advice or assistance in important matters, the
rendering of which is a source of great pleasure
to him. His has been one long, diligent ser
vice in seeking to stimulate the young to high
and intellectual motives, thereby making them
good and valuable citizens.
Recently Mr. Brookings has passed his sum
mers in taking parties of tourists abroad, and
many have availed themselves of the opportu
nity afforded by his wide historical knowledge
and 'his experience in European travel.
He married Miss Frances A. Redman, of
Cherryfield, Me. ; and, although not blessed
with any children of their own, they have
always had boys in their house who resided
with them for educational purposes. At the
present time they have a young man who has
lived with them for seven years, and is now a
Sophomore at Williams College.
Mr. Brookings has been a Republican since
P'remont's nomination. He is a member of
Roswell Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., also of
Wilcox Post, Grand Army of the Republic,
and served in the Union Relief Association
as one of the Board of Directors for twelve
years. He is a member of the Congregational
church; but his wife is an Episcopalian, and
he generally attends worship with her. His
home is at No. 55 Madison Avenue, one of
the finest locations in the city, directly oppo
site the palatial residence of S. L. Goodhue.

'Cm)/Tlliar ^V of th(
*^ ^^ ph-vsic

ILLIAM W. GARDNER, M.D., one
the oldest and most prominent
physicians and surgeons of Spring
field, where he has successfully conducted an
extensive practice since i860, was born at
Plainfield, Mass., May 5, 1826. He is the
son of Dr. Benjamin and Tirza (Poole) Gard
ner, and traces his descent from Colonial an
cestors. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin
Gardner, was a resident of Plainfield, where he
was a mason and builder for many years. His
son Benjamin, the father of our subject, ob
tained his degree of medicine at the Worcester

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Medical College, and practised at Cummington
and Chesterfield for many years. Dr. Benja
min Gardner was twice married, his first wife,
Tirza Poole, being the mother of William W. ,
who was one of five children. The Poole fam
ily were at one time residents of Hampden
County. William W. Gardner laid the foundation of
his education in the public schools of Plain-
field and Cummington, after completing which
he taught in the schools of Cummington, West
Village, and Savoy. He subsequently entered
the office of Dr. L. L. Tobey, of Cummington,
West Village, where he read medicine for a
time, taking his first course of lectures at
Pittsfield, and later attending the Medical Col
lege at Worcester, from which he graduated in
1849. He first located at Pittsfield, where he
remained about three years, going from there
to Warsaw, N.Y. ; and after five years of suc
cessful practice at the latter town he settled
in Springfield (in i860), where he has since
resided. Determined to procure as complete
and varied a medical education as possible.
Dr. Gardner matriculated at Bellevue College
in 1863, graduating from the University of
New York in 1865, and also from the Eye and
Ear Infirmary the same year. On his return
to Springfield he made diseases of the eye and
ear a specialty, though not confining his prac
tice wholly to this line until 1875. Since
then he has devoted his entire time and energy
to ophthalmology and otology, being well
known and recognized as a most skilful spe
cialist. He has been an active member of the
Massachusetts Medical Society nearly a third
of a century, and served continuously upon the
hospital staff for thirteen years. Dr. Gardner
was for a period of nine years a member of the
School Committee, not only serving with credit
to himself, but rendering much valuable aid to
the city in this direction. In De Soto Lodge
of Odd Fellows he has passed all of the vari
ous chairs, and has been Grand Master of the
State and Grand Representative to the Sover
eign Grand Lodge, besides holding all offices
in the Encampment ; and he is an honorary
member of the Canton, having been an active
member of the order for a period of forty years.
He also is connected with the Masonic frater

nity, being a member of Hampden Lodge and
Morning Star Chapter. In religious matters
he is inclined to be liberal, and is a member
of the St. Paul's Universalist Church, where
he has been superintendent of the Sabbath-
school for twenty years.
On February 23, 1849, he was united in
marriage to Miss Emeline Amanda North, of
East Long Meadow, and has five children, as
follows: Dr. C. R. Gardner, of Northampton;
Newman W. , an architect, of Baltimore, Md. ;
Julian E., a veterinary surgeon and a grad
uate of McGill College, Montreal, now resid
ing in Hartford, Conn. ; Mrs. Cora E. Chapin,
a teacher in the city school ; and Ina, wife of
Benjamin Powel.
Dr. Gardner is a veteran of the Mexican
War, and as such receives a pension. He was
appointed to the board of examiners in pension
cases during President Cleveland's first admin
istration, and served in that capacity for two
years. He has been an exceedingly successful
practitioner, besides being active in many ways
outside of his profession, and when a young
man evinced much interest in politics; but in
later life any desire he may have entertained
for political preferment was laid aside in order
to fully and faithfully attend to his profes
sional duties. For the past thirty years the
Doctor has resided at 336 Central Street,
Springfield.

ENRY D. PEASE, the genial and
popular proprietor of the Westfield
Steam Laundry, was born in En
field, Conn., on the 19th of January,
1848. From a genealogy of the Pease family
compiled by the Rev. David Pease, assisted by
Arthur S. Pease, we learn the following: The
first ancestor of the family in America was
Robert Pease, a native of England, who sailed
from Ipswich the last of April, 1634, on the
ship "Francis, " landing at Boston. He set
tled in Salem, Mass., and there died in early
life, at the age of thirty-seven. The next in
order of descent was John Pease, who was, it
is supposed, born in England, being but a lad
when he accompanied his parents, Robert
Pease and wife, to this country. Having

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

183

grown to manhood, he settled in Enfield,
Conn., where he passed the last years of his
life. From him down the line is as follows:
His son Isaac was the father of Isaac second,
and grandfather of Isaac Pease third, who was
father of Rufus Pease. Alpheus was the son
of Rufus and father of Alpheus Dwight, the
latter being the father of Henry D. Pease.
Alpheus Dwight Pease was a native of En
field, Conn., the date of his birth being
December 16, 1814. He became a soap man
ufacturer, carrying on the business for a num
ber of years in his native town. He finally
purchased a farm, and engaged in the pleasant
pursuit of agriculture, but is now living
retired from active labor in the village of
Westfield, having attained the advanced age of
eighty years. He married Phebe Hills, who
was born in East Hadford, a daughter of Abner
and Lucy (Lowe) Hills. Mrs. Phebe Hills
Pease died in 1878. She was the mother of
five children — Eudora, Orianna, Henry D. ,
Wilber H., and Luella. The latter died at
the early age of fifteen years.
At the age of eighteen Henry D. Pease
began to learn the trade of harness-making,
serving as an apprentice for a period of nearly
three years. He then followed the trade eight
years, at the expiration of which time he en
gaged in the laundry business. His means
being limited, he started out in a small way;
but by strict attention to business, observing
the same care in small details as in larger
matters, he soon secured a large patronage,
being shortly obliged to increase his working
force, and at the present time is doing an ex
tensive and ever-increasing business. He has
erected a good building, and his laundry is
furnished with all modern machinery necessary
for the completion of first-class work. He has
always been careful in the selection of his
help, aiming to secure skilled labor, thus
insuring satisfactory results.
In 1876 was celebrated the union of Mr.
Pease with Miss Inez Newton Garrigus. Mrs.
Pease was born in Enfield, Conn., and is a
daughter of Isaac N. and Caroline M. (Twiss)
Garrigus. Five children have come to bless
the household of Mr. and Mrs. Pease, as fol
lows: Emma E., born April 20, 1878;

Charles H., January 6, 1880; Clarence A. G.,
August I, 1887; Lester N., July 3, 1889;
and Paul H., March 26, 1891. Both Mr, and
Mrs. Pease are members of the Second Advent
church, of which he is a Deacon. Frater
nally, he is connected with Woronoco Lodge,
Independent Order of Good Templars.

fHOMAS W. COBURN, lately deceased,
of the Springfield Fire and Marine
Insurance Company, was born in
Worcester, June 28, 1846. His parents,
Francis C. and Adelaide (Hallett) Coburn,
moved from Worcester to Springfield when
their son Thomas was a young child, so that
his education was begun and completed in the
public and high schools of that city. Im
mediately after leaving school Thomas Coburn,
who was just eighteen years of age, enlisted
for one hundred days in Company A, Eighth
Massachusetts Regiment, and was detailed to
do office service under the provost marshal.
This was in 1864; and the young recruit sent
letters from the headquarters near Baltimore
to the Daily Union and the Republican, of
Springfield, on which papers he was a regular
correspondent. Mr. Coburn, who had been
writing for various newspapers since his early
boyhood, was employed after his discharge
from army service by L. J. Powers to take
charge of his news rooms under the Massasoit
House. For several years Mr. Coburn was
here employed with satisfactory results to his
employer, and only resigned in order to enter
the office of the Republican, the mailing de
partment of which was under his special super
vision. Three or four years later he accepted
a position with the American News Company
in Brooklyn, where he remained for several
years. Compelled to remove thence on ac
count of the ill health of his wife, with whom
the climate did not agree, he returned to
Springfield, and again entered the office of the
Republican, with which he was connected until
1872, when he was employed by the Spring
field Fire and Marine Insurance Company as
stenographer. Mr. Coburn had been giving
instruction in the latter art for some time pre
vious to his acceptance of this position, and

i84

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

had acquired quite a reputation as an expert.
For five years he held the position of stenog
rapher. Fle then became examiner of risks,
and later was appointed to the important duty
of adjusting losses, both of which positions he
held until his death, which occurred on March
8, 1890. His connection with the Fire and
Marine Insurance Company extended over a
period of seventeen years, during which he
gave entire satisfaction both to his employers
and the patrons of the company.
The musical element of Springfield owed a
lasting debt to Mr. Coburn, to whose instru
mentality the organization of the Hampden
County Musical Association was largely due.
Holding the office of secretary from the date of
its organization until his death, he used every
means within his power to aid and strengthen
the association ; and, when the projected plan
for the festival needed substantial aid and
encouragement, it was his generosity, enthusi
asm, and encouragement that made its accom
plishment possible and its fruition successful.
His long-cherished desire that Springfield
should do something for music worthy of
recognition from acknowledged authorities was
at last gratified when in 1889 the musical fes
tival of the city won such plaudits from lovers
and critics of the art. In Mr. Coburn's man
ner there was a cordiality which attracted and
a dignity which demanded respect and brooked
no imposition. He possessed, moreover, a
more than ordinary amount of executive abil
ity, which gave him a peculiar force among
men. In his position as secretary of the Mu
sical Association his almost instinctive knowl
edge of the capabilities of the different
musicians, of the salient points of merit in the
compositions rendered, and of the probable
reception of them by the public, conjoined
with his keen perception and critical aljility,
made him invaluable to the association, and
his death an irreparable loss to that organ
ization. On August I, 1867, Mr. Coburn was mar
ried to Miss Marion M. Stebbins in the city
of Springfield. Mrs. Coburn's father was a
railroad official, being depot master at Spring
field, in the employ of the Boston & Maine
Road, and also made up trains in New York

City. An only son, Monroe Washburn Co-
burn, born August 2, 1868, was the issue of
this union.. Mr. Monroe Coburn was for some
time employed in the wholesale boot and shoe
house of Mcintosh & Co., but is now a
member of the firm of Brewer & Coburn, at
480 Main Street. He is also a member of De,
Soto Lodge, No. 155, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, and of the Oriental Lodge of
Knights of Honor, and belongs to the Spring
field Bicycle Club. Mrs. Coburn and her son
reside at 288 St. James Avenue, giving to
each other since their bereavement mutual
protection and sympathy.

AMES C. COOPER, who is familiarly
and favorably known to all the resi
dents of Chester, where he has served
as Postmaster since 1889, is one of its
representative citizens and most efficient and
capable business men. He is a native of the
village of Chester, born December 10, 1849, a
son of John C. and Charlotte (Cone) Cooper,
well known and esteemed residents of this
place for many years.
John C. Cooper was a native of Peru, Mass.,
born October 5, 181 7, and in early life was
employed as a builder of railroads, becoming
foreman of a construction gang, and working
on many different roads. He subsequently
filled the position of conductor, and for many
years was known as one of the most popular
and genial conductors of the New York & New
Haven Railway. He died ere reaching his
prime, at South Norwalk, Conn., aged thirty-
nine years. His widow survived him many
years, dying in Chester at the age of seventy-
three. Of their three children we record the
following: Charles C. resides in Springfield.
Willard N. is a resident of Chester. James
C. is the subject of this sketch.
James C. Cooper has spent the major part of
his life in Chester, acquiring his education in
its public schools; and at an early age, being-
deprived of a father's care, he began to earn
his own living. Fle was first employed on the
farm of Rufus Tinker, who paid him twenty-
one dollars for eight months' work. For six
teen years he worked at farm labor or anything

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

185

he could find to do. Then, having saved some
money, he followed the bent of his inclinations
and entered upon a mercantile career, at one
time forming a partnership with F. E. Bidwell,
and putting in a stock of general merchandise.
In this store he was interested for about six
years, and then the partners disposed of their
business. In 1889 Mr. Cooper was appointed
to his present official position, and in the
discharge of the duties connected therewith
he has given universal satisfaction. He carries
a good line of stationery and current literature,
in addition to the regular post-office supplies,
thus keeping up his connection with mercantile
pursuits. In 1870 Mr. Cooper was united in marriage
to Maggie Lacey, who was born in Hunting
ton, Mass., and who died in 1873 in Conway,
Mass., leaving one son. On October 7, 1882,
Mr. Cooper was again married, Mrs. Eliza J.
Parks, the widow of John Parks, becoming his
wife. She, too, was born in Huntington,
being a daughter of the late Rodney and Mary
Fiske. She is a woman of broad culture,
active in all good works, possessing great force
of character and those sterling qualities of
heart and mind that win the esteem and
respect of all. Mr. Cooper has a fine resi
dence in the village, where he and his wife
delight to welcome their many friends and
extend to them the generous hospitality for
which they are noted. He has three sons, the
oldest, John C, being a clerk in a Springfield
store. J. Worcester and C. Willard are at
home. Mr. Cooper is a warm advocate of the
principles of the Republican party, and he and
his wife are liberal in their religious views.

jTHAN CHAPIN ROBINSON, proprie
tor of the Massasoit Livery Stables,
Springfield, was born in Brattleboro,
Vt., on May 6, 1839, during Van Buren' s ad
ministration. His grandfather, Joel Robin
son, kept the old tavern in West Springfield,
now known as South Holyoke, where Ethan's
father, Jonathan Smith Robinson, was born.
After reaching maturity Jonathan went away
from home, and was captain of the canal-boat
"Sarah Ann" on the Erie Canal, when that

important watery highway was rapidly devel
oping the resources of Central New York.
Later he went to Brattleboro, and kept the
Vermont Tavern, which stood on the present
location of the post-office and town hall.
After a few years he came to Chicopee to keep
a livery stable in connection with the Cabot
House, then under the proprietorship of his
two brothers-in-law, Marvin and Ethan Chapin.
Four years later, in 1845, he came to Spring
field and bought' Chester W. Chapin's stable,
which has been retained in the Robinson fam
ily ever since. In 1858, however, the father
sold the stable to his son Ethan, and himself
bought the Nayasset House, at the corner of
Railroad Row and Water Street, which he
kept for a few years. At the time of the great
Rebellion he raised a squadron of cavalry, and
went to Reedville camp with it, and thence
into the field; and so impaired was his health
by his military service that he did not long
survive his discharge. Mr. Robinson held
various local offices in the towns where he re
sided. His wife was Amelia Pease Chapin,
sister of M. and E. S. Chapin, A. P. Chapin,
and Horace Chapin. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson
had five children, four of whom lived to ma
turity. Of these our subject was the eldest.
Plenry Robinson was at first a soldier in his
father's cavalry, but afterward joined the Pea
body Guards, to which he belonged until his
death. Olive Robinson married W. L. Fitz
gerald, of New York City. Marvin Robinson
is a hotel man, and now lives in New York
City, but has been proprietor of the Boston
Tavern in Boston, the Clifford House in Ply
mouth, and the Narragansett House at Provi
dence, R. I. , besides being a clerk in several
other prominent hotels. The parents were
members of the North Congregational Church,
and the mother died in 1892.
Six early years of our subject's life were
passed in Chicopee, whither the family re
moved in his infancy. There he began to
attend school, but finished his education in
Springfield. At the early age of ten he began
working in Colt's pistol factory at Hartford,
Conn. ; and at twelve he left school, and went
into his father's stable. Becoming thoroughly
acquainted with the business, at the age of

i86

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

nineteen he bought the Massasoit Stables,
when there were but ten horses, kept in a com
mon wooden barn ; whereas now he has a fine
three-story brick stable, seventy feet by fifty,
the largest in the city, besides another two-
story brick building, measuring sixty feet by
forty, and the old barn. The third floor is
devoted to a paint shop, where two first-class
painters are busy the year round, keeping his
carriages in prime order and repainting each at
least twice a year. Including boarders, there
are eighty horses in the Massasoit Stables. Mr.
Robinson owns a twenty-acre farm on Spring
field Street, Brightwood, where he has fine stock
of his own, besides some boarders. At Tatham
Hill, West Springfield, he owns sixty acres and
has a fine breeding establishment, not only for
horses, but for fancy poultry and hogs. He is
also the proprietor of the oyster restaurant
under the Massasoit House. Since reaching
maturity he has belonged to the Hampden
Park Association, of which his father was an
organizer in 1850, and which was reorganized
in 1880. He is also a member of the Hamp
den Park Trotting Association, which has held
annual exhibitions of horseflesh since 1880,
always having Mr. Robinson for its secretary,
and one of the managing board. In fact, he is
one of the stirring men of the city, the growth
of his establishment having placed him among
Springfield's influential citizens. As already
indicated he is greatly interested in trotting
stock, and some years ago went over the circuit
with the noted trotter, St. Elmo, and others,
among them W. H. Ripley (bl. s. ), None
such (c. m. ), and Robert Hambletonian (b. s. ),
winning many purses offered by the Hampden
Association. Few men in New England are
more reliable judges of the value and possibili
ties of horses. It is a pleasure to visit his
well-appointed stables and look over his fine
stock and magnificent display of vehicles of
every description, always up to date. The
owner's pleasant features in the foreground are
a guarantee of fair dealing and courtesy; for
no stableman is more popular, and few stables
between New York and Boston more widely
known and patronized. His wife, whom he
married October 29, i860, was formerly Sarah
Amelia Loomis, daughter of James and Nancy

(Bagg) Loomis. Born in Hartford, she came
to Springfield with her parents in babyhood.
Of their children one has survived, Charles
Loomis Robinson, born in 1861, teller in the
Agawam Bank continuously since 1879. One
child died in infancy. The family reside at
56 Bradford Street. Twice has Mr. Robinson
been elected to the Common Council on a
Democratic ticket, and he has also the honor
of being the only man of his party ever sent
from his district to the State legislature. He
has been Deputy Sheriff for eight years.
Ever since its foundation he has belonged to
the Winthrop Club, and formerly belonged
to the Springfield Club. Hampden Lodge,
Morning Star Chapter, and Springfield Com
mandery number him on their rolls ; and he
has reached the thirty-second rung on the
Masonic ladder. He is also in Aleppo
Temple, Mystic Shrine, order of Boston.

WILLIAM RICE, D.D., was
born in the city where he now resides,
Springfield, on March 10, 182 1,
and is a descendant in the seventh
generation from Edmund Rice, who was born
about 1594, when Shakspere was producing
his great plays in London. Emigrating to
this country, Edmund Rice settled in Sud
bury, Mass., in 1639, but soon after removed
to Marlboro in the same colony, where he
died May 3, 1663. One of his descendants
was Nathan Rice, born in 1761, who as a lad
fought in the War of Independence, being
only fourteen when the Lexington massacre
occurred. He spent his life mainly as a
farmer, and died in 1838, at the age of
seventy-seven. FIis wife, Hepzibah Allen, a
relative of the famous Ethan Allen, belonged
in old Concord, and was living there, a child
of a dozen years, at the time of the great
fight. She was born in 1763, and died in
1854, having reached the advanced age of
ninety-one. They had a son, William Rice, who was
born in Belchertown in 1788, soon after the
Revolution was over. In boyhood he went to
Wilbraham, and there lived till the age of
thirty, in 1818, when he removed to Spring-

WILLIAM RICE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

187

field and kept a store. Intelligence, public
spirit, and integrity soon won him a foremost
place in the growing town; and year after
year he was elected to important local offices.
In 1830, at the age of forty-two, he was
electecl Register of Deeds for Hampden
County, and held the post nearly thirty years.
In 1838 he was chosen also County Treasurer,
and was re-elected till 1856, a period of eigh
teen years. Whatever the mutations of party,
his faithfulness and ability prevailed over all
opposition at the polls; and there was rarely a
rival claimant for any office which he held.
Conspicuous in his devotion to the Methodist
church, he was never bigoted in his relations
to those who differed from him, but generous
to every Christian cause. Naturally inter
ested in Wilbraham, he was one of the
founders there of the first Methodist school in
New England, giving to it one-third of his
entire property at the time of its establish
ment; nor did fiis benefactions cease with
this .endowment, but only with his earthly
career. His life, full of simplicity and use
ful goodness, terminated at the age of
seventy-five, in 1863. William Rice's wife
was Jerusha Warriner, a lineal descendant of
William Warriner, who settled in Springfield
in 1640, when the contest of King Charles I.
with Parliament was waxing dangerous. She
died in 1869, six years after her husband,
when she was eighty-four, having been born
in 1785, just as the effects of independence
were being felt in the united colonies.
Of her two sons and two daughters Dr. Rice
is tTie sole survivor. After studying in the
public schools of Springfield, he attended the
Wilbraham Academy, for which his generous
father had done so much, and was graduated
with honor in 1840, at the age of nineteen.
After a rest, demanded by his health, he en
tered the New England Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in 1841. As
one of its regular preachers, under the itiner
ant system, he was appointed to pastorates
successively in North Maiden, Saugus, Mar
blehead, North Russell Street in Boston,
South Street in Lynn, Park Street in Chelsea,
Chicopee, Bromfield Street in Boston. Then
he was again stationed over the Park Street

Church, Chelsea; but here his health broke
down, and he decided to make Springfield his
home, while holding what is known as a
supernumerary relation to the Conference.
Subsequently, although able to perform some
active service in the ministry, he did not
relinquish his Springfield residence. A de
voted pastor and excellent preacher, he always
held a prominent place in the denominational
ranks, and had pleasant affiliations with other
bodies, often occupying their pulpits. In
1856, when there was waging in the Meth
odist councils the conflict which led to a sepa
ration into North and South, Dr. Rice was
elected to the General Conference as a pro
nounced antislavery leader. In our centen
nial year he was again elected to the General
Conference, and served on important commit
tees. He was also appointed by the bishops
on a committee for the revision of the Meth
odist hymn book, a duty to which he devoted
much time and labor. This task accom
plished, he was appointed chairman of the
publication committee, and was abundantly
gratified by the appreciation with which the
new hymnal was received by all classes in the
church. The Doctor has also performed other
literary work, publishing the "Pastor's Man
ual," for the convenience of clergymen in
their official routine, and a collection of
"Moral and Religious Quotations from the
Poets," containing four thousand topical selec
tions. He received the degree of A.M. from
Wesleyan University in 1853, and in 1876
the higher honorary degree of D.D. was con
ferred by the same institution. He is Presi
dent of the Board of Trustees of the Wesleyan
Academy at Wilbraham, a position which he
has held for thirteen years; and he has been
a Trustee of that institution since 1859. He
has also been a Trustee of the Wesleyan Uni
versity at Middletown, Conn., for about
twenty-five years. These offices are not held
by Dr. Rice as merely nominal trusts. He is
active in the councils and committee work of
both the academy and the college, and has
contributed efficiently to the growth and pros
perity of these institutions. For eighteen
years Dr. Rice was a member of the Massa
chusetts Board of Education, and for the same

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

period he was a member of the School Com
mittee of the city of Springfield. It was
largely through his influence that a thorough
classical course of study was introduced into
the city high school, and several of the
grammar school buildings were erected during
his period of service.
But Dr. Rice's principal work has been for
the city of Springfield in connection with
its public library. His services as librarian
commenced in 1861. From the beginning
the selection and purchase of books have been
confided to his judgment; and for this he was
admirably fitted by his wide reading, broad
culture, and liberal views. In the early days
of the library, while it occupied rooms in the
City Hall, he was unwearied in his labors in
its behalf, soliciting donations and seeking
by persistent efforts to secure its growth and
permanent establishment. Later he gave the
heartiest co-operation to the few noble men
through whose magnificent efforts the beauti
ful building on State Street was erected at a
cost of one hundred thousand dollars. When
the library was made absolutely free in 1885,
he inaugurated the effort to insure the ade
quate growth of its reference department by
securing an endowment fund. Thirty thou
sand dollars contributed to this fund has been
received and invested, and the amount will
reach one hundred thousand dollars when the
legacies already made are paid to the associa
tion. Dr. Rice has also been active and un
wearied in his efforts in behalf of the new art
building, which has just been completed at an
expense (including the lot on which it stands)
of about one hundred and thirty-five thousand
dollars. If the city of Springfield has a
library ranking eighth aniong the free public
libraries of the whole country, and established
on a broad and liberal basis, it is largely
owing to the tireless industry, the tact, and the
scholarship of its able and efficient librarian.
The Directors of the City Library Associa
tion expressed their appreciation of his merits
when at the annual meeting in 1892 they
unanimously adopted the following resolution:
Resolved, That the present library building of the
City Library Association shall be known henceforth as
the William Rice Building, in honor of the man whose

devotion to the city and the institution inspired its
erection, and whose service has filled it with treasures
of knowledge and wisdom for the free use of all the
people. Dr. Rice was married September 13, 1843,
at the age of twenty-two. His wife was Caro
line Laura North, daughter of William North,
of Lowell, a lady of fine mind and liberal
culture, worthily fitted to aid her husband in
his life work; and in no inadequate measure
has that help been given. During the entire
period of the war Mrs. Rice was President of
the Soldiers' Aid Society of Springfield. At
the close of the struggle she was one of the
three original corporators of the Home for the
Friendless, and for four years was President
of its Board of Control. Recently she has
been prominently identified with the Woman's
Club. But, while Mrs. Rice's ability as an
organizer and presiding officer has been thor
oughly tested in the public positions she has
occupied, her best work has been done in the
more secluded circle of church and home life.
Her kindly presence and gentle sway have
exerted an influence which can never be es
timated, but will ever be treasured by those
who have been permitted to enjoy her more
intimate friendship.
The children of Dr. and Mrs. Rice are the
Rev. William North Rice, Ph.D., LL.D., a
scientist and for twenty-five years a Professor
of Geology in the Wesleyan University; the
Rev. Charles Francis Rice, D.D., at present
pastor of the Epworth Methodist Church in
Cambridge, Mass. ; and Caroline Laura Rice,
A.M., now the wife of Professor Morris B.
Crawford, of the Wesleyan University. They
have lost one son — Edward H. Rice, A.M.
We close this biographical sketch with a
notice of the golden wedding of Dr. and Mrs.
Rice, which was celebrated September 13,
1893. On account of the expressed wishes of
the honored couple to make it a quiet family
festival there was no general public demon
stration, such as their numerous friends would
have delighted to give; but the high regard
in which they were held would not allow the
event to pass without recognition. There
were consequently many callers all through
the day and evening at the modest home on

>-
a:
<CO
H
OQ
to
o22Du
CO

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

189

Court Street, which enjoys the double distinc
tion of being also the scene of celebration of
the golden wedding of the father of Dr. Rice.
During the afternoon the Methodfst pastors
of the city with their wives came in, and
brought a printed address of greeting ele
gantly bound, while a like memorial came
from the Trinity Methodist Church through
a committee consisting of their pastor and the
official members. The Springfield District
Ministerial Association also presented a writ
ten address through a committee of- three
clergymen. Dr. Rice responded' after each
address was offered. A large, number 'of let
ters and telegrams were received during the
day expressing congratulations, and among
the guests who called were representatives
from nearly every denomination in the city.
Among the gifts received was one from the
Directors of the City Library Association.
It was a beautiful eight-day clock with
chimes, elegantly carved and gilded. With
this clock came the following letter: —
Honored . Sir, — The Directors of the City Library
Association, of Springfield, whose duties have been
lightened and enlightened by your counsel and co-opera
tion in the management of their important trust, recog
nize that the great value of the institution to our com
munity is due in the largest measure to your assiduous
labor, wise judgment, and cultivated taste. Their asso
ciation with you has engendered within them the deep
est appreciation of you as a citizen and friend; and,
mindful of the event of an anniversary which marks the
ending of fifty and, they hope, the beginning of many
more golden years of your wedded life, they wish to
avail themselves of this memorable occasion to testify
to you their profound respect, their warm personal
regard, and their great admiration for your noble Chris
tian life, whereby you have endeared yourself, not
only to them, but to two generations of your fellow-
citizens. To this end they beg of- you, through their
committee, to accept the accompanying gift as a visible
token of their deep friendship and love. They desire
likewise to offer their congratulations' to your gifted
wife, who has aided so materially in your great life
work, and who has independently rendered service of
high value to our city andjts people.
This letter -.was signed by James A. Rum
rill, Thomas M. Balliet, and William S.
Shurtleff. All Dr. Rice's children were present and
all the grandchildren except Professor Will

iam Rice's son, who was studying abroad, and
could only send a cable message. Of the
other seven grandchildren five belonged to the
Rev. Dr. Charles F. Rice and two to Mrs.
Crawford.

,ITY LIBRARY, SPRINGFIELD.
The City Library Association of
Springfield was organized in 1857
to supply a great public need. The
members of two existing institutions, the
Young Men's Literary Association and the
Young Men's Institute, united with other
citizens in this enterprise.; and their small
libraries were made over to the new organi
zation. A considerable sum of money was
raised by subscription, and additions were
made to the library by donations of books.
In 1859 the library was given rooms in the
City Hall, which were occupied until 1871,
when the present building was erected at a
cost of one hundred thousand dollars, which
was defrayed by subscriptions.
On removal of the library to the new build
ing it numbered twenty-five thousand volumes.
October i, 1894, it numbered about eighty-
eight thousand. The amount of funds con
tributed by the association and invested in
lands, building, or books, had then reached
the sum of one hundred and eighty-five
thousand dollars. Since then about thirty
thousand dollars have been contributed to en
dowment funds, each fund being known by the
name designated by the donor, and the annual
interest expended for the specific department
indicated by the donor. Thus the contribu
tors of these funds are enabled to secure a
lasting memorial of themselves or their
friends, and at the same time to provide for a
constant growth of some department of the
library. The interest of the endowment
funds is appropriated to the purchase of books
for the reference department of the library,
which is rapidly increasing in value. Annual
appropriations are made by the city govern
ment in accordance with the charter of the
association, which provides that so long as
the corporation allows the inhabitants of the
city free access to its books at reasonable

190

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

hours, for the purposes of using the same on
the premises, the city may make appropria
tions for maintaining the library. The
officers of the association consist of presi
dent, vice-president, clerk, treasurer, and
eleven directors elected by the association;
and, in order to represent the city govern
ment, the mayor, president of the common
council, and superintendent of schools are
added ex officio to their number. Any citizen
may become a member of the association on
the payment of fifty dollars or its value in
books. A fee of one dollar a year was charged at
first for the use of books; but in 1885 the in
stitution was opened to the public as a free
library, and the success of the new departure
was beyond the expectation of its most san
guine friends. The number of card-holders
increased during that year from eleven hun
dred to over seven thousand, and the circula
tion of books nearly fourfold. October i,
1894, the number of card-holders was seven
teen thousand five hundred, the whole number
given out since the opening of the library
under the new department being twenty thou
sand eight hundred and seventy. The circu
lation for the year ending May i, 1894, was
one hundred and fifty thousand two hundred
and eleven books given out for home use,
besides thirty-one thousand eight hundred
and twelve given out for hall use, making an
aggregate of one hundred and eighty-two
thousand and twenty-three volumes used dur
ing the year. This does not include the use
of dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and such books
as can be consulted directly by readers
without applying to the librarians. The
statistics for the reading-room indicate a
steady advance in readers and an improvement
in the character of the periodicals which are
read. The list includes daily and weekly
newspapers and the best magazines, reviews,
and scientific periodicals of the times, both
American and foreign, covering a wide range
of topics — history, political science, sociol
ogy, theology, natural science, music, art,
etc. These are valuable for study as well as
entertainment; and most of them are bound
when the year or volume is completed, and

placed upon the shelves of the library for
further use.
At this day there is no necessity of urging
the usefulness of free public libraries. That
they are desirable and should receive encour
agement, not only from wealthy citizens in
the form of liberal donations for buildings and
for endowment funds, but also in the form of
direct tax or by municipal grant, is now gener
ally admitted. Indeed, their importance as
factors in the grand scheme of popular educa
tion is not only admitted by educators, but to
such extent by the general public that pro
vision has been made in many of the States
for the appropriation of public funds for their
support. This is especially true in Massa
chusetts. If their claims are put on no
higher ground, it might be urged that none of
the material interests of a city or town can be
more important than the development of its
citizens in intelligence, in practical knowl
edge, in cultivated skill, and in power to
apply to individual purposes ceaseless discov
eries in science and the arts. No money ex
pended can make such good returns as that
which is devoted to secure this development,
and no instrumentality is more effective in
securing this end than a free public library
established on a broad and generous basis.
Since the establishment of this library it has
sent into the families of this city nearly two
million five hundred thousand volumes; and
besides this outside circulation it has supplied
about four hundred thousand volumes for read
ing and study in the building itself. More
over, aside from papers, fully three hun
dred and seventy-five thousand numbers of
periodicals, magazines, reviews, and scientific
journals have been given out in the reading-
room. The use of the reference department for
purposes of study is constantly increasing.
Pupils in the schools, classes in literature and
art among the ladies, members of the various
clubs, social, literary, and scientific, clergy
men and physicians, students in art and de
sign, social science, and political economy — ¦
all these and many others pursuing special
investigations or employing their leisure in
general study, are making incessant demands

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

191

upon the library for the latest and the best
books. All this indicates that in these days
of intellectual activity nothing less than a
constant addition to the reference department
will supply the demand. The continual
development of science in its application to
the ordinary occupations of life and the ever-
increasing tendency to artistic design in all
our surroundings have created a call for
departments of knowledge hitherto much neg
lected, but which, in their quickened cultiva
tion in the light of modern discovery, modern
invention, and modern taste, appear like a
new revelation. A field of education is thus
opened in which the public library appears
the chief educator. Books relating to these
subjects are expensive, but they are eagerly
sought by citizens of every class who would
make the hand and the head work in concert.
Through the increase of endowment funds the
library has been able to make large additions
to these departments, and thus to supply in a
good degree these new demands.
The importance of the library as an adjunct
to the public schools is universally admitted.
The practical question among educators to-day
relates rather to the best methods of use.
Some of the methods employed are as follows:
Works on the principles of education and on
the theory and art of teaching are provided for
the use of instructors, thus supplying the ben
efit of continued normal instruction to the
teachers. Many volumes of the best books
directly illustrative of the various studies pur
sued in the schools are furnished, also the
means for collateral and general study both
for teachers and pupils. Each teacher is fur
nished with a personal card and also with a
teacher's card, which entitles the holder to
take out six books at a time for use in the
schools or in their classes. The library con
tains a great variety of useful and popular
books in history, biography, travels, and nat
ural sciences, selected with special reference
to the wants of juvenile readers and with ref
erence also to the courses of study in the vari
ous grades of schools. A juvenile catalogue
of the best books is placed in each of the
schools, and a more complete card catalogue
of juvenile books is provided for use in the

library. Any and all the resources of the
library, in the form of books, maps, pictures,
etc., that can illustrate or give reality to read
ing or study, are placed at the disposal of
teachers ; and they are encouraged to bring
classes to the library, as they have opportu
nity, for purposes of special topical study.
Also they are desired to furnish in advance
the topics they propose to give to their
classes; and the librarians select for their use
books illustrating these subjects, and place
them at the disposal of the pupils for consul
tation and study out of school hours. This
use of the library is extremely valuable, espe
cially for more advanced pupils. Such use of
books for school purposes results both in the
improvement of the work of the schools and,
what is even more important, in giving the
pupils familiarity with the use of books, and
in cultivating habits of investigation which
will be likely to lead them to prosecute their
studies after their school life ends.
The present building being altogether in
adequate for the ever-widening work of the
Library Association, a new building has just
been erected, and will soon be ready for occu
pancy. Its uses will be varied. It will con
tain the natural history museum, which has
been thoroughly classified and rearranged,
with a view to more practical use of its re
sources for purposes of study, and to which
valuable additions will be made. It will con
tain also rooms for the use of clubs and
classes engaged in special study, and for uni
versity extension lectures.
The upper part of the new building will be
devoted to art purposes. First of all, it will
contain the exceedingly valuable art collec
tion of Mr. G. W. V. Smith, a collection
which the fine natural and cultivated taste
of Mr. Smith, his accurate knowledge, his
trained judgment, and the opportunities af
forded by his long residence in the centres of
European art have enabled him to accumu
late. This collection, selected with special
reference to completeness, now embraces
specimens in almost every department of art,
and is admirably adapted for purposes of art
study. To aid in the study the large number
of descriptive and practical works on the fine

192

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

arts and on industrial art already in the li
brary will be placed in this building, where
space has been provided for them and for other
art collections, in the hope of forming a per
manent and increasing valuable art gallery.
After the removal of the museum to the new
building, the circulating department of the
library will be removed to the old museum
room. This will furnish greatly increased
facilities for the use of the reference depart
ment for purposes of special investigation and
study. With these combined agencies for
culture, at once so varied and so practical, the
library will speedily become the great centre
of the intellectual life of the city and the
surrounding region.
The present board of officers are President,
James A. Rumrill; Vice-President, John
Olmsted; Clerk, \Villiam Rice; Treasurer,
Henry H. Bowman; Directors, John B. Steb
bins, O. H. Greenleaf, Samuel Bowles,
Nathan D. Bill, William S. Shurtleff, Will
iam H. Haile, Charles H. Southworth,
G. W. V. Smith, Henry S. Lee, Fred
erick H. Gillett, James "W. Kirkham, Hon.
Charles L. Long, Mayor, Robert A. Knight,
President of the Common Council, Thomas M.
Balliet, Superintendent of Schools; Auditors,
J. H. Appleton, R. F. Hawkins.
WILLIAM RICE,
Librarian.
The above history of the City Library As
sociation and its library was prepared by Dr.
William Rice; but no account of the Spring
field City Library would be complete without
recognition of the invaluable services and ear
nest interest of its honored librarian, of whom
a fuller sketch will be found elsewhere in this
work. The Rev. Dr. Rice was made libra
rian of the City Library Association in Sep
tember, 1 86 1, and has continued in the office
till the present time, a period of thirty-three
years. To him, more than to any other one
or any dozen persons, is owing the success of
the institution; and he holds high rank among
the librarians of the country. Few can show
longer record of service, and none a record
more faithful. He enjoys in the fullest de
gree the respect and confidence of the City

Library Association and the esteem of his
fellow-citizens.

fXURISTON M. BERRY, M.D., a resi
lient of Chicopee Falls, Hampden
County, Mass., and a well-known
and appreciated ph)'sician of the cit}',
was born in Westvillc, Franklin County,
N. Y., July 23, 1S41, being the son of Philo
and Huldah (Wilson) Berry, grandson of Bar
nabas and Percinda (Swift) Berry, great-grand
son of Nathaniel and Rebecca (Hatch) Berry.
Nathaniel Bcrr)' was third son of William
Berry, who emigrated from Devonshire, Eng
land, and settled in Portsmouth, N. H., in
1 63 1. Nathaniel, his son, was born previous
to 1700, and died in 1757.
In 1736 Nathaniel Berry purchased a large
tract of land at Tolland, Flampden County,
Mass., which he sold three years later, in
May, 1739, and moved to the town of Kent,
Conn., situated in the Housatonic valley, near
the line of New York State. He was one of
the incorporators of the town, residing there
in its days of early settlement, and at the
time of his death was its largest land-owner.
Most of the settlers were trained in militia
service; and Nathaniel Berry was distin
guished by holding various offices, being En
sign, Lieutenant, and finally Captain. His
wife Rebecca, to whom he was married De
cember 18, 1720, was born January 25, 1700,
and died May 2, 1783. She was the daughter
of Captain Joseph Hatch, of Barnstable, Mass.
Nathaniel Berry and his wife were members
of the First Congregational Church, and were
parents of eleven children — Maria, Jonathan,
Joseph, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Anne, Nathaniel,
Ebenezer, Barnabas, Sarah, and Cyrus.
Barnabas Berry, grandfather of Lauriston of
this sketch, was born Ma)' 18, 1741, in Con
necticut, and after his marriage went to the
town of Charlotte, Chittenden County, Vt.,
near Lake Champlain, where he bought land,
and devoted his energies to clearing and culti
vating it; but after a time he sold the estate,
and purchased another in Franklin County,
New York, to which place he removed, and
spent the rest of his days of activity in its cul-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

193

tivation. Fle died at the age of ninety-four,
his wife living to be only fifty years old. It
is a pleasant fact to record that they were
devout Christian people. Their seven chil
dren were named as follows : Jonathan, J.
Swift, Philemon, Philo, Gustavus, Jemima,
and Sophia. In politics Barnabas Berry was a
member of the Democratic party.
Philo, fourth son of Barnabas, was born in
Charlotte, Vt, , June 16, 1800. He bought a
farm in Franklin County, New York, and mar
ried and settled there, becoming a progressive
farmer. Both he and his wife were members
of the Presbyterian church, and lived to the
age of eighty-six years. Philo Berry was a
stanch Republican. He held the office of
Justice of the Peace a number of years, and
was also a Captain of the State militia. Their
children were: Milo; Philemon; Leonard;
Philo; and Lauriston M., of this account.
Lauriston M., the youngest son of Philo
Berry, was educated in the common schools
and in Malone Academy, and later took a
course in the Burlington, Vt., Medical Col
lege, from which he was graduated in June,
1869, having been able to defray a part of the
needful expenses by his own efforts in teach
ing. He proceeded at once to establish him
self in a position for practice, and accordingly
settled in Westvillc, Franklin County, N.Y. ,
remaining there, with the exception of a few
months, as a practising physician for twenty
years, during which time he was a member of
Franklin County Medical Society and North
ern New York Medical Association. In that
period he spent one summer (1878) in Chico
pee Falls; and eleven years later he removed
here to reside, buying a house and lot at No.
131 Broadway, where also his office is lo
cated, and where he has been successful in
obtaining a large practice. He is now a mem
ber of the East Flampden Medical Association
and the Massachusetts State Medical Society.
Dr. Berry was married in 1878 to Miss
Katie McCullough, who was born in April,
1852. Her father, Thomas McCullough, was
a blacksmith in Franklin County, New York,
and lived to the age of sixty-three years. Dr.
and Mrs. Berry have been the parents of five
children, three of whom died of diphtheria in

one week; namely, Lauriston C, Estella M.,
and Milo H. The two children now living
are: Carroll B., born February 2, 1882; and
Lillian I., bOrn June 20, 1889.
Dr. Berry has taken an active part in town
affairs. He has been Supervisor seven years,
Postmaster seven years, one of the County
School Commissioners six years while in
Franklin County, N.Y., and, since becoming
a resident of Chicopee Falls, has been ap
pointed on the School Board of the city. He
is a member of the Board of Trade, an active
member of the Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation, and also a member of Franklin Lodge,
A. F. & A. M., of Westvillc, N.Y. Dr. and
Mrs. Berry are also at the present time active
members of the Second Congregational Church
at Chicopee Falls, Mass.

DMIRAL PASCHAL STONE, A.M.,
LL.D., ex-superintendent of public
schools in Springfield, was born in
Piermont, N.H., more than seventy
years ago. The early ancestors of the Stone
family landed in Ipswich, Mass., in 1635.
Uriah Stone, grandfather of our subject, left
Hampstead, N. H., and settled on the banks of
the Connecticut River in Newbury, Vt. , where
the spring freshet washed away his cabin the
first season. Later he moved across the river
and made himself a home a few miles below,
in Piermont, where he remained many years
until his death. His thirteen children were
all born there; and, as he was for many years
Town Clerk, the births of the greater part of
them were recorded by his own hand. . He was
an extensive land-owner, a soldier of the Revo
lution, and a prominent man in his town. One
of his sons, George W. , was the maternal
grandfather of the late President Chester A.
Arthur, whose mother was Melvina Stone.
Dr. Stone's father was Simon J., son of
LTriah Stone ; and his mother, whose name was
Mary Blinn, was a native of Piermont. FIis
father was a well-known man of enterprise and
public spirit, the proprietor of a hotel ; and he
held several town and county offices. He en
listed in the War of 181 2, but his company
was not called into service. In religion he

194

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was a Christian Baptist, so called, though
usually attending the Congregational church.
Soon after removing to Royalton, Vt., he died
there in the prime of life. His widow, a
woman of earnest and cultivated mind, and of
many social and domestic virtues, survived to
the advanced age of ninety-two years and two
months, and died a few years since at the resi
dence of her daughter in Fryeburg, Me.
There were four children besides the subject
of the present sketch — James A. B. , a Baptist
clergyman, and for many years President of
Kalamazoo College, Mich. ; Carlos C, who
died a young merchant in Chelsea, Vt. ; Elvira
I., now Mrs. Harrison McNeal, of Fryeburg,
Me. ; and Chastina B. , who married Daniel
McNeal, a brother of her sister's husband.
A. P. Stone and his sister, Elvira I. McNeal,
are now the only surviving members of the
family. Mr. Stone's early education was obtained in
the public schools of Piermont and of Royal-
ton, after which he attended Newbury Semi
nary, Vt. , and the well-known academy at
Fryeburg, Me., where he was prepared for col
lege ; and he then took a short course at Dart
mouth College. He was the successful prin
cipal, for a number of years at each place, of
three Massachusetts high schools — in South-
bridge, Millbury, and Plymouth — and of the
large city high school in Portland, Me. In
recognition of his educational work in Maine,
Bowdoin College conferred upon him the hon
orary degree of A.M., and Colby University
that of LL.D. In 1873 Mr. Stone came to
Springfield as superintendent of schools, at a
salary larger than was then paid for a similar
position elsewhere in the State outside of
Boston. This position he held for fifteen
years, at the close of which the schools num
bered more than six thousand pupils and about
one hundred and fifty teachers. The Spring
field schools were much improved under his
administration, and he is everywhere honored
for his great success in their management.
Mr. Stone has devoted himself to educa
tional work with great energy and diligence,
and his labors have not been confined to the
school-room. He has served on the examining
boards of Harvard and Bowdoin Colleges, has

been President of the American Institute of
Instruction, which had its origin in 1830, and
which has become one of the most popular and
useful educational associations in the country,
also Vice-President of the National Associa
tion of School Superintendents, and President
of the State f'eachers' Associations of Massa
chusetts and Maine, as well as of the associa
tions of the several counties where he has re
sided. He has been a frequent contributor to
the educational press, was for several years
one of the editors of the Massachusetts
Teacher, and for five years editor of the Maine
Journal of Education, and has written and
delivered many lectures before educational con
ventions, teachers' institutes, and town lyce-
ums. Some years since, he revised a popular
school arithmetic, and prepared a school his
tory of England, which has been extensively
used and is a very successful book. In 1879
he compiled from original sources an historical
sketch of the Springfield schools, which was
published in the large two-volume edition of
the "History of the Connecticut Valley."
Subsequently that sketch was condensed and
used in King's "Hand-book of Springfield."
For nearly thirteen years Mr. Stone has
been a member of the Massachusetts State
Board of Education, has vi^ritten three of its
annual reports, and is a member of two of its
Boards of Visitors, having charge of the State
Normal Schools in Worcester and Westfield.
He was a member of the building committee
of the elegant structure in which the Westfield
school is now conducted ; and he has always
given much attention to school architecture,
and to the improvement of the material inter
ests of schools, especially while superintend
ent, and in towns where he has served on the
local school committee. Recently he has been
appointed on the building committee of the
new normal school at Fitchburg. In Millbury,
Plymouth, and Portland, Me., he assisted in
the formation of library associations, and in
the selection of books for the same — in the
last-named place after the destruction of all
the libraries in the city by the great fire of
1866. FIis own library is a good one, richest
in historical and educational literature.
In 1856 Mr. Stone married Elizabeth M.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

19s

Hutchinson, daughter of Joshua and Betsey
King Hutchinson. She was born in Royals-
ton, Mass., and resided also in Leicester and
Worcester. They have one son, William Car
los, born in 1859, a graduate of the city high
school, where he was prepared for college; and
he is now Assistant Librarian in the City Li
brary. The favorite recreation of Mr. Stone
has been travelling. He has travelled exten
sively in this country, West and South, as
well as in the British American Provinces ;
and in 1881, in company with his son, he
made a tour of Europe, visiting England, Ire
land, Scotland, Holland, Belgium, Germany,
Switzerland, and France. FIis present home
is at 384 Union Street, where for more than
twenty years he has lived in a pleasant house,
with sunny lawn, flower and fruit garden. He
is a member of the Baptist church, and in
three different places of residence he has served
on church building committees.
Like many other persons of robust constitu
tion and good health, he has, by persistent
devotion to work with unflagging energy, over
taxed his system, thereby inducing an affection
of the eyes from which he has suffered much
within the past few years, and from which he
does not yet find complete relief. But he has
not been accustomed to spare himself when
work seemed to be demanded in his favorite
calling. A firm believer in the mission of the
American common school, he has ever felt it
his duty to do everything in his power for
its improvement and usefulness. Such a man
must necessarily have an extraordinary appre
ciation of life and its duties. Well said Dan
iel Webster, "On the diffusion of education
among the people rests the preservation and
perpetuation of our free institutions."

-OHN C. FAULKNER, the genial sta
tion agent of the Athol Branch of the
Boston & Albany Railroad at Indian
Orchard, which position he has held
since 1877, was born at Newtown, Fairfield
County, Conn., December 26, 1844. Mr.
Faulkner comes of good stock, and can trace
his ancestry back to Edmond Faulkner, who
landed on these shores in 1645, and was one of

the first settlers of Andover, Mass., which was
incorporated May 6, 1646. He is several
times mentioned in Miss Bailey's "Historical
Sketches of Andover, ' ' he having been a man
of prominence there in the early days, "one of
the few," she says, "honored with the title of.
'Mr.'" His name is the ninth in the list
given in that interesting volume, as copied
from the earliest book of the town records now
existing, which purports to be "the names of
all the freeholders in order as they came to
town." The same authority notes the fol
lowing as the first record of marriage in the
town register: "1647, February 4, Edmond
Faulkner and Dorothy Robinson married at
Salem by Mr. John Winthrop," and calls
attention to the fact that marriages were then
"made by the magistrate according to the
Puritan doctrine that marriage is a civil com
pact, and not a church sacrament."
To Edmond and Dorothy Faulkner were
born four sons, one of whom, Francis, was
married about 1670; and he also had four
sons. Of these Ammiruhami, born in 1692,
lived in Acton, and, before the town was
incorporated, in 1737, was one of a committee
to hire and settle the first minister of that
place. Later he held various important town
offices. He died August 4, 1756, aged sixty-
four. His wife died in 1781, aged eighty-one
years. Their son, Ammi, who was born in
Acton in 1733, and died December 13, 1786,
married a Miss Robinson. A son of this
couple, born in 1756, was named for his father
and grandfather, Ammi. He died September
12, 1845, aged eighty-nine. His wife, Annie
Town Faulkner, died December 6, 181 7, at
the age of fifty-nine, in Royalston, Mass.
They had one son, Otis T. Faulkner, born at
Royalston, December 24, 1802, who married
Miss Abby Gregory, of Redding, Conn. He
was a button-maker by trade, and followed this
occupation all his life, which ended on January
3, 1864. He was the father of three sons and
three daughters, as follows : Daniel, now liv
ing in Los Angeles, Cal. ; Mary Jane and
Lizzie Irene, deceased; Sarah A., wife of Val
entine Seaman, of Rockaway Beach, N.Y. ;
John C, the subject of this biography; and
George, who died at Waterloo, la. All of the

196

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

family were faithful members of the Methodist
Episcopal church. The mother died February
9, 1882.
John C. Faulkner obtained a good common-
school education at Newtown, Conn., after
which he served an apprenticeship of two years
to a cloth-finisher. About this time the great
Rebellion, with its demands for the patriots of
the North, made serious inroads upon the army
of workers in all branches of industry. From
the plough, the forge, and the loom brave men
responded to the call for those who were will
ing to stake life for country; and among the
foremost of these was John Faulkner, who on
May 27, 1 861, enlisted in Company F, Fifth
Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. On Septem
ber 21, 1861, at the battle of Ball's Bluff, Mr.
Faulkner received a severe wound in the right
leg, and for four tedious months he suffered
in the National Hospital at Baltimore, Md.
After his recovery Mr. Faulkner was with his
regiment, then a part of the Army of the Ten
nessee, in numerous engagements, including
the famous battle of Cedar Creek, Va. , Octo
ber 19, 1864, which General Phil Sheridan,
speeding thither from Winchester, twenty
miles away, turned from a threatened rout to
a brilliant victory.
After his discharge, September 5, 1865,
Mr. Faulkner returned to the North, and took
up his residence at Newtown for a short time.
Some time during the year 1866 he came to
Springfield, where his sister was then living,
and went to work in the capacity of foreman
for Willis, Phelps & Co., contractors for rail
road construction, being employed on the
Northampton & Williamsburg Branch of the
Black River Railroad, New York, also on
the Lowell & Framingham Railroad, Fram
ingham & Mansfield Railroad, the Attleboro
& Taunton Railroad, and the Springfield,
Athol & North-eastern, now the Athol Branch
of the Boston & Albany Railroad. In this
work he was engaged for about six years. In
1872 he went to Haydenville with Flayden,
Gere & Co., brass manufacturers. In 1874
Mr. Faulkner became the proprietor of the
Whately Hotel, which he ran until 1876, when
he sold out ; and, having learned telegraphy
at Haydenville station, he secured, March 12,

1877, the position of station agent for the
Athol Branch of the Boston & Albany Rail
road at Indian Orchard, and has since had
charge of all the business of the road at this
point. Mr. Faulkner has been nominated at
various times on different tickets as Alderman,
Councilman, and as member of the School
Committee; but, Springfield being a strong
hold of Republicanism, he being well known
as an ardent adherent to Democratic princi
ples, and partisanship having a hold on the
majority of our voters, he of course failed of
election. Yet as a man Mr. Faulkner has
the fullest respect and confidence of his fel
low-citizens. He is a member of the Grand
Army of the Republic, Post 16, of Springfield.
On January 9, 1872, Mr. Faulkner was
united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Mills, of
East Long Meadow, daughter of Frederick
Mills, the village blacksmith. She was born
in Long Meadow, and lived there till the time
of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner have
had three children, all now deceased. Charles
Otis Faulkner, a young man of great promise,
in whose education neither pains nor expense
had been spared, and around whom clustered
the fondest hopes of both father and mother,
died January 20, 1894, at the age of seventeen.
Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner are earnest members of
the Evangelical Church of Indian Orchard,
and in their quiet way are doing much good
in the community in which they live.

ABEZ COLLINS, a prominent resident
of Springfield, is a lineal descendant of
Edward Collins, an emigrant who came
from England to America about 1635,
and settled first at Cambridge, Mass. The
records show that he held many important
offices of trust, being fifteen years a member
of the Colonial Court, and taking an active
part in State and church affairs. He was
made a Free Mason in 1638, and died in
Charlestown, April 9, 1689. Fle had four
sons and many daughters, some of whom were
born in England and some in Massachusetts.
One of his sons, John, was born in England,
and educated at Harvard College, Cambridge,
Mass., being graduated in 1649. He returned

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197

to the old country, and, going to Edinburgh,
joined the forces of General Monk at the time
that noted leader of the Parliamentary forces
was scheming to accomplish the restoration of
Charles II. He later settled in London. Fle
was a popular preacher in Pencil Flail, and for
several years was financial agent for the State
of Massachusetts. He died in London, De
cember 3, 1687.
Nathaniel, another son of Edward Collins,
was born in Cambridge, Mass. , March 7,
1643, and was graduated at Harvard College in
1660. He was settled as the first minister at
Middletown, Conn., on November 4, 1668.
He- married August 3, 1664, Mary Whitting,
daughter of the Rev. John Whitting, and died
December 28, 1684. Some interesting allu
sions to him may be found in the works of
Cotton Mather and other writers of that
period. Nathaniel, Jr., son of the Rev. Nathaniel
Collins, born at Middletown, Conn., 1667,
married Alice Adams, daughter of the Rev.
William Adams, of Dedham, Mass., and
grand-daughter of William Bradford, Governor
of Plymouth Colony, who came to America in
1620 in the "Mayflower." He was graduated
from Harvard, and settled as the minister
at Enfield, Conn., where he died in 1756.
Alice, his wife, died in 1735. They had a
large family of sons and daughters.
William Collins, son of Nathaniel, Jr., was
born at Enfield in 171 1, and married Anne
Jones, born 17 14. They settled at Somers,
Conn., on the .farm since owned and occupied
by his descendants, and which has been in the
family for about one hundred and sixty years.
He died May 5, 1804, aged ninety-three years.
His wife Anne died September 21, 1808.
Jabez Collins, son of William and Anne,
was born December 11, 1744. He married
Mary Gleason, of Enfield, born September 9,
1756. He was prominent in town and church
affairs, was a long time Deacon of the church,
was representative in the General Assembly,
and Town Clerk for many years. He held
office until nearly eighty-five years old. He
served in the French and Indian War, and was
at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, Crown Point
being evacuated by the French in 1759, when

he was only fifteen years old. On the break
ing out of the Revolution he was drafted, and
went to Lexington with many others from
Somers, among them Cornet Chapin, grand
father of the present Jabez Collins on the
maternal side. He was in New York when
captured by the British, and, when liberated
in midwinter, marched home for many miles
without shoes, he and his companions leaving
stains of blood on the snow as they went. He
died at the age of ninety-five, and his wife at
the age of seventy-seven.
Oliver Collins, son of Jabez and Mary Glea
son Collins, was born on the old homestead,
March 26, 1781, and married Mary Chapin,
daughter of Cornet Noah Chapin. She was
born in Somers, Conn., April 19, 1785. Colo
nel Oliver Collins was a commissioned officer
during the war with England in 181 2. He
afterward represented his town in the legis
lature of that State, and ably filled many offices
of public trust in town and county. He died
July 4, 1869, at the age of eighty-eight years,
and his wife on April 6, 1854, at the age of
sixty-nine. Their son, Jabez Collins, of Springfield,
above named, was born on the old homestead
in Somers, Conn., December 20, 18 18, and
began active life by early acquiring a practical
knowledge of farming. He soon extended the
sphere of his operations by buying a farm of
three hundred acres, one of the best in Tolland
County, and rented it fourteen years, finally
selling it to Noah E. Pease, of Ellington.
He also became the owner of a four-hundred-
and-fifty-acre farm in Benton County, Indiana.
In 1862 he purchased a valuable lot on Main
Street, Rochester, N. Y. , the former site of
the Second Baptist Church, which was burned
down while he was in the city. He erected
thereon a fine business block, consisting of
seven stores and many offices, also a large
hall, sixty-eight by one hundred and four feet,
surface measurement, and remained the owner
of this property for many years, until the
building, like its predecessor, was destroyed
by fire. In 1873 Mr. Collins removed to
Springfield to make a home for the rest of his
days, but is still actively engaged as a farmer
and dealer in stock, his operations being on

198

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

quite an extensive scale, and embracing trans
actions in the West and Canada. Fle is the
owner of farm property in Kansas and Mis
souri, and journeys West, generally about
twice a year, to transact business with his ten
ants. Mr. Collins has worthily filled several
public offices in his town. He was at one
time a member of the State legislature of Con
necticut, and was chairman of the Board of
Selectmen for three years in succession. He
has been Town Agent and Assessor.
He was married March 24, 1841, to Miss
Sarah M. Fuller, daughter of Horace Fuller,
of Somers, a direct descendant of Dr. Samuel
Fuller, who came to Massachusetts in the
"Mayflower" in 1620. Mrs. Collins was
born April 8, 1821. Mr. and Mrs. Collins
are the parents of the following children :
Edwin F. , who was born December 10, 1848,
married Ada F. Billings, and is now of the
firm of A. N. Mayo & Co; Jabez Franklin,
born May 27, 185 1, who married Carrie
Mosely, daughter of the late Harvey Mosely,
and is manager of the Collins Commission
Company, dealers in country produce, lime,
and cement, whose warehouse is on Lyman
Street; Mary E. Collins, who was born Janu
ary 7, 1856, and is the wife of Archibald Lad-
ner, who represents the Provident Life and
Trust Company, at 285 Main Street, Spring
field.

-AMES CROWTHER, a highly re
spected resident of Chicopee Falls,
Hamjaden County, Mass., was born in
the city of Manchester, the great centre
of the cotton manufacture in England, Decem
ber 17, 1819. His parents were Thomas and
Alice (Windsor) Crowther; and his grand
father was Thomas Crowther, Sr. , a native of
Yorkshire, England, a tailor by trade, doing
quite a large and successful business. The
elder Thomas and his wife both lived to be
seventy years of age. They were the parents
of six children — John, Thomas, James, Benja
min, Mary, and Nancy.
Thomas, the second son, and father of
James, of this account, was born and brought
up in Yorkshire; and, since his father was a

tailor, it is not strange that he should have
been early put to learn the trade of spinning
and weaving. This occupation he continued
during most of his life. He died at the age
of sixty-seven years, his wife, Alice, living to
the age of seventy years. They brought up
twelve out of a large family of fifteen children,
whose names are here given : Mary, John,
Alice, Thomas, James, Caroline, Benjamin,
Sarah A., Ellen, William, Edward, and
Jonathan. James, following his father's footsteps, when
quite young went into a factory to learn the
same spinning and weaving industry at which
he afterward continued to work with such suc
cess. Taking up the labors of life so early,
he had no chance to acquire an education by
attending school, as most children do; but, as
he approached manhood, being a lad of charac
ter and ambition, he resolved to triumph over
his deprivations, and so began a course of
home study, which resulted in the acquisition
of a good business education. At twenty-six
years of age Mr. Crowther was appointed over
seer of a large spinning-mill, where he dis
charged his duties with fidelity and honor. In
1847 Mr. Crowther and his wife came to Amer
ica, going on from New York, where they
landed, to Pawtucket, R.I., where he spent a
year as a spinner in the cotton-mills. He
then went to Blackstone, Mass., and, after
remaining two and a half years in the same
business there, removed to White Rock, R. I.,
where he took the position of overseer of the
spinning department, which he held for three
years lacking six months, when he resigned on
account of not being able to find a suitable
place of residence within three miles of his
work. He then went to the mills at Whitins,
where he remained ten years as superintendent
of the spinning works. From Whitins he
came to Chicopee Falls, continuing in the
employ of the manufacturing company as over
seer and superintendent of their spinning
works until 1885, with the exception of some
slight factory changes giving one continuous
service, and gaining the highest respect and
friendship of employers, stockholders, and his
fellow-workmen. Having retired from busi
ness in 1885, Mr. Crowther has since given

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

199

some attention to real estate; and he owns at
the present time three houses and their adjoin
ing lots in Chicopee Falls, in one of which he
resides with his family, leasing the other two.
Mr. Crowther was married in England
March 15, 1847, to Miss Elizabeth Lythgoe,
who was a native of Leigh, born in November
of 1 81 8. Her father, John Lythgoe, was a
carpenter and joiner by trade, living in Leigh.
Mr. and Mrs. Crowther are the parents of
three children, namely: John H., who died at
the age of seventeen years; Elizabeth J., born
in 1849, and married to Ezekiel Blake, a jew
eller of Attleboro, Mass., and who has three
children; and Alice A., born in 1853, who
resides with her parents.
Mr. Crowther is a strong adherent of the
Republican party. He is one of the Trustees
of the Chicopee Falls Savings Bank. He
is also a member of Belcher Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., of Chicopee Falls, of Unity Chapter,
of which latter organization he has been
High Priest two years, and of the Springfield
Commandery. Both Mr. and Mrs. Crowther
are liberal and earnest supporters of the Epis
copal church in Chicopee Falls, and in their long
residence in the town have won the regard and
good will of their neighbors and fellow-citizens.

[DWARD P. CHAPIN, President of the
Pynchon National Bank of Springfield,
Mass., is a native of that city, having
been born in the part now known as Chicopee,
October 7, 1839. He is directly descended
from Samuel Chapin, one of the early Puritan
settlers of Massachusetts, who located in the
town of Roxbury, and who, as nearly as can be
ascertained, arrived in America about the year
1635. He was a man of sterling worth and
intelligence, prominently identified with the
religious and all-important public affairs of
the colony of Massachusetts. Members of the
family through various generations attained
both civil and military eminence, and dis
played marked ability in the local govern
ment of the colony. They also took an active
part in the early Indian wars and the war of
the Revolution. The family increased in
numbers, gradually becoming distributed over

different parts of the State; and Edward P.
Chapin, the subject of this sketch, belongs to
what may properly be designated as the
Springfield or Chicopee branch. He is the
son of Pliny and Emily (Blackmer) Chapin.
His father was for forty years employed in
the United States Armory as a machinist, and
he and his wife were members of the South
Congregational Church.
Edward P. Chapin received a good practical
education in the public schools of Springfield,
and at the age of sixteen entered the employ of
the Western, now the Boston & Albany, Rail
road, as forwarding clerk, where he continued
until he secured a more agreeable and proba
bly more lucrative appointment as paymaster's
clerk at the United States Armory, in which
capacity he served for nine years. In 1875 he
established himself in business as a hardware
merchant, and also engaged in manufacturing,
with results which not only proved exceed
ingly gratifying, but displayed his admirable
business methods, and won for him an envi
able reputation among his fellow-citizens.
His high character and influential position as
a business man became known to the national
government at Washington; and in 1883 he
was appointed Postmaster by President Ar
thur, his selection being unanimously approved
by the citizens of Springfield generally, irre
spective of party. Mr. Chapin's qualifications
for administering the affairs of an important
city post-office, which necessarily requires an
official head possessing prompt and decided
executive ability, were apparent from thfe first
moment of his entering upon his duties; and
the wise and careful manner in which he con
ducted the business of the department in
Springfield was heartily appreciated by the
citizens whose every-day business affairs
brought them in close connection with him.
Mr. Chapin discharged his duties so efficiently
that his retirement from office was the cause of
general regret. He relinquished the Postmas-
tership to accept an appointment upon the
State Board of Savings Bank Commissioners,
which was tendered him by Governor Robin
son. He was afterward appointed its chair
man, and served with both honor and
distinction, his office being at the State House

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

in Boston until 1891, when he accepted the
Presidency of the Pynchon National Bank of
Springfield, in place of the late Mr. Marsh,
whose decease occurred at that time ; and he
has since continued in that capacity.
Mr. Chapin is interested in various enter
prises. He is a member of the Finance Com
mittee of the Springfield Institution for
Savings, is President of the Hampden Paint
and Chemical Company, and belongs to the
Forest Park Heights Compan)', Hampden
Amateur Horticultural Society. The first
meeting of citizens for the organization of the
Board of Trade was called by Mr. Chapin.
He is President of the Springfield Cemetery
Association, and also gives considerable time
to philanthropic work, being Treasurer of
the School for Christian Workers. He is ex
ceedingly active in Masonic circles, being a
Director and one of the organizers of the Mas
sachusetts Masonic Mutual Life Association,
a member and Past Master of Roswell Lee
Lodge, a member of Morning Star Chapter,
and of all other Masonic bodies up to the Con
sistory, is Past Grand Commander of Massa
chusetts and Rhode Island Knights Templars,
and President of the Masonic Hall Association
of Springfield, that erected the present Ma
sonic building, Mr. Chapin being chairman
of the building committee. This beautiful
structure, to the completion of which he gave
much of his time and energy, was erected at a
cost of one hundred and forty-six thousand
dollars, including the land, and is seventy by
one hundred and two feet, five stories high,
and of fine architecture, the first floors being
divided into spacious stores and business
offices, the upper stories, three in number,
being especially fitted and furnished for
Masonic purposes.
As a member of the city government he
served two years on the Board of Aldermen,
being especially active upon the Committee on
Fire Department, and would have received the
Republican nomination for Mayor, with a sure
chance of election, but could not be induced to
accept. He is now serving the city as chair
man of the Board of I'ire Commissioners,
which was established in 1894. In August,
1893, he was solicited by prominent business

men of Boston to allow his name to be used as
a candidate on the Republican ticket as State
Treasurer; but he declined upon general
grounds, as he was closely identified with sev
eral local interests which would necessarily
have to be sacrificed in case he was elected.
He is a prominent member of the South Con
gregational Church and its mission, having
been active in its erection. He has acted in
many of its official positions, and is also inter
ested in and largely identified with various
other religious societies of the city.
On June 6, 1866, Mr. Chapin was united in
marriage to Miss Edna Kibbee, daughter of
Dr. C. A. Kibbee, an early physician of
Springfield. Mrs. Chapin, like her husband,
is an earnest worker in all religious affairs,
and an active member of the South Congrega
tional Church. They have a family of four
children — Emily, who is the wife of F. C.
Wright, of Springfield ; James, who is in the
Chicopee National Bank; and Ida Pearl and
Horace Kibbee, at home.

7TAHARLES H. LADD, foreman of the
I VV United States Water Shops of Spring-
^vs^ field, Mass., was born at Bristol,
N.FI., November 19, 1842. His
parents were Joseph and Eliza (Johnson) Ladd,
his mother being a daughter of Joseph John
son, one of the earliest settlers of Nahant.
During the early youth of Charles H. Ladd
his father moved from Bristol to North An
dover, and there the boy's education was re
ceived. Inheriting, perhaps, from his paternal
grandfather a talent for mechanical work,
Charles H. Ladd at the age of eighteen years
began to learn the machinist's trade in An
dover, and there worked for two years. At
the breaking out of the Civil War he was in
Andover, and on September 17, 1862, enlisted
in Company F, Forty-fifth Massachusetts Reg
iment, under Colonel Charles R. Codman, for
nine months. They were encamped at Read-
ville, and remained there several weeks, being
finally ordered on board transports in Boston
Flarbor, and sailing at once for Beaufort, N.C.
There were three other nine-month regiments
which left Boston on transports at the same

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

201

time — the Forty-third, Forty-fourth, and
Forty-sixth Massachusetts Regiments. From
Beaufort they were ordered to Newbern, N.C,
where they were stationed for nine months,
participating in the battles of Kinston,
Whitehall, and Goldsboro. They also did
provost duty for two months at Newbern, and,
after serving their full term, were sent back to
Boston. On July 7, 1863, the men received
their discharge. Mr. Ladd then came to
Springfield, where he was immediately em
ployed in the United States Water Shops, con
tinuing there until the following winter, when
on February 10, 1864, he enlisted for the
second time, going as First Sergeant in the
Thirteenth Company of Artillery. This com
pany was afterward known as Company I,
Third Regiment of Heavy Artillery ; but Com
pany I was really in the engineer department
throughout its term of service. From their
camp at Readville they were ordered to report
to General Butler, a^ Fortress Monroe, as an
independent company. 'i Under the general's
orders the men were immediately assigned to
the engineer department and placed in charge
of a pontoon train for his intended attack on
Richmond, going by way of the James River.
Being delayed at Bermuda Hundred, they laid
pontoon bridges across the Appomattox, and
remained there for a year protecting their
work. When Grant came down to the rear of
Petersburg, it was through the assistance of
Company I that his army was enabled to cross
the James. On March 6, 1865, after the evac
uation of Petersburg and Richmond, Mr. Ladd
was promoted to the Second Lieutenancy, and
entered the city of Richmond the following
day with his company, where he was stationed
and ordered to survey the fortifications. On
September 26, 1865, he was discharged at
Gallup Island in Boston Harbor. Returning
to Springfield, Lieutenant Ladd was employed
in the United States Water Shops again for a
short time, and then began to work in the
gold chain factory of Rumrill & Co. in
that city. For sixteen years Mr. Ladd was
employed by Messrs. Smith & Wesson, pistol
manufacturers, and was Superintendent of their
establ ishment for five or six years. On Septem
ber 25, 1893, he again entered the employ of

the government water shops as foreman, which
position he is holding at the present time.
Lieutenant Ladd has been married twice.
His first wife, Miss Elizabeth Dorsett, to
whom he was married in 1866, was a daughter
of Mr. William F. Dorsett, of Springfield.
She died May 3, 1874. The second Mrs.
Ladd, whom he married in 1876, was Miss
Lizzie S. Firmin, a teacher in the Barrows
School of this city, and a daughter of Mr.
James L. Firmin, of Hampden. Mr. and
Mrs. Ladd are the parents of three children —
a son, Lawrence F. , a youth of seventeen; and
two daughters, Leona and Maria, respectively
fifteen and thirteen years of age. Lieutenant
Ladd, who has lost none of his military ardor,
is a member of the E. K. Wilcox Post, No.
16, Grand Army of the Republic. He and
his wife are members of the Asbury Meth
odist Episcopal Church ; and the former dur
ing a membership of thirty-one years has
always held some office, serving as Steward,
member of the board. Treasurer, class leader,
and Sunday-school superintendent. The last-
named office he held for seven consecutive
years. Mr. Ladd and his family have a pleas
ant home at No. 15 Florence Street. This
residence he purchased in 1876, and has occu
pied it ever since.

RISTES NEWTON FISHER, a resi
dent of Ludlow, Hampden County, and
widely known as a breeder of fancy
poultry and also as an extensive apiarist, was
born in Belchertown, Hampshire County,
Mass., on December 29, 1844. From the
most reliable information obtainable, it is be
lieved that his great-grandfather was English
by birth, coming to this country in Colonial
times. Mr. Fisher's grandfather, Joseph
Fisher, was, it is thought, a life-long resident
of Belchertown.
Salem Fisher, son of Joseph and father of
Eristes Newton, was born in Belchertown,
and was reared to the peaceful pursuits of agri
culture; at the time of his marriage he pur
chased a farm in the Rock Rimon district
in Belchertown, and continued devoting his
entire attention to its cultivation and improve-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ment, making his home upon it until his
death, which occurred when he was in his
eighty-ninth year. The maiden name of
his wife was Amanda Barrett. Belchertown
was her natal place, and she was a daughter of
Smith Barrett. She died two years later than
her husband, at the age of seventy-eight.
There were twelve children in the parental
family, ten of whom lived to years of maturity,
and nine still survive.
Eristes Newton spent his early years much
as do farmers' sons of the present day, and
remained at home until his marriage, when he
engaged in farming in the town of Ludlow.
In 1 88 1 he returned to Belchertown, remain
ing there five years, and in 1886 purchased the
farm that he now owns and occupies. In 1881
he first commenced raising fancy breeds of
poultry, at the present time having fifteen dis
tinct varieties, and has taken a fair share of
premiums at the different fairs at which he has
exhibited. The eggs he has sold throughout
the United States, Canada, Newfoundland,
Nova Scotia, and in far-away England. In
addition he has also engaged in the breeding
of Chester- White hogs and general farming.
As an apiarist he has likewise been a success, and
at the present time has over fifty swarms of bees.
In the month of October, 1869, Mr. Fisher
was united in marriage with Sarah E. Sikes.
Mrs. Fisher is a native of the town of Lud
low and a daughter of the Hon. Reuben and
Eliza Sikes (an extended sketch of whom
appears in this volume). Of this union there
are three children living — Alvah, Ella, and
Willis. Alvah is a machinist, and Willis a
student at the Agricultural College at Am
herst. The family are all members of the
First Congregational Church, in the welfare
and work of which they take an active interest.
Politically, Mr. Fisher is an adherent of the
Republican party.

^Cm)/ilLIAM W. COLBURN, a well-
\Ys\/ known and prominent educator, who
'^ "^ from 1874 to 1890 was principal of
the Springfield High School, was born at
New Boston, Hillsborough County, N.H., and
is a son of Leonard and Mary (Livingston)

Colburn. The family descends from Colonial
ancestors, some of whom were prominent in
public affairs in the eighteenth century. Mr.
Colburn' s grandfather, Ephraim Colburn,
moved from Dedham, Mass., where he was
born in 1777, to New Boston; and there his
son Leonard, our subject's father, was born.
Leonard Colburn was a thorough business man,
who essayed no active part in politics. He
died at the age of fifty-three years, leaving
four children. His wife was also of New Bos
ton, a daughter of William Livingston and a
member of the Presbyterian church.
William W. Colburn, after receiving the
rudiments of his education in the town schools,
fitted for college at the Francestown and Mount
Vernon Academies, and entered Dartmouth,
from which he graduated in the class of 1861,
with his bachelor's degree. His first position
as an educator was at Lawrence Academy,
Groton, Mass., from which he was called to
Belmont, where he assumed entire charge of a
public school for one year. He then accepted
the position of principal of the high school at
Manchester, N. H., over which he presided for
a period of twelve years; and during this resi
dence there he was President of the Teachers'
Association. In 1874 he came to Springfield,
where he succeeded the late Rev. M. C. Steb
bins as principal of the high school; and for
sixteen years the city profited by his valuable
services in training the young in the higher
branches of education, his long and faith
ful attention to the arduous duties of his
responsible post being attended with the best
possible results. During his occupancy of the
principal's chair the school has increased from
two hundred to over four hundred pupils, and
passed through many stages of development,
there being at the time of his retirement
twelve teachers of the highest ability. He
was deeply interested in his work, and always
displayed remarkable energy, which, together
with a natural enthusiasm for his profession,
contributed largely to his success. He was a
member of both the local and Western Massa
chusetts Teachers' Association, the Classical
and Fligh School Teachers' Association, and
the regular State Teachers' Association, in
which he has held various offices. Since retir-

C. W. SPENCER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

205

ing from active service in 1890 he has busied
himself teaching a few private pupils, whom
he receives at his pleasant home at the corner
of Mulberry and School Streets.
On July 13, 1865, he was most happily
wedded to Miss Mary E. Parker, of Manches
ter, N. H. daughter of the Hon. James Under
wood Parker, a graduate of Dartmouth College,
and a student with the afterward celebrated
lawyer, Rufus Choate. Mr. Parker was a
member of the class of 1820, and became a
prominent attorney in Hillsborough County.
He was a leading spirit in the construction of
the Lawrence Railroad, of which he was Presi
dent, also for many years presiding in the
same capacity over the affairs of the Manches
ter Bank ; and he was active in public affairs,
and served as President of the State Senate.
Mrs. Colburn was educated at Spingler Insti
tute, New York.
Mr. Colburn was prominent in the Phi Beta
at college, and was chosen class orator. He
had as classmates many well-known men of the
present day, among them being George A.
Marden, ex-Speaker of the House of Repre
sentatives ; George Bruce, ex-President of the
Senate ; Dr. Tucker, now President of Dart
mouth College; and the late Professor Morris,
of Johns Hopkins and Michigan Universities.
Mr. Colburn has always voted with and sup
ported the principles of the Republican party.
He and his wife are members of the South
Congregational Church.

7-;^ HARLES W. SPENCER, late a
I v-^ prominent citizen of Westfield, was
\%> born in Suffield, Conn., October 25,
1 81 3, the son of Charles and Ruth
(Scoville) Spencer. Charles was a native of
Massachusetts and Ruth of Connecticut. He
was a stage driver in his early years, and
later in life migrated to the State of New
York, and settled in Oneida County, where he
built a log house, and spent his last years as a
farmer. Though living in a-wild and sparsely
settled country, he and his wife kept up their
connection with the Baptist church until their
death. He passed away when about seventy
years of age, and she at the age of sixty-seven.

They had two sons and two daughters that
grew to maturity, but all are now dead.
Charles W. Spencer was the youngest child,
and came from New York to Massachusetts
when fourteen years of age. He acquired a
good common-school education, and, when
eighteen years old, began to learn the whip
trade under Mr. Pease, of Little River, with
whom he remained for two years, and then
bought the rest of his time by working over
hours. He was on the road as salesman for a
number of years, and then engaged in the man
ufacture of whips in Westfield for himself.
For a time he was in partnership with Mr.
Gillett, and afterward with Mr. Connor, but
finally carried on the business alone, and was
successfully engaged in it until seven years
previous to his death, when he retired from
active life and would take no part in the
"Whip Syndicate."
On September 13, 1837, Mr. Spencer was
married to Sarah A. Root, who was born
December 10, 1816, in the town of Blandford,
Hampden County, Mass., and was the daughter
of Benjamin and Rhoda (Farman) Root. Ben
jamin Root was born in Enfield, Mass., and
his wife Rhoda in the same locality. The
Root family were among the early settlers in
this town. Grandfather Benjamin Root being
attacked by the Indians at the time of the
Revolutionary War. Mrs. Spencer's father
owned a large farm in the town of Blandford,
and was one of the most successful farmers of
that period. Politically, he was a Democrat;
and he and his wife were both liberal in their
religious views. They spent their last years
in Westfield, he dying at the age of eighty-
four years, and she at eighty-two. They had
nine children, and all lived to grow up; but
only two are now living — Mrs. Spencer; and
Mrs. Maria Sibley, who resides in West
Springfield. In September, 1887, Mr. and
Mrs. Spencer celebrated their golden wedding
in the old homestead where they had spent so
many golden years, the fruition of pure and
helpful lives.
Mr. Charles W. Spencer was deeply inter-
esfed in the welfare of the village of "Westfield.
Having spent forty-three of his best years in
business here, it became his chief delight to

2o6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

see the place prosper and grow. He deserves
especial mention as being one of the pioneers
of Washington Street, his residence being one
of the first buildings in that locality; and, as
a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity,
he was one of the main movers in the building
of the Masonic Hall. As a Mason he had
taken the Thirty.-second Degree, and he was a
Knight Templar. He also belonged to the
Westfield Blue Lodge of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, A. F. & A. M., and
was one of the most prominent men in the
order. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer were long iden
tified with the interests of the Methodist Epis
copal church, in which he was Steward, and
both were faithful members.
At the end of fourscore years Mr. Spencer's
work was done ; and he passed away October
25, 1893, leaving a widow and one daughter,
besides hosts of friends, to mourn his loss.
Another daughter, Adella, died in infancy ;
and a son, Charles Oliver, attained the years
of early manhood, and was clerk in the Hamp
den National Bank. He was a bright and
promising young man of good habits; and his
death, which occurred in his nineteenth year,
was a sad blow to his parents and friends.
Mrs. Spencer still resides at the homestead,
her daughter, Mrs. Lucella Lee, widow of
Harrison N. Lee, living with her, the comfort
of her declining years. Mrs. Spencer has one
grand-daughter, Mrs. Adella Van Deusen,
wife of H. M. Van Deusen, who is one of the
largest whip manufacturers in Westfield to-day.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Deusen have two children
— Spencer and A. Lee Van Deusen. Spencer
was named for his great-grandfather, who with
the name left him a legacy.
The portrait of Mr. Charles W. Spencer, which
appears in connection with this memoir, will
help to perpetuate the memory of one of the best
and most representative citizens of the county.

^EVI MOODY, a retired contractor and
builder of Springfield, was born in
Granby, Hampshire County, Mass.,
June 7, 1824, and is the representa
tive of one of the earliest settlers of that
county, being a lineal descendant of Samuel

Moody, a pioneer of the town of Hadley,
which was settled in 1658. The descent is
traced as follows: —
To Samuel Moody and his wife Sarah were
born the following children: John, born July
24, 1661 ; Hannah L., March 5, 1663; Sam
uel, November 28, 1670; Ebenezer, October
23) 1675. The children born to Samuel
Moody, the second, were as follows : Samuel
A., born September 10, 1702; John, twin to
Samuel; Nathan, born June 27, 1706; Jon
athan, June 2, 1708; Daniel, December 2,
1 711; Sarah, May 30, 171 7; Sarah, Septem
ber 29, 1729. The children of Samuel A.
and Mary Moody were : Samuel, born July 2,
1730; Gideon, March 24, 1733; Thomas,
August 31, 1736; Elisha, January 14, 1738;
Reuben, January 21, 1740; Simeon, July 10,
1743; Simeon, October 30, 1747; Enos,
April 17, 1753. The old homestead in Had
ley was on the road leading from Cold Hill to
the South Hadley meeting-house. The chil
dren of Simeon and Mercy Moody were born in
Granby, and were: Simeon, born May 10,
1774; Levi, May 9, 1776; Thomas, December
27, 1778; Ruth, July 26, 1781; Levi, Febru
ary 10, 1784; Mercy, August 26, 1786; Reu
ben, Octobers, 1789; Calvin, March 30, 1794.
Levi Moody, fourth son of Simeon, was mar
ried November 29, 18 10, to Mary Church, who
was born April 13, 1786; and of the children
born of their union the following is recorded :
Edward, born January 30, 1812, died Novem
ber 22, 1843; Mercy, born September 25,
181 3, died August 19, 1869; Caroline S. ,
born August 26, 181 5; Alden, born March
10, 181 7, died November 29, 1867; Amanda,
born August 5, 1819; Reuben, born December
24, 1821, died in the winter of 1892; Levi,
Jr., June 7, 1824; Andrew, March 12, 1827;
Otis, born March 23, 1830, was a Lieutenant
during the late Rebellion, was killed at the
battle of Chickamauga, September 19, 1863,
and his body rests in the Chattanooga cemetery.
The father was a farmer by occupation, and
to this added the trade of a carpenter and
builder, erecting bridges and houses. He
built bridges across the Chicopee River and
many large frame buildings in different parts
of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

207

South Carolina, having been one of the fore
most contractors and builders of his day. He
was a very able and influential man in public
affairs. He departed this life October 5,
1868; but his widow, surviving him, lived
until August 7, 1878, being then in the
ninety-third year of her age.
Levi Moody, Jr., the subject of this brief
biography, acquired a practical education in
the public schools of his native town, and
learned - the carpenter's trade in Amherst,
Mass., serving a three years' apprenticeship.
After working with his father two years, he
came to Springfield, making his first appear
ance here in 1847, and soon began working
with Alvah Smith in contracting and build
ing, they forming a partnership under the firm
name of Smith & Moody, and erecting many of
the substantial buildings and fine residences of
the city. Six years later Mr. Moody removed
to North Haven, Conn,, where he worked at
his trade for a while, going thence to South
Carolina, then to Saginaw, Mich., where he
engaged with a lumber firm, buying lumber
for them in New Haven. At the breaking out
of the war he returned to Springfield, and dur
ing the succeeding four years of strife he was
employed in the joiner's department of the
United States Armory. Mr. Moody subse
quently resumed his original occupation, and
for a time was engaged in contracting and
building. Under his supervision a large num
ber of residences and a substantial block were
built at Chicopee Falls, the library at Brook
field, the; Bullard Gun-shop in Springfield, the
Agricultural Block on Main Street, and a
large block for Meekins, Packard & Co.,
besides many dwelling-houses in the city, giv
ing employment at times to from ten to
seventy men, and paying out a large amount
of money in wages. In addition to this work,
Mr. Moody has also been interested to some
extent in the real estate business, making
many judicious and remunerative investments.
In 1892 he retired from active pursuits, and is
now enjoying a well-deserved leisure, earned
by his many years of faithful labor. He has
never been actively identified with politics,
but uniformly supports the principles and
measures of the Republican party.

On September 26, 1852, Mr. Moody was
united in marriage to Clarissa A. Pease, who
was born January 19, 1824, and died November
27, 1887. They became the parents of the fol
lowing children: Ellen, born July 19, 1853,
the wife of Joseph M. Smith, of West Spring
field ; an infant daughter, who died January 3,
1855; Ida, born August 8, 1856, the wife of
George L. Woods, M.D., of Collinsville,
Conn. ; Fred O, born August 3, i860, a clerk
in the store of Marshall Field & Co., of Chi
cago, 111.

/^^TeORGE G. makepeace, dealer in
\ '3 I stoves and hardware, one of the lead-
— ing citizens of Indian Orchard, was
born at the old homestead of the family in
Warren, Mass., September 27, 1863, son of
Joseph K. and Mary E. (Ramsdell) Make
peace. His great-grandfather, Gershom Make
peace, who lived at Brookfield, served the
country as a Major in the war of the Revolu
tion. His son, Gershom Makepeace, Jr., born
at West Brookfield, left the parental roof
while still a young man, and went to Warren,
where he made for himself a home, in which he
lived and died.
Joseph K. Makepeace, son of the last
named, was born at the homestead in Warren
in March, 1821, and there spent his childhood
and his youth until he reached his maturity.
He carried on the lumber business, and was
also for many years extensively engaged in real
estate. He now lives in Springfield. While
in Warren he held several town offices, among
them that of Selectman and a member of the
School Committee, also Overseer of the Poor
for a number of years. At one time he was
greatly interested in Masonry, and was a prom
inent member of the A. F. & A. M. No citi
zen was more highly respected ; and he was
counted not only as well-to-do, but also as
one of the leading men of the town. He mar
ried Miss Ramsdell, who was also a native of
Warren. She united with the Congregational
church at that place, and is now a member of
the First Congregational Church at Spring
field. Her father, Homer Ramsdell, was born
at Hanover, and with his brother came to War-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ren when they were young men. He owned a
large farm, and was one of the foremost citi
zens of the place in point of means and influ
ence, being of the Puritanic type of character.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph K. Makepeace had a fam
ily of eight children, of whom six are still
living, namely: Lizzie, wife of George B.
Gaylord, of Westfield ; Homer, of South Had
ley Falls; Joseph; Susie; George G. ; and
Alice. George G. Makepeace was born in the same
house as his father, and lived at Warren until
twelve years of age, when his father moved to
South Hadley Falls. At that place he finished
his education, after which he learned the trade
of tinsmith and plumbing, serving as an ap
prentice for four years with Halford & Miller.
Having worked at his trade for five years
in Spencer, Westfield, and Springfield, Mr.
Makepeace came to Indian Orchard in April,
1890, and bought the business of George W.
Miller, which he has successfully carried on to
the present time. He gives employment to a
number of men, and proves himself a practical
man in every way. On May 30, 1892, he mar
ried Miss Mabel R. Reynolds, who was born
September 22, 1870, and who is the daughter
of John T. and Abbie M. Reynolds, of Indian
Orchard. She and her husband are members
of the Evangelical Church of Indian Orchard,
and also of the Sunday-school. They have a
pleasant home on Oak Street.

-pNAXTER ALLEN, a venerable and
^~s. respected citizen of the city of
IK-^J Springfield, is a native of Western
Massachusetts, having been born in
Belchertown, December 13, 181 1. His par
ents, Stephen and Hannah (Holbrook) Allen,
were natives of Sturbridge, Mass. ; and both
belonged to well-known New England fami
lies, but were of Scotch antecedents. They
settled in Belchertown in April, 181 1, buying
a farm in the northern section of the town,
where the father devoted the most of his time
to general farming, although he worked some
what at his trade of shoemaking. Both were
members of the Baptist church, and among
the leading people of the society.

Stephen Allen was born May 9, 1781, and
died October 4, 1863. In March, 1808, he
married Hannah Holbrook, who was born
April 19, 1783, and died July 10, 1863.
They reared five children. The eldest,
Amasa, was born in 1809, and died at the
advanced age of eighty -two years ; Baxter, of
whom, we write, was the second born; Nancy,
born in October, 1813, is the widow of An
drew Tarr, of Rockport, Mass. ; Daniel, born
in 1817, died March 28, 1895, was a resident
of Odell, 111.; and Henry, born in July,
1823, died August 11, 1825. Hannah Hol
brook was a daughter of Amariah Holbrook,
who was born December 21, 1750, and who
on March 30, 1780, married Hannah Hen-
shaw, whose birth occurred May i, 1748.
The parents of Stephen Allen were Abner
and Mercy Allen, well-known and highly re
spected residents of Central Massachusetts.
Baxter Allen received a practical education
in the common schools of his native town,
and assisted in the labors of the farm until
twenty years of age, when he left the parental
roof -tree, and for five years thereafter worked
by the day or month. In 1836 he came to
Springfield, then a small town, and has since
watched its growth and prosperity with pride
and pleasure. He secured employment at the
shops of Hills & Winthrop, where he re
mained two years, going thence to Amherst
and working there five years. Returning to
Springfield, Mr. Allen worked in a brickyard
on Spring Street, getting sand- from what is
now a part of the Armory grounds 'and clay
from Worthington Street. He was afterward
employed by William Dwight, who then
owned the larger part of the land on Pearl
Street. His next employment was in the
armory, from which he went to West Spring
field, remaining there two years. He again
entered the service of William Dwight, and
four years later returned to the brickyard,
working there three years, his wife boarding
the men there employed. The next nine
years Mr. Allen was engaged in the American
Machine Shop, setting up machinery, and
from that went into the bayonet department of
the Armory, where he was employed during
two years of the late Civil War. Mr. Allen

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

209

subsequently had charge of S. J. Gordon's
farm property for seventeen years, proving
himself both - capable and trustworthy. He
established a milk route in the city, which he
conducted successfully for fifteen years, be
coming familiarly known to a large number of
the inhabitants. During his many years of
steady labor Mr. Allen has acquired a val
uable property. In 1855 he bought a pleasant
place at No. 320 Central Street, where he has
since made his home, and where in 1871 he
put up a new dwelling-house, with all modern
conveniences. On a small place that he owns
outside of the city limits, in 1894 he planted
and took the entire care of two acres of land,
raising good crops. He has other real estate,
all of which he has accumulated by his own
efforts, his industry being directed by saga
cious judgment and supplemented by thrift.
Mr. Allen was married on May 4, 1842, to
Mary P. Hastings, "who was born in Amherst,
May 23, 1 8 14, and died March 5, 1887. She
was a daughter of Elisha Hastings, who was
born July 31, 1780, and who on January 31,
1 81 3, was united in marriage to Abigail Pot-
wine. Mrs. Hastings was born February 2,
1784, and was a daughter of Benjamin and
Abigail Potwine, the former of whom was
born January 16, 1759, and died July 5, 1787,
and the latter was born March 9, 1763. Two
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Allen — a
son, Dwight Allen, and a daughter, Mary J.
Allen, the former of whom is a prominent
silk manufacturer at Windsor Locks, Conn.
Mr. Allen is not a politician, but affiliates
with the Republican party. He voted for
William H. Harrison for President in 1840
and for Benjamin Harrison in 1888. Mr.
Allen belongs to a family noted for its lon
gevity, one of his aunts having died in 1881 at
the remarkable age of one hundred and seven
years. When a young man he was a member
of the State militia, and was always on hand
on training days.

I DWARD GILLETT, an able representa
tive of the floricultural interests of this
 section of the State, is a resident of
the town of Southwick, where his nurseries

are filled with a rare and choice collection of
plants, roots, and bulbs, both foreign and
native, although his specialty is the propaga
tion of the wild plants of our own land. He
was born January 27, 1849, in Southwick, and
is the descendant of one of the oldest families
of the place.
His paternal grandfather, Rodolphus Gil
lett, was among the very early settlers of this
section of Hampden County, and while labor
ing hard to clear and improve a farm from the
wilderness gave material aid toward advancing
the growth and prosperity of the town of
Southwick, where he remained through his
declining years. Both he and his wife, who
were of the Protestant Episcopal faith, lived
to advanced ages. They reared five children,
three sons and two daughters, none of whom
are now living.
Socrates Gillett, one of the three sons of
Rodolphus, was born in Southwick, Hampden
County, in 1801. He was a farmer by birth
and occupation and the owner of a small farm
in this place, whereon he resided until his
decease. He married Sophia Holcomb, also
a native of Southwick, born in 18 10; and she
still lives in the village, and is an interested
and esteemed member of the Methodist Epis
copal church. Three children were born of
their marriage, namely: Charles J., cigar
manufacturer and dealer, of Southwick; Mary
E., wife of George W. Hamilton, of West-
field; and Edward, of whom further particu
lars are given below.
Edward Gillett was reared to man's estate
on the old home farm, and early developed a
love for all productions of the soil, ever tak
ing an active interest in agriculture and horti
culture. After leaving the public schools of
his native town, he studied for three years
at Amherst Agricultural College, where he
acquired further knowledge of plants and
methods of cultivation. He is very familiar
with the wild plants of our own country, and
is able at a short notice to furnish specimens
of all kinds, and carries on a trade with
foreign countries, exporting quite largely to
Russia, England, and Belgium. He also
supplies American florists with choice plants,
seeds, roots, and bulbs, as well as with cut

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

flowers, and during the World's Columbian
Exposition filled a contract for nearly one
hundred thousand different plants, which were
there exhibited.
Mr. Gillett was united in marriage October
lo, 1882, with Jennie S. Vining, a native of
Southwick, belonging to an old and well-
established family of this county, and the
daughter of Ward and Jane C. (Reed) Vining.
Her father, a native of Southwick, Mass., was
a cigar-maker by trade. His wife is not
living, she having passed to eternal life at the
age of sixty-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Gil
lett are the parents of two children; namely,
Maud Etta and Kenneth Edward. Their
youngest died January 18, 1895, at the age of
six months. Both parents are members of the
Congregational church, in which Mr. Gillett
officiates as Deacon. Politically, he is an
ardent advocate of the temperance cause.
Socially, he is connected with the Masonic
fraternity, belonging to Mount Moriah Lodge,
A. F. & A. M.

^ILO W. MORGAN, a leading busi
ness man of the town of Westfield,
Mass., is prominently identified
with its mercantile and agricult
ural interests, owning and occupying one of
its choicest homestead properties, and being
proprietor of the general merchandise store at
West Farms, where he has an extensive trade
in groceries, provisions, flour, feed, fertil
izers, and agricultural implements, his sales
amounting to ten thousand dollars per year.
He is a native of Hampden County, born in
Westfield, July 3, 1840, being the representa
tive of an old and well-established family of
New England and the grandson of Andrews
Morgan, an early settler of Beverly, Mass.
He was a life-long farmer and a veteran of
the Revolutionary War. He subsequently
settled in Worcester County, and rounded
out a life full of years and usefulness in the
town of Spencer.
Frederick Morgan, son of Andrews, was
born in Brookfield, Mass., and there learned
the trade of a weaver, which he followed for
many years. In 1823 he removed to West-

field, and soon after bought the factory, and
was extensively engaged in the manufacture of
cloth for a number of years, being one of the
prominent manufacturers of this part of the
county. In 1833 he bought the farm where
his son, Milo W., the subject of this sketch,
now lives, and was also the owner of other
real estate, and one of the most successful
farmers of his day. He was a man of much
influence, greatly interested in local matters,
serving as Selectman two years, and having
been at one time candidate for the State legis
lature. He married Percy Pierce, who was a
native of Windsor, Berkshire County; and
they reared seven children, those now living
being: Percy A., born September 6, 18 19, the
widow of "William A. Tice; Frederick W.,
born September 17, 1821, a retired farmer in
Windsor; Philo L., born August 19, 1823,
now retired from active business, and living
at Westfield; Mrs. Mary Ann Johnson, born
August 17, 1826, a resident of Charlestown,
Mass.; and Milo W., of whom we write.
The father died September i, 1866, and the
mother July 19, 1882. Both were worthy
members of the Baptist church.
Milo W. Morgan acquired a substantial
education in his native town, attending the
public schools and the academy. He gained
his first experience in mercantile pursuits
under Loomis & Savage, of Westfield, being
for a year in their employ as a clerk. The
following winter he taught school, returning
then to the old homestead to take charge of
the farm, succeeding to its ownership. He
has since bought additional land, having now
one hundred and twenty acres, his fields being
as fertile and fruitful as can be found in the
vicinity, a tasteful and convenient residence
and farm buildings, and all the machinery and
implements needed by a first-class modern
agriculturist. He is still prosperously en
gaged in mercantile business, as above men
tioned, and is numbered among the solid and
enterprising citizens of the town.
On November 2, 1863, Mr. Morgan was
united in marriage to Laura E. Parks, who
was born in the adjoining town of Mont
gomery, and died on the homestead in Jan
uary, 1869, leaving three children, namely:

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Herbert E., now (1895) engaged in business
with his father, and recently appointed Post
master at this place, originally called West
Farms, now changed to Weben; Nellie G. ;
and Edgar P. T., now in business in Syracuse,
N.Y. Each of these children received a good
education, fitting for the varied duties of life.
On January 3, 1870, Mr. Morgan formed a
second matrimonial alliance, marrying Bar
bara E. Thomson, who was born July 5, 1846,
in London, England. Her parents, William
and Barbara (Reed) Thomson, were natives of
Scotland, the father having been born in Fifcj
and the mother in the city of Glasgow. They
emigrated to the United States; and he was
for some time employed in railroad work, con
tinuing until his decease, at the age of sixty-
two years. His widow, who survived him,
lived threescore and ten years. They had
a family of ten children, of whom three
died young; namely, William first, William
second, and Richard. The seven now living
are: Margaret, James, Mary, Barbara, Wat
son, Robert, and John Thomson.
In politics Mr. Morgan is a steadfast adhe
rent of the principles of the Democratic party,
and, although no office-seeker, takes an intelli
gent interest in the welfare of the town. He
is very liberal in his religious views, and his
estimable wife is an active and useful member
of the First Congregational Church. Both
are held in warm regard throughout the com
munity, and have a host of friends.

rOSEPH MAITLAND GRIGGS, for
many years general ticket agent of the
Boston & Albany Railroad, now re
tired, was born in Union, Conn.,
October 8, 18 16, the last year of James Madi
son's administration. His great-grandfather,
Joseph Griggs, first bought land there of John
Sessions on May 26, 1779, in the troubled
days of the Revolution; but he had lived in
other towns previously, and was a citizen of
valuable experience. On December 30, 1800,
he sold his farm in Rock Meadow, Conn., and
moved to Brimfield, Mass., where he spent his
last days. He was born in Ashford, Conn.,
March 12, 1751, and died on August 26,

1840. His three brothers were Nathan, Icha
bod, and Lemuel Griggs; and their only
sister was Molly Griggs. His wife was
Penelope Goodell, born on November 14,
175 1. They had fourteen children, three of
whom were born in Ashford, the others in
Brimfield, Mass.
Elisha Griggs, one of the fourteen, was
born October 12, 1770, and married Sarah
Booth, daughter of Isaac Booth. After his
marriage he lived in Union, Conn., till about
1 841, when he moved to Stockbridge, N.Y.,
where he died March 31, 1864, aged ninety-
three, leaving seven children, among whom
was Joseph Cheney Griggs, born February 16,
1795. His wife was Polly Corbin, daughter
of Philip Corbin; and in 1840 they moved to
Stockbridge, N.Y., after five of their six chil
dren were born. The oldest is our special
subject. His brother, Elisha Ela Griggs,
was born June 6, 1818. Then came Philip
Griggs, born May 7, 1820; Elam Griggs,
born September 7, 1824; Orlando Griggs,
born September 26, 1830; and Mary Rhody
Griggs, who was born November 6, 1841,
after the family settled in Stockbridge, X.Y.
The only education which Joseph M. Griggs
received was acquired by attendance at the
'district schools. In 1835, at the age of nine
teen, he went to Somers, Conn., where he
was employed as clerk in a country store for
six years. In 1842 he became an employee
of the Boston & Albany Railroad, and made
Springfield his home. For about a year he
served as clerk in the superintendent's office,
after which he was appointed ticket agent;
but in the fall of 1851, finding the duties too
exacting for one man, he resigned, and soon
after accepted a position as book-keeper in
the Phcenix Bank at Hartford, Conn., where
he remained until the following spring. In
1852, on account of the reliable services he
had given the Boston & Albany Railroad, he
was recalled to its employ as receiving clerk,
having charge of all the passenger earnings
of the line. These duties were faithfully dis
charged until 1868, when he was relieved of
his work as receiver, and made general ticket
agent, the two offices being separated. Mr.
Griggs at once reorganized his department.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and the system he established has never been
much changed. The tickets are issued in
series, varying from two hundred to a hundred
thousand, according to the probable demand,
and numbered consecutively. By this method
an agent can tell at a glance how many have
been sold during the day; and the clerks, who
count and cancel tickets, are greatly aided in
their work. Mr. Griggs has also devised
other improvements. Instead of having the
superintendent sign all the tickets, as was
formerly the custom, Mr. Griggs's autograph
was printed; and thus his name has become
very familiar to the travelling public. His
signature is indeed much more familiar than
his face, as few men confine themselves so
closely to their official duties; for his position
was very important, and he gave entire satis
faction to the managers. In 1889 the main
office of the road was transferred from
Springfield to Boston, and Mr. Griggs retired
to private life. His residence at 138 Pearl
Street has beautiful lawns and shrubbery,
with other artistic ornamentation. In this
beautiful place he has lived since 1858.
Starting in adult life with neither wealth nor
a liberal education, he has with characteristic
energy steadily advanced to honor and fort
une. In politics he is a Republican, but
has refused to accept office, even when urged
to do so.
His first wife was Elvira Fuller, of Somers,
who was married in 1842, and died in 1845,
leaving one child, Joseph Fuller Griggs, who
married Helen M. Bagg, of West Springfield,
and died July 24, 1878, leaving two children
— John Bagg Griggs, born February 8, 1870;
and Maitland Fuller Griggs, born February
12, 1872. Our subject's second wife was
Betsey Bliss, daughter of Genubath Bliss.
She died in 1894, leaving two children —
George Bliss Griggs, a Yale graduate, now
auditor of accounts for the Boston & Albany
Railroad at Boston, and married to Miss Nora
Ball, of New Hampshire; and Lizzie Griggs,
who married James E. Nichols, of the firm of
Austin Nichols & Co., large wholesale grocers
of New York City.
Mr. Griggs is a consistent member of the
South Congregational Church, which he has

served in various offices. He was a commu
nicant in Connecticut before he came to
Springfield, and did not change his church
relations for several years. Says Lord Beac
onsfield: —
"Time is precious, but truth is more pre
cious than time."

fREDERICK H. HARVEY, a promi
nent dentist of Springfield, was born
at Livingston, Columbia County,
N.Y., September 17, i860, the son of John
H. and Mary C. (Havner) Harvey. His
father was a native of Germantown, and
owned and conducted a fine farm in the town
of Livingston, on the old post road, eight
miles below the city of Hudson, N.Y. He
was a Democrat in politics and a member of
the old Dutch Reformed church. His wife,
Mary (Havner) Harvey, was a daughter of
John Havner, a member of one of the old fam
ilies of Germantown, where to-day may be
seen the residence of her grandfather, a sub
stantial brick structure in a good state of pres
ervation. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey had several
children, as follows: Henry C, who resides
at the old homestead, and has a family of five
children, two sons and three daughters; John
J., a resident of Kingston, N.Y.; William
E., a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal
church, now residing at Dedham, la. ; Mary
Eletta, who died at the age of thirteen years;
Elvira, who married H. E. Bogardus, of
Springfield, Mass. ; Eleanor, who married
J. B. Bogardus, also of Springfield; Amos
W., who died in 1887; and F"rederick H.,
who is the youngest.
Frederick H. Harvey was educated in the
district schools of his native town, and passed
his earlier years upon the farm, assisting his
father. When twenty-one years of age he left
home, and entered the office of his brother-in-
law, the late J. B. Bogardus, a well-known
dentist of Springfield. After acquiring a
thorough knowledge of the profession, he
practised for a period of one year in company
with Mr. Bogardus. Then, at the death of
the latter, he succeeded to the business which
had been so well established, and for the past

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

213

twelve years has conducted most successfully
a large and exceedingly profitable practice.
He is a very skilful operator, rendering per
fect satisfaction in every case submitted to
him for treatment. His business is carried
on under the name of the Albany Dental
Association, and has a large and well-assured
patronage. In April, 1884, Mr. Harvey was united in
¦ marriage to Hannah Thayer. Mrs. Harvey's
parents died when she was about the age of
four years, and she lived but one year after
her marriage.
Mr. Harvey is independent in politics,
voting for the candidate and supporting the
issues he considers most worthy of success.
His office is located at 298 Chestnut Street.

¦ENRY A. STEWART, a prominent
resident and one of the oldest
builders and contractors of Spring
field, was born in the town of Lud
low, November, 22, 1833. He is the son of
Edward and Sarah (Frost) Stewart; and his
grandfather was Lewis Stewart, a farmer re
siding in Wales, Hampden County. His son
Edward was born in that town, and went to
Ludlow after his maturity, and engaged in
farming operations during the remainder of
his life, with the exception of a few years
when he resided in Belchertown, in Hamp
shire County. His death occurred at his
home in Ludlow about 1880. He left a fam
ily of four children — Berlin J., who died in
1893; Henry, of this narrative; Byron J.;
and Edward H., also deceased.
Henry A. Stewart received his education in
the common schools of Ludlow and Belcher
town, and took an active part in the work
upon his father's farm until he was eighteen
years old. He then turned his attention to
the carpenter's trade, and learned the business
quite thoroughly by working for different par
ties engaged in that occupation. In Brim
field, Hampden County, he was in business for
himself several years; and finally, after staying
for a while in Palmer, he went to Springfield
(1 861), where he worked for various men till
1870, when, having gained sufficient experi

ence in making estimates of labor, cost of
material, and time required for specified work,
he set up for himself as contractor and
builder. Success, which seldom lags far
behind courageous enterprise, soon followed
his new step; and patronage came to his hand
with confidence in his ability and the careful
execution of commissions. The rapid growth
of the city, which has been fast increasing in
population and manufactures during the past
twenty years, gave ample opportunity to the
builder; and Mr. Stewart put up many resi
dences and tenement-house blocks in different
parts of the city. He also had contracts in
surrounding towns. The residential portion
of Springfield has been rapidly growing out
on what is called "the Hill," and here may
be seen some of Mr. Stewart's finest speci
mens of work. Through these contracts he
has been able to give employment to many
men, his force generally consisting of from
eight to twelve during the season. Mr. Stew
art has made many improvements in methods
of building, and a considerable amount of real
estate has passed through his hands. Al
though Mr. Stewart has been brought into
familiar intercourse with politicians and mem
bers of fraternal organizations in connection
with his business, he prefers his home to the
interests of any club, fraternal society, or the
duties which belong to political preferment,
and invariably seeks his own hearthstone
when the work of the day is over. The resi
dence he has occupied for many years is sit
uated on the upper part of State Street, one of
the finest residential quarters of Springfield.
Mr. Stewart was married September i,
1865, to Miss Cynthia Dakin, daughter of
Alexander and Margaret (Decker) Dakin, of
Hudson, N.Y., which was her native town,
and where she received her education and
spent her early years. Her father was also a
native of Hudson, and was a blacksmith by
trade. He left at his death a family of nine
children, Mrs. Stewart being but six years of
age at the time. The wife of Alexander
Dakin was born at Livingston Manor, N.Y.,
June 25, 1802. She is still living, a venera
ble lady of clear mind and intellect, who now
at the age of ninety-three works fine embroid-

2 14

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

cry with the skill and ability of her younger
days, and who makes light of railway jour
neys. With such a bright example in his
home Mr. Stewart may naturally feel inspired
to accomplish greater achievements in his
special line, a-nd continue to beautify the city
in which he resides with works of an enduring
and attractive character.

"ON. OLIVER B. MORRIS was born
in Hampden, Mass., in 1782. His
father was a Revolutionary soldier,
and a lineal descendant of Edward
Morris, who came to this country from the
county of Essex, England, during the middle
of the seventeenth century, and settled first
in Roxbury, Mass., afterward moving to
Woodstock, Conn.
Oliver B. Morris was the eldest of ten chil
dren. After graduating from Williams Col
lege in 1801, he moved to Springfield, and
entered the office of the Hon. George Bliss,
one of the leading lawyers of Western Massa
chusetts, whose daughter he afterward married.
He was admitted to the bar in 1804, and sub
sequently had a large and lucrative practice.
He was a member of the legislature four
years, in 1820 was a delegate to the Conven
tion to revise the State Constitution, was Reg
ister of Probate, County Attorney, and Judge
of Probate from 1829 until 1859. He died on
Easter Sunday, 1871, in the eighty-ninth year
of his age.
Judge Morris was a man of very strong-
convictions, positive and self-assertive. For
years his influence was a power in directing
town affairs. He delivered an historical ad
dress on the occasion of the celebration of the
two hundredth anniversary of the settlement
of Springfield, which with other writings
formed the basis of much that was afterward
said and written regarding, Springfield's early
history. Pie was familiar with the history of
all the old families in this vicinity, and often
surprised people with the readiness with
which he could trace their lineage. His
memory was wonderful. Any sermon once
heard would make such an impression that
years afterward, if he heard it repeated, he

could at once state the date of its former
delivery. He had two children — Henry and George
Bliss Morris, besides one whom he adopted
Maria M., a daughter of one of his brothers.
She still lives in Springfield. Both of his
sons were educated at Amherst College and
Harvard Law School. Henry, the elder, vvas
admitted to practice as an attorney at Spring
field, was a member of the legislature, and
was elected to Congress, but before he took
his seat was appointed one of the judges of
the Court of Common Pleas. He married a
daughter of Colonel Solomon Warriner.
They had seven children, four of whom are
living — Mrs. Charles K. Calhoun and Ed
ward Morris, of Springfield, and Frederick
W. Morris and Mrs. William W. Gay, of
New York. Judge Henry Morris died at
Springfield in 1888, at the age of seventy-
four. George B. Morris, the younger son of
Oliver B. Morris, was born in 18 18, admitted
to the bar in 1840, and practised law in
Springfield about ten years. After this he
was appointed Clerk of the Courts for the
County of Hampden, which office he held for
twenty years, until his death in 1872. He
married a daughter of Wells Lathrop, and had
three children, all of whom are alive — George
B. Morris and Mrs. Thomas W. Fitch, of
New York, and Robert O. Morris, of Spring
field.

§OHN BROWN ADAMS, late of Spring
field, Mass., a highly respected resident
and for many years a famous railroad
conductor, was an eighth descendant in
direct line from William Adams, of Ipswich
(now Hamilton), Mass., and was born at Marl
boro in this State, December 10, 1814, amid
the last war with the mother country. The
colonist, William Adams, was born in Eng
land in 1594, during Queen Elizabeth's reign,
but came to America in 1628, at the age of
thirty-four, settling first in Newtown (Cam
bridge), Mass., and later in Ipswich, where
he took up a large tract of land.
Among his descendants in the fifth genera-

%7^ (^^..^.^^^^

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

217

tion was John Adams, who married Elizabeth
Whipple. They had a son John, who was
born November 26, 1746, thirty years before
the Revolution, and became the grandfather
of our present subject. FIis wife was Eliza
beth Hubbard, of "Ward (now Auburn), Mass.,
a descendant of George Hubbard, who was a
native of Glastonbury, England, but came to
America in 1636, the very year when Roger
Williams settled Rhode Island. Grandfather
John Adams and his wife had eight children
— Oliver, Clark, Thomas, Joel, Alpheus, Su
sanna, John, Jr., and Benjamin, all of whom
were born in Northbridge, Worcester County,
Mass. Joel Adams, the fourth child, went with
one of his brothers to Greenbush, N.Y.,
where they carried on a country store for
many years; but subsequently they dissolved
partnership, the brother going South and Joel
to Providence, R.I., where he was engaged
for a long time in mercantile pursuits. He
married Azubah Whitney, of Westboro,
Mass., a daughter of Elijah Whitney. Her
father was a descendant of John "Whitney,
through Thomas Whitney, of the Shrewsbury
line, who was born in England in 1589, but
came from London to America in the "Eliza
beth and Ann" in 1635, and was known as a
zealous Puritan settler in Watertown. An
other Joel Adams was born in Mendon, April,
1749, and married Lucy Whitney, of Lincoln,
on April 24, 1772; but it does not appear
whether she belonged to the Daniel or Na
thaniel Whitney line. Mrs. Azubah Adams
died June 29, 1835, aged forty-nine, and her
husband survived her about six years, dying
in Providence, August 31, 1841. They left
five sons and a daughter, Mary. The latter
married Alexander Birnie, a native of Scot
land, a railroad contractor, who settled in
Hastings, on the Hudson River. Nathan
Whitney Adams, the eldest son and second
child of Joel and Azubah Whitney Adams,
was born January 7, 1788, and died Decem
ber 22, 1843, aged fifty-six. The other three
children were: John Brown, Cyrus Butler, and
Esther Ives Adams.
John Brown Adams, the second son, was
educated at a private school, and there fitted

for college, but finally decided upon a busi
ness career. In his father's store he acquired
a practical business education. Near the age
of twenty-one Mr. Adams entered the employ
of Birnie, McManus & Co., the well-known
contractors, by whom he was employed on the
Stonington line for two years as book-keeper.
In 1837 he began laying the Western Rail
road, between Worcester and Springfield.
From 1837 to 1841 he was paymaster for the
contractors, and had an opportunity to become
familiar with every bridge, grade, and culvert
along the route. Ordinary railroad hands
were then paid from eighty-flve cents to a dol
lar and ten cents a day, and great vigilance
was needed to protect the funds ; but Mr.
Adams gave such proof of integrity and busi
ness ability as to win the entire confidence of
his employers, and so command their influence
for the future. A big excavation was made
and walled inside with stone, to protect the
money alike from fire and robbers. Money
for the wages was drawn from the Chicopee
Bank, and provisions were brought by teams
from Albany. The bridge over the Connecti
cut River was opened on Independence Day,
1 841; but trains had already begun running
between the New York State line and Pitts
field, connecting with Chester station by
stage. The Pittsfield end of the road was
completed to the summit on August 9, 1840,
while in September the east end reached the
opposite point, within two and a half miles of
"Washington station. A month later the line
from Boston to the State line was complete,
with the exception of the short, deep cut in
the summit, around which the passengers
were transferred in coaches. With the open
ing of the through line a change of time was
made; and on October 5, 1841, the day after
the first trip through the cut, a collision oc
curred at the Tuttle Bend, just east of Ches
ter. Conductor Warren lost his life, and so
did a child named Bloodgood.
Mr. Adams succeeded Mr. Warren as con
ductor, running the first through train to
Albany, December 21, 1841. The final open
ing of the road was celebrated at Albany for
two days, beginning December 27, a party of
prominent gentlemen accompanying the rail-

2l8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

way officials to the festivities. On December
30, when the party returned to Boston, an
other celebration was held in the United
States Hotel. In addition to speech-making
at every banquet, the recognition of the won
derful progress of the time found expression
in a peculiar way. Some one cut down a
tree, and in barrels made therefrom coin was
carried over the route; and in the after-dinner
oratory it was said that the barrel, brought so
many miles in such an incredibly short time,
was part of a living tree a few hours before.
The union of Albany and Boston was com
pared to a marriage ceremony. Boston digni
taries took candles with them, which were
burned at the Hudson River city, while the
Albany visitors brought tapers to Boston for a
similar purpose.
Mr. Adams had an erect figure and military
bearing, was thoroughly systematic, and had
sufficient energy and will power to carry out
whatever he undertook. On account of some
ailment of the lower limbs he resigned his
position as conductor on November 26, 1873,
to take effect a week later. His term of ser
vice covered thirty-three years, probably the
longest time of such service on record in the
State, the distance travelled being equivalent
to the circumnavigation of the world about
seventy-four times. It is a fact worthy of
note that he received expressions of confi
dence and esteem from many prominent per
sonages, among whom was Henry Clay, who
sent him a note containing these words: —
"Before I leave Springfield I wish to
express to you my thanks for your kind atten
tions and friendly offices rendered to me dur
ing my journey yesterday from the Hudson to
this place on' the road, and to tender you my
sincere desire for your prosperity."
The Hungarian patriot, Kossuth, was a pas
senger with Mr. Adams in 1851 ; and in i860
our conductor was sent to Albany with the
president of the road, to bring the Prince of
Wales to Springfield by special train. On
New Year's Day, 1852, two hundred patrons
of the road presented. Mr. Adams with a sil
ver service costing/two hundred dollars, the
gift bearing the following inscription: —
"To John B. Adams, conductor of the Bos

ton & Albany Railroad, for his unfailing
kindness, his unremitting attention, and his
constant care, this testimonial is presented by
a few of his friends."
His wife, whom he married in 1838, and
who with two daughters survives him, was
Alice Arnold Holmes Cook, daughter of Cap
tain John Cook, of Tiverton, R.I. Her
maternal grandfather, William Arnold, a man
of wealth and prominence, was a descendant
of Governor Benedict Arnold, of Newport,
R.I., who died in 1678. From this union
came four children — Mrs. Charles Edward
Vinton, of Springfield; Alice Whitney
Adams, of Springfield; William Holmes
Adams, who died January 9, 1886; and John
Cook Adams, who died January 29, 1888.
Mrs. Vinton has one child, Bessie Vinton,
born in 1873; but she buried a daughter, Mae
Alice Vinton, who died December 7, 1891, at
the age of twenty-one. Mr. Adams was orig
inally connected with the Whig party, being
quite active in the ranks; but after the disap
pearance of that organization he was inde
pendent in politics, looking rather to principle
than party. Upon his retirement from rail
way duty he settled down in the beautiful and
commodious residence he had erected at 367
Liberty Street. To this home he added many
attractions, rendering it a delightful retreat,
not only to his family, but to the many friends
to whom he was ever ready to extend his
abounding hospitality. At this home he died
of heart disease on June 12, 1894, at the age
of eighty.
Such a life as his could not be devoid of
noteworthy and startling incidents. He was
proud of having conducted the first train from
Boston to Albany, with "this time record:
Boston to Worcester, two hours and fifteen
minutes; Worcester to Springfield, one hour
and fifty-five minutes; Springfield to Pitts
field, two hours and thirty minutes; Pittsfield
to Albany, two hours and forty-five minutes —
a total of nine hours and twenty-five minutes.
He was always courteous, but always square,
ready to thrash a rowdy, if occasion required,
or to impart information to an inquiring trav
eller. His duties lay over a difficult track,
especially liable to snow blockades in winter.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

219

There was an early accident at Chatham Cen
tre, when it took three days to restore the
locomotive to the track, a task which could
now be accomplished in as many hours. In
1842 his train was disabled, and four persons
lost their lives; but Mr. Adams had just
stepped from the fated car, and so escaped
injury. Once his train was delayed three
days on its way from Albany to Middlefield.
The miners at Richmond sometimes made
trouble by their drunken freaks, but he was
always ready for the occasion. Indeed, he
was invariably equal to any emergency.
His portrait on -another page reveals the
face of a man of mark among his fellows, one
of whom it is easy to believe that he was, as
has been well said, "in many respects an
ideal conductor, dignified, courtly, and im
pressive, yet tender-hearted and accommodat
ing." He will long be remembered as
equally competent and faithful to duty.

-OSEPH M. PUTNAM, Superintendent
of Crane Brothers' Paper Mill at West-
field, Mass., has been identified with
the manufacture of paper for twoscore
years, and has been connected with this mill
since its establishment, in 1868, having occu
pied his present position the past nine years.
He is a well-known citizen of the place,
highly respected by all, and is held in uni
versal regard by those above and by those
below him. He was born in Dalton, Mass.,
April 29, 1 83 1, son of Jonathan and Phosbe
(Rouse) Putnam, both of whom were natives
of Becket, Mass.
The ancestors of Mr. Putnam were early
settlers of Berkshire County, his paternal
grandparents, David and Hannah Putnam, hav
ing been life-long residents of the town of
Becket. David Putnam was a farmer by occu
pation, and in addition to tilling the soil
worked at the trade of a basket-maker. He
was very successful as a business man, becom
ing the owner of a large farm, which he man
aged with good results. In local affairs he
was quite prominent, and he supported the
Whig party. Both he and his wife in their
religious beliefs coincided with the teachings

of the Congregational church. Of the four
sons and four daughters born to them one
child only is now living; namely, William
Putnam, of Becket.
Jonathan Putnam, the father of Joseph M.,
was reared to manhood in Berkshire County,
becoming a thrifty and skilful farmer and also
engaging in the manufacture of lumber, be
coming in time one of the most extensive
lumber dealers of this section of the State.
He possessed excellent business tact and
judgment, and was for some years one of the
Selectmen of the town of Becket, where a
large part of his life was passed. He died in
Blandford, when about fifty-four years of age.
His wife outlived him many years, dying at
the venerable age of eighty-three years.
They reared a family of six children, namely:
Joseph M., of whom we write; Charles F., of
Hartford, Conn.; Henry H., of Dalton; Ben
Franklin, who died young; Rufus E., of
Westfield; and Lucy, who died at the age of
eighteen years. Both parents were interested
in the religious advancement of their commu
nity, and were valued members of the Congre
gational church.
Joseph M. Putnam received his prelimi
nary education in the district schools of his
native town, and further pursued his studies
for two terms at a select school in Blandford.
He assisted on the home farm until nineteen
years of age, when he entered the paper-mill
of Crane & Co. at Dalton, in order to learn
the trade of paper-making. Beginning at the
very foundation of the business, and receiving
but two dollars and twenty-five cents per
week, from which sum he had to board him
self, he worked with persevering industry,
showing himself so interested and skilful that
he was promoted from one department to an
other, until he reached the position he is now
filling so ably. He, however, removed to the
mill at Ballston, which was owned by Crane
Brothers, remaining there until 1868, when
the present mill was located in Westfield,
since which time he has been one of its most
faithful employees. The two brothers, Arthur
and Robert B. Crane are the proprietors of
this substantial and prosperous mill, which
is located about a mile and a half from

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the village, on a branch of the Westfield
River at a point where it is crossed by the
Westfield and Granville road. The location
is fine, not only on account of its superb
water privilege, but as affording many charm
ing views of the beautiful scenery, especially
toward the westward. Mount Tekoa being
prominently outlined in the foreground. The
large farm owned by the brothers borders on
the river for about a mile, and is one of the
finest estates in the locality. The mill has
been practically rebuilt, and has been christ
ened the "Glen Mill." New and improved
machinery has been introduced, and it is now
capable of turning out a large quantity of the
finest linen paper each day.
On January 17, 1858, Mr. Putnam was
united in marriage to Miss Ophelia Young,
a daughter of Thomas and Maria Young, of
Worthington, Mass. Three children have
been born of this happy union, namely: Lil
lian M., wife of Leverett Everton, of West-
field; Alice A., wife of Charles H. Hill, of
Springfield; and Charles V., of Westfield.
In politics Mr. Putnam affiliates with the Re
publican party, and in religious matters both
he and his wife are quite liberal. Socially,
he is a member of the Masonic Order, belong
ing to Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
and also to Westfield Lodge, No. 52, Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows.

'REDERICK S. NEWMAN, a promi
nent architect of Springfield, Mass.,
was born in Bangor, Me. He was
educated in New Hampshire, where also was
begun his able and brilliant professional
career; and he opened his office in this city in
1884. Within the space of eleven years he
has established branch offices in Hartford,
Conn., and Philadelphia; and some of the fin
est specimens of architectural design and skill
to be found in New England and the West
are emanations from his hand and brain. In
Springfield the Fuller , Building, Chicopee
National Bank, Metcalf & Luther Building,
Kirkham & Olmstead Block, Dickinson
Block, National Papeterie Company's mill,
Cutler & Porter Block, Court Square Theatre,

the buildings occupied by Forbes & Wallace
and Meekins, Packard & Co., the Highland Bap
tist Church, besides many school-houses, office
buildings, mills, churches, and residences in
Springfield and other cities in Massachusetts,
attest his artistic taste as well as technical skill.
Among the most notable of his works in
Hartford are the Linden Buildings, which
contain fifty-nine flats and six stores, H. R.
Ballerstein office building. Brown & Thomp
son's handsome store, and a number of attractive
residences. The Fidelity Mutual Life Asso
ciation Home Office Building on Broad Street,
Philadelphia, a mammoth edifice, which is be
ing erected at a cost of about eight hundred
thousand dollars, is one of Mr. Newman's most
extensive and beautiful designs, and is really a
masterpiece of the draughtsman's art and the
builder's skill. His own handsome residence
and many other buildings throughout the State
evidence the fertility and originality of his
mind, and show his wide-spread popularity.
Mr. Newman is a member of a great num
ber of social orders and clubs, and his life is
an unusually full and busy one. He is a
Knight of Pythias, has reached his Thirty-
second Degree in the Masonic Order, is a
member of the Aleppo Temple of the Mystic
Shrine, and belongs to the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows. The Winthrop and Spring
field Clubs are proud to enroll him among
their lists of distinguished members; and
Springfield, though she cannot claim the
honor of being the place of his nativity, es
teems it a privilege to be the city of his adop
tion. Besides being connected with the vari
ous societies and orders already mentioned,
Mr. Newman is a member of Hampden Lodge,
A. F. & A. M., Morning Star Chapter,
Springfield Commandery, Evening Star Lodge
of Perfection, Massasoit Council, Princes of
Jerusalem, Lawrence Chapter of Rose Croix,
and the Massachusetts Consistory of Boston.
The Grand Chapter and Grand Council of
Massachusetts enroll him among their num
bers; and he is also a member of Mount
Roulstone Lodge, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and Agawam Encampment, Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
From the foregoing it will be seen that Mr.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Newman's time, aside from that part which is
devoted to his professional work, is very much
engaged; and it is a matter of surprise that
so much can be accomplished by one man. At
this writing Mr. Newman is recruiting his
health, which has been greatly impaired by
over-close occupation, by a sojourn in the
" Land of the Golden Gate " ; and his friends
all hope that he may return with his normal
vigor fully restored.

'YgTENRY INGALLS CARVER, well-
l^-I known as a manufacturer and a lead-
II9 I ing resident of the town of Ludlow,
was born in Granby, Hampshire
County, Mass., on December 29, 1841, his
parents being Derrick Obediah and Clarissa
(Ingalls) Carver. His grandfather, Jonathan
Carver, removed from Connecticut to Massa
chusetts, his declining years being passed in
Granby. Derrick Obediah Carver was born in Con
necticut, and was reared to agricultural
pursuits, which he followed as his life occu
pation. He died in Granby while yet in the
prime of life, being but forty-nine. His
wife, Clarissa Ingalls, was a native of Hamp
shire County, Mass., and survived her hus
band many years, dying at the home of her
son Henry at the advanced age of eighty-one.
She reared three children — Mary, Augustus
Everett, and Henry Ingalls.
During his younger days Henry Ingalls
Carver attended school, and assisted on the
farm ; but, having a natural talent for me
chanical work, at the age of seventeen he
commenced the manufacture and sale of bee
hives. He continued in this line but a short
time, however, engaging in various kinds of
mechanical work until the autumn of 1863,
when he went to Chicopee, and entered the
employ of the Ames Manufacturing Company,
with whom he remained for a brief time. He
then engaged with the Hadley Thread Com
pany, remaining with them until May, 1864.
In the fall of that year he worked a few weeks
for the Wason Manufacturing Company, and
then found employment at the United States
Arsenal in Springfield, where he remained

until the close of the war, when he returned
to the old home in Granby.
In 1866 Mr. Carver purchased twelve acres
of land in the town of Ludlow, bordering on
Stony Brook, and immediately commenced the
erection of a dam and a saw-mill, having the
latter ready for operation on January i, 1867.
In progress of time he improved on his
methods of work, and did quite an extensive
business in the line of custom sawing, in
addition buying standing timber, which he
manufactured and sold. He has added an
other story to his mill, and here is engaged in
the manufacture of butter-workers and moulds.
He has brought out several inventions, one of
which, a combined butter-worker and mould,
was awarded the premium at the International
Dairy Association Fair, held in New York
City in 1879. One of his butter-moulds,
known as Carver's Butter Mould No. i, is the
finest of its kind on the market. Another,
the Daisy Mould, is also a very good one, and
has the advantage of being cheaper. Mr.
Carver is at the present time engaged in the
manufacture of these moulds, which have an
extensive sale, both in the United States and
Canada. In 1880 he erected his present resi
dence, which is built in a modern style of archi
tecture, well finished and furnished throughout.
In 1869 Mr. Carver and Miss Ellen M.
Kendall were united in the holy bonds of mat
rimony. Mrs. Carver was born in the town
of Ludlow, and is a daughter of James W. and
Martha Kendall. This happy union has been
blessed by the birth of five children, as fol
lows: Laura Etta, Elmer H., Lizzie, Flor
ence, and Leroy.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Carver are members of
the Congregational church at Granby, in
which they are active -workers. Politically,
Mr. Carver is a firm supporter of the Prohibi
tion party; and, fraternally, he is a member
of the Granby Grange.

(sTTBNI] JsLA tei

in

'BNER P. LESHURE, a highly es
teemed citizen of Springfield, has
resided within its limits for more
than forty years, having moved here
1852, ere its incorporation as a city, and

222

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

since that period has been a leading spirit in
promoting the enterprises conducive to its
improvement and general interests. He is
a native of Connecticut, Woodstock being the
place of his birth, which occurred October 14,
1828, and is of French extraction.
His father, John Leshure, was born in
Woodstock in 1787, and there reared to man
hood on a farm ; and with the exception of a
few years, from 1839 until 1847, spent in
Southbridge, Mass., he was a life-long resi
dent of Woodstock, dying there in 1864. He
was a soldier in the War of 181 2, and in his
old age drew a pension for his services in that
struggle. Having learned the cooper's trade
when a young man, he worked at that in con
nection with farming. He married Vesta
Pease, who was born in Eastport, Me., but
was reared in Fairhaven, Mass. She sur
vived her husband, dying in 1 881, at the age
of eighty-one years, and leaving two children
— -Abner P.; and Mary, the widow of Benja
min Bradford. The parents were people of
upright lives, and conscientious members of
the Congregational church.
Abner P. completed his education in the
Southbridge High School, and after returning
to Woodstock began earning his living as
a stage driver. He subsequently became a
clerk in the provision market of Mr. Thomas
H. Allen, and while in his employ came to
Springfield, Mr. Allen opening a meat market
here in 1852. Mr. Leshure continued to
work for Mr. Allen until 1859, when he went
into business for himself, establishing a meat
market, in which he carried on a good trade
during war times, continuing it until 1871.
During the war he was twice appointed to go
to the front, as baggage master and as wagon
master, but did not go, remaining here as a
member of the quartermaster's staff. Dis
posing of his market in 1871, Mr. Leshure
moved to Boston, where he was engaged in
business until the fall of 1873, when he re
turned to Springfield to accept the position of
book-keeper for Mr. Allen, with whom he
remained until his election as Chief Engineer
of the fire department.
Mr. Leshure had first become a member of
the fire department in 1854, when its sole

equipment consisted of two hand engines
belonging to the city, one owned by the "West
ern Railway Company, and two belonging to
the United States government, the latter giv
ing the use of the engines and the men to the
city, the whole requiring a force of from fifty
to sixty men each to run them. Mr. Leshure
was promoted from time to time, being at first
third assistant pipeman, then second foreman,
first foreman, finally foreman, a position
which he held four years. He was later
elected assistant chief of the fire department,
that being the first year steam fire engines
were employed in the city, and remained in
that office until 1867.
The next three years he was a common fire
man on the steam fire engine on "the Hill,"
and in 1870 was elected Chief Engineer of the
fire department, an office which he retained
until April, 1871, receiving but a small
salary, which he considered insufficient for the
required work and responsibility. After his
return from Boston, in January, 1874, Mr.
Leshure, whose valuable services in the fire
department had been recognized, was again
elected Chief Engineer, a position to which
he was re-elected by the different city coun
cils for twenty consecutive years, and in
which he served with eminent ability and
fidelity from February, 1874, until March,
1894. During his official term the larger number
of the buildings belonging to the fire depart
ment were erected, notably those on Bond
Street, Worthington Street, South Main
Street, Winchester Park, Hooker Street, and
the annex to the Pynchon Street building,
which is just completed. The fire alarm tele
graph was also established, the department
changed from a volunteer department to a
paid one, and the number of companies in
creased from six to twice that number, and in
cluding a force of one hundred and sixty men.
The fire department of Springfield while
under the supervision of Mr. Leshure was
well known throughout the country, and was
said by competent judges to be one of the
finest-drilled and the best-equipped in the
United States. He has always been deeply
interested in everything pertaining to his

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

223

duties, never letting an opportunity for ob
taining knowledge on any subject connected
with his position pass by unheeded. While
in office he attended conventions in St.
Louis, New York, Philadelphia, Nashville,
Cleveland, Washington, Boston, Richmond,
Cincinnati, New Orleans, Chicago, Long
Branch, Providence, Atlanta, Minneapolis,
Kansas City, Detroit, Springfield, Louis
ville, Milwaukee, and Montreal, and always
took an active and prominent part in these
meetings. The work entitled "P""ire Streams, as deter
mined by Experiments made by A. P. Le-
"shure," written by George A. Ellis, a large
edition of which has been sold throughout the
entire country, has made his name familiar
throughout the length and breadth of the land.
He is a well-considered authority on all ques
tions connected with the equipment and man
agement of fire departments, his earnest and
faithful work in this line being fully appre
ciated by every man connected with the Na
tional Association of Fire Engineers, of
which he is a prominent member and the
ex-President. He is also a life member of
the Massachusetts State Fire Association.
Mr. Leshure has made some valuable improve
ments on the old systems, and brought out
among other things the Automatic Siamese
Valve, which was patented, and is now used
on stand-pipes all over the country. He
was a member of the building committee and
an inspector for fifteen years, or until the law
was passed forbidding a man to hold both
offices, when he resigned the first position.
He is likewise a charter member of the Fire
men's Relief Association, and has been Sec
retary of the same for the past eighteen years.
When he first assumed the office, the reserve
fund was three thousand dollars; but it has
been increased to fifteen thousand dollars,
the larger part of which has been raised by
the annual ball given by the firemen, usually
on New Year's Eve. For the past thirty years
this ball has been the event of the season in
Springfield, the Germania B'and of Boston
furnishing the music, and giving a band con
cert prior to the grand march, or promenade,
which has been led by Mr. Leshure for

twenty-one years. He also founded the Fire
men's Aid Association, for the assistance of
firemen if disabled from other causes than
exposure, allowing ten dollars per week to
those injured, and assessing each member ten
cents a week if the demands of the treasury
need it. He is also well known in fraternal
circles, belonging to the Knights of Pythias,
Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Amity
Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and Kamp Komfort Klub.
The wife of Mr. Leshure, whose maiden
name was Margaret A. Phelps, was a native
of South Wilbraham, now Hampden, and a
daughter of Lyman Phelps. Their union was
celebrated December 28, 1857; and of the
four children born into their household three
are still living. Willard P. is President of
the Hampden Corundum Wheel Manufactur
ing Company; Mary Alice is the wife of
William G. Savery, of New Haven, Conn. ;
and John, who passed the examination admit
ting him to the medical department of Co
lumbia College, N.Y., in October, 1894, is
at present teller in the Springfield Institu
tion for Savings. Mr. and Mrs. Leshure
have a very pleasant and comfortable home
on Maple Street, where they have lived for
many years, respected and esteemed by their
neighbors and friends. They are both ear
nest and faithful workers in the First Con
gregational Church, to which they have be
longed for twenty years.

(WTo

EORGE W. MILLER has for many
\ '3 I years been a resident of Indian Or
chard, a part of Springfield, Mass.,
and is one of its most honored citizens. He
was born in New York City, September 9,
1852, his parents being John A. and Cather
ine (Huft) Miller. His father was born in
Hesse - Cassel, Germany, and came to this
country when twelve years of age. In New
York City he learned the trade of tailor and
cutter, and followed the latter business some
years. The mother, Catherine Huft, was
born in Baden - Baden, but was brought to
New York City when but one year old, and
there lived and married. In 1861 she and

224

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

her husband removed to Easthampton, where
they still live.
Their family consisted of four sons and
three daughters, George W., the subject of
this sketch, being the eldest son. He was
educated at the common and high schools of
Easthampton, and then served an apprentice
ship of five years, learning the trade of a tin
smith. Going to New York City, he there
followed his trade for two and one-half years.
He next worked one year in the same business
in Meriden, Conn., whence he removed to
Florence, Mass, where he worked two years at
his trade in a stove store. From Florence he
went to Haydenville to take charge of an
assortment-shop, which position he held for
about two years. Coming to Springfield in
1877 or 1878, he went to work for D. B. Mon
tague on Main Street in the stove business,
having charge of his shop for a year or so.
In 1879 he moved to Indian Orchard, and
here he bought out a business conducted by
E. A. Leland. He took a partner, and a suc
cessful business was carried on for six years
under the firm name of Halford & Miller. At
the end of that time a branch shop was started
by the firm at Ludlow, Mr. Miller remaining
in charge at Indian Orchard until 1890, when
he sold the business to Mr. G. G. Makepeace.
Mr. Miller was elected to the Board of
Aldermen for the city of Springfield in 1884
and 1885, and re-elected in 1886. He also
served on various committees, among them
the Committee on Sewers, Drains, and High
ways, of which he was chairman two years.
He was clerk of the precinct, and is now cau
cus clerk under the new law. In the fall of
1 886 he was elected to the State legislature
for the Sixth Hampden District, and in 1890
re-elected to the same office. In the mean
time he was put in charge of the roads and
sewers of Ward Eight, his territory reaching
from Chicopee Falls to Wilbraham, being the
largest district in the city under the control
of one man. Mr. Miller was a stanch Repub
lican, but his popularity often caused his
nomination to be indorsed by the Democratic
party. Mr. Miller has been an honored
member of the Masonic fraternity since
twenty-one years of age, and has held posi

tions of trust in different lodges of that order,
being now Worshipful Master of Brigham
Lodge of Ludlow, and a charter member.
On January 27, 1875, Mr. Miller was mar
ried at Easthampton, Mass., by the Rev. Dr.
S. T. Seelye, to Eugenia Oberempt, daughter
of John H. Oberempt. Their union was
blessed with three daughters — Mary Helen,
wife of Merton H. Harris, of Windsor, Conn.:
Grace; and Alice. All are members of the
Evangelical church, the father being super
intendent of the Sunday-school, where he has
been an active member for years. Mr. Miller
has recently built a pleasant home on Worces
ter Street, Indian Orchard; and here, not
withstanding the many demands of the com
munity for his services, he finds some leisure
hours in which to enjoy the companionship
of his wife and daughters. Having always
proved himself competent and faithful to the
many trusts committed to him, Mr. Miller
enjoys to a high degree the confidence and
respect of his fellow-citizens.

-"gTON. EDWIN F. LYFORD was born
^-I at Waterville, Me., September 8,
P I 1857. His father, the late Profes
sor Moses Lyford, was also a native
of the Pine Tree State, having been born at
Mount Vernon; and his mother, whose maiden
name was Mary L. Dyer, was born at Towns-
bend, Vt. Mr. Lyford's paternal grandfather
was Dudley Lyford, who moved from Brent
wood, N.H., to Mount Vernon, Me., where he
became one of the early settlers, and was a
prominent man and prosperous farmer.
Dudley Lyford's son Moses graduated at
Colby University, Waterville, Me., where he
received the degree of LL.D., and later was
appointed Professor of Astronomy and Nat
ural Philosophy in that institution, holding
these chairs for a period of twenty-five or
thirty years. After resigning his professor
ship he was elected to the Board of Trustees of
the university, and never while living ceased
to take an active interest in that seat of learn
ing. Fle came to .Springfield in 1886, to
reside with his only son, and the following
year was summoned to his final rest at the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

age of seventy-one years. He was a member
of the Baptist church. His widow, who sur
vives, resides with her son in Springfield.
Edwin F. Lyford attended the public
schools of Waterville, fitted for college at the
Colburn Classical Institute of that city, and
entered Colby University, from which he was
graduated in the class of 1877, at the age of
twenty years, receiving both the bachelor's
and master's degree. Immediately after leav
ing college, he began the study of law in the
office of the Hon. Reuben Foster, of Water
ville, where he diligently pursued his studies
until admitted to the Kennebec County bar at
Augusta in 1879. For the next three years he
gave up his time to teaching in the Water
ville High School and at Colby University,
in 1882 coming to Springfield, where he com
menced the practice of his profession, having
first reviewed his law studies in the office of
Leonard & Wells, and being admitted to prac
tise in the courts of this commonwealth.
Since his establishment in this city Mr. Ly
ford has not only become identified with t'he
legal profession, but also with public affairs
as well. His fellow-citizens were quick to
perceive in him a gentleman abundantly qual
ified to sustain with honor and credit any pub
lic office he might be called upon to fill; and
that their conception and estimation of his
ability in this direction were perfectly well
founded has been amply proved by the very
able manner in which he has administered
various important and responsible public
trusts. He is a Republican in politics, and repre
sented Ward Two in the city council for two
years, during which time he served as a mem
ber of the Committee upon City Property, but
at the conclusion of his second year changed
his residence to Ward Five. In 1888 he was
Secretary of the Republican Club of Spring
field and also of the Ward Five Republican
Club, and in the autumn of 1891 was elected
a representative to the legislature from the
Seventh Hampden District, and served as such
for the years 1892 and 1893. He was clerk
of the Committee on Cities, and in 1893 was
chairman of the Committee on Probate and
Insolvency, also a member of the Committee

on Constitutional Amendments. He was
made chairman of the special committee ap
pointed to investigate certain charges pre
ferred against the Bay State and other gas
companies, the result of which proved to be
the event of that session — the passing of a
bill, which became known as the Lyford bill,
for the introduction of reforms in this direc
tion, and which conditionally repealed the
charter of the Bay State Gas Company.
In 1893 Mr. Lyford was elected to the
State Senate from the First Hampden District,
receiving a majority of fourteen hundred and
forty-two votes in a district which generally
elected its candidate by not more than four
hundred majority. In the Senate, besides
being chairman of the Committee on Probate
and Insolvency, he was on the Judiciary Com
mittee, the Committee on Taxation, Commit
tee for the Revision of Corporation Laws, and
chairman of the special committee for the
purpose of taking some action relative to the
unemployed, the result of which was a bill
authorizing the chief executive to appoint a
committee of three to investigate and report
upon that important question. The work of
attending to the business of these various
committees, augmented by the usual routine
duties in the Senate, necessarily made Mr.
Lyford's official life a very busy one; but it
is not too much to say that he successfully
coped with and mastered the many difficult
questions which confront a senator and a com
mittee man.
Besides being a member of the executive
committee of the State Republican Club,
Mr. Lyford is a member of numerous social
and political organizations, among which are
the Middlesex,- the Winthrop, Westminster,
Springfield Bicycle, and Saturday Night
Clubs. He has been a Trustee of Colby Uni
versity since 1890, and is one of the Directors
of the Springfield Young Men's Christian
Association, also one of the board of manage
ment of the Boys' Club, an organization in
tended to promote the welfare, socially and
otherwise, of homeless boys and street gamins,
a school and savings-bank being sustained for
their benefit. He is closely identified with
many worthy religious movements, being a

226

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

member of the State Street Baptist Church
and teacher of a class in its Sunday-school,
consisting of over one hundred young men.
Notwithstanding the amount of business he
is called upon to attend, both public and pri
vate, Mr. Lyford has found time to do some
thing in the way of adding to contemporary
literature, having published a unique little
volume, entitled "Pictures and Stories from
American History," intended as a child's his
tory and Christmas gift book, and as such
being a complete success, having been very
pleasantly noticed by various reviews. But it
is not alone in literature that Mr. Lyford
finds that needed recreation from continued
and prosy labor, for he also takes a lively
interest in the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, of which he is a
member. He occupies a very finely appointed
and centrally located office in Gilmore's
Theatre Block on Elm Street.

KRANKLIN BLANCHARD, a retired
manufacturer, who resides at his pleas
ant home in the town of Palmer, was
born in Millbury, Worcester County, Mass.,
May 20, 1 818, son of John B. and Silence
(Barton) Blanchard. The father was one of
a family of five children, namely: Stephen;
Simon; Thomas, who possessed a good inven
tive faculty; John B. ; and Susan. John B.
Blanchard was born in Millbury, Mass. Hav
ing grown to maturity, he learned the art of
manufacturing scythes, and started a factory
of his own in that town. He later transferred
the business to Dudley, and continued there
until 1824, when he sold out and moved to
the town of Palmer, where he followed the
same business in the locality now known as
Blanchardville. The manufacture increased rapidly until it
reached the extent of twenty-five hundred
dozen per year, the scythes being shipped to
all parts of the United States. This was in
those days considered a very large business.
Mr. Blanchard, the elder, finally retired, and
turned it over to his sons. Fle was a promi
nent man in the town. In politics he was a
Whig, and was a Major in the State militia.

He died at the age of seventy-four years
and his wife at the age of seventy-five. They
were the parents of five children. Their son
Alonzo V. married Elvira Shearer, and had
one child — Mary. William J. married Jane
M. Shearer, and had four children — William,
Jane, John, and Joseph. John D. married for
his first wife Dolly Phelps, who died, leaving
two children — George and Fanny, both
now deceased; his second wife was Elizabeth
Merrick, by whom he had four children — ¦
Marcia, Thomas, Lizzie, and Hattie. Emily
married Thomas Bell, and had two children —
Thomas and Georgianna. The fifth child was
Franklin, the subject of this sketch.
Franklin Blanchard, while yet a mere boy,
commenced work with his father in the scythe
factory, and soon acquired a good knowledge
of the business. When his father retired, he
and his brothers purchased the business, car
ried it on for twenty years, he then selling
out his share. His uncle Thomas having in
vented an apparatus for steaming and bending
wood, he engaged in making wheel rims, sleigh
runners, ox bows, plough handles, and similar
articles, and carried on quite an extensive
business in this line for a number of years,
attaining a wide reputation for the excellence
of his work. He bought the old homestead,
a fine large house built by his father fifty
years ago, and now resides there, enjoying the
fruit of his many years of patient industry.
He first married Sarah S. Blanchard, who
died, as well as their daughter Laura. Mr.
Blanchard married for his second wife Frances
Temple Holland, who was born in Boston,
Mass., September 17, 1826, daughter of Cap
tain Samuel M. and Laura (Pierce) Holland.
Mrs. Blanchard' s grandparents were Captain
John and Sarah (May) Holland, both of whom
were born in Boston. Captain John Holland
followed the sea nearly all his life, owning
and commanding ships, chiefly in the St.
Petersburg trade. They had eight children.
Of these the eldest, .Samuel, the father of
Mrs. Blanchard, became a sea captain; but
shortly after his marriage he gave up a sea
faring life, and went to New York City,
where he engaged in the boot and shoe busi
ness. He died at the early age of thirty-four

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

2 2 7

years, leaving his wife with three daughters
and a son, Frances T., now the wife of Mr.
Blanchard, being the eldest. Mrs. Blan
chard' s mother was a daughter of Major
Joseph Hardy Pierce.
Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard have had three
children, a daughter, Laura P., and two sons.
Laura P. Blanchard married Horace J. Law
rence, resides in North Brookfield, Mass., and
has one daughter, Frances Temple, named for
her grandmother. One son, Henry F. Blan
chard, a bright and promising boy, died at the
age of sixteen years. The other, Frank S.
Blanchard, married Miss M. Ellise Tessier;
and they reside in Worcester, Mass., where he
is engaged as a publisher and job printer.
They have three children, whose names are,
respectively, AHce Tessier, Henry Franklin,
and Elise Holland. Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard
are now quietly enjoying the autumn of their
days, esteemed and honored by their neigh
bors and townspeople, and rich in the bless
ings of children and grandchildren, whose
merry laugh is often heard ringing through
the old homestead.

H^|ICHARD W. RICE has been closely
identified with the coal business of

Springfield for the past thirty years.
He was born in this city, April 13,
1838, son of John W. and Mary (Stebbins)
Rice. His father was a son of John Rice,
who was a pioneer resident of Springfield.
John W. Rice received a common-school
education, and learned the carpenter's trade,
after completing which he became a building
contractor, with apparently a very prosperous
future before him ; but his career was brought
to an untimely end while he was yet a com
paratively young man, his death occurring
when his son Richard was six years of age.
He left a widow and four children, the sub
ject of this brief record being the only son.
Two of the three daughters, Mary and Martha,
still survive. Lois died in 1890. Martha
married Augustus L. Childs, and resides in
Springfield. Richard W. Rice received his education at
the public schools of this city, leaving the

high school at the age of fourteen to enter the
ticket office of the Boston Sz; Albany Railroad,
then the old Western Railroad, where he re
mained one year, at the expiration of which
time he accepted a position with the old
Hampden Insurance Company and the Five
Cent Savings Bank, the business of the two
being transacted in one small office. Here he
labored for three years, going hence to the
Massasoit Insurance Company as a clerk for
three years more, and finally in 1864 entering
the employ of Isaac Mills, a coal dealer, with
whom he remained as clerk until 1890, during
the latter years having practically the entire
management of the trade. In the year above
mentioned he purchased an interest in the
business, which gave him full and complete
control. At the death of Mr. Mills, Mr. Rice suc
ceeded to the entire business, which he
immediately changed to his own name, and
which is now very large and profitable. His
office is situated at the corner of Water and
Court Streets, with the yards directly oppo
site, facing the tracks of the consolidated
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
This is the oldest coal depot in the city, the
original books of the concern showing charges
for coal during the year 1833; and it is still
one of the leading coal yards, and does a very
large business both wholesale and retail,
employing from ten to twelve men, and hand
ling none but the very best qualities of coal.
Experience is certainly an element of suc
cess, and that Mr. Rice is now in his full
tide of prosperity is the result of thirty years'
close and undivided attention to his particular
business. It is pleasant for one who has fought well
the battle of life to look back upon the victo
ries won, and Mr. Rice has great reason to be
gratified with his success. Of the Five Cent
Savings Bank, in whose rooms he worked in a
minor capacity as a lad, he is now a Trustee,
and has been a member of the corporation for
a period of twenty-eight years. He is a
Republican in politics, but neither seeks nor
aspires to hold office, being strictly a man of
business, having a large trade, which demands
his entire personal attention.

228

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

On December 8, 1869, he was united in
marriage to Miss Elizabeth A., daughter of
Benjamin Fuller, of this city, a well-known
hotel keeper both in this State and Connecti
cut, his early years having been passed in
Monson. Mr. and Mrs. Rice attend the
Memorial Church, of which Mr. Rice was
clerk for eleven years. They reside at a very
pleasantly situated home on Holyoke Street,
having no children.

RANK S. BRAZEE, a well-known and
reliable contractor and builder of West-
field, was born at Blandford, April 10,
1 85 1, the son of Samuel S. and Laura (Tyler)
Brazee. Frank Brazee, the father of Samuel
S. and grandfather of Frank S., was born in
the State of New York. He was a farmer,
and was on such good terms with old Mother
Earth that she produced for him her most
bountiful crops; and in the communities in
which he lived he had the love and respect of
his fellow- men. A conscientious man, at one
time he was a member of the Methodist
church, and was much esteemed in that soci
ety. Later in life he thought he saw good
reasons for changing' somewhat his religious
views, and joined the United Brethren. His
last days were spent in Ohio, where he died
when about eighty years old. Grandfather
Brazee was the father of nine children who
reached mature life, all of whom are now
dead. His son Samuel S., father of Frank S.
Brazee, was born at Salisbury, Conn., Octo
ber 19, 1819, and was educated in the common
schools of Connecticut, and grew to manhood
in that State. When a boy he began to
learn the carpenter trade. Afterward circum
stances, and perhaps a natural bent, led him
to adopt the trade of bridge builder, at which
he was highly successful. He assisted in
building and at one time had charge of all
the bridges on the Boston & Albany Railroad.
Travelling from place to place, as he must of
necessity, in early life he formed no church
connection; but at a later period he was con
verted, and became not only a member but a
minister in the Methodist Episcopal church.

and still later joined the Second Adventists.
He was a preacher for the last fifteen or eigh
teen years of his life, and his sermons marked
him as a man of deep thought and a studious
nature. Mr. Brazee was a strong believer in
and adherent to the Republican party. He
died in the village of Westfield, July 29,
1877. His wife, Laura (Tyler) Brazee, was
born in Saratoga County, New 'York, Novem
ber 7, 1822. She survived him, together
with five of the children, four of whom are
now living, namely: Mrs. Sarah Phelps, now
residing in Westfield; Mrs. Lucy A. Hunter,
living in Otis Centre; Mrs. Ida P. Searle, in
Westfield; and Frank S. Brazee, the subject
of this sketch. Another son, Frederick, died
at the age of twenty-one.
Frank S. Brazee was reared in Chester and
Cold Springs, and received a common-school
education at those places. At the age of
eleven years he was hired by a farmer, receiv
ing six dollars for his first month's work,
remarkably good wages for a boy of that age.
He was engaged in farm work until he reached
the age of sixteen, when he entered the Cold
Springs Iron Works, where he remained till
he reached his majority. In 1872 he came to
Westfield, and apprenticed himself to Enoch
Phelps to learn the carpenter trade. Here
for four or five years he employed his time
shoving the plane and driving the saw, after
ward working for others at his trade. For
three years he was employed in the Florence
Sewing Machine Works, after which he re
turned to Westfield, and worked out for other
parties till 1891, when he engaged in business
for himself. Since that time he has success
fully carried on the business of public con
tractor and builder, earning for himself a
well-deserved reputation in this line. In his
political affiliations Mr. Brazee is Republican.
On May i, 1880, he married Miss Kate L.
Torrey, who was born in Chesterfield, Mass.,
and is the daughter of Job and Climena
(Witherell) Torrey, now residents of Flor
ence, where Mr. Torrey is a well-to-do
farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Brazee are members of
the Second Advent church. They have five
promising children — ^ Fred, Ida May, Bernice
L., Edna, and Charles.

WILLIAM A. FULLER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

23'

m

ILLIAM A. FULLER, who was
for a number of years general agent
at Springfield for several leading
fire insurance companies and for the State
Mutual Life Assurance Company of Worces
ter, was born in Ludlow, Mass., March ii,
1847. Mr. Fuller was a direct descendant of
Edward Fuller, one of the "Mayflower" pas
sengers, who landed on Plymouth Rock in
December, 1620.
His parents, Edmund W. and Almira
(Jenks) Fuller, owned a farm in Ludlow;
and here in the district schools and later in
the private school at Ludlow Mills William
was prepared for the Wesleyan Academy at
Wilbraham, from which institution he was
graduated in 1867. Prevented by ill health
from carrying out his design of completing his
education by a college course, young Fuller
followed the urgent counsel of his physi
cians, who advised him to choose an outdoor
employment, and formed a partnership with
F. S. Fuller & Co. in a publishing house, his
duties as a solicitor giving him the active
exercise his constitution seemed to require.
After a year or two he sold out his interests,
and became an agent for an insurance house.
In 1870 he formed a connection with Colonel
S. C. Warriner, who conducted an exclusive
fire insurance business ; and, finding that he
was a successful solicitor, in the following
year he established a general insurance busi
ness on his own account. This enterprise he
conducted successfully until the date of his
death, August 9, 1888. Mr. Fuller's politi
cal faith was pledged to the Republican party;
but he was too fully occupied with business
to enter active political life, though his influ
ence often counted at the polls.
September 16, 1869, he was united in mar
riage to a lady who did not by the solemn
office of matrimony change her name, Miss
Harriet E. Fuller, a daughter of Gilbert E.
and Harriet (Meacham) Fuller. Her father
was born in Ludlow, January 4, 1818, and her
mother in Somers, Conn., on July 19, 1822.
Ezekiel Fuller, Mrs. Harriet E. Fuller's
great-grandfather on the paternal side, was a
Sergeant in the Revolution of 1776, receiving
his first pension in 1818 and a second one in

1835. Her father's maternal grandfather and
great-grandfather were officers — Lieutenant
Leonard and Captain Joseph Miller, who
fought for American independence; and her
mother also is descended from martial ances
tors, Mrs. Harriet Meacham Fuller's maternal
grandfather, Gains Bliss, having entered the
Continental army at nineteen, and her great
grandfather, Ebenezer Bliss, having served as
a minute - man. To William A. and Har
riet E. Fuller six children were born,
namely: Frederick William, born January 29,
1872; George Arthur, September 21, 1873;
Florence Isabel, April 5, 1877; Gertrude
Annie, September 26, 1881; Gilbert Edmund,
December 13, 1882; and a son who died in
infancy. The two elder sons are at the Mas
sachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston,
the younger members of the family being at
school in Springfield.
Mr. Fuller was a man of much musical
taste and ability, and was deeply interested
in the Hampden County Musical Association,
of which he was a Director. This society
held its meetings in his office regularly dur
ing the time of his active life, and was a
source of great pleasure to its most earnest
supporter. In Mr. Fuller's death the musi
cal circle of the city and county suffered a
loss which will be long felt. Mr. Fuller was
a Knight Templar in the Masonic Order, and
belonged also to the society of Odd Fellows.
He was a member of Trinity Methodist Epis
copal Church. In his office Mr. Fuller was
an indefatigable worker, and the result of his
sagacious endeavors was the building up of
the largest insurance business in Western
Massachusetts. Mrs. Fuller, with her chil
dren and her mother, who is included in the
family circle, lives at the home at 152 North
Main Street, which was purchased by her
husband nineteen years ago.
The family name, which, it will be re
membered, is that of the present Chief
Justice of the United States, has long been
an honored one in both English and Ameri
can annals. In addition to the foregoing
brief memoir, Mr. William A. Fuller is fur
ther represented in these pages by a lifelike
portrait.

232

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

[f^HENRY MARTIN MILLER, D.D.S.,
has been actively identified with the
dental profession in this county for
nearly twoscore years, having set
tled in Westfield, where he still lives, in
1856. He was born in West Springfield,
June 10, 1826, and is the representative of
an old family, being a grandson of Asa Mil
ler, a life-long resident of that town, who
there carried on general farming and black-
smithing. Asa Miller, the second son of the first
named, was born in West Springfield, and in
the younger years of his life was a popular
educator, but afterward he settled down to
farming, the occupation to which he was
reared, owning a large farm in the locality
known as Tatham, where he spent his last
years, living until the advanced age of ninety-
two. He m^arried Laura Rogers, daughter of
Elijah and Lucy (Smith) Rogers, of West
Springfield; and she, too, lived to the ven
erable age of ninety-two years, her death
being then caused by an accident. (For
further parental history, see the sketch of
Talcott A. Rogers, which appears on another
page of this volume.) Mrs. Laura Miller
bore her husband four children — Norman R.,
Horace S., Henry Martin, and Lucy Ann.
Henry Martin received his preliminary edu
cation in the district school of his native
town, and afterward attended the old West-
field Academy and the Westfield Normal
School. He was a very apt student, and at
the age of eighteen years engaged in teaching,
which he continued for several years, among
the places in which he taught being Kingston,
Mass. While there he commenced the study
of dentistry, and afterward continued it with
Dr. Isaac Woolworth and Dr. White, of
Springfield. In September, 185 i, Dr. Miller
opened a dentist's office in Plymouth, Mass.,
where he practised until coming to Westfield,
in 1856. He has continued in his profes
sional labors here with eminent success, with
the exception of one year, in which he con
ducted a dental supply depot in Boston. He
has kept up with the times in regard to the
wonderful advances made during the past few
years in the dental art, and readily adopts the

most approved modern methods of carrying on
his work.
Dr. Miller has been twice married. His
first wife, to whom he was united in 1861,
was Emily L. Holmes, a native of Springfield
and a daughter of Stephen S. and Elizabeth
(White) Holmes. She passed to the higher
life in 1866, leaving two children — Henry S.
and Lizzie H. In 1868 the Doctor married
Miss Sylvia Clark, who was born in West-
field, and is a daughter of Henry O. and
Sylvia Clark. Of the second union three
children have been born; namely, Edward C,
Gilbert W., and Martin P. Taking a genu
ine interest in all that concerns the public
welfare, Dr. Miller has exerted a marked in
fluence in promoting the prosperity of the
town. He and his wife are valued mem
bers of the Second Congregational Church,
in which he has served as Deacon for several
years.

TJ^HARLES FIENRY ALLEN, who dur-
1 nX ing a long and useful life has been
^^s^ prominently identified with the
business interests of the city of
Springfield, but who is now living retired, en
joying the fruits of his former labors, his
pleasant home being located at No. 27 Brad
ford Street, is a native of Woodstock, Conn.,
the date of his birth being October 20, 1818.
The paternal grandfather, Lemuel Allen,
was, so far as known, a life-long resident of the
State of Rhode Island. His son, Charles
Allen, the father of Charles Henry, was born
in Rhode Island, where he was reared and
also married. Shortly after the latter event
he removed to Woodstock, Conn., settling
on a farm belonging to his uncle, a portion
of which he afterward inherited. After a
residence there of a few years he went to the
town of Pomfret, making his home there for
a time, and thence returning to his farm in
Woodstock, upon which he resided the remain
der of his life. Fle took for his wife Mahala
Parker. She was born either in Coventry or
Scituate, R.I., and survived her husband many
years, departing this life in Danielson, Conn.
The parental household included four children

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

233

— Lucinda, Thomas, Charles Flenry, and
Albert. Charles Henry Allen is the only survivor of
his parents' family. He was educated at the
public schools of Woodstock and Pomfret, and
at the age of fifteen went to Providence, R. I. ,
where he clerked in a store for a period of two
years, then returned to Connecticut, and for
three years was book-keeper in Williams's fac
tory at Killingly. At the expiration of this
time he returned to the home farm in Wood
stock, being engaged in agricultural pursuits
until his marriage, when he removed to Web
ster, Mass., to engage in the provision busi
ness, continuing in this four years. At the
expiration of that time Mr. Allen went back to
Woodstock, and for three years was occupied
in farming. He then removed to Canton, St.
Lawrence County, N.Y. , and while residing
there was engaged in the lumber business in
the Adirondacks. In i860 he came to Spring
field, and here embarked in the provision busi
ness, at first retail, but finally branching out
into general wholesale and packing, building
up a large trade, and doing the most extensive
wholesale business in Western Massachusetts.
This he conducted until the year 1890, when
he sold out and retired from active life.
Mr. Allen has been twice married — first in
1840, when Miss Sarah Jackson became his
wife. Her natal place was Woodstock, Conn. ;
and she was a daughter of Nathan and Priscilla
Jackson. Mrs. Allen passed from earthly
scenes in 1878, leaving one daughter, Ellen
M., who is the wife of Benjamin W. Atwood,
of Shelburne, Vt., and the mother of two chil
dren — Grace and Albert, the latter now de
ceased. In 1 88 1 Mr. Allen was again mar
ried, taking for his wife Mrs. Mary (Jackson)
Mason, a sister of his first wife, and the widow
of John A. Mason. Mrs. Allen has one child
by her first marriage — Lucy E, Mason.
Mr. Allen cast his first Presidential vote for
Martin Van Buren, and has ever since been a
firm supporter of the principles promulgated by
the Democratic party. Socially, he is a mem
ber of Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and
also of the Winthrop Club. During a life
passed amid varied scenes and surroundings
Mr. Allen has always enjoyed the confidence

of his townsmen. A genial and whole-souled
gentleman, true to every relation of life, he is
indeed worthy of the honor and esteem so fully
accorded him by his fellow-citizens.

ENJAMIN M. FIASTINGS is an en
ergetic, industrious, and rising young
farmer, actively engaged in general
farming and dairying in the town of
Southwick, on the homestead where he was
born, the date of his birth being March 1 1,
1870. His paternal grandfather, Marvin Hast
ings, was a life-long resident of Connecticut,
the ancestral home, and was a hard-working,
successful agriculturist and a respected citizen.
The maiden name of his wife was Margaret
Smith ; and of the five of their children that
were reared to mature life the following is a
brief mention: 'Virgil M., a farmer, resides
in Westfield ; Ambrose, a machinist, lives in
New Haven, Conn ; Samuel, a mason, is a res
ident of Flartford, Conn. ; Dowd, a farmer,
lives in Suffield, Conn. ; and Mrs. Margaret
Sheldon is the wife of a farmer, of Suffield.
Virgil M. Hastings was born and reared in
Connecticut, attending the common schools of
Suffield, and early in life was trained to habits
of industry and economy, which laid the foun
dation for his subsequent success and gained
for him universal respect. He has made agri
culture his principal occupation; and after his
marriage with Miss Sarah Nettleton, who is
a native of Paw Paw, III, he came to Hamp
den County, Massachusetts, settling in South
wick in i860. He purchased about two
hundred and fifty acres of land, and devoted
himself to the raising of tobacco, hay, and the
small grains, to which he subsequently added
dairying, keeping from twelve to fifteen cows.
He carried on his work diligently and sys
tematically, using excellent judgment, and
before he had been on the place very many
years had the satisfaction of rendering it one
of the best in the neighborhood, the buildings
and other improvements being substantial and
of excellent character. On the third day of
August, 1893, he removed to his present
smaller farm of thirty acres, his place having
one of the finest locations in the town, and

234

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

being appropriately named "City View." He
is a man of good financial ability and high
moral worth, and occupies a secure position in
the consideration and respect of his fellow-citi
zens. In his political views he is an earnest
Republican; and, religiously, he and his wife
are sterling members of the Baptist church at
Westfield. Five children have been born to
them, namely: Margaret, who married Milo D.
Gilbert, a farmer, neither of whom is now
living, Mrs. Gilbert having died at the age of
twenty-eight years, and Mr. Gilbert at the age
of thirty-three years ; Mrs. Florence Atwood,
of Springfield ; Mrs. Anna Veits, of East
Granby, Conn. ; Mrs. Grace Moseley, of
Mason City, la. ; and Benjamin M., with
whose fortunes this sketch is principally con
cerned. After completing his common-school and
academical education at Southwick, Benjamin
M. Hastings took a commercial course at
Child's Business College in Springfield. He
began his business career in the West, spend
ing the time from 1890 until 1892 in the
States of Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Il
linois, being in the employ of his uncle, Will
iam Nettleton, an extensive and well-to-do
cattle dealer. Returning then to the place of
his nativity, Mr. Hastings conducted the home
farm on shares, and on April i, 1893, bought
the same of his father, and is now meeting
with deserved success in agricultural labors.
In addition to general husbandry, he has a
good dairy, keeping ten graded Jersey cattle,
at the head of which is a full-blooded Jersey,
besides some fine young stock. Mr. Hastings
likewise makes a specialty of breaking horses,
and also boards a number of them during the
winter season, giving them the best of care
and attention. He is a hard worker ; and,
being practical as well as enterprising and
progressive in his methods, he is sure to suc
ceed in life. He has his land under fine cult
ure, and has added other buildings, everything
being now admirably and conveniently arranged
for his business.
Mr. Flastings was united in marriage, April
19, 1893, to Miss Nellie J. Cook, a native of
Southfield, Berkshire County, Mass., born
March 6, 1874, a daughter of Charles M. and

Belle (Duncan) Cook. Her parents are es
teemed residents of Westfield, where Mr. Cook
is engaged in carpentering and building. On
April 24, 1895, was born to Benjamin M. and
Nellie J. Hastings a son — Warren Cook Hast
ings. Politically, Mr. Hastings is a sound
Republican, and is now serving as Constable
of the town. He takes an active part in
everything relating to the advancement and
improvement of his native place, and is a true
and loyal citizen. He is liberal in religious
views, and his wife is a consistent member of
the First Congregational Church.

T^HRISTOPHER C. MERRITT, who
I VX represents one of the old historic fam-
^U^___, ilies of New England, and is an
apothecary at 461 State Street,
Springfield, was born in Gardner, Worcester
County, Mass., September 29, 1830. His
earliest paternal ancestors in this country
joined the Plymouth Colony in 1623, and set
tled in Scituate. His father was a Worcester
County farmer. On the maternal side Mr. Mer
ritt is descended from a sister of John Eliot,
the apostle of the Indians. His great-grand
father Merritt served seven years in the Revo
lutionary War; and his grandfather, who was
born in 1772, fought during the War of 1812.
His father, whose name, Increase Sumner
Merritt, bears a flavor of Colonial Puritanism,
was born October 15, 1799. His wife, Susan
Penniman, born in 1800, was a daughter of
Ezra Penniman, one of the early settlers of
Gardner, Mass., whither he came from Brain
tree about the close of the war of the Rev
olution. He died in 1823. Of the eleven
children in the Merritt family, all are living
excepting two, the eldest being sixty-two years
of age before the first death occurred, and the
youngest being between thirty-five and forty.
The school life of Christopher C. Merritt
was of short duration, for he was apprenticed
out to a machinist when he was but nine years
of age. When twenty-one years old he had mas
tered the craft of his trade, at which he worked
in several towns in Massachusetts. .In i860
he was married, and in the following year
went to Winchendon, and from there came to

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

235

Springfield, where he secured a situation in
the National Armory. He was shortly after
ward appointed inspector of the armorv, and in
the same year was made night foreman. The
latter position he retained until night duty was
discontinued, when he resumed his former
place as inspector, which he held till 1866.
F'orming a partnership with Mr. A. O. Sin
clair, Mr. Merritt bought the apothecary store
on State Street, where he has since conducted
the drug business. He has also a small farm
of about fifty acres, situated on the old Bay
Road, which claims a great deal of his time
and attention. The staple products of ha)-,
rve, corn, and potatoes are raised on this farm,
which he has under his personal supervision,
and where he sometimes works himself, de
claring it far more pleasant than being shut up
in an atmosphere of pills and potions.
Mr. Merritt's public career has been one of
honorable distinction. In 1872 he was elected
to the State legislature, and was placed on the
Committee on the Hoosac Tunnel. He was
returned in 1876, and again in 1880, serving
meantime on the Prisons and Finance Commit
tees. When re-elected to the same body in
1 88 1, he rendered good service on the Finance
and Expenditures Committee; and, when in
I S92 he was elected to the State Senate of
Massachusetts, he was one of the indefatigable
workers on the committee which had under
consideration agriculture, public health, and
engrossed bills. In local affairs he was also
busily engaged. For five consecutive years he
has been Overseer of the Poor in the city of
Springfield, and is now serving the fifth year
of his incumbency in that office. In 1882, in
addition to his other duties, he was appointed
by Governor Butler Trustee of the Northamp
ton Lunatic As)-lum. From 1851 until the
election of President Hayes, Mr. Merritt was
affiliated with the Republican party. Since
then he has cast his vote for Democratic can
didates, although his political principles have
not materially changed.
By his marriage in i860 to ^Miss Elvira
Josephine Parker, daughter of Mr. Oscar
Parker, of Gardner, and grand-daughter of the
first settler of that town, he became allied to
a family whose ancestral record was as notable

as his own. Mrs. Merritt's maternal grand
father was a commissioned officer in the Amer
ican army during the Revolution of 1776,
and on both sides of his family her progenitors
were conspicuous in developing the resources
of the sections in which they settled. Mr.
and Mrs. Merritt became the parents of four
children — Josephine M., who married Mr.
Newhall, the principal of the Wilbraham
Academ)', and is the mother of two children ;
Hattie S. , who was born in Springfield, and
married Mr, Frederick Howard, of the same
city; Henry R. , who married Miss Georgia
Merrill, of Springfield; and Charles Junius,
who is still unmarried. Both sons are engaged
in their father's apothecary shop.
Among the relics of his ancestors Mr. Mer
ritt has a copy of the first deed ever given by
the old Colonial Merritt in the transfer of
property in Scituate. Although no exact date
can be established as to the first settlement of
Scituate, it is beyond doubt that the Pilgrim
fathers visited this point shortly after their
landing on the famous Plymouth Rock ; and it
is verified by the date of certain deeds that
William Gillson, Anthony Anable, Thomas
Bird, Nathaniel Tilden, Edward Foster,
Henry Rowley, and others were here before
1628. These gentlemen were called "men of
Kent," because of their having come from
Kent, England. The Merritt deed found
among the colony records reads: "To all
Christian people to whom these prints shall
come, Greeting : Know ye that, I, Henry Mer
ritt of Scituate in America, Planter, have in
consideration of twenty shillings, beforehand
pa)d by Nathaniel Tilden of Scituate, Planter,
in consideration thereof, the aforesaid Henry
Merritt have given, bargained and sold to the
aforesaid Nathaniel Tilden and his heirs for
ever all that land which I had of Goodman
B\-rd lying within the fence at the north end
of the third Cliffe unto the land of the afore
said Nathaniel Tilden. In witness whereof,
I, the aforesaid Henry Merritt, have hereunto
set my hand and scale. Dated this tenth of
April, 1628." This ancient document is
guarded with jealous care, and is indeed an
interesting heirloom to the descendants of a
family whose history is so blended with that of

236

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the section in which they toiled and struggled,
and planted their posterity. In 1883 Mr.
Merritt was bereft of the love and companion
ship of his wife, who died in December of
that year, and to whose memory he has been
faithful.

¦1p)TlRAM R. NORTON, of Westfield, is
l-^-l well and favorably known in the
\\s I business circles of that village,
^""^ where for a period of nearly forty
years he has been actively engaged as a con
tractor and builder. During this time he has
witnessed many changes, few men, if any, hav
ing been established in business longer than
he. Mr. Norton is a native of the old Bay
State, his birth having taken place in the town
of Southampton, Hampshire County, on March
2, 1 83 1. His father, Ira Norton, was born in
Connecticut, Bristol, it is thought, having
been the town of his nativity. The paternal
grandfather, named Isaac, was, it is supposed,
a native of the same State ; but he removed to
Massachusetts, settling in the town of South
ampton, where he purchased a tract of land
and engaged in agricultural pursuits, there
passing the remainder of his days.
Ira Norton was a young man when his par
ents removed to Southampton, and he accom
panied them thither. For a few years after
his marriage he resided on the home farm,
then bought an adjoining one, which he im
proved, and upon it spent the rest of his life,
dying at the advanced age of eighty-three
years. The maiden name of his wife was
Sophia Clapp. She was born in Southampton,
and was a daughter of Silas and Eunice Clapp.
She died at the age of about seventy-five, hav
ing reared a family of seven children.
Hiram R. Norton was reared and educated
in his native town, and at the age of sixteen
went to Southwick to learn the trade of car
pentry, his brother being his instructor. He
worked with the latter, and also with a cousin,
for about three years, but in July, 1853, set
tled in the village of Westfield, and for the
two years following did journeyman woik here.
He then started in business for himself as a
contractor and builder; and, being both capa

ble and industrious, he has met with good suc
cess. About fifteen years ago he began to
deal in lumber in a small way; but for the
past eight years he has dealt in it extensively,
and, in addition, has operated a planing-mill.
Mr. Norton has been twice married. His
first marriage was in 1853, when he was united
with Cordelia Pratt, of Westfield. Of this
union there were born three sons — Alfred P.,
Anson B. , and James H. — and three daughters
— Emma C, Hattie A., and Mary S. Emma
C. died at the early age of nineteen years;
Hattie A. married "William H. Ely, and died
December 5, 1882, aged twenty-three years;
and Mary S. died July 16, 1864, aged one year
and nine days. Anson married Anna Moore,
and has one daughter — Pauline. James mar
ried Minnie Hunt, of Tolland, Conn., and died
at the age of twenty-five years, leaving one son
— James. Mrs. Norton was called from
earthly scenes on the ist of March, 1886, aged
fifty-three years. Mr. Norton was again mar
ried in May, 1888, when Mrs. Jane Abbie
Richmond became his second wife. Mrs. Nor
ton was born in Connecticut, and at the time
of her marriage to Mr. Norton was the widow
of Frank R. Richmond. Mr. Norton is a
Congregational ist in his religious views, and
is connected with the Second Church of that
denomination, in which he is a Deacon. Po
litically, he is a Prohibitionist Republican.

OBERT J. MANSFIELD, M.D., a
ising young physician and surgeon of
Springfield, where he has a large
practice, has already won for him
self an assured position among the regular
practitioners of Hampden County. He is of
Massachusetts birth, having been born in the
city of Lowell, Middlesex County, June 9,
1862. His parents, Michael F. and Catherine
(Garvey) Mansfield, were both natives of
County Kerry, Ireland, the father being a son
of Robert Mansfield, who married a Miss
Francis. Michael F. Mansfield was born in 1838;
and, being early left an orphan, he was
adopted by an aunt, who brought him to
America when he was but five years old. He

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

237

attended the public schools of Lowell, Mass.,
remaining there until after attaining his ma
jority. He married Catherine, a daughter of
Peter Garvey, who emigrated from County
Kerry, Ireland, to Lowell, Mass., bringing
with him his family. Soon after his marriage
he removed to Springfield, coming here in
1862, and obtained employment in the United
States Armory as watchman. He was subse
quently appointed captain of the watch, a posi
tion which he retained until his demise, July
2, 1880. He was an upright, trustworthy
man, and an esteemed member of the Church
of the Sacred Heart. His widow is still liv
ing, and is the mother of eight children,
namely: Mary; Catherine; Robert, of whom
we write ; Patrick, of Holyoke ; Matthew ;
John; Peter; and Johanna, the four latter
being residents of Springfield.
The younger days of Robert J. Mansfield
were spent in the pursuit of knowledge; and
after leaving the public schools of Springfield
he studied with the Sulpician Fathers of Mon
treal, at the College de Montreal, remaining
there two and one-fourth years. He continued
his studies for the next four and three-fourth
years at the Holy Cross College in Worcester,
Mass., being graduated from there in 1884
with the degree of A. B. Going to Lowell, he
secured employment as a clerk in the street
department, and a few months later obtained
a position in the United States railway mail
service. While thus employed he entered Har
vard Medical School, and for two and one-half
years continued both his studies and his postal
work. The following year he devoted his en
tire attention to study, and was graduated from
the medical department of Harvard University,
June 27, 1888.
Dr. Mansfield now began the practice of his
profession in Springfield, opening an office at
the corner of Emory and Main Streets, six
months later removing to his present office on
the corner of Chestnut and Essex Streets. He
makes a specialty of children's diseases, in the
treatment of which he has met with gratifying
success ; and he has also a good general prac
tice. Dr. Mansfield is a valued member of the
Hampden Medical Society, of the Springfield

Medical Observation Society, and of the Massa
chusetts Medical Society. Under the present
administration the Doctor was appointed a
member of the Board of Pension Examiners,
taking the office August 3, 1893, and being
then elected secretary of the board, a position
which he still retains. He is likewise physi
cian to the Sacred Heart Total Abstinence
Society, of which he was an early member.
On the 2d of January, 1890, the Doctor
was united in marriage with Mary Josephine
Meade, who was born and bred in Lowell,
Mass., where her father, Patrick Meade, is
a well-known custom tailor. Three children
have come to bless their union ; namely, Har
old Robert, Paul, and Mary. The pleasant
social qualities of Dr. and Mrs. Mansfield, and
their generous hospitality, are well known to
their large circle of friends, their beautiful
home, located on the corner of Chestnut and
Bancroft Streets, built in old-style architect
ure and surrounded by a fine lawn, being a
most attractive and delightful place to the visi
tor, the casual caller, or the passer-by. Re
ligiously, the Doctor and his wife are esteemed
members of the Church of the Sacred Heart.

iHARLES M. GARDNER, local editor
of the Valley Echo, of "Westfield, was
born in Huntington, Hampshire
County, Mass., on July 19, 1872.
He is a son of "William F. and Maria (Spring)
Gardner, the former a native of the same town,
and the latter of Hinsdale, Berkshire County,
Mass. The paternal grandfather, William
Gardner, was born in Worthington. He was
brought up to agricultural pursuits, which he
made his life occupation, and now owns and
occupies a good farm in Huntington. The
maiden name of his wife was Electa Miller.
William F. Gardner, the father of Charles
M., learned the trade of carpenter and mill
wright, which he has always followed. He is
still a resident of Huntington. He married
Maria Spring, a daughter of Horace and Susan
(Putnam) Spring, natives, respectively, of
Hinsdale and Williamsburg. This union was
blessed with one child — Charles M., of whom
we write.

^38

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Charles M. Gardner received his early edu
cation in the district school, and was graduated
from Westfield High School with the class of
1890. He then turned his attention to jour
nalism. During his school days he had been
correspondent for different papers, having a
natural talent for such work ; and in the month
of October, 1890, he entered the office of the
]^alley Echo as general reporter, in 1892 be
coming local editor, a position well suited to
him, and which he has since filled.

/STeORGE WASHINGTON RAY, a
I '3 I prominent Springfield manufacturer,
whose death occurred on May 6, 1886,
was born in Ludlow, Mass., November 6,
1830, a son of Daniel Ray and Phila Frost
Ray. The father removed to Ludlow from
Smithfield, R. I., and was at one time an
armorer in Springfield, where he was much
respected. His wife, who belonged to a well-
known family, owned a large amount of real
estate. Their son, George W. , went first to school
in his own town, and then in Belchertown, but
was fitted for college at Somerville, N.J. His
only and older sister, Ann Frances Ray, mar
ried Gilbert Pillsbury, a native of Henniker,
N.H,, a brother of Parker Pillsbury, the noted
Abolitionist, and an uncle of the Hon. Albert
E. Pillsbury, a prominent Boston lawyer, at
one time in the State Senate and once Attor
ney-general. Gilbert Pillsbury was a Dart
mouth College graduate, and in 1855 served
as State Senator from Hampden County. He
took an active part in the antislavery move
ment ; and during three years after the war he
was Mayor of Charleston, S. C. , where he had
gone to take charge of the Freedmen's Bureau
in that city. Mrs. Gilbert Pillsbury was an
authoress of some note, and sympathized ac
tively with her husband in his abolitionism.
The Pillsburys were very cultivated people ;
and they gave Mrs. Pillsbury' s brother George
all the advantages their home and surroundings
afforded, though he was far from being depend
ent upon them for support.
At the time of their marriage the lad was
only nine years old ; and, as they a few years

later went to live in New Jersey, he was there
fitted for college. Before studying books any
further young Ray spent two years in travel ;
and on attaining his majority he learned the
trade of machinist, but soon gave it up to
become a clerk in D. H. Brigham 's clothing
store, in a wooden building where the Marsh
grocery now stands. P"ire drove the store
thence to Kibbe's Block, corner of Main
Street and Harrison Avenue. After a time
Mr. Ray entered into partnership with Mr.
Brigham; and in 1862 they became interested
in paper-collar making, then a new industry,
the work being done in the same block. There
was great opposition to paper collars. Some
said they would poison the neck, and nearly
everybody considered them a badge of poverty;
so it took all Mr. Ray's tact and business
genius to launch them upon the market. But
perseverance led to ultimate triumph ; and the
firm held many patents and such patterns as
the "Derby," "Garrotte," "Ray," and
"Beecher. " When Henry Ward Beecher was
asked to allow this use of his name, he re
plied : —
"My name has been used so much, for all
sorts of things, that I doubt whether I could
substantiate in a court of justice any claim to
it ; and, of course, it would not be fair to for
bid you to use it. I hope your enterprise may
be successful, that the collars may be good
enough for the name, and that the name may
never disgrace the collars. "
A detailed account of this manufacture may
be found in the work, "The Great Indus
tries of the United States," published by
J. B. Burr & Hyde, of Hartford. When Mr.
Brigham withdrew from the firm, Varnum N.
Taylor became Mr. Ray's associate, the plant
being moved to Hillman Street; and in 1870
they erected and went into a large new fac
tory, now called the Homestead Block, on
Worthington Street, five stories high, but none
too large for the largest concern of its kind in
the country. At this time Mr. Ray was also
President of the American Paper Collar Com
pany Protective Association. June 16, 1874,
Mr. Taylor purchased Mr. Ray's interest, the
latter being compelled by his health to make
a change, and expecting to retire from active

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

239

life ; but gradually he recuperated, and felt
strong enough to go into the wholesale leather
traffic in Boston, but only for a short period.
Mr. Ray was a member of the Common Coun
cil of Springfield in 1872, and the next year
was an Alderman. Soon after he came to this
city, he connected himself with the North
Congregational Church, and was thereafter an
active worker in the parish, and was a promi
nent member of the building committee in the
erection of the new church on Salem Street.
He was also a sustaining member of the
Young Men's Christian Association.
His wife was Helen, daughter of Dr. W. B.
and Hannah Burchard Bartlett Alden, of Lud
low. Dr. Alden was a leader in educational
and antislavery efforts, when it cost some
thing "to be in the right with two or three."
He enjoyed an extensive county practice, was
proud of his descent from John and Priscilla
Alden, of Plymouth fame, -and died at the age
of sixty, leaving two children besides Mrs.
Ray, namely : Mary Starkweather Alden, a
talented young lady, who died a few years after
the death of her father and mother; and his
only son, Philo W. Alden, who resides in
Holyoke. Mrs. Ray was educated at Wilbra
ham Academy and in private schools. She
was married in 1856. Without children of
their own, they reared and educated the wife's
four nieces, the eldest graduating at Smith
College, Northampton, just before Mr. Ray's
death. The family spent their summers in different
country places, and in later years in Blandford,
where Mr. Ray was very popular. Though
never neglectful of his regular business, he
was an enthusiast in whatever attracted him,
becoming at different periods greatly inter
ested in velocipedes, horses, and pigeons. In
Free Masonry he was very earnest, belonging
to Hampden Lodge, the Massachusetts Grand
Lodge, Morning Star Chapter, and Springfield
Commandery, taking the Scottish rites, and
rising to the Thirty-third Degree. Of the
Commandery he was three years Chief, and
held offices in the other bodies to which he
belonged. Having made a special study of
insurance, he was the first President of the
Western Massachusetts Masonic Relief Asso

ciation, holding the office fifteen years ; and
became President of the Springfield Life As
surance Association, which he organized a few
months prior to his death. Formerly a mem
ber of the old Springfield Club, in his later
years he changed to the Winthrop Club.
On Thursday, May 6, 1886, Mr. Ray died
suddenly of apoplexy, when on his way home
from Brookfield, whither he had gone on busi
ness. Knowing that both his parents had died
with this disease, Mrs. Ray was anxious over
his occasional complaints of dizziness, and
therefore went with him to the station in the
morning, and to meet him at night. She
found him in a carriage in great pain, and in
a few hours he had breathed his last. On the
following Monday there was a brief family
service, conducted by the Rev. Charles Van
Norden ; and then public service was held in
his customary place of worship, which was
filled with friends from the many societies and
towns wherewith he was affiliated. Here,
also, his pastor officiated. The altar blos
somed with flowers, and the young men be
longing to Mr. Ray's Sunday-school class bore
his remains reverently and lovingly to his
grave.

KRANK O COOK, a resident of Chico
pee Falls, Hampden County, Mass.,
and carrying on the largest meat and
provision business in that town, was born in
Brookfield, Worcester County, July 16, 1863.
Mr. Cook was the son of Dwight M. and
Pamelia F. (Ainsworth) Cook, and grandson
of Olney and Emily (Draper) Cook. Olney
Cook was a native of Rhode Island, and was
brought up to agricultural pursuits; but when
a young man he came to Massachusetts, and,
buying a farm in Pelham, Hampshire County,
lived there the rest of his days. Fle was an
industrious, progressive, and successful farmer,
a Whig in politics, a loyal citizen, active in
town affairs, and held the office of Assessor
several terms. His death occurred at seventy-
eight years. His wife Emily died at fifty-
seven years.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Cook were members of
the Methodist Episcopal church. They were

240

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

parents of eight children, as follows : P^ancis,
Harriet, and Julia C, who died young; Ly-
curgus, Lucius W. , Marcus D., and Dwight
M., now living; and Emeline, recently de
ceased. Dwight M. Cook was born in Pelham, May
23, 1837. As he grew up he assisted his
father on the farm till twenty years of age,
when he took a position as assistant superin
tendent in the Worcester City Hospital, where
he remained four years. He then went to
Brookfield, and was employed in A. Batch-
elder's Shoe Manufactory. From there he
went to Greenfield, where he engaged in the
business of dressing meat for the local
markets. Later he went to Chicopee Falls,
and purchased the old Taylor market stand,
and here he continued the meat business in
connection with the sale of country produce
until 1890. He then sold out to his son,
Frank O. , and Charles E. Butler, and since
then has lived retired from active work. His
wife, Pamelia Ainsworth, died at the age of
twenty-five years, leaving two children —
P^rank O. ; and Charles, now deceased. Mr.
Cook was married again to Miss Mary E.
Perry, who has had seven children, five of
whom are now living, their names being here
given: Dexter M., Emily- G., Ethel V. ,
Dwight, Jr., Inez E. ; Maivilette E. and D.
Perry are deceased. Mr. Cook has a pleasant
family residence at No. 27 High Street, Chic
opee Falls. He is a Republican in politics,
and a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, Lodge of Chicopee Falls.
Frank O Cook, the eldest son, was educated
in the public schools of Brookfield, Greenfield,
and Chicopee Falls, and then took a short
business course at Hinsman's Business Col
lege, Springfield, Mass. In 1879, at the age
of sixteen, he entered the employ of his father,
continuing with him until 1890, with the
exception of about a year in which he and E. C.
Cox conducted a grocery business at Chico
pee Centre, the firm being Cook & Cox. Sell
ing out the grocery to Thomas Smithies, of
Chester, Mass., Mr. Cook then returned to
his father's market; and soon afterward he and
Charles E. Butler, with whom he went into
partnership, bought out the business, which

they carried on with success for four years.
In 1894 he bought out his partner, and has
since conducted the business alone. Chic
opee Falls has a large industrial population ;
and Mr. Cook's market, having a good share of
its patronage, has extended its supplying facil
ities so that now he has in constant use two
delivery wagons besides one cart, and gives
employment to three outside persons.
On November 24, 1884, Mr. Frank O.
Cook was married to Miss Sarah Osborne,
daughter of Cyrus and Catherine L. (Bur-
dick) Osborne. Her father was a native of
Blandford, where he was born in 1824. He
removed to Chicopee Falls in 1881, and has
for many years conducted a milk route through
the village. He manifested good business
ability, and after a time sold some of his first
purchase of land for building purposes, which
not only was of advantage to the growth of the
place, but a benefit to himself. Mr. Osborne
is now living retired in his own home at Chic
opee Falls.
Mr. and Mrs. Cook are the parents of five
children — Percy C, Mildred P., Madeline
E., Hazel P., and Elsie B. Mr. and Mrs.
Cook are active members of the Methodist
Episcopal church. Mr. Cook has been presi
dent of the Young Men's Bible Class, of about
sixty members, ever since it was organized ;
and he is also a member of the official board
of the church and chairman of the Sunday-
school committee. He is a Republican in
politics, and is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and Past Grand Master
of the organization. His family residence is
pleasantly situated at No. 126 Cochrane
Street, his place of business being at the cor
ner of Market and Grove Streets, Chicopee
Falls.

DWARD PI. PHELPS, of Springfield,
whose reputation as a newspaper man
has reached far beyond the bounda
ries of his native State, was born at Belcher
town, Mass., June 10, 1842. He is a son of
William and Mary (Flunt) Phelps, and comes
of an old and noted family, many of whom
have made themselves famous in literature,

EDWARD H. PHELPS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

243

theology, and other useful walks in life. FIis
great-grandfather, Eliakim Phelps, was born at
Northampton in 1709, married Elizabeth
Davis, moved to Belchertown, and died March
7, 1777. Eliakim Phelps, his son, grand
father of Edward H., was born at Belcher
town, January 5, 1735, married Margaret
Coombs, December 21, 1778, and died March
13, 1824. He was a man of prominence in
his day, and represented Belchertown in the
legislature for thirteen years. He served for
a long time as magistrate of the town. His
wife, who reached the advanced age of ninety-
four years, was the mother of four sons and
two daughters. The youngest son, William
Phelps, father of Edward H. Phelps, was born
at Belchertown, January i, 1792, married
Mary Hunt, of Bridgewater, N. Y., and died
August 20, 1868, his wife having been
previously called to her rest on October 17,
1863. William Phelps received a good education
in the schools of his native town, and followed
in the footsteps of his paternal ancestors as a
farmer, continuing that honorable occupation
in conjunction with other useful pursuits, and
residing upon an extensive farm at Belcher
town during his entire life. F"or some time
previous to the advent of railroads he was an
owner in the stage line between Boston and
Albany, being proprietor of the section be
tween "Ware and Northampton, over which he
carried passengers and the United States mail.
He was also extensively engaged as a contrac
tor for the construction and regrading of high
ways. He held numerous town offices, and
was for several years the Justice of the Peace
before whom all local cases, both civil and
criminal, were tried. During the progress of
the War of 1812 he volunteered as a soldier,
and reported for duty at Boston, where he re
mained for some time, but was not called into
active service. In politics he was an old-time
Whig, and as such his political instincts nat
urally led him into the ranks of the Republi
can party at its organization. He was above
all a sincere, steadfast Christian believer, and
for many years a Deacon of the Congregational
Church, of which he was an active and earnest
supporter. His three children by his first

wife, who all found homes in California, were :
Charles W., who went to that State in 1850,
and still resides there; Martha, who married
H. K. Starkweather, a leading druggist and
prominent citizen of Northampton, and died in
California, where she went in company with
her husband; and Frederick B. , who was a
"forty-niner," but returned later, and is now
a Congregational clergyman at Whiting, Vt.
William Phelps's second wife was a daughter
of Deacon Asahel Hunt, a representative of an
old Connecticut family, who moved to Bridge-
water, Oneida County, N. Y. , where he became
a prosperous farmer. He was a man of a
strongly defined character and remarkably pro
ficient in general knowledge.
Edward H. Phelps, the only child by his
father's second marriage, received his primary
education in the schools of Belchertown, and
pursued the higher branches at Monson Acad
emy and the Springfield High School, in
which latter place he was preparing for col
lege; but, his health becoming impaired, he
was reluctantly forced to relinquish his inten
tions of pursuing a collegiate course. Pos
sessing musical talent of a superior order,
which he had thoroughly cultivated by a spe
cial course of study, he for a time devoted his
energies to music teaching, first in his native
town and later in Springfield, where he also
presided at the organ in the First Baptist and
other churches for the long period of thirty
years. He first came to Springfield as a
student in 1858; and, being an omnivorous
reader of books and newspapers, with a reten
tive memory, he thus accumulated a bountiful
and valuable store of general information upon
a great variety of subjects, by which he after
ward profited in his calling as a journalist.
His natural tendencies toward journalism were
manifested by his volunteering his services in
assisting the local editor of the Republican,
whose duties at that time included the task of
reporting; and whatever the young aspirant
for journalistic fame brought to him was re
ceived as a most welcome contribution. All
this, however, was inconsequential until he
was utilized as an emergency hand to write an
account of a suburban cattle show, which he
did in such an original manner that the report

244

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

attracted much attention, and was viewed with
favor by Mr. Bowles himself.
Mr. Phelps received his first real start as
a journalist in 1862 in rather a singular man
ner. One day his friend, Mr. Charles H.
Sweetser, then local editor of the Republican,
said to him, without ever having mentioned
the subject before, "I'm going to Idaho to
morrow, and you must take my place. " The
young man of twenty years was thunder-struck,
but recovered himself sufficiently to accompany
his friend into the presence of Mr. Bowles for
engagement. The famous editor looked Mr.
Phelps over in his characteristic way, which in
this instance was not very assuring, and said :
"Young man, I've heard of you, and will try
you. You cannot do worse than fail."
During the next ten years Mr. Phelps con
tinued a valuable member of the editorial staff
of the famous Springfield Republican, serving
in different capacities, it being the policy of
Mr. Bowles to prevent his editors from becom
ing rusty by transferring them to new duties
occasionally. He acted as night editor during
some of the most exciting periods of the war,
never going home till daylight, and for a few
weeks, when both Mr. Bowles and Mr. Pomeroy,
the managing editor, were ill, wrote all the
editorials .and had entire charge of the paper.
The major part of his work upon the Republi
can, however, was as head of the local depart
ment. He found the paper wholly without
local correspondents. By his own exertions he
created, enlarged, and perfected that journal's
country correspondence into a most admira
ble, complete, and interesting department. In
September, 1872, after ten years of night
work, he severed his connection with the Re-
publican, and became city and New England
editor of the Springfield Union, an afternoon
paper, to which he at once introduced new
life and character as a publisher of local news,
which it still maintains.
Mr. Phelps remained with the Union until
1878, when he purchased the New England
Homestead of Henry M. Burt, and with a corps
of able associates soon sent that weekly climb
ing upward from its fifteen hundred circula
tion. He added a city edition, which became
an immediate success, and later started the

monthly agricultural journal. Farm and Home,
which so prospered that it was made a semi
monthly. In 1880 he organized the Phelps
Publishing Company, and afterward bought the
American Agriculturist of New York. Mr.
Phelps's success as a newsi^aper publisher was
almost without a parallel. Twelve years from
the humble beginning in 1878 he placed him
self at the head of the largest plant in the
world for the production of agricultural news
papers, his four journals having a combined
circulation of three hundred and eighty-nine
thousand copies. Mr. Phelps's personal
friend, Clark W. Bryan, of this city, has
truthfully said that an editor's success is due
to a combination of two faculties — "an accu
rate knowledge of human nature in all grades
and phases, and a quick perception of those
events and ideas that are pleasing or interest
ing to the various forms of that nature. Mr.
Phelps has these faculties united, and there is
no need of waiting for an opportunity to write
an obituary before telling some pleasing truths
about a man. Knowing well just what his
constituents wanted, and giving them the very
best he could provide, with his efforts ably
seconded by good business management, are
the secrets of his success."
In 1890 Mr. Phelps was obliged by failing
health and a dangerous difficulty with his eyes
to retire from active connection with the
Phelps Publishing Company, his physicians
assuring him that further work would produce
disastrous consequences. He took this step
with great reluctance, but still retained an in
terest in the concern, of which he remained
a director. Since his retirement he has spent
a great deal of time in travelling, both in the
United States and Europe, and has also been
able to devote more time to the enjoyment of
his first love, music. Having led too busy a
life to be willing- to drop work altogether, he
has interested himself in the publication of
sheet music, including sacred and popular
songs and pianoforte pieces, many of the title
pages being designed and executed at Leipsic
in the highest style of the lithographic art.
Of his own musical compositions, which he
has issued both before and since he became
a music publisher, the duet, "O Morning

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

245

Land," has been sung all over the world; and
"Breathe Soft and Low" has also had a phe
nomenal sale.
On September 4, 1865, he wedded Miss
Harriet Goulding, of Springfield, daughter of
James I. Goulding, formerly of Athol, Mass.,
where she was born and resided until a short
time before her marriage. Their three chil
dren are : Mabel Goulding, who married P'rank
E. Clark, of this city; Walter Dimnack, as
sistant foreman of the Homestead ; and Mary
Agnes, who still resides at home.
Mr. Phelps has always held that the most
useful place for an editor is at his desk, and
not in politics. He has, however, served for
a number of years upon the School Committee,
and was in the Common Council for one year.
A few years ago, during his absence from
home, there was a strong movement to nomi
nate him for Mayor; but upon his return to
the city he immediately and firmly declined
the honor. He is a member of Roswell Lee
Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, Morning
Star Chapter, and Springfield Commandery,
and for many years was organist at the Com
mandery. He is also a member of the Nayas
set, Masonic, and Westminster Clubs.
He looks back with pleasure upon his long
association with Samuel Bowles and the 7?^-
publican, and attributes much of his success in
life to the journalistic knowledge and training
he acquired while in the office of that paper,
which was during the days of its greatest
strength and influence. He was a co-laborer
with Samuel Bowles, Joseph E. Hood, J. L.
Shipley, and Clark W. Bryan. He was not
only a brilliant, forcible editor, but above all
a true-hearted, impartial, and sympathetic
journalist. In the Springfield Homestead he
was an earnest advocate of local reforms, and
it was due to his persistent efforts that the
City Library was made free. Combining mu
sical with literary talents, he has long been
eminent as a critic; and many of his critiques
have received the warm commendation of
Dudley Buck, Theodore Thomas, and other
distinguished musicians. During his busi
ness career he made it a point to own a con
trolling share in all his enterprises. Thus
he was responsible only to himself for what

he wrote or said. In 1890 he disposed of a
major part of his stock in the Phelps Publish
ing Company, thereby relieving himself of
much business care. Several of his ancestral
connections have been noted as long-lived peo
ple, a grandmother having died at the age of
ninety-four years, and her son. Dr. Abner
Phelps (a physician in Boston for sixty years),
at ninety-five. The latter was the father of
Dr. Charles A. Phelps, who was for several
years Speaker of the House of Representa
tives. Eliakim Phelps, a doctor of divinity,
died at ninety -four. Pie was the father of
Professor Austin Phelps, of Andover, and
grandfather of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, author
of "The Gates Ajar." Daniel Phelps died at
eighty-three, and Edward H. Phelps's father
at seventy-six years. Mr. Edward H. Phelps
and family occupy a very pleasantly located
residence facing the park on Buckingham
Place. A faithful likeness of this eminently suc
cessful journalist is one of the attractions of
the "Review's " portrait gallery of Hampden
County worthies.

INSLOW B. MORSE, one of the
best-known business men of Indian
Orchard, Hampden County, Mass.,
was born at Oxford, Worcester County, March
12, 1845, son of Stephen H. and Lucinda
(Davis) Morse. Stephen H. was a son of
Jesse Morse, who about the time of the
child's birth kept the Quincy House in Bos
ton. Left fatherless at the age of ten years,
Stephen soon after went to Oxford, where as
a young man he engaged in shoemaking. He
remained in that town until after his marriage
and the birth of three of his children, when he
moved to Connecticut, and resided four years
in East Thompson. He afterward lived on a
farm at Putnam for three years, and from there
went to Danielsonville, where he remained
until 1862.
Inspired by patriotic motives, he then en
listed in Company B, Eighteenth Connecticut
Regiment, and served his country faithfully
until he was honorably discharged at the close
of the war of the Rebellion in 1865. Several

-46

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

vears subsecjuent to the war were spent by him
in Providence and Oxford, when he removed
his family to the then Far West, settling in
Pierre, S. Dak., where he still lives. His
wife, Lucinda Davis ?kIorse, was the daughter
of Craft Davis, of Oxford, a farmer, who was
formerl}- a millwright. He was one of the
first to build a woollen-mill in Ware, and also
in Quadic, Conn., and in Lee, Mass, Benja
min Davis, a brother of Craft Davis, came to
Springfield from ^^'are, and lived here for a
while, returning then to Ware. He built the
block now owned by Mr. Morse, of this sketch.
Benjamin Davis was the father of General
George R. Davis, who took so prominent a
part in the ^\'orld's Columbian E.xposition at
Chicago, holding the office of Director-general.
Mr. and IMrs. Stephen H. Morse had five
children — Burrell W. , now of Oxford, Mass. ;
Winslow B. , of Indian Orchard; James B. , of
Woonsocket, S. Dak. ; Jesse C. , of Pierre,
S. Dak.; and Stephen H., Jr., who died at
the age of five vears in Providence, R. I. The
family were members of the Methodist Episco
pal church.
Winslow B. ;\Iorse received his early educa
tion at public and private schools, later took
a course of study in Bryant & Stratton' s Com
mercial College at Providence, R. I. , and in
the mean time learned something of the drug
business. Although a mere youth at the out
break of the Rebellion, he shortly entered the
ai-m\- under Captain E. J. IMathewson, of Com
pany K, Eighteenth Connecticut Regiment,
and served until their capture at the battle of
Winchester. He found his wa)' to ^^'ashing-
ton and went into a wagon train, where he con
tracted an illness that obliged him to return
home, and from which he suffered for many
years. He first entered the drug store of
Rockwell F. Lyon, of Danielsonville, Conn.,
and remained two years, going from there to
Providence, where he stayed two }'ears, at the
end of that period going to Boston, where he
was in the same business on Tremont Street.
From Boston he returned to Providence, and
worked in the old drug store of Joseph Balch &
Son. Though not with that firm the whole
time, he remained in that city, in the same
business, till coming to Indian Orchard in

1S71. Here he established the first drug
store that continued in a successful business,
and has carried it on for twenty-four years in
the same building — a double store, of which
he is the owner.
October 21, 186S, Mr. Morse was married
to Miss Sarah FI. Curtiss, of Central Falls,
R.I. She was born in \\'orcester, Mass., the
2 1 St of October, 1845, Shortly after her
birth her father, Harvey N. Curtiss, who was
a shoemaker by trade, removed from Massa
chusetts to ^^'illington, Conn., where he died
at an early age. His father, William Curtiss,
was a soldier in the war of the Revolution.
^Ir. and Mrs. I\Iorse are members of the Evan
gelical church at Indian Orchard, where he has
been clerk and Treasurer for nine years and
superintendent of Sunday-school for four years.
Mr. Morse, though not an active politician,
is a supporter of the principles of the Republi
can party. He is a member of the Sons of
\'eterans, and it may be noted as a rare occur
rence that a man having himself been in the
Civil War should also be eligible as a member
of that order. He has been a member of Ros
well Lee Lodge of ]\Iasons, of Springfield,
Mass.. for more than twenty years, was one of
the first members of the State Pharmaceutical
Association, being chairman of the committee
that drafted the by-laws, and now belongs to
the Springfield Board of Pharmacy. Air.
Morse is one of the most respected business
men of Indian Orchard, or ^^'ard Eight of the
city, and the only one now in business that
was thus engaged when he first came here.

ILLIAM HAAIILTON, LL.B., a
prominent attorney of Holyoke, ex-
City Solicitor, and a partner in the
law firm of Brooks, Hamilton & Guyott, is a
native of Ireland, his birth having occurred at
Hamilton's Bawn, Count}- Armagh, April 9,
1866. Pie is a son of Alexander and INIargaret
(McHugh) Hamilton, and descends, through
both his parents, from two old and well-known
Scotch families, the McMurrays and Mc
Gregors. The father, whose immediate ancestors had
resided in County Armagh for some genera-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

247

tions, where they were both prominently and
favorably known, came to America in 1873,
and, .settling at Holyoke, entered the employ
of the Merrick Thread Company, his wife and
family coming to this city two years later.
Of his large family William was the first
born, the second having died in infancy; and
the others are as follows : James, a graduate of
West Point and a Lieutenant in the Third
United States Artillery, now stationed at
Washington ; Margaret Jane, a graduate of the
New England Conservatory of Music, and at
present taking a post-graduate course in elocu
tion at New York City; John Robert, de
ceased ; Walter, who is a student of the
Harvard Medical School in Boston ; Anna
Eliza and Albert, who reside at home, the
latter being an attendant of the Holyoke
High School. Alexander Hamilton is a mem
ber of the Baptist church at Elmwood, of
which his family are also attendants.
Subsequent to receiving a good education in
both the common and high schools of this city,
William Hamilton entered a drug store with
the intention of eventually becoming a medi
cal student, but later determined to adopt the
law as a profession ; and with this in view he
entered the Boston University Law School,
from which after a two years' course he was
graduated (^summa cum laude) at the head of
his class, with the degree of LL.B. After
being admitted to the bar, he entered the office
of William H. Brooks, the leading lawyer of
Holyoke, where he commenced the practice of
his profession. In 1891 he was elected City
Solicitor of Holyoke — an office which he most
ably and satisfactorily filled for the subse
quent three years, having been twice re
elected, receiving upon one occasion a unani
mous vote. During his tenure of office the
city was usually fortunate with its legal com
plications, as he never lost a single case among
many which were tried, including several of
much importance, his partner, Mr. Brooks
most ably assisting him in his work.
In 1892 the partnership of Brooks, Hamil
ton & Guyott was formed — a law firm which
has attained a very prominent position in
Western Massachusetts, and probably has more
business before the courts, besides conduct

ing a larger percentage of jury trials, than
any other firm in this section. Although Mr.
Hamilton is now permanently established in
this city, the firm maintain an office in the
Court Square Theatre Building at Springfield,
where they also have an extensive clientage.
Mr. Hamilton is a Democrat in politics, and
for two years was a member of the City Com
mittee.

, 1834, son of
Brooks. His
born P'ebruary

IMON BROOKS, ex-Sheriff of
Hampden County, dealer in coal
and wood at Xo. 523 Main Street,
Springfield, Mass., was born at
West Springfield, on March 2i
Jonathan and Angelina (Ring)
father was a prosperous farmer,
10, 1796. His paternal grandfather was born
at West Springfield, then part of the town
of Springfield, in 1 760. He was in the war
of the Revolution, although but a youth of fif
teen when it began at Lexington. His father
was Israel Brooks, and his grandfather Joseph
Brooks. Mr. Simon Brooks's grandfather on
his mother's side was Eleazer Ring, who also
served in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Brooks
has four brothers and one sister, namely :
George Brooks, of Philadelphia, book pub
lisher; Reuben, a farmer of West Springfield;
John R. , by trade a tool-maker, living at
Holyoke ; Ethan Brooks, a farmer at West
Springfield; and Angelina, who is professor in
the Teachers' College, a department of Colum
bia College, New York City.
Simon Brooks received his early education
in the public schools at West Springfield, but
finished his studies at Westfield Academy.
He lived on his father's farm until he reached
the age of twenty-one, when he engaged as
a clerk in the Springfield post-office, then lo
cated on P2lm Street, in the building now oc
cupied by Newrie D. Winter, the Postmaster
at that time being Abijah W. Chapin. After
leaving that position he served as clerk in
the Five Cents Savings Bank in Springfield.
P'rom there he went to New York City, where
he held a position as book-keeper for a term of
fifteen years. In the spring of the year 1875
he went to Holyoke, Mass., where he was em-

2 4*

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ployed as book-keeper for the Whiting Paper
Company, and remained with them until the
fall of 1886. During his residence in Hol
yoke he was clerk of the Common Council for
the term of five years, and also Treasurer of the
Second Congregational Society for five years;
and he served on the committee which built
the new church on the corner of High and
AjDpleton Streets. In 1885 he was elected on
the School Committee of Holyoke.
Being elected Sheriff of Hampden County
in the autumn of the year 1886, he moved to
Springfield, and had charge of the jail. In
November, 1889, he was elected for the second
term as Sheriff. When he ran on the ticket
for school committee at Holyoke, he received
the largest majority which had ever been cast
for a candidate, the majority being three hun
dred and twenty-two, running over one hun
dred ahead of the ticket; and on his first
election for Sheriff, he received in Holyoke a
majority of nineteen hundred and thirteen,
thus receiving at least eight hundred votes
from Republican citizens. On his second
election his majority in Holyoke was fourteen
hundred and sixty-five. During his terms of
office as Sheriff he had under his charge some
noted criminals, among them John Daly, in
dicted for murder of Policeman Abbott at Mit
tineague, who was sentenced to life imprison
ment at the State prison ; Costello, indicted
for the murder of his child, same sentence;
and Samuel Alexander and Bassett, both of
whom were indicted for murder, and were sent
to the Worcester Lunatic Hospital. Mrs.
Brennan, of Holyoke, accused of the murder
of several of her children for the purpose of
getting their insurance money, died in jail.
Two of the most notorious prisoners under Mr.
Brooks's charge were Thomas Conarty and
Frank Ritchie, both noted burglars, who were
sentenced in May, 1890, for seventeen years.
They escaped from the State prison, Conarty
being captured almost immediately, and
Ritchie after being out about a year.
After serving his terms of office as Sheriff
Mr. Brooks entered the coal and wood busi
ness, in which he is now engaged. He was
appointed Justice of the Peace by Governor
Alexander H. Rice and Governor "William E.

Russell, and a Notary Public by Governor
John D. Long. He is a member of the Res
cue Lodge Knights of Honor, of Holyoke, in
which he has for three terms held the office of
recorder, a member of the Connecticut Valley
Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Holyoke, hold
ing for two terms the highest position in this
order, that of Chancellor Commander. He
also held the treasurer's office in the order for
several years, and up to the time when he left
Holyoke. He was two years President of the
Thomas Jefferson Club at Holyoke, while he
resided in that place.
On July 8, 1861, Mr. Brooks married Ruby
L. Pomeroy, daughter of Colonel Oren Pome
roy, a farmer and a Deacon of the Congrega
tional church at Somers, Conn. Colonel
Pomeroy had several children, namely: Lu
cinda, living in Somers, Conn. ; Catherine,
who married Henry B. Kirkland, a New York
merchant, for many years a member of the firm
of Thurber Whyland & Co. ; Harriet S. , liv
ing in Somers, a well-known school teacher;
Oren D., a physician in New York City for the
past thirty-five years, and a prominent special
ist in treatment of the eye and ear, a former
president of the Ophthalmological Society of
New York City, and at one time physician in
charge of the Eye and Ear Infirmary on Fourth
Avenue; Emily, who married the Rev. Edwin
C. Bissell, a Congregational clergyman; and
Dr. Hiram S. Pomeroy, who graduated in
Leipsic, Germany, and has since been located
as a physician in Boston, Mass.
The Rev. Edwin C. Bissell graduated at
Amherst in 1855, taught in Williston Semi
nary at Easthampton, and studied theology at
East Windsor, Conn., finishing his studies
at Union Theological Seminary, New York
City. He was one of the ablest defenders of
the old-school theology in the United States,
and was the author of several books on the
Bible, From 1859 to 1864 he was settled at
Westhampton, Mass. ; and during that time he
served from 1862 to 1863 as Captain of a com
pany in the war of the Rebellion. In 1864 he
went to San P'rancisco, Cal., as pastor of the
Green Street Church, where he remained until
1869. P^rom there he went to the Sandwich
Islands and remained a year, then returned to

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

249

the East and settled in Winchester, Mass.,
and in 1873 went to Germany in the service of
the American Board, most of his time being
spent in Austria. In 1878 he returned to
America, where he remained for two years,
and then went back to Germany and spent two
years at the University in Leipsic. On his
return to this country he at once took a posi
tion in the Theological Seminary at Hartford,
Conn., as Professor of the Hebrew Language
and Literature, which he filled for ten or
twelve years. From Hartford he went to the
McCormick Theological Seminary at Chicago,
where he held a similar position, and remained
there until his death, which occurred in April,
1892. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks have had six children.
Their three daughters died at the respective
ages of three months, four years, and sixteen
years. Three sons are living, namely: Ben
jamin Brooks, a lawyer; Simon Pomeroy
Brooks, a school teacher; and Richard Sterling
Brooks, a newspaper man, connected with the
Springfield Republican. The Brooks family
are attendants of the Memorial Church in
Springfield. They live at No. 32 Warriner
Avenue.

(sIVLLEN HIGGINBOTTOM, a prominent
fclj citizen of Holyoke, who has the care
yj|A and management of a large amount
— ' of real estate in this city, was born
at Oldham, Lancashire, England, January 15,
1826. His father, Allen Higginbottom, Sr.,
was born in 1796; and his mother, whose
maiden name was Hannah Lees, first looked
upon the world in 1794. Allen Higginbot
tom, Sr. , who was a cotton manufacturer, emi
grated with his family in 1842 to the United
States, and resided successively in Trenton,
N.J., Lonsdale, R. I. , where he was employed
in the cotton-mills together with some of his
family, Chicopee, Mass., which was at that
time called Cabotville, North Oxford, Mass.,
Lonsdale, R. I. , and at Waltham, Mass, Mr.
Higginbottom at length abandoned the cotton
manufacturing business, in which he was last
engaged at Waltham, and, going West, pur
chased a farm in Winnebago County, Illinois,

where he and his wife passed the remainder of
their lives. Their six children were as fol
lows: Samuel; Itlizabeth; Allen, who died in
infancy; Allen, of Holyoke; Flannah ; and
Ann. Allen Pligginbottom had reached the age of
sixteen years when he came with his parents to
the United States. He finished his education
in the public schools of Trenton, N.J., and
Lonsdale, after which he became engaged in
the cotton manufacturing business of Lonsdale
and Slatersville, where he continued for about
three years, and then accompanied his parents
to Waltham. Subsequent to his marriage he
resided at Portsmouth for a period of three
years; and at the end of that time he came to
Plolyoke, and was employed at the Lyman
Mills for two or three years. Having accumu
lated by his own personal exertions a small
capital, he next entered mercantile business,
beginning with a stock of millinery, dry
goods, and carpets, leasing a store on High
Street. The business rapidly developed into a
most profitable investment ; and he continued
to conduct a general dry-goods trade for the
next twenty-five or thirty years, finally selling
it about twenty years ago, for the purpose of
entering his present business, which offered at
that time the most promising inducements,
and whose realization has been very satisfac
tory. As rent collector and property manager
Mr. Higginbottom has charge of seventy-five
tenements and sixteen stores, belonging sev
erally to residents and non-residents, besides
the Willard estate, which consists of mills
and water-power, and which is owned by his
present wife and her daughter, the aggregate
value of property under his supervision being
over a quarter of a million dollars.
In politics Mr. Higginbottom has always
been a Republican. He served the old town
of Holyoke as Selectman for four years, during
which time he was ch-dirman of the board ;
and in 1874 he was elected by the people of
Holyoke, Chicopee, and Ludlow to represent
them in the State legislature, he having for a
colleague from this section ex-Governor Rob
inson, then of Chicopee, the term being that
in which the city of Holyoke was incorporated.
He served with distinction as a member of the

250

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Committee upon Roads and Bridges ; and he
moved the rescinding of the vote of censure
passed by a former legislature upon the late
Hon. Charles Sumner, which was carried. In
1884 he again represented the city of Holyoke
in the legislature, and served as a member of
the Committee upon Manufactures. He was
Collector of Taxes for the years 1881 and
1886, and in 1S89 and 1891 was elected to the
Board of Aldermen from Ward Five, which is
strongly Democratic. He is a member of
Mount Tom Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and also
of the Royal Arch Chapter and the Council of
this city, and of Springfield Cbmmandery,
Knights Templars. He has served as a Trus
tee for the Holyoke Savings Bank for twenty-
five years, and is also a Trustee of the P'orest-
dale Cemetery Association.
Mr. Higginbottom married in New York
City for his first wife Miss Lavinia Worswick,
of New Brunswick, N.J., daughter of Benja
min and Nancy (Riddings) Worswick; and
this union was blessed with six children, of
whom two sons died in infancy, the survivors
being Rosina, Amelia, Alice, and Lucy. The
two elder sisters were married upon the same
day, Rosina to Edwin A., and Amelia to
Edward G. Whiting, the husbands being
twins, and brothers of the Hon. William
Whiting, of this city. Edwin A. Whiting
died in California in 1886, leaving two chil
dren; and Mrs. Edward G. Whiting is now
the mother of six children. Alice married
Charles S. Hemingway, who was for eleven
years a teacher in the high school of Plolyoke.
Lucy is the wife of P"rederick S. Morrison,
principal of the Hartford High School. They
reside at Hartford, Conn., and have three
daughters and one son. Mr. Higginbottom 's
first wife died in July, 1884; and in June,
1886, he was united to Mrs. Hattie E. Wil
lard, widow of the late Asa Willard. Her
maiden name was Mason ; and she has one
daughter by her first husband, Plarriet A.
Mason, who is at the present time a student at
the Wilbraham Academy. Mr. and Mrs. Plig
ginbottom are communicants of the Episcopal
church, of which he has been for years Warden
and Vestryman. Their home is at 124 Dwight
Street.

RY LEROY WOODWARD, the
mly representative of the New York,
New Haven & Hartford Railway
Company in Springfield, is a man
of exceptional business talent, full of push and
energy, and is performing the duties of his
responsible position with credit to himself and
to the entire satisfaction of his employers.
He was born February 11, 1857, in Hartford,
Conn., a son of William and Mary A. (Smith)
Woodward, and the descendant of a prominent
Connecticut family, his paternal grandfather,
Jehiel Woodward, having been a veteran of the
War of i8i2 and a well-to-do agriculturist of
Enfield. William Woodward was born on the paternal
homestead at Enfield, October 15, 1824, and
was there reared to agricultural pursuits. On
becoming of age, he removed to the city of
Hartford, where he carried on an extensive
and profitable trucking business for many
years. In 1869 he established himself in the
coal, baled hay, and straw business, having an
excellent trade until the time of his decease.
May 28, 1873. He was held in high respect
by all who knew him, being a man of unblem
ished character, strong in his friendships, and
an influential member of the Masonic Order,
belonging to Washington Commandery, No. i.
Pie took a zealous interest in public affairs,
and was at one time a member of the Common
Council of Hartford. Among his warm per
sonal friends we may mention the name of the
late Governor Thomas Seymour. William
Woodward was a member of the P^piscopal
church, while his estimable wife belonged to
the Universalist church, both being exemplary
Christians. He married a daughter of Mason
Smith, at that time a prominent and wealthy
business man of Hartford, senior member of
the well-known firm of Smith, Blodgett & Co.,
Mr. Woodward being the company. Mr.
Smith was a native of the Green Mountain
State, and removed from Marshfield, Vt., to
Hartford, Conn., at an early day, performing
the entire journey with ox teams. Mrs. Will
iam Woodward died P^ebruary 15, 1895, in
Hartford. Her four children are the fol
lowing: Charles S. , assistant superintendent
of the town poor in that city; Henry LeRoy ;

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

251

Albert E. , of New Plaven; and Eva R,, a
teacher. Henry L. Woodward left the high school of
his native city at the age of fourteen years to
become a clerk in the "Beehive," a store then
conducted by Star, Burkett & Co., where he
remained a number of years, obtaining a fair
knowledge of its general business. He was
afterward employed in the same capacity in
a store at Waterbury, Conn., for two years.
Returning to the place of his nativity, young
Woodward was employed for a while as a book
keeper for E. B. Farnham, coal dealer; and
after leaving him he went with the Philadel
phia line of propellers plying between Hart
ford and Philadelphia as a clerk, that being
his first experience in the transportation busi
ness. In 1878 Mr. Woodward accepted the
position of clerk in the Hartford Freight Office
of the New York, New Haven & Hartford
Railroad ; and during that year he was three
times honored with promotions, the last mak
ing him cashier of that station, an office which
he held for five years. Mr. Woodward was
then made extra agent of the Hartford Divi
sion, a position which necessitated his going to
every station, if needed, to relieve either ticket
or freight agent, and which gave him a
thorough knowledge of the business of the
entire line. This office he retained until pro
moted to the agency at Springfield, one of the
largest stations on the road ; and here he has
full control of all branches of the business,
and the supervision of about two hundred men.
On receiving his appointment, Mr. Woodward
removed with his family to this city, coming
here in January,. 1894, His position in busi
ness circles is entirely due to his own ability,
energy, and integrity, his promotions from
time to time having been tendered him with
out solicitation or application and without the
aid of influential friends.
Mr. Woodward is very prominent and influ
ential in Masonic organizations, belonging to
St. John's Lodge No. 4, A. F. & A. M., of
Hartford, to Pythagoras Chapter, to Wolcott
Council, and to Washington Commandery No.
I, the oldest commandery in the United
States, he having filled all the chairs, and
being Past Eminent Commander of that body.

On retiring from that position, Mr. Woodward
was presented with an elegant Past Comman
der's jewel, which he naturally values very
highly, it being the second ever presented by
that commandery. He is now a member of
the Grand Commandery. In 1892, when the
Grand Conclave was held in Denver, Col., Mr.
Woodward was Generalissimo of the command
ery; and in 1894 he was representative at the
Imperial Council held in Denver. Fle is also
a member of Pyramid Temple, Mystic Shrine,
and of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
The union of Mr. Henry L. Woodward and
Miss Mary J. Alexander, a daughter of Moses
and Lucy Alexander, of Portland, Conn., was
solemnized March 16, 1882. He and his wife
attend and give their hearty and earnest sup
port to the Congregational church.

VtV/ ILLIAM B. WHITING, who has
been a prominent wood and coal
dealer of Holyoke for a quarter of
a century, was born at "Willington, Conn.,
February 14, 181 7. Plis father, Daniel Whit
ing, was born at Abington, Conn., January i,
1778; and his mother, Elizabeth Potter Whit
ing, was born at Willington, June 6, 1788.
The family are descended from English ances
tors who settled at Lynn, Mass., in the year
1636. Daniel Whiting was a cooper by trade,
and followed that occupation in connection
with farming until his decease, which occurred
at Bath, N,H,, June 19, 1842, His wife,
who survived him several years, died at Dud
ley, Mass,, P'ebruary 20, 1856.
William B, Whiting received a fair educa
tion at the district school in "Willington, and
when twelve years old began to work for the
farmers of the neighborhood. At the age of
twenty-two he assumed charge of a farm owned
by a Mr. Tufts, of Dudley, where he remained
for five or six years. He then purchased a liv
ery business at "Webster, which he disposed of
after carrying it on for three or four years, and
next conducted a boarding-house for a time,
later removing to Ireland Parish, now Hol
yoke, and entering the employ of the Hadley
Falls Company as a teamster. He was thus
engaged three or four years ; and at the expira-

252

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

tion of that period he established himself in
the general trucking business, which he suc
cessfully conducted, together with dealing
quite extensively in fire wood, until 1870, when
he purchased the wood and coal business of
W. L. Martin, located at 40 Dwight Street.
On April 2, 1840, Mr. Whiting was united
in marriage, at Dudley, to Miss Elizabeth
Murphy, of New York, who was born January
I, 1 81 8, and died January 21, 1878, having
been the mother of eleven children. The fol
lowing is a brief mention of the family : The
Hon. William Whiting is the extensive paper
manufacturer of Holyoke. Elvira F. Whiting
married Charles E. Ball, a druggist of this
city. Albert Whitefield was drowned at the
age of six years. Ella M. married P. A.
Underwood, of Boston. Edward G. is at pres
ent engaged in business with his father.
Edwin A., twin brother of Edward, died at
Pomona, Cal., January 7, 1886, aged thirty-
three years. Mary Elizabeth died November
18, 1873, aged nineteen. Fred Albert is con
nected with the Holyoke Coal and Wood Com
pany. Harriet married James S. Flower, of
Ashfield, who died March 14, 1893. George
died in May, 1865, aged nearly two years.
The youngest is Frank "Whiting. Mr. Will
iam B. Whiting is an attendant of the Unita
rian church, and his wife was a member of
the Baptist church. He has always been a
Republican in politics.

"ON. WILLIAM WHITING, of the
Whiting Paper Company, son of
William B. Whiting, was born at
Dudley, Mass., March 24, 1841.
After graduating from the high school in Hol
yoke, he began his business career in 1858 as
book-keeper for the Holyoke Paper Company,
subsequently' becoming their travelling agent.
He next held the position of business agent
of the Hampden Paper Company, but resigned
after serving three months, and purchased the
wire mill now known as "Whiting No. i,"
which he improved and fitted up for the manu
facture of writing paper, the mill now having
a capacity of six tons per day. This enter
prise proving successful, he purchased a piece

of ground on Dwight Street, where he erected
"Whiting No. 2," which has a capacity of ten
tons per day, thus making the daily production
sixteen tons. The Whiting Paper Company
was organized by him in 1865, with a capital
stock of one hundred thousand dollars, which
has later been increased to three hundred thou
sand dollars nominally, the actual capital
being much more. Their products consist of
the finer grades of writing paper and a superior
quality of fancy stationery which is put up
in boxes. They constantly employ a force of
six hundred and fifty operatives, and have
a monthly pay-roll of twenty-four thousand
dollars. In 1877 Mr. Whiting erected upon his
Dwight Street property a fine opera house and
a large hotel known as the Windsor House,
both of which were of brick with stone trim
ming, and were constructed at a cost of one
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. In
1872 he organized the Holyoke National Bank,
of which he was President for many years.
He is Vice-President of the Holyoke Savings
Bank, a Director of the Chapin National Bank
of Springfield, and of the Holyoke Warp Com
pany, Vice-President of the Holyoke & West-
field Railroad Company, a Director of the
Boston & Maine Railroad Company, Treasurer
and Clerk of the Whitmore Manufacturing
Company of Holyoke, and has been largely
interested in many other industrial enter
prises. In 1873 he was elected a State Sena
tor upon the Republican ticket, in 1877 was
chosen Mayor of Holyoke, having been nomi
nated by both political parties, and in 1878
he was re-elected on the regular Democratic
ticket. In 1876 and 1877 he was City Treas
urer, and he was a delegate to the Republican
Convention at Cincinnati in 1876. He has
served two terms as a representative to Con
gress, and, as such, was an honor to both his
constituency and the State.
In 1862 he married Miss Anna M., daughter
of Luther M. Fairfield, of Holyoke. Their
two children are: William F. , who was born
July 20, 1864, and is now Treasurer of the
Whiting Paper Company; and Raynor S. , born
January 28, 1867. The family occupy a beau
tiful residence at the corner of Elm and Ap-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

253

pleton Streets. Mr. and Mrs. Whiting attend
the Congregational church. It is to Mr.
Whiting's generosity that the citizens of Hol
yoke are indebted for the city hospital ; and he
has also contributed largely toward the public
library, being President of that association.
He has been very active in the I3oard of Trade,
having been its President for two years ; and
his name has been several times mentioned as
a candidate for Governor of the State.

Yp)EONARD CLARK, a well-known hard-
Ijj ware dealer of Springfield, was born
JLJf ^ at Hubbardston, Mass., November
1 8, 1 82 1, the year made famous by
the passage of the Missouri Compromise. His
two grandfathers, Samuel and "William Clark,
were soldiers in the Revolution. His parents
were William Smith and Elizabeth Clark, his
mother bearing the same name as her husband,
both descendants from Hugh Clark, a Water-
town colonist. W. S. Clark was a farmer,
prominent in Hubbardston' affairs, long hold
ing the office of Selectman ; and he was a
member of the old Unitarian church there.
He died in Agawam, but did not move there
until late in life. He had eight children,
Leonard, the subject of this sketch, being one
of six brothers who reached maturity. An
other was Appleton Clark, for many years as
sociated with Leonard Clark in business, but
later a resident in Cambridge, while carrying
on the wholesale boot and shoe business in
Boston. Another brother, Jonas Gilman
Clark, who went to California in 1854, accu
mulated a fortune in ten years, and on his return
to Massachusetts made his home in Worcester,
where he built Clark University, endowing it
with two million dollars.
Leonard Clark was educated at the common
schools, and in the New Salem and Leicester
Academies, not far from home. For a few
years he was a schoolmaster. Then he became
proprietor of the hotel in Holden, which he
subsequently sold, in order to go into business
with his brothers, Appleton and Jonas Gil-
man Clark. This firm not only had a large
local trade, but kept from thirty to forty
salesmen on the road with Yankee notions —

tin,' glass, and plated ware, dry goods, and
hardware. Leonard Clark remained in this traffic eight
years, and then successfully managed a coun
try store until 1859, when he came to Spring
field, then a town of less than fifteen thousand
inhabitants, and opened the store he still occu
pies at 104 and 106 State Street. Here he
continued to deal in hardware, with twenty
pedlers on the road and a branch store in
Barton, Vt. , with a department for agricultural
implements. In 1859 Mr. Clark bought a
part of the State Street Block. His trade
now, however, is principally confined to stoves
and furnaces; and his establishment is one
of the largest of its kind in Springfield.
In 1876 he admitted his son to partnership,
under the style of L. Clark & Son. Mr. Clark
has always taken an active interest in political
affairs, being a Republican from the formation
of the party, and a representative from Hub
bardston in the legislature in 1855. In 1877
and 1878 he was again elected to the legislat
ure, from what is now the Eighth Hampden
District in Springfield. In 1879 he was first
elected County Commissioner; but he has
been re-elected every three years since, his
fifth term expiring in 1895. He is the oldest
member of this board, and has been its chair
man for twelve years. In this capacity he has
superintended the building of two bridges
across the Connecticut River — one between
Holyoke and Hadley, built under the super
vision of the joint board of the two counties,
Hampden and Hampshire, Mr. Clark being
chairman, and one connecting Holyoke and
Willimansett. In Chicopee, also, he built the
new county jail, and made many additions and
improvements in the court-house. He is a
member of the Board of Trade and the Win
throp Club, and has been a member of the
Unitarian church for many years. Since 1872
his residence has been at 620 Main Street.
Mr. Clark's wife, whom he married Febru
ary 10, 1847, was Althine Woodward, of
Hubbardston; and they have five children —
George Frederick Clark, born December 26,
1847, and associated with his father in busi
ness ; Captain Charles Hobart Clark, born in
1 85 1, and now Captain in the ordnance de-

254

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

partment of the United States army at the
P"ranklin Arsenal, Philadelphia; Emma Clark,
born in 1853, wife of H. J. Whitcomb, of
Springfield; Mary Alice Clark, born in 1856,
wife of Charles H. Hobbs, instructor of a
boys' school at Belmont, Mass. ; Stella R.
Clark, born in 1858, wife of Irving A.
Quimby, of Springfield.

fHOMAS W. HOLLEY, Treasurer of
the American Pad and Paper Company
of Holyoke, was born at Granby, Prov
ince of Quebec, February 17, i860, a son of
Henry and Roxanna (Cain) Holley. His
father, who was a native of Scotland, emi
grated to Canada when he was about fourteen
years of age, and learned the trade of a tailor,
but later followed agricultural pursuits. Miss
Roxanna Cain, whom he married at Montreal,
was also born in Scotland. They settled
upon a farm at Granby, where they resided
until coming to Holyoke in 1872. After
being connected with the Lyman Mills for a
period of eight years, Mr. Henry Holley was
forced to retire from active work on acount of
failing health; and he died April 30, 1882, at
the age of sixty-two years. He was a highly
respected citizen, held prominent offices in
the local government, and was an active mem
ber of the Congregational church. His fam
ily consisted of eight children, as follows:
James, who died in 1873; John, who was en
gaged in the grain and feed business at Hol
yoke, and who died May 9, 1895; Henry, with
Watson, Ely Sz: Co., of this city; Maggie,
wife of R. L. Ball, residing in Granby;
Thomas W., of this article; Ida, wife of
H. F. Morrell, of Holyoke; Rosetta, who
married W. H. Baird of this city and died in
1882, leaving one son — Clarence H., now
residing with his uncle Thomas; Addie, who
died at the age of sixteen years. The mother,
who survives her husband, is a member of the
First Congregational Church of Plolyoke,
as was her late husband.
Thomas W. Holley learned his first les
sons in the public schools of Granby, and
completed his studies at the Plolyoke High
School, after which he entered the employ of

the Valley Paper Company, working in their
mills and acquiring a thorough knowledge of
the business. He remained with that com
pany five years, and for the next two years
was with the Holyoke Paper Company, at the
expiration of which time he resigned his posi
tion, in 1883, for the purpose of organizing
the American Pad Company, which was then
a copartnership. Mr. Holley as manager con
ducted it successfully for five years, when he
secured its incorporation with a capital stock
of twelve thousand dollars, which in 1891 was
increased to fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Hol
ley filled the position of Treasurer and Secre
tary for some time; but, as the business as
sumed larger proportions, the secretaryship
was placed in the hands of Mr. J. W. Brain
ard. The enterprise was inaugurated on a
small scale in the Prentice Building, where
they remained until taking possession of their
present fine location in the Whiting Street
block, in which they occupy part of the second
floor and the two upper stories, their special
ties being pads and tablets, composition books
and school papers; and they have also machin
ery for all kinds of ruling, together with the
putting up of fine writing papers. They em
ploy about fifty people in the factory, with a
pay-roll of fifteen hundred dollars per month.
The company has a branch office at 325 Broad
way, New York City, and is at the present
time transacting a very large and profitable
business, which is mainly the result of Mr.
Holley's energetic management. The com
pany's offices are fitted with every modern
improvement, including electric lights and
speaking tubes, their factory facilities being
equally well provided for.
On September 16, 1892, he married Miss
Dora G. Fales, of Cambridge, Mass., but who
was born at Monson, her father, H. H. Fales,
being an old resident of this county. They
have two children — Elsie Gertrude and
James Henry. They are members of the First
Congregational Church, in which Mr. Holley
is superintendent of the primary department
of the Sunday-school, and also of the Junior
Endeavor Society of this church, as well as of
the entire State. The family reside at 43
Pearl Street. Mr. Holley is a Republican in

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

255

politics, but has never been an aspirant for
public office.

-AMES H. BULLARD, whose name as
an inventor is known throughout Amer
ica and continental Europe, and whose
mechanical apparatus and appliances
are used in the largest factories of the world,
was born in Poultney, Vt. , on May 14, 1842.
The inventive and mechanical talent seems to
have been an inherited one ; for Ezekiel W.
Bullard, the father of James, has invented a
number of agricultural implements, and the
Bullard hay tedder, horse rake, and hay cutter
still keep their place among the best imple
ments of their sort in the market.
To Mr. Ezekiel W. Bullard belongs the
honor, not only of having invented, but of
manufacturing the first spring-tooth rake ever
used in Massachusetts. This gentleman, who
was born August 8, 181 7, is now living in
Barre, Mass., where he was until ten or
twelve years ago actively engaged in manu
facturing. His wife, Miriam (Foster) Bul
lard, who is now in her eighty-third year,
having been born in 181 3, was the mother of
seven sons, three of whom are still living.
James H. Bullard, of whose life this is a
sketch, is the eldest; and William A., who
has been an invalid since his service in the
Civil War, lives with his brother. Charles
E. , the third brother, is in business on West
Street in Boston.
Mr. Bullard was educated in the public
schools of Barre, and at fifteen years of age
went to the village of Smithville, where he
found employment in the mercantile house of
C. W. & J. E. Smith, who owned the factories
of the place, and were wholly the proprietors
of the entire village. Plere he remained for
two or three years, afterward securing a simi
lar position in the village. Some years later
he went into a shop where the Shaker hoods
at that time used in the South were manufact
ured. The Civil War broke out in the mean
time; and, there being no further demand for
this especial product, the factory closed and its
employees were forced to seek other fields for
their labors.

In 1 861 Mr. Bullard enlisted in the Fif
teenth Massachusetts Regiment ; but, not
being of age, his parents interfered and refused
to allow him to go. He enlisted afterward
when the same objection could not be urged ;
but a rigid physical examination proved him
unfitted for field service, his disability being
an injured foot. On two other occasions he
made effort to join the ranks of the Federal
army, but was each time pronounced physi
cally disqualified, and, upon being drafted
toward the close of the struggle, was again
exempted from duty on this account. F"inding
that he was not to take any part in the fratri
cidal struggle that was now reddening the soil
of both sections of the Union, Mr. Bullard
went to Chicopee Falls as the master me
chanic of the Belcher & Taylor Manufacturing
Company, manufacturers of the Bullard Hay
Tedder, which had attained great popularity.
For a number of years he was in the employ of
this company before becoming connected with
the LamlD ptnitting Machine Company of the
same place, contracting to manufacture the
knitting machine needles of this company.
After some years he gave up this position in
order to accept a similar one with the Wheeler
& Wilson Sewing Machine Company, for
whom he made the models of a number of their
machines. After completing this work, he re
turned to the Lamb Company, where he made
drawings for an automatic machine for making
a metallic seal for the mail pouches of the
Canadian Postal Department. Upon severing
his connection with the Lamb Company a sec
ond time, Mr. Bullard entered the employ of
Smith & Wesson, of Springfield, and for five
years was master mechanic of the works.
While with this firm he made several im
provements upon their pistol, which had
already become famous by reputation. Four
patents were granted him on these improve
ments, besides patents upon the machinery
used in producing them. Having the superin-
tendency of the Springfield Sewing Machine
Company offered him, he gave up the former
place to accept it, and remained in control of
the latter enterprise until its removal to Cleve
land, Ohio. In the mean time Mr. Bullard had
not been idle. His inventive mind had con-

256

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ceived the idea of a repeating rifle ; and he
immediately began its manufacture under the
auspices of the Bullard Repeating Arms Com
pany, whose large shop was situated just across
the track of the New York & New England
Railroad, between the Wilbraham and Boston
roads This building, which he had himself
erected for the factory, is now occupied by the
Elkton Manufacturing Company.
The summer of 1885 he spent in England,
where the mechanical appurtenances of all
sorts of machinery were carefully inspected.
On his return he severed his connection with
the company he had formed, and began to work
out his latest conception. This was supplying
steam road vehicles with heat which should be
generated by petroleum. So successful was
the practical application of his idea that he
was led to believe that it was of equal impor
tance for other purposes, and he began to de
vote his whole time to developing it for heat
in metallurgical uses and processes. As a
result, it is now being used for almost every
purpose in which heat is required ; and during
the years he has been experimenting in this
way he has taken out between thirty and forty
patents for its application. This method of
generating heat is now used by hundreds of
the largest manufactories in the world.
Among the most notable are the Washington
Navy Yard, Mare's Island Navy Yard, Water-
town Arsenal, Pennsylvania Plate Glass Com
pany, the Union Iron Works, California, Wal
ter A. Wood's Mowing Machine Comipany,
Bushwick Glass Company, Brooklyn, N.Y.,
Allentown Rolling Mills, Alpine Plaster and
Cement Company, Los Angeles, Cal,, Archi
tectural Terra Cotta Company, Saatzer Hu-
fuagel F"abrik, Saatz, Bohemia, Sandviken
Steel and Iron Company, at Sandviken,
Sweden, Russian Bolt Works, at Moscow,
Russia, Pittsburg Reduction Company, Mary
land Steel Company, Winchester Arms Com
pany, Kirckoff & Crozner Steamships,
California, the Government Arsenal at Ko-
nigsburg, Norway, Atlas Tack Company,
Whitman, Mass., Akron Stoneware Company,
Ammonia Company of Philadelphia, Carbon
Dioxide Company, Cayuga Lake Salt Com
pany, Cocheco Manufacturing Company,

Dover, N. H., and hundreds of others on both
continents. After the development of this
device Mr. Bullard formed a company for its
manufacture and sale, called the Aerated Fuel
Company, of which ex-Governor George D.
Robinson is President, Mr. A. B. Wallace of
the firm of P""orbes & Wallace is Treasurer,
Charles E. Stickney is Secretary, and Mr.
Bullard is General Manager. Mr. Bullard is
a strong Republican. He is a member of the
Winthrop Club, which in Springfield is the
Uliiina Thule of masculine liberty and comfort
as attained in club Hie par excellence.
On December 31, 1863, Mr. J. H. Bullard
was united in marriage to a lady bearing the
same name as his own, Miss Martha Bullard,
the daughter of Edwin and Mary (Blake) Bul
lard. Of this marriage one daughter and three
sons have been born — Mary Louise ; Freder
ick Herbert, foreman of the machine depart
ment of the Ames Manufacturing Company ;
Herbert Augustus, a draughtsman for the
Stanley Electric Company of Pittsfield, Mass. ;
Edwin, a draughtsman in the Ames Company.
Mr. and Mrs. Bullard have an adopted daugh
ter, Grace E., a little maiden of fourteen, who
supplies a child element in the home where
the other children have all reached maturity.
The Bullards reside at JT] State Street. The
entire family, with the exception of Grace, are
members of the Congregational church of
Springfield.

N.Y.,

RLANDO MERRIAM BAKER,
Treasurer of the G. & C. Merriam
Publishing Company, Springfield, was
born in Canisteo, Steuben County,
, on May 29, 1832, during the Jackson
administration. His grandfather, Jeremiah
Baker, married Anna Stephens, sister of the
Rev. Jedediah Stephens, of Canaan, Conn. ;
and they were among the first New Englanders
to settle in the Canisteo valley.
Their eight children, born in the East,
were : Polly, Hannah, Thankful, Cynthia,
William, Simeon, John, and Bazy. Their
father served through the Revolution. Before
going to Canisteo the family resided in Wyo
ming, Pa., and were held as prisoners by the

O. M, BAKER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

259

British for a short time, losing all their prop
erty, the buildings being burned at the time
of the battle. The Bakers then removed to
Tioga Point, now Athens, Pa., but afterward
went by boats and canoes up the Canisteo
River, and settled near Canisteo in the fall' of
1790. Three other children were afterward
born to them — Jeremiah, Noah, and James
Baker. With characteristic courage and
patience the family endured poverty, priva
tions, and hardships. Mr. Baker's parents
and Grandmother Corey were the organizers of
the first Methodist Episcopal church in Canis
teo valley. The grandfather was one of the
seven voters of the town for four years, and
naturally held various town offices. He died
in 1824, and his wife in 1825.
Their son, Jeremiah Baker, father of our
direct subject, was born in Canisteo, April 18,
1791, and is said to have been the first white
male child born in Steuben County. His
opportunities for book learning were limited.
At the age of nineteen he married Eunice
Powers, of Addison, who proved to be a wife
and mother of rare excellence. She died in
1829, leaving seven children, whom she had
influenced to be true men and women — Mrs.
John Crosby, Hector C. Baker, Mrs. Nelson
Hallet, Caleb, Asa, Elias, and Nathan Baker.
Soon after her death Mr. Baker married Mrs.
Plila Stephens, daughter of the Rev. Jedediah
Stephens, and widow of Phineas Stephens.
The children of this marriage were : Jedediah ;
Orlando M. ; and Mrs. James O'Connor, of
Hornellsville. In politics Mr. Baker was a
Democrat, but considered principle as more
than party. As a citizen he held almost every
local office, serving as Justice of the Peace,
School Commissioner, and County Clerk. He
was Deputy Sheriff under General George Mc-
Clure, the first Sheriff of the county, and rep
resented his district in the State legislature in
1835. He was a pensioner of the War of
1 8 12, having done duty on the Niagara fron
tier under the same General McClure. A
broad-minded farmer and citizen, he gener
ously supported religious institutions. For
over sixty-five years he was a Methodist church
member, and over half a century a prominent
member of the Masonic fraternity, being at

the time of his death both the oldest Mason
and the oldest person in town.
His second wife died November 22, 1871.
Among her ancestors was Nicholas Stephens,
an officer in the army of Cromwell, after whose
death he emigrated to America, first settling
in Stonington, Conn., with his two brothers,
Thomas and Richard. The Rev. Jedediah
Stephens, in the fourth generation from Nich
olas, was born May 11, 1757, at Canaan,
Litchfield County, Conn. His wife was Abi
gail Corey; and their marriage took place at
Goshen, N.Y. , on New Year's Day, 1778,
amid the Revolution. Jedediah was a valiant
Revolutionary soldier for six years. At the
battle of Wyoming, July 3, 1778, he was
taken prisoner by General Plunkitt, but was
released after a few days. In May, 1 790, with
his wife and five children- — Abigail, Silas,
Nathan, Sylvina, and Cynthia — he moved to
Canisteo, where he bought six hundred acres of
timber land, clearing fifty thereof before his
death, on January 6, 1850. He was a man of
marked ability, though of little book knowl
edge, and served as Supervisor in 1793 and
1794. Until 1800 he belonged to the Congre
gational church, but then joined the Meth
odist church, becoming a local preacher in
1812, at the time of the war. His sixth child,
Olive, born November 10, 1790, was the first
white child born in Steuben County. Joshua,
Hila, and Pamelia Stephens were also born
there. Their mother died in 1825. Hila
Stephens, as already related, first married
Phineas Stephens, and second Jeremiah Baker.
Her son Orlando's education was in public
schools, but he also studied in Alfred Univer
sity and Geneseo Wesleyan Seminary, working
on the farm one term, attending school the
next, and teaching the third term, till failing
health compelled him to relinquish further
study. From 1855 to 1857 he was a clerk on
a Lake Superior steamer. Regaining health,
Mr. Baker then resumed teaching in Mil
waukee and vicinity, where he remained ten
years, becoming one of the most prominent
teachers in Wisconsin and President of the
State Teachers' Association. His health
again being impaired, he was obliged to leave
his profession. On his retirement a public

26o

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

dinner was given him at the Kirby House,
November 20, 1867, by the school board.
Aldermen, and a large number of school super
intendents. Pie then entered the book busi
ness, travelling through Missouri, Kansas,
Arkansas, Southern Illinois, Indiana, Western
Tennessee, and Kentucky. With the excep
tion of a single winter spent in California and
a part of a year when he was assistant and
acting State Superintendent of public schools,
he remained in St. Louis until 1877, when he
began working for the Merriams.
In 1882 Orlando M. Baker became a mem
ber of the firm of G. and C. Merriam & Co.,
and continued thus for ten years, when in
1892 it was merged into the corporation of G.
& C. Merriam Company, at which time he
was elected Treasurer, which position he has
since held. For six years he was a member of
the School Committee, and part of the time its
chairman, and also a Trustee and Director of
the Christian Industrial Technical School, of
which he was a charter member. In politics
he has affiliated with the Democratic party,
and has been prominently mentioned as a can
didate for the mayoralty. In 1887 he helped
to organize, and was made the first and only
President to this time, 1895, of the Hamp
den County Musical Association, which has
played an active part in the musical culture of
Springfield. He married July 21, 1863, in Milwaukee,
Miss Abbie M. Walton, a native of Canal
Dover, Ohio, daughter of William B. and
Abby Walton, and a graduate of Milwaukee
College. They have two children — Asa
George Baker, A.B. , a graduate of Amherst
College in 1888, and now an employee of
the G. & C. Merriam Company ; and Harris
Walton Baker, Ph.B., a graduate of Yale Sci
entific School in the class of 1891, and now
the New York Manager of the Elektron Manu
facturing Company of Springfield. The father
is a member of the Springfield Knights Temp
lars, and the family attend Hope Congrega
tional Church. In their beautiful home at the
corner of Dartmouth Terrace and St. James
Avenue they have resided since 1888.
The annexed portrait of the subject of the
foregoing sketch, long so well known in educa

tional circles, and in these latter years occupy
ing an important position in the book-selling
fraternity, will be of general interest to the
readers of this volume.

T^HARLES PALMER DAVIS is en-
I \r^ gaged in the pursuit of agriculture in
^'^ the town of Agawam, and also has a
publishing business in Springfield.
He was born November 7, 1859, in Woburn,
Middlesex County, and is of English, French,
Scotch, and Welsh-Irish ancestry, his father,
Thomas Davis, having come to America when
an infant, with his parents. About 1848
Thomas Davis settled in Woburn, and early
entered the employ of the Boston & Lowell
Railway Company at East Cambridge, becom
ing master car builder. He resided in Wo
burn until a short time prior to his decease,
and died in San Francisco in 1882, at the age
of threescore years. The maiden name of his
wife was Margaret Ann Davison. She was a
native of Halifax County, Nova Scotia, and
was the daughter of Thomas Davison. The
latter, on coming to America, settled in Nova
Scotia, and there married Isabella Dodds.
The subject of this sketch had four brothers
— Henry Newton, William Frederic, Arthur
George, and Herbert Thomas, of whom only
the second and third survive — and a sister,
Anna Maria, who died in 1879.
Charles P. Davis acquired his education in
the schools of Woburn, and, upon completing
his course, entered a local printing-office to
learn the "art preservative." After spending
two years thus engaged, he obtained a position
as a clerk in a Boston wholesale house, where
he remained for a time. His natural bent
being, however, toward journalism, Mr. Davis
was subsequently connected with various
papers, and from 1886 until 1891 was editorial
writer of the Boston Daily Globe, his literary
ability admirably fitting him for the position.
In the exciting political campaigns of 1888
and 1890, in which the leading issue was the
protecting tariff, Mr. Davis wrote for the
Globe the memorable series of "Tariff Talks,"
which were pronounced by leading journalists
the clearest and most convincing presentation

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

261

of the tariff question that appeared in any
Democratic paper in the country during those
campaigns. It was said that these articles
made Democratic voters by the thousands,
especially in the manufacturing cities ; and
they called forth the special thanks of the
New England Tariff Reform League. An
other public service rendered by Mr. Davis
was in connection with the reformed or "Aus
tralian " ballot system, which he was the first
American editor to advocate, and in support
of which he wielded a vigorous pen, against
the opposition of many politicians of his own
party, until it was triumphantly established,
not only in Massachusetts, but in the majority
of the States of the Union.
In 1 891 Mr. Davis removed to Springfield
and Agawam, in which latter place he resides.
The house is one of the oldest in the vicinity,
being, it is said, at least one hundred and fifty
years old, and is in a good state of preserva
tion, having been built in a substantial man
ner and of solid oak materials.
Mr. Davis was married November 24, 1887,
to Miss Minerva J. Porter, a daughter of Har
vey Porter, of Agawam. Their union has been
blessed by the birth of a daughter, Emily
Porter, and a son, Preston.

ZliL A. PACKARD, of the Spring
field firm of Meekins, Packard & Co.,
was born in Conway, Mass., Sep
tember 22, 1849, just as the coun
try was agitated by the discovery of gold in
California. His parents were Bradley and
Mary (Webster) Packard. The father was a
native of Conway, where he lived on the same
farm until he was sixty years old, though a
well-educated man, with broad and liberal
ideas, keeping pace with current events ; but
he was of a retiring disposition, and no seeker
for notoriety. In his latter years he removed
to the centre of Conway, and there he built a
house in which he remained until his death in
March, 1881, at the age of seventy - three.
His wife was a native of Goshen, a town in
the same part of the State; and she had a fam
ily of three children besides our subject —
Fanny Packard, the wife of G. W. Barney, of

South Hadley P'alls ; John Bond Packard, who
lives on the old homestead in Conway, and is
identified with its local interests; Elvira
Packard, who was the wife of William C.
Howes, of Conway, and died in June, 1893.
Their parents were members of the Congrega
tional church, in which Mr. Packard was very
active, having professed religion early in life,
with two intimate friends, orphan boys like
himself. At the age of fourteen Azel A. Packard
entered the employ of Azel D. Mathews &
Sons, of Brooklyn, N.Y. , as errand boy; but
at the end of a year he returned to the Conway
Academy, to complete , his studies. Thence
he entered a country store near by; but at the
end of another year he secured a position in
the old dry-goods store of T. B. Root & Co.,
Greenfield, where he served in the carpet de
partment for six years. Mr. Meekins, his
cousin, then offered him a position in the car
pet department of Tinkham & Co., Spring
field, whose store at that time was the largest
and best in the Connecticut valley. After
three years more he became a partner in the
firm of Meekins, Packard & Co., which was
then established, the coworkers being Emery
Meekins, Mr. Packard, and William G.
Wheat. The partners were all three indefati-
gably industrious and courteous. Their first
plant was in a store measuring twenty feet by
seventy, where they kept a small stock of
carpets and house-furnishing goods, their only
helper being a colored boy ; but they were a
host in themselves, and customers felt that
they had the personal attention of the firm.
Trade so increased every day that soon the
walls of their little store were too narrow; and
the firm moved into new quarters, fifty feet by
eighty, at the corner of Main and Hillman
Streets. In less than two years they were
obliged to triple their floor room ; and in the
new store the dry-goods department was found
on the left side, and the carpets on the right.
Two years later they had six times as much
space as when they first started, and such rapid
growth has rarely or never been equalled in
the old Bay State ; but again the quarters be
came too small, and this time there was an
expansion on the north side by an addition of a

PlOCR.vrHIC.M. RKVIKW

now aixirtmont. fvMt\ by si\t\ feet, to bo de
voted to lioh luo^s ^vvvis. In two \o,us
.mother addition w.is built, on tho roar of the
stvHO. inovoasing its oopth bx litt\ toot , .md
this brought tho o.upot sp.ioo no.iror tho puhlio
domand. tho main flv>or ,uk1 b.isomoiu tut
nishing iio.uh twoiU\--sovou thous.md toot,
Mookins, r.iok.ud v< 1.0,, lunvoxor, had no
notion ot" lost ing on thoir o.us, .uul tho no\t
\'o,ir took tho roar half ot tho lower stow of \
Curtis Block, thus g.iiiiiiig .m .uo.i ot tiftooti
hundred foot tor tho now dr.ipoiv dop,utn\ont, !
which proved so .--uooosstul .is to nooossit.ito
tho addition ot tho Hillman Sttoot half of tlio '
first stoiv ot I. uitis Block. riio no\t vo.vr tho\
toiik tho upper stow .ilso, and added a furnituro
doparlmont, one ot" tho most flourishing in tho I
ost.iblishmont. XoM tho cloak -uul suit busi- |
noss domaiulotl tlio .loquironiont ot tluoo .ip.iit-
moots in tho l-"v,ms llotiso ovoiho.id, o,iol>
twoiitv foot square. In iSo,- tho\ oiootod ,1 '
two-stor\ struoturo on Hillman .Stioot, .uljoin |
ing tho I'oar of thoii old store; and this w.is
used ontiroh lor atldilional i'urnituro and o.u
pot spaoo. In l S04 tho now anni.-\ w.is o.urii.'d
up four moro stories, tho upper hoing appro
priatod to tho o.upot woikshop, ,iiul tho othov
stories to furnituro,
Tho whole mammoth ost.iblishmont is oor
tainU' ono of tho l.iigost in Now Paiglaiul,
oooupving now a sp.u-o ton times ,is gio.it as
that loquiiod oiglit \o,irs ago, I'ho oaipols,
mattings, and rugs dom.iiul twonl\'-ono thou
sand square foot ol" floor sp.ioo an inoroaso
about matohing that ol" tho di'\' goods sootion,
Thoi'o aio oiglU\' thousand sqiiaio loot tloNotod
to fiHMiitiiro; and tho drapoiy dop.utuiont, lill\
fool b\' si\l\ in tlimonsions, is auolhor oiitoomo
ol" Iho oxontful N'oai's sinoo 18,^7. I'ho lirm
justh' attt'ibuto such iihonunional suoooss to
thoir porsonal coiuluot of Ihoir albiiis, tho
work being oarolulh tiixidod. Mr. Mookins
lool<s diligonth' to tho tinanoos, oonsidoiing no
detail too tiixial lor his carolul soiuliin'. Mr.
Packard m;ikos a spociallN' ol' furnituro and I'ai
poting, log.irding it a prixilogo as well as a
ilut)' to know all about thoiu and niako o\oi\'
thing oomplolo b\' o\poit atlonlion. I'u build
up such a doparlmont in a whole lifotimo
would bo enough orodit I'or an\' man.

Mr, r.iok.ud h.is bolv>ngod to tiio W'iiuhiop
.md \,i\,issot Clubs o\oi sinoo thoir oig.vni.-a-
tion, lliswilo. \vl\ont ho m.uiiod on Unnkor
Hill l\i\, iS"4, ,u\d who gr.ioolulh prosidos
o\oi thoir plo.is.iiU homo .it \'o ;(> High
.^tioot, W.IS M,ii\ \"il,is, d.iughtor ol t'xius K.
\"il,is, a puMUiiKMU diuggist ,uul otlioo hoKlor
ii\ his n.itivo town, .Msto.ul, Nil, Mrs,
r.iok.ud w,is a gi.uhi. no of TiKlon ."-^oinin.m,
in Wost I ol\inon, X.ll. Sho ,ind hor bus
b.uul .110 inonibois ot tho I'iist k'lunoli, ho li,i\
ing boon on tho p.uisli oomniittoo toiutoon
\o.iis. riioN h.no no ohiMiou,

inV,\Rn W,\l.rilP;R. a ptominont
.uohitoot .uul oixil ongiiiooi ot llol-
\oko, M.iss., w.is born ,it Hoid^'l-
borg, (.lorm.uu, ,\piil iS, iSs,). lloisason
of Joseph ,ind P'li.-.ibotli (^Gumblo'i W.ilthoi,
his .iiioo.stois h.uing boon losidoiits of tho
abovo-namod oit\ for soiiio gv'noi.it ions. \k^-
sopli W.iltlioi \v,is ,1 thro, id ,ind oi'id iii.uui-
l.iotuior, .md ,ilso tilled v, 11 ions import, mt
positions in tho public sonioi,". His t.iniilv
oonsistod ol tluoo ohildion: .\nii,i, wilo ot
I'rolossor M. H. Kiddlo, who holds ,1 oliair in a
thoologio.il soniin,ir\' ,it ,\IK-ghoii\', [\\. i t'atli-
oiiiio, wilo ol riioodoio (.'h.irlos Roso. who
lixod in tho I'nilod .'~>t,itos lor twont\' \o,iis,
but is now ,1 I'osidont ol lloidolboig; ,ind
P'dw.ird, of this ,11'tiolo. I'bo mother diod in
18S,-, and tho Litlioi is still ,1 losikloiU ot his
nal i\'o oil V.
I'Mw.ird W.iltlior. altoi passing tliiough tho
national prinuuv schools and tho high schools
at lloidolboig, .ittondod tho school ol toohnol
ogv at llol.inindon, lioin which ho w.is grad-
u.itod in 1871. I lo thou immodi.itoh lop.iiiod
to IMaiuihoim. on Iho Rhino, ,ind woikod ,it
tho building tr.ido, l,i\ing biik'k loi a so.ison,
in order lo soouro ,1 llioioughh- pv.utio.il
kiiowlodgo of tho olonioiibii \' bi.inolios ol his
profossioii. Ho was lot si\ months om-
plo\od in an .iiobitoors ollioo at {'"lankloit-
on tho Main, thu'ing which tiiiio ho was
ong.iLM'd in dralt ing phitis loi both buildings
and pii\',ito losidonoos. On .Soptombor .'3,
1S72, ho oamo lo Iho Unilod States, and tho
dav I'ollowiiu; his ai'iixal in Now \'oik ho

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

263

.secured an ongagomeni at I lolxikon, N.J.,
with Spirlmanii iS; Brush, architoits and city
onginoois, with whom ho rcniainod eight
yi'ars, being lanployod in onginooring stroots
and sowers and laying oiil boulevards. His
omployors wore tlic lontraoting enginoors 'of
llio Hudson kivor tunnel, upon which Mr.
Walllior filled llio position ol' head draughts
man lor sovi'u years.
On Novombor .|, 18S0, lu- oamo to Holyoke
to fulfil a slioi'l ongagoinont with \). if. &
A, B, Towoi', who wi-To tlion Iho loading pajior-
mill ai'ohilools of the coimlry, and remained
with thorn until Soptombor, 1887, as thoir
li'ading draughtsman. During that |)oi-iod
llioy oroolod many largi-' papor-niills, both in
this vicinity and tlirougbont the ontiro coun
try, While in llioir employ Mr. Walthor
assistod in planning and snporintfiiding tho
oi'oolion of tlio county jail, a thoroughly sub
stantial building and i-onqih'lo in I'vory detail.
In 1887 ho oslablishod himself as an arohitoot
and civil onginoor, and a short time later was
appoinli'd (,'liiof luiginoor ol tho Hoosac Tiin-
iiol iind Wilmington Narrow-gaugt' I\;tiIroail,
ol which ho laid out and const ruotod about
llirot' mill's ol' tiack, together with building
a railroad and highway bridge over the Door-
fiold -Rivor at Roadspiu't. Hosidos orooting
a nunihor of busini'ss blocks, logi'thor with
additions lo so\'oral mills at Roadsport, ho
onlargod a mill at Bristol, N,ll., did a largi'
amount of survoying, and ihiiltod llio plans for
sovoral ollior biisinoss blocks - in short, con-
diirtod a N'oiy largi' and j)rofitablo business.
In 1890 ho was oiootod city onginoor of
llolyoko, and as such has oonstruolod a high
way bridgo over tho first lovol 0; nal, and the
ongino-houso ;il IClmwood ; .mil, being ri'-
olootod in i8<)3, assimiod charge of tho laying
(int ol si tools, curbing, and sowers. llo has
sinoo planned and oiootod throe onginc-hfiusos,
and ii foot bridgo ovor tho railroad at tho
lower Olid ol l)wighl .Slroot, 0110 span of
which is two huiidrod and Ihroo loot long,
tho sohool-houso al .Springdalo, tho Nonoluok
.Street schoid huilding, and has laid asphalt
p.iving on High .Stroot. llo has I'onstinotod
a largo si'wor s)'stom lor I'dmwood, Oakdalo,
and .'^pringdalo, which was completed in the

fall of 1894, as were two school -houses, one
at P'lmwood and another in Ward Ono, to
gether with ;i hoso-housc. He is still busily
ongagod in various city improvements, the
com|)h'ting of which will require the greater
|)art of the present year, he having since 1890
relinquished his private business in order to
devote his entire time and attention to the
city's work.
In 1885 Mr. Walthcr visited Europe,
accompanied by his family; and after passing
a pleasant vacation at his old home, during
which ho saw his mother for the last time, he
made a tour through Austria and a part of
Italy, thus having an opportunity to study and
ins|)oct the various architectural wonders of
those countries.
On September 7, 1881, he wedded Miss
(dements Amelia Bumo, of Plolyoke, who was
born in P'ranco, of Austrian parentage. They
have si.\ children: lulward, Fdla, William,
Prod, Louise, and l'"olioi;i. Tho family have
resided at Elmwood for tho past olovon years.
Mr. Walther is a member of the American
S. C. E., of Mount Tom Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., Mount Plolyoke Chapter and Council,
.Springfield Commandery, and Aleppo Temple
of tho Mystic Shrino, also of tho Turnvercin
and Pcquod Fishing Club.

-()SP:PII L. LiailCIN, who.se reputation
as a oaloror and culinary chtfhas been
established in continental luiropo as
well as in America, tho country of his
adoiition, was born at Bruges, Belgium,
August 24, 1852, Plis parents wore Charles
L. and Amelia (Van Koirsonbilk) Logoin.
Tho loi-moi', who was the host of an inn known
as tho "(joldon Lion," was born in La
Rochollo, P'ranco, so that Mr. Logoin has the
hcrcditar)' talents of two nationalities, tho
b'ronoh and tho dorman, each famous for a
special sort of cookery. Joseph L. was edu
cated at tho College of .St. Louis, Lillo,
P'ranco, and at fourtoon or fifteen )oars of ago
was approntiood to tho famous l''ronch caterers,
I'ottol & Cliabot, on Bonloxard Sebastopol,
Paris. From this ostablishment, which was
the largest on the continent, Mr. Logoin after

264

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

two years of instruction received a diploma,
which was an immediate passport into the
famous restaurants, Cai6 Anglais and Cafe
de r Opera, and finally secured for him a posi
tion with the Rothschild establishment in
Rue Lafitte. Having at last been acknowl
edged as a finished chef hy the fraternity of the
guild, he began following international exhibi
tions as a chef, going to San Sebastian in
Spain first, and from there to Paris, Brussels,
Amsterdam, and Berne, returning to Paris in
1870. After the siege of Paris he was re
tained as "French chef by General Faidherbe
when he entered Versailles; but he was so dis
gusted by the bearing of the invaders that he
resigned his place and took the first train to
Brussels, where he was at once engaged in the
Caf6 Riche as chef de nuit. From this cafe he
went to the Hotel Suede, where he formed the
acquaintance of Alexander, chef of the court
of Belgium ; and he now had an opportunity to
serve royalty and to see the acme of culinary
art displayed. In 1872, when he was just
twenty years of age, he was engaged in the
Plotel de la Paix, Antwerp, and for the first
time was chef superieicr, having a brigade of
seven men under him. The specialty of the
house was furnishing banquets; and while in
its service Mr. P^egein served one of the most
magnificent collations ever given in the
Theatre des Variet^s, at which fourteen hun
dred persons were served to twelve artistically
arranged and deliciously seasoned courses.
Mr. Legein was now induced to try his art in
England, so he went thither to take charge of
the kitchen at the Inn of Courts, Holborn,
London, but only remained in the United
Kingdom seven months, being stricken with a
fever, and finding it necessary to return to
Antwerp, where he resumed his former place
at the H6tel de la Paix. Remaining here
until 1876, Mr. Legein decided to set sail for
America, the great Centennial Exhibition
being in session ; so on the transatlantic
steamer "City of Paris" he took passage for
Philadelphia, at which port he arrived on June
12. Hardly had he landed when Mr. Sum
mers Stewart, of the Globe Hotel, the largest
hotel building ever made, it is said, hastened
to secure Mr. Legein' s services as clicf of the

European-plan restaurant connected with the
house. The terms which were offered, one
hundred and seventy-five dollars per month,
were agreed upon ; and Mr. Legein began his
first American engagement. After several
months this position was resigned for a similar
one in the domestic department of the Palmer
House, Chicago, where he remained until the
1st of December. Pie was then employed to
open the Ogden House at Council Bluffs, la. ;
but, being dissatisfied with the pecuniary basis
of the house, he left that city and went to New
York. Here he was employed at the Windsor
Hotel. It happened that at this time Mr.
Chapin, of Springfield, went to New York to
engage a chef. Mr. Waite, the proprietor of
the Windsor, and a personal friend of Mr.
Chapin's, recommended Mr. Legein as just
the man for the Springfield hotel ; and the
arrangements were immediately made for Mr.
Legein to go to Springfield at once in Mr.
Chapin's employ as chef of the Massasoit
House. Arriving in Springfield on April 14,
1877, Mr. Legein remained in the service of
the Massasoit House until April i, 1886,
when he established himself as caterer and
ice-cream manufacturer. Finding no desirable
opening on Main Street, he established his
business on State Street, and patiently awaited
the result of his experiment. So satisfactory
was the business from the very beginning that
Mr. Legein remained in the same place for
seven years, then changing his location to
Howard Street, where he has had a steady in
crease of patronage. He gives personal super
vision to the filling of contracts, the service,
the manufacture of the cream, and every de
tail of the catering; and the result is that he
has the largest contracts in the city, furnish
ing banquets, private parties, college balls,
and various public gatherings with viands and
confections. At the fiftieth anniversary of
the South Hadley Falls Seminary, he fur
nished a supper for twenty-five hundred guests,
and has frequently served banquets to fourteen
hundred persons. His popularity is readily
understood by those who have partaken of his
collations, each one of which but adds addi
tional fame to his reputation as a caterer of
faultless taste. The young men of the Cath-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

265

olic Association and the students of Amherst
patronize Mr. Legein exclusively, and he takes
great pride in the success of the annual en
tertainments. One of the most brilliant
affairs of the kind ever given in Springfield
— the banquet tendered to Bishop Beaven
after his consecration — was under Mr. Le-
gein's auspices, and will long be remembered;
and the supper he served to Governor Talbot
and his staff, where twelve courses were served
to ninety-five guests, at fifteen dollars a plate,
was considered one of his chefs-d' osuvre. Mr.
Legein' s claims to making the best and purest
ice-cream to be had in the city are substan
tiated by his sales, which average thousands
of gallons per year. One reason of the su
perior excellence of his confections lies in
the fact that he never makes anything in ad
vance, but always has an absolutely fresh stock
of supplies.
On October 14, 1877, Mr. Legein was mar
ried to Miss Marguerite Pratt ; and of this
union two sons have been born — Armond C. ,
who is a student at the high school ; and
Ferdinand J., who is at the Elm Street Gram
mar School. Mr. Legein is strongly attached
to his adopted country. He is a Knight
Templar of the Springfield Commandery, A. F.
& A. M., and is a member of De Soto
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and of the Elks. He still belongs to two
orders in Paris — the Oriental Brothers and
Les Fr^res R^unis. In politics he is inde
pendent, voting for whichever candidate seems
best qualified for the position. At No. 50
Howard Street Mr. Legein lives with his fam
ily, and from a side' entrance of this residence
his large and extensive catering business is
done.

ILLIAM MERRIAM, an influential
citizen and an enterprising mem
ber of the business community of
Palmer, Mass., was born in the town of Cam
bria, Niagara County, N.Y., eighteen miles
distant from Niagara P"alls, December 9, 1825,
being a son of Jonas H. and Caroline (Worrel-
ing) Merriam, and grandson of John and Mary
Merriam. John Merriam was a native of the

town of Barre, Worcester County, Mass.
When quite young he married; and after a
number of yeais went to Mount Holly, Vt.,
where he purchased a farm, most of which was
new and uncultivated land. This he applied
himself to clearing; and later he added more
land, which he improved. Substantial build
ings were also erected, making a large and
well-developed estate. Mr. Merriam was con
sidered a capable and progressive farmer in
his neighborhood. His death took place at
the age of eighty-three; his wife lived to the
age of seventy-five, and they were the parents
of nine children.
Their son, Jonas H. Merriam, was born at
Barre, and lived at home with his parents till
sixteen years of age, at which time he began
to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner, fol
lowing that occupation for a number of years.
Later he learned also the business of cabi
net-making. In time he changed his loca
tion and went to Niagara County, N.Y., but
finally returned to Massachusetts, and lived
in Swanzey, N.H., during the later years of
his life. His death occurred at the age of
seventy-five years. He was a Whig in his
political views; and during the War of 1812
he held the rank of Fife-major at Black Rock,
N.Y. The first wife of Jonas H. Merriam,
whose name before marriage was Mary Adams,
was a native of Richmond, N.Y. At her
death she left seven children, named as fol
lows: Hosea B., Calista, P21hanan W., Caro
line, Hannah, Mary, and John. Mr. Merriam
married for his second wife Miss Caroline
Worreling, who died at the age of thirty-five
years, leaving three children: Mary (de
ceased); William; and John, who died an
infant. William Merriam went to Swanzey with his
father when nine years old, and lived for four
years in the family of Captain David Hol
brook, of the town. He then engaged to work
for Benjamin Blake as tanner and currier, in
whose employ he remained six years, having
bought his time of his father for one hundred
dollars, which he was successful in paying
back before reaching the age of twenty.
After his marriage in 1844, he went to
Rindge, N.H., where he engaged in the tan-

266

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

nery business with George D. Hapgood, sell
ing out, however, after five years, and going
to Fitzwilliam, N.H., where he was employed
as a journeyman tanner for ten years. At the
end of that time he went to Palmer and en
gaged in the currying business, carrying that
on for ten years; and then, as he was burned
out, he went to Springfield, and engaged with
the firm of W. H. Wilkinson, Wellman &
Co., in the currying and harness business for
five years; he was then with D. C. Frost,
under the firm name of Merriam & Frost, in
the currying and surcingle business for the
term of five years. In the spring of 1884 he
returned to Palmer to take care of the prop
erty of Mrs. Maria Lawrence, and has since
remained a resident of this town.
On September 20, 1844, Mr. Merriam was
married to Miss Frances Jane Whitcomb,
a daughter of Otis and Esther (Osgood) Whit
comb. Otis Whitcomb was born in Swanzey,
N.H., September 26, 1796, and was a son of
Nathan Whitcomb and grandson of Jonathan
Whitcomb, an officer of the army during the
Revolutionary War. Nathan Whitcomb was
a manufacturer of woollen cloth at Saxton's
River, Vt., and lived to be over ninety years
of age. His wife was over eighty years of
age at her death; and their children, seven in
number, were: Leonard, Nathan, Lyman,
Alva, Carter, Otis, and Eliza.
Otis Whitcomb worked with his father in
the woollen factory till the time of his mar
riage, when he bought a farm in Swanzey,
on which he resided till his death. Besides
being a farmer, for a time he was proprietor
of a country store. He was captain of the
Swanzey Artillery Company, and also held
the office of Sheriff. He was distinguished
for the qualities of kind-heartedness and
benevolence, as well as a strong sense of
humor. He was a valued friend of Denman
Thompson, whom he assisted in his efforts-
to become an actor, and whom he served as
model for a favorite character in a popular
play. It will be remembered that he was
introduced two different times on the stage in
Boston, as the original Josh Whitcomb of the
"Old Homestead." Otis Whitcomb was mar
ried in 1818 to Miss Esther Osgood, who was

born October 17, 1799. They were the par
ents of the following children, namely:
Sylvander L., who died in infancy; Nathan;
Otis; Lucius; Charles; Esther Eliza; Fran
ces Jane; Chauncy Truman; Lyman; Andrew
Jackson; Czarina, Augusta Almira; Donna
Maria; Selleck (died in infancy); Leonard;
Selleck; and Clarence E. Mr. Whitcomb
died at the age of eighty-six, March 18, 1882;
his wife died April 20, 1867, having reached
her sixty-seventh year. They had four sons
in the late war, and two of them were killed.
Mr. and Mrs. Merriam are earnest and
active members of St. Paul's Universalist
Church of Palmer, the latter being very public-
spirited, and taking an interest in some of the
churches of Springfield as well as in Palmer.
She is a member of the Society of the Pilgrim
Fathers and of the Golden Cross, and much
esteemed for her charitable disposition and
philanthropic work. Mr. Merriam and his
wife have had three children: Caroline (de
ceased); Caroline J., born March 12, 1849,
wife of Joseph F. Holbrook, residing in
Palmer, who has one son, Henry W. ; Esther
E., born June 7, 1851, wife of Daniel C.
P'rost (deceased), who had two children, Will
iam (deceased) and Victor M., of Springfield.
Mr. Merriam is a member of Thomas
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Palmer, and
Hampden Chapter, R. A. M., and the Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of Springfield,
also of the Eastern Star, of Palmer, his wife
being likewise a member of the latter society.
Mr. Merriam has held the office of Overseer
of the Poor for eight years, and that of Proba
tion Officer of the District Court of PZastern
Hampden for four years. He is a strong
Prohibitionist.

AMES H. LEWIS, of Springfield,
agent of the Overseers of the Poor, was
born at Concord, Vt. , October 17,
1853, and is a direct descendant of a
Revolutionary soldier, his paternal great
grandfather, Jonathan Lewis, having fought in
the Continental army. The following is a
statement of the jDatriot's record in the ar
chives at the State House : —

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

267

"Jonathan Lewis appears with rank of pri
vate on muster-roll of Captain Lawrence's
company. Colonel Prescott's regiment, dated
August I, 1775; enlisted April 25, 1775;
served three months, eight clays; residence,
Peppcrell " (vol. 15, p. 55).
"Appears with rank of private on company
return of Captain Lawrence's company, Colo
nel Prescott's' regiment, dated October 6,
177s; residence, Pepperell ; coat-rolls, eight
months' service" (vol. 56, p, 61).
"Jonathan Lewis appears with rank of pri
vate on a pay abstract of Captain Henry PPas-
kell's company. Colonel Prescott's regiment
for travelling fees, dated Cambridge, January
13, 1776 (in camp); residence, Cambridge"
(vol. 19, p. 170).
"Appears on an order, dated Pepperell, July
9, 1776, for losses at battle of Bunker PPill,
given by himself, on Henry Gardner, Colony
Treasurer, etc." (vol. 139, p. 304).
"Appears on a petition, dated Pepperell,
September 31, 1779, to the Council, signed by
himself and others, asking that Captain John
Nutting be obliged to make out a muster-roll
for six weeks' service, from August, 1 778, at
Newport, R.I. Recommended by Council,
November 26, 1779" (vol, 185, p. 279).
The next in line, Jonathan Lewis, Jr., son
of the above-named Jonathan, was a man of
considerable prominence, and lived to a very
advanced age. Ethan N. Lewis, son of Jona
than, Jr., was born and reared in Concord,
Vt. , where for several years of his early man
hood he followed the trade of carpenter; and
he was elected Sheriff of the County on the
"Whig ticket. Failing health compelling him
to relinquish arduous manual labor, he taught
school for a time, and in 1855 moved to Wis
consin, where he remained until 1859, when
he returned to his native town. In i860 he
settled in Springfield, and here he passed the
remainder of his life. He was a very well
informed man, familiar with public affairs, in
which he was always active and influential,
and was a prosperous merchant for years. He
died July 5, 1887, aged sixty-one years, eleven
months, and ele.ven days. Both he and his
wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Par
tridge, were members of the Universalist

church, Mrs, Rebecca P. Lewis died August
4, 1 88 1, aged fifty-six years, three months,
and fourteen days. She was a descendant of
an old Colonial family for whom the village of
Partridgeville was named, being the daughter
of Otis and Unity Partridge, of Templeton,
Mass, Mr. and Mrs. Ethan N. Lewis were
the parents of three children, namely : Ethan
A., a resident of New Haven; James H., the
subject of this biography; and Cora E. , of
Worcester, Mass.
James H. Lewis, who was the younger son,
acquired the rudiments of his education in the
schools of Concord, 'Vt,, and Beloit, Wis., and
completed his studies, after coming to Spring
field, in the public schools of this city and at
Giles's Private School on Central Street. His
first employment was at the City Hall, in the
clerk's office, and also in the office of the
Overseer of the Poor, he having commenced
his services at the age of sixteen years, and
continued until 1877, when he received the
appointment of Assistant City Clerk, being
the first incumbent of that office after it was
established by act of legislature. He very
acceptably filled the position until 1879, hav
ing previously, in 1878, been elected a mem
ber of the Board of Overseers of the Poor, and
subsequently elected agent of that board, thus
holding both of these positions at the same
time. In 1882 he was appointed an agent of the
State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity,
and later to the office of Deputy Superintend
ent of the department of Indoor Poor, with
his office at the State House in Boston, the
duties of which required his constant attention
at the capital, making it necessary for him to
reside in that city, which he did for two years,
without, however, relinquishing his residence
in Springfield. He was in charge of the visit
ing agency, and at length, after much solicita
tion, he having firmly declined to serve until
the salary was raised to accord with the
amount of work necessarily required, was re
elected agent of the pauper department at
Springfield, and has faithfully performed the
duties of this office ever since. When Mr.
Lewis first entered the department in 1870, in
the office of the City Clerk, who was also City

268

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Treasurer, he received a salary of four dollars
per week for his services. His present office
requires the assistance of two clerks ; and since
his occupancy much needed improvement has
been made in the department, the result of his
progressive ideas and effective management.
Mr. Lewis was also the original promoter of
the Wayfarer's Lodge.
In Masonry Mr. Lewis is far advanced,
being a member of Hampden Lodge, Morning
Star Chapter, and Springfield Commandery.
He is also a charter member of Amity Lodge,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having
been initiated into the order in De Soto
Lodge, and is connected with Agawam En
campment, and was formerly with the Patri
archs Militant. He was for three years a
member of Company B, Second Regiment,
City Guards, having enlisted in 1868 as a
private, and served as Corporal, Sergeant, and
company clerk, until his time expired.
On July 20, 1876, he was happily wedded to
Miss Fanny G. , daughter of Andrew C. and
Ellen L. Fisher, of Springfield, his wife hav
ing been born at Hartford, December 25,
1852. They are the parents of five children,
as follows : Raymond I., Herbert W. , Elwyn
F., Beatrice, and Harold P. In politics Mr.
Lewis is a stanch and thoroughly consistent
Republican. He greatly enjoys social and
home pleasures, and, besides his comfortable
residence in town, has a farm at Long
Meadow, where he spends his summers.

(W^O

EORGE S. ROGERS, a native resi-
\ j^ I dent of Wales, Hampden County,
Mass., was born on April 3, 1823,
and belongs to an old, long-settled family of
this town. His parents were Joel and Mary
S. (Shaw) Rogers. His father was a son of
Darius and Bethiah (Hill) Rogers, and a
grandson of Joel and Sarah (Webber) Rogers.
The elder Joel Rogers came from Windham,
Conn., in 1750, and settled in the western
part of the town of Wales, on the farm now
owned by H. G. Back. He was one of the
first settlers of the locality, and took an active
part in promoting the growth and prosperity of
the place. He held the office of Assessor fif

teen years, served on the Board of Selectmen,
and was elected representative to the General
Court in 1797. He was a Deacon of the Bap
tist church many years, and died in June,
1823, at the age of ninety-four and three-
fourths years. He was twice married. His
first wife, Sarah, had twel vechildren ; namely,
Joel, Abigail, Prudence, Jacob, Ptolemy,
Sarah, Jacob, John, Darius, Eunice, Asa, and
Eli. Mr. Rogers was married the second
time, being then eighty-nine years old, June
18, 181 8, to Miss Ruth White.
Darius Rogers was born in Wales, April 18,
1767. He acquired a knowledge of farming
and became a large land-owner. He was a
Whig in politics, and lived to be seventy-one
years old. His wife Bethiah reached the age
of seventy. Their eight children were named,
respectively, Joel, Ambrose, Orry, Melinda,
Eli, Cheney, Squire H,, Mary H. Joel, son
of Darius, and father of George S. Rogers,
was born on the old homestead in Wales, June
10, 1790. He carried on the occupations of
carpenter and farmer, and at thirty-two years
of age bought a farm 'of two hundred acres in
the town, now owned by W. A. Lyon. On
this he built a fine residence, which is still
standing. He took an active interest in the
affairs of the town, and held the office of As
sessor. He was a Whig in political princi
ples, and, with his family, was a member of
the Baptist church. He died at the age of
eighty-four years. His wife Mary died in
1871, at the age of seventy-four. They were
parents of six children; namely, George S.,
Joel H., Mary, Sarah, Lafayette, and Clinton.
George S. Rogers acquired his education in
the public schools of Wales and in the acad
emy at Wilbraham. At the age of eighteen
years he found employment in the woollen-
mills of his native town, and continued thus
engaged until he retired from active life. It
is worthy of note that he worked for one man
thirty-five years, for another fourteen years,
and for a third one year. He is very popular
with his fellow-townsmen, and in 1894 he
became Assistant Postmaster of the town.
Mr. Rogers is a Republican in his politics,
and has held the office of Town Clerk, Super
visor, and Assessor, and has also served on the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

269

School Committee. Pie was married May 28,
1843, to Miss Amanda Atwood, who was born
in Union, Tolland County, Conn., December
7, 1823, and was the daughter of Daniel and
Redowah Atwood. They have had six chil
dren, of whom the only one now living is
Estella A., born July 3, 1845. She is the
wife of David Boynton, of Worcester, Mass.,
and has three children — Edith R., Walter T.,
and Arthur R. The other children of
Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were Serrano G. , Ella
L. , Emma P"". , Lillie J., and an infant un
named. Mr. Rogers and his family are members of
the Baptist church, with which he has been
connected fifty-five years ; and he has been a
member of the choir for that period. He has
been married more than a half a century.
Having an exceptionally good memory, Mr.
Rogers has been able to use the knowledge
acquired through books in the broadening of
his own mind and to the advantage of the
community in which he resides. Attaining
his majority in 1844, Mr. Rogers cast his first
Presidential vote for Henry Clay. He has
voted for fifty-one Governors and thirteen
Presidents, not missing a State or United
States election for fifty-one consecutive years.
Such loyalty at the polls is well worth record
ing, and the practice of thus living up to one's
rights and duties as a citizen of a free country
a good one to be followed by every true-
minded American.

MEAN W. BULL, a gun and lock
smith at 445 Main Street, Spring
field, former Secretary of the
Armory Rifle Team, was born in
Windsor, Vt., October 4, 1846. Mr. Bull is
a descendant of Captain Thomas Bull, a hero
of the American Revolutionary War, who, it
is said, rode into the first battle in which he
engaged with nineteen sons attending him,
forming a small brigade of cavalry men as they
passed. This old patriarch was also the father
of two daughters. The grandfather of Mr.
Bull was William Bull, of Litchfield, Conn. ;
and his father was William Nelson Bull, who
was born in Norwich, Vt., December 19,

181 1, and died in Springfield, Mass., October
13, 1867. On Janiif^y i, 1833, William Nel
son Bull married Miss Lucinda Boynton, a
native of Baltimore in the town of Springfield,
Vt. , where she opened her infant eyes to
the world's light on July 18, 1807. Her par
ents were Manasseh and Sarah (Butterfield)
Boynton. At the birth of Milan W. his father was
working in the armory at Windsor. When he
was eight years of age his father moved to
Chicago, and it happened that during that year
the fearful scourge of cholera became epidemic
in that city. The subject of this sketch re
members with painful distinctness how one
poor man who was stricken by the plague made
a brave struggle to his father's house, having
heard that he had the recipe of a remedy for
the disease. The suffering man fell upon the
piazza, unable to go another step. Mr. Bull
went out and brought him into the house,
where he administered the cure, which restored
the patient. During that dreadful summer
Mr, Bull remained in Chicago, where he was
employed in the American Car Company's
factory; but, there being no abatement of the
disease, in the autumn he removed to a farm
near Rockford, 111, During his residence in
the former city he was a near neighbor of
Stephen A, Douglas, to whose house he often
went in quest of a wholesome draught of water,
the well on the place of Mr. Douglas furnish
ing much better than the ordinary supply. A
common way of procuring water at that time
was to dig pits in the earth, where two barrels
were sunk one upon the other, which would
soon fill with the liquid, but of questionable
quality. From Rockford Mr. Bull went to
Stockton, Minn., whence he went after a
short time to Chatfield in the same State, and
later from Chatfield to California, where he
engaged in gold mining, his family in the
mean time removing to Springfield, where
their friends and kindred were settled. Upon
Mr. Bull's homeward journey he was accom
panied by a party of miners who were return
ing to the East. They were attacked by a
hostile tribe of Indians; and almost all of the
white men were killed, Mr. Bull barely mak
ing his escape with what he had on his person.

270

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

The luggage and the pony, which was intended
for a present for Milan, were irrevocably lost.
Three of the six children born to William
Nelson and Lucinda Bull are now living:
Freeman R., employed in the National Armory
of this city; Eliza J., the wife of Mr. Rich
ardson, of Ware, Mass. ; Milan W. , of this
memoir. At the public schools of the various towns
in which his father resided, Milan W. Bull
received his education, which was completed
under the excellent instruction of Mr. Charles
Barrows, who taught the grammar school of
Springfield, and in whose honor the present
Oak Street School is named. After a course
at Burnham's Business College, Mr. Bull
entered the armory, where he remained three
years and learned the tool-maker's trade.
Upon the day that his third year expired he
went to Hartford, Conn., and there secured
employment in the Weed Sewing Machine
Company's works. He was now just of age;
and he determined to familiarize himself with
the machine, and then go to Boston as a sales
man in one of their establishments in that
city. Such satisfaction did he give his em
ployers, however, that he was induced to
remain with them for six years ; and the
Boston plan was abandoned. Pie next went to
Providence, R. I., as an inspector of gun
barrels, in the service of a company which had
a contract to furnish guns to the Turkish
government. After a three years' stay in Providence and
a short stay in Hartford, Mr. Bull returned to
Springfield, where he was again employed in
the armory until 1882, when he was detailed
as an armorer on the Magazine Gun Board, to
go to New York City. The members of the
board were General Brook, Major Sharkley,
Colonel Litchfield, Captain Grier, Captain
Day, and Mr. Bull, the work of this board
being to test a gun for the army and navy.
During the year they were in session in New
York the first military team came over from
England to shoot against an American team
under Colonel Bodine, at Creedmoor, in which
match the Americans were defeated. Being
deeply interested in everything pertaining to
fire, arms, Mr. Bull determined to enlist in the

militia, in order to get on the American team.
After the adjournment of the board and his
return to this city he enlisted, and in 1883
went to New York to compete for a place in
the American team under Colonel Howard,
which he secured, and in the same year accom
panied the team to England, where they com
peted with the English shooters under Sir
Henry Halford. Up to nine hundred the
Americans were ahead; but at the critical
period of the contest a shower of rain and sleet
came down, which chilled the American
marksmen, and caused their defeat. A month
was spent in visiting the Mint, Tower, House
of Commons, Windsor Castle, and other places
of interest, with a last shooting match on
Hounslow Heath to wind up the tour.
A short time after his return Mr. Bull was
appointed Superintendent of the Spencer Arms
Company of Windsor, Conn., where he was
engaged for three years, though he still con
tinued his residence in Springfield. Three
years later this company gave up business, and
Mr. Bull opened his place at 445 Main Street,
where sporting goods of all sorts are kept in
stock as well as repair. P'or four years he was
connected with the Massachusetts Rifle Team,
which in fourteen matches was never a single
time defeated, and at the International Match
at Chicago was with the team that won the
thousand-dollar prize. At that time Mr. Bull
won the skirmish match prize, which was a
competition between the members of the regu
lar army and marksmen from the various
States. This prize, which was one hundred
dollars, was practically for the world's cham
pionship. In 1885 he also won the United
States military championship. Four years
later, in 1889, the Massachusetts Rifle Team
went to England, where in a series of victories
the reputation of the Americans as marksmen
was vindicated, they winning all the five
matches contested in. 'While in England the
English appointed Major Grathwick as secre
tary of the Massachusetts team. Later Mr.
Bull was appointed Provost Sergeant on Gen
eral Bridge's staff, and served four years.
Mr. Bull was then appointed inspector of rifle
practice of the Second Regiment of Massachu
setts, with rank of First Lieutenant.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

271

About 1877 Congress was vehemently op
posed to the manufacture of the Springfield
rifle. Mr. Bull's brother, P"reeman R., with
the co-operation of some other gentlemen, or
ganized the Armory Rifle Team, which has
since become famous. At Creedmoor this team,
in a competition with seventeen other teams,
won the first prize, proving the superiority of
the armory rifle over the sporting; and the
Springfield armory rifle has now become one
of the most popular in use. Mr. Bull is Vice-
President of the Springfield Rod and Gun and
Rifle Club. His interests, however, have not
been exclusively devoted to shooting matches
and fire-arms ; for local affairs have claimed his
attention, and during the mayoralty of Mr.
Bradford he was a member of the Common
Council three years, when he served on the
Committees of Street Lighting and Police, and
upon the special committee appointed for the
revision of the city ordinances.
While in Hartford and in his twenty-third
year, Mr. Bull was married to Miss Emma
Greenleaf, the adopted daughter of Mr. O. H.
Greenleaf, of this city, who is a prominent
paper manufacturer, and has the distinction of
being the first donor of land to the beautiful
Forest Park of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Bull
are the parents of two living children, one hav
ing died in Providence. Their two sons,
Milan C. and Freeman M., are respectively
eighteen and sixteen years of age. The family
are all members of the Baptist church. At
No. 9 Lincoln Street, facing the Armory
Ground, is their attractive home, which the
parents have occupied ever since coming to
Springfield, with the exception of their two
short periods of residence in Hartford and
Providence.

)EE BLANCHARD, an energetic farmer
and an extensive land-owner of Mon
son, Mass., was born here on No
vember 21, 1831, being the younger
son of Alvin and Achsah (White) Blanchard,
grandson of Chester and Rhoda (Stebbins)
Blanchard, and great-grandson of Jonathan and
Sarah (Osgood) Blanchard. The family trace
their ancestry to Samuel Blanchard, who came

to this country from Wales, January 23, 1639,
being then ten years old. He was a resi
dent of Andover, Plssex County, Mass., in
1686, and probably a few years before that
time, as he was Selectman in 1687.
Jonathan Blanchard was born May 25, 1739.
He became owner of land in Holland, Mass.,
and in Union, Conn., and was the father of
seven children — Lydia, Chester, Jonathan,
Amasa, Deborah, Polly, and Nathan. Chester
Blanchard, eldest son of Jonathan, was born in
the town of Union ; and, having arrived at
man's estate, he bought two hundred acres of
land on East Hill in the town of Monson,
where he made his home, his life closing at
eighty-six years. He was twice married, and
was the father of ten children — Orril ; Alfred ;
Alvin ; Nancy ; Ruby ; Betsey, deceased ; Bet
sey ; Rhoda ; Nathan ; and Betsey — the last-
named two being children of the second mar
riage. Alvin Blanchard was born at East
Hill, in Monson, October i, 1798. He also
purchased land in that town, and resided on his
farm till his death, at seventy-four years. His
wife, mother of Lee Blanchard, lived to be
eighty-six years, dying in February of 1890.
She was the mother of three children ; namely,
Chester, Ruby, and Lee.
On the death of his father, about twenty-
three years ago, Lee Blanchard came into pos
session of the homestead. He has added two
hundred and twenty-five acres of land to the
two hundred and twenty formerly owned by his
father; and in 1877 he erected a large barn
and remodelled the dwelling-house which his
father had built. He established a dairy and
carried on the raising of stock, his herds con
taining some of the finest oxen ever raised in
the town of Monson. Intelligent and progres
sive, Mr. Blanchard is considered one- of the
leading farmers of the locality.
He has been twice married. His first wife.
Miss Mary Squier, whom he married October
25, 1855, was the daughter of Rensselaer
Squier, and grand-daughter of Solomon Squier.
She was born February 12, 1833, and died at
the age of fifty-three, having been the mother
of ten children, as follows : Dwight, born
August 13, 1857, died September 26, 1871 ;
Chester, born February 5, i860; Albert, born

272

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

April 16, 1862; Emma, born December 13,
1863, wife of F. O. Bardwell; Jane, born June
22, 1865, wife of Edgar R. Sisson ; Cady, born
January 24, 1867; Lurancie, born November
30, 1869, died March 2, 1872; Myron, born
September 8, 1871 ; Eddie D., born January
4, 1874, died August 20, 1881 ; Harry L., born
January 29, 1877. Mr. Blanchard was mar
ried the second time, April 28, 1888, to Miss
Lorana Goodwill, of Hampden, Mass. Mr.
Blanchard is a Republican in politics; and" the
family are attendants of the Universalist
church in Monson, where they are highly
esteemed as good citizens and neighbors.

linVARD M. LYMAN, whose flower and
garden seeds have made his name a fa
miliar one in almost every home in
New England, New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania, was born in South Hadley,
Franklin County, Mass., on May 13, 1825.
The Lyman family traces its lineage back to
Richard Lyman, born at High Ongar, County
of Essex, England, in 1580, who came to Mas
sachusetts in 1 63 1, and who was one of a party
of one hundred that settled at Hartford, Conn.,
in June, 1636, having made the journey over
land. Richard Lyman's will was the first
recorded in that city.
A descendant, Israel Lyman, was born at
old Hadley, Mass., in 1775, from which
place he went to Rock Ferry, at the foot of
Mount Holyoke, and thence to South Hadley,
where he lived during the remainder of his life
as a farmer, dying there in 1835 in the sixtieth
year of his age, when his youngest son,
Edward M., the Benjamin of his twelve chil
dren, was a little boy of ten years of age.
Israel Lyman's wife was Sarah H. Moody, of
Moody's Corners, South Hadley, a second
cousin of Dwight L. Moody. Both parents
were members of the Congregational church,
and the elevating influence of Christian home
life surrounded the young family committed to
their watch and ward. After the death of the
father Mrs. Lyman moved to the Shaker set
tlement in Enfield, thinking that in the quiet.
God-fearing community she might find a se
cure haven for herself and her growing flock.

Edward, who had previously attended school,
was now old enough to earn his own living,
and was first employed by the seed dealers of
the community. In his seventeen years' stay
at Enfield he learned from the tidy, method
ical, and careful Shakers all the details of this
useful and profitable business ; and here was
evolved the project which he afterward put
into execution. In 1852 he came to Spring
field and engaged in different pursuits until
1858, when he began raising seed for the
markets. He opened with a modest venture,
shipping only about fifty boxes ; but, as there
was an immediate demand for more, and the
business began to increase visibly, it soon
became necessary to have the seeds raised by
contract. At first he put them out on a sort
of small commission; but the enterprise grew
apace, like the germinating seeds, and in the
course of time a number of travelling salesmen
were engaged. Mr. Lyman now sends out
almost twelve thousand boxes of seeds an
nually, requiring the constant service of
about a dozen persons to put them up, besides
an automatic machine which fills the little
bags faster than human fingers could possibly
achieve the apparently unceasing task. For
some time the Lyman Seed House was on
Main Street ; but it now occupies a large ware
house, ninety by forty feet, every foot of which
space is employed in the large traffic. In
addition to the business of the establishment
where the seeds are packed and shipped, there
are various outside branches of the enterprise
that require attention. A number of farmers
in the surrounding country have been employed
for the last twenty years in raising seeds for
Mr. Lyman, and these farms are all regularly
visited each year. Frequent visits to Europe
are also necessary, that the later methods of
gardening may be investigated thoroughly, and
arrangements made for importing the very best
quality of those seeds which are best raised
abroad. Having started out with a small capi
tal of five hundred dollars, Mr. Lyman has
built up one of the largest seed establishments
in America, and may indulge in a pardonable
feeling of pride in his success. He owns
property on Worthington Street, as well as on
Franklin and Charles Streets, having moved

EDWARD M. LYMAN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

275

from his former residence at 83 Charles Street
to his pleasant home at 193 Franklin Street.
Mr. Lyman married on June 9, 1868, Miss
Eliza M. Bayliss, who is of English birth and
parentage, but came in her girlhood to this
city, where her father, Mr. John Bayliss, se
cured employment in the armory. A son and
daughter have blessed this union: Albert E.,
who has become a partner in his father's busi
ness; and Alice M., the wife of Mr. Nelson
L. Elmer, a book-keeper in the First National
Bank of Springfield. By a former marriage,
to Caroline Blodgett, Mr. Lyman had three
children, all of whom are now deceased. Mr.
Lyman is independent in political matters, and
is liberal in his general views. His portrait,
which adds to the interest of this brief sketch
of his career to date, shows him to be a strong,
self-reliant man, who has fought bravely and
won gallantly in the battlefields of life, and is
still a valiant member of the great industrial
army, earth's real conquering hosts.

TTAYRUS W. CROSS, a veteran of the
I V-^ Civil War, a prominent resident of the
\%) town of Palmer, Mass., where he is
successfully engaged in the practice
of dentistry, was born in Monson, April 10,
1842. His parents were Porter and Sophia
(Amidon) Cross, and his paternal grandfather
Stephen Cross, whose wife's family name was
Vinton. Stephen Cross was born in Connecti
cut, and was a farmer and a carpenter. He
was a soldier of the Revolution, and lived to
be ninety years old, being a Whig in politics.
His wife reached the age of eighty years, and
was the mother of six children— Stephen and
Lyman, who were soldiers in the War of 1812 ;
Cyrus; Eli; Hannah; and Porter.
The last-named, who was the father of Cyrus
W., was born in Monson, July 15, 1807, and
learned his father's trade of carpenter. His
first independent work was done for his brother
Stephen, in whose employ he continued until
forty years of age. He then went into busi
ness for himself, his first contract being an
important one in Boston, where his work was
raising the roof of a hotel and putting on an
extra story — a rarer and more difficult piece

of work in those days than in the present.
Mr. Porter Cross was one of the builders of the
Methodist Episcopal church in Wilbraham,
and continued in the same line of business in
Boston, Wilbraham, and Springfield, until he
retired from all active labor, dying at the age
of eighty-seven years. Mr. Cross was twice
married, his first wife being before her mar
riage Miss Sophia Amidon. She was born
August I, 1807, and died at the age of forty
years, leaving six children; namely, Hollis
G., Laurette J., Ellen C, Candace C. , Cyrus
W. , and Lucius PI. The second wife of Mr.
Cross was Miss Mary Babcock, who lived to
old age, and was the mother of two children —
Eugene F. and Dora E. Mr. Cross was first
a Whig in politics, and later a Republican.
He served as one of the Selectmen for a num
ber of years ; and he, Mrs. Cross, and their
children were members of the Methodist Epis
copal church, to which he gave a large amount
of money.
Cyrus W. , son of Porter and Sophia Cross,
received his education in Wilbraham Acad
emy; and at the age of twenty, in July, 1862,
he enlisted in Company D, Thirty-seventh
Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, under
Colonel Edwards. He served three years in
the Civil War, was in the battles of Freder
icksburg and Chancellorsville, and in all the
skirmishes of the Potomac valley, receiving
his discharge in 1864. After returning to his
home he began the study of dentistry with
Joseph Gould, of Palmer, and carried on his
studies later with J. M. Gould, of East Doug
lass, after which he opened an office in Wil
braham, and had a successful practice during
the two years of his residence there. Pie then
removed to Palmer, where he has since made a
permanent home and has acquired a noteworthy
reputation for the durability and general excel
lence of his dental work.
Dr. Cross has been twice married. The
lady of his first choice was Miss Anna M.
Cooley, daughter of George G. Cooley, a farmer
and a builder of Springfield, Mass., who spent
his life in that city, and died at the age of
eighty-three years. Mrs. Anna M. Cross
lived to be but twenty-eight years of age, and
at her death left two children, namely: a

276

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

daughter, Alice Sophie, born March 4, 1868,
died March 30, 1874; and one son, Chester
W., born March 10, 1872, who is a young man
of much promise, at present holding the posi
tion of teller in the bank of Palmer. The sec
ond wife of Mr. Cross, Miss Charlotte E.
Kent before marriage, was born in Wilbraham,
daughter of William and Laura (Smith) Kent.
Mr, Kent was a carpenter by occupation, and
died at the age of seventy years. His wife
lived to be seventy-two years old. Mr. and
Mrs. Cross have three children, as follows :
Louis K,, born February 11, 1877; Bertha
M., born October 31, 1880; and Laura B.,
born April 12, 1884.
In 1877 Dr. Cross built an attractive and
comfortable residence on Main Street, which
he has since occupied with his family. His
business office is in the Lawrence Block, Main
Street. He is a Republican in politics, and
is a member of the Thomas Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., at Palmer, the Hampden Chapter,
Washington Council, Springfield Commandery,
and L. L. Merrick Post, Grand Army of the
Republic, of Palmer, in which he held the
office of Commander. He is also a member of
the Congregational church at Palmer.

flMOTPIY M. WALKER, a very promi
nent and wealthy gentleman now living
in retirement at No. 295 State Street,
Springfield, Mass., was born at Brookfield,
Worcester County, in that State, March 25,
1 81 5, and is the son of Ezekiel and Chloe
(Johnson) Walker, of Brookfield. The family
is an old and highly respected one in that
locality, many of them having been prominent
in politics and public affairs. The father of
Mr. Walker, however, seems to have enter
tained no desire for public life, preferring to
follow the quiet but independent vocation of
a farmer. The family of Ezekiel Walker con
sisted of seven children, four sons and three
daughters; and, although they lived to matu
rity, all are now dead save the subject of this
sketch. Both the parents died in Brook
field, the father in 1838 or 1840, aged sixty-
three years, and the mother in 1844; both
were members of the old Orthodox church.

Timothy M. Walker was educated at the
common schools of Brookfield, and at the age
of sixteen years, up to which time he had
assisted his father upon the farm, began to
assume the cares of life for himself. After
lea^'ing the parental roof he did various kinds
of work, and at one time drove a stage on the
Boston & Albany line from Worcester to
Brookfield and Palmer.
He arrived in Springfield in 1842 with but
five dollars in his pocket, and found employ
ment at twenty-two dollars per month as a
painter. In that line he continued to work for
about two years, or until he became familiar
with the ground, when his love for enterprise
asserted itself, and he commenced business for
himself as a contracting house painter, start
ing with but one assistant. His business thus
modestly established grew as his reputation for
honest and satisfactory work advanced, until it
reached a point where from thirty to forty
men were kept constantly employed, and Mr.
"Walker found himself conducting the largest
business of its kind in the city. Stimulated
by his rapid success, he then opened a store
for the sale of all necessary supplies used in
the trade, following this a little later (about
1 861) by engaging in the manufacture of
wooden articles, such as doors, sashes, blinds,
and windows, necessary for the construction
of buildings of every description. Mr. Walker
first established his business in a little shop
on Liberty Street ; but, rapidly outgrowing
such small quarters, he purchased the factory
of Mr. Colton on what is now Walker Street
(named in honor of the subject) — a brick
building one hundred feet front by sixty
feet deep and five stories high. This enabled
him to give employment to from sixty to
seventy workmen, and the manufactory became
the largest and most extensive of its class in
the city. .He had associated with him in the
business Mr. W. W. Thayer and Mr. J. K.
Newell, but was always himself the leading
spirit and chief manager of the entire enter
prise until his retirement, which occurred
about 1878. Aside from his legitimate busi
ness, Mr. Walker has always displayed a saga
cious conception of the probable results which
would necessarily follow certain financial

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

277

enterprises, and through his careful and cor
rect judgment in this direction has become one
of the most successful and wealthy citizens of
Springfield. He has been an active and ex-.
ceedingly successful dealer in real estate, and
his present holdings are assessed at one hun
dred and seventy thousand dollars. He is the
owner of several business blocks — one on
Market Street, part of the Walker Block, and
another which adjoins the First National
Bank ; also several residences on State and
School Streets.
During the construction of the Hoosac Tun
nel he received and completed a four-hundred-
thousand - dollar contract in excavating from
the western portal to North Adams. He also
completed a large government contract for
building a wing dam below Windsor Locks on
the Connecticut River, and has been identified
with many other enterprises of like impor
tance. Mr. Walker was formerly a Whig in poli
tics. He joined the Republican party at its
foundation, and has always supported it, hav
ing voted for both William and Benjamin Har
rison. He served two years as a member of
the Common Council, but has never aspired to
political honors of any kind.
In 1862 he erected a fine brick residence on
State Street, in which he has since resided,
and which at the time of its completion was
the handsomest house on the street. He also
erected the house adjoining, which is occupied
by his son.
Mr. Walker and his late wife were exceed
ingly domestic in their habits, passing as
much time as possible in the retirement of
home. They were both members of the Uni
tarian church for more than fifty years.
In May, 1837, Mr. Walker was united in
marriage to Miss Percy Brigham, daughter of
Joel Brigham, of Brookfield, with whom he
lived most happily during a period of fifty-five
years, or until her decease, which occurred
April 25, 1893. His two sons, Edward M.
and William B. Walker, are now at the head
of their father's business, which the latter
resigned to them upon his retirement, they
having been his valuable assistants previous
to that event. They carry a large stock of

paints, oils, and general building supplies,
under the 'firm name of T. M. Walker & Co.,
their warehouse and place of business being at
37, 39, and 41 Market Street.

RANCIS WIGHT, a retired farmer of
Holland, Mass., was born in the town
of Sturbridge, Worcester County, Feb
ruary I, 1830, being a son of David and Lu
cinda (Marsh) Wight, and grandson of David,
Sr. , and Susanna (Harding) Wight. David
Wight, Sr. , was born in Medfield, Norfolk
County, Mass., March 5, 1737. He pur
chased one thousand acres of wild, uncultivated
land in the town of Sturbridge, and became
a very prominent man in that locality. He
was a stanch patriot, and served in the Revolu
tionary War, being not afraid to show his
colors as a partisan of the colonies. He was
energetic in local public affairs, and served as
Selectman, Town Clerk, Assessor, and with
his family belonged to the Congregational
Church. He lived to be eighty-nine years
old. His wife, Susanna, reached the age of
ninety years.
Their son, David Wight, Jr., lived in Stur
bridge all the days of his life, and became a
prosperous farmer. He was actively promi
nent in politics, was a Whig, and held the
offices of Selectman, Town Clerk, and Asses
sor. Both David and his wife Lucinda were
seventy-five years of age at the times of their
departure, and were members of the Congre
gational church. Their ten children were:
Emily, Lucinda, David, Emerson, Emeline,
Andrew, Aaron, George, George, and Francis.
Francis Wight, the youngest of the family,
having been educated in the public schools
of Sturbridge and at Monson Academy, taught
school for a number of terms. He then en
tered the auger works at Snellville, in which
place he continued for some time, living in
Holland, and driving back and forth daily.
In 1890 he purchased the old Marcy homestead
of one hundred acres in the town of Holland,
where he conducted a dairy with success. He
now owns a house and lot in the centre of the
town, and lives a retired life.
In 1853 Mr. Wight was married to Miss

278

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mary Ann Elizabeth Kinney, who was born in
Holland, Mass,, November 10, 1834, a daugh
ter of Elisha and Mary Ann (Marcy) Kinney.
Elisha Kinney was born October 11, 1805, at
Union, Conn., and was the son of Joel and
Chloe (Coy) Kinney. He was a carpenter by
trade, and later became a farmer. His wife
was a daughter of David Marcy, one of the
early settlers of Holland, who built the present
hotel, called the Kinney Hotel, where he car
ried on a prosperous business in the early days.
David Marcy lived to be seventy-five years old.
His wife Sibyl reached the age of eighty
years. Their three children were Mary Ann,
Uriah, and Milicent B. Marcy. After Elisha
Kinney's marriage he bought the hotel, and
forty acres of land in addition. He then re
modelled the house; and he and his wife ac
quired a wide reputation for their ability and
their hospitality as landlord and landlady,
the table d hote being an attraction to hunting,
fishing, and other pleasure parties from far and
near. Mr. Kinney died at the age of eighty-
three. His wife reached the age of sixty-eight
years. They were the parents of two children,
namely : a son, Francis, now deceased, who
was born February 14, 1841, married Olivia
Parker, and had five children ; and a daughter,
Mary Ann Elizabeth, Mrs. Wight.
Mr. and Mrs. Francis Wight have had two
children — George PL, born in 1855, and
Everett E, , born in 1858, both deceased. Mr.
Wight is a Republican in politics, and has
taken active part in the municipal affairs of
Holland, keeping up the reputation of his an
cestors for an intelligent interest in local
government. He has held the office of Select
man eleven years, has been Town Clerk four
years, and town Treasurer eighteen years.
Mr. Wight has also served several years as
member of the School Board of Holland, and
has held other responsible offices during this
time.

OliACE A. QUIMBY, an extensive
wholesale crockeryware dealer of
Springfield, located at No. 9 Hamp
den Street, was born at Lyndon,
Vt., April 18, 1828. He is the son of Daniel

and Polly (Woodruff) Quimby, and grandson
of Daniel Quimby, a Free Will Baptist
preacher, who moved from Sandwich, N. H.,
where his son Daniel was born, to Lyndon,
and erected the first Free Will Baptist church
in that town. He settled as a pioneer in Lyn
don, and became a very prosperous farmer,
passing the remainder of his life there. His
son Daniel was but a child when his parents
moved to Vermont ; and there he grew to man
hood, and was trained by his father to an agri
cultural life. He was a very prosperous
farmer, owning one of the best farms in his
section, upon which he resided until his de
cease; and he was interested in military mat
ters, being a Colonel of the State militia. In
religion he followed the teachings of the Free
Will Baptists, and was a life-long member of
their church. His wife, Polly Woodruff, was a
native of Westmore, Vt. , and reared a family
of seven children, as follows: Horace A.,
whose name appears at the head of this article ;
Cordelia H., wife of H. M. Nichols, of Lyn
don ; Lydia, who died at the age of sixteen
years; Daniel J., now residing at Portland,
Ore. ; Mary E. , who married James E.
Mathewson, of Springfield, both of whom are
now deceased; Lot P. W. , who resides at
Portland, Ore. ; Laurestine H., wife of Edwin
Sweatland, also residents of Portland, Ore.
Horace A. Quimby attended the Lyndon
public schools and the academy at Browning-
ton, Vt., and after completing his education
engaged as a pedler of silverware and jewelry,
at the end of two years starting for himself in
the same business, with a two-horse team,
selling dry-goods, silverware, watches, etc.
For four years he carried on a very profitable
trade, travelling throughout Northern Ver
mont, accumulating sufficient capital to estab
lish himself in business. In 1853 he opened
a general store at Wheelock, Vt. , which he
conducted very successfully; and in 1855 he
associated himself with a partner, who as
sumed charge of the Wheelock store, while he
opened a similar establishment at Lyndon
Centre, He was l^ostmaster while at "Whee
lock, and also filled the same position at Lyn
don Centre, until he sold out his business in
the latter place. He owned a fine farm there,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

279

and had already become a well-to-do man. In
October, 1867, he came to Springfield and
started a restaurant and ice-cream saloon,
which he conducted for two years. He then
entered the wholesale and retail oyster trade at
Nos. 9-14 Market Street, in which he con
tinued until he purchased the wholesale and
retail crockery establishment of Harmon &
Deardon, who were located at 328 Main Street.
There he remained until October, 1890, when
he moved to his present quarters at No. 9
Hampden Street, where he has largely in
creased facilities for the effectual handling of
his extensive business. He now conducts a
wholesale trade exclusively, carrying a large
and varied stock, and occupies three floors in a
building which is ninety feet deep; and he
also has an agent on the road. He imports
fine china and other choice wares, and, being
the only wholesale crockery dealer in the city,
necessarily does a very profitable business.
Mr. Quimby married Miss Martha M. San
born, daughter of Elisha Sanborn, of Lyndon,
Vt., by whom he has two children — Sarah E. ,
now the wife of John Pettigrew, of Spring
field; and Irving A., who is in business with
his father, and who wedded Stella, daughter of
Leonard Clark, of this city, a sketch of whom
appears elsewhere in this work. They have
two children — Marion and Horace A.
Mr. Quimby is a Republican in politics,
though not in any way an aspirant for office ;
and he is a Master Mason, being a member of
Roswell Lee Lodge. He believes in baptism
by immersion, and attends and contributes to
the support of the State Street Baptist Church.
Starting as a poor boy, Mr. Quimby has
worked his way from poverty to afifluence; and
his ambition is to maintain a clean record with
his creditors as well as his customers, all his
business being conducted with this end in
view. His home is pleasantly situated at No.
58 Bliss Street.

PHRAIM CRARY, who was for many
years a highly successful contractor and
builder in Westfield, Mass., was
born July 26, 1809, in Granby, Conn. He
was the son of John and Deborah (Prentice)

Crary. John Crary was born in 1775, probably
in Preston, Conn., where he was a tanner by
trade. He moved with his family to Suffield,
Conn., about 1,812; and his wife died there
April 5, 1853, aged seventy-three years, his
own death occurring December 4, 1854, at the
age of seventy-nine years.
Ephraim Crary, the subject of this sketch,
having received a common-school education in
Suffield, was apprenticed to learn the carpen
ter's trade when a mere boy, and followed this
business the rest of his life. When quite
young he changed his residence, making his
home thenceforth in Westfield, where he was
always known as a hard worker and a good
business man, and, as an active, useful citizen,
was much respected. Many of the buildings
in Westfield and vicinity still stand as monu
ments to his industry and skilful workmanship.
He was married March 2, 1851, to Amelia
Bush, daughter of Asahel and Sally (Noble)
Bush, both natives of Westfield, her father
being an able farmer and an extensive cattle
dealer. He died at his home in this village at
the age of fifty-two, but his wife lived to be
over seventy years of age, Mr. and Mrs.
Crary were both members of the Methodist
Episcopal church at Westfield. Politically,
he was a Democrat. In July, 1888, he died at
his residence. No. 19 Franklin Street, leaving
a widow and one child, a married daughter,
Mrs. Amelia B. Crary Brown, wife of James
A. Brown.
Mrs. Brown was born in the village of West-
field, October 10, 1855, and was married Octo
ber 15, 1884. Her husband, James Brown,
was born in Brantford, Ontario, March 10,
1855, and is of Scotch descent. When a
young man he learned the trade of an organ
builder, becoming a very competent workman,
and to-day excels in his line of business. He
is in the employ of Johnson & Son, the well-
known church organ builders of Westfield,
Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have two chil
dren — Alice Crary Brown and Walter Denison
Brown. They all reside with the grandmother
at the family home. No. 19 Franklin Street.
Mrs. Crary is among the older residents of
Westfield, and is known and beloved by a large
circle of friends.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

/©Vs

USTAVE REMKUS, one of the lead-
\ '3 1 ing German American citizens of
Springfield, where he has resided
since 1866, is a native of Regenwalde, Prus
sia, where he was born June 28, 1841. His
parents were Edward and Caroline Remkus,
his father being a painter whose specialty was
fresco work, and who conducted a large busi
ness. Gustavo was educated at the schools of
his native place; and after his father's death
he became an apprentice to an artist whom his
father had formerly taught, serving four years,
at the expiration of which he travelled some.
He stopped for a while at Stargard, and finally
took up his residence in Berlin, where he re
mained for six years, engaged meanwhile upon
work of the highest order in artistic painting
and decorating. Although he received com
paratively small remuneration for his skilled
labor, he gathered a great deal of valuable
experience, which has since materially aided
him. After leaving Berlin he worked a year
in Bremen, from which city he came to the
United States, locating in New York City in
1866. At that time he had no knowledge of
the English language. In the autumn of that
year he came to Springfield, and was employed
in Wiese's shop as a journeyman until 1870,
when he established business for himself on
a small scale at the location he now occupies,
No. 495 Main Street.
The ability of Mr. Remkus soon placed him
in the foremost rank of artists in his line, and
orders for first-class work became abundant.
His artistic work in the public halls of the
city, including the Masonic Hall, several
churches, and many private residences, speaks
eloquently for his taste and skill as an artist of
a superior order. He now has the reputation
of being the finest fresco artist between Bos
ton and New York, and he gives constant em
ployment to ten skilled workmen. He is also
the Springfield representative of the Germania
Fire Insurance Company of New York, which
agency he has successfully conducted for the
past eight years, and during that time has se
cured for the company a large amount of busi
ness in this city.
On August 6, 1868, Mr. Remkus was mar
ried to Miss Marie Augusta Klickman, a lady

of German birth, but a resident of this city;
and they have two sons — Charles H. and Ed
win G. , the former in business with his father.
Mr. Remkus was appointed a Justice of the
Peace in 1887, and reappointed by the present
governor in July, 1894, in order to facilitate
the transaction of business for German-speak
ing people, which he is frequently called upon
to do. He is an Alderman from Ward Three
on the Republican ticket, and has rendered
valuable service as a member of the Commit
tees on Pauper Department, Enrolment, Fire
Department, Sewers, etc. He is a member of
the Schiitzen Verein, of which he has been
President; and also a member of the Manner
Chor. He is far advanced in Masonry, being
connected with Roswell Lee Lodge, Morning
Star Chapter, Springfield Council and Com
mandery, and acted as Marshal of the Blue
Lodge for eleven years ; and he belongs to the
Odd P^ellows, and to the Turners' Society.
He has resided at 19 Winthrop Street for the
past eight years, and attends the Unitarian
church.

B. SHEPARD, late superintendent of
the almshouse located in the city of
Chicopee, was born in Hinesburg, Vt. ,
August 27, 1869, son of Abel and Ann Eliza
(Eddy) Shepard, and grandson of Itha and Lucy
(Little) Shepard; The latter were of Scotch
descent, but were both born in Canada; and
during their stay in that dominion after mar
riage Itha Shepard taught school. The grand
father died in middle life, leaving his wife
with eight children, whose names were : Mary,
Lucy, Emily, Abel, Oliver, Samuel, James,
William. The mother married again, her
second husband being Henry Holcomb, by
whom she had two children — Charles and
Leonard. Abel Shepard, son of Itha, and father of
F. B. Shepard, was born at Monkton, Vt., in
1838, and in his boyhood was put out with a
practical farmer to learn the mysteries of agri
culture. He remained so engaged until the
age of twenty-one, when he went to Burling
ton, Vt., where he found employment with the
hardware firm of Shedd & Walker, for whom

J*.,^-'

^^-M^

teU.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

283

he worked one year. He then bought a farm
of ninety acres at Starksboro, Vt. , and was
there married, his wife, Ann Eliza Eddy,
being of English descent and a native of
Starksboro. Mr. Shepard afterward sold
his farm and purchased the old homestead at
Monkton, on which he has made numerous im
provements, and there resides at the present
time, being classed among the prosperous agri
culturists of that vicinity. He and his wife
had two children — Rosa, who married Charles
Shiverett, a farmer of Monkton, Vt. ; and
F. B,, whose name appears at the head of this
biography. F. B. Shepard, when quite young, went of
his own accord to reside with an aunt at Ex
celsior, Hennepin County, Minn., where he
grew up and attended a business college.
After graduating from the college he found
employment as clerk in a confectionery store
for two years, at the end of which time he
came East and took a position as watchman in
the almshouse at Springfield, performing his
duties in a creditable and satisfactory manner
for three years. He then received his appoint
ment as superintendent of the almshouse at
Chicopee, January 15, 1894, and ably filled
that position until his death, which occurred
June 2, 1895. He had some fifty poor people
under his charge, many of them suffering from
physical or mental infirmity; and his govern
ment of the institution was mild and humane,
though firm, and productive of the best results.
He was a Republican in politics, liberal in
his religious views, and took an active and in
telligent interest in the affairs of the town,
faithfully performing his duties as a citizen.
Mr. Shepard was married in 1893 to Miss
Stella Baldwin, daughter of Albrona and Mary
(Gage) Baldwin, her father being a prosperous
farmer of this county. Mrs. Shepard survives
her husband, and has one child — Robert G.,
a promising boy of one year, born May 2,
1894.

ILSON EDDY, an eminent locomo
tive builder, who has resided in
Springfield since 1840, was born in
Chelsea, Orange County, Vt. , on February 24,

1813, during the last war with England.
While he was yet an infant, his parents, Allen
and Amy (West) Eddy, removed to Mount
Holly, Rutland County. The father, a miller
and mechanic, was born in 1770, five years
only before the Revolution, in Weathersfield,
Vt. ; and the mother was born a few years later
in Newport, R. I. They were members of the
Baptist church, and had ten children, of whom
Wilson was the youngest and is the only sur
vivor. Mr. and Mrs. Allen Eddy died only
three years apart, he in 1859, aged eighty-nine,
and she in 1856.
An early ancestor, William Eddy, was a
clergyman in Cranbrook, County of Kent,
England, holding the position of vicar of St.
Dunstan's Church. He was born about 1550,
soon after the death of Henry VIII. Two
sons of William Eddy came to America in the
ship "Handmaid," commanded by Captain
Grant, in 1630; and from them are descended,
so far as known, all the Eddys in America.
Samuel Eddy was born in England, in May,
1608; but the records show that he bought a
house in Plymouth, Mass., on May 9, 163 1.
His son, Zachariah Eddy, was born March 7,
1640; Zachariah's son, Joshua, February 21,
1681 ; Joshua's son, a second Zachariah, July
23, 1720; and this Zachariah's son, Newbury
Eddy, grandfather of Wilson, was born Jan
uary 15, 1747, in Weathersfield, Vt. , where
his life was spent in farming.
Wilson Eddy spent his early life in Mount
Holly, and attended school there; but for the
most part he educated himself after he grew
up. At the age of nineteen he began learning
his trade in the machine-shops of the Locks
and Canal Company in Lowell, Mass.
At twenty-one he helped build for the Bos
ton & Lowell Railroad the first locomotive
built in New England. Young Eddy acquired
a thorough knowledge of the construction of
engines during his eight years of service there ;
and, when in 1840 Major Whistler, of Spring
field, went thither for a skilled hand, he re
ceived the appointment. Springfield at that
time included Chicopee and Chicopee Falls,
and was but a country town of about seven
thousand inhabitants. The grocers of that day
had no delivery wagons. He became really

284

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

superintendent of the repair-shop, the master
mechanic having only nominal charge. In
1850 he was himself appointed Master Me
chanic on the Boston & Albany Railroad, a
position he held forty years, having charge of
all the shop hands and of all the engineers
and firemen running between Worcester and
Albany. One hundred and thirty-five loco
motives were built under his supervision, for
which he did all the drafting and made many
improvements. The first engine he built was called the
" Addison Gilmore," and had outside horizon
tal cylinders. This was the machine selected
for the special train in which the Prince of
Wales passed through Springfield in i860.
Up to that time it had been supposed that, to
secure steadiness in high-speed locomotives for
passenger trains, the cylinders must be inside;
but now it was demonstrated that outside con
nected cylinders would do even more effective
work. The frames of the older engines were
so built that it was impossible to take one
piece out without taking the whole frame
apart. Mr. Eddy was the first machinist to
build a spliced frame. That engine also en
joyed the first arrangement for oiling the cyl
inders through pipes from the cab. In 185 1
the "Addison Gilmore" went to Lowell for
a competitive trial in speed, and took the first
prize — a gold medal Mr. Eddy still has in
proud possession. The rate of speed attained
with a heavy train was a mile in one minute
and eleven seconds. In locomotive building
Mr. Wilson Eddy has been a law unto himself;
and his engines in several important partic
ulars radically differ from those of other
makers, with excellent results.
In city affairs Mr. Eddy has been Alderman
and Councillor from the First Ward, and in
1882 he represented his district in the State
legislature. FIis wife, Judith Robinson, of
Deerfield, N. H., was born March 18, 181 3;
and they were married on P^cbruary 25, 1838.
They have lived together fifty-seven years, and
ha\'e had two children. Helen Eddy, born in
1839, married Monroe B. Washburn, and died
in 1870 without issue. Plorace W. Eddy,
born in 1842, learned his father's business,
and assumed the care of the shops in 1881.

He married, and has one son — Arthur Chace,
a promising youth of nineteen.
Not till he was sixty-seven did Mr. Eddy
retire froni active life. He has at different
times been the recipient of gratifying tokens
of appreciation from employers and friends.
In 1873 the engineers presented him with a
beautiful clock, valued at two hundred and
fifty dollars, which still ticks forth the hours.
The railroad directors, at a meeting held in
Boston, August 26, 1880, adopted the follow
ing resolution, offered by Mr. Kimball: —
"Resolved, That, in accepting the resigna
tion of Wilson Eddy, Esq., Master Mechanic
at Springfield, the directors desire to place on
record their recognition of his long-extended
term of skilful service and devotion to the in
terests of the company ; also to express a wish
for his continued health and future welfare. "
The Boston & Albany engineers employed
between Pittsfield and Worcester at this time
presented Mr. Eddy with an album sufficiently
large to contain photographs of the whole fra
ternity; and in this one of them wrote, "Mr.
Eddy has been as a father to his men; and,
when he looks in the faces of his many chil
dren, he can indulge in the thought that he
carries with him, in his retirement from the
road, the best wishes of them all."
He has left upon the road a class of engines
which, for strength, speed, durability, and
comfort, are second to none in the world, his
long experience having given him sound and
practical judgment, enabling him to discrimi
nate between merit and demerit, both in men
and mechanism. Many workmen can testify
to his firmness in standing by them in time of
need ; and, when comes the closing hour of
his earthly service, those who have worked
under him and known him best will be the
first to say, "Well done, good and faithful ser
vant; for thou hast been a living spirit within
the wheels ! "
It is a happy circumstance that these brief
memoirs of Mr. Wilson Eddy, and the likeness
accompanying, are given to the world while he
is yet living. The intelligent reader has dis
covered the secret of his success in the fact
that, like George Stephenson, "when a work
man, he put his brains and labor into his

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

work; and, when a master, he put his con
science and character into it."

c-

kOBERT OGDEN DWIGHT, attorney
and counsellor-at-law, one of the most
prominent practitioners of Holyoke,
was born at Dindigul, Hindustan,
October 8, 1838, son of the Rev. Robert O and
Mary Williams (Billings) Dwight. His father
was born at Stockbridge, Mass., October 30,
1 801, and after reaching maturity became a
business man in New York City, where he was
so impressed by the work of the famous Sunday-
school organizer, Harlan Page, that he resolved
to be a missionary. He accordingly attended
Amherst College and Andover Theological
Seminary, was graduated in 1835, and imme
diately sailed for India, where, in company
with a coworker, he founded the Madura Mis
sion for the American Board. Some time
previous to his departure he had married Miss
Mary W. Billings, of Conway, who accom
panied him to the Far East. After eight
years of devoted and persistent labor for the
cause of Christianity he became a victim to
Asiatic cholera, six others having died, occu
pants of the same house, in one week, his wife
being the only patient to survive. He died
January 8, 1844, leaving a widow and three
children — Mary B. ; Robert Ogden; and
Timothy E. , who is now deceased. Mrs.
Mary "W. 'Dwight subsequently married the
Rev. Myron Winslow, of Madras, where she re
sided the remainder of her life and died in 1852.
Robert Ogden Dwight was but six years of
age at the time of his father's decease, and his
only remembrance of him is in connection with
sad scenes that occurred about the death-bed.
He and his sister shortly sailed for the United
States, stopping for two weeks at the Island of
St. Helena, arriving at Boston May 4, 1845, ^nd
proceeding to Northampton, where they were
to reside with their paternal grandmother,
the widow of Josiah Dwight, who was for many
years Clerk of Courts in Hampshire County
and at one time State Treasurer. Mrs. Josiah
Dwight was a daughter of Timothy Edwards,
eldest son of Jonathan Edwards, the noted
divine. She died at Northampton in 1863.

Having attended the common schools of
Northampton, Robert finished his preparatory
studies at the high school and at a private edu
cational institution, and began his collegiate
course at Yale College; but ill health pre
vented him from completing it. As a means
of recovery he undertook a sea voyage on
board a ship which was engaged in the coffee
trade, bound for Sumatra; and, being just half
round the world upon the day he was to have
graduated from college, he observed that event
as best he could by sitting up until midnight.
After an absence of eight months he returned,
and commenced the study of law with the late
Judge William Allen, of Northampton, where
he was admitted to the bar in the month of
October, i860. P'or the next three years Mr.
Dwight was engaged in the practice of his
lorofession in New York. From that city he
went to President, Pa,, at the time of the oil
excitement, and was for a period connected
with a company handling that product. After
another season of practice in New York City
he moved to South Hadley Falls in 1866, for
the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of the
paper business ; but, the parties with whom he
was interested having disposed of their enter
prise two years later, he resumed the practice
of law in that town.
In 1879 Mr. Dwight came to Holyoke,
where he has since been prominently identified
with the legal profession, and is now, in point
of practice, one of the oldest as well as ablest
lawyers in the city. While at South Hadley
Falls he held various town offices, such as
Selectman, Assessor, and School Committee;
and it was while he was serving in the latter
capacity that the system of graded schools was
introduced. On October 6, 1869, he wedded
Miss Sarah Coburn, of Rockland, Me.

OBKRT PARKER MARR AMES,
i\f,D,, a physician in Springfield, his
native city, was born October 20,
1856. His parents were Samuel
and Olive (Marr) Ames. Samuel Ames was
born in Middletown, Conn., and when a young
man filled a clerkship in New Haven. At the
age of twenty-one he came to Springfield and

286

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

engaged in the wholesale produce and pro
vision business. At the same time he also
formed a mercantile partnership with his
brothers in New Haven, under the firm name
of Samuel Ames & Co. In 1870 this partner
ship was dissolved, Mr. Ames retaining his
Springfield office on Main Street, where he
was located over thirty-five years. Politi
cally, he, was a Democrat, but no office-seeker.
He- belonged to "Hampden Lodge of Odd Fel
lows, and the Myrtus Lodge of Knights of
Pythias, an old lodge, including the strongest
men in the city. In religion Mr. Ames was
a member of the North and later of the P'irst
Congregational Church. His wife. Miss Olive
Marr, of Scarboro, Me., was a daughter of
Robert Parker Marr, descended in direct line
from the Scotch nobleman, Thomas Erskine,
Earl of Marr. Mrs. Ames's grandfather,
Robert Marr, went from Portland, Me,, to
Scarboro as a pioneer, guided by marked trees
through the unbroken forest. He owned a
thousand acres of woodland; and his son
Robert was engaged in lumber selling and
ship building, and furnished masts in large
numbers. He was a man of means and a
prominent office-holder, serving as County
Commissioner, member of the School Board,
and as delegate to various conventions. His
daughter Olive, who became Mrs. Samuel
Ames, was the youngest of seven children, and
was educated at Ipswich Seminary. Samuel
Ames died in January, 1881, leaving consider
able real estate ; and Mrs, Ames passed away
in August, 1888, They had two children —
our subject and James Samuel Ames.
Dr. Ames attended the public schools of
Springfield, graduating from the high school
in 1876. Instead of entering Harvard Col
lege, for which he had been prepared, he
placed himself under the tuition of Professor
W. H, Parish, of Philadelphia; and in 1877
he entered Jefferson Medical College, and was
graduated March 13, 1880, taking the Lea
prize for the best general scholarship and
theses in a class numbering two hundred and
twelve students. At once he passed a success
ful competitive examination for the position of
Resident Surgeon to the Jefferson Medical
College Hospital, which he filled fifteen

months, then declining re-election. He then
engaged in a similar position at Blockley Hos
pital, Philadelphia, which he held until Octo
ber 21, 1881, when he was appointed Assistant
Surgeon of the United States Marine Hospital
Service, and ordered temporarily to St. Louis.
At the expiration of two months he was placed
in command of the Marine Hospital Service at'
Evansville, Ind., at times being detailed for
special duty at St. Louis, Cairo, 111., and at
Paducah, Ky. During the great floods of
1884 Dr. Ames was appointed medical officer
on board the steamer "Carrie Caldwell," a
boat chartered by the War Department to look
after sufferers between Evansville and Cairo,
a distance of four hundred miles. After reliev
ing thousands of people he published a pam
phlet narrating his experiences, which was
favorably received by the general public. He
was also detailed for special duty during the
small-pox epidemic at Evansville and through
out Southern Indiana. After three years' ser
vice he was ordered to New York City for duty.
At this port he remained about two years, with
headquarters in the Marine Hospital on Staten
Island. Dr. Ames received his appointment
as passed Assistant Surgeon in 1884, while at
Evansville. The exigencies of the service
requiring the port of Vineyard Haven, Mass.,
to be made a first-class station, he was next
ordered to that port. Here he remained over
two years. Then he was ordered to Philadel
phia for four months, and next to" New Or
leans, where he remained a little over a year,
meanwhile being on duty as inspector at Vicks-
burg. Miss., Memphis, Tenn., Shreveport,
La., and Chandeleur Island in the Gulf of
Mexico. The Doctor remained only a brief
period in each of these places, and then re
turned to New Orleans. His special work in
cluded the examination of crews of the rev
enue, marine, and life-saving stations, besides
the professional duties required of a medical
officer under the National Quarantine Act and
the rules and regulations of the Marine Hospi
tal Service. He resigned his office in the fall
of 1889, with the double rank of Captain and
Passed Asshstant Surgeon. Fle is the author
of several articles, one of which, on "Rupture
of the Uterus," was published in the Ameri-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

2S7

can Journal of Obstetrics in April, 1881, and
attracted considerable attention. Other arti
cles, on "Strangulated Hernia," "General
Amputations," "Special Amputations of
Thigh and Hip," and "Bone Excision," may
be found on file in the Marine Hospital re
ports. Early in 1890 the Doctor opened an
office in the Cooley House Block, Springfield,
where he has built up an excellent general
practice. Soon after his return to Spring-field
he purchased the residence which he now occu
pies. He is a censor in the Hampden Dis
trict Medical Society, member of the Hamp
den Medical Club, a member of the Massachu
setts State Medical Society and the American
Medical Association, surgeon of the Spring
field Street Railway Company, and medical
examiner for several life insurance companies.
Dr. Ames is also an associate member of the
Life Underwriters' Association of Western
Massachusetts. He belongs to the Knights
of Pythias and the Nayasset Club.
His wife, whom he married April 15, 1882,
was Mary Benson, daughter of Dr. David Ben
son, of Hoboken, N,J. They have two chil
dren — Marie Benson Ames, born in Decem
ber, i888; and George Olive Marr Ames,
born in December, 1892.

LENVILLE C. FRISSELL, an exten-
^1" sive wholesale and retail baker and
caterer of Holyoke, Mass., was born
at Peru, Berkshire County, September 21,
1854. He is a son of Emerson S. and Sarah
A. (Granger) Frissell, his father having been
born in the same town, November 10, 181 5,
and his mother, August 21, 1821. The
former, who conducted a farm of four hundred
acres, married Miss Granger, April 21, 1842,
she being a daughter of Luther and Susan E.
(Gear) Granger. They have three children,
of whom Glenville C. is the youngest. George
N., who was born March 26, 1847, and is now
manager of the business department of his
brother's establishment, married on Septem
ber 16, 1873, Ella E. Boutwell, daughter of
William and Mary (Graves) Boutwell. They
have three children; namely, Ethel L., Law
rence Emerson, and Bessie Irene. The third

child, P"annie Frissell, born July 5, 1843,
married, in 1870, Spencer Parish, who is now
foreman at the Merrick wood-working establish
ment in this city. They have one son, Rob
ert, who was born at Warren, Ohio, in 1873.
Mr. and Mrs. Emerson S. Frissell now reside
in one of the tenements of their son Glen-
ville's block, at the advanced age of eighty
and seventy four, respectively. They have
passed fifty-three years of happy wedlock, and
on April 21, 1892, celebrated their golden
wedding at the residence of their son, who at
the same time celebrated the fifteenth anniver
sary of his marriage.
At the age of eighteen Glenville C. Fris
sell, having received his education in the
schools of Peru, not caring to remain longer at
the old homestead working on the farm, se
cured his time from his father and went to
Springfield, where he was engaged as a clerk
at very small wages, until he secured a more
remunerative position with R. A. Bagg, then
a market gardener of West Springfield, with
whom he remained for three years. Being
then desirous of marrying, he asked for a vaca
tion of two weeks in which to effect that pur
pose; but, receiving the information that none
but single, men were ever employed there, he
relinquished his situation, and two days later
was married. Returning to Springfield and
securing a baker's team, which he stocked
with a few loaves of bread, he began business
on commission, and followed it successfully
for three years. He then rented a bakery at
West Springfield, where he embarked in busi
ness on his own account, and for the next six
years underwent the varying fortunes which
generally beset the efforts of a young business
man ; but the vicissitudes which he was
obliged to pass through, together with poor
health, nearly discouraged him. He rallied,
howe\'cr, and, disposing of his business in that
place, came to Plolyoke, where opportunities
for advancement seemed more promising.
He secured a five years' lease of a well-
located bakery, and from this time fortune
seems to have smiled approvingly upon his
efforts; for just four years later he began the
erection of his present fine block at 413 and
415 High Street, which he occupied at the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

expiration of his lease. His new building is
fifty by one hundred and eighteen feet, the
entire basement being used for baking and
storage purposes. It contains two large stores,
the upper floors of which are arranged for resi
dent apartments and business offices. In one
of the stores, which is sumptuously fitted
up, he conducts his retail business. The bak
ing department contains two ovens, with a
capacity of two hundred and fifty loaves every
twenty-five minutes ; and the ice-cream depart
ment is supplied with electric motors, which
furnish power for freezing two hundred gallons
in ten hours. Seven teams are kept constantly
busy in delivering goods, and seventeen hands
are employed. As a caterer, Mr. Frissell has
been especially successful, he having the very
finest city custom *in this department.
He is a Republican in politics, a member
of Amity Lodge, No. 172, Independent Order
of Odd P""ellows, of Springfield, and a member
of Glenwood Lodge, Daughters of Rebecca, in
this city. On April 6, 1877, he wedded Mel
vina M. Pierce, of Peru, a former schoolmate,
who was born August 14, 1858, daughter of
Martin and Melvina (Thompson) Pierce. They
have one daughter, Edith Myrtle, who was
born February 20, 1883. Mrs. Frissell is
known as the possessor of literary talent, her
signature of "Melvina Myrtle" being fre
quently seen appended to descriptive articles
of merit in the newspapers. She is the grand
daughter of Ebenezer and Electa (Leland)
Pierce, who were early settlers at Peru ; and
it is worthy of note that, as shown by the town
records, it was voted in 1780 to convey lot
No. 3 to Ebenezer Pierce for the purpose of
building a meeting-house. Mrs. Frissell is
also a member and District Deputy of the
Daughters of Rebecca. The family home is
at 287 Locust Street. They attend the Sec
ond Congregational Church of this city, of
which Mrs. Frissell is a member.

'ASON WOLCOTT STEELE, a promi
nent Springfield attorney, was born in
Enfield, Conn., on the last day of July,
1845, son of Samuel T. and Eunice
(Burnham) Steele. His great-grandfather,

James Steele, was a surgeon in the Conti
nental army; and James Huntington Steele,
son of James, and grandfather of the subject of
this sketch, was a surgeon's mate, who with
six brothers and their father fought throughout
the Revolution, wherefrom they came out un
scathed. Thereafter Grandfather Steele prac
tised medicine in Ellington until his death,
the final outcome of accidental injuries re
ceived in his youth. The Steeles were promi
nent Connecticut people, descended from Priest
Stephen Steele, as he was called, an early
Congregational divine of Tolland County.
Samuel Treat Steele was born in Ellington,
and grew up a farmer. His wife was a daugh
ter of Selah Burnham, of East Hartford, Conn.
Samuel T. Steele was a typical New Eng
lander, serving on the Board of Selectmen and
the School Committee. In April, i860, he
retired from business and moved with his fam
ily to Springfield, where he died at the age of
eighty-seven, having been a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church forty years. Even
after his retirement from general business he
engaged in real estate transactions, and did
much to improve Worthington Street. He
was also an antiquarian, much interested in
genealogy, and greatly aided the Pease family
in compiling their history. His wife died in
1891, aged eighty-two, leaving three children,
all of this city — Francis Steele; Cornelia,
the wife of William Smith ; and Jason Wol
cott. After studying and teaching in the Spring
field Commercial College, Jason Wolcott Steele
took a course of languages in Worcester, and
then travelled through New England for the
firm of Groton & Knight, manufacturers of
leather belting. His next enterprise was to
assume the sole control of a wholesale and
retail lumber yard, employing forty men, in the
same city. In 1870 he came to Springfield,
and for a year filled a position with Roy &
Taylor, collar manufacturers, for whom he
travelled through the Far West. Mr. Steele
then opened a large wholesale and retail com
mission and grocery business in Springfield,
on Worthington Street, selling from seventy-
five to eighty thousand dollars' worth of goods
annually, and constantly employing two teams

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

289

and five or six men. In June, 1875, he began
reading law in the office of Green & Bosworth,
the late William S. Green being the senior
member; but poor health compelled slow
study. Later he was in the office of the Hon.
E. H. Lathrop. At the general term of the
court he was admitted to the Hampden County
bar, and has since become one of the foremost
members of a profession he follows not from
necessity, but from love.
The Shaw heirs in America employed him
to look up their English claims. He suc
ceeded in gaining their rights, though the
search involved three months of journeying
all over Great Britain, partly on a bicycle.
Thereupon he was appointed by a London
court to arrange another matter, and settle
with the American heirs of Betsy Witheridge,
a wealthy Birmingham lady. Mr. Steele is
now, in 1895, retained by Arnold M. Clem
ents, who hopes to receive an inheritance of
half a million dollars, and is also retained by
the Wellington Brick Works. Mr. Clements's
attention was first aroused by an advertisement
in the London Times maUed to him by order of
the Court of Chancery; and he secured the ser
vices of Mr. Steele, who after an arduous in
vestigation, involving an immense correspond
ence and a fortnight's incessant search in
Somerset House, proved Mr. Clements's title
to the heirship. Mr. Steele expects to visit
England soon, and make a formal claim before
the Chancery Court; but he also hopes to com
bine pleasure with business, and enjoy a short
run through France and Germany. In his re
searches he traced the Clementses' descent from
Richard Clements, the husband of Ann Nel
son Pritchard, who had two sons — James and
William Edward Clements. James, the father
of Arnold M. Clements, the Springfield claim
ant, was born in September, 1781, and fought
in the War of 1 812. By the loss of certain
papers his relationship to his brother William
Edward was obscured, and this became an ob
stacle to the course of justice. The American
heir is seventy-two years of age, a hard-working
man, who can scarcely realize the good fortune
awaiting him.
Mr. Steele naturally has a large practice,
and has held his commission as Justice of the

Peace since 1873. In politics he is an active
supporter of the Republican party, having
served as a convention delegate while in Con
necticut. He is a member of the Springfield
Improvement Society and of the Roswell Lee
Masonic Lodge. On Worthington Street he
owns many fine blocks, which he has erected
or purchased. His wife, whom he married
May 21, 1 88 1, was Martha Taylor, daughter of
William Taylor, an old resident of West
Springfield. They have two children — Frank
Plarold Steele and Marion Wolcott Steele.
The name of Wolcott comes from Mr. Steele's
grandmother, Jemima Wolcott Steele, who
was a grand-daughter of ex-Governor Wolcott,
of Connecticut. The Steele family attend
the Congregational church ; but Mr. Steele,
though much interested in philanthropic work,
does not desire official relationships. The
home on Summer Street contains many objects
of interest and art.

jDWARD A. KANP:, the present City
Clerk of Holyoke, to which position he
was elected in December, 1894, and
whose duties he assumed in January of the
present year, 1S95, was born at Ware, Mass,,
October 25, 1870. His parents were Eugene
and Margaret (Fitzgerald) Kane, his father
having been a native of County Kerry, Ireland,
who after emigrating to the United States set
tled at the above-named town, later removing
to Holyoke, where he died when Edward was
a child. The mother survived her husband
several years, and was called to her final rest
August 25, 1893. Their other son was Eu
gene W., who died in March, 1894.
Edward A. Kane first attended the parochial
school at Holyoke, and later the high school,
where he was graduated in 1887, immediately
following which he secured a position as book
keeper with Mr, F. Walch, the grocer, with
whom he continued until elected to his present
responsible office. Since attaining his major
ity he has always shown an active interest in
political affairs, having been a delegate to dif
ferent Democratic conventions; and he was
elected upon that ticket at an election in
which he received a majority of eleven bun-

290

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

dred votes, but which resulted in the success
of the Republican candidate for Chief Execu
tive of the city.
He is an active member of St. Jerome's
Temperance Society, in which he has held
various offices, a member and former President
of the Park Lyceum, he is also actively con
nected with the Father Mathew Insurance Com
pany, and is a member of Court Paper City,
Ancient Order of Foresters. He is widely
known and recognized as a young man of rare
intelligence and ability, courteous and agree
able upon all occasions, well adapted for his
responsible position — a self-made man, who
gives promise of continued success, whatever
part in life he may be called upon to sustain.
Mr. Kane worships at St. Jerome's Church.

RANCIS NORTON, the Tax Collector
of Springfield ever since 1859, and
vitally connected with the financial
career of the city, was born in the eastern part
of the township, now known as Agawam, on
September 7, 1826, son of Seth Norton and
his wife, Sarah Bedortha.
The name Norton is said to be of French
origin, and spelled Norville or De Norville
eight or nine hundred years ago. On this side
the Atlantic the Nortons have been chiefly
merchants, farmers, and manufacturers, well-
to-do and respected. The ancestral immigrant,
George Norton, who is supposed to have been
a son of Robert Norton, of Bedfordshire, came
from London in 1629, and settled first in
Salem, Mass. Being a carpenter by trade, he
five years afterward built the first Salem meet
ing-house. He then moved to Gloucester,
where he had the honor of holding village
offices and being the first representative of the
town at the General Court in Boston.
The first George Norton died in 1659. His
son George was born in Salem in 1641, when
the church his father built was seven years
old; but in 1674, at the age of thirty-three,
he removed to Suffield, then under the juris
diction of Massachusetts, where he soon be
came a foremost citizen. In 1685 and 1693
he was Selectman, was the first representative
to the General Court at Boston from that town

in the latter year, was appointed Ensign in
the Foot Company in 1681, and its first Cap
tain in 1693. He died at Suffield in 1696.
Pie had lived at one time in Ipswich, Mass. ;
and there on November 10, 1671, was born
to him a son and namesake, George, who was
only three years old when the family moved to
Suffield. George Norton, the third of the
name, grew up and married a daughter of the
first Suffield pastor, the Rev. John Younglove.
Of their six children the youngest, John Nor
ton, was born in 171 2, and married Rebecca
Sheldon, of his native town. Of the ten chil
dren of John and Rebecca, the youngest was
called Seth. He was born on June 12, 1754,
and lived in a house afterward occupied by his
son and still standing.
In 1776, just as the colonies were declaring
their independence, Seth Norton married
Sarah Pengilly, a daughter of John Pengilly,
Jr., whose father, Lieutenant John Pengilly,
had removed from Ipswich to Suffield a century
before, in 1678, as the Nortons also had done.
Lieutenant John Pengilly was either from
Wales or Cornwall, as the name indicates, and
became trooper in the Narragansett expedition
under Major Appleton. FIis home in Suffield
was on the banks of the Connecticut. In com
pensation for his military services the Lieuten
ant received a grant of sixty fertile acres there,
opposite the present town of Thompsonville,
a location which suggested to him the estab
lishment of a profitable ferry, which he ran
nearly all his life. He was prominent in the
community, holding many town offices. The
Seth Norton who married Sarah Pengilly
owned a large Suffield farm ; but this he sold
in 1 8 14, during the war time, and then re
moved to Agawam, where he was one of the
organizers of the Congregational church, and
where he died ten years later, in 1824. His
wife lived eight years longer, dying in Jordan,
N. Y., in 1832, in the home of one of her chil
dren, of whom there were eleven in all.
The third son, Seth Norton, Jr., was born
in Suffield in 1783, toward the close of the
Revolution, when the Fourth of July had been
.seven years a patriotic holiday, and his father
was a prosperous farmer, then not quite thirty
years old. This second Seth Norton found a

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

291

wife in Sarah Bedortha, a name which sug
gests at once the Welsh origin of the family.
Her father, Joseph Bedortha, was an Agawam
farmer; and Sarah was born November 15,
1780, and died December 18, 1844. The first
American ancestor of the Bedorthas was Reece
Bedortha, who settled in Springfield about the
year 1640, and six years later, according to
Springfield records, married Blanche Lewis, but
was drowned in "ye Great River," by the up
setting of a boat in which, with three compan
ions, he was on his way from the old church
in Springfield to his home on the west side.
The Bedorthas were mostly farmers in the
early days, quiet, respectable people, and gen
erally comfortably off. Reece Bedortha' s son,
Samuel Bedortha, had a son Joseph, born in
1693, whose son, Joseph, Jr., was born in
1729. He it was that became the father of
the Sarah Bedortha who was born in Agawam,
November 15, 1780, married Seth Norton, and
died December 18, 1844. Her husband, Seth
Norton, the father of Francis, was born, as
already stated, in 1783, but removed to Aga
wam before 181 2. Not being unpatriotic, he
went to Sackett's Harbor as a soldier in the
War of 1812, but had hardly reached the post
assigned him when the war was over, peace
being declared in the last days of 1814, Al
ready he had begun the first woollen works in
the town, though not in the county. The
enterprise now started up with renewed vigor,
and Mr. Norton carried on the manufacture of
cloth for many years.
Seth Norton had eight children. Melissa
Norton was born December 9, 1806, and died
in Agawam. Newbury Norton was born De
cember 30, 1808, became a Justice of the
Peace and a Baptist Deacon, and organized
the Agawam Woollen Company. Lorenzo
Norton was born March 11, 181 1, became a
member of the law firm of Chapman, Ashmun
& Norton, of Springfield, and died in 1856.
Cemantha Norton was born August 13, 181 3,
married Charles Leonard, an Agawam farmer,
and died there in 1886. All these children
were born at Agawam. The date of Norman
Norton's birth was March 22, 1816. He mar
ried a sister of Dr. William Rice, of Spring
field, became County Treasurer in 1856, filled

sundry important clerkships in the registry of
deeds and other county offices, was a prominent
member and office-bearer in the Trinity Meth
odist Church, and died in 1859. Ephraim G.
Norton was born May 22, 1818, and is still
doing business on Hampden Street. He was
the oldest flour dealer in Springfield, having
been connected successively with Hopkins &
King, King, Norton & Ladd, and Norton &
Warren. Lewis Rufus Norton was born Feb
ruary 23, 1823, and was nearly all his life a
merchant in Westfield, holding also the posi
tion of President of the Hampden National
Bank and of Westfield Savings Bank. He
was chairman of the first Board of Water Com
missioners, and held many other local offices,
such as Town Treasurer and Trustee of the
old Westfield Academy; and he represented
his community many years in the State legis
lature. Of these eight children the youngest was
Francis Norton, whose earliest schooling was
in the Agawam public schools and at Westfield
Academy. His business life began as clerk
in a store in Hartford, Conn. ; but in 1846, at
the age of twenty, he came to Springfield, and
was clerk for the prominent dry-goods firm,
Reynolds & Morris. Two years later, in 1848,
he removed to Chicopee, as clerk in a general
store for a gentleman named Winchell, whose
daughter Mary he married. After a few years
he decided to try his luck as his own master,
and opened a jewelry store in Springfield with
J. M. Skiff, the firm being Skiff & Norton.
After a term of three years the firm dissolved;
and Mr. Norton kept on alone till 1859, when
he became City Collector. The next year- he
was elected an Assessor, and held this place,
with the exception of three years, till 1883,
serving as chairman of the board from 1862 to
1883, when he resigned the assessorship, the
water rates having been put into his hands for
collection in 1880, and he feeling that the
duties belonging to the office of Collector were
as much as he could well attend to.
When first Mr. Norton assumed the office of
Tax Collector, the sum raised was less than
eighty thousand dollars, whereas now it is
nearly eight hundred thousand, besides water
rates amounting to nearly two hundred thou-

292

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

sand more, the total receipts being a little less
than a million dollars, handled by Mr. Norton
and only two assistants, except during the very
busiest weeks of the year. Always a l^epubli-
can, he voted for Fremont and freedom in
1856. Though not a secret-society man, he
was Secretary and Treasurer of the Loyal
League during the war. For twenty years he
was a Vestryman in Christ Church, to which
he belongs; and he is now Junior Warden.
For sixteen years he was Treasurer, a period
covering the erection of the new buildings for
Christ Church, in 1874 and 1875, while he
was also on the building committee.
As already stated, in 1848 he married Mary
D. Winchell, who died in 1862, leaving three
children — Arthur Francis Norton, born in
1852; Mary Florence Norton, who was born
in 1856, and died in 1878; Harriet Josephine
Norton, who was born in 1856, and died in
1879. Mr. Norton's second wife, whom he
married in 1863, was Jennie Maria Atwater,
who died in 1875, leaving two children.
P'rancis Leonard Norton, born in 1868, was
a Cornell graduate with the degree of B. A. in
1892, and died in 1895. Ladd Norton, born
in 1870, is now an instructor in the depart
ment of electricity and physics in the Boston
Institute of Technology, where he was grad
uated a Bachelor of Arts in 1893. The maiden
name of the present Mrs. Norton, a sister of
the second wife, was Ellen Atwater. Since
1857 the home of the family has been at 90
Union Street.

fm<

EORGE PI. SMITH, M.D., an emi-
\ '3 I nent physician of Holyoke and a vet-
^^^^ eran of the Civil War, was born in
the town of Chicopee, July 4, 1840. He is a
son of the late Edmund H. and Lucy (Blanch
ard) Smith, his father having been born at
Granby, Mass., in the year 18 14, son of
Medad Smith, the latter having moved to
Chicopee when Edmund was in early boyhood.
Medad Smith was also a native of the town of
Granby, where he followed agricultural pur
suits. Toward the close of the War of 18 12
he was one of a company which reported for
duty; but, owing to the speedy termination of

hostilities, their services were not required.
The maiden name of his wife was Pamelia
Dickinson. Dr. Smith's great-grandfather,
Phineas Smith, was also a farmer and a promi
nent man in his community. He was a Cap
tain in the Revolutionary War, in the Fourth
Hampshire County Regiment.
After moving to Chicopee Edmund H.
Smith began work in the cotton-mills, where
he steadil)' advanced until reaching the posi
tion of overseer in the weaving department of
a large mill at Chicopee Falls. In 1845 he
went to Granby, and the following year came
to Holyoke. After remaining here two years
he went to Windsor Locks, Conn., from which
place, after five years of uninterrupted labor,
he went to Franklin County, New York, where
he purchased a farm, upon which he resided for
five years, then returned to Windsor Locks as
overseer in a thread-mill. In 1865 he again
came to Holyoke, where for a time he was
overseer in the Lyman Mill, and later ac
cepted a position in the same capacity at the
Beebe & Webber Woollen Mill, where he re
mained until retiring from active labor, dying
in Holyoke, September 8, 1890. He married
Lucy Blanchard, of Whitingham, Vt., daugh
ter of Josiah Blanchard, of that place, her
mother having been a daughter of Moses Clem
ent, a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
Their children were: George H. Smith, of
this sketch; Annette L., wife of James L.
Hodge, of Holyoke; and Adella A., wife of
Dr. E. A. Stebbins, of Sher,;urne Falls, Mass.
Mrs. Edmund H. Smith, who was born in
1820, still survives, both herself and husband
having been in their earlier years members of
the Methodist church, but later united with
the Congregationalists.
George PP., who was an only son, attended
the public schools until reaching the age of
seventeen, and then pursued his studies at the
Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, where he
was graduated in the class of 1861. In the
autumn following he began the study of medi
cine with Dr. R. T. Chaffee, of Hartford,
Conn., with whom he remained for one year.
In September, 1862, responding to his coun
try's call, he enlisted in Company C, Twenty-
fifth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, his regi-

ROYAL E. BLAIR.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

29s

ment being immediately ordered to the Depart
ment of the Gulf. It was at Bayou Teche that
he saw his first hard fighting; and he followed
the fortunes of his regiment in that eventful
campaign, which accomplished the capture of
Port Hudson. He entered the army as a pri
vate, but was soon detailed on the surgeon's
staff, upon which he remained during the
major part of his term of service. After his
discharge he resumed the study of medicine
with his former preceptor, and later attended
lectures at Bellevue Flospital Medical College,
New York City, where he was graduated
March i, 1865, and immediately commenced
practice at Tariffville, in the town of Sims-
bury, Conn. In September, 1866, he went to
Sycamore, 111., and remained there until 1868,
when he came to Holyoke, where he has since
continued to practise with the most satisfactory
results, financially as well as professionally.
Dr. Smith has attained a very prominent
position, both as a citizen and a physician.
He is a member of the Connecticut Valley
Medical Association, having been its Vice-
President, and was appointed by President
Harrison upon the Pension Board, over which
he has presided for the last two years. He is
financially interested in many industrial enter
prises, and is a Trustee of the Mechanics'
Savings Bank, of which prior to the present
year he was Auditor. Pie is a Director of
the Keating Wheel Company, also the Ford
Bit Company, of which he was an organizer.
He owns a third-interest in the Excelsior
Paper Company, and has assisted to a consider
able degree in the building up of the resident
portion of the city. He has reached a position
of eminence in the Masonic fraternity, having
been made a Mason in St. Mark's Lodge at
Tariffville in 1865, and is now a member of
Mount Tom Lodge, Mount Holyoke Chapter,
Holyoke Council, Springfield Commandery,
Evening Star Lodge of Perfection, and Massa
soit Council of Princes of Jerusalem, Mount
Olivet, Rose Croix Chapter of Boston, and the
Massachusetts Consistory, being a Thirty-
second Degree Mason. He is also a member
of Holyoke Lodge, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and Tuscarora Encampment, having
been Past Grand of the Lodge and Deputy

Grand Master of this district; and he is a
member of Connecticut Valley Lodge, Knights
of Pythias, of which he was Chancellor.
In politics he is a Republican, and for the
years 1875 and 1876 was a member of the
Common Council from Ward Two, being Pres
ident of that body. He was a member of the
Board of Aldermen for two years, and has ren
dered valuable service to the city in connec
tion with the Holyoke & Westfield Railroad.
He was likewise a member of the Park Com
missioners, the School Board, and the Board
of Health, having been elected in February,
1893, for the fifth year. During his connec
tion with the School Committee much im
provement was made in that department, and
several of the school edifices were erected.
On June 8, 1869, at Sycamore, 111., he wedded
Miss Ada M. Babcock, of Sycamore, daughter
of Dr. C. W. Babcock, of that place. Their
two children are A. May and Lucy C. ; and the
home of the family is at 317. Maple Street,
Holyoke, Mass.

r-

OYAL E. BLAIR, a retired lumber
man, now residing in Springfield, was
born at Warren, Mass., January 4,
1820, son of Ezekiel and Betsey
(Adams) Blair. His father, who was also a
native of the same town, was born April 15,
1773, and died May 17, 1844. His mother
was born at Becket, February 25, 1775, and
died January 18, 1859, His paternal grand
father, William Blair, son of David, was born
at Warren, May i, 1733, and died December
I, 1827, having attained the ripe old age of
ninety-five years. His maternal grandfather,
Ebenezer Adams, was born August 19, 1746;
and his maternal grandmother, Mary (Carpen
ter) Adams, was born July 9, 1752, the date
of her marriage being April 30, 1770. This
branch of the Blair family in America trace
their descent in a direct line from David Blair,
who emigrated to this country in 1720, bring
ing a large family, and settled at Worcester, as
is shown by the fragmentary genealogy com
piled by Mr. Royal E. Blair, which will be
seen appended to this article.
Ezekiel Blair was engaged in agricultural

296

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

pursuits at Warren, where he passed his entire
life. His son Royal, who forms the principal
subject of this record, attended the district
school and assisted in farm labors at home
until reaching the age of eighteen years, when
he entered upon a two years' course at the
Westfield Academy. He afterward studied
civil engineering and followed surveying in
connection with conducting his large farm,
which consisted of two hundred and fifty acres.
In i860 Mr. Blair abandoned farming, and,
disposing of his valuable property in Warren,
entered the lumber business, both cutting and
hauling the logs and operating saw-mills. He
continued to conduct a very large and profita
ble business for a period of twenty years, and
in 1880, having advantageously sold his entire
interest, moved to Springfield, where he has
since resided, practically retired from active
business, although he has been interested to
a considerable extent in buying and selling
real estate. Mr. Blair has in his possession
a deed of the farm that his grandfather Will
iam received in 1759 from the great-grand
father, David Blair.
Mr. Blair is a Republican in politics, hav
ing united with that party at its organization;
and while a resident at Warren he served as
Overseer of the Poor and Assessor for several
years, besides filling other town offices. Pie
has also been long and favorably known as a
prominent temperance advocate, and during his
extended career as a supporter of Republican
principles he has never lost his Presidential
vote; and only on one occasion, which occurred
while he was visiting his son, who was very
ill at Minneapolis, has he been prevented from
exercising his right of franchise in the State
election. On October 28, 1847, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Prudence C. McMaster, daughter
of Clark and Sena (Smith) McMaster, her an
cestors having been early settlers of Palmer.
Her paternal grandfather was Clark McMaster,
who married Margaret Breckenbridge. He
was of Scotch descent. Mr. and Mrs. Blair
reside at 26 Lillian Avenue, and are members
of the Olivet Congregational Church. They
have had two children, both of whom are now
deceased. Henry C, born November 11,

1848, died April 13, 1873; and Edward War
ren Blair, born December 15, 1854, died Sep
tember 24, 1857. THE BLAIR FAMILY.
In 1720 David Blair came to this country
from Scotland with twelve children, landing in
Boston and settling at Worcester. The fol
lowing list gives the names of eleven of his
children : Matthew, John, James, William,
Robert, Joseph, Sarah, Dolly, Mary, Betsey,
and David. Matthew, who was the eldest,
soon settled in Hopkinton, but afterward
moved to Blandford, as one of the pioneers of
that town. John was ten years old when his
father came to this country. He settled in
Worcester, and died in 1796, aged eighty-six
years. James settled in Rutland, and died
there. David settled in Western, now War
ren, and remained there his entire life. Will
iam went to Nova Scotia. Joseph, who was
the youngest, remained in Worcester, and died
there. Robert removed to Blandford and pur
chased a tract of land called "the Gore," con
sisting of five hundred acres, upon which he
built a log house. After a few years the Ind
ians became troublesome, and he returned to
Worcester, but later again went to Blandford,
and resided there until his decease, which
occurred in 1802. He was a Deacon in the
Presbyterian church.
Matthew Blair had six sons and four daugh
ters. Matthew, Robert, and Sarah settled in
Blandford. A Jonas Blair, mentioned as hav
ing been lost at sea, was probably the missing
twelfth child. Robert Blair had six children;
namely, Robert, David, Dolly, Asa, Rufus,
and Hannah. Timothy Blair, son of John
Blair, of Worcester, lived in Blandford about
fifty years, and died there in 1837, at the age
of eighty-five years. David Blair, son of
David, of Warren, settled in Blandford, and
had two sons — David and Asahel. Tyrrell
Blair, son of Dr. Blair, graduated at Will
iams College, and settled in Durham, N.Y.
P""rank Blair, son of Linus Blair, was principal
of a seminary in Springfield, Vt. Phineas
Blair located in Boston. He was a lawyer,
and died in 1848. William Blair, also a law
yer, settled in Westfield. A Robert Blair

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

297

enlisted in the Revolutionary army, and died
of small-pox in Quebec about the time Mont
gomery was killed. Robert Blair was Town
Clerk in 1778 and 1779. Reuben Blair filled
the same office in 1809 and 18 10. Timothy
Blair was chosen representative to the General
Court in 1787; David Blair, second, in 1821;
Adam Blair, in 1836. Rufus Blair was a
Justice of the Peace; Nathan Blair was a phy
sician in 1805; Asa Blair, son of Asa, was a
clergyman in Hartford, Conn.
Thus it is seen that the good name of Blair,
in this country as in Scotland, has for genera
tions stood for industry, intelligence, scholar
ship, strength of character, piety, patriotism.
It is worthily borne by the subject of this
sketch, who is further represented in these
pages by a likeness which cannot be mistaken.

FUBEN WINCHESTER, a retired
business man of Holyoke and a pub
lic-spirited citizen, an ex-repre
sentative to the legislature, was born
at Marlboro, Vt. , January 7, 1825, son of
Antipas and Lois (Kelsey) Winchester. His
grandfather, Luther Winchester, was the first
male child born in that town. He was a son
of Benjamin Winchester, who went there from
Grafton, Mass. Luther Winchester was an ap
praiser of live stock when that was accepted as
cash payment, and also held other local offices.
Antipas Winchester' was born October 6,
1794, and passed his entire life upon the farm
at Marlboro, where he was likewise prominent
in the town government. He married Lois
Kelsey, daughter of Seymour Kelsey, who
owned the adjoining farm, and whose wife,
Sarah Augur, had seven brothers, all of whom
served seven years in the Revolutionary War;
and each lived to reach the ripe old age of
ninety years. Mr. Winchester's mother was
born January 5, 1796, and died July 10, 1885,
her husband having been called to rest May
19, 1871. They attended the Methodist Epis
copal church. Eight of their twelve children
are still living, namely: Williston, who re
sides at the old homestead in Vermont;
Eunice, wife of Rodolphus Warren, of Marl

boro; Reuben; Lois, wife of Perry Hall, of
Halifax, Vt. ; Betsey, widow of Ira Ingraham,
and Asa, both of Marlboro; Mary Ann, wife
of William T. Adams, of Hinsdale, N. H. ;
and Sarah, wife of Rufus A. Houghton, now
of Brattleboro, Vt.
After completing his education in the com
mon schools of Marlboro, Reuben Winchester
was employed by various farmers in the vicin
ity for a period of four years, and then went
to Athol, Mass., where he worked for Colonel
Samuel Sweetser, who was the father of Gov
ernor Washburn's wife; and after his death
Mr. Winchester was employed for three or
four years upon the farm of Mrs. P"ish, of
which he had the entire management. He
then returned to his native town, and, purchas
ing a farm, followed agriculture for the next
thirteen years, gradually adding to his landed
possessions as opportunity permitted, until he
acquired about four hundred acres, which had
somewhat increased in value, thus making it
advantageous for him to sell in small lots.
This he did until disposing of his entire tract,
when he moved to West Springfield, where in
1865 he purchased the Bagg farm, which is
situated directly opposite Chicopee, and is now
owned and occupied by J. S. Hyde. In 1869,
having a good opportunity to sell, he did so,
and removed to Holyoke, where he engaged in
business, dealing at different times in meats
and produce, until his recent retirement.
Mr. Winchester is a Democrat in politics,
and has always manifested an active interest
in public affairs. While a citizen of Vermont
he held various town offices; and he was a
member of the first city government of Hol
yoke, being three years in the Common Coun
cil, and also in the Board of Aldermen, during
the administration of Mayor Goodall, But
important committee work consumed so much
of his time that he declined a re-election,
though he has been frequently solicited since
to re-enter the city government. He was
elected to the State legislature in 1887, but
declined to serve a second term. During his
term as a representative he was chosen by the
speaker as a member of the visiting commit
tee of the Plouse, to attend the centennial
celebration at Columbus, Ohio.

298

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

He married for his first wife Miss Hannah
K, Brown, of Marlboro, Vt. , who died April
14, 1878, having been the mother of three
children, as follows : Samuel Brown Win
chester, Manager of the Holyoke Electric
Light Company; Reuben Clark, who has been
in the water-power office for fifteen years; and
William Luther, who has been in the employ
of the same company for twelve years. On
September 29, 1881, Mr. Winchester married
for his second wife Caroline Kime, of Penn
sylvania, They are attendants of the First
Baptist Church.

'i>/.l I.BERT E. FOTH, a well-known mer
chant tailor of Springfield, was born
at Neu-Brandenburg, in the Grand
Duchy of Strelitz Mecklenburg,
Germany, November 24, 1824, and is the son
of John and Frederica (Speigleberg) Foth.
His father was a carpenter, and was a soldier
in a regiment of volunteers from 181 3 to 181 5,
being stationed in the rear at the battle of
Waterloo with the force detailed for the pur
pose of intercepting any re-enforcements to
Napoleon's army. He was at the battle of
Leipsic in 181 3, and in January, 18 14, crossed
the Rhine into France, where he remained
nearly a year, after which the regiment re
turned to Germany, being subsequently called
into service when Napoleon again escaped from
Elba. Mr. Foth's military service extended
over a period of three years; and, upon retir
ing, he was given a government position, which
he held during the remainder of his life. He
died ill 1865, having had a family of seven
children — Frederica, Juliana, Carolina, Al
bert E., John, William, and Michael. Of
these Michael died in infancy, John at the age
of five, and William at three and one-half
years. Carolina, who became the wife of
Ferdinand Jacobs, a sketch of whom appears
elsewhere in this work, died in this city.
Juliana resides at Berlin, and Frederica at
Odessa — both widows, residing with their
children. Albert E. Foth received a good education in
the national schools of his native town, and at
the age of fifteen was apprenticed to a tailor.

with whom he served three years. At the
expiration of that time he left home and went
to Dresden, where he followed his trade for
nearly two years. The long season of busi
ness stagnation in Germany forced him to seek
employment wherever he could obtain it; and
he travelled about, visiting all parts of Ger
many, Switzerland, and France, and at length
returned to his native town to perform his
military service. He fortunately drew a num
ber which exempted him from entering the
army at that time; and he again set out for
the purpose of procuring work, going to Ham
burg, where he remained but a few months,
and from there to Frankfort - on - the - Main.
From the latter city he journeyed to Mann
heim in the Duchy of Baden, and after work
ing about seven months resumed his travelling,
visiting Constance and other places of interest
upon the Swiss side of the Rhine. His jour
ney led him among the beautiful and pictur
esque scenes in the region of the Alps; and
after sojourning for a short time at Neufchatel
he visited other parts of Switzerland and
France, in the mean time pursuing the study
of French. The revolution in Germany caused
him to look homeward once more; and, having
raised a company in Switzerland, he entered
the German army with the rank of Lieutenant.
In 1848 he was again at Frankfort, and the
following year revisited his home, at which
time he decided to try his fortunes in the
United States. He arrived at New York City
on October i, 1849, and came to Springfield
the following week. Mr. Foth after reaching
this city first gave his attention to the study of
English, to which he diligently applied him
self, at the same time giving lessons in both
French and German in return. He went to
Hartford in March, 1850, where he remained
until the following September, and while
there continued his studies, and also intro
duced a new system of cutting, upon which
he published a treatise. On his return to
this city he accepted a position as manager
of the tailoring establishment of George M.
Law, continuing in this capacity until 1853,
when he established himself in the merchant
tailoring business, commencing operations
with a force of eight journeymen, and increas-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

299

ing his force as trade advanced. He con
ducted a very successful as well as profitable
enterprise until 1866, during the greater part
of the time employing from twenty-two to
twenty-four hands, with two cutters, his re
ceipts reaching as high as forty-two thousand
dollars per annum ; and among those who were
in his employ was Mr. Mitchke, the present
successful merchant tailor on Main Street.
Mr. Foth, after selling out his merchant
tailor's establishment, became interested with
a partner in the Nonpareil Paper Collar and
Cuff Company, with which he remained until
1873, the last three years being a silent part
ner. In 1868 he sold his residence on Bridge
Street, and purchased twenty acres of land
upon Pecausic Hill, where he erected a new
home. In 1870 he associated himself in busi
ness with Theodore Havemeyer, the prominent
sugar manufacturer, Oscar Fritch and Peter C.
Schuyler, of New York City, in the manufact
ure of papier-machd, the factory being located
at Pecausic. After several years of successful
business this partnership was dissolved, Mr.
Foth again resuming the manufacture of col
lars and cuffs in the Wilson Block. But a
disastrous conflagration in the upper portion of
the building destroyed his large stock of
goods; and he removed to New York City and
opened an office at 19 Park Place, where he
undertook the management of a land enterprise
on Long Island. But, deciding that he could
do better at his trade, he returned to Spring
field, and in 1887 opened another merchant
tailoring establishment, which he conducted
until 1 891, when he was thrown from a street
car and injured in such a manner that it be
came necessary to amputate his foot; and since
that accident he has been unable to attend to
any business whatever. Mr. Foth is far ad
vanced in the Masonic fraternity, and was
originally a member of Hampden Lodge; but
at the organization of Roswell Lee Lodge in
1894 he became a charter member, and was
one of the fourteen who were responsible for
its origin. He became a Chapter Mason in
1858, and the following year joined the Com
mandery. He held the chair in the Chapter
from 1865 to 1867, and was the first to propose
the present uniform, and mainly instrumental

in securing its adoption. He joined the Scot
tish rite in 1865, and is now a thirty-second
degree Mason.
Mr. Foth was united in marriage December
30, 1857, to Miss Evelyn C. Button, daughter
of Laban Button, of Agawam, and has had four
children. His son, Frederick Lombard, a
promising lad, a student at the high school,
had reached the age of sixteen, when he was
bitten by a dog, and died from the effect of
the bite the following year. A daughter,
Idella May, is now Mrs. John Wilson, of
Thompsonville, Conn., where her husband is
a dry-goods merchant. Erdman B. P'oth is in
the employ of the Massachusetts Life Insur
ance Company, and married Miss Mary P""ield
Eaton, of Ware. Charles Albert P""oth is a
musician, residing with his parents. The fam
ily attend the Second Baptist Church ; and their
home is at 51 Pynchon Street, Mr. Foth hav
ing purchased that property in 1892.

WILLIAM S. PERKINS, a prominent
citizen of Holyoke, was born Octo
ber 8, 1 841, in what was then the
Third Parish of West Springfield, which is
now included in the present great paper-man
ufacturing city above named. His father, Ed
win Perkins, was born on the same farm, in
the month of February, 18 19; and his mother,
Sophia Perkins, who was a daughter of Benja
min Sumner, of Townshend, Vt, , was born in
the same year. Mr. Perkins's grandfather,
William Perkins, was an extensive farmer of
West Springfield, as was his great-grandfather,
John. The latter was a son of a William Per
kins, who was probably a resident of that
locality, as his remains lie buried in the old
cemetery. Edwin Perkins conducted for many years the
farm now owned by his son, William S. Per
kins, and also, in company with his brother
Levi, owned a large tract of timber land, the
products of which afforded them ample oppor
tunity to carry on the lumber business success
fully for a considerable length of time. In
1870 he moved into the city of Holyoke, where
he engaged in the provision business until
1878, when he retired from that in order to

300

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

devote his time exclusively to his real estate
interests, he having invested heavily at a time
when land was low, which later became the
source of much profit. He died in the month
of April, 1879, his wife having been previ
ously summoned to her rest in March, 1851.
Both were attendants of the Methodist Episco
pal church. Their two children are: William
S. ; and Miranda, wife of C W. Brooks, of
this city.
William S. obtained his education in the
public schools of his native tcwn and at the
Southampton Academy, after graduating from
which he returned to the parental roof and
resided there until reaching the age of twenty-
four years, when on January i, 1866, he en
tered the provision business in Holyoke, at
the corner of Maple and Hampden Streets, in
company with his uncle Levi, under the firm
name of L. & W. S. Perkins. In 1876 Levi
Perkins retired from the firm ; and William
S. , in company with another partner, con
ducted the store until 1880, when he disposed
of his interest and retired, after having car
ried on a very extensive and profitable trade
for a period of fourteen years. He then en
tered the firm of R. Pettee & Co., machinists,
in which he remained for three years, retiring
in 1884. Fle has since devoted his time and
energy with remarkable success to real estate,
in which he has largely invested; and he is
a Director of the Holyoke National Bank, in
which he has been a stockholder since its
organization. In politics he is a Republican, and was
elected to the Board of Aldermen for the years
1878 and 1879, but, not caring to serve further
in public affairs, has since kept out of politics.
Mr. Perkins was made a Mason in Mount
Tom Lodge during the year 1868, and has
since advanced to the thirty-second degree in
the craft, being a member of Holyoke Chapter
and Council, and of Springfield Commandery,
Knights Templars, as well as of the higher
degrees in the fraternity at Boston, On No
vember 26, 1873, he married Miss Mary
Avery, of P"rancestown, N, H,, daughter of
Solomon Avery; and they reside at 15 Miller
Avenue, where Mr. Perkins erected his present
comfortable home in 1878.

YLVANUS B. FAY, general agent
of the Connecticut Mutual Life
Insurance Company for Western
Massachusetts, including Worcester
County and four other counties in this part of
the State, was born at Ashland, Mass., Octo
ber 8, 1848. Although Mr. Fay's business
necessitates constant travelling, he has an
office in Springfield, of which city he has been
a resident since 1887. His grandfather, Brig
ham Fay, was for some years a farmer at
Southboro; and his father, Lyman Fay, was
born in that town, January 13, 181 3.
Having grown to manhood, Mr. Lyman Fay
moved from Southboro to Ashland, where his
son Sylvanus was born. After residing suc
cessively in Ashland, Ashburnham, and North
Bridgewater, Mr. Fay went to P'all River,
where he gave up his carpenter's work, and
was engaged in the employ of the Old Colony
Railroad. From Fall River he went to
Worcester ; and there he became a marketman
for a year or two, finally purchasing a home
and mill at Princeton, where he lived until
his death, which occurred during the Sep
tember of 1879. His wife, Sarah Colburn,
was born in New Hampshire, December 17,
1816; but her family moved to Massachusetts
when she was quite young. Two of the chil
dren born of this marriage are deceased. The
living are: Edward A., now of Taunton,
Mass. ; Ellen G., wife of Stephen Hatheway,
of Ottawa, 111. ; Martha A., the widow of Mr.
Charles N. Hair, and now a resident of
Worcester; Sylvanus B. , of Springfield, above
named; and 'Willis M., of Worcester. Lyman
Fay was a member of the Unitarian church,
but Mrs. Sarah Fay is now affiliated with the
Congregational church at Worcester.
Sylvanus B. Fay received his early educa
tion at North Bridgewater, now Brockton,
lived for a brief period, and
taking a business course of
at Coiner's Commercial Col-
He worked with his father at
trade and in railroad work
until he was twenty-one years of age, when, in
1870, he entered the office of the general agent
of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance
Company at Providence, R. I., as a clerk, re-

where his father
at Fall River,
study afterward
lege in Boston.
the carpenter's

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

301

maining there for eight years. He then went
to Boston as book-keeper and cashier in the
office, and was so efficient in this capacity that
in a few years he was promoted to the position
of special agent, remaining in Boston until
1887, when he came to Springfield. In 1893
he was appointed to the position he is now
holding. He has been for twenty-three years
with this company, in which he has worked
his way from ¦ one post of responsibility and
trust to another, and is now one of the oldest
men in the service. Plaving charge of the
company's business in a large territory, he has
a dozen agents under his supervision. So that
he is constantly busy, either on the road or
at the office in the Kinsman Block, which he
has occupied ever since the completion of the
building. A quarter of a century's experience
in this line of business has made Mr. Fay an
authority on all questions pertaining to insur
ance. He is a member of the Underwriters'
Association of Western Massachusetts,, of
whose executive committee he is chairman.
He is connected with several Masonic socie
ties, being a member of the Roswell Lee
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Morning Star Chap
ter, R. A. M., Springfield Council, S. R. M.,
and Springfield Commandery, Knights Tem
plars. On November 23, 1873, Mr. Fay was mar
ried to Miss Myra F. Franklin, of Fall River.
Mrs. Fay's father was originally from North
Attleboro. Mr. and Mrs. Fay are the parents
of one child, a son, Edward P. Fay, who is
in the class of 1896 at Harvard College. Both
husband and wife are Unitarians, and attend
the Church of the Unity in Springfield. Their
charming home at 150 Buckingham Street,
which was purchased just after its erection, is
one of the most attractive residences in the
beautiful McKnight district.

B

WIGHT H. IVES, a successful real
estate dealer, and recent representa
tive to the State legislature from the
Third Hampden District, was born
in that part of West Springfield which is now
included within the city of Holyoke, January
28, 1837. His father, Abraham Ives, Jr., and

his grandfather, Abraham, Sr. , were natives
of the same locality, the latter having been a
son of Jeremiah Ives, whose original tract of
one hundred acres is a part of the present farm
of three hundred acres which Dwight H. Ives
now owns and operates.
Abraham Ives, Jr., succeeded to the old
homestead, where he resided during his entire
life, living to see his productive farm increase
in value and become a part of this enterprising
city. He wedded Miss Plarriet Knowles,
daughter of Joshua Knowles, who was born at
Easthampton, but moved with her parents
while still young to West Springfield. She
became the mother of four children, as fol
lows: Ann E,, wife of A. C. Pratt, whose
residence in this city adjoins that of Mr. Ives;
Dwight H. ; Ellen, who was for some years a
very successful school-teacher; and Julia B. ,
who resides with her brother. Abraham Ives
departed this life in 1867. His wife survived
him twenty years. They were members of the
First Baptist Church at what is now known as
Elmwood. Dwight H. Ives, having acquired the rudi
ments of learning in the common schools, en
tered the Suffield Literary Institute, where he
completed his studies, and, returning to the
parental roof, assisted in conducting the farm
for a period of six years, or until his father's
decease, when he relinquished the old home
stead as a residence, and moved to his present
location at 469 Northampton Street. He con
tinues, however, to carry on the farm as well
as real estate business, his different enterprises
having been attended with the most profitable
results; and he now owns the second largest
farm in this section, which he devotes princi
pally to the dairying interests, the property
being especially valuable on account of its
close proximity to the city markets. He was
for two years a partner of L. B. Morse in the
meat business, and later was a partner in the
real estate firm of Wetherwood & Ives, they
having purchased a tract of land at Elmwood
which they subdivided into resident lots, and,
erecting about thirty houses, sold them to good
advantage. Mr. Ives has always been a stanch Republi
can in politics, having been a member of the

3°^

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Common Council for one year; and in 1893 he
was elected a representative to the State legis
lature, to which post he was re-elected in
1894, Mr. Ives is unmarried. He attends
the First Baptist Church, to which he renders
much financial support.

J~>yWIGHT MORTON CHAPMAN, a
==k respected resident of Springfield,
Qy Hampden County, Mass., was born
in the town of Monson in the same
county, October 21, 1842, son of Shubael and
Sally (Childs) Chapman. His father was
born at Ashford, Windham County, Conn.,
February 2, 1801, and was a shoemaker by
trade. After his marriage Shubael Chapman
moved to North Monson, Mass., living there
but a short time, however, and taking his fam
ily to the adjoining town of Palmer, where he
bought a farm, and where he remained, attend
ing to its cultivation, till his death in. 1874,
being then seventy-three years old. His wife
died in 1844, leaving a family of ten children.
She was but thirty-eight years of age.
Dwight Morton, the youngest of the chil
dren, received his education in the public
schools of the town, and at the age of sixteen
was apprenticed to learn the trade of black-
smithing, at which he worked later in Palmer,
Monson, and Long Meadow. When the Civil
War broke out he enlisted in Company D,
Thirty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteer In
fantry, July 24, 1862, and joined the Army of
the Potomac, his first experience under fire
being in the battle of Fredericksburg. He
was with his regiment during the war till its
close, taking part in twenty-one battles, and
was promoted during the last half of his term
of service to the rank of Corporal. Mr. Chap
man was in the Sixth Corps, which was re
viewed at Washington, D.C. , June 8, 1865, and
was finally mustered out at Readville, Mass.
Soon after his return form the South he
went to Collinsville, Hartford County, Conn.,
where he worked at his old trade of blacksmith
for six years. At the end of that time he
went to Three Rivers, Flampden County,
Mass., and added to his blacksmith occupation
that of carriage-making, in which he was very

successful. The calamity of fire causing him
to change his location, he accordingly came to
Springfield, where he found work in the em
ploy of the old and reliable firm known as the
Hampden Watch Company, with whom he con
tinued seven years as tool-maker and temperer.
Since that time he has been first in the employ
of the water-shops, a department of the works
of the United States Armory, and later has
been with the Springfield Waste Company in
their machinery department.
On October 21, 1868, Mr. Chapman was
married to Miss Alice E. Jones, of Collins
ville, Conn., a daughter of the late John Jones,
of that village. They now reside in a pleasant
home on Cedar Street, and are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Chapman
belongs to different fraternal societies. He is
a member of Hampden Lodge, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, of Springfield, and
Village Lodge, A. F. &. A. M., of Collins
ville, Conn. He has been a member of the
Grand Army of the Republic for fifteen years,
having been Officer of the Day two years, and
three years Senior Vice-Commander, and now
is Commander of E. K. Wilcox Post, No. 16,
Grand Army of the Republic. He is also
Colonel and Aid-de-camp on the staff of the
National Commander-in-chief, Thomas G.
Lawles. Colonel Chapman has taken part in
many reunions of the veterans, and is heartily
interested in all matters which pertain to
keeping alive the fires of patriotism and foster
ing a true pride in the country's welfare and
progress.

'RANCIS D. HEYWOOD, Treasurer of
the Whitmore Manufacturing Company,
Holyoke, was born at Springfield, Sep
tember 28, 1848, son of Daniel and Lavinia
(Patridge) Heywood, His father, who died
about the year 1884, was for a number of years
a well-known grocer at Holyoke. P^rancis ac
quired his education in the public schools of
Holyoke; and, leaving the high school at the
age of sixteen years, he entered the employ of
the Connecticut River Railroad as an errand
boy in the freight department, after three
years' faithful service being transferred to the

GEORGE N, VAUGHAN,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

305

general office as head clerk in the ticket de
partment. Having remained in that capacity
for about two years, he was promoted to the
position of general passenger and ticket agent,
and continued as such for eleven years, when
he resigned to accept the responsible position
he now holds with the Whitmore Company.
This concern was organized in 1881, and
makes a specialty of manufacturing surface-
coated paper and cardboard, which is princi
pally used by lithographers, paper-box manu
facturers, and printers, their products being
among the very best in the United States, the
demand for them necessitating the services of
a large and efficient force of skilled workmen.
Mr. Heywood is a Republican in politics;
but, his many duties as Treasurer of the above-
named company requiring his constant and un
divided attention, he has never been able to
personally essay an active part in public affairs,
although his name has been frequently men
tioned in connection -with various responsible
offices in the city government.
In 1873 he was united in marriage to Miss
Isabel Cady, of Stafford, Conn., daughter of
Garner and Emily (Green) Cady, her father
having died before she reached the age of one
year. The mother long outlived her husband,
and passed away in August, 1894, at the age
of eighty-one years. Mrs. Heywood's brother,
ex-Lieutenant Governor Ernest Cady, of PI art-
ford. Conn., was a candidate for Governor of
that State on the Democratic ticket in 1894.
Mr. and Mrs. Heywood have had three chil
dren — Clara, who is now attending the high
school; Francis C, who is six years of age;
and another son, Bertie, who died at the age
of ten years. The family occupy a prominent
position socially, and are attendants at the
Second Congregational Church. Mr. Hey
wood has just completed a very pleasantly sit
uated residence at the corner of Linden and
Cabot Streets. Pie is a member of the Bay
State Club.

rm,

EORGE NORTON VAUGHAN,
V Si" whose portrait accompanies this
^ — sketch, a foremost builder, contrac
tor, landscape gardener, and real estate owner

and developer, of Springfield, Mass., has lived
here since 1879, but was born in Greenwich,
situated on Swift River, in Hampshire County,
on April 3, 1856.
His father, Hollis Vaughan, was a native of
Prescott, another Hampshire town. He was
born there September 19, 1827, and there
passed his youth; but afterward he lived in
many different towns in the central section of
the State, including Athol, New Braintree,
Orange, New Salem, East Brookfield, and
finally Erving, his present home in 1895. At
the outset he was a farmer and lumberman by
occupation. He and his wife are earnest ad
herents of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Plis marriage to Jennie Maria Warner took
place on June 8, 1852; and two children were
born to them, though only one survives —
the gentleman to whom this sketch specially
relates. The paternal grandfather, Josiah
Vaughan, was a farmer and. prominent in Free
Masonry. He was, however, better known to
the general public as a licensed preacher
among the Baptists in the earlier part of his
life, though in after years he became a Meth
odist. In Prescott, where he passed the larger
portion of his days, he was a popular citizen.
Mrs. Hollis Vaughan was born in Sheffield,
Mass., on September 13, 1831, and was there
fore some four years her husband's junior.
Her father, Cullen Warner, was born on Fore
fathers' Day, 1797, and was only a boy of
fifteen when the last struggle of our country
with Great Britain began; but he nevertheless
did good military service for a year and a half.
He married a native of Brookfield, Lucy
Cooley, who was born November 14, 1795, and
died December 10, 1857, aged sixty-two;
while he lived to be fourscore, dying October
25. 1 877) having enjoyed the triumphs of our
centennial year. ¦ Cullen Warner's father,
Jason Warner, was descended from an old Bay
State family, and born on May 8, 1773, so
that he was a toddling little fellow on the farm
when the struggle for Colonial independence
began. He lived to see ten Presidents direct
ing the destinies of the young reiDublic, not
dying till 1838, when Van Buren was Chief
Magistrate. The maternal great-grandfather,
Samuel Warner, was born in Waterbury,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Conn., in 1738, and in 1768 was married to
Elizabeth Makepeace, though a few years later
he assisted in making not peace, but war, serv
ing as a Revolutionary Captain. He died in
1824, in New Marlboro, Mass. She lived
nineteen years a widow, and then died, in
1843, lacking less than a year of a full cen
tury, having been born in 1744.
George N. Vaughan attended the public
schools in three of the towns where his father
lived, Greenwich, Orange, and New Salem.
He early learned to work with his father, who,
in connection with farming and lumbering, did
some teaming; but at fourteen the boy felt
independent enough to buy his time of his
father, and pay a hundred dollars for the privi
lege of teaming on his own account. In five
years he had laid aside enough money to own
a horse and cart, wherewith to do lumbering;
and on attaining his majority, in 1877, he
went to Pittsfield as foreman in a livery and
boarding stable. Thence, on New Year's
Day, 1879, he came to Springfield, where he
readily found employment with different con
tractors, especially with Justin Sackett and
the firm of Sackett & Reynolds.
After another five years in 1889, he began
business as an employer, being already the
owner of several teams. And very soon he
had forty horses at work, besides others which
he hired; and he required the assistance of
a hundred and fifty diggers and drivers. He
was the first man to begin grading and devel
oping Poorest Park, doing this for five summers
under the direction of Mr. Sackett, but after
ward carrying on the enterprise by himself,
opening street after street, from the beautiful
Magnolia Terrace to the more ordinary high
ways. Among his larger undertakings are the
bridge across Mill River at Locust Street, the
grading and filling of Carlisle Brook, the grad
ing for the Indian Orchard Street Railway,
the road-bed for the Chicopee line through
Atwater Glen, the new line to Chicopee Falls
along Liberty Street. He did some work on
both the city culverts, employing fifty-four
teams and drivers and eighty-five other work
men, the pay-roll demanding three hundred
dollars daily.
Nor has he been contented to labor simply

for others on contract, but has bought for him
self land in Forest Park, selling the buildings
erected thereon, and doing very much to de
velop the North End of the city, especially the
territory north of Calhoun Park, much of this
project being undertaken in association with
Chester H. Churchill. In this way fifty-five
lots have been brought into the market, on
Waverley, Alexandria, and Grove Streets, and
the extension of North Street. It has been
Mr. Vaughan 's aim to put up better buildings
than the average; and the territory on which
in 1 891 stood not a single house is now cov
ered with an excellent class of residences.
Meanwhile he has executed the largest sewer
contract ever held by any one in Western
Massachusetts. Mr. Vaughan was married November 14,
1880, soon after coming to Springfield, to
Laura Bennett, a daughter of J. S. Bennett, of
Pittsfield; but she died in 1885, leaving one
son, Elwood B. Vaughan. On September 8,
1 891, the father was again wedded to Mrs.
Hattie Viola (Hill) Squires, of Springfield, by
whom he has become the father of another
son, born in 1892, George Raymond Vaughan.
Their attractive family residence is at 234
North Street. So far as Mr. Vaughan attends
any church, it is the Carew Baptist. Though
a member of the Board of Trade, he keeps out
of politics, and has found it best to give his
attention strictly to mother earth. Not only
does he excavate, grade, and lay the turf, but
he brings his taste to bear upon the situation,
and makes the outlook more inviting; and he
has been the architect of his own fortunes, as
well as the cultivator of landscapes.

AMUEL S. CHAPMAN, a veteran
of the Civil War, who has been
closely identified with the business
interests of Holyoke since May,
1872, was born at Salisbury, Litchfield
County, Conn., April 4, 1843, son of Sidney
and Elizabeth (Call) Chapman. His father,
who was born at the same place on F'ebruary
27, 1817, followed agriculture until 1853,
when he moved to Richmond,- Mass., where
he engaged in mining and handling iron ore,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

307

being connected with the West Stockbridge
Iron Company. He married Elizabeth Call, of
Ancram, N.Y. ; and they had a family of
twelve children, five of whom are now living
— William, a resident of Ithaca, N.Y.; Sam
uel S., of this article; Catherine, wife of
F. J. Barrett, who resides at Millville, Mass.;
Emma, who married Ernest Worcester, and
resides at South Hancock, Me. ; and Lottie,
wife of Albert King, who resides at Spring
field. The mother was summoned to her final
rest on "February 27, 1887, having been a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church for
many years. Sidney Chapman died May 6,
1895, aged seventy-eight years. His father's
name was Reuben.
Samuel S. Chapman was educated in the
public schools of Salisbury, Richmond, and
West Stockbridge; and shortly after finishing
his studies he enlisted on September 20,
1 86 1, in Company E, Twenty-seventh Regi
ment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and
followed his country's flag to the seat of the
Rebellion. After remaining at Annapolis for
a short time his regiment was ordered to
accompany Burnside's expedition down the
coast to Roanoke, Va., and Newbern, N.C,
at which latter place it was stationed for about
two years, and participated in the siege of
Little Washington, Kingston, Goldsboro, and
White Hall, together with the battle of Gum
Swamp and the Red Flouse engagement.
During the winter of 1863 he did garrison
duty at Norfolk, and in the spring of 1864
was at Yorktown, from which place the regi
ment was ordered to join the Army of the
James, and went to Bermuda Hundred, where
they disembarked, and took part in a series of
engagements in the interior, many of which
were among the most eventful of the Civil
War. At Drewry's Bluff young Chapman
received a guns-hot wound in the knee of such
a serious nature as to make it necessary to
amputate the limb upon the battlefield, from
which he was sent to Point Lookout Hospital,
Maryland, later being sent home upon a fur
lough, arriving there on July 4, 1864.
Receiving an honorable discharge at
Springfield on September 20 of the same year,
he engaged in the butchering business at Lee,

Mass., in which he continued for the next
eight years. In May, 1872, he came to Hol
yoke, where he entered the employ of the
Whiting Paper Company, with whom he re
mained for a period of fifteen years, having
entire charge of the box-manufacturing depart
ment. In 1887 he engaged in the cigar and
tobacco business at No. 40 Main Street,
which he later sold, and opened another store
at No. 92 Lyman Street, where he continued
until settling in 1894 in his present fine
establishment, which is located at No. 65
Main Street. He is interested to a consider
able extent in real estate.
Mr. Chapman is a member of Kilpatrick
Post, No. 71, Grand Army of the Republic, of
which he has been both Senior and Junior
Vice-Commander, and has attended many of
the famous reunions ; and he is also a member
of Connecticut Valley Lodge, Knights of
Pythias. He married on September 4, 1869,
Mrs. Cynthia J. Thatcher, daughter of Will
iam Bigelow, of Egremont, Mass., and has
four children — Mabel C, wife of Walter
Adams, of Springfield; Harry S., with the
Dean Steam Pump Company, who married
Eva Fittz; Grace R., wife of Alexander Hall,
of Holyoke; and Tina, who resides at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Chapman are members of the
Second Baptist Church, and reside at 55
Bowers Street.

RANK MERRITT ALDEN, dealer in
choice fruits and confectionery, with
toys and other small wares, at No. 250
Main Street, Springfield, has an ample collec
tion of the most novel as well as the most
common articles usually found in an establish
ment of this kind, his assortment being calcu
lated to suit the most varied tastes. Mr.
Alden was born in Belchertown, Mass.,
September 5, 1851, being a son of Frank
lin and Harriet (Canterbury) Alden. He
is of distinguished Puritan stock, tracing
his ancestry in a direct line to John and
Priscilla Alden, immortalized by the poet
Longfellow in his poem "The Courtship of
Miles Standish."
From the family genealogy wd copy the fol-

3o8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lowing record: Franklin Alden, born in Caze-
novia, N.Y., November 28, 1825, was married
December 30, 1849, to Harriet Cecilia Can
terbury, who was born January 25, 1831.
Samuel Alden, father of Franklin, was born
February 8, 1791, in Greenwich, Mass., son
of Ezra Alden, and removed to the State of
New York, where he married Fannie An
drews. Ezra Alden was born in Greenwich,
Mass., July 25, 1769, and died on November
23, 1846. He married Achsa, daughter of
Deacon Nehemiah Stebbins; and she departed
this life May 15, 1851. Deacon Ezra Alden,
father of Ezra, was born in 1734, and died in
1 81 8. He married Miriam, daughter of Uriah
Richardson, of Stafford, Conn., and a grand
daughter of the Rev. Jacob Green, of Han
over; and they moved from Stafford to
Greenwich, Mass., where September 20,
1775, he was elected Deacon, an office which
he filled until prevented by the infirmities of
age. His father, Eleazer Alden, son of
Deacon Joseph Alden, was born in Bridge-
water, Mass., in 1694, and died January 30,
1773. In 1720 he married Martha Shaw, a
daughter of Joseph Shaw; and she died in
1769. Deacon Joseph Alden was born in
Bridgewater in 1667, and died December 22,
1747. His wife, Hannah, daughter of Daniel
Dunham, of Plymouth, whom he married in
1690, died January 13, 1748. The father of
Deacon Joseph was Joseph Alden, Sr., of
Bridgewater, born in Plymouth in 1624, who
married Mary Simmons, and died P""ebruary 8,
1697. He was the second son of John and
Priscilla Mullens Alden, of Plymouth and
Duxbury. He settled in what is now West
Bridgewater. Franklin Alden spent his early years in his
native town, Cazenovia, N.Y., but came to
New England when a young man, and worked
at the carpenter's trade. During the late
Rebellion he enlisted from Belchertown in
the Sixteenth Massachusetts Heavy Artillery,
and served with that battery for nineteen
months, being in the thickest of several severe
contests, and being honorably discharged at
the close of the war. In 1866 he came to
Springfield, where he is now living, a hale
and hearty man of seventy years. His wife is

a daughter of the late John Canterbury, of
Belchertown. She was reared to the Congre
gational faith, but is now a consistent member
of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church.
She bore her husband two children, of whom
only one, Frank Merritt, is living.
F. Merritt Alden spent his early years in
school, obtaining a good knowlege of the com
mon branches of study. He secured his first
situation in 1868, going into the store of
Gunn & Merrill, then located at the corner of
Main and Lyman Streets, and within a stone's
throw of his present place. Applying him
self faithfully to his duties, he mastered the
details of every department, till he was able
to take entire charge; and on September 7,
1 88 1, he bought out the entire business, in
which he has since continued, gradually in
creasing his trade and continually adding
novelties to his stock. He is peculiarly
adapted by nature and experience for the occu
pation to which he has given the best part of
his life, and is known throughout the city as
a man of integrity, fair and square in all of
his transactions, and in every way worthy of
the confidence reposed in him by the general
public. On October 12, 1876, Mr. Alden married
Miss Alice J. Hitchcock, a daughter of Josiah
Hitchcock, a well-known carpenter and builder
of Springfield. He has occupied the house on
Buckingham Street in which he now lives for
some ten years, and is a most desirable and
valued resident of his neighborhood. He is
not a professed politician, but uniformly votes
the Republican ticket. Both he and his
wife are conscientious members of St. Luke's
Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is
a member of the Board of Stewards. He is
also interested in the Sunday-school connected
with that church, having been its Secretary
and Treasurer for the first four years, the
church being organized in 1889. It was
largely due to the efforts of Mr. Alden that St.
Luke's religious society was formed, he and
his wife being of the original members of the
small band that assisted in its organization,
and since among its strongest supporters.
Mr. Alden was a member of the Board of Di
rectors of the Armory Hill Branch of the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

309

Young Men's Christian Association, but from
lack of time to do justice to the duties of the
office has been obliged to relinquish it.

"ORACE W. EDDY, formerly con
nected with the Springfield works of
the Boston & Albany Railway,
where he was foreman in the
mechanical department and afterward division
master mechanic, was born in Springfield,
August 16, 1845. Mr. Eddy is the son of
Wilson and Judith Robinson Eddy, also of
Springfield, and received his early education
at the public schools of his native city.
After completing his studies he entered the
machine-shops of the Boston & Albany Rail
road Company, where his father was master
mechanic, and served as an apprentice for
three years, acquiring a thorough knowledge
of all the various branches of the mechanical
department. At the conclusion of his appren
ticeship Mr. Eddy decided to further perfect
his education and to familiarize himself with
the very highest branches of mechanical art.
P""or that purpose he pursued a special course
of study at the Norwich (Vermont) Univer
sity, supplementing this by studying the
higher branches of mathematics under W. A.
Green; and he also took lessons in mechanical
drawing of Milton Bradley. Mr. Eddy then
attended Burnham's Business College at
Springfield, which tended to give him a broad
and general business as well as a mechanical
education. When fully equipped for entering
upon his career, he accepted an appointment
as assistant foreman in one of the factories of
Winans Brothers in Russia, and left home for
his new position in the month of September,
1865, when he was but twenty years old.
Reaching his destination at Luban, a little
town about fifty miles south of St. Petersburg,
he entered upon his duties under Mr. Mc-
Fethries, and remained there nine months.
He was then removed to a town called
Bologoi, lying about half-way between St.
Petersburg and Moscow, where he remained
for one year. While in Russia Mr. Eddy
frequently saw the czar and his special train,
as his autocratic majesty passed on one of his

imperial hunting excursions; and he was pres
ent during the first assassination, and wit
nessed the great excitement attending that
affair. He also frequently saw the Czar Alex
ander, grandfather of the Czar Nicholas, who
recently ascended the throne of all the Rus-
sias, the former of whom was also assassinated
by the explosion of a bomb beneath his car
riage in 1 88 1. While in Russia Mr. Eddy
began the study of the Muscovite language,
but his short residence there prevented him
from mastering this difficult tongue. The
terms of his contract called for a stay of three
years; but, being able to effect an arrange
ment which released him from his service, he
returned to America at the expiration of one
year. After his return he engaged with a
bolt and rivet firm in Paterson, N.J., and re
mained there for a time, then re-entered the
Boston & Albany shops in Springfield as a
mechanic. Shortly after, thinking to better
his prospects, he entered into copartnership
for the purpose of carrying on the grocery
business, under the style of Houghton &
Eddy, on Main Street, Springfield; but he
soon disposed of his interest, and accepted the
position of foreman in the Boston & Albany
shops, his term in that capacity commencing
in August, 1867. This position he held for
thirteen years, during a part of which time
the company were employing a large number
of workmen, skilled machinists; and sixteen
locomotive engines were constructed under
Mr. Eddy's personal supervision in one year.
Having filled acceptably the position of fore
man, he was promoted to the office of division
master mechanic at Springfield, his father hav
ing retired; and the motive power was con
solidated by placing the shops at Boston,
Springfield, and Albany under one head, the
office being located at Springfield and filled
by Mr. Eddy. He conducted the mechanical
and motive department of the road from
Worcester to Pittsfield, Mass., in a highly
efficient manner during his administration of
thirteen years, beginning in 1880, and intro
duced many new and important improvements
before his retirement, which occurred in July,
1893, since which time he has resided quietly
in his native city.

310

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

On November 29, 1870, he was united in
marriage to Miss Jennie Chase, of Wolcott-
ville. Conn.; and they have one son, Arthur
Chase Eddy, who is a clerk in the employ of
the Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust
Company. Mr. Eddy has never manifested any particu
lar enthusiasm in regard to political views,
but has always supported and voted for candi
dates whom he conscientiously considered
worthy of public trust. Fraternally, he is a
member of the Hampden Lodge, Morning Star
Chapter, Springfield Council, and Springfield
Commandery. He and his family attend and
are supporters of the Memorial Church.
For many years Mr. Eddy resided on Gray's
Avenue, but in the fall of 1893 the family
removed to their new and pleasant residence,
erected especially for them at No. 9 Boylston
Street. The esteem in which Mr. Eddy is held is
indicated by the following excerpt from the
Springfield Republican, descriptive of "a
parting testimonial," by which "Horace W.
Eddy was gracefully remembered by his fel
low-employees " : —
"The fellowship existing between the Bos
ton Sz; Albany employees was shown to advan
tage at Cooley's Hotel Saturday night, when
the engineers of the road tendered a banquet
to Horace W. Eddy, who retired from the
employ of the company Saturday, after many
years of service. Mr. Eddy sat at the head of
the table, while at his right sat his father,
Wilson Eddy, who spent forty years of his
eighty-one years of life as a master mechanic
in the service of the old Western, and later
the Boston & Albany, Road. At his left sat
C. H. Barnes, who succeeds him in the shops.
In all there were forty-two happy men around
the board. Directly after the banquet C. F.
Root arose, and with a few pertinent words
presented him with a handsome and valuable
gold watch. On the outside of the case were
the letters H. W. E. in a beautiful mono
gram, while the inside is inscribed with the
words, 'Presented by B. & A. engineers July
I, 1893.' The evening was an enjoyable
one, and will be remembered by Mr. Eddy as
long; as he lives."

B. HOLMES, senior member
of the wholesale beef and provision
firm of Nash, Holmes & Co., Hol
yoke, was born at East Warren,
Mass., March 19, 1855. His father, Rufus
E. Holmes, who was born at the same town in
1829, at the age of sixteen or seventeen years
was employed by the Pole Manufacturing
Company as a journeyman nail-maker, and
during early manhood followed that occupa
tion at various nail manufactories in that part
of the State. He and his wife, Sarah V.
Walker, had a family of ten children, one of
whom died in infancy, and a daughter was
called from earth at the age of sixteen years.
The survivors are as follows: Frank L., El
mira E., Minnie E., Rufus B., Dora O.,
Alice, Walter E., and Horace C. Holmes. A
short time subsequent to the birth of his son
Rufus B., Rufus E. Holmes moved with his
family to Yarmouth, Mass., where he engaged
in the retail meat and pro'\^ision business; and
the lad was there educated in the public
schools. As soon as he reached a suitable
age, young Rufus was employed in his father's
business, his duties being to drive a meat
wagon. At the age of twenty-two years he
abandoned the parental roof, and assumed
charge of the extensive slaughtering establish
ment of Sawyer, Hollis & Co., of Boston, the
largest of its kind in that vicinity, killing
and dressing about one hundred head of cattle
per day. Having remained with that firm
about a year, in March, 1879, ^r. Holmes
came to Holyoke, where he established the
firm of R. E. Holmes & Co., for the purpose
of dealing in Chicago dressed beef. On the
1st of April in the same year they consoli
dated with Nash & Perkins, an old established
house of this city, under the firm name of
Nash, Holmes & Co., which has since con
ducted a very large and profitable business,
being extensive handlers of meats and provi
sions, and occupying a building three stories
high, with a basement, at 22 Main Street.
In politics Mr. Holmes is a Republican,
and in 1893 was elected to the Board of
Aldermen from Ward Seven, in which capac
ity he rendered such valuable service as to
cause his re-election the following year. Fle

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

311

served as a member of the Committee on
Sewers and Drains as well as upon other im
portant committees, and during his second
term was chairman of the former and Presi
dent of the board. He has advanced to a very
high rank in Masonry, being a member of
Mount Tom Lodge, Mount Holyoke Chapter
and Council, Springfield Commandery, and
the Massachusetts Consistory at Boston, also
of Aleppo Temple of the Mystic Shrine of
that city.
In 1880 he married Miss Josephine H.
Marsh, adopted daughter of Robert G. and
Hannah (Taylor) Marsh, of Chicopee; and
they have five children, as follows: Rufus B.,
Jr., Robert E., Sarah Vaughn, Rowena Ev
elyn, and Philip. The family attend the First
Congregational Church, of which Mrs. Holmes
is a member; and they reside at No. 10 Fair
field Avenue.

CHARLES C. SMITH, who is
retired from the active cares of life,
has been for many years closely
identified with the highest interests
of this section of Hampden County, and one
of the most prominent and influential citizens
of the city of Springfield. His keen fore
sight and shrewd practical judgment have
made him a valuable public official; and in
whatever position he has been placed he has
ever fulfilled his duties faithfully and with
exceeding ability. He served as Overseer of
the Poor for fifteen years, holding the office a
longer time than any other incumbent; and
during that period the almshouse and the
small hospital were built. For two years he
was a member of the Common Council, and
subsequently represented the Eighth Hamp
den District in the State Legislature. While
there he was an important member of the
Committee on Fish, and worked for the general
interest of salt and fresh water fishing.
Mr. Smith was born at South Hadley Falls,
July 27, 1826. He is a representative of the
Smith family of Tiverton, R.I., his grand
father. Pardon Smith, having been an attor
ney and conveyancer, and one of the most
prominent residents of Tiverton Four Corners.

His father, Cory C. Smith, was born in 1800
on the old Tiverton homestead that had been
in the Smith family for many years, and was
bred and educated in the place of his nativity.
According to the custom in the days of his
youth, he was bound out as an apprentice to a
tailor in Boston, and after learning his trade
removed to South Hadley Falls, where he
continued in that business for several years.
He never sought political favors, and, though
a regular attendant at the Methodist Episcopal
church, was not a member of that organiza
tion. He married Wealthy Butter, of South
Hadley Falls; and of the four children born
of their marriage three are now living, as fol
lows: Charles C, Wilbur F., and Mrs. Mary
W. Sawtell. The father died April 29, 1873.
The mother survived the death of her husband
but a short time, passing to the higher life
July 27, 1874.
Charles C. Smith was educated in the town
of his birth, and at an early age learned the
blacksmith's trade, more particularly the part
connected with carriage-making; and, after
working at that for two years, he turned his
attention to the machinist's trade, which he
followed at Holyoke, Mass., for several years.
That town then contained not more than six
or eight houses within its limits, and he
watched with interest its growth to its present
magnitude; but, though working there for
three years, he made his home at South Had
ley Falls. Going thence to Hartford, Conn.,
Mr. Smith secured work in the machine-shop
of Woodworth & Beach, and the following
year was employed in Colt's armory in the
manufacture of pistols, and soon after became
a contractor for that firm, remaining in their
service about sixteen years. In April, 1864,
Mr. Smith, in company with C. D. Leet, en
gaged in the manufacture of cartridges, the
former being superintendent of the shops,
continuing thus until they sold the business
and the partnership was dissolved.
From his boyhood Mr. Smith has always
taken an especial interest in the fish question,
having first assisted his father in the shad
fisheries. His father bought land on the
Connecticut River, where shad fishing was
carried on, which in the end proved very

312

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

profitable. Charles there first met Seth
Green, an enthusiast on the same subject,
who had become discouraged in an attempt
to hatch shad in Cold Trout Brook. Mr.
Green had packed his trunk preparatory to-
leaving the town, but was persuaded by Mr.
Cory C. Smith to stay with him one night and
make one more trial. Mr. Green assented;
and, Mr. C. C. Smith having a hatching box
made, six inches high, eighteen inches wide,
and four feet long, with fine wire bottom, they
made a haul of ripe shad during the night,
and anchoring the box in the river placed in
it the spawn, which soon developed into
young shad, that being the first successful
attempt at artificial shad hatching in the
world. Continuing this process, they soon
hatched shad by the millions. After the
death of his father Mr. Charles C. Smith
had control of the hatcheries, being appointed
by the Massachusetts Fish Commission to
take charge of this lucrative business. Under
his supervision the industry was enlarged;
and young shad were sent to Germany, Cali
fornia, and to different parts of this and for
eign countries. The business, once so exten
sive, has now been entirely shut off by the
erection of dams across the river at Enfield,
Conn., which prevent the fish from coming to
the hatching grounds. This Mr. Smith con
siders the prime cause. Mr. Smith was also
one of the company formed for the purpose of
catching the shad as they came up the river,
being engaged in this remunerative business
until 1884.
Returning to Springfield, he attended to the
interests of his personal property, and since
serving in the State legislature, as before
mentioned, has dealt somewhat in real estate
and building property, making a financial
success in his various transactions. He has
always affiliated with the Republican party,
and has been one of the ablest and strongest
workers in its ranks, attending many of its
conventions, and lending his influence to its
most important movements. Again in the
spring of 1895 he was elected Overseer of
the Poor for three years. Socially, he is a
prominent member of the Masonic frater
nity, belonging to Hampden Lodge, Chap

ter, and Council, and to the Springfield Com
mandery. The union of Charles C. Smith and Mary
Ann Grimshaw was solemnized July 26, 1848.
Mrs. Smith was born in Lowell, Mass., being
a daughter of Henry Grimshaw, an English
man by birth, but for many years a resident
of Lowell, where he won renown as the manu
facturer of the first steel reed ever made in
-this country. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the
parents of one child. Dr. Frederick A. Smith,
who was born in Hartford, Conn., March 2,
1855. He studied first in the Springfield
schools and Wilbraham Academy, and, after
his graduation from the medical department of
Harvard College, completed his education in
Vienna, Heidelberg, and other foreign cities,
returning then to Boston, Mass.

(5>rD0LPHUS R. MARTIN, a well-known
tlj merchant of Chicopee Falls, Hamp-
yj[^\ den County, Mass., was bom at
— ' Woonsocket, Kent County, R.I., in
1844, son of William H. and Avis (Angel)
Martin. William H. Martin was born in Pawtucket,
R.I., in 1824, learned the cabinet-maker's
trade when a youth, and later went to Provi
dence, where he carried on that occupation for
some years. After a time he learned the
machinist's trade in addition, and then came
to Massachusetts, and was employed in that
department in the Clapp Manufacturing Com
pany's works at Northampton. He at length
removed to Chicopee, where he remained for
a time in the employ of the Arms Manufact
uring Company; but, while engaged in put
ting in a water wheel, he was taken with
indisposition, which resulted in his death at
sixty years of age. His wife, Avis, died at
the early age of thirty-four, leaving three
children — Henry, James, and A. R. of this
sketch. Henry M.artin, eldest son ot William H.,
enlisted in the Civil War as a three months'
volunteer in the Second Now Hampshire
Regiment. Later he re-enlisted for three
years, and served till the close of the war.
He then re-enlisted in the regular United

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

3^3

States Army for five years, at the end of
which time he received an honorable dis
charge. Being appointed to service later on
the frontier, he was shot by an Indian at the
place and time of General Custer's massacre.
James Martin, the second brother, enlisted as
a volunteer in the same regiment in which his
brother Henry had enlisted. He went first
for three months, and re-enlisted at the end of
that period for three years' service, but met
his death while at Harris Landing from sick
ness incurred during the seven days' fight
under General McClellan.
Adolphus R. Martin, of this sketch, also
enlisted in the service in 1863, going as pri
vate in Company G, Eleventh Artillery, under
Captain Buxton. He was once slightly
.wounded with a fragment of shell, but other
wise escaped serious harm, although taking a
brave part in several fierce battles, one of
which was at Gettysburg. Mr. Martin served
three years, and was then mustered out,
August 25, 1865, after which he returned
home and began his former occupation of
farming. He subsequently went to Middle-
town, Conn., where he took charge of one of
the wards of the asylum during one year, and
then went to Florence, Hampshire County,
Mass., as overseer in the shipping department
of the machine - shops, from which place he
changed later to Chicopee Falls, and was
employed as clerk in the clothing store of
P. W. Smith. He also worked a brief time
in the Lamb Manufacturing Shops. On June
I, 1879, he bought out the stock and fixtures
of his employer, P. W. Smith, and has since
carried on independently the clothing, boot,
and shoe business in its original location.
On September 24, 1876, Mr. Martin was
married to Miss Celia M. Orcutt, a native of
Buckland, Franklin County, Mass., and a
daughter of Thomas and Minerva Orcutt, who
were people of means and influence in that
place. Mr. Orcutt was owner of over three
hundred acres of land, and held several public
offices. In politics he was a Republican and
with his wife a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church. His death occurred at
the age of sixty-two years, that of his wife
at forty-eight years. They were parents of

five children — Thomas A., Abigail, Delia,
Baxter, and Celia. Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Mar
tin have one child, named Cora, born August
16, 1877, at present a student in Smith Col
lege, Northampton, Mass. The family are
members of the Congregational church, and
their residence is an attractive one at No.
117 Court Street, Chicopee Falls, the busi
ness establishment being located at Nos. 89
and 91 Main Street. Mr. Martin is a Re
publican in his political principles, and is a
member of Belcher Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
Unity Chapter, and Springfield Commandery,
also a member of the Grand Army of the Re
public and charter member of the Royal
Arcanum.

'AMES W. TOOLE, Superintendent of
the Riverside Paper Company at Hol
yoke, was born in Dalton, Berkshire
County, Mass., October 22, 1852, son
of James and Hannah (Oliver) Toole. His
father's birthplace was at Richmond, York
shire, England, and his mother's at Melsonby
in the same county. James Toole and his
wife came to Massachusetts in 1845, and set
tled at Dalton, where he found employment
with the Crane Paper Company, and in time
was advanced to the position of general super
intendent of the various mills operated by
that concern, which he later resigned in order
to enter business on his own account, purchas
ing a mill at Lee, Mass. After successfully
engaging in the manufacture of paper for two
years, he was obliged on account of failing
health to sell his mill property and return to
Dalton, where he lived in retirement until his
decease, which occurred at the early age of
thirty-eight years, his widow, who survives
him, being still a resident of Dalton.
Their son, James W., studied first in the
common schools of his native town, then in
a select school, and completed his education
with a two years' course at the Dalton High
School. He began his working life in the
employ of Zenas Crane, Jr. ; and, gradually
acquiring a thorough knowledge of the paper-
manufacturing business, he very acceptably
filled various positions in Mr. Crane's mill

314

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

until it was destroyed by fire in 1876, when
he assumed charge of a small manilla mill at
Cummington, Mass. Two years later return
ing to Dalton, he entered the mills of Byron
Weston as a machine tender, and remained
there for the next three years. In February,
1881, he came to Holyoke, and was placed in
charge of the Riverside Paper Company's
mill, a position which he still occupies. Mr.
Toole was one of the prime movers in the
construction of this company's new mill, and
subscribed heavily toward the capital stock,
the mill being built according to his own
ideas, and considered by experts to be one of
the finest and most completely arranged paper
mills in this country.
Mr. Toole is a Republican in politics, and
has been a member of the city committee for
ten years. He was a member of the Common
Council in 1886, and during the subsequent
two years was on the Board of Aldermen,
being chairman of the Committees on both
Police and Fire Department, and also serving
upon various other committees. On August
2, 1879, he wedded Miss Eva M. Vining, of
West Cummington, Mass., daughter of R. C.
and Martha R. (Mason) Vining; and they
have five children living, a daughter, Bessie,
having died at the age of three years. The
others are: Edith L., Florence M., James A.,
Gertrude H., and Julius H. The family
attend the Second Congregational Church,
and occupy a residence at 223 Elm Street,
which Mr. Toole purchased last year, 1894.

-OHN M. SMITH. Throughout the
world and wherever the English tongue
is spoken, you will find Scotchmen
whose names stand high for honor,
integrity, and shrewdness; and you will al
ways discover that their efforts have done
much to build up the interests of their
adopted country. Nowhere is this more no
ticeable than in America, where in any city
of any importance one will discover that the
most reliable business house is dignified by a
good old Scotch name. Massachusetts has its
full quota, and among them none stand higher
than that of Smith & Murray, of Springfield.

John M. Smith, the senior partner, whose
efforts have done much to build up the famous
dry-goods house to its present prosperity, is a
kindly, cordial-mannered Scotchman, whose
native honor and shrewdness are distinguish
ing traits of his pleasant face. Mr. Smith,
who is still in the prime of life, is a native
of Dumfries, where his school days were
spent at the Wallace Hall School. After
completing his education he took a position
with a dry-goods firm in Glasgow, and the
thorough apprenticeship a young man serves
in such an establishment stood him in good
stead when he came to this country in i860.
The next four years were spent in the em
ploy of George Turnbull, corner of Winter
and Washington Streets, one of the leading
dry-goods houses of Boston. In 1865 Mr.
Smith came to Springfield, where in partner
ship with A. B. Forbes, under the firm name
of Forbes & Smith, .he conducted very suc
cessfully for nine years the dry-goods business
they had bought of John G. Rockwood.
During part of this period he was also inter
ested in the business which was conducted in
Pittsfield by A. B. Wallace and himself under
the firm name of Smith & Wallace. When
the Pittsfield partnership was dissolved in
1874, Mr. Wallace joined A. B. Forbes in
Springfield, while Mr. Smith again turned to
Boston, having received the call, which was
no slight honor for so young a man, to become
one of the firm of Churchill, Gilchrist &
Smith. Several years were spent in Boston.
Then followed Mr. Smith's return to Spring
field, where he had left his family; and in
April, 1876, the dry-goods house was estab
lished which still bears the name of Smith &
Murray. In those days it was not the large
establishment it is now, for it has grown with
the city, until to-day it fills a wide block from
the basement to the fifth story. Mr. Smith's
employees are also his friends, and many of
the men who to-day are the trusted heads of
the various departments were among his clerks
when he first started. He is always a firm
master as well as a kind friend, and a score of
young men who have gone into business for
themselves throughout the country look back
to their excellent training at Smith & Mur-

JOHN M. SMITH.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

317

ray's as the secret of their success. Although
far from clannish (for his clerks are of various
nationalities), Mr. Smith is always anxious to
advance his own countrymen; and he has had
hundreds of Scotchmen in his employ. To
friendless lads just across he proves a kind
father, looking after their interests and com
forts, and making easier the sudden transpor
tation to a strange land. In sickness and
trouble he is always ready to help not only
with sympathy but with aid that is sub
stantial. Although Mr. Smith is an Episcopalian, he
is wholly unsectarian in his charities, which
have been broadcast, although always done in
the most unostentatious manner. Among the
business men of Springfield he takes rank as
one of rare integrity and capability, qualities
which have brought honor in their train. He
is President of the Agawam Manufacturing
Company, manufacturers of knit underwear, a
member of the Springfield Board of Trade,
and one of the Directors of the First National
Bank of Springfield.
Mr. Smith was married in 1867 to Miss
Adelaide G. Phelps, daughter of the late
Charles Phelps, of Springfield; and his fam
ily consists of two daughters — Josephine A.
and Adelaide P. Smith. Although he devotes
business hours strictly to business, Mr.
Smith's chief interests are centred in his
home, which is as happy as it is attractive.
It is a quaint, old-fashioned-looking, delight
fully comfortable house with wide piazzas,
standing in the middle of a large lawn and
finely kept gardens. There is not a more
delightful thoroughfare perhaps in the hill
regions of Springfield than Bowdoin Street;
and its most charming corner is at Mr.
Smith's home, with wide-arching trees shad
ing the quiet road and an air of cool comfort
about it which proves very enticing to passers-
by on a hot day.
Mr. Smith is an excellent judge and a real
lover of a fine horse; and half a dozen beau
tiful steeds find their comforts happily catered
to in a fine stable which has just been built
for them. He gave a year's study to its
design. The ventilation is perfectly arranged,
while electricity and hot and cold water are

provided in every imaginable place to make
work easier for the grooms and life more com
fortable for the horses. The interior is
finished in polished wood, with which the col
oring of beautifully stained glass windows
harmonizes perfectly. The grooms' chambers
are very comfortably furnished and fitted up
with suitable appurtenances and electric
lights, while their sitting-room downstairs is
a place where time may be spent very pleas
antly, if the magazine-laden tables are a
criterion. All sorts of vehicles of the latest fashion
stand ready for use, among which the most
taking is, perhaps, his daughter's dainty little
turnout; for Mr. Smith's excellent policy, to
quote himself, is "to make life just as happy
and pleasant for my family as I can, as long
as I am with them. They will remember me
more kindly for it than if I left them a bigger
fortune when I am gone."
The excellent portrait of Mr. Smith which
appears on an adjoining page is a fitting
accompaniment to this brief record of his use
ful and honorable career.

T^URTIS MOORE, a retired resident of
I \< Holyoke, was born at Worcester,
^Is^ Mass., May 23, 1828, a son of
Nathaniel C. and Sarah (Childs)
Moore. His father, whose birth also occurred
at Worcester, October 11, 1800, was a farmer;
and his mother was a daughter of Colonel
Moses Childs, of that place. The paternal
grandfather of Mr. Moore was a resident of
Worcester, and was a trumpeter in a cavalry
company there in 1786, Nathaniel C. Moore
being later successively a cornetist. Lieuten
ant, and Captain in the same company.
Willard Moore, a great - uncle of Curtis
Moore, was killed at the battle of Bunker
Hill. Curtis Moore was one of three children, the
others having been named Calvin and Luther.
He received his education in the public
schools of his native place, and at the age of
eighteen years was apprenticed to Samuel
Boyden, a blacksmith, who resided upon the
site of the present Universalist church in that

3ii

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

city, and whose shop was located on Mechanic
Street. Mr. Boyden having sold the business
previous to the expiration of his term of ser
vice, Mr. Moore continued to work at his
trade in Worcester for about two years ; and
then he went to Concord, N.H., where he was
employed at the J. S. & E. A. Abbot coach
factory for a period of seven years. In No
vember, 1861, he came to Holyoke, and here
entered the employ of the Hampden Mills
Company, with whom he remained for eleven
years, at the termination of which he joined
the mechanical forces of the Lyman Mills,
where he continued for the subsequent ten
years. After twenty-one years of uninter
rupted service as a mechanic in this city Mr.
Moore relinquished that occupation, ancl pur
chased a lumber yard, which he conducted
during the next four years, at the end of that.
time disposing of it to Casper Ranger, with
whom he continued for one year following the
sale. He has since been practically retired
from active business pursuits.
Outside of local politics Mr. Moore is an
adherent to the old Jeffersonian Democracy.
He represented Ward One in the first City
Council, being a member of the Committee
on Finance and also doing valuable service
upon other important committees. He was
formerly connected with both the Worcester
and Concord fire departments, and was en
rolled in the old Worcester Light Infantry.
He was also a member of the Concord Brass
Band, and assisted in organizing the Granite
Guards of that city, whose commander, Jesse
Gove, lost his life in the Civil War. Mr.
Moore played in Fisk's Band of Worcester
when it was led by the famous Matthew Ar-
buckle, and has sung in church choirs for
more than forty years.
In January, 1856, he married Miss Martha
Weeks, of Concord, N.H., daughter of Henry
and Mary (Willey) Weeks, her parents hav
ing been natives of the White Mountain sec
tion of the State. They have had two chil
dren, namely: Florence, who died at the age
of fourteen years; and Walter, who is now
proofreader for the Griffiths, Axtell & Cady
Company of this city. Mr. Moore attends
the Second Baptist Church, of which his

wife is a member; and they reside at 189 Pine
Street. Mr. Moore has been an expert tool-
maker, and still retains in his possession a
most unique and finely executed collection of
implements, ranging from the minutest dental
instrument to the heaviest tool used in mech
anism, all of which were wrought by his own
hands.

IRAM H. OSBORNE, a resident of
Chicopee Falls, a well-known milk
merchant, was born in Blandford,
Hanipden County, Mass., May 7,
1855. He was son of Cyrus and Catherine L.
(Burdick) Osborne, grandson of Harlow and
Polly (Cowell) Osborne, and great-grandson
of Luke and Aquilla (Bailey) Osborne. Luke
Osborne was one of the early settlers of
Blandford, and was a blacksmith as well as a
farmer by occupation. Both he and his wife
lived to an advanced age, and had a large fam
ily of children. Out of the number, fifteen,
twelve lived to grow to maturity, whose
names are here given — Harlow, James, Luke,
Ebenezer, Selvin, Laurie, Tryphena, Rena,
Harriet, Fanny, Dorcas, and Melissa.
Harlow, the grandfather of Hiram Osborne,
was born in Blandford, and married quite
early in life, after which he bought a farm
near the town, repaired the buildings which
were upon it, built a new house for his resi
dence, and having attended to all these mat
ters set to work at farming, and continued
that occupation during the many years of his
life. He was successful in his agriculture,
and acquired a comfortable competence before
his death, which occurred at the age of forty-
six years, his wife living to be sixty-eight
years old. They left eight children, who
were named, respectively, Amos, Cyrus,
Lydia, Caroline, Lewis, Henry, and Martin
and Marvin, twins.
Cyrus, son of Harlow and father of Hiram
H. Osborne, of this sketch, was born also in
lilandford, in the month of June, 1824. He
succeeded to the vocation of farming, and
bought the old homestead, and carried on the
farm for some years. In 1881 he exchanged
the old homestead for twenty acres of land at

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

319

Chicopee Falls, on the east side of the town,
to which he added twenty more, and then
established a milk route, keeping from twelve
to fifteen cows and selling milk in Chicopee.
As his business increased he was obliged to
purchase supplies from the farmers of the
neighborhood, and had a very fair income
from this undertaking. In 1884 he sold part
of his first purchase of land, comprising
twenty acres, and divided it into building
lots. This being put into market was soon
purchased. Streets were- laid out, and the
section is to-day nearly filled with fine resi
dences. Mr. Osborne sold also other building
lots, and erected several houses himself. In
1886 he sold out the milk business to his son,
and retired from active labor, still remaining
a resident of Chicopee Falls, in a handsome
house he had himself built on Cochran Street.
Mrs. Cyrus Osborne, formerly Miss Cath
erine L. Burdick, was the daughter of John
and Elenora (Warfield) Burdick. They were
farmers, and lived to an advanced age. John
Burdick was seventy-six when he died and his
wife eighty-two. Both were members of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and John Bur
dick was a Democrat in his political opinions.
They were the parents of four children —
Sarah, Catherine, William, and Jeannette.
Cyrus and his wife Catherine have six chil
dren, who are named as follows: Eletta, wife
of E. Van Horn, resides at Westfield; Hiram
H. is our subject; Theresa, wife of H. Ford,
has one child, and resides at Chicopee Falls;
Sarah E., wife of F. O. Cook, lives at Chico
pee Falls, and has five children; Carrie, wife
of W. Hamilton, also resides at Chicopee
p-alls; Addie; and Lizzie (deceased). Cyrus
Osborne was a Republican in politics, and the
family are members of the Methodist Episco
pal church.
Hiram H. Osborne was educated in the
schools of Blandford, and grew up in the
town, working with his father and sharing in
the farm labors till he was twenty-three years
old. It was soon after that time that his
father purchased land in Chicopee Falls;
and, when their removal took place, Hiram
went with his father, and soon joined him in
partnership in the milk business. He now car

ries it on independently and with merited suc
cess, and has enlarged his distribution, hand
ling now two hundred and sixty quarts of milk
per day and using two large refrigerators.
Most of the product is bought from the coun
try farms, and is conducted, as such a business
should be, in a prompt and systematic man
ner, reflecting credit upon Mr. Osborne and
his father, who have brought forward this
enterprise with so much of good management.
On April 22, 1884, Mr. Osborne married
Miss Mary E. Aiken, who was born March
23, 1854, the daughter of John and Olive
(Andrews) Aiken, residing in Springfield,
Mass. Her father, John Aiken, was a car
penter and bridge builder by trade, and was a
soldier of the late war of the Rebellion. John
and Olive Aiken had five children — Mary E.,
Alice L., Carrie A., John H., and Olive.
Mr. and Mrs. Osborne are parents of two chil
dren — Raymond, born March 15, 1888; and
Paul W., born October 5, 1894. In 1888
Mr. Osborne .built a fine house, at No. 87
Cochran Street, Chicopee Falls, where he
resides with his family. He is a Republican.

INFORD NEWMAN CALDWELL,
Treasurer of the Riverside Paper
Company, Holyoke, Mass., was
born in Springfield, July 26, 1857. The fam
ily were of English origin, the first ancestor,
John Caldwell, having settled in Ipswich,
Mass., about 1640. Our treasurer's parents
were Charles Edmund and Melissa Samantha
(Morgan) Caldwell. The father was born in
Ashburnham, Mass., July 9, 1833. After
1856 he was a resident of Springfield, being
employed as an engineer on the New York,
New Haven & Hartford Railroad; but he is
now retired from active life, and resides on
an orange farm in Melrose, Fla. His wife,
who was from Leverett, Mass., is still living.
Winford N. Caldwell was the only child of
his parents. After going through the lower
and high schools of Springfield, at the age of
fifteen he became a clerk in the Springfield
Institution for Savings, remaining there nine
years, and being appointed teller the last
three years. In this position he gained his

320

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

first financial ideas, and probably handled
more money daily than any other person in
the city. At the age of twenty-four he ac
cepted the position of book-keeper for the
Riverside Paper Company of Holyoke, Mass.,
for six months, afterward travelling for the
company to all the large Western cities until
1892, when the corporation increased its capi
tal stock, built a new mill, and elected him
Treasurer and Director. The company was
organized in 1866, and continued until 1892,
with a capital stock of one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, the daily product being five
tons of paper. Now, in 1895, the capital is
half a million, with a product of fifteen tons a
day, which, added to the output of the old
mill, gives a total product of twenty tons of
high-grade pole-dried writing paper. The
new mill is the largest of its kind in the
country, having two one-hundred-inch ma
chines. In 1893 Mr. Caldwell was elected
on the Republican ticket a member of the
Common Council from the First Ward. His
wife was Fannie L. Houston, of Springfield.
They were marjried in 1883, and have two
children — Ruth Houston Caldwell, born in
1889; and Charles Morgan Caldwell, born in
1895.

T^HARLES EUGENE SEYMOUR, pro-
I V^ prietor of one of the leading hack
\Ms^^ and livery establishments in Spring
field, Mass., was born in this city,
June 25, 1854. His parents were Charles A.
and Mary L. (Fisher) Seymour. His father
was also a native of Hampden County, born in
the town of Granville, in February, 1827, and
lived there during his boyhood. When quite
a young man he came to Springfield to work
for Day & Jobson, and remained here several
years, after which he learned the cabinet
maker's trade, and for a long time was fore
man in charge of the cabinet department of
the Wason Company's car works, which
were then located on Lyman Street. After
eight or ten years he relinquished that
employment, and started a paper-box manu
factory, which at that time was not an indus
try of the town. He became known as a

pioneer in the business, which was conducted
by him in company with his brother, T. B.
Seymour, under the name of Seymour
Brothers ; and, being successful, he kept on
with this enterprise till his death, in 1882.
His wife, Mary L. Fisher, was a native of
Belchertown, PPampshire County. She was
the daughter of Salem Fisher, a well-known
farmer of long residence in that town, who
signalized the notable sixtieth anniversary of
his marriage by a special family gathering.
Mrs. Mary L. Seymour died in 1881, leaving
three children — Charles Eugene, of this
.sketch; Adella L., wife of W. A. Castle, of
Springfield; and Mabel I. The family have
always been members of the old First Baptist
Church in Springfield.
Charles Eugene, the only son of Charles A.
Seymour, received instruction in his youth in
the public schools of the city, completing his
course of study in the high school, which
gives its pupils fine advantages for a good
education; and on attaining maturity he
went into the employ of Hixon & Birnie,
wholesale boot and shoe dealers. After four
years in their establishment he bought an
interest in the Massasoit Stables with E. C.
Robinson, giving their firm the name of Rob
inson & Seymour (1878). Four years later
he sold out, and purchased the establishment
of ex-Sheriff A. H. Lewis, located on Market
Street, No. 6"]. This is now considered one
of the best-equipped and most commodious
livery establishments in the city. Mr. Sey
mour has added largely to its original size,
and made many improvements. He erected
in place of the old building a fine three-story
brick building, with large floor, covering a
space of about ten thousand square feet, which
more than doubles its former capacity. Here
he has permanently located a large hack, car
riage, and boarding business, which ^gives
employment to thirteen men on an average.
To this enterprise Mr. Seymour devotes most
of his attention, with the satisfactory result of
doing an appreciated work in the community.
Mr. Seymour is not in active politics, but
is a thorough-going Republican, and votes
with settled principle the Republican ticket.
On November 14, 1879, M^. Seymour was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

321

married to Miss Anna Dearden, whose father,
William Dearden, was for many years the
proprietor of the large crockery and glassware
establishment in Foote's Block on Main and
State Streets. They have two children —
Rosamond M. and Anna I. The family have
a pleasant home at No. 75 Sargent Street,
where Mr. Seymour has resided nearly twenty
years. Mr. Seymour attends and supports the
Memorial Church, of which his wife is a
member.

Marie

^lERRE BONVOULOIR, Treasurer of
the city of Holyoke, was born at
Sainte Brigide, Canada, March 9,
1854. He is a son of Pierre and
Louise (Benoit) Bonvouloir, both of
whom were born in the above-named parish,
as was his grandfather, who also bore the
name of Pierre, the latter having been a cap
tain in the war of 1837; and the family 'is a
very prominent one at Sainte Brigide. Mr.
Bonvouloir's father has always followed agri
culture, and still conducts a large farm in his
native town, where he is a highly respected
and influential citizen, having held various
local offices of trust. He and his wife reared
but two children, a son and a daughter —
Pierre, who forms the principal subject of this
article; and Exeline, now deceased, who was
the wife of J. B. Laroche, of this city.
The mother of Pierre Bonvouloir died when
he was nine years of age, thus causing him to
be deprived of her tender and devoted care at
a very early period in his childhood. He
availed himself as far as possible of the
advantages for obtaining an education in the
primitive school of his community, which he
attended until reaching the age of fourteen
years; and then, after assisting his father in
his farm duties for two years, he procured a
position in a general country store at Saint
Cesaire, an adjoining parish. He remained
there for about three years, obtaining his first
knowledge of mercantile affairs; but, being
ambitious to locate in a field which would
offer greater possibilities for rapid advance
ment, he came to the United States in 1872,
and settling at Holyoke entered the employ of

Monti & Loiselle, his clerkship there also
lasting about three years. At the end of this
time he went into business in company with a
partner, purchasing an old established grocery
on High Street, which was first carried on
under the firm name of Bonvouloir & Proulx.
At the expiration of the first year, however,
the senior member purchased his partner's in
terest and succeeded to the entire business,
which he has since brought to a firm and suc
cessful footing. It rapidly developed into
large proportions, requiring the assistance of
as many as twelve clerks, and was at that time
the most extensive grocery establishment in
the city. A greater amount of room, together
with ampler facilities becoming absolutely
necessary, he erected his piresent commodious
four-story brick block, the first floor and
basement of which he devotes to his business.
His energetic and progressive nature soon
made itself manifested in the city of his adop
tion; and his services in a public capacity
were before long taken advantage of, he being
elected to the City Council from Ward Four
on the Democratic ticket, and he served with
marked ability for one year. He also served
upon the school board, and was two years a
member at large of the Democratic State
Committee. He was elected by that party to
the office of City Treasurer, and so ably and
satisfactorily did he perform the duties of this
responsible position during the first year that
he was re-elected for a second term without
any opposition whatever. His administration
of the city's finances is conducted upon a per
fectly clear and simple business basis, his
accounts being accurate in the mo&t minute
degree. The direct income of the municipal
ity from stated taxation and revenues is over
five hundred thousand dollars annually; and
this, together with the necessary loans, swells
the amount to over one million dollars, all of.
which is received at and dispensed from the
city treasury, and must therefore pass through
Mr. Bonvouloir's hands. By his simple and
concise system he has both safely and cor
rectly transacted the business of the office
with the aid of but one assistant. Although
the arduous duties of his office now consume
the greater part of his time, he still continues

322

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

at the head of his mercantile establishment,
which is at present placed in charge of able
and trustworthy assistants.
Mr. Bonvouloir is the founder and Secretary
and Treasurer of the City Co-operative Bank,
which has been in successful operation for the
past five years, and has been the means of
enabling many people to secure homes for
themselves. He is one of the best and most
favorably known citizens of French-Canadian
descent, and enjoys the respect and esteem of
all classes, irrespective of nationality or relig
ion. He is a member of St. John the Baptist
Society, in which he has held all of the
prominent offices, also of the Canadian Soci
ety, the Canadian Snow-shoe Club, is Treas
urer of the Knights of Columbus and also of
Particular Council, St. Vincent de Paul Soci
ety, and a member of Notre Dame I^erpetual
Help Church.
On February 5, 1883, he was united in
marriage to Miss Lucinda Dufresne, of Three
Rivers, Province Quebec, daughter of Joseph
Dufresne, of that city. Mrs. Lucinda D.
Bonvouloir died on September 13, 1889, leav
ing a family of four children, as follows:
Cosette, Liliane, Annette, and Lionel. In
May, 1 89 1, he wedded for his second wife
Miss Annie Dufresne, a sister of his former
wife. They occupy a very pleasant residence
at 105 High Street, which he erected soon
after engaging in business.

lINWOOD H. MITCHELL, of the
firm of L. H. Mitchell & Co., leading
bakers and confectioners of Chico
pee P"all, was born in Ellsworth,
Me., September 26, 1863, son of Silas N. and
Julia (Brown) Mitchell. The paternal grand
father was John Mitchell, who was born in
1803, and was one of the first settlers of Ded
ham, Hancock County, Me., where he bought
a large tract of new and wild land, which he
cleared and improved. He became a well-
to-do farmer, and was a prominent and much
respected man in his locality. Fle lived to
an advanced age, and was the father of eight
children, as follows: William, John, Thomas,
Silas N., Sewell, Mary, Nancy, and Orilla.

Silas N., father of Linwood H. Mitchell,
was born in Dedham, Me., in 1839, and in
early manhood engaged in the lumber busi
ness, in which he became very prosperous.
He invested largely in timbered land, which
he cleared, cutting up the timber into lumber
in his own saw-mill, and sending it to the
nearest market. The profits from this busi
ness enabled him to purchase some tracts of
fine land ; and he became the possessor of a
rich and valuable farm at Penobscot, Me.,
where he settled. In 1885 he built a store,
and engaged in a general grocery and mercan
tile business, which he still carries on success
fully. He is a Democrat in politics, and has
served as Postmaster for several terms. His
wife, Julia Brown, was born in Ellsworth,
Me., daughter of E. L. Brown, who was for
merly a blacksmith by occupation, but is now
leading a retired life. Mr. and Mrs. Silas N.
Mitchell had three children, namely: Lin
wood H. ; George, who resides in Chicopee
Falls; and one other, who died in early
childhood. Linwood H. Mitchell acquired a practical
education in the public schools, and at the
age of ten years went to Bar Harbor, where
he obtained employment as chore boy in a
hotel. He remained there five years, and
then came to Springfield, and engaged as clerk
in the grocery store of G. E. Kimball, re
maining four years in Mr. Kimball's employ.
His next business experience was with J. S.
Carr, wholesale cracker manufacturer, with
whom also he stayed four years, at the end of
that period coming to Chicopee Falls, where,
in company with A. A. Warner, he bought
out the business of Wardwell & Rice, bakers,
whose establishment at that time was located
on the corner of Main and Church Streets.
They remained but a short time in this loca
tion, however, removing soon to No. 2 Broad
way, where they are now situated, and where
they have every convenience for the manufact
ure of all kinds of fine pastry and baker's
goods. They have also a fine sales-room and
lunch-room at 102 Main Street, fitted up in a
convenient and attractive style. They have
ten or more employees to assist in carrying on
the business, their trade extending beyond

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J\'v)jiXJiA/0 OuUc*

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

325

the limits of the town and embracing a wide
territory. Mr. Mitchell was married in 1886 to Ida
M. Warner, a native of Springfield and daugh
ter of A. A. Warner, Mr. Mitchell's busi
ness partner. They have one child, Ruth M.,
born September 21, 1891, a bright and win
some little girl. The family reside in their
pleasant and comfortable home at 188 Main
Street. Mr. Mitchell is Republican in politics, and
is one of the city committee. He belongs to
several social orders, being a member of
Lodge No. 115, of Chicopee Falls, Indepen
dent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Camp Cabot,
No. 70. He is one of the thriving and enter
prising business men of his town, and is a
well-known and much esteemed citizen.

'NDREW TITUS, an old resident and
business man of Springfield, was
born in Rensselaerville, Albany
County, N.Y., on June 29, 1823.
His grandparents belonged to the Society of
Friends, as did his parents, Gilbert and
Martha (Reynolds) Titus. Gilbert Titus,
who was a physician for many years in Rens
selaerville, was born April i, 1797, and died
on January 7, 1867. In New "Vork justices
of the peace were elected by the general vote
of the people, and it is an evidence of Dr.
Titus's popularity that he held this office for
several terms. He belonged to the Masonic
Order, and was active in promoting the best
interests of the village in which he lived.
His wife, Martha Reynolds, who was born
June 2, 1796, bore him five children, four
sons and a daughter, namely: Richard N.,
born April 4, 18 18; John, born April 12,
1819; Gilbert, January 30, 1821; Andrew,
June 29, 1823; Martha L., October i, 1828.
They have all died except the subject of the
present sketch.
At eleven years of age Andrew Titus gained
his father's consent to go to work on a farm,
and one fine morning presented himself at the
door of a Quaker neighbor, Aaron Chadwick,
whom he asked if he "would not like to hire a
boy." The old gentleman, who was some

what surprised at the little lad's request, gave
him scant encouragement, but two weeks later
he went to the Doctor, and made a bargain for
young Andrew's services, agreeing to pay
him three dollars monthly and his board.
Through the spring, summer, and fall the
child performed the assigned duties on Mr.
Chadwick's farm, rising at four o'clock in the
morning to milk the cows and get them to the
pasture, and doing various other chores about
the place. Farmers rose with the robins
verily in those days, and farm life meant toil
of some sort from dawn until dark.
At fifteen Andrew, who had grown brawny
and strong, secured employment in the tan
nery of Mr. John Niles, who also manufact
ured boots and shoes. For three years he
worked in the tannery, currying-shop, and shoe-
shop of his employer, who at the end of that
time sold out his business. Not desiring to
work under the new manager, young Titus
left, and sought employment in Binghamton,
which lay one hundred and twenty miles dis
tant from his home. A great part of the
journey was made by him on foot with two
sturdy companions, who had likewise set off
to find a new field for their energies. Upon
arriving at their destination Mr. Titus found
himself face to face with the world with a
capital of eleven cents. The young men very
sensibly decided that it would be best to tide
over the immediate exigencies by hiring them
selves out as farm hands for their board and
whatever else they might be able to earn.
About a mile up the Susquehanna River they
found a farmer who engaged them to cut his
corn and buckwheat, and so for a few days
they were provided with food and shelter.
Mr. Titus then secured work in a saw-mill,
where he soon learned to cut laths on a
machine, his wages being ten dollars per
month and board; and he remained here for
two years.
In accordance with his father's desire that
he should fit himself for a physician, he now
went home, but after several months' study
determined not to adopt the medical profes
sion, and once again set out in quest of work,
which he secured upon application to the
superintendent of the cotton-mill at Cabot-

326

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ville, now Chicopee, then a part of the town
of Springfield. Not long afterward the
machinery was changed, and, instead of men,
girls and women were employed; so he was
thrown out of his situation. He and a friend
shortly determined to try their fortunes in New
York, whither they went, and where, answer
ing a newspaper advertisement, they took an
agency for selling charts. Returning at
length to Cabotville, Mr. Titus was offered a
place with the Dwight Manufacturing Com
pany, with the possibility of promotion to the
superintendency. This contingency failing,
he found other work, being at one time a post-
office clerk and later entering the machine-
shop of the American Machine Works in
Springfield. In 1851 he took a situation in
the National Armory, but after a year returned
to his former situation, in 1858 being put in
charge of one of the departments; and later,
when business was dull and many of the old
workmen were discharged, he was made Super
intendent. The head clerk and former super
intendent were now gone South to solicit
orders and collect bills. Mr. Titus had sup
plied the iron work of three cotton presses for
the South, one of which was ready to be
shipped, when the news of the attack on Fort
Sumter startled the nation, and the work was
stopped. Mr. Tyler, the head of the firm, then made
a contract to make carbines for the war; and
trade again became lively. This contract had
been closed when gold was selling at one dol
lar and a half; and it now rose to two dollars
and a half, so that after finishing the contract
they were obliged to stop. Mr. Titus, who
had during this time been time-keeper and
foreman, was now put in charge of the sale, of
the machinery. His directions, "to do the
best he could," were vague, and left grave
responsibility upon his shoulders; but he
eventually disposed of it all, though in some
cases the machinery had to be cast into pig
iron. Having finished this part of the busi
ness, and made a net sale of eighty-eight
thousand dollars for the firm, he entered the
employment of D. L. Harris, manufacturer of
machine tools and bridges. In this establish
ment Mr. Titus remained as Superintendent

until Mr. Harris sold out, when he set up a
real estate office. This was in 1870, and for
fifteen years Mr. Titus conducted a flourishing
business in real estate; but, finding himself
physically unfit for further strain and effort,
he sold out his interests to W. H. Dexter, who
had been in his employ for seven years. He
has since lived a quiet life, contented with
the earnings of his industry. In 1846 he was
married to Miss Mary A. Floadley, of Nauga-
tuck. Conn. One child was born of this mar
riage, Willie J., who was drowned in the
Water Shop Pond in the summer of 1886.
In the spring of 1881 Mr. Titus was left a
widower, and in June of the following year
he was married to Miss Pamelia Pettis, who
died in 1891. The present Mrs. Titus was
before her marriage Miss M. Louisa Strong,
being a daughter of Mr. John Strong, a hotel
manager in Boston. Mr. and Mrs. Titus
reside at their pleasant home. No. 26 Byers
Street. Mr. Andrew Titus has erected on his lot in
the Springfield cemetery a monument of an
original and beautiful design, the semblance of
a mansion with a tower, cut from a solid
block of marble; on the door is a name-
plate, and in a recess above sits the figure of a
patriarch, with finger pointed upward, and
over it are the words, "Gone home." On the
tower is the owner's name. In raised letters
on the front side is the line, "In mansions
above." On the opposite side are names, and
dates of birth and death, of deceased members
of the family, also the name and birth date of
Mr. Titus.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Titus are members of
the First Baptist Church of Springfield, in
which he is now Deacon, having succeeded
Deacon Brigham. Mr. Titus is one of the
oldest living members of the Hampden Lodge,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which
order he joined in 1853. He has taken all
the degrees of the Lodge and Encampment,
and also those of the Grand Lodge and En
campment. A brave poet writes :
" No man is born into the world -whose work
Is not born with him ; there is always work.
And tools to work withal, for those who will."

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

- -7 7

It is not every boy that finds this out and
begins his work betimes, as did the subject of
the present biography. And it is because
Mr. Titus did find out early that he was made
to be useful, to be a producer of the world's
wealth as well as a consumer, that he has led
a course of life worthy of being recorded as an
example of persevering industry. The accom
panying portrait, a finely finished steel en
graving, is regarded as a very accurate like
ness of Mr. Titus.

Yp)T dwight BRADBURN, General
l-^-| Manager and a large stockholder of
lis I ¦ the Nonotuck Paper Company of
^"""^ Holyoke, Mass., was born at Stock-
bridge, Berkshire County, March 5, 1851.
He is a son of H. J. and Lavinia L. (Jones)
Bradburn, his father having been born at
Great Barrington, Mass., in 1815, and his
mother at Monterey, August 11, 1814. H. J.
Bradburn was an extensive contractor and
builder, who completed a large amount of
work in different parts of the country, and
died at Stockbridge, aged seventy-one years.
His wife, who still survives, has been the
mother of six children, three daughters and
three sons, of whom the subject of the present
sketch was the fourth.
After a brief term of school life in his
native town H. Dwight Bradburn at the early
age of thirteen began work at a paper-mill in
Stockbridge, and was subsequently employed
in various mills in different parts of the State
until 1879, in which year he became Superin
tendent of the Beebe & Holbrook Paper Com
pany of Plolyoke. In 1880 he began the
construction of the Nonotuck Paper Com
pany's mill, which was completed during that
year; and he has continued to act as its gen
eral manager since the company commenced
operations. Mr. Bradburn is a Director of the Park
National Bank of this city, a Director of the
Linden Paper Company, in which he is also
a large stockholder, and is interested in vari
ous other industrial enterprises. In politics
he is a Republican, but has always been too
busily engaged with business affairs to accept

office. Mr. Bradburn wedded Miss Margaret
E. Deveney, of Holyoke; and they reside at
249 Oak Street, which is one of the most
pleasant locations in the city.

HARLES A. FISK, cashier and pay
master of the Wason Car Works at
Brightwood, which position he has
occupied during the past eighteen
years, was born in Springfield, Mass., August
15, 1853. He is the son of George C. Fisk,
the present head of the above-named enter
prise, who was born at Hinsdale, N.H.,
November 4, 1831. The grandfather was
Thomas T. Fisk, who was born in 1807, and
died in 1861. The family traces its ancestors
in a direct line to Nathaniel Fisk, who came
from England in 1642, and settled at Water-
town. Charles A. Fisk commenced his education
in a private school in Springfield, and when
qualified entered the Massachusetts Agricult
ural College at Amherst, After completing
his studies he began his business career in
1873 as errand boy at the car works, where
he continued to perform with faithfulness
and alacrity the various duties assigned him
until he was appointed to the position of
paymaster and cashier of that extensive estab
lishment, the duties of which are such as to
require the uttermost care and diligence of its
occupant. He is also at the head of the
supply department, and has full power as
purchasing agent, purchasing the various
materials used by the concern, which is in
itself no small matter. In all these duties he
has perfectly demonstrated his ability as a
thoroughly competent business man. He is
also a Director and an original member of the
Fisk Manufacturing Company, a Director of
the Wason Car Company, and of the P""isk
Paper Company of Hinsdale, N.H.
Mr. Fisk believes in the principles of the
Republican party, but acts independently in
politics when so disposed. He was elected to
the City Council from the F'irst Ward in
1877, and rendered good service in that capac
ity, having been placed upon the Committees
on City Property and Enrolment, the first

328

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

named being composed of such prominent citi
zens as Senators Bradford and Lyford, Water
Commissioner Bidwell, and others of equal
distinction. Mr. Fisk was married for the second time
on October 17,. 1894, to Miss Helen Young,
daughter of E. M. Young of this city. He
has one daughter by his first wife, Hattie,
who is at present engaged in completing her
education. Mr. Fisk occupies a very hand
some residence at 183 North Main Street,
corner of Jefferson Avenue. He is one of
Springfield's most enterprising and progres
sive business men.

bfRANK S. CRANE, one of the Board
p| of Assessors of Springfield, is a well-
known and honored citizen of this
beautiful city, wherein his entire life has
been spent, his birth having occurred here
January 11, 1850. He comes of good old
English stock, his earliest ancestor in this
country having emigrated from England prior
to the Revolution, locating in Massachusetts.
His paternal grandfather, Amos Crane, was
born in Washington, Berkshire County, was a
life-long resident, and died there in i860, at
the advanced age of eighty-nine years. He
was quite well-known in military circles, and
was a soldier of the War of 18 12. He and
his wife reared a large family of children.
Samuel R. Crane, son of Amos, was born
November 27, 1804, in the town of Washing
ton, Mass., where he grew to maturity. He
learned the carpenter's trade, at which he
worked for some years, coming to Springfield
the year after his marriage, which took place
May II, 1836, to Mary W. Butler. His wife
was a native of Pittsfield, being the daughter
of Sylvester and Huldah (Stoddard) Butler,
and on the maternal side descended from the
old family of Stoddards of Wethersfield,
Conn. Mr. Butler was an extensive agricult
urist, owning a large farm in Pittsfield on the
West Road. His daughter Mary was a ca
pable girl, and previous to her marriage with
Mr. Crane worked as a tailoress. In Spring
field Mr. Crane followed his trade as a house
builder, and also worked as a carpenter in the

armory, being one of the men to help build
the new water-shops. After their completion
he was employed in the wood-working depart
ment of the United States Armory, and at
intervals in the same department at the Bos
ton & Albany Railway car-shops. He con
tinued his work in the armory until 1873,
when he retired from active business.
He departed this life October 5, 1879, leav
ing a widow, who died March 2, 1892, and
four children, three of whom are now liv
ing. Samuel H., formerly proprietor of the
Elliott House, in New Haven, Conn., died in
that city, December 9, 1892; Mary E. is the
wife of Charles E. Brown, of West, Stone &
Co. ; Merritt B. is manager of West, Stone &
Co.'s wholesale business in Holyoke; and
P'rank S. is a resident of Springfield, as
named above. Two children died, one in in
fancy, and a son, John R., at the age of eigh
teen years. The father was never very active
in politics, although he was an earnest sup
porter of the Whig party during his earlier
years and later of the Republican party.
While a resident of Pittsfield he was inter
ested in military matters, and was a Captain
of the artillery company, his commission
being signed by Governor Lincoln. Socially,
he was a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, having joined the Lodge at its
organization in 1844.. Religiously, he was
connected with the Methodist Episcopal
church, being a prominent but not an official
member. During the larger part of his resi
dence in Springfield he lived on Walnut
Street, having built his house there in 1850.
Frank S. Crane was educated in Spring
field, attending the public school and later the
grammar school, which was under the charge
of Charles Barrows. Being anxious to become
a wage-earner, he entered the employment of
George G. Cadwell when fourteen years old,
as office and errand boy. But, having great
native mechanical ability, and desiring to
put it to use, he soon afterward entered
the American Machine Shops as a workman,
and assisted in making carbines and pistols
until the demand for them ceased in 1865.
He next secured work at the Lamb Knitting
Machine Works, at that time located in

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

329

Springfield, going thence to a farm in West
Haven, Conn., where he labored as a harvest
hand one summer; and, his health being
somewhat improved by this outdoor labor, he
began to learn the machinist's trade in the
machine-shop of the Bigelow Soda Fountain
Works, remaining there as long as he was
able. A long siege of sickness now inter
vened ; and after recovering Mr. Crane worked
for his brother at West Haven, Conn., until
the establishment of the New York Watch
Factory, when he began working for that com
pany. He subsequently served an apprentice
ship at the Hampden Watch Factory, being
the first boy apprentice in their shops, con
tinuing there until the factory was burned in
1870. The following year he worked at the
armory, and in 1871 entered the employment
of Smith & Wesson, part of the time as work
man and part as contractor; and on the death
of the regular contractor Mr. Crane took charge
of the unfinished contracts, being in the firm's
employ for twenty-one years, or until 1892,
having a part of the time several persons
under his supervision.
Soon after leaving there he was elected
Assistant Assessor by the city government,
and has since been twice re-elected, having
given universal satisfaction in the office. In
fact, in February of the present year (1895)
he was elected a member of the Board of
Assessors for three years.
Mr. Crane has been quite prominent and
influential in politics, and in 1887 served as a
member of the City Council from Ward Two,
being a member of the Committee on the P'ire
Department. He has been a member of the
Republican City Committee since 1888, being
now vice-chairman of the same. Mr. Crane
was married October 22, 1873, to Miss Emma
J. Mills, who was born in Springfield, April
6, 1851, being a daughter of Elam and Louisa
(Robinson) Mills. Her parents were for
merly residents of South Hadley.
For six years, from 1867 to 1873, Mr.
Crane was a member of the City Guards,
being drummer of the company. He was also
a member of the old armory band for two
years, 1865 and 1866, being snare drummer.
He has always been very active in social

circles, and is Past Grand of Hampden Lodge,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Past
Chief Patriarch of Agawam Encampment.
He was a charter member of the Orient
Lodge, Knights of Honor, and is Past Dicta
tor, having been through all the chairs, and
also belongs to Roswell Lee Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., to Morning Star Chapter, Royal Arch
Masons, Springfield Council Royal and Select
Masters, and Springfield Commandery Knights
Templars, having been Senior Warden for two
years, but declining further promotion. He
is also a charter member of the Masonic Club
of Springfield.

iRS. OLIVE L. CRAFTS was born
at West Springfield, now Holyoke,
August 28, 1 82 1, a daughter of
Alexander and Phebe (Atkins)
Day. Her father was a son of Joel Day, a
former well-known resident of this section and
a representative of the Day family who were
early pioneers in the Connecticut valley.
Mrs. Crafts has a brother, named for his
father, Alexander Day, who is an extensive
farmer and real estate owner and a very prom
inent citizen, an extended account of whom
may be found upon another page of this work.
Olive L. Day received good educational
advantages, and being an apt scholar grad
uated from the Elmwood High School at the
age of sixteen years. She immediately began
teaching, an occupation which she followed
for a period of seven years, or until her mar
riage to Chester Crafts, which occurred on
May 31, 1843.
Chester Crafts, who died on June 10, 1871,
was born at South Deerfield, Mass., in the
year 181 3, and was a son of Chester Crafts,
Sr., who owned a small farm and had a family
of nine children. Having the misfortune,
however, of being left fatherless at the age of
fourteen years, young Chester was necessarily
thrown upon his own resources very early in
life; and, after working for various farmers in
the neighborhood, his earnings having been
contributed toward the support of the family,
in 1832, when he was nineteen years of age,
he came to West Springfield, and obtained

33°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

employment at the tavern, his duties consist
ing of caring for the stage horses which were
employed upon Chester W. Chapin's stage
line from Springfield to Brattleboro, Vt., this
house being a station for providing a relay of
horses. In 1833 Mr. Crafts married his first
wife; and two years later he purchased the
tavern, which he immediately entered into
possession of; and for many years subsequent
Crafts's Flotel was a favorably known and
largely patronized hostelry, which continued
to supply the wants of the travelling public
until the advent of the railroad changed the
business centre of the town to its present site.
Mr. Crafts also conducted an extensive
country store for years, and invested quite
heavily in real estate, owning land in differ
ent parts of the town, his homestead contain
ing sixty acres of valuable farm land. He
attained a prominent position in local affairs,
was Selectman for many years. Collector,
Overseer of the Poor, a Deputy Sheriff, and
above all enjoyed the reputation of being a
thoroughly upright and honorable man. Al
though not a member of any religious denomi
nation, he interested himself in church affairs,
being always prompt to render financial aid
when it was needed ; and it has been truth
fully said that it was through his efforts and
personal assistance that the church in his
neighborhood succeeded in maintaining its
existence. He was also connected with the
Masonic fraternity, having been a member of
that order when to be such required consider
able personal courage. His first wife, Martha
Graves Morgan, daughter of Fliram Morgan,
died, leaving one son. Homer M., who passed
away at the age of thirty-five years. His sec
ond wife, Sarah W. Knight, also died early,
leaving one child, Sarah Elizabeth, who died
at the age of eleven years. Mr. Crafts was
for several decades Postmaster, having held
that position through various administrations
until his decease. His memory is still held
in respect.
The children of Chester and Olive L. Crafts
were six in number. Alexander D. died at
the age of twenty years, previous to his
father's decease; Freddie died at the age of
eight months; Edward Rensselaer is now a

resident of Holyoke, his wife having died,
leaving two children — Olive, who married
Arthur Newell of this city, and has three
children living, and Anna Emerson; Howard
Ames is in the insurance business; Chester
J. is a book-keeper of this city; and Linus
D. Crafts resides at home.

"ON. HENRY SALMON STILES,
an old and highly esteemed resident
of the town of Montgomery and a
native of Westfield, is numbered
among the enterprising men of Hampden
County. An extensive agriculturist, ener
getic and progressive, he has not only kept
well posted on all matters relating to his call
ing, but has taken an intelligent interest and
borne an active part in local public affairs.
Mr. Stiles was born on September 29, 18 18,
his parents being Salmon and Charlotte
(Holmes) Stiles, the former of whom was
also a native of Westfield, and the latter of
Winsted, Conn. His lineage on the paternal
side is as follows: John Stiles, the immigrant
ancestor, was born in Bedfordshire, England,
and in 1635, accompanied by his family, came
to America, locating at Windsor, Conn., where
he was one of the pioneer settlers. The re
mainder of his life was spent there, he dying
in 1662, aged sixty-seven.
His son John, also a native of Bedfordshire,
born in 1633, married Dorcas, a daughter of
Henry Burt, of Springfield, Mass., and died
in Windsor, Conn., in 1683. Their son
Ephraim was born in Windsor, and was the
first of the family to settle in Westfield,
where he improved a farm. His wife was
Abigail Neal. His son Isaac was born in
Westfield on the 6th of October, 1698, mar
ried Mary Brooks, and, as far as known, was a
life-long resident of that town.
Martin Stiles, Sr., son of Isaac, was also a
native of Westfield, born July 17, 1728, and
was a farmer by occupation. He served in
the French and Indian War, and was a Lieu
tenant in the war of the Revolution, his com
mission being dated 1776. He died on the
9th of December, 1808. He married Dorcas
Adams, of Suffield, Conn., and their son,

LAURA C. CHAPMAN STILES.

HENRY S. STILES

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

335

Martin, Jr., was born in Westfield on May 5,
1753. He also was a farmer, his location
being in the south-western part of the town of
Westfield; and there he spent his last years.
This farm is now owned and occupied by his
grandson, Daniel Stiles. His wife was Tir
zah Loomis, a native of Southwick, their
union being solemnized in August, 1772.
They were the parents of Salmon Stiles,
who was born in 'Westfield and was brought
up at home, being instructed in the various
branches of agriculture; but, being a natural
mechanic, be became a wheelwright and also
a carpenter and builder. Later in life he
purchased a farm adjoining the old homestead,
and there resided until his death, which took
place in 1823. He was twice married, the
maiden name of his second wife, mother of
Henry Salmon Stiles, being Charlotte
Holmes. She was a daughter of David and
Sally (Strong) Holmes (see sketch of Will
iam Holmes). She survived her husband
many years, departing this life in 1850.
Henry Salmon Stiles was but five years old
when his father died, and two years later went
to live with an uncle, Lyman Holmes, of
Russell, whom he soon began to assist in the
farm duties, in the mean time attending
school. At the age of fifteen he began life
for himself, being employed on a farm, and
going to school in the winter season. He
finally was enabled to purchase a portion of
the old Holmes place, upon which he resided
for four years after marriage, and then located
on the farm he now occupies, which at that
time was the property of his father-in-law, but
later became his own by purchase. It com
prises two hundred acres of fertile and well-
cultivated land, with excellent buildings, the
improvements ranking among the best m the
town. The house is most pleasantly situated,
commanding a fine view of the surrounding
country for many miles extending across the
Connecticut River. On the 9th of May,
1850, Mr. Stiles was united in marriage with
Miss Laura C. Chapman, who was born No
vember 30, 1822, on the farm where she now
resides. Her father, Nathan Chapman, was a
native of Groton, Conn., born October 12,
1776, his parents being Isaac and Mary (Brad

ford) Chapman, the former of whom was an
early settler of Montgomery, where he fol
lowed farming and where his last years were
spent. The father of Mrs. Stiles was very
young when his parents came to Montgomery,
and of this town he continued a resident. He
married Eunice Parks, who was born on the
nth of September, 1782.
Mr. Stiles cast his first Presidential vote
for William Henry Harrison in 1840, and has
been from its beginning a firm adherent of
the principles of the Republican party. He
served as Postmaster twenty-two years, as a
member of the Board of Selectmen for thirteen
years, and has also been Town Clerk and
Treasurer. In 1877 he was elected represent
ative to the State legislature, serving with
much efficiency and to the satisfaction of his
constituents. Place in this "Review" is
gladly given to the portraits of Mr. and Mrs.
Stiles, which here meet the eye of the reader.
Both, as is shown in the above sketch, are of
good old New England stock.

RED M. ROYCE, a well-known and
prosperous merchant of Wales, Mass.,
was born in that town, October 9, 1853,
son of James C. and Nancy (Miller) Royce,
and grandson of Joseph C. and Matilda Royce,
who were old residents of the town of Wales.
Joseph Royce was a button manufacturer, and
also owned a small farm, which he cultivated,
and on which he lived to a good old age. The
children of Joseph and Matilda Royce were
seven in number, as follows : Joseph, Matilda,
Mardulah, Mary, James C, Bradley, and Jona
than. James C. Royce was born in Wales, and on
growing to manhood engaged in farming, also
following the occupation of a carpenter. He
later kept a general store in Wales, and for
some time was Postmaster of the town, and
was a member of the legislature in 1853. In
religion he was a Baptist. His wife, Nancy
was the daughter of Captain Jacob
of Worcester. Their children were
number, as follows: George C, born
10, 1833, and died in Springfield,

Miller, Miller,
five in
October

August 12, 1886; Mary, born March 13, 1839,

33^

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

who died in infancy; Charles A., born July
23, 1844, who is now a resident of Boston, and
connected with the crockery house of Abram
French & Co.; Frank A., born October 15,
1846, Postmaster at Palmer, who married Miss
Sarah Call is for his first wife, and on her
death married Mrs. Mary Soule, who became
the mother of two children — Bessie M. and
Bertha D. The other child, Fred M., is our
special subject, his birth being recorded above.
Fred M. Royce was educated in the common
schools of Wales, and in the Brimfield High
School, after which he began life for himself
as clerk for T. J. Houghton, of Wilbraham,
Mass. He continued in Mr. Houghton's em
ploy four years, and then worked for a time in
the woollen-mills of Wales, but later gave up
mill work and entered his brother's store as
clerk. Six years later he bought out the estab
lishment, and has since carried it on success
fully, doing a very prosperous business, and
carrying a full line of general merchandise and
groceries. In 1875 Mr. Royce was married to Miss
Mary J. Moulton, who was born in Wales,
April 7, 1857, daughter of Robert and Rox
anna (Shaw) Moulton, the former of whom was
a native of Brimfield, Mass., and an employee
in the woollen-mills there. His death oc
curred at the age^of forty-three years. Mrs.
MOulton, who is still living, was born March
5, 1 819, and was the daughter of Aaron Shaw,
M.D., a skilful physician of his day. The
names of his children were : Roxanna, Eras
mus, Redmond, Samuel, Augustus, and Sarah.
Mr. and Mrs. Royce are parents of two sons,
namely: Myron C, born June 22, 1876; and
Arthur, born May 22, 1878. Mr. Royce is
Independent in politics, and has held the office
of Selectman. He is a Mason, and a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of
Springfield, and is a reliable and trustworthy
citizen.

UGUSTUS M. SLEEPER, a well-
known business man now living in
retirement, who has to a considera
ble extent aided in the growth of
Springfield and also in the increase of its val

uation during his forty years' residence in this
city, was born at Bristol, N. H., October 7,
1 818, son of Moses and Mary (Harriman)
Sleeper. His father, who was a native of the
same town, and known as Colonel Sleeper
from his connection with the State militia,
moved West many years ago. He was a
farmer and the son of Samuel Sleeper, who
was also a farmer and resided in Bristol until
his decease. The Sleeper family is of Eng
lish descent.
Augustus M. received his education in the
schools of his native town, and at the Hebron
Academy, after completing which he began his
business career by trading in a general way,
dealing in any kind of merchandise that prom
ised to be profitable, commencing with a small
capital and residing at Bristol, where he as
sisted his father in carrying on the farm until
reaching the age of thirty years, in 1848, when
he moved to Holyoke, Mass., and, after resid
ing there for two years, came in 1850 to
Springfield, where he eventually drifted into
speculating in real estate. Here Mr. Sleeper
first purchased a large tract of land situated
between Main and North Streets, which he
proceeded to lay out into subdivisions for
resident purposes, making each lot accessible
by opening new streets, among them Osgood
and Morgan Streets, thus having several hun
dred fine building lots. He erected some
houses, which readily sold, together with every
vacant lot; and his venture was successful be
yond his most sanguine expectations. He then
purchased a tract in West Springfield, which
he divided in the same manner; but the finan
cial depression of the early seventies prevented
a repetition of his former success, and his
losses from this venture amounted to one hun
dred thousand dollars. These reverses, how
ever, did not place him in straitened circum
stances, his financial resources still being in
a most healthy condition. He laid out an
addition to Brightwood, which proved very
remunerative. Mr. Sleeper also turned his attention to
other branches of business, interesting himself
in the Equitable Life Assurance Society, of
which he loecame general agent for the western
part of the State, including Hampshire, Hamp-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

337

den, Franklin, and Berkshire Counties, and
having several subagents under him, but doing
a major part of the business himself, and with
his natural persistency and sagacity making a
most flattering success. He continued to con
duct a very prosperous business, highly pro
ductive of the most satisfactory results both to
himself and the society, up to the time of his
retirement from active pursuits, about two
years since. Fle still holds the general
agency, and attends to the old business, but is
not pressing for new.
He married Miss Meribah Humphrey, of
Sutton, Vt. , who was born September 29,
1826, daughter of Belah and Rebecca (Beck-
with) Humphrey. The wedding ceremony
occurred May 22, 1848. Mrs. Sleeper's father
was a native of New Hampshire, and her ma
ternal grandfather was a soldier in the War of
1812. Her grandfather Flumphrey came from
Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Sleeper have had two
children, Ida R. and Frank A., both of whom
are now deceased. They are members of the
First Baptist Church, and occupy a very pleas
ant home, located at the corner of North and
Osgood Streets, which he erected in 1883. In
politics Mr. Sleeper adheres to the principles
of the Republican party, which he supports,
but has never been an aspirant for political
honors.

m

OODMAN S. PAGE, Manager of the
Page Needle Company, which is the
successor of the A. W. Page Knit
ting Machine Needle Manufactory at No. 2
Broadway, Chicopee P""alls, was born May 7,
1862, at Biddeford, Me. Plis first American
ancestor on the paternal side, four generations
earlier, came from England, and settled first
in Portsmouth, N.H., and afterward in Water-
boro, York County, Me., where he became a
farmer. FIis grandfather, James Page, was
born in Waterboro in 1797, and followed
the occupation of wheelwright. Fle died at
forty-three years of age, leaving a widow,
Eliza Woodman Page, and seven children —
Amos W., John W., Abigail, Moses,
Thomas, Harriet, and Eliza J. Mrs. Page
married a second husband, Mr. David Den

nett, and reached the advanced age of ninety-
two years.
Amos "W. Page, son of James and Eliza, was
born in Hollis, York County, Me., and began
his business career as a boy in the cotton-mills
of that place, where he steadily rose from one
position to another until he became overseer
and superintendent of the weaving department.
He was next employed in the St. John's mills,
and from there went to Rochester with his
brother, Thomas Page, who owned an interest
in the knitting-machine manufactory of that
city. In 1867 he established a needle manu
factory in connection with the Lamb factory at
Chicopee F'alls, where he conducted a most
successful business until his death, which oc
curred in his sixty-ninth year. His wife,
Caroline Shute, was a daughter of Mr. John
Shute, who was of Scotch descent. She died
at sixty years of age, having had the following
children: Irving PP., who married Miss Alice
Whittemore, and lives at Athol, Mass., where
he is interested in the L. S. Starrett Com
pany's manufactory of mechanical tools ; Wood
man S. , of whom this biographical notice is
written ; and P^ank and Ernest, who both died
young. Mr. Amos W. Page was a Republi
can, and held the office of Selectman, being
chairman of the board; and he was also a
member of Belcher Lodge, A. 1". & A. M.
Wixxlman S. Page was educated in the pub
lic schools of Chicopee and at the Massachu
setts Institute of Technology, Boston, and at
twenty )'ears of age took the position of fore
man in his father's factory in the needle de
partment. He showed such ajjtitude for the
work and such clear judgment in regard to the
management of the various details that he soon
became a partner, and at his father's death
assumed entire charge of the business, becom
ing its executive head under the title of Gen
eral Manager. The various sorts of knitting
needles manufactured by the company have
gained an exceptionally high reputation in the
markets, and under Mr. Page's able manage
ment the enterprise has been a notable finan
cial success.
In 1893 Mr. Woodman S. Page was joined
in the holy bonds of matrimony to Miss Mary
E. Hamilton, of Chicopee Falls. Mr. Page is

338

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

a Republican politically. He is a member of
Belcher Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of the
Springfield Commandery. He resides at his
handsome residence on Grove Street, No. 257.

•^ "^ mer I

[LLIAM GEORGE WHEAT is the
lior member of the distinguished
mercantile firm of Meekins, Packard
& Co., of Springfield, Mass. Starting in busi
ness in 1874, they have alike astonished them
selves, the city, and the commercial commu
nity of New England by the rapid growth of
their establishment, which they rightly attrib
ute to the personal attention and courtesy of
its chiefs. Year by year they have been com
pelled to enlarge their quarters, till what was
at first a small store now covers nearly a hun
dred thousand square feet, and takes in several
stories of an entire block; while in place of
only a solitary colored boy they have hun
dreds of clerks and salespeople, and are patron
ized by customers a hundred miles away, who
come to Springfield for the purpose. A more
detailed description of this large establishment
may be found in our sketch of Mr. Packard in
this volume.
Both the older partners, Emery Meekins and
Azel A. Packard, were natives of the small
town of Conway, on the Deerfield River, in
Franklin County. The former went to school
with Marshall Field, the Chicago dry-goods
prince. Coming to Springfield, Mr. Meekins
was employed by A. F. Williams and by
Tinkham & Co. in the chief dry-goods stores
of the city. Mr. Packard was named for Azel
D. Matthews, an old friend of his father; and
with Mr. Matthews he found employment on
Fulton Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y., in a store
still standing in the same place. Thence he
went to Greenfield, Mass., and finally to
Springfield, where he united with his old com
rade, Meekins, in the modest enterprise which
has since attained such mammoth dimensions.
At first they tried to make a division between
household furnishing dry goods and other dry
goods, and give their attention to the former;
but, this distinction proving rather vague and
artificial, they went into a general dry-goods
trade, including garments. In like manner

their carpet department soon enlarged its bor
ders, so as to include furniture and draperies.
First one addition was made to the original
store, and then another — above, below, each
side, and in the rear. The result is stupen
dous. Few men have been willing to work so
hard for the desired object as the partners in
this firm ; but it is with the third member of
it, W. G. Wheat, that this sketch is chiefly
concerned. He was born in the town of Canaan in the
White Mountain section of New Hampshire,
on July 19, 1857. The family is descended
from one of two brothers, "sifted as Wheat,"
who came from England in 1640, doubtless
driven thence by the impending troubles be
tween the king and Parliament, and bought
land in Concord, Mass. These brothers bore
the good Bible names of Moses and Joshua;
but in this case it was Moses who proved the
more successful pioneer, and entered the prom
ised land, for Joshua sold out to him his share,
and returned to the mother country when the
Cromwell party was in power. From the pub
lished records of Concord we learn that Moses
Wheat, Sr., died on May 6, 1700; also that,
Joseph Wheat (probably a son of Moses) and
Priscilla Flagg, both of Concord, "were mar
ried by Justice Minott, June ye 5th day,
1705-" Joseph Wheat, it is said, was a Bap
tist Elder, preaching everywhere in his native
colony. Among their sons were: John, born
in 1 71 7; Josiah, born 1 719-20; and Thomas
Wheat, born in 1723, the last-named being
the great - grandfather of William of this
sketch. Thomas Wheat's sons bore the fam
ily names of Thomas, Joseph, and Josiah
Wheat. Several members of this family were active
Revolutionary patriots. Thomas Wheat, Jr.,
was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill, at
twenty-four years of age. His brother Joseph
is mentioned in the History of the town of
Hollis, N.H., as one who enlisted for the war.
His name is found on several pages of the
"Revolutionary Rolls," included in the pub
lished series of State Papers of New Hamp
shire, showing that at one time, in 1779, he
served in Captain Hawkins's company. Third
New Hampshire Regiment, that in 1780 he

,*-

'M >/-,-.

GEORGE S. TAYLOR.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

341

was made Corporal, and that in 1781 he was in
Captain David McGregore's company, being
among the soldiers from Hollis. According
to the family history, at some period of his
service in the army he was one of Washing
ton's body-guard; and, as a wounded prisoner,
he endured the horrors of the awful winter
at Valley Forge. In the spring he was ex
changed, and soon thereafter discharged. His
home life after the war was passed in Canaan ;
and there was born his son Asa Wheat, who
studied at the Medical School connected with
Dartmouth College in Hanover. Dr. Wheat,
having practised many years in his native
town, is now enjoying a serene old age in the
affluent Springfield home of his elder son.
His wife was Isabelle George, her family name
being her son's middle name. Her birthplace
was Croyden, now known as Newport, the
county seat of Sullivan County, New Hamp
shire; and she bore two children — William
G. ; and his younger brother, Allen Asa
Wheat. William G. Wheat attended the public
schools and the old Union Academy in
Canaan. In 1874, at the age of seventeen, he
left New Hampshire for Massachusetts, find
ing employment in the dry-goods store of
A. L. Shumway, in the growing town of
Plolyoke. There he learned everything possi
ble in connection with dry goods, becoming
thoroughly a master by the time he was
twenty. The Springfield firm of Meekins &
Packard had now been in operation for two or
three years, and sorely felt the need of a relia
ble associate, well posted in dry goods. They
were both young men, and William G. Wheat
was recommended as a youth of like enterpris
ing spirit with themselves; so they took him
into the store in 1877 on a five years' con
tract, with a promise of eventual partnership;
and this further union came about in 1885.
As before intimated, the success of the estab
lishment has been phenomenal. Mr. Meekins
attends to every financial detail, and Mr. Pack
ard to the carpets and furniture; but Mr.
Wheat has charge of the dry goods, for he is
a judicious buyer and a popular salesman, and
keeps always in touch with the state of the
market and the demands of customers. To

accomplish what he has done in less than
twenty years would be enough mercantile glory
if it covered a lifetime. His department not
only occupies the entire space of the original
store, besides the second story above it and the
basement beneath, but has a first story of the
annex a hundred feet deep, and a side exten
sion of sixty feet by forty. In fact, the dry-
goods space was multiplied by ten in the years
from 1882 to 1894.
In the balmy month of June, 1878, about
the period of his removal to Springfield, Mr,
Wheat was united in wedlock with Clara
Louise Abercrombie, daughter of Stillman
Abercrombie, of Pelham, Mass. They have
two children — Harold Abercrombie Wheat,
born in 1879; and Isabelle Frances Wheat,
born in 1882, Their lovely home is at 18
Jefferson Avenue. The family attended the
old First Church during their early residence
in Springfield, but now belong to Memorial
Church. In both these parishes Mr. Wheat
has been an active office-holder, and he is one
of the generous founders and supporters of the
Young Men's Christian Association. While
devoted to his business, he not only finds time
for duties at the Association, but for some
attention to the Nayasset Club, of which he
was an original member; and in politics he is
a steadfast Republican.

/STeORGE S. TAYLOR, who has sat
\ 3 I in the legislative halls of Massachu
setts, and has been prominent in the
financial, political, and religious circles of the
town in which he has cast his lot, was born in
South Hadley, Mass., March 2, 1822. His
grandparents, Oliver and Lucy (White) Tay
lor, were residents of South Hadley, where the
former owned an extensive estate. He was
drafted in the War of 18 12, but was not called
upon to enter the ranks. In political princi
ples he was a \\'hig, and in religious belief
a Congregationalist, in which faith his wife
shared ; and both were active supporters of the
church of their faith. Mr. Taylor reached his
eighty-fourth year, and Mrs. Taylor lived to
within two years of the same age. They were
the parents of six children — Sylvester; Por-

342

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ter; Erastus; Alvira, who married Mr. C.
Judd; Evelina, who married Mr. J. Woodward;
and Sally, who became Mrs L. Smith.
Sylvester Taylor was born at South Pladley
in 1793. Receiving only a limited education
in the district school, he as a very young man
became a pedler of butcher's meat through
the neighboring country, and in 1828 moved to
Chicopee P'alls, where he bought property,
and opened a provision store with his two sons,
Anson C. and Charles A. Taylor, which was
successfully conducted until 1854, when he
sold out his interests to his sons and went into
the real estate business. He at this time
owned four farms near South Fladley, which
he now sold, and invested in two estates in the
village of Chicopee Falls, one of which is now
the residence of the Bemis family. Mr. Tay
lor married Miss Sarah Eaton, a native of
South Hadley and a daughter of Justice and
Ellen (Chapin) Eaton. Mr. Eaton, who was
a farmer, died at middle age, leaving three
children — Justice, James, and Sarah. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester Taylor were members
of the Congregational church, and lived to be
respectively eighty-eight and seventy-seven
years of age. Mr. Taylor held the office of
Selectman among others. He was a Whig,
and was a member of the legislature of 1836.
The ten children born to these parents were :
Ann Sophia, who married Mr. B. West ; Har
riet, who died young; Anson, who married
Miss Louise Buckland, and is now deceased;
George S., the subject of the present sketch;
Varnum N., deceased, who married Miss
Elizabeth Curtis; Charles A., who was mar
ried first to Miss Elizabeth Davenport, and
after her death formed a second marriage with
Miss Julia Carter, also now departed; James
E., who married Miss Electa Buckland; Will
iam O , deceased, who married Miss Mary
Barker; Sarah J., deceased, who married Mr.
George H. Nettleton; David E., who married
Miss Adelia Withey.
George S. Taylor was educated at the high
school, and took a supplemental course at
Lawton's Business College in Springfield,
Thus prepared for the practical affairs of life,
immediately upon leaving college Mr. Taylor
accepted a position as clerk in the store

and post-office of Colonel Bryant, where he
remained for three years. He next was em
ployed in a like capacity by Mr. S. A. Shack-
ford, and in a short time bought an interest in
the firm located on Grove Street. In 1863
this interest was sold and a part interest was
purchased in the Belcher Manufactory of farm
ing implements. This firm, which was after
ward known as Belcher & Taylor, was in 1864
made a stock company, and the business was
greatly enlarged. Mr. Belcher now became
agent for the firm ; and Mr. Taylor was made
Treasurer, a position he still holds.
In 1843, on the 25th of November, Mr.
Taylor was married to Miss Asenath Cobb,
born in Princeton, Mass., in 1826, a daughter
of Elias and Rebecca B. (Gill) Cobb. Mr.
Cobb was a wheelwright by trade, and moved
from place to place wherever he found work.
Both he and his wife attained about the age of
sixty years. They were in the communion of
the Congregational church, and reared a family
of seven children, namely: Moses G. , who
married Miss Sophia Monroe; Susan, who is
the widow of Mr. J. E. Sweetser; Rebecca,
who married Mr. E. B. Halcourt, both de
ceased; Sarah, who married the Rev. William
Bradford, both deceased; Elizabeth, who lives
in Brooklyn, N.Y. ; and Martha, who married
a Mr. Pinkham. The following children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. George S. Taylor : Ella
S. , the widow of Mr. Henry Lyon, who lives
in the village of Chicopee with her two chil
dren; Sarah, who died in her youth; William
B. , who also died young; Edward S. , who
married Miss Grace King, and is a resident of
Chicopee; William C, who married Miss
Bessie Moody, has three children, and lives in
Iowa; Albert E., of the firm of Taylor, Bram-
bley & Co., Chicopee Falls; and George
Emerson, the second child, who died at the
age of three years.
Albert E. Taylor is one of the most promis
ing young business men of Chicopee Falls,
and bids fair to sustain the reputation for
energy, intelligence, and probity established
by his father. As soon as he finished his edu
cation he learned the making of knitted under
wear, and, renting a room of the Lamb Manu
facturing Company, established himself in

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

343

business, and began at once to manufacture
these articles on a small scale. There was
a constant demand for the articles produced,
the quality of material used was excellent, the
grade of work superior; so the venture was
successful, and in a short time had assumed
sufficient proportions to guarantee the adoption
of a partner. ]Mr. Walter Brambley was ac
cordingly taken into the firm, and larger quar
ters secured for the scene of their extended
operations. In 1891 thev built a three-story
brick building at 61 Grove Street, where they
make a specialty of ladies' and children's
knitted underwear, and are conducting one
of the most successful manufacturing enter
prises in the citv of Chicopee, PI. Lee Mal-
lory of New York having been admitted as a
partner. The Hon. George S. Taylor, who is loyal in
his allegiance to the Republican party, has
held manv important offices in his town, hav
ing been Selectman, Assessor, and Mayor,
He served for three years in the legislature
with satisfaction to his constituents and credit
to himself, being a member of the Senate at
the opening of the Civil ^\'ar. Both l\Ir. and
Mrs. Taylor are active and earnest members of
the Congregational church, in which for
twenty-five years ^Nlr. Taylor has been Sunday-
school superintendent. He is a member of
Belcher Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Lenity Chap
ter of Chicopee and Springfield Commandery.
Mr. Taylor is President of the Chicopee Falls
Savings Bank, and also of the Chicopee Falls
Building Company, whose praiseworthy pur
pose is "to aid a good class of citizens to pro
cure homes by small payments and fair inter
est. " This building company is under the
auspices of Andrew Gale, James E, Taydor,
Austin O. Grout, and Joshua Stevens, who
are its Directors, with George S. Taylor as
President, and F N. \Mthrell Clerk and Treas
urer, men of known ability and wide in
fluence, and accustomed to succeed in their
undertakings. Among his multiform duties 'Sir. Taylor has
not neglected the "better part which cannot be
taken away"; and, while busying himself
about the Board of Trade and various munici
pal affairs, he has also been the President of

the Young Men's Christian Association of
Chicopee Falls, and has by tho powerful force
of example done much toward elevating the
standard of religious life in the community.
The charming residence at 58 Church Street,
-which is occupied by Mr. Taylor and his fam
ily, has been lateh' remodelled, and is one of
the attractive homes of Chicopee Falls.

BEL HENRY CALKINS, a promi
nent resident and extensive real estate
owner of East Longmeadow, Mass.,
was born in the adjacent town of
Monson, March 4, 1823. His father, Abel
Calkins, was born either at Monson or \\'il-
braham; and his grandfather, Ezekiel Cal
kins, was a farmer, who died in ^\'ilbra-
ham. South Parish. Abel Calkins passed his
boyhood upon his father's farm, and on reach
ing manhood was engaged in various kinds of
business, he having at one time a butchering
establishment and later keeping a hotel and
livery stable at Three Rivers, Mass., which
he conducted in addition to carrying on his
farm. In 1846 he sold his business inter
ests in the latter place, and moved to Palmer,
where he passed the remainder of his life.
His wife was Esther Mixter, daughter of Dan
iel Mixter; and she was the mother of eight
children — Amanda, Lewis, Enos, Amelia,
Dudley, Melissa, Abel H., and Lucy.
Abel Henry Calkins made the best of his
opportunities for acquiring an education in
his younger days, and later continued to
improve his mind by devoting his spare time
to study and extensive reading. His father
having been for many \ ears a Justice of the
Peace, he was naturally attracted to the study
of law, and often appeared as counsel in
cases heard before a civil justice, although he
never adopted the legal profession as a per
manent calling. At the age of twenty-two
he purchased a farm in Palmer, consisting of
fifty acres, which he conducted about three
years, and then selling this bought another in
East Longmeadow, where he resided until
1850, when in company with his brother-in-
law, Benjamin Watrous, he started for the
mines in California by the way of the Isth-

344

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

mus. They had secured tickets at three
hundred dollars each, which insured them a
passage by the second trip of a certain steam
ship from Panama to San Francisco ; but
upon their arrival at the former place it was
learned that their ship would not make the
passage for some months, and, as he held a
written agreement with the company issuing
their tickets that they should not be delayed
more than two weeks, necessary steps were
taken and the agents at Panama compelled to
refund three hundred dollars of the passage
money. They then proceeded to their des
tination on board a French bark, arriving at
San Francisco in the month of August. Mr.
Calkins went to the southern mining districts,
where, after working in the mines for a short
time, he practised law, and later was elected
town Judge.
In June, 1854, he resigned his office, and
returning home resumed farming in the Bap
tist neighborhood at East Longmeadow, which
he continued until 1863, when he sold that
farm and bought another, situated upon the
Springfield road, where he resided till 1884.
Disposing of that place to good advantage,
he then removed to East Longmeadow, and
investing in village property has since con
tinued to reside there. He has for some time
past devoted his energies to improving his
real estate and attending to private interests,
having in all nine houses in the village, seven
of which he erected himself.
In 1844 he was united in marriage to Miss
Sarah Maria Watrous, who was born in the
East Parish of Longmeadow, and daughter of
Jeremiah and Sarah (Lamphier) Watrous.
She was called to rest on December 31,
1894, leaving one daughter, Alice Maria, who
now resides at home with her father, and is
the source of much comfort in his declining
years. Mr. Calkins is a stanch supporter of
the Democratic party, and has held various
offices, such as Selectman, Assessor, and Jus
tice of the Peace; in 1867 he was elected
to the legislature from the district which
embraces the towns of Longmeadow, Aga
wam, West Springfield, Southwick, and Gran
ville. He was also Postmaster from 1885
to 1889.

rmc

EORGE F. REED, electrical superin-
\ '3 1 tendent of the Springfield Street
Railway system, was born at Cum
mington, Mass., May 10, 1867, and was very
young when his parents, Charles F. and
Phoebe (Tillson) Reed, who were both natives
of that town, removed to Springfield. His pa
ternal grandfather was Fernando Reed, and his
mother's father was Mr. Ephraim F. Tillson.
Mr. Charles F. Reed in early years was a
farmer, and later was employed as a railroad
carpenter, but has recently retired from active
work, and is now enjoying the immunity from
care and toil that old age and a long period of
continuous effort have a right to expect. His
three younger children, all of whom are still
living at the parental home, No. 19 Osgood
Street, are Rusha E., Charles F., Jr., and
Bertha L. Reed. Both father and mother are
members of the Congregational church ; and
Christian influence has not been lacking in
the home life of the family circle, which yet
remains unbroken.
George F"., who was the eldest of the family
of four, attended the public schools of Spring
field till he was nearly fourteen years of age,
when in February, 1881, he exchanged text
books and satchel for the pen and desk of a
clerk in the office of the street railway of the
city. Here he remained until 1890, render
ing such painstaking and efficient service that
when the company decided to adopt the elec
trical system in the city Mr. Reed was sent to
Boston to study the electrical engineering of
railways. Upon his return after some months
of diligent application he was put in charge
of the Forest Park Line, in which electric
cars were now being run, and remained there
a year, when the new system was put into
effect throughout the city. Mr. Reed had
entire control of the construction of the new
lines, and after their completion was made
master of the electrical apparatus and motor.
Two years later, in July, 1892, he became
executive head of the whole outside system
under General Manager Smith, a position
which included control of the electrical con
struction of overhead work, superintendence
of all repairs of the cars, all outside work, and
supervision of the time-tables.

MERRICK L. FULLER,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

347

Mr. Reed, who, it will be seen, has been in
this company's employment for thirteen years,
has risen successively from subordinate to
responsible positions, and owes his success
largely to the untiring energy he has exerted
and the patient care he has bestowed in
behalf of the interests of his employers. In
politics he is stanchly Republican, but his
life has been up to the present time too thor
oughly filled with business duties to admit of
any active share in national or even local
issues. He belongs to the United Order of
Workmen. Mr. George F. Reed was married November
20, 1889, to Miss Nettie J. Hayden, of
Springfield, Mass., a daughter of James L.
and Addie M. (Jenks) Hayden, natives of
Haydenville and Springfield respectively.
Mr. Hayden is deceased. Mrs. Hayden
makes her home in Springfield.

TCK L. FULLER, papers
nger and decorator, a resident of
"hicopee Falls, was born in Lud-
_ow, in the same county of
Hampden, Mass., January 27, 1852. He was
the second son of Lathrop L. and Joann A.
(Wood) Fuller, and grandson of Lyman and
Parma (Barton) Fuller, owners of a pleasant
Connecticut valley farm in Ludlow, where
their married life was spent. Lyman Fuller
lived to the age of forty-eight years, and at
his death left three children — Lathrop,
Eliza, and Cornelia. He was a Whig in poli
tics and an active and consistent member of
the Congregational body, to which he and his
family belonged. Mrs. Parma B. Fuller con
tracted a second marriage with Joseph Grout,
and lived to the age of eighty-eight.
Lathrop, their only son, was born in Lud
low, and attended the public schools in his
early youth, later taking a course at the Wil
braham Academy. On returning to the farm
after finishing his studies, he devoted his
energies to the improvement of the old home
stead, first, however, buying the place, and
then building a new barn and supplying many
attractive and convenient features to add to
the family comfort and enjoyment. But he

was not destined to long remain amid the
fruits of his labor, as his death occurred at
the early age of thirty-eight years. His
wife, on whom now fell the heavy burdens of
life, rose with patient bravery to the needs
of the children thus early left fatherless,
her earthly course continuing till her sixty-
seventh year. Her children were six in num
ber: Maria, Clara, and Charles, who all died
in their youth; Josephine, who married
Charles P. Jones, and is the mother of five
children, all living in Ludlow; Merrick L.;
and Alfred, who died at nine years of age.
Merrick L. Fuller received his education at
the public schools in Ludlow and the Wilbra
ham Academy, after which he worked on the
home farm, assisting his mother till his
twenty-second year. He then went to Indian
Orchard, another small manufacturing centre
in the vicinity of the city of Springfield, and
there, going into partnership with Charles
Fisk, started a livery and carriage business,
which they continued for one year, and then
sold out, and gave up that kind of employ
ment altogether. Mr. P"uller next came to
Chicopee Falls, and set about learning the
business of decorative wall coloring, includ
ing paper-hanging and graining. It proved to
be an agreeable and satisfactory change; and,
as he became proficient in the execution of
the work, he was able to establish himself in
business. This he did in 1879, in which year
he purchased a desirable lot in the village, at
No. 54 Pine Street, on which a small house
was standing. He soon began to build, and
in place of the original may now be seen a
fine large dwelling-house surmounted by a
tower, and supplied with all the modern con
veniences. In 1885 Mr. Fuller built an office
and shop on this same lot, for the sale of
decorative wall papers, mouldings, and other
requirements of the business, and here re
ceives orders and commissions. His business
ability and his practical skill and artistic
taste may be inferred from the large contracts
for first-class work which he has taken and
completed; so true it is that "good work
always finds a market," and that ability is
sure to be recognized.
Mr. Fuller was married in 1875 to Miss

348

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Jennie Tupper, who was born at Fort Coving
ton, March 3, 1855. Her parents were Peter
and Jennet (Donald) Tupper, of the same
town, in Franklin County, N.Y. They have
two children: Mabel, born August 18, 1877;
and Mildred, born October 15, 1884. Mr.
Fuller is a Republican in his political princi
ples, and is a member of the Common Coun
cil, also a member of Belcher Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., of the Unity Chapter, and of the
Springfield Commandery. His portrait ap
pears in connection with this sketch.

f^o

EORGE HENDERSON BLELOCH,
\ 3 1 deceased, formerly a resident of
Springfield, Mass., was one of that
city's most noted inhabitants. He was not,
however, a native of the old Bay State, as his
birth took place in Rochester, N.Y., on the
third day after Christmas, 1835. His parents
were John and Sarah (James) Bleloch, the
father being a Scotchman, born in Clackman
nanshire, and the mother English, a native of
Herefordshire. George H. Bleloch passed his early years
in Rochester, where hi's parents established
a home about three years before his birth.
After leaving the public schools he learned
the trade of machinist; but the outbreak of
the Civil War led to a change of base, and in
1861 Mr. Bleloch opened a book-selling and
publishing business in Cairo, 111. His wide
enterprise enabled him to maintain connec
tions in different parts of Kentucky, Tennes
see, and Arkansas; and he at one time had
several stores in those States. At the close
of the war Mr. Bleloch transferred his field of
labor to New York City, where the firm of
Bleloch & Co. was well known, his partner
being his brother, William M. Bleloch. In
1 87 1 Mr. -Bleloch removed to Boston, Mass.,
and began the manufacture of sewing-machine
needles in company with John S. Abbott, of
that city, and John F. Trow, of New York.
The business was afterward moved to .Spring
field, first being located in the second story of
the Burbank Block on Stockbridge Street,
with a few thousand dollars' worth of machin
ery and about a dozen employees. A determi

nation to surpass in quality of goods other
needle-makers, both American and foreign,
was the guiding principle; and other consid
erations were made subordinate to that end.
Under the able management of Mr. Bleloch, .
assisted by John Berry, of that city, as super
intendent, the small plant grew apace; and in
a few years' time one hundred and seventy-
five busy workers were employed in com
modious quarters, which, including land and
buildings, cost over sixty thousand dollars,
while seventy-five thousand dollars more were
invested in machinery and supplies, it finally
developing into the largest manufactory of
machine needles in the world. Mr. Bleloch
was its Treasurer and General Manager, while
also a Director in the Excelsior Needle Com
pany, located in Torrington, Conn. ; and the
duties pertaining to these positions he effi
ciently performed until his death, which took
place on November 24, 1891. From an obit
uary published in the local press we extract
the following: "The death of George H.
Bleloch is a severe loss to the sterling man
hood of Springfield. As a business man he
was worthy of every confidence, and as a mem
ber of the School Committee he did the most
faithful work ever done on the board. The
^ business of which he was the manager, the
National Needle Company, has helped to
spread Springfield's name abroad."
Mr. Bleloch was married in Rochester,
N.Y., his bride being Harriet M. Andrews, a
daughter of Adna G. and Maria Andrews ; and
this union was blessed by the birth of two
children, a son and a daughter. The son,
William A. Bleloch, is now a resident of Du-
luth, Minn., where he is successfully engaged
in a manufacturing business. The daughter
is the wife of Orval P. Townshend, of Wash
ington, D.C, a son of the late Congressman
R. W. Townshend, of Illinois; and they now
reside in Springfield.
In politics Mr. Bleloch was a Democrat,
and as such was a delegate to the Cincinnati
Convention of 1884, which gave Grover Cleve
land his first nomination for the Presidency.
Four years later he was again chosen a dele
gate to the National Democratic Convention,
but illness prevented his attendance. When

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

349

the famous Chester Convention was held, he
was one of the four delegates upon whom its
choice fell after a hard fight, the other three
being Joseph F. Callanan, Professor Perry, of
Williams College, and a gentleman from
Berkshire County. In 1883 Mr. Bleloch was
candidate for mayor of the city on a united
Democratic and Citizens' ticket, and in 1885
and the following year was one of the most
active members of the Democratic State Cen
tral Committee. His chief service to the
municipality lay in his remarkable efforts as a
member of the School Committee, a place he
held for the last nine years of his life. Such
was his efficiency in this department that at
the close of his first and second terms of office
it was again urged upon him. To the Ma
sonic fraternity Mr. Bleloch was admitted in
Rochester while in young manhood, and on
coming to Springfield he became a member of
the Hampden Lodge of Odd P'ellows. Per
sonally he was very companionable and ge
nial, his popularity at home being attested by
his unanimous election to the educational
board already referred to. In fact, he was
about to enter upon his fourth term of office
when his earthly career ended, at the compara
tively early age of fifty-six.
Virgil began his great poem with the words
"Arms and the man I sing." Well has it
been said by Thomas Carlyle, "The true epic
of our times is not Arms and the Man, but
Tools and the Man — an infinitely wider kind
of epic." It is, indeed, the machinery of civ
ilization in the hands of such men as Mr.
Bleloch which has power to wield indissolubly
the fortunes of the State.

[ARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE
TOWNE, a prosperous general
merchant of Ludlow, Mass., was
born at Plainfield, Hampshire
County, September 25, 1832. His father,
Benjamin Towne, was both a native and a
life-long resident of the same place, where he
conducted a large farm and became active in
the development of its agricultural resources.
He pursued with energy and industry the
quiet, uneventful life of a thrifty New Eng

land farmer, thus obtaining and enjoying a
comfortable prosperity, and was called to rest
from his toil at the age of seventy-one years.
The maiden name of his life partner and help
mate was Electa Nash. She was also a native
resident of Plainfield, and well performed her
part in earth's labors, living to the age of
seventy-six years.
The subject of this sketch was brought up
on the home farm and educated in the town
schools; but, upon reaching the age of sixteen
years, being disinclined to agricultural pur
suits, he went to Northampton, where he
readily procured employment in a paper-mill.
He rapidly acquired practical knowledge of
the art of paper-making; and at the end of
one year, being competent to fill the position
of a skilled operator in his calling, he joined
the forces of a large paper manufactory at
Windsor, Conn. He continued to progress
steadily until becoming thoroughly conversant
with the various parts of the trade, and at the
end of three years' service there he entered
the employ of a paper manufacturer at Palmer.
After remaining there for a time he went to
Green River, Vt., and became financially
interested in a mill at that place. About
four years later he sold out, and returning to
Palmer was there engaged for the next two
and one-half years. After this Mr. Towne
became the foreman of an extensive mill at
Holyoke, Mass., where he remained one and
one-half years, and then accepted a position
in the same capacity at Bondville. At the
termination of some three or four years' ser
vice at the latter place he decided to enter
mercantile business, and for that purpose set
tled at Ludlow, and established himself as a
general merchant. He carries a most complete
and varied stock of carefully selected miscel
laneous merchandise, and from the commence
ment has enjoyed a large and profitable trade.
Mr. Towne has three times entered the
bonds of matrimony, his first wife having been
Miss Lucy Caffee, of Belchertown, whom he
married at Bondville, when he was twenty-one
years of age. She survived but one year; and
he married for his second wife Miss Emma S.
Taffee, of Green River, Vt., who also died
about six years later. For his third wife he

35°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

wedded Miss Francesca Morse, and by this
marriage has one son, Frank A., who is now
engaged as a clerk with him. Mr. Towne is a
member of Brigham Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
and is a Republican in politics. Mrs. Towne
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church.

AMUEL STEVENS, a progressive
and prosperous agriculturist resid
ing on Allen Street, in the Seventh
Ward of the city of Springfield, is
meeting with the success to which his ener
getic industry and thrift entitle him. He is
a native of Massachusetts, having been born
March 15, 1850, in the town of Sheffield,
Berkshire County, but is of Connecticut
ancestry on the paternal side, the branch of
the Stevens family which he represents having
been early settlers of that State. There in
the town of Canaan was born his grandfather,
Aaron Stevens, whose last years were spent in
Sheffield. George H. Stevens, son of Aaron and father
of Samuel, was a native of Canaan, and but a
boy when he removed with his parents to
Sheffield. He was a natural mechanic and
skilful with tools of all kinds, an expert
worker of both wood and iron. After attain
ing his majority he opened a blacksmith and
wheelwright shop, and in the many years
which he conducted these he became famil
iarly known throughout his community as
the leading man in his line of business. He
married Sarah Hart, a life-long resident of
Sheffield and the daughter of Edward Hart.
They reared a family of five children — John
]., Mary ]., Aretus, Samuel, and Laura A.
Neither of the parents is now living, the
father having died in Sheffield and the mother
in Springfield, Mass., at the residence of her
son Samuel, with whom she spent the last few
years of her life.
Samuel Stevens attended the public schools
of his native town until twelve years old. At
sixteen he began life as a wage-earner in a
paper-mill at Lee. He was very steady and
faithful, enjoying his work and highly es
teemed by his employers. In 1879 he came

to Springfield, and with his brother-in-law,
C. N. Carpenter, purchased a saw and grist
mill in East Longmeadow, which he carried
on for about four years, giving it up in the
spring of 1883 to come to his present place
of residence on Allen Street, where he has
since turned his attention to general farm
ing. Mr. Stevens has been twice married.
The maiden name of his first wife was Fi
delia A. Howes. She was born in Lenox,
Mass., daughter of Samuel C. and Mary
Howes, and died in Lee in 1878. They had
one son, George H., who died at the age of
five years. In 1883 Mr. Stevens was united
in marriage with Miss Harriet E. Allen, who
was born and has always lived on the farm
where she now resides, being a daughter of
Joel Allen, who was born and reared on the
same homestead.
Joel Allen, Sr., the paternal grandfather of
Mrs. Stevens, was born and spent the earlier
years of his life in East Windsor, Conn., but
removed from there to Springfield, and bought
the farm on Allen Street, where so many of
his children and grandchildren were born.
The house is one of the oldest in the vicinity.
It was in former times a tavern stand, and
furnished entertainment to many a weary trav
eller. It is in a fine state of preservation,
having been kept in good repair, and, in fact,
has been essentially rebuilt. With this house
Grandfather Allen bought a large tract of wild
land, from which he improved a good farm;
and he resided thereon until his decease in
1819, at the age of thirty-eight years. His
wife, Lydia Butler, was a native of Enfield,
Conn.; and she also died on the homestead.
The circumstances attending Mr. Allen's
death were peculiarly sad, and caused a wide
spread sensation at the time of its occurrence.
He had been assisting in burning over a piece
of new land, and was last seen alive about 4
P.M., as he was starting for home. As night
came and he did not appear, fears were enter
tained for his safety, it being known that he
was very much heated. Search was com
menced at once. The news of his disappear
ance spread rapidly, and the next day men
came from all directions to join in the search.
The second day the armory at Springfield shut

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

351

down, and all hands turned out en masse to
search for the missing man. The body was
found at about 11 a.m. of the third day under
a tree not very far distant from where he
started. It was then almost in a state of
decomposition, and it was thought he must
have died soon after leaving the fire, from
being over-heated. He left a widow and five
children, the oldest son, Joel, being then but
nine years of age. The widow liverl to the
advanced age of ninety years. Joel Allen, the
younger, father of Mrs. Stevens, learned the
trade of a carpenter when a young man, and
worked at that occupation until a few years
after his marriage, when succeeding to the
ownership of the home farm he engaged in
agricultural pursuits, continuing thus em
ployed until his death in 1886. His wife,
whose maiden name was Harriet Trumbull,
was born in East Windsor, Conn., being a
daughter of James and Jane (Watson) Trum
bull. She survived her husband several years,
dying in June, 1892, leaving four children —
Joel A., Harriet E., Edgar, and Irving
Allen. As neighbors, friends, and citizens Mr. and
Mrs. Samuel Stevens are held in high esteem
in the community in which they dwell, their
many admirable traits of character winning
the regard of all. In politics Mr. Stevens is
a steadfast Republican, having been true to
the principles of his party since casting his
first Presidential vote for Rutherford B.
Hayes.

T^HARLES JORDAN GOODWIN,
I \) President and Treasurer of the Chap-
V^L^ man Valve Manufacturing Company,
' located at Indian Orchard, Mass.,
was born at Great Falls, N.H., July 20, 1834.
Jordan Goodwin, his paternal grandfather, was
a native of South Berwick, Me., where he died
at the age of eighty-eight, leaving five chil
dren, briefly mentioned below. Eliza Good
win married Timothy Ferguson, a South Ber
wick merchant; and they both died some years
ago. George Goodwin was employed in the
counting-house of the Portsmouth Manufactur
ing Company, and died unmarried. Elisha

Goodwin was a hardware merchant, and mar
ried Emily Nichols, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Charles Goodwin became father of our .special
subject. P^ederick Goodwin was an Episco
palian rector at Middletown, Conn., where he
died. Of that generation Charles was born in
South Berwick in 1804, while Thomas Jeffer
son was President. In his young manhood he
left his native town to go into business for
himself at Great Falls, N.H., where he re
mained until he was about forty, going then to
New Orleans as a cotton broker, and' there
dying of yellow fever in 1848. He married
Nancy Noble, who was born on Noble's Island,
off Portsmouth, N. H., daughter of John
Noble; and they had three children who came
to maturity — Sarah L. Goodwin, who became
the wife of Charles A. Fairfield, of Spring
field ; Charles Jordan Goodwin, of Indian
Orchard ; Augu,sta Goodwin, wife of James P"
Harvey, of Farnumsville, Mass. The mother
was born September i, 1805, and is now,
1895, living with her son Charles. Both she
and her husband were formerly members of the
Episcopal church, but Mrs. Goodwin has
been connected with the South Congregational
Church of Springfield for upward of thirty
years. John Noble, her father, was a promi
nent shipping merchant at Portsmouth, N.H.
Charles J. Goodwin early completed his
studies in the academy at South Berwick, and
while a lad entered the Portsmouth Manufact
uring Company, there to learn the manufacture
of cotton cloth. When only eighteen he was
assistant superintendent in the carding depart
ment ; and in 1857, the year of the panic, he
moved to Salmon P'alls, N.H., to take a simi
lar position in a larger mill, where he re
mained until he came to Indian Orchard, seven
years later, in 1864, to take charge of the
carding in No. 2 of the Indian Orchard mills.
In 1867 he was appointed superintendent of
the entire works, which included two mills,
giving emphiyment to seven hundred persons.
This position he held until 1869, when ap
pointed agent of the works, in which capacity
he was acting when mill No. 2 was burned,
and the treasurer of the company proved a
defaulter. Many can remember these old

352

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

mills, and the cotton cloth there manufactured.
In the resultant failure the property was sold
to a syndicate of purchasers, and by them
transferred to what is now known as the Indian
Orchard Company, a corporation largely made
up of Springfield men, with a capital of two
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars and
much real estate. Mr. Goodwin was at once
elected Treasurer, and held the office till No
vember, 1894; he is still one of the Directors.
When the Chapman Valve Manufacturing
Company was organized, Mr. Goodwin took an
active interest as one of the first Directors,
a position he still holds; and, being a resident
of Indian Orchard, he was naturally very
active in the construction of the first shop and
foundry, a comparatively small affair, the capi
tal being only one hundred thousand dollars,
though it has since increased to six hundred
thousand. In the beginning there were only
thirteen employees; while now more than ten
times as many are needed, among them the
most skilful workmen. No establishment in
the world makes so many gate valves and hy
drants; and they are sent to all parts of the
globe, the company having a branch office in
Boston, visited every week by Mr. Goodwin,
also offices in New York City, Chicago, and
St. Louis. Besides Mr. Goodwin the other
officers are : President, James D. Safford ;
Directors, Henry S. Lee and FI. K. "Wight,
of Springfield. Other gentlemen connected
with the concern are Henry Reed, of Boston,
Joseph Smith, of Andover, and Jason Giles,
who is also General Manager.
Mr. Goodwin is likewise Treasurer of the
Metallic Drawing Roll Company, which has
a large plant for the manufacture of the draw
ing rolls used in cotton-mills, and whose capi
tal stock is nominally eighty thousand dollars.
For some years he has been a Director of the
city bank of Springfield. In politics always
a Republican, in 1872 he was elected Alder
man from Ward Eight, and was a member of
the local school board for twenty years. In
1867 he was made a Free Mason in Granite
Lodge, at Great Falls, N. H., of which he is
still a member. He belongs to the Plxchange
Club of Boston and the Nayasset Club of
Springfield. His wife, whom he married June

9, 1859, Dora Frost Bartlett, daughter of
Nathaniel Bartlett, of Eliot, Me., was edu
cated partly at the Eliot Academy. They
have one daughter, Nina Noble Goodwin, who
is still at home; and all the mem.bers of the
family belong to the Evangelical church in
this village.

(sTir LEXANDER DAY, a highly respected
tiJL native resident of Holyoke and a very
yj|j,\ prosperous farmer, was born April
' 18, 181 7, the place then being
called Ireland Parish, or the Third Parish of
West Springfield. His parents were Alexan
der, Sr. , and Phoebe (Atkins) Day, the father
having been born upon the farm which he
inherited from his father, Joel Day, who
also succeeded to its possession by right of
inheritance. Joel Day was an early pioneer in
West Springfield, and was a citizen of promi
nence in his time.
Alexander Day, Sr. , who was a farmer, and
resided his entire life upon the ancestral
homestead, was the youngest of seven sons,
four of whom participated in the War of 1812,
which but two of them survived. He married
Miss Phoebe Atkins, of West Springfield,
Centre Parish, and they raised a family of
seven children, as follows : Linus, who died
at the old homestead ; Pattison, who resided
at Greene, Chenango County, N. Y. ; New
bury, of this vicinity; Alexander; Olive L.,
widow of Chester Crafts, a sketch of whom
appears elsewhere in this work; Ruth, who
married Milton Lester, of Suffield, Conn. ; and
Samantha, who married Edmund Kneeland, of
whom an extended notice may be found in a
sketch of his daughter, Mrs. F. A. Van
Wagenen, upon another page of this work.
Of these the only survivors are Alexander and
Mrs. Crafts.
Alexander Day received a good education,
first attending the public schools of Preland
Parish, and completing his studies at the
Wilbraham Academy, after graduating from
which he taught in nearly every school district
in the town, and also at Agawam and Ludlow.
Fle followed the vocation of teacher for some
years, or until he settled as a farmer upon the

ALEXANDER DAY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

355

old homestead, which was at that time one of
the largest and most valuable pieces of farm
property in this section, it being at present
divided into several good farms of ample di
mensions. On Tune 6, 1853, he married Mrs.
Fidelia M. ^'itchcock, daughter of James
Elder. Mr. Day continued to reside upon the
old homestead until 1876, when he sold the
property, and, purchasing a piece of valuable
real estate situated upon Northampton Street,
erected a very pleasant and comfortable resi
dence, the location being easily accessible by
street-car line.
In 1850, when the town of Holyoke was set
off from West Springfield, Mr. Day was
elected its first representative to the State leg
islature, and was also a member of its first
Board of Selectmen, holding the latter office
for two years, since which time he has abso
lutely declined to serve further in any public
office. Mrs. Day was born at Chester, Febru
ary 13, 1815, daughter of James and Betsey
(Prentice) Elder. Her father was a son of
Thomas Elder, who came of Scotch-Irish an
cestry; but his family for some generations
had been residents of Chester. James Elder
was a very prosperous farmer and a man of the
highest respectability, being prominent in the
local government. Mr. and Mrs. Day attend
the Baptist church, of which she is an active
and earnest member.
Among the numerous portraits which con
tribute essentially to the interest and value of
this series of Hampden County biographies
will be recognized a faithful likeness of Mr.
Alexander Day, whose life story is briefly out
lined above.

Y^TON. DEXTER B. HITCHCOCK, of
L^ Plolyoke, who passed to the life be-
\W\ yond on June 1 1, 1885, was a son of
^"^^ Warren and Fidelia M. (Elder)
Hitchcock, and first saw the light of day at his
father's farm, which was situated m Ireland
Parish, on what is now Northampton Street,
in the month of September, 1837. His father
followed agricultural pursuits, and resided
upon a valuable farm which he had inherited.
Dexter B. Hitchcock received a good common-

school education, and, succeeding to the old
homestead, conducted the farm for many years.
He served very acceptably one legislative
term, 1883, in the State Senate, to which he
was elected on the Democratic ticket. Of
retiring disposition and manners, he was known
as a thoroughly honest and reliable man, his
word being as good as his bond. In 1858 he
married Miss Frances Ashley, of West Spring
field, daughter of Daniel and Diademe (Day)
Ashley, her father having been a farmer and a
life-long resident of West Springfield, who for
many years operated the ferry from that place
to Springfield, and her mother a daughter of
Edmund Day, of West Springfield.

7T^ HARLES WESLEY MUTELL, man-
I V-^ tifacturer of military and lodge sup-
\% , plies, and one of the oldest business
men of Springfield, was born at
Chicopee, August 12, 1843, and is the son of
James Alexander and Eliza (Grant) Mutell.
His father was born and educated in England,
whence he emigrated to the city of St. John,
New Brunswick, while yet a young man. He
moved to Chicopee in 1838, and followed the
business of a house decorator, at a time when
interior decoration consisted principally of
painting and graining, being one of the first to
conduct that line of business in the above-
named place. He was very proficient in his
calling, and worked at it until his decease,
which occurred in 1844, when he was but
thirty-two years of age. Mr. Mutell was a
man of industrious and exemplary habits, and
an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal
church. His wife was a native of St. John,
New Brunswick, and there the couple were
married. Immediately after her husband's
death Mrs. Mutell, with her only child, the
subject of this article, moved to Springfield,
where she still resides. She also is a devoted
adherent to the Methodist faith.
Charles Wesley :\Iutell was educated in the
public schools of Springfield, and after attend
ing the high school entered the insurance office
of'^Ladd Brothers. He enlisted as a private
in Company A, Forty-sixth Massachusetts
Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, on August 15,

356

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1862, when scarcely more than eighteen years
old, and followed the fortunes of that regiment
during its service in North Carolina and other
parts of the South until his discharge, which
occurred July 29, 1863. On July 8, 1864, he
re-enlisted as First Sergeant in the Forty-
second Massachusetts Infantry, and was dis
charged on November 11 of the same year,
having served mostly upon guard and provost
duty in and around Washington. He was com
missioned Second Lieutenant of the Fifty-fifth
Massachusetts Infantry on November 16, 1864,
and the following April was promoted to the
rank of First Lieutenant and Adjutant, finally
being discharged from the volunteer service,
August 29, 1865, as Brevet Captain, United
States Army. The Fifty-fifth saw most of its
service in South Carolina, and was in front of
Charleston during the siege, being the first to
enter the city on P'ebruary 21, 1865, after its
evacuation. Upon being mustered out of ser
vice, Mr. Mutell returned to Springfield,
where he engaged in the book and stationery
business, occupying a store in the Haynes
Hotel Block when it was first opened, and was
thus employed for the period of one year, when
he purchased the spring-bed manufactory for
merly owned and carried on by Benjamin Eng
lish. At the end of two years he sold out and
entered the employ of George Dwight, Jr., in
the iron business. Here he had charge of the
office for twelve years, the concern doing a
very large and profitable business. In 1882 he
resigned the position to engage in his present
enterprise of manufacturing and dealing in
military and lodge uniforms and regalias,
lodge and society supplies of every descrip
tion. This enterprise was the first of its kind
to be founded in this city, and from a very
small beginning has rapidly developed to
something like mammoth proportions, the
trade extending from Halifax, N. S., to San
Francisco, Cal. Mr. Mutell's place of busi
ness is now in the Odd Fellows Building.
On November 25, 1868, Mr. Mutell most
happily entered into the bonds of matrimony
with Miss Lucy C. Pease, of Springfield, who
was born at Bath, Me., the daughter of Carlos
W, Pease, and educated in the public schools
of this city. They have two children — Annie

May and Grace A., the former being the wife
of Howes Norris, Jr., a resident of Boston.
Mr. Mutell is a stanch Republican, but is
always fair and consistent in his political
views. He has for a number of years been
actively interested in the State militia, being
formerly a private and also a Sergeant in the
old City Guards, and First Lieutenant and
Adjutant in the Battalion, Massachusetts Vol
unteer Militia, from August, 1867, to Decem
ber, 1868, Captain and Aide-de-camp in the
Third Brigade until June, 1870, and afterward
P'irst Lieutenant and Adjutant of the Second
Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia,
he being the originator of the plan for the lay
ing out of camps since adopted by the State.
He occupies a conspicuous position among the
Odd Fellows, having made himself well known
by organizing the De Soto Degree Staff, being
at the time Degree Master. He is a member
of De Soto Lodge, and also of the Grand
Lodge of Massachusetts, having passed all the
chairs in the subordinate body. He is also
a member of the Encampment and the Can
ton, being Colonel of the staff of General
Underwood. He is far advanced in the
Masonic fraternity, being a member of Ros
well Lee Lodge, also of the Chapter and Coun
cil ; and besides these he is connected with
Massasoit Lodge, Knights of Pythias, the
Knights of Honor, the Red Men, and is a
comrade of Wilcox Post, Grand Army of the
Republic. Mr. Mutell and wife are members
of the Unitarian church.

HARLES SPRAGUE BENNETT,
well known as a prosperous agricult
urist of his native town of Ludlow,
was born on the 21st of February,
1 82 1. His grandfather on the paternal side,
Charles Bennett, Sr. , was a native of the State
of Rhode Psland, whence he removed to Hamp
den County, Mass., and, purchasing land in
the northern part of Ludlow, here established
a home. Fle married Anne Sprague, also of
Rhode Island, who lived to the venerable age
of ninety-three years.
Their son, Charles Bennett, Jr., was born in
Rhode Island, and learned the trade of a

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

357

cooper, which he followed in his native State
for a number of years. Pie accompanied his
parents to Ludlow, purchased a tract of land in
the northern part of the town, and turned his
attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he
met with a fair degree of success. Upon the
farm which he had improved he resided until
his death, at the age of seventy-five years.
His wife, whose maiden name was Sally
Young, was a daughter of Rhode Island. Her
death occurred when she was in her sixtieth
year. The parental household included seven
children — Laura Ann; Emily; Seth Jenks;
Hannah; Charles S. and Sarah Y., twins; and
Lucinda M. Of these Charles Sprague and
Lucinda M. are the only survivors.
Charles Sprague Bennett was but eight
years old when he commenced work in a cot
ton-mill in Rhode Island, his parents having
returned to that State for a brief residence;
and he was thus employed almost continuously
until 1833, in which year the family returned
to Ludlow. He then worked in a mill at
Three Rivers for a time, after which he as
sisted his father on the farm until the age of
twenty-one, when he became associated with
him in its management, so continuing about
four years; and then he purchased thirty acres
of land from his father. This was the first
land he ever owned, and he felt proud in its
possession. He was industrious, and pos
sessed of sound judgment, and was very suc
cessful in his undertaking. As his means in
creased he added other acres, and has prob
ably been the owner at different times of more
land- than any other man in the town. In
1874 he sold his farm to the city of Spring
field, and bought the place where he now re
sides ; and here, surrounded by his children,
he lives in the enjoyment of comforts which
are the result of former years of industry.
On November 2, 1842, Mr. Bennett was
united in marriage with Anne Angeline Buell.
Mrs. Bennett was born in the town of Ludlow
on January 26, 1822, her parents being Chaun
cey and Anne (Lathrop) Buell. Chauncey
Buell was born in Somers, Conn., March i,
1793, and, being left an orphan while in in
fancy, was adopted by strangers, and brought
up to a life of farming. He accompanied his

foster-parents to Massachusetts, and at the
time of his marriage purchased a farm in the
northern part of Ludlow, residing upon it
until 1833, in which year he sold, and re
moved to PAidlow Centre, where he bought
a farm, and made it his home until his death,
which occurred on September 12, 1853. He
married Anne Lathrop on April 4, 1821.
She was born in East Windsor, Conn., De
cember 24, 1794, and died February 17, 1886.
They were the parents of six children — Anne
A., Chauncey L., Cordelia S. , Miriam C,
Amanda F'., and Lucina M.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have six children
living, as follows : Adelbert Lathrop, Fran-
celia O. , Charles B. , Annie S. , Franklin G. ,
and Merton R. Adelbert P.. married Helen
E. Spellman, and has three children — Leila,
Grace A., and Burtis A. Francelia O is the
wife of the Rev. C. H. Vinton. Charles B.
took for his wife Lillian T. Sargent, who died
on the 29th of October, 1876; he was a sec
ond time married, to Emma Green, and of
this union there are four children — George
G, ; Archie C. and Addie F. , twins; and
Ernest C. Annie S. is the wife of Charles F.
Fuller, and the mother of two children — Nel
lie A. and Raymond C. Franklin G. married
Ida May Groves, and has two children — Nina
M. and Florence L. Merton R. wedded Alice
E. Webster; and they have three children —
Howard W., Myron L., and Ralph D. Mr.
and Mrs, Bennett have one great-grandchild,
Gertrude May Atchison, the daughter of Fred
and Leila (Bennett) Atchison.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are worthy members
of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Ben
nett may truly be termed a self-made man.
Married at the age of twenty-one, he and his
wife started life entirely dependent upon their
own exertions, but worked together, Mrs. Ben
nett proving herself a true helpmate. They
were prospered in their endeavors, and enabled
to establish a good home, educate their chil
dren, and finally accumulate a competence for
their declining years. They celebrated their
golden anniversary more than two years ago,
and now, with their children happily settled in
homes of their own in their immediate neigh
borhood, can look back with complacency.

358

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

enjoy the blessings of the present, and view
the future with calm content.

"ENRY F. BAILEY, the oldest wagon
manufacturer in Springfield, where
|l9 I he has been in business since 1852,
at Nos. 83 to 89 Dwight Street,
was born in Coventry, R.I., October 29,
1829. He is a son of Ira Bailey, a butcher
and shoemaker, who was a native of Coventry,
and resided there a greater part of his life,
but died at Olneyville, R.I., of cholera, in
1848. He married Miss Martha Durphey,
and reared a family of eight children, as fol
lows : Sylvester and Syril, both of whom are
residents of Rhode Island : Maria, who is now
deceased; Chester, a resident of this city;
William, also deceased; Henry P". ; I^uth,
widow of a Mr. Tyler, of Rhode Island; and
Erastus, who went to Australia, and has never
since been heard from. Ira Bailey was an
officer in the militia, and his sword is now
in the possession of his descendants. The
Bailey family is of English descent.
From the age of five to the completion of
his fifteenth year Henry F. Bailey was bound
out to a farmer and cooper, who gave him
little or no opportunity of obtaining an educa
tion, the actual time he spent in school being
less than one year. At the age of fifteen
years he started out in the world for himself,
going first to Providence, where he found
employment in different kinds of work; and
here he realized the necessity of having at
least a fair education. He hastened to repair
this neglect by studying nights instead of
accompanying his companions in their amuse
ments, and by diligent application to his
books succeeded in furnishing himself with a
good practical knowledge of the branches of
learning usually taught in common schools.
After having worked in every department of a
cotton-mill at Providence, in 1852 he came
to Springfield for the purpose of keeping
books for his brother, C. L. Bailey, who was
here engaged in following the trade of a
blacksmith. Not being kept sufficiently busy
with the books, Henry also acquired the black
smith's trade, and worked for his brother for

a short time, after which he formed a partner
ship with him under the firm name of H. F.
Bailey & Co., which existed until 1862.
During their business association they
began the manufacture of wagons; and, C. L.
Bailey retiring from the business, Henry F.
purchased his interest, and continued to con
duct the enterprise alone. His business in
creased as the city advanced in population,
and he now employs a large number of work
men. His specialty is heavy wagons, for
which he has acquired a wide reputation, and
is constantly filling orders, his work being in
general demand. He has changed his location
but once, occupying to-day the same shop in
which he established his business after he left
his Court Street place, though having been
forced to enlarge his plant in order to facili
tate his constantly expanding trade; and he
is now by many years the oldest wagon manu
facturer in the city, with an uninterrupted
experience of forty-three years. He has
erected a fine four-story brick block at the
corner of Flanson Avenue and Dwight Street,
which is used for stores and manufacturing
purposes. The building in which he carries
on his business is of three stories, with sixty-
four feet front and a blacksmith-shop annex of
twenty-one feet, making in all a frontage of
one hundred and thirty feet on Dwight Street.
Mr. Bailey has also erected six substantial
residences. The prosperity thus indicated is
the result of his close application to business
and firm determination to succeed. When he
first came to Springfield he was forced to bor
row thirty-five dollars to assist in defraying
the expense of commencing housekeeping,
and now he is assessed for more than thirty-
five thousand dollars' worth of property. He
has been a member of Hampden Lodge, A. F.
& A. M., for twenty-eight years, and is a Re
publican in politics, but avoids any political
notoriety. On June 20, 1851, he married Miss Hannah
Boswell, of P""oster, R.I., she being the
descendant of an old Colonial family. Her
grandfather was a soldier of the Revolutionary
War; and many of his old documents, relating
to affairs of a century ago, are still in her
possession. Her father, William Boswell,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

359

was a prosperous farmer of Foster, where Mrs.
Bailey was born, April 12, 1829. Mr. and
Mrs. Bailey have had five children, three of
whom are living. Henry, a civil engineer,
was killed in the Custer massacre, while en
gaged in surveying a line through the Black
Hills region, at the age of twenty- five.
Eugene A. is in business with his father.
Lizzie A. married Chauncey Wing, of Green
field, Mass. Walter was another son, who
died young. And Irving Boswell Bailey is
also connected with his father's business.
Mrs. Wing has one son, Henry C; and
Irving B. Bailey has one daughter, Olive.
Mr. Bailey is the largest tax-payer but one in
Ward Seven. He has resided for ma-ny years
at 365 Central Street, and attends the Unita
rian church.

-OSEPH CLARK PARSONS, who was
for many years a prominent citizen of
Holyoke, and largely interested in
developing the industrial resources of
that city, was born at Northampton, February
6, 1814. He was a son of Justice and Lydia
(Clark) Parsons and a descendant of Joseph
Parsons who witnessed the execution of the
deed granting the present site of Springfield
to the white settlers by several Indian chief
tains in 1636. The descent continues in a
direct line from the latter through Joseph,
Jr., Noah, Sr., Noah, Jr., who was the father
of Justice Parsons, and was a collector of
taxes for Massachusetts in 1777.
Joseph Clark Parsons was educated at North
ampton, and at the age of fourteen began to
learn the drug business. In 1834 he estab
lished in company with Henry Stearns a drug
and medicine business, which also included
groceries; and this he continued until 1839,
when he sold his interest, and purchased a
farm in the town of Agawam, where he
resided much of the time during the remain
der of his life. In 1840 he assumed charge
of the mill of Ames Brothers at Northampton,
they being the original paper manufacturers
of the Connecticut valley; and in 1843 he
acted in the same capacity at their mill in
South Hadley. The last-named mill having

been destroyed by fire the same year, he pur
chased a paper mill at Suffield, Conn., and
organized the Eagle Mills Company with a
capital stock of thirty thousand dollars, and
changing it from a hand to a machine mill
operated it successfully until 1853, when he
sold the property, and moved to Holyoke,
where in company with Colonel Aaron Bagg,
of "West Springfield, and others, he organized
the Parsons Paper Company, of which he
became Treasurer. The capital stock of this
company was at its organization sixty thou
sand dollars, which was never increased, al
though in later years these figures were
merely nominal, as the business represented
a much larger amount, and the company real
ized very large profits from their investment.
Mr. Parsons is known as the father of the
paper industry of Holyoke, and was mainly
instrumental in making that city the paper-
manufacturing centre that it is. He was one
of the incorporators of the Third National
Bank of Springfield, Mass., and in 1872 was
elected its President, which position he held
until his decease, it having become under his
energetic management one of the most suc
cessful financial institutions in Western Mas
sachusetts. In connection with the bank and
Colonel Bagg he erected a fine business block
in the city of Springfield. He was a Director
in the Holyoke Manilla Company, the Farr
Alpaca Company, and the Valley Paper
Company, and was President of the Holyoke
& Westfield Railroad. He was an incor
porator of both the savings banks of that city
and a Director of the Hadley P""alls National
Bank. In 1878 his name was used, without his
consent, by the Republican State Committee
as a candidate for representative to Congress
from the Tenth District, and he was at the
same time nominated by the Independent
voters; but he promptly declined the honor.
He was married September 29, 1836, to Miss
Lucretia, daughter of Colonel George Colton,
of Springfield, and has had five children.
One son died in infancy; Elizabeth H. mar
ried C. P. Prescott, and died September 19,
1876; Fanny C. resides at home; Sarah is
the wife of E. Meekins, of Springfield, now

360

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

a member of Meekins, Packard & Co. ; and
Katherine Turner, wife of E. C. Taft, of
Holyoke. Mr. Parsons continued to act as
Treasurer of the Parsons Paper Company until
his death, which occurred in 1886.

|DWARD CALVIN TAFT, of Holyoke,
a descendant of Robert Taft, who emi
grated to America from England in
1646, was born at Uxbridge, January 29,
1846. He is the son of Calvin Taft, who for
many years was a resident of Worcester,
Mass., and became a very successful cotton
broker in the Southern States. Edward C.
Taft was educated at Phillips Academy, An
dover, Mass., and after finishing his studies
connected himself with the Franklin Paper
Company of Holyoke, of which his father was
President; and there he was made familiar
with all the details of paper manufacturing.
In 1869 his father purchased the mill operated
by the Hampden Paper Company, of which
Edward assumed charge; and in the same year
he organized the Albion Paper Company, with
a capital stock of sixty thousand dollars, of
which he became manager and agent. In
1877 they built their present mill, which
covers an area of over one hundred and twenty
thousand square feet, containing three stories.
In 1870 Mr. Edward C. Taft married Miss
Katherine Turner Parsons, daughter of the
late Joseph C. Parsons, and has one daughter,
Lucretia P. Taft. He is now recognized as
one of Holyoke's oldest and most capable
manufacturers, and is largely identified with
the paper interests of the city.

J^R. WILLIAM LUCIUS ROBERTS
^=1 is a leading Springfield dentist, with
9y an excellent reputation, and a thor
oughly equipped office in the Court
Square Theatre Building. Derby, Vt., was
the place of his birth, which occurred on
February 21, 1858, while various national dis
turbances were hastening the outbreak of the
slaveholders' Rebellion.
Charles Smith Roberts was his father; and
the mother was Flavilla Libbey Roberts, be

longing to a leading family in Enosburg,
Vt., some members of which had been conspic
uous for their patriotism. Her father, Caleb
Libbey, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and
descended from English immigrants. Charles
S. Roberts was born in Strafford in 181 5, just
as peace was proclaimed with Great Britain
after the disastrous troubles which had induced
the "War of 1812. They have had three chil
dren. The eldest, born in 1842, was Sarah
Jane Roberts ; but she died in girlhood, aged
thirteen. The younger son is our present sub
ject. His elder brother, born in 1845, is Dr.
Oscar Waldo Roberts, a leading Springfield
physician. The Roberts family is said to be
of Scotch origin. The Doctor's grandfather
was Captain Jonathan Roberts, an Enosburg
farmer, of early Revolutionary fame. Evi
dently there were giants in those days, for
both Grandfather Roberts and Grandfather
Libbey were men of powerful physique as well
as military proclivities.
William L. Roberts was educated chiefly in
the public schools at Enosburg Falls, but
took a finishing course at Deane Academy, in
Bakersfield, not far from his home. He then
spent three years in the printing-office of the
St. Albans Messenger, owned and edited by
Colonel Albert Clarke, now the Secretary of
the Home Market Club, of New England.
Young Roberts learned every detail of the pro
fession, and finally became himself an editor.
Then he went home to Enosburg Falls, a
village on the Missisque River, near Lake
Champlain, in the north-western part of Ver
mont, not far from St. Albans, and there es
tablished a local weekly journal, which was
the first to mention the name of the distin
guished Vermont Senator, Mr. Edmund.s, in
connection with the presidency. Having an
opportunity of selling his flourishing paper at
good advantage, he did so in 1879. On the
first day of December, that year, he was united
in marriage to Nellie Minor Jones, belonging
to an old, influential, and wealthy family in
Ferrisburg, Vt. ; and there was born the next
year, on the first day of September, a son —
Earl Oscar Roberts. This was indeed an
eventful year in the young editor's life, for
during this very period he was studying at

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

361

the Boston Dental College. Then the young
couple went to Spencer, Mass., where Dr.
Roberts practised six years, till ill health com
pelled a cessation. In 1886 he resumed his
profession, this time in the old, historic, sea-
coast town of Weymouth, Mass. ; and there
he continued another five years, meanwhile
starting the South Shore Co-operative Bank,
whereof he was the first Secretary and Treas
urer, and for which he headed the petition to
the legislature. His last important change
was the removal in 1891 to Springfield, where
he has a very lucrative business. The Roberts
home is No. 87 Ingersoll Grove, and is situated
in the McKnight .district. The Doctor and
his wife have genial social qualities; and he
belongs to Roswell Lee Masonic Lodge, Morn
ing Star Royal Arch Chapter, and Springfield
Council, Royal and Select Masons.

I^|0MAN ALBERT CRANE, a promi
nent farmer of East Longmeadow, was

born at Enfield, Conn., February
19, 1842. His father, Hezekiah
Backus Crane, was born at East Windsor,
Conn. ; and his grandfather, Warham Crane,
was, as far as can be ascertained, a native of
that State. He married Eunice Barber, and
passed his later years at East Windsor, where
he was engaged in farming.
Hezekiah B. Crane was reared upon the
farm, but in early manhood entered the dry-
goods business at Hartford, Conn., which he
continued for some years. Moving at length
from there to Springfield, he entered into the
confectionery business with Horace Kibbe;
and later George Kibbe, a brother of his part
ner, was admitted to the firm, which was
known as Kibbe & Crane. The factory was
located at the corner of Sanford and Market
Streets, and Mr. Crane remained as a partner
in the enterprise for nearly twenty years.
Then selling his interest to Kibbe Brothers,
he purchased a house in New Britain, Conn.,
in which town he resided for some time, later
removing to East Longmeadow, where he
passed the remainder of his days, his decease
occurring at the age of sixty-nine years. The
maiden name of his wife, who died at thirty-

nine years of age, was Angelina Gowdy. She
was a native of Somers, Conn., daughter of
Robert and Ann (Henry) Gowdy.
Roman Albert moved with his parents to
the city of Springfield when he was seven
years of age, and was educated in the public
schools. At the age of sixteen he began to
work in the confectionery factory ; but, after
continuing there for a period of three years,
his health became impaired from confinement,
and it was deemed advisable for him to re
linquish his indoor work. He accordingly
selected agriculture as a more healthy occupa
tion, and at the age of twenty-two purchased a
farm of seventy-five acres in East Longmeadow,
which he has successfully conducted up to the
present time. He has been quite an extensive
traveller, having visited all points of interest
east of the Mississippi River, and has passed
the last two winters in Springfield.
In 1864 he was united in marriage to Miss
Elizabeth Avery, of South Windsor, Conn.,
daughter of Samuel T. Avery, a native of the
same town and the son of Samuel and Chloe
(Elmer) Avery. Her father was a farmer,
who passed his entire life in his native town,
and the maiden name of her mother was
Amelia Bunce. Mrs. Samuel T. Avery was
a daughter of Charles and Annie Bunce, of
Manchester, Conn.; and she still resides in
South Windsor, at the age of eighty-three
years. Mr. and Mrs. Crane have three sons
— Frank A., Arthur G., and Robert Samuel.
Frank A. married Miss Bertha Cadwell, of
East Longmeadow. Arthur G. wedded Lute
Hanscom, of Alfred, Me., and has one daugh
ter, named Marion Elizabeth.
Both Mr. Crane and his wife are members
of the First Congregational Church of East
Longmeadow. He served as clerk for the
Third Religious Society of Longmeadow
twenty-one years, also as clerk and Treasurer
of the church for eighteen years, and a num
ber of years was teacher in the Sunday-school.
He was one of the Trustees of the society
fund for twenty years and a Deacon for twelve
years. He is a Republican in politics, and
has served as a member of the School Com
mittee and also as Town Auditor. He is a
member of the Hampden Agricultural Society.

362

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

p -J ENJAMIN F. PEIRCE, for nearly
''~N twenty years an extensive carriage
^ ¦» manufacturer and a highly respected
citizen of Springfield, was born at
Peru, Berkshire County, Mass., October 10,
1 8 19. His parents were Isaac and Polly
(Webb) Peirce, his father having been a
native of the same town in Berkshire. Isaac
was a son of Levi Peirce, who was born at
Millbury, Mass., and was the grandfather of
R. V. Peirce, the prominent medical practi
tioner of Buffalo, N.Y., whose father, Duane
Peirce, learned his trade of carpenter of his
uncle, Isaac Peirce, and settled in Pennsyl
vania, where he died. The family are de
scendants of ancestors who came from England
two years subsequent to the landing of the
"Mayflower" pilgrims, one of whom figured
conspicuously in King Philip's War, and
among whose posterity have been many noted
men, including Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth
President of the United States.
Isaac Peirce became a prominent contractor
and builder. He erected the first United
States Hotel at Saratoga Springs, and fol
lowed his business extensively for many years,
eventually retiring to his farm at Peru, where
he passed his declining days, and died April
20, 1867, at the age of eighty-two. His
wife, Polly Webb, was a direct descendant of
John Webb, a prosperous farmer of Burling
ton, N.Y. ; and she became the mother of five
children who lived to reach maturity, all of
whom are now deceased except Benjamin, of
this article. The others were: Lorenzo, who
became a resident of La Fayette, Ohio, where
he died at the age of eighty-two years; the
Rev. William Webb Peirce, a clergyman of
the Methodist denomination, who was a mem
ber of the Troy Conference, and died at Nor
mal, 111.; Amelia, wife of Smith Phillips,
a resident of Williamsburg, Mass. ; and Alva,
a farmer, who died at the age of twenty-five
years. The parents were members of the
Congregational church at Peru.
Benjamin F. in his boyhood attended the
common schools of Peru and Wilbraham
Academy, and was preparing for college at
the Oberlin Collegiate Institute; but failing
health, caused from overstudy, prevented him

from accomplishing his purpose. After leav
ing Oberlin, he resided at Dalton, where he
was occupied for a time at cabinet-making;
but, deciding to follow his father's occupa
tion, he apprenticed himself to his brother
William, with whom he was to serve for a
period of seven years. The latter, however,
having determined to enter the ministry,
released him from the agreement at the expi
ration of five years, after which he settled at
New Britain, Conn., where he conducted busi
ness for several years, and erected many fine
houses in that town. He was then summoned
to the old homestead to care for his aged par
ents; and for a period of twenty years he suc
cessfully conducted the farm, during which
time he was the second largest tax-payer in
the town of Peru. He served there as Justice
of the Peace for over twenty years, at a time
when there was a great deal of business to be
transacted by such an officer, he hearing all
minor cases and drawing all deeds, wills, and
other legal documents executed in that town for
a space of sixteen years, also qualifying town
officers, and, in fact, attending to all business
requiring the services of a civil officer.
In 1862 he enlisted as a private in Com
pany C, Forty-ninth Massachusetts Volun
teers, the regiment becoming a part of General
Banks's command, serving at the siege of Port
Hudson, and remaining one year more than
their stipulated term of enlistment, which was
for nine months; and, although he was offered
a Captain's commission, he preferred to return
to his duties at home. He was elected to the
legislature in 1866, and served satisfactorily
one entire term. He held at various times
all of the important offices of the town, such
as Selectman and Assessor, and, although
himself without children, was exceedingly
active in securing much needed improvement
in the public schools of the town. Owing
to the impaired health of his wife, who had
hitherto taken charge of the extensive dairy
which formed the principal interest of their
farm, in 1875, subsequent to the death of his
parents, he removed to Springfield, having
exchanged farm property in Peru and Worth
ington for real estate in this city, and for the
next year was engaged in building houses.

i ¦'"?,

BENJAMIN F. PEIRCE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

365

In 1876 he established himself in business
as a street-car repairer, and for the next fif
teen years attended to that important work for
the street railway company, who constructed
a special track leading to his shops. Fle was
one of the first to provide the long car for this
city, which he did by combining or uniting
two of the old-fashioned short ones; and dur
ing his connection with the company he made
all the patterns for their improvements.
When electricity was introduced as a motive
power, he devoted his time and energy more
closely to carriage and wagon building, in
which he has made a specialty of heavy carts
and vehicles, and has built some very durable
hose carts for the city of Springfield. About
one year ago he moved his shops to a location
on Essex Street, near Main, having previously
added a horse-shoeing department to his busi
ness, which he conducted alone until 1894,
when he formed a partnership with Mr.
Spencer, with whom he now conducts an
extensive carriage-building and blacksmithing
business. On October 4, 1842, Mr. Peirce married
his first wife, Miss Samantha Sennet, of
Blandford, who died November 25, 1880,
leaving no children; and on February 9,
1882, he wedded for his second wife, Miss
Mary B. Gibbs, daughter of Porter Gibbs,
also of Blandford, a former school-teacher and
an extensive farmer of that town.
Mr. Peirce has been united with the Con
gregational church for many years, and has
always been active in its behalf, both himself
and wife being members of the Memorial
Church of this city, in which he is chairman
of the standing committee, and has been a
Bible class leader for more than half a cen
tury. He was Deacon in the Dalton Congre
gational church during his residence there.
He is a comrade of E. K. Wilcox Post of the
Grand Army of the Republic and a regular
attendant of all reunions, in which he mani
fests a great interest. Mr. and Mrs. Peirce
occupy a very pleasant residence at 45 Ban
croft Street.
The life of Mr. Peirce, who is now in his
seventy-sixth year, is thus seen to have been
one of varied and useful activity. He has not

only been diligent in his own business, but
has taken part in both the civil and military
service of his country. His portrait, to be
seen on an adjoining page, is a welcome
accompaniment to this brief biography.

"Cj DWARD H. MORGAN, a resident of
p Brimfield and a representative of one
-^^-.Mj ¦' of the oldest families of the town as
well as of the State, was born on the old
homestead, where he now resides, October 26,
1854. He is the son of Thomas J. and
Madelia A. (Patrick) Morgan, and grandson
of Justin and Sarah (Tyler) Morgan. The
previous ancestors were Aaron and Abigail
(Sherman) Morgan, Joseph and Margaret
(Cooley) Morgan, David and Deborah (Col
ton) Morgan, and Miles and Prudence (Gil
bert) Morgan. Miles Morgan emigrated from
Bristol, Wales, in 1636, and was one of the
early colonists who went from Roxbury to
Springfield, Mass. He and his wife. Pru
dence Gilbert, were the parents of one son,
David, mentioned above. He was born Feb
ruary 16, 1679, and was the first member of
the family to settle in Brimfield. His son,
Joseph, was a farmer by occupation, and was
the owner of two hundred acres of land adjoin
ing the lake. His son, Aaron, bought one
hundred acres of land, which has since been
known as "Little Rest." It has a pictur
esque location, lying in a pretty valley north
east of the lake, near a small creek. He
erected a saw and grist mill, to which, as it
was the only mill for miles around, people
brought their grain for grinding. Corn in
large quantities was also ground there for the
use of soldiers during the war of the Revolu
tion. The original timbers are in use to this
day; the buildings, however, have been en
larged and improved. Aaron Morgan became
a prosperous and noted man in the commu
nity. He held the rank of Sergeant in the
Continental army during the Revolutionary
War, and was a Colonel in the State militia.
At home he was elected Assessor and Town
Clerk. In religion he held liberal views.
Justin Morgan, son of Aaron, was born on
his father's farm, March 8, 1777, and assisted

366

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

his father at home till he had reached man
hood. He then engaged in the manufacture
of gunpowder, which he continued for many
years. He purchased the old homestead, and
was actively engaged there until his death,
which occurred January 13, 1843. He was a
Whig, and held various offices in the town.
In religion he was a member of the Congre
gational church, and was one of the original
founders and active members of Humanity
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of Brimfield. He
was the father of eleven children, as follows:
Maria, Horace, Albert, Mary, Thomas, Frank
lin, Thomas ]., Jane E., Moses T., George
B., and Sarah R.
Thomas J., father of Edward H. Morgan,
was born February 12, 1823, and was educated
in the public schools of Wilbraham and in the
Monson Academy. He, in turn, purchased
the old homestead on which he was born. He
engaged in farming and milling, and was also
occupied for about twelve years in the manu
facture of shoe nails, his uncle Thomas being
the inventor of the original machine for cut
ting and heading nails in one operation, made
in this country. In 1862 he enlisted in Com
pany G, Forty-sixth Regiment, Massachusetts
Infantry, and served eleven months, holding
the rank of Sergeant. He is a member of the
Arthur Johnson Post, Grand Army of the Re
public, and is a stanch Republican in politics.
He has held the offices of Selectman three
years. Assessor three years, and has served as
member of the School Committee and Over
seer of the Poor. In the fall of 1872 he was
elected a Representative to the legislature of
1873. On May 12, 1853, Mr. Morgan was
married to Miss Madelia A. Patrick, who was
born November 22, 1830, and died May 10,
1893, having been the mother of five children.
All of these are now deceased save Edward H.
Edward H. Morgan was born on the old
homestead where so many of his forefathers
first saw the light. He received his educa
tion in the public schools and at the Brimfield
High School, and later became identified with
his father's farming and milling operations.
He married Sarah A. Bigelow, November 8,
1888. Mr. Morgan, like his father, is a Re
publican in politics, and takes an active and

intelligent interest in the affairs of his town,
in which he is one of the foremost citizens.

gourney Joy Bowen,
only three years old.

AMES LORENZO BOWEN is the
head of the Springfield firm of Bowen
& Son, and also editor of the Paper
World and Good Housekeeping. He
was born in Marlboro, Vt. , on the second day
of April, 1842, while John Tyler was Presi
dent, and has been foremost in patriotic, phil
anthropic, and literary efforts throughout his
manhood. The progenitors of the Bowen family in
America were three brothers from Wales, who
settled in Rhode Island during the seventeenth
century. James L. Bowen' s father was Orrin
Monroe Bowen ; and the mother, Harriet Si-
died when her boy was
Orrin Bowen was born
in the first days of 1820, in Monroe, Franklin
County, Mass. ; but at the age of twelve he
went to North Adams to work. Reaching
maturity, he crossed the border into Vermont,
where he lived in different places, working
from the age of twenty-five to forty-five as
a fuller in woollen-mills. Then, in 1865, he
removed to Readsboro, in the same State,
where he spent his last score of years, dying in
1887. Orrin's father, the grandfather of our
subject, was another James Bowen, a Reads
boro farmer.
Being left motherless, young James spent
the years from three to sixteen with this
grandfather till the old man's death. Then
the lad rejoined his father in North Adams,
learning the paternal trade of fulling, and not
having had the opportunity of more than two
years of education in the public schools.
Before James attained his majority the Civil
War broke out; and on July 25, 1862, he en
listed in Company E of the Thirty-seventh
Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteers, which
was sent at once to the Army of the Potomac,
where the men were soon in the thick of the
fights around P^redericksburg. At Gettysburg
young Bowen was wounded, though the injury
might not have proved so serious had it re
ceived proper treatment. After a few days in
different hospitals the patient was sent North,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

367

reaching New York City the very day that the
cruel and murderous draft riots against the
negroes broke out. Partly in consequence of
this he could not receive the best attention at
Bedloe's Island, and gangrene attacked his
wound. This induced his removal to the gen
eral hospital at Newark, N.J. On July 20,
1863, a furlough was accorded; and in the
autumn, on October 3, James Bowen was mar
ried. The winter wore away, and spring found
him still unable to resume military duty; so
he was finally discharged for disability on
April 21, 1864. The old wound has never
ceased to be troublesome, and for two years
crutches were indispensable.
Unable to continue his old trade, he now
tried to earn a livelihood with his pen, writing
for various publishers, and contributing war
stories to the metropolitan journals. A little
later he tried his hand at photography in North
Adams; but this was given up for the editor
ship of a local paper, of which he became part
owner in 1870 — the Hoosac Valley Neivs.
He also edited a semi-monthly called the
Temperance Album, being deeply zealous in
the reform it represented. The Album was
soon disposed of to Boston parties ; and in
1872 Mr. Bowen sold out his other North
Adams interests, and came to the office of the
Springfield Republican, which he served in
many different capacities till 1890, an honor
able term of eighteen years. His next busi
ness association was with Clark W. Bryan &
Co., publishers, where he is still employed
part of the time, though having in charge other
affairs. When typewriting was in its infancy,
he engaged in this industry, not only working
at the machine, but teaching others its use,
till that branch of instruction was taken up by
commercial schools, though Mr. Bowen still
deals in articles needed in the pursuit. One
son, Frank, was taken into partnership in
1888, and another, Alfred, at New Year's,
1894. In 1887 Mr. Bowen began acting as attorney
for pension claims, finding much patronage in
this department, for which his experience as
a soldier and military historian specially qual
ified him. His first vote was cast just after
his discharge from the army, for Lincoln's

second election. In 1869, while in North
Adams, he became one of the earliest members
of the Charles D. Sanford Grand Army Post,
No. 79, in which he held several offices.
While on the staff of the Republican his time
for Grand Army work was limited; but he
passed through the various subordinate offices
till elected Commander of the E. K. Wilcox
Post for 1888 and 1889. In these years he
was a delegate to the State Encampment ; and,
when the National Encampment was held in
Boston in the summer of 1890, he was on the
Resolutions Committee, Avhereof the chairman
was the venerable ex- Vice-President Hannibal
Hamlin, already ninety years of age, having
been born with our century.
In a literary line Mr. Bowen has been of
great service to the Grand Army cause ; for in
1884 there appeared a valuable duodecimo of
five hundred pages, on which he had been two
years busy, and which has been highly praised
by competent judges. This was the history of
his regiment, the Thirty-seventh, in the Civil
War. In doing this work he began to feel the
deep need of a larger record of the part taken
by the old Bay State in the war. The result
was his unique octavo volume of ten hundred
and fifty pages, which is not only provided
with an ingenious and thorough index, but is
very systematically arranged. The first hun
dred pages give a general history of the State's
relation to the war for the Union. Next fol
lows a full account of the State military or
ganization during the war period, from 1861
to 1865. In the body of the work is a section
devoted to each of our sixty-two regiments,
besides the battalions of heavy and light artil
lery, detached batteries, and independent com
panies ; and there are biographies of the gen
eral officers, with many portraits. A second
edition has already been called for, the copy
right dating from 1888, and the compilation
requiring five years of solid labor during in
tervals snatched from the author's duties on
his paper, which were never neglected, though
these histories alone would have been a large
enough task for any one man in that time.
In the midst of his inquiries along the
historic line and in harmony therewith, our
narrator was appointed by the legislature a

368

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

member of the committee, of which Colonel
Charles H. Hovey was chairman, to visit Get-
ty.sburg and locate the positions occupied by
Massachusetts soldiers in the battle, Mr.
Bowen being especially interested in the se
lection of sites upon which the three monu
ments should be erected to mark the sacrificial
devotion to national unity of the three Massa
chusetts regiments of the Sixth Corps — the
Seventh, Tenth, and Thirty-seventh. To his
lot fell the sacred duty of making an address
for all the three regiments at the dedication of
the monuments ; and in the Gettysburg excur
sion which he planned for that purpose there
was a company of two hundred pilgrims, chiefly
from Western Massachusetts, some of whom
journeyed still farther south. When his regi
mental history was completed, he was elected
President of the Regimental Association, occu
pying this honorable post from 1884 to 1888;
and so persistent is his devotion to its interests
that even now, in 1895, he is its Secretary.
Advocacy of the temperance cause led Mr.
Bowen into membership of the order of Good
Templars, and from 1890 to 1893 he was Grand
Chief Templar of Massachusetts. Though this
involved travelling ten thousand miles an
nually, he was able to accomplish it without
detriment to his regular journalistic calling.
As already intimated, his marriage took
place October 3, 1863, the bride being a native
of North Adams, Sabra Jane Cada, born on
November 28, 1840, a daughter of Joel P.
Cada, of an old agricultural family in that
region. Eight children have been the fruit of
this marriage, four of whom still live. Frank
Hunter Bowen, born in 1866, and Alfred Mon
roe Bowen, born in 1873, are in business
with their father. Edward Nelson Bowen,
born in 1871, entered the New York Univer-
sit)' Medical College in 1894. Lorenzo
Bowen, born in 1 881, is now, 1895, in the
grammar school. Always broad in their theo
logical ideas, the Bowens have affiliated with
the Universalist church ; and while in North
Adams Mr. Bowen was superintendent of the
Sunday-school, besides aiding the cause in
other ways. The family residence has long
been on Greene Street, and the home is very
attractive to the visitor.

family tia A.,
Silver,
residesWalter

ARCUS M. GOODELL, Vice-
President of the Springfield Lum
ber Company, was born at
Brimfield, Mass., August 7, 1844.
His parents were Walter and Mary (Marcy)
Goodell, his father, a stone mason by occu
pation, being also a native of Brimfield,
where he was an extensive contractor for the
erection of heavy walls and mill dams. His
decease occurred in 1863, at the age of about
sixty years. He also owned and conducted a
farm and attained a position of local promi
nence, being one of the Selectmen, an earnest
member of the Baptist church, and in every
way a highly respected citizen. Pie had a
of seven children, as follows : Celes-
of Brimfield; Eliza A., wife of James
a resident of California; Silas, who
at Hartford ; Sarah Jane, deceased ;
also deceased; Marcus M., who died
young; and Marcus M., who forms the subject
of this record.
Mrs. Mary Goodell, the mother of Marcus
M., died in 1847, when he was but three years
of age, leaving him thus early deprived of her
loving care. He attended the schools of his
native town, and at eighteen years of age, in
1862, enlisted as a private in Company G,
Thirty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, going
first to the defence of Washington. After a
year's service at the national capital his regi
ment joined the Army of West Virginia, with
which it continued, passing through many im
portant engagements, concluding its services
in front of Petersburg. Young Goodell was
made a prisoner just before the battle of Mid
dletown, and taken to the famous Libby
Prison, where he suffered the hardships of con
finement for over four months, weighing when
captured one hundred and seventy pounds, and
but one hundred and twenty at his release,
having grown prematurely old from the effects
of exposure and ill treatment. After being
paroled he went to Parole Camp, where he
remained until exchanged, reaching his regi
ment two days after the surrender of General
Lee. He was mustered out at Richmond, having
served three years, and, returning to New
England, worked at the carpenter's trade for

ELIZA J ASHLEY NICHOLS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

37'

two years in Flartford About the year 1867
he came to Springfield to engage in contract
ing with Joyce & Burnham, remaining with
them, however, but a short time, as he pre
ferred to conduct business on his own account,
which he did very successfully for a period of
fifteen years. He erected a large number of
buildings, and later increased his enterprise
by purchasing of Charles C. Ferry the Spring
field Planing Mill, which was an extensive
plant, doing upward of fifty thousand dollars'
worth of business per year. This he increased
to nearly or quite double that amount, giving
employment to sixteen skilled workmen, and
adding the manufacture of cabinet and house
finishings. In 1893 the Springfield Lumber Company
was organized; and to this he transferred his
business, being elected Vice-President of the
new enterprise. They occupy spacious and
well - appointed yards, heavily stocked with
every variety of lumber, which they dispose of
to a large trade, and also manufacture house-
finishing materials of every description used
in the erection and finishing of buildings. It
is a well-established concern, with a capital
of twenty thousand dollars ; and Mr. Goodell
devotes his entire time and energy to the sus
taining and developing of the business. Dur
ing his career as a building contractor he
erected the Morgan Envelope factory and the
Forbes & Wallace building, two of the very
best structures in the city, besides many other
well-known buildings.
He was married November 15, 1872, to
Miss Emma Ducker, who was born in London,
England, but came to the United States with
her parents when she was six years of age,
her father being Edward Ducker, of this city.
They have had four children, as follows: Al
fred M., who is now foreman of the planing-
mill; Irving M. and Edward E., both of whom,
having finished their education, are now in the
mill for the purpose of acquiring knowledge of
the business ; and Laura, who died at the age
of ten years.
The family are members of the Advent
church, but are liberal in contributing to
the support of other religious denominations.
Since 1880 Mr. Goodell has resided at 23

Eastern Avenue, being one of the first to
make his home in that part of the city, which
has now become a most admirable location.
For a period of twelve or fourteen years he
conducted what was known as the Monroe
Street Mission ; but, as Hope Church built in
that vicinity, it was no longer needed, and he
presented the building to the Advent society.
Mr. Goodell is a member of the Royal Arca
num and a Republican in politics.

LIZA J. ASHLEY NICHOLS, a highly
esteemed resident and property owner
in that part of West Springfield
known as Ashleyville, was born on the
estate, April 3, 1840. Her father, William
Ashley, was born in the neighboring town of
Westfield; and her grandfather, Eli Ashley,
is supposed to have been a native of the same
place. Eli Ashley married Miss Eunice Ash
ley, who was born in West Springfield.
William Ashley was the eldest of three
children, and was but fourteen years old when
his father died. No property having been
left to the widow, William bravely set to
work to fill in a measure his father's place
and help in the support of the family. At
the time of his marriage he settled on the
John Ashley farm, which finally came into his
possession. He died there in his sixty-second
year. William Ashley married Eliza Cham
pion, who was born in Hampden County, and
was the daughter of Harvey and Hannah
(Ashley) Champion. Her death took place
when she was fifty-eight years old. "Their
children were: Homer, who resides in Bos
ton; Corintha, deceased in 1876; William,
who resides in Syracuse, Otoe County, Neb. ;
Harvey, who died in 1882; and Eliza Jane,
Mrs. Nichols.
Eliza Jane Ashley was educated in her
native town, and resided with her parents till
her marriage in 1865 to Edwin E. Nichols.
Mr. Nichols was born in Springfield, August
S, 1839, and was the son of Willard and Sarah
(Allis) Nichols. He had a natural taste for
mechanics, and was employed in the govern
ment water-shops in Springfield for a time;
later he worked for the Boston & Albany

372

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Railroad Company. After his marriage he
gave a part of his time to farm work on the
homestead lands till 1879, "when he went
South to Savannah, Ga., where he died August
16, 1889. His remains were brought again
to his home to be laid in their final resting-
place. Mrs. Nichols has one daughter, named
Edith, the wife of Edward J. Billings.
Mrs. Nichols succeeded her parents in the
ownership of the Ashley homestead, and since
1879 has managed it in a thoroughly success
ful manner. The farm consists of about
sixty-five acres of land, which, added to other
lands belonging to her, make about one hun
dred acres all together. The buildings are
pleasantly located on a rise of ground over
looking the Connecticut River and surround
ing country. The house, which might well
be the envy of the city dweller, is reputed to
be one of the oldest among the old houses in
town, having been erected over one hundred
years ago. It is built in a substantial man
ner, is well preserved, and presents an appear
ance of comfort and stability such as belongs
especially to the houses standing on the fine
old farms in New England, and which seem
to connect the modern with the honored times
of our worthy forefathers.
An excellent likeness of Mrs. Nichols will
be recognized among the portraits of honora
ble women of Hampden County, descendants
of early settlers, which find a place bet'ween
the covers of this "Review."

LI A. STODDARD, a prominent farmer
of Chicopee, was born at Winchendon,
Mass., July 16, 1828. His father,
Levi Stoddard, was a native of the same town.
The grandfather, Leavitt Stoddard, was a son
of David Stoddard, a former resident of Hing
ham, who purchased a large tract of land at
Winchendon, which he cultivated extensively,
and there resided until his death at the age
of seventy-five years. Leavitt Stoddard was
reared to farm life, and followed agriculture
during the summer, the winters being devoted
to the business of the making of shingles,
which at that time were made by hand. He
also drove an ox team, transporting merchan

dise and supplies between Boston and his na
tive town, a distance of sixty miles. He died
at the age of seventy-five years. His wife,
Ruth Hale by maiden name, was a life-long
resident of Winchendon.
Levi Stoddard, father of Eli A., inherited
land from his father, and by industry increased
his farm property to a considerable extent, fol
lowing agriculture successfully for many years.
Besides being a progressive farmer, he was
a natural mechanic, and, although he never
acquired the trade, might have followed it
with every assurance of success; but his love
for the independent life of a farmer predomi
nated, and he died upon his farm, in his
eighty-second year. The maiden name of his
wife, the mother of Eli A. Stoddard, was
P"reelove Smith. She was a native of Fitz
william, N. H., and daughter of Daniel and
Thankful Smith. She was called to her rest
at the age of sixty-six years, having reared
three children — Levi, Eli A., and Daniel.
Eli A. Stoddard received a practical educa
tion in the schools of his native town, where
he resided until 1859, when he came to Chico
pee, and engaged in the preparation of hulled
corn and hominy. He also dealt in milk, and
conducted business with profitable results for
a period of thirty years. In 1870 he pur
chased his present farm, and in 1873 erected
the residence which he now occupies, together
with other farm buildings of substantial char
acter and appearance, and since 1890 has de
voted his time and energies to general farm
ing, also carrying on a fine dairy.
In 1851 he was united in marriage to Mrs.
Phebe (Poor) Baldwin, of Winchendon, daugh
ter of John M. Poor, a millwright of that
town, who was a son of Luther and Lydia
Poor. Pier father passed the greater portion
of his life in Winchendon, and died at Atlan
tic City, N.J., aged seventy-two years. The
maiden name of Mrs. Stoddard's mother was
Olive Wales. She was also of Winchendon,
and was the daughter of Jacob and Phebe
Wales. She died in her native town at the
age of forty-nine years. Mrs. Stoddard's first
husband, whom she wedded at the age of eigh
teen, was Henry Baldwin, a carpenter of Tem
pleton, Mass. He died at the early age of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

373

twenty year-s, the father of one son, John H.
Baldwin. The latter married Minnie Jewett,
and has two sons, named respectively Harold
and Howard.
Mr. Stoddard is independent in politics, and
is a man well informed upon all the important
issues of the day, and one who takes a keen
and intelligent interest in the welfare of his
town.

iL.\RK W. BRYAN, the senior mehv
ber of the publishing house at Spring-^
field from which issue monthly the
Paper World, Good Housekeeping,
Library Bulletin, and Amateur Gardening,
was born at Harpersfield, N. Y., August 12,
1824, the year when General Lafayette trav
elled through the United States by invitation
of Congress. From 1841 to 1845 he served
an apprenticeship in the office of the Catskill
Messenger, then published by his brother,
William Bryan. Afterward he worked as a
journeyman, both in Hudson, N. Y., where his
brother lived, and in New York City. At
different periods between 1846 and 1852 he
was connected with the late J. D. Gushing in
the publication of the Berkshire Courier at
Great Barrington, Mass., and then entered the
office of the Springfield Republican. Here he
first took a position in the editorial room, but
later was attached to the business department,
becoming partner for twenty years in the firm
of Samuel Bowles & Co.
From June, 1872, to March, 1878, in com
pany with others, he published the Springfield
Daily Union, and from January, 1879, to
March, 1888, was associated with his eldest
son, James A. Bryan, in publishing the Berk
shire Courier. On New Year's Day, 1880, at
Holyoke, he established the Paper World, and
in May, 1885, Good Housekeeping. His time
was divided between Holyoke and Great I-5ar-
rington until February, 1887, when the Plol
yoke enterprise was moved to Springfield. In
March, 1888, the office at Great Barrington
was sold ; and since that time, in company
with his son, James A, (and, till the summer
of 1893, the late William R. Bryan), his time
and attention have been absorbed in his serial

publications, adding the Library Bulletin to
the list in November, 1889, and Amateur
Gardening in 1892. The popular verdict in
regard to Mr. Bryan during the vicissitudes of
fifty years has been this : "Honest as gold and.
square as a brick. "
Since he first came to Springfield, riding on
a locomotive, to bring the Berkshire election
returns for the Republican, Mr. Bryan's expe
riences have been vastly varied. In 1853 he
set up the first cylinder press in Springfield
for job printing, and that machine is still
running. On removing from Holyoke, his
plant was at first located at the corner of Har
rison Avenue and Dwight Street; but in 1888
the Beldin book-bindery was bought, and the
Bryans now occupy the five-story fire-proof
building, Nos. 39, 41, and 43 Lyman Street.
Nine presses occupy the basement. Conven
iently arranged on the street floor are count
ing and editorial rooms and a large and well-
lighted composing-room. The floor above is
devoted to the folding and mailing department
and a portion of the bindery; but the latter
also requires the entire fourth floor.
All the publications are well printed; and
the Paper World not only reaches the trade in
this country, but goes all over the globe, espe
cially to Europe. Its success is due not only
to its careful preparation, but to the impulse
received from Mr. Bryan's experience and in
tegrity. Good Housekeeping is an illustrated
magazine, devoted to domestic affairs; and it
reflects the happy home life of the Bryans.
The company also publishes many volumes of
meritorious and standard works, and employs
nearly a hundred hands, the plant being one of
the completest in this section of New Eng
land. Mr. Bryan's letters to the Republican
and to the Union have been among the best.
Over a half-century ago, when B. P. Shillaber
(Mrs. Partington) published the Carpet Bag,
Mr. Bryan's contribution created unusual in
terest; and it is a fact not generally known
that some of the best poems in the Republican
were of his authorship. "The Book of Berk
shire," the only accurate guide to that delight
ful region, has been one of his most profit
able ventures. He has been President of
the Springfield Press Club, a member of the

374

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

School Committee, a Director in the Board of
Trade, the Third National Bank, the f-porti-
cultural Society, and of the Improvement As
sociation, and a Trustee of the Historical So
ciety. Mr. Bryan has had four children; but only
two reached maturity — James A. and William
R. Bryan, both educated, earnest, and practical
men, familiar with every department of pub
lishing. William died in July, 1893. When
Clark W. Bryan became connected with the
Great Barrington Courier, in 1846, there were
only three other papers published in Berkshire
County, one in North Adams and two in Pitts
field. Now Berkshire has about twenty papers,
although in the intervening half-century the
population of the county has only doubled.
The following graphic reminiscences are re
produced from the Republican :
" 'Does country journalism pay.'' was asked
Mr. Bryan, recently. 'That depends on the
man and the field,' was the reply. 'In the
old days, when I was in Great Barrington, one
thousand was considered a big circulation.'
'Could a man support himself and family in
comfort on that.?' 'In those days — yes.
The cost of making a weekly newspaper in
Great Barrington was small forty years ago.
Editor Gushing used to have his daughter set
type. There were no journeymen pressmen or
compositors, and the only help outside the
family came from one or two boy apprentices
living in the family.' 'Did you have re
porters to write up Farmer B. 's new cider-
press or the Methodist quilting-party .?' 'Local
news was not reported in those days, only
items from abroad. Nowadays a country
paper would have no reason for existence
without its local items, but then the farmer
depended upon it for all hiss news. We
printed the doings of Congress and the State
legislature, and always had the latest news
from Europe in a column at the top of which
appeared a full-rigged ship. That cut was a
great hit. When steam replaced sails, we got
a cut of a steamer. The old papers generally
had a picture of a runaway slave; and, when
ever a negro ran away, out came the cut.'
'Plate matter was unheard of, I presume.'
'It would have been an overwhelming dis

grace for a country weekly to use a patent
inside. The miscellany was especially se
lected by the editor, a story being a leading
feature.' 'How did you distribute papers in
the old days .¦" Of course the bulk of the cir
culation was in the country, and railroads were
scarcely begun. ' 'The Great Barrington
Courier employed post-riders, and their arri
val was a great event in the week's history.
At almost every stopping-place the manager
would find all the children, and perhaps the
farmer and his wife, awaiting him at the gate.
Later the stage superseded the post-riders. '
'When you returned to Great Barrington in
1879, you must have been greatly impressed
by the change in the conditions.' 'Previously
I had used a hand-press, but now steam-power
was necessary. Local and personal news had
become most important, and I employed corre
spondents in every town in Southern Berk
shire. The big dailies were coming from
Springfield, Boston, and New York ; the coun
try newspaper competition had largely in
creased. New journals had been established
in towns just over the New York and Con
necticut line, and also in Pittsfield, Lee, and
,other nearer places. The people had become
greater readers, and the cost of manufacture
was less. In the old days country newspapers
got no outside advertising, and soliciting was
unheard of. The first solicited advertisement
I ever saw was one the New York Evening
Post obtained in Springfield. By 1879, 5^°^"
ever, the advertising business had been revo
lutionized, and the Courier was deriving quite
an income through its relations with a New
York agency.' 'Do country editorials have
much influence?' 'More than they receive
credit for, for there was a time when a North
ampton weekly had as much influence as the
present Daily Republican. ' ' '

^>HINEAS STEDMAN, a retired
farmer of Chicopee, a well-known,
public-spirited citizen, the original
of the portrait on the opposite page,
was born in this town, July 5, 1816. His
father, Levi Stedman, was born at Stafford,
Conn. ; and his grandfather, Phineas, was a

PHINEAS STEDMAN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

377

son of Phineas Stedman, Sr. , of that State.
Phineas Stedman, the grandfather, after fol
lowing agricultural pursuits at Stafford for
many years, came to Springfield, Mass., and
resided on Liberty Street, later purchasing a
farm, where he passed his declining years.
His remains are interred in the cemetery on
Chicopee Street. The maiden name of his
wife was Sarah Howard, and she reared six
sons and one daughter. Levi Stedman was
very young when his parents moved to Spring
field. After his marriage he purchased a farm
in Chicopee, and here he resided until his
decease at the age of eighty-two years. His
wife, the mother of Phineas Stedman of this
sketch, was before her marriage Sophia Chapin,
of Chicopee, daughter of Ephraim Chapin, a
descendant of Deacon Samuel Chapin, an early
settler of Springfield. She died at the age of
eighty-four years, having reared nine children.
Phineas Stedman, son of Levi and Sophia,
was educated in the public schools of Chico
pee, and at the age of nineteen years com
menced teaching, his first experience as an
educator being at South Hadley, where he
taught a district school for four months, for
which he received the sum of fifty dollars, and
boarded among the patrons of the school. He
next presided over a school in Springfield for
two terms, and taught three terms in his own
district. The sessions of schools in those days
were confined to the winter season, and during
the summer he was engaged in farming. In
1855 he entered the employ of the Buffalo
Agricultural Machine Company as their New
England manager, and travelled in their in
terest for a period of four years, when he again
turned his attention to agriculture, and for
many years was engaged extensively in gen
eral farming, dairying, and stock-raising.
His farm on Chicopee Street consists of one
hundred acres of well-improved land, and is
now managed by his son, Edward Phineas
Stedman. Mr. Stedman travelled for the Moseley &
Stoddard Manufacturing Company for eleven
years, having charge of this business in Massa
chusetts and Connecticut. On October 16,
1839, he was united in marriage to Lucy
Pynchon Wright, a native of Hampden County,

daughter of Eber and Oral Wright ; and their
two children are Mary Ann and Edward
Phineas. The former married Edward Bel-
ding; and her brother, Edward Phineas, wedded
Catherine Hinsdale Cross, and has three chil
dren — Phineas, Benjamin, and Lucy W.
Mr. Stedman was formerly a Whig in poli
tics, and cast his first Presidential vote for
William Henry Harrison, but joined the Re
publican party at its formation, and has since
continued to support its principles. He was
a member of the old Cabot Guards, which was
formerly a famous militia company. He has
been active in public affairs, and has filled
various offices of trust, having served as As
sessor, County Commissioner, and member of
the State Board of Agriculture. In 1862 he
was a member of the Massachusetts legislature.
He was an organizer of the Hampden Harvest
Club, and is a member of both the Franklin
Harvest Club and the Hampden County Agri
cultural Society. He was formerly a leading
breeder of short-horn cattle, and in connec
tion with that business made several visits to
Kentucky. He has witnessed the growth and
development of Springfield, Chicopee, Chico
pee Falls, and Holyoke, and as a gentleman
of intelligence, foresight, and enterprise has
himself assisted materially in promoting the
welfare and advancement of this most fruitful
and industrial region.

AVID GOETZ, President of the
Goetz Silk Manufacturing Company
S jl of Holyoke, Mass., was born at
Lyons, P'rance, October 17, 1844, a
son of John David and Louisa (Brunner)
Goetz, his father, who was a silk manufacturer
of the above-named city, having been born
June 24, 1 8 19. David was the eldest of
seven children, and he was given the advan
tages of a very liberal education, both at the
Protestant schools of his native city and also
at the scientific and art schools of La Marti-
niere. Being brought up in one of the lead
ing silk centres of the world, he early turned
his attention to the process of its manufact
ure; and, after passing through a regular
course of practical training in silk weaving.

378

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

he entered a theoretical school for scientific
and artistic instruction, from which he grad
uated, receiving his diploma as a Clief d' Atel
ier .on August 15, 1862, and taking second
prize for competency in the art.
Mr. Goetz now immediately began the
manufacture of silk on his own account,
employing two looms, and continued to follow
that occupation in his native city until the
year 1870, when he came to the United
States, arriving at New York City on Febru
ary 18 of that year, and entering the employ
of Mr. Guiernaud, a silk manufacturer at
Hoboken, with whom he remained about two
years. He subsequently pursued his occupa
tion at different manufactories engaged in
producing silk trimmings, and in 1878 came
to Holyoke at the solicitation of William
Skinner, who at that time had a few silk
looms in operation for the production of
braids, twists, and sewing silks. This gentle
man placed Mr. Goetz in charge of his
weaving department, and from that small
beginning, the extent of which was but four
looms, silk-making in Holyoke rapidly ex
panded into a large and profitable industry.
In 1892 the factory contained two hundred
and thirteen looms, with a capacity of produc
ing seven hundred thousand yards per annum,
the weaving department having been for four
teen years in charge of Mr. Goetz, whose
energy and ability were the means of its suc
cessful development.
On May i, 1892, he established the Goetz
Silk Manufacturing Company, their factory
being located on Cabot Street, and containing
four looms, together with the necessary
winders, warpers, and all other implements
and devices used in silk-making on a large
scale. Although the general depression has
to a greater or less measure affected every
branch of business, the Goetz Silk Manufac
tory has continued to prosper, a large and
profitable trade having been realized from the
commencement of the enterprise; and its pro
moters have every reason to be satisfied with
the result, both financially and otherwise.
Mr. Goetz is a member of Humboldt Lodge,
Knights of Pythias, of this city, and of Nono
tuck Division, uniform rank No. 16.

7TAHARLES P. ALDEN has been a
I St-^ merchant in Springfield since 1858,
^'Is and was born at Lebanon, N.H.,
August 8, 1834, being the son of
Phineas A. and Martha (Parkhurst) Alden.
He traces his descent from the Hon. John
Alden, one of the Plymouth pilgrims, born in
1599, and the last male survivor of those who
came in the "Mayflower," dying on September
12, 1687. He was a man of practical wisdom,
assistant to the Governor for many years, and
retained during his life commanding influence
over his associates. He married Priscilla,
daughter of William Molines, or Mullens,
who with his wife also came in the "May
flower." Mr. and Mrs. Alden had eleven
children. Their residence after a few years
was in Duxbury, on the north side of the vil
lage. Longfellow has made immortal the
quaint romance of John and Priscilla Alden
in his beautiful poem, "The Courtship of
Miles Standish." Captain John Alden, el
dest son of John and Priscilla, was born in
Plymouth in 1622. He was a mariner, and
resided at Alden Lane, now Alden Street, in
Boston — a man of sound judgment, excep
tional moral character, and active business
habits, who acquired considerable property.
During the witchcraft delusion in 1692 he
was accused and taken to Salem for examina
tion, and acquitted himself admirably. He
was under bonds until the excitement passed
away, when with others he was discharged.
Captain Alden was twice married, the second
time to Mrs. Elizabeth Everell, daughter of
William Phillips, the ceremony being per
formed by Governor John Endicott. Captain
Alden was one of the original members of the
Old South Church in Boston, organized in
May, 1669. He died March 14, 1702. Dea
con Joseph Alden, a farmer of Bridgewater,
was born in 1667, and lived in what is now
South Bridgewater, where he was Deacon of
the church and much esteemed in that vicin
ity. In 1690 he married Hannah, daughter
of Daniel Dunham, of Plymouth. He died
December 22, 1747. Daniel Alden, Esq., of
Bridgewater and Stafford, Conn., a farmer,
was born in Bridgewater in 1691. He was a
magistrate and a man of prominence. In

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

379

1 71 7 he married Abigail, daughter of Joseph
Shaw, a sister of the Rev. John Shaw, first
pastor of the Congregational church at South
Bridgewater. Daniel Alden died in Stafford,
May 3, 1767. Joseph Alden, of Stafford,
Conn., son of Daniel, was born in 1718, and
married Susannah, daughter of Solomon Pack
ard, in 1742. He died January 2, 1768.
Zenas Alden, son of Joseph, a farmer of
Lebanon, N.H., was born July i, 1748. He
married Lydia Pinney, who was born July 19,
1753, and died in 1839. He died in 1833.
Ziba Alden, a farmer, who lived at Lebanon,
N.H., was a son of Zenas Alden, and married
Sybil Allen. Phineas A. Alden, of St.
Johnsbury, Vt., born March 16, 1806, was a
son of Ziba Alden, and followed the trade of
a blacksmith until failing health caused him
to relinquish that occupation. He died at
Lyndonville, Vt. His wife, Martha, daughter
of Ebenezer Parkhurst, whom he married Jan
uary 18, 1830, survived him, and came to
Springfield with her son, Charles P. Alden,
whose name heads this article, and who was
one of five children. Mrs. Phineas Alden
was a member of the North Church, and died
at Lyndonville.
Charles P. Alden received his education in
the schools of Lebanon, N.H., and at the age
of seventeen years entered a drug store at
Lebanon with George S. Kendrick. Here he
remained for four years, and then secured a
position with William Hegeman in New York
City, coming from the latter city to Spring
field in 1858, where he held the position of
head clerk for H. & J. Brewer for six years.
At the expiration of that time he formed a
partnership with P, M. Brewster for the pur
pose of carrying on the drug business, under
the firm name of Alden & Brewster, they
having purchased an old established trade.
After a period of six years Mr. Alden bought
the interest of his partner, and continued the
business successfully for thirty years, most of
which time he has been located at the corner
of Main and Hanipden Streets. For the past
ten or fifteen years he has conducted a large
wholesale trade, employing travelling sales
men and having a very extensive business out
side of the city.

On November 21, 1861, Mr. Alden married
Martha Jane Kendrick, daughter of George S.
Kendrick, of Lebanon, N.H., and a sister of
the Hon. E. P. Kendrick, of this city, a sketch
of whose career appears elsewhere in this work.
They had five children, of whom four are still
living, namely: Ralph P.; Helen E. ; Har
old K., who is now attending school; and
P""lorence D. Mr. Alden is high in Masonry,
being a member of Hampden Lodge, Morning
Star Chapter, Springfield Council and Com
mandery; and he is also a member of the
Masonic Club. The family attend the North
Congregational Church, and Mr. Alden has
been on the parish committee for a number of
years. He resides at No. 37 Elliott Street.

|ALPH P. ALDEN, Cashier of the

I "^ Springfield National Bank, in which
jjsV he is also one of the large stock
holders, was chosen by the Board of
Directors for that position at the establish
ment of the bank in May, 1893. He has
been for the past ten years prominently con
nected with the banking interests of the city,
where he was born July 22, 1865, and is the
son of Charles P. and Martha J. (Kendrick)
Alden. Of Charles P. Alden a more extended
notice will be found elsewhere in this book,
together with a complete genealogical record,
showing the descent of the family from John
Alden, the successful rival of Miles Standish.
Mr. Alden received his education in the
public schools of Springfield, and after grad
uating from the high school as valedictorian
of the large class of 1884 entered the Second
National Bank as a clerk in 1885, from which
position he was promoted to that of teller in
1887, when he was but twenty-two years
age, and continued as such until elected
his present responsible office. Fle is one
the original .stockholders, having assisted

ofto of
in

organizing the bank, which commenced busi
ness in May, 1893, with a capital stock of
two hundred thousand dollars and a surplus of
fifty thousand dollars paid in, its President
being H. H. Bowman. The enterprise from
the commencement has been attended with the
most gratifying success, and its growth is

38o

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

something remarkable, considering the fact
that there are twelve other banks in the city
with which to compete. In July, 1894, it
declared its first dividend of three per cent.,
and has undivided profits of twenty-five thou
sand dollars. Its board of directors is com
posed of some of the strongest financial men
of the city, and already the books show ac
counts with over six hundred depositors with
total deposits of over one million dollars. It
occupies elegant and exceedingly convenient
rooms in the Fuller Block, at the corner of
Main and Bridge Streets, which are equipped
with all modern improvements, and include,
besides the general reception-room, coupon-
rooms for both ladies and gentlemen, together
with finely appointed offices for president and
cashier, and a spacious safe deposit vault of
the very latest improved pattern. It is one of
the few banks in the city that make a specialty
of conducting direct foreign exchange busi
ness, a most welcome accommodation to the
majority of our business men. Its Board of
Directors consists of George W. Tapley,
Franklin Pierce, George B. Holbrook, Henry
H. Bowman, W. C. King, Robert W. Day,
Ralph W. Ellis, Michael Dunn, A. H. Over
man, and W. D. Kinsman. Besides attending
to his duties at the bank, Mr. Alden holds the
responsible position of Trustee and Treasurer
of the Forest Park Heights Company and the
Sumner Avenue Heights Company, both of
these companies being real estate development
companies, owning about two hundred acres
of land adjoining the beautiful Forest Park
district. Mr. Alden is a member of the Springfield
Republican Club, of which he was President
in 1893, and has been a delegate to several
conventions. He is a Mason in Roswell Lee
Lodge and a charter member and Junior
Steward of the Springfield Lodge. He is also
a member of the Winthrop and Saturday
Night Clubs and the Canoe Association. He
attends the North Congregational Church, in
which he is one of the parish committee, and
takes an active part in Sabbath-school work.
He is President of the Young People's Soci
ety of Christian Endeavor and Treasurer of
"Springfield Work for Boys," a charitable

institution of this city. In the Young Men's
Christian Association he is a leading spirit,
having been one of the Board of Management
when it was decided to erect their new
building. Mr. Alden was united in marriage October
17, 1894, to Miss Maude Louise Bidwell,
daughter of James F. Bidwell, of this city.

rX. DEROIN, Jr., M.D., the present
city physician of Chicopee, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in the town
ship of Ely, Shefford County, Quebec, April
I, 1855, and is the son of F. X. Deroin,
Sr., and Sophia (Hamel) Deroin. His
father, F. X. Deroin, was born in Mon
treal, Canada, March 20, 1825; and, having
undertaken farming as a vocation, he has man
aged the business with such prudence and
intelligence as to make his work thoroughly
successful, being the owner of over three hun
dred acres. Mr. Deroin has the reputation of
being a farmer of advanced ideas in all things
pertaining to a well-kept estate. He has
also been particularly happy in raising his
large family of fourteen children to years of
maturity, a circumstance rather noteworthy.
Their names are here recorded as follows:
F. X. Deroin, Jr., of this sketch; Alphonsin
E., married to Narcisse Neider; Delima,
married to Onezime Bombardier; Joseph,
married to Melie Fountain; Regis, married
to Philomene Bombardier; Rosalie, wife of
Pierre Quintal; Eveline, wife of Joseph
Bombardier; Amidee; Josephine, wife of
Pierre God in; Mary, wife of Adolph Patvin;
Olymphe, Mrs. Edmond Trudeau ; Frederick;
Angeline, Mrs. Pierre Racicot; Wilfred.
F. X. Deroin, Jr., the oldest of these chil
dren, studied first in the public schools at
home, and then at the Boston High School,
after which he took a course at the Harvard
Medical College, from which he graduated in
1883. Fle began practice at Chicopee, on
School Street, where he opened an office, but
later removed it to his residence, No. 98
Dwight Street. He has also a branch office
at No. 15 Grove Street, Chicopee Falls, at
which place he receives patients during the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

38.

afternoon. Dr. Deroin has been successful
in the management of his finances, and has
built a fine house in the adjacent city of
Springfield, also a three-story brick block at
the corner of West and Centre Streets, con
taining seventeen tenements, the oversight of
which he carries on himself, in addition to a
large and rather engrossing practice.
Dr. Deroin was married in 1883 to Miss
Catherine V. Lang, a daughter of Martin
Lang, who was a merchant of Scotch descent
at Taunton, Bristol County, Mass. They
have two children: Frank A., born September
24, 1884; and Alonzo D., born October 23,
1886. Dr. Deroin is independent in his po
litical views and votes, using his own judgment
in deciding as to the fitness of candidates and
the advisability of public measures, honestly
endeavoring to secure safe legislation for the
country. Dr. Deroin takes an active part in the
affairs of the city and of the town, having
been city physician two years and now re
elected for the year of 1895. He has also
served on the School Committee three years
and as a member of the Board of Health two
years, and is now re-elected for three years,
these offices having to do with the vital inter
ests of the community. His successive elec
tions are cumulative evidence of confidence in
his professional ability and his integrity.

/^^TeORGE p. ELLISON, who is exten-
Y '3 I sively engaged in job and contract
^-"-"^ teaming at Holyoke, was born at
Chester, Vt., October 28, 1831, a son of
Josiah and Eliza Ann (Lund) Ellison, his
father having been a native of the same town.
Josiah Ellison followed agriculture, and
resided in Chester during his entire life, with
the exception of a few years passed at Charles
town, N.H. He was a son of Edward Elli
son, who removed from Uxbridge, Mass., to
Vermont, where he was a farmer, and there
passed his last days. Mrs. Josiah Ellison
was a native of either Nantucket or Martha's
Vineyard, and was a daughter of an officer in
the French army named Lund, who emigrated
to the United States. She was the mother of

six children, five of whom lived to maturity,
as follows: George P.; Henry M., of Bel
mont, Mass.; Charles D., of this city; Albert
C, who served in the Civil War, and died at
Holyoke; and Melissa, who is also deceased.
Josiah Ellison died in this city, and his wife
was called to rest at Charlestown, N.H.,
where she was a member of the Congrega
tional church.
George P. Ellison was educated at the pub
lic schools of Chester, "Vt., and at Uxbridge,
Mass., where he also attended an academy,
and, after acquiring the shoemaker's trade,
returned to his native town, where he followed
that occupation for about two years, and then
moved to Charlestown, N.H., for the purpose
of carrying on a large farm. He continued
farming in connection with shoemaking until
July I, 1865, when he came to Holyoke, and
purchased a small teaming business, into which
he immediately imparted new life and vigor,
bringing it to a very prosperous condition.
He owns about twelve teams, and employs
about the same number of men, his business
being the largest as well as the oldest in the
city; and he does all kinds of teaming and
trucking, both heavy and light, taking special
contracts for different kinds of work. He has
received first premiums for best truck horses
exhibited at the county fair, and he always
owns the very finest grades of draft horses.
He has invested to a considerable extent in
real estate, and also takes a great interest in
farming and cattle breeding, having one of
the finest herds of Jersey stock in this local
ity. Twenty years ago he moved into his
present home at 405 Northampton Street, and
he also has a summer cottage at Martha's
Vineyard. He is quite active in politics, and
has represented Ward Seven on the Board of
Aldermen for two years.
On May 31, 1854, he wedded Mi_ss Mary
Ann Isham, daughter of Cephas and Hansey
Isham, of Reading, Vt. They have had three
children, but to their lasting sorrow have been
called to part with them all. The only
daughter. Flora, who married John Hildreth
of this city, died at the age of twenty-five.
The death of the two sons occurred while
they were still young. Mrs. Hildreth was a

382

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

well-educated and accomplished young lady,
who occupied a prominent position in the
church choir, and has been sadly missed.
Mr. and Mrs. Ellison are members of the
Second Baptist Church, in which Mr. Ellison
is a Deacon.

/STeORGE WALTER VINCENT
I '3 I SMITH was born of New England
^--^^ parentage, in 1832, in the city of
New York, where most of his life has been
spent. His ancestors were of English origin,
seven generations of whom were born in this
country. His father, George Wilson Smith,
was an editor and literary man of more than
ordinary ability. Upon his mother's side
came a strain of Huguenot blood, to which
probably he is indebted for his vivacity,
quickness of movement and thought, and also
for an unusually fine taste for art; and this
latter inheritance can be said to have shaped
his entire career. In early boyhood he lost
no opportunity to indulge it. He devoted
every dollar he could spare to the purchase of
art objects, and in the course of time these
purchases approached the dignity of a collec
tion. This stimulated him to still greater
efforts to make it as complete and compre
hensive as his means and a life devoted to
the attainment of that object would permit.
Upon completing his education he entered a
large importing house, and attained the posi
tion of confidential clerk and manager, leav
ing this situation only to become interested
in manufactures upon his own account, which
continued until 1867, when he disposed of his
interest and permanently retired from busi
ness. He then went abroad, and spent sev
eral years in travel and in study of the art
collections of the Old World, adding mean
time many valuable and interesting objects to
his collection.
Soon after his return he married the daugh
ter of George R. Townsley, of Springfield,
Mass., which event brought him into intimate
relations with the latter city, and finally re
sulted in his complete identification with it.
In 1871 Mr. Smith brought to Springfield a
part of his collection. It was freely opened

to the public upon request, was much visited,
and proved an important factor in the art
development of the day. In 1872 Mr. Will
iam Hart and several other noted artists of
New York, in a conversation with Mr. Smith,
requested him to open in Springfield, Mass.,
an exhibition of paintings by eminent Ameri
can artists with a view to its being made an
annual event. As Mr. Smith did not believe
that the time had arrived when the success of
such a venture could be assured, he declined
to assume the responsibility; but he did,
however, promise that, whenever it seemed
possible to attain results which would be sat
isfactory to the artists, he would undertake it.
In the year 1878 the conditions seemed favor
able, and Mr. Smith visited the studios of the
artists of New York, and selected fifty-six
choice examples, showing each artist in his
specialty. These were exhibited to the pub
lic free of charge, and were offered for sale
at the lowest studio prices. This exhibition
proved an unusual success, as was shown by
the remarkable fact that only twenty pictures
were returned to the artists unsold. And this'
success made possible its continuance yearly
to this time, seventeen successive exhibitions
having been held since its foundation at Gill's
Art Galleries, under the management of Mr.
James D. Gill, all of which have proved
financial as well as artistic successes for the

manager.

The success of the exhibition of 1878 and
the confidence and support given so heartily
by the citizens of Springfield have brought
other results, which must have great weight
upon the educational and social future of the
city as well as upon local art industries. In
grateful remembrance of this confidence and
support Mr. Smith, with the hearty co-opera
tion of Mrs. Smith, determined to bequeath
his collection of oil paintings, water color
and black and white drawings, arms and
armor, antique furniture, porcelains, pottery,
bronzes, jades, gold lacquers, antique stuffs,
embroideries, laces, and other art objects to
the City Library Association, upon the condi
tion that a building should be erected in which
suitable galleries should be set apart for their
display, separate and distinct from any other

If- *

V,

<V^

G. W. V. SMITH.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

385

exhibit, and that they be opened free to the
public upon all proper days. This determina
tion with its conditions was submitted to the
Directors of the City Library Association in
1889, and was promptly and gladly accepted.
The friends of the association proceeded at
once to secure the lot adjoining the library
and to raise by private subscription the money
necessary for the purchase, and also to erect
a suitable building, the cost of which (build
ing and site) has been one hundred and thirty-
five thousand dollars.
For the five years between 1882 and 1887
Mr. Smith again resided in Europe, and dur
ing his stay he added largely to his collection,
besides giving much time to the study of the
plans of the museums and galleries of the
various capitals. This enabled him to arrive
at settled conclusions as to the style of archi
tecture for a museum building which would be
best adapted to the requirements of a small
city, and at the same time be thoroughly met
ropolitan in its character, and indicate upon
its exterior its purpose, and furnish an object
lesson as surely as would the art treasures
deposited within its walls. During the year
1892, in connection with the Directors of the
City Library Association (under whose
auspices the building has been erected, and in
whose care it will always remain), and with
Mr. Walter Tallant Owen and Messrs. Ren-
wick, Aspinwall, & Renwick, architects of
New York City, plans were thoroughly stud
ied and conclusions arrived at. It was de
cided to adopt the Italian Renaissance as
the style of architecture most favorable for
the purpose; and in the spring of 1893 the
Museum of Art was commenced, and from
that date to the summer of 1895 Mr. Smith
was in constant attendance, superintending its
construction, with results entirely satisfactory
to the association and to the public. By the
autumn of 189S the major part of Mr. Smith's
collection will be arranged in the seven gal
leries which were built especially to contain
it, and will be opened free to the public.
The portrait of Mr. Smith which accom
panies this sketch will be of interest to all
those citizens of Springfield who have at heart
the welfare of their beautiful city and the

cause of art education for the people. To
some of them, perhaps, will recur the lines of
the poet Dryden : —
" The secret pleasure of a generous act
Is the ereat mind's great bribe."

AMES FRANK HAYES, a well-known
and influential resident of the town
of West Springfield, Mass., was born
in the immediate neighborhood of
his present home. May i, 1848. His father,
Aaron L. Hayes, was a. native of Southwick,
Hampden County, born January 10, 18 18, and
was a son of Moses Hayes, who was also born,
it is thought, in the same town. The birth
place of Jonathan Hayes, the father of Moses,
was in Granby, Hartford County, Conn., just
over the border line from the State of Massa
chusetts, where he represented one of the old
families of the county. He removed to
Southwick, Mass., in the course of his career,
and was a farmer and blacksmith at one and
the same time in the town, where he finally
ended his days. His son, Moses Hayes,
grandfather of James Frank, was also an inde
pendent farmer there.
Aaron L. Hayes, son of Moses, was reared
a farmer, but for a time after he grew up he
worked in the cotton-mills at Chicopee Falls,
and later became a travelling salesman.
After a while he purchased a farm in the
locality known as Pawcatuck, and occupied it
twenty years; then selling the place, he
removed to Westfield, Hampden County, and
there spent one year. At Ashleyville, where
he bought a farm, he resided two years, and
again in Westfield he lived three years; still
later he lived for five years on the Moses
Ashley place in Ashleyville, which he bought
and afterward sold. Then buying estate in
the same neighborhood, formerly owned by
Samuel D. Smith, he resided here till his
death, February 11, 1884.
The maiden name of the wife of Aaron L.
Hayes was Adeline Mary Easton. She was
the daughter of James and Mary (Ensign)
Easton, of Southwick, where her father and
ber grandfather, also James Easton, Sr., lived
as farmers. Mrs. Playes is still living in

386

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

West Springfield, and has brought up seven
children, named as follows: George A.,
Heman S., Henrietta M., James Frank, A.
Chauncey, Gustavus I., Carlos A.
James P'rank occupies, it will be seen, the
middle place in the group. He early became
a pupil in the district schools of West Spring
field, later was placed under the educational
influences of the academy at Westfield, and
later still attended the State Normal School,
where he was graduated in February, 1869.
At the age of twenty-one Mr. James F. Hayes
began teaching in the -Davis Grammar School
at Westfield, ancl taught there for two terms,
but on account of ill health was then obliged
to seek outdoor employment. He still kept
up the work of teaching during the winters,
but spent his summers in carpentering. This
division of labor he followed three years, and
then he bought his father's place, and lived
on the home farm till 1892, in which year he
sold the homestead, and bought the farm he
has since occupied. This farm, known as the
Aaron Ashley farm, is located on the main
road from Springfield to Holyoke, and has a
fine view of the Connecticut River and of the
fertile valley through which it flows.
Mr. Hayes was married March 18, 1874, to
Miss Mary F'. Phelps, who was born in Wind
sor, Hartford County, Conn., and was an
adopted daughter of Charles M. Phelps.
They have had one son, Charles P". Hayes,
born September 11, 1880. Mr. and Mrs.
Hayes are members of the Baptist church of
Chicopee, not far distant. In politics Mr.
Hayes votes the Republican ticket, having
cast his first vote for General Grant. He has
long been identified with the interests of the
town of West Springfield, which he efficiently
served as Selectman for five years, from 1886
to 1801.

1:^^

ILLIAM C. PEASE, a resident and
farmer of the town of Longmeadow,
Mass., was born at Feeding Hills,
Mass., November 30, 1830. His father, Dan
iel C. Pease, was born in Somers, Conn.,
P'ebruary 26, 1806, and his grandfather, Oliver
Pease, was born in the 'same town, July 16,

1783. (A further account of the family may
be seen in the genealogy compiled by the
Rev. David and Austin S. Pease.)
Oliver Pease, grandfather of William C,
became owner of his father's farm, and resided
there during his life. His wife was before
her marriage Miss Nancy Cone, and they were
parents of five children.
Daniel C. Pease, son of Oliver, devoted
seven of the years of his early manhood to the
trade of carpentry. He then went West, but
after a time returned, and settled on the farm
of his wife's father in Somers, where he con
tinued till late in life, following husbandry as
an occupation, but finally giving up the farm
to his son Oliver, and retiring to the village,
where he died, being eighty-five years old.
His wife, Matilda Collins, was a daughter of
William and Eunice (Parsons) Collins. Her
parents lived to a great age, almost becoming
centenarians, her father being ninety-five
years old at the time of his death, and her
mother attaining the age of ninety-seven
years. Daniel C. and Matilda Collins Pease
reared eight children of a family of nine, and
seven of the number are yet living. Their
mother is in her eighty-seventh year, and still
resides in Somers, Conn.
William C. Pease attended school in his
boyhood, and afterward assisted his father in
farm work until twenty years old, when he
engaged in the sale of tinware, in which he
remained a year and a half, and then went
into the wholesale notion trade, and later on
became a tobacco merchant. In 1867 he
located on the Coomes homestead, on Long
meadow Street, where he has since resided.
Mr. Pease was married January 22, 1857, to
Miss Cornelia F. Coomes, of Longmeadow, a
daughter of Samuel and Lucy D. Coomes, of
that town. They have one daughter, named
Lillian C, wife of George P. Sword, M.D.,
now residing in Huntington, Long Island,
who has two children, named respectively
Brian and Harold Sword.
Mr. Pease has always been a Republican in
politics, but not a professional politician.
He has taken a lively interest in public
affairs, and was one of the prime movers in
the proposal to have the town divided, being

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

387

one of the committee appointed to present the
matter before the legislature, and later elected
a member of the first Board of Selectmen,
which was created after the successful accom
plishment of the division of the town. He
was also elected as one of the Water Board,
and served at the time of putting in their
water plant in the years 1894 and 1895.

[RY STANLEY HYDE, an hon-
jred citizen of Springfield, President
of the Agawam National Bank for
the past quarter of a century, is one
of the solid and representative business men
of Hampden County, and one of the best-
known financiers of New England. He is a
native of the PImpire State, his birth having
occurred at Mount Hope, August 18, 1837.
In 1840 his parents, Oliver M. and Julia
Ann (Sprague) Hyde, migrated to Detroit,
Mich.; and in that city he was reared and
educated. When comparatively young, he
began his career as a self-supporting member
of society, working at first in a banking insti
tution and afterward reading law, for which
he had a strong predilection, but in which he
did not succeed. In 1862 Mr. Hyde came
East, and settled in Springfield, becoming
connected with the Wason Manufacturing
Company, railway car builders, and has since
that time continued with the company, having
been its trusted and efficient Treasurer since
1864. Mr. Hyde is connected in an influential
way with many local enterprises, being Presi
dent of the E. Stebbins Brass Manufacturing
Company, President of the Springfield Print
ing and Binding Company, "Vice-President of
the Hampden Savings Bank, Vice-President
of the New England Telegraph and Telephone
Company, Director of the Massachusetts Mut
ual Life Insurance Company, Treasurer of the
Springfield Steam Power Company, and a
director of many manufacturing companies,
both in and out of the State. He is also
actively interested in the management of the
Springfield Hospital, and since its incorpora
tion as a city hospital in 1883 he has been
President of the Board of Trustees.

In politics Mr. Hyde is a stanch Republi
can, and has served the city as member of the
Common Council, as an Alderman, and as a
member of the State legislature. He has
been a member of the State Central Commit
tee, also of the Republican National Commit
tee, and in the years 1884 and 1888 was a
delegate to the Republican National Conven
tion at Chicago. He is prominent in frater
nal societies and popular among all classes of
people. In i860 he was united in marriage
with Miss Jennie S. Wason, a daughter of
Thomas Wason, the well-known car builder,
of Springfield. He has four children, as fol
lows: Jerome W., of whom a sketch appears
elsewhere in this volume; Flarry S. Hyde;
Thomas W. ; and P'ayoline Hyde. In 1892
he married for his second wife Mrs. Plllen
Trask Chapin.

'OHN BATESON. On the 19th of
May, 1893, the immortal part of John
Bateson, who for many years had been
a resident and prominent business
man of Holyoke, entered upon that mysterious
journey which ends in the everlasting life to
come, he having laid down the burden of mor
tality at the age of sixty-four years. He was
born at Idle, Yorkshire, England, a small
town situated about six miles from the famous
woollen-manufacturing city of Bradford, Au
gust 18, 1829, son of Isaac Bateson, a manu
facturer of broadcloth, and may be said to
have been born and reared to that industry,
which he followed as an occupation until com
ing to America and settling at Holyoke in
1857. He here established himself in the milli
nery and dry-goods business, later moving to
Indian Orchard, where he continued in the
same trade for a period of about two years, at
the expiration of which he decided to seek the
Far West. Accordingly, packing up a large
stock of goods, he started for Salt Lake City,
travelling from St. Joseph, Mo., over the
broad plains and through the wild mountain
passes to his destination, and, arriving safely,
he immediately embarked in business in the
land of the latter-day saints, but on account

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

of illness in his family was soon compelled to
suspend operations. Turning his head east
ward, he again travelled the tedious trails
over the almost trackless plains, and, return
ing to the then town of Holyoke, resumed
business as before, continuing to carry on an
extensive store on Pligh Street, with the most
gratifying success for an uninterrupted period
of over twenty-five years, or until 1888, when
he relinquished the dry-goods business for the
tea trade, which he conducted for one year,
and then retired from active business.
The late Mr. Bateson took a deep interest
in the public affairs of his adopted city, and
was for several years officially connected with
the Board of Health, and was later appointed
Health Officer of the city, having been the
second incumbent of that important position.
In politics he was always a Republican, but
never an aspirant for office. He was a mem
ber of the Masonic fraternity and of the Bap
tist church. His first wife, whom he married
in England, was Miss Bessie Cordingly, of
his native town; and she, dying, left three
children, two of whom, Sarah L. and Levi,
were born in England, the youngest, John ].,
being a native of this city.
On October 25, 1875, he wedded for his
second wife Mrs. Elizabeth M. Walker, of
Plolyoke, who was born at Epping, N.H.,
daughter of Dudley and Eliza (Martin) Nor
ris. Her father was a tanner and shoe manu
facturer in the days when shoes were made by
hand, a business which he followed success
fully until reaching the age of forty years,
when he retired to a farm, where he passed
the remainder of his life, dying at the age of
. eighty-four years. Dudley Norris was promi
nent in the local government, and was a Cap
tain in the State militia. Lowell Norris, his
father, was also a farmer of Epping, and the
son of Asa Norris, a pioneer of that town, the
family being descendants of the Colonial set
tler, Nicholas Norris, who is supposed to
have emigrated from England. The first
Mrs. Dudley Norris, whose maiden name was
Martin and who was a native of Loudon,
N.H., died when her daughter Elizabeth was
an infant; and the child was brought up by an
aunt. She received a good education in the

common schools of Epping and Pittsfield,
N.H.; and in the latter town she met and
married her first husband, William W.
Walker, and there she resided for some time.
Mrs. Bateson's children have all been called
from earth, one dying in infancy, while her
first husband was in the army. The other,
William A. Walker, died at her home in this
city, at the age of twenty-one years, in 1885.
He was a well-known and highly respected
young man, and for three years occupied an
important clerkship in the Holyoke post-
office. Mrs. Bateson united with the Baptist
church at Pittsfield, N.H., at the age of eigh
teen years, and, on becoming a resident of
this city, joined the Second Baptist Church;
but, having recently removed to Elmwood,
where she has a most pleasant home, she
united with the First Baptist Church. She
has always manifested an earnest interest in
the Sunday-school and the various benevolent
societies, and is known as a thoroughly con
sistent Christian woman.

flMOTHY MANNING BROWN, one oE
the older prominent Springfield law
yers, was born in Williamstown,
Mass., on May 8, 1838, during the Van Buren
presidency. His grandfather, Caleb Brown,
was a Quaker farmer, whose peace principles
would not allow him to fight in the War of
1 81 2; but about that time he came from
Rhode Island in an ox cart to Cheshire,
Mass., where he settled, raising a large num
ber of children. Our subject was the only
child of Manning and Mary (Smedley) Brown;
and the father spent the greater part of his
life in South Adams, where he was a cotton
manufacturer, and with his brother, Russell
Brown, and his brother-in-law, ex-Governor
William C. Plunkett, owned a large mill,
now known as the Plunkett & Wheeler Mill.
When the old partnership was dissolved. Man
ning Brown removed to a Williamstown farm,
but later returned to South Adams, and again
formed a partnership with his brother; and
thus the business was carried on till both
died, in 1851. His widow returned to Will
iamstown, to live on the old homestead of her

X'

GEORGE W. DAVIS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

391

father, the house having been raised just
before the battle of Bennington, and always
belonging to the Smedley family; and there
she died, in 1864.
T. M. Brown was fitted for college in D. L.
Swan's school at Williamstown, and was
graduated from Williams College in 1859,
with the customary degree of A.B., receiving
his master's degree in due course in 1862.
On New Year's Day, i860, he came to
Springfield, and began to read law in the
office of Chapman & Chamberlain, after which
he attended the Harvard Law School for two
terms. Then, returning to Springfield, he
studied further with Ashmun, Leonard &
Wells, the successors of the old firm. In
1863 he was admitted to the bar, and, with
James A. Rumrill as partner, began practice.
This partnership lasted about a year, since
which Mr. Brown has remained alone. About
this time the exigencies of war led to the
establishment of the United States Internal
Revenue Department; and Mr. Brown was
made assistant assessor, retaining this office
several years, until he was appointed to fill
the place left vacant by his chief, the Hon.
Charles U. Emerson. In the latter position
he remained till the office of assessor was
abolished. Meanwhile he kept up his large
and lucrative law practice all over the State.
In 1875 he was appointed Registrar in Bank
ruptcy, and he kept this place till the United
States Bankruptcy Act was repealed, in 1880.
He was City Attorney five years, while the
Hon. L. J. Powers and the Hon. H. M. Phil
lips were mayors. Since 1875 he has been
connected with the Agawam National Bank,
most of the time as Director, and as President
pro tem. for about two years; and he is at pres
ent chairman of the Board of County Commis
sioners (Hampden County). He has served
on the School Committee nine years, and also
on the parish committee of the North Con
gregational Church, of which he and his wife
are both members.
Mr. Brown is a genial gentleman, well
equipped for the management of the various
interests devolving upon him, his long term
of law practice giving him such insight and
such knowledge of men and things as makes

his judgment well-nigh unimpeachable. His
wife, whom he married in 1863, was Elizabeth
Chapman, daughter of Chief Justice Reuben
A. Chapman. They have two sons: P^dward
Manning Brown, born in 1872, a graduate of
the Sheffield Scientific Institute in the class
of 1894; and Harold Chapman Brown.

/^^TeORGE W. DAVIS, M.D., late an
\ '3 I eminent physician of Holyoke, was
^— ^ born at Northfield, Vt., March 26,
1847, and was the son of Horace and Hannah
(Braley) Davis, his father being a well-to-do
farmer. George W. was the second child,
the other children being Dr. Wesley Davis,
of Worcester, and a sister, Mrs. Lydia Nye,
of Barre, Vt. His younger days were spent
in the public schools of Northfield and work
ing at home on the farm.
He was sixteen years old when his father
died; and he then assumed charge of the farm,
his brother Wesley being in the army. Two
years later he sold the farm, and began the
study of medicine with Dr. Bradford in the
same village. In 1866 he attended a course
of medical lectures at Pittsfield, and was
awarded the Butterfield prize for dissection.
He then pursued courses at Ann Arbor,
Mich., and Burlington, Vt., at which place he
was graduated in July, 1868. His first field
was at Craftsbury, "Vt., where he remained
until 1870, when he began practising with his
brother Wesley at Worcester, whence he came
to Holyoke in 1871. He was twice married,
-his first wife being Miss Julia Hastings, of
Craftsbury, the date of their union being
October 14, 1869.
They had one child, William H., who com
pleted his collegiate course at PParvard Uni
versity in 1893, and is now in his third year
in the medical departmicnt. Mrs. Julia H.
Davis died in 1873, and in 1875 the Doctor
married Miss Ella Maxfield, who is further
mentioned below.
Dr. Davis seemed to have a passion for
medicine, and all through his long practice
was uniformly successful. It was this devo
tion to his profession that led his wife to
study medicine, so that she could enter into

392

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

his pursuits more thoroughly. There were
some drawbacks to his advancement when he
first began practice, but he steadily overcame
them. He took a post-graduate course at
New York City in 1876, and another at Phil
adelphia in 1882. In 1884 he went to Ger
many, and passed a year in study with some
of the celebrated surgeons, spending much
time in the hospitals of that countr}', France,
and England. He was President of the
Hampden District Medical Society for the
year ending April, 1893. Dr. Davis's tastes
led him particularly toward surgery. He per
formed many difficult surgical operations, in
cluding that of tracheotomy eighteen times,
a large percentage of the patients recovering.
While Dr. Davis was in Europe, Mrs. Davis
took his practice, and held it with marked
success. Later she was often his assistant in
surgical operations.
Dr. George W. Davis died, deeply la
mented, September 4, 1894, at the age of
forty-seven — a short life measured by months
and years, but fruitful of noble thought and
worthy achPevement, one whose passing leaves
a gap in the ranks not easy to be filled. The
presentation of his portrait in connection with
this memorial tribute will be gratifying to
the readers of the "Review." The mother,
brother, sister, and second wife of Dr. Davis
survive him.

LLA MAXFIELD DAVIS, M.D.,
widow of Dr. George W. Davis and her
self a highly successful practising
physician of Holyoke, was born at Chicopee
Falls, November 26, 1850. She is a daugh
ter of the late Arthur L. and Orissa (Ander
son) Maxfield, her father having been an
extensive cotton manufacturer, who came to
Plolyoke when his daughter was three years of
age, but afterward removed to New Hamp
shire, where he died in August, 1890. He
was the originator of the Holyoke Warp
Company, and the mills were built under his
direction and supervision. He was a very
public-spirited man, always manifesting a
deep interest in the welfare of the community
in which he resided, and was a member of the

Baptist church. He was particularly active
in temperance work, and, in fact, was always
ready to aid in the furtherance of any moral
or philanthropic movement. Of his children
Mrs. Dr. Davis was the fourth, two others
died in infancy, and the remaining six are as
follows: M. Annie, George A., D.D.S.,
Sarah B., Susan M., S. Williston, and
Fred G.
After graduating from the Holyoke High
School in 1866, Miss Ella Maxfield became a
most efficient teacher in the public schools of
this city, in which capacity she continued for
eight years, or until her marriage with Dr.
George W. Davis. Immediately after their
union she commenced the study of medicine,
which she carefully pursued for about five
years under the direction of her husband, and
then entered the Woman's Medical College
in Philadelphia. She was graduated in 1882,
and shortly began the practice of medicine at
Holyoke. The result has proved that Dr.
Ella Maxfield Davis has not mistaken her
calling. She has acquired a large and impor
tant practice, which she continues steadily to
maintain, being exceedingly enthusiastic in
her work. Although now deprived of the
stimulating companionship and effective co
operation and counsel of her husband, she is
one of the consulting physicians of the Hol
yoke City Hospital, and is a member of the
Hampden District Medical Society. She is
so completely devoted to her professional
duties that she has very little time for any
other interests. Her home is in a very pleas
ant location at No. 13 Suffolk Street, corner
of Maple.

"TTipVARSHALL CALKINS, M.D., of
1 1 rr* Springfield, son of Luke and Polly
I JJjs ( (Hancock) Calkins, was born
— ' September 2, 1828, at Wilbra
ham, in a typical New England farm-house.
His great-grandfather, James Calkins, had
after the war of the Revolution, in which he
served, removed to Wilbraham from Stoning
ton, Conn. The family descended from Hugh
Calkins, who emigrated from Wales in 1638,
and settled first in Gloucester, Mass., after-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

393

ward removing to Stonington, Conn. His
grandfather, Moses Hancock, served in the
Revolutionary War. As a boy Marshall Cal
kins was passionately fond of books and study.
In arithmetic he easily led his associates of
the district school, and at thirteen years old
had mastered the text-books of the schools for
that study. He then wished to take up alge
bra; but, failing to obtain permission of the
school committee for this innovation of the
common curriculum, he left school, and at
home, without a teacher, he pursued his stud
ies alone, and finished Day's "Algebra" in a
single winter.
"Work on his father's farm was distasteful;
and, when assigned a task, its completion was
often interrupted while he abstractedly pe
rused some book, habitually carried in his
pocket, under the shade of a near-by tree. In
the absence of private or public libraries in
the immediate vicinity of his home, he ob
tained the loan of books from a neighbor, who
was an itinerant bookseller. To pay for
these loans he willingly worked on holidays,
and gathered nuts and berries to sell. A
young woman in the neighborhood, observ
ing his studious habits, loaned him her
botany. A new field of investigation was
now opened, that of trees, plants, and flow
ers; but the study of their variety and
growth, attractive as it was, did not equal in
interest the learning of their medicinal prop
erties. In his father's family of nine living
children he had seen frequent attacks of ill
ness, and was himself a delicate boy; and
the prescriptions of the family doctor were
always matters of special interest, their re
sults being carefully looked for. The brief
descriptions of the botany seemingly revealed
to his boyish mind much in the application
of remedies that before had been a mystery.
His spare time was now given to searching
for medicinal plants and testing their effi
cacy in domestic ailments whenever permitted
to do so.
It was at this time, when fourteen years
old, that he firmly decided to become a physi
cian, a decision which neither the different
plan of his father nor the chaffing of his mates
could change. By the same method that he

obtained the loan of books he now earned
money to help defray his expenses at Wilbra
ham Academy, three miles from his home,
where he entered the autumn of 1845. Being
impatient to commence medical study, he pre
vailed upon his father, before advancing far
enough to enter college, to apply to a repu
table physician for the privilege of reading
medicine in his office preparatory to entering
a medical school. The doctor pleasantly de
clined taking the seventeen years' old boy as
a medical student; but the following year,
1846, application to a prominent physician,
who was also proprietor of an infirmary, was
successful, and, having "bought his time" of
his father for two hundred and sixty-eight
dollars, he started on his independent and
cherished plans. Assistance in the infirmary
gave him practical work of real value at the
bedside of the sick. After some months here
he became the private student and member of
the family of Dr. Calvin Newton, President
of the Worcester Medical College, and soon
after was matriculated at that institution,
where he completed its course several months
before his twenty-first birthday. President
Newton, himself an accomplished scholar,
now advised him to make complete prepa
ration and take a classical course of study.
This advice he accepted, and entered Wes
leyan University, Middletown, Conn., in
1850. In 185 1 he changed his college re
lationship to that of Union College, Sche
nectady, N.Y., where he received the de
gree of A.B. in 1853 and A.M. in course
in 1856. Later he received the degree of
M.D. at Dartmouth Medical College, and
took a year's course in the Pennsylvania Hos
pital at Philadelphia, where he resided sev
eral years.
In i860 Dr. Calkins settled in Springfield,
where he soon obtained a lucrative practice.
In 1862 he became a member of the Massa
chusetts Medical Society, in 1869 a corre
sponding member of the Boston Gynaecological
Society, in 1872-73 was Examining Surgeon
of the United States Pension Bureau, in 1873
was appointed to the chair of Physiology and
Microscopic Anatomy in the University of
Vermont, which, without changing his resi-

394

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

dence, he retained five years, when he re
signed. He was at this time made an
honorary member of the Vermont State Medi
cal Society. Dr. Calkins is a member of the
American Medical Association, of the Ameri
can Association for the Advancement of Sci
ence, one of the consulting staff of physicians
of the Springfield Hospital, a censor of the
Hampden District Medical Society, chairman
and secretary of the Provident Dispensary's
Medical Board of the Union Relief Associa
tion, and senior member of the visiting staff
of physicians of the Homes for Friendless
Women and Children. In 1875 ^e visited
Europe, attending the International Medical
Congress at Brussels, and inspecting hospitals
in England, Scotland, and France. In 1883-
84 he made a protracted visit to Europe, ac
companied by his wife and son; and in the
hospitals of London and Vienna he improved
opportunities for close observation and per
sonal work.
With an exacting practice Dr. Calkins has
found little time for literary work. In 1854
he completed and published the posthumous
treatise of his preceptor. Dr. Newton, en
titled "Thoracic Diseases." Among his pub
lished articles are "Origin, Prevention, and
Treatment of Asiatic Cholera," "Report of
Cases of Trichinae Spirales in Springfield,"
published in the communications of the Massa
chusetts Medical Societies, 1867; "Alkaline
Sulphites and Bisulphites," published in the
transactions of Vermont Medical Society,
1872; "Physiological Basis of Objective
Teaching," 1889, occasioned by a newspaper
discussion in Springfield, when in 1889 the
later methods of teaching were being intro
duced into its public schools.
For social enjoyments he has had little in
clination, and the Hampden Lodge of Free
Masons and the Masonic Club are the only
social organizations of which he is a member.
His relaxation from professional work has
been the study of modern languages. Dr.
Calkins married in 1855 Miss Adelaide A.,
daughter of General E. M. Hosmer, of West
Boylston, Mass. They have one child,
Cheney Hosmer Calkins, M.D., an oculist of
Springfield.

iRS. ADELAIDE A. PPOSMER
CALKINS, of Springfield, was
born at "The Maples" in West
Boylston, Mass., where her great
grandfather, Jonas Mason, of Lexington, set
tled in 1760. She is descended from the old
Colonial family of James Hosmer, who ."with
his wife Anne, two daughters, and two
maids," came to America from Hawkhurst,
England, in 1635, and settled in Concord.
Eben Mason Hosmer, the father of Mrs.
Calkins, was a public-spirited and prominent
citizen of West Boylston, where he held vari
ous important town offices, and was twice
elected to the legislature at the time of the
breaking up of the old political parties of
Whig and Democrat and the evolution of the
Republican party. He joined the militia in
his early manhood, before the war spirit of
18 12 had subsided, and after gaining the suc
cessive intervening promotions was commis
sioned Major-general. Having retained this
position several years, he resigned permanently
in the forties. At the breaking out of the
Rebellion his old military feeling was aroused
and exercised in the raising and drilling of
a company for one of the Massachusetts vol
unteer regiments. He was a member of
the Order of Free Masons, and at the time of
the Morgan trouble was Master Mason of the
Farmers' Lodge in Sterling. When the ex
citement became intense, the furnishings and
jewels of this lodge were brought and secretly
deposited in his house in the night. The
family were attendants of the Baptist church,
Mrs. Hosmer being an ardent adherent of that
faith. Miss Adelaide attended the schools of her
native town, including Thomas Academy, now
organized as a high school, until 1848, when
she entered upon a course of study at Miss
Whiting's Young Ladies' Seminary at Charles
town, Mass. Severe sickness in her family
interrupted the completion of her studies
here, which was finally accomplished at Wil
braham Academy. While at Wilbraham she
met Dr. Marshall Calkins, whom she married
in 1855, after having taught two years in the
schools of her native town.
It was after Mrs. Calkins came to Spring-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

395

field in i860 that she began public work.
Her first efforts were in connection with the
Homes for P""riendless Women and Children,
organized in 1865, where she served continu
ously for some years on the Children's Com
mittee. In 1877 she became an auxiliary
visitor of the then newly formed Union Relief
Association, and is at the present time one
of the corporation. The first object of this
society is to help the poor to help themselves,
or, in other words, prevent pauperism. The
observations of the visitors in the homes of
the poor led them to suggest to the managers
of the association, first, the opening of a day
nursery for the proper care of children whose
mothers were out at work ; later, a labor
bureau, where women needing days' work
could register and housekeepers needing their
service could apply; and, still later, a laun
dry for the purpose of teaching those who
were incompetent. These successive sugges
tions resulted in the appointment of a com
mittee, with Mrs. Calkins as chairman, to
carry out the recommendations ; and the suc
cessful organization of these several charities
was effected under one roof, known as the In
dustrial House. Mrs. Calkins was appointed
to assist in the first notable work of the asso
ciation, which was the investigation of the
condition of the City Almshouse, and soon
after was included in a committee to go before
the legislature to urge a change in the law
regarding children in almshouses, so that no
young child could be placed in these institu
tions without its mother. Out of this suc
cessful movement grew the Hampden County
Children's Aid Society. In 1879 she was ap
pointed by Mayor Powers one of the Trustees
of the City Hospital, and more especially for
its reorganization, as up to that time it had
had no medical staff or systematic hospital
management. Mrs. Calkins is now a member
of the corporation of the Springfield Hospital,
an outgrowth of the former institution.
In 1877 Mrs. Calkins was appointed by
Governor Rice on the first advisory board
of women to the State Board of Charities, the
duties of which were to visit the Monson Pri
mary School for dependent and neglected chil
dren of the State, the Tewksbury Almshouse,

and the Westboro and Lancaster Reform
Schools. The following year the advisory
board was abolished; and the same board of
women were made Trustees of these institu
tions, and thereby given the right to vote as
to their management. A law having been
passed permitting the boarding out in suitable
families of the young wards of the State be
tween four and ten years of age, which Mrs.
Calkins had earnestly advocated as preferable
to institution training, she declined reap
pointment in 1880 as a Trustee of the State
Primary and Reform Schools, and accepted aa
appointment to place children at board in
"Western Massachusetts and to visit them reg
ularly afterward. In this she continued until
1883, when the growth of the work in the
State necessitated the entire time of a visitor,
and a salaried officer was appointed.
Mrs. Calkins then retired from charity
boards, except that of the Union Relief Asso
ciation, and accompanied her husband and son
to Europe, where the latter was to complete
his medical studies. In December, 1886,
Mrs. Calkins was elected a member of the
School Committee, it being the first time that
women were elected to that office in Spring
field; and she still continues to serve in that
capacity. In 1886 Mrs. Calkins also became
a member of the Springfield Women's Club,
membership in Vvrhich is limited to one
hundred. In June, 1892, Mrs. Calkins organized a
chapter of the Daughters of the American
-Revolution, having been previously appointed
Chapter Regent by the National Society at
Washington, and was annually re-elected to
that office by the chapter until January, 1895,
when she declined a renomination. The
membership is one hundred and thirty and
steadily increasing. Mrs. Calkins established
her eligibility as descendant of Ensign Dan
iel Hosmer, Captain Wheeler's Company, of
Concord. Mrs. Calkins is a member of the P""irst Con
gregational Church of Springfield. She en
gaged in public work through inherited taste
and a feeling of duty, her private circum
stances being such as to admit of the disposal
of a share of her time as she might choose

396

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

without detriment to her family. Her so
journ in Europe was partly for rest, and also
for the purpose of investigating some forms of
charity work and government schools.

T^HENEY HOSMER CALKINS, M.D.,
I \y ophthalmologist and otologist, of
\jis^ Springfield, Mass., was born in this
city, November ii, i860. He is
the son of Dr. Marshall Calkins and Adelaide
A. Calkins. After finishing his preliminary
education he read medicine for a time with his
father, and then took the general medical
course of the University of Pennsylvania at
Philadelphia, where he was graduated in 1882,
when he was appointed resident physician and
surgeon to the Hartford Hospital. After re
maining in this position one year he went
abroad to further pursue his studies in the
medical centres of Vienna and London.
His study as a specialist at Vienna was
under the instruction of Professor Politzer on
the ear, and Professor Jaeger on the eye ; and
here he received special mention for skilful
delicacy of manipulation. At the Royal Lon
don Ophthalmic Hospital in London he pur
sued his special studies under the direction of
Drs. Nettleship, Lawson, Tweedy, Gunn, and
Couper. On his return to this country he took
up residence in his native city, but continued
his special studies in New "^ork and Boston.
Soon after entering into the practice of his
profession he was appointed Oculist and Aurist
to the Homes of Friendless Women and Chil
dren, and later to the Provident Dispensary. In
method Dr. Calkins is cautious and conserva
tive, and thereby has gained a desirable practice.
Dr. Calkins is a man of popular social
traits, and is a member of several medical and
social clubs, including the Hampden District
Medical Society, of which he is the present
Secretary. He is also a member of the Massa
chusetts Society of the Sons of the American
Revolution. On October 31, 1894, Dr. Cal
kins was married to Miss Alice Flaile, only
daughter of ex-Lieutenant Governor William
H. Haile, of Springfield. They are Congrega
tionalists and members of the First Church of
Springfield.

LBRIDGE DAY, who was born on July
12, 1809, in West Springfield, Hamp
den County, Mass., and here spent
his active and useful life of more than three
score years and ten, dying in 1886, was an
esteemed representative of one of the oldest
families of New England. His father. Cap
tain Hosea Day, and his grandfather, Eleazer,
were both born in the town of West Spring
field, the one, June 20, 1779, the other, Feb
ruary 22, 1 74 1. Robert Day, the immigrant
ancestor, came to America in April, 1634,
resided for a short time in Cambridge, Mass.,
and then went to Hartford, Conn., where he
died in 1648.
His son Thomas removed to Springfield in
1658, and married in October, 1659, Sarah
Cooper, a daughter of Lieutenant Thomas
Cooper, who was killed by the Indians when
the town was burned, October 27, 1659.
Thomas Day died December 27, 171 1, and his
widow died November 21, 1726.
Their son, John H. Day, born February 20,
1669, married Mary Smith, of Hadley, Mass.
His death occurred February 28, 1742. His
son Joseph, who was born June 24, 1703, mar
ried Elizabeth Mattoon, of Northfield, Frank
lin County, and died at Fort Edward, Wash
ington County, N.Y., August 14, 1758; his
wife, long surviving him, died October 13,
1776. Eleazer, their son, grandfather of El
bridge of this sketch, married Martha Snow,
and departed this life June 9, 1825, his wife
having died June 7, 1809. He owned a fine
farm in Ireland Parish (now Holyoke), where
he was a life-long resident, and employed his
time in farming and boating, the town being
on the borders of the Connecticut River.
Hosea Day, father of Elbridge, grew up a
farmer's boy on his father's estate, and, be
sides learning to cultivate the soil, was also
occupied in boating on the river, the business
of transporting merchandise and passengers
being then a lucrative one, yielding Mr. Day
a handsome return for his labor. Mr. Day
had the honor of being promoted to the rank
of Captain in the State militia, and marched
with his men the long distance to Boston dur
ing the time of the Mexican War. He mar
ried Miss Hannah Day, who was born

ELBRIDGE DAY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

399

November 2, 1777, a daughter of Joseph Day,
second, and Azubah (Adams) Day. She
brought up three of their four children — Syl
vester, Elbridge, and Hannah, the latter now
being the only one who is yet living. She
was born April 29, 1812, and resides in the
locality known as Ashleyville.
Elbridge Day was brought up to follow
agricultural pursuits, and after his marriage
settled on the farm at Ashleyville, in West
Springfield, where he spent the remainder of
his days, and where his daughters now reside.
This farm is located on the main road, about
five miles north of Springfield and four miles
south of Holyoke and two miles west of Chic
opee, and, being in the fertile and well-culti
vated valley of the Connecticut, has always
been highly productive. Mr. Day lived to
the age of seventy-seven years. The maiden
name of his wife was Meriam Ardway. She
was born in Holyoke, a daughter of William
and Lydia (Street) Ardway, and died in 1889,
at the age of sixty-nine years. She had been
the mother of three daughters: Julia and
Jennie, now living; and Mary J., who died in
infancy. Such names as these here enumerated,
names standing for integrity and substantial
worth in the same place generation after gen
eration, are eminently fit to be brought
forward in a work of this kind; and the
accompanying portrait of Mr. Elbridge Day,
who will be remembered as having belonged
to a well-known and long-established family
in the Connecticut valley, will be of lasting
interest and value to the student of local
history.

/^HARLES L. BURR, President of the
I SX Springfield Amateur Horticultural
\%^^ Society and Councilman from Ward
 One, was born at Houseville, Lewis
County, N.Y., August 22, 1853. His father
and mother were Harvey and Florilla G.
(Lane) Burr, who after their marriage, which
occurred March 11, 1851, settled on a farm in
Houseville, where they resided until their
son, Charles L., was eight years of age.
They then moved to Champion, Jefferson

County, Mr. Burr having purchased another
farm, upon which he lived until his decease,
at the age of seventy-three years. Their chil
dren were as follows: Harvey H., who resides
at the old homestead in Champion; Charles
L., of this article; Clara E., deceased; Ida
May; and Laura B. The Burr family are the
lineal descendants of Jehu Burr, who came
over with the Winthrop fleet in 1630. Inter
esting matters pertaining to their history will
be found appended to this article.
Charles L. Burr attended the district
schools of Champion, and assisted his father
in his farm duties. At seventeen he assumed
entire charge of his maternal grandmother's
farm, which he conducted for one year; and
he then found employment in different mer
cantile establishments as a clerk, until reach
ing the age of twenty-one years, when he
came to Springfield. During his residence in
this city he has interested himself largely in
the cultivation of rare plants and flowers,
which he has followed with the most pro
nounced success. Mr. Burr is a frequent con
tributor to the various horticultural papers
and magazines of the United States, having
been solicited by many of them to furnish
articles for publication. His grounds are
visited annually by thousands of people, many
of whom come from a long distance, in order
to view the numerous rare specimens of
flowers and plants there cultivated. On one
occasion he presented to fifteen hundred
school children twenty-five pansy plants each,
or thirty-seven thousand five hundred in all,
and at another time over eight thousand Ger
man irises, besides having distributed thou
sands of other plants to residents of this city.
He has over one thousand varieties of hardy
flowers, together with many other plants, and
has been awarded thirty-five first prizes at
different horticultural exhibitions.
The idea of a horticultural society that
would appeal to the people, with headquarters
at Springfield, was original with Mr. Burr,
who with Messrs. C. L. Simons and L. D.
Robinson first set in motion the ball which
has continued to roll until it has a member
ship of over one thousand, with meetings the
first and third Fridays of each month for the

400

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

voluntary exhibition of novel and interesting
floral specimens and for miscellaneous discus
sion of subjects of interest to flower lovers
and growers. In January, 1889, a goodly
number of such as these met in response to an
invitation sent out by Messrs. Burr and
Simons, and on that occasion was organized
"The Springfield Amateur Horticultural Soci
ety," with the following-named officers: C. L.
Simons, President; Charles L. Burr, Vice-
President; George H. Lapham, Secretary;
and L. D. Robinson as Treasurer.
Being deeply interested in the welfare of
his adopted city, he was strongly urged by his
many friends to become a candidate for the
Common Council from his ward; and, at
length yielding to their earnest solicitations,
he was elected to that body in 1893, receiving
the largest individual vote cast within the
ward. He has served with marked ability
upon the Committees on Education and Street
Lighting. He is very popular socially and in
fraternal circles, being a member of De Soto
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and the Royal Arcanum. Mr. Burr married
Miss Frances Adams, daughter of Harrison
Adams, of this city, whose residence adjoins
that of Mr. Burr; and they have what may be
termed a perfect family, consisting of two
sons and two daughters, as follows: Ida May,
Stella G., Harrison H., and Charles L., Jr.
Jehu Burr, who came over with Winthrop's
fleet in 1630, was the first of his race in
America, so far as we have any record. He
was admitted a freeman in 1632, and in 1635
both himself and wife appear as members of
a church in Roxbury. About the same time
he received his first appointment in the col
ony as overseer of roads and bridges between
Roxbury and Boston. He did not long
remain a resident of the latter place. The
settlers had often heard from the friendly
Indians of the rich valley lands of the Con
necticut, several days' journey west; and
early in the spring of 1636 William Pynchon,
Jehu Burr, and six young men of "good
spirits and sound bodies," with their families
and effects, set out on a journey through the
wilderness to the land of promise. The
women and children performed the journey on

horseback, the men going on foot. They fol
lowed a blazed path through the forests, that
led them over wooded heights, through roman
tic glades, and across foaming torrents, now
skirting the shores of an ancient lake, where
the beaver reigned undisturbed by man, and
again following the westward current of a
placid river, until at last they issued from the
forests upon the banks of the Connecticut.
Here they built their village, which they
called Agaam (Agawam), and which in our
day has expanded into the flourishing city of
.Springfield. The following document concerning the
early history of Springfield, furnished to the
New England Historical and Genealogical
Register by Mr. Stearns, of Springfield, will
be interesting to the descendants of Jehu
Burr. It is a copy of the deeds given by the
Indians of Agawam to William Pynchon, Jehu
Burr, and Henry Smith, dated "Agaam," now
Agawam, "this fifteenth day of June, 1636."
" It is agreed between Commuck and
Metaneham, ancient Indians of Agaam, for
and in the name of all other Indians, and in
particular for and in the name of Cuttomas,
the right owner of Agaam and Quana, and in
the name of his mother Kenenesek, the
Tameshau, or wife of Wenarois, and Wianum,
the wife of Coa. To and with William Pyn
chon, Henry Smith and Jehu Burr, their
heirs and associates, for to truck and sel all
that ground and muck of quittag, or meadow
accompsic, namely: — on the other side of
Quana, and all the ground and muckeos quittag
on the side of Agaam except Cotteniackees,
or ground that is now planted, for ten fathom
wampum, ten coats, ten hoes, ten hatchets
and ten knives; and also the sd., ancient
Indians with the advice and consent of the
rest, and in particular with the consent of
Menis, Westherme, and Itapoonertinau, do
trucke and sel to William Pynchon, Henry
Smith and Jehu Burr and their associates, all
that ground on the east side of Quinnecticut
River, called Usquanok, and Mayasset reach
ing about four or five miles in length from the
end of Massacksicke up to Chicopee River,
for four fathoms of Wampum, four coats, four
hoes, four hatchets, four knives. Also the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

461

s'd. ancient Indians do with the consent of
the other Indians, and in particular of Mach-
etuhood, Wemapawem, and Moheureres,
trucke and sel the" ground and mucke of quit-
tag and grounds adjoining called Massack
sicke, for four fathom wampum, four coats,
four hoes, four hatchets and four knives ; and
the said Pynchon hath in hand paid the said
ten fathoms Wampum, ten coats, ten hoes,
ten hatchets and ten knives to the said Com
muck and Metaneham, and doth further con
dition with said Indians that they shall have
and enjoy all that Cotteniackees or ground
that is now planted and have liberty to take
fish or deer, ground nuts, walnuts and acorns,
and sassikinninook or a kind of pease, and
also if any of said cattle spoyle their corne, to
pay as it is worth, and that hogs shall not go
on the side of Agaam but in akorne time.
Also the said Pynchon doth give Wruthorme,
two coats, over and above the said part ex
pressed, and in witness hereof the two said
Indians and the rest do set their hands this
present 15 day of June, 1636."
The deed was signed by thirteen Indians
and also by Pynchon, Burr, and Smith. The
articles of agreement between the planters of
Agawam are preserved also in the Genealogi
cal Register. The instrument is signed by
seven persons, who may be reckoned the first
settlers of Agawam, or Springfield. They
seem to have considered themselves beyond
the bounds of the Massachusetts colony, and
to have joined their fortunes with Connecticut
at once, as at the General Court of the latter
for that year William Pynchon appeared as
deputy for the plantation of Agawam, and
indeed for several sessions afterward. The
next year, 1637, Jehu Burr, who is described
as a leading spirit in the settlement, was
appointed collector of rates therein. He was
probably the first tax-gatherer in the Connec
ticut valley, and was appeased with small
rates than are some of his successors. From
the act of legislature appointing him we learn
that there were then but four settlements
or plantations in the Connecticut colony;
namely, Hartford, Windsor, Wethersfield, and
Agawam. The collectors for these were
William Wadsworth, Henry Wolcott the

elder, Andrew Ward, and Jehu Burr, respec
tively. Of this levy Agawam's apportion
ment was eighty-six pounds, sixteen shil
lings, payment optional, in money, in
wampum (at four a penny), or in good and
mercantile beaver at nine shillings per pound.
Jehu Burr remained an active and useful
member of the society at Springfield for about
eight years, and then removed for the third
and last time to Fairfield, Conn., which had
been discovered a few years before, during the
famous pursuit of the Pequots, and which with
its level land and warm, productive soil was
very attractive to the early settlers. He
seems to have taken a high rank at Fairfield
from the first. The year after his settlement
there, in 1645, he represented Fairfield at the
General Court; also in 1646, and for several
succeeding sessions prior to the union of the
Hartford and New Haven colonies.

ON. DENNIE L. FARR, ex-Mayor
of Holyoke and paymaster of the
P'arr Alpaca Company, was born at
Chesterfield, N.H., November 29,
son of Larkin L. and Mary (Young)
His father's birth occurred on Novem-
182 1, in the same town, where his
grandfather, Ora Farr, was also born July 21,
1786. Ora was a son of Jonathan Farr, born
in 1 76 1, who served as a private in the
Seventh Company, Captain Jonathan Whit-
comb's, of the Third New Hampshire Regi
ment, which was recruited immediately
following the battle of Lexington, and par
ticipated in the battle of Bunker Hill,
Colonel James Reid being commander of the
regiment. The P""arr family probably moved
from Deerfield, Mass., to Chesterfield, N.H.,
previous to 1767, and became early pioneers
of that town, where many of their descendants
still reside, an extended account of whom may
be found recorded in a history of Chesterfield,
issued by O. E. Randall in 1882. Ora Farr
was a millwright. He died January 30,
1828. Larkin L. Farr learned the carpenter's
trade, which he followed for some time,
becoming a contractor. His last years were
passed upon his farm in Chesterfield and in

402

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Brattleboro, Vt., where he died September
12, 1863, at the age of forty-two years. His
wife, Mary Young, was born January 14,
1828, daughter of John Folsom Young, of
Deerfield, Mass. They were married on Feb
ruary 23, 1845, and their union was blessed
with four children. Mrs. Mary Y. Farr still
resides at Brattleboro.
Dennie L. Farr commenced his education
in the schools of Newark, Bellows Falls, and
Westminster, Vt., and Chesterfield, N.H.;
and, after completing his studies at the Swan
zey, N.H., Academy, came to Holyoke in
1879, and entered the employ of the Farr
Alpaca Company, first working in the mill,
from which he was later transferred to the
office, where he has since continued, having
occupied for the past ten years the responsible
position of paymaster. The company em
ploying a force of about one thousand opera
tives and having a weekly pay-roll of six
thousand five hundred dollars, his duties re
quire a close attention to business.
Mr. Farr has always taken an active inter
est in public affairs, being prominently iden
tified with the Republican party and a
member of the city committee, of which he
was treasurer for some time. In 1887 he was
elected to the City Council from Ward Five,
and the following year represented Ward Six
in the Board of Aldermen. In 1889 he was
elected to the office of City Treasurer, and for
the next three years most ably presided over
the financial affairs of Holyoke, the average
amount handled by him during his term of
office being about seven hundred and thirty
thousand dollars annually. In 1892 he was
elected Mayor; and during his term of one
year as chief executive of the city many im
portant and extensive public works were in
augurated and completed, among them being
the sewer systems for Elmwood, Oakdale, and
Springdale, at a cost of about two hundred
thousand dollars, together with the erection of
two large school buildings.
Ex-Mayor Farr is a member and an officer
of Mount Tom Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Mount
Holyoke Chapter, Holyoke Council, and
Springfield Commandery Knights Templars.
He has also been for some time a member of

the Young Men's Christian Association, at
present being upon the financial committee.
On October 12, 1886, he married Miss
Augusta Shaefer, of Windsor Locks, Conn.,
daughter of Leonard Shaefer; and they have
three children — Leonard S., Ruth, and Clara.
They have resided at Elmwood for some years.

¦OHN FRANCIS BARKER, President
of the Gilbert & Barker Manufactur
ing Company, of 193 Lyman Street,
Springfield, and the inventor of gas
machines of great value to the public, was
born in Newton, Mass., December 16, 1839,
son of Albemarle and Abigail (P'rancis)
Barker. The father was born at Stoddard,
N.H., in 1798, and died in February, 1848,
at the age of fifty. The mother first saw the
light in the historic town of Lexington,
Mass., in the year 1800, while the country
was lamenting the first President, who had re
cently passed away.
Pt is claimed that all the Barkers in Amer
ica are descended from two brothers who came
from England in 1680, sailed up the Connect
icut River, landed at Windsor, and thence
made their way to New Hampshire. Among
the great industries that have been established
in this country by members of the family may
be mentioned the salt works in Central New
York — in Syracuse and other places — which
owe their existence to twin brothers, Cephas
and Cicero Barker, uncles of the direct sub
ject of this sketch. On his mother's side
Mr. Barker comes of Pilgrim and Revolution
ary stock, one of his ancestors having come to
America in the "Mayflower," and his grand
father having fought in the war for indepen
dence. That he comes of patriotic blood is
further shown by the fact that all his mother's
brothers served in the War of 18 12; and his
father, though only a boy of fourteen, be
longed to the militia at the same time. His
uncles were shut up for a time in the famous
prison-ship at New York. His mother had
the thrilling experience of witnessing from
Marblehead Neck the battle between the
American frigate " Chesapeake " and the Brit
ish war-ship "Shannon."

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

405

The union of Albemarle and Abigail
(Francis) Barker was blessed with the follow
ing children: Albemarle, Jr., William Fred
erick, Horace Rice, Abigail Ann, Ellen
Amanda, John Francis, and Maria Barker.
When his youngest son was four years old,
the father met with an injury through a fall,
which brought on paralysis of the lower por
tion of the body, confining him to a wheel
chair four long years. He had been a black
smith by trade, and now that his active life
was over, being a man of intelligence, having
a taste for books as well as for newspapers, he
often beguiled the tedious hours by reading
aloud. John Francis naturally spent much
time by the chair of the patient invalid. His
memory being retentive, Mr. Barker can still
recall, word for word, as he heard them from
his father's lips, many passages from con
temporaneous accounts of the Mexican War,
and can accurately repeat narratives of engage
ments that took place during that conflict.
After Mr. Barker's accident the family means
were, of course, limited, and their opporttini-
ties for the children's education poor. The
district school afforded them their only chance
for instruction, and even this was not long
available; for their attendance had to cease as
soon as they became old enough for their work
to be of any value.
The older brothers of John Francis learned
the trade of machinist in the shop of Otis
Pettee in Newton; but, when the gold fever
reached this part of the country, in 1848, soon
after the death of their father, they became
excited by the stories of great fortunes to be
quickly gained, and William was the first to
go as one of a California stock company, who
purchased a vessel named the " Leonore " for
their voyage around Cape Horn, then the only
available route to the Golden Gate. With
three hundred picked men, some of the strong
est and best-developed physically to be found
in the East, the " Leonore " sailed from Boston
in the spring of 1848. Reaching California,
they made their way into the mountains,
where gold was mined in large quantities.
The days were very hot, the nights cold, the
men wholly unused to their new mode of life;
and one after another they caught the fever,

and died like sheep. In two or three years, of
these three hundred men William Barker was
one of the only six survivors. He is de
scribed as having been of gigantic strength.
His hardy constitution enabled him to resist
disease for some time; but at last he lay
on the mountain side, hopelessly ill and
alone. In this predicament he was found by
a Good Samaritan, who brought him plenty
of water from a spring near by. His thirst
had been terrible to bear, and he now drank
so constantly of the cooling draft as to
break up the fever. Earlier he had written
home letters headed " Hurrah for the Land
of Gold!"
As a consequence, his brother Albemarle
joined the second company of miners in
1849, sailing in the "Edward E'verett." On
their arrival Albemarle joined William, and
they were together more or less till 1862,
when William lost sight of Albemarle, who
had drifted eastward to Montana. The lives
of these two were so full of remarkable experi
ences that the story from the lips of their
brother John is thrillingly romantic. Albe
marle once went on a prospecting tour to the
head waters of Feather and Sacramento
Rivers, where he staked out claims which he
afterward sold to new-comers for a large price.
Another venture was in buying herds of cattle,
which he brought up to the camps and sold at
vast profits. Though slightly lame, the result
of a fever-sore and the loss of a bit of ankle-
bone in childhood, Albemarle was a mighty
hunter. While living in Massachusetts, he
used to make occasional trips to Moosehead
Lake and other hunting grounds in the East,
and always returned with many trophies of the
chase. The cool courage and sure aim thus
cultivated were of the greatest future advan
tage. Once, when attacked by Indians in a
narrow pass, he killed them by the score, pil
ing up their bodies until they partly filled the
defile. While transporting provisions to the
miners, William Barker also had his narrow
escapes. There was a famous robber chief,
named Joaquin Muretia, who committed con
stant depredations in revenge, it was said,
for the ill treatment of his beautiful wife in

4o6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

one of the camps. Muretia and his band had
their stronghold in a little valley surrounded
by perpendicular walls of rock and therefore
inaccessible to those unacquainted with the
ground. For some reason they regarded
William Barker in a friendly way. If their
horses or mules went lame, they would give
them to him, so that at one time he had alDOut
thirty of these animals, most of them recover
ing their health in a pasture, from which he
thought escape was impossible, as there was
but one opening, a narrow pass, securely
closed. One day he found the place empty.
The mystery was explained by the near pres
ence of a company of Digger Indians. He
was seen and captured, understanding enough
of their language to know they intended kill
ing him for his watch and rings. They were
already discussing the manner of his death,
when he proposed taking them to a place
where they could get plenty of similar orna
ments; and they at once appointed three to
accompany the white man. 'When a sufficient
distance from the camp to be sure their voices
could not be heard, William turned upon his
captors; after a terrible struggle, in which
his left arm was disabled and his body hacked
by their knives, all three of the savages lay
dead. While occupying a little cabin in the moun
tains, William once entertained an enormous
grizzly bear. Near the cabin was a fine plot
of clover, in which the miners let their horses
feed. Unused to such luxurious care, some
of them died of gluttony. Wild beasts were
attracted by the carrion; and, feeling sure
some of them would find their way to his
cabin at night, William made his rude door as
secure as possible, and placed flour, pork, and
molasses where they would tempt any unwel
come visitor away from himself, should one
gain an entrance. Then he rolled himself
peacefully to sleep in his blanket upon the
floor. Before long he was awakened by some
animal sniffing at the entrance. Presently a
huge paw descended with such force that the
door gave way. Finding the man did not
move, B^uin gave his attention to the other
eatables, and finally plunged into the molasses
his forefeet, from which he repeatedly licked

the sweet treasure. Next he tore open the
sack of flour, which soon made his sticky coat
look like a white bear's. After upsetting
things generally, his bearship departed; but
William knew he would visit him the next
night, and prepared accordingly, digging a
deep pit before the door, therein placing the
carcass of an antelope, and covering a low
fence with deceitful brush. Sure enough, the
bear was trapped. The miners assembled,
and shot the creature, which was raised by a
derrick, and found to weigh fourteen hundred
pounds. There was a certain mountain tav
ern, for years such a resort for the lavish
miners that the proprietor amassed a great
fortune. His widow admired William Barker
so ardently as to offer him hand and riches;
but even in this case he proved equal to the
emergency, and made his escape.
Several years after William lost track of
Albemarle a mule came into his possession
bearing the brand "A. B." Thinking it pos
sible these initials might belong to Albemarle
Barker, William persistently traced the ani
mal to its former owners, one after another,
though they lived hundreds of miles apart,
until he discovered his long-lost brother in
Oregon. The Barker family in Newton heard
nothing from either brother from 1852 until
1879, "when William unexpectedly appeared
in Springfield one day, when John Francis
was reading a chapter from Mark Twain's
"Roughing It," in which the sturdy miner
was surprised to find himself figuring, though
under a fictitious name, as the defender of an
old man accused of murder. In later years
William was able to identify the Samaritan
who had saved his life — a San Francisco
merchant, with whom John Francis has since
corresponded. William Barker is now a
farmer, living in the State of Washington,
near Puget Sound; while Albemarle, still
unmarried, lives in Oregon.
Their brother Horace Rice, who also
learned to be a machinist in Otis Pettee's
shop, went from Newton to Boston, and found
employment in a steam-fitting establishment.
In 1854 he went to Lowell, and opened a
small shop in the same line, prospering so
that he was obliged to move into larger quar-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

407

ters, and by and by owned an establishment
employing seventy-five to a hundred men, and
known as the H. R. Barker Machine Shop.
He died in 1886, aged fifty-five, leaving a
family. A man of ability and highly es
teemed by the community, he became a
prominent citizen, serving on the Board of
Aldermen and as chairman of various com
mittees. Indeed, he could have been Mayor
had he desired the office. One daughter mar
ried Mr. Nesmith, a brother of Governor
Greenhalge' s wife.
At nine, one year after his father's death,
John Francis Barker went to work on a farm,
and after the age of twelve was never able to
go to school at all. That he was a capable
boy is proved by the fact that at thirteen he
was employed by Brown & Co.-, of West New
ton, to drive a two-horse express between
their village and Boston. In this position he
remained a year, handling the ribbons and
traffic with a man's dexterity and faithfulness.
Soon after Horace established himself in
Lowell John went to work for him, and at the
age of fifteen owned a complete kit of tools,
and had a gang of men under him. He re
mained in Lowell about four years, and then
drifted to Philadelphia, where he continued in
the same line until 1862, when he received a
letter from Major, afterward General, Dyer,
of the National Armory at Springfield, re
questing him to take charge of the pipe work
in the water-shops, a position he held four
years. About this time a Springfield associa
tion was incorporated, under the title of the
New England Portable Gasworks Company,
for the manufacture of portable gas machines,
under patents brought from Chicago by C. N.
Gilbert; and Mr. Barker became superin
tendent. In a year, finding their machinery
impracticable, they reorganized as the Spring
field Gas Machine Company, in July, 1867,
under patents planned by Mr. Barker for
machines of a different style. Patent-office
business was at this time four months behind
hand. Mr. Barker's friend, General Dyer, was
now Chief of Ordnance at Washington, and
Colonel Benton was in charge at the Spring
field Armory. Knowing, if his patents were

to get through without serious delay, it would
be only by his going to Washington and mak
ing a personal appeal for the necessity of their
immediate issue, Mr. Barker did so, and suc
ceeded in having them taken up out of order.
This was accomplished by showing that the
gas machines already in use at the Springfield
Armory had ' once caused an explosion, and
that it was for the public benefit to have his
patents granted at once. A letter from the
commissioner of patents to the chief of the
chemical department led to the granting of
the patents without delay, and Mr. Barker re
turned to Springfield on July 7, 1867. The
company was reorganized on the loth, with a
capital of one hundred and twenty-five thou
sand dollars, Mr. Barker's patents being
valued at one hundred and ten thousand dol
lars. This company continued in active busi
ness for two years, when the firm of Gilbert
& Barker bought it out.
Mr. Barker had already left the company in
1869, and gone to New York, where in part
nership with C. N. Gilbert he opened a
store, chiefly for the sale of the Springfield
Gas Company's goods throughout the country
outside of New England. This store was
open from February to September, 1869,
when Gilbert & Barker purchased the plant,
as above stated, Horace R. Barker, of Lowell,
and W. S. Gilbert, of Cohoes, being added to
the firm. The sign was Gilbert, Barker &
Co. until 1870, when the concern was incor
porated as the Gilbert & Barker Manufact
uring Company, Mr. Barker being elected
Treasurer and Manager. In 1884 C. N. Gil
bert retired from business, and Mr. Barker
became President. He has held between fifty
and sixty patents, all marking important eras
in the development of the business — an
enterprise originating in the idea of a fertile
brain, which has led to an enormous business,
amounting to a half million dollars yearly.
The company manufactures machinery which
converts crude petroleum, as well as its distil-
lants, into gaseous form, extensively used for
heating and lighting. The business has done
so much toward revolutionizing the fuel and
lighting industries of New England that many
enterprises remain in the East which would

4o8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

otherwise have been moved West, where
cheaper fuel could be obtained.
Mr. Barker married in Lowell, at the youth
ful age of nineteen, in 1858, Laura B. Pierce,
daughter of George Pierce, a jeweller of that
city, and they had three children: Frederick
Francis Barker, born June 17, 1859, "was acci
dentally drowned at the age of seven; Amelia
Maria, born April 27, 1865, is the wife of
Wheeler H. Hall, Assistant Treasurer of the
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Com
pany of Springfield, and a leading church
organist of this city; John Francis Barker,
Jr., lives at home, and is still pursuing his
studies in the public schools. His first wife
having died in 1884, Mr. Barker married her
sister, Jennie F. Pierce, in 1888; and she has
had one child, Plorace Richard, born March
9, 1890.
Mr. Barker has always been a stanch Re
publican and a believer in a reasonably pro
tective tariff. His motto is, "America for
Americans." He is a man of fine social as
well as business qualities, and belongs to
many clubs and societies, in which he is
highly esteemed. He is a member of Hamp
den Masonic Lodge of Springfield, of Royal
Arch Chapter, the Springfield Council, of the
Springfield Commandery, and also of Hamp
den Lodge of Odd Fellows. He was one of
the charter members of the old Rod and Gun
Club, now merged into the Winthrop Club.
He belongs to the Amabelish Fish and Game
Club, limited to thirty-five members, among
whom are the most prominent business men of
Springfield, leasing from the Canadian gov
ernment a tract of land, forty miles long by
ten wide, on the Amabelish River; and on
the lake which forms a part of the river they
have built their club-house. Mr. Barker
is also a member of the Masonic Club and
the Westminster Club on Bay Street. He
and his family are attendants at Hope Church,
and their residence is at No. 86 Sherman
Street. The reader will be pleased to notice in
close proximity to this interesting chapter of
the Barker family history a faithful likeness
of Mr. John Francis Barker, a finely executed
steel engraving.

-fgTENRY GORDON-FORBES, M.D.,
j-^J residing at No. 30 Broadway, Chico-
\\s I pee F'alls, the oldest practising
physician in the village, is the el
dest son of a retired British officer in the civil
service, and was born in Canada in 1841.
His father, Henry John Gordon-Forbes, was
born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 18 14, and came
to America to serve in an official capacity in
1834. Mr. P'orbes is still living in Toronto,
retired, having now reached the age of eighty
years. His wife was Jane Frances Moore,
formerly of Ireland, who died in her fifty-
eighth year, having been the mother of ten
children, of whom but four are now living,
namely: Eleanor, residing in England; Kate
Ellen and Lizzie in Canada; and Henry
Gordon-Forbes, of this sketch. The maternal
grandfather of Doctor Gordon-Forbes was John
Moore, who emigrated from Ireland to Can
ada, and followed farming as an occupation
for several years, and then became despatch
agent in British employ, on the line between
Boston and Liverpool. After middle life he
was retired on three-fourths pay, and returned
to England, where he has since died.
Henry Gordon-Forbes was educated at the
schools in Toronto, and at nineteen years of
age left Canada to take a clerkship in a drug
store in Boston, Mass;, an event which prob
ably set the current of his after career.
Going later to Springfield, he there continued
in that line of business, and finally went to the
University of the City of New York, where
he took a course in the study of medicine, and
received his diploma in 1866. During his
college studies he was engaged in the United
States hospital service in the campaign of
1864, and saw active service in the Third
Corps, Army of the Potomac, at the battles of
Cold Harbor, Wilderness, and others. He
then went abroad, studying in London and
Paris for a year and a half, and in the course
of the next year returned to New York City,
where he established an office, and remained
in the practice of his profession ten years.
Leaving New York in 1887, he settled in
Chicopee Falls, Hampden County, Mass., and
has here acquired a large and satisfactory
practice.

.-*"''" " "i^x^.

GILSON JUDD.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

411

Dr. Gordon-Forbes was married in- 1869 to
Miss Hannah Elizabeth Mayer, daughter of
Henry Mayer, of German descent, and has
three dawghters: Emily L., wife of Frank E.
Mathewson, residing at Chicopee Falls; and
Eleanor B. and Lillian A. G., living with their
parents at home. Being something of a bib
liophile as well as a physician, and possessing
a cultivated literary taste, the Doctor has col
lected a library of choice volumes, consisting
in part of ancient history, with many complete
sets of works of writers, some of them being
one hundred and two hundred years old.
Dr. Gordon-Forbes takes a prominent part
in the improvements of the village, and is
active in political matters, maintaining Dem
ocratic views. He is a member of Excelsior
Lodge, No. 19s, A. F. & A. M., and Sylvan
Chapter, No. 185, both of New York City,
and of St. John's Lodge, No. 62, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, of Chicopee Falls.
He and his family are communicants of the
Episcopal church in Chicopee.

/^2)lLS0N JUDD, a retired farmer of
\ '3 1 Holyoke, Mass., was born in the
beautiful town of Northampton,
Hampshire County, May 24, 1814, son of Eli
and Lydia (Field) Judd. He is a descendant,
in the sixth generation, of Thomas Judd, who
emigrated from England in 1633 or 1634, and
lived for a short time in Cambridge, his home
being on the northerly side of Brattle Street,
but shortly removed to Connecticut, being one
of the Rev. Thomas Hooker's congregation
at Hartford. In 1644 Thomas Judd settled in
Farmington, and in 1652 was one of the
founders of the church there, of which he was
chosen the second Deacon. He was sent as
deputy to the General Court in May, 1647,
from which date to the close of 1679 he
served in that capacity during twenty-one
different spring and autumn sessions. His
first wife having died, he married, in 1679,
Mrs. Clemence Mason, a widow, of North
ampton, Mass., and spent his remaining years
mostly in that city, where in 1682 he was
Selectman. He died November 12, 1688.
He had nine children, all by his first wife.

His youngest son, Samuel, went with him to
Northampton, married, about 168 1, Mariah
Strong, and was the father of ten children.
William, the youngest son of Samuel Judd,
was born in 1708, married, first, Ann Har
mon, by whom he had four children, and,
second. Submit White, by whom he had two.
His eldest son, William, Jr., born in 1733,
married in 1759 Susanna Gilson, daughter of
Michael Gilson, of Westminster, Vt. He
died November 3, 1807, and she, March 28,
1814. They had eleven children: Eunice,
Susanna, Salome, Irene, Warham, Mary,
Levi, Asenath, William, Eli, Nancy.
Eli Judd was born September 13, 1781.
His first wife, Lydia Field, of Whately, whom
he married December 15, 18 10, died Decem
ber 23, 1825, aged thirty-seven. His second
wife was Electa Tilton, of Goshen. Eli Judd
conducted a farm of two hundred acres at
Northampton until 1837, when he moved with
his family to Huntsburg, Ohio. His six chil
dren by his first marriage were: Elmira, Gil
son, Zenas, David, Ansel, and Eliza; and the
three by his second were: Levi, Francis, and
Sylvester. Gilson Judd received his education in the
public schools of Northampton, and learned to
work on the home farm. Later he accom
panied his father to Ohio, where he joined
with him in purchasing the farm at Hunts
burg; but, after remaining here for a period
of eight years, he returned to Northampton,
and engaged in farming for the Hon. William
Clark, who cultivated an extensive tract of
several hundred acres. That gentleman also
conducted a paper-mill; and, as this industry
occupied his entire time, Mr. Judd assumed
full charge of his farming interests until
1848, when Mr. Clark purchased about seven
hundred acres of timber land situated upon
Mount Tom, where Mr. Judd was employed
during the ensuing seven years in superin
tending the cutting of timber. After com
pleting the clearing of the land, he resided at
Westhampton for about three years, when he
was again engaged by Mr. Clark to carry on
the farm, thirty-four acres of which he after
ward bought from Mr. Clark, at one hundred
and fifty dollars per acre, a very high price at

412

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

that time. The investment, however, proved
to be a very advantageous one for Mr. Judd,
as in 1870 he sold ten acres at three hundred
dollars per acre, and two years later disposed
of fourteen acres more at eight hundred dol
lars per acre. He retained ten acres for a
homestead, upon which he has since resided;
and he also owns a ten-acre wood-lot, together
with about seventy acres of valuable land
located in the neighborhood of the city of
Holyoke. In recent years Mr. Judd has at
tended to the cultivation of his own small
farm; and, although he is now eighty-one
years of age, he has both hauled and cut into
stove lengths a sufficient quantity of fuel for
the entire summer.
In politics he has always been a Republi
can, and he has served as Selectman and
Assessor of his town. He has four times
entered the bonds of matrimony, his first wife
having been Miss Jerusha W. Clark, daughter
of the Hon. William Clark, of Northampton,
by whom he had two children — P'rederick A.
and Dwight O. The former, who was a resi
dent of Springfield, died in November, 1892;
and the latter resides at Holyoke, where his
two sons are engaged in the insurance busi
ness — both being veterans of the Civil War
and members of the legislature in 1888. Mr.
Judd's second wife was Mary Ann Jepson, of
Goshen, Mass., daughter of Joseph and Mary
Jepson. She became the mother of one son,
Charles Judd, who for several years was gen
eral agent of the Traders' Insurance Company
of Chicago, and now represents a large com
pany, together with a local insurance company
of this city. His third wife was Climena C.
Lyman, daughter of Dr. James H. and Char
lotte (Miller) Lyman ; and his fourth, Mrs.
Charlotte J. Estes, widow of Joseph Estes and
daughter of Dr. David Torrey, a resident of
Providence, R.I.
Mr. Judd united with the Edwards Congre
gational Church of Northampton in 1834, and
in 1848 joined by letter the First Congrega
tional Church of Holyoke, of which he was
for some time a Deacon. Fle resides at No.
246 Northampton Street. It will be seen
from the foregoing sketch that this veteran of
the harvest fields may well be accounted a

worthy representative of the old, well-known,
influential, and esteemed family of the Con
necticut valley whose name he bears. His
portrait, on another page, will be of interest
to the general reader as well as to his imme
diate friends and acquaintances.

7TAHAUNCEY LANGDON COVELL,
I \r^ the late President and Manager of the
\^ ^ Springfield Aqueduct Company, was
born in Walden, Vt., in 1810, dur
ing the presidential administration of James
Madison. His father, Philip Covell, was a
farmer, and belonged to a sterling Green
Mountain family.
Chauncey's early boyhood was spent on the
paternal acres, and his advancement in life
was due to his own ambition and exertions.
In 1823, at the age of thirteen, he went to
Hartford, Conn., to learn pharmacy. Having
accomplished his purpose, he bought out his
employer, and entered into partnership with
A. L. McNary, with whom he was associated
many years. In 1847 he removed to Spring
field, buying the drug store of Joseph C. Par
sons, on Main Street, opposite Court Square.
A few years later he went into the lumber
business, at the place now occupied by Day &
Jobson, on Liberty Street. This yard he sub
sequently sold to J. G. Chase, and turned his
own attention to paper-making, in 1875, as
President of the newly organized Chester
Paper Company in Huntington, Mass.
Mr. Covell also became connected with the
Massasoit Paper Company of Holyoke; and
he was elected President and Manager of the
Springfield Aqueduct Company while it still
belonged to a private corporation and was not
yet the property of the city. He was likewise
a Director of the Third National Bank. Soon
after becoming a citizen of Springfield he rep
resented Ward One in the Common Council,
in 1856 and 1857, and was elected Alderman
from the same ward in 1859. In a very quiet
and effective way he was always public-
spirited, and was much respected. His good
influence was especially felt in the high-
minded discharge of his duties as Overseer of
the Poor from 1877 to 1883, when the good

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

413

work he freely gave was much needed. A
philanthropist by nature, he was deeply inter
ested in the City Hospital, to which he gave
liberally both time and money.
Though living to be seventy-seven, there
was no indication of age in his appearance.
No one was busier or bore heavier burdens.
In fact, it was while engaged in the discharge
of his duties as auditor and member of the
financial committee for the Fire and Marine
Insurance Company that he caught the fatal
cold which led to the severe attack of pneu
monia of which he died, October 29, 1887.
His admirable qualities were illustrated dur
ing his week's illness, for he endured pain
without a murmur, was most patient under
trying conditions, and as considerate for those
about him as when in health. In character he
was modest, manly, and reliable. Men gave
him their confidence without reserve; and the
general regard in which he was held found
expression in the tributes paid him at his
burial from his home, the services being
conducted by his pastor, Dr. Buckingham,
of the South Church, and the Doctor's asso
ciate, Dr. Burnham. When first coming to
Springfield, Mr. Covell lived on North Main
Street; but in 1870 he built the house on
Liberty Street, where his home life was pe
culiarly happy.
He was twice married, his first wife being
Hannah Carew, daughter of Captain Joseph
Carew, President of the Carew Paper Com
pany in South Hadley Falls, whereof Mr.
Covell was a Director. Her father was born
in West Springfield (Ashleyville), Mass.,
April II, 1773, the year made memorable by
the Boston Tea Party. On June 13, the same
year, he was baptized in the First Congrega
tional Church in his native town. In 1798,
at the age of twenty-five, he came to Spring
field, bought land, and erected a house, still
standing, at the corner of Main 'and Carew
Streets. At a short distance eastward from
his home he started a tannery, which he
managed many years. During the War of
1812 he obtained his military title as Captain
of a company in Lieutenant Colonel Enos
Foote's regiment, in General Jacob Bliss's
brigade, belonging to a detached corps under

Major-general Whiton, pursuant to general
orders of September 6, 18 14.
By this marriage Mr. Covell became the
father of six children, two of whom survive,
unmarried — Annie Thompson and Carrie
Langdon Covell. Their father's second wife
was Susan Emily Downing, but by this mar
riage there are no children. Mr. Covell was
not only a church member, but deeply inter
ested in Christian work. Two brothers out
live him — Leonard and Philip Covell, both
of Grand Rapids, Mich. ; and three sisters —
Mrs. Currier and Mrs. Camp, of Chicago, and
Mrs. John Rogers, mother of E. C. Rogers,
of Springfield.

XTrANK BRINTON ALLEN, a well-
p| known farmer of Longmeadow, Hamp-
den County, Mass., and a member of
an old family long residing in that section
of the county, was born December 5, 1859.
His father, Brinton Paine Allen, was born
in Windsor, Hartford County, Conn. ; and his
grandfather, Hezekiah Allen, and his great
grandfather, Hezekiah, Sr., were born in the
same town, at the old homestead, one of the
original land grants, which was taken up from
the Indians, and which had never been deeded
until the present generation. They were ex
tensive farmers and life-long residents of
Connecticut. The mother of Brinton P.
Allen, the father of Frank B., of the present
sketch, was Nancy Paine Allen, who belonged
to the Paine family that founded Painesville,
Ohio. Hezekiah Allen, Sr., was a son of
Joseph, a grandson of Samuel, and a great-
grandson of John Allen, whose father, Samuel
Allen, is said to have emigrated from Brain
tree, England. He was in Cambridge, Mass.,
in 1632, removed later to Connecticut, and
died in Windsor in 1648.
Brinton P. Allen after his marriage bought
a farm in West Springfield, Mass., and then
one in Windsor, Conn., and finally leased the
Bartholomew farm, situated in the town of
Hartford, where he conducted a successful
dairy many years. In 1864 he removed to
Longmeadow Street, and resided on a farm of
one hundred and eight acres, known as the

414

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Heber Keep farm, pleasantly situated about
five miles from the Springfield court-house.
This estate he purchased, rebuilt the house,
erected a large barn, and improved the place
in many ways, residing here till his death,
which occurred April 2, 1879. The name of
his wife before her marriage was Anne Eliza
beth Turpin. She was born in Providence,
R.I., and was the daughter of Joseph and
Parthenia Beckwith Turpin. They brought
up four children — Sarah E., George W.,
Charles S., and P"rank B. Brinton P. Allen
was a strong supporter of the principles of the
Republican party.
His youngest son, Frank Brinton, was edu
cated in the schools of Hartford, completing
a full course at the high school in that city,
at all leisure times assisting at home on the
farm. At the age of eighteen he spent six
months with his brother-in-law in a whole
sale drug business; and in March, 1882, he
crossed the ocean, taking a six months' trip,
and visiting most of the points of interest on
the continent. On his return he settled down
to farm pursuits at the old homestead, where
he has remained till the present time.
In P""ebruary, 1886, Mr. Allen was married
to Miss Julia Kibbe, a native of Ellington,
Tolland County, Conn., and a daughter of
Jarius R. and Ida T. Kibbe. They have two
children — Sarah and Mary — -and are mem
bers of the Church of Christ, situated in
Longmeadow. Mr. Allen is a Republican in
politics, and was elected chairman of the first
Board of Selectmen after the division of the
town. His first Presidential vote was cast for
James G. Blaine.

'OHN BLISS STEBBINS, President of
the Institution for Savings in Spring
field, Mass., prominently identified
with various manufacturing interests
in the vicinity, and formerly for a half-cen
tury actively connected with the hardware
business, was born in this city, November 9,
18 17, son of John and Hannah (Bliss) Steb
bins. He is a lineal descendant of Rowland
Stebbins, who came to Massachusetts with
two sons in 1634. The family was of great

antiquity in England, the first mention of it
being in the Chancery Rolls or Records,
County of Essex, in 1201.
John Bliss Stebbins's grandparents were
Caleb and Mehitable (Chapin) Stebbins, both
of Wilbraham. His father, John Stebbins,
was born in Wilbraham, September 3, 1773;
and, coming to Springfield early in life, he
was many years inspector at the armory. He
was one of the old residents of State Street,
and it was through his estate that School
Street was opened. He was connected with
the old First Church, and death overtook him
on January 11, 1857. The wife of John Steb
bins was a daughter of Gad Bliss, descended
from Thomas and Margaret Bliss, who came
from England and settled at Hartford, Conn.,
in 1640. Of the twelve children of John and
Hannah Stebbins only five reached maturity;
and Mr. Stebbins now has but two living
sisters : Nancy, the widow of Calvin Stebbins,
and Margaret, the widow of General Scammon.
Soon after the opening of School Street the
new high school was started; and among the
pupils was John B. Stebbins, who had then
just reached the requisite age of eleven years.
This was in 1828; and the first principal of
the school was Story Hebbard, whom Mr.
Stebbins recalls with pleasure, though he
retained his position only from 1828 to 1830,
when he left Springfield to prepare for mis
sionary work at Beyrout, Syria. The Rev.
D. N. Sheldon then became principal, but he
also forsook the school-room for the mission
ary field; and the third principal, the Rev.
Simeon H. Calhoun, likewise became known
through his work at Mount Lebanon. In
1832 young Stebbins became a clerk in the
wholesale grocery of Averill & Prior at Hart
ford, Conn., the junior partner being his
cousin. He earned little beyond his board;
and heavy lifting proved too much for the
lad's strength, so that he soon returned home.
In 1833 he entered the employ of Homer Foot
& Co., hardware merchants in Springfield,
successors to the Dwights, whose store stood
on the ground now occupied by the Institution
for Savings. With the exception of one year,
which Mr. Stebbins spent in New York City,
he remained with Mr. Foot continuously over

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

415

half a century. In 1838, on attaining his
majority, he started for New York, his
pockets well filled with recommendations,
hoping to find a more advantageous opening.
By stage he rode to Hartford, where he spent
the night, and then by another stage reached
Meriden, where he took the train to New
Haven, whence he sailed to New York. In a
fortnight he found employment as a substi
tute with Stout, Ingolsby & Co., hardware
dealers, but was persuaded to go back to his
former place by the promise of future partner
ship, a promise fulfilled in 1842.
The Foot establishment is an ancient land
mark, standing on the corner of State and
Main Streets through the encircling changes
of a century. When Mr. Stebbins began his
work, there was not a store on Main Street
north of the Hampden House at the Court
Street corner. Northerly, on the west side,
there were residences with yards extending to
the river; while on the east side was almost
vacant land. Now this territory is crowded
with business life, yet the observer of these
great changes is still actively identified with
current events. The firm imported largely;
for the principal tools, as well as the best
screws and locks — in fact, nearly all hard
ware — were manufactured only across the
water. They also imported iron and steel.
In 1885 Mr. Stebbins withdrew from the
house, and has since devoted his time to
manufacturing interests and to the Savings
Bank, of which, with the exception of Mr.
Homer Foot, he is the oldest corporate mem
ber, having been elected a member in 1850, a
Trustee in 1858, and President in 1884, as
the successor of Colonel Thompson. Al
though Mr. Henry S. Lee is the active man
ager, Mr. Stebbins has aided the institution's
growth till it has become one of the firmest
savings-banks in the Commonwealth, with
thirty thousand depositors and twelve million
dollars on deposit.
"When the Holyoke Water Power Company
was organized, in 1859, by Alfred Smith, of
Hartford, Mr. Stebbins became a stockholder,
and in 1868 was made a Director. When
George M. Bartholomew resigned, in 1886,
Mr. Stebbins was placed at the head of this

enterprise, and did much toward building up
Holyoke; but in 1890 the weight of years
made his retirement from active management
desirable, though he remains the oldest mem
ber of the board. Of the Ludlow Manufactur
ing Company he has been a Director since its
formation in 1868; and he succeeded the late
John H. Southworth as President of the
Hampshire Paper Company. He is a Director
of the City National Bank, and was earlier on
the board of the Chapin National Bank. He
has been a warm supporter and Director of the
Public Library and its forerunner, the Young
Men's Institute. When Thackeray lectured
under its auspices, at the opening of the City
Hall, Mr. Stebbins, with George Walker and
the Rev. Mr. Childs, were his entertainers.
Mr. Stebbins was on the School Committee
from 1865 to 1869, and in 1873; but he has
never had a taste for politics, though doing
his duty as Alderman from Ward One in
1853, and in 1883 going to the legislature.
For sixty years he has been a pillar in Christ
Church, as Vestryman in 1845 and 1846, as
treasurer from 1847 to 1852, as Senior Warden
nearly all the time since 1853, as twice a
delegate to the general convention, and as an
invariable member of the diocesan convention.
Needless to add that the bishops and other
clergy have always enjoyed the hospitality of
his home. Mr. Stebbins is fond of travel,
and has found time to make many journeys,
including two European tours in 1873 and
1882, in the latter, accompanied by his
youngest daughter, making a trip to the land
of the midnight sun. In 1855 a business trip
of importance and profit was made to the
mining region of the Great Lakes.
Mr. Stebbins was married January 25,
1843, to Maria, daughter of P""estus Stebbins.
She died in 1891, her happy married life hav
ing extended over forty-eight years. They
had five children. The death in 1877 of John
Louis Stebbins, the only son, born in 1844,
was a sad blow. The oldest daughter, Eliza
beth R., is the wife of Dr. W. Thornton
Parker, of Groveland, Mass. Fannie Lee and
Annie Child Stebbins were twins. The for
mer married William H. Chapin, of Spring
field, and died in 1890, leaving a daughter,

4i6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

who is a much loved member of Mr. Steb
bins's household. The youngest daughter is
Maria Louise Stebbins. Mr. Stebbins's rapid
walk, erect form, and dignified presence make
him a man of mark; and in his intercourse
with his fellow-men he is so gentle, as well
as forceful, that there is no one to speak of
him an unkind word.

/^TeORGE W. D. LYON, a prominent
\ '3 I citizen of Chicopee Falls, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in the town
of Chicopee, July 7, 1845. His grandparents
were natives of "Vermont, but moved to Heart
Prairie, Wis., where their last years were
spent. His father, James L. Lyon, was born
in Vermont, and, when a young man, went to
Boston in quest of employment. Not secur
ing congenial work in that city, he went to
Springfield, where he took a clerkship in a
drug store. The young man had improved to
the utmost every opportunity for the acquisi
tion of knowledge, and possessed a fair
education. He was tenacious of purpose,
industrious, and full of energy and ambition,
and in a comparatively short time he opened
a small apothecary's shop in Chicopee. Mr.
Lyon's enterprise being the first of the kind
in this rapidly increasing manufacturing town,
it soon proved a great financial success, being
a great convenience to the townsfolk, who had
hitherto been obliged to go some distance for
even the simple medical remedies needed for
any ordinary ailment. At sixty-eight years
of age, when Mr. James L. Lyon retired from
business, which was ten years before his
death, he had established an extensive trade.
He was a member of Chicopee Lodge, A. F.
& A. M. His wife, who was before marriage
Miss Lemira Bush Allen, died aged seventy-
four years. She was the mother of eight chil
dren — William (who died), Emily, Julia,
James, Benjamin, Francis, John, and George
W. D. During Mr. Lyon's life he had es
tablished a cigar manufactory, which he had
sold to advantage; so that at his death he left
a good property to be divided among his
children. The education of George W. D. Lyon was

finished under George D. Robinson, afterward
Governor of the State; and at eighteen he
began learning telegraphy at the Chicopee
station of the Connecticut River Railroad.
Deciding, however, not to adopt this as a
vocation, he entered the employ of John B.
Wood, who opened a grocery store at Chic
opee, which after a year was sold. Mr. Lyon
then accepted a position as head clerk in the
freight house at Holyoke, and there he ren
dered able and efficient service for twenty
years. At the expiration of this time he
came to Chicopee Falls as station and freight
agent, which position he has filled ever since.
On Christmas Day of 1865 Mr. Lyon was
married to Miss Lucy A. Phillips, of Hadley,
a daughter of Alexander Phillips, a miller.
The youthful bride was but fifteen years of
age, her birth date being 1850. Four chil
dren were born of this union, one: of whom
died at four years of age. Those living are:
Louise, who has been in Wisconsin for the
past year and a half; James who is in the em
ployment of the Overman Wheel Company;
and Winifred Marie, who is at home with her
parents. Mr. Lyon is a Democrat, has al
ways been an active politician, and has taken
a prominent part in public affairs. He has
served on the Committee of the Common
Council, and is now an Alderman. He is
Past Master of Belcher Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., of Unity Chapter of Chicopee Falls,
Springfield Council, and is Past Noble Grand
High Priest of the Tuscarora Encampment,
Independent Order of Odd P""ellows, of Hol
yoke.

ILLIAM C. LE NOIR, Treasurer
of Gilmore's Opera House on Main
Street and of the Court Square
Theatre of Springfield, was born in Jersey
City, N.J., October 27, 1836. His father,
Frederick Le Noir, who was of French paren
tage, was born in Hesse Cassel, Germany;
and his mother, Elizabeth (Anderson) Le
Noir, was of Holland, Dutch parentage.
Frederick Le Noir, who was a volunteer sol
dier in the German army, came to America
about sixty years ago, and engaged in market

WILLIAM C. Le NOIR.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

419

gardening in New Jersey. His wife was of
distinguished ancestry, being a lineal descend
ant of Anneka Jans, who owned the land upon
which old Trinity Church stands in New
York, and which has for the past forty years
been in litigation. Her mother was of the
Van Riper family, one of the old Dutch fam
ilies of New York, and closely related to
Anneka Jans.
The period of William Le Noir's school
life did not extend beyond his fifteenth year,
for at that age he left the New York public
schools, and was apprenticed to the firm of
Arthur, Jahne & Co., jewellers, at No. 15
Beekman Street. In 1857 the firm was
changed to Arthur, Rumrill & Co., and Mr.
Le Noir came to Springfield to take a posi
tion in the gold chain factory of Rumrill &
Co., remaining in their employ for eighteen
years. A part of the panic year — 1857 —
Mr. Le Noir spent in New York, as there was
great depression of business in Springfield.
In this year the old Music Hall, built by
Tilly Haynes, was opened; and on Mr. Le
Noir's return to Springfield in the spring of
1858 he was engaged by Mr. Haynes to take
charge of the sale of tickets at the box office,
at the same time retaining his position in the
gold chain factory of Rumrill & Co. When
the latter firm closed out their business in
this city, Mr. Haynes at once engaged Mr. Le
Noir to take complete management of the
finances of the theatre, which now required
the constant services of a capable man; and,
when Mr. Haynes sold the theatre building to
D. O. Gilmore, Mr. Le Noir retained his
position under the new management. Besides
having the finances of the theatre in his
charge, he has, in partnership with Mr. C. W.
Perkins, control of the bill-posting branch of
the business, and for the past three years has
also had charge of the Court Square Theatre.
Although not a sporting man, Mr. Le Noir
has for a score of years been interested in
the Hampden Park Association, and has had
charge of the finances of foot ball teams,
bicycle clubs, and horse races for some time,
having established a reputation for more than
ordinary capacity in this line, as well as for
strict integrity. On the days of the races or

games he handles enormous quantities of
money, and on the day of the bicycle meet in
Hampden Park he laughingly told a friend he
had to carry greenbacks in his arms like cord
wood. Mr. Le Noir is a member of the
Hampden Lodge of Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, is a Knight of Pythias, and belongs
to the Society of Elks.
He has been twice married: first to Miss
Jennie Thayer, a daughter of George W. and
Chloe C. Thayer, of Springfield, by whom he
had one child. This child, Frederick, was
born in Springfield, October 25, i860, and is
now a resident of Fitchburg, Mass., where he
is employed as electrician by the Fitchburg
Street Railway Company. He is married,
and has two daughters. The second Mrs.
Le Noir was Miss Clara Turner, of this city.
Mr. Le Noir's residence is in the Theatre
Block, where he is constantly near his office.
The portrait of Mr. Le Noir, which appears
on a neighboring page, will be recognized
with pleasure by many with whom he has
come in friendly contact in public and pri
vate life.

ILLIAM E. GRANGER, a well-
lown and highly reputed master
mechanic and locomotive engineer,
for many years in the employ of the Boston &
Albany Railroad Company, is now living a
quiet life at his home. No. 54 Clinton Street,
in the city of Springfield, where he holds a
worthy position among its most respected resi
dents. He was born February 24, 18 19, in
the town of Huntington, which is now in
Hampshire County, but at that time was
included within the limits of Hampden
County. The Granger family are of early
Colonial stock, being descended from one
Launcelot Granger, who came to Massachu
setts in 1640, and settled in Newburyport.
Ithamar Granger, the grandfather of William
E., was a soldier of the Revolution, and was
for many years a resident of Huntington,
where his son Daniel, the father of him of
whom we write, was born.
Daniel Granger was a hatter by trade, and
when young was a member of the State mill-

42 0

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

tia. He married Jane Lindsay, who was born
and bred in the same town as himself, her
birth having occurred in 1799. She lived
until November 22, 1862, preceding her hus
band in death by several years, he passing
away in August, 1873. They were the parents
of three children, as follows: William E. ;
Sophia N., deceased, wife of Benjamin F.
Stanton, who was for many years road master
on the New York, New Haven & Hartford
Railroad; and Daniel Augustus, who was
killed, in 1853, in a collision on the Boston
& Albany Railway at Washington, Mass.
William E. Granger attended school regu
larly, both summer and winter, until fifteen
years old. He then accepted the offer of a
clerkship at Hartford, Conn., for which he
was to receive one hundred dollars and his
board for four years' labor. After a six
months' trial he gave up the position, and
went to Chicopee, where he was employed the
succeeding four years in a cotton-mill. Being
of a mechanical turn of mind, he entered the
shop of "Uncle John" Chase, going in as an
apprentice, and there learned the machinist's
trade. After he had mastered it he secured
work at one dollar and a half per day, that
being the highest wages then paid to any
journeyman. In 1846 he came to Springfield
to work in the old Western Railway shops;
and in 1847 he began running on the road as
a locomotive engineer, his division being
from Springfield to Worcester or to Pittsfield.
He became very familiar with the road from
Albany to Worcester, being the only engineer
who was acquainted with that part of the road
west of Pittsfield.
When the Prince of Wales and his suite
passed over the road en route to Boston, in
i860, Mr. Granger's engine pulled the train
conveying the party from Albany to Worces
ter. All such special work was intrusted
to him during the remainder of the time
he was connected with the road, or until
1868. In January, 1869, he was sent to
Worcester as general overseer of outside work,
having full charge of all locomotives, cars,
and everything pertaining to the equipment
of a railway, a position which he retained
until 1872. The previous year he had re

moved his family to Worcester; but, having a
severe attack of rheumatism, he gave up his
position, and returned to Springfield. Mr.
Granger afterward secured work as master
mechanic on the Utica & Black River Rail
way, and for a year was located at Utica.
The Athol Branch of the Boston & Albany
being then completed, he put in an applica
tion for a similar position on that road, and
secured it. When the Connecticut Central
Railroad was extended to Hartford, Conn.,
the work of that road also came into his
shops; and he was given the supervision of
all the men employed and of all the stock.
When the road finally came into the posses
sion of the Boston & Albany Railroad Com
pany, Mr. Granger was given an engine and
the run from Springfield to Athol and return,
and continued in that position thirteen years,
making twenty consecutive years of service
with the company. Since resigning his posi
tion Mr. Granger has lived in retirement, and
is enjoying his sunset years in the midst of
his many friends and well-wishers.
On April 23, 1846, Mr. Granger was united
in marriage with Delia Ann Alvord, who was
born in Holyoke, January 23, 1821, a daugh
ter of E. D. Alvord. Two children were born
of their union, namely: a son who died at the
age of seven months ; and a daughter, Mary
D., who died when fourteen years old. Both
Mr. Granger and his wife attend the Carew
Street Baptist Church. Since 1876 Mr.
Granger has been Treasurer of Hampden
Lodge, A. F. & A. M.; and he is a member
of the Springfield Commandery of Knights
Templars. In 1867 the Lodge presented him
with a very handsome Past Master's jewel,
a token of appreciation and friendly regard,
which he naturally prizes very highly.

TT^APTAIN JOHN L. KNIGHT, a resi-
I v-^ dent citizen of Springfield since boy-
\^Js^- hood, now holds the important
office of State In.spector of Facto
ries and Public Buildings in the State Police
Department of Massachusetts. He was born
in the little hill town of Leicester, Mass., on
April 18, 1842, while John Tyler was serving

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

421

out his accidental presidency. The Knight
family is of old Bay State stock. The grand
father was Richard Knight, a Worcester
printer and an officer in the War of 18 12,
whose sword is now in the glad possession of
his grandson John.
Richard Knight's son, Samuel Cree Knight,
was born in Worcester, April 16, 1803, and
there passed his early days; but he afterward
became a representative farmer in Leicester,
where he died August 18, 1872, much re
spected by his fellow-townsmen, having been
Selectman and holding other local offices.
Samuel Knight's wife, Eliza Jane Mack, was
a native of St. John, New Brunswick, her
father, William Mack — who belonged to a
solid old provincial family of Scotch descent,
— having come from St. John in her child
hood. She was born July 12, 181 8, and was
married on her seventeenth birthday, in 1835.
Of their seven children five grew to adult age,
one dying in infancy. The eldest, Francis
West Knight, is also now deceased. Mary
West Knight married Benjamin Williams, of
St. John, New Brunswick, and is now living
in Worcester. The third child is our special
subject. The next youngest was James H.
Knight. Then came Eliza Jane Knight, who
became Mrs. Benjamin Tobin, of Worcester.
The youngest son, Frederick Asa Knight, was
drowned in the Connecticut River while skat
ing, at the age of nineteen. The mother is
still living, and both parents were long con
nected with the old Congregational church in
Leicester. The education of John L. Knight was
obtained in the public schools at Leicester,
including the high school. When only seven
teen years old, in 1859, he left home to seek
his fortune, and speedily found employment
with the Bowleses in Springfield, in the book
bindery connected with the Springfield Re
publican office. When the war broke out,
he joined the Springfield City Guards, an old
militia organization, which on June 21, 1861,
became Company F of the Tenth Massa
chusetts Volunteer Infantry, commanded by
H. S. Briggs. The boys soon went into camp
at Brightwood, in the suburbs of Washington
City, whence they were sent into the Army of

the Potomac, and figured in the Peninsular
battles till their term of service was over.
Young Knight had already worn his stripes as
Corporal. Finding war to his taste, he re-
enlisted in Company I of the Thirty-seventh
Massachusetts Regiment, being detailed for
special duty as a mounted orderly at the
headquarters of General Oliver Edwards.
When this company was in its turn discharged
from service, our Corporal enlisted for the
third time in Company K of the Twentieth
Massachusetts Regiment, and did not leave
the service till the end of the war, being
mustered out July 16, 1865, while holding the
rank of Sergeant. The amount of perilous
work which fell to John L. Knight's share is
best shown by the following list of the en
gagements in which he bore bravely his part:
Williamsburg, Va., May 5 and 6, 1862; Fred
ericksburg, Va., May 11 -13, 1862; Fair Oaks,
Va., May 31, 1862; St. Mary's Heights, Va.,
May 3, 1863; Salem Heights, Va., May 3,
1863; Fredericksburg, Va., June 10, 1863;
Gettysburg, Pa., July 2 and 3, 1863; Rappa
hannock Station, Va., November 7, 1863;
Mine Run, Va. ; Wilderness, Va., May 5-7,
1864; Spottsylvania, Va., May 12-18, 1864;
Cold Harbor, Va., June 3, 1864; Petersburg,
Va., June 18, 1864; Opequan, Va., Septem
ber 19, 1864; Appomattox Court-house, Va.
At the battle of Fair Oaks, on the last day of
May, 1862, he received a gunshot wound in
the left hand, and was sent home to recuper
ate. On September 19, 1864, at Opequan,
while in the Winchester campaign, under
Sheridan, he was again wounded, in the left
arm, at the same time having his horse shot
from under him. He was then sent to the
hospital, Germantown, Pa., for six weeks, and
then accorded a month's furlough, after which
he again reported for duty at Winchester, Va.
Of all the battles in which his regiments were
engaged he was only absent from the seven
clays' fight in the Wilderness, while away
as an invalid.
The war being over, he returned to his old
work in Springfield. When the City Guards
were reorganized, he joined the company,
holding all the offices, both non-commissioned
and commissioned, till chosen Captain, re-

422

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

taining this office for a decade. Joining the
E. K. Wilcox Post No. i6, of the Grand Army
of the Republic, he held successively every
intervening office till he became its Comman
der. Twice has he been sent to the National
Encampment, serving as Aide-de-camp with
Commander-in-chief Burdette in 1877. To
the City Council he was elected in 1883 and
1884 from Ward One, and did much work on
various committees. The next year, 1885, he
was chosen Alderman, serving on the Pauper
and City Property Committees. From the
district embracing Wards One and Two he
was sent to the legislature, on the Republican
ticket, and there did his level best as a mem
ber of the Military Committee in 1886, and
of the Military and Street Railway Commit
tees in 1887. He afterward resumed his
labors in the bindery, now called the Spring
field Printing and Binding Company; and
there he remained till July, 1888, when ap
pointed by Governor Ames to his present
position. This involves the inspection of
factories and public buildings in Hampden
and Hampshire counties.
Captain Knight belongs to the Royal
Arcanum and to Hampden Masonic Lodge.
The family attend the Memorial Church. He
was married three years after the war, on
Christmas Day, 1868, his wife being Elvira
Hitchcock, the daughter of Lyman Hitchcock,
of Springfield, who soon after her birth re
moved to South Hadley, and there continues
his business as carpenter and upholsterer.
Their children are: Alice Mabel Knight,
born in 1873; Grace Eliza Knight, born in
1875; Harold P.yman Knight, born in 1881.
And this trio of bright young people make
the Knight home a home of sunshine and glee.

/^TeORGE W. PRENTISS, senior mem-
\ '3 I ber of the firm of George W. Pren
tiss & Co., of Holyoke, was born at
Claremont, N.H., October 10, 1829. He is
a son of Samuel and Clarissa (Whiting) Pren
tiss, his father having been born at Winchen
don, Mass., October 20, 1796. The family
descended in a direct line from Captain
Thomas Prentiss, trooper, who was born in

England in 162 1, and is known to have re
sided at Cambridge, Mass., in 1636. He
died at Newton, where his tomb-stone still
stands. His son Thomas, who was a trooper
in the father's company, died April 19, 1685
or 1686.
The Rev. John Prentiss, son of Thomas and
a graduate of Harvard College, was ordained
the fourth Congregational minister at Lancas
ter, Mass., in 1705, his pastorate continuing
until his death, which occurred January 6,
1748; and the descent continues through his
fourth son, John Prentiss, who was born in
1706, and was a life-long resident of Lancas
ter, where he died on March 12, 1737-38.
Deacon Samuel Prentiss, a son of the last-
named John, was born September 5, 1731,
and moved to Winchendon, where he died
about the year 1800, the maiden name of his
wife having been Prudence Osgood. His son
Samuel was born July 11, 1763, married Re
bekah McElwaine; and their son Samuel was
the father of George W. Prentiss of this ar
ticle. Samuel Prentiss, third, moved to Clare
mont, N.H., soon after attaining his majority,
and there engaged in the tanning and currying
business. He resided in that town until
about the year 1858, when he came to Hol
yoke, and lived with his son, George W.,
until his decease, which occurred February 5,
1877. He followed the majority of the old
Whig element into the Republican party, and
was a member of the Congregational church,
as so many of his ancestors had been before
him. He married Clarissa Whiting at Cor
nish, N.H., October 16, 1825, and had two
children — Clarissa M., wife of Jonas White,
residing at Worcester, Mass. ; and George W.
The mother was called to her rest October 29,
1843- After graduating from the high school of
Claremont, N.H., George W. Prentiss entered
mercantile pursuits as a clerk at Fairhaven,
Mass., and later was thus engaged in New
Bedford, from which city he went to Worces
ter, where he was employed in the office of
the Henry S. Washburn Wire Works, and
there obtained his first knowledge of the wire
business. After remaining there for three or

>

GEORGE W. PRENTISS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

425

four years, he assumed charge of the office of
the Norway Iron Works in South Boston; and
in the spring of 1857 came to Holyoke, where
he established the wire business, first occupy
ing what is now the smaller mill of the Par
sons Paper Company, the firm being Messrs.
Prentiss, Gray & Co. Mr. Prentiss succeeded
this company, and later moved into a new
mill, which was erected for his business by
the Water Power Company; and the enter
prise began to develop from its small begin
ning into much larger proportions.
In 1869 he purchased his present location
on Dwight Street, a lot one hundred and sixty
front by two hundred feet deep, and erected
the main mill, together with the connecting
buildings in the rear, and has since added to
his plant, until the lot at the present time is
completely covered with substantial three-
story brick buildings especially adapted for
manufacturing purposes. These mills are
fitted with improved machinery for producing
both steel and iron wires, and are the largest
in Western Massachusetts, employing an aver
age of sixty hands. He conducted business
alone until 1871, when he admitted as a
partner M. W. Prentiss; and in 1877 his son,
William A. Prentiss, also entered the firm.
Mr. Prentiss has been connected with the
Holyoke Savings Bank as President for nine
years, and was also a member of the financial
committee. He has been, a Director in the
Holyoke National Bank since its incorpora
tion, being at one time its President, and was
a Director of the Third National Bank of
Springfield during the presidency of the late
Mr. Parsons. He is a Director of the Dean
Steam PHimp Company, and was for a number
of years Treasurer of the Holyoke & Westfield
Railroad. He is a Republican in politics,
and served in the Board of Aldermen during
the first two years of the city government.
In January, 1852, Mr. Prentiss married
Miss Jane D. Washburn, of Kingston, Mass.,
and has two children — William A., who is a
partner in the firm; and Clara J., wife of
William B. Tubby, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Mr.
Prentiss attends the Second Congregational
Church, and resides with his family on North
ampton Street.

OHN H. EVANS, a retired resident of
Holyoke, who was for several years
identified with the cotton manufactur
ing interests of this city, was born at
Nottingham, N.H., November 11, 1829. His
parents were John and Isabel (Evans) Evans,
his father having been born at Strafford,
N.H., in 1788; and, although he married a
lady of the same name, they were not, so far
as known, in any way related to each other.
He died in 1866; and his wife, who was a
native of the State of Maine, where her birth
occurred in 1793, died in 1872, both she and
her husband having passed their latter years
at New Market, N.H.
John Evans followed agriculture and also
owned and operated both a saw and grist mill,
which were located on his premises. He was
engaged in the construction of the old turn
pike road from Portsmouth to Concord. His
father, Edmund Evans, was one of the early
settlers in the Blue Hill region of New
Hampshire, where he resided for many years,
and attained a comfortable prosperity. Mr.
and Mrs. John Evans were blessed with the
following children: Thomas; Hale; Mary;
Maria; William; Sarah H., who died at birth,
a twin sister of John H. ; Samuel; George;
and a second Maria. One of the Marias died
in infancy. Mary, John H., and George are
now the only survivors of the family.
John H. Evans acquired his early education
in the public schools of Lee, N.H., and later
attended a private school, where he pursued
his studies until reaching the age of eighteen
years. He then entered the employ of the
company operating the New Market cotton-
mills at New Market, N.H., where he re
mained until 1854, when he came to Holyoke
and worked as a day hand at the Lyman Mills
for six years, or until i860. In that year he
was given charge of the finishing department,
a position which he most faithfully and ac
ceptably filled for a quarter of a century, at
the expiration of which period, in 1885, he
was compelled to relinquish active labor on
account of failing health. He has since lived
in quiet retirement at his pleasant home in
this city.
Mr. Evans's first wife was Deborah

426

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Leathers, of New Market, by whom he had
one child, who died in infancy. He wedded
for his second wife Chloe Day, daughter of
Captain Sylvester and Ruby (Frink) Day, of
Holyoke. Mrs. Evans's paternal grandfather,
Joseph Day, served as a Lieutenant in the
Revolutionary War; and her maternal grand
father, John Frink, also participated in the
same struggle. Her maternal grandmother,
whose maiden name was Chloe Wright, tied
the cravat of Captain Nathan Hale, of the
Revolutionary army, when he set forth to
visit the British camp as a spy, going, as it
proved, to his death, with the single regret
that he had but one life to give to his coun
try. The paternal grandmother of Mrs. Evans
was Azubah Adams Day. Mr. and Mrs. John
H. Evans attend the Second Baptist Church;
and they occupy a very pleasantly located resi
dence at 245 Oak Street, overlooking the city.
Mr. Evans in former years owned a consid
erable amount of real estate, but has disposed
of most of it to good advantage, merely having
at the present time, besides his own dwelling,
a double tenement cottage house on Dwight
Street, which is a very profitable investment.
In politics Mr. Evans is a Democrat, but
his interest in public affairs has never reached
beyond the casting of his vote. He has ad
vanced in Masonry to the Royal Arch degree,
being a member of Mount Tom Lodge and
Mount Holyoke Chapter. He is also a mem
ber of Rescue Lodge, No. 229, Knights of
Honor, of this city.

/®Xc

EORGE McGREGORY, of the
V •> I Springfield firm of McGregory &
^~— "^ Gasman, marble workers and dealers,
was born at East Longmeadow, Mass., August
23, 1830, which was some time after the
death of his grandfather, Joseph McGregory,
who owned a large tract of land near the
Kibbe quarries. Mr. McGregory's parents
were Joseph and Emeline (Fuller) McGreg
ory, and the father was born July 27, 1807.
The old McGregory brown stone quarry,
which had been opened by his father, the
younger Joseph inherited and carried on for
many years, preferring quarrying to farming.

He furnished the dam for the old Springfield
water-shops; and in 1845 he bought the
brown stone quarry in Wilbraham, and carried
that on till 1870, when he moved to Spring
field. And in this city he died on October
13, 1 89 1, leaving six children, namely, the
subject of this sketch and his three sisters
and two brothers, as follows: Emerett Stacy,
a widow, living in Springfield; Caroline Mc
Gregory, also of this city; Ellen, the widow
of David S. Packard; Albert B. McGregory,
a dry-goods dealer in Indianapolis; J. Frank
McGregory, Professor of Chemistry in Colgate
University at Hamilton, N.Y. Their father
was a Selectman in Longmeadow for many
years, and in 1862 was elected to the legisla
ture from Wilbraham. In politics he was a
Republican; and, like his wife, he belonged
to the Baptist church. Mrs. Emeline F. Mc
Gregory, who was a daughter of Henry C.
Fuller, of Longmeadow, died July 23, 1890.
George McGregory, after studying in the
common schools till he was fourteen, went to
Wilbraham Academy, which he attended four
years. In 1850, when scarcely twenty years
old, he started for California by way of Pan
ama, buying one of the first overland through
tickets sold over the George Law line.
From San Francisco he went to the moun
tains, was engaged in mining a year in Cala
veras County, and later went to Tuolumne
County, where he was part owner of a ranch
for five years, raising cattle, horses, and hogs.
From 1858 to 1867 he carried on the ranch
alone, and then sold his place and went to
Stockton, where he lived two years. He was
an active Republican, always present at cau
cuses and conventions ; but he did not seek
either office or personal notoriety, though one
of the State Senators, J. W. Mandeville, had
been a miner with him in 1850 and 1851. In
i860 he returned to Massachusetts for a visit,
and then again sought the Pacific Coast ; but
in 1868 he returned eastward for good, and,
after a year with his friends, went to New
York State as station agent for two years at
East Worcester, on the Susquehanna Branch
of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. In
1 87 1 he returned to Springfield, and became
associated in business with his father, the firm

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

427

becoming McGregory & Son, so continuing
till Mr. Gasman bought the father's interest;
and the present style of McGregory & Gasman
was adopted.
Of the men in business here in 1871 Mr.
McGregory is now the oldest, and his plant is
the largest of the kind in Western Massachu
setts. His wife, Maria A. Hob|jtt', was born
at Plymouth, Mass., but went to California
with her parents in 1852, there becoming
acquainted with Mr. McGregory, whom she
married in 1856. They have five children.
The eldest, Helen Maria, born in 1857, mar
ried George Taylor, of Springfield; Effie N.
was born in 1859; Harry W., born in 1863,
is Treasurer of the Palmer Savings Bank, and
was for eight or nine years connected with the
Springfield Institution for Savings; Albert
C, born in 1866, studied in Germany three
years, and is now teaching in Colgate Univer
sity; George Hobart, born in 1880, is now a
lad of fifteen, living at home.
The McGregorys reside at 36 Fremont
Street, in a house purchased in 1872, and are
adherents of the State Street Baptist Church,
Mr. McGregory having been a regular attend
ant at the Sunday-school for over twenty
years. He has also been a supporter of the
Young Men's Christian Association. He has
served in the Common Council one year, and
is a member of De Soto Lodge of Odd Fel
lows — "a man diligent in business, fervent
in spirit, serving the Lord."

kATHAN H. WHITTEN, President of
the Holyoke Machine Company, was
Its V born at Carmel, Penobscot County,
Me., May 30, 1827, being a son
of Nathan and Ruth (Small) Whitten. His
father was born in 1802 and reared to agri
cultural pursuits, which he followed as a prin
cipal occupation, conducting farms in both
Carmel and Etna, an adjoining town. He
died at the latter place, July 12, 1890, his
wife, who was born June 11, 1798, having
been previously called to rest. May 8, 1871.
They were well-to-do farming people, their
property, which consisted of between one
hundred and two hundred acres, affording

them ample means for a sure and comfortable
subsistence. They were thus enabled to care
fully rear and educate their six children, who
were named as follows: Abigail R., Nathan
H., Alexander H., Martin Luther, Elizabeth
H., and Isabel M.
Nathan H. was about six years old when his
father removed to Etna. He there received
his education in the public schools, and when
of sufficient age he began to assist in the work
of the farm. His father, being somewhat of a
mechanic, afforded him valuable instruction in
that line, which necessarily exercised some
influence in shaping his future course in life,
as at the age of twenty-one years he aban
doned the parental roof, and went to work at a
trade. He first entered the employ of Elijah
Roberts, a millwright, with whom he labored
at Saco, Me., about a year, and then went to
the home of Mr. Roberts in Rochester, N.H.,
and continued in his employ for two years
more, after which he returned to Maine for
the purpose of erecting a mill, also undertak
ing by solicitation some other work, all of
which occupied him a twelvemonth in his
native State. In the month of May, 1852, he
came to Holyoke, and began work as a mill
wright for the Hadley Falls Company, with
whom he continued in that capacity until
their failure in 1857, after which event he
worked for various parties, his ability being
of a kind that is always in demand at an
active manufacturing centre. In the spring
of 1859 he entered the service of the present
Holyoke Water Power Company, with whom
he remained steadily until they sold their
machine-shop property to John C. Whitin;
and he continued in the employ of that gentle
man till 1863. In that year Mr. Whitten
joined with several others in organizing the
Holyoke Machine Company, which com
menced business in a two-story building, one
hundred by fifty feet, located upon the site of
its present large and extensive shops.
I)uring the thirty-two years' existence of
the above-named enterprise it has rapidly
increased in size and importance, and at the
present time is one of the most extensive
plants of its kind in the New England States,
handling a major portion of the machine-

428

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

producing business of this locality. The
company manufacture water-wheel and mill
gearing of all kinds and description, together
with every variety of heavy machinery, in
cluding paper and pulp mill apparatus, own
ing and operating, besides their works at
Holyoke, another factory of equal size at
Worcester. Previous to Mr. Whitten's con
nections with this enterprise he had acquired
a thorough knowledge of both pattern making
and drafting, and has therefore always su
perintended that department, together with
attending to the millwright work in general,
having skilled assistants in his employ. Mr.
Whitten also had charge of much of the con
tract work, which necessitated a great amount
of travel; but about two years ago the state of
his health compelled him to relinquish that
particular branch.
Mr. Whitten now spends his entire time at
the works, of which he has been President for
the past nine years. He has never been able
to spare sufficient time from his business to
accept public office, although he has on sev
eral occasions been solicited by his party to
do so. He was formerly what was known as
a Free Soiler in politics, which brought him
into the ranks of the Republican party at its
organization, with which he has since voted.
In the month of June, 1856, Mr. Whitten
married Miss Ellen M. Wood, daughter of
Horatio and Lucy (Dodge) Wood, of North
Brookfield, Mass., and has had six children,
two of whom died while quite young. The
surviving four are: Sumner H., of this city;
Mary L. ; Helen F. ; and Annie L. Sumner
H. married Louisa Antz, of Holyoke; and the
daughters still cheer their father's fireside,
Mrs. Whitten having been called to the home
of the immortals on March 13, 1887. The
family are all members of the Second Congre
gational Church, and reside at No. 283 Beach
Street.

John

AMES LEWIS, the oldest pianoforte
dealer in Springfield, was born in the
parish of Diddlebury, Shropshire, Eng
land, March 12, 1825. His father,
Lewis, was born July 7, 1775, at Cefu,

in the parish of Llanbadarn, Radnorshire,
Wales, son of Thomas and Ann Lewis, the
grandfather being a large land-owner.
John Lewis married Mary Wellins, the
heiress of an extensive estate in Shropshire,
known as West Hope, consisting of three hun
dred and twenty-five acres; and here Mr.
Lewis resided as a gentleman farmer. He
invested heavily in wool, and, after losing two
large fortunes, died from the effects of his
reverses at the age of forty-eight years, leav
ing a widow and eight children : Mary Ann,
born March 7, 1809, who died in independent
circumstances at about the age of eighty years,
her death having been the result of an acci
dent; William, born June 23, 1810, who also
acquired a large fortune, and died January
9, 1879; Thomas, born November 27, 181 1;
Elizabeth, deceased; James, of whose career
this article is a record; Eliza, deceased; Caro
line, who is the widow of the late Dr. Edward
Francis Latemore Cross, a former eminent phy
sician of London; and Matilda, who married
Hugh T. Jones, of Springfield. Mrs. Mary
Wellins Lewis was born in 1777, and died
May 8, 1850. The Lewis family passed
through the excitement which accompanied'
the advent of Methodism in England, and
which was the outcome of John Wesley's
abandonment of the Established Church.
The misfortunes which had occurred to the
family made it necessary for James Lewis to
provide very early for his own support, so that
in reality he began the battle of life when but
seven years of age. He was for a time en
gaged with a maltster; but, not liking that
business, he apprenticed himself to a black
smith at Knighton, with whom he remained
until reaching the age of twenty-one years,
acquiring a thorough knowledge of the trade.
After working for some time as a journey
man, he conducted for a period of eighteen
years a large business, which was attended
with so much prosperity that he became a
very well-to-do man, owning eight tenement-
houses, together with a large farm at Hard
wick, in County Hereford. He was in the
Corporated Gas Company for six years; and
on his retirement was presented with a testi
monial by the remaining Directors, who were

^ ^ I^^^M

EUGENIA S. TENNEY TOWNE.

ORANGE C. TOWNE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

433

all members of Parliament and baronets,
among them being Richard Green and other
well-known men of prominence. He also
received from his bankers at Knighton a sub
stantial recommendation as to his character
and business integrity, he having been a
heavy depositor with them for twelve years.
In the spring of 1859 he sold his entire
business at Knighton, and the following year
came to the United States, where he was first
engaged as baggage master of the Hartford,
New Haven & Springfield Railroad, residing
for a time in New Haven; but in 1862 he
moved to this city, where he invested the
capital which he had brought with him from
England, and has resided here ever since.
He purchased a valuable piece of property,
situated on State Street, but later sold it
to the gas company, and bought in 1869 a
dwelling on Pynchon Street, where he now
resides. After remaining in the service of
the railroad company for a period of fourteen
years, he resigned his position, and for some
years was engaged in the book business in
Springfield. He had in his younger days cul
tivated a talent for music, and was a leader
of a band in England; and this, no doubt,
prompted him to enter the business which he
has followed since 1878, when he erected a
store upon his Pynchon Street property for
the sale of pianos, organs, and other musical
instruments. He keeps a large and varied
stock, and his enterprise has always been
attended with success. Although losing
heavily at one time through his generosity in
helping others, he speedily recovered his busi
ness footing, and is now the oldest dealer in
his line of goods in the city. He possesses a
valuable piece of property at 63, 65, 6^, and
^7\ Pynchon Street, measuring seventy-three
feet front, where both his residence and place
of business are located.
Mr. Lewis was made a Mason in Worcester
Lodge at New Haven, but now affiliates with
Hampden Lodge of this city, and is also a
member of Morning Star Chapter. He is
perhaps the oldest member of the Odd Fellows
in Western Massachusetts, having joined the
order October 21, 1841, at Knighton, Eng
land, where he was called upon to fill the

chair of Noble Grand for four terms. He has
been connected with Hampden Lodge since
coming to Springfield, and has been Senior
Warden of the Encampment. He was one of
the original thirteen charter members of
Mertes Lodge, Knights of Pythias, No. 2,
which was the second lodge of the order
instituted in Massachusetts, and was formerly
Prelate. He, however, retired from the order
some years since. He is independent in
politics. By his first wife, Elizabeth Griffith, of
Knighton, he had two children: John, now
deceased, who became a talented elocutionist;
and Eliza, who died at the age of nine years.
On April 3, 1863, he married for his second
wife Miss Anna Morgan, also of Knighton;
and of the three children born to them but
one is now living, Annie and Loomis James
having both died, the former in 1887. James
Lewis, his only surviving son, is now an
electrical expert. In 1865 Mr. Lewis visited
England for the purpose of disposing of some
property, and remained there two months; and
in 1872 he spent a like period in his native
land. After his return from another trip to
the old country in 1886, he sent his family
abroad with the hope that it might be benefi
cial to the health of his daughter. He has
crossed the Atlantic Ocean eleven times, hav
ing just returned (July 5, 1895) from anbther
trip; and, although he has reached his three
score and ten years, he looks forward to the
time when he shall again visit merry England.

RANGE CHAPIN TOWNE, an en
terprising and prosperous agricultu
rist, residing in the town of Chicopee,
was born in Belchertown, Hampshire
County, Mass., on March 20, 1823, son of
Jonathan and Delia (Rumrill) Towne. The
first ancestor of the Towne family in America
was William Towne, who was born in Eng
land in 1600, emigrated to this country, set
tled in Salem, Mass., in 1640, later removed
to Topsfield, and died in 1672. One of his
sons, Jacob, of Topsfield, born in England in
1633, married Catharine Symonds, of Salem,
and died in 1704. Their son, John, was born

434

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

in 1658, married, and reared a family of ten
children. He died in Oxford, Mass., in
1740, at the advanced age of eighty-two. His
son Israel, born in 1684, settled in Oxford,
Mass., in 1712, and died in 1771, aged
eighty-seven. He also had ten children.
His son Israel, the great-grandfather of
Orange Chapin Towne, was born in 1727, and
at the age of twenty-two purchased a farm in
Belchertown, upon which he settled, being
one of the first to make his home in that sec
tion. He died in 1 805, at the age of seventy-
eight years, having had a family of ten
children. Jonathan, son of the second Israel, was
born in 1756, and died in Belchertown, Sep
tember 25, 1824, aged sixty-eight. He
served in the Revolutionary War, being pres
ent at the battles of Bunker Hill and East
Chester, Princeton, Bordentown, and Sara
toga, and when the British army surrendered
at the close of the war. In Shays's Rebellion
he commanded the artillery which was placed
at the head of Main Street, in Springfield, to
foil the rebels in their attempt to obtain pos
session of the arsenal. His son Jonathan, the
father of Orange Chapin Towne, was born in
Belchertown in 1796. He was brought up in
his native town, and there engaged in farming
for some years, later having business transac
tions in the West. At the time of the gold
excitement in California he, in company with
others, journeyed thither; and there his death
occurred in 1854. The maiden name of his
wife was Delia Rumrill.
At the age of three years Orange Chapin
Towne was adopted into the family of Deacon
Orange Chapin, his home being in that part
of the town of Springfield now included in
Chicopee. He attended the public schools,
and began when young to assist in the work
of the farm. At the time of his marriage he
was given the position of station agent at
Willimansett, which he acceptably filled for a
period of ten years. At the expiration of that
time he returned to the farm, succeeding Dea
con Chapin in its ownership. Here he carries
on mixed husbandry with excellent results,
finding both pleasure and profit in his labors.
This farm is located directly across the river

from the city of Holyoke; and at the time of
Mr. Towne's earliest recollections there was
no dam across the river, and upon the site of
the present city there were but three or four
farm-houses. When he became station agent
at Willimansett, there was but one small mill,
a cotton factory, at what is now Holyoke.
There was no' side track, and, whenever cot
ton was to be unloaded or goods shipped, a
car would be pushed across the river. It will
thus be seen that Mr. Towne has witnessed
the entire growth and development of the city
of Holyoke.
In 1846 Mr. Towne was united in marriage
with Miss Eugenia Sophia Tenney, who was
born in Gill, Franklin County, Mass., her
parents being Captain John A. and Nancy
(Lyons) Tenney. Her father was a son of
Captain Gideon Tenney, grandson of Stephen
Tenney, and a great-grandson of Daniel Ten
ney. The Tenney family trace their lineage
in America back to about the year 1630, when
three of their ancestors, two brothers and a
sister, came from England, one brother set
tling in Massachusetts and one in Connecti
cut. Captain Gideon Tenney was a soldier in
the Revolutionary War. His profession was
that of teaching, which he followed until past
the age of seventy, his death taking place
when he had attained the advanced age of
eighty-four. He married Betsy Childs, of
Hardwick, Mass., who lived to the great age
of ninety-eight. Their household included
eleven children, the eldest being John A., the
father of Mrs. Towne. He was born in Barre,
Mass., in 1793, and, like his father, taught
school in his young manhood, later in life
purchasing a farm in Gill, Mass., upon which
he settled, and where he died at the age of
eighty years. He married Nancy Lyons,
whose natal place was Colerain, Mass., her
father being Dr. Jerry Lyons, a physician of
that town. Mrs. John A. Tenney died in
Gill, at the early age of thirty-eight, having
become the mother of five children, of whom
Eugenia S., Mrs. Towne, was the second in
order of birth. She received her early edu
cation in the public schools of her native town
and at a select school there, and later at
tended Goodale Academy in Bernardston,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

435

Mass. Her many excellent qualities endear
her to a large circle of friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Towne have two children —
Florence E. and Frederick M., the latter a
commercial traveller, representing the firm of
F. Bredt & Co., of New York City. He mar
ried Amy Howard, of Chicopee, Mass., and
has one child — Amy Florence. Mrs. Towne
and her daughter are earnest members of the
First Congregational Church of Chicopee.
Readers of the "Review" will be pleased to
notice the accompanying portraits of Mr. and
Mrs. Orange Chapin Towne, whose record
shows them to be worthy representatives of
the early Colonial families, and eligible to
membership in societies composed of lineal
descendants of Revolutionary patriots.

WELLS BRIDGE, who has re
cently been re-elected to the office
of Treasurer of Hampden County,
which he held for twenty-four
years prior to 1892, was born in Feeding Par
ish, now Agawam, West Springfield, April
26, 1834. His parents were Jonathan Davis
and Abigail Learned (Bullard) Bridge.
His father, who was a native of Northfield,
Mass., at the age of seventeen years com
menced preaching as a Methodist, and joined
the old New England Conference, with which
he continued to labor for many years, becom
ing Presiding Elder of the Worcester district.
He supplied many prominent pulpits in this
State, among them being those of churches
in Boston, Charlestown, and Worcester. He
died at Wilbraham. His wife was a daughter
of Liberty Bullard, an extensive farmer of
Orange, and of the six children born to her
three lived to reach maturity, namely: M.
Wells Bridge, of this article; Captain Wat-
.son W. Bridge, who enlisted in the Thirty-
seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, and subse
quently was a Captain in the Fifty-fourth
Massachusetts (Colonel Robert G. Shaw's)
Regiment; and the Rev. William D. Bridge,
a resident of Chelsea, who presides over a
school in Boston the aim of which is to pre
pare aspirants to serve as private secretaries.
The paternal grandfather, Isaac Crossett

Bridge, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and
a resident of Northfield, where he followed
agricultural pursuits.
M. Wells Bridge was educated in the Bos
ton and Worcester public schools and at the
Wilbraham Academy, he being able to attend
the more advanced school only at intervals,
the length of which depended on the amount
of money he had on hand; for, when his sup
ply was exhausted, he would relinquish his
studies for a time, while he labored to provide
the necessary funds to continue them, and in
this manner he worked his way through.
Having finished his schooling, he secured a
position as book-keeper and accountant for a
large clothing house in Boston, where he re
mained until his health failed; and, after
recruiting for a time at Wilbraham, he came
to this city in 1855, to enter the Registry of
Deeds and the County Treasurer's office, the
business of both being at that time transacted
in one room. He continued as a clerk in
both of these departments, under different
registers and treasurers, until he was himself
elected to the latter office.
After his election the county conducted a
number of extensive building operations,
among them being the bridge at South Had
ley and those at both the north and south ends
of Springfield, the present court-house, county
jail. House of Correction, and the truant
school. Mr. Bridge in his official capacity
dispensed large sums annually, the figures
having reached as high as five million, four
hundred and forty-two thousand, nine hundred
and ninety-four dollars. The average expen
ditures of the county during his later years of
service were two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars per annum; and his last year's total
payments (1891) amounted to three hundred
and twenty thousand, nine hundred and
ninety-one dollars, which did not include the
sinking fund account, about fifty thousand
dollars. Throughout Mr. Bridge's long term
of office his accounts were always kept with
strict accuracy, he being methodical and thor
ough in his work. He has taken little or
no active interest in politics, having given
his entire time and energies to the duties of
his office.

436

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mr. Bridge married for his first wife Anna
V. Wheeler, daughter of John and Roxanna
Wheeler, of Chesterfield, N.H., who after
ward resided in Vermont. Her mother lived
to attain the ripe old age of eighty-eight
years, and died in 1894. She had six chil
dren, four of whom died young, the remaining
two being: Olive Anna, wife of J. Wilber
Hale, of East Hartford, Conn. ; and Lucius
L., an architect of Ware, who has planned
and superintended the construction of many
very prominent buildings. His first wife,
Mrs. Anna V. Bridge, having died, Mr. Bridge
married on October 4, 1893, Miss Olivet B.
Frost, of this city, a daughter of Henry and
Mary Fuller Frost, of Ludlow, Mass.
In religious faith Mr. Bridge is a Meth
odist, and is one of the original members of
St. Luke's Church, which was organized in
his parlors. He was for many years an active
member of Trinity Methodist Church, of
which he served as a Trustee and Steward.
In Masonic circles he is prominent, being a
member of Roswell Lee Lodge, Morning Star
Chapter, Springfield Commandery, and the
Masonic Club. He was for several years
President of the Massachusetts Masonic Asso
ciation, which he was mainly instrumental in
organizing from the Masonic Relief Associa
tion, his name appearing first upon its char
ter. On the first Wednesday in January,
1895, he again assumed charge of the finan
cial affairs of Hampden County, with which
he had previously been so closely identified
for a period of thirty-six years. During that
long term his routine duties continued unin
terrupted by any unusual incident, except the
following, which is more than worthy of pass
ing mention.
On Friday, January 18, 1884, as Mr. Bridge
was doing some work just about dusk, a well-
dressed stranger made his appearance at the
desk rail, and, asking if he could get change
for a five-dollar bill, received the customary
answer of "Certainly, sir" from Mr. Bridge,
who was quite accustomed to have strangers
come from the police court for the purpose of
procuring change with . which to pay their
fines. He stepped into the vault, which was
not lighted, and had counted out four one-

dollar bills, when he heard footsteps behind
him, and was at once overpowered by three
masked men, thrown to the floor, and hand
cuffed. He attempted to raise an alarm, but
was prevented by one of the gang ordering
another to stop his wind, which was done with
such barbarity as to tear out the beard upon
his neck by the roots. With two pistols
pointing at his head, he concluded to keep
quiet ; and the robbers then took what they
could find, eight hundred dollars in cash and
valuable papers, and, after binding him to the
knob of the safe, shut the vault and the burg
lar-proof doors on him, first having taken his
keys, with which they locked the office door.
On finding himself alone, he worked with des
peration to untie himself, and, having suc
ceeded, gave the alarm as the three men were
leaving the court-house. Although it was
some time before any one came to release
him, the people joined in pursuit of the rob
bers, who ran toward the river, making good
their escape. Occurring, as it did, in a large
city during business hours, the affair caused
a great deal of excitement.

J ENJAMIN F. PERKINS, a promi
nent machinist and steam-engine
manufacturer of Holyoke, was born
at Wendell, N.H, now Sunapee,
July 21, 1826, son of Joseph and Susan
(Colby) Perkins, his father having been a
farmer in the above-named town, as was also
his grandfather, Benjamin Perkins. Joseph
Perkins moved to Lebanon, N.H., when Ben
jamin F. was about seven years of age; and
there the lad received his education.
He had reached the age of thirteen when
his parents removed to Grafton, where three
years later his father died. Benjamin imme
diately entered the employ of Fifield & Choate
at Enfield, N.H., as an apprentice, to acquire
the trade of a locksmith, and, after remaining
there for three years, went to Nashua, N.H.,
where he was employed for a little more than
a year by the Nashua Lock Company. Dis
satisfied with his calling, although he was
receiving one dollar per day, he relinquished
it to learn the machinist's trade with John H.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

437

Gage, at thirty-three and one-third cents per
day. His wages were almost directly in
creased to sixty cents per day; and he con
tinued in Mr. Gage's employ for more than a
year, when, in 1846, he went to Manchester,
where he was engaged in machine repairing at
the mills of the Amoskeag Company for a
period of five years. In 185 1 he accepted a
position with the Selma Manufacturing Com
pany of Selma, Ala., going immediately to
the scene of his new labors, the trip occupy
ing a week's time; and, when he arrived, he
was placed in charge of a crew of negro
laborers who were clearing up the ground for
the erection of buildings. Mr. Perkins was
the first machinist who had ever worked
within fifty miles of Selma; and he remained
there one year, returning then to Manchester,
where he had left his wife and children.
He shortly came to Holyoke, but, not find
ing an opening here, went to Mittineague,
where he entered the services of the Agawam
Cotton Manufacturing Company. Six weeks
later he received and accepted a call from the
Hadley Mills Company, now the Lyman Mills
Company, to do machine repairing; and for
the next five years he was constantly engaged
in their mills. In August, 1857, he entered
the Hampden Mills in the capacity of master
mechanic, having entire charge of the mechan
ical department until 1865, at which time he
removed to North Adams, where he engaged
as mechanical superintendent for the Freeman
Manufacturing Company, a position that he
held for nearly two years. Being then solic
ited by the Hampden Mills Company to return
to their services at a salary considerably in
advance of what he formerly received, he came
here, and most ably filled this position for the
next seven years. In November, 1873, he
established a general jobbing machine busi
ness on Front Street, in 1879 removing to
No. 12 Appleton Street. His business rap
idly expanded, and in 1883 he went into
larger quarters in Cabot Street. In 1888 his
shops, together with stock and machinery,
were destroyed by fire, the whole representing
an outlay of twenty-two thousand dollars, with
but five thousand insurance, and upon which
the agents pronounced a total loss. He then

began business anew at the old Appleton
Street shop, where he continued to serve his
customers until securing his present quarters,
which have since been increased to a- consid
erable extent, both as to floor space and
mechanical facilities.
In February, 1888, he admitted his son, J.
Lewis Perkins, as a partner in the business,
which has since been conducted under the
firm name of B. F. Perkins & Son. Pn 1891
they purchased a half-interest in the paper-
mill owned by J. H. Shannon, and situated in
South Hadley, Mass., leasing the other half-
interest until 1893, when they secured that
also, and are now the sole owners of the prop
erty, which is being successfully operated by
them with the most profitable results, they
having enlarged the building and introduced
improved machinery, giving the mill a very
much increased capacity. Their main object
in entering the paper business was to supply
the paper for a patent calendering roll which
they manufacture, and furnish to a greater
number of paper-makers throughout the
United States and Canada than any other firm
in their line. This firm has acquired a local
reputation for turning out the best of machine
work, and their capacity is always forced to
its utmost extent by the many orders placed
with them.
In politics Mr. Perkins has always been a
Republican, but is not an aspirant for public
office. He married his first wife, whose
maiden name was Ruth Cross Hartwell, in
1848; and they had a family of seven chil
dren. She died in 1862; and on December
24 of that year he wedded for his second wife
Miss Ellen M. Cross, a cousin to his first
wife, daughter of Ephraim and Susan C. (Cor
liss) Cross, her father having been cousin to
the late George C. Corliss, builder of the
famous Corliss engine. J. Lewis Perkins is
the only child of this union. He was born
November 12, 1865, at Holyoke, and grad
uated from the high school in 1884. While
attending school, he kept his father's books,
and was admitted to partnership, as before
stated. He is also a Republican in politics,
but, as he says, with no prominent political
ambition. The family attend the Congrega-

438

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

tional church, and reside at No. 250 Pine
Street.

HERBERT WHITMAN CARTER, a
prominent and rising young business
man of the city of Springfield,
— " Mass., is a member of the enter
prising firm of Carter & Tucker, wholesale
dealers in paper, paper bags, twines, etc. He
was born July 15, 1868, in the neighboring
city of Worcester, but has lived in Springfield
since six years of age. His parents, George
Henry and Mary Abby (Cowdrey) Carter,
were both natives of Worcester County, his
father having been born in the beautiful vil
lage of Leominster, which is not far from
Mount Wachusett ; while his mother was born
in Brookfield, but was brought up in Leomin
ster. The name of Carter occupies a high
place among the early settlers of New Eng
land, the first for us to note being the Rev.
Thomas Carter and his wife, Mary, who were
of English birth, he being the first settled
minister in the parish of Woburn, Mass.,
where he was ordained in 1642.
Their son, Samuel Carter, was born in
Woburn, August 8, 1640, was graduated from
Harvard College in 1660, afterward entered
the ministry, and died during his pastorate in
Groton, in the autumn of 1693. He was
admitted an inhabitant and proprietor of land
by vote in the town of Woburn, January 4,
1665 or 1666, and served as Selectman from
1679 to 1683, besides holding other offices.
He married Emma Brooks, daughter of John
Brooks, in 1672. Samuel Carter, the second,
son of the above Samuel, was born in Woburn,
January 7, x^lJ-yZ, and died in Lancaster,
August 30, 1738. He was Selectman in
1723, and was a man of some prominence,
serving on various committees. In March,
1 70 1, he was united in marriage to Dorothy
Wilder; and their son, Josiah Carter, was
born in Woburn, January 26, 1726.
Josiah Carter was a Colonel in the Revolu
tionary army, and afterward settled in Leom
inster, Mass., buying a farm on what is now
known as Carter Hill, his residence on the
brow of the hill commanding a fine view of

the picturesque country roundabout. He
there spent his last years, dying February 13,
1812. His wife, whose maiden name was
Tabitha Hough, was born in 1729, and died
June 29, 181 o, after a wedded life of nearly
sixty-five years, their marriage having taken
place in 1745. Jacob, son of Colonel Josiah
and Tabitha Carter, was born in Leominster,
September 4, 1763, and died August 27,
1825. He married, January i, 1796, Rachel
Maynard, who died August 30, 1850. Their
son William, the grandfather of the special
subject of this sketch, was born on the ances
tral homestead in Leominster, February 4,
1799, and there departed this life November
19, 1880. He married Betsey Spaulding,
who was born in Francestown, N.H., Septem
ber 9, 1803, and died December 7, 1878.
George H. Carter, son of William, was
born December 2, 1838, and while a resident
of Leominster, the place of his nativity, mar
ried Mary Abby, a daughter of Isaac Cowdrey,
who was for many years a successful contrac
tor and builder of that village, but is now
living retired from active pursuits, a hale and
vigorous man of eighty-four years. During
the Rebellion Mr. Cowdrey was one of two
commissioners sent to the front to see that
the supplies generously furnished by the town
were properly distributed among our brave
soldiers. When the war broke out, Mr. Car
ter was one of the early volunteers, enlisting
in October, 1861, in Company H, Twenty-
fifth Massachusetts Volunteers. He was in
the Burnside expedition, and went through
the battles of Roanoke Island and Newbern.
The hardships of the campaign were too much
for him, however; and he contracted pleurisy,
which necessitated his discharge about a year
after his enlistment. In 1874 he removed
with his family to Springfield, and became a
member of the firm of Niles & Carter, the
senior member being Horace L. Niles. After
a satisfactory connection of ten years the firm
was dissolved by the withdrawal of the junior
member on account of ill health. The fol
lowing year, having recovered his usual
strength, Mr. Carter formed a partnership
with J. S. Noble, and under the firm name of
Noble & Carter engaged in a wholesale and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

439

retail trade in grain and mason supplies, con
tinuing in this business until his death, while
yet in the prime of life, on August 3, 1891.
Mr. George H. Carter was a Worthy Brother
in the order of Odd Fellows, a member of
Hampden Lodge, No. 27. His widow, Mrs.
Mary A. (Cowdrey) Carter, is living with her
son in Springfield, and is a valued member of
St. Paul's Universalist Church.
Herbert Whitman Carter is the only surviv
ing child of the parental household. After
his graduation from the Springfield High
School he began his business career with
Cutler & Porter, wholesale shoe dealers,
receiving from them his earliest mercantile
training, and remaining in their employ three
years. From 1890 until 1894 Mr. Carter was
engaged as a travelling salesman for J. A.
Manning & Co., wholesale shoe dealers of
Boston, the territory which he covered em
bracing Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode
Island. Returning to Springfield, he formed
a partnership with Mr. F. A. Tucker, and
under the firm name of Carter & Tucker
bought out a long-established paper business,
the commodious warehouse being located at
No. 107 Bridge Street. They occupy the
whole of the three-story building, and carry
on a large business, having not only a good
home trade, but keeping two travelling sales
men busy in the field.
Mr. Carter is not a gentleman inclined
either to clubs or other fraternal organiza
tions, preferring his "ain fireside," where he
is happily domiciled. On November 28,
1893, he was united in marriage with Miss
Edith Josephine Sawin, only daughter of
Stephen Sawin, of Leominster; and of their
union one child has been born — Mildred
Phillips Carter. Religiously, he has never
departed from the faith in which he was
reared, and is an active and generous sup
porter of the Universalist church.

/SeORGE ALEXANDER BIRNIE,
f 3 1 Treasurer of the Ludlow Savings
— Bank, an esteemed citizen of this
town, and a man of wide acquaintance and
many friends throughout the States, was born

in Becket, Berkshire County, Mass. His
father, Alexander Birnie, was born at Porto
Bello, Scotland, in 1803, son of George
Birnie, a native of Aberdeenshire.
Grandfather Birnie came to America in
1827, accompanied by his wife and twelve
children, and located in New Jersey, where
he died soon after. His wife, Ann Quiry
Birnie, who also was a native of Aberdeen
shire, survived him many years, and died at
the home of her son, the father of the subject
of this sketch, in Becket. Alexander Birnie
was reared and educated . in his native land,
where he learned the trade of stone cutting.
On coming to America, he first settled in
New Jersey, whence he subsequently came to
Massachusetts, and was a contractor on the
Boston & Albany Railroad and other public
works. He finally removed to New York
State, and spent the last years of his life at
Hastings-on-the-Hudson, in which place he
died at the age of fifty-five, his death being
the result of an accident. His wife before
her marriage was Mary Spring Adams. She
was born in Westboro, Mass., and died in
Ludlow, at the age of seventy-five. Of the
seven children born of this union five lived to
reach maturity.
George Alexander, one of the five, was but
an infant when his parents removed to Hast
ings ; and there he received his early educa
tion, subsequently attending a select school
taught by Sanford Lawton, of Longmeadow,
and the University Grammar School at New
York City. When his course at the last-
named institution was completed, he entered
the employ of C. L. Covell, of Springfield, as
a clerk. After attending faithfully to the
duties of this position for two years, he be
came associated with J. R. Hixon in the shoe
business. Three or four years were spent in
this way. Then he sold out, and engaged in
the grain business with his brother, William
A. Birnie. He was hardly satisfied with the
results of this venture, and at the end of two
years entered the employ of Peck & Baker as
travelling salesman ; but the wear and tear of
continuous journeying undermined his health,
and he was compelled to give up that work.
He thereupon retired to a farm in Ludlow,

440

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and for three years occupied himself with
agricultural pursuits, being then recalled to
city life to take the position of Deputy United
States Marshal of the United States Court,
under United States Marshal Harlow, at
Brooklyn, N.Y. This position he held over
six years, then returned to Ludlow, and for
five years was book-keeper for Joseph Whit
comb & Co., of Springfield. But failing
health again compelled him to leave the desk,
and two more years were passed in retirement.
With renewed strength he then entered the
employ of the Ludlow Manufacturing Com
pany in a clerical capacity, and still continues
in their service. The Ludlow Savings Bank
being incorporated in 1888, Mr. Birnie was
elected to his present office of Treasurer.
Mr. Birnie was married, April 20, 1865, to
Julia W. Carroll, of New York City, who
died the following year. He subsequently
married Ellen Bowen, of Weathersfield, Vt.
They have two children — Mary A. and Alex
ander C. In politics Mr. Birnie is a Repub
lican; and he has filled various offices of trust,
having been Postmaster at Ludlow, a member
of the School Committee, and a Justice of the
Peace. His diversified experience has given
him a wide knowledge of men and things, and
he is a man of good judgment and ready tact.

RANK H. KING, superintendent of
the Hampden County Truant School,
located in Springfield, has had charge
of the institution since May i, 1887, proving
a most faithful and efficient officer, and exert
ing a salutary influence over the pupils com
mitted to his charge. He is a native of this
county, born in Monson, May 9, 1841, a son
of Amasa and Adaline (Munn) King. His
grandfather, Amasa King, Sr., moved from
Norwich, Conn., an early home of the family,
to Monson, in this State, where he was after
ward engaged in farming. Several emigrants
of this name were among the early colonists
of New England.
Amasa King, Jr., was a prominent business
man of Monson, where he was born and bred.
He was a dealer in cattle and horses as long
as he was able to be about, though ill health

prevented his carrying on any active work for
a few years prior to his death, which occurred
October 9, 1881. He married Miss Munn, a
daughter of Rice Munn, an extensive agricult
urist of Monson and a sister of O. D. Munn',
editor of the Scientific American, a man of
means and of great literary ability. Four
children were born to them: George M. ;
Sophronia A., the wife of Charles Fuller, a
business man of Springfield until his death in
1891 ; Frank H. ; and M. Louisa, the widow
of Edward Gallup, who was Superintendent of
the Boston & Albany Railway Company until
the time of his decease. Both parents were
members of the Congregational church.
Frank H., who was the younger son, spent
the earlier years of his life in the place of his
nativity, and was there educated, finishing
his studies in the Monson Academy, a noted
preparatory school, fitting its students for col
lege. He began his career in the old-fash
ioned butchering business, buying and killing
cattle. During the progress of the late
Rebellion he joined the gallant soldiers who
were at the front fighting for their country's
flag, enlisting in Company G, Forty-sixth
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, being de
tailed in the Quartermaster's Department,
and going to Newbern, N.C, in 1862. He
was there throughout the Peninsular cam
paign, and with his regiment was discharged
at the expiration of the time of enlistment, in
nine months. On his return to Monson Mr.
King resumed his old business for a while,
but subsequently engaged in the grocery busi
ness until he was appointed Deputy Sheriff
under A. M. Bradley, and under his authority
came to Springfield as turnkey at the old jail,
remaining thus employed eighteen months.
The ensuing six or more years he continued as
a grocer in Monson, but disposed of his store
to accept the position of jailer under the
regime of H. R. Sanderson, an office which
he filled for three years, or until November
27, 1883, since which time he has resided in
this city.
He was first appointed to his present posi
tion by the County Commissioners ; but in
the interval of four weeks that elapsed be
tween his appointment and his confirmation

D. W, MELLEN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

443

he bought out the interests of a grocery,
intending to resume his former occupation,
but sold again in order to accept the offered
situation. He has under his charge from fif
teen to twenty-five boys, sent to him from
different parts of the county, and with one
asshstant cares for them, and teaches them the
common branches of education, besides giving
them manual and moral instruction. Mr.
King married Miss Mary A. Hayward, of
Monson, though a native of Brimfield, Mass. ;
and both are worshippers at the First Congre
gational Church in Springfield, which they
assist in supporting. For many years Mr.
King has been a Free Mason, having joined
the Day Spring Lodge when a young man.

"ir\ANIEL W. MELLEN is a well-
1=1 known contractor and builder, of the
^-X^ firm of Mellen & McKenzie, with an
office at No. in Dwight Street,
Springfield, Mass. He is a native of Red
ding, Fairfield County, Conn., where he was
born, April 15, 1851, his parents being James
C. and Elizabeth (Tillson) Mellen.
James Mellen was a stone cutter by trade,
and was born in the town of Prescott, Hamp
shire County, Mass. He grew up, and mar
ried, and continued to live there, following his
trade in the employ of various builders till
about forty years of age. He then moved to
Weston, Fairfield County, Conn., remaining
there two or three years, and then changed his
location to Redding, where in 1848 he went
into business for himself, doing mason and
stone work. In 1852 he left Redding to take
a journey to the Pacific Coast by way of the
Isthmus, where he, it is supposed, was lost,
as he never returned. He left a wife and five
children, the eldest about twenty years of age,
namely: Caroline; Zabrina I., deceased;
Jane, wife of Peter Keeler, of Easton, Conn. ;
James E., now of Hadley, Mass.; and Daniel
W., of this sketch, who was then in his first
year. Mrs. James Mellen came to Springfield
in 1876, having till that time remained in
Redding, where she brought up the fatherless
children. Her death occurred in Springfield
in 1886.

Daniel W. grew up under his mother's care,
attending the district schools in the town of
Ridgefield, which is adjacent to Redding, and
in 1867, when sixteen years old, began learn
ing the trade of mason with his oldest brother
in Redding, remaining at that work for two
years, at the end of which time he went to
Bridgeport, Conn., and worked at his trade
there till 1871. Concluding to change again
for a more promising field, he came to Spring
field, Mass., where business of all kinds was
in a brisk and flourishing condition, especially
the building interests. He began here as
journeyman, for, although still so young a
man, he was competent to take his place with
older workmen, and was in the employ of
Rice & Baker, D. J. Curtis, and B. F. Farrar.
In 1874 he decided to work independently,
and started in a courageous way by joining
interests with Mr. Davis as partner, the flrm.
being known by their joint names, Mellen &
Davis. After three years, Mr. Davis having
retired, Mr. Mellen conducted the business
alone; and at the close of four years took his
elder brother into partnership, the firm then
being known as Mellen Brothers. After five
years the firm changed again to Kelly & Mel
len, three years later receiving W. D. Mc
Kenzie into the company.
The firm of Mellen & McKenzie have now
been established four years, and occupy the
commodious workshop and yard they set up
five years ago at No. 1 1 1 Dwight Street.
With the exception of John S. Sanderson and
D. J. Curtis, Mr. Mellen is the oldest con
tracting mason in the city. He has put up
many of the large buildings in Springfield,
among which are: the Dickenson Block,
corner of Main and Bridge Streets; Gill's
Block, opposite, on Main Street; the Roth-
well Block, on Harrison Avenue; the Ward
One Engine-house, Mr. Mellen's first inde
pendent work; the Smith Block; the Birnie
Building, at Brightwood, in the environs of
the city; the Warwick Cycle Manufacturing
Company's large building; the Parish House
for the Memorial Church, on Main Street;
the Art Building, on State Street, considered
•one of the most artistic structures in Spring
field, for which Mr. Mellen was subcontractor.

444

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

besides many other excellent proofs of his
skill and thorough ability as an intelligent
and careful workman. His largest and most
laborious achievement was the construction
work of the Worthington Street sewer. This
involved the building of a tunnel to the Con
necticut River, under the twelve tracks of the
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
freight line, which was about six hundred
feet in length, not including the street work.
These undertakings show, as do the handsome
buildings in other various streets about the
city, what have been the achievements of Mr.
Mellen, who, as the chief of the firm, must be
considered the prime mover and head of all
these enterprising works. In Colonial days
symmetry and durability had to be sacrificed
to the immediate requirements of protection
and simple use, but with the growth of the
country better qualities of work are produced;
and the mason and stone cutter, the contractor
and builder, are now among the foremost men
of the times.
Mr. Mellen is a Republican in his political
principles. He is a member of Hampden
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
has held all its various offices, and is likewise
a member of the Encampment and of the old
uniformed rank. Mr. Mellen was married in
1875 to Miss Sarah E. J. Stebbins, of Spring
field, daughter of Franklin Stebbins, of this
city. Their two children are Franklin S. and
Florence L. Mr. Mellen and family reside
at No. 152 Bowles Street; and they are attend
ants of Hope Church, which is situated on
the hill. As would be judged from his por
trait on an adjoining page, Mr. Mellen stands
to-day in the prime of vigorous manhood and
useful activity, and is well regarded as one of
the representative business men and most
trustworthy citizens of Springfield.

TT^HARLES D. COLSON, book-keeper
I St-^ and paymaster for the Whitmore Man-
^Hs^ ufacturing Company of Holyoke,
was born in Lowell, Mass., May
10, 1846. His parents were Sullivan and
Delia (Curtis) Colson, his father having been
what was known as a "forty-niner," one who

went to California during the early period of
the gold fever, and died there.
Young Colson profited by the excellent edu
cational advantages afforded in the public
schools of Lowell, and, after graduating from
the high school, became a clerk in the office
of the old Middlesex Company in that city,
where he remained for three years. Going
then to the Hamilton Manufacturing Com
pany's office, Mr. Colson there very accept
ably filled a similar position for a period of
nine years, when, in 1875, he came to Hol
yoke as paymaster at the Lyman Mills, and
after six years of service in the interests of that
company was appointed to his present position
with the Whitmore Company, for whose best
interests he has continued to labor during an
uninterrupted period of fourteen years.
In politics Mr. Colson is an active Repub
lican, having been interested in public affairs,
and especially concerned with local politics
since coming to this city, thus contributing in
a great measure toward the success of his
party. He represented old Ward Four in the
Common Council for the years 1876 and 1877,
being president of that body during the latter
year, and was elected to the Board of Alder
men for the years 1878 and 1879 from the
same ward. In 1890 he again returned to the
upper branch of the city government, this time
from Ward Six, and in 1893 was elected to
serve as Water Commissioner for three years.
Fraternally, he is connected with Oberlin
Lodge of Odd Fellows and Wannalancet En
campment at Lowell, the Ancient Order of
United Workmen, the Royal Arcanum,
Knights of Honor, Improved Order of Red
Men, and Canton Springfield, Patriarchs Mili
tant. He is also Quartermaster of the Second
Regiment of Infantry, Massachusetts Volun
teer Militia.
On April 2, 1885, Mr. Colson was married
to Miss Ellen E. Adams, daughter of Asa and
Cornelia Adams, of Warren, Mass., the cere
mony being performed in this city; and they
have one adopted child — Nettie. Mr. and
Mrs. Colson are identified with the Methodist
Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Colson is a
member; and they reside at No. 42 Pearl
Street.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

445

R.

OSCAR WALDO ROBERTS,
a physician and surgeon of Spring-

^j}9/ field, with finely fitted offices in the
new Court Street Theatre Block,
occupies a conspicuous position among the
leading physicians of Hampden County, and
is noteworthy for the intelligence, skill, and
ability with which he is pursuing his chosen
profession. He is a native of the Green
Mountain State, having first drawn the breath
of life in the town of Enosburg, Franklin
County, June 5, 1845. His father, Charles
S. Roberts, was born in Ipswich, N.H., July
8, 181 5, being the son of a distinguished
military man of that section of New England.
He married Flavilla Libby, who was born
in Enosburg, Vt., in November, 1819; and
both parents are yet living, bright and active
in mind, though well advanced in years.
They are held in high esteem throughout the
community wherein they have lived for so
many years, and are consistent and worthy
members of the Free Will Baptist Church.
Dr. Roberts received his early education in
the common schools of Vermont, afterward
studying at the New Hampton Institute at
Fairfax. Not being blessed with the means
to continue his studies, he then engaged in
work of various kinds, acting for quite a while
as clerk in an Enosburg store. He Jsegan
the reading of medicine with Dr. T. R.
Waugh, of St. Albans, Vt., and subsequently
took a full three years' course in the medical
department of Boston University, from which
he was graduated in 1879. During 1883 and
1884 the Doctor was a student at the New
York Polyclinic Institute, from which he
received a certificate of special course, and at
the same time attended lectures in various
hospitals of that city, fitting himself thor
oughly for his chosen vocation. After his
graduation Dr. Roberts spent a few months
in Palmer, Mass., where he took the practice
of a brother physician, who was away for a
time. Locating then in Ware, the Doctor
built up a large general practice, besides win
ning a reputation as a specialist in gyna;col-
ogy and obstetrics. His arduous professional
duties proving too much for his constitution.
Dr. Roberts was obliged to suspend active

practice for a few months, and on regaining
his health settled in Springfield, coming here
in 1890. At the time of his location in this
city the Ware correspondent of a Springfield
paper said: "Dr. O. W. Roberts, who on
July I sold his practice in Ware, has so far
recovered his health as to be able to resume
his professional duties; and his many Ware
friends will be pleased to learn that he has
located, if not in Ware, so near to it that he
may be called or seen in a short time, having
located in Springfield. Dr. Roberts came to
Ware in 1880, and almost immediately had a
large practice, not only in Ware, but in the
surrounding towns, and met with unusual
success. But the necessary hard work which
he had to undergo affected his health, and he
had to give it up for a while. While here he
was appointed Pension Examiner on the board
located at Northampton, and held this office
until he left the county. As a citizen, he
was one of our best, taking an active interest
in public affairs, and was prominent in social
circles. His many friends testify to his many
good works, and, though sorry to lose him,
will wish him success in his new field of
labor." Since settling in Springfield, Dr. Roberts
has met with the same flattering success that
had previously been his, winning the friend
ship and confidence of the general public.
He has identified himself with numerous
medical societies, and while in Ware became
a member of the State Homeo-medical Soci
ety, which meets semi-annually in Boston;
and he is a member of the Worcester County
Homoeopathic Medical Society, holding quar
terly meetings in Worcester, and of which he
has served as President. He is also ex-Presi
dent and now Secretary of the Western Massa
chusetts Homeo-medical Society, and likewise
member of the Boston Gynaecological Society,
and of the Alumni Association of the Boston
University School of Medicine. Dr. Roberts
also belongs to the Winthrop Club and the
Westminster Club of Springfield, being a
prominent member of each.
In August, 1868, the Doctor was united in
wedlock with Miss Sarah Heyer, of Enos
burg, and their union has been blessed by

446

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the birth of two children, namely: Clarence
L., Springfield, Mass.; and Ila B., a student
at Smith College. Dr. and Mrs. Roberts are
attendants and supporters of the P'irst Congre
gational Church; and they have a pleasant
home at No. 24 Thompson Street, where their
many friends ever find a gracious and sincere
welcome.

jTHAN COOLEY ELY, born in Long
meadow, Hampden County, Mass., May
17, 1835, is a representative of one
of the old Colonial families, his genealogy
being traced back through five intervening
generations to Nathaniel Ely, who came to
this country, it is supposed, from England,
and settled in Cambridge, Mass., among the
early comers to that region. A few years
later, when companies of settlers moved on to
the Connecticut valley, Mr. Nathaniel Ely
came hither also, settling first in Connecticut,
but going about the year 1660 to Springfield,
in Massachusetts, where, with his son Sam
uel, he conducted an ordinary, or public
house, at what is now the corner of Main and
Bliss Streets. The building he occupied has
been removed, and is now standing on the
corner of Dwight and Sanford Streets, among
the more modern erections of that flourishing
city. Samuel Ely married Miss Mary Day, and
they had a large family of children. Their
son Jonathan, after reaching manhood, pur
chased a tract of land in the lower part of the
town, now Longmeadow, engaged in farming,
and resided there till his death, which took
place July 27, 1753, in the seventy-first year
of his age, and was the subject of an elegy
that is reproduced in the History of Long
meadow. He was a Deacon in the Congrega
tional Church, and prominent in town affairs.
He married Lydia, daughter of Jonathan and
Lydia Burt.
Nathaniel Ely, their son, and great-grand
father of Ethan C. Ely, of this sketch, pur
chased the Henry Bliss place, about four
miles from the court-house, where he carried
on quite an extensive farm in connection with
the management of a country inn or tavern.

He was also for many years Deacon of the
Congregational church in Longmeadow, and
was four times married. His second wife was
Abigail Colton, daughter of William and
Mary Colton. His death occurred December
26, 1799.
Captain Ethan Ely, the next in line, suc
ceeded to the ownership of the home farm,
which he conducted with success till his death
in 1848, at the age of eighty-four years. He
married, January 6, 1791, Hannah Burt,
daughter of Jonathan and Hannah Burt; and
they brought up their first-born son, Ethan,
Jr., to the same farm occupations which had
been his forefathers' employ in their day.
Ethan Ely, the younger, carried on the farm
after his father relinquished it, and erected
new buildings, and otherwise improved the
estate. He died in 1875, at the age of
eighty-four years. His wife, Ann Cooley
Ely, a native of Washington County, New
York, was a daughter of Seth Cooley. She
lived only to the age of twenty-nine years.
Ethan Cooley Ely, son of Ethan and Ann
(Cooley) Ely, attended in his childhood the
schools of Longmeadow, and as he advanced
studied at the Westfield and Phillips Acade
mies. After his father's demise he suc
ceeded to the ancestral property, residing at
the family residence, which has been built
about forty years, and on whose walls hang
the portraits of five generations. This fine
old mansion is pleasantly situated on the west
side of Longmeadow Street, a broad and pict
uresque highway, about three hundred and
fifty feet wide, shaded with ancient elms and
maples, and bordered with flower gardens
and orchards.
Mr. Ely is one of the larger owners of val
ley land in Hampden County, his possessions
in that line amounting to about one thousand
acres. He married in 1857 Miss Charity
R. Bush, a native of Whately, Hampshire
County, Mass., a daughter of Levi and Ann
(Ayres) Bush, She died in 1867, having
been the mother of two children : Mason War
ren, born in 1858, deceased in 1871; and
Ethan C, who was born in 1861, and died in
1862. Mr. Ely has been a Republican since the

GEORGE F. SESSIONS,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

449

formation of the party, and cast his first
Presidential vote for General Fremont.

iDWARD THEODORE PEIRCE, Su
perintendent in the Holyoke Paper
Company at Brightwood, was born
in Roxbury, Mass., November 6, 1848, the day
of Zachary Taylor's election to the presidency
of the United States.
Mr. Peirce's parents were Theodore Will
iam and Laura M. (Peasley) Peirce, both of
whom are now living. The father was born
in Leominster, Mass., in 1824, on the same
day of the month — November 6 — that
marked his son's birth. He learned the trade
of a book-binder, which business he has
always followed. In politics, though affiliat
ing with the Republican party, he votes inde
pendently for the candidate he believes to be
best suited for the place. He is a member of
both branches of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, in which he has held all of the
offices of the order. Seven children were
born to him and his wife, two of whom died
in early childhood. The surviving members
of the family are: Edward T., George W.,
John Charles, Frederick Augustus, and Flora
Etta. Edward Peirce's education, which was
obtained in the common schools of Nashua,
N.H., extended over a short period of time;
for at fourteen years of age he began earning
his own living by working out as a farm lad.
After four years of arduous toil he began a
two years' apprenticeship to a book-binder.
After having acquired a thorough knowledge
of and a considerable amount of skill in his
handicraft, the trade fell into disuse, there
being almost no demand for it in the locality;
so young Peirce sought employment with the
Nashua Card and Glazed Paper Company.
Beginning at the most unimportant part of the
process, he gradually worked his way up,
acquiring at each step an accurate knowledge
of all the details of each department, and
gaining year by year the confidence of his
employers. After six years' stay in this man
ufactory he rose successively from one place
of trust to another until he was placed in

charge of the coloring department, together
with that branch of the business of which the
chief detail was the purchasing of supplies.
His connection with this establishment was
dissolved August i, 1887, after being em
ployed by them twenty-one years. He then
assumed control of a part of the Holyoke Card
and Paper Factory at Brightwood as Superin
tendent, which position he still holds. Mr.
Peirce is the largest stockholder of the com
pany, in which he is also a Director. Other
enterprises also claim his attention; and he is
a Director and Stockholder in the Contoocook
Valley Paper Company at West Plenniker,
N.H., and of the Nichols Belting Company
of Holyoke, Mass.
Mr. Peirce has been twice married. His
first wife. Miss Louise M. Peebles, daughter
of. Peter and Abbie A. (Burrill) Peebles, to
whom he was married in 1870, died, leaving
one daughter, who bears her mother's name —
Louise M. The second Mrs. Peirce, who was
a resident of Nashua, N.H., was Miss Emma
J. Stevens, the child of William and Mary
(Miller) Stevens. The issue of this marriage
was one son — Archibald E. Peirce.
Mr. Peirce is affiliated with the Republican.
party, but does not allow his partisan feeling
to outweigh his judgment, and votes for the
man he believes to be the most competent for
the place. He is a member of Penichuck
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
of Nashua, N.H., where his early life was
passed, and about which many boyish memo
ries cling. Mr. Peirce's residence is No. 24
Arch Street; and he is one of the substantial
citizens of Springfield, which has such a long
list of men who have written their names on
the honor rolls of success.

fWTo

EORGE FILLEY SESSIONS, a vet-
\\3 1 eran of the Civil War, superin
tendent of a department at Newell
Brothers' factory on Howard Street, Spring
field, was born in Hartford, Conn., July 4,
1842. His pedigree will be found appended
to this biographical sketch. His father,
George Metcalf Sessions a building contrac
tor in Hartford for many years, died when

45°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

George F., the only son, was about four years
of age. The parents were worthy members of
the Congregational church.
Mr. Sessions's .paternal grandfather, Robert
Sessions, Jr., participated in the War of
1812. Although not one of the Indian-dis
guised band who on December 16, 1773, led
in the significant act of resistance to tyranny,
his great-grandfather, Robert Sessions, the
elder, a liberty-loving youth from Connecti
cut, then in the employ of a Boston lumber
merchant, lent a hearty hand to the task of
throwing the tea overboard in Boston Harbor.
(See account in "Tea Leaves," by Francis S.
Drake.) While the British troops and the
Tory element held sway in Boston, he with
many others was forced to leave the town; but
he returned after the evacuation. He served
in the Continental army during the Revo
lution. George F. Sessions received his education
in the public schools of Hartford and at Will
iam C. Goldthwaite's private school in Long
meadow, Mass. After a two years' course at
the latter school he entered the hardware
store of Leroy & Co. in Hartford, for the
purpose of acquiring a knowledge of mercan
tile business; and there he remained about
two years, or until the commencement of the
Civil War in 1861, when, his hereditary pa
triotism being aroused, he determined to be
one of the first to respond to the call of his
country. Preferring to join the regular army,
he went to Annapolis, where he enlisted in
Company E, Third United States Artillery,
which was known at the time as Sherman's
Battery. He served during the entire three
years of his enlistment, and rose by promotion
to the rank of Orderly Sergeant, being dis
charged as such at the completion of his ser
vices. He was actively engaged in military
operations in all of the Atlantic coast States
from Maryland to Florida; and at the battle
of Olustee, in the last-named State, he re
ceived a gunshot wound which confined him
to the hospital from the latter part of Febru
ary until the last of May, 1864, and from
which his recovery was considered miraculous.
For gallant and meritorious services at the
sieges of Fort Sumter, Morris Island, Forts

Wagner and Gregg, under Major-general
Q. A. Gilmore, he was presented by that com
mander with a bronze medal, which is appro
priately inscribed.
During the three years of his enlistment
he participated in many different engage
ments, the following being a complete list,
together with the order in which they oc
curred: 1 86 1, November 7, capture of Forts
Beauregard and Walker, Port Royal, S.C.;
November 10, expedition to Braddock's Point,
S.C; December 6, expedition to Beaufort,
S.C; 1862, January i, engagement at Coosa
River, S.C; February 23 to 25, reconnois-
sance on Bull River, S.C; March 12, capture
of Jacksonville, Fla.; April 10 and 11, bom
bardment and capture of Fort Pulaski, Ga. ;
April, engagements between Confederate
fleet and Federal batteries on Savannah
River; June 8, reconnoissance on James
Island, S.C; June 10, skirmish at James
Island, S.C, two hours; June 13, skirmish at
James Island, S.C; June 16, action at Seces-
sionville, S.C; October 22, battle of Poco-
taligo, S.C, six hours; 1863, July 10 to
September 6, siege of Fort Wagner (July 10,
first siege; July 18, second siege); August
19, bombardment of Fort Sumter; December
8, engagement between Forts Gregg and
Moultrie, S.C; 1864, February 12, skirmish
at Lake City, Fla.; February 14, skirmish at
Gainesville, Fla.; February 20, battle of
Olustee, Fla.; June i, battle of Cold Harbor
Va. ; June 2 to 6, engagement in vicinity of
Cold Harbor; June 10, engagement near
Petersburg, Va. ; June 15, siege of Peters
burg, Va. ; June 16, engagement at Weir,
New Cotton Creek, Va. ; June 20 to 30,
engagements in trenches in front of Peters
burg, Va. ; July i to 31, engagements in front
of Petersburg; August 14 to 18, engagements
and battle of Strawberry Plains, Deep Bot
tom, Va.; October 7, battle of Darlytown
Road, near New Market Heights, Va. ; Octo
ber 12, engagement at Darlytown Road, Va.
His time expired October 14, 1864; and he
received his honorable discharge the same day
as First Sergeant of Six Gun Battery. He
then came to Springfield, where his mother
and sisters had established their residence,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

45'

and has since made this city his home. In
1868 he enlisted in Company G, Second
Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia,
better known as the Peabody Guards, and
rose in regular order from a private to the
rank of Captain of his company, which he
commanded for a period of eight years, when
he was promoted to be Major of his regi
ment. Since resigning from the militia in
1888, he has concentrated his military inter
ests in E. K. Wilcox Post of the Grand
Army of the Republic.
About seven years ago Mr. Sessions became
an active member of the Republican Commit
tee, upon which he served four years, and in
1892 accepted the nomination for Councilman
from Ward Three, the vote being so close that
a recount was necessary, which resulted in his
election, although the ward is generally Dem
ocratic, by a majority of not less than eighty
votes. In 1893 he again accepted the nomi
nation, and was elected by a handsome major
ity, his colleagues in the City Council
electing him as president of that body. He
has been a delegate to the Republican County
and Congressional District Conventions, and
is an exceedingly valuable worker in that
party. Mr. Sessions's connection with the
Newell Brothers' Manufacturing Company has
extended over a period of twenty-five or thirty
years, and he is held by them in the very
highest estimation. He was united in mar
riage about the year 1871 to Miss Delia S.
ScuUane, of Springfield, daughter of Nicholas
Scullane, who was connected with the Boston
& Albany Railroad for many years.
Extracts from "The Sessions Family in
America," compiled by Francis C Sessions:
Nathaniel Sessions, son of Samuel, of An
dover, Mass., was born about 1680, and moved
from there to Pomfret, Conn., as early as
1704. He married, had sons, and died in
1771, aged ninety-one years. His son Amasa
was born in Pomfret in 1720 or 1723. He
married Hannah Miller, of Rehoboth, Mass.,
and had sons and daughters. Their son Rob
ert Sessions, born March 15, 1752, married
Anna Ruggles, of Pomfret, April 16, 1778,
and had sons and daughters, thirteen children
in all. Soon after the birth of their first

child, Betsey, May 7, 1779, Robert Sessions
moved from Pomfret to Wilbraham, Mass.,
where he died September 27, 1836, aged
eighty-four and one-half years; and Anna,
his wife, died November 22, 1838, at the age
of eighty-two years. Robert was one of the
memorable Boston Tea Party.
Robert, Jr., was born in Wilbraham, Mass.,
February 2, 1783. In May, 181 1, he married
Miss Charlotte Bartlett Metcalf, of Lebanon,
Conn. Their children were four boys and
four girls, as follows: George Metcalf, Eliza
beth Ann, Robert Oscar, Charlotte Maria,
Clarissa Jane, Nancy Janette, Joseph Brad
ford, and Horace Mills. George Metcalf Ses
sions married Mary Monroe Filley, of East
Windsor, Conn. They had three children, all
of whom were born in Hartford, Conn. They
were named as follows: George Filley, Char
lotte Metcalf, and Mary Frances. George
Filley Sessions married Delia S. Scullane, of
Springfield, Mass. They have no children.
Accompanying the present sketch is a life
like portrait of this eminent representative of
a historic Colonial family, who from early
times have shown themselves stanch defenders
of their country's liberties.

OHN H. ASH, the popular proprietor of
the Hotel Imperial at Chicopee Falls,
Hampden County, Mass., was born in
Thompsonville, Hartford County,
Conn., March 31, 1863, son of Thomas M.
and Mary (Moran) Ash. His paternal grand
father, James Ash, was a life-long resident of
Ireland. Thomas M. Ash, son of James, was
born in County Kerry, and there spent his
early years. In 1856 he came over to New
Brunswick, where for some time he worked at
railroad building and repairing. Before very
long, however, he left New Brunswick, and,
coming to New England, continued for a while
in the same employment. At length he took
up his residence at Chicopee Falls, and was
engaged as watchman at the Chicopee Manu
facturing Company's factory, where' he still
remains. His wife died at the early age
of thirty-five years, leaving eight children —
Johanna, wife of J. O'Brien, residing at

452

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Chicopee Falls; John PL; Thomas, living at
Holyoke; Katie; James; Mary J.; Michael,
deceased; and Agnes.
After acquiring his education in the public
schools of the village, John H. Ash _ com
menced work when a youth at the Chicopee
Manufacturing Company's mills, where he re
mained two years, and then spent a brief time
at the Hampden Bleachery. As soon as he
attained his majority he went into the factory
of Belcher & Taylor to learn the moulder's
trade, and there he continued five years. Not
being satisfied with that employment for a life
work, he then gave it up to go into an entirely
different business. The new venture was es
tablishing a restaurant in Chicopee Falls; and
it proved so successful that, when the building
burned down in 1892, he proceeded to enlarge
his field of operations by erecting a three-story
brick structure, forty-eight by ninety-two feet,
suitable for hotel purposes. It has a tower
above the roof, is well supplied with modern
improvements, including gas, electric light,
and steam heat, and contains a hall for danc
ing and rooms for billiards. He also built
a commodious barn and stables, in which he
keeps some very fine road horses for the use of
his patrons. The whole being completed, he
gave to it the name of Hotel Imperial, as best
expressing the superiority of the building and
its equipment. The genial landlord well un
derstanding the wants of the public, and tak
ing pains to make his place attractive, it is
needless to say the house is well patronized.
Mr. Ash was married in 1887 to Miss Ann
E. FitzPatrick, a daughter of Hugh P^itzPat-
rick, a well-known gardener and florist of
Chicopee P"'alls. Mr. Ash is Democratic in
his political principles; and, socially, he is
a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians
of Chicopee Falls. His religious connections
are with St. Patrick's Church, established in
the village.

flMOTHY D. POTTER, a prominent cit
izen of Springfield, Mass., was born in
Wilbraham on April 12, 1840. His
ancestors may be traced nine generations. In
the first, Nathaniel Potter came from England

to Portsmouth, R.I., prior to 1634. His son,
another Nathaniel Potter, was born in Octo
ber, 1637, and died October 20, 1704. His
son, a third Nathaniel Potter, was born at
Dartmouth, Mass., in 1669, and died Novem
ber 16, 1736. His son, William Potter, was
born in Dartmouth on November 12, 1689.
William Potter's son David, born on February
13, 1722, in the same town, died April 11,
1801. David's son, Philip Potter, was born
at Richmond, R.I., on September 13, 1753,
and died October 14, 1824. He had a son,
another Philip Potter, who was born in Ash
ford, Conn., on February 14, 1782, and died
the last day of the year 1847.
This brings us to the eighth generation,
represented by Captain Philip Preston Potter,
who now lives with his wife in the home of
their eldest son, the special subject of our
sketch, Timothy D. Potter. The Captain de
rived his title from his conspicuous member
ship of the State militia. He was born in
Willington, Conn., on July 6, 181 1. His
wife's maiden name was Bethiah B. Walker.
She was born a few months only later than her
husband, December. 5, 1811, and is still walk
ing by his side. Captain Potter went to Wil
braham in 1825, and remained till 1891, active
in town affairs and holding many offices of
trust during forty years. He was Selectman
and Assessor, and in 1853 represented the
town in the State legislature. Originally he
was a Democrat, but joined the Republican
party soon after its organization. Like his
wife, he has been nearly sixty years a vigorous
member of the Methodist Episcopal church,
giving to it liberally both money and service,
having been a Trustee and Steward. He is
a man of great force of character and business
enterprise, and was formerly a farmer, lumber
merchant, and dealer in real estate. His word
has always been as good as his bond, and his
generosity has been practical ; while in push
and energy he was a marvel to his neighbors.
In his section of country he was widely known,
and will be long remembered as a Christian
gentleman of the old school. Captain Potter
has three sons and two daughters.
The eldest son is our special subject, and of
him we shall learn more presently. The next

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

453

son, William Walker Potter, was born July
12, 1842, and is a manufacturer of shoe
shanks, at 108 Beach Street, Boston, and also
owns a factory at North Anderson, Me. He
is very successful in business, but also takes
a lively interest in the town affairs of Brook-
line, where he resides. His wife, whom he
married May 21, 1873, was Isabella Strick
land, of Springfield ; and they have one daugh
ter, Helen W. Potter, who has studied at
Smith College, at Northampton. Captain
Potter's eldest daughter, Abigail Bethiah, was
born October 30, 1844, married April 8,
1863, M. A. Maynard, and has one daughter,
F'lorence Abigail Maynard, who was born
April 12, 1875, ^nd has attended Vassar Col
lege. Mr. Maynard is a trader in Springfield,
running two coal and wood yards, one of which
is at -the armory station, and another on York
Street. Mr. and Mrs. Maynard are prominent
members of the Highland Baptist Church, of
which he is a Deacon. Mrs. Maynard' s sister,
Almena M. Potter, born August 8, 1846, is the
wife of George H. Hastings, a farmer and me
chanic in Palmer; and they have two daughters
— Bertha Almena, and Delia Anna Hastings.
Philip H. Potter, the Captain's third son,
was born August 20, 1851, and married Sep
tember 17, 1873, Clara Maria Murdock. He
is an extensive retail lumber dealer, and also
a manufacturer of sashes, doors, blinds, and
house trimmings. The shop is located on
Armory Hill, and during the past twelve years
the business has grown from small beginnings
into an extensive enterprise. In politics
Philip H. Potter is a Republican. He has,
however, been neither an office-seeker nor an
office-holder, but has devoted his whole time
to the development of his business, which is
gaining him the reputation of being one of
Springfield's most "successful business men.
He is a member of the Hope Congregational
Church, and is a Mason of the Thirty-second
Degree. He has two sons — Philip Arthur
Potter, born January 18, 1878; and Ernest
' Murdock Potter, born January 27, 1880.
Timothy D. Potter, as already stated, is the
eldest of Captain Philip P. Potter's children.
At about twenty years of age, after completing
a course of study at Wilbraham Academy, he

taught school for a term in the same town.
In 1 861, when the Civil War began, he spent
several months in Iowa, but returned to Massa
chusetts in the fall. From 1862 to 1865 he
engaged in farming and lumber selling at
Belchertown, Mass. In September of 1866,
with his father, he built a saw and planing
mill and box-shop at Bondsville, under the
firm name of P. P. & T. D. Potter. This
continued for six or eight years. Then Mr.
Potter became also a building contractor, and
was alone until 1880, when he took Rufus L.
Bond as partner, a gentleman under whose
supervision the business has continued ever
since, although it still goes by the old name
of T. D. Potter & Co. On December i, 1880,
Mr. Potter moved to Stanton, Mich., engaging
in an extensive lumber business, both there
and in Alger, for a dozen years. For three
years his home was in Stanton. Among other
ventures he formed about ten years ago a
partnership with John C Beals, at East Wind
sor Hill, Conn., under the name of Potter &
Beals, for the manufacture of brick; and this
continues to be successfully carried on. In
February of the present year Mr. Potter bought
the interest of Mr. Beals and admitted his son
as partner. In 1889 Mr. Potter came to
Springfield, where he has been active in
house -building and real estate transactions.
In November, 1893, he bought the controlling
interest of the A. C. Dutton Lumber Com
pany, a stock association, interested principally
in wholesale trade, and in 1894 was chosen its
active manager and treasurer. The firm also
maintains a retail lumber yard in Maiden.
In politics Mr. Potter is Republican. Dur
ing his residence in Palmer he was Selectman
and Assessor, and also represented the towns
of Palmer, Wilbraham, and Ludlow in the
legislature of 1878. At present he is Vice-
President of the Palmer Savings Bank, with
the management of which he has been con
nected many years. The Methodist Episcopal
church claims him in its membership, and for
many years he has been superintendent of dif
ferent Sunday-schools; and the Springfield
Young Men's Christian Association is fortu
nate in having him for President.
Mr. Potter has had three wives. Larene E.

454

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Howe, whom he married November 19, 1866,
died in 1870, without issue. His second wife
was Mrs. Laura Ann Atwood, the widow of
Charles Atwood. She died P'ebruary 6, 1883,
leaving one child, Charles S. Potter, who was
born March 24, 1872, and has been four years
book-keeper and typewriter in the office of the
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Com
pany, with James L. Johnson, its agent. Mr.
Potter's third wife, who was Mrs. Leora A.
Albro, widow of Henry Albro, now lives with
him at 218 Walnut Street.

TT^HARLES PAINE, a successful mer-
I \y chant tailor, long established in
^Hs Springfield, Hampden County,
Mass., was born in the neighboring
city of Worcester, P""ebruary 17, 1823. His
father was Wales Paine, son of Rufus Paine.
The grandfather lived in Worcester during the
greater part of his life, and was probably a
soldier of the Revolution.
Wales Paine was born in Worcester, and
when he was old enough he went to sea, and
at one time held the rank of mate in the mer
chant marine service. He was also a soldier,
serving in the War of 1812. At the close of
this exciting time in the country's history he
returned to Worcester, and carried on a farm
till his death, which took place in 1835, when
he was about forty-eight years of age. Wales
Paine married Miss Nancy Duncan, daughter
of Samuel Duncan, who was a Revolutionary
patriot, and whose ancestry belonged to the
early settlers of Massachusetts. They had a
family of five children, as follows: Mary, who
became the wife of Owen B. Brigham, of late
years a resident of Cambridge, Mass. ; Wales
Paine, Jr., who died at the age of twenty-one
in Worcester; Ellen, wife of Dr. Cyrus Per
kins, for many years one of the leading den
tists of Springfield; Robert Treat Paine, who
grew up in Worcester, but in the time of the
gold discovery in California was caught in the
fever of excitement, went there, and later died
in that State; Charles Paine, of this sketch,
who was the youngest. Their mother lived to
an advanced age, her death occurring at
ninety-five years.

Charles Paine received his early education
in the common schools of his native town,
and then set out in life as an apprentice, serv
ing four years in learning his trade of tailor
ing with W. & A. Brown, merchant tailors
of Worcester. Having completed his appren
ticeship when he was twenty-one years of age,
he went South to travel, working meanwhile
in the cities of Savannah, Charleston, Rich
mond, and other places, after which he
returned to Worcester, and worked as journey
man in different places in the city for some
time. He also took a trip out West as far as
Toledo. Finally, having seen much of the
country, he came back as far as Springfield
about the year 1853, and engaged to work for
a clothier, now well known as a hotel-keeper,
Tilly Haynes, with whom he remained till
1 86 1, when, concluding that he had found a
good opening for an individual enterprise, he
set up for himself on the spot afterward occu
pied by the Haynes House. The building of
this occasioned his removal to the Wright
Building, a little south, but still on Main
Street, where he remained a short time; but,
as the tide of business was plainly drifting
northward, Mr. Paine found it advisable to
move several times more to keep in the line of
trade, and so he went first to Rude's Block,
where his shop was considered one of the most
fashionable of the day. His next move was
to the Madder Building, corner of Hillman
and Main Streets; and after a few years
there he changed to Patton's Block, occupy
ing the store at No. 276 Main Street, where
he remained some time, but, as another move
seemed desirable, he took a store on Main
Street, whence in time he changed to a larger
one on the second floor of No. 274 Main
Street, where he has now been successfully
located for seven or eight years.
Mr. Paine may be said to represent the
leading clothiers of Springfield. His busi
ness has been so long established and his
name so long before the public that he re
ceives the custom of those who have known
his work twenty-five and more years. This is
a matter of noteworthy record, as showing
that true and well-deserved reputation is not
ephemeral, but the result of long and patient

'.*

^¦^Vt' Preston iC'.'T

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

457

work and enterprise. Work alone is not suffi
cient: enterprise must be in the partnership
to show the way to keep up with the current
of popular methods, and maintain a good
standing among other undertakings of a like
character. Mr. Paine' s business is now thor
oughly successful, and, as it rests on a solid
reputation, is assured of future prosperity.
Charles Paine was married in i860 to Miss
Frances Lorena Johnson, daughter of Josiah
Johnson, an old resident of Wayland, Middle
sex County, Mass. They have one child —
Mary Frances-- who resides at home with her
-parents. One other child died in infancy.
Their home for the past eighteen years has
been at No. 3 Grant Street, and their relig
ious interests, as members, centre in the
Church of the Unity (Unitarian). Mr. Paine
has not been much occupied in political mat
ters, but always votes a distinctively Repub
lican ticket. He is a member of Roswell
Lee Lodge, A. F. &. A. M., and, when living
in the South, was a member of the Savannah
militia.

RTHUR M. FRENCH, General Man
ager of the Linden Paper Company
of Holyoke, in which he is a heavy
stockholder, was born at Pittsfield,
Mass., October 10, 1856. His father, Ed
mund French, was born at Stamford, Vt.,
January 14, 1826; and his mother, Mary Cal
laway French, was born in New York City
in 1833. His paternal grandfather, Orrin
French, was a recruiting officer through the
Connecticut valley and Berkshire County dur
ing the Revolutionary War; and his father is
a contractor and builder at Pittsfield, where
his mother died January 24, 1889. His
brother and sisters now living are the follow
ing: Grenville W. ; Nella E., wife of George
W. Gardiner, principal of a grammar school
at Pittsfield; Alice G., a school-teacher at
Lenox, Mass. ; and Mary E., of Chicago.
At the age of eighteen Arthur M. French,
having been educated in the public schools of
Pittsfield, including the high school, came to
Holyoke, where he entered the employ of the
Massasoit Paper Company for the purpose

of acquiring the paper-maker's trade. After
being engaged with the Massasoit nine years,
he accepted the position of- Superintendent of
the Whiting Paper Company's mill. No. i,
which he acceptably filled for a period of five
years. He then went to South Lee, Mass.,
where he started up the defunct Hurlbut Com
pany's mill, in which he acquired an interest,
but sold it after remaining there one year,
and, returning to Holyoke, purchased an in
terest in the Valley Paper Company, with
whom he labored for the next three years. At
the termination of that period, in company
with Mr. J. S. McElwain, of the Parsons
Paper Company, and Mr. McElwain's son,
Henry McElwain, who had been Treasurer of
the Valley Company, he purchased land, in
1892, and began the erection of the present
large mill of the Linden Paper Company,
which was completed and ready for use May
18, 1893. This mill has been in successful
operation from the start, and now produces
twelve tons of high grade paper per day, con
sisting of ledger, bond, Hnen, and imperial
writing paper.
Mr. French is far advanced in Free Ma
sonry, being a member of Mount Tom Lodge,
Springfield Commandery, and the Mystic
Shrine at Boston; he is also a member of
Connecticut Valley Lodge, Knights of Pyth
ias. On -September 20, 1882, he married
Miss Melissa Rideout, daughter of Albert G.
and Mary A. (Jenne) Rideout, of Holyoke,
and has one son — Arthur Edmund, who was
born May 7, 1889. They attend the First
Congregational Church of Holyoke, and
occupy a new residence at the corner of Lin
coln and Williams Streets. Mr. French is a
Republican in politics.

ENJAMIN FRANKLIN STEELE,
commission merchant, is a wholesale
dealer in fruit and produce, whose
phenomenal success has placed him
in the front rank of Springfield's solid busi
ness men, and given him a position among the
leading fruit dealers of New England. He
was born in Bolton, Tolland County, Conn.,
June 9, 1844, son of Sanford and Caroline

458

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Elizabeth (Sumner) Steele. The paternal
grandfather was Eleazer Steele, who was
American-born, but came of English ancestry.
He was an early settler of Tolland, Conn.,
where he spent most of his life, and was a
prominent man in his community.
Sanford Steele was a leading citizen in his
section of Connecticut, being Judge of Pro
bate for the district, which included the three
towns of Bolton, Columbia, and Andover, and
a Selectman of Bolton for thirty-three con
secutive years, being twenty times unani
mously re-elected. Though born in Tolland,
Conn., February ,27, 1799, his business life
was in Bolton for over thirty years. He was
a Democrat of the old school, and was an
active member of the State militia. His
death occurred in 1883, at the good old age of
eighty-four years. His wife, who belonged
to an old Connecticut family, was born in
1806, at Hebron, a daughter of Henry Sum
ner, who was a manufacturer and also a Meth
odist lay preacher. Mr. and Mrs. Sanford
Steele lived to celebrate their golden wed
ding, and had ten children, nine of whom
grew to maturity. One, Benjamin P., or B.
P""rank, has been already named. The others
were the following: Caroline Melissa, wife of
William Rich; Mary Matilda, wife of George
Howe; Henry Sumner Steele, who spent most
of his life in Middletown, Conn.; Charles
Sumner Steele, who died at the age of twenty-
six; John Fletcher Steele, who lived on the
old homestead; Timothy Eleazer Steele, a
very prominent attorney of Hartford, Conn.;
James Hervey Steele, of Middletown, who
died when about twenty-five years of age;
Josephine Elizabeth Steele, since 1870 a
teacher in Springfield. One child died in
infancy. The mother was a member of the
Methodist church, in which her husband was a
Steward. B. Frank Steele received his early educa
tion in the Bolton public schools, and at the
age of fifteen went to the seminary at East
Greenwich, R.I., where he remained for a
year, pursuing more advanced studies, which
he pursued still further at the high school in
Hartford. He next engaged in teaching for
four years. His first business training was

received in Leavenworth, Kan., where he re
mained five years in a wholesale and retail
carpet and furniture store, at a time when
there was no railroad west of the Missouri
River. Well equipped by his Western expe
rience, he returned to Springfield, August i,
1 87 1, and began business for himself by pur
chasing from the Rev. Ralph Perry, of Aga
wam, the retail fruit, toy, and notion store at
491 Main Street, now occupied by William
Yerrall. This was the acorn from which has
developed with a sturdy and vigorous growth
the magnificent business conducted by Mr.
Steele to-day. At first he employed but one
clerk, and used a hand-cart for the delivery of
his goods. His success was almost immedi
ate, for at the end of the first year he found
that his trade amounted to ten thousand dol
lars. Being convinced that there was more
profit in wholesaling than retailing, he
changed his business to a wholesale one, and
at the end of eight successful years found
that his trade had increased to one hun
dred and twenty thousand dollars per annum.
In the next ten years it reached double that
amount. In 1879, finding his store too small for his
purposes, he changed to a more favorable loca
tion in the Goodrich Block, Nos. 260 and 262
Main Street, where he remained for nearly
seventeen years, enjoying a constantly in
creasing trade. During this time, in 1886,
he took into partnership J. F. Maxfield,
the name of the firm being changed to B.
P'rank Steele & Co. By the beginning of the
present year, 1895, the amount of trade had
increased to three hundred thousand dollars
annually; and the quarters of the firm in the
Goodrich Block were found too small. A new
building and location was decided upon, the
latter being found on Lyman Street, opposite
the Union Depot. Excavations for the build
ing were begun early in March, and the work
rapidly pushed on to completion, the firm
moving into their new quarters on May i.
The new building is a model structure of
its kind. The frontage on Lyman Street
extends seventy-five feet, the depth being
sixty-five feet. The building is three stories
in height, of brick with brown stone and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

459

pressed brick trimmings. For convenience
in the handling of fruit the first floor is on a
level with the sidewalk, with a large entrance
at the centre of the building. To the east of
the entrance is the office, sixteen by twenty-
six feet in dimensions, containing every mod
ern convenience. A noteworthy feature of
the store is the four large plate-glass win
dows, so constructed that they can be raised
to the second story, leaving the entire front
of the first floor open. Two large entrances
at the rear open on to a platform extending
the width of the building, and covered with a
roof, twenty-six feet wide, for the protection
of teams while loading or unloading fruit.
The basement is used principally for the stor
age of bananas, and is divided into a dozen or
more rooms, heated by gas, in order that the
fruit may ripen properly. The first floor is,
of course, used for the salesrooms, and con
tains the perishable fruits. The second is
devoted to canned goods and dried fruits,
while the third floor is used mostly for storage
purposes and for nuts. The building is also
provided with a suitable elevator, and is most
substantially constructed throughout. The
firm now employ thirteen people and five
teams, and with their increased facilities may
well expect to carry on a larger business than
ever. They have now the largest and most
complete fruit-house in New England, outside
Boston; and the city of Springfield may
well be proud of such a flourishing business
enterprise. Mr. Steele has been a Director of the First
National Bank for many years, and is also
one of the largest stockholders of the Oak
Grove Cemetery Association, besides owning
considerable real estate in Springfield and
Kansas. His abilities as a sagacious man of
business have been widely recognized by his
fellow-townsmen; and he stands high in pub
lic estimation, not only for the above-men
tioned qualities, but also on account of his
personal character, which is above reproach.
In politics he is an Independent. Since 1880
the family home has been at No. 71 Thomp
son Street, Mr. Steele, in the selection of his
residence, having early taken advantage of the
beautiful prospect afforded by the hill. The

steel portrait which appears in connection
with this article is a happy presentment of
one of Springfield's most enterprising, suc
cessful, and honored citizens.

tl"

OBERT V. SAWIN, M.D.^ a success
ful physician in the town of Brim
field, Mass., was born in Worcester,
July 13, 1856. He is of the
eleventh generation of that name in America,
in direct line from Robert Sawin, Esq., of
Boxford, England, whose son, John Sawin,
came to America in 1632, and was the first
white settler in Natick, Mass. His parents
were Charles Munning Sawin and Lucy
(Marsh) Sawin, the former of whom was a
resident of Worcester, and employed in one of
the departments of the Boston & Albany Rail
road for twenty-five years. He died at the
age of seventy-seven years. His wife, Lucy
(Marsh) Sawin, is still living in the city of
Worcester, at the age of seventy-five years.
Their five children are here recorded: Charles
A. married Miss Sarah Robinson, and has two
children — Luther R. and Veria R. ; Anna E.
and Anna M. both died young; Lucy I., wife
of Edward Williams, died, leaving one child
— Edith E. ; Robert V. is the one of whom
this sketch specially treats.
Robert V. Sawin received his early educa
tion in the Worcester High School, and later
attended Amherst College, where he was grad
uated in 1 88 1. He next entered on a course
at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia,
from which institution he was graduated in
1885. He began the active practice of his
profession in Brimfield, has already acquired
a high standing as a skilful physician, and is
the owner of some valuable property in the
town. In 1892 his house having been
destroyed by fire, he immediately rebuilt it,
and has now one of the most modern and
attractive residences in Brimfield, his office
being conveniently attached. In 1883 Doctor
Sawin was married to Miss Nettie Ellis
Washburn, daughter of Oscar E. and Louise
M. (Briggs) Washburn, of Brockton, Mass.
They have had two children: Donald W., who
died at the age of one and a half years; and

460

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Alice Ida, born June 22, 1889, now a bright,
promising little girl of six.
Dr. Sawin is a Republican in his political
preferences, and has been chairman of the
town committee for several years. He is
active in educational work. He has been
chairman of the School Committee for a num
ber of years, also a member of the Board of
Trustees of the Hitchcock Free High School.
He has held the office of Town Physician
since 1886. He is a member of the Massa
chusetts State Medical Society, also the East
ern Hampden Medical Association. He be
longs to the Day Spring Lodge, A. P"". &
A. M., Monson, the Hampden Chapter,
Royal Arch Masons, of Palmer, the Spring
field Commandery of Knights Templars, and
is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is
progressive in his views, keeps abreast of the
latest discoveries in his profession, and holds
fraternal relations with his brother practi
tioners. He enjoys the regard and confidence
of the community, and with his amiable wife
stands high in the best society of Brimfield.

'OHN W. RUSSELL, a prominent ma
chinist of Springfield, and, with the
exception of a short time spent in the
West, a resident of that city since his
birth, which occurred September i, 1824, is a
son of Austin Russell, also a native of Spring
field, who was born in 1803. The family is
descended from the Rev. John Russell, who
settled in Hadley in 1635. Elias Russell
was the first of the family in Springfield, and
his son Wolcott was the grandfather of our
subject and father of Austin Russell. The
latter was employed in the United States
Armory for thirty years, and was accidentally
killed in the autumn of 1848. His wife,
whose maiden name was Sophia Bruce, was a
daughter of John Bruce, an old resident of
Springfield, who was a blacksmith by trade,
and was also employed at the armory. Mr.
and Mrs. Russell had eleven children, of
whom seven are living, John W. being the
eldest. The others are as follows: Emeline
E., wife of William W. Day, a resident of
Agawam, who for the past twenty years has

been a partner in business with John W. Rus
sell; Mary A., wife of Marcus Halloway, a
resident of Springfield; Charles H., George
F., and Rufus, of this city; and Fanny, now
the widow of Dickson Parmalee.
John W. Russell was educated in the pub
lic schools of this city and Millbury, where
his parents resided for two years, completing
his studies at the Springfield High School.
At the age of fifteen years he was apprenticed
to Zelotus Lombard, with whom he worked as
a journeyman for a short time after finishing
his term of service. He was subsequently
employed by the Ames Manufacturing Com
pany, then doing business under the name of
N. P. Ames, at Chicopee, going from there to
Windsor Locks, Conn., where he worked for a
period of three years as Superintendent of
Shops for Slate & Brown. In 1849^ he joined
the great rush of fortune-seekers afterward
known as "forty-niners," and went to the
gold diggings in California by way of Cape
Horn, arriving in San Francisco after a pas
sage of seven months, lacking four days. He
was one of a party of one hundred and twenty-
three, each of whom contributed three hundred
dollars for the purchase of the ship and pro
visions sufficient for the long journey. His
first employment after reaching the Pacific
slope was with Professor Shephard ; and he was
engaged at Sacramento in introducing a primi
tive kind of water system, which consisted of
drawing and storing the river water in vessels,
allowing it to settle over night, and dispens
ing it the next morning to the patrons at two
bits, or twenty-five cents, a pail. He was
thus engaged for several months, receiving
sixteen dollars per day. But the "gold
fever" took possession of him, and he went
north to Weaverville, for the purpose of enter
ing the diggings. There he was taken sick,
and, after a four weeks' illness, returned to
Sacramento, where he engaged as clerk in a
store. There was at this time but one frame
building in the town and little promise of the
beautiful city of to-day. Here Mr. Russell
was employed in various ways, also speculat
ing to some extent, until the new year, when
he again started for the diggings, going first
to the region where the precious metal was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

461

first discovered, and from there to Hangtown,
now called Placerville, where he remained
until the following spring. His next move
was to Georgetown, whence he sent men pro
specting in parts of the country which had not
been worked ; but, the men he had sent out not
making a favorable report, he decided to try
his' fortune in the diggings at Georgetown,
and for a time did very well, taking out in
one afternoon three hundred and forty-three
dollars' worth of gold. But his expenses were
high, amounting to two hundred dollars per
week, and in July he returned to Hangtown.
He erected a house in a locality where there
was a large amount of auriferous earth which
had been once washed, and this he proceeded
to subject to a second washing, hiring men to
assist in placing and getting it in readiness
for the first rain, which came in September.
This experiment was satisfactory, the very
poorest earth yielding ten hundred and sixty
dollars' worth of pure dust; but on account
of the cessation of rain, the winter of 185 1
being an exceedingly dry one in California,
he was obliged to suspend operations. He
was offered seventy-five hundred dollars for
the remaining earth, and refused to sell;
later, however, finding it impossible to hold
it over until another season, he sold it for
two thousand dollars, and accepted a position
on a passenger steamer running between San
Francisco and Sacramento, at a salary of two
hundred and fifty dollars per month, including
his board, which was no small item in those
days, when it cost forty-five cents to post a
letter, and from one to two dollars to insure
it a delivery, and everything commanded an
equally exorbitant price. In the spring he
returned to the Hangtown district, where he
applied himself to extracting yellow dust from
the sand by the mercurial process, he being
one of the first to employ that method; and,
after laboring two weeks, on the last day of
which he obtained ninety-seven dollars' worth
from a space two by three feet, he decided to
return East. Although Fortune had smiled
upon him during his sojourn in the Golden
State, Mr. Russell was tired of the mode of
life which was forced upon him, the wild and
riotous rush for wealth, and the often unscrup

ulous methods employed in securing the de
sired result; and on May 4, 185 1, he sold his
house, tools, and all accessories to his outfit,
and, taking with him a quantity of fine gold
dust, started homeward by way of the Isthmus,
arriving in Springfield after a journey of
thirty-seven days, one week of which was
spent in crossing from Panama to the Gulf.
After resting for a time, Mr. Russell took a
trip to Elgin, 111., and upon his return estab
lished a gun and model shop on the same
street on which he is now located, commenc
ing upon a small scale, with but two or three
assistants. Here he was ready for business
about the ist of January, 1852, and subse
quently he secured a contract in the south end
of the city to manufacture a large number of
revolving pistols, which occupied his entire
attention until the spring of, 1855, when he
went to Quincy, Adams County, Wis., pur
chasing a farm, and residing there until the
autumn of 1 861, at which time he came East
again, and worked in the United States Arm
ory, during the pressing times caused by the
Civil War. On May i, 1863, he visited the
West for the purpose of selling his farm,
and, having accomplished this, he returned
in the autumn of the same year, and has since
then resided in this city. For two years pre
vious to re-establishing himself in business
Mr. Russell acted as Superintendent in the
shops of the Bemis & Call Company, and,
after retiring from that concern, engaged in
a general machine business on Hampden
Street, later removing to his present location
at Nos. 47 and 49 Taylor Street, where he
employs constantly about twenty experienced
workmen, and does a thriving business.
Mr. Russell is probably one of the oldest
machinists in the State, and is certainly the
oldest now doing business in this city. He
owns the substantially constructed brick
building at Nos. 47 and 49 Taylor Street,
which is five stories high, planned and ar
ranged for machine-shop purposes, and occu
pies two floors himself, renting the others,
which he furnishes with power for manufact
uring. He is at present carrying on an
extensive jobbing business and manufacturing
largely to order many patent devices, among

462

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

them the chainless bicycle and a great amount
of envelope machinery, also making a spe
cialty of cutting gear of every description.
On January i, 1853, Mr. Russell was united
in marriage to Miss Maria L. Smith, daughter
of Philip Smith; and of the seven children
which have blessed their union three are now
living: William J. and Horace B. are in busi
ness with their father, while Charles P. has
charge of the books. Frank W., who died at
the age of twenty-two years, was a book
keeper at the John Hancock Bank. Mr. Rus
sell and family reside at No. 223 Allen
Street.

DWARD EVERETT FULLER, an in
fluential and highly esteemed native
citizen of Ludlow, Hampden County,
Mass., was born on May 25, 1839. His
father, Henry Fuller, was born in the same
town, December 11, 1798, being a son of
Elisha Fuller, a life-long resident of Ludlow.
Elisha Fuller was an extensive land-owner,
and was also engaged in mercantile business
at the Centre, where he spent his later years.
He was twice married, his second wife, who
was the grandmother of Edward Everett Ful
ler, being Sally Cleveland.
Their son Henry was reared on the farm,
and inherited a portion of the old homestead.
He, however, took up his residence at the
Centre, where he remained until about 1844,
in which year, selling his property there, he
removed to the south-western part of the
town, and purchased a farm located about one
mile from the village. Here he made his
home during the remainder of his life, passing
from earthly scenes in March, 1886. He,
also, was twice married, taking for his second
wife Mary Alden, who became the mother of
the subject of this notice. She was born in
the town of Ludlow on September 13, 181 1,
and was a daughter of Josiah Alden. Her
death preceded that of her husband by some
years, its date being March 31, 1877. The
following-named children were born to her:
Mary N., Henrietta S., Olivet B., Henry S.,
Edward E., Emma A., Henry S., Francis S.,
Fanny V. A., Lillian E., and Hattie B. The

first Henry S. died at the age of six years,
and Hattie B. when three years old. The
father had two children by his first marriage
— Esther A. and Sarah N.
Edward Everett Fuller attended the district
school and also the Springfield grammar
school, his education being further advanced
by two terms at Wilbraham Academy. In the
year 1857 he started West, journeying by
railroad to St. Louis, and thence by steamer
on the Missouri River to Leavenworth, Kan.
Not being pleased with the outlook there,
however, after a brief tarry of twenty days
Mr. Fuller returned to St. Louis, where he
embarked on a river steamer, and went up the
Mississippi to a point one hundred miles
above St. Paul. That section of country was
then but sparsely settled, much of the land
being owned by the government; and game,
including deer, was in abundance. Mr. Ful
ler spent the summer in that region, and then
returned East, coming by stage to La Crosse,
Wis., which was then the western terminus of
the railroad. Soon after his return home he
secured a position as clerk in North Wilbra
ham, remaining there about two years, and
then engaged in agricultural pursuits.
In August, 1862, Mr. Fuller enlisted in
the service of his country, joining Company
I, Forty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteer Infan
try. His regiment went South, and he
participated in the battles at White Hall,
Kingston, and Goldsboro. At Street's Ferry,
N.C, in May, 1863, he was captured by the
rebels, and consigned to Libby Prison, but
eight days later had the good fortune to be
released on parole. He went to the parole
camp at Annapolis, where he was taken sick,
and in July, 1863, was honorably discharged
from the service. Since his return he has
been actively engaged in fanning, having suc
ceeded to the ownership of the home farm;
and in addition he does quite an extensive
business in buying timber lots, clearing them,
and disposing of the wood and lumber.
In November, 1861, Mr. Fuller was united
in marriage with Jane D. Prentice, who was
born in the town of Millbury, Worcester
County, Mass., a daughter of James Prentice.
Mr. Prentice was born in Blackburn, Scot-

SAMUEL M. JONES.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

465

land, and was the only member of his father's
family to come to America. He was a shoe
maker by trade, but during his later years
devoted his attention to agriculture, making
his home in the town of Sutton, Worcester
County. He married Diantha Joslyn, a na
tive of Douglass, Mass. She still survives,
and is a resident of Sutton. The union of
Mr. and Mrs. Fuller has been crowned by the
birth of five children — Emma J., Etta E.
(deceased), George E., L. Gertrude, and
Henrietta E. Emma J. is the wife of Alfred
T. Jones, and has three children — Emma
Paulina, Etta Laura, and Katherine.
Mr. Fuller cast his first Presidential vote
for Abraham Lincoln, and has ever since been
a firm supporter of Republican principles.
His ability and moral worth have been recog
nized by his fellow-townsmen, who have
placed him in various positions of trust. For
the past nine years he has served as a member
of the Board of Selectmen, at the present time
being its chairman. In the fall of 1892 Mr.
Fuller was elected to the State legislature, as
a member of that body serving on the Labor
Committee. He is a Trustee and also one of
the investment committee of the Ludlow Sav
ings Bank, and, fraternally, is connected with
Brigham Lodge, A. F. & A. M.

1854.

'AMUEL MESSER JONES, the
proprietor and originator of the
modern Night Lunch System, was
born in Madison, Me., May 31,
His father, Timothy Jones, who was a
native of the same place, and was born on
June 3, 1809, was a thrifty farmer in Madi
son, where he died on July 12, 1888. Mr.
Samuel M. Jones is a direct descendant of
John Jones, one of the early settlers of Con
cord, Mass. His mother, whose maiden name
was Sarah P. Messer, was born in Lancaster,
N.H., on October 25, 181 1. She was the
daughter of Samuel and Charlotte (Bennett)
Messer, and on the maternal side is a descend
ant of a brother of the Bennett who fought
under General Wolfe on the Plains of Abra
ham, near Quebec, during the P"rench and
Indian War, and there received a serious

wound. Timothy Jones was an old-time
Whig, who after the dissolution of that party
joined the Republicans.
His son, Samuel M., of this sketch, ob
tained his elementary education in the district
schools of Madison, and in his eighteenth
year entered the Maine State College of Agri
culture and the Mechanic Arts at Orono, grad
uating from that institution in 1876. Having
received the degree of Mechanical Engineer,
Mr. Jones was now, at two and twenty, ready
to begin life. Finding no immediate opening
for his especial line of work, he with admira
ble good sense did what his head and hand
found to do, and for two years taught during
the winter season, and followed various occu
pations in Boston during the summers. He
then went to Providence, R.I., where he
secured employment with the Corliss Engine
Company, with whom he remained for more
than a year. He then was successively en
gaged in the employ of. the American Screw
Company, the Star Tool Company, Browne &
Sharpe's Manufacturing Company — all in the
city of Providence.
At this time, in 1884, he became interested
in what he called the Night Lunch System,
and conceived the idea that it might be made
a profitable enterprise. He was still involved
in a debt of six hundred dollars, which had
been incurred for college expenses, and was,
moreover, totally without capital. Having,
however, established an honorable reputation,
he was enabled to negotiate a loan of two hun
dred dollars, with which he embarked in the
business he has since made so remunerative;
Investing in a second-hand wagon, which he
repaired and made presentable, he launched
forth on his venture in Worcester on October
20, 1884. In eighteen months his debts were
cleared, and prosperity had begun to crown
his efforts. He now owned a small house in
Worcester, and his ideas in regard to his
enterprise began to expand. He realized the
necessity of a larger wagon and one which
might afford shelter to his customers from
snow, rain, or wind; and accordingly he built
the first distinctive night lunch wagon, which
made its first appearance at the New England
Fair held in Agricultural Park in Worcester

466

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

in the fall of 1887. In the summer of 1889
he built another lunch wagon, varying slightly
from the previous ones; and in the following
October sold his business and all of his
wagons, with the exception of the last one, to
C H. Palmer.
He then removed to Springfield, where in
Court Street, on October 22, he opened his
business in his new vehicle, "The Qwl." In
1893 he had three wagons in use in this city.
In January, 1894, he let one wagon to Thomas
Crozier, and in June he let him another. In
the spring of that year he brought out a new
and improved wagon of his Own design, which
was constructed at a cost of fourteen hundred
dollars, and which is, beyond doubt, the hand
somest vehicle of its sort in existence. This
wagon, which he calls the "Pioneer," is the
pride of his heart, and is really a feature of
Springfield. Mr. Jones is now perfecting a
shape in which he intends building wagons
for the trade throughout the United States.
That his unique enterprise has been a finan
cial success is evidenced by the amount of
real estate which his earnings have accumu
lated. He owns handsome property on Bowles
and Wilcox Streets, besides several house lots
in Worcester and some valuable property in
Maine. On November 3, 1880, Mr. Jones was mar
ried to Miss Lillie V. Cummings, of Skow-
hegan. Me., who has borne him five children.
The two eldest daughters died in early child
hood. The surviving children are Samuel
Messer, Jr., Agnes, and Susie. The Jones
family reside on Wilcox Street, a happy and
contented domestic circle, for "Peace is
within their borders, and plenteousness within
their courts."
Mr. Jones is a Knight Tem.plar, a Knight
of Pythias, and an Odd Fellow. A very good
likeness of this gentleman appears on an
adjoining page. In reviewing his business
career one is struck by the simplicity of his
plan, which has been executed and cleverly
managed. Besides his own individual suc
cess he has been the means of starting a num
ber of other men upon the road of prosperity,
having built and sold twenty vehicles similar
to his own to as many men. In politics he

was a Republican until the Cleveland cam
paign in 1888, when he voted for the Demo
cratic candidate. In 1890 he cast his vote for
Weaver, since which time he has affiliated
with the Populist party.

t OSCAR EATON, one of the most
successful contracting builders of
^ Springfield, and a veteran of the
Civil War, was born in Springfield,
September 25, 1832. He is the son of Oren
and Lucina (Parsons) Eaton, and grandson of
Sylvanus Eaton, a Revolutionary soldier, who
owned a farm in this county, and is buried
near the Hampden line. Oren Eaton was a
native of Glastonbury, Conn., and when a
young man came to Springfield to work as a
carpenter. He spent the greater part of his
life in Hampden County, and died in Wilbra
ham on March 30, 1855. He was twice mar
ried, and had ten children, his first wife being
the mother of four. His second wife, Mrs.
Lucina (Parsons) Eaton, was a native of
Springfield. She was the mother of six chil
dren, all but one of whom are still alive.
George died at Wilbraham; Chloe married
James Hill, of this city; Minerva married
J. O. Bush, also of Springfield; and L. Oscar
is the subject of this record. The mother
died at Springfield in 1864. Mr. and Mrs.
Oren Eaton were members of the Methodist
church. L. Oscar Eaton was educated at the public
schools of this city, and for a time worked
with his father as a carpenter. Afterward he
served an apprenticeship of three years, upon
the completion of which he followed that trade
until the commencement of the Civil War,
when he enlisted as a private in Company F,
Tenth Massachusetts Regiment, which was,
after reaching Washington, immediately at
tached to the Army of the Potomac. This
was the week after the first battle of Bull
Run. He was with his regiment through the
Peninsular campaign, taking part in all of the
numerous engagements up to the battle of
the Wilderness, in which he was wounded;
and to-day he carries a bullet in his body as
a memento of that fight. This was the second

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

467

wound he had received, having previously
been disabled at Malvern Hill. During his
service Mr. Eaton was present at twelve
memorable battles: Williamsburg, Va., May
5, 1862; Fair Oaks, May 31; Glendale, Va.,
June 25; Charles City Cross-roads; Malvern
Hill, July i; Fredericksburg, December 11
and 13; Marye's Heights, May 3, 1863; also
Salem Heights, the same day; Franklin's
Crossing, June 10; Gettysburg, July i and 3;
Rappahannock Station, November 7; Mine
Run, November 30; and the celebrated Wil
derness fight. (For a more extended account
of the services of the Tenth Massachusetts
Regiment, see Bowen's History of that regi
ment.) Mr. P'aton was promoted to the rank
of Sergeant, Color Sergeant, Orderly Ser
geant, First Lieutenant, and commissioned
Brevet Captain. At the close of the war he
returned to Springfield, where he was em
ployed at the United States Armory for a
period of six months, after which he went to
New Haven, and remained two years, again
returning to this city to engage as a contractor
and builder, a business which he has since
followed with pronounced success, being at
the present time the oldest contractor in
Springfield, with the exception of E. W.
Shattuck and L. H. Scott. He has erected
many fine business blocks, together with
numerous handsome residences, among them
being the buildings occupied by the Haynes
clothing establishment, the Gill residence,
Dr. Buckingham's and George Nye's resi
dences, and also several of the most attractive
houses in the McKnight district. He em
ploys from twenty to thirty men, mostly
skilled workmen, his pay-roll sometimes
reaching as high as five hundred dollars per
week. He has been quite heavily interested
in real estate, purchasing lots upon which he
has erected substantial houses for sale, these
always finding ready purchasers.
On June 2, 1866, Mr. Eaton married Miss
Emma A., daughter of Josiah and Lorana
Johnson, of Wayland, Mass. Her father was
a prosperous farmer, residing upon the old an
cestral estate, which has been in the posses
sion of the family for many generations.
Mr. Eaton is a Republican in politics and

a comrade of Wilcox Post, Grand Army of the
Republic. He was formerly a member of
Hope Congregational Church, and erected the
present fine edifice; but he is now united with
the First Presbyterian Church. He occupies
a handsome residence at No. 188 Thompson
Street, which he erected in 1888. In all
movements relative to the welfare of the city
he takes an active interest, and contributes
liberally to all worthy and charitable objects.
Mrs. Eaton is an active worker in the Ladies'
Benevolent Society.

 1 • • » I 
/^TeORGE DALLAS GREEN, Presi-
\ •> I dent of the Ludlow Savings Bank,
was born at Chicopee, Hampden
County, Mass., on July 11, 1846. His
father, Daniel Green, Jr., was a native of
Wales, in the same county, of which town his
grandfather, Daniel Green, Sr., was, as far as
known, a life-long resident.
Daniel Green, Jr., learned the trade of
masonry, which he followed in Chicopee for a
number of years; but in 1855 he went West,
settling in Dixon, Lee County, 111., residing
there three years, at the expiration of which
time he returned to his native State. Con
cluding to turn his attention to agriculture,
he purchased a farm in the town of Ludlow,
upon which he resided until the death of his
wife, when he went to live in the home of a
daughter, dying there at the age of se-venty-
five. His wife, Harriet S. Willey, was a
native of Ludlow, a daughter of Gates and
Jerusha (Parsons) Willey. Her father was a
Ludlow fanner. Mrs. Harriet S. Green
departed this life at the age of fifty-five, hav
ing reared five of the eight children that were
born to her, namely: Harriet E., George
Dallas, Adeline, Emma, and Daniel.
George Dallas Green attended the public
schools both at Chicopee and at Dixon, 111.,
and, after his parents returned East, assisted
his father in the farm duties for a time. At
the time of his marriage he engaged in the
livery business at Indian Orchard, in which
he continued for about two years ; and since
1874 he has resided on the Plumley home
stead, where, in. addition to farming, he is

468

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

quite extensively engaged in the lumber busi
ness, buying standing timber and disposing of
the wood and manufactured product.
The union of Mr. Green and Miss Jennie
E. Plumley was celebrated on December 6,
1 87 1. Mrs. Green was born on the farm
where she now resides, and is a daughter of
Elijah and Clarissa (Hayden) Plumley, a
sketch of whom is given in this volume. Mr.
and Mrs. Green are both attendants of the
Methodist Episcopal church, of which she is a
member and he a Tru.stee. Politically, Mr.
Green affiliates with the Republican party,
his first Presidential vote having been cast for
General Grant. He is a substantial citizen
of his town, and has been prominently iden
tified with its interests. At the present time
he is chairman of the Board of Assessors.
Since 1892 he has been President of the Lud
low Savings Bank, which is a flourishing in
stitution. Socially, Mr. Green is a member
of Brigham Lodge, A. F. & A. M.

LIJAH PLUMLEY, who for many years
was numbered among the leading agri
culturists of Hampden County, was
born in the town of Monson on April 11,
1803, and was a son of Isaac and Tamson
(Barrows) Plumley, the former of whom was,
as far as knowm, a life-long resident of Hamp
den County.
Elijah Plumley was but eleven years old
when he was bereaved of his father by death,
and he was obliged to make his home with
strangers. He was brought up on a farm, and
in young manhood began the battle of life for
himself, even with the world and entirely
dependent upon his own exertions. His first
employment was on a farm; and, being indus
trious and economical, he was enabled before
marriage to become the owner of a tract of
land in the southern part of the town of Lud
low, upon which he settled, there taking his
young bride. Setting to work with a will and
intelligently, he soon had the land under good
cultivation, and found himself the proprietor
of a finely improved farm. In addition to the
labors pertaining to agriculture, he also en
gaged in the wood and lumber business, being

prospered in each and every undertaking, and
at the time of his death was one of the wealth
iest farmers of the county.
He passed from earthly scenes in 1878.
His wife, Clarissa Hayden, was born in
Belchertown, Mass., and was a daughter of
Moses and Mary (Buxton) Hayden. Her
father was formerly from the town of Sutton,
Worcester County, whence he removed to
Belchertown, residing there for a time, and
then coming to Ludlow, purchasing a farm in
the eastern part of the town. Upon this he
made his home for some years, and then
removed into the village, living retired until
his death, which occurred in 1843. His
widow survived him, and made her home with
her daughter, Mrs. Plumley, during the
remainder of her life. Mrs. Plumley departed
this life in 1888, leaving three children:
Lucy; Isaac; and Jane E., wife of George D.
Green, of whom a sketch appears in this work.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Plumley were members of
the Methodist Episcopal church; and, politi
cally, he was an adherent of the Democratic
party.

ASCHAL PLUMER EMORY, one
of the oldest and most prominent
(£1 Springfield manufacturers, was born
at Groton, Mass., on July 21, 1825,
the year when John Quincy Adams became
President. Captain Thomas Hale, an early
maternal ancestor and emigrant, was born in
Kings-Walden, Herts, England, on May 15,
1606. His son, Thomas Hale, Jr., was born
February 11, 1658-59, and was for many
years a man of distinction in old Newbury,
Mass. Moses Hale, the youngest son of the
younger Thomas, was born there in 1702 or
1703, and resided for many years in Rowley,
Mass. ; and the second Moses Hale was born
there on the last day of February, 1731. He
married Abigail Emerson, of Hampstead,
February 20, 1751-52, and removed to
Rindge, N.H., prior to 1765. He was active
and influential in public affairs, being a
Selectman of the town and the coroner for
Cheshire County, and died November 22,
1830. David Hale, eldest son of Moses

PASCHAL P. EMORY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

471

Hale, Jr., was born March 22, 1755, at the
beginning of the French and Indian War.
His second wife was Bathsheba Barker; and
they were married October 28, 1780, the year
when Benedict Arnold tried to betray his
country. Their daughter, Zipporah Hale,
was born December 12, 1789; and her son is
our present subject.
Mr. Emory's paternal grandfather was John
Emory, probably a descendant of Newbury
settlers; and the change of spelling, from
Emery to Emory, was adopted after their
removal to Rindge, N.H. Grandfather Em
ory was born in Topsfield, Mass., in 1750,
married Elizabeth Perkins, and came to
Rindge in 1771. He was a farmer, mill-
owner, and pail-maker. His son, Enos
Emory, married Zipporah Hale, daughter of
David Hale, April 22, 1817. They resided
in Keene, N.H., and in Groton and Ashburn
ham, Mass., the mother dying September 14,
1848, and the father February 20, 1867.
Their four children were: Mary Jane Emory,
wife of George E. Lane, of Fitchburg; Will
iam Hale Emory, of Ashburnham; Charles
Henry Emory, of Fitchburg; Paschal Plumer
Emory, of Springfield.
After finishing his school education in Ash
burnham, Paschal learned the trade of copper
smith, living in Fitchburg the first two years
of his apprenticeship, and then in Lowell
eighteen months. Then he began business in
a small way in Springfield, but soon gave up
his shop for a place in the locomotive works,
as railroads were just coming into use. After
these works closed, he opened a brass and
copper foundry on the corner of Main and
Taylor Streets. In 1865, with George C
Kimball and Edwin Prescott, he formed the
firm of P. P. Emory & Co., whose business
has grown to be one of the largest local
mechanical industries. The plant includes
two brick buildings, used for storage, foun
dry, and pattern-shop, covering about ten
thousand square feet. The works are operated
by an engine of fifteen horse-power, and fur
nish employment to thirty men. The prod
ucts include all kinds of copper work and
brass castings, but the specialties are steam-
pump air chambers and paper-mill cylinders.

In the establishment is a full line of sheet
and bolt copper, sheet brass, spelter, tin, bab
bitt, and lining metals. Their advantages and
facilities enable P. P. Emory & Co. to exe
cute contracts promptly and in the highest
style of art, their skilful endeavors and ener
getic system being unparalleled.
Mr. Emory is interested in other city and
State enterprises, and has been financially
successful. Forty-five years he has been a
member of Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
of Springfield. His wife was Marilla Jane
Lane, daughter of Captain Elias Lane, of
a prominent Ashburnham family. They were
married in 1850, and have had three children,
only one of whom is living — Carrie Jane
Emory — who is at the home on Spring
Street, where her parents have resided since
coming to Springfield; and they attend the
North Congregational Church.
On another page may be seen a portrait
of this worthy representative of the ancient
and highly respected Colonial families.

CLARK HUBBARD, A.B., M.D., a
leading physician and surgeon of Hol
yoke, where he has been in active
practice since 1881, was born at East
hampton, Mass., September 5, 1853, and is a
son of Eli A. Hubbard and Frances (Daniels)
Hubbard. His father was born at Hinsdale,
Mass., December 11, 1814, son of John Hub
bard, a native of Holden, Worcester County,
born in 1768.
The family are descendants of an earlier
John Hubbard, who was born in England in
1630, came to Massachusetts with his parents,
George and Mary Hubbard, and went with
them to Connecticut. George Hubbard died
at Guilford. John settled in Hadley, Mass.,
but removed to Hatfield. His son Jonathan,
born at Glastonbury, Conn., 1658-59, married
Hannah Rice at Concord, Mass., in 168 1.
Their son Samuel was born at Concord in
1687; his son, Samuel, Jr., was born there in
1 7 14; and Elisha, son of the second Samuel,
was born at Holden, Mass., in 1744, and
became a Lieutenant in the militia. Elisha
Hubbard's wife, Mercy Hubbard, was born in

472

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1747, and was a daughter of a John Hubbard,
son of Jonathan, and hence was of an earlier
generation than her husband. Their eldest
son, named John, married Lydia Raymond,
and they were the parents of Eli A., men
tioned above.
Eli A. Hubbard graduated from Williams
College in 1842 with the degree of A.B.,
three years later receiving from his Alma
Mater that of A.M. He taught in various
public and private educational institutions of
the State, including the Williston Seminary
at Easthampton and the schools at Fitchburg,
until in 1865 he was appointed superin
tendent of the schools of Springfield. This
position he most ably filled for nine years,
when he tendered his resignation in order to
accept a similar post in the public schools of
Fitchburg, where he remained for four years.
At the expiration of this time he was
appointed to a position upon the State Board
of Education, where he labored diligently and
with the most satisfactory results for a consid
erable length of time, or until he felt it his
duty to retire from active service. He was,
however, induced later by the famous Chris
tian worker, Mr. D. L. Moody, to assume
charge of the school for boys at Mount Her-
mon, a duty which he accepted and filled for
a period of one year, his connection with that
undertaking being at a time which was prob
ably the most trying portion of its existence,
as he organized and placed it in running
order. He then retired to Hatfield, and later
to Holyoke, where he now resides. He mar
ried a daughter of Captain Ransloe Daniels,
of Worthington, the ceremony having occurred
on August 19, 1844, and their union was
blessed with two children: Emma L. ; and J.
Clark Hubbard, of this article. Mr. Hub
bard has lived an active and useful life, both
as an educator and a public official, he having
been a member of the legislature from East
hampton; and, although his career has been
an exceedingly busy one, he is still compara
tively strong and healthy, as is also his wife,
they having celebrated their golden wedding
in 1894. Mr. Hubbard has been for many
years an active member of the Congregational
church.

J. Clark Hubbard at the age of twelve years
became a resident of Springfield, and com
menced his education in the public schools of
that city, which he supplemented by attending
the private school of Josiah Clark at North
ampton. He was graduated from Williams
College with the class of 1877, receiving his
bachelor's degree. He then read medicine
with Dr. Morris Longstreth, and graduated
with honors from Jefferson Medical College,
Philadelphia, in 1880. He was appointed
Resident Physician at the Howard Hospital,
Philadelphia, a position which he secured as
the result of a competitive examination, and
served in that capacity for one year. In 1881
he settled at Holyoke, where he has since
resided. He is connected with the medical
and surgical staff of both the City and House
of Providence Hospitals, is a member of the
Massachusetts Medical Society, and a Trustee
and Auditor of the People's Savings Bank,
having served in the former capacity since its
organization. On April 21, 1 881, -he married
Mary Stowe, daughter of William Stowe, her
father having been a well-known citizen of
Springfield, where he served as Postmaster for
many years, and also for some time clerk
of the House of Representatives. Dr. and
Mrs. Hubbard are members of the Second
Congregational Church, and reside at No. 32
Maple Street.

ON. FREDERICK H. GILLETT,
M.C, representing the new Second
1,9 J District in the Fifty-third Congress,
needs no introduction to the major
ity of the people of Hampden County, being
a familiar figure in social, legal, and political
circles throughout the State. He is a man of
broad culture, generously equipped by nature,
and possesses a charm of manner and a strong
personal magnetism that attract and retain
the esteem and friendship of the brightest and
best of people. He ever finds a warm wel
come, and becomes a leader wherever he
appears, be it among the law-giving "Solons"
of our Commonwealth, in the halls of justice,
on the tennis field, or amid the glow of social
festivities.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

473

Mr. Gillett is of ancient and honored ances
try, and is a son of E. B. Gillett, one of the
most distinguished and able lawyers of this
section of Massachusetts, and the grandson of
James Fowler, a well-known and prominent
citizen of Westfield. He was born and bred
in Westfield, and there received his element
ary education. After spending a year in
travel and study on the European continent,
chiefly in Germany, Mr. Gillett entered Am
herst College, his father's Alma Mater,
from which he was graduated with the class
of 1874. Three years later he received his
diploma from the Harvard Law School, and
subsequently began the practice of his profes
sion in Springfield, in partnership with Judge
E. B. Maynard. In 1879 Mr. Gillett received
the honor of being appointed, by the late
Judge Marston, Assistant Attorney-general,
and at once removed to Boston, where he
resided until 1885. In this office he made a
worthy record, winning the approbation of the
judges of the Supreme Court by the precision,
care, and ability with which he prepared and
presented his cases. In 1881 Mr. Gillett
resigned his office to become the partner of
Judge Soule, who had then accepted the posi
tion of counsel to the Boston & Albany Rail
way Company. In 1885 Judge Soule was
obliged to relinquish general practice, the
demands of the railway interests occupying so
much of his time; and the partnership be
tween him and Mr. Gillett was dissolved,
the latter, after due deliberation, returning to
.Springfield. He was then hopeful that his
father, who had earlier been compelled by
failing health to retire from active business,
would be able to resume office practice, and
that he might be associated with him as con
sulting counsel; but in this he was grievously
disappointed. Since his return to this city Mr. Gillett has
built up an extensive general practice, and is
now recognized as one of the foremost lawyers
in this part of the State. He has always
taken an active and intelligent interest in
political matters; and, having inherited from
his father a talent for oratory and a natural
felicity of expression, the cultivation of these
gifts has made him one of the brilliant and

popular speakers of the day, his voice being
often heard in public meetings.
Mr. Gillett has an excellent record in city
and State affairs, having served one term in
the Common Council of Springfield and two
terms in the lower house of the legislature
with credit and distinction. In his last term
he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee,
and had much influence in shaping legisla
tion. He has invariably shown" himself faith
ful to his trusts, worthy of the confidence
reposed in him, and has won a position among
the leaders and influential members of his
party. An ardent and loyal Republican, he
has ever served the interests of his party with
enthusiasm and sagacity. He is a man of
unblemished reputation, possessing fine in
stincts and a high moral character, and is the
soul of honor and integrity. He is still a
bachelor and a general favorite in society,
being thoroughly esteemed among his asso
ciates and friends.

Ji

ANIEL J. DUNN, senior member
of the Hampden Bleachery firm, was
born in Paterson, N.J., on February
6, 1856. His grandfather, Daniel
Dunn, was born at Borris-in-Ossory, Queen's
County, Ireland, whence he emigrated to
America, settling in Paterson, where he lived
until his death, which occurred in his eighty-
seventh year. His children were Kieren,
Mary, Michael, Daniel, Patrick, Margaret,
and Bridget.
Kieren Dunn, who was born in his father's
native town in 1821, learned the trade of a
mechanical engineer, and, coming to America
in 1850, found work in Paterson as manager
of a stationary engine. He afterward came to
Chicopee Falls, where he was employed by
the Hampden Bleachery Company. Here he
died in 1887. His widow survives him.
They were the parents of five children —
Daniel J., Margaret, and John, and two who
died in infancy. Daniel J. Dunn started out
to earn his living early in life, leaving school
at twelve years of age to work in a silk-mill,
where he received fifty cents per day, and
afterward being employed in the dye-house of

474

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the woollen-mills. P'or three years and a
half he worked as a machinist; and in 1876,
coming to Chicopee Falls, he was employed
as foreman of the Hampden Bleachery, which
he managed until 1890, when he bought out
the firm, selling a half-interest of the business
later to Edward Foley.
In 1880 he was married to Miss Ellen
Naughton, a daughter of Thomas and Catha
rine Naughton, of Somerville, Mass. They
are the parents of six bright children — Sarah,
Catharine, Margaret, Kieren, Grace, and
Mary. The family occupy the handsome resi
dence at No. 12 Broadway. Mr. Dunn's
tireless energy, intelligent application, and
happy tact rank him among the foremost busi
ness men of Chicopee Falls. He is a loyal
Democrat, is active in town affairs, and is a
zealous worker in St. Patrick's Church.

i\LPH GREEN, farmer and carpenter,
has been an esteemed resident of
Springfield for twenty-seven years.
He is of English extraction, and
has inherited from his ancestors those habits
of industry and perseverance that have contrib
uted so largely to his success in life. He is
a native of Hampden County, Palmer being
the town of his birth, and December 3, 1833,
the date thereof. His father, the late Ralph
Green, Sr. , was born in Townsend, Mass.,
September 8, 1791, being a son of Solomon
and Sarah (Kilborn) Green, the former of
whom died May 31, 1803. He was by trade a
shoemaker. Ralph Green, Sr. , was reared in Townsend,
and when a young man of twenty years came
to this county, settling in Palmer, where he
followed the trade of a carpenter and joiner,
and also engaged in the furniture business.
He was twice married, and of his first union
one child was born; namely, Elizabeth, now
deceased. His second wife was Harriet May
nard, a sister of the father of Judge Maynard,
a sketch of whose life appears on another page
of this work. Of the five children born of
their union three died and two are now living,
namely: Ralph, of whom we write; and
Walter M. Green, of Wilbraham, who was

born June 18, 1836. Susan M. Green was
born June 25, 1831, and died April 13, 1850.
Harriet E. was born October i, 1839, and
died May 21, 1842. Alvin S. Green was
born September 8, 1842, and died June 25,
1862. At the time of the War of 181 2 the
father was living in Boston, and was warned
as a minute-man. He died May 23, 1858,
and his widow subsequently became the wife
of Deacon Harvey Foster. She died in
Springfield on October 14, 1878.
After completing his education in the dis
trict schools of Palmer, Ralph Green, son of
Ralph and Harriet (Maynard) Green, turned
his attention for a time to the pursuit of agri
culture, and also worked with his father at
carpentering. In 1864, disposing of his in
terests in Palmer, he removed to the adjoining
town of Monson, where he followed his trade
of carpenter and joiner for three years. In
1867 he removed to this city, and has since
worked on many of the most prominent build
ings of Springfield, among them the granite
building erected by the Boston & Albany
Railway Company, on which he did the first
finishing. In 1870 he built a pleasant resi
dence for himself and family on Broad Street,
but afterward sold that, and in 1873 erected
his present dwelling-house, his lot being very
large, and the location very beautiful and
sightly. Although a sturdy supporter of the
principles of the Democratic party, Mr. Green
has always avoided political office. Socially,
he was a member of the Masonic fraternity,
but of late years has severed his connection
with that body.
In his domestic relations Mr. Green is very
happy, he having married Miss Sophia E.
Shaw, a daughter of Lyman Shaw, a pros
perous farmer of Monson ; and their union has
been brightened and blessed by the birth of two
sons. The elder, Frank L., born in Palmer
in 1 86 1, was educated at Burnett's private
school, and is now engaged with a Mr. Shaw
in the grain business. The younger, Will
iam A., born February 13, 1863, is one of
the most capable machinists in this section of
the county, having learned his trade with the
Ames Company, and being now an employee
of the Overman Wheel Company. Mr. Green

/

ELIHU J. SIKES.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

475

is a man of sterling qualities of character,
being straightforward and upright, known as a
man of his word; and he and his family are
highly respected. Mrs. Green is a regular
attendant of Park Church, and a most estima
ble and womanly woman.

jLIHU JONES SIKES, who is station
agent at Collins, Mass., on the Athol
Branch of the Boston & Albany
Railroad, and is also extensively engaged in
general farming and dairying, was born in
Ludlow on September 29, 1822, his parents
being Increase and Hannah (Jones) Sikes,
both of whom were natives of the same town.
Jonathan Sikes, father of Increase, was also a
native of Ludlow, the date of his birth being
April 25, 1765. His father, Benjamin Sikes,
is believed to have been a native of Connecti
cut. He married Anne Sikes, and, coming
to Massachusetts, spent his declining years in
Ludlow. Jonathan Sikes was bred to farm work, and
also learned the trade of carpentry, which he
followed for a time, in that way earning
means with which to purchase land. He
became the owner of a timbered tract located
in the northern part of the town of Ludlow, a
portion of which is included in the present
site of the reservoir. At that early day stand
ing timber had no commercial value, and the
chief endeavor of the settler was to get rid of
it in the most expeditious manner. Conse
quently, large trees, which at the present time
would be of great price, were cut down, and
the logs rolled together and burned. Mr.
Sikes improved a large farm, and thereon
established a comfortable home, where he
resided until his death, which occurred on
January 2, 1848.
He was three times married, his first wife
being Mary Montague, who was born in South
Hadley, Mass., on September 13, 1765, and
departed this life on November 8, 1803, hav
ing become the mother of seven children.
Mr. Sikes was again married, November 8 of
the following year, to Gyrene Hoar, a native
of Monson, Mass. She was born September
24, 1780, and died December 11, 1808. Of

this union there were three children. On
August 3, 1 8 10, Mr. Sikes took to himself a
third wife, Anna Stebbins, who was born in
West Springfield on March 18, 1773, and sur
vived her husband, passing away on October
9, 1853. Three children blessed this union.
The family were Congregationalists in their
religious views and active workers in the
church in those early days when it must have
been a hardship to attend public worship in
the winter season, the only heating apparatus
known in the Colonial meeting-houses being
the primitive foot-stoves filled with live hard
coal. Increase Sikes, son of Jonathan and Mary
Montague Sike.s, learned in his youth the
trade of blacksmithing, which he followed in
connection with farming, and as soon as able
purchased a tract of land located near the
centre of the town. As his means increased,
he bought other tracts, becoming a large
land-owner and an extensive farmer. Shortly
bef-ore the war he sold his land, and removed
to Belchertown, purchasing a farm there, upon
which he spent the remainder of his life,
dying when in his eighty-third year. He was
twice married, his first wife being Hannah
Jones, a native of Ludlow, a -daughter of
Stephen and Mary (Booth) Jones. She was
married when very young, and died when only
twenty years of age, having become the mother
of one child — Elihu Jones, of the present
sketch. For his second wife the father mar
ried Anne Jones, his sister-in-law. She
departed this life at the age of forty-seven,
leaving three children — Orren, Charles, and
Maria. Shortly after cooking-stoves came
into use the father purchased one, it being, if
not the first, one of the first owned in the
town; and it was bought when his son Elihu
was quite a boy.
Elihu Jones Sikes attended the district
school, and commenced when young to assist
his father in the duties of the farm, residing
at home until his marriage, part of the time,
however, having farmed on his own account.
He then rented his father's farm, and resided
upon it until a short time before the war,
when he removed to the Miller homestead,
remaining there between three and four years.

476

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

He then went to Springfield, where he en
gaged in the provision business, continuing
for one year, at the expiration of which time
he removed to West Springfield. Here he
rented a farm, and established a wholesale and
retail milk business, in which he has since
been successfully engaged. After an absence
of about four years he returned to the Miller
homestead, and engaged in general farming,
his son, Frank E., taking the management of
the combined interests. In the year 1873,
when the Athol Branch of the Boston & Al
bany Railroad was completed, Mr. Sikes was
appointed station agent at Collins. He sold
the first ticket over the road from that point,
and has filled the position to the present time.
On February 28, 1855, Mr. Sikes was
united in marriage with Martha L. Miller.
Mrs. Sikes was born on the farm where she
now resides, on January 16, 1824, her parents
being Deacon Joseph and Martha (Walker)
Miller. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Sikes
has been blessed by the birth of two children:
P'rank E., born March 25, i860; and Herbert
Miller, who was born December 29, 1863, and
died May 6, 1866. The family are all mem
bers of the First Congregational Church.
Politically, Mr. Sikes was formerly a Whig,
but has been a strong supporter of the Repub
lican party since its formation.

1858.

:ERA W. smith, of the firm of Smith
Brothers, grocers at 33 Harrison
Avenue, Springfield, Mass., was
born at Cornish, N. H., October 23,
His father, William B. Smith, son of
Nathaniel, a thrifty farmer of far-off English
descent, was a native of Middletown, Conn.,
where he was born February 17, 181 1. Will
iam was a child of two years when his father
moved to Hartland, Vt., and was but four years
of age when he was taken thence to Cornish,
N. PI. He was a carpenter and millwright by
trade, and was also a builder and pattern
maker. Although he was always a resident
of Cornish, N.H., his reputation as an excep
tionally good workman frequently led to his
services being called into requisition in dis
tant localities ; and he was upon several occa

sions engaged to furnish patterns for the
United States Armory at Springfield. Mr.
William B. Smith's wife, who was before
marriage Miss Nellie M. Cummings, was born
in the town of her husband's nativity, on the
2d of October, 1832. Of the eleven children
born of their marriage, all reached maturity
with the exception of one who died in infancy.
A brief record follows. Ellen Smith died
at sixteen. Laura became the wife of Mr.
Darius Horton, for years an employee in the
armory. Sarah was the wife of Mr. Thomas
Rand, of Boston, in which city she died in
1889. Hannah was the widow of Mr. Na
thaniel Bowen. Nathaniel enlisted in the
famous Fifth Regiment of New Hampshire,
when he was eighteen years of age, and was
held a prisoner for nine months in a rebel
prison; he has for twenty-one years been
employed in the manufacturing establishment
of Smith & Wesson, of Springfield. William
was in the navy during the late war, and has
since followed the sea. David L. as a lad of
twelve years of age went to Gettysburg, Pa.,
where he learned the stone-cutter's trade;
he was for some months in the army service,
but was discharged because of disability, and
has since worked in Baltimore, Md., where
he is the superintendent of one of the largest
marble and granite works in the country. Ed
ward M. learned the trade of printer, and for
some years has been employed in Lowell.
Wentworth M., who was a carpenter, worked
at home until his majority, when he went to
New Haven, where he remained until his
death in 1892. Murray A. is the subject of
a sketch which appears elsewhere in this
volume. Zera is the original of the present
record. In religion Mrs. Smith, the mother
of this family, was of the Baptist faith. She
died October 28, 1875. The father, who was
an attendant of the Episcopal church, died
February 25, 1880. Mr. Zera W. Smith's
maternal grandfather, Urial Cummings, was a
Drum-major during the War of 181 2, and was
one of the prominent men of the town after
ward. At nine years of age Zera W. Smith went
to work on a farm, and until seventeen years
of age was pinned to unremitting toil. The

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

477

latent ambition of his nature now began to
assert itself, and the boy determined to be
educated. With an energy and application
that were as commendable as rare, he began
studying alone, and continued to make such
judicious use of his spare hours that he was
at length able to enter Windsor High School,
from which institution he was graduated in
1879. After a year of more extended study at
Kimball Union Academy and one year spent
in teaching he came in the autumn of 1880 to
Springfield, and entered the employment of
Mr. Augustine Burt, a book dealer on Main
Street. The sudden death of Mr. Burt two
months later, while on the way from his place
of business to his residence, January 14, 1881,
entailed an extra amount of duty upon those
.employed in the establishment; and Mr. Smith
remained to help settle the affairs of the busi
ness, securing meantime the position of ship
ping clerk with Milton Bradley & Co., with
whom he remained until the spring of 1882.
He then accepted a position with Meekins,
Packard & Co., where he rendered efficient
service until he began the business in which
he is at present engaged. In 1893 he formed
a partnership with his brother, Murray A. ;
and under the name of Smith Brothers they
opened the large grocery store at 33 Harrison
Avenue, which soon found favor with the
public. They occupy two floors; and the
business, a first-class trade, has grown within
a year to such an extent that besides the firm
ten people are kept busy supplying the de
mands of their customers. Mr. Smith has
been quite an extensive traveller, and has
various business interests in the West, where
he owns real estate.
¦ On the 3d of April, 1883, Mr. Smith mar
ried Miss Mary Burt, daughter of the late Mr.
Augustine Burt, in whose employment he
began his Springfield career. Mr. Burt was
a Deacon in the Baptist church, and was held
in sincere regard by his many friends in the
city. In his youth he attended the Wesleyan
Academy at "Wilbraham, and in his early man
hood became a brick mason. It was his fre
quent boast that his hands laid the last brick
of the arsenal in the United States Armory,
and that he had helped to build the State

House at PPartford, Conn. IPe became a
bookseller fifteen years previous to his death.
Mr. and Mr. Smith are the parents of two
children — one daughter, Gladys Cummings,
born June, 1888; and one son, Burt H., born
December, 1892. Mr. Smith is a member
of Hampden Lodge, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, and is affiliated with the Re
publican party. Both he and his wife are
members of the Baptist church, in which
among other offices he has held that of Deacon.
The large, commodious brick house at 46
Pearl Street, in which Mrs. Smith was born
and which was built by her father, is now
owned by her husband, so that it holds for
her all of the hallowed associations of child
hood, girlhood, wifehood, and motherhood.

RED MERWIN SMITH, President of
the Griffith, Axtell & Cady Company
of Holyoke, Mass., was born at South
Hadley, September 19, 1862. He is a son of
the late Hiram Smith and Harriet S. (Coney)
Smith. His father was born at South Hadley,
July 24, 1824, and his mother at Ware, Mass.,
October 2, 1826. Hiram Smith was a busi
ness man and Postmaster at South Pladley
Falls for a long period, he having held the
post-office for thirty years. He died there in
1890, his widow, who still survives at the age
of sixty-nine years, having been the mother
of four children, two of whom, Hattie and
Dwight, died in infancy. The remaining two
are Fred M. and J. Belle, wife of Elwyn D.
Newcomb, of South Hadley.
Fred M. Smith received his early educa
tion in the public schools of South Hadley,
and at the Williston Seminary in Easthamp
ton, and, after finishing his studies there in
1880, entered Amherst College, where he was
graduated in the class of 1884. Immediately
upon completing his collegiate course he
entered the office of the Springfield Union,
while Joseph S. Shipley was editor of that
newspaper; and, after being engaged in
journalism for two years, he became Assistant
Treasurer of the Valley Paper Company of
Plolyoke, where he continued for a period of
three years. He then became Treasurer of the

478

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Griffith, Axtell & Cady Company of Holyoke,
which position he held until May i, 1895,
when he retired from the active management
of the company, but is now its President.
This company conduct a very large business
in fine printing, engraving, and embossing,
and maintain a constant force of about thirty
skilled workmen, who are kept busy filling
their many extensive orders, which come from
all parts of the world, the company's reputa
tion for this particular branch of industry
having reached far beyond the boundaries of
the United States. He is also a Director of
the Holyoke Paper Company of Holyoke.
Mr. Smith is an active Republican in poli
tics, and is at the present time Treasurer of
the town of South Hadley, having now for five
years held that office, in which he succeeded
his father. He has served upon both the
School Committee and Water Board for six
years, and has been chairman of the Republi
can Town Committee for the last five years,
it being a notable fact that the town of South
Hadley introduced the Australian system of con
ducting caucuses a year previous to its having
been adopted by the State. He is Past Master
of Mount Holyoke Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
and also a member of Mount Plolyoke Chapter
and Council, Springfield Commandery, and of
Aleppo Temple, Mystic Shrine, at Boston.
On April 28, 1892, he wedded Miss
Evelyn H. Bardwell, of Shelburne, Mass., who
was born July 19, 1861, and is the daughter
of Orsamus O. and Helen (Packer) Bardwell,
both of her parents being now deceased. Mr.
and Mrs. Smith have one child living;
namely, Winthrop Hiram, born June 30,
1893, their second-born, Rachel Evelyn, whose
birth occurred September 17, 1894, having
died January 16, 1895. They reside at 54
North Main Street, South Hadley Falls, and
are members of the Congregational church of
that town.

SOCERO J. GIBBS, M.D., one of the
leading physicians of Chicopee Falls,
^ Hampden County, Mass., is a na
tive of the Pine Tree State, having
been born in the town of Washington, Knox

County, Me., July 16, 1844. His parents
were John and Lucy (Jackson) Gibbs; and his
paternal grandfather was John Gibbs, Sr. , son
of Daniel Gibbs, who was a native of Spencer,
Worcester County, Mass., and born some time
in last century. He was a morocco tanner,
and in early manhood worked at his trade in
the town of Charlestown, Mass. Later in
life he turned his attention to farming, and
finally died at a good old age. He and his
wife, who was of English descent, had a large
family of children.
Their youngest son, John Gibbs, Sr. , was
born in Charlestown, from which place he
went to Thomaston, Knox County, Me., and
engaged in farming. His wife died there at
about forty-five years of age, leaving three
children, who were, however, grown to matu
rity — John, Amos, and Miriam. After the
death of Mrs. Gibbs her husband went to
Canada ; and it is supposed that his death
occurred in that province, as he failed to
return. John, one of the three children, and
probably the eldest, as he was named for his
father, was born in 1807 at Thomaston, where
he received a good education, and commenced
life as a schoolmaster, continuing at the work
of teaching during a period of nineteen years.
Later on he built several mills by contract,
but finally settled down to farming in Wash
ington, Knox County, where he died at the age
of eighty-three years. His wife Lucy lived
to the age of eighty-five. John Gibbs was a
Republican, holding small offices in the town
of Washington, where he was universally re
spected as one of the intelligent and worthy
citizens. His religious views were of a
liberal character. His five children were
named as follows: Prentice M., Nathaniel,
Omar, Locero J., and Esther.
Locero ]., the youngest son, to whom this
sketch specially relates, attended the public
schools of his native town, and then pursued a
higher course of study at the Westbrook Semi
nary. On the breaking out of the Civil War
he enlisted in Company B of the Eleventh
Regiment of Maine, and was discharged for
disability at the end of his first year's service,
in April, 1862. But in August of that same
year, having recovered his health in a degree,

L. J. GIBBS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

481

he re-enlisted in Company B, Eighth Regi
ment of Maine, serving three years. He was
severely wounded in Cold Harbor, June 4,
1864, but, recovering, took part in the last
campaign, and was present at the surrender of
General Lee, being Sergeant at the time.
After the war was ended he entered the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, then,
as now, an institution of learning of high
rank ; and on graduating therefrom he pro
ceeded to New York City, where he took a
course in medicine at the College of Physicians
and Surgeons, subsequently taking a course at
the New York Polyclinic. The expenses in
cident to his education, it is worthy of men
tion, were borne by himself — a manifestation
of self-reliance bringing its own reward. Dr.
Gibbs began practice in the town of Epping,
Rockingham County, N. H., where he carried
on the work of his profession seven years,
after which time he moved to Chicopee Falls.
He bought land at No. 31 Broadway, and
erected thereon a handsome dwelling-house,
with office connected ; and here he has since
remained, having been successful in his prac
tice, and being at the present time classed
among the first physicians of the place.
In 1879 Dr. Gibbs married Miss Cora Mc-
Clench, who died at thirty-one years of age,
leaving one son, Omar, who also died at the
age of seven years. After a time Dr. Gibbs
married Miss Belle Chapin, a daughter of
Caleb Strong Chapin, of Chicopee Falls.
Her father removed to Tennessee, and later to
Indiana, in which State he died. Dr. Gibbs
is a Republican, and has filled various local
offices in the village. He was three years
School Commissioner, Selectman two terms,
and chairman of the Board of Health three
years. He is a member of Belcher Lodge,
A. F. & A. M., of Chicopee Falls; and he is
Past Master of North Star Lodge of Ashland,
Mass., also member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows of the same place, and a mem
ber of Otis Chapman Post, No. 103, Grand
Army of the Republic. Dr. Gibbs has invested
somewhat in real estate, and has recently built
two fine houses on Southwick Street, Chicopee
Falls. The portrait of the Doctor which
accompanies this memoir will be widely recog

nized throughout the town and county, and
greeted with pleasure by his many friends.

that

OHN W. CLARK, depot master at
Springfield of the Boston & Albany
Railroad, and for a period of over
thirty-two years an active employee of
company, serving in every capacity from
freight brakeman up to his present responsible
position, was born at South Windsor, Conn.,
June 2, 1838, son of Hiram and Emeline
(Hayes) Clark.
His father was a resident farmer of the
above town, where he attained prominence in
public affairs as Selectman and member of the
Relief Board. Besides farming, he conducted
a paper manufactory, in which he made a
specialty of newspaper stock, for many years.
Pfis wife was a native of East Hartford, Conn.,
and of the nine children born to her five lived
to reach maturity, namely : Edwin, who went
to California in 1851; Jane, who died at the
age of nineteen years, having been an at
tendant at the Wilbraham Academy; Edgar, a
clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church,
now attached to the Providence Conference ;
John W. , of Springfield; and George, who for
the past twenty-five years has been a member
of the Produce Exchange in New York City.
Mr. Clark's grandfather Clark was engaged in
agricultural pursuits at South "Windsor, and
was a life-long resident of that town. He
came from an old and highly estimable New
England family.
John W. Clark attended the public schools,
including the high school of his native town,
and abandoned the farm to enter the service of
the Boston & Albany Railroad Company in
1856, as a freight brakeman on the Boston &
Worcester Division, where after a year's ser
vice he was promoted to a similar position on
a passenger train, being obliged in those days
to brake by hand. Two years later he was
advanced to the post of baggage master, run
ning between Boston and New York, leaving
the former city at about 8.30 a.m., and arriv
ing in New York at about 6 p.m. In 1865 he
was promoted to the position of conductor, and
remained as such for a period of fifteen years,

482

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

at the expiration of which, in 1880, he re
ceived the appointment of depot master at
Springfield, the duties of which he has since
ably and faithfully performed.
This position is a most responsible one,
requiring a thorough knowledge of the intri
cacies of train despatching, and especially so
at an important railroad centre like Spring
field, he having full charge of the arrival and
departure of all trains which pass through the
Union Station over the Boston & Albany,
New York, New Haven & .Hartford, New
York & New England, and the Boston &
Maine Railroads — in all usually about one
hundred and fifty passenger trains a day, but
which has reached as high as one hundred and
sixty-three. He is responsible for the entire
force employed at this station, and has about
one hundred and fifty names upon his pay-roll.
He has succeeded in making a most flattering
record for himself as well as the company;
and his fine presence and prepossessing manner
attract notice as he watches the hundred trains
intrusted to his care pass in and out of the
depot. The sensitiveness of his nature has
increased the anxiety which any one in his
position must feel in guarding against acci
dents at such a dangerous crossing. It is re
markable that not a passenger has lost his life
in the depot since he has been in charge of the
building, and only one was at all seriously
injured. The latter case was due entirely to
the man's own carelessness; for, in attempting
to board a train before it came to a standstill,
he swung under and lost a part of one hand.
Only two employees of the road have been
killed in the vicinity of the depot since 1880.
Mr. Clark is advanced in the Masonic fra
ternity, being a member of Worcester Lodge,
Springfield Council and Commandery. On
October 12, 1859, he wedded Miss Sarah
Cook, of Burnside, Conn., daughter of
Thomas H. Cook, who was a Lieutenant in
the British army. They have a family of six
children, as follows: Edwin, who is ticket
agent for the Boston & Albany Company at
the Springfield station; James, of the firm of
Downing, Taylor & Co., wholesale grocers;
Eveline; William B. , who is employed in the
Boston & Albany store-rooms; Julia and

George, who are both at school. Mr. Clark
and family attend the Methodist Episcopal
church, and have resided at 90 P""ranklin Street
for the past twenty-five years.

ASON GILES, Manager of the Chap
man Valve Manufacturing Company,
whose plant is located at Indian Or
chard, has been connected with ' that
enterprise ever since its organization in Octo
ber, 1874. He is the lineal descendant of an
old Colonial family, the founder of which
landed at Salem in 1640; he was born in
Rockport, Mass., on Cape Ann, November-
28, 1830, being the son of Samuel and Mar
garet (Davis) Giles, the former of whom was
a native of the same town and a sea captain by
occupation. He and his wife, Margaret
Davis, reared seven out of thirteen children,'
among whom, Jason, the subject of this article,
was the youngest. Thomas Giles, grandfather
of Jason, who was a sail-maker by trade, par
ticipated in the battle of Bunker Hill, as did
also his father, who died the day following
that memorable event. The great-grandfather
was an old war veteran, who had also served
in the early French and Indian wars ; and
Samuel Davis, maternal grandfather of Jason
Giles, who was also a native of Rockport, lost
a leg in the Revolutionary War, and, in spite
of this disability, served as a privateersman
in the War of 1812.
Jason Giles attended the public schools of
Rockport, and, before reaching the age of
seventeen years, commenced to follow the sea
as a means of livelihood, becoming familiar
with the entire eastern coast. After arriving
at that age he gave up his seafaring life, and
entered the machine-shops of William Mason
at Taunton, as an apprentice, where he served
three years, receiving very small wages, out of
which he was obliged to board and otherwise
provide for himself. During his time of ser
vice the average working day consisted of
eleven hours. After his apprenticeship had
expired, he worked in Worcester for six years
as a journeyman, going from there to Janes-
ville, Wis., and after a two years' sojourn
there returned East, and went to Boston,-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

483

where he was employed by the Grover & Baker
Sewing Machine Company from 1857 until
the commencement of the Civil War in 1861.
From that year until 1864 he worked for the
United States government on the manufacture
of fire-arms at Worcester and New York City.
After this he pursued his trade of machinist in
Boston for a number of years, and in October,
1874, came to Indian Orchard as Superintend
ent of- the Chapman Valve Manufacturing
Company, assuming the position before the
first building had been completed, and remain
ing connected with the company in an official
capacity ever since. In 1879, when the com
pany was reorganized, he was elected a Direc
tor in and General Manager of the concern.
The company is incorporated with a capital
stock of six hundred thousand dollars, and is
engaged in the manufacture of valves and fire
hydrants. They commenced originally with a
force of fifteen men, and at the present time
employ three hundred. The position Mr.
Giles occupies is one of trust and responsibil
ity, requiring a thoroughly skilful and effi
cient mechanic possessed of good executive
ability. These qualifications Mr. Giles
possesses in an eminent degree.
Mr. Giles for a life partner chose a lady
from his native town. Miss Delphina Pool,
who was born at Rockport in 1832. They
have one daughter, now Mrs. Hattie G. Bass,
who is the mother of two sons; namely,
George G. and Walter J.
Mr. Giles is not engaged in active politics,
being too closely identified with his legitimate
business, but is interested in religious matters,
and attends the Evangelical church at Indian
Orchard.

B

WIGHT O. GILMORE, the popular
proprietor of the Court Square The
atre, Springfield, was born in the
Stafford Hotel, at Stafford Springs,
Conn., in 1837, the year of the great financial
crisis. His father, Nathaniel Gilmore, was
landlord of the hotel, which was on the old
New York and Boston stage road, and the
only feeding-place between Vernon, Conn.,
arid Sturbridge, Mass.

When Dwight was only six years old, his
father died; and his mother removed with her
children to Monson, Mass., the place of her
nativity. Between the age of ten and seven
teen Dwight worked for different farmers in
the town, attending school only in winter.
Then he apprenticed himself to D. D. Moody,
of Monson, to learn the art of making specta
cles, even then an important industry. After
the required three years, being now nearly of
age, he continued in Mr. Moody's employ an
other three years. During the Civil War gold
and silver became so dear and scarce that Mr.
Moody was compelled to close his shop ; and
his assistant came to Springfield, May 13,
1862, expecting to work in Smith & Wesson's
pistol factory, the position having been secured
for him by a former shopmate. Being un
avoidably delayed on his way, he found an
earlier bird in the place; but the misfortune
marked an epoch in Gilmore's life.
Looking about for something to do, he found
that he could buy an interest in the dining-
rooms in the basement of the Music Hall
Building, occupying the site of the present
opera house. He embraced the opportunity,
and there catered to the public appetite until
July 24, 1864, when the hall was burned.
However, a new edifice soon covered the spot;
and, as soon as the basement was finished, Mr.
Gilmore began work afresh, and did not relin
quish it until 1868, when he sold out the
restaurant, and put up the Gilmore Building,
where the hotel is now located. In 1871 he
bought the adjacent lot on the south, and en
larged the hotel. A decade later, in 1 881, he
bought the opera house property of Tilly
Haynes. After the place was entirely reno
vated, the name was changed from Playnes's
Music Hall to Gilmore's Opera House; and
year by year ever since improvements have
been made, not only in the building, but in
stage fixtures and scenery. Another important
Gilmore purchase was on March 29, 1883, of
the Express Block, facing Court Square, and
extending back to the estate he already owned.
This gave him control from Pynchon Street to
Court Square, with the exception of the Tink
ham Building and a small part of the Hampden
Block, occupied by Smith & Murray.

484

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Within a few years Mr. Gilmore has built
additions to the hotel, thrown into it the upper
floors of the block, excepting only the opera
house, thus making the Gilmore one of the
largest hostelries in the city. Gilmore's Bill
iard Hall had been a landmark, but it event
ually gave way to Uncle Sam's mails. P'or
some years past Mr. Gilmore has not been a
landlord, but has rented the house. He is a
stockholder in the Hampden Park Association,
and a member of the Trotting Association.
He is identified with the Republican party,
and exerts a good deal of political influence.
There is probably no man in town whose name
is on so many bonds. Personally, he is most
companionable and courteous; and every night,
in his theatre lobby, you find him amid a knot
of prominent citizens, who sacrifice part of
the play to his enjoyable conversation.
The purchase of enough suitable land for
the Court Square Theatre was a complicated
task, there being so many holders ; but three
months from the first bargain, March 20,
1889, the task was accomplished. Ground was
broken for the new building on May 5, 1891 ;
and on September 5, 1892, the new theatre
was open to the public, the first performance
being given by John Mason and Marion
Manola. The main entrance is from Elm
Street into a spacious foyer, whereof the floor
is made of variegated tiles, and the sides richly
decorated. A promenade seventy-five feet in
length extends across the rear of the house,
and beyond are the elegantly furnished retiring-
rooms. In the auditorium are eighteen hun
dred and sixty seats, exclusive of the beautiful
proscenium boxes, more numerous than usual,
even in larger establishments. The orchestra
floor contains seven hundred and twenty-five
seats of the most approved pattern. The
balcony seats five hundred and thirty-five, and
the upper balcony five hundred. From every
point there is a good view of the stage. The
decorations are superb, with gold effects on a
white ground. On the ceiling are beautiful
and artistic frescos. The stage mechanism is
of the latest and best design.
Representative citizens, in recognition of
Mr. Gilmore's public spirit, subscribed thirty-
five hundred dollars for a personal testimonial,

the money being expended in a painting of
Ophelia, by Jules Joseph LeFevre, of Paris,
and the presentation made on February 24,
1894. Mr. Gilmore's brother, E. G. Gilmore,
is owner and manager of the Academy of
Music, Fourteenth Street, New York City,
and was projector and manager of the famous
Gilmore's Garden at Twenty-seventh Street;
while another brother is Division Superintend
ent of the Rock Island Railroad, and lives in
Des Moines, la. Their only sister is Mrs.
Charles L. Gardner, of Palmer, Mass., with
whom their mother now makes her home.

¦AMES HAVILAND, present Postmas
ter of Ludlow, who figured prominently
in the early construction and develop
ment of the telegraph service in this
country, was born at Pawling, Dutchess
County, N.Y., August 13, 1825. His father,
John Ward Haviland, was a native of New
York State, as was also his grandfather; and
both were life-long residents there. John
Ward Haviland learned the clothier's trade in
his younger days, which he followed for some
time, but later changed his occupation for that
of a miller, settling in Elmira, and continuing
in that calling until his decease, which oc
curred at the age of sixty years. His wife,
whose maiden name was Anna Townsend, was
a native of Kent, Putnam County, N.Y. , and
the daughter of Samuel and Keturah Town-
send. She was the mother of six children,
and died at the age of eighty years.
James Haviland was very young when his
father removed to Elmira, and he received his
education at the public schools of that city.
At the age of fifteen years he entered mercan
tile business as a clerk, and, after remaining
thus employed two years, began the study of
law with Judge E. P. Brooks, of Elmira, and
continued it later with Messrs. Thurston &
Wisner. At this period the electro-magnetic
telegraph had not only become an assured
means of rapid communication, but was being
extended to all parts of the country ; and Mr.
Flaviland's interest in the new invention was
aroused to such a degree that he relinquished
his legal studies for the art of telegraphy,

'¦j7~/''7'^^

WAITSTILL H. ALLIS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

487

which he speedily acquired, and in 1847 was
sent to Detroit, Mich., for the purpose of
establishing a telegraph office in that city.
From there he went to Chicago, where he
made the necessary arrangements for the open
ing of an office, upon the completion of which
he proceeded to Milwaukee, "Wis., in the same
capacity, and there also opened the first tele
graph office. The winter was an exceedingly
severe one ; and, there being no railroads at
that time running into Milwaukee, Mr. Havi
land was weather-bound and forced to remain
until the opening of the lake in April. He
then returned to Detroit ; and, when the lirie
from Buffalo to Milwaukee was completed, he
was appointed Secretary of the company and
Superintendent of the line, which position he
most ably filled until 1855, and after the con
solidation of the Erie & Michigan with what
now is the Western & Union Company, he
continued in thejr employ for two years, after
which he came East to enter the employ of the
American Telegraph Company, and for the
next year was engaged in constructing lines.
In 1858 Mr. Haviland was appointed to a
clerkship m the Naval Office at New York
City, which he held for three years; and in
1862 he was engaged by the United States
Telegraph Company to construct lines west of
Toledo. He completed a double line from
Buffalo to Milwaukee and another from Detroit
to Bay City, Mich. After this he resided for
a time at Evanston, 111., and entered into the
leather trade in Chicago. In 1871 Mr. Havi
land purchased a farm in Ludlow, Mass., upon
which he settled, and from that time until
1888 followed the independent life of a farmer.
In May of that year he received the appoint
ment of Postmaster at Ludlow, continuing as
such for two years, and in 1893 was again
appointed to the office.
At the age of thirty years Mr. Haviland
was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Hall, a
native of New York State. She lived but five
years after the consummation of their union;
and in 1864 he wedded for his second wife
Miss Annie Birnie, a native of Middlefield,
Mass. Two children have blessed their
union — James Birnie and Grace M. Haviland.
Mr. Haviland is in every particular a most

capable and popular official, and is a Democrat
in politics.

WAITSTILL H. a:
builder, brick m
real estate dealer.

ALLIS, a retired
manufacturer, and
and a prominent
citizen of Springfield, where he has resided
since 1849, was born in Hatfield, Hampshire
County, Mass., October 11, 1825, and was the
son of Dexter and Mary (Wait) Allis. Both
parents were of Colonial and Revolutionary
stock. The first American representative of
the Allis family came to this country in 1635,
or perhaps two years later; and William Allis,
of Braintree, Mass., from whom our subject is
directly descended, was one of the sixteen
original settlers on the Connecticut River, in
1660, in a spot to which they gave the name of
Hadley, West Side, now the town of Hatfield.
He owned a very large farm, was a Lieutenant
under Colonel William Pynchon, of Spring
field, and lived on what was known as the
Border. The great-grandfather of our subject
was Colonel Elisha Allis, who was a son of
Ichabod Allis, from whom the line runs back
through John Allis to William, the immigrant
mentioned above.
Colonel Elisha Allis was a man widely
known in the Connecticut valley, holding
many public offices, and owning much prop
erty. He was proprietor of a grist-mill, car
ried on several farms, did a large business as
a cattle-drover, raising beef for the Boston
market, and was the grandfather of the well-
known engine manufacturer Allis, of Mil
waukee. His son, William Allis, who
obtained the title of Colonel from the Revolu
tion, for many years lived in Hatfield, where
he brought up his family; but after the death
of his wife, in 1804, he removed to Lowville,
N.Y. , where his days were ended. His son.
Dexter Allis, the father of Waitstill, was born
in Platfield in February, 1797, and lived at
the old homestead till 1867, when he came to
Springfield to live. His inherited estate was
one of the largest in the town, whose welfare
he was always active in promoting, holding all
sorts of local offices. Being a man of ac
knowledged wisdom, he was often called upon

488

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

to appraise and settle estates, and was also
prominent in military affairs, being a militia
Captain. In November, 1824, he married
Miss Wait, of Hatfield, who was born in May,
1806, the daughter of Daniel Wait, an intelli
gent and well-read farmer, who served his
town in various public capacities.
On his mother's side Mr. W. H. Allis is
descended from Benjamin Wait, the hero of
several battles with the Indians. In 1677 the
savages captured his wife and children, and
carried them to Canada, where Mr. Wait over
took them. A child to whom his wife gave
birth during her captivity was appropriately
named Canada Wait. Of the children of
Dexter and Mary (Wait) Allis, Waitstill was
the first-born. After him came Daniel Allis,
a resident of Hatfield, who died in December,
1 871 ; William Penn Allis, who lived in Hat
field until his recent removal to Arlington,
Mass. ; Elizabeth Allis, the wife of Samuel
Billings, a Hatfield farmer; and Mary Allis,
wife of Dr. Cornelius S. Hurlbtirt. In 1867
the parents moved to Springfield, where their
son Waitstill had a beautiful home in readi
ness for them, on Carew Street, known by all
as the Allis homestead; and there the father
died on December 30, 1882, and the mother
in July, 1886. Both were worthy members of
the Memorial Church of Springfield, having
transferred their membership from the Hat
field church. The father was first a Whig and
then a Republican.
Waitstill H. Allis attended the public
schools in Platfield, and then spent some time
as a student at Williston Seminary in East
hampton. Thence he went to Deerfield,
where for two years he taught a district school
and an evening writing school, working on a
farm summers. Next he came to Springfield,
and on September 19, 1849, became a mem
ber of the firm of Hastings, Allis & Co.,
which at that time was building up Congress
and Franklin Streets. They bought a farm,
laid out the highways, divided the land into
lots, and built and sold houses. Their opera
tions were so extensive as to closely cover the
farm land with residences. Needing large
quantities of brick, in 1852 Mr. Allis estab
lished the Hampden Brick Works, for this pur

pose removing the trees from land they already
owned. Of these yards he was the sole owner
and manager; and, as the demand increased,
he enlarged his manufacturing facilities, until
he turned out twenty million of bricks a year,
employing two hundred men and fifty horses.
He gave up the real estate business in 1870,
when all the lots were sold, but continued in
the brick business sixteen years longer.
Hastings, Allis & Co. erected a great many
dwelling-houses, business blocks, and public
edifices. As contractors, the Delaney Block
was built by them in 1854, and in 1857 a row
of wooden stores, with tenements above,
extending two hundred and seventeen feet on
Main Street. Then came Hotel Russell, 1864,
Main Street, to which an annex was added in
1872. Mr. Allis furnished the brick for the
Boston water works, for seven out of the eight
grammar schools of the city of Springfield, for
the United States Armory building, depots of
the Boston & Albany and the Connecticut
River Railroads, the Catholic cathedral and
the public library in Springfield, and many
large mills in Holyoke and Chicopee. In
deed, no other Springfield builder has put up
so many edifices in Springfield. His works
have produced more than three hundred million
bricks — a figure seldom reached. Among
many beautiful dwellings he built his own
residence, which is one of the finest in the
First Ward, with extensive lawns and two
acres devoted to choice fruits.
Here the family has lived for many years ;
and Mr. Allis is now enjoying well-earned
leisure, having retired from active business
life. He has always been more or less iden
tified with the politics of the city, voting the
Republican ticket, and serving as delegate to
various conventions. On May 12, 1852, he
was appointed Assistant City Marshal, and
held the office four years; but he declined the
honor of being made Chief Marshal on account
of his business enterprises then demanding his
entire time. He was an efficient member of
the City Council in 1866, and was one of the
pioneers in establishing the first street railway
in Springfield, being an original stockholder
in the company, as he was also in the Fire and
Marine Insurance Company, which has now be-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

489

come a large corporation. Mr. Allis was one
of the thirteen who labored with Dr. J. G.
Holland in founding the Memorial Church, to
which he gave not only money, but valuable
time.

iDWARD H. BOECKLEN, captain of
the police of the city of Springfield,
and, with one exception, the oldest
man in point of service on the force, having
first entered it in 1874, is of foreign birth and
parentage. He was born in Wiirtemberg,
Germany, March 17, 1847, son of Herman
and Ernestine (Cluss) Boecklen.. The father
was a merchant and mill-owner of Wiirtem
berg, where his ancestors had lived for many
generations, being among the stronger class
and the leading citizens of that country. His
wife, Ernestine Cluss, was a sister of Adolph
Cluss, - formerly a civil engineer in the em
ployment of the United States government at
Washington, D.C. Both of the parents re
mained in their native country, where they
died after their son came to America.
Edward H. received a fine education in the
place of his nativity, and on his graduation
from the high school was able to read and
vvrite the English language as well as his
native language. In October, 1865, he emi
grated to the United States, going at first to
"Washington, D.C, where he visited friends
for a while, prior to finding employment. He
subsequently became acquainted with Chaun
cey Seligman, the prominent banker of New
York, who found work for him in 1867 in the
Germania Woollen Mills in Holyoke, Mass.,
where he stayed four years. He next secured
employment in a woollen-mill at Brooklyn,
N.Y., going thence to Lisbon Falls, Me.,
where he had charge of one of the rooms in a
mill. He subsequently filled a like position
in a woollen-mill in Norwich, Conn., coming
from there to Springfield, where he entered
the employment of Mr. Fisher, a furniture
dealer, eventually becoming his shipping
clerk. In 1871, having been successful in
his business, and feeling a keen longing for
the scenes of his childhood, he returned to
Wiirtemberg to visit his father, who was then

living, but came back to Springfield after a
three months' visit. In February, 1874, Mr.
Boecklen was appointed on the police force of
the city; and, after walking his beat for ten
consecutive years, he was promoted to his
present position as Captain of the watch, an
office which he has filled to the utmost satis
faction of all concerned, being kind and oblig
ing as well as prompt and decisive in the
discharge of his duties, and ever faithful to
the trusts reposed in him. In 1874 the police
force of Springfield numbered but eighteen
men; and in 1884, when he was appointed
Captain, the number had increased to twenty-
eight, but at the present time has a member
ship of forty-eight men, which under his com
mand constitute one of the finest-disciplined
police forces in the State. Captain Boecklen
is a general favorite with his men, being
deservedly popular with both those over and
under him. Socially, he is a member of
Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of the
De Soto Lodge, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and also belongs to the Schiitzen
Verein (the German Shooting Society).
On March 18, 1868, Captain Boecklen was
married to Miss Elizabeth Kramer; and,
besides the two daughters born of their union,
they have an adopted son, Thomas, who is
now a pupil in the public schools. Their
elder daughter, Jennie, is the wife of August
Hoffman, of Springfield; Emma, the younger
daughter, married Harry Kellogg, of this
city. The Captain and his family worship at
the First Congregational Church. He has
always been regarded as a man of integrity
and honor, and is held in high esteem in the
community, as one diligently keeping watch
and ward, a guardian of the public health,
safety, and morals, ever ready with efficient
service in behalf of law and order.

(JOSEPH LOOMIS BAGG, a prosperous
farmer of West Springfield, was born
upon the farm at Riverdale where he
now resides, October 3, 1843. His
father, Justus Bagg, was born upon the same
farm, July 5, 1796; and his grandfather, Eze
kiel Bagg, was born at Ashleyville, January

49°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

24, 1 76 1. The latter was a son of Thomas
Bagg, who was born in the same locality, Feb
ruary 22, 1 7 10, and whose father, John Bagg,
was born March 26, 1665, he having been a
son of John Bagg, Sr.
From a genealogical account of the family
it is learned that the elder John is supposed
to have emigrated from Plymouth, England,
and settled at an early day in Springfield,
Mass., where he died September 5, 1683.
He married Hannah, daughter of Henry and
Ulalia Burt, who were natives of England,
and who settled at Springfield about 1640.
His son, John Bagg, who was born at Spring
field in 1665, as above stated, married Mercy
Thomas. Their son, Thomas Bagg, married
Margaret Root, and died April 11, 1776.
His life had been devoted to farming, he hav
ing secured a large tract of land in Ashley
ville extending from the river back to the
hill tops; and it is supposed that the stream
overflowed in those days, as the houses of the
early settlers were invariably erected upon
the rising ground. His wife died on October
4, 1775. Ezekiel Bagg was reared to agri
culture, and purchased a tract of land which
included the present farm of Mr. Joseph L.
Bagg, and erected the house in which he, the
grandson, now resides. It is built in Colo
nial style, contains seven fireplaces, together
with three brick ovens, and, having been sub
stantially built, is exceedingly well preserved.
Ezekiel Bagg resided here until his decease,
which occurred January i, 1837. He married
Huldah Cooley, of West Springfield; and she
bore him five children.
At the age of twenty-one years Justus Bagg,
desiring to see something of the country be
fore settling in life, started westward, and
with a companion walked all the way to
Elyria, Ohio. At that time the present city
of Cleveland was but a hamlet, and the sur
rounding country but sparingly settled, game
of all kinds being abundant in the forests.
Not being favorably impressed with the
appearance of the Western wilds, he returned
East, and resumed farming upon the old home
stead, of which, after his father's death, he
acquired the entire possession by purchasing,
in company with his brother, the interests of

the other heirs; and here he continued to
reside until his death in 1871, at the age of
about seventy-six years. His first wife was
Sarah Munn Day, of West Springfield, daugh
ter of Edmund Day; and she died about the
year 1837. By his first wife Justus Bagg had
two sons — Harvey D. and William Gilbert
Bagg. In 1838 he wedded for his second wife
Delia Loomis, who was born at West Spring
field, December 29, 18 17, daughter of Orrin
Loomis, a native of Agawam, a genealogy of
whose family has been published. Mr.
Loomis was a life-long resident and farmer of
Hampden County, who died at the age of
seventy-seven years. His wife was Ada Day,
of West Springfield, a daughter of Edmund
and Bede (Hitchcock) Day, and she died at
the age of eighty-six years, having reared
seven children, as follows: Delia (Mrs.
Bagg), Sabra, Albert, Joseph, Ralph, Mary,
and Martha, the two latter having been twins.
The two children of Justus and Delia
(Loomis) Bagg, Huldah and Joseph Loomis
Bagg, are now residing at the old homestead
with their mother. Joseph Loomis Bagg has
resided at the old homestead from the day of
his birth, and conducts with signal ability
and success one of the most productive and
pleasantly situated farms in this section. He
gives his entire time and energy to his occu
pation, and is independent in politics.

YJ^ELSON H. McGREGORY, who
I =J during the last twenty-five years
1^ \^^^ of his life resided on his farm in
Ludlow, was born in East Long
meadow, Hampden County, Mass., in 1805,
son of Ebenezer and Mary P. (Crane) Mc
Gregory, the former of whom was also a
native of that town. The paternal grand
father, Ebenezer, Sr., was among the earliest
settlers of East Longmeadow, where he was a
typical pioneer, living for a time in a log
house. His wife was Susan Bradley, and she
reared a family of six children, namely:
Joseph; Ebenezer; Susan, who became the
wife of a Mr. Blodgett ; Thankful, who mar
ried a man named Lewis; Lucinda, whose

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

491

husband's name was Gardener; and Hannah,
who became the wife of a Mr. Pease.
Ebenezer McGregory, father of Nelson H.,
was brought up to farm life and labor, but
later learned and followed the trade of stone
cutter. He died at the age of forty-four
years. His wife's maiden name was Mary P.
Crane. Her faj;her, Allen Crane, who was a
farmer, removed after his marriage from East
Windsor, Conn., to East Longmeadow. Mrs.
Mary P. McGregory died at the age of eighty-
four, having reared eight children.
Nelson H. spent his early years on his
father's farm, and at the age of fifteen he
went to Hartford to learn the trade of mason.
After remaining in Hartford a short time, he
went to New York City, and remained there
four years, completing his knowledge of the
trade. He then returned to Hartford, where
he followed his trade as a journeyman for
some years, and was a Captain of the militia.
He also achieved reputation as a marksman,
taking the first prize, a gold medal, for skill
with the rifle. He was also an active member
of the fire department of that city. He went
to Springfield in 1857, but removed to East
Longmeadow in i860, and purchased a saw
and grist mill, which he operated successfully.
During' the Civil War he was employed in the
United States Armory. In 1864 he sold his
property in East Longmeadow, and removed
to Ludlow, where he bought a farm one mile
from Indian Orchard, known as the Eaton
homestead. After that he both carried on
the farm and worked at his trade, from 1866
to 1888 being employed by the Indian Or
chard Company and also by the Ludlow Manu
facturing Company and the Duckvill and
Three Rivers Companies in the erection of
their cotton-mills. He likewise had charge
of laying the brick sidewalk and setting the
curbing at Indian Orchard. As a workman
he was a master of his craft, and had few
equals. He had a record of laying five thou
sand bricks in one day on the wall of a church
in Suffield, Conn. During the latter part of
his life he acted as an independent contractor,
having entire supervision of the work in
which he engaged. In politics he was a firm
supporter of the Republican party, making his

influence felt by his vote and example, but
holding no office except that of member of
the School Committee, for which he was well
fitted, being a great reader and well informed.
Although not a church member, he was a lib
eral supporter of the Christian faith, insisting
upon having his family regularly attend
church and Sunday-school, and was always in
sympathy with every movement for the moral
advancement of the community in which he
lived. By his first wife, Marie, daughter of John
Hunt, of East Longmeadow, he had five chil
dren, four of whom, with the mother, died
within ten years. The one now living is
Albert N., who married Miss M. Dooling, of
Lockport, N.Y., and has two children — Nel
son H. and Maud. His second marriage was
in 1856 to Eunice Day, a native of Easthamp
ton, daughter of William and Roxanna
(Knowlton) Day. She proved a worthy help
meet, presiding over the household with true
womanly tact, care, and hospitality. Al
though a partial invalid for the last twelve
years of her life and often in great pain, she
endured her sufferings with patience, and was
a good mother to her children, who now bear
her in affectionate remembrance. She was a
faithful member of the Congregational church.
She died at the age of sixty-three, in 1879,
leaving two children — Frederick C and
William B.
Frederick C McGregory was born in
Springfield, May 2, 1858, and received his
education in the district schools while spend
ing his early years on his father's farm.
Desiring to enter the legal profession, he
began to study in preparation for college, but
failing health obliged him to relinquish the
idea. Going to New York City, he followed
various occupations. He assisted in organiz
ing Company D of the Twelfth Regiment, of
which he was a member for seven years. This
company took the prize as the best-drilled in
the New York National Guard. Mr. Mc
Gregory has also instructed companies of
ladies, and given exhibition drills. He has
of late been in the employ of the " Review "
Publishing Company as travelling agent. He
was married December 31, 1886, to Miss

492

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Ada Ramler, of New York City, daughter of
John Ramler, of England. They have one
son — Lawrence Thompson. William B. Mc
Gregory, who was born at East Longmeadow
and was a highly respected young man, was
educated in the district schools, Pillsbury
Seminary, and the Wesleyan Academy. He
was married in 1883 to Miss Eva Hicks, of
Wilmington, Vt., and died March 9, 1895, at
the early age of thirty-one years, leaving two
sons — Wayne and Ebenezer N. He was a
member of the Congregational church at
Indian Orchard.

WILLIAM H.
building cc
and a reside

READ, a successful
contractor of Springfield
ident of Brightwood, where
he is largely interested in real estate, was
born at South Wilbraham, now Hampden,
June 20, 1850. He is the son of Abner B.
and Louisa A. (Burleigh) Read, and grandson
of Burt Read, a resident of Fall River, who
served as a Lieutenant in the early wars. His
father was born at Steep Brook, a suburb of
Fall River, August 7, 181 3, and, after acquir
ing the trade of a mason in the cities of Fall
River and New Bedford, settled at Wilbra
ham, there following his trade. He later
pursued his calling in Springfield, where he
was a contractor for a period of thirty-five
years. He was identified vvith the construc
tion of the United States Armory, together
with many other buildings of note. Although
Mr. Read's business was principally con
ducted in Springfield, where he was consid
ered an unusually skilled and competent
workman, he continued to reside at South
Wilbraham until 1893, when he moved to this
city; and here his decease occurred April i,
1894. Abner B. Read was a member of and
for some years a class leader in the Methodist
Episcopal church at Wilbraham. He offici
ated in various positions of public trust, and
was highly respected by all who knew him.
Louisa Burleigh, whom he married April 13,
1840, was born at Monson, February 15, 181 5,
daughter of Abner Burleigh, a farmer, also a
native of Monson, and Louisa (Cleveland)
Burleigh, of Wilbraham. In the latter town

the Burleighs resided for years, and there
Mrs. Read was educated. Of the four chil
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Abner Read three
lived to reach maturity, namely: George B.,
of this city; William H., whose name heads
this article; and John M., a contractor of
Springfield, who died May 14, 1889.
William H. Read commenced his education
in the public schools, and at the age of seven
teen years graduated from Wilbraham Acad
emy, subsequently entering the employ of a
Springfield drug firm as a travelling salesman,
a position which he very acceptably filled for
some time; but, preferring to follow the occu
pation of his father, he resigned, and, after
acquiring a thorough knowledge of the trade,
established himself as a building contractor
(in 1886). He met with immediate success,
completing a large amount of exceptionally
meritorious work in Springfield, 'Westfield,
and Chicopee, including the Dexter Block on
Union Street and the Robinson house at the
corner of Magnolia Terrace and Sumner
Avenue. He also invested in real estate,
upon which he erected houses for residential
purposes, selling them to good advantage;
and, about five years since, he became inter
ested in the development of Brightwood as an
eligible locality for rapid growth. He im
mediately purchased land in attractive posi
tions, upon which he constructed a number of
residences and business blocks. He also con
ducts a lumber yard, the only one there, in
which he does a very profitable business for at
least half of the year. He employs an aver
age of twenty-five workmen, who are con
stantly engaged in building operations ; and
in 1893 he erected houses at the rate of one
each month. P^or some time he resided in
Hampden, but for greater convenience in his
business pursuits moved to Springfield, where
he now resides, and is classed as one of her
most enterprising and energetic business men.
On October 16, 1878, Mr. Read wedded
Miss Nellie M. Terry, of Windsor Locks,
Conn., daughter of Clinton Terry, a farmer
and cabinet-maker of that place. The latter
was born at Warehouse Point in October,
1829, and is a descendant of some of the orig
inal settlers of that place and Enfield, being a

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

493

grandson of Solomon Terry. He was a cabi
net-maker by trade, and married Miss Maria
Hatch, of the)K, same town, September i6,
1850, after which he moved to Windsor
Locks, where he engaged in farming. Of the
four children born to them Nellie M. is now
the wife of Mr. Read; Abbie Louise died at
the age of three years; Sadie E. is the widow
of J. Marshall Read, brother of William H. ;
and Grace K. died at the age of two years.
Mr. Terry was formerly active in the State
militia, and also occupied a prominent posi
tion in the local town government. He and
his wife were believers in the Advent faith.
Mrs. Read received her early education in the
public schools of Windsor Locks and Hart
ford, and, after graduating from the Connecti
cut State Normal School at New Britain,
taught for ten years previous to her marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Read have three children —
PZstber T., Clinton W., and Rollin T. Mr.
Read is a Republican in politics, and while
living in Hampden served on the School Com
mittee for some time, resigning his position
in the fall of 1884, when he removed to
Springfield. He and his wife are members of
the Advent church at Springfield.

'OHN B. WESTON, who has recently
resigned his position of master car
builder for the Springfield Division of
the Boston & Albany Railway, which
he had held for twenty years, fulfilled the
duties of his position with rare fidelity and
ability, winning the respect and confidence of
all with whom he was associated, whether
workmen or employers. As a partial recog
nition of his faithful services the company,
on accepting his resignation, presented Mr.
Weston with a check for thirteen hundred dol-
I.rrs, a full year's salary. He is a native of
Maine, having been born in Calais, Washing
ton County, December 27, 1822, but is of
sturdy Scotch ancestry, his paternal grand
father, John Weston, a pioneer settler of the
town of Baring, having emigrated from Glas
gow, Scotland.
Alexander Weston, son of John, was born,
bred, and spent the larger part of his life in

Baring, being for many years a prominent
lumberman of that place. He married Mary
Bridges, a native of Maine. Their son, John
B. Weston, received a common-school educa
tion in the place of his nativity, and when a
young man learned the trade of a carriage-
maker, at which he worked for seven years.
Desirous of a change of employment, Mr.
Weston then acted as conductor on the Calais
& Baring Railway for two or three years, and
in 1856 started westward. At that time there
was no railway communication beyond Galena,
111., and from there he went by boat to Minne
apolis, thence to Rum River, now known as
Anoka, twenty-eight miles above St. Paul.
Securing employment as a millwright, he
assisted in there establishing the first mill,
putting in the second saw himself, and re
mained there about a year. Going from
Anoka to Wisconsin, Mr. Weston engaged in
the lumber business at Stevens Point, which
was at that time little more than a logging
camp. In 1858 he returned as far east as Buffalo,
N.Y., and during the succeeding four years
was in the employ of the New York Central
& Fludson River Railway Company on bridge
work. He was next employed by the Lake
Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Com
pany at car work, remaining with the com
pany until 1870, a portion of the time having
charge of some of the work in the machine-
shops. Coming then to Springfield, Mr.
Weston worked for six months as a laborer for
the Boston & Albany Railway Company, and
was then made foreman at the passenger
depot. This was during the time they built
cars here, and he occupied that position four
years, having entire control of the one hun
dred and thirty or more men employed by the
company. On August i, 1875, he accepted
the position of master car builder, continuing
thus employed until his resignation, at which
time he was the oldest official of the car
department in the city and one of the most
honored and esteemed.
Mr. Weston has been twice married, the
maiden name of his first wife, who was a
native of Cooper, Me., being Olive Brown.
After many years of happy wedded life, she

494

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

died, in 1888, leaving no issue. Mr. Weston
subsequently married Miss Mary J. O'Don-
nell, of Holyoke; and they have one child —
Olive May. He takes no active interest in
political matters, but cast his first vote with
the Whigs, and since the organization of the
Republican party has sustained its principles
at the polls. In former years he was inter
ested in buying and selling real estate, but is
not now active in that line of business. He
was the owner of a pleasant home at No. 45
Greenwood Street, where he resided for many
years, but is now residing at No. 56 Green
wood Street.

L'ARTUS JUDD SMITH, a civil engi
neer and general farmer of Chicopee,
Mass., was born at South Hadley
Falls, Hampshire County, April
I, 1828. His father, Luther Smith, was born
in the same town, of which his grandfather
was, so far as known, a life-long resident, fol
lowing agriculture as a vocation. Luther
Smith resided with his parents, and assisted
in the farm duties until after his marriage,
when he purchased a farm located in the
northern part of Chicopee, which he conducted
during the remainder of his life. He died at
the age of sixty-five years. The maiden name
of his wife, the mother of Quartus J. Smith,
was Susan Rumrill. She was a native of
South Hadley and daughter of Asa and Rhoda
Rumrill. Mrs. Susan R. Smith died at the
age of seventy-seven years, having reared four
children, as follows: Quartus J., Luther,
Delia, and George.
Quartus Judd Smith made the best of his
opportunities in boyhood for acquiring an edu
cation, and at the age of twenty years com
menced the study of civil engineering in a
practical manner with Deacon Orange Cha
pin, under whose instruction he obtained a
thorough knowledge of the art of surveying,
and whom he shortly succeeded as the recog
nized civil engineer and surveyor of these
parts. At the death of his father he became
the owner of the homestead, and later he pur
chased the Wright farm adjoining it, a portion
of which he divided into house lots, and sold

to good advantage. His home farm consists
of forty acres, and he also owns fifty-one acres
upon the Plains and twenty acres at Plain
ville, upon which he is now building.
On February 25, 1869, he was united in
marriage to Miss Irene L. Atkins, who was
born at Holyoke, Mass., August 11, 1840,
daughter of Reuben Atkins. Their union has
been blessed with three children, as follows:
Anna V., wife of Fred Kidder; Homer A.;
and Grace E. ; a fourth, Frank, having died
in infancy. Mrs. Smith is a member of the
Baptist church. Mr. Smith is well known as
a thoroughly reliable and expert surveyor,
having been quite extensively engaged in that
line, and, being a constant reader, is well
posted on general subjects as well as the vari
ous important issues of the day. A portrait
of this intelligent and progressive citizen
accompanies these meagre notes of a life of
useful, manly toil and untiring activity of
hand and brain.

"]r\ONALD MACKINTOSH, a wealthy
I — I manufacturer of Holyoke, and Presi-
^-X^y dent of the D. Mackintosh & Sons
Company, is, as his name implies, of
Scotch ancestry, and is himself a native of
Scotland, his birth having taken place in the
historical city of Edinburgh in 1819. His
parents were Donald and Mary Mackintosh,
who were Highlanders, but removed from
Killin, Perthshire, to Edinburgh. The father
was a merchant by occupation, being so en
gaged while at Killin and also after his re
moval to Edinburgh, in which city his death
occurred. The subject of this biographical mention
was educated in the public schools of Edin
burgh, a city noted for its excellent educa
tional institutions, and then, leaving his native
place, went to Paisley, world-renowned for its
shawls, where he learned the art of dyeing,
serving an apprenticeship of five years to that
trade. Upon the expiration of this time he
crossed the border into England, going to the
city of Leeds, where he took charge of an es
tablishment, continuing in that position for
two years, and then removed to Kidderminster,

QUARTUS J, SMITH.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

497

which is noteworthy for its carpet manufact
ure. Here he accepted a position with the
firm of James & George Humphry, the cele
brated carpet manufacturers, as superintendent
of their dye works, having a large number of
men under him.
In 1843 Mr. Mackintosh accepted an offer
of the Hartford Carpet Company, of Tariff
ville, Conn., to take charge of their works,
and accordingly came to America. He re
mained with that firm for eight years, intro
ducing into the business many new and valua
ble methods. Fle left the Hartford Company
a short time before its failure, and returned to
England. Subsequently, on the receipt of a
flattering offer from his former employers, he
again came to America. But the company
failed to reorganize, and, receiving an offer
from the Lowell Carpet Company, and at the
same time one from the Hampden Mills at
Holyoke, he accepted the latter, and took
charge of their dye works. This was in 1854,
and he held the position twelve years.
In 1866 Mr. Mackintosh resigned his posi
tion at the Hampden Mills in order to engage
in dyeing business for himself, and started out
in a small way, his location being near the
dam ; but he met with great misfortune, being
burned out and losing everything. He did
not allow this calamity to discourage him,
however, but again started, this time locating
in Northampton, where he remained for a
time, leaving that place to come to IPolyoke ;
and here he occupied the buildings erected by
the Newtons and located between Appleton
and Cabot Streets. Plere Mr. Mackintosh car
ried on business for five years, and then pur
chased the Flampden Mills, forming the co
partnership of D. Mackintosh & Sons, the
company comprising Donald Mackintosh, J. G.
¦Mackintosh, and Charles E. Mackintosh.
These mills are the ones where he first worked
on coming to Holyoke; and the building is
a four-story and basement brick, the site com
prising two acres on Lyman Street, on the
second level canal. The mills are devoted to
the manufacture of colored cottons, and are the
largest of their kind in the United States, giv
ing employment to more than one hundred and
fifty men. The company was more recently

incorporated, with a capital stock of three
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, its Presi
dent being Donald Mackintosh, and Treasurer
J. G. Mackintosh, with Charles E. Mackintosh
as General Manager.
In March, 1843, Mr. Mackintosh was united
in marriage with Hannah Underwood, of Kid
derminster, a daughter of Benjamin Under
wood, and a niece of James and George Hum
phry, his former employers. This union was
blessed by the birth of four children, three
sons and a daughter — J. G. , James, Charles
E. , and Henrietta. The happy family circle
was broken by the death of the beloved wife
and mother, who departed this life on October
17, 1894. The family are devoted members
of the Episcopal church, in which Mr. Mack
intosh is a Warden.
Mr. Mackintosh is a fine example of what
can be accomplished by determination and en
ergy rightly directed. His home, a beautiful
brick residence, is located at No. 422 North
ampton Street; and here the family extend
a cordial welcome to their many friends and
acquaintances.

TT^HARLES M. WRIGHT, an efficient
I Vj-^ member of the police department of
\is^ the city of Springfield, Mass., hav
ing held the ofifice of Assistant
Marshal for the past ten years, was born
December 29, 1844, at Plympton, Plymouth
County, Mass. His parents were Winslow
and Mary (Cole) Wright; and his grandfather
was Josiah Wright, a native of Plympton, who
resided in the ancestral home built in Colo
nial times. Winslow Wright was born in
Plympton, and followed agricultural pursuits
during his life, his death occurring in that
town when he had reached the age of eighty
years. Mary, his wife, was also a native of
Plympton. She became the mother of ten
children, all of whom grew to maturity.
Their son Charles M. attended the schools
of Plympton in his youth, and afterward re
mained on the farm till his nineteenth year,
when he enlisted, December 16, 1864, in the
Twenty-fourth Unattached Company, and was
sent into camp at Readville, Mass., where he

498

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was held till the war was over, being qualified
and desirous to go to the front, but not called
for. He received his discharge May 12,
1865, and returned to his home in Plympton,
where he remained till the following March,
1866, when he came to Springfield, and served
an apprenticeship in the Agawam (now
Springfield) Foundry, conducted at that time
by Josiah Wright and Warren Emmerson.
He remained in their employ for three years,
and in 1869 went in the city's service as
patrolman, under Charles Winchester, Mayor
of the city that year. He continued on the
police force two years, and then returned to
the iron foundry, where he remained five
years, at the end of which period he was again
appointed patrolman. After holding the posi
tion seven years, he was promoted to the rank
of Captain, which higher office he occupied
with signal ability till 1883, when he was
elected Assistant Marshal; and this important
post he has continued to hold to the present
time, having served under both Republican
and Democratic administrations, with seven
different marshals. Mr. Wright has thus had
extended experience in his line, being the
only one on the force who has remained in the
department during the same length of time.
When he began work as patrolman, the force
consisted of marshal, assistant marshal, cap
tain, and eleven patrolmen. The number of
the latter is now increased to forty-four patrol
men. Changes in the management have oc
curred, and other improvements have been
made in the service, which formerly occupied
the basement of the old City Hall, but for
which more dignified and suitable quarters
are now provided in the new Police Build
ing. This is something of a contrast to the
system of defence required for the scattered
hamlets of New England two hundred and
fifty years ago. Then one or, at most, two
sentries, with loaded musket, guarded the
slumbers of the few inhabitants, with the
additional vigilance of the faithful mastiff,
kept for protection from wild beasts and Ind
ians. Now the country has cities for ham
lets and staffs of protective officers to guard
and keep safe its thousands of inhabitants;
for it is not the beast of prey without, but

the foe dwelling within, who works peril to
the community.
Mr. Wright was married June 5, 1870, to
Miss Martha Ripley, of Kingston, Plymouth
County, Mass. ; and their union has been
brightened by the birth of three children —
Charles A. L., Ruth M., and Lewis W. Mr.
Wright is a member of E. K. Wilcox Post,
No. 16, Grand Army of the Republic. He
has also been chairman of the Relief Com
mittee the past six years. The family attend
the Universalist church, and since 1889 have
resided at No. 242 McKnight Street, a situa
tion most desirable and attractive, being in
the modern residential part of the city.

/^^TeORGE dresser, M.D., the oldest
\ '3 I among the eminent practising physi
cians of Chicopee, Hampden County,
Mass., is a native of the town of Antrim,
Hillsboro County, N.H., where his birth
took place May 9, 1838, he being a son of
Daniel and Sarah (McAllister) Dresser. His
father was born at Antrim, October 15, 1803.
He was a blacksmith by trade, but in conse
quence of an injury to his back he was
obliged to give up that occupation. He
accordingly purchased a farm in Londonderry,
Windham County, Vt., to which he moved;
and, becoming successful in his work, he
gradually accumulated a comfortable property.
He later disposed of his farm, and came to
Chicopee, where he lived a retired life till his
death, which took place in his eighty-sixth
year. Daniel Dresser was of English descent, his
father having emigrated from the mother
country, and early settled on land in the
south-western part of New Hampshire. His
wife, Sarah, was born in Hillsboro County,
N.H., and lived to be seventy-four years
old. She was of Scotch ancestry, a descend
ant, in the fourth generation, of Richard
McAllister, and she and her husband were
the parents of four children, namely: Mark
(now deceased, as also is his wife), having
one son — William Dresser; George Dresser,
M.D., of this sketch; James, who served four
years as private and musician in the Twenty-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

499

fourth Massachusetts Regiment during the
Civil War, at which time he lost his health,
and died later in consequence; Simon P., a
prominent and successful physician and sur
geon of Hinsdale, Mass., whose death was
occasioned by an accident while on the
way to make a professional visit. Simon
P. Dresser married Miss Lizzie Cobb, and
left four children — Arthur, Angle, Harry,
and Charley.
George Dresser, of this narrative, was edu
cated in the public schools of Londonderry,
Vt., and in the Leland & Gray and Spring
field Seminaries. He then entered Harvard
University, taking a course in the department
of medicine, and, graduating in 1862, entered
at once on the practice of his profession in
the town of Grafton, Vt., where he continued
for eleven years. He then came to Chicopee,
and has since pursued his labors here in medi
cine and surgery with abundant success,
establishing an excellent reputation among
residents of the community and also with his
brother practitioners. Dr. Dresser has a
handsome residence, with office connected, at
No. 315 Front Street, Chicopee, where he
confers with patients, and receives calls for
his services.
In 1863 he was united in marriage to Miss
Marcella E. White, whose death occurred the
following year. In 1865 he married Miss
Lucy A. Eaton, who died May 21, 1888.
She was the mother of two children: Inez F.,
who died September i, 1885; and L. Alice,
who died January 20, 1888. Dr. Dresser then
married Miss Lilly H. King, a daughter of
John J. King, of Springfield; and they have
one child — Louise King Dresser, born in
1892. Mrs. Dresser is a member of the Con
gregational church, her husband being liberal
in religious matters. Dr. Dresser advocates
the principles of the Republican party in
political affairs. He is a member of Key
stone Lodge of Grafton, Vt., A. F. & A. M.,
No. 95, of Unity Chapter of Chicopee Falls,
and of the Council and Commandery of
Springfield. He has also been chairman of
the Board of Plealth and City Physician, and
is a member of the Massachusetts Medical
Society.

"j^TjGENE D. CAPRON, of Springfield,
p] Mass., Assistant Secretary of the Mas-
-^-~.». - sachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Company, was born at Winchester, N.H.,
P^ebruary 22, 1840, the only child of John G.
and Mary H. (Ripley) Capron. His father,
who was also a native of Winchester, N.H.,
was in the grocery business at Springfield
for many years. "While living in this city,
he was at one time a member of the Com
mon Council, for two years was a member of
the Board of Aldermen, and also held the
office of Assessor. He attended the Church
of the Unity.
Eugene D. Capron received his early educa
tion at the public schools of Springfield, grad
uating from the high school in 1857. He
then entered mercantile life, going into busi
ness with his father, in which he continued
until 1863, when he enlisted in the Forty-
sixth Massachusetts Regiment, Company A
(called the old Union Guard), a well-drilled
company composed of young men from the
best families in the city. They were ordered
to North Carolina, where they were stationed
for ten months, and were then discharged.
After Mr. Capron returned from the seat of
war, he was engaged in the provost marshal's
office for about a year, and then entered the
employ of the Massachusetts Mutual Insur
ance Company as a book-keeper, which posi
tion he held for several years, when he was
elected to the assistant secretaryship, the
office he now holds.
Mr. Capron has always been much inter
ested in the Grand Army of the Republic.
He was Adjutant of the Second Regiment of
Massachusetts for four years, and after that
was commissioned as an Aide on the staff of
General Wales, holding the rank of Captain.
He is a member of Hampden Lodge of Free
Masons. Mr. Capron was married at Brook
lyn, N.Y., to Miss Louise E. Lord, daughter
of Aaron G. Lord, formerly a resident of
Springfield. They have one son, Harry P"".,
born April 3, 1882. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Capron are- members of the Church of the
Unity. They reside at No. 109 Westmins
ter Street, where they have a delightful
home.

5 00

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

^OSES G. MORSE, brick manufact
urer, whose place of business is
the Agawam brickyards, situated
at the corner of South and Long
Hill Streets, Springfield, Mass., was born in
the neighboring city of Worcester, July 28,
1827, son of Isaac and Betsey (Graves) Morse.
His father, who was a native of Holden,
Mass., and a son of Joseph Morse, also of that
town, went to Worcester in early manhood,
where he acquired the trade of a brick-maker,
and followed that occupation for life, being
for many years employed as foreman, and for
a time himself a manufacturer. He married
Betsey Graves, of Washington, N.H., and of
their family of nine children five lived to
reach maturity, three of whom have passed
away, leaving as survivors Moses G., of this
article, and Mary, who was twice married, her
second husband being Frank W. Ware. The
parents of Mr. Morse died at Worcester, his
mother having been a member of the Baptist
church. Both Graves and Morse ancestors
were among the early New England colonists.
After receiving a good education in the
public schools, Moses G. Morse learned his
father's trade; but, previous to reaching his
twentieth year, he abandoned that occupation
to enter the trucking business, having at the
commencement one team, which he purchased
with a capital saved from his earnings. For
the next ten years he conducted a large and
profitable business, in which he was at length
associated with a partner, the firm being
Chase & Morse. At the age of thirty years,
his health failing, he sold his interest in the
business, and purchased a patent eaves trough,
which he introduced in different parts of the
State; and, being particularly impressed with
the city of Springfield, he decided to locate
there. He accordingly secured a planing-
mill, situated on Mill River, for the purpose
of manufacturing his patent trough; but, not
being able to obtain sufficient power there, he
moved to Taylor Street, where for the subse
quent two years he successfully manufactured
and sold his products, the right and title
to which he finally disposed of to good
advantage. He then turned his attention to his former

occupation, and, taking charge of the brick
yard situated on Carew Street, employed his
time during the next four years in manufact
uring brick upon contract, which were used in
the construction of many well-known build
ings, including the United States Armory and
several school edifices. His next move was
to the present yards, where for a brief period
he conducted the brick business in company
with W. H. Allis, later going to the Weyant
yards for two years, and for the past fifteen
years has had charge of the Agawam yards for
Mr. J. S. Sanderson. These are at the pres
ent time the largest in the city, having a
capacity for producing upward of five million
per annum, and employing a force of about
fifty men. The yards are equipped with all
modern improvements in the way of machinery
and steam-power for the rapid manufacturing
of first quality brick, which have been used in
erecting the Opera House Block, Masonic
Temple, the Forbes & Wallace Building,
together with many other noted structures in
this city. Mr. Morse, aside from his connec
tion with the brick industry, has invested to
some extent in real estate, erecting and own
ing buildings, and during all these years has
been an enterprising as well as a busy man.
He is a member of Hampden Lodge, A. F.
& A. M., and . is a Republican in politics,
though not active beyond casting his vote.
In December, 1866, he married Miss Ellen
H. Armstrong, and has one son, Willie I., a
graduate of the high school and of the busi
ness college, who is now in business at
Holyoke, but still continues to reside at
Springfield. Mr. Morse resides at No. 46
Broad Street, and attends the First Congrega
tional Church, of which Mrs. Morse is a
member.

I ARE A. ALLEN, M.D., one of the
leading physicians of Holyoke, where
¦s he has been in practice since 1890,
was born at Lempster, N.H., Octo
ber 27, 1847, and is a son of Stephen and
Phoebe (Lewis) Allen. His father, having
been born at Sutton, N.H., in 18 10, went to
reside at Lempster when a young man. The

V :

C. A. ALLEN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

503

family are descendants of James Allen, who
emigrated from England with his wife, Anna,
in 1639, settling first at Dedham, and later
at Medfield, Mass., where his cousin, John
Allen, was the first minister and a contem
porary of Cotton Mather.
The original grant of land which was con
veyed to James Allen is still in the family's
possession. Dr. Allen's grandfather, Penuel
Allen, was born in 1772, and was a soldier in
the War of 18 12. He was a son of Abner
Allen, who was born in 1743, the latter hav
ing been a son of Nehemiah Allen, who was
baptized in 1699, his father, Joseph Allen,
having been born in 1652, being the youngest
son of James Allen, the original ancestor in
America. Stephen Allen passed most of his
life at Lempster, where he married Phoebe
Lewis, who was born there in the month of
November, 18 14, being a daughter of Leland
Lewis. He was a highly respected citizen,
and, though not a politician, was interested in
educational work. He had a family of seven
children, of whom Carl A. Allen is the third.
The Doctor's parents still reside at Lempster,
where they are members of the Universalist
church, having celebrated the sixtieth anni
versary of their marriage in March, 1894.
Carl A. Allen studied the primary branches
of learning at the town schools of Lempster,
and then attended the Kimball Union Acad
emy at Meriden, N.H., graduating therefrom
in 1 87 1. He read medicine with Dr. Mar
shall Perkins, of Marlow, N.H., at the same
time acting as principal of the academy in
that town; and, after taking one course at
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., he entered
the Long Island College Hospital, where he
was graduated in 1874. He first settled at
Acworth, N.H., where he created for himself
a very large country practice, being the only
physician within a radius of six miles; and
there he resided for fifteen years, at length
being forced by the impaired state of his
health to remove to another field, where his
duties would not be so arduous. For this
purpose he came to Holyoke in 1890, and has
here repeated to a great extent his former suc
cess. The summer following his departure
from Acworth he spent in travelling through

the West, visiting Colorado, the Yellowstone
Park, the Yosemite Valley, California, and
other interesting points of observation.
While residing at Acworth, Dr. Allen was
superintendent of schools for twelve years,
and for a while was a silent partner in a gen
eral mercantile business. He was also finan
cially interested in a local newspaper of that
town, and at one time through force of cir
cumstances was compelled to officiate in an
editorial capacity. He is a member of the
New Hampshire State Medical Society, the
Connecticut River Valley Medical Society, of
which he was President for one term ; he is
also a member of the Hampden District
Medical Society, by virtue of which he is a
member of the State Medical Society, and is
now Noble Grand of Lodge No. 134, Indepen
dent Order of Odd Fellows, of Holyoke. He
is likewise a member of the Congregational
church, and is at present serving upon the
parish committee.
On May 19, 1875, he wedded Miss Sophie
E. Sterns, of Lebanon, N.H., who died in
1888, leaving four children, as follows: Wal
ter S. and Fred H., who are at present attend
ing the high school; while Raymond P. and
Sophie E. are pupils of the grammar school in
this city. On March 25, 1891, he married
for his second wife Miss Hattie M. Murdough,
of Acworth, N.H., daughter of P'reeman Mur
dough, an old resident of that place, and by
this union has one son — Carl M. In 1894
Dr. Allen erected his present large residence,
with office connected, which is situated at No.
16 Fairfield Avenue, not far from Mount
Tom, he being very prominent in that part of
the city; and he is now building a beautiful
summer cottage at Echo Lake, N.H., where he
spends the month of August with his family.
This esteemed member of the medical frater
nity is further represented in these pages by a
portrait, which appears on an adjoining page.

OMER I. CARPENTER, of Spring
field, senior member of the firm of
Carpenter & Cooley, proprietors of
a fine meat market at No. 1 1 2
Walnut Street, has been a resident of this city

504

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

since November, 1872, and has proved himself
a useful and valued citizen. He is a son of
Daniel Carpenter, and was born July 22,
1849, '1^ fhe adjacent town of Monson, where
his grandfather, Charles Carpenter, settled
when a large part of its territory was in its
primitive wildness.
Daniel Carpenter was also a native of Mon
son, the date of his birth being October 15,
18 1 2. He was bred to farming pursuits, and
has continued as an agriculturist to the pres
ent time, being the owner of an excellent farm
of one hundred and sixty acres, on which he
has lived for nearly half a century. He has
well performed his part in advancing the
material interests of the town, and has served
in all the important local offices, having been
Assessor, School Committee, and Selectman.
He married Elizabeth C Grout, who was born
in Monson in 18 16. Her father, Joseph
Grout, was one of the prominent men of that
locality, and was a drum-major in the old
training days. Both parents were members of
the Congregational church, and were among
the foremost in advancing the work of their
denomination. They reared four children,
namely: Arthur B., who died in Muscatine,
la., in 1890; Rufus D., who was for many
years a resident of Richmond, Va., and of
New Orleans, but is now in the railway busi
ness in New York City; Homer I.; and
Frank E., residing in Springfield, an ex-
Senator from this district.
After completing his school life. Homer I.
Carpenter, the subject of this brief record,
worked for a while in a meat market in the
town of Monson. Coming thence to Spring
field in 1872, Mr. Carpenter entered the meat
market of E. C Sheldon on West Bridge
Street, where he remained five years. In
1878 he formed a copartnership with George
E. Cooley (a sketch of whose life may be
found on another page of this work); and they
bought an old and well-established meat
market, which they have since managed with
signal ability and success, having worked up
a fine trade. Mr. Carpenter is a keen, far-
sighted business man, wise in his invest
ments, and deals to some extent in real estate
in the city. He is a Republican in politics;

and, socially, he is a member of De Soto
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and of the Royal Arcanum.
Mr. Carpenter and Miss Susan E. Spalding,
daughter of Cyrus "G. Spalding, of Northamp
ton, were united in marriage on December 15,
1 88 1. Their pleasant home at No. 129 Or
leans Street is made merry by the presence of
three interesting children — Cyrus S., Flor
ence E., and Emily. Mr. and Mrs. Carpen
ter are attendants and supporters of the
Congregational church.

OLOMON F. CUSHMAN, of the
Monson Woollen Manufacturing
Company, was bom in Monson,
Me., November 18, 1826. His
grandfather, Gideon Cushman, was born near
Plymouth in 1750, and died in Hebron, Me.,
at about ninety-five years of age. Of such
unusual physical strength was he that at
eighty years of age he was able to do a day's
work with no more fatigue than a man of half
his years would suffer, and until the very close
of his long life he retained an activity far in
excess of that usually enjoyed by men of ad
vanced age ; and he left at his death ten living
children, seventy grandchildren, and one hun
dred and fifty great-grandchildren. Gideon
Cushman served through the American Revo
lution ; and both he and his wife, who was
Miss Ruth Shaw, were zealous Baptists. By
patient toil he accumulated a sum of money
sufficient to bestow upon each child two hun
dred dollars as a "nest egg," his farm afford
ing him a comfortable support in his declining
years. His wife died at seventy years of age.
Their son, Solomon Cushman, was born at
Hebron in August, 1796. He married Miss
Harriet Adams, of Rumford, Me. ; and they
took up their residence at Monson in that
State. Solomon Cushman began his business
career as a clerk for Samuel Dorr, of Boston,
and afterward engaged in mercantile life inde
pendently, conducting a country store at Rum-
ford, and later at Monson, Me., and having at
one time a branch store at Sangerville. He
met with many reverses, however, and died
in very moderate circumstances, leaving four

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

505

children — Mary Ann, Samuel Dorr, Solo
mon F. , and Charles A. Mary Ann became
the wife of Dr. Josiah Jordan, who practised
his profession in Foxcroft, Me., but during
the Civil War he went as Field Surgeon into
the ranks of the P""ederal army. Mrs. Jordan
died in 1873, leaving two children. Her hus
band died in Springfield five years later.
Samuel Dorr Cushman, eldest son of Solomon,
spent most of his life as a stage-coach driver,
being mail-carrier on fifteen different routes
during his life, the longest of which extended
seventy-two miles, from Waterville to Green
ville, or Moosehead Lake. He died in
Dexter, Me., in 1891, aged sixty-seven years,
leaving three children — Sarah C. , Hattie F. ,
and Grace B. Charles Adams Cushman, the
youngest son, died in boyhood, in 1833.
Mrs. Harriet A. Cushman died in Monson,
Me., in 1854, aged fifty-four; her husband
died in 1861, at the home of his son in this
village. After attending the district schools, Solo
mon F. Cushman spent two terms at the acad
emy in Monson, Me., and in his eighteenth
year embarked in the lumber business. This
entailed great hardship; for he had to live in
the "logging swamps" for five winters, felling
trees and cutting roads. The work was in
sufficiently remunerated, as he only received
from one to two dollars a day for his excessive
labor and discomfort. He then held clerk
ships in country stores in Monson, Me., and
in Palmer. In 1856 he came to Monson,
Mass., in the employ of the Monson Woollen
Manufacturing Company as book-keeper, and
ten years later became a partner of Horatio
Lyon, who had been one of the original mem
bers of the company, and whose interest he
purchased in 1878. Since that time Mr.
Cushman has conducted the enterprise. The
mill which originally stood on this site was
occupied in 1800 and for some years later by
Mr. Asa Gates, was bought at length by the
Hampden Cotton Company, and subsequently
passed into the hands of the Monson Woollen
Manufacturing Company, to whom in 18 16
Asa Gates deeded about seven acres of land
and a cheap frame building for the sum of
nine thousand dollars. The property has in

creased in value so that a half a million dol
lars is now its lowest estimated worth. The
building was burned to the ground on the 25th
of July, 1857; and in 1886, during Mr. Cush
man' s ownership, it was again destroyed by
fire. The loss amounted to a sum between
thirty-five thousand dollars and forty thousand
dollars, with an insurance of about twenty-four
thousand dollars. With energy and persever
ance unabated by misfortune, Mr. Cushman
immediately addressed himself to the task of
reconstruction; and by the following Octo
ber the various buildings of the new factory
were ready for the machinery and workmen,
and the smoke from the tower-like chimney-
stacks was once more darkening the sky. The
main building measures one hundred and fifty-
seven by fifty-four feet ; and a dye-shop is
attached, the dimensions of which are fifty-
four by thirty-five feet. The engine and
boiler buildings are thirty-two by forty-two,
and the coal shed is one hundred feet long and
fifty wide. Three stone houses and a modest
office complete the factory buildings, all the
appointments of which show judgment and
good taste.
Mr. Cushman was married on the i6th of
November, 1852, to Miss Candace Brown
Packard, a daughter of John and Fannie
Chapin Packard. Mrs. Packard, who was born
in Monson, Mass., in 1806, was a daughter of
Jonathan Chapin, a native of the same village.
Mr. and Mrs. Cushman were the first natives
of the village married in Monson, Me., where
they began housekeeping. Their children are :
Edward, who was born in Monson, Me., and
married Miss Florence Sedgwick, and has
two children; Rufus P. Cushman, who mar
ried Miss Alice L. Chapin, and has a son and
daughter; Solomon Frederick, who married
Helen A. Hussey, and is the father of one
son ; Hattie F. Cushman, a young lady not
long since graduated from Monson Academy,
and now a student at Smith College; Thad
deus L., a young man in his father's office;
Robert, who is at home, having graduated in
the class of 1889 at Amherst. Another son,
Francis Adams, died in 1862, aged three
years. The mother died on September 10,
1890, in her sixty-first year.

5o6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mr. Cushman has been unswerving in his
allegiance to the Republican party, was a
member of the lower branch of the State legis
lature in 1 88 1 and 1883, and was in the Senate
in 1893. He has borne a large share of the
town and local corporation offices, having been
Selectman, President and Trustee of the
Savings Bank, and Vice-President of the Na
tional Bank of the town. He has also been
Treasurer of the library since its organization,
and a Trustee of the academy. The delight
ful home of the family is in a pleasant house
on Main Street, built in 1859 by Mr. Lyon,
and bought by Mr. Cushman in 1886.

I^TERMAN BUCHHOLZ. The gentle-
L^-l man whose name appears at the head
\[s I of this article has served his district
— ' with credit in the legislature, and
is one of Springfield's most popular citizens.
For many years he was a leading photographer
of this city; but now, having sold out his
photographic outfit to his son Philip, he de
votes his entire time and energies to his
costume and decorative business. He has
opened new rooms at 275 Main Street, where
he has ample facilities for the display of his
costumes and decorative goods, which will not
only admit of a close inspection, but are
actually worthy of minute examination. He
carries a large and varied stock of sumptuous
and artistically designed dresses, and could at
short notice supply the largest and most
elegant fancy-dress ball, theatricals, operettas,
and tableaux. There was a time when it
was necessary to summon the assistance of
decorative artists from the larger cities on
occasions requiring elaborate displays; but
that time has passed, for, with such an estab
lishment as Mr. Buchholz is conducting,
Springfield no longer needs the services of
outside artists.
Mr. Buchholz was born in the city of Berlin,
Germany, November 23, 1839, at the old an
cestral home of the family, and is the descend
ant of a long line of highly efficient army
officers, all of whom won more or less renown
in the military service of their country, his
father, Hans Buchholz, being a Captain of

infantry. He lost his life in 1848. At the
age of fifteen, in company with his mother,
whose maiden name was Caroline Ribbeck,
Herman Buchholz came to the United States,
residing at first in Union Hill, and later in
New York City, where his inability to speak
the English language made it at first difficult
for him to procure employment ; but he soon
mastered this drawback, and his first real work
in this country was as a waiter in a hotel. In
1857 he began to learn photography, at the
same time studying chemistry at Cooper In
stitute, and in 1862 came to Springfield,
being here employed by others until 1869,
when he opened a gallery of his own at 365
Main Street. He soon created a very profit
able business, which he conducted until 1891,
at which time he relinquished it, as above
stated. He is one of the oldest photographers
in the State, having assisted in introducing
the many improvements which have effected
the change from the primitive daguerreotype
to the present instantaneous and finely finished
photograph. In 1 871 Mr. Buchholz began in a small way
to furnish fancy costumes for masquerades and
private theatricals, having at the start but
six complete dresses. This little venture
prospered, and in course of time assumed such
large proportions as to enable him to conduct
it as a separate and distinct business by itself;
and he is at present the largest costumer
between New York and Boston. He con
stantly maintains a full and varied assortment
of dresses, his business requiring the occu
pancy of the entire first floor, and furnishing
steady employment to several assistants. In
1879 he engaged in the business of artistic
house decorating, which has also rapidly in
creased, so that the latter, together with his
costume business, requires all of his time and
attention. In politics Mr. Buchholz was a Republican
until 1872, since which time he has acted
with the Democratic party, and has been
nominated for Alderman, Councilman, and
School Committee from a Republican ward.
In 1890 he was elected to the legislature from
the Eighth Hampden District, solely upon the
common-school issue, and was re-elected in

SAMUEL F. MERRITT.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

509

1 89 1, serving with credit upon the several
committees. He has also served upon the
Democratic City, County, and State Central
Committees, and as delegate to the State Con
vention. In 1 89 1 he was appointed by Gover
nor Russell Justice of the Peace. Mr. Buch
holz is a member of Hampden Lodge of Odd
Fellows, No. 37, Tribe No. 14 of Improved
Order of Red Men, the Elks, and the Knights
of Pythias, besides being deeply interested in
the various German societies of the city. He
has been for thirteen years Captain of the
Schiitzen Verein, and was formerly its best
shot ; but his mantle has fallen upon the
shoulders of his son Oscar. He is, above all,
of a genial nature, and, when not too busy,
may be found whiling away the hours with
music, for he received a good musical educa
tion in Germany.
On October 24, i860, Herman Buchholz
was very happily wedded to Miss Dorothea
Heppner, of New York City, who was born in
Germany, and has had six children, as follows :
Philip; Oscar, now engaged with his father;
Joseph ; Herman, Jr. ; Ida, the wife of Louis
Meyer, who resides in Waterbury, Conn. ; and
Bertha, who married William Annabel, of this
city, an employee of the Boston & Albany
Railroad. The family residence, which Mr.
Buchholz erected some years since, is situated
at 35 Adams Street. P'or twelve years he was
a leading tenor of the Orpheus Club, a musical
organization in which he displayed a great
deal of interest; and, although a German of
the Germans, he is none the less a good
American citizen.

ff^

''ILLIAM J. CROSIER, Secretary
of the B. F. Nichols Belting Com
pany of Holyoke, was born at Hoo-
sick Falls, N.Y., March 25, i860. He is
the son of Charles and Elvira (Moore) Crosier,
and grandson of William Crosier, who was a
native of Vermont, and the representative of
an old Colonial family. Charles Crosier was
born at Halifax, Vt., and became an overseer
in the weaving department of a cotton-mill.
William J. Crosier received his early educa
tion in the public schools of Williamstown,

Mass., and at a very early age commenced work
in the cotton-mills of the Williamstown Man
ufacturing Company, where he remained until
reaching the age of twenty years. After
spending a winter as clerk and scaler of logs
for the Ames Lumber Company at Stamford,
Vt. , in April, 1882, he came to Holyoke,
where he entered the employ of the Holyoke
Machine Company as clerk in the office. In
January, 1884, he accepted the position of
book-keeper with B. F. Nichols, in which
capacity he remained until October, 1887,
when Mr. Nichols gave him an interest in the
business, he assuming the duties of General
Manager of the concern ; and in 1 892, when it
was incorporated as a stock company, he was
elected to the position which he still con
tinues to hold.
He is a Republican in politics, and takes
an active interest in public affairs; but busi
ness pressure prevents him from being eligible
to office. He is prominent in the State mili
tary forces, being at the present time Captain
of Company D, Second Regiment, Massachu
setts Volunteer Militia, to which he was
elected on February 14, 1894; and he has
advanced in Masonry as far as the Royal Arch
degree. Mr. Crosier has been twice married,
his first wife having been Miss Jessie Cassey,
a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who came to
America at the age of twelve years. She
died, leaving one son, Charles Ray; and he
wedded for his second wife Miss Anna Corner,
daughter of William Corner, of Holyoke, who
has had two children — Bertha and Walter
Crosier. The family attend the Episcopal
church, of which Mrs. Crosier is a communi
cant ; and they reside at 258 Pine Street.

AMUEL F MERRITT, a manu
facturing jeweller of Springfield,
has been an important factor of the
business circles of this city for more
than a quarter of a century, his specialty being
the manufacture of eye-glass holders and eye
glass chains, on which he has received several
patents. He was born at Newburg, Orange
County, N. Y., December 10, 1820, and is of
French Huguenot origin, his paternal ances-

510

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

tors having early settled in Westchester
County in that State, where many of the de
scendants are yet living.
His father, Humphrey Merritt, was probably
born in Ulster County, N.Y. , but was for
many years engaged as a teamster in New
burg, where he died in 1827, aged forty-five
years. He was an active member of the
Methodist Episcopal church. He married
Mary Shirter, who was born at Fishkill,
Dutchess County, N. Y. , in 1789, and was a
daughter of Frederick Shirter, a respected
shoemaker of that town, and the descendant of
a well-known Knickerbocker family. She
survived her husband, living until 1861. Of
their children, eight sons grew to maturity,
namely: Frederick, Fowler, and Alfred, late
residents of New York City; Nathaniel, who
spent a large portion of his life in Fishkill-
on-the-Hudson, but died in Mackinaw, Mich. ;
Daniel, who was an extensive traveller, but
spent his last years in St. Paul, Minn. ;
Henry, of New Hamburg, N.Y. ; Samuel F. ,
of whom we write ; and Isaac, a resident of
Chicago, 111., the last three being the only
ones now living.
Samuel F. Merritt remained in Newburg
until fifteen years old, when he went to New
York City, where he had brothers living, and
apprenticed himself to James B. Rumrill, for
whom he worked until attaining his majority,
the time of apprenticeship lacking but ten
days of being six years. His wages during
the first two years were two dollars and fifty
cents per week, and after that three dollars a
week, on which sum he was obliged to support
himself. He remained in the employ of Mr.
Rumrill until 1849, when for a time he was in
company with J. B. Bowden, the firm being
Bowden & Merritt, manufacturing jewellers,
on Dey Street, New York. Within a year
the partnership was dissolved ; and Mr. Mer
ritt came with his former employer to Spring
field, and remained with him the most of the
time until 1861, when he entered the United
States Armory, and for a year was foreman of
the water-shops. The following three years
Mr. Merritt again worked for Mr. Rumrill;
but in 1865, leaving his family in Springfield,
he went to New York City as Superintendent

of the Burbank Spectacle Company's factory.
In 1866 he invented and patented the first eye
glass holder, and the next year he returned to
Springfield and began the manufacture. He
has made many improvements, and received
many new patents, and still to a great extent
controls the business of which he was the
original founder, and which gives employment
to a large number of men. He receives royal
ties on many of his goods, which are sent by
jobbers to all parts of the world, his name and
manufactures being familiar throughout the
continent of Europe, Canada, and some parts
of Asia and Africa.
Mr. Merritt is a man of exceeding ingenuity.
He has invented new automatic machinery to
manufacture his stock, and is enabled to turn
out from twenty thousand to twenty-five thou
sand articles per week, his work having such
prestige and being done so cheaply that he
entirely .shuts out all competitors. Having
made a thorough study of gold and other
metals, he has become an expert assayer,
being considered authority on all metals, and
has invented a test needle for testing gold.
He likewise manufactures an amalgam for
dental use which is fast superseding all others
in the market, its durability having stood the
test. For the past twelve years his plant has
been located at the corner of Ferry and Main
Streets, and is one of the busy institutions of
the city.
On April 18, 1843, Mr. Merritt was mar
ried to Mary Ann Landen, who was born in
Egerton, England, in the county of Kent, in
1 82 1, and with her parents, Mr. and Mrs.
John Landen, came to New York in 1827.
Of the children born into their family circle
the following is a brief mention : John died
in 1849. Alonzo, now in the typewriter
business in Springfield, served during the
last year of the late Rebellion as a brave sol
dier, and the following three years in the
regular army. Amelia is the wife of Plenry
Cargill, of Springfield. William J. is a con
tractor and builder in New "Vork City.
Henry W. is superintendent of the type
writer works in Springfield. Mortimer G. ,
who was President of the Springfield Type
writer Company until his resignation in 1893,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

5"

is now successfully engaged in the manufacture
of iron and brass bedsteads in Westboro.
Charles E. was a skilful and expert mechanic,
and was the superintendent of the typewriter
company until his premature death, at the age
of twenty-eight years.
The typewriter company and works were
owned and' controlled by the sons of Mr.
Merritt until it went into the trust. During
the pleasant family reunions fifteen grand
children out of twenty that have been born add
mirth and music to the festivities, and are the
pride of their devoted grandparents. Mr. Mer
ritt was the first to observe the beauties of
Crescent Hill, where in 1851, nearly half a
century ago, he bought a home ; and it has
since been built up, being now one of the
finest resident portions of the city.
On another page of the present volume may
be seen a very good likeness of the ingenious
craftsman and inventor whose life story, briefly
given above, recalls the poet's word : —
" What were labor but for thought ?
Baseless fabric, born of nought."

/^TeORGE noble tyner, Treas-
l JT urer of the Holyoke Envelope Com-
^ — pany, was born at Brookville, Frank
lin County, Ind., June 23, 1848. His parents
were Richard and Martha Sedgwick Willis
Swift (Noble) Tyner, his father having been
born in Abbeville District, S.C, November
3, 1798, son of the Rev. William Tyner, a
Baptist clergyman. The earliest American
ancestor was John Tyner, who came from
Wales in 1720, and settled on the Catawba
River, near the dividing line between North
and South Carolina. Plis son, Harris Tyner,
was born August 6, 1740, and married Nancy
Adair, a relative of General Johri Adair, a
former governor of Kentucky. Their children
were: Richard, William, John, James, Fletta,
and Margaret. After the death of Harris
Tyner, while in the army in 1778, his widow
married Burrel Stevens; and her children by
this union were : Shadrack, Susan, Eliab,
Ezekiel, and Betsa.
The children of the Rev. William Tyner by

his first marriage were : Harris, Mary Ann,
Martin, Richard, John, Melinda, Solomon,
Ezekiel, and Silas; and by a second marriage
he had five others. About the year 1800 he
removed to Indiana Territory, being one of the
first preachers to locate there. He settled at
Brookville, where his son Richard, on reach
ing maturity, established himself in a general
mercantile business, at the same time conduct
ing successfully large flouring-mills and an
extensive pork house. In 1852 the freshets in
the Whitewater valley swept away the two
latter enterprises, causing a loss of ninety-six
thousand dollars. In October, 1854, Richard
Tyner moved with his family to Davenport,
la., where he engaged in the grocery and dry-
goods business, which he conducted until
1864, when he retired from active cares.
He was a thoroughly capable business man,
and would never accept public office, prefer
ring to devote his energies to his own private
pursuits. His wife, whom he married in
Campbell County, Kentucky, October 22,
1823, was the daughter of Dr. Thomas Noble,
and was born May 13, 1803. Her family
originally came from Virginia. Mrs. Tyner
was a sister of Governor Noble, of Indiana, and
of General James Noble, who for seventeen
years was a United States Senator from that
State. Henry Ward Beecher, when settled in
Indianapolis, was an intimate friend of Gov
ernor Noble; and it is worthy of mention that
Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, while on a visit
to her brother, saw the man who is said to have
been the original of her celebrated Uncle
Tom. He was a slave known as "Black
Thomas," belonging to the Noble family of
Kentucky, who was then with Governor Noble
in Indiana.
The family of Richard Tyner consisted of
eleven children, as follows: James Noble
Tyner, now of Washington, D.C, who was a
delegate from Indiana to the conventions
which nominated Abraham Lincoln and Ulys
ses Grant for President of the United States,
and a delegate at large to the convention
which nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, also
for six years a member of Congress from In
diana, and afterward Second Assistant Post
master-General, later being appointed by

512

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

President Grant to succeed Marshall Jewell
as Postmaster-General, and during the Hayes
Administration First Assistant Postmaster-
General, and connected with the post-office
department under the Harrison administration;
William Thomas, who died July 27, 1867;
Missouri, who married John W. Guiteau, of
New York, statistician of the Mutual Life
Insurance Company, and died at Philadel
phia, March 8, 1894; Richard Henry, of
Brookville, Ind. ; Edward Everett, who died
in the army, August 21, 1862; Louisiana,
who married John F. Flazard, and died Octo
ber 23, 1874; Lavinia, who died at Brook
ville, December 27, 1869, wife of William
Lynn; Noah Noble, of Quincy, 111. ; Martha
Elizabeth, who married Joseph Shields, of
Davenport, la., and died September 18, 1877;
Henry Richard, who died at Chicago, October
22, 1892; and George Noble, of this sketch.
The father died April 2, 1868, the mother
May 21, 1864; and their graves are in Oak-
dale Cemetery, Davenport, la. They were
members of the Methodist church.
George N. Tyner was educated in the public
and private schools of Davenport, and at the
age of seventeen was employed in his father's
business, later entering a wholesale and retail
dry-goods store, where he remained until May,
1870, when he was appointed a clerk in the
United States Postage Stamp and Stamped
Envelope Agency at New York City. In
April, 1873, he was appointed postal card
agent, and was sent to Springfield, Mass., to
inspect and distribute postal cards, which
were there manufactured. When the con
tract was awarded to New York parties in
1877, he was again ordered to that city, where
he remained until April, 1879, at which time
the government contracts were transferred to
Holyoke, thus causing his removal to this
place. Soon after his arrival he associated himself
with James T. Abbe, and organized the Hol
yoke Envelope Company, which was incorpo
rated December 10, 1880, with a capital of
thirty thousand dollars, and in April, 1881,
commenced operations. Mr. Tyner resigned
from the postal service, in order to devote
himself to the new enterprise, which started

with a capacity of two hundred thousand per
day, but has since, by the aid of improved
machinery of their own invention, increased to
upward of three million, four hundred thousand
daily, being the largest daily production of
any manufactory in the world. They employ
three hundred people, wiT:h a pay-roll of eight
thousand dollars per month, their goods being
produced by automatic machinery, which gums,
prints, folds, and counts at one operation.
On January 22, 1888, their entire plant was
destroyed by fire; but in July of the same year
they moved into their new mill, which is three
hundred feet long by eighty feet wide and
three stories high, thus affording ample facili
ties for continuing and enlarging their exten
sive business.
On January 20, 1877, Mr. Tyner was mar
ried to Miss Kate L. Steinbacher, of Akron,
Ohio, daughter of Erbard and Phoebe Stein
bacher, of that city.

Ji

AVID HALE, Treasurer of the
Springfield Foundry Company, with
which he has been connected for the
past four years, being a large stock-
was born in County Down, Ireland,
1864. He is the son of William

holder, April 10,
and Agnes (Lowry) Hale, who were natives of
the above-named place, the father being of
English and the mother of Scotch ancestry.
In his boyhood David Hale attended school
in his native place, later went to the academy
at Banbridge, and, completing his studies at
the Model School in Belfast at the age of
seventeen years, immediately departed for the
United States. Pie came to Chicopee, Mass.,
where he engaged as a clerk for the Dwight
Manufacturing Company ; and, after remaining
with them one year, he left their employ for
the purpose of taking a course of commercial
studies at the Wilbraham Academy, at the
completion of which he was graduated, being
the only student who ever left this institution
with each of his three certificates showing a
percentage of one hundred. Fle was offered
a professorship in the seminary at Kent's
Hill in Maine, but declined in order to
accept a position with the Springfield Glue

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

513

and Emery Wheel Company, which he con
tinued to hold for about two years, or until his
health became impaired and he found it advis
able to visit Ireland, where he passed a year
at his old home.
Upon his return to Springfield with health
fully recovered, he studied law for a time in
the office of Judge Hitchcock; but mercantile
business seemed to attract him most, and he
again entered the employ of the Glue and
Emery Wheel Company as confidential clerk —
a position which he very acceptably filled for
a year. At the end of that time he resigned,
and opened an office with Clarence J. Wetsel,
at 215 Main Street, as auditors and account
ants. His attention was thus engrossed for
another year; but, again seeing a favorable
outlook in legitimate mercantile business,
he returned to the Dwight Manufacturing
Company at Chicopee as book-keeper, and
remained with them in that capacity until the
spring of 1890. Upon his retirement from
their employ he became connected with the
Kearney Cotton Mills Company of Kearney,
Neb., which was incorporated with a capital
stock of three hundred thousand dollars, he
being actively engaged in securing subscrip
tions to the stock, and rendering much valu
able aid in its organization, of which he
became an incorporator and a Director, the
office being located in Springfield while the
plant was under jDrocess of erection in
Kearney. In 1 89 1 he was elected Treasurer of the
company, and in F'ebruary of the same year
received a similar appointment from the
Springfield Foundry Company to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of the late in
cumbent of that office, Mr. E. W. Seeger;
and both of these positions he continued to
hold until January i, 1892, together with that
of Treasurer of the Central Land Company of
Kearney, Neb. On the above date he re
signed his positions with the Kearney com
panies, having purchased a large interest in
the Springfield Foundry Company, and has
since devoted his entire time to the welfare
and development of this enterprise. The
company, which was established in 1854, was
incorporated in 1877, and has now increased

its capital stock to one hundred thousand dol
lars, giving employment to about one hundred
men, most of whom are skilled workmen, and
running besides the foundry proper a large
machine-shop, their specialty being passenger
and freight elevators. This concern, of which
Mr. Hale is now a Director and large owner,
manufactures castings of all kinds, and does a
general foundry and machine business, main
taining an office at No. 7 Park Square, Bos
ton, for the accommodation of the general
trade. Mr. Hale married Miss Myrta M. Sander
son, daughter of A. H. Sanderson, of Spring
field ; and they have two children — Marion T.
and Clarence W. Mr. Hale is an active mem
ber of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church,
having been Steward and also superintendent
of the Sunday-school for three years, and pre
viously was assistant superintendent for six
years. He is also a Director in the Young
Men's Christian Association. The family re
side at No. 36 Magnolia Terrace. Mr. David
Hale is a Republican in politics, and evinces
a deep and patriotic interest in all public af
fairs.

7~AOLEMAN M. WALKER has been
I Vj-^ prosperously engaged in general farm-
\~ls ing in the town of Hampden since
1858. He has met with especial
success in stock-raising, being an extensive
breeder of Jersey cattle. His farm of one
hundred acres he has greatly improved, having
large and commodious farm buildings, which
are fitted with all modern conveniences. Mr.
Walker was born at Ludlow, Mass., March
20, 1831.
His father, Elea Walker, was born at Bel
chertown, Hampshire County; and his grand
father, Deacon James Walker, was also a
native of that town, where he died when nearly
ninety-seven years of age. He was a son of
Captain James Walker, who was born in Wes
ton. Deacon Walker cleared and improved
his farm from a wild state; and during the
earlier years of his residence there it was
necessary for him to watch well his stock, in
order to protect them from bears and other

514

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

wild animals which were then numerous in
that section. He was an upright and con
scientious man, and, although not active in
politics, supported the old Whig party. His
wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca
Warner, was born in Granby, Mass., and died
in Belchertown, well past her fourscore years.
They were both members of the Congrega
tional church, of which James Walker was a
Deacon for many years. They reared nine
children, of whom Elea was next to the young
est, all being now deceased.
Elea Walker in early manhood settled in
Ludlow, where he married, and resided upon
a farm in that town until his decease at the
age of fifty-one years, he having been also a
member of the Congregational church. He
married Lucy Miller, a native of Ludlow; and
she, after his death, moving with her three
children to the town of Hampden, here pur
chased one hundred acres of land, this being
the farm upon which her son, Coleman M.
Walker, now resides. She died in 1875 at the
age of seventy-four years, having reared three
children, namely: Solomon E. , who enlisted
in the Second Massachusetts Artillery as a
soldier in the Civil War, and died at Newbern,
N.C, July 17, 1865, from disease contracted
while in the service; Coleman M. ; and Lucy
Ann, wife of Charles A. Pulver, of Sodus,
Wayne County, N. Y., who is a cooper by
trade. Since coming to Hampden, Mr. Coleman M.
Walker has been active in local public affairs,
and has aided much in forwarding the best
interests of the community. He is a Republi
can in politics, and at the present time is one
of the Assessors of the town. He married
Miss Harriet S. Brewer, of Ludlow, and they
have had four children, as follows: James E. ,
who died in infancy; Jennie B. , formerly
a school-teacher; Edward C, at present a
resident of Springfield, but employed as a
machinist at Holyoke, who married Jennie
Bliss, and has one child named Grace M. ;
and Sarah M. Walker, now a teacher in
the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts
School for the Blind in South Boston. Mrs.
Walker is a member of the Congregational
church.

(sTr LBERT R CHAPIN, who for the past
tjj twenty-six years has resided at the
yJljV Massasoit farm. No. 657 Chestnut
^'"^ Street, Springfield, occupies a very
high position among the substantial business
men and financiers of this city. He was born
at Somers, Tolland County, Conn., November
12, 1816, being a son of Samuel and Mary
(Pease) Chapin, both of whom were natives
of that town, the former having been born
October 29, 1776, and the latter on Septem
ber 7, 1777. The Chapin family are the
direct descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin,
who was one of the earliest settlers in Spring
field, and a statue of whom now stands in
Stearns's Square. He was closely identified
with the town government and all public
affairs. Deacon Samuel Chapin came to Springfield
in 1642. He and his wife Cicely had seven
children. Their son, Japhet, who lived in
Chicopee, married Abilena Cooley. Ebene
zer, fourth son of Japhet, born in 1677, mar
ried Ruth Janes, and died in 1772. Their son
Seth, born 1709, married Elizabeth Bliss, and
lived to be ninety-eight years old. Samuel,
son of Seth, married Elizabeth Spencer, and
died in 1833, aged ninety-one. A third
Samuel, son of Samuel and Elizabeth, married
Mary Pease, named above, and was the father
of eight children, the seventh being the sub
ject of the present sketch, Albert Pease
Chapin. The others may here be briefly men
tioned : Marsha, born April 10, 1805, who
died May 28, 1820; Marvin, born July 5,
1806; Roxana, who was born in 1808, and
died February 5, 1878; Amelia, born in 1810,
who married Jonathan S. Robinson, and died
November 10, 1890; Elizabeth, born in 1812,
who died December 16, 1852; Ethan S.,
born July 15, 18 14, who died March 2, 1889;
and Horace J., born in June, 1819, now a
resident of Galesburg, 111. The father was a
member of the Congregational church. He
passed his declining years with his sons, and
died at the Massasoit House, December 26,
1855. Albert P. Chapin resided at Somers until he
was twelve years of age, when in 1828 his
parents moved to Springfield, where they

1^ -4^

M

,^^^'-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

519

settled on a farm in what is now Chicopee
Falls. He received his education in the pub
lic schools of his native town and those of
Springfield, which he attended for a short
time, and at the age of fifteen years began
work in a cotton factory, working thirteen
hours a day, and earning about eight dollars
per month. Receiving his freedom from his
father at the age of eighteen, he entered the
gun-shops as an apprentice, and at the age of
twenty-one had managed to save about three
hundred dollars. After his marriage, which
occurred at this time, he became connected
with the Cabot House at Chicopee, then called
Cabotville, first as a clerk, and later as a
partner with his brother, Ethan S., under the
firm name of Chapin Brothers, conducting the
hostelry. He next leased the Springfield
House for a term of five years, managing it
alone for a time, and subsequently associated
with his brother Marvin. At length these
gentlemen erected the Massasoit House, on the
completion of which Mr. Albert P. Chapin,
who had provided the capital, retired from
active partnership, retaining, however, his
financial interest in the enterprise for several
years, his brothers Marvin and Ethan ulti
mately succeeding to the entire ownership.
In 1849 ^^ removed to Granby, where he
became a farmer and stock dealer, residing
there for nineteen years, during which time
he was one of the leading men of the town ;
the only political office in which he con
sented to serve was that of School Commit
tee, which he filled most acceptably. After
a short residence in Monson he returned to
Springfield, and has since conducted the Mas
sasoit House farm, which, when he came to
it, consisted of one hundred and seventy-five
acres. Fifty acres of it have since been de
tached, part being divided into lots; and the
remainder is now occupied by the reservoir.
Mr. Chapin also has a farm in Connecticut.
He has long been interested in various indus
trial and financial enterprises, at the present
time owning a large woollen-mill in Rutland,
Worcester County, which is running success
fully; and this, together with his large bank
ing interests, places him among the foremost
business men of the city. His material suc

cess, it should be noted, is the result of his
own business ability and untiring energy.
Mr. Chapin was married on November 12,
1837, to Miss Olive Moulton, who was born
July 28, 1817, daughter of Asa and Abigail
(Washburn) Moulton, of the town of Monson, '
where her father was a prosperous farmer.
Mr. and Mrs. Chapin still retain in their pos
session the portraits of themselves which were
painted upon ivory in 1838. Of their two
children one died young; and their only son,
Samuel A., who was born March 14, 1843,
was killed in the Civil War. He joined the
Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Regiment as a
private in Company D, under Captain P. S.
Bailey, served his country with fidelity and
honor, and was killed at Drury's Bluff, near
Richmond, while exposing himself for the
purpose of rendering assistance to a wounded
comrade, the sad event occurring but a short
time before the period at which he would
have .been discharged, May 16, 1864. The
bereaved parents have borne .their great loss
with patient fortitude, as have many others
who gave up their all to preserve the Union.
Mr. Chapin, though not a member of any
religious denomination, has been for many
years a studious Bible reader, as is shown in a
pamphlet he has published, entitled "Scripture
on the Subject of the Judgment Day."
While not taking any active part in political
affairs, he is a Republican in principles, and
well acquainted with the prominent issues of
the day. Mrs. Chapin's paternal grandfather,
Daniel Moulton, was an eminent educator in
his day, having taught school for a period of
forty years ; and she herself also taught three
years before her marriage. Steel portraits of
Mr. and Mrs. Chapin appropriately grace this
collection of Hampden County worthies.

B

EACON MARSHALL PEASE, a
prominent resident and successful
^ J farmer of the locality known as Chic
opee Street, was born here on No
vember 13, 1822. His father, Deacon Joseph
Pease, was born May 9, 1775, in Norwich,
Conn. His grandfather. Job Pease, went from
Connecticut to Nova Scotia, where he married

520

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Deborah Haskell, after which he returned to
Norwich, but in 1779 settled on a farm in
Ludlow, Mass.
Joseph Pease came to Chicopee in early
manhood, and engaged in mercantile business,
later purchasing a saw-mill upon the bank of
the Chicopee River, and also other real estate.
He finally sold his store and devoted himself
entirely to the lumber business and farming,
which he continued until his decease in 1839,
at the age of sixty-four years. He was con
verted in his youth, and joined the First Con
gregational Church at Chicopee, of which he
was Deacon .for many years, and also superin
tendent of the Sunday-school. He was a
Whig in politics, and filled various offices of
public trust, serving as Justice of the Peace a
number of years, and as representative from
his district to the State legislature three
terms. The maiden name of his wife was
Bethiah Erato Chapin. She was a daughter
of Captain Phineas Chapin, of Chicopee,
whose lineage may be found in the genealogy
of the Chapin family.
Marshall Pease received his early education
in the public schools of Chicopee, and con
tinued his studies at the Westfield Academy,
where he was graduated at the age of nineteen.
He taught seven terms of winter school, but,
with that exception, has always been engaged
in agricultural pursuits, being one of the most
successful farmers in his locality. His first
wife, whom he married in 1847, was Harriet
Chapin, of Chicopee Street, daughter of Giles
S. and Betsey (Chapman) Chapin, the former a
native of Chicopee Street, and the latter of
Ellington, Conn. She died in 1884; and in
1886 he wedded his second wife, Mrs. Sarah
Zama Chapin, who was born in Bernardston,
Mass., in 1834. Her father, Horace Sever
ance, was a native farmer of the above-named
town, as were his father David and his great
grandfather John Severance. David's wife
before marriage was Sally Sauter. The wife
of Horace Severance was Lucy Root, of Straf
ford, Vt. , daughter of Briscoe and Edith
(Allen) Root. She died in 1861. Sarah Z.
Severance (Mrs. Pease) was first married, at
the age of twenty-four, to Giles Smith Chapin,
who was a son of Giles S. and Betsey (Chap

man) Chapin, and a well-to-do farmer of
Chicopee Street, where he died in 1884. She
reared one son by her first husband, Giles
Smith Chapin, Jr., who died at the age of
seventeen years.
Deacon Pease has two sons by his first
marriage — Marshall Carleton, the elder, a
book-keeper, residing in Minneapolis; and
Daniel Pearson Pease, who is a practising
physician in New York City. Mr. Pease has
been a member of the Congregational church
since the age of twenty-seven, and Mrs. Pease
since the age of seventeen. He has been a
Deacon of the First Church for nearly thirty
years. In politics he was formerly a Whig,
but has been a Republican since the formation
of the party, and has served as Assessor and
Selectman for a number of years. He has
also been a member of the School Board of
the city of Chicopee.

"ON. HENRY A. CHASE, Mayor of
the city of Holyoke, Mass., was
born in Nashua, N. H., August 4,
1840. His father, Edwin Chase,
was a native of Litchfield, N. H., born in 181 3,
son of Joseph Chase, Jr., a farmer. The
family are direct descendants of Aquila Chase,
who is said to have been born in Chesham,
England, in 1618, and to have emigrated with
his brother Thomas about 1640, settling first
in Hampton, N.H., but removing in 1646 to
Newbury, Mass., where he died in 1670.
He married Anna Wheeler; and their young
est son, Moses, was born in 1663, and married
Ann Follansbee. Samuel Chase, son of
Moses, was born at Newbury, in 1690; and
Samuel's son Francis was born in 171 5, and
lived for some time at Newton, N.H. The
next in line, Joseph, son of P""rancis, was
born at Litchfield, N. H., in 1745; ^^d his
son, Joseph, Jr., father of Edwin, was born
there in 1780. The Chases took part in the
Colonial struggle for independence, and Mr.
Chase has in his possession a valued heirloom
in the shape of an old gun, which a patriotic
ancestor brought from the field of Bennington.
Edwin Chase assisted his father upon the
home farm until reaching the age of eighteen

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

521

years, when he went to Nashua. He there
married Miss Adams, daughter of Henry
Adams; and they came to Holyoke in 1848,
when it contained less than one thousand
inhabitants. He established himself in the
lumber business, which he conducted success
fully for the remainder -of his life, being also
connected with one of the earliest paper manu
factories, and prominently identified with the
local government. He was likewise a member
of the Governor's Council for two years. His
death occurred in 1882, at the age of sixty-
nine. He was a member and an officer of the
Second Baptist Church, which he assisted in
organizing, and was one of the original trus
tees of the Forestdale Cemetery Association.
His widow is still living, as are also his seven
children, namely: Joseph E. , a real estate
dealer of Holyoke; Henry A. ; Mary, wife of
A. A. Shaw, of Boston ; Charles, of Brattle
boro, Vt. ; Sophia, widow of James FI. Piatt,
of Denver, Col. ; Jennie, wife of W. H.
Brooks, an attorney of this city ; and Hattie,
wife of T. S. Kingsland, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Henry A. Chase attended the public schools
of Holyoke, and completed his studies at
Mclndoe's Academy in Vermont. A year later
he went to Burlington, Vt., for the purpose of
acquiring a knowledge of the lumber business.
In 1862 he returned to this city and entered
the lumber business with his father, the firm
being E. Chase & Sons, and occupying yards
at the corner of Crescent and Appleton Streets
until 1878. This partnership existed until his
father's decease, after which Mr. Chase con
ducted the business alone, both extensively
and successfully, his elder brother having re
tired from the firm two years previously. Mr.
Chase is also interested to a considerable
extent in the paper industry.
When the city of Holyoke was incorporated,
he served two years on the Board of Aldermen,
as a member from Ward Two, being chairman
of the Highway and Bridge Committees, and
also of that on Fire and Police Departments.
From 1880 to 1886, during the erection of the
new county jail, he was County Commissioner.
He has served many times as delegate to both
State and county conventions, was President
of the Republican Club during the Harrison

campaign, and in the autumn of 1894 was
elected Mayor of the city, the duties of which
office he assumed on the ist of January of the
present year, having commenced a thoroughly
business-like and progressive administration of
the municipal affairs, which is attended with
much promise for the future prosperity of the
city. Pie was one of the founders of the Hol
yoke Public Library in 1872, having since
been Secretary and Treasurer, and is President
of both the Forestdale Cemetery and the Fire
men's Association.
In January, 1866, he wedded Miss Sarah J.
Mayo, of Burlington, Vt. , daughter of Captain
Henry Mayo, who for sixty years was a master
of vessels sailing upon Lake Champlain.
They have six children, as follows : Edwin,
who is now paymaster for the Riverside Paper
Company; Henry M., draughtsman for the
Dean Steam Pump Company; Charles A.,
shipping clerk for the Holyoke Machine Com
pany; J. Paul, with the Riverside Paper
Company; Laura and Richard W. , who are
attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Chase are
members of the Second Baptist Church, and
reside at 199 Walnut Street.

on

RANK CHAPIN RICE, President of
the Rice & Lockwood Lumber Com
pany, Springfield, was born in this city
March 2, 1854. John Rice, his grand
father, a Springfield builder, was an uncle of
the Rev. William Rice, the librarian, of
whom a special sketch may be found in this
volume. The emigrant ancestor of the family
was Edmund Rice, of Berkhamstead, Eng
land, who settled in Sudbury, Mass., in 1639,
and died, it is said, in Marlboro, in 1663.
The father of the subject of this sketch,
Charles Warriner Rice, was born March 20,
1 81 8, in Springfield, on Spring Street, near
State, where he grew to maturity. Pie built
a great many residences in different parts of
the city, and entered the real estate business
as a pioneer, being an enterprising and highly
respected citizen. He and his wife, whom he
married in 185 1, Lucy A. Chapin, daughter of
Henry Chapin, of Connecticut, reared seven
children, five of whom grew up. One son.

522

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Charles B. , died at the age of fifteen, and Ar
thur W. at eighteen. Frank Chapin Rice is
the oldest, and bears the maternal family
name. 'Anna Lucy Rice was the eldest daugh
ter, born in 1859. Minnie L. Rice was born
in 1 861. Walter Fuller Rice, born in 1871,
is associated with his brother in the lumber
business. Mabel Rice, the youngest, was born
in 1873. Both parents belonged to the old
First Church. The father died on November
27, 1881 ; but the mother still lives, in 1895.
Frank C. Rice finished his studies at the
Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham at the early
age of sixteen, and then began to learn the
retail lumber business by engaging as book
keeper for Horace Martin & Co., remaining
eight years with the firm, which meanwhile
underwent several changes. At the age of
twenty-four he opened a retail lumber yard on
the corner of Dwight and Lyman Streets, but
sold out at the end of a year, in order to enter
the employ of R. B. Currier in the wholesale
trade. At New Year's time, 1882, after two
years' experience with Mr. Currier, Mr. Rice
started a lumber yard for himself. At the
end of a year he admitted W. W. Lockwood,
of Detroit, Mich., as partner, under the style
of Rice & Lockwood; but in 1887 the stock
company was incorporated under its present
title, and Mr. Rice was at once elected Presi
dent. The company still conducts a strictly
wholesale business, with the principal office
located in Springfield. The lumber is
shipped by the carload either from the com
pany's own mills or from mills South and
West, whose stock it handles, to all parts of
New England and the Middle States, thereby
giving employment to four travelling sales
men, and requiring an office staff of six clerks.
The annual business now reaches nearly a
million dollars. The owners have a large
tract of timber land in the South, and are
connected in various ways with several large
lumber-mills in different places. The old
central office was 352 Main Street, but is now
in specially fitted apartments in the new
Phoenix Building. Mr. Rice has been a
Director in the Second National Bank for
several years, and is a member of the Nay
asset Club. He has kept independently out

of politics, but usually votes the Republican
ticket. In April, 1881, he married Emily
Anderson, daughter of the late Dr. J. J.
Anderson. They have one child, Julian An
derson Rice, born in 1882. The home is at
34 Pearl Street, and they attend the Church
of the Unity.

WILLIAM S
ous milk
solid mer

S. GAMWELL, a prosper-
ler of Chester, one of the
len of the town, was born in
Hinsdale, Berkshire County, Mass., January
8, 1847, son of Morgan and Amanda (Spring)
Gamwell, the former a native of Middlefield,
Plampshire County, and the latter of the town
of Washington, Berkshire County, Mass. Mr.
Gamwell' s paternal grandfather, James Gam-
well, was an early settler in Middlefield, and
was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He
was a farmer and carpenter by occupation, and
died after a useful life, at the age of sixty-
eight years.
Morgan Gamwell, following the paternal
example, devoted himself to agricultural pur
suits, and resided in Hinsdale the greater part
of his life. He owned a good farm of one
hundred acres, which he kept well tilled,
being a hard worker and a respected citizen.
He was a member of the Baptist church, and,
politically, a Republican. He passed to his
rest at the age of eighty-four years. Mrs.
Amanda Spring Gamwell died in her sixty-
ninth year. She was his second wife, he hav
ing been previously married to her sister, Julia
Spring, by whom he had a family of eight
children — Marcus, deceased ; Emeline, wife of
G. N. Boon, of Meriden, Conn. ; James M. , of
Washington, D.C, a dentist; Plarlow, a prom
inent physician of Westfield ; Herbert, a
basket-maker of Northampton, Mass. ; Rosetta,
unmarried, living in Pittsfield; Charlotte,
wife of John Cady, living on the old home
stead in Hinsdale; Alexander, deceased at
the age of thirty-two years.
William S. , the only child by the second
marriage, grew to manhood in his native town
of Hinsdale, remained on the home farm for
a year after his marriage, and then, in 1869,
moved to Chester, where he was engaged for

SUSAN A. BAGG.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

525

some time in various occupations. In 1872
he secured a position in the employ of O. D.
Thomas, a miller of this town, with whom he
remained about a year, at the end of that time
taking the business and conducting it on his
own account: He at first rented' the property;
but in March, 1887, it became his own by
purchase. In January, 1893, the mill was
destroyed by fire; but, nothing daunted, he
went to work, and in the same year erected
the present mill, which has a capacity of five
tons in ten hours. It is a general grist and
feed mill; and Mr. Gamwell does a thriving
and lucrative business, his success being
plainly due to his good business abilities and
persistent efforts.
Mr. Gamwell's marriage occurred in Novem
ber, 1868, on Thanksgiving Eve, when he was
united to Miss Jennie Higgins, a native of the
town of Washington, and daughter of Ira and
Patty (Pease) Higgins, the former a prosper
ous millwright, who served as a soldier in the
Civil War. Both Mrs. Gamwell's parents are
now deceased, her father having died at the
age of sixty-five, and her mother in early
womanhood, when but thirty years old. Mr.
Gamwell has a pleasant residence and valuable
property, and is regarded as one of -the most
active and useful citizens of Chester. A
sketch of his half-brother. Dr. Harlow Gam
well,' appears elsewhere in this work, and con
tains further particulars of the family history.

kRS. SUSAN ATWATER BAGG,
widow of the late Richard Bagg,
Jr., and a resident of West
Springfield, vyas born in New
Haven, Conn., July 14, 1817- The original
ancestor of the Atwater family in America
was David Atwater, who emigrated from Eng
land in 1638, and settled at New Haven,
where he was one of the first planters. He
was a man possessed of abundant means, and
invested five hundred pounds in land.
The present family descends, from him in a
direct line, as follows: David, first, who died
in 1692; David, second, born in 1650;
Joshua, born in 1687, who married Anna
Bradley; their son David, born in 1723, who

was the father of Medad, the grandfather of
Mrs. Bagg. Lyman Atwater, son of Medad
and Rhoda (Dickerman) Atwater, moved in
1842 to Bennington, "Vt., where he owned
large tracts of land, and resided in the village
until his decease, which occurred in 1862.
His wife, Clarissa Hotchkiss, was born in
New Haven, daughter of Punderson and Rhoda.
(Woodin) Hotchkiss; and their five children
were as follows: Charles H., Lyman H.,
Grace C, Susan (Mrs. Bagg), and Wyllys.
Susan Atwater resided with her parents
until her marriage in 1841. Her husband,
Richard Bagg, Jr., was born at West Spring
field, on March 20, 181 2. From a history of
the family compiled by Lyman H. Bagg it
is learned that they are descendants of John
Bagg, who emigrated from Plymouth, Eng
land, and settled at West Springfield, where
he died in 1683. For a more extended notice
the reader is referred to the sketches of
Edward Parsons and J. Loomis Bagg, which
will be found in this work. Ezekiel Bagg,
grandfather of Richard Bagg, Jr., purchased a
large tract of land at Riverdale more than a
hundred years ago, and erected a substantial
frame house, which is still occupied by his
descendants. He followed agricultural pur
suits, and died January i, 1837. Richard
Bagg, Jr., was a son of Richard and Flavia
(Rogers) Bagg. Having received a good edu
cation at the town schools and Monson Acad
emy, in early manhood he taught schools at
Brimfield, "West Springfield, and on Long
Island. After his marriage he devoted his
time and energies to agriculture with pro
nounced success, and was the pioneer at West
Springfield in the business of market garden
ing, which he continued to follow for the
remainder of his life, relinquishing his labors
on October 29, 1852.
Mrs. Bagg has reared two sons — Richard
A. and Lyman, both of whom received in boy
hood a good education. Lyman Bagg, who is
unmarried, is now librarian of the University
Club in New York City. Richard A. Bagg
succeeded his father in market gardening with
equal success until his decease, which oc
curred on February 10, 1880, since which
time his widow has conducted the business.

526

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

He was united in marriage on October 17,
1866, to Miss Martina Doringh, a native of
the island of Cuba and of Spanish ancestry,
who, having been left an orphan at a very
early age, was adopted by Richard Doringh,
of Bristol, R.I. She attended the Young
Ladies' Select School in West Springfield,
and while there met her future husband.
Their union was blessed with four children —
Susan Sanchez, Martina Doringh, Louise
Atwater, and Lena Grace.
Mrs. Susan A. Bagg has continued to reside
at the old homestead since the death of her
husband, and, although she has almost reached
her fourscore years, is remarkably active and
exceedingly well preserved both mentally and
physically. The accompanying portrait of
this estimable woman adds much to the inter
est of this brief notice of the old Colonial
families of which she and her offspring are
worthy representatives.

"ENRY G. ROGERS, a prosperous
merchant in Monson, was born in
the town of Wales, Hampden
County, Mass., November 11, 1832.
His grandfather, Darius Rogers, was a farmer
of Wales, and died there in 1837, at about
seventy years of age. He married a Miss
Hill, who became the mother of five children,
one daughter and four sons, of whom Eli, the
father of the subject of this sketch, was the
last survivor.
Eli Rogers was born in Wales in 1804, and
in 1826 was united in marriage to Miss Betha
Bradway, of Monson. His only sister, Mary,
became the wife of the Rev. Eli Green, a
Baptist minister in Wisconsin, and died in
1893, having attained a very old age. With
one exception all of the family left descend
ants. Six children, four sons and two daugh
ters, were born to Eli and Betha (Bradway)
Rogers, of whom Martha died at twelve
years of age, Frank at four, and a little
daughter at three. Another son, William
Rogers, died in Monson in 1880, leaving two
children. The mother of Mr. Rogers died in
1872 in her sixty-fifth year, the father on the
19th of November, 1894, aged eighty-nine

years. The two surviving members of this
family, Lewis and Henry G. Rogers, have
been partners in business here for twenty
years, and have an extensive patronage in the
town and vicinity. They conduct a store of
general merchandise near the Reynolds Fac
tory, and are also the proprietors of a meat
market. Henry G. Rogers received his education
under the tuition of Mr. Hammond of the
Monson Academy. His first work after leav
ing school was in the Reynolds Mill, and
from this situation he went into the employ
of the Hampden Company as overseer of the
carding-room, which position he held for
twenty years. Cyrus W. Holmes was then
the agent of the company. In 1869 the com
pany dissolved, and Mr. Rogers moved to
Springfield, where for a year he conducted a
general store and meat market. Going thence
to Holyoke, he secured a situation in the card
ing-room of the New York Cotton Mill, later
entering the employment of Mr. Beebe, of the
Beebe Woollen Mill, where he worked for a
year and a half. When Mr. Beebe sold his
mill, Mr. Rogers came to Monson, and estab
lished the business in which he has ever since
been so successfully engaged.
In Monson he found his wife, for on the
2 1 St of January, 1856, he was married to Miss
Elvira Beebe, of this town, a daughter of
Ansel and Mary (Spencer) Beebe. Mr.
Beebe, who was a native of Lyme, Conn., and
Mrs. Beebe, who was born in Hampden,
Mass., had each been previously married;
and, after the birth of Mrs. Rogers and her
only sister, Jane Maria (who became the wife
of Mr. Harrison Day, of Monson), there were
in the family three sets of children. Both
parents attained the age of seventy-three
years, the father dying in 1865, the mother
two years later. Elvira Beebe attended the
Monson Academy in her girlhood, and was
married at eighteen years of age. Her half-
brother, Mr. Jared Beebe, built and operated
the first woollen-mill in Holyoke.
Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have lost an infant
son, and have two living daughters — Rose
and Nellie L. Rose, now Mrs. Albert Bal
lard, of Hampden, where her husband is the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

527

owner of a large estate, has two sons living,
a daughter having died. Nellie L. is the
wife of Mr. Richard Coltman, of Medfield,
who owns a bleachery in Springfield, Mass. ;
they have lost one son, and have one daughter
living. Mr. Rogers was drafted twice during
the Civil War; but, being needed here, he
gladly paid the sum of three hundred dollars
for a substitute, and remained where the more
urgent duty seemed to call. In politics he is
a Republican. Mr. Rogers is a man of a
deeply religious nature, and, as a licensed
preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church,
occasionally speaks from the pulpit, though
not holding a pastorate. He and his wife
occupy a large and pleasant house on Lin
coln Street, which was built in 1876.

|DWIN A. BLODGETT, Vice-President
of the Day & Jobson Company of
Springfield, is a man of prominence
and influence in his community, and one of
the most important factors of its mercantile,
manufacturing, and business interests. He is
a native of the Green Mountain State, born in
Brookfield, July 4, 1851. The history of the
Blodgett family in America begins with the
arrival at Cambridge, Mass., in 1635 of
Thomas Blodgett with his wife, Susanna, and
sons, Daniel and Samuel, from Cambridge,
England. From Thomas we follow the line
of descent through Samuel of Cambridge,
Samuel of Woburn, Joshua of Monson, to
James of Stafford, Conn., who married Theoda
Walbridge, and removed to Randolph, Vt.,
about 1749. After James come successively
Henry, Alfred, and Loren, father of Edwin A.
Alfred Blodgett, grandfather of the subject
of this sketch, married December 17, 1809,
Lucretia Morgan, whose ancestral line is
traced back through her father, Stephen,
Isaac, David, and Nathaniel, to Miles Mor
gan, who came from Bristol, England, in
1636, and was one of the early settlers of
Springfield. Mr. Morgan became a unique
character in the history of the town, and his
statue now adorns the beautiful Court Square.
Loren Blodgett, son of Alfred, married
Luthera Marsh, a descendant of an early

settler, and after two years' residence in
Brookfield returned to his native town, Ran
dolph, where he spent the remaining years
of his life, dying in 1885.
Edwin A. was but two years old when his
parents moved to Randolph, where he was
reared to farming pursuits. He received his
elementary education in the district schools,
and completed his studies in the State Normal
School, which was located in Randolph, and
from which he was graduated in 1869. The
second year after that event Mr. Blodgett
began his business career as a clerk in the
lumber firm of Horace Martin & Co., of
Springfield, remaining with them two years,
and subsequently continuing with their suc
cessors, Richards & Bosworth, for six years.
The firm then selling out to Marsh & Murray,
Mr. Blodgett entered their employment, and
remained with them until 1883, making a
continuous service of eleven years on the
same ground, rendering him thoroughly con
versant with every branch of the lumber
business. The following ten years he was a
member of the firm of Day, Jobson & Co., and
on the incorporation in June, 1893, of the
Day & Jobson Company, he became its first
Vice-President. To the interests of this com
pany he has since devoted his entire time and
attention. About five years ago Mr. Blodgett
erected a handsome residence at No. 10 Ingra
ham Avenue, and here he and his estimable
wife gladly welcome and entertain their
numerous friends and acquaintances. Mr.
Blodgett's first wife was Adella A. Morse, of
Brattleboro, Vt., who died May 26, 1886.
The maiden name of the present Mrs. Blod
gett was Ella M. Eaton, the ceremony unit
ing their destinies being solemnized December
II, 1888. Mr. Blodgett's family at present
consists of his wife and two daughters —
Edith and Evelyn. Mr. and Mrs. Blodgett
are attendants of the South Church of
Springfield. Although taking an active interest in the
welfare of his adopted city, Mr. Blodgett is
not a politician in the sense of being an of
fice-seeker, but he is a firm adherent of the
Republican party. Socially, he is very prom
inent in Masonic circles, being Past Master

528

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

of Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Past
High Priest of Morning Star Chapter, Past
Thrice Illustrious Master of Springfield Coun
cil, R. & S. M., Generalissimo of Springfield
Commandery, Knights Templars, Thrice Po
tent Grand Master of Evening Star Lodge of
Perfection, and is an officer in Massasoit
Council of Princes of Jerusalem; he likewise
belongs to Springfield Chapter of Rose Croix,
and is also a member of Massachusetts Con
sistory, of Boston, which gives him the
thirty-second degree. He is D. D. G. M.
of the Sixteenth Masonic District of Mas
sachusetts, and is one of the Directors and
a member of the Board of Managers of
the Masonic Building Association, being a
member of the building committee during
construction.

DWARD UHL, a wealthy resident of
Blandford, who possesses one of the
best-equipped and most carefully
stocked farms in the New England States,
vi^as born in New York, October ii, 1843.
His father, Jacob Uhl, an enterprising and
highly educated German gentleman, came to
the United States, and settled in that city in*-
1834. Immediately after his arrival he estab
lished the Staats Zeitung, which became one of
the leading German newspapers in America,
and which he continued to both edit and pub
lish until his decease, he being a most suc
cessful journalist. He died at the age of
forty-six years, and four of his six children
are now living.
Edward Uhl received a most liberal educa
tion, studying successively in the schools of
Nevi? York City and at a boarding school in
Pennsylvania, and then passing six years in
European educational institutions. He ac
quired a thorough knowledge of civil engi
neering, but has never followed it as a
profession. Upon his return to the United
States he became engaged in business of dif
ferent kinds, and after his brother's decease
was for a period of ten years the manager of
the Staats Zeitung. He has travelled exten
sively, having visited a greater part of the
civilized world, and has been financially inter

ested in various enterprises, including the
lead mines in Missouri, a large coffee planta
tion in Central America, and a cattle ranch in
Kansas. In 1892 Mr. Uhl settled at Blandford on
account of the excellent air and healthful cli
mate of the place. He purchased a farm con
taining seventeen hundred acres, which makes
him the most extensive land-owner in the
town. He has made extensive improvements
in the western part of Blandford, and is still
engaged in bettering the condition and ap
pearance of his vast property, introducing
every modern convenience, his buildings
being of the best and most substantial that
can be possibly erected.
He takes especial pride in his poultry yard,
which contains superior-bred fowl, and pro
duces fresh laid eggs in plentiful supply, even
in the coldest of weather. In sheep-raising
he is particularly interested, and possesses
some fine blooded animals. Much care has
been exercised in selecting and planting his
large orchard, which in due time must yield
an abundant harvest of delicious fruits. Mr.
Uhl employs an experienced farmer, who
superintends his agricultural operations; and
he gives steady work to a large number of
men, who are most kindly and generously
remembered at Christmas-tide.
He is liberal in his religious views, and
has been a generous giver to the new church
at North Blandford. In politics is a Demo
crat. He is looked upon by his neighbors
with the highest respect and esteem, and con
sidered a most valuable acquisition to the
community. It is to be confidently expected
that he will continue on his model farm to set
an example of good husbandry that will raise
the standard of attainment in every branch of
agriculture pursued in this vicinity.

T^HARLES BARROWS, of Springfield,
I \y is one of the oldest educators in the
^^U^ State of Massachusetts, if not the
whole United States. He was born
at Mansfield, Conn., December 19, 1813, and
is the son of Gurdon and Sophia (Welch) Bar
rows, both natives of the above-named town.

CHARLES BARROWS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

531

He is directly descended from John Barrows,
who, according' to authentic records, erected a
house at Plymouth in the early days of the
colony; and the family settled in Mansfield in
1 73 1. The great-grandfather was a farmer in
that town, as was also the grandfather, who
was the second Thomas Barrows. Gurdon
Barrows followed his father's calling, and
when a young man taught music and presided
over the singing school. He was a composer
of considerable merit, and a collection of his
compositions is still in existence. He died
while a comparatively young man, his decease
occurring at the age of forty-seven years.
Sophia Welch Barrows, his wife, was the
daughter of the Rev. Daniel W. Welch, who
was pastor of the Congregational church at
Mansfield for thirty years. They had four
children, as follows: Thomas, a resident of
Mansfield; Martha; Cook W. ; and Charles.
Charles Barrows at a very early age dis
played a remarkable genius for the acquisition
of learning. After completing the prescribed
course at the town schools, he attended a
select school, of which the Rev. William Eli
was principal, and at the age of eighteen years
began teaching school himself, still, however,
diligently pursuing his studies in the higher
branches of education, which he thoroughly
mastered. He presided over his first school
during the winter of 1 830, at Wales, in this
county, boarding in different families while
thus engaged. The following summer he
attended school himself, and taught another
winter term at Coventry, Conn. From there
he went to Wethersfield, where he taught
for about six years; and in 1839 ^^ came to
Springfield, taking charge of the school in the
centre of the town, upon the site now occupied
by the Hampden County Court-house. Over
this school, which would now be called a
grammar school for boys, he presided for two
years; and then, owing to some changes, he
went to the hill district, having there a school
of the same grade, but attended by both sexes,
he being an advocate of mixed classes. This
was known as the Union Street Grammar
School, and combined what are now the
seventh, eighth, and ninth grades, with an
average attendance of forty pupils. After a

change in the system Mr. Barrows was placed
at the head of the school, with two assistants,
the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades
together forming a much larger school, num
bering about one hundred and seventy-eight
pupils, which were divided, each division
under an assistant, and Mr. Barrows attending
to the discipline and management of the
whole. He continued at the head of this
school for twenty-nine years, when the rap
idly increasing attendance made it necessary
to provide better accommodations. Accord
ingly a fine large brick school-house, contain
ing all modern conveniences, was erected on
Oak Street, and called the Oak School. The
school district was one of the largest in the
city, furnishing an average attendance of four
hundred and thirty pupils; and each of the
nine rooms in the new building was in charge
of an assistant teacher. Here Mr. Barrows
had ample opportunity for the exercise of his
talents as an educator; and he soon had a per
fect organization, presiding over his nine
assistants and maintaining a degree of disci
pline which was unsurpassed. For forty-four
years Mr. Barrows was principal of the Oak
School, resigning his position in 1885.
After, his retirement the City Council
changed the name, in honor of Mr. Barrows,
to the Barrows Grammar School. During his
long experience of fifty-three years of continu
ous labor Mr. Barrows in many instances
taught both parents and children, and in one
particular case he had a scholar whose father
and grandfather received their education under
his careful tuition. He is a member of the
State, County, and City Teachers' Associa
tions, and was President of the County Asso
ciation two terms, and its Secretary and
Treasurer for fifteen years. In politics he is
a Republican, but always avoided notoriety,
shunning rather than soliciting office; never
theless, he was elected to the Board of Alder
men from Ward Five, and during his term of
service rendered most valuable aid to the city
in improving the school system. He was
chairman of the Committee on Education two
years, and during this period he prepared the
plans for two new school edifices.
Mr. Barrows has enjoyed a most happy mar-

532

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ried life, extending through a period of fifty-
six years, since September 5, 1838. His wife
was Miss Lydia Smith, of West Springfield,
daughter of Seth Smith, a prosperous farmer.
Mr. and Mrs. Barrows have one soti — Mr.
Charles H. Barrows, now a prominent attorney
of this city. He received his education in
the public schools, and, after graduating from
the high school, entered Harvard College.
When his studies at that distinguished seat of
learning were completed, he passed through
the Harvard Law School, and rapidly rose to
a prominent position in the legal profession,
at one time acting as Assistant Attorney-gen
eral of the State.
Mr. and Mrs. Barrows are members of the Ol
ivet Congregational Church on State Street, in
which the former has held office at different
times, and is deeply interested. He has for
the past quarter of a century resided at his
comfortable home, which he himself erected,
at No. 74 Walnut Street. The portrait of Mr.
Barrows, which appears on another page of
this volume, will be recognized with pleasure
by many of his friends and former pupils.

I^AMUEL WATSON BROWN, late
an honored citizen of Brimfield,
who but a few months since — on
the 8th of March, 1895 — passed to
the home of the immortals, was a gentleman
of scholarly tastes and attainments, who did
much to preserve the local history of the
place, as well as to continually advance its
higher interests and its useful activities.
He was born in Brimfield, November 22,
1822, son of Cyril and Mary (Blair) Brown,
and grandson of Deacon IDavid and Molly
(Watson) Brown. Deacon David Brown was
born in 1752, son of James, the fourth of that
name, and Rebecca Brown, and grandson of
James, third, and Elizabeth (Hunt) Brown.
The parents of James, third, were James, sec
ond, and Margaret (Dennison) Brown, James,
second, having been son of James and Lydia
Brown, and grandson of the emigrant ancestor,
John Brown, who came from England to new
Plymouth about 1634, and settled in Wami-
mosett, near Rehoboth, Mass.

Cyril Read Brown, father of Samuel Wat
son Brown, was born in Ashford, Conn.,
April 5, 1798, and came to Brimfield with his
parents in 1804 or 1805. Having grown to
manhood, he bought two hundred acres of land
near the village, engaged in farming, and
taught school for a number of years during the
winter. He was a prominent man in his
day, was a Whig in politics, and held all the
town offices during his active life. He was
a member and a Deacon of the Congregational
church, and was superintendent of the Sun
day-school nearly twenty-five years. His
death occurred September 4, 1869. His ^ife
lived to a good old age. They were the par
ents of nine children, namely: Samuel "Wat
son, James R., Charles O., Eliza A., Henry
R., Albert B., Mary, Sarah, and Harriet.
Samuel Watson Brown received his educa
tion in the schools of his native town and in
the academies at Monson and Westfield. He
worked with his father until reaching man
hood, and then went to Virginia, where he
remained one year. Returning home, he pur
chased the General Eaton homestead and fifty
acres of surrounding land. This property he
greatly improved and remodelled, building a
fine barn, and making other additions of
importance. He always took a great interest
in educational matters; and he was the pos
sessor of many old and rare books, besides
fine editions of modern historical and other
works. He was one of the original pro
moters and constant friends of the Public
Library of Brimfield, to which he presented
many interesting and valuable volumes. He
was successful as a progressive agriculturalist.
In politics he was formerly'- a Republican, but
a Democrat in the latter part of his life. He
served as School Committee, Assessor, and
Selectman, and as moderator of the town
meetings, holding the latter position twenty-
one years. He was a member of the legislat
ure in 1870, and was Justice of the Peace for
many years. In religion he was a supporter
of the Congregational church. Though in his
later years in failing health, he continued to
be a man of broad and generous sympathies,
one whose influence and power for good made
itself felt in many ways. Mr. Brown was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

533

married in 1849 to Miss Harriet L. Warren,
who was born in Brimfield, January 15, 1827,
daughter of John M. and Rachel (Harvey)
Warren. Her father was for many years en
gaged in the shoe and leather business at
Brimfield, but in the latter part of his life
was a leather dealer in Boston and Worcester.
Mrs. Brown still resides in Brimfield.

'ORACE MONROE WILCOX, bag
gage master at the Boston & Albany
\\3 I Railway station in Springfield,
Mass., has been an employee of the
company since November, 1872. He is a
native of Hampden County, his birth having
occurred in the town of Chester, October 8,
1840. His father, Elbridge G. Wilcox, was
a native of the same town and a prosperous
farmer for many years, although, after moving
to the village, he paid more attention to his
trade of carpentering. He was an influential
citizen, a man of good business ability and
sound judgment, and served his townsmen in
various offices, acting as Selectman, School
Committee, and in other capacities. He died
July 9, 1 87 1, aged seventy years. He mar
ried Lucy Smith, who survived him, dying
May 10, 1883, at the age of sixty-eight years.
They were both active in religious works, and
were valued members of the Methodist Epis
copal church. They reared a family of four
children, namely: Martha M., the wife of
Paul R. Town; Horace M., the subject;
Marietta, the wife of George H. Hapgood;
and William E., of Chester, Mass.
Horace Monroe Wilcox received a substan
tial common-school education in the town of
his birth, and while he remained with his par
ents assisted in the labors of the farm. Pre
ferring some mechanical work, he entered the
shop of William Fay, manufacturer of bed
steads and other furniture, and there learned
the cabinet-maker's trade. But, like many
other young men, railroad life had charms for
him; and Mr. Wilcox came to Springfield,
and here obtained work as baggageman and
brakeman. This was prior to the invention
of the air brake, and all trains were equipped
with hand brakes. During the nine years of

his service on the railway he served as bag
gageman, and was then promoted to the office
of baggage master at the old Union Station.
This responsible position he has now held for
thirteen years. During this time the work
connected with his department has been more
than doubled, he having at times as many as
twenty-five men under him. Great improve
ments have likewise been made in the manner
of checking and handling baggage, transfer
ring it, etc., it now being reduced almost to
a science. Mr. Wilcox was married to Miss Adelaide
L. Shepherd, a daughter of John Shepherd, a
well-to-do farmer of Chester, January 27,
1863. Two children have been born of their
union, namely: Adella J., the wife of A.
Lincoln Emerson, of Springfield, a conductor
on the Boston & Albany Railroad; and Mar
ion L., wife of Frank E. Battey, an employee
of the Overman Wheel Company. Mr. and
Mrs. Wilcox have formed a large circle of
acquaintances during their residence in
Springfield; and their cheerful home at No.
72 Plainfield Street, to which they removed
from the corner of Carew and Chestnut
Streets, is a delightful place to visit. They
are people of moral and religious culture and
consistent members of the First Congrega
tional Church.

LVIN B. MERCHANT, a prominent
and popular citizen of Monson, was
born in Rupert, Vt., January 5,
1829. He was a son of Ephraim
and Abigail (Houghton) Merchant, and grand
son of Joseph and Dolly (Rice) Merchant.
Joseph Merchant was a farmer in moderate
circumstances at Montague, Mass., and served
in the Revolution. Mr. Merchant remembers
hearing him tell many interesting anecdotes of
his army life, among them the following: —
When on a foraging expedition with a com
rade, he climbed a tree for a turkey, leaving
his gun at the foot of the tree and his comrade
standing guard. Suddenly three Tories ap
peared, and his comrade hastily decamped ;
while Grandfather Merchant coolly jumped
from the tree, some sixteen feet, snatched

534

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

his gun, and took the three prisoners into
camp. He died at the age of seventy-eight, and is
buried at Leverett, Mass. By his first wife,
Dolly Rice, he had ten children — five
daughters and five sons — who all lived to
reach maturity, but are now deceased. Mrs.
Dolly Merchant died November 13, 18 14;
and the same year two daughters and one son,
Lucius, passed away, their ages ranging from
twenty-nine to thirty-one years. Grandfather
Merchant's second wife was a Miss Peck. She
bore him one son, Lucius, who is now living
in Iowa.
Ephraim Merchant was born in Montague in
1793. He was a blacksmith, and, working at
Hebron, N.Y. , made sleds and pitchforks, and
manufactured wagons for the wholesale trade.
He was reared in the Congregational faith,
and was an earnest church member. He died
in Rupert, Vt. , when thirty-nine years old.
His wife, Abigail Houghton, whom he married
in 1 81 7, was born in Wendell, Mass., March
29, 1795- They had seven children, of whom
four are living, namely : Mariette, seventy-six
years old, wife of Luther W. Tanner, a farmer
in Monson ; Abigail Merchant, a maiden lady
of seventy-two ; E. Earl Merchant, born in
1825, who is Registrar of Deeds in Adams,
Mass. ; and Alvin B., with whom Miss
Abigail makes her home. After Mr. Ephraim
Merchant's death his widow married Lyman
Stoddard, of Stamford, Vt. ; and the fruit of
that union was a son, Lyman, now deceased,
and a daughter, Elizabeth, who is a maiden
lady, living in Adams, Mass. Mrs. Stoddard
was a devoted Congregationalist. She died in
Adams in 1876, at the age of eighty-one; and
her remains were there buried.
Alvin B. Merchant was reared by his uncle,
Clement Merchant, on a farm, where his grand
father also lived. After obtaining a fair edu
cation at the district school, he learned the
stone-cutting trade of his uncle; but the rest
less spirit of young manhood prompted him to
leave home, and one morning at three o'clock
he started out to better his fortune. His first
venture was driving a logging team at Wen
dell, by which he earned thirteen dollars per
month. Later he received sixteen dollars a

month, and for eight months remained in the
logging business. Finally, coming to the
conclusion that it would be more to his ad
vantage to follow the trade his uncle taught
him, he went back to stone-cutting; and for
the past forty-one years he has been in the
employ of William N. Flynt & Son, of Mon
son. Mentally and physically, Mr. Merchant
is a strong man. He is not tall, but is very
stout and agile, and is something of an
athlete, taking great pleasure in wrestling.
It is said that he was never thrown at the side
hold, but has held his own with professional
wrestlers. He is a Master Mason, and in
politics is a sturdy Republican. With his
wife, he is a regular attendant at the Congre
gational church.
He was married November 30, 1855, to
Miss Jane D. Marsh, of Adams, daughter of
Philo and Eunice (Nelson) Marsh, the cere
mony being performed in Stamford, Vt., by an
uncle of the bridegroom, Joel Houghton, a
Justice of the Peace. Mrs. Merchant claims
relationship to General Israel Putnam, the
connection being thus traced : Eunice Put
nam, daughter of Nehemiah Putnam, of
Salem Village, was a descendant in the fifth
generation from the General's grandfather,
Thomas Putnam. Eunice Putnam, born in
Sutton, Mass., in 1753, was married in 1775
to Benjamin Shumway, who was born in 1752,
and died at the age of ninety-seven, leaving a
daughter, Anne Sophira (Shumway) Nelson,
wife of Daniel Nelson, a farmer at Rowe,
Mass., the last-named being Mrs. Merchant's
maternal grandfather. A record now in pos
session of the family, purchased October 10,
1 818, sets forth the last-named facts in the
finest and plainest of handwriting. Mrs. Mer
chant's father was a native of Conway, Mass. ;
and he died in 1886, at the age of eighty-four,
in Adams. Her mother was born at Florida
Mountain; and she passed away in 1889, at
the age of seventy-six. They had eleven chil
dren, two of whom died in infancy. There
are now living three sons and two daughters.
Mr. and Mrs. Merchant began housekeeping
in Monson, and for twenty-two years lived in
a house on Mechanic Street. In the fall of
1888 they removed to their present handsome

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

535

residence at No. 23 High Street, having sold
their former home. They have had eight chil
dren, one of whom, Eva L. , died when six
months old. Jennie was fatally scalded in
1862, at the age of three years; and Edward
died in 1874, when five years old. The living
children are: Marietta M., wife of Charles F.
Sampson, of Worcester, who has one daughter;
Emma A., wife of J. E. Rindge, a farmer of
Monson, and also a driller of artesian wells,
who has one daughter; Myrtle I., wife of
E. G. Penniman, of Worcester, who has a son
and a daughter; Harry A. Merchant, a student
in the medical college at Albany, N. Y. , who
has a wife; and Archie W. Merchant, who
is studying mechanical engineering at the
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and will
graduate in 1897.

PTRANK E. ELMER, dealer in paper
pi stock at No. 30 Ferry Street, Spring-
^ field, Mass., is an important factor of
the merdantile and industrial interests of this
part of the county, having been engaged in his
present business in this city for a score of
years, and meeting with signal prosperity.
He was born in Conway, Franklin County,
June 7, 1857, being a son of Daniel F. and
Harriet Jeanette (Redfield) Elmer.
The ancestral home of the Elmer family is
in Ashfield, Franklin County; but Daniel F.
Elmer was born on the top of Florida Moun
tain, in Berkshire County, which has since
been pierced by the Hoosac Tunnel. He was
reared to farming pursuits, but, having great
mechanical ingenuity, was not content to
spend his life as a tiller of the soil. Ac
cordingly, in 1861 he came to Springfield;
and, being subsequently joined by two of his
brothers, they all secured work at the old
water-shops of the United States Armory as
die-sinkers, being employed by the government
until after the close of the war. Daniel F.
Elmer afterward worked for the Smith &
Wesson Manufacturing Company, and finally
invented a bar-key on which he received a
patent. Getting a royalty on the keys manu
factured, it proved quite lucrative. During
one year's hard labor he mastered the trade of

gold-chain making, usually requiring seven
years' apprenticeship, and then established
himself in business with J. A. Rumrill, as
watch key or bar maker, and continuing in it
with good success until the sickness that re
sulted in his death, while still a comparatively
young man. He married Miss Redfield, who
was born in the town of Phelps, Ontario
County, N.Y. ; and they became the parents
of two children, Frank E. and George C
Elmer, both residents of Springfield. The
father was very domestic in his tastes, pre
ferring the quiet of his home to the bustle of
political strife, but was a man of intelligence
and liberal views, and a consistent believer in
the Universalist faith.
Frank E. was a little fellow of two or three
years when he came with his parents to Spring
field ; and, having received an excellent edu
cation in the public schools of the city, he
entered the manufactory of Smith & Wesson,
with whom he remained two years. Indus
trious and thriftful, he accumulated some
money before yet he had seen his twentieth
birthday ; and, having a natural bent for traffic
rather than the mechanic arts, he started the
business in which he has since been occupied,
beginning in a modest way; and, gradually
enlarging his field of operations, collecting
all kinds of paper stock and metals, he has
built up an extensive and very remunerative
trade, employing eight or ten people, and in
1889 he removed from his original place to
more commodious quarters. Mr. Elmer has
made shrewd investments, dealing to quite an
extent in real estate, and during 1894 erected
one of the largest carriage-shops in the city.
It is located on the corner of Court and Main
Streets, and from it he receives a good rent.
He is not a politician, caring not for the
emoluments of public office; but, socially,
he is a member of Hampden Lodge, A. F.
& A. M.
On Christmas Day, 1877, Mr. Elmer mar
ried Miss Kate F. Russell, a native of Hart
ford ; the only child of their union, a beautiful
girl, named Marion J. Elmer, died in 1892,
aged eleven years. The home of Mr. and
Mrs. Elmer, at No. 171 Pine Street, is fur
nished with all needful comforts and conven-

536

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

iences for the enjoyment of a happy domestic
life. Both attend the State Street Baptist
Church, of which Mrs. Elmer is a devout
member.

LFRED DEWEY DAY, for forty-
five years belonging to the firm of
Day, Jobson & Co., the leading
lumber dealers of this city, was
born at P"ort Ann, N.Y., on October 15,
1824. He came to Springfield in 1845, and
was a highly esteemed resident here from
that time until his death, April 9, 1893. He
was a son of Erastus Day, a native of West
Springfield, and his wife, Olive Dewey Day,
daughter of Captain Thaddeus Dewey, of
Westfield. Erastus Day was of the fifth gen
eration in line of descent from Thomas Day,
who was the eldest son of Robert Day, the
emigrant ancestor of the family in New Eng
land. The father of Erastus was Daniel,
who was son of Benjamin, grandson of John,
and great-grandson of Thomas, above named.
Robert Day sailed from Ipswich, England,
early in 1634, landed in Boston, and in 1635
was living in Cambridge, or Newtown, as it
was then called. The next year he removed
with the Rev. Thomas Hooker's company to
Hartford, Conn., where he was one of the
original proprietors. He died in 1648, sur
vived by his second wife, Editha Stebbins,
and several children. His eldest son, Thomas,
removed some years after to Springfield.
The other sons of Erastus and Olive D.
Day were: George W. , of Allegheny City,
Pa. ; Thaddeus D. ; Erastus, Jr. ; Daniel ;
and Andrew J. Day. Alfred D., the subject
of this sketch, learned the carpenter's trade
in Fort Ann. At the age of twenty-one he
came to Springfield, as foreman for Decrete,
Boynton & Co., whose lumber yards were
situated at the south-west corner of Liberty
and Chestnut Streets, on the ground now
occupied by the Day & Jobson yards. In
1848 Mr. Day and Mr. Jobson formed their
partnership, buying out the sash and blind
portion of the business from the original firm;
while Joseph Chase took the lumber business.
Fifteen years later, however, Messrs. Day &

Jobson bought out Mr. Chase, and ever after
carried on the entire business, admitting to
partnership, in 1884, Edwin Blodgett, of
whom a special sketch appears in this work.
Few, if any, Springfield firms could boast so
long a business connection as Messrs. Day &
Jobson. The senior partner's health had not
been good for several years before his death ;
but he continued his business activity till
increasing suffering compelled the relin
quishment of his life work six months before
his death.
On February 2, 1850, he married Mary
Louisa Cook, of Durham, N.Y. , who with
their two daughters, now survives him.
They had three children — Alfred Dewey
Day, Jr., who died in infancy; Mary Emma,
born in 185 1, now wife of "William Calkins
Scott, of whom a separate sketch appears in
this volume; and Jennie Tannatt Day, born in
1854, now Mrs. James Huntington Ripley.
Mrs. Mary L. Day has three grandchildren —
Alfred Day Scott, Marguerite Scott, and Mary
Day Ripley.
Though not a native of Springfield, Mr.
Alfred D. Day passed nearly a half-century
here in honorable traffic, and won a high place
in the genuine regard of the community. The
lifelike portrait which accompanies this brief
memoir will be readily recognized and highly
appreciated by many who enjoyed his personal
acquaintance.

OHN NEWTON ISHAM is a resident
farmer of Hampden, Mass., where he
was born, September 29, 1838. His
father, Daniel T. Isham, was a native
of the same town ; and his grandfather, also
named Daniel, was formerly of Colchester,
Conn. He was the son of an earlier Daniel
Isham, who, so far as known, was a native
and for many years a resident of the last-
named town and State ; but later in life he
came to Hampden County, Mass., to pass his
declining years with his son. Mr. Isham's
grandfather, Daniel, Jr., was reared to farm
life, and moved his family, together with
their effects, by teams to what is now the
town of Hampden, where he purchased the

ALFRED D. DAY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

539

farm now owned and occupied by his grandson,
upon which he successfully followed agricult
ure until his decease, which occurred in his
sixty-third year. The maiden name of his
wife was Mary Bartlett Thomas. She was a
native of Lebanon, Conn. ; and she died at
the homestead, aged eighty-seven years. Mr.
Isham's father succeeded to the ownership of
the home farm, which he continued to conduct
with the most prosperous results until his
labors were brought to a close, at the age of
seventy-three years. His wife was Jerusha
Emeline Cady, of Somers, Conn., daughter of
David and Jerusha E. (Chapin) Cady. She
was called to her rest at the early age of thirty-
nine years. Their seven children were:
David T., Daniel C, Jerusha W., John N.,
Mary A., Abigail J., and Francis E. Isham.
John N. Isham began his education in the
district schools of his native town, and con
tinued at a select school in Longmeadow,
presided over by Professor Goldthwaite, after
which he pursued courses of study at the
Westfield Academy and at the excellent State
Normal School in that town. Although well
fitted for the useful career of an educator,
which he entered upon under the most encour
aging circumstances, he preferred, like his
ancestors, to follow the independent life of a
farmer, and to this end abandoned the teacher's
desk, after successfully presiding therein dur
ing two terms of winter school. The home
farm came at length into his possession; and
he has since managed the property with energy,
capability, and good success.
On June i6, 1872, he was united in mar
riage to Harriet Newell Guptill, of South
Eliot, Me., daughter of Calvin Haven Gup
till, who was born at North Berwick, Me.,
July 25, 1 8 14, and was a son of James Watts
Guptill, the latter having been either a native
of England or born in America of English
parentage. He was a farmer, and passed his
last years upon his homestead at North Ber
wick. The maiden name of his wife was
Parnell Gerrish. Mrs. Isham's father was a
graduate of Dartmouth College, and success
fully practised medicine at Dover, N. H.,
and later at Eliot, Me., where he died on
January 21, 1889. He married Harriet Stacy

Clements, who was born at Brownsville, Me.,
a daughter of John and Mary Gerrish Clem
ents, and died in August, 1890. Mr. and
Mrs. Isham have five children, namely : Mary
Emeline, who was educated at the State Nor
mal School, and is now a teacher, also a corre
spondent of the Homestead; Harriet Clements,
who has attended the Wesleyan Academy at
Wilbraham, and is now at home; John Burt,
also a student at the above-named institute;
Daniel Ralph and Flora Annable, who are
now attending the public schools.
Mr. Isham is a Republican in politics, and
has held various positions of public trust,
both in the present town of Hampden and also
when it was a part of Wilbraham, having been
a member of the School Committee for up
ward of twenty years, and also a Selectman
and Assessor. He was one of the organizers
of the Springfield Mountain Creamery Asso
ciation, of which he has thus far been its
Secretary; and both himself and wife are
members of the First Congregational Church.
He is recognized as an intelligent, well-read
man, safely conservative, of good judgment in
practical matters, and well versed on impor
tant topics of general interest.

W\

ILLIAM CALKINS SCOTT, Sec
retary and Treasurer of the Day &
Jobson Company, the largest lumber
dealers in Springfield, became a resident of
this city in 1893. He was born at Hudson,
N. Y. , on June 26, 1853, son of Joel Henry
and Sarah Susan (Stevens) Scott. The father
was born at Catskill, N.Y., about 1812, and
the mother was a native of the same place;
but the Scott family came originally from
Litchfield County, Conn. Joel Scott was for
many years at Hudson, on the Hudson River,
where he combined the three industries of
brick-making, boat building, and river trans
portation. He owned two brickyards, send
ing his goods to New York City in sail-boats
of his own construction. From this business
he did not retire till about 1890, when he and
his family took up their residence in Brooklyn,
N.Y. He has always been an active Whig
and Republican, but never an aspirant for

S40

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

political office. The family religion is in
accordance with the Baptist tenets. The
married life of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Scott has
extended over a period of half a century.
Their children have been seven in number;
those living are : Sarah, Wealthy, Albert,
Emily, and William.
William C. Scott was educated chiefly in
the public schools of Brooklyn, the family
living there even while the father's traffic was
up the river. After leaving school our lad
entered the employ of the Jewell Milling
Company, heavily engaged in flour grinding.
There he remained eighteen years, rising from
the post of office boy to that of head book
keeper. In 1885 he left this establishment,
and, coming to Massachusetts, began the whip
business with his brother, Albert Scott, in
Westfield, the firm being known as Scott
Brothers. After five years they closed this
factory, and returned to Brooklyn for real
estate transactions, in which Mr. Scott con
tinued till 1893, when occurred the death of
his father-in-law, Mr. Alfred D. Day, of the
firm of Day, Jobson & Co. The family wish
ing to retain the lumber business and needing
a responsible representative, Mr. Scott came
to Springfield, and took charge of the de
ceased partner's share, the company becoming
incorporated with a capital of twenty-four
thousand dollars, and taking a leading position.
Mr. Scott married Mary Emma Day, daugh
ter of Alfred D. and Mary L. (Cook) Day,
on October 14, 1882; and they have two chil
dren — Alfred Day Scott, born in 1883; and
Marguerite Scott, born in 1885. Mr. Scott is
a member of Woronoco Lodge of Odd Fellows
in Westfield, and their home is at 149
Clarendon Street.

-UDSON W. HASTINGS, M.D., a
well-known physician of Feeding PI ills,
in the town of Agawam, and represent
ative of an old Colonial family, was
at Suffield, Conn., June 13, 1853.
is a son of Joseph Creighton Hastings,
was born in Suffield, October 5, 1822;
his grandfather was William Hastings,
born in the same town, December 31, 1793,

born

He
who and
also

The family in America descends in a direct
line from Thomas Hastings, who emigrated
from England, and settled at Watertown,
Mass., in the year 1634. He was a man of
ability and sterling character, and rose to a
position of prominence in his locality, being
Selectman, Town Clerk, representative to
the General Court, and also a Deacon for
many years. He was twice married, his sec
ond wife, the mother of his children, being
Margaret Cheney, daughter of William and
Martha Cheney, of Roxbury. The next in
line was Benjamin, fifth son of Deacon
Thomas Hastings, born at Watertown, August
9, 1659, who moved to IPatfield in 1678, and
settled upon a large tract of land. He
changed his residence to Northampton, where
he remained for a time, and then returned to
Hatfield, in which town he died, December
16, 1 71 1. His wife was Elizabeth Graves,
who was born March 16, 1662, and was the
daughter of Isaac and Nancy Graves, of Hart
ford, Conn. The descent continues through
their son, the Rev. Joseph Hastings, who was
born at Northampton, Mass., December 27,
1703, and learned the carpenter's trade. He
moved to Suffield, Conn., where he followed
his calling, and, having been converted in his
youth, was an active member of the Orthodox
Congregational church. A conflict arose in
the society in regard to the rights of women to
speak in meetings, in consequence of which
he with many others seceded from the church
and organized a society known as the Separa
tists. Later, a change of opinion occurred
among them concerning baptism, with the
result that a portion united in forming a
Baptist church, thus establishing the first
church of that denomination in Hartford
County ; and Joseph Hastings was settled as
its pastor in 1768. He continued his labors
there until his death in 1785, and was suc
ceeded by his second son, John Hastings.
The Rev. Joseph Hastings married for his
second wife Elizabeth Huxley, daughter of
John and Experience (Gibbs) Huxley.
Their eldest son, Joseph Hastings, inherited
a double portion of the estate. He was a
farmer, and continued to reside at Suffield
until his decease. He married, first, Sarah

ff

JOHN KIMBERLY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

543

Remington, of Suffield, a daughter of Daniel
afid Sarah (Winchell) Remington. To them
seven children were born. The eldest was
Joseph, who, like his father, inherited a
double portion, which included a part of the
old home farm. He was a life-long resident
of Suffield, and died June 2, 182 1. He was
married four times. His third wife, Elizabeth
Granger, was born October 30, 1760, daughter
of Abraham and Elizabeth (Olds) Granger;
and she died September 27, 1802. Their
second son, William, grandfather of Dr. Hast
ings, inherited a part of the old homestead,
and, having purchased the interest of the
other heirs, resided there until his decease,
which occurred April 26, 1879. He was a
prominent citizen of this locality, serving as
Selectman of the town, and was twice rep
resentative to the State legislature. The
maiden name of his wife was Lydia Reming
ton. She was a daughter of Abijah and
Silence (Rising) Remington, of Suffield; and
she died March 14, 1847.
Joseph Creighton Hastings, son of William
and Lydia, was carefully trained to agricult
ural pursuits, and now resides upon a part of
the original Hastings property. He married
Orpha Warriner Worthington, who was born
at Agawam on January 5, 1825, daughter of
David and Orpha (Warriner) Worthington.
A genealogical record of her family has been
carefully compiled by George Worthington,
of Cleveland, Ohio. She died November 12,
1866, having borne two sons — Judson Worth
ington and Charles W. Hastings.
Judson Worthington Hastings, after pur
suing the primary branches of learning in the
public schools, attended the Connecticut Liter
ary Institute at Suffield, where he fitted for
college, and then entered Brown University at
Providence, and graduated with the class of
1 876. He taught school for one year in Suf
field and was principal of the grammar school
of Broad Brook, Conn., for a like period,
after which he began the study of medicine
with Dr. J. K. Mason at Suffield, and then
attended lectures at the College of Physicians
and Surgeons in New York City. He was
there graduated in 1881, and shortly entered
on the duties of his profession at Feeding

Hills, where he opened his office, and has
continued to reside. In addition to his large
home practice, as a popular village doctor,
he is often called to distant parts of the sur
rounding section, being widely recognized as
a most skilful medical practitioner.
On November 18, 1880, Dr. Hastings was
united in marriage to Miss Mary Matilda
Thomson, daughter of Lyman and Mary
(Turner) Thomson, of Monterey, Berkshire
County, Mass. ; and they have five children,
as follows: William Thomson, Joseph Rem
ington, Percival Vining, Philip Worthington,
and Helen Matilda. Dr. Hastings is a
Democrat in politics, and has held the office
of Town Clerk and Treasurer since 1888.
He is actively interested in the welfare and
advancement of his community, both himself
and wife being members of the Baptist church.

OHN KIMBERLY, one of the older
merchants of Springfield, and a Director
in the John Hancock Bank, was born
in Hamden, Conn., November 16,
1820, during the administration of President
Monroe. His grandfather, Ezra Kimberly,
though a farmer, was also engaged in shipping
at Woodbridge, Conn., owning one-half a
merchant vessel which was captured by the
French in the French and Indian War. He
had a son, another Ezra Kimberly, who mar
ried Mary Mansfield, daughter of a Revolu
tionary soldier.
The junior Ezra Kimberly was born in
Woodbridge, now called Bethany, in April,
1794. At first he was in the trade of cloth
fulling and dressing; but, after leaving home,
he kept a store of general merchandise in
Hamden. In 1837, while the country was
agitated by the great financial panic, Ezra
came to Springfield, and opened a similar store
on the corner of Hickory and Walnut Streets,
near the water-shops ; but after two or three
years he removed to the corner of Mill and
Central Streets, where his son John is now
located, the place having been in Kimberly
hands since 1840 — a date which makes it the
oldest of its kind in the city. There Mr.
Ezra Kimberly remained until his death, in

544

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1867. While Springfield was only a town,
he held the office of Selectman ; and, when
the city government was organized, he was
chosen to the Common Council, and, by virtue
of seniority in age, presided over its first meet
ing. In i860 he was elected to the legislat
ure, when the Republicans were coming into
national power. Buying considerable land
near his store, he profited by its rise in value.
There were four children in his family — John,
who is our special subject; Mary, the wife of
Elisha Gunn ; William and Rensselaer, both
deceased. The parents were always Episco
palians, and the father was on the committee
which erected the oldest Episcopal church in
Springfield. The mother was born at North
Haven in 1800, and died in 1870, having com
pleted her threescore years and ten.
John Kimberly studied both in Hamden,
Conn., and Springfield, completing his educa
tion in the Springfield High School, then
taught by Simeon B. Calhoun, whom he held
in the highest esteem, and who was afterward
an Oriental missionary. In 1841, the year
in which he attained his majority, the young
man went into the store with his father, the
firm being known as Ezra Kimberly & Son.
Even family history repeats itself. In 1867,
after twenty-six years, the senior partner
died ; and the style of the firm was changed
to J. Kimberly & Co., the grandson having
been taken into the firm — a relation which
has already continued a little over twenty-six
years. The present senior partner has been
much interested in building and buying houses
for rental, and owns the solid brick house
where he has lived since 1855. He has been
a Director in the John Hancock Bank since
1870, and is connected with other corporate
bodies. With the exception of serving five
years on the School Board, he has held him
self aloof from office-holding.
In 1842 he married Sarah Amelia King,
daughter of Horace King, whose farm of six
teen acres is now a part of the city. They
have two children — Frederick Horace Kim
berly, born in 1843, who is with his father;
and Louise Anne, born in 1845, who lives at
home. Though the family business is still
carried on in the old store, the establishment

has been greatly improved with the advance of
the times. On another page near by may be
seen a portrait of this esteemed citizen.

ENRY CLARK, of Wilbraham, was
born in this town October 24, 1841,
(s I son of Horace and Lovina (Jones)
Clark. The father was a native of
Windsor, Conn., son of Roswell and Roxavena
Clark. He began at an early age to earn his
own living, finding employment on a farm.
He was a young man of industrious and frugal
habits, and saved most of his earnings until
he was able to purchase a small tract of land
in the eastern part of Springfield, which he
occupied and worked for several years. He
then sold, and bought a tract in the town of
Wilbraham, and, as his means accumulated,
purchased other land until he found himself
the owner of five hundred acres. He erected
good farm buildings, and otherwise improved
his property, and resided thereon until his
death at the age of eighty-one years. His
wife, Lovina Jones, was born in Wilbraham,
and was the daughter of Elijah and Mary
(Phelps) Jones. She died at the age of
eighty-three years, after a useful, well-spent
life. She reared five children — Francis E. ;
Mrs. Jane E. Hall; Mrs. Juliet Shaw; Mrs.
Carrie A. Atchinson ; and Henry, our special
subject. IPenry Clark laid the foundation of his edu
cation in the district school, supplementing
his primary studies by attendance at the
Wilbraham Academy. He resided with his
parents until his marriage, and then settled
on that part of the homestead which he now
owns and occupies. The farm is pleasantly
located on Maple Street, formerly known as
Stony Hill Street, is well cultivated, and has
good buildings. On May 31, 1865, Mr. Clark
was united in marriage to Miss Jane E. Pease,
of Wilbraham, which is the town of her nativ
ity. Her father, James Cleland Pease, was
formerly from Enfield, Conn., and settled in
Wilbraham in young manhood, purchasing a
farm, upon which he resided, engaged in
agricultural duties, until his death at the age
of sixty-one. The maiden name of his second

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

545

wife, the mother of Mrs. Clark, was Mary
Terry. She was born in Wilbraham, and was
the daughter of the Rev. Ezekiel Terry, who
combined the occupations of printer and
preacher, practising the latter calling in the
churches of the Baptist denomination. He
spent his last years in Wilbraham. His wife
before marriage was Mehitable Lord. The
mother of Mrs. Clark died in her seventy-
ninth year. She reared eight children, by
name as follows : Jerome, Monroe, Amanda,
Charles, George Frank, Jane E., Gilbert PP.,
and Emma O.
Mr. and Mrs. Clark have one daughter,
Florence B. , now the wife of Silas D. Warner,
residing in Springfield, and mother of one
daughter, Katherine Warner. Mr. Clark is a
Republican in his political principles, and
cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. That
he has the confidence of his fellow-townsmen
may be gathered from the fact that he has
filled various offices of trust, and was elected
to the State legislature in the fall of 1888.
He and his wife are members of the First
Congregational Church of Wilbraham, and for
their excellent qualities of head and heart are
people much honored and respected in the
community.

HOMAS F. ENGLISH, senior member
of the firm of English & Donahue,
publishers and editors of the Spring
field Tribune, has been identified with news
paper work for many years, and is perfectly
conversant with the mechanical as well as the
literary department of the business, being a
practical printer as well as editor-in-chief.
He was born in Troy, N.Y. , December 6,
1862, a son of John and Winifred (Moran)
English, both of whom were born, reared, and
rriarried in Ireland. The father was a native
of Birr, King's County; while the mother,
who is now a resident of Troy, was born in
Tipperary. After their marriage they emi
grated to Canada, locating in Montreal, where
they lived for a few months before settling in
Troy in 1861. The father was a tailor by
trade, but his career was cut short by acci
dental drowning three years after his arrival

in that city. He left three children, as fol
lows : Anna M, a teacher in the public schools
of Troy; John B., a resident of the same
place; and Thomas F., of whom we write.
Having completed his studies at the Troy
High School, after attending both public and
parochial schools in that city, Thomas F.
English began the battle of life as a clerk in
a grocery store. At the age of eighteen years
he came to Springfield ; and, taking a stool at
the compositor's case in the office of the
Daily News, he diligently set himself to
learn type-setting, and during the time that
he remained there became master of the print
ing trade. Returning to Troy within two
years, Mr. English worked as a type-setter
on the Pi'ess, Budget, and Standard, and sub
sequently was engaged for a year or more on
the Holyoke Democrat. Going thence to New
York City, he was employed in the composing-
room of the World and other papers, but came
back to this city to take the position of fore
man on the Tribune, which had just then been
purchased by Daniel H. Mullaly, formerly of
the Holyoke Democrat, and assisted in bring
ing out the first issue. The paper was
formerly known as the Catholic Herald, and
was for many years conducted by Mr. O'Hara,
who is now engaged in the practice of law.
Mr. English retained his connection with the
paper as foreman, and also did some writing
for it, until he entered into his present part
nership with Mr. Donahue, which has proved
very successful. Under the administration
of the present firm the paper has been en
larged to an eight-page, seven-column, twenty-
inch paper, published weekly, its circulation
has been greatly increased, and it is now the
leading Catholic paper west of Worcester.
Mr. English is possessed of an energetic
spirit, good executive and literary ability,
and a practical knowledge of journalism, and
has proved himself eminently fitted for the
business he has undertaken. He is an es-
teeiSied member of the Church of the Sacred
Heart and of the St. Vincent de Paul So
ciety connected with the Sacred Heart Parish.
On August 31, 1 891, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Mary Barry, a native of Spring
field and the daughter of Michael Barry, of

546

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the same city. Both are highly respected in
the social circles of which they form a part,
and have warm friends throughout the city.

KREDERICK W. QUIGLEY, a skilled
carpenter, contractor, and builder, of
Chester, Mass., where he occupies a
high position among the solid business men
of the place, was born in this town, June 26,
1852. His parents were William and Jane A.
(Baker) Quigley, the former also a native of
Chester, and the latter of the State of Con
necticut. The paternal grandfather, William
Quigley, Sr. , was one of the early settlers of
Chester, and was a prominent man in his day.
He owned a good farm within the limits of
the town, and was engaged during his entire
active life in agricultural pursuits. He was
also a member of the State militia, holding
the rank of Captain. He was a man who had
a high regard for the moral and religious du
ties of life, and both he and his wife were
attendants of the Congregational church. In
politics he was an old-time Whig. He had
nine children, all of whom reached maturity,
and two of whom are now living.
His son William, father of Frederick W.,
as he grew to manhood acquired a practical
knowledge of farm life and labor. He also
learned the trade of stone mason, which he
followed in connection with farming for many
years. A man of energetic nature and indus
trious habits, he was "diligent in business,
serving the Lord." He spent the greater
part of his life in the town of Chester, where
he died at the age of seventy-one years, re
spected and honored by all who had known
him. Both he and his wife were church mem
bers. She died in middle life, at the age of
forty-eight. They were the parents of eight
children, two of whom now survive — Freder
ick W., whose name heads this article; and
Minnie L., now residing in the State of
Those deceased were : Eugene, who
the age of four years ; and Edward,
Belle, William, and Ruth, all of
whom reached maturity.
Frederick W. Quigley was the youngest but
one of the family, and was reared in the town

Ohio.
died at
Lester,

of Chester, receiving his education in the
public schools. In early manhood he engaged
in various occupations, but in 1878 he entered
into his present business, in which he has
since achieved signal success. This is un
doubtedly due to his mechanical skill, his
good business ability, and the habits of self-
reliance and continuous application which he
has steadily cultivated, besides a quick intel
ligence, which enables him to perceive and
seize upon every opportunity of advancing him
self along the lines of progress and successful
enterprise. He has accumulated some valu
able property, being the owner of some twelve
tenements in Chester, besides his own pleasant
and homelike dwelling. He employs from
two to five men ; and his building operations
extend beyond the limits of Chester, embrac
ing the towns of Blandford and Huntington
and the surrounding country, and reaching out
into the States of New York and Connecticut.
His marriage, which occurred in Tallahas
see, Fla., October 24, 1889, united him to
Miss Anna Gilmore, a native of Nova Scotia,
and daughter of William and Maria (Fuller)
Gilmore, the former of whom is now deceased,
but the latter a resident of Dorchester, Mass.
Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore had eight children,
five of whom still survive; namely, Morton,
Foster, Edwin, Ella, and Mrs. Quigley.
Those who died were Alfred, Martha, Eveline.
The father was a respected and intelligent
farmer, and his death occurred at the age of
seventy-six. Mr. and Mrs. Quigley have one
son, Carl F. Quigley, born June 23, 1892,
a bright and promising boy. The family are
among the best-known and most respected
residents of the town of Chester.

iDWARD R. ORCUTT, senior member
of the real estate firm of E. R. Orcutt
& Co., prominent dealers in realty
in the city of Springfield, Mass., is a clear
headed, far-sighted, enterprising young man,
with sufficient energetic perseverance to insure
him success in anything he undertakes. He
is a native of Hampden County, having been
born in the town of Wales, January 14, 1861,
a son of William G. and Sarah J. (Gale)

EDWARD R. ORCUTT.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

549

Orcutt. His mother was born in Wales, and
was a daughter of Tyler Gale. William
Orcutt, father of William G. , was the de
scendant of a prominent Massachusetts family,
and was himself a well-to-do farmer, spending
his last years in Manchester, Conn. Mitch
ell's "History of Bridgewater, Mass," records
the name of a William Orcutt who with his
wife Martha removed to that town from Scitu
ate in the seventeenth century, and whose will,
dated 1694, mentions ten children.
William G. Orcutt was born in 1836, in
the town of Woodstock, but removed with his
parents when but a boy to Wales, where he
resided until 1870. He learned the painter's
trade when a young man, but soon after estab
lished himself in mercantile business, opening
a grocery store in Wales, to which during war
time he added a meat and provision business,
keeping the leading store of his little village.
In 1870 he removed to Monson, where for
eleven years be engaged in painting, going
thence in 1881 to Boston, where he resided
until his death, December 22, 1893. His
union with Miss Gale was celebrated in 1858,
and she still occupies their residence in Bos
ton. A woman of true Christian character,
she is a consistent member of the Methodist
Episcopal church. Four children were born
to her and her husband, namely: Edward R. ;
William G., Jr; Ella S. ; and Milton.
Edward R. Orcutt, having completed his
school education in the Monson Academy,
learned the hatter's trade in that town, and
also, while working with his father, became
familiar with the trade of a painter, at which
he worked until twenty-seven years old. He
subsequently became a clerk and a commercial
traveller, selling gentlemen's furnishing goods
and jewelry throughout Western Massachu
setts, New Hampshire, ^nd Vermont, finally
leaving the road, in 1892, to settle in Lowell,
Mass. He there entered the office of Quimby
& Co., dealers in real estate; and, having be
come thoroughly acquainted with the business
while with them, he came to Springfield the
following year and in April, 1893, opened an
office in the Fuller Building, at No. 317
Main Street, one of the finest and most cen
tral locations in the city, and has since built

up an extensive business. Buying seventy
acres of land adjoining Forest Park, he platted
it and divided it into three hundred and sixty-
nine building lots, the subdivision being
known as " the Oaklands." On this the firm
are constantly making improvements, laying
out and hardening new streets ; and, when
they have it completed, it will be one of the
finest residential parts of this beautiful city.
Through their influence the street car company
have extended their line to this quarter; and
many of the lots have already been sold, the
venture proving an unquestioned success.
Aside from this valuable property, Mr. Orcutt
also owns stock in various manufacturing com
panies of Springfield, and bids fair to rank
among the wealthy men of the city.
Mr. Orcutt was united in marriage August
14, 1889, to Miss Cora L. Fisher, a daughter
of William Fisher, of Marblehead, Mass. ;
and the only child of their union is a bright
little lad named Randolph Milton. Socially,
Mr. Orcutt is an influential member of the
order of American Mechanics and of the Red
Men. Religiously, he and his wife attend and
aid in supporting the Universalist church.
The portrait of this genial, liberal-minded
gentleman which graces another page will be
readily recognized by his friends and acquaint
ances.

1859,

,EV. JOSEPH SCOTT, a member of
the New England Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, with
which he has been connected since
is widely known and respected as a
zealous, able, and faithful laborer in the ser
vice of his Master. According to the customs
of the denomination with which he is con
nected, Mr. Scott has been a worker in many
different fields, and in each he will long be
remembered as a man of remarkable influence,
a wise friend, sagacious counsellor, and spir
itual adviser.
He was born in Guysboro, Guysboro
County, Nova Scotia, January 17, 1828, a son
of John and Maria (Cook) Scott. His par
ents reared a family of ten children, two only
of whom are now living, the other being his

SSo

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

brother, Abijah D., a resident of Danvers,
Mass. The father was a farmer by occupation
and a very prominent member of the Meth
odist church of Guysboro, where he spent all
of his life. Both the maternal and paternal
ancestors of Mr. Scott were pioneers of the
north-eastern part of Nova Scotia, the paternal
grandfather, Abijah Scott, having emigrated
from the United States to Guysboro, where he
reared his children. The Scott family are of
pure Scotch descent, and have inherited in
a marked degree the habits of industry and
thrift and the deeply religious natures of that
sturdy race.
The subject of this sketch received his pre
liminary education in the common schools of
his native town, and later pursued his aca
demic studies at the New York Conference
Seminary in Charlotteville, N.Y. Having
decided to enter the ministry, Mr. Scott then
took a course of study at the theological semi
nary in Concord, N.H., from which he was
graduated in 1857. He entered the New
England Conference in 1859, and in 1861 was
ordained as an Elder. His flrst pastorate was
in Millbury, Mass.; and the following two
years he was stationed at Sudbury, Mass.,
going from there to Milford, where he re
mained three years. In 1866 Mr. Scott took
charge of the Union Street Methodist Episco
pal Church in Springfield, laboring here with
faithful zeal for three years, and spending the
next two years in Fitchburg. During the
years of 1872, 1873, and 1874 he filled the
pulpit of the Church Street Methodist Episco
pal Church of Boston, Mass. ; and after that
he became pastor of the church in Maiden, a
few miles from that city.
In 1876, his health being impaired by his
assiduous labors in the ministry, Mr. Scott
returned to Springfield, and, building a resi
dence on Allen Street, has since been num
bered among its most esteemed and influential
citizens. He has, however, never relin
quished his ministerial work. During the
years 1876 and 1877 he supplied the pulpit of
the church at East Longmeadow, and the next
three years had charge of the Asbury Street
Methodist Church in Springfield. Apart from
his professional duties, Mr. Scott has taken

an intelligent and active interest in local and
State affairs, and in 1881 was elected on the
Republican ticket to the State legislature.
While there serving, he was appointed one of
the Committee on Parishes and on the Liquor
Law; and in the great contest on the latter
question he took quite a prominent part. He
was subsequently elected Chaplain to the
Hampden County House of Correction, and is
now Chaplain of the Springfield Almshouse,
having served since 1881. He served in the
same capacity for two years during his resi
dence in P'itchburg. Mr. Scott was also Pro
bation Officer for nine years, having been
appointed by the board of aldermen. Of
those whom he let out on probation for one
year less than seven per cent, were returned,
which is considered a fine record of judgment.
He has given special attention to philan
thropic subjects, and is deeply interested in
the reformation of criminals, believing that
in every human heart some seed for good may
be implanted. He still preaches much of the
time, supplying pulpits whenever called upon.
On June 21, 1859, the Rev. Mr. Scott was
united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Proctor,
a daughter of Joseph and Lucy Proctor, of
Lynn, Mass. Two children, a son and a
daughter, were born to them, but both have
passed to the higher existence. Socially, Mr.
Scott is a member of the Springfield Lodge,
A. F. & A. M., and also belongs to the Ris
ing Star Chapter. Officially, he is a member
of the Quarterly Conference of the Trinity
Methodist Episcopal Church of Springfield.
He is ever in sympathy with all movements
tending to promote intellectual, moral, and
spiritual advancement, extremely earnest of
purpose, and exerts a beneficent influence in
the community in which he lives.

'EREMIAH C ANTHONY, M.D., one
of the leading physicians and surgeons
among the younger men in the profes
sion now practising in the city of
Springfield, Mass., was born here, March 21,
1865, youngest son of Patrick and Margaret
(Dillon) Anthony.
His father, who was a native of Cork

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

551

County, Ireland, emigrated to this country
nearly fifty years ago. He was a carriage
blacksmith by trade, and, although getting on
in years, still kept up an active interest in the
business until his death, April 26, 1895.
His mother- was born in Limerick, Ireland,
and, after her father, John Dillon, died, came
with her mother to America, and settled in
Chicopee, about three miles from the city of
Springfield. Patrick Anthony and his wife,
Margaret, had six children. The first was a
son, named Denin, who was drowned in the
Connecticut in his tenth year. The other
children are: John F., Annis, Margaret,
Mary, and Jeremiah C, of this sketch. The
family are Roman Catholics, being members
of the Cathedral Parish in Springfield.
Jeremiah C Anthony finished his school
education at the high school on State Street,
which gives an excellent course in mathe
matics and languages; and after graduation,
in 1882, he went into the drug business as
clerk in the Massasoit drug store, where he
remained several years, afterward working a
short time with the owner of another phar
macy. He then went to the Jefferson Medical
College in Philadelphia, taking a full course,
with the advantage of additional instruction
in the preparation of drugs. He was grad
uated in the class of 1891, and after an
experience of some months in the hospital
returned in May, 1892, to Springfield, where
he opened an office in Foote's Block, corner
of State and Main Streets, afterward remov
ing to Pynchon Bank Block, and has already
built up a fairly good practice. With the
city's growth and the natural decadence of the
oldest practitioners, the young physicians, and
Dr. Anthony among them, will find full scope
for their activities. Dr. Anthony takes a
cordial interest in governmental affairs, and
as a wide-awake and energetic man of the
times has been a delegate to different political
conventions.

K RANCIS D. LOOMIS, a flourishing
manufacturer of paper whip buttons in
the town of Westfield, was born in
West Springfield, Mass., March 9, 1820, son

of Rodney and Lucy (Mumford) Loomis, both
of whom were natives of Hampden County,
the mother's birthplace being Longmeadow.
Obadiah Loomis, father of Rodney, was an
early settler in West Springfield, where he
was a well-known and popular character. He
was a farmer by occupation, and died at a
good old age after a life of useful toil.
Rodney Loomis grew to manhood in West
Springfield, and on arriving at suitable age
turned his attention to teaming and farming
as a means of gaining a livelihood. He was
a hard worker, and was successful in acquiring
the necessaries and some of the comforts of
life. He owned a farm in West Springfield,
near the old White Church, besides possess
ing other property. He was a liberal in his
religious views. His death occurred in West
Springfield, at the age of forty-two years.
His wife, Lucy Mumford, who was a member
of the Congregational church, died at the age
of thirty-seven. They were the parents of six
children — three sons and three daughters —
only two of whom now remain, namely: Fran
cis D. and his sister, Mrs. Sophia Jane
Reeves, who resides in Suffield, Conn. The
deceased were William, Mary Ann, Timothy,
and Amanda.
Francis D. Loomis received his education
in the common schools of his native place.
Owing to the early death of his parents he
was obliged to assist in supporting himself at
the almost infantile age of eight years, mak
ing himself useful in various ways for his
board and lodging. At sixteen he began to
learn the shoemaker's trade of Henry Cooley,
lately deceased, remaining with him four
years, and then engaged in business for him
self in West Springfield, where he remained
for two years, at the end of that time remov
ing to Easthampton. After a short stay there
he went back to West Springfield, and from
there to Springfield. His next move, in the
early fifties, was to Westfield, where he found
employnient with the American Whip Com
pany, representing this company for seventeen
years as travelling salesman. He had also
three years' experience as drummer for other
companies. At the end of this time, tired of
a wandering life, he gave up the road, and

552

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

opened a hardware store in Westfield, the firm
being known as Lamberton & Loomis. In
the course of three months Mr. Loomis bought
out his partner, and carried on the business
alone for twelve years, when he disposed of it.
In the spring of 1886 he established the
business of manufacturing paper whip buttons,
under the firm name of F. D. Loomis & Son;
and in 1889-90 he erected his present shops,
which are well fitted with the most improved
machinery, and form an excellent plant. Mr.
Loomis on January 18, 1887, purchased the
patent of the paper button which he now
manufactures; and that the business has
grown may be gathered from the fact that he
supplies all the leading whip factories in the
country to-day. The capacity of the present
plant is one hundred gross per day of finished
buttons, for which there is a large and in
creasing demand. Considering his lack of
early advantages, Mr. Loomis may be re
garded as having been more than ordinarily
successful in life. His advancing fortunes
are due to his habits of industry, promptness,
and perseverance, combined with business
ability and honest methods.
Mr. Loomis was married in Westhampton,
May 19, 1841, to Laura M. Brown, who was
born in Lebanon, Columbia County, N.Y.,
November 5, 1822, daughter of David L. and
Violet (Searles) Brown, both of whom were
natives of Southampton, Mass. The former
was a hotel-keeper at Lebanon Springs, N.Y.,
and later a farmer and wagon-maker in West
hampton. He died in Westhampton, at the
age of sixty-six. Mr. and Mrs. Loomis are
old settlers of Westfield, where they have a
pleasant home. On May 19, 1891, they cele
brated their golden wedding, -receiving the
congratulations of their friends on the happy
anniversary, around which clustered so many
precious memories of youthful hopes, early
trials, brave struggles, and slow but sure suc
cess, shared together in loving companion
ship. They have three children living to be
their comfort in their declining years,
namely: William Horton Loomis, a dentist
in Rockville, Conn. ; Mrs. Eldora Jackson,
wife of F. A. Jackson, of West Plaven,
Conn., in the employ of Sargent & Co., of

that place; and Frank N., now a partner with
his father in the factory. Another child,
John E., died at the age of seven years. Mr.
Loomis is a member of Mount Moriah Lodge,
A. F. & A. M., of Westfield. Politically, he
is a Republican; and both he and his wife
stand high in the estimation of their fellow-
townspeople.

^CjDWIN C BARR, the well-known res-
pi taurateur and caterer, is the founder
"^•^ — ¦ and proprietor of an establishment,
one of the oldest of its kind in Springfield,
which for thirty-five years has enjoyed con
tinuous prosperity and maintained a very high
standard of excellence. By hard and persist
ent work and without the aid of outside capi
tal he has furnished our citizens with a model
restaurant, unsurpassed between Boston and
New York, of which Springfield as well as he
himself has every reason to be proud.
Mr. Barr was born at New Braintree,
Worcester County, Mass., May 31, 1829;
and, in spite of the many trying experiences
he was called upon to pass through during his
younger days, at sixty-five years of age he is
still in appearance almost a young man. He
is the son of Sumner and Susan (Robinson)
Barr. His father, who was also a native of
New Braintree, and who followed the trade of
a carpenter and builder, moved from that town
to the city of Worcester when Edwin was
about six years of age. After remaining there
for two or three years, he removed to Oakham,
where he passed the remainder of his life, his
decease occurring some ten years since.
Edwin C Barr made the best of the limiited
opportunities afforded him for obtaining an
education, attending the public schools at
Oakham only during short intervals, when
farm work was dull; for at the age of ten
years he was sent to work for a farmer who
resided some distance from his own home.
At the age of fifteen he began to learn the
shoemaker's trade, and continued at that for
about six years, being employed by the
Batchelors at North Brookfield. In 185 1,
when the gold fever was at its height, young
Barr resolved to try his fortunes in California,.

EDWIN C. BARR,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

555

going by way of the Isthmus, and landing at
San Francisco with only three dollars in his
pocket, but fortunately having escaped the
dreaded Isthmus fever, which had attacked,
with fatal results, many of his companions.
At Stockton, seventy-five miles from Sonora,
his intended destination, he was forced to
inform his companions that, being without
means, he could not proceed further, when a
stranger returning from the mines, happening
to overhear the conversation, generously ad
vanced to him a few dollars, which enabled
him to joyously continue on his journey.
After two years of fair success in the
mines, which was, however, attended with
many trials - and vicissitudes, he returned
East, and, purchasing a life lease of the farm
upon which his father then resided, opened a
restaurant in Clinton, Mass., which he con
ducted for a year. In 1855 he again went to
California, locating this time in the vicinity
of Trinity River in the northern part of the
State, am.ong his companions being an uncle
of Robert L. Knight, of this city. The sec
ond trip, like the first, was attended with
more or less satisfactory results ; and upon
his return to Massachusetts he opened a
restaurant in Springfield, on the east side of
Main Street, two doors below Brewer's drug
store, which he conducted from 1858 to 1862,
when he again turned westward, this time,
however, shaping his course for Montana,
where he remained two years, mining a part
of the time, and also keeping a restaurant,
until, fully satisfied with his frontier experi
ences, he decided to return East for good.
This he did, and established his present
business, the building near the corner of Ver
non Street having been erected and fitted for
bis special use. When once he. had decided
to remain here permanently, Mr. Barr intro
duced into his business an energetic policy
which caused it to increase rapidly, until it
has reached its present vast proportions, all of
which is the result of active business ability
and a ready appreciation of what the people
want, together with a perfect willingness to
supply their demands, at no matter what the
cost may be. His reputation has gone far
beyond the scenes of his local trade, and his

services as a caterer are in demand beyond the
limits of the county, and even as far distant
as Brattleboro, Vt. The following letters are
selected from the many testimonials which he
has received from his numerous patrons, the
second referring to a collation for two thou
sand guests : — May 16, 1892,
Mr, Edwin C. Barr:
Dear Sir, — We -were very much pleased at the way
you served us in Springfield, and the fellows say it was
the best dinner they have had since they have been in
Amherst. 1 shall be happy to spread a good word for you here.
Very truly, ^^^^ ^ ^^^^^^
^Business Manager A mherst Otio.
Aug. 18, 1892.
Edwin C. Barr, Springfield, Mass. :
Dear Sir, — It gives me great pleasure to say to you
that we were all more than pleased with your conduct
of the collation served on the grounds of Mr. Julius J.
Estey, on Wednesday eve, the 17th, on the occasion of
the celebrating of the completion of our 250,000th
organ. The service was perfect and the provision ample.
Yours truly, EsTEY Organ Company,
Julius J. Estey, Treasurer.
Estey Organ Company,
Brattleboro, Vt., Sept. 3, 1892.
E. C. Barr, Springfield, Mass. :
Dear Sir, — 'We enclose check for  , your bill of
August 26, and again wish to express our satisfaction
at the manner in which you handled the crowd and sup
plied their needs. Yours truly, Estey Organ Company,
By L. N. Hawley.
His first wife, whom he married in 1852,
and whose maiden name was Adeline Stone,
was born in 1832, and died in 1865, leaving
three sons and one daughter — George, Edgar,
Jesse, and Emma, all of whom are living with
the exception of George. On July 14, 1868,
he married for his second wife Miss Minnie
E. Arthur, and by this marriage has one son
— Walter Sumner Barr. His sons Edgar and
Walter are interested with him in the busi
ness, and ably second his efforts in preserving
the enviable reputation he has acquired dur
ing a period of thirty years, in which he has
constantly endeavored to satisfy the demands
of a public who show their appreciation of his

556

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ability in this direction by substantially sup
porting his enterprise with a most liberal pat
ronage. He also conducts another restaurant
at Northampton, which enjoys a similar
prosperity. Although a Republican, Mr. Barr is inter
ested in politics only as far as voting is con
cerned, not having sufficient time to give
governmental affairs any further attention.
He is a member of Hampden Lodge, A. F.
& A. M., and the Springfield Commandery,
Knights Templars, also of the Springfield and
Kamp Komfort Clubs.
Few portraits in this volume will be more
widely recognized than the accompanying
likeness of Mr. Edwin C Barr, caterer and
ornamental confectioner, genial proprietor of
Barr's Restaurant, No. 384 Main Street,
Springfield, Mass.

/TTAYRUS lee, a retired farmer, residing
I SX in Hampden, Mass., was born at Ver-
^"U^^ non, Windham County, Vt., Feb
ruary 10, 1820. His father, Caleb
Lee, was born in the same town ; and his
grandfather, Jesse Lee, was born at Killingly,
Conn., of which place his father, John Lee,
was probably a native. John was the son of
Samuel Lee, of Watertown, an interesting
account of whom and his descendants has been
published by O. P. Allen, of Palmer. John
Lee spent the greater part of his life in Kil
lingly, but moved in 1781 to Vermont, where
he died three years later. His son, Jesse
Lee, was reared and educated in Killingly,
whence he removed to Vernon, and, purchas
ing a tract of timber land, erected a log
house, and proceeded to clear and improve a
farm. His wife spun and wove the material
from which the family clothing was made;
and for some years the family table was sup
plied with game from the forests, this to
gether with products of the farm constituting
their sole subsistence. The maiden name of
his wife was Eunice Morgan. Caleb Lee was
reared to agricultural pursuits, and in early
mianbood purchased a tract of land in Vernon,
upon which he settled directly after his mar
riage. He followed the independent life of a

farmer, and died in 1828, at the age of forty-
one years. His wife before marriage was
Eunice Pelton, and she reared seven children,
namely: Aurilla, Sophronia, Juliana, Charles,
Cyrus, Caleb, ancl Chandler. Of these, four
are still living, their combined ages aggregat
ing three hundred and five years.
Cyrus Lee was but eight years of age when
his father died, soon after which event his
mother returned to Somers, Conn. He made
the best of his opportunities to secure an edu
cation in the common schools, and at a very
early age began to assist his mother in sup
porting the family, with whom he resided
until reaching the age of twenty-one. After
his marriage he commenced farming on
shares, and soon purchased a small tract of
land, for which he was to pay four hundred
and fifty dollars. This debt was soon can
celled; and, selling his farm at an advance,
he purchased a larger one in Somers, where
he resided until 1865, when he again sold,
and removed to South Wilbraham, now Hamp
den. The first farm that he bought in this
town he conducted for twelve years, and then
sold it, and removed to his present farm near
the village. His property is pleasantly lo
cated, overlooking Scantic valley, and is
exceedingly productive. Since purchasing
this place Mr. Lee has. invested in another
farm, which is occupied by his son; and he is
also the owner of two hundred and twenty-five
acres of land in the town of Stafford, Conn.
He has now practically retired from active
labor, and lives in the enjoyment of a hand
some competency, which is the result of a
long period of energetic industry and good
management. On March 9, 1843, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Sarah C Cady, who was born
March 9, 1821, daughter of Jesse Cady, a
native and life-long resident of Somers, Conn.
Her grandfather, Jesse Cady, was judge of
Tolland County for a number of years, and, as
far as known, spent his entire life there.
The maiden name of Mrs. Lee's mother was
Abigail Williams. She was a direct descend
ant of the Rev. John Williams who was
taken prisoner at the time of the attack on
Deerfield by the French and Indians in Queen

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

557

Anne's War in 1704, and was carried as a
captive to Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Lee have
had ten children: Sarah; Elizabeth; Warren
F., who died at the age of five years; Hannah
S. ; Frances A. ; John M., who died at the
age of thirty; Albert W. ; Alice H.; Homer
W. ; and Josephine S. Mr. Lee was a mem
ber of the Congregational church for many
years, but now attends the Methodist church,
with which Mrs. Lee has been connected for
fifty-seven years ; and both are earnest church
workers. Politically, Mr. Lee is a Republi
can, and strongly supports the principles of
that party.

^CS^/TlLIAM H. CHAPMAN, LL.M.,
YSV/ attorney and counsellor-at-law, his
*^ ^ practice being confined to the
United States courts, and also patent attor
ney at Springfield and New Haven, is a Penn-
sylvanian by birth, having been born in
Rockville, Chester County, April 27, 1856.
His father, the Rev. Carlos R. Chapman, who
died in Willoughby, Ohio, in 1893, was born
on September 21, 1809, in Tolland, Conn.
He was educated for the ministry, and was for
more than thirty years a clergyman of the
Methodist Episcopal church, belonging to the
-old Erie Conference. He married Susan M.
Beardsley, a native of Williamsport, Pa.,
born November i, 18 19, daughter of Samuel
and Sarah (Matteson) Beardsley, who were
afterward among the prominent residents of
Newark, N.J. Mr. Chapman's grandfather,
Caleb Chapman, who served in the Revolu
tionary War, married a daughter of Benjamin
Burgess, one of the foremost property owners
of Tolland, Conn., and one of its most liberal
and progressive citizens.
William H. Chapman was one of four chil
dren born to his parents, the others being the
Rev. Melville B. Chapman, pastor of the New
York Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church of
Brooklyn, N.Y. ; Elverton R., who is a mem
ber of the firm of Moore & Schley, brokers, at
No. 80 Broadway, New York City ; and Sarah
A., the wife of Professor Edward Merrick,
superintendent of the public schools of Wil
mington, Ohio. After his graduation from

Willoughby College, William taught school for
four years in Ohio, and as a teacher won the
affection and respect of his pupils. He then
spent three years in New York City as United
States Internal Revenue Collector. The fol
lowing year he entered the Patent Office in
Washington, D.C, where he remained ten
years; and in the mean time Mr. Chapman
took two degrees at the Columbian University
in Washington, receiving that of LL.B. in
1880 and that of LL.M. in 1881. While in
the Patent Office, he was an examiner, a pro
fession that requires great ability and a thor
ough knowledge of law, science, mechanics,
and manufactures. His experience there was
of the utmost importance to him in his future
career, the acquirements necessary to the
proper discharge of his duties being equal to
those of a judge in the higher courts.
In 1882 he was admitted to the bar of the
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia,
which is equivalent to admitting him to prac
tice in the United States Circuit Courts.
Leaving the patent office July 11, 1886, he
next opened an office in Springfield, confining
his work almost entirely to patent litigation
and business coming before the Patent Office,
for which he is specially prepared, and to
practice in the higher courts. He has been
pre-eminently successful in his labors, build
ing up a practice unsurpassed by any in this
section of New England, and an enviable
reputation as a learned, sagacious, and honor
able lawyer. He has recently opened an
office in New Haven, Conn., where he prac
tises three days each week, alternating be
tween that city and Springfield, but having
his residence during the last two years in
New Haven. While in Washington, Mr.
Chapman was united in marriage on August
13, 1885, to Miss Jennie E. McGill.

AMES L. SHEPARD, of Westfield,
Mass., who for many years has been
closely identified with the agricultural
interests of Hampden County, was born
in Blandford on the 2d of November, 18 19.
His father, Linus Shepard, was born in the
same town, June 4, 1792; and his paternal

558

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

grandfather, Oliver Shepard, was also a native
of Blandford, born March 19, 1765, being a
descendant of one of the first settlers of the
town, and by occupation a farmer. His death
took place March 7, 1842. His wife, Sally
Scott, was also a native of Blandford, the date
of her birth being December 20, 1770. She
died on the 4th of July, 1822.
Their son Linus inherited the old home
stead, upon which he resided until about
1864, when he removed to Lyons, la., where
his death occurred in 1869. He married Julia
Ann Lloyd, who was born at Blandford, Janu
ary 14, 1794. Her father, James Lloyd, was
born there on the 21st of March, 1762, of
early Welsh ancestry, and died October 2,
1819. His wife, whose maiden name was
Sally White, and who was born in Blandford
on March 9, 1772, survived him many years,
passing from earthly scenes on July 16, 1841.
Mrs. Julia Ann Shepard died in Lyons, la.,
in 1874, at the age of eighty years. The
parental household included four children:
William W., who died in 1836, at the age of
eighteen; James L. ; Julia Elvira, who be
came the wife of Professor William Gibbs,
who was for a number of years a lecturer of
phrenology, and died in Lyons, la., in 1893,
aged seventy-two; Levancia, who married Dr.
Cornelius Teal, and died in Ruthven, la.,
aged fifty-two.
James L. Shepard having received his early
education in the district school, 'advanced by
attendance at Southampton and Wilbraham
Academies, and then began teaching in Ches
ter. The following winter he taught in
Sandisfield, and the next in Granville.
Otherwise he has been engaged in agricult
ural pursuits. He resided upon the old
homestead until the age of twenty-eight, then
purchased a farm adjoining, which he made
his home until 1859, in which year he came
to Westfield, and bought the Dr. Mather
homestead. The house upon this place was
built in 1760, and is in an excellent state of
preservation. It is a commodious frame
building, lined with brick, which at an early
day served as a defence against Indian at
tacks. In addition to the twelve acres in
cluded in this purchase he bought other land.

and engaged in mixed husbandry, including
tobacco-raising. Mr. Shepard was first married, at the age of
twenty-eight, to Cecilia Phelps. She was
born in the town of Otis, daughter of Marcus
and Susan (Smith) Phelps, and died in 1875,
leaving four children: Maria, wife of William
H. Phelps, of Wellington, Ohio; Alice, who
is married to Edward Smith, of Westfield;
Lillie, a teacher in the public schools of
Nashua, N.H.; and Carrie, the wife of
W. W. Gowing, of Lawrence, Mass. Mr.
Shepard was married in 1878 to Miss Sarah
Burr. She was born in Haddam, Conn., and
for a number of years was a teacher in that
State, the last six years that she was engaged
in that profession being spent in the Morgan
School at Clinton. Of her union with Mr.
Shepard there is one child, a daughter, Mary
Eliot. The family are regular attendants of the
Second Congregational Church. Mr. Shepard
was formerly a Whig, and cast his first Presi
dential vote for William Henry Harrison in
1840. Since the formation of the Republican
party he has been a stanch adherent of its
principles. At the time of his first recollec
tion there were no railroads, and all travel
was either by stage or private conveyance.
Farm produce had to be teamed to Boston,
and merchandise had to be transported in the
same manner. He was in Springfield at the
time when the first railroad train pulled into
that city, to witness which important event a
large concourse of people had gathered, some
coming from a distance of many miles. Uni
versally esteemed and respected, there is in his
neighborhood no more popular man than Mr.
Shepard; for he is both cordial and generous,
ever ready to forward all worthy enterprises.

OHN MILTON HARMON, a venerable
resident of West Springfield, a highly
esteemed citizen, who for twenty-six
consecutive years held the offices of
Town Clerk and Treasurer, and whose portrait
is herewith annexed, was born at West Suf
field, Conn., December 17, 1813. ' PPis father,
Ozias Harmon, was born in the same town, as

JOHN M. HARMON.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

561

was also his grandfather, Samuel Harmon, a
farmer, who married a Miss Sheldon. Ozias
Harmon in company with a brother purchased
a farm adjoining the old homestead, where he
resided for a time, and later traded with his
father for the home farm. He died at the age
of seventy-four years. His wife was Cynthia
Taylor, a native of West Suffield, and daughter
of Thaddeus Taylor. She died in 1849, hav
ing reared six children — John Milton, Will
iam E., Cynthia, Jane, James H., and Row
land. At seventeen years of age John M. Harmon
began to learn the trade of a blacksmith, and
after working one year in Suffield came to
Springfield, where he served an apprenticeship
of two years, and then worked as a journey
man at Brattleboro, Vt. , for two years. Re
turning to Springfield, he engaged with a
party of contractors and worked with them in
different places, including Charlton, Philadel
phia, Springfield, and the town of Washington
in Berkshire County. In 1841 he purchased a
shop at West' Springfield, and here followed
his useful trade for many years, and is now
living in retirement at his pleasant home on
Westfield Street, enjoying the profitable re
turns of long-continued skilful industry.
His first wife, whom he married in 1840,
was Laura Ann Fuller, a native of Orange
County, New York, daughter of James and
Nancy (Wheat) Fuller. She was called to
rest in 1876; and in 1878 he wedded for his
second wife Miss Susan A. Perkins, who was
born at East Jaffrey, N. H., daughter of Free
man and Susan (Arnold) Perkins. Freeman
Perkins was a native of Connecticut, son of the
Rev. Ransom and Huldah (Montgomery) Per
kins, and was a machinist by trade. He came
to West Springfield in 1838, and purchased a
house on Elm Street, in which he resided
until his death, July 23, 1855. His father, a
Baptist minister, is supposed to have been
a life-long resident of Connecticut; but his
mother was born in Providence, R. I., and was
a grand-daughter of a very successful physician,
who was a native of France.
Mr. Harmon has had seven children.
Those who have passed away are: James B.,
who died in infancy; Eliza Jane, Mrs. Samuel

Reynolds, who left one child — Laura Eliza
beth;' Harriet Elizabeth; Laura Ann; and
John Milton. The two now living are Mary
and Hernando Ozias. Mary married Charles
H. Bagg, and has two children — Helen
Fuller and Daisy Maud. Hernando Ozias
married Laura Smith, and has two children —
Mary Louise and John M. Mr. Harmon
has also three great-grandchildren — Beatrice,
Maud, and Helen, the children of George
and Helen F. (Bagg) Campbell. In politics
Mr. Harmon was formerly a Whig, but has
been a Republican since the formation of the
party.

NDREW CLARK is a well-known and
much-respected grocer of the city of
Springfield, having built up a fine
trade during the past ten years by
his honest dealings and courteous attention to
the wants of his customers. He was born in
Kingston, Canada, February 18, 1847, being
a son of Peter and Mary (Hanley) Clark.
Mr. Clark is of Scotch ancestry, his pater
nal grandfather, also named Andrew Clark,
having been born in Scotland, although he
emigrated to the north of Ireland previous to
coming to America. He was a merchant
tailor, but after coming to this country he set
tled in Canada, and bought and conducted a
farm of one hundred acres, besides attending to
his trade. Peter Clark was born in Kingston,
Canada, and there learned the tailor's trade of
his father. In 1848 he took up his residence
in Buffalo, N.Y., and there carried on that
vocation until he removed to the town of
Angelica, Allegany County, where he died a
short time afterward, leaving a family of three
children, namely : Andrew and Peter, both
residents of this city; and their sister, Mrs.
Curvick. The subject of this biographical sketch was
brought up by his paternal grandfather, who
lived on a farm about forty miles from Kings
ton, Canada, in the town of Maral Bank,
where he acquired his education. At the age
of twenty-four years he left the farm, and for
a few years was in the employ of the Rath-
bons, extensive dealers in lumber. He subse-

562

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

quently worked for Allen Brothers, having the
charge of their men, who were getting out
railway ties and telegraph poles for the New
York Central & Hudson River Railway Com
pany. In the fall of 1870 he visited his
father at Clarence Centre, expecting then to
go farther West, but, changing his mind, went
to the Pennsylvania oil regions instead. On
the 4th of March, 1871, he came to Spring
field, and went to work for Mrs. General
Barnes for a few days, in order to accommo
date her until she could find some one to fill
the place permanently or for the season. He
had charge of her carriage and horses, and, she
being so pleased with his services that she
offered him special inducements to remain in
her employ, he stayed with her two years.
He was then called to Canada by the illness
of his grandfather, with whom he spent five
months. Returning to Springfield, he worked
on the farm of J. D. Brewer for a year; and
the following five years was in the employ of
Willis Phelps, remaining there until he
leased the Ingersoll Grove estate, and, buying
stock, went into the milk business, having an
extensive route and a good trade. The prop
erty being required for cemetery purposes,
Mr. Clark sold out his stock two years later.
Henry Phelps, knowing him to be a man of
ability and integrity, then persuaded him to
go to Jamestown, N. Dak., to supervise and
manage his farm of one thousand acres. He
there employed from fifteen to twenty men,
and put in about five hundred and fifty acres
of wheat, returning in November.
The succeeding winter Mr. Clark worked in
the Ames shop for N. L. Benoit, his brother-
in-law, who had a large contract to fill. In
the spring he went to work for Newton & Ful
ler, taking charge of their grocery and grain
store, and met with excellent success, al
though he was without previous experience in
that business. In March, 1883, he moved with
them to his present location, but in the fol
lowing November the firm failed, and made an
assignment to J. G. Mcintosh. Mr. Clark
thereupon bought the business and stock from
the assignee, and continued the business for
himself, beginning in a small way at first;
but, as he grew stronger financially, he added

to his stock, making a gradual increase, and
has now one of the leading groceries in that
section of the city. He has been at the same
stand for twelve years, and has recently leased
the place for another term of five years. He
is an energetic and industrious worker him
self, and, besides, keeps three hands in steady
employment. He has accumulated some prop
erty, and four years ago he bought a nice
home for himself and family at No. 26 Forest
Street. On the loth of November, 1874, Mr. An
drew Clark married Mary A. Benoit, a
daughter of Peter Benoit, an old resident of
Springfield. They have a family of seven
children — Selena M., James F., Agnes, Al
fred, Ruth, Edwin, and Gertrude. He and
his family are faithful members of the Cathe
dral Church, and are highly esteemed in their
community as people of intelligence and ster
ling worth.

EV. CHARLES A. PHELPS, an es
teemed preacher of the Adventist faith,
Is V is a valued citizen of Westfield,
Mass., where he was born on April
15, 1837. His earliest lineal ancestor in
America on the paternal side was George
Phelps, a native of England, who emigrated
to this country in 1630.
He settled first in Dorchester, Mass., but
in 1635 removed to Windsor, Conn., and in
1670 came to Westfield, where he died in
1687. His first wife was Philura Randall;
and their eldest son, Isaac, was born in Wind
sor in 1638. Besides holding various town
offices in Westfield, Isaac Phelps taught school
here for several years, beginning in 1702.
He married Ann Gaylord; and one of their
sons was Lieutenant John Phelps, who was
born in Westfield, and married Thankful
Hitchcock. George Phelps, son of John and
Ann, married Huldah Bush, both being life
long residents of Westfield. The next in line
was their son Noah, who was a farmer by occu
pation, and also kept a tavern, spending his
entire life in his native town. His son Will
iam by his wife, Lydia Bush, owned and
conducted a farm about one mile west of the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

563

village, where he also kept a tavern. He
married Abigail Holcomb, of Westfield, whose
father kept a tavern at the junction of Court
and Mill Streets. Their son, Noah B.
Phelps, inherited a portion of the old home
stead in Westfield, upon which he resided
until 1842, when he purchased a farm in the
village, for which he paid one hundred and
forty-five dollars per acre. His land extended
from Franklin Street south to King Street.
He laid out Charles and Jefferson Streets,
and, plotting the entire farm, sold the greater
portion for house lots. He possessed much
business acumen, was very energetic, and
acquired a handsome competence. During his
later years he lived retired, enjoying the fruits
of his early industry. He married Sally
Maria Phelps, a native of West Farms, a
daughter of Salmon and Clarissa (Allyn)
Phelps, the two families, though of the same
name, not being related. She died at the age
of fifty-nine years, while her husband passed
away in his eighty-first year. Both were con
sistent members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. Charles A. Phelps was their only child.
He was educated in the public schools, at
Westfield Academy, and at Burr & Burton's
Seminary, Manchester, N.H., and then studied
dentistry under Dr. E. L. Clark. He began
the practice of his profession in Buffalo, re
maining there a few months, and in 1858 went
to Watertown, Wis., but after a short stay
returned to Westfield. Here he continued in
practice until 1862, when, on the 25th of
August, he enlisted in the service of his
country for a term of nine months, becoming
a member of Company C, Forty-sixth Massa
chusetts Volunteer Infantry. He went with
his regiment to Newbern, N.C, served for
nearly a year, was then honorably discharged,
and returned home. After practising his pro
fession a short time he was engaged for twelve
years in an organ factory, having charge of the
metal department. Early in the seventies Mr.
Phelps turned his attention to the ministry,
and commenced preaching in the Second Ad
vent church. In January, 1879, he went to
Sandy Hill, N. Y. , and after supplying the
pulpit there for four weeks accepted a call to

the pastorate of that church, where he re
mained five years. He next went to Dover,
N. PL, occupying the pulpit of the church
there for three years, and then returned to
Westfield, but in 1889 accepted a call to the
Second Advent church at Rochester, N. Y. ,
to which he ministered three years.
In i860 Mr. Phelps was united in marriage
with Miss Ellen Maria Durkee, a native of
Bennington, Wyoming County, N.Y. , the date
of her birth being September 24, 1838. Her
parents were Thomas and Mary (Otis) Durkee.
This union has been blessed by the birth of
two children — Thomas D., who married Miss
Ada Becker; and Ernest R. Mr. Phelps was
formerly a member of Lyon Post, Grand Army
of the R.epublic; but on his removal to Roch
ester he united with Powers Post of that city.
In 1886 he erected his present beautiful resi
dence, a commodious dwelling on Charles
Street, built in modern style, its site being
land which was once a portion of his father's
farm. To this pleasant home Mr. and Mrs.
Phelps welcome their many friends with
genuine hospitality.

fRY C HAMILTON is the Spring
field freight agent on the Boston &
Albany Railroad, with which he
has been connected over forty years,
since November 6, 1854, when it was called
the Western Railroad. He was born in the
town of Pelham, on April 9, 1834, and is of
Scotch descent, his great - great - great - grand
father being Dr. John Hamilton, pastor of
the Barony Church in Glasgow, Scotland.
The grandfather of our subject was Joseph
Hamilton, and the father was another Joseph
Hamilton. The latter was a farmer in Pel
ham, where he was born, held various local
offices, and was highly respected. He died
on May-day, 1864. The mother, who before
marriage was Sylvia Cowan, died in 1889,
after a quarter-century of widowhood. She
was a daughter of James and Mollie Cowan ;
and her father was also grandfather of J. M.
Cowan, of whom a special sketch, with family
particulars, may be found in this volume.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hamilton had nine chil-

564

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

dren, of whom our special subject was the
eighth. Henry C Hamilton was educated in the
Pelham schools. At the age of twenty, in
1854, he found employment with the old "West
ern Railroad, first as brakeman, and then as
conductor, and for seven years ran regularly
between Springfield and Pittsfield. Then he
was appointed to the post of agent for lost
baggage and freight, and as a spare conductor.
In the latter capacity he transported thousands
of brave soldiers between 1861 and 1865 ; and,
as cars were few, the trips were many. In
1866 he received his present appointment as
freight agent, when the old depot was in use ;
and he is now one of the oldest employees in
this department of the service, having begun
work when the switching was all done with
horses. Under him are seventy or a hundred
subordinates in the Springfield office, which
ranks fourth in the amount of goods handled
by the Boston & Albany Company.
Mr. Hamilton's wife, whom he married in
1865, was Mary Jane Fuller, a daughter of
Orin Fuller, of Chicopee Falls; and they have
one child, Mabel P., born in 1866,, and now
the wife of Louis J. Chandler, of Springfield.
Mr. Hamilton has held himself aloof from
politics, though voting the Democratic ticket.
As a Mason he belongs to Hampden Lodge,
Morning Star Chapter, Springfield Council,
Springfield Commandery, the Masonic Club,
and has taken the Perfection degrees. He
and his wife attend the Hope Congregational
Church. The family home since 1880 is at
66^ State Street, in a lovely part of the city.

"jr^ELIZON SMITH BUSH, one of the
I =1 enterprising young farmers of West-
^J^^J field, was born in this village, Octo
ber 27, 1858, son of Luke and Laura
(Alderman) Bush. He is a lineal descendant
of Samuel Bush, who settled here about the
year 1686. Asahel Bush, the father of Luke,
was born in Westfield, and here followed farm
ing all his active life, and was also an exten
sive cattle dealer, owing his success to hard
work and close attention to business. He was
a man of some prominence, a Democrat in

politics, and served as Selectman and repre
sentative in the State legislature for a number
of years. He was a Universalist in religion,
and was a man greatly beloved by all who
knew him, having a wide circle of friends.
His death occurred at the age of fifty-two.
His wife, Sally Noble Bush, lived to the age
of threescore years and ten. They were the
parents of six children, of whom three are now
living, namely: Luke; Mrs. Amelia Crary, of
Westfield ; and Asahel, of Salem, Ore. Those
deceased are Edmund, Mary, and Seth.
Luke, the father of Delizon S. , was born in
Westfield, in 18 13, received his education in
the district schools and academy, and remained
at home assisting in the farm work until
about twenty-five years of age, when he en
gaged in farming for himself. He inherited
some land from his father, and added more to
it until he had a good farm of fifty or sixty
acres, on which he built a dwelling-house in
1835, and here still resides. He then married
Miss Laura Alderman, a native of Chester,
Mass., born in 1821. She was a woman of
sweet disposition, a consistent member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and beloved by
all who knew her. She died March 20, 1884,
at the age of sixty-three. Mr. Bush emulated
the industrious habits of his father, and be
came a large dealer in cattle, being very
successful in business. He has many times
refused to serve as Selectman and in sundry
other offices, but was sent by the Democratic
party to the State legislature for one term. In
religion he is a Universalist. Mr. and Mrs.
Bush have had five children. Harvey A. died
January 25, 1854, aged eight years and six
months. Luke E. died March 22, 1848, aged
five years and twenty-two days. Asahel H.,
born August 26, 1848, is a lumber dealer in
Wisconsin. Allen A., born in July, 1856,
also resides in Wisconsin. Delizon S. is the
youngest of the family.
Delizon S. Bush is engaged in carrying on
his father's farm, where he grew to manhood.
Its principal productions are corn, rye, and
tobacco, the latter being the main crop. On
February 17, 1890, Mr. Bush was united in
marriage to Jennie Adela A. Coe, who was
born May 25, 1865, in Becket, Berkshire

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

565

County, daughter of Samuel W. and Emma
(Elmore) Coe. Samuel W. Coe was a native
of Colebrook, Conn., born May 20, 1840;
and his wife Emma was born in Monterey,
Mass., January 26, 1846. Both are now
living in the town of Montgomery, and are
attendants of the Advent church. They have
three children — Mrs. Jennie Bush, the eldest;
Edwin J. Coe, a farmer of Blandford ;
Luther G. Coe, who resides- at the parental
home. Mr. Delizon S. Bush is loyal to his
father's and grandfather's political views, and
is one of the prosperous and enterprising citi
zens of his town. He and his wife attend the
Baptist church, she being a member. They
have one child, P''rances Winnifred, a bright
and interesting girl of four years.

(S>Y RTHUR CRAIG, whose death a few
L^ years since caused sincere regret in
J~JJ\ business as well as in social circles,
— ' and who conducted one of the
largest manufacturing enterprises of Spring
field, was born in Bedeque, Prince Edward
Island, in 1833, son of John and Elizabeth
(Owen) Craig. His father was a merchant in
Bedeque, and owned a large farm. Arthur
Craig had one brother and five sisters, one of
the latter of whom is Mrs. William Gardner,
of Springfield.
The boyhood of young Arthur was spent on
the ocean-girt island, where until sixteen
years of age he attended the schools of his
native town. At his father's death, two years
later, the whole care of both the store and
farm devolved upon his young shoulders ; and
at eighteen years of age he was sustaining the
responsibilities of mature manhood. From
1 85 1 until the summer of 1866, a period of
fifteen years, he conducted the family affairs,
and at that time removed from his native island
to Springfield, Mass., where he bought out the
grocery business of a Mr. Perry, who had been
located under the old Union House on Main
Street, near Bliss Street. Establishing him
self as a grocer, Mr. Craig remained at this
stand until the completion of the block on the
corner of Howard and Main Streets, into
which he moved his wares, continuing in this

line of merchandise for a period of fifteen
years. About two years before he sold out
his grocery he had established a baby-carriage
and toy factory on Mill River, in the building
formerly used by Peck & Baker. As the
manufacturing business increased, he found
it demanded his whole attention, and so he
disposed of the grocery. For six or seven
years he gave his time and attention to the
manufacturing of baby-carriages, and then
made a profitable disposition of the plant, and
became travelling agent for the National
Papeterie Company of this city three years
prior to his death, which occurred in April of
1889. Mr. Craig was married t\*ice. His first
wife, who was Miss Sarah Clark, died six or
seven years after her marriage, leaving two
sons — Bertram J. and Stedman W. Craig.
Bertram is at present a travelling salesman for
Charles Hall, and Stedman is employed in the
old paper factory on the corner of State and
Main Streets. The second Mrs. Craig was
Miss Mary A. Green, of St. Eleanor's, Prince
Edward Island. Four children were the issue
of this marriage, two sons and two daughters,
all of whom are living — Melita B., Maud
Alice, Ernest Arthur, and Halloway H.
They are all attending school, preparing them
selves for the various exigencies of life. Mr.
Craig, who was at one time a Presbyterian,
became a communicant of the Episcopal
church before his death ; and the family are
all within that fold of Christian faith. Since
her husband's death Mrs. Craig has continued
to reside with her family in the home he pur
chased about fifteen years ago. This place is
endeared by the associations of her married
life, and is full of memories of her husband,
whose hand planted and tended the shrubs and
flowers about the place. Mr. Craig's natural
love of flowers generally, and of roses espe
cially, led him to beautify the home with
great quantities of the rarest varieties; and
the place is noted for its choice collection of
flowering plants and shrubs. Mrs. Craig still
owns the two handsome houses on Marble
Street which were built by her husband,
one of which is now occupied by one of his
sons.

566

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

T^HARLES M. BUGBEE, of the firm of
I V-^ Charles H. Steele & Co., prominent
\%) grocers and meat dealers at Nos.
243 and 245 Bay Street, is a wide
awake, active young man, well adapted by
education and native ability for the position
he now occupies in the business circles of the
city of Springfield. He is of Western birth,
having first opened his eyes to the light of
this world March 23, 1868, in Oshkosh, Wis.
His father, Hiram D. Bugbee, was born at
East Longmeadow, Mass., son of Jesse, Jr.,
and Mary A. (Ashley) Bugbee, the mother
being a daughter of Stephen Ashley and a
native of East Longmeadow. Jesse Bugbee,
Jr., was born ait Ashford, Conn., son of Jesse
Bugbee, whose wife's maiden name was
Howard. The grandfathers on both sides
were prosperous farmers. The childhood of
Hiram D. Bugbee was passed mostly in Ash
ford, Conn., where he lived until about fifteen
years old, when he accompanied his parents to
East Longmeadow. Some years after, he
went to Collinsville as a temperer in the
Collins Axe Company, and during the war
worked at the water-shops connected with the
United States Armory in Springfield, being
employed in the tempering department. He
enlisted at Springfield in the Thirtieth Com
pany, Unattached Heavy Artillery, August 29,
1864, and was discharged June 26, 1865, at
Fort C F. Smith, by reason of mustering
out of company. He subsequently drifted
westward, going first to Eau Claire, Wis.,
and, after living in various places in that State,
in 1867 settled at Oshkosh, where he engaged
in carpentering and contracting, remaining
there until 1872, when he returned to Spring
field. For nearly a score of years he has occu
pied the house at No. 124 Catherine Street,
and was for a while engaged at his trade of
carpenter and contractor, but for the past six
teen years has been a member of the police
force of this city, being now one of the oldest
men in that department. He is a member of
Hampden Lodge, A. F. &. A. M. He mar
ried Sarah Stanton, a native of Northfield,
Vt. , a daughter of Ezekiel Stanton, Jr., a
native of Barrington, N. H., and his wife,
Phila Hixon, who was born in Stafford,

Conn. Of the four children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Hiram D. Bugbee, one died in infancy
and three are now living, namely: May, wife
of Charles H. Steele; Annie, wife of Freder
ick S. Hoyt, of Springfield; and Charles M.
The subject of this brief biographical notice
was educated in the Springfield grammar and
high schools, and has here spent the larger
portion of his life. He began his mercantile
career with Forbes & Wallace, being a clerk
in their employ for a year and a half, afterward
working for Smith & Murray the same length
of time, thus gaining his first business ex
perience with two of the largest firms in the
city. The following six months Mr. Bugbee
was a clerk in the store of Meekins & Packard,
and went from there to the old store of
Charles H. Steele, then located at No. 51
Bay Street, to take a similar position. Since
that time, 1886, he has been connected with
Mr. Steele, at first as a trusted and faithful
employee, materially assisting in building up
the extensive business they now enjoy. He
was a clerk in the establishment until the ist
of September, 1892, when he became a partner
of Mr. Steele ; and they have since carried on
a lucrative and substantial business, having
opened a special department for their meat
business, and having one of the finest and
most complete stores on the hill. Mr. Bug
bee is a very genial, companionable young
man, a favorite in social circles. He is
connected with the Westminster, the Spring
field Bicycle Club, and the Massasoit Cycle
Club, being a charter member of the latter,
and also one of the Directors. His portrait,
which appears on an adjoining page, will be
recognized with pleasure by his numerous
friends.

B

EACON AMASA L. STEWART, a
farmer, resident in Blandford, Hamp-
^Zi J den County, Mass., an extensive
land-owner, and one of the leading
citizens of the town, was born here, April 30,
1839, son of James and Anna (Lathrop)
Stewart. William Stewart, his grandfather,
a successful farmer and an early settler of the
town, lived to nearly ninety years of age. He

CHARLES M. BUGBEE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

569

was father of twelve children, all of whom are
now deceased.
James Stewart, son of William, was born
March 17, 1797, and grew to manhood and
received his education in Blandford. He was
a farmer also during his lifetime, gaining a
competence by industry and thrift. His farm
consisted of about one hundred and fifty acres,
and is now owned by his son, Amasa L.
James Stewart was 'a Whig in politics, and
later a Republican. He was a member of the
Congregational church, and died at the home
farm, February 18, 1890. His wife Anna was
born in West Milford, New Haven County,
Conn., June 2, 1807, and died February 11,
1876. They had seven children, two of whom
died in infancy — Charlotte D. ; Mary G. ;
Phoebe A.; Spellman J., deceased; Shel
don W. ; Amasa L. ; and Joel F. , deceased.
Amasa L. Stewart spent his early life at
home in Blandford, attending the schools of
the town, and at the age of twenty began to
learn the trade of carpenter, which he has
followed more or less during his life, in con
nection with farm work. Mr. Stewart's first
purchase of land was a small farm of forty-five
acres, bought when he was twenty-one years
of age. Eater he bought a farm of two hun
dred and forty-seven acres north of his present
place, and is still its owner. After living
on that for a time, in 1891 he purchased the
old home farm, on which he has since resided,
having also acquired a tract of woodland in
the town. The possession of land in these
parts naturally involves labor, and Mr. Stew
art has necessarily been a hard worker in his
time to bring about its productive conditions.
He was married January i, 1862, to Miss
Melissa L. Brown, of Blandford, a daughter of
Israel and Louisa (Mitchell) Brown. Israel
Brown was a shoemaker by trade, and also a
farmer. He was born in Blandford, July 23,
1787, and died at the age of sixty-two years.
His wife was also a native of the town, born
August 12, 1797, and died in 1864. Mr. and
Mrs. Brown were attendants of the Methodist
Episcopal church. They had four children —
Mary ]., deceased; Naomi P. ; Elizabeth M. ;
and Melissa L. , now Mrs. Stewart. Mr. and
Mrs. Stewart have had a family of seven chil

dren — Ella. M, wife of Frank Cannon, living
in Blandford; Eva M., Leon D., Lester J.,
all residing at home ; and three infants, de
ceased. The mother is a person of agreeable
personality and intelligence, not only filling
her part in the home, but being an influence
for good among her neighbors and friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are members of the
Congregational church, of which he has been
a Deacon the past fifteen years. He is now
President of the Union Agricultural Society,
having been a Director two years previously.
This society holds an annual fair, which, from
the excellence of its exhibits, is looked upon
as the best among those held in the western
part of Hampden County, thus reflecting much
credit on the active managers and supporters.
Mr. Stewart votes the Republican ticket, and
holds among his fellow-townsmen the position
of an enterprising citizen and a devoted
church leader, as well as an industrious and
capable farmer.

m

ARREN S. BUXTON, State In
spector of Factories, Workshops,
and Public Buildings, was born
at North Woodstock, Conn., January 4, 1839,
and is of English descent. His father,
Simeon Buxton, was a builder and contractor,
who during, the early part of his business
career was foreman of the gun-stocking depart
ment of the Millbury Government Arms Com
pany. He was a prominent landholder in the
vicinity in which he lived, and bore arms dur
ing the War of 181 2. In religious conviction
he was a strong Baptist. His wife, who was
Miss Rebecca Phipps, was a daughter of Jason
Phipps, a soldier in the Revolutionary War,
and was born in the town of Thompson.
They had a large family, of whom the fol
lowing are living : Salem P., Louisa, Simeon,
Austin H., Addison B. , Lucy, Benjamin F. F. ,
Joseph L. , and Warren S, Simeon Buxton
died on September 9, 1854; and his widow
survived him eighteen years, dying in her
eighty-fourth year.
Warren S. Buxton, after attending the
schools of the district and taking a supple
mental course at Wilbraham Academy, began

57°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

to work at the trade his father had wisely
given him as a means of self-support. The
breaking out of the Civil War at this time,
however, put to flight for a time his- ambitious
hopes of carving out a speedy fortune ; and he
enlisted October 15, 1861, in Company K,
Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteer In
fantry, under command of Captain H. K.
Cooley. Mr. Buxton was a participant in
Burnside's expedition to Roanoke Island, and
fought through the battle of Newbern. Dur
ing his entire service he held the positions of
ward master and commissary of the general
hospital, and acted as steward when at Wash
ington, N.C. He was an active participant
in the battles of Goldsboro and Washington,
N.C, and was on one occasion knocked to
the earth by a solid shot. In 1863 an attack
of spinal meningitis completely disabled him,
and on June 10 of that year he received an
honorable discharge. Upon his return to
Springfield he applied himself to the task of
re-establishing his trade, and succeeded so
well that in a few years he was able to devote
himself to contracting and building. His
natural talent for drawing is of great advantage
to him, and he draws his own architectural
designs. Among the most prominent speci
mens of his work are the National Bank Build
ing and the handsome residences of Messrs.
Phelps and Gould on State and Maple Streets,
the last-named building being the first built
with a French roof in the city. Not only in
the city of Springfield, but throughout the
surrounding country, had his reputation as a
builder been established, so that it was not a
matter of surprise to his friends when on
March 16, 1881, he was appointed State In
spector of Factories, Workshops, and Public
Buildings for four counties. His office re
quires that a complete drawing be made of
every public building inspected in his district,
which shall be sent to Boston, and certificates
for which are issued and made obligatory
under chapters 226 and 316 of the Legislative
Acts of 1888. Mr. Buxton was prominently
identified with the establishment of the Rev.
David Allen Read School, of Springfield,
being one of the incorporators of the institu
tion, its builder, and at present its Trustee.

He also had charge of the erection of the
School for Christian Workers, a large building
occupying the corner of State and Sherman
Streets, and the entire supervision of the
building of Hope Church.
In the autumn of 1861 Mr. Buxton was mar
ried to Miss Jean Logan, of West Boylston,
Mass. The one son and only child of this
marriage died in 1880, at fifteen years of age,
leaving an irreparable sense of loss in the
hearts of the parents.
Mr. Buxton has refused to accept political
office, though repeatedly solicited by repre
sentatives of the Republican party, to which
he is devoted. He is a member of Post 16,
Grand Army of the Republic, and of Roswell
Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M. An earnest mem
ber of Hope Church, he was elected Deacon
by the vote of the congregation, but declined
to accept the position, being contented to
continue his church work unostentatiously
and modestl}'. Mr. and Mrs. Buxton have a
pleasant home at 47 Westminster Street.

RRIN E. TILLEY, a prominent in
surance agent of the city of Spring
field, who has been a resident of
Indian Orchard since March, 1864,
was born in the town of Ludlow, November
17. 1833, son of Porter and Asenath (Buck-
land) Tilley. His grandfather was Alexan
der J. Tilley, a well-to-do farmer, who lived
and died at Blue Hill, Granby, Hampshire
County, Mass.
A search for earlier American ancestors
reveals the fact that three brothers — William,
John, and James Tilley — sons of William
Tilley, of England, came to this country prob
ably about two hundred years ago, following
their cousin William, who had emigrated in
1660 and settled in Boston, where he was a
rope-maker. John Tilley, the year of whose
birth in England is given in the family geneal
ogy as 1687, settled in New York State.
Plis son Leonard was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
and there lived till after marriage, when he
removed to Granby, Mass. Leonard Tilley
was the father of Alexander J. above named.
Porter Tilley, son of Alexander J., was born

DANIEL W. WARE,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

573

at Granby. He married young, and came
with his wife to Ludlow, where he spent the
remainder of his life. He was a farmer, but
also had a prosperous business in stone masonry.
He died in May, 1865, his wife surviving him
for some years, dying in June, 1878. Their
eldest child, Franklin, was born before they
left Granby, and is now a prosperous farmer
of the town of Ludlow. Their second son,
Albert J., grew to man's estate, and at the
time of his decease held the position of over
seer in a mill at Holyoke. The youngest son,
Orrin E., is the subject of our sketch.
Mr. Orrin E. Tilley, having received his
education in the schools at Ludlow, engaged
successively in several different kinds of em
ployment, among them the jewelry business.
July 5, 1863, he married Miss Julia E.
Dewey, a daughter of Chandler W. and
Digracia (Buck) Dewey, of Irasburg, Vt.
Mr. Tilley then took up his residence at
Indian Orchard, where he engaged in a gen
eral mercantile and millinery business, which
he conducted successfully for fourteen years ;
and during this period he built a fine brick
block at the corner of Main and Oak Streets.
He finally sold his business to Davenport
Fuller. Finding his health impaired and
desiring a change, he travelled extensively in
the western part of the country, visiting the
Black Hills at an exciting period, being near
by at the time of the Custer massacre. He
went out via Cheyenne and returned by the
Union Pacific Railroad, being away from his
home for three months. He then entered the
insurance business, and now, representing
several companies, is the leading man in his
line of work in Indian Orchard.
Mr. Tilley is a stanch Republican, and has
held quite a number of offices in the service of
his party, having begun his political life as a
ward man. In 1888 he was elected Alderman
from Ward Eight, and was re-elected in 1891.
He has served acceptably on several commit
tees; namely, on Paupers, Departments of
Streets and Sidewalks, Elections and Returns,
and Ordinances. In 1891 he served on all
these, and also on State Aid. He has also
been a member of the city committee for his
ward, and has served as delegate to different

State and other conventions. The temperance
cause finds in Mr. Tilley an able advocate and
practical exemplar. He is a member of the
order known as the Temple of Honor. Mr.
Tilley is a regular attendant and supporter of
the Congregational church, of which Mrs.
Tilley is a member; and he gives freely of
his substance for the support of its various
good works. His home is a charming resi
dence on Hampden Street, where he and his
good wife have lived for fourteen years, dis
pensing therefrom generous and kindly hospi
tality.

ir^ANIEL WILLIAMS WARE, in-
l==| spector for the Smith & Wesson
.—X^y pistol factory in' Springfield, Mass.,
was born at Randolph, January 3,
1 841. His parents were Samuel P. and
Louisa (Williams) Ware, the father having
been born April 18, 1809, and the mother
January 7, 18 10. In religious faith they were
Episcopalians. Samuel P. Ware conducted
the business of a cabinet-maker at Windsor,
Vt. His family consisted of the following
children: Arthur T. , who died while a soldier
in the Civil War; Clarence E. ; Ella E. ; and
Daniel W. Mrs. Louisa W. Ware's father,
Daniel Williams, who was born March 6,
1774, married for his first wife Mary Freeman,
for his second Elizabeth Byam. By this mar
riage he had six children, as follows : Oramel,
born December 8, 1796; Freeman, born 1801 ;
Erminia, born 1804; Daniel, Jr.,
Louisa, Mrs. Ware; and James,
Daniel Williams's father served
in the Revolutionary struggle.
Daniel Williams Ware was educated in the
public schools of Windsor, Vt., and after com
pleting his course at the high school of that
place entered the general store of Edward A.
Wardner at Windsor, where he remained three
years. The needs of his country in the Civil
War then attracted him, with many other young
men ; and he enlisted as a private in Company
H, Tenth Vermont Regiment, with which he
served three years, and participated in the fol
lowing battles: Locust Grove, Mine Run, the
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Toto-

born 1806;
born 1 8 1 7.
seven years

574

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

potomy Creek, Sailors' Run, Winchester,
Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, Manassas Junc
tion, Monocacy Junction, Front Royal, Ber
muda Hundred, Weldon Railroad, and
Petersburg. And he was present at Appo
mattox Court-house, witnessing the surrender
of the Confederate army under General Lee.
During his war experience Mr. Ware had
many marvellous escapes, bullets having passed
through his clothing on as many as fifteen
different occasions. On one of these he was
saved by a book which he carried in the left
pocket of his blouse, a spent ball striking him
with such force as to pass entirely through it,
knocking him down, and leaving a black-and-
blue spot on his breast above the heart. This
incident occurred at Cold Harbor, June lo,
1864. In Butler's works at Bermuda Hun
dred he was prostrated by the fragment of a
shell, and lay unconscious for a considerable
length of time. He was mustered out at the
camp near Washington, D.C, June 22, 1865,
by Government Order No. 26.
Returning to Windsor, Vt. , at the close of
the war, he was appointed Assistant Warden
of the State prison, and, retiring at the end of
two years, was appointed Assistant Postmaster,
in which capacity he served two years and six
months, or until 1870, when he came to
Springfield, to enter the employment of the
Smith Sz: Wesson Company, manufacturers of
the celebrated revolvers, with whom he has
since remained. He is a member of Roswell
Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Morning Star
Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and of Spring
field Council of Select and Royal Masters,
also of the United American Mechanics, E. K.
Wilcox Post, Grand Army of the Republic,
and the Republican Club, being a stanch sup
porter of that political party, upon which ticket
he was elected to the Board of Aldermen from
Ward Seven.
Mr. Ware married Miss Bessie J. Porter,
daughter of Israel Porter ; and they have three
children, who are named as follows: Lil
lian L. , Edith May, and Bessie P. Ware.
The family are communicants of the Episcopal
church, and reside at 42 Florence Street.
A portrait of the useful, patriotic, and es
teemed citizen whose life story is outlined in

the foregoing sketch may be seen on a neigh
boring page.

OHN ANDREW CALLAHAN, prin
cipal of the Nonotuck Street School,
Holyoke, was born at New Braintree,
Worcester County, Mass., and is the
son of Michael and Ann (McNamara) Calla
han. His father was born in Ballybunnion,
County Kerry, Ireland, and his mother in
the vicinity of Boyle, County Roscommon.
The parents came to this country about forty
years ago, settling in New Braintree; and,
when John A. was a few years of age, they
removed to the adjoining town of Barre, where
he was educated in the public schools, graduat
ing from the high school in 1879. Heat once
entered Amherst College, where he was grad
uated in 1883, and then commenced teaching
school at Barre, in 1884 becoming principal
of the Nonotuck Street School in Holyoke, a
position which he has since retained.
He has had from childhood a strong love for
study and research, and since entering his pro
fession he has paid much attention to educa
tional questions. In 1890 he attended the
summer school at Amherst, and in 1891 was
an attendant of the summer school at Martha's
Vineyard, the following summer being passed
in Europe, during which time he visited Eng
land, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium,
Germany, and Switzerland, in 1894 again
attending the Martha's Vineyard summer
school. Since returning from Europe he has
given illustrated lectures on "Scenes in
Foreign Lands." His special tastes are in
the line of history and literature; and he con
siders that these two studies should have a
more important place in our educational sys
tem, as they have a great influence in broaden
ing the mind and refining the sentiments. He
has a high estimate of the public school as a
factor in modern civilization, the object of
which is to unite the human family on the
basis of a common brotherhood.
He has a good financial standing in
community, having made many successful
vestments in real estate, and is one of
heavy tax-payers of the city. He is unmar-

the in-
the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

575

ried. His younger brother, Michael Edward,
who was graduated from Amherst College in
1889, died of consumption October 5, 1891.
His father died at Barre; and he has two
sisters living in Worcester, while his mother,
brother, and a third sister reside in Barre.
Mr. Callahan has invented and patented a chart
on "Longitude and Time" that is highly
praised by educators, and has been sold
throughout the country.

ttaaptain henry McDonald, Dep-
I V^ uty Sheriff, Court Crier, and also
^^^ ^ Captain of Company B, Second
Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer
Militia (otherwise known as the Springfield
City Guards), has been quite prominent in city
affairs, and an official in several of the depart
ments. He was born in New York City, May
19, 1852, and is a son of Charles P. and
Sara L. (Madden) McDonald.
Captain McDonald's father was of Scotch
ancestry, and was born in Dublin, Ireland.
When a young man he immigrated to this con
tinent, locating in New York City, where he
was engaged as a mechanic until his demise,
in July, 1868. He left a family of four chil
dren, namely : Henry, the subject of this
sketch; Charles S. , since deceased; Mary,
wife of John J. Crowley; and Annie, the wife
of George E. Davis, of West Springfield,
with whom the mother makes her home.
Captain McDonald acquired an excellent
education in the public schools of his native
city, and when fourteen years old entered the
United States Navy, being on board the "St.
Mary" and "Hartford" for three years and
four days, and seeing service with the South
Atlantic Squadron, which cruised from Maine
to Jamaica. On leaving the navy, April 13,
1868, he secured work as a mechanic in New
York City. In March, 1870, Mr. McDonald
enlisted in the regular army, in Company
C, Second Infantry, which was in active ser
vice; and during the years he was a member
he was in thirty-eight different States and
Territories, either with the regiment or on de
tached service. This was during the period of
the reconstruction of the South and also of the

Indian troubles, and his experience was varied
and often exciting. For thirteen months he
was with the Seventh United States Cavalry,
and escorted mails, protected railways, and was
frequently in skirmishes. He was in the
South during the troublous times of the Ku-
Klux Klan, seeing active service in nearly all
of the Southern States. He was discharged as
Sergeant in 1875 ; and in May of that year he
came to Springfield, where he has since re
sided. He has always been actively employed,
having been in the United States Armory,
with the Smith & Wesson Manufacturing
Company, and with the Bullard Arms Com
pany while it was in existence. On Septem
ber 22, 1876, Mr. McDonald became a mem
ber of the City Guards. On April 2, 1877,
he was commissioned First Lieutenant, and
on January 11, 1889, was commissioned Cap
tain of the company. He was first appointed
Deputy Sheriff in 1886 by Simon Brooks, a
Democrat, and has served under different
sheriffs since that time, being considered one
of the most efficient under-sheriffs of the
county. He was appointed Court Crier at the
same time, and has continued in the office.
For several years Captain McDonald was a
member of the fire department, and one of its
most popular officers, serving for seven years.
He has always taken an intelligent interest in
the welfare and advancement of the highest
interests of the city, and was for many years
one of the most zealous workers of the Demo
cratic party, continuing to work for the inter
est of that political organization as long as he
could conscientiously carry out their system.
Mr. McDonald was united in marriage
August 27, 1884, to Katie A. Burke, of
Springfield ; and they are the parents of four
interesting children; namely, Charles B. ,
Edna R., Harry PL, and Irving T.

ARVEY KENT, a well-to-do farmer
of Wilbraham, was born in that
town, November 19, 1813. He is
a son of William JCent, a native of
Suffield, Conn.; and his grandfather was, as
far as is known, also a native of that State.
The latter moved to the State of New York,

576

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

where he passed the remainder of his life.
William Kent acquired and followed the trade
of a carpenter, and, after his marriage, moved
to Wilbraham, where he purchased a farm in
the south-western part of the town, which he
operated, at the same time continuing to fol
low his trade. He resided there until his
death, at the age of eighty-two years. His
wife, Dolly Warner, was a native of Enfield.
She died in Wilbraham when over eighty
years of age. The names of her eight chil
dren were as follows: Dolly, Caroline, Will
iam, Harvey, Elizabeth and Mary (twins),
Charlotte, and Jane.
Harvey Kent made the best of his limited
opportunities for obtaining an education in
the town schools. His youth and early man
hood were passed at a time when there were
no railroads, and merchandise was transported
by teams from Boston. The women were em
ployed much of the time in spinning and
weaving, and the entire family dressed in
homespun. At the age of sixteen he com
menced to learn the machinist's trade at South
Hadley, where he remained one year, after
which he returned to Wilbraham, and worked
with his father for a time at the carpenter's
trade, and, upon reaching the age of eighteen
years, bought his time from his father, the
arrangement being that he was to pay the lat
ter the sum of seventy-five dollars on attaining
his majority, thus, as he expresses it, com
mencing life seventy-five dollars behind. The
first winter he chopped wood at twenty-five
cents per cord; and the following spring he
commenced work with Jonathan Dwight at
Springfield, where he remained about two and
one-half years, and from there went to Chico
pee, where he worked as a carpenter for six
years. He then found employment in a
machine-shop to do wood work, and there he
continued steadily engaged for seventeen
years. His next position was with the Ames
Company at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and,
upon the contract being completed, he was
appointed master mechanic in the machine
department of the yard just at the time when
steam-power was being introduced. After
holding that position four years, he resigned,
and returned to Wilbraham, where a year

later he purchased the farm on which he now
resides. In the autumn of the same year he
visited Northern Michigan for the purpose of
superintending the setting up of some machin
ery for the copper mines at Houghton, and
remained there from October until the follow
ing May, when he returned to Wilbraham, and
has since given his entire attention to the cul
tivation of his farm.
In 1838 Mr. Kent was united in marriage
to Miss Harriet Tuck, daughter of Samuel
Tuck, and a native of New Hampshire. She
was called to rest in March, 1888, having
reared two children — Harriet and Elmira.
Harriet married Erasmus Gates, and is now
the mother of four children, as follows: How
ard, George, Mabel, and Myra. Elmira is
now the wife of Rufus Underwood, and has
five children, namely: Bessie, Hattie, Ella,
Emily, and Mary, the two latter being twins.
Mr. Kent voted for W. H. Harrison in
1840, and has been a Republican in politics
since the formation of that party. His pres
ent high standing in the community is the
result of his own personal exertions, and his
life is a fitting example for young men of the
present day to follow.

J CLARK HILL, M.D., a prominent
young physician of Springfield, was
. born on January 25, 1858, at Colches
ter, Chittenden County, Vt., of which
town his parents, Clark and Charlotte (Suth
erland) Hill, were for some years residents.
Clark Hill, Sr., who was of English ancestry,
and followed the trade of a carriage painter
and decorator, was a native of Cornwall, Vt.
He died when his son and namesake was
about five years of age. His wife, the Doc
tor's mother, was of Scotch origin, and was
born at Colchester. She moved to Cornwall
some seven years subsequent to her hus
band's decease, and still continues to reside
there. Studiously inclined from his boyhood, after
receiving his primary instruction in the com
mon schools of Colchester and Cornwall,
Clark Hill, then a fatherless youth in his
teens, prepared for college at the Middlebury

ADDISON M. BRADLEY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

579

High School. He later pursued a three years'
course at the Middlebury College, and at
length entered the medical department of the
University of Vermont, at Burlington, from
which he was graduated in 1884, having been,
while a student, assistant to Professor J. B.
Wheeler in the Mary Pletcher Hospital and
also at the clinics. He first settled at Hay
denville, near Northampton, Mass., where he
conducted a large country practice for eight
years, and whence in 1893, desiring a more
extensive professional field, he came to
Springfield. He has his office and residence
at No. 259 Central Street.
Dr. Plill is a member of the medical socie
ties of both Hampshire and Flampden Coun
ties, having been at one time censor of the
former; and he is also a member of the Mas
sachusetts Medical Society. He is connected
with Hampshire Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at
Haydenville, and is also a member of the
Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Honor.
While a resident of Haydenville, he served
for six years as a member of the School Com
mittee. On March 24, 1885, he wedded Miss
Belle Carpenter, of Burlington, Vt. Mrs.
Hill is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, which the Doctor also attends, al
though he belongs to the Congregational
church.

(s>rDl)ISON M. BRADLEY, of Spring-
tjjj field, Mass., for many years a promi-
Jj\\ nent county official, was born at
— ' Russell, Mass., a few miles west of
this city, March 24, 1825, son of Deacon
Lyman and Dorcas (Braman) Bradley. His
father was born in September, 1786, and was
a son of one of the founders of the town of
Russell. He learned the milling business,
and for many years ran a grist-mill at Rus
sell, following that trade for about fifty years.
Lyman Bradley was twice married, his first
wife being a Miss Hepzibah Dickinson. She
was born May 4, 1789, and died February 14,
1818, and was a sister of Linus Dickinson, of
Long Hill, who was formerly a resident of
Russell. By this wife he had three daugh
ters. For a second wife he married October

18, 18 1 8, Dorcas Braman, and seven children
were born to them^ — six sons and one daugh
ter. There are three sons living, namely:
Addison M., of Springfield; Captain A. J.
Bradley, of Westfield, Mass.; and A. D.
Bradley, of Stonington, Conn., a conductor on
the Providence Railroad. Lyman Bradley
and his wife were members of the Baptist
church at Russell, and he was a Deacon of the
church for many years.
Addison M. Bradley attended school at
Russell in the early years of his life. In
1835, at the age of ten years, he went to
Suffield to work on a farm during the six
warmer months, returning home in the winter
to attend school. The following summer he
spent in the same way at the same place.
During the summer of 1837 he worked on a
farm at Belchertown, and for the next suc
ceeding three or four years he worked in a
brickyard, a bobbin factory, and a chair fac
tory. When he was seventeen years of age,
he drove a stage over the Becket Mountains
for a season, after which he was employed at a
hotel for about three years. At twenty-one
years of age he went to Palmer, and was there
employed for three years in a livery stable
business. Leaving Palmer, he went back to
Russell, and engaged in the lumber business
on his own account, remaining there for about
three years. In October, 1851, he came to
Springfield, and opened a livery stable in
the rear of the Goodrich Block on Hamp
den Street. lie continued in that place for
four years, after which time he sold out,
and, returning to Russell, bought and sold
horses, and also engaged in the lumber busi
ness. This was during the years 1855 to
i860. In the spring of 1856 he was elected Con
stable and Collector and Treasurer at Russell,
which offices he filled all at the same time,
and which he held for four successive years —
1856, 1857, 1858, and 1859. He was ap
pointed Deputy Sheriff at Russell in January,
1857, by Sheriff R. G. Marsh, of Holyoke,
the first sheriff elected by the people. Pre
vious to this time the governor of the State
appointed the sheriffs. In November, 1859,
Mr. Bradley was elected to the State legis-

58o

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lature from the then Eleventh District, com
prising the towns of Russell, Montgomery,
Blandford, Chester, and Tolland. He was on
the Committee on Public Lands during his
term in the legislature. He was reappointed
Deputy Sheriff by Frederick Bush, the suc
cessor of Sheriff Marsh, and served in this
capacity for twelve years. He was Court
Messenger from July, i860, to July, 1868,
and acted as Court Crier for a number of
years. In November, 1868, he was elected
Sheriff of Hampden County, for three years,
on the Republican ticket. After serving
three years, he was twice re-elected, serving
as Sheriff for nine years in all — 1869 to
1877, inclusive. After this Hiram- Q. San
derson was elected Sheriff, and Mr. Bradley
held the office of jailer and master of the
House of Correction for four years and four
months more. He then resigned that posi
tion, and, going to Troy, Vt., bought a stock
farm, which he carried on for ten years, from
1882 until 1892, when he returned to Spring
field, and lived for a year on the Wilbraham
Road. Mr. Bradley was married September 27,
1848, to Sarah A. Rood, daughter of Thad
deus and Fannie Rood. Mr. Rood was a car
riage builder at their home in Palmer, Mass.
Mr. and Mrs. Bradley have three children,
two daughters and one son, namely: Ella A.,
who married V. R. Truesdell, of "West Stock-
bridge, Mass., and who has two children, a
son and daughter — Addison Bradley and
Greta Isabelle; Nettie L., who married
Charles C Davis, of Newport, Vt., and has
one child — Bradley Nelson; and William
A., who is at the present time in Winchester
Park grain store, of this city. The family
are attendants of the Trinity Methodist Epis
copal Church.
At their pleasant home, No. 119 Yale
Street, which Mr. Bradley purchased in 1893,
and where they anticipate spending the re
mainder of their days, Mr. and Mrs. Bradley
have just celebrated the forty-seventh anniver
sary of their marriage. A portrait of this
worthy and well-known ex-Sheriff of Hamp
den County may be seen on another page of
the "Review."

T^HARLES L. HOUGHTON, whole-
I V-' sale and retail dealer in flour, grain,
^Is^^ and hay, whose business is located
at the corner of Dwight and San
ford Streets, Springfield, was born in that
city, January 6, 1861. His father, Marcus
Houghton, was a native of Hardwick, Mass.,
who came to Springfield when a young man,
and there established himself as a contractor
and builder, remaining thus engaged until
1883, when he retired from active business.
He has erected many prominent buildings,
such as the Haynes House, the Cathedral on
State Street, the Wight Block, together with
several private residences. In 1889 he was
appointed Assessor for three years, and in
1892 was reappointed, his term expiring in
April, 1895. He has been for many years
a member and Trustee of the State Street
Methodist Episcopal Church, and is also a
member of Hampden Lodge, Independent
Order of Odd P""ellows. Mr. Houghton mar
ried Betsey Leonard, of Palmer, and they
became the parents of two children: Kate
E., wife of William H. Emerson, of West-
field; and Charles L., whose name appears
above. Charles L. Houghton was educated in the
public schools and the Stebbins Collegiate
Institute of Springfield, and, after completing
his studies, was for a time employed in the
office of the Cutler Company at North Wilbra
ham, which conducted an extensive wholesale
business in flour and grain, shipping their
product to all parts of New England. In
1879 he became travelling salesman for the
concern, his territory comprising the eastern
portion of the New England States. He re
mained so engaged for sixteen years, building
up and retaining a large trade. In 1894 he
relinquished travelling for the purpose of
engaging in business on his own account,
establishing on November i of that year his
present flour, feed, and hay business in the
new Sanderson Block, where he occupies two
large stores, and has the most completely
equipped establishment of the kind in the
city. Mr. Houghton is a Democrat in politics,
but takes no active part in political affairs.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

581

not being an aspirant for public office. He
is a thoroughly practical man, and prefers to
devote his entire time and energy to advanc
ing the interests and enlarging the scope of
his business.

iRS. FRANCES AUGUSTA VAN
WAGENEN, of Holyoke, was
born at West Springfield, Sep
tember 20, 1836, a daughter of
Edward and Samantha (Day) Kneeland. Her
husband, the late Willis Van Wagenen, who
was formerly a well-known business man of
Boston, was born at Sharon, N.Y., February
20, 1838, and was a son of Rynier Van Wag
enen, and grandson of Conrad Van Wagenen,
the family descending from Knickerbocker
ancestors. The grandfather participated in
the Revolutionary War, and was one of the
guardsmen of Major Andre at Tarrytown.
He also served in the Second Battalion of
Somerset, N.J., the place of his birth, later,
when a resident of Ulster County, N.Y., join
ing a company of dragoons in the New York
militia. Rynier Van Wagenen was a tanner by trade,
and also a farmer. When a young man,
Willis was appointed to the position of
Cashier in his uncle's private bank at Scho
harie, N.Y. ; and on December 27, 1865, he
wedded Frances Augusta Kneeland. About
the year 1870 he moved to Boston, where he
held the position of Secretary and Treasurer
of the Shoe Tip Company, which handled
shoe tips and other copper fastenings, and
conducted an extensive business. He re
mained in Boston until his decease, which
occurred August 5, 1883, having been an
active member of the Congregational church
at Dedham and superintendent of the Sunday-
school at the time of his death. He left two
children — Loraine and Willis, who are now
residing with their mother.
Edward Kneeland was born at Hadley, and
passed the greater part of his life as a farmer
at West Springfield. He was one of the best-
known men in these parts, being Postmaster
at Ashleyville for a period of forty years, hav
ing received his appointment from General

Jackson, and held it until his decease. He
was a son of Edward, Sr., and Betsey (Peck)
Kneeland, his father having been a boy of six
years at the period when the Indian massacre
occurred at Woodstock, Vt. ; and he was the
only member of the family, except a nephew
of the same name, to survive that terrible
event. Mrs. Samantha Day Kneeland was a
grand-daughter of Alexander Day, of Ireland
Parish, a son of Joel Day, whose father, John,
Jr., and grandfather, John, descended in a
direct line from Thomas, son of Robert, who
was one of the original proprietors of Hart
ford, Conn. The Day family is further men
tioned in other sketches in this volume, hav
ing been prominent in Colonial history.
Mrs. Van Wagenen's father was born March
24, 1807, and died at Ashleyville, August 26,
1877. His wife was born January 5, 1809,
and she died May 29, 1869, their four chil
dren having been as follows: Frances Au
gusta; Milton, who moved West; Ellen Day;
and Phebe Jane, now deceased, who was the
wife of C C Judd, of this city. Mrs. Van
Wagenen, after attending the schools and
academy at Ireland Parish, took a normal-
school course in New York State, and before
her marriage taught school seven years at
Brooklyn, N.Y. She was a member of the
Congregational church at Dedham, but now
worships with the Baptist society of this city.
Her son is with the Smith, Wilson & Sears
Paper Company.

LIVER U. CHURCH, one of the
leading business men of Springfield,
a member of the firm of Cross &
Church, proprietors of the Century
Manufacturing Company, is a native of
Middlefield, Mass., where he was born October
3, 1864, and is the son of Oliver and Lucy
(Smith) Church.
Oliver Church was also born in Middlefield,
his birth occurring March 12, 1822. He was
a woollen manufacturer, succeeding to the busi
ness of his father, Uriah Church, who moved
from Connecticut to Massachusetts, and estab
lished the first woollen-mill in the town of
Middlefield, carrying it on until his sons took

S82

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

charge of it, the firm name being Church
Brothers. The factory was one of the largest
and most important in Hampshire County; and
Oliver Church had charge of the financial part
of the business until his retirement, in 1888.
Mrs. Church was born in 1828, in Middlefield,
and died there in 1889. She was a quiet,
unostentatious woman, an earnest Christian,
and, with her husband, was a member of the
Congregational church. They reared four
children, as follows: Emma, deceased, who
married H. G. Taylor, of Westfield, Mass. ;
Ella, the wife of Elias P. Burnham, of
Gloucester; Alice; and Oliver U. , the subject
of this brief biographical review.
Oliver U. Church received the rudiments of
his education in the district schools of Middle-
field ; and this was supplemented by a two
years' attendance at the Westfield High
School, after which he pursued his studies
at Greylock Institute, going from there to
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. , where he took a course
at Eastman's Business College. Returning
home, he entered the woollen-mill of his
father, being one of the three hundred hands
employed there, and at one time had entire
charge of the weaving department, remaining
there until he came to Springfield. He was a
very capable business man, and held in high
respect by his fellow-townsmen, who elected
him to the position of Selectman and Overseer
of the Poor when he was scarcely twenty-two
years of age. In 1890 Mr. Church entered the
employ of the Smith & Wesson Manufacturing
Company, staying with them until failing
health compelled him to seek a milder climate
for a while. In 1892 he formed a copartner
ship with Mr. A. G. Cross, a sketch of whose
life appears upon another page of this volume,
the firm being Cross & Church ; and, as the
Century Manufacturing Company, they have
since carried on an extensive and substantial
business, giving steady employment to twenty-
six hands, and keeping one man besides Mr.
Cross on the road. They make a specialty of
butchers' frocks, either cotton or woollen, and
of barbers', bar-tenders', carpenters', grocers',
and waiters' coats, aprons, overalls, jumpers,
etc., it being the largest establishment of the
kind in Western Massachusetts. Mr. Church

has entire charge of the manufactory, and the
establishment has a good power plant at the
corner of Harrison Avenue and Dwight Street.
He is strongly interested in everything per
taining to the welfare of the city which is his
adopted home, and cheerfully puts forth his
best efforts to advance its prosperity. Al
though too busy to accept political office, he
does his duty at the polls, voting the Republi
can ticket at every election.
Mr. Church has a pleasant home at No. 37
Pynchon Street, the presiding genius being his
wife, whose maiden name was Lillian M.
Porter, and to whom he was married November
25, 1892. She is a native of Hatfield, Mass.,
but removed with her father, Theodore Porter,
to Florence, Mass. The union of Mr. and
Mrs. Church has been blessed by the birth of
one child — Oliver Karl. Mr. Church united
with the Congregational church while a resi
dent of Middlefield, and was there quite active
in the Sunday-school. He and his family are
now regular worshippers at the First Congre
gational Church of Springfield.

B

WIGHT L. SHAW, a retired gentle
man of Chicopee, a former overseer
for the Dwight Manufacturing Com
pany, was born in Monson, March
His father, Luther Loomis Shaw,
in the same town in the year 1802;
grandfather, Luther Shaw, was born
1773, and died in 1809. From the
information at hand it is

23, 1822.
was born
and his
there in
most authentic
gathered that their original ancestor in Amer
ica was Abraham Shaw, an early emigrant
from England, who settled at Watertown, and
later at Dedham, where he began to build a
dam across the Charles River. He died in
1638, leaving two sons. Of these, John Shaw
was born at Dedham in 1637; and his son
Nicholas was born in 1662. The next in line
was Joshua, born in 1692, who settled at
Brimfield, where his son, Captain Joshua Shaw,
the great-grandfather of Dwight L. Shaw, was
born in 1 72 1. He purchased a large tract of
land in what is now the town of Monson, which
he improved from a wild state, and followed
agricultural pursuits until his decease in 1793.

JOSEPH C. HANCOCK.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

585

His remains were interred in the Monson
cemetery. Captain Shaw was a representa
tive to the General Court at Boston in the
years 1780, 1781, 1783, and journeyed to and
from the capital on horseback. He carried
one of the two watches owned in Monson at
the time, which is still in the possession of
the family. His son Luther, grandfather of
Dwight L. , was a resident farmer of Monson.
He died at the age of thirty-six years; and his
wife, whose maiden name was Chloe Loomis,
died at the home of her grandson, at the age of
seventy -five years. Mr. Shaw's father, Luther
Loomis Shaw, inherited the old homestead of
over two hundred acres, where three genera
tions were born. He died in Chicopee at the
age of fifty-nine years. His wife was Lydia
Dilliber, of Woodstock, Conn., daughter of
John and Phebe (Beverly) Dilliber. Her
father was a soldier in the Revolution, and
lived to be eighty years old. She died at the
age of forty-three, having been the mother of
sixteen children, three of whom are now liv
ing — Dwight L. , Emeline Beaman, and
Mary S. Merrill.
Dwight L. Shaw, beginning life for himself
at the age of fifteen years, was employed as a
farm laborer for two years, and then entered
a cotton -mill at Thorndike. He was after
ward engaged for a period of five years in a
mill at Chicopee Falls, from which place he
came to Chicopee to enter the employment of
the Dwight Manufacturing Company, and for
nearly a quarter of a century was overseer of
that extensive enterprise. In 1863 he pur
chased a piece of land at Chicopee Street,
upon which he erected his present residence ;
and, having resigned his position in the mills,
he carried on the lumber and grain business
with the most satisfactory results. This,
together with his building operations, has en-
cabled him to realize a handsome competency.
On June 4, 1842, he was united in marriage
to Miss Harriet Amelia Johnson, who was
born at East Windsor, Conn., August 22,
1820, daughter of Fenn and Dina Johnson.
They have two sons living, Elliott Dwight
and Edwin Loomis, and have lost four chil
dren — two who died in infancy; Ida E., at
seven years of age, in June, 1859; and Emma

Iretta, who died December 25, 1884, aged
seventeen. Elliott Dwight Shaw, born May
20, 185 1, a graduate of the State Agricultural
College at Amherst, Mass., is settled in Hol
yoke as a florist. Edwin L. Shaw, born
September 17, 1862, is a farmer at Chicopee.
Although independent in politics, Mr. Shaw
has held many offices of public trust, having
been an Assessor for twenty years, and served
in the legislature in the year 1881. He is a
member of Chicopee Lodge of Free Masons.

OSEPH C. HANCOCK, superintendent
of the water works of the city of
Springfield, is a man possessing in a
marked degree the practical knowledge,
sound judgment, and trustworthiness requisite
for the position which he has so well filled for
three decades, he having first been appointed
to the office in July, 1864. No other man
now occupying a similar position in New Eng
land has served so long as he. Mr. Hancock
was born in South Wilbraham, now Plampden,
June 5, 1832, being a son of John D. and
Celina (Cooley) Hancock.
John D. Hancock, son of Gideon Hancock,
was a life-long resident of that town, his
birth having occurred there in the year 1800.
He was a farmer by occupation, and also fol
lowed the trade of a blacksmith, which he had
learned when young. Pie died in 1846, while
yet in the prime of vigorous manhood. And
his death was a loss to the little community
wherein he had lived; for he was a man of in
telligent and liberal views, in sympathy with
the leading minds of his day, and, although a
Democrat in politics, was a strong Abolition
ist, and likewise a firm advocate of the tem
perance cause. He reared a family of nine
children, of whom the following are now liv
ing: Joseph C, the subject of this brief bio
graphical notice; John D., of Stafford, Conn. ;
James P., of Springfield; and Mrs. Helen
Cushman. Joseph C Hancock was a lad of scarcely
fourteen years when his father died, and he
soon began the battle of life for himself. He
had supplemented his common-school educa
tion by an attendance at the Hampden Acad-

586

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

emy, and after coming to this city he con
tinued his studies in the evening schools;
While living with his parents he had become
familiar with farm work, but afterward learned
the trade of carpenter and joiner, and finally
went into business in Springfield as a contrac
tor. In this he was very successful, having
always sufficient work on hand to keep several
men busy; and, when he was elected to his
present position as superintendent of the city
water works, he had to relinquish eight con
tracts. The water works were then owned and
controlled by the Springfield Aqueduct Com
pany, the city buying them in 1873. Mr.
Hancock is annually elected to his office by
the water commissioners, who have ever
found him so efficient and faithful that he has
received the election for thirty consecutive
years. He is now the only man left who has
entire knowledge of the affairs of this depart
ment, and, with the exception of two men, the
only survivor of the original force as elected in
1864. Over one hundred and sixteen miles of
mains have been laid in the city, all under the
direct supervision of Mr. Hancock, the daily
consumption of water now amounting to four
million three hundred and twenty thousand
gallons, allowing eighty-six gallons to each
inhabitant. This large amount of piping is
kept in excellent condition, the leakage per
mile being very small; and the entire manage
ment of the system reflects great credit upon
Mr. Hancock and his assistants, over whom he
has full charge.
On May 9, 1854, Mr. Hancock was united
in marriage with Miss Jane Stebbins, a daugh
ter of Saltus Stebbins, of Longmeadow, Mass.
They have had six children, but have been
called to part with two. Of the four now
living we record the following: Elva Joseph
ine is the wife of C A. Jones, of Hartford,
Conn. ; Harriet Maria married Charles M.
Sloctim, city engineer of Springfield ; Freder
ick O. is an employee in the Springfield
water works; and Charles Joseph is a pupil
in the Springfield High School. Mr. Hancock
is a valued member of the New England
Water Works Association, and belongs also to
the De Soto Lodge, Independent Order of
Odd P"'ellows, Religiously, he and his family

are regular attendants of the Congregational
church, toward the support of which they con
tribute liberally. As a man of strict in
tegrity, ever ready to identify himself with
enterprises calculated to benefit the public ma
terially or morally, he is greatly respected by
his fellow-citizens. The annexed portrait of
this prominent city official will be viewed with
pleasure, as a likeness of one who has shown
himself to be emphatically the right man in
the right place.

KP:WIS parks, one of the oldest and
most esteemed residents of Blandford,
^ on the western border of Hampden
County, was born in the adjacent
town of Russell, November 2, 181 8, a son of
Robert and Sally (Shurtleff) Parks, and grand
son of Elias Parks. The family were among
the very early settlers in this vicinity, Elias
Parks also having been born in Russell; and
in that town he pursued his earthly course
and there found a grave. He was a hard
working farmer, and lived to an advanced age.
By his first marriage he had but one son —
Robert, above named.
Robert Parks, having grown to manhood in
Russell, there first engaged in farming. In
1836 he moved to Blandford, where he re
mained some years ; but he finally returned to
Russell, and there spent the remainder of his
life, passing away at the age of seventy-four.
He was very successful in his chosen vocation.
In politics Mr. Parks was a Democrat, and in
religion both he and his wife held liberal
views. She was born in Montgomery and
lived to be eighty-five years old. They had
five children, three boys and two girls, three
of whom are now living — Lewis Parks, the
subject of this biography, who is the eldest;
Horace and Dexter, both residing in Russell.
Polly Parks, wife of Gilbert Sperry, died at the
age of thirty-six; and Emily P. Parks died
when twenty-nine years old.
Lewis Parks lived in Russell until about
eighteen, when he removed with his father
to Blandford. He acquired a good practical
education in the district schools of Russell
and Blandford, meanwhile assisting his father

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

587

on the home farm. When twenty-two years
old he bought his first land in Blandford, and
started in life for himself. The family owned
a large tract of land, and he received from his
father eighty acres which he had helped to
earn. On that farm Mr. Lewis Parks lived
seven years, at he expiration of which time he
sold it and bought the adjoining farm of one
hundred acres, which he cultivated for fifteen
years. In 1870 he bought the estate in Bland
ford where he now resides, which comprises
fifty acres, and established here a comfortable
home, remodelling the buildings and improv
ing the place to a large extent. He has since
retired from active business, and now enjoys
the fruit of his years of labor with his grand
daughter, Hattie Parks Herrick, as house
keeper. Mr. Parks has always voted the-
Democratic ticket, and is a liberal in religious
matters. On April 6, 1842, Mr. Parks was married
to Mary E. Cook, who was born in Blandford,
June 27, 1822. She was the daughter of
Prentiss B. and Elizabeth Cook, the former
also a farmer in Blandford. Mrs. Parks, like
her husband, was not a dogmatist in religion,
but held to freedom of faith and a high moral
standard. She died January 23, 1884, leaving
one daughter, Sarah E. , wife of Henry Knox
Herrick, of whom a sketch is given on another
page. Mr. Herrick is a well-to-do farmer and
a member of one of the leading families of the
town.

DOLPH MIELLEZ, one of the leading
florists of the city of Springfield, with
extensive greenhouses for the prop
agation and forcing of flowers and
plants situated on Massasoit Street, has had a
wide and varied experience in the pursuit of
his chosen calling, of which he has acquired a
thorough knowledge. He was born in Hol-
stein, Germany, August 2, 1834, being a son
of Frederick and Ida (Kriedte) Miellez.
He obtained his education in the schools of
the fatherland, and when very young became
interested in horticulture, in which he took his
first practical lessons of his father, who was
a skilful gardener. He subsequently pursued

his vocation for a year in Potsdam, and another
year in Berlin. PPaving thus fitted himself as
a practical gardener, Mr. Miellez next became
superintendent of a large horticultural estab
lishment in Dresden, Saxony, where he re
mained six years, and during the time made
good use of the opportunities afforded him for
perfecting his knowledge of the business.
After spending six months in Hamburg he
spent a year in London and vicinity, visiting
many places, including Windsor, in whose
neighborhood he made an especial study of the
American gardens, gleaning many new ideas, and
for a while having charge of the gardens of Mr.
John Standish, a noted specialist in floriculture,
who received all the fine Chinese plants of
Robert Fortune, the famous traveller in China.
Mr. Miellez was induced to come to Amer
ica by Messrs. Parsons & Co., of Flushing,
N.Y. , extensive growers of nursery stock,
and was appointed superintendent of roses and
grapes, having special charge of the Delaware
grapes, which they then controlled. At the
breaking out of the Civil War the Messrs.
Parsons consolidated their several different
departments; and Mr. B. K. Bliss, who had
greenhouses and gardens in Springfield, situated
where Grace Church now stands, persuaded
Mr. Miellez to come to Springfield to take
charge of his place. Two years later Mr.
Miellez established himself in business on his
own account, having at first a small green
house on Long Hill. In 1864 he removed to
Plainfield Street, where he had larger grounds
and much more glass, amounting, all told, to
fourteen thousand or fifteen thousand feet,
with all kinds of bedding for roses and other
choice plants. While there he started a
similar establishment in Pittsfield, where he
built up a large trade. In 1881 Mr. Miellez
leased his present fine property on Massasoit
Street, where he has six acres of land and
every modern appliance for successfully carry
ing on his business, which consists in prop
agating tropical and other plants and flowers
for decorative purposes.
He is well known throughout this section of
Hampden County as an authority on all ques
tions concerning horticulture or floriculture,
and is an active member of the County Horti-

588

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

cultural Society. He is also influential among
the German citizens of Springfield, and a
valued and prominent member of the Turn
Verein. The maiden name of the wife of Mr.
Miellez was Agnes Vix. She was born in
Strasburg, Germany, but was for many years
a resident of College Point, N.Y. The fol
lowing children have been born of their union;
namely, Agnes, Isabella, Adolph, Frederick,
Cecile, George, and Grace.

'AMES M. COWAN, an extensive coal
dealer of Springfield, and probably the
largest handler of that commodity in
Western Massachusetts, is a native of
Pelham, and was born August 5, 1827, being
a son of John and Susan (Hildreth) Cowan.
The father was born April 27, 1786, and fol
lowed the occupation of a stone cutter in the
above-named town until his death, which
occurred September i, 1866. His wife was
born in Chelmsford, Mass., August 25, 1787,
and lived to reach the advanced age of ninety
years, being finally summoned to a well-earned
rest, November 9, 1877.
After completing his education in the
schools of his native town James M. Cowan
learned the trade of a machinist, and easily
found steady employment in a large saw-mill.
In 1852 he went to Chicopee Falls, where he
operated a grist-mill with considerable success
for a period of two years, at the expiration of
which time he returned to Pelham and estab
lished himself in the manufacture of lumber,
together with bobbins and spools for cotton
and woollen factories, conducting an extensive
and exceedingly profitable business for thirteen
years, under the firm name of James M.
Cowan & Co., his partner being L. M. Hills,
now President of the Amherst National Bank.
The business, which rapidly assumed large
proportions, was wholly in charge of Mr.
Cowan, he being the industrial partner ; and
it required the constant employment of about
sixty men, the average amount of lumber
manufactured per annum being as high as one
million five hundred thousand feet, besides
the amount consumed in the production of
bobbins and spools, which was in itself a large

and important industry. The period in which
occurred the Civil War was one of unprece
dented prosperity to them, and large profits
were the result. Mr. Cowan at length sold his
interest in the business to his partner, and in
1867 came to Springfield, where he entered
the employ of the Boston & Albany Railroad
Company as foreman of the car-shops, his
principal duty being to prepare the cars and
put them in readiness for setting up. He con
tinued with the company in this capacity until
1877, when he again engaged in business for
himself, investing in the retail coal and meat
trade ; but later, finding the coal business
more to his liking than the other, he disposed
of his meat business and gave up his whole
time and energies to the former.
His yards are located along the tracks of the
Boston & Albany Railroad, where he origi
nally commenced his present large trade in
January, 1878; and in 1893 he added a branch
on the New England Railroad, where he re
ceives his stock of Lehigh coal, he being now
the sole dealer of that particular kind in this
locality, and owning a large number of teams,
which supply his wholesale customers in the
adjacent towns. He has handled the Delaware
& Hudson Canal coal for seventeen years, the
closing of river navigation formerly making it
necessary to provide a sufficient quantity for a
period of five months; but his yards are at
present practically connected by rail with the
mines, which enables him to receive his sup
plies during all seasons of the year.
When he first entered the business, he sold
from June 19 to the close of that month four
thousand five hundred tons; and he has un
loaded as high as twenty-two cars in one day,
which was also disposed of in that length of
time. He formerly occupied the entire ground
on Lyman Street where the new railroad sta
tion is now located. Some years since, when
coal took a sudden drop from seven dollars and
seven dollars and a half to four dollars and a
half, many dealers lost heavily, not having
been prepared ; but Mr. Cowan was watchful,
and at the proper time bought heavily, thus
enabling him to meet and supply a large
demand at a handsome profit. Plis yards have
a large trackage, and most ordinary men of

fe* '

, ^

JAMES M. COWAN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

591

business would have some difficulty in securing
the proper placing of cars as they are required ;
but Mr. Cowan seems to have successfully
avoided any trouble of that sort, and is in per
fect harmony with the railroad officials. Some
time since he invented a coal-dumping wagon;
but he has never had time, owing to business
pressure, to push its use among other dealers.
He married for his first wife Miss Alma M.
Bartlett. She died, leaving two children,
both of whom also died within a year. By his
second wife, Ellen Mitchell, of Palmer, he
has had three children, as follows: Grace, who
died young; Mary E. ; and Edward, who is
now attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Cowan
are members of the North Congregational
Church, and Mr. Cowan has been connected
with the York Street Mission for fourteen
years. He devotes his Sundays to missionary
work in the House of Correction, and also
assists the Young Men's Christian Association
in their outside work.
Mr. Cowan is a Republican, though not an
active politician. He formerly held many of
the town offices at Pelham, but during his resi
dence in this city has given his entire atten
tion to his business, devoting what leisure
time he can to church and missionary work, as
above mentioned. All this has necessitated
the output of considerable money; yet he never
has been known to solicit aid in this direction,
whatever he has received by way of assistance
coming to him voluntarily, mostly from his
customers in trade.
A portrait of this diligent and successful
man of business and devoted lay worker in the
church finds an appropriate place in the pres
ent collection of illustrated biographies of
Hampden County worthies.

jEV. JAMES M. CRAIG, the highly
esteemed pastor of the First Presby
terian Church in Newport, R.I.,
is a native of Scotland, born in
Dumfries, May i, 1839. His parents, John
and Mary Ann Craig, were natives of Dum
friesshire. Having attended school in his
early boyhood, at the age of fourteen James
came to America, and, being without re-

so-urces, set to work with zeal and diligence
to acquire not only the means of support, but
also money to defray the expenses of an educa
tion. His first years of struggle were spent
in New York State; and in time he entered
Hamilton College, Clinton, N.Y., from which
he was graduated, and where he received the
degree of A.M. He began his career in life
as pastor of the Presbyterian church in a Wis
consin town, succeeding to other charges later,
both in that State and in the East. Pn Hol
yoke, where he remained five years as pastor of
the First Presbyterian Church, the edifice was
built under his supervision. At the end of
that period of time Mr. Craig accepted a call
to Newport, R. I.
The wife of the Rev. James M. Craig is a
daughter of Morgan E. and Maria M. Westcott,
her name before marriage having been Mary
Louise Westcott. Her family is traced back
to early Colonial times. Stukeley Westcote,
whose name appears in the early annals of
Rhode Island, was a citizen of Salem, Mass.,
in 1636, and was under the pastorate of the
Rev. Roger Williams, whom with friendly de
votion he followed through the wilderness to
Rhode Island. In the autumn of 1638 he
united with eleven others in founding the
First Baptist Church of Providence, it being
the first church of that denomination estab
lished in America. Before this event Roger
Williams had obtained from the Narragansett
Indians a grant of land, and had "executed a
deed giving an equal share with himself to
twelve of his companions," among whose
names that of Stukeley Westcote is recorded
first. Mrs. Craig is of the eighth generation
of his descendants in direct line. The Rev.
James M. and Mrs. Craig are the parents of
four children — James Edgar, Edna L., Clar
ence Stukeley, and Damaris Westcott. Mr.
Craig is a prominent Mason, and is Past Grand
Master of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows of the State of Wisconsin.
James Edgar Craig, eldest son of the Rev.
James M. and Mary Louise Craig, and at the
present time member of the firm of Case &
Craig, agents for the Northwestern Life Insur
ance Company, doing business in the city of
Holyoke, Mass., was born at Farmington,

592

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Washington County, Wis., July ii, 1870.
He attended the schools of his native State in
his youth ; and, when his father came East to
take charge of the church in Holyoke, he
accompanied the family. He was then sixteen
years of age, and had been for a year in the
employ of the Smalley Manufacturing Com
pany, of Manitowoc, Wis. In Holyoke he
found employment with D. Mackintosh & Sons
in the cotton business, and remained with that
house two or three years. When his father
removed to Newport, he gave up his position
here and went to that city, but not to remain
permanently. In a short time he returned to
Holyoke, and in the fall of 1891 entered into
partnership with W. W. Case in the manage
ment of a life insurance business, which has
proved successful to the present time. The
firm of Case & Craig is well known in busi
ness circles as a reliable insurance firm. A
descendant of worthy antecedents, Mr. Craig
may well be counted on to carry forward with
ability whatever may conduce to the welfare of
the community in which he lives.

Wi

ILLIAM LAFAYETTE WEBBER,
Town Clerk of Holland, Mass., a
well-known farmer and lumber
dealer, was born on his father's homestead
in this place, June 16, 1845. He is a son of
William A. and Sarah (Damon) Webber, and
grandson of Adolphus and Sally (Needham)
Webber. His great-grandfather, Reuben
Webber, who was a primitive settler of Hol
land, was a farmer by occupation, his home
being near where G. L. Webber now resides,
and lived to old age. His wife's name
cannot be here recorded. Their eleven chil
dren were named as follows : Frances, Abner,
Asa, Adolphus, Reuben, Harvey, Erastus,
Eli, Sally, Prudence, and Lucinda.
Adolphus Webber was born in 1785. His
occupation through life was agriculture, and
he died at the age of sixty-five years. He was
three times married. His first wife, Sally,
died after becoming the mother of three chil
dren — Mary A., Laurinda A., and Will
iam A. ; and he married for his second wife
Miss Annis Webber, who died in 1821, leav

ing one child — G. L. Webber. His third
wife, Nancy Sawyer, lived to old age without
children. Mr. Adolphus Webber was a Whig,
and held various town offices, including those
of Selectman and Assessor. The family were
members of the Congregational church.
William A. Webber was born in Holland,
June 24, 1818. He purchased one hundred
and fifty acres of land, on which his son now
resides, and in addition to farming carried on
an extensive wheelwright's business. His
wife Sarah died at the age of forty-three, and
left three children — William Lafayette;
Ellen M., wife of Henry W. Webber; and
Mary M., wife of Plollis G. Church. Mr.
W. A. Webber married for his second wife
Mrs. Josephine Church. He died in 1881,
leaving his family in prosperous circum
stances. In politics he was a Whig and later
a Republican, holding the town offices of
Selectman and Assessor, and was also Deacon
of the Congregational church in Holland.
His son, "William Lafayette Webber, was
educated in the public schools of Holland,
and later in the high school of Brimfield.
Having become owner of the homestead by
purchase, and also of forty acres of land ad
joining, making two hundred in all, he carries
on a dairy, and has also invested in the lumber
business. On May 14, 1884, Mr. Webber was
married to Miss Ella J. Blodgett, daughter of
Roswell A. and Mary J. Blodgett. Ros
well A. Blodgett was the son of Roswell and
Charity Blodgett, Roswell having been a
shoemaker and a large land-owner in his day.
William L. Webber is considered one of the
progressive farmers of Holland. A Republi
can in politics, he holds the office of Town
Clerk,- and has been Town Treasurer five
years. He has also served as Selectman, and
has been chairman of the Board of Assessors
fifteen years. Mr. Webber and his family
are members of the Congregational society.

RIiDERICK A. TUCKER, of the firm
of Carter & Tucker, wholesale dealers
in paper, paper bags, and twine, was
born in Willimantic, Conn., June 10, 1861.
His earliest ancestor in this country was John

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

593

Tucker, who emigrated from England in the
early Colonial days, and settled in Connecti
cut. A second John Tucker, grandson of the
first John, was born in Saybrook, Conn.,
March 20, 1785, and was married in the year
1 8 10 to Miss Eliza Beckwith, a daughter of
Elisha Beckwith, of Lebanon, in the same
State. She was born June 15, 1797, and be
came the mother of ten children, of whom the
eldest, Richard, was the grandfather of Freder
ick of whom this sketch is written.
Richard Tucker was born in Saybrook,
February 20, 1812, received a common-school
education, and began the work of life at fifteen
years of age in a cotton-mill, in which he
remained until he reached his majority. He
was married at nineteen years of age to
Delia R. Walden, a daughter of Deacon Silas
Walden. The bride was not yet out of her
teens, having been born in Lisbon, Conn., on
July 25, 1812; and the ceremony that bound
these two young lives together was solemnized
on November 11, 1831. Three children were
born of this union — Julia R. , the first wife
of Mr. Chelsea Cook; David K., the father
of Frederick A. ; and Richard M., a merchant
of Conway. In 1846 Mr. Richard Tucker be
came a travelling salesman for his own goods;
and in 1858 he moved to Conway, Franklin
County, Mass., and began on a small scale to
manufacture the cotton warps which in later
years became so celebrated. His son-in-law,
Mr. Chelsea Cook, was a partner in the enter
prise in 1 86 1. In 1862 they purchased the
Howland & Morse mill, refitted it with new
machinery, and employed in the two mills a
force of eighty hands. In 1876 they began the
manufacture of ball knitting-cotton, now
known as Tucker & Cook's knitting-cotton,
and established a branch of the business in
Springfield, employing in all a hundred peo
ple. Besides the above-mentioned factories,
Mr. Tucker was a partner of the firm of May
nard, Damon & Tucker, manufacturers of tapes
and stay-bindings at Northampton, Mass.
In Conway Mr. Tuckef was for eight years
Postmaster, and for a decade was a Director of
the National Bank of that town. He filled
various offices both creditably and satisfac
torily, and represented many different local

interests. For twenty years he was a con
scientious and active member of the Methodist
church ; and in benevolent works he was
energetic, sympathetic, and generous. Mr.
Tucker was allied with the Republican party,
and was greatly interested in the issues of
the times. From a very limited capital he
evolved, by industry, constant effort, and
strict integrity, a, large fortune and an exten
sive manufacturing enterprise.
David K. Tucker, born in 1834, eldest son
of Richard, was an agent for the Tucker &
Cook manufactory at Springfield. He married
Miss Mary A. Hutchins, who was born in
1837; and they became the parents of four
children — Delia, the wife of Mr. C W.
Roane, of Springfield, and the mother of two
children; Frederick A. ; Homer K. , who mar
ried Emily Howard, daughter of Superintend
ent Howard, of the Boston & Maine Road car
service, and was with the firm of Cutler &
Porter for ten years as salesman, later em
ployed by G. E. Keith, a manufacturer at
Campello, Mass. ; and Edward H., who is
employed by the Tucker & Cook Manufactur
ing Company, and is yet unmarried.
P""rederick A. Tucker, having completed his
education at the Wesleyan Academy at Wil
braham at fifteen years of age, took a position
in the retail drug store of Walden & Flint in
Willimantic, Conn., where he remained for
three years. He then entered the establish
ment of the Tucker & Cook Manufacturing
Company, working there for fourteen years,
with the exception of a year's interval, when
he had charge of the credit department of J. B.
Lewis's wholesale boot and shoe house in
Boston. Upon returning to Springfield, he
became manager of Tucker & Cook's manu
factory. Three years later he formed a part
nership with Herbert W. Carter of this city,
and began wholesale dealing in paper, paper
bags, and twines at 107 Bridge Street. This
enterprise has succeeded far beyond the an
ticipations of the firm, and within the brief
period of its existence has gathered a very large
city trade, besides supplying mercantile houses
throughout New England. They employ two
salesmen on the road constantly, and occupy
the entire building in which they are located.

594

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

which consists of three stories and a basement.
The stand is an old one, having been used as
a paper and twine store before the present
occupants took possession. This building is
well equipped, having a water motor elevator,
which greatly facilitates the moving of goods,
and is of great convenience to the employees.
Mr. Tucker was married June lO, 1882, to
Miss Delia C Hamilton, of Conway, Mass., a
daughter of Gorham and Elizabeth (Mather)
Hamilton. Mrs. Tucker's father, who was
a prosperous farmer, died about fifteen years
ago, since which time the widowed mother
has lived with her. Mr. and Mrs. Tucker are
the parents of two children — Maud Elizabeth,
aged eleven ; and Ethel May, who is nine.
Mr. Tucker is a member of the Republican
Committee of Springfield, and he and his
family are attendants of the First Presbyterian
Church. They reside at 83 Thompson Street.
He is a member of Springfield Lodge, A. F.
& A. M., and Morning Star Chapter, Royal
Arch Masons, both of this city.

V» Vi Or

ILLIAM E. JUDD, principal of the
lolyoke High School, was born at
Grand Rapids, Mich., September 3,
1855, son of Captain Samuel A. and Clara L.
(Smith) Judd, of South Hadley, Mass. Mr.
Judd's father was born May 21, 1834, and en
listed in the Third Michigan Infantry, one of
the first regiments organized in the State at
the commencement of the Civil War. He
participated in several memorable battles,
among them those of Bull Run, Yorktown,
and Williamsburg, and was killed in the
famous engagement of Fair Oaks, on May 31,
1862. William E. Judd began his studies in the
public schools of Grand Rapids, attending the
high school for one year, after which he came
East; and, having prepared for college at the
academy in Monson, Mass., he entered Am
herst College, where he was graduated with
the class of 1874. For the following six years
he was instructor in classics at the Holyoke
High School, and during the subsequent two
years was principal of the Park Street Gram
mar School in that city. He was then ap

pointed instructor of Latin and history in the
public schools of Plartford, Conn., where he
remained for a period of three years, and in
1885 was chosen for the responsible position
of principal of the Holyoke High School, over
which he has presided for the past ten years
with the most pronounced success. Mr. Judd
is possessed of superior qualifications as an
educator, his natural talent and his own
thorough training making him especially
adapted for the arduous and extremely exacting
duties of directing the intellectual development
of the young ; and his untiring labors in that
direction have brought forth good fruit.
Mr. Judd is of the eighth generation in direct
line from Deacon Thomas Judd, of Cambridge,
Mass., 1632, and Farmington, Conn., 1644.
He is a member of Mount Tom Lodge of
Masons, is Past Captain of the Sons of Veter
ans, and a Republican in politics. On July
16, 1878, he married Miss Frances I. Brown,
daughter of James M. and Catherine (Squier)
Brown, of this city; and they have two chil
dren — Mabel L. , born April 14, 1879; and
Samuel E., born April 2, 1884. Mr. and
Mrs. Judd are members of the First Congrega
tional Church, and reside at 14 Pleasant
Street.

April

NRY STETSON ANDERSON,
General Manager of the United
Electric Light Company of Spring
field, was born at Orange, N. J. ,
1870, and is a son of Charles W.
and Harriet Stetson (Newell) Anderson, his
father having been formerly in the brokerage
and insurance business in New York City.
The family, which is of Knickerbocker origin,
have been residents in the metropolis and
closely identified with its business for many
generations. Charles W. Anderson was the
son of Frederick, whose father was a holder of
valuable city property, including that upon
which the Times building now stands; but,
although born in New York City, he resided
at Orange, being there known both as a busi
ness man and a prominent Mason. He is now
living at Charleston, S.C, where his^ business
interests are centred. His wife's immediate

RICHARD F. HAWKINS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

597

ancestors were residents of Newburyport,
Mass. Having laid the foundation of his education
in the public schools of New York City and
Hartford, Conn., Henry Stetson Anderson en
tered a scientific school for the special study
of electricity, and at the age of seventeen years
joined the skilled forces of the Westinghouse
Electric Company of New York City, as assist
ant electrician with one of their contractors,
his duties as such calling him to Hartford and
Springfield, where the company were placing
electric plants. He first came to this city
June 7, 1887, as an employee of the above-
named company, and, receiving a very advan
tageous offer from the United Electric Com
pany, entered at once upon the discharge of
his duties as electrician. For his next step
Mr. Anderson advanced to the post of Superin
tendent, and in 1891 was promoted to his
present office of General Manager of the com
pany. His rise in the United Company's
services was rapid and merited, his extensive
electrical knowledge, together with his busi
ness capacity, making him invaluable.
The Springfield plant is one of the largest
in New England, providing electricity for
lights, both arc and incandescent, and also for
the street railway, it being in every particular
a most extensive and thoroughly equipped
organization. Mr. Anderson is also interested
in the development of the Hercules P'loat
Works, of which he is the Treasurer, an enter
prise incorporated for the purpose of manufact
uring special electrolytic plates. He has
full charge of the Indian Orchard water-power
plant, which is owned and utilized by the
United Electric Company, and was erected
under his personal supervision from plans of
his own, it being the only one of its kind in
the United States, a fact which has been
the means of bringing him into considerable
prominence. He also superintended the re
modelling of the Springfield plant, and was
mainly instrumental in bringing the works to
their present high standard of excellence.
Mr. Anderson has made the theory and
practice of his profession a profound study,
the result being an exceptionally clear con
ception of the nature of this most wonderful

and mysterious agent, electricity. His ability
to impart information' on this most interesting
subject has been shown by his generously con
senting to lecture upon it, illustrating his
statements by numerous successful and exceed
ingly novel experiments. He has had the
honor of being requested to read a paper '
before the American Electric Light Associa
tion, and is a member of the Institute of
Electrical Engineers, whose headquarters are
at New York City. Being still in possession
of his youthful energies and extremely inter
ested in developing the unfathomed resources
of electric power, he is likely long to continue
in the Hne of effort in which he is so success
fully engaged.
Mr. Anderson is an attendant of the Church
of the Unity. He is a member of the Board
of Trade, the Nayasset Club, and Company
K. of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, of
which he is Treasurer and also First Sergeant.

-iQict

HARD FENNER HAWKINS,
proprietor of the R. F. Hawkins Iron
Works, Springfield, was born in
Lowell, Mass., on March 9, 1839,
during President Van Buren's administration.
His parents were Alpheus and Celia A.
(Rhodes) Hawkins. His early education was
received in the public schools of Springfield,
including the high school, his parents having
come hither when he was a small boy. At
the age of sixteen he began work as an office
boy for Messrs. Stone & Harris, railroad and
bridge builders. In 1862, at the age of
twenty-three, he became a partner of D. L.
Harris in the same business, and in 1867 suc
ceeded to the entire control of this very exten
sive plant, which he still conducts. It is
situated on Liberty Street ; and there are
manufactured, among other iron goods, bridges,
steam boilers, castings, and machinery. Being
a natural mechanic, to him is due to a great
extent the development of the use of iron in
building. He erected the New Bedford and
Springfield jails, both largely constructed of
iron. His work is also the Willimansett
bridge near Holyoke, eight hundred feet long,
made of iron. The Northampton iron bridge

598

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

for the Massachusetts f'cntral Railroad, fifteen
hundred feet long, was ;ilso built b) Mr. Haw
kins. The land <>( the Hawkins Iron Works
includes ;il)(iiit twd :icrcs, ujion which are
seven s]):icii)us buildings — foundry, machine-
shops, biiiler-sliDp, briilgc-shop, :ind carpenter-
shop; and employment is given to a hundred
and fifty skilled artisans, besides common
workmen. By the rear of these works pass the
liostun & Albany Railroad tracks, affording
the most complete facilities for loading cars
directly from the yards. All the latest im-
pnjved machinery and tools known to the trade
are here in use, and operated by two steam-
engines of fifty horse-power each. The extent
of the plant is such as to afford the most ample
conveniences for the construction of the largest
wrought-iron pieces needed in railway and
highway bridges, drawbridges, viaducts, tres
tles, plate girders, roofs, turn-tables, and
steam boilers. The construction of tanks and
all structures requiring rivets is facilitated by
the employment of steam riveting machinery
throughout, and such appliances are used as
insure flawless work. It is a significant fact
that no bridge built at the Hawkins Works
has ever broken down, though subjected to the
most extraordinary strains, such as the derail
ment of train.s. The roof and all other iron
work for the Boston & Albany passenger
station at Springfield were furnished by this
company, as were also those for the New York
Central Railroad depots at Rochester and
Ikiffalo. In 1867 Mr. Hawkins extended the
piers on the Connecticut River for the Boston
& Albany Railroad, a great engineering
achievement, (jn account of the quicksand.s,
generally regarded as a fatal obstacle to the
proper di.sposition of the caissons. This job
required two seasons, but, when finished, was
pronounced by exjicrts a structure equal to
centuries of endurance. All the bridges on
the extension of the New York & New Itng-
l;Lnd Railroad, from Waterbury to P^ishkill,
haxT been built by Mr. Plawkins; and he has
ccnnplctcd dthcrs on the Delaware & Long
Island Railroad and in Northern New York.
lie is now building a series of bridges over
Lake C'han-iplain for the Lamoille Valley
Railrciad, which will cnst a hundred and fifty

thousand dollars. The construction of steam
boilers has been made a .specialty by this com-
jiany ; and the Howe truss bridges possess
advantages over all others known to modern
engineering, as they are built to sustain five or
six times the dead weight to which they can
by any reasonable possibility be subjected.
The reciprocal action of each truss on every
other is such as to offer the greatest resistance
to any derangement arising from the sudden
stopping of trains or a sudden reversal of the
strain — this being a consideration of the
gravest import. Both by general structure
and by surface presentation, these truss bridges
are calculated to stand against the maximum
pressure of wind or water. In the iron-casting
department railroad and custom work are done,
and superior material worked over into finest
shape The Hawkins establishment stands a
conspicuous monument to the skill, energy,
and ability of its able manager.
"Enthusiasm is the leaping lightning, not
to be measured by the horse-power of the un-
'^r Skins has for ye- been i.er.ihed
more or less with the current f^^'^lo'eZll
in the community, but has Preferred to devote
his immediate time and energies to th^ dete
of his shops rather than to seeking pol tic
honors. He has, however held he office Jt
Alderman three years, but has invar aby
declined the suggestion to become a candidate
for the mayoralty. He was one of the 01
ganizers of 'the Board of Trade, of -h-h h
was a Director three years, and >.^ ^/"J^^^
of the finance investment committee of the
Hampden Savings Bank. During the d.^co^s
of the Civil War, m ^^^~'. Jl'.rnmeVia
sought concord by marriage with M.ss Cornelia
Morgan Howe, daughter of A B. a"d Sa^ah
(Caldwell) Howe. Their children are P^ul R,
Florence Edith, Ethel, and David S^ Hawkins
A portrait of Mr. Hawkins will be found on
another page of this volume.
mVARD T. FITCH, a prosperous farmer
of West Springfield, was born in tne
^ adjoining town of Westfield, May 11,
1841. His father, Thomas Fitch, was born at

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

599

Bloomfield, Conn., as was also his grandfather,
Justus Fitch, the latter having been a direct
descendant in the sixth generation of Thomas
Fitch, a native of Pmgland, who was one of
the first settlers of Norwalk, Conn. The
father of Justus was a soldier in the Revolu
tionary War. Justus Fitch was a tanner by
trade, and followed that occupation for a num
ber of jears in his native State, later moving
to Westfield, where he passed the remainder of
his life. His wife, whose maiden name was
Betsy Loomis, was a native of Connecticut.
Thomas, father of Edward T. Fitch, after
attending the district schools, prepared for
college at Amherst and Worcester, and gradu
ated at Waterville College, Me., now Colby
University. He did not choose a profession,
but turned his attention to agriculture, and in
1845 purchased a farm in the south-west part
of "West Springfield, where he resided until
his decease, which occurred in 1872. His
wife before her marriage was Laura Shaw.
She was a daughter of Solomon and Rebecca
(Foster) Shaw, of Palmer; and she survived
her husband six years.
Edward T. Fitch was the only child. He
received a good education, relieved his parents
in their old age from the care of the farm,
and, inheriting the old homestead, continued
to reside there until 1889, when the house was
destroyed by fire. He then moved to the farm
on the other side of the road, which he ac
quired by purchase ; and here he carries on
general husbandry and dairying.
In 1877 he was united in marriage to Miss
Ruth Almeda Cortis, of Russell, daughter of
William and Sylvia (Sizer) Cortis. Her
father was a son of Francis and Ruth (Trues-
dale) Cortis, and a native of Connecticut;
but when he was very young his parents moved
to Palmer. After his marriage he settled in
Russell, where he followed farming, and also
engaged in burning charcoal, which was a very
profitable business in those days. He resided
there until his decease in May, 1894. Mrs.
Fitch's mother, who was a native of Blandford,
daughter of Joel and Sylvia L. (Cook) Sizer,
died in July, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Fitch have
three children — William Thomas, Mattie
Alice, and George Edward.

•:NRY kirk wight. Treasurer of
the Indian Orchard Company, and
also a dealer in fuel and cattle feed,
was born in Brimfield, Mass., Janu
ary 28, 1836. The Wight family trace their
American origin to Thomas Wight, who was
living in Dedham in 1636, exactly two hun
dred years before our subject was born.
Captain Nathan Wight, the great-grandfather
of Henry K., was a minute-man in Revolu
tionary times, his name appearing with a com
pany from Bellingham, Mass. ; but he served
in the home militia, not going into the field.
His son, Pliny Wight, was from Wales, Mass.,
and lived a few years in Hartford, Conn., then
returning to his native town to practise law.
Henry K. Wight's parents were Preston
P'letcher and Sabria Nelson (Young) \Vight,
The father, a son of Pliny Wight, was born in
East Hartford, in 1809. He was an overseer
in woollen-mills; but later in life he retired
to a farm in Wales, dying in 1889, at the ripe
age of fourscore. PPis wife, a daughter of
William Young, an old resident of Wales, was
born in 181 3 and died in 1859. Her four
children were: William Harrison Wight, a
Methodist minister, born in 1834, now located
(1895) at Rochester, Vt. ; Henry K. ; Char
lotte Amelia, now deceased, who was the wife
of Charles L. Lord, of Athol; Mary Louise
Wight, a Springfield teacher. The Young
family came from Connecticut. William
Young lived to the advanced age of ninety-two
years. His wife was Hannah Walker, of
Wales; and her brothers were distinguished
for having served in the Revolution. Mr.
and Mrs. Preston F. Wight were members of
the Methodist Episcopal church.
The father's business leading him into dif
ferent towns, Henry went to the lower schools
in Wales, Palmer, and Monson, and to the
high school in Brattleboro, Vt. After some
further study under private tutors, he went
into a woollen-mill, making cloth by the yard
on contract. At nineteen, in Wilbraham,
Mass., he obtained a contract which took him
two years to fill. At twenty-one he became a
dealer in woollen waste at Wilbraham. In
i860 he hired a small mill in Ludlow, Mass.,
and did custom manufacturing until 1874.

6oo

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

In 1868 he began the grain business at Indian
Orchard, building the flour and feed store in
1873, and moving to this place the next year.
He has large real estate interests in Indian
Orchard, and with others in 1875 built a fine
brick block and Wight's Hall on Main Street.
For ten years there was a grocery in that
block, whereof he was part owner. He was
also one of a group of gentlemen who in 1889
bought out the old Indian Orchard Company,
which was reincorporated the next year with a
capital stock of two hundred and twenty-five
thousand dollars. This company manufacture
cotton yarns, giving employment to a hundred
and fifty persons, and own a large part of the
land in the village, covered with blocks and
tenements. Mr. Wight was elected a Director
and appointed agent for the care of the real
estate, positions which he still holds. In No
vember, 1893, he was also made Treasurer of
the company.
Mr. Wight has been interested in the Chap
man Valve Manufacturing Company as a
Director part of the time, and he is also a
Director of the Metallic Drawing Roll Com
pany. In 1875 he was elected Alderman from
Ward Eight, and held the office seven years.
Now (1895) he is serving his second term of
three years on the School Board. He belongs
to Roswell Lee Masonic Lodge and the Nayas
set Club, and also to the Oak Bluff Club in
Cottage City, Martha's Vineyard, where he
spends his summers. His wife, whom he
married December 10, 1863, was Jane Adeline
Eaton, daughter of Deacon Jacob Swetland
Eaton, of Ludlow. They have one child liv
ing — Ralph Waldo Wight, a graduate of the
Springfield High School in 1895. The family
pew is in the Evangelical church at Indian
Orchard.

iHARLES H. MILLARD, general
foreman of the Boston & Albany Rail-
is road Machine Shops, has been con
nected with this company for over
thirty years, for the last eleven years serving
faithfully and ably in his present capacity.
He was born March 29, 1839, in the town of
Levant, now known as Kenduskeag, Me., but

was of Massachusetts ancestry, his grandfather
Millard having been a tiller of the soil in the
town of Wilbraham in this county; and in
that place, on the brow of Stony Hill, his
father, David Millard, first drew the breath
of life. David was reared to a farmer's life,
and after working at various occupations for
some years removed to Maine, where he en
gaged in general farming until 1848. In that
year he returned to Hampden County, and,
settling in Springfield, worked at the black
smith's trade until his demise. He married
Rebecca Perry, who was born in the vicinity
of Kennebunkport, Me., being the daughter of
a sea captain, who was lost at sea when a
young man of twenty-five years. Two children
only were born to them ¦ — Susan P., deceased,
who married A. B. Bush, of Springfield; and
Charles H., of whom we write.
Charles H. Millard obtained the rudiments
of his education in the old red school-house
near the home of his childhood in Maine, and
after coming to Springfield with his parents
continued his studies in the public schools of
this city. Having great native mechanical
ability, he decided to learn the machinist's
trade, and for that purpose, when sixteen years
old, entered the shop of Chapin, Treadwell &
Dwight, where he remained one year. The
ensuing three years he was a workman in the
Springfield Locomotive Company's shops,
Charles W. Kimball being the superintendent,
and there acquired a practical knowledge of
locomotives. After the closing of those shops
Mr. Millard was employed in gas-fitting for a
time; but during the business depression of
1857 and 1858 he went to Newark, N.J., and
there worked in a tool-shop for a year. Com
ing back to Springfield, he spent three months
in the old pump works, going then into the
factory of Billings & Moulton, the senior
member of which firm is now President of the
Billings & Spencer Manufactory at Hartford,
Conn. Mr. Millard worked the succeeding
four years as a maker of tools with Leete &
Co., manufacturers of metallic cartridges,
there being but two or three factories of that
kind in the United States. While working
there he was also engineer of the first steam
fire-engine ever used in the city. On March

f'/^^x^fW:-''

g ^ „'.

LYMAN F. THORPE,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

603

16, 1864, an explosion occurred, the shop
being blown in pieces ; and, although not in
jured, Mr. Millard took that opportunity to
leave the place, a step he had been contem
plating for some time. Going then to Middle-
town, Conn., he worked awhile for D. C
Sage, but, subsequently returning to Spring
field, was employed in the armory for five
months. In September, 1864, he was offered
a position in the machine-shop of the Boston &
Albany Railroad, and remained there nearly
two years. In July, 1866, he began work as
an engine driver on the road between Pittsfield
and Worcester, that embracing two divisions,
his run being from Springfield to Worcester
the larger part of the time, his service in
that capacity covering a period of fourteen
years and three months, the latter portion of
the time running the "Owl Train."
In October, 1880, Mr. Millard was trans
ferred, and advanced to the position of fore
man of the Boston & Albany Railroad shops,
and continued thus employed until the death of
David J. Rose, when he was promoted to the
general foremanship, receiving his appoint
ment F'ebruary i, 1884. This position he has
since held, and in point of service is one of the
oldest officials in the shops, and one of the
most respected men of the company. He gives
his whole attention to his business, and has
ever been found able and trustworthy in every
particular. Mr. Millard was united in marriage, March
29, 1864, to Miss Harriet Russell, a daughter
of Benjamin Russell, .of Springfield ; and they
have one child — Susie E. Millard. Mr. and
Mrs. Millard have occupied their cosey home at
No. 68 North Street for eight years. Liberal
in their religious views, conscientious and ac
tuated by high moral principles, they enjoy the
esteem and good will of the community. In
politicshetakes.no active part, but uniformly
casts his vote with the Republican party.

BYMAN F. THORPE, the venerable
citizen whose portrait may be seen
on the opposite page, has been a
^"^ resident of Holyoke for consider
ably more than half a century. He was

born in the vicinity of Northampton, Mass.,
December 9, 18 16, a son of Collins and
Rachel (Abbott) Thorpe. His father was a
native of North Haven, Conn., born in the
month of December, 1777, and followed agri
culture as a vocation for life, closing his eyes on
earthly scenes April 12, 1841. Mr. Thorpe's
mother was born at Wallingford, Conn., in
1781, and rested from life's labors in 1861,
Mr. Thorpe's paternal grandfather, Timothy
Thorpe, served in the Revolutionary War.
Lyman F. Thorpe received his early educa
tion in the schools of Northampton and the
academy at Westfield, where he prepared for
college. But owing to the death of his father
he abandoned the intention of pursuing a
collegiate course, and remained at home with
his mother until his marriage, when he estab
lished himself at Holyoke upon the property
where he now resides, and followed the inde
pendent life of a farmer. The farm consisted
originally of twenty acres, and for some time
he successfully cultivated the entire tract.
As years advanced, however, he advantageously
sold from it lots for resident purposes, still
retaining a comfortable half -acre for a home
stead ; and here he is now passing the sunset
of his life, which has been a righteous and
thoroughly useful one. He cast his first
Presidential vote for William Henry Harrison
in 1840, and, joining the Republican party at
its organization, has ever since supported its
principles, his last Presidential ballot having
been cast for Benjamin Harrison, the grandson
of his first candidate.
On March 18, 1857, Mr. Thorpe wedded
Miss Eliza M. Barnard, a native of Northamp
ton. Her mother was born at Portsmouth,
N.H., and was the daughter of William Morris
and Maria (Benson) Barnard. Two children
blessed their union, a son and a daughter,
named, respectively, Howard and Clara M.
Thorpe, the first of whom was called from
earth in his infancy at the age of twenty-one
months. The daughter is most happily wedded
to Alfred T. Judd, a son of Harvey Judd, of
South Hadley, and now Secretary of the Judd
Paper Company of this city. On July 27,
1894, Mr. Thorpe was called upon to mourn
the death of his wife, who had for nearly forty

6o4

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

years been his devoted helpmate ; and he is
now waiting patiently the reunion in the life
to come. She was a member of the P'irst
Congregational Church of this city, with which
Mr. Thorpe has been united for nearly sixty
years. He has been deeply interested in
church work throughout his entire life, and
has presided over a Sunday-school class con
tinuously for half a century, having also been
a Deacon nearly that length of time. Of those
who were members of the First Church when
he united with it, he is the only survivor.
His declining years are blessed with the loving
care of his daughter and son-in-law, who reside
with him at the old homestead. No. 256
Hampden Street.

ILLIAM H. PINNEY, of the firm
of Bliss & Pinney, general pro
vision dealers at No. 138 State
Street, Springfield, was born at Chicopee,
May 18, 1840, and is the son of Marcellus
and Amelia (Robinson) Pinney, his father
having .been for many years identified with
the industries of this city, and formerly em
ployed at the United States Armory.
Marcellus Pinney was born at Somers,
Conn., May 5, 1812, where his parents, Oliver
and Lois (Pease) Pinney, were industrious
farming people. He received a fair education
in the district schools; but, having the mis
fortune of being left fatherless at the tender
age of eight years, he was necessarily forced
to depend upon himself very early in life, and
at the age of sixteen years came to Chicopee
Falls to enter as an apprentice the shops of
the N. P. Ames Tool Company, with whom
he worked for a period of fifteen years. He
then joined the mechanical force at the Na
tional Armory, where he remained nearly or
quite thirty years in active service, from which
he retired in 1874. He was a Whig until the
organization of the Republican party, to whose
principles he has since adhered.
Besides having been a member of the first
school board after Springfield became a city,
upon which he continued to serve for several
years, he was Deputy Sheriff under Nathaniel
Cutler. In 1836 he married Miss Amelia

Robinson, daughter of Lewis Robinson, and
had six children, of whom a son died in in
fancy. The others are as follows : Will
iam H,, whose name appears at the head of
this article; Edward Winslow Pinney, now in
the employ of the Swift Company at Chicago;
Richard Warren, who is engaged in the pro
vision business on Mill Street in this city;
Emma L., who married the Rev. George
Skene, and now resides at Cambridgeport,
where her husband is pastor of a Methodist
Episcopal church; and Annie R., who died at
the age of eighteen years. The mother was
called to her final rest in 1893. Marcellus
Pinney is an attendant of the Asbury First
Methodist Church.
William H. Pinney, having received the
rudiments of his education in the schools of
Chicopee, later attended the city schools; and
after remaining two years at the Springfield
High School he entered the store of Messrs.
Purple & Perkins, where he acquired a thor
ough knowledge of the meat business, they at
that time doing their own butchering. At the
age of twenty years he succeeded to the busi
ness of his former employer, which was located
on Mill Street, forming a partnership with his
uncle, O. F. Pinney, who after continuing for
a short time sold out to Mr. Charles E. Brown.
The firm of Brown & Pinney became well
known in the provision trade, which they
conducted successfully for a number of years.
In 1865 they replaced their old building with
what is now called Lincoln Hall Block, the
partnership continuing until 1868, when Mr.
Brown disposed of his interest to Mr.
Arthur L. B. Chapin and Richard W. Pinney,
the latter being a brother of the senior mem
ber of the firm, which then became Messrs.
William H. Pinney & Co. This firm con
tinued to conduct a large and constantly grow
ing business for more than twenty years, when,
in 1 891, William H. sold his interest to his
partners, and thereafter for a term of three
years carried on a wholesale provision trade in
company with James E. Ripley, their place of
business being in Cooley's Block on Main
Street. In 1894 he purchased the interest of
R. P. Richards in the firm of Richards &
Bliss, which has since been changed to Bliss

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

605

& Pinney. The present firm are extensive
handlers of provisions and canned goods of
every description, and, occupying a most ad
vantageous and centrally located position, nec
essarily command a large amount of patronage.
Mr. Pinney has always supported the Re
publican party, and at one time represented
Ward Seven in the Common Council, serving
upon the Committees on Street Lighting, City
Property, and P'ire Department. The follow
ing year he was elected to the Board of Alder
men and served two terms, absolutely declining
a third re-election; but after a year's rest from
the cares of public affairs he was again pre
vailed upon to accept the nomination, which
resulted in his once more taking his seat in
the upper branch of the city government. He
is one of the oldest members of the Roswell
Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and is connected
with Morning Star Chapter of the Royal Arch
Degree, Springfield Council of Royal and
Select Masters, Springfield Commandery of
Knights Templars, Evening Star Lodge of
Perfection, Princes of Jerusalem, and the
Rose Croix.
In 1862 William H. Pinney was united in
marriage to Miss Mary S. Crosby, daughter of
Amos and Mary (Marsh) Crosby, of this city,
her father being for many years a prominent
mechanic. Mrs. Pinney, after becoming the
mother of four children, two of whom died in
infancy, was herself called to rest on Novem
ber 3, 1884. The two surviving children by
this marriage are : Mary Howe Pinney, now
the wife of Edward T. Harwood, of Clifton
dale, who is a son of Edward and Mary Ann
(Howlett) Harwood; and Susie Louise, who
resides at home. For his second wife he
wedded, in 1887, Miss Augusta L. Robinson,
of Orange, N.J. Mr. W. H. Pinney and his
family, which includes his father, the vener
able Marcellus Pinney, occupy a very pleasant
home at 350 Central Street, and attend the
Asbury Methodist Church.
Richard Warren Pinney, formerly a partner
with his brother, William H., in the provision
business, was born at Chicopee, December 22,
1846. He was educated in the public schools
of Springfield, and, after attending the high
school for two years, at the age of sixteen

became a clerk in the post-office, then located
on Elm Street, under Postmaster L. Stowe.
Having remained there about one year, he en
tered the National Armory, where he was
employed in the water-shops for a similar
period, and was next engaged for about three
years as a clerk with Brown & Pinney. He
then purchased, in company with Arthur L. B.
Chapin, Mr. Brown's interest, and remained a
partner with his brother until 1891, when
William H. Pinney retired from the firm,
which has since conducted the business under
the firm name of Chapin & Pinney, the latter
having been a partner for a period of twenty-
seven years.
He has always taken an active interest in
public affairs, and is a stanch Republican,
having been a member of the Common Council,
and was elected to the Board of Aldermen for
the years 1888, 1889, and 1890, during which
period he rendered valuable and distinguished
service upon the Committees on the Pauper
Department, Education, and Enrolment. He
was appointed with the mayor to confer with
the Boston & Albany officials relative to locat
ing the new railway station and the necessary
grade changes to facilitate the erection of the
archway on Main Street. Mr. R. W. Pinney
is connected with Roswell Lee Lodge of
Masons, and is a member of Asbury Methodist
Episcopal Church, of which he has been a
Trustee for four years, and also one of the
collectors. He married for his first wife, in 1872, Miss
Hattie E. Jenks, daughter of Dexter R. Jenks,
of this city, and by this union had four sons —
Edward J., Howard D., Fred R., and
Henry M. The mother having died in 1879,
he wedded for his second wife Miss Carrie B.
Jenks, a cousin of his first wife. Mr. and
Mrs. Richard W. Pinney reside at 310 Central
Street, and she is also a member of the Asbury
Methodist Episcopal Church.

¦OHN EATON CHASE has been a resi
dent of Holyoke since i860, during
which time he has been largely instru
mental in promoting the enterprise and
developing the industrial resources of this

6o6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

flourishing city. He was born at Henniker,
N.H., March 26, 1818, a son of David and
Abigail (Eaton) Chase. His father, who was
a native of Weare, N. H., settled at Henniker,
where he engaged in general mercantile busi
ness for a number of years, and then returned
to Weare, and there at length laid down the
burden of life. Mrs. David Chase was born at
Amherst, and was a daughter of John Eaton,
for whom her son was named. She survived
her husband for some years ; and the greater
part of her widowhood was passed at Waltham,
where she resigned her earthly existence for
one of immortality, having been an exemplary
Christian woman, a devoted member of the
Congregational church. Her children, all of
whom grew to maturity, were as follows :
Caroline, wife of Henry Thompson, a resident
of Woburn ; Abigail, now deceased, who mar
ried A. M. Perkins, of Waltham; John E. ;
and Charles W. , deceased.
In 1822 John E. Chase went to reside at
Waltham, Mass., and there he received his
education in the public schools and at the
academy. After completing his studies he
entered the cotton factory of the Boston
Manufacturing Company in that place, where
he occupied various positions of responsibility,
being successively overseer and paymaster,
which office required an energetic as well as a
careful accountant, the factory, which was one
of the pioneer concerns in that branch of in
dustry, sustaining a large pay-roll. This
exacting position he resigned in 1853 to
accept that of agent of the Pemberton Mill at
Lawrence, employing upward of one thousand
people, and manufacturing both white and
colored cotton goods — the mill which a few
years later was made famous by a fatal catas
trophe befalling it, the building collapsing
while in operation, thus causing the death of
many of its operatives.
In i860 Mr. Chase came to Holyoke and
assumed the position of agent of the Hamp
den Mills, one of the most extensive manu
factories in the section, he having Donald
Mcintosh as his chief dyer and William
Whiting as an assistant in the business de
partment, both of whom are now prominent
citizens of Holyoke. The mill then furnished

employment for from six to seven hundred
people, and under his able management pro
duced a superior quality of cotton goods, such
as ginghams and other colored cotton fabrics,
it being then, as at the present day, one of the
largest of its kind in this country. He re
mained in full charge of the Hampden Mills
for a period of ten years, during which time
he engaged to a considerable extent in develop
ing other industrial enterprises, among them
being the Holyoke Warp Mill, of which he
was one of the organizers. He was also a
stockholder of the Holyoke Machine Company,
and a Director for a number of years.
After retiring from the Hampden Mills he
was called to Three Rivers for the purpose of
starting a new mill at that place ; and, having
accomplished this object, he returned to Hol
yoke and established the firm of Chase & Cole
ridge, dealers in manufacturers' supplies,
which is the largest of its kind in the city,
occupying three floors and the basement of a
handsome stone-front, four-story block, which
he erected at No. 12 Main Street, the busi
ness having been successfully conducted for
the past ten years.
Although his legitimate business prevents
him from entering public affairs to any great
extent, Mr. Chase has served as Assessor,
in which capacity he rendered valuable ser
vice to the ' financial department. He was
appointed upon the city committee which was
formed for the purpose of introducing and
establishing water works; and it is to his un
tiring energy that the citizens are indebted,
to a great measure, for its present bountiful
supply of pure water. Another reminder of
his persistent labor in behalf of the city is the
present substantial and attractive municipal
building, which he was also partially instru
mental in securing. Mr. Chase is a stanch
Republican in politics, having followed the
majority of the old Whig element into that
party at its organization; and he voted for
William Henry Harrison in 1840, as well as
for his grandson in 1888. He is a member
of Mount Tom Lodge, A. F. & A. M., being
also a Chapter Mason and a Knight Templar.
On December 4, 1836, he wedded Miss
Abby A. Barton, of Medford, Mass. ; and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

607

their union has been blessed with seven chil
dren, all of whom attained maturity —
Abbie P., wife of Charles Smart, of Spring
field; Caroline E. , now deceased, who was
the wife of William Peck; Dora B. , who
resides at home; Ada P., also deceased;
Alida S. , who is unmarried; John E. ,
formerly engaged in business with his father,
but now deceased; and Minna, wife of George
E. Thayer, of Haverhill, Mass. Mr. Chase
has been a Vestryman in the Episcopal
church in this city since its organization, and
is now the oldest member of the society. He
occupies a very pleasantly located residence
on Linden Street.

'RED W. WILBER, an enterprising
carriage and wagon manufacturer of
Springfield, was born at North New
Salem, a village in Franklin County, Massa
chusetts, March 12, 1861, and is a son of
Walter and Phebe (Gibbs) Wilber, who were
former residents of that town. Jason Wilber,
his grandfather, was an old resident of the
town of New Salem, who owned a large farm,
and also carried on a blacksmith and wood
working shop there for many years, or until
his decease. He was known as a highly re
spected citizen, and died at the age of seventy-
one years. Walter Wilber, who was a boot
and shoe maker by trade, continued to reside
in his native town until 1875, at which time
he moved with his family to Amherst, and a
few years later removed to South Hadley,
finally settling at Orange, Franklin County,
where he now resides. He married Miss
Gibbs at Petersham; and of their family of
four children three survive — Anna, wife of
E. L. Marden, a resident of Orange; Fred
W. ; and F"rank M., who now resides at Athol.
The mother is a member of the Methodist
church. Fred W. attended the common schools of
his native town, completing his education at
the Sunderland High School, and when a
young man went to Ware, Mass., where he
served an apprenticeship at blacksmithing and
carriage-making for two years, at the expira
tion of which time he went to Northampton

for the purpose of perfecting himself in the
art of horseshoeing, he having already acquired
considerable knowledge of that particular
branch of his trade. After working a year in
Northampton he was for the subsequent four
teen months employed at Amherst ; and at
the age of twenty-four years, being ambitious
and enterprising, he established himself as a
blacksmith and carriage-maker at Hatfield,
Mass. He later moved to Rockville, Conn.,
where he conducted the same business for a
period of six years, and then spent a year at
Ware, from which place he came, in May,
1892, to Springfield. Here he secured an
old shop, in which he established himself, and
now conducts a very large and profitable busi
ness as a general blacksmith and carriage-
maker. Mr. Wilber is considered an expert horse-
shoer, and he is employed in caring for the
feet of many valuable horses. In the other
department of his business he makes a spe
cialty of medium heavy vehicles, such as
delivery and baker's wagons, also attending
to a large amount of jobbing and repairing,
both for private parties and the city fire de
partment. He is a Republican in politics,
but not active beyond casting his vote. On
January 20, 1882, he wedded Miss Jennie F.
Strahan, daughter of John H. Strahan, of
Ware; and they reside at No. yj Bowles
Street. Mr. and Mrs. Wilber are members
of St. Luke's Methodist Episcopal Church.

fRAM BARTLETT LAWRENCE,
principal for the past twenty-three
years of the Appleton Street School
in Holyoke, was born at Wayne,
Kennebec County, Me., March 5, 1840, a son
of Oliver A. and Lemira (Bartlett) Lawrence.
He is a direct descendant of Robert Lawrence,
of England, who, it is said, was sent to Hol
land as a soldier between the years 1664 and
1667, but left the army, and, emigrating to
America, settled in Sandwich, Mass. He
married Sarah Barlow, and had a son, Joseph,
who married a Miss Chadwick.
Their son, Joseph, Jr., was born in 1706,
married Betsey Paddock, by whom he had six

6o8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

children, and died in 1768. His son James,
the great-grandfather of Mr. Lawrence, was
born November 27, 1745, and married Abigail
Ewers, who was born March 13, 1749. James
Lawrence was a soldier in the Revolutionary
War. His second son, Asa Lawrence, was
born at Sandwich, October 26, 1776, and died
at West Sumner, Me., April 9, 185 1. His
wife. Desire Allen, was born at Rochester,
Mass., in 1761, and died May i, 1835, having
had five children, of whom Oliver A. was the
second. Oliver A. Lawrence was born at
Wayne, Me., July 8, 1803, and died July 14,
1 88 1. In March, 1837, he married his sec
ond wife, Lemira Bartlett, who was born
April 17, 1804, and died December 26, 1872.
On the maternal side Mr. Lawrence de
scends from Robert Bartlett, who was born in
England in 1603, and came to Plymouth,
Mass., in the "Ann" in 1623. In 1628 he
married Mary, daughter of Richard Warren, a
" Mayflower" pilgrim, and died in 1676, hav
ing had a family of eight children. His
eldest son, Benjamin Bartlett, was born at
Plymouth in 1638, married Sarah, daughter of
Love Brewster, in 1678, and later a second
wife named Cecilia, who died about the year
1691. He had six children; and the fourth
son, Ebenezer Bartlett, who was born at Dux
bury, and died probably before 171 2, by his
wife, Hannah, had one son — Ebenezer, Jr.,
born at Duxbury in 1694, died in 1781. He
married Jerusha Sampson, who died January
2, 1778, aged seventy-three years, having had
three children. Nathaniel, son of Ebenezer,
Jr., was born at Duxbury in 1723, and died in
Friendship, Me., about the year 1802. He
married Zenobia, daughter of Christopher
Wadsworth, who was born at Duxbury in
1723, and died at Hartford, Me., about the
year 181 2. She was a great-grand -daughter
of Christopher Wadsworth, second cousin of
General Peleg Wadsworth, who was the ma
ternal grandfather of the poet Longfellow.
Nathaniel and Zenobia Bartlett had five chil
dren, of whom the youngest son, John, was
born at Duxbury in 1752, and settled in Pem
broke. He served in the Revolutionary War,
and died at Hartford, Me., June 10, 1847,
aged ninety-five years, having had eight chil

dren. His son, Nathaniel Bartlett, was born
December 6, 1777, and married Susan Bisbee,
who was born March 26, 1780, and died May
24, i860. Lemira, one of their eight chil
dren, was born April 17, 1804, and died
December 6, 1872. She married Oliver Law
rence in March, 1827, and had three children
— Hiram Bartlett, of this sketch; Horatio
B. ; and Abbott N.
Mr. Lawrence's boyhood was passed upon
the farm, and to this experience he largely
attributes his vigorous constitution and good
health. His early education consisted of a
few weeks' attendance at the district school
during the winter season and parts of several
terms in the Wayne High School and Towle
Academy at Winthrop, after which he taught
two winters at Hartford and one at Canton
village. He later spent one year at the
Maine State Seminary in Lewiston, and by
the help of friends was enabled to enter Bow
doin College in 1862. During his collegiate
course he taught at Canton and the city of
Augusta, and was principal of the Brunswick
high and grammar schools a greater part of
his Junior year. After graduating in 1866,
he entered the law office of N. M. Whitmore,
Esq., at Gardiner, Me., but later pursued his
legal studies with the Hon. F. E. Webb, of
Winthrop, and was admitted to the Kennebec
County Bar, August 11, 1868. At the grad
uating exercises of the Maine State Seminary
in 1862 he was orator of the Philomathean
Society; and in 1865, while a Junior in col
lege, he was selected to deliver an oration at
the anniversary exercises of Towle Academy.
His means being quite limited, he earned
money to buy many of his school books by
chopping wood at fifty cents a cord, and spent
his summers in farm labor. While at Gardi
ner, he was principal of the high school, a
position which he resigned in 1868, and the
next year assumed charge of the academy at
Fisherville, N.H., now called Penacook.'
In 1872, having decided to devote himself
entirely to educational work, he became prin
cipal of the Appleton Street School, Holyoke.
Nearly a quarter of a century of uninterrupted
service in this position is sufficient testimony
of his marked ability and popularity as an

TALCOTT A. ROGERS,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

educator. He has always manifested a great
interest in teachers' conventions, and was for
two years President of the Hampden County
Teachers' Association. During his long term
of service many pupils have graduated from
the Appleton Street School who are now fill
ing positions of usefulness and honor. He
has introduced many new methods into the
school system, and among the means by which
he has combined interest with instruction may
be mentioned an extensive cabinet of natural
curiosities. On December 29, 1875, be married Mary J.
Day, daughter of Horace R. Day, of Holyoke.
She was born March 2, 1852, and they have
had three children — Ray, who died in in
fancy, May 29, 1880; Genevieve, who died
July 19, 1886; and Vera B., who was born
June 19, 1888. Mrs. Lawrence graduated
from the Holyoke High School in 1870 as the
valedictorian of her class, and became a very
successful teacher. She is a pleasing writer,
and is frequently called to deliver an address
or a poem on public occasions. Her husband
attributes to her much of his success in this
city. Mr. Lawrence is a man of original and
progressive ideas ; and the Appleton Street
.School under his wise management has largely
increased in numbers and in efficiency, requir
ing the services of ten assistants.
Mr. Lawrence was made a Mason in Ionic
Lodge of Gardiner, Me., and is a Republican
in politics; he united with the Second Con
gregational Church in Holyoke in 1873, hav
ing been formerly of the Free Will Baptist
denomination. PPe was superintendent of the
Sunday-school of the Second Church of this
city during the years 1877 and 1878, and pre
sided over a class of young men for several
years. He resides at No. 185 Pine Street.

fALCOTT ALDERMAN ROGERS, a
very prosperous farmer of West Spring
field, was born on the homestead where
he now resides, October 8, 1836. The
Rogers family for four generations has owned
and'' conducted this farm, it having been origi
nally purchased in 1753 by Elijah Rogers,
who had formerly owned land on Mill River.

He died here in 1768, having reared three
sons — David, Jesse, and Elijah, Jr. The
last named, who was Mr. T. A. Rogers's
grandfather, succeeded to its possession, im
proved the farm to a considerable extent, and
erected good buildings. He died at the age
of sixty-three years, on August i, 18 18. The
maiden name of his wife was Lucy Smith.
She was born at West Springfield, in January,
1766, daughter of Solomon and Elizabeth
(Bliss) Smith; and she died in the month of
her birth, in the year 1848, having reared
three children, two being daughters — Laura
and Sally.
Elijah Ely Rogers, only son of Elijah, Jr.,
and Lucy (Smith) Rogers, was born August
I, 1805, and was educated in his native town.
He followed in the footsteps of his ancestors,
successfully pursuing agriculture on the an
cestral acres during his entire life, which was
brought to a close on January 17, 1853, at the
age of forty-seven years. His wife, Fidelia
Sarah Alderman, was born at West Spring
field on December 10, 1813, and was a daugh
ter of Talcott Alderman, of Granby, Conn.
Her grandfather. Gad Alderman, enlisted in
the Continental army at the age of fifteen
years, and served three years in the Revo
lutionary War, or until its close. Later
he took up his abode in West Springfield.
The maiden name of his wife was Happy
Buckley. Talcott Alderman grew to maturity in the
State of Connecticut, where he married, and
about the year 18 10 came to West Springfield.
He here purchased a farm, which he success
fully conducted until 1847. During his latter
years he resided with his daughter, his de
cease occurring at the age of seventy-six
years, on November 7, 1862. His wife,
Sarah Stevens, of Granby, daughter of Phin
eas and Mary (Root) Stevens, died at the age
of seventy-three. Of the two children of Mr.
and Mrs. Elijah Ely Rogers, Sybil died at the
age of twenty-three years; and Talcott Alder
man Rogers now owns and occupies the old
homestead. He has made many improve
ments, having entirely rebuilt the farm
residence, and erected a spacious and well-
appointed barn, thus making his buildings to

6l2

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

compare favorably with the best in town.
His mother, who makes her home with him,
is still in the enjoyment of good health and in
full possession of her faculties, at the ripe old
age of eighty-one years.
In 1862 Mr. Rogers was united in marriage
to Miss Isabella Mason Lyman, who was
born in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her father, Lewis
Lyman, was born at Southampton, where his
father, Simeon Lyman, who was of English
ancestry, is thought to have been born also.
Simeon was a shoemaker by trade. He mar
ried Anna Clapp, and passed his last years in
Southampton. Lewis Lyman for a short time
followed the trade of a carpenter in Brooklyn,
but removed thence to Westfield, Mass.,
where he died at the early age of thirty-five
years. The wife of Lewis Lyman was before
marriage Elizabeth Mary Bagg. She was
born at West Springfield on October 4, 1810,
daughter of James and Elizabeth Bagg. She
reared five children — Julia E., Fanny C,
Jane S., Isabella Mason, and Carrie L.
Lyman. Mr. Rogers has been a Republican in poli
tics since the formation of the party, and has
held many positions of public trust, having
been a Selectman for a period of seven years
previous to his re-election last spring to the
same office. He is a member of the Hampden
County Agricultural Society, and also of the
Hampden Harvest Club. The accompanying
portrait of Mr. Rogers lends additional inter
est to the foregoing sketch, which shows his
kinship to a number of old Colonial families.
Several emigrants of this name were early
settlers in New England, among them and
their immediate descendants being many per
sons of influence and distinction.

'OSEPH O. BEAUCHAMP, M.D.,
CM., a rising young physician of
Chicopee Falls, Hampden County,
Mass., was born in St. Roch of I'Achi-
Assumption County, Quebec, Canada,
August 13, 1869.
He is the son of Eugene and Celina (H6tu)
Beauchamp, progressive and wealthy farmers,
the owners of three large and highly cultivated

gan.

farms. The father, Eugene Beauchamp, was
born in 1835, and is still in good health and
engaged in the active duties of life. He and
his wife are the parents of eleven children,
eight of whom are still living; namely, Eu-
gena, Celina, Treffie, Ovila, "Victoria, Joseph
O., Roch, and Ferdinand. Eugena, the eldest
of the family, is married to Miss Louisa For
est, of the same town as himself, in which lo
cality her father is a prominent farmer, and
is the Mayor. Celina, the next is married to
Mr. Ovila Corbin, a rich farmer of the same
parish. The third, Treffie, travelled during
ten years on Lake Superior and in Montana,
where he picked up a little fortune; and now
he is the proprietor of the best hotel in the
town of Mascouche, Canada. He is married
to Miss Georgianna Lemire, of St. Ambroise
of Kildare, County Montcalm. Ovila is single.
He is a great traveller, and is now in Montana.
Victoria is married to Mr. Philias Laten-
dresse, of the next town. He is a carpenter,
and the owner of a fine farm in St. Roch.
Roch and Ferdinand Beauchamp are single,
and live at home with their parents.
Joseph O. Beauchamp grew up in his native
town, and received his education in the col
lege of Assumption, the educational centre in
that locality, from which he was graduated,
and the Laval University at Montreal, being
graduated also from that institution in April,
1894. In the same month he left the Domin
ion of Canada, and began his professional
career in the village of Chicopee Falls; and,
although he has been practising medicine in
the locality so short a time. Dr. Beauchamp
has already acquired a good reputation for
fidelity and skill, and his prospects for the
future are of the best.
Dr. Beauchamp was married in 1894 to
Miss Anna DesLongchamp, who is also a
Canadian by birth, being a native of the next
town (Epiphanie), in which locality her
father is a prominent farmer. The Doctor
and his wife are the parents of a son named
Oliva, who was born in Chicopee Falls on the
3d of April of this yeai, 1895. Dr. Beau
champ is a Republican in his political princi
ples, and with his wife is a member of the
Roman Catholic Church.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

613

^l-SyrNORRIS MACHOL, an influential
t= I =1 and valued representative of the
J Jjis I German-born citizens of the city
of Springfield, is a native of the
town of Bruchsal, Baden, Germany, where his
birth occurred, August 25, 1825, he being a
son of Seligman and Regina (Bingo) Machol.
His father was a soldier in the German army,
but was never in battle. He was for many
years a prosperous merchant in his native
town, where he died in 1837. His wife had
died three years prior to that time, and Morris
was therefore left an orphan at the age of
twelve years.
Morris Machol acquired an excellent Ger
man education, and also became proficient in
the French language while in his native coun
try. He there learned the trade of the book
binder, serving three years as an apprentice
and four years as a journeyman, travelling
throughout Germany in the latter capacity.
When free of conscription, Mr. Machol emi
grated to the United States, landing in New
York, in January, 1847. After a year in the
metropolis, he came to Western Massachu
setts, spending some time in Haydenville,
East Hampden, and Williamsburg. He sub
sequently found employment in the Florence
Paper Box Manufacturing Company at North
ampton, where he was appointed foreman of
forty or more hands, and became so popular
with the help under his charge, as well as
with his employers, that he was kept in that
position a score of years. He was next fore
man for a year in a paper box factory in New
York City, being there during the excitement
of the disastrous day in Wall Street known as
"Black Friday." His next engagement was
with the Massachusetts Screw Company of Hol
yoke, but since October, 1875, he has been with
the National Papeterie Company of Springfield
as foreman and cutter; and that his services
are appreciated is shown by the number of
years he has retained the position. He is now
engaged on the Springfield Zeitung as agent.
In politics Mr. Machol is an ardent sup
porter of the Democratic party, and has been
as a delegate to many State conventions, but
has persistently declined all public offices.
Socially, he is a member of the Independent

Order of Odd Fellows, having united with the
Nonotuck Lodge of Northampton forty-three
years ago, and is a charter member of the
Holyoke Lodge. He is one of the thirty-
seven original members of the Germania
Lodge, D. O. H., which has now a member
ship of one hundred, and of which he was the
first President, an office that he has held
several times since, and is at the present time
Secretary. In the Grand Lodge he has also
been an office-holder; and in the Turn Verein
he has been Speaker, and is now Secretary,
having always been one of the leading mem
bers of this society. He and two other men
planned and built Turn Hall, and he, being
President of the society at that time, had the
honor of laying the corner-stone. Mr. Machol
has always been actively interested in educa
tional matters, and has been a member of the
committee of the German school held in Turn
Hall, of which school he was one of the organ
izers. In the Germania Lodge Mr. Machol
has served as Chaplain several times, and in
that capacity officiated at funerals in Spring
field, Holyoke, and Northampton. While the
old Sovereign Society was in existence, he
was an active member of that likewise.
Mr. Machol has been twice married.
While living in Easthampton, he married
Sarah Machol, a native of Bruchsal, Baden,
Germany, their nuptials being celebrated in
Brattleboro. She died, leaving three chil
dren, namely: Josephine; Alice (deceased);
and Sophia, the wife of Charles Carr, of
Brightwood, Mass. He subsequently married
Miss Ida Machol, a sister of his first wife;
and of this union seven children have been
born, four of whom are living: Nettie, the
wife of Henry J. Smith, Sergeant of the City
Guards; Clara; Lillie; and Clarence, who is
a book-keeper. All of the children have had
excellent educational advantages in the
Springfield schools.

ON. ROSWELL P. CRAFTS, for
merly Mayor of Holyoke, who has
been prominently identified with
the development of both the indus
trial and real estate interests of this city for

6i4

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

over half a century, was born at South Deer
field, September 17, 1822, and has resided
here since 1833, at which time the present
flourishing municipality was but a small fac
tory village containing only a cotton manu
factory and a grist-mill.
His father, Chester Crafts, was a native of
Whately, who settled at South Deerfield
when a young man, and died there in 1827.
His wife, whose maiden name was Phila Jew
ett, was a daughter of Reuben Jewett, an
extensive farmer of South Deerfield. They
reared a family of five sons and five daughters,
as follows: Josephus, who resided at North
ampton, and died in 1885; Mary A., who
married a Mr. Parsons, of Northampton, and
is now deceased; Parthenia, who married
Elihu Stall, and is also now "deceased; Ches
ter, who died at Holyoke in 1872; David W.,
superintendent of the gas works at Northamp
ton ; Silvia, widow of Alvin Field; Roswell
P., of this article; Albert W., a resident of
Ashfield; Phila, who married Henry Walker,
and is now deceased; and Martha A., wife of
George Willey, of Athol, Mass. Mr. Crafts's
mother survived her husband but a few years,
and passed to her final rest while residing at
Northampton, in 1880. Chester Crafts estab
lished his residence at Holyoke some time
previous to the coming of Roswell P., and
for many years kept the hostelry known as
Crafts's Tavern, which was located on North
ampton Street, and for a long time constituted
the favorite place of public entertainment in
the town. The proprietor attained a promi
nent position in local affairs, was a Selectman
and Postmaster, the place then being known
as Ireland Parish.
Roswell P. Crafts, coming to Holyoke at
the age of eleven years, resided with his
brother while he still pursued his studies,
which he had begun at South Deerfield, thus
obtaining a good practical education. His
first employment was driving a stage from
Springfield to Northampton, a distance of
twenty miles, making the round trip in two
days with four horses and a Concord coach, in
which he transported passengers, together
with the United States mail. He followed
that occupation until reaching the age of

twenty years, when he entered into partner
ship with his brother in conducting a general
country store at the old place on the hill, the
firm being known as Chester Crafts & Co.
Three years later, selling his interest to his
brother, he moved down to what is now the
city, where he established himself in the lum
ber business, at the same time operating a
planing-mill. After three years of success as
a lumber dealer he opened a large store on
High Street, which he heavily stocked with
general merchandise, and, carrying it on in
connection with an extensive grist-mill, con
ducted for several years the largest and most
profitable business in town. In 1866 his son,
Pliny J. Crafts entered the business as a part
ner, the firm being R. P. Crafts & Son, in_
which, however, the senior member in 1873
sold his interest to J. H. Eraser, who had
faithfully served him in the capacity of clerk
for seventeen years. The business was con
tinued under the name of Crafts &. Eraser
until the death of Mr. Pliny J. Crafts in
1886, at which time its affairs were finally
wound up.
In 1870, the original store and contents
being totally destroyed by fire, Mr. Crafts
replaced the old building with a fine, substan
tial three-story block, containing three com
modious stores; and in 1872 he erected a very
handsome French-roof residence upon an
extensive and finely located piece of property
at the corner of Dwight and Chestnut Streets
and directly opposite the City Park, where he
has since resided. In 1874 he built the
Crafts Block, a very prepossessing four-story
brown-stone front structure, containing four
stores, which is one of the finest buildings
devoted to business purposes in the city. In
1865 Mr. Crafts, with other enterprising capi
talists, projected and completed the erection
of the Bemis Paper Mill, in the operation of
which he participated until 1870, when he
sold his interest; and since 1873 he has de
voted his time exclusively to managing his
real estate, having invested heavily in valu
able city property, besides his business blocks,
owning a number of tenement-houses.
He was for many years Chief Engineer of
the Holyoke fire department, and in 1872 was

THOMAS E. KING.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

617

elected a representative to the State legislat
ure. His first term as Mayor was for the year
1878, his second and third for the years 1883
and 1884; and during his occupancy of the
office he gave the city a progressive adminis
tration, he being the first to introduce street
pavement, which resulted in the improvement
of many of the principal streets and thorough
fares. Although he is independent in poli
tics, voting for whom he considers most
worthy and competent to hold public office, he
was elected to the mayoralty upon the Demo
cratic ticket each term; and it is generally
conceded by all that he conducted the affairs
of the city with marked ability.
In November, 1843, Mr. R. P. Crafts was
united in marriage to Miss Delia Jones, of
Ireland Parish, daughter of Pliny Jones; and
their union was blessed with but one son,
before mentioned, who died in 1886, at the
age of forty-two years. He was a gentleman
of good business ability, who had been of val
uable assistance to his father; and his decease
in the very prime of manhood was a severe
blow to his parents in their declining years.

(^Thoi

HOMAS E. KING, the enterprising and
^1 obliging proprietor of the market at
No. 152 State Street, is one of the
foremost and most prominent men in his line
of business in Springfield, of which city he is
a native, his birth having occurred within its
limits, February 16, 1851.
He is of Irish parentage, being a son of
Patrick T. and Anna A. (Russell) King, both
of whom were natives of County Clare, Ire
land, the birthplace of the father being
Corofin, and of the mother Inagh. Both came
to this country previous to their marriage,
Patrick King first settling in Maine, whence
he came to Springfield in 1844, securing
employment at the railway station, to direct
emigrants westward. In i860 he moved to
California, and, enlisting while there in the
Eighth California Volunteer Infantry, served
with his regiment until the close of the Re
bellion. He afterward returned to Spring
field, where he remained until the time of his
decease, November 27, 1891, aged sixty-six

years. His wife preceded him to the other
world, dying October 17, 1870, at the age of
forty-four years, leaving five children, namely:
Thomas E., of whom we write; Michael E.,
of Chicago; Mary A., wife of Richard
McCarthy, of Springfield; John R., of the
same city; and George W. King, M.D., of
Jersey City, where he has been Superintend
ent of the Asylum for the Insane for the past
ten years. Both parents were reared in the
Catholic faith. 'They joined the Cathedral
Parish in the early days of its establishment,
and when the new church was erected on State
Street they were among the first to take pews,
which have ever since been occupied by mem
bers of the family.
His school days over, the subject of this
sketch began looking for some suitable em
ployment by which he might earn his own
living, and secured work in the meat market
of Bliss & Hawes, located on West State
Street, it being then one of the leading
markets of the city. There he remained
while it was under the charge of Hawes &
Smith and of Smith Brothers, thirteen years in
all. That was prior to the days of delivery
wagons; and the trade was so small that all
orders could be delivered on foot, carried in a
basket. Having acquired a thorough knowl
edge of the business, Mr. King started in
trade on his own account, opening a market
in the building known as the old Pynchon
Street Church in May, 1882. Three months
later the market of Samuel Breck, at No. 152
State Street, being for sale, he purchased it,
and has since carried on an extensive busi
ness, having met with signal success from the
very first. In 1888 he opened a market on
FZastern Avenue, which he conducted profit
ably until 1894, when he sold that property,
and built a fine block on South Main Street,
with five stores in front, and in which his
branch market will be located in the future.
He also purchased the lots at No. 152 and
154 State Street, where his present market is
situated, the lot being one hundred and seven
feet deep and one of the most valuable in the
locality. Mr. King has made some very judi
cious investments in real estate, buying both
improved and unimproved land, the taxes .on

6iS

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

his propertv being among the largest in the
citv, amounting to over seven hundred dollars.
He is also interestetl in one of the banks, and
is a stockholder in a manufacturing corpora
tion. l\Ir. King was at one time quite active in
political circles, representing \Vard Three in
the Common Council when he was a young
man of twent)--two }-ears; and when the new
registration was put in force, in 1S84, he was
appointed Democratic member, and has been
reappointed e\'erv term since, the term he is
now serving expiring in 1897, and he being
the only member of the original board thus
honored. Mr. King resides at No. 104 How
ard Street, in the house which he purchased
in 1886, and over wdiich his estimable wife
presides with cheerful and social hospitality.
Mrs. King, whose maiden name was Anna
Da\is, was born in Longmeadow, and is a
daughter of Patrick and Hannah L. Davis.
Her father, who was for many years a resident
of West Longmeadow, was a gallant soldier
in the late war, being a member of Company
I, Forty-sixth Massachusetts \'olunteer Infan-
ti-\'. The union of Mr. and Mrs. King was
solemnized February 8. 1882, and of the six
children born to them three are living,
namely: Mary Grace, Robert 'William, and
Raymond. The accompanying likeness of j\[r. King is
quite in place in the present collection of por
traits of sons of Hampden. He is a fine
representative of the self-made men of this
county, his present influential position among
its prosperous men of business being entirely
due to his own energetic efforts, keen fore
sight, and good management.

-OEL S. WEBBER, who has been iden
tified with the industrial development
of Holyoke since 1863, was born at
Cazenovia, N.Y., October 10, 1832.
He is a son of Joel and Harriet (Pease) Web
ber, and grandson of Pcrlc)- Webber, a farmer
of Holland, Mass., and a (Icsccndant of early
settlers of that section. His father when a
very young man journeyed \Vest, and settled
first at Cazenovia, and later at Cherry Valley,

Otsego County, N.V., whence he removed to
Norwalk, Ohio, where he engaged in his call
ing as a contractor and builder: and he erected
man\- public buildings, including several
court-houses in the State of Ohio. He died
in Angola, Steuben County, Ind., Icaxing a
widow and throe children, namely: Marv,
wife of Mr. Jewett, of Connecticut; Joel S. ;
and C C. Webber, who is now a civil engi
neer of the Springfield Street Railw;ry Com
pany. Their mother was a daughter of Asa Pease,
a pioneer of Granby, Mass. : she survived
her husband but a few months, and Joel S.
was left an orphan at the age of ten years.
He was educated in Monson, and, after com
pleting his studies at the academ\-, taught in
the public schools of that town until reaching
the age of twentv vears, when he went to
Somerville, and entered the emplo\' of Jared
Beebe, an account of whom may be found in
the sketch of H.J. Beebe upon another page.
Young Webber acquired a thorough knowledge
of the art of operating a woollen-mill, and
about six years later became a partner with
his employer in business. In i860 they pur
chased the old \\'illiinansctt Mill, which the)'
carried on for a period of three )ears, and
then erected the large and flourishing estab
lishment which is to-day one of the most
extensive woollen-mills in Holyoke. This
plant is located on Main Street, and is one
hundred and fifty feet front by two hundred
feet deep, containing eight sets of improved
machinery, and has l)ccn constanth' in opera
tion for thirty-two years. After the death of
Jared Beebe, in 1876, Mr. Webber, in com
pany with Mr. PI. J. Bccbc, succeeded the old
firm, since wdiich time the business has been
conducted under the name of Beebe & Web
ber. Their products consist of cassimcrcs,
kerseys, and other goods of a superior quality,
which command a ready sale at good prices.
Mr. Webber was one of the original invest
ors in the Bccbe & Holbrook Paper Mill, and
at the death of Mr. Beebe became one of the
Directors of the P~arr Alpaca Company, his
wife being a hca\'y stockholder in that enter
prise; and he has been an official and one of
the Vice-Presidents of the Mechanics' Savings

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

619

Bank at Plolyoke since its organization.
Politically, Mr. Webber is a Republican;
and, his energetic business ability making
him especially eligible for office, he was
elected to the City Council for two terms, but
is prevented by excessive business pressure
from participating further in public affairs.
On April 30, 1859, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Maria L. Beebe, and their union
has been blessed with six children, but three
of whom are now living: Harriet, now de
ceased, was the wife of the Rev. Dwight God-
dard, who has been recently appointed a
missionary to China; Fred S. is now in busi
ness with his father; Alice L. (deceased)
married Edward N. White, of this city. Treas
urer of the Smith & White Manufacturing
Company; Mary died at the age of twelve
years; Gertrude is also now deceased; Grace
resides at home. Mr. Webber has occupied
his present agreeably located residence at No.
188 Chestnut Street for the past eighteen
years. He is a member of the Second Con
gregational Church, with which he has been
officially connected.

m

kURRAY A. SMITH, of the mer
cantile firm of Smith Brothers,
Springfield, Mass., was born in
Cornish, N.PL, September 8,
1854, being a son of William B. and Nellie
M. (Cummings) Smith. On the paternal side
he is of Connecticut stock, his grandfather
Smith having been born and bred in Middle-
town in that State. He moved, however,
to New Hampshire, where he engaged in
farming during his remaining years. The
grandfather Cummings, who was son of a
commissioned officer in the Revolutionary
War, was the descendant of a well-known
family of Cornish, N.H., where he worked
at mechanical pursuits the larger part of his
life. He was a drummer boy in the War of
18 1 2, and, although never receiving a commis
sion, was known as Major Cummings.
William B. Smith was born in Middletown,
Conn., and was quite a lad when his parents
migrated to Cornish, where he learned the
carpenter's trade, and was afterward one of

the foremost builders and contractors of the
place, residing there until his demise, in
1882. He was a believer in the tenets of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and his good
wife was a devoted member of the Baptist
church. The eleven children born to them
may here be briefly mentioned. They are:
Ellen, the eldest, who died at an early age;
Laura, now a resident of Boston, the widow of
the late Darius Horton, of Springfield; Sarah,
deceased, wife of Thomas Strand, of Boston ;
Mrs. Hannah B. Bowen, of Springfield; Na
thaniel, of Springfield; William H. ; David
L., of Baltimore; Edward W., of Lowell,
Mass.; Wentworth M., deceased; Murray A.;
and Zera W.
Murray A., whose name stands tenth on
the list, was reared and educated in the town
of his nativity, and when little more than a
boy began the work of life on his own account,
his first employment being as fireman, and
later as brakeman, first on the Vermont Cen
tral and then on the Boston & Albany Rail
way. In January, 1873, being then eighteen
years and four months of age, he joined the
regular army, enlisting in Company M, First
United States Cavalry, and was sent to the
Pacific Coast. He enlisted during the Modoc
war, and took an active part in the Nez Percys
war of 1876, crossing Arizona, New Mexico,
Idaho, Oregon, and Washington on horseback,
his trip of three thousand miles, from San
Francisco Mountains in Arizona to the head
waters of the Columbia at Fort Colville, occu
pying the time from May 18 until August 15,
an arduous undertaking for a youth never in
the saddle before. He passed through the
principal cities of the territory which his trip
covered, including Santa F^, Pueblo, Den
ver, Cheyenne, Kelton, Boise City, Walla
Walla, and Colville, where he remained
through the Seneca war, being commissioned
as Sergeant. In January, 1878, at the expira
tion of his term of enlistment, Mr. Smith
returned home, going by boat to San Fran
cisco, thence by rail to Boston. After visit
ing among his friends for a month, Mr. Smith
secured employment as a salesman in the meat
and provision market of John P. Squires, of
Boston, where he remained eight years, ac-

620

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

quiring his first knowledge of that business.
The following seven years he was similarly
engaged with Francis Batchelder, also a
provision dealer. In November, 1893, Mr.
Smith came to Springfield, and in company
with his brother, Zera W. Smith, purchased
the well-established business of Grouse
Brothers, where they have since carried on a
brisk and prosperous trade, and owing to the
increasing demands of their customers have
been obliged to enlarge their store at No. 33
Harrison Avenue at least one-third. They
carry a complete assortment of groceries, and
make a specialty of fancy creamery butter,
fresh eggs, teas, coffees, and spices, their
patronage being among the largest and best
in the city. Mr. Murray A. Smith is a good
financier, and in addition to his property in
Springfield is the owner of valuable real estate
in Boston and Somerville, Mass. In politics
he votes independently; but his sympathies
are strongly with the Democratic party, which
he has represented in State conventions as a
delegate. In June, 1880, he was united in marriage
to Miss Margaret Devlin, who was born in
England, but came with her parents to Little
Falls, N.Y., when a young girl. Four chil
dren have been born to them; namely, Elmer
W., Walter E., Harry P., and Ethel M. Mr.
Smith is not a member of any club, preferring
the pleasant companionship of his wife and
children, to whom he devotes his leisure
hours. He and his wife are regular attendants
at the State Street Baptist Church, and con
tribute liberally to its support.

HOMAS AQUINAS PURCELL, M.D.,
a leading physician of Holyoke, was
born at Weymouth, Mass., January 8,
1859, son of Thomas and Mary (Quan) Pur-
cell. His father, a native of Waterford, Ire
land, followed the boot and shoe business
several years in Weymouth, where the family
resided. His decease occurred at Weymouth,
March 22, 1865; and his wife, who was born
at Halifax, Nova Scotia, January i, 1820,
died October 20, 1889, having been the
mother of six children, as follows: Eliza, the

Rev. Messrs. John B. and Mark E. Purcell,
James P"., Mary E., and Thomas A., of this
sketch. The early education of Thomas A. Purcell
was acquired in the town of Webster, whither
his family moved when he was still very
young, and where he resided with his uncle,
the Rev. James Quan. At the age of fifteen
years he went to Worcester; and, after com
pleting the regular course at the public
schools of that city, he entered Holy Cross
College, from which he was graduated in 1881
with the degree of A.B. He next entered the
University of New York City, and after dili
gently pursuing a three years' course in medi
cine was graduated on June 19, 1884, with
the degree of M.D., also receiving on the
24th of the same month the degree of A.M.
from Holy Cross College. He first located
his office at Spencer, Mass., where he resided
for a period of three years, during which
time he created for himself an extensive and
profitable practice, becoming well known in
that vicinity as skilful and energetic in his
profession. At the beginning of the year
1889 he embraced the opportunity of entering
a broader field, coming to Holyoke, where he
now occupies the office and residence of Dr.
James J. O'Connor.
Dr. Purcell has attained a prominent posi
tion in this city, and enjoys a large practice,
together with the esteem and confidence of the
citizens generally. He is a member of the
medical staff at the House of Providence Hos
pital, in which he manifests much interest.
Of his immediate relatives but one brother
and a sister now survive; namely, the Rev.
Mark E. Purcell, a Catholic clergyman of
Greenfield; and Mary Purcell, who resides
with him. Another brother, the late Rev.
John B. Purcell, was attached to the diocese
of Boston and closely associated with Arch
bishop Williams at the time of his decease,
which occurred in 1872.

fLLIAM ADDISON LINCOLN,
Treasurer of the Springfield Safe
Deposit and Trust Company, was
born at Northampton, Mass., on May 15,

ELIJAH D. ALLEN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

623

1857. His father, Addison Justin Lincoln,
was for twenty-five years a prominent dry-
goods merchant in Northampton ; and his
mother was Harriet Elizabeth Bond Lincoln,
a cousin of George and Ephraim W. Bond,
of Springfield. The Lincoln ancestry can be
traced back to Thomas Lincoln, who came
from England in 1635, and settled in Hing
ham, Mass., but moved nineteen years later to
Taunton, where there is a farm still owned
and occupied by his descendants, which has
been in the possession of the family more
than two hundred years.
William passed the first seventeen years of
his life in his native town, where he was
graduated from the high school in 1874, at
the age of seventeen. His business career
began in the First National Bank in North
ampton, but he soon came to Springfield, to
take a higher position in the Pynchon Na
tional Bank. Two years later he went to the
neighboring town of Palmer, Mass., to assume
double duties as Cashier of the National Bank
and Treasurer of the Savings Bank, though as
yet only twenty-one. Having remained in
Palmer three years, in 1881 Mr. Lincoln
sought a still larger field, and went to Chi
cago as Assistant Secretary of the Pullman
Palace Car Company, a position he filled five
years, meanwhile organizing and afterward
managing the Pullman Loan and Savings
Bank at Pullman, 111. In 1886 he resigned
his Chicago place in order to become Treas
urer of the newly organized Safe Deposit and
Trust Company, wherewith he has since been
connected, and which has grown to be one of
the leading financial institutions of this city.
Mr. Lincoln feels a justifiable pride in its
growth and success, and is eminently fitted for
an office he fills with marked ability. For
several years he has been Treasurer of the
United Electric Light Company, which has
meanwhile become large and prosperous, with
a capital of half a million. The Trust Com
pany has a capital of three hundred thousand
dollars, a surplus of one hundred and fifty
thousand, and deposits averaging over a mill
ion and a half.
In 1880 Mr. Lincoln married Sarah Flynt,
daughter of the Hon. William N. Flynt, of

Monson, Mass. Five children have come to
enliven and bless their home — Flynt Lincoln,
born in 1881; Marian Bond Lincoln, born in
1883; Sidney Henry Lincoln, born in 1886;
Howard Addison Lincoln, born in 1889; and
Edward Converse Lincoln, born in 1890.
The father is a Republican in politics, and
socially belongs to the Winthrop and Nayasset
Clubs. Mr. Lincoln is active in religious matters,
being a member of the South Congregational
Church, whereof he is clerk, and whose pres
ent pastor is the Rev. Philip S. Moxom, D.D.

^^UJAH DEMOND ALLEN, an infltien-
R tial citizen of the town of Agawam,
'"^- - • Hampden County, Mass., was born
in Oakham, Worcester County, October 4,
1 81 7. He is the son of Jonas Allen, born
in Barre, in the same county, April 27, 1787;
and his grandparents were Samuel and Anna
(Robinson) Allen, life-long residents of Barre,
their native town. They were the parents of
ten children. Jonas Allen, father of Elijah
D., grew up on the home farm, and after his
marriage lived in the town of Oakham one
year, then returning to Barre, where he fol
lowed farming for the rest of his days. He
died October 19, 1821. The maiden name
of his wife was Mary Demond. She was born
in Barre, and was a daughter of Israel and
Hannah (Henry) Demond. Mr. and Mrs.
Jonas Allen welcomed to their home three
children — Alfred; Elijah D., our subject;
and Mary. Mrs. Allen contracted a second
marriage after the death of her husband, be
coming the wife of Arad Day. She resided
several years in Barre, and then went to
Ware, Hampshire County, and later on to
Agawam, where she died, November 4, 1868,
aged seventy-three years. The children of her
second marriage were Betsey, Alice, Almira,
and Sarah.
Elijah Demond Allen was four years old
when his father died. He remained with his
mother till his ninth year, and then went to
live with Adam Fay, with whom he remained
five years. He then learned the trade of
carriage making and painting, working about

624

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

three years in the town of Barre, and later in
Hubbardston, in the same county, and in
Ware. In 1849 he joined the westward tide
of immigration and started for California.
Mr. Allen joined a company of twelve; and
he was made the treasurer of the party during
the journey, attending to all expenditures.
Their fund amounted to three thousand six
hundred dollars, eight hundred of it in ten-
cent pieces. The party started on March 20,
going by railroad to New York, and thence
by sailing-vessel to Panama, where on their
arrival they found six thousand Americans
waiting opportunity for passage, no vessel hav
ing been in port for three months. Finally
they took passage in a German vessel, and
arrived in San P'rancisco August 9, 1849.
At that time San Francisco was simply a col
lection of adobe houses and tents, without
dock, wharf, or any sort of mercantile build
ing. They went to work at first in the mines
at Mormon Island, remaining there two
months, and then working in Hangtown (now
called Placerville), where they mined success
fully all winter. The population at this latter
place consisted of about six thousand men,
with but two women in the company. The
price of provisions was exorbitant. Flour
sold for one dollar a pound, and eggs for one
dollar a dozen. No potatoes were to be had.
At one time Mr. Allen paid twenty-five
dollars for twenty pounds of onions. In
Panama cream of tartar cost eight dollars a
pound, and two dollars were paid for a pound
of saleratus. Mr. Allen remained in Cali
fornia till the summer of 1850, and then
returned to the Isthmus, where he took a
homeward-bound vessel ; but he only spent
one month in the East before going back to
California. On his arrival he bought a ranch
near Stockton, which he conducted for nearly
a year; but, being taken ill, he was carried
to a hospital, where he lay thirteen weeks.
This sickness caused great financial loss.
While in the hospital he paid nine dollars
and seventy-five cents a day, one-half of his
stock vanished, and, when he was able to sell
the other half, he realized only about half its
value. So, disposing of his ranch, he re
turned to Massachusetts and settled in the

town of Agawam, purchasing the farm on
which he has since resided, and carrying on
some traffic in stock, in connection with the
cultivation of his land.
Mr. Allen was married April 30, 1839,
to Miss Abigail Clark, who was born in
Hubbardston, Mass., in 18 18. Her father,
William S. Clark, was born January 15,
17847 at Hopkinton, in the same State; and
after his marriage he bought a farm and
resided there till late in life, when he went
to live with Mr. and Mrs. Allen. He had
reached the age of eighty-seven years at the
time of his death. His wife's maiden name
was Elizabeth Clark.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen became the parents of
two children — Alsen W. , who married Hattie
Woods, daughter of William B. Woods,
M.D. , of Somers, Conn., and has three chil
dren — William, Edward, and Walter; and
Ella C , wife of Dr. Heman R. Stanhope, of
Marlboro, who has one daughter — Hattie A.,
now Mrs. Charles Hayward.
Mr. Allen is a Republican, decided in his
views, and is a stanch supporter of the prin
ciples of his party. He has been a member
of the Hampden Agricultural Society, and of
the Hampden and Franklin Harvest Clubs for
twenty years. The portrait of Mr. Allen
which accompanies this article will be received
as a welcome addition to the list of sterling
citizens of Hampden County portrayed in
this volume.

June

LIVER ATWATER MOORE, a lead
ing farmer and stock-raiser of Mont
gomery, is a native-born citizen of
that town, his birth taking place on
9, 1822. His father, Oliver Moore,
Jr., was born in the State of Connecticut, and
was a son of Oliver Moore, Sr. , who was a
native of the same State, and for a time a
resident of the locality known as Turkey
Hill, whence, accompanied by his family, he
removed to the town of Montgomery, the
journey being made overland with an ox team,
and proving a very tedious one. He pur
chased a tract of land in the northern part of
the town, and set about its cultivation and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

625

improvement, there making his home the
remainder of his life.
Oliver Moore, Jr., was about eight years
old when he was brought by his parents to
Hampden County, and resided with them
until his marriage, when he bought a tract of
land that is now included in the farm which
his son Oliver owns and occupies. Here he
located, and began the work of tilling the soil
and improving a farm. After a residence of
some years he removed to an adjoining hill,
and there spent the remainder of his life.
His death, which occurred when he was in
his seventieth year, was the result of an acci
dent, he being killed by the collapse of a
bridge. The maiden name of his wife was
Statira Hatch. She was born in Hawley,
Mass., and survived her husband some years,
dying at the ripe age of eighty-four. Nine of
her children married and brought up families.
Oliver Atwater Moore was educated in the
public schools, and resided with his parents
until his marriage, when his father gave him
an adjoining farm, which he at present occu
pies. There he made his home until 1859, in
which year he purchased a portion of the old
home farm, and a few years later opened the
house to the public as a summer resort, it
being known as the "Mountain House."
Occupying a beautiful location, its site being
about fifteen hundred feet above sea level,
and with an outlook for many miles over the
surrounding country, it was extensively patron
ized by leading families from various Eastern
cities, and proved a success from the start.
As a farmer Mr. Moore has always occupied
a position in the front ranks. He is progres
sive in his views, and readily adopts those
methods best calculated to most satisfactorily
achieve the desired result. As a stock-raiser
he has met with marked success, his thorough
breds being among the best in this section of
the country.
In 1843 Mr. Moore was united in the holy
bonds of matrimony with Mary Elizabeth
Pettis. Mrs. Moore was born in the town of
Montgomery, on March 25, 1821, her parents
being Allen and Delania (Chapman) Pettis —
a sketch of whom is given with that of Ed
ward Wesley Pettis. Four children were the

fruit of this union — Josephine Mary; Leander
Atwater and Georgiana Maria, twins; and
Clifford Oliver. Leander died at the age of
thirty-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are
both members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. They are affable and courteous in
manner, and much of the popularity attained
by the Mountain House is due to its genial
and hospitable host and hostess.

AMES L. DAVIS, Secretary and Gen
eral Manager of the Jenkins Rubber
Company of Holyoke, was born at
Scituate, R. I., April 18, 1843, being
the youngest of a family of nine children,
four of whom are still living. His father,
Stephen R. Davis, who was an extensive
farmer, was born in Rhode Island, Septem
ber 18, 1800, and died at Scituate, R. I., in
September, 1850. His mother, Zerviah E.
Smith Davis, was born in Rhode Island,
February 25, 1804, and died at Worcester,
Mass., May 18, 1885. They were married
April 14, 1822. Three of the five sons then
living served in the Union army during the
war of the Rebellion — Albert A. Davis as
Captain of Company C, First Massachusetts
Heavy Artillery, who died in Washington,
D.C, June 13, of a wound received in the
battle of the Wilderness, Va., May 19, 1864,
aged twenty-five years ; George A. Davis as
private in the same company, who was en
gaged in twenty-seven battles; and the subject
of this sketch.
James L. Davis received his early education
in the public schools of Scituate and Provi
dence, R.I. About the year 1859 he went to
Lawrence, Mass., where he learned the tailor's
trade with his brother. Smith B. W. Davis,
who conducted a merchant tailor's establish
ment in that city. While he was in his
brother's employ, the war broke out; and he
enlisted in Captain John R. Rollins' s com
pany as a private, and on August 30, 1862, was
mustered with the company into the service
of the United States as a Corporal of Com
pany H, Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts
Volunteers, Colonel Henry Walker. This
regiment was soon on its way to New Orleans,

626

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

La., where it became a part of the Nineteenth
Army Corps, Department of the Gulf, under
the command of Major-general N. P. Banks.
It participated in the siege of Port Hudson
and all the other battles in that department,
and was mustered out of the service at Camp
Joe Hooker, Lakeville, Mass., on the twenty-
eighth day of August, 1863, Mr. Davis at that
time being the youngest non-commissioned
officer in the company.
After his discharge from the army he was
employed as a cutter in a tailoring establish
ment at Boston until August 12, 1870, when
he received the appointment of Inspector of
Customs in the Boston Custom-house, and for
several years was assigned to special duty on
board the international line of steamers run
ning between Boston and St. John, New
Brunswick. Leaving the customs service in
August, 1883, he came to Plolyoke, where he
was first employed in the office of John C
Smith's machine-shop, in which he continued
until June, 1889, when he accepted the posi
tion of Superintendent of the then Tuttle Rub
ber Works. After the death of Mr. John H.
Tuttle, Mr. A. B. Jenkins, of New York,
Charles Jenkins, of Boston, and Mr. Davis
purchased the plant of the Tuttle Rubber
Works, and on July i, 1894, organized the
corporation of the Jenkins Rubber Company.
This concern manufactures mechanical rubber
goods, Jenkins's standard packing, disks, gas
kets, etc., employing about seventy-five hands,
and is the only factory of its kind in the city.
In the summer of 1869 Mr. Davis joined the
staff of the Sixth Regiment, Massachusetts
Volunteer Militia, Colonel Melvin Beal, as
Commissary Sergeant, and was successively
promoted to be Quartermaster Sergeant, Ser
geant-major, and Quarterma.ster, resigning
his commission as Quartermaster on June 7,
1878. On March 5, 1875, he took his first
degree in Masonry in Grecian Lodge of Law
rence, Mass., became a member of Mount
Sinai Royal Arch Chapter in 1876, and of
Bethany Commandery, Knights Templars, of
Lawrence, in 1877. He is also a member of
Kilpatrick Post, No. 71, Grand Army of the
Republic, and Connecticut Valley Lodge, No.
28, Knights of Pythias, of Holyoke.

In politics Mr. Davis has always been an
active Republican. He has represented Ward
Six in the Common Council, serving as a
member of the Committee on Highways and
Bridges, and also on various other committees.
At Lawrence, Mass., on the twenty-third day of
April, 1864, Mr. Davis was married to Miss
Miriam E. Harriman, daughter of Richard R.
and Sally H. (Knowles) Harriman, who were
natives of New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs.
Davis attend the Second Congregational
Church and reside in the Massasoit Block,
No. 19 Essex Street.

ON. CHARLES R. LADD is one of
the most distinguished citizens of
Springfield, Mass., having long
been connected with the State
government as Auditor. The family genealogy
can be traced directly back several generations
to Daniel Ladd, the first of his race on this
side the Atlantic. We find him in London,
March 24, 1633 or 1634, taking the oath of
allegiance to King Charles I., in order to
gain permission to take passage for New Eng
land in the ship "Mary and John." Next
we hear of him at Ipswich, Mass., where he
received a grant of land in February, 1637,
and built a house, in which he lived eleven
years before going to Salisbury, where more
land was granted him on October 16, 1639
and 1649. That he was a prominent settler is
shown by the transfer to him of several small
pieces of real estate here and there. From
Salisbury he removed to Haverhill, where he
died July 27, 1693.
Daniel Ladd had a son Samuel, who on the
first day of December, 1674, married Martha
Corless, daughter of George Corless. They
lived in the West Parish of Haverhill, near the
present site of the old parish church, where
Samuel Ladd was killed by Indians in 1698.
Samuel Ladd's son Jonathan was born in
Haverhill, on April 13, 1689, and on Decem
ber 28, 1713, married Susannah Kingsbury,
of Norwich, Conn. They first settled in her
native town; but seven years later, according
to a deed dated February 11, 1720, they pur
chased a farm in the northern part of Tolland,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

627

Conn., belonging to Nathaniel Wallace, of
Windham. Jonathan Ladd had a son bearing
the same name. The junior Jonathan Ladd
married Anna Tyler on June 27, 1751, and
died August 27, 1810; and of him nothing
more is known. But they had a son, Eliab
Ladd, born April 21, 1754, who married
Susalla Lathrop, a daughter of John Lathrop,
Jr., the ceremony taking place January 14,
1779, amid the trying days of the Revolution.
They lived together till his death, December
15, 1800, when not yet fifty years old. His
widow afterward married Jesse Meacham, Sr. ,
and died September 2, 1827. In the divi
sion among the children of Jonathan Ladd's
farm Eliab's share was seventy acres ; but he
bought one brother's share of seventy acres
more, and thereon built a fine, large farm
house, which his two boys inherited after his
death. He owned a saw-mill, was a good
farmer and a large and strong man, weighing
over two hundred pounds; and tradition
reports him as often called Armstrong, be
cause such a powerful wrestler.
It is a little singular that such a Samson
should give to a son a name suggestive of a
very different style of man, Ariel, a word
which makes one think of the spritely, dainty
spirit portrayed in Shakspere. Ariel Ladd
was born in Tolland, February 9, 1783, just
at the close of the Revolution. His wife
was Mary Winchell, daughter of Oliver and
Charity Winchell, of Turkey Plills, in the
town of Windsor, Conn. They were married
October 11, 181 1, when he was twenty-eight.
He died June 3, 1868, aged eighty-five; and
she, six years later, October 30, 1874, aged
eighty-seven. Ariel Ladd passed most of his
life in Tolland, and his education was of
necessity limited. After leaving the home
farm he worked awhile at ship building, and
then acquired considerable experience in
house carpentry. He was Deputy Sheriff and
County Jailor for several years, and kept a
tavern connected with the jail and owned by
the county. As late as 1840 he was elected
to the State Assembly, and held a commission
as Justice of the Peace from 1838 to 1870;
while from 1842 to 1850 he was a Director in
the Tolland County Bank, located in the town

of the same name. Of the Tolland Mutual
Fire Insurance Company he was thirty years
President, till his death. About the year
1830 Ariel Ladd bought a small farm of
thirty acres in Tolland; and later he bought
also a saw-mill, giving these two callings the
most of his time. His home was near the
village centre, in a plain, square, two-story
house, with a large stone chimney running up
through the middle — such a house as was
commonly built in the earlier quarter of the
nineteenth century by well-to-do villagers.
The family attended the old Congregational
church ; and at the nooning between the two
Sunday services the Ladd mansion was a
neighborly resort of the outside farmers, who
liked to talk over the week's affairs at home
and abroad, as they drank their mugs of his
generous cider and ate his rosy apples; for
Ariel Ladd was an upright man, sincere in
his friendships and broad in his sympathies.
His sound judgment arose from his common
sense, and made him always fair as a magis
trate. He was a member of the Masonic fra
ternity. This brings us to our .subject, Charles R.
I>add, the son of Ariel and Mary Ladd, who
was born in Tolland, on April 9, 1822. In
boyhood Charles of course attended the public
schools, but also worked on the home farm and
in his father's saw-mill. In 1837, at the age
of fifteen, during the great panic he worked
six months on an East Hartford farm. In
1842, at the age of twenty, he went to West-
field Academy, Massachusetts, for two years ;
and between 1838 and 1845, from the age of
sixteen to twenty-three, he taught school five
winters. In 1844, when twenty-two, he
began studying law with the Hon. Loren P.
Waldo, of his native town, who was afterward
elevated to a seat on the supreme bench of the
State. Young Ladd was admitted to the bar
in 1847, and the next year removed to Cabot
ville, Mass., now called Chicopee, where he
pursued his profession for nearly a decade.
Thence he came to Springfield in 1857, not
to practise law, but to devote himself to the
rapidly developing insurance business, in
partnership with his brother, R. E. Ladd, the
firm being called Ladd Brothers. This asso-

628

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ciation lasted seventeen years, till R. E.
Ladd died, in 1874. Then the firm was reor
ganized as Ladd Brothers & Co., the partners
being C R. Ladd, his brother Ariel Ladd,
and Thomas R. Weaver. On April 3, 1886,
Mr. Ladd married Mrs. Ella Morse Weaver,
daughter of William G. and Rebecca G.
Morse, of Springfield ; but they have no chil
dren. While in Chicopee Mr. Ladd was chairman
of the Board of Selectmen two years, and also
of the School Committee. He represented
his town in the legislature two seasons, in
1853 and 1854. In 1855 the legislature
passed an "act to protect the rights and liber
ties of the people of the Commonwealth."
Under this law Mr. Ladd was appointed a
Commissioner by the governor and council;
and its purpose was to secure a fair trial to
any fugitive slaves who might be arrested
under the infamous P'ugitive Slave Law, then
recently enacted by the Congress of the
United States. Happily, no such, arrests
were made in Flampden County; and Mr.
Ladd was never called upon to act in his new
capacity. In 1857 and 1858, when he re
turned to Springfield, he was Register of
Probate for Hampden County ; and on the
termination of this duty he was chosen County
Treasurer for a term of three years, beginning
in 1859. To this office he was re-elected in
1 861, during the outbreak of the Rebellion,
and again in 1864; but in 1867 he declined
re-election. In 1869 and 1870 he was in the
State Senate from the P"irst Plampden Dis
trict, and was a member of the lower branch
of the legislature from Springfield in 1873,
acting on the Insurance and other important
committees. In 1879 he was again sent to the
capital, and was made chairman of the Com
mittee on Finance, and was also a member of
the Committee on Retrenchment. At the close
of the session in 1879 be was appointed by the
governor and council to fill the post of State
Auditor left vacant by the resignation of the
Hon. Julius L. Clark; and the next November
he was elected to continue in the same office
by the people. Thereafter he was re-elected
each succeeding year till 1890, his term of
service ending with the next New Year.

Once during this term of State service, in
1884, Mr. Ladd's friends wished to send him
to Congress to fill the unexpired term of the
Hon. George D. Robinson, of Chicopee, who
had been chosen Governor of the State, and
could not keep both places ; but Mn Ladd
declined the proffered honor.
Four years, 1868-72, he was in the Spring
field city government, half the time as Alder
man and half as Councilman, and served as
chairman of the Committee on Education, and
was a member of the Building Committees
while the fine high school-house and three
grammar school-houses were being erected.
In 1850, soon after his settlement as a Chico
pee lawyer, Mr. Ladd received his commission
as Justice of the Peace; and this has always
been regularly renewed. In 1855 be was
placed on the first State Republican Commit
tee, and for many years was on the county
and city committees of his party. In earlier
years his power as a public speaker, added to
his executive ability, made him useful in Re
publican councils. His connection with Odd
Fellowship began in 1844, and he never gave
up his membership of the small lodge in Tol
land till it relinquished its charter; and in
1880 he became more directly affiliated with
the brethren in Springfield. He is a Director
in the Massasoit Paper Manufacturing Com
pany, formerly the Greenleaf & Taylor Paper
Company, and also a Director in the Chester
Paper Company. In the Third National Bank
•he was a stockholder from its organization in
1864, and became a Director in 1884. A
member of the North Congregational Church,
he has also served on its parish committees.
As a good singer, his voice has been heard in
nearly every choir in Springfield. When he
went to the legislature in 1879, he found it
expedient to reside in Boston. A polished
gentleman, no wonder Mr. Ladd finds a cordial
welcome in every circle.

OPIN A. ROOT, a prominent farmer
and a member of one of the oldest
families in Granville, was born May
5, 1826, in that town. He traces his
descent from John Root, one of the first set-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

629

tiers in Granville, a farmer who lived to a
good old age and died in the town where he
had made his home. His son, Amos Root,
was the grandfather of our subject. He was a
progressive farmer, and at the time of the
Revolution was engaged in teaming supplies
for the army. He was commonly known as
Captain Amos Root, and was a patriotic citi
zen. Pie was liberal in his religious views.
Captain Root died in Granville at the age of
ninety-one. He was twice married; and by
his first wife, who died before she reached her
fiftieth year, he had twelve children.
His son Silas, the father of John A. Root,
also was born in Granville, and there grew to
manhood. He had but a limited education —
in fact, was almost wholly self-educated; but
he was well known as a man of wisdom and
discernment. He was ordained in the Baptist
church, and performed ministerial duties from
1 81 7 to 1835. For some years also he was a
missionary in Vermont, but his farm was his
principal source of income during his life.
Pie spent his declining years in Granville, on
the farm where Silas B. Root now resides.
He died at the age of sixty-two ; and his wife,
Miriam (Spellman) Root, who also was a na
tive of Granville, died at seventy-two. They
had seven children, all of whom, except John
A. Root, are now deceased — Harvey, Nancy,
Jacob S., Marinda, David, and Silas.
John A. Root was next to the youngest in
his father's family. He grew to manhood in
Granville and was educated in the schools of'
that town, taking up when sufficiently mature
the vocation of farming. In company with
his brother, Jacob S., he managed the home
stead farm for ten years, at the expiration of
which time they exchanged their farm for the
estate where Mr. Root now lives. This com
prises one hundred and twenty acres, and
yields market, fruit, and dairy products, which
Mr. Root sells in Springfield and vicinity.
He has been very successful in his line, and
is still actively engaged in business as a
market and dairy farmer, though nearly
seventy years old.
He was married January 6, 1857, to Sarah
Jane Bowers, of Hartland, Conn., who died
without issue on January 6, 1867, the anni

versary of her wedding day. Mr. Root's
second wife was Sarah Jane Vickery, who was
born in Litchfield, N.IP., October 19, 1842.
She was the daughter of Ezra and Margaret
(McQueston) Vickery, who are now deceased,
Mr. Vickery having died in 1888, at the age
of seventy-one, and Mrs. Vickery having
passed to the life beyond when fifty-three
years old. They had nine children, all of
whom are now living and are married. Miss
Vickery became Mrs. Root, October 19, 1875.
Mr. and Mrs. Root have no children. Mr.
Root is one of the substantial men of his town,
a good citizen, and a member of the Baptist
church, of which his wife also is a member.

ILLIAM HENRY SEWARD
ls\l BROOKS, A.M., a prominent
member of the Hampden County
bar, was born at Schuyler's Lake, Otsego
County, N. Y. , January 5, 1855. He is the
son of Reuben P. and Margaret (Eliot)
Brooks, his father also having been a native
of Schuyler's Lake. His great-grandfather
was one of the first graduates of Dartmouth
College, and his grandfather was a well-to-do
farmer at Schuyler's Lake. His father, Reu
ben P. Brooks, in early manhood became a
member of the firm of Parker, Brooks & Co.,
extensive hop dealers in New York City,
where he spent most of his time until retiring
from active business. He died at Schuyler's
Lake in 1892, His wife still survives. They
had a family of four sons, of whom the subject
of this article is the only survivor. The
latter' s brother, Abel Eliot Brooks, became a
resident of Omaha, Neb., in the early days of
that city, and was its first District Attorney.
Mr. Brooks received his education at the
public schools and prepared for a collegiate
course at the Clinton Liberal Institute, enter
ing Dartmouth College in 1872, and graduat
ing in the class of 1876, with the degree of
A.B. He at once commenced the study of
law with "Warren C French, of Woodstock,
Vt., and after a year's study was admitted to
the bar at Springfield, Mass. He immediately
formed a partnership with Edward W. Chapin,
under the firm name of Chapin & Brooks,

630

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

which continued until 1882, when the partner
ship was dissolved and he continued to prac
tise his profession alone. In the mean time
he had been honored with the degree of A.M.
In 1893 he established the present firm of
Brooks, Hamilton & Guyott, admitting as
partners two young men who had been his
assistants for some years. He has practised
in Holyoke to some extent ; but, the county
seat being at Springfield, where the major
part of his business is necessarily conducted,
he has an office in the Court Square Theatre
Building in that city. His career at the
Hampden County bar has been an exceedingly
brilliant one, and he stands in the very front
rank of legal gentlemen in Western Massachu
setts. He is perfectly at ease in both civil
and criminal business; and, although com
paratively a young man, he has successfully
handled many important cases, having been
counsel for the defence in six murder cases,
besides several cases of manslaughter. As an
advocate in jury trials he is exceedingly elo
quent, and on such occasions conducts himself
in a manner that tends to win verdicts from
the jury. Mr. Brooks handles all cases for
the Boston & Albany, Boston & Maine, and
Connecticut River Railroads, together with
the Springfield and Holyoke Street Railways,
and is retained for the defence of nearly every
large corporation in Western Massachusetts,
which necessitates his appearance in court
nearly every day during eight or nine months
in the year, he having been absent but ten
days during the past five months.
Mr. Brooks has been twice married, his
first wife being Mary French, daughter of
Warren C. French, of Woodstock, "Vt. , who
died in 1881, leaving three children — Will
iam Steele and Eliot Palmer Brooks, who are
both preparing for college at the Clinton
Liberal Institute; and Mary, who is at present
attending a young ladies' seminary. On
March 4, 1884, he took for his second wife
Jennie, daughter of Edwin Chase, of Holyoke.
Edwin Chase was one of the pioneers of the
town. He was chairman of the County
Commissioners for several years, a State
Senator, and member of Governor "Washburn's
staff. An extended account of the Chase

family may be found in an article relative to
the career of William A. Chase, which appears
elsewhere in this work. This union has been
blessed by two children — Rachel Margaret
and Chase Reuben.
In politics Mr. Brooks is a Republican, and
has been of much valuable aid to the party in
campaign work, although he has no personal
aspiration for office. In 1892 he declined the
nomination for representative to Congress in a
strong Republican district, where election was
assured; and he was previously nominated, in
1889, for District Attorney of Hampden
County, but was defeated by a very small
number of votes. He was City Solicitor of
Holyoke in 1881, 1882, and 1883, and has
been senior counsel for the city since that
time. He was nominated by the Republicans
for Mayor in 1884; and, although Holyoke is
Democratic by an overwhelming majority, he
was defeated by only a few votes. Pie is one
of the organizers and a Director of the Park
National Bank of Holyoke, also a Director
and owner of a one-fourth interest in the
Highland Park Improvement Association. He
is a member of Mount Tom Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., of the University Club of Boston, the
Nayasset and Springfield Clubs of Springfield,
and the Bay State Club of Holyoke. Mr.
Brooks attends the Second Baptist Church, of
which his wife also is a member. The family
residence is at 203 Pine Street.

OSEPH C MARTIN, inventor and
patentee of the Martin Cash Carrier
System, and general manager of the
company, was born at Florence in
Northampton, Mass., November 6, 1845, son
of Joseph C and Roxanna (Ashley) Martin.
His father, who was born at the ancestral
home of the family in Chaplin, Conn., moved
to Northampton in 1844. He had learned the
trade of a shoemaker, but on account of fail
ing health embraced the out of door life of a
farmer in the latter town, where he became
very prominent in local affairs, holding many
of the important offices, and died in 1863,
aged fifty-seven years. He was particularly
interested in the school system, which he was

JOSEPH C. MARTIN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

^33

largely instrumental in improving before the
town became a city. He was an exceedingly
active Abolitionist and a member of the Con
gregational church until his radical views
upon the slavery question caused him to retire
from that church. His wife, who was also a
native of Chaplin, became the mother of six
children, four sons and two daughters.
Joseph C Martin, after completing his edu
cation in the public schools of Northampton,
learned the carpenter's trade, and later be
came a contracting builder, doing considera
ble important work in the vicinity of his
native town and at Springfield, to which city
he came in 1873, and where he erected a num
ber of fine residences. In the dull times that
followed he entered the dry-goods business
with his brother at Keene, N.H., where he
remained one year, after which he opened a
business for himself at Burlington, Vt., estab
lishing and maintaining until 1882 a very
prosperous trade. It was while conducting
his business during a very busy Christmas
season in the latter city that he saw the
urgent necessity of a reliable cash carrier,
which first prompted him to concentrate his
energies in this direction, the result of which
was the invention of an entirely new system,
which he introduced into his establishment as
an experiment. Being satisfied with the
working of his new device, and feeling cer
tain of its ultimate success as a financial
enterprise, he formed a partnership with his
brother, L. A. Martin, and began its manu
facture, first introducing the system into the
store of Kinsman at Springfield, where it
proved a failure, not being sufficiently
perfected. His brother's interest was then bought by
A. G. Hill, of Northampton; and they pro
ceeded to manufacture and introduce another
and entirely different system which Mr. Mar
tin had in the mean time invented, placing the
apparatus in stores at Springfield, Worcester,
Providence, and Meriden. It was soon re
moved from these places, the system not yet
having reached the desired point of efficiency.
The persistent inventor with undaunted cour
age kept steadily advancing toward the per
fection of his ideas, and at this juncture,

departing from what was known as the side
grip device, planned and perfected a system
into which he introduced the central grip,
which he had patented. This latest develop
ment of his genius was placed in one of the
largest stores at New Bedford, Mass. ; and
after much difficulty in getting it properly
adjusted he, having been four nights and an
equal number of days working continuously
without sleep, had the satisfaction of seeing
his latest system in successful operation, thus
insuring the realization of what he had so
patiently and diligently sought to accomplish.
For a period of two years, dating from
1885, the new cash carrier system was intro
duced in large establishments throughout the
country, it being able to turn any angle
required and to go up or down during its cir
cuit, at the same time accomplishing the dis
tance much more rapidly than other systems
in use. But hardly had Mr. Martin reached
the highway to success when an action for
infringement was brought against him by the
Lamson Company, who did everything pos
sible to annoy him, and even after he had
received a verdict in his favor in the Supreme
Court instituted a new action, and brought
suits (on the strength of an appeal) against
all parties using his invention. Litigation
is, of course, expensive; and he was under the
necessity of forming a stock company, which
ultimately came into possession of the Lam
son Company.
After this Mr. Martin invented and
patented another system, which reaches a
still higher degree of perfection than did his
former, and while introducing it as an experi
ment was again sued by his old competitors,
who prosecuted a claim that he was infringing
his previous patents, which they owned. This
did not discourage him from forming a new
company, however; and after a careful exami
nation by experts, who decided that his new
invention did not in any way infringe upon
his former patents, he associated himself with
George Crocker, Tilly Haynes, Herbert Z.
Harding, and other prominent men, having a
capital of one hundred thousand dollars paid
in, which was sufficient to set the wheels of
the new enterprise in motion; and they began

634

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

its manufacture in 1889. The Lamson Com
pany evidently found that their claim for
infringement was weak, and so they brought
another suit, claiming that they owned all of
Mr. Martin's future inventions. This claim
of the Lamson Company was heard before
Judge Holmes, who decided that the contract
with the concern did not cover future inven
tions; and, failing in this they renewed their
action in the court, claiming newly discov
ered evidence that the present system was per
fected previous to the sale of the former one.
This was also tried before Judge Holmes, who
decided against Mr. Martin; but the case
went up to the full bench on appeal, where a
much different view was taken in the matter,
and a decision was handed down in his favor,
thus reversing that of the lower court. The
Lamson Company then resurrected the old
suit for infringement which had lain dormant
for some years, and also applied for an injunc
tion restraining the new company from doing
any further business. The case was argued
before Judge Carpenter at Providence in the
United States Circuit Court, who decided in
Mr. Martin's favor. The case went to the
Court of Appeals, and was argued at Boston;
and Judge Carpenter's opinion was sustained.
Since the Supreme Court rendered its deci
sion in their favor, the new company has
been busily engaged in manufacturing and
filling large orders from every part of the
United States, including New York, Brook
lyn, Pittsburg, Detroit, Buffalo, St. Paul, and
nearly all of the other large cities, their sys
tem being known and recognized as superior
in every particular to any other yet intro
duced ; and its inventor after many discourag
ing vicissitudes has at length reached a basis
of operation in which he may reap the just
reward for his inventive genius and persistent
labor. Mr. Martin has just received a patent for
a device for picking up messages, which is
now in practical operation at the Western
Union main office. New York. It is consid
ered a great novelty, and is doing wonderful
work. Mr. Martin's venerable mother is still liv
ing, and resides at Florence, her other chil

dren being as follows: Abel R., who is
engaged in farming at Northampton; Luther
A., a retired merchant of the same place;
Edwin FL, who travels in the interest of the
cash carrier system; Eliza, the wife of
Thomas Mann, of P'lorence; and Sarah E.
Martin, who is assistant principal of the pub
lic schools of the latter place.
Mr. Martin is constantly occupied in at
tending to the affairs of the company, of
which he is the general manager. It was
incorporated in 1889, with a paid up capital as
above stated, and thoroughly organized upon
a firm basis, all business being transacted at
their general office, 91 and 92 Fiske Build
ing, No. 89 State Street, Boston. He is still
closely identified with the local interests of
Springfield, and is a member of the Board of
Trade in this city.
The reader will be pleased to view the
accompanying portrait of this enterprising
inventor, who has fought his way to a high
position in the business world against many
discouragements.

AUGUSTUS ALLEN, one of the
most prominent young business
men of Westfield, and a representa
tive of an old and influential fam
ily, was born at the homestead where he now
resides, February 14, 1855. He is a son of
Alonzo and Eunice (Chapman) Allen, the for
mer born at the homestead, March 2, 1809,
and the latter in the town of Montgomery,
June 27, 181 1. The Allen family trace their
descent to three brothers, who settled in
America at a very early date. Mr. Allen's
great-grandparents were Abel and Phebe
(Horton) Allen, residents of Connecticut.
His grandfather, Isaac Allen, was born in
Connecticut, and settled at West Farms about
the year 1800, where he purchased the present
Allen homestead, which then consisted of
fifty acres. He became very successful in
agricultural pursuits, residing upon his farm
until his decease, which occurred at the age
of fifty-six. His wife, whose maiden name
was Hannah Atkins, was also a native of Con
necticut. She died when about eighty years

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

635

of age. In politics Mr. Allen was a Demo
crat.- He took an active interest in the town
government, serving as Selectman and holding
other offices. Mr. and Mrs. Allen were mem
bers of the Baptist church, in which he was
an active worker. They had eight children,
seven of whom lived to reach maturity. Only
one is now living. They were named as fol
lows: Ezra, a stone mason and contractor,
who built many of the locks in the New
Haven & Northampton Canal; Myrilla; Orsa
mus, who for many years was a prominent
Baptist preacher, and died in Columbus,
Ohio; Luanna; Alonzo; Luanna, who became
Mrs. Blood, of Westfield; Welthena; Avery
M., who was a dealer in produce in Albany,
N.Y., and died in Stratford, Conn., after
retiring from active business.
Alonzo Allen, father of our subject, re
ceived his education in the schools of West-
field, and at the age of twenty-one entered
mercantile life as a clerk, in which capacity
he continued for two or three years. In 1833
he established business for himself, and for
more than forty years conducted an extensive
trade, for many years being the leading mer
chant of the town. He occupied a very large
store, and made a specialty of buying and
selling all kinds of country produce. His
business enterprise led him beyond the con
fines of his native town; and he dealt heav
ily in grain at Buffalo and New York City,
being a member of the firm of Allen, Clark &
Co., of the latter city. He continued actively
engaged in business until his decease, which
occurred at the old homestead, March 14,
1874. Mrs. Allen, whose maiden name was
Eunice Chapman, is of Puritan descent, trac
ing her lineage to the Bradford family, who
came over in the "Mayflower." Her grand
parents were Isaac and Mary (Bradford) Chap
man, early settlers in Montgomery. Her
father, Elisha Chapman, was born in Groton,
Conn., in 1774, and for some years was a
merchant and innkeeper in Montgomery,
Mass. He died at the age of forty-eight.
His wife, whose maiden name was Mercy
Avery, was a native of Montgomery. She
was called to rest at the age of thirty-nine.
Mrs. Alonzo Allen is still living at the

homestead. Alonzo Allen was a Democrat
in politics. He served as Selectman two
years. Though not professing members of
the Baptist church, Mr. and Mrs. Allen were
actively interested in that denomination.
They had seven children, as follows: Camilla,
wife of F. G. Tiffany, of Blandford; Ed
ward A., a member of the wholesale grain
firm of Clark & Allen in New York City;
Fannie E., who resides at the homestead in
Westfield; S. Augustus, of this record;
Carlos A., who died an infant; Cordelia E.,
who died at the age of eighteen years; and
Arselia M., who died April 30, 1889, at the
age of forty-six years.
S. Augustus Allen, after leaving the public
schools of Westfield, attended the Wilbraham
Academy and the Connecticut Literary Insti
tute at Suffield. At his father's decease he
assumed charge of the business at West
Farms, which he conducted for a period of
twelve years. He was also extensively inter
ested in the manufacture of whips at West
Farms until 1884; and in company with his
brother he devotes much time and energy to
the development of the Great River Water
Power Company, with which he has been con
nected since 1887. This is no doubt the very
finest water-power privilege in the town, and
is a most promising enterprise. He is a very
successful farmer, owning jointly with his
mother the homestead farm, which comprises
about two hundred acres.
On June 14, 1876, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Ella L. Turner, who was born
at Troy, N.Y., January 9, 1854, and is a
daughter of Benjamin and Nancy E. (Doane)
Turner, the former a native of Saybrook,
Conn., the latter of Killingworth in the same
State. Mrs. Allen's father, who was a civil
engineer by trade, died in Central America in
1856. Her mother now resides at West
Farms. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have four chil
dren living; namely, Charles T., Vergie E.,
Ethel L., and Park W., all of whom reside at
home. Lena E. died at the age of twelve,
and Roy W. at the age of two years.
Mr. Allen is a Democrat in politics. P'or
four or five years he has been a Director of
the First National Bank, and he has been a

636

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Trustee of the Woronoco Savings Bank. Mr.
and Mrs. Allen are members of the Baptist
church. The Aliens are one of the old fami
lies who retain the hospitable customs of their
forefathers, dispensing good cheer with a lav
ish hand; and Mr. Allen takes especial pride
in preserving family traditions.

(^Yr-MBROSE OAKLEY SMITH, a resi-
f^ dent of Springfield, engaged in agri-
Jj\\ cultural pursuits, was born at
^ — ' Middlefield, Mass., August 4,
1829. His father, Ambrose Smith, born in
the same town, June 17, 1796, was a son of
Calvin and Anna (Anable) Smith, an account
of whom, with their connections, may be found
in a genealogy of the family compiled by
Mrs. Sophia Smith Martin. Ambrose Smith,
Sr., was well educated in his native town, and
in his early manhood adopted the profession
of teaching, which he followed for some years
in the winter schools, devoting his time dur
ing the summer season to farming. He suc
ceeded to the ownership of the homestead, and
resided in Middlefield until 1856, when he
purchased a farm at Feeding Hills, Hampden
County, where he remained until his decease,
at the age of sixty-three years. His wife was
Nancy Alderman, of Granby, Conn., daughter
of Daniel and Clarissa (Holcomb) Alderman.
She passed from earth at the age of ninety-one
years, having reared six children, as follows :
Nancy; Mary C, who married Dr. William
K. Otis; Clarissa A., who married C C
Thompson ; Betsey Alvah, widow of the late
Alvah B. Pierce; Ambrose O. ; and Henry.
Ambrose O. Smith was also well educated,
and at the age of twenty he commenced teach
ing in Southampton, Mass. He subsequently
presided over schools at Washington, Berk
shire County, and Hyde Park, N.Y., and after
that for a number of years travelled in the
winter season for Comstock, Ferre & Co.,
seed men. He continued to follow fanning
during the summer and resided at Middlefield
until 1856, when he accompanied his father to
Feeding Hills, and was interested with him
in carrying on the land. In 1865 he sold that
property, and went to Chicopee, where he

resided about seven months, and then removed
to his present farm, and engaged in the milk
business. In 1873 he moved into the city of
Springfield, where he continued his residence
for a period of fifteen years, after which he
returned once more to his country seat. He
has added to his original purchase at different
times, and now owns one hundred and forty
acres of valuable land, situated upon the Bos
ton road, two miles from Armory Hill, which
is in every way a desirable piece of property.
Mr. Smith has been a very successful farmer,
and, as a man, stands high in the esteem of his
fellow-citizens. He is a member of the State
Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a
Republican in politics.
His sister Betsey, Mrs. Pierce, makes her
home with him, and presides over his house
hold affairs. Her late husband was born at
Peru, Berkshire County, February 19, 1826,
and was a son of Isaac and Mary Pierce. He
made the best of his opportunities for obtain
ing an education at the public schools, and
was a life-long resident of Peru, where he fol
lowed farming. He was an exemplary and
thoroughly Christian-like man, a devoted
member of the Congregational church, and
deeply interested in Sunday-school work. He
died September 9, 1851. Mrs. Pierce reared
one son — McKendree, who, after completing
his education, engaged in the milk business.
He was a very wide-awake, enterprising young
man; but his promising career was suddenly
cut short, his death occurring at the age of
twenty-one years.

KRANKLIN LEONARD JOHNSON, a
well-to-do farmer in Agawam, of early
Puritan ancestry, was born in Feeding
IP ills Parish, in the town of Agawam, Hamp
den County, Mass., April 22, 1852. The
family trace their lineage through eight gen
erations to John Johnson, born in England,
who came with wife and children in Governor
Winthrop's colony in 1630, and settled in
Roxbury, Mass. His name is mentioned both
in Winthrop's " History of Massachusetts " and
in Drake's "History of Roxbury." John John
son died in Roxbury, September 30, 1659.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

637

Plis son Isaac, who was born in ICngland, was
killed in the Narrag;iiisctt fight in Rhode
Island, December ig, 1675. Pie married
P^lizabcth Porter, the ceremony taking place
in Roxbury, January 20, 1632. Is;iac, their
son, born in Roxbury about 1644, removed to
Middletown probably about the time of his
marriage (1669), and, securing a tract of ara
ble land, established a farm on which he
spent the rest of his life, lie died P'ebru-
ary 3, 171 9. His wife's maiden name was
Mary Harris. She was from Roxbury, and
tlied Ajiril i, 1740. Their son Joseph, born
March 9, 1 671, was a farmer, residing in
Middletown during his lifetime. He died
November [2, 1739. He was twice married,
and by his second wife, IClizabcth Partridge,
of Hatfield, Hampshire County, Mass., had
a son, ICbenczer Johnson, who also was a
farmer, and spent his life in Middletown,
where he was born P'ebruary 15, 1722. Pie
was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and
commanded a company in the Twenty-third
Regiment. He died March 9, 181 1. Plis
wile was ICli/.abeth Gilbert, a native of Mid
dletown, Conn. Their son Josiah Johnson
was born in Middletown, January 27, 1757.
He was a member of the State militia, and
was called into active service sevenil times.
In 1802 he was commissioned by Jonathan
'Prumbull as F'irst Lieutenant of the Second
Troop of the Seventh Regiment of Cavalry,
and later was promoted to the rank of Captain.
In 1796 his buildings were burned, and for a
few months he lived in lladdam, Middlesex
County. With this exception, his life was
spent in Middletown, where he died I'ebruary
2S1 1833. 'Phe maiden name of his wife was
Anna Hedges. She was born in Middletown,
January 29, 1767, and was a daughter of Isaac
and Anna (Roberts) Hedges. Her death oc
curred January IS, 1826.
Leonard Johnson, grandfather of P'ranklin
Leonard, of this sketch, was born in Pladdam,
Conn., and grew up on the farm in Middle-
town, residing there till 1819, when he went
to 'West Springfield. There he purchased
forty acres of land, including the farm now
owned by his son Samuel, and, erecting a set
of farm buildings, lived on his estate till his

death. On December 25, 1822, he was united
to Miss Maria Prout, daughter of Oliver
Prout, of Middletown. She was born Novem
ber 16, 1799, and lived to be eighty-five years
old. She became the mother of four children
— Samuel Leonard, iMcderick A., Julia M.,
and ICsther L.
Samuel Leonard Johnson, father of Frank
lin Leonard, was born in the parish of P'ocd-
ing Plills, November i, 1824. He attended
the district schools of the locality, and on
arriving at manhood succeeded to the owner
ship of the homestead, which covers about one
hundred acres. Pie married December 2,
1850, Miss Helen Smith, a native of Catskill,
Greene County, N.Y., who was born Septem
ber 22, 1827, the daughter of Truman and
Ruth (Bailey) Smith. The lineage of the
Smith family is traced as follows: Thomas
Smith, whose birthplace is uncertain, was
twice married, his second wife being Mary
Younglove, a daughter of the first pastor of
the church at Suffield. Mr. Smith died
December 2, 1726, and his wife passed away
June 24, 1743. Their son Thomas, born
April 28, 1690, was a farmer in Suffield. On
August 10, 1724, he married Abigail Austen,
daughter of Anthony and Abigail (Holcomb)
Austen, who was born P'ebruary 12, 1701.
Their son Thomas, born in Suffield, Novem
ber 6, 1725, went to West Springfield, and
settled in the locality now known as Feeding
Hills, buying a farm, on which he spent the
remainder of his life. In 1755 he was mar
ried to Esther Ball, of West Springfield.
Their son Alexander, the grandfather of Mrs.
Johnson, was born in breeding Plills, Decem
ber 31, 1765, and spent his life on a farm in
his native town, dying January 18, 1856.
He was twice married, his first wife, Eliza
beth Plastings, daughter of Joseph and Eliza
beth (Wallace) Hastings, passing away
Octobers, 1829. Plis second wife was Mrs.
Abigail Hastings, a native of Suffield, born
April 18, 1776. Truman Smith, Mrs. John
son's father, was born in Feciling Hills,
December 23, 1793. He went to New York
State some time after marriage, and settled on
a farm in Catskill, Greene County; later he
came to Feeding Hills, Hampden County,

638

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mass., where he purchased a farm, residing
on the land until his death, which occurred
October 25, 1858. He was married March i,
1821, to Miss Ruth Bailey, a native of Had
dam, Conn., born December 3, 1797. She
died December 11, 1878.
Samuel Leonard Johnson and Helen, his
wife, became the parents of three children —
Franklin Leonard, Ella M., and Howard Bel
mont. Ella M. was born September 9, 1857,
and has always resided with her parents.
Howard Belmont was born May 25, 1863.
He married October 12, 1887, Miss Bertha
May Cushman, and has three children: Wal
ter, born October 16, 1889; Helen Lorella,
born January 28, 1893; and a babe unnamed.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church.
P'ranklin Leonard Johnson has always re
sided at the homestead with his parents. He
has been associated with his father in the cul
tivation of the farm, carrying on its varied
improvements with energy and ability. Al
though interested in politics, he is not an
office-seeker, preferring the enjoyments of a
quiet life.

^/^

ILLIAM EMERSON BARNES, a
\)(s\/ successful business man and one of
^ '^ Granville's active citizens, was
born December 25, 1846, in the town of Tol
land. He is the son of William E. and Sarah
A. (Richards) Barnes, and traces his descent
from Phineas Barnes, who came from Durham,
Conn. William Barnes, the son of Phineas,
and the grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, was born in Granville, and there grew
to manhood. He owned a farm in what is
now called Tolland, and was an upright and
industrious man. He died in Granville when
seventy-five years old. The maiden name of
Grandmother Barnes was Rachel Porter. She
lived to be seventyTcight years old, and was
the mother of eight children — four sons and
four daughters.
William Emery Barnes, the father of Will
iam Emerson Barnes, was born in Tolland,
October 21, 1807. He was the youngest in
his family, and is the only one now living.

He grew to manhood in Tolland, and, like his
father, was a farmer. He took up his resi
dence in 1857 on the farm which he now cul
tivates, and during his long life has been an
active and successful man. In his younger
days he was a Democrat, but he has not voted
for President since Buchanan's time, though
he has held all the offices within the gift of
the town of Tolland, serving as Selectman for
a long term, and performing other official
duties. He was sent to Boston as represent
ative from his district in 185 1, and was at
one time Special Commissioner for Hampden
County. Mr. Barnes is one of the oldest resi
dents of Granville. He attends the Methodist
church. Mrs. Barnes was born in Blandford,
February 22, 1820, and died at the age of
fifty. She was the mother of three children,
two of whom are yet living — William Emer
son Barnes, the subject of this biography;
and his younger brother, Vincent E. Barnes,
a lumber merchant living in Westfield.
William Emerson Barnes spent his boyhood
in Tolland and Granville, attending school in
the latter town. Since attaining his majority
he has devoted himself to farming and lumber
ing, and now has about three hundred acres of
land under his control. He is an active and
successful man in all that he undertakes, and
has been identified with the welfare of the
town since his youth.
On November 28, 1877, Mr. Barnes was
married to Celia A., daughter of Cyrus and
Lucy (Wells) Phelon, and grand-daughter of
John Phelon, a native of Suffield, who settled
in Granville at an early date. He bought the
farm now known as the old Phelon homestead,
and there resided till his death, which took
place when he was forty-five years old. He
was a successful farmer, and left his estate in
a fine condition. His wife, Pally (Hoising-
ton) Phelon, lived to be seventy-four. They
had seven children, three of whom are now
living: Cyrus, in Granville; Curtis, in Bland
ford; Eliza, Mrs. Osborne, in Westfield.
Cyrus Phelon was born on the farm where he
now lives, April 4, 18 16. He was extensively
engaged in lumbering, and successfully car
ried on general farming, being one of the
largest fruit growers in Granville and a first-

ETHAN T. SIKES.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

641

class business man. He died January 18,
1895. He voted in the ranks of the Demo
cratic party. In religious matters Mr. Phe-
lon's views were liberal. Mrs. Phelon was
born in West Hartford, November 5, 1822,
and died at the age of fifty-three. She was
the mother of five children, all of whom are
living: William C P^helon, in East Granville;
Mrs. Ellen Barnes, in Westfield; Mrs. Celia
Barnes, wife of the subject of this biography;
John W. Phelon, in Granville; and Austin
Phelon, on the old homestead.
Mrs. Celia Barnes is a very intelligent and
cultured lady. She was one of the brightest
pupils at the Westfield Normal School, from
which she graduated with high honors at the
age of seventeen; and she taught for nineteen
terms with marked success at Granville. Mrs.
Barnes served as a member of the town School
Committee in 1894-95.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have two daughters,
very intelligent and promising young ladies :
Mariette E., born November 10, 1878; and
Cora L., born August 22, 1884, both claiming
Granville as their birthplace. In politics Mr.
Barnes is a Republican, and he takes an active
interest in public enterprises. He has been
Selectman for ten years, and is at present act
ing in that capacity; and he has filled other
offices with credit. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes
attend the Congregational church, of which
they are influential members.

THAN TAYLOR SIKES, an intelli
gent dairy farmer of West Springfield,
diligent and thriving, was born in
Westfield, Mass., September 24, 1841. His
father, William Sikes, was born in Ludlow,
in the same county of Hampden, March 18,
181 5; and his grandfather, Chester Sikes,
was also a native of that town, being a son of
Jonathan Sikes, of whom an extensive account
may be found in the biography of E. J. Sikes.
Chester Sikes was a life-long resident of the
town of Ludlow, and followed agriculture as a
means of livelihood. He married for his first
wife Eunice Taylor, of Longmeadow, and for
his second, Margaret Sikes, all of his three
children having been born to his first wife.

William Sikes learned the trade of a car
penter, and, being a skilful craftsman, he fol
lowed his calling in Springfield, where he
resided for a number of years, and at West-
field for a period of four years. In 1853 he
purchased the farm upon which his son now
resides; and here he passed the remainder of
his days, his decease occurring at the age of
fifty-four years. In 1839 be married Louisa
Ensign, who was born May 28, 18 12, and
died in July, 1872, at the homestead in West
Springfield, aged sixty years. She was the
mother of three children, as follows: Ethan
Taylor; Clarissa ]., Mrs. George M. Wilcox,
now deceased; and Hattie L., who died in
childhood. Ethan Taylor was an only son, and was
eleven years of age when his parents moved
to the present farm. He received his element
ary education in the public schools, and after
ward pursued some of the higher branches at
the Westfield Academy. When not occupied
with his studies, he assisted his father upon
the farm, and at his father's demise succeeded
to the ownership of the property. The farm,
which originally consisted of forty-five acres,
has since been enlarged by the addition of one
hundred acres, and is at the present time a
most valuable and productive piece of prop
erty. Mr. Sikes is profitably engaged in gen
eral husbandry, paying considerable attention
to dairying. In 1873 he was united in mar
riage to Miss Hattie T. Emerson, daughter of
Simeon Emerson, of Enfield, Conn., where
she was born. Their union has been blessed
with two children, namely: William E. and
Carrie Louise. Mr. Sikes is a Republican in
politics, and cast his first vote for Abraham
Lincoln. As an agriculturist, being a sagacious
manager, energetic, persevering, and putting
his own hand to the plough, he has won well-
merited success; and his portrait on the oppo
site page will interest readers of this volume.

ALVIN S. MILLER, a leading farmer
and one of the well-known and in
fluential residents of Southwick,
Hampden County, Mass., was born
in the town of Pomfret, Windsor County, Vt.,

642

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

December 22, 1833. He was the son of John
and Orpha (Sherborne) Miller, and grandson
of John and Hannah Miller, the latter being
natives of Windsor County, Vermont. John
Miller was a farmer of note in the locality, a
successful and energetic worker, making his
mark among his neighbors and townsmen.
He died on his farm in Windsor County, at
the advanced age of ninety years. His wife
lived to be eighty years old. In politics John
Miller was a Whig. He and his wife were
members of the Congregational church, Mr.
Miller holding the office of Deacon. Their
family consisted of six children, one of whom
is still living. John, father of Calvin S., of
this sketch, the oldest of the flock, resided in
the town of Barnard, Vt., where he died in
January, 1895; Crosby resides in Pomfret;
Hannah died at about the age of seventy-five
years; Matilda, Mrs. Barrows, departed this
life at the age of eighty; Henry died in in
fancy; Lucius died when somewhat past mid
dle age.
John Miller, father of Calvin S., was born
in Pomfret, Windsor County, Vt., and re
sided in Barnard, that State and county, after
his marriage. He was, like his father, one
of the leading men of the place, taking pre
cedence in civil as well as agricultural mat
ters, and becoming successful and prosper
ous. He was a Republican in politics, and
was appointed to various offices of trust.
He served on the Board of Selectmen, and
was Assessor and Overseer of the Poor, be
sides holding other official positions. He
and his wife were liberal in religious opin
ions. Mr. Miller was at the time of his death
the oldest man in the town, being ninety
years of age. He was twice married. His
first wife, Orpha, was born in Pomfret, Octo
ber 3, 1805, and died April 9, 1845. Her
children were four in number. His second
wife was Mrs. Sarah Wood, who bore him two
children. The children's names were: Lu
cinda, who was born March 5, 1829, and died
December 25, 1863, wife of Joseph D. Hew-
ett, of Pomfret, Vt. ; Lucius, born February
27, 1830, a farmer, now residing on the old
homestead in Barnard, Vt. ; Calvin S., our
subject; Martha, born October 26, 1837, wife

of L. J. Sackett, a resident of Southwick,
Hampden County, Mass. ; Annette, born Sep
tember 22, 1846, who died July 22, 1852;
Edward, born October 16, 1848, residing in
Barnard, Vt.
Calvin S. Miller spent his youth with his
parents, was educated in the district schools,
and, after finishing his studies, engaged in
farming. His first work on an independent
basis was working by the month in the employ
of the neighboring farmers. In 1856 he
moved from Vermont to Southwick, Mass.,
where he took charge of a farm owned by
S. O. Rising. In i860 he bought the farm,
which consisted of one hundred and thirty
acres, there making his home. In 1865 he
sold the estate, and for a time engaged in the
flour and feed business in Westfield. But in
October of that year he bought another farm,
which covers one hundred and four acres.
On this property he has made many improve
ments, and carries on general farming, tobacco
being his main production. Mr. Miller has
been industrious, giving strict attention to
his work, and has been very successful.
Mr. Miller was married on January i, 1863,
to Miss Melissa T. Loomis, who was born in
Westfield, February 10, 1839, a daughter of
J. A. and Tryphema (Sackett) Loomis, both
natives of Westfield, the former born July 14,
181 1, the latter April 9, 18 14. Mr. Loomis
was a wheelwright by trade, and in later years
engaged in business as a travelling salesman,
finally becoming a merchant in Westfield.
His death took place September 2, 1883, and
that of his wife October 4, 1878. Both were
active workers in the Methodist Episcopal
Church, of which they were members. Mr.
and Mrs. Loomis had five children, of whom
three are now living: Juliet A., born Septem
ber 22, 1836, died May 13, 1865; Adelaide
M., wife of Joseph Morgan, born August 17,
1 84 1, died December 9, 1890, in West
Springfield; Melissa T. is the wife of our
subject; Esther J., wife of N. Morgan, M.D.,
born December 18, 1844, resides in Spring
field, Mass.; Edward A., born August 23,
1852, a hardware merchant, resides in Provi
dence, R.I.
In politics Mr. Miller favors the Republi-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

643

can party. He has not been neglectful of
town interests, but has held various offices
with advantage to the community, serving as
one of the Board of Selectmen, as Assessor,
and as Overseer of the Poor; and he is now
Treasurer and Collector of the town, holding
the latter office the past four years. Mr. and
Mrs. Miller are members of the Congrega
tional church in Southwick, Mr. Miller hold
ing the office of Deacon.

J~>v EXTER PARKS, an honored citizen
=^ of the village of Russell, well known
9V as one of the leading men of Hamp
den County, was born on a farm in
the town of Russell on October 25, 1823, a
son of Robert and Sarah (Shurtleff) Parks.
The family are descended from early English
ancestry. Elias Parks, the grandfather, was a
native of the town of Russell, and was the
owner of a farm on the Huntington road,
about three-quarters of a mile from the rail
road station. There he spent his last years,
passing away at a ripe age. His wife was
Lydia Lindsay.
Their son Robert took up the duties of farm
life when a boy, and chose farming as his life
occupation. About 1835 he removed to the
town of Blandford, where he purchased a
farm, and lived twenty years. In 1855 he
returned to his native town, where he lived
with his son on a farm one mile west of the
station. There he made his home the remain
der of his life, his death occurring on Novem
ber 24, 1866, when he was seventy-four years
old. He married Sarah Shurtleff, a native of
the town of Montgomery, a daughter of Elisha
and. Susan (Strong) Shurtleff. Mrs. Sarah
Parks passed to the higher life on March i,
1879. The household included five children
— Polly, Lewis, Horace, Dexter, and Emily.
Dexter Parks was educated in the district
schools, assisting his father in the various
farm duties, and making his home with his
parents. As old age crept upon them, he in
turn cared for them, remaining on the home
farm until 1870. In that year he removed to
the village, where he has since resided, prac
tically retired from the cares of active life.

Possessed of keen foresight and sagacious
judgment, he invested profitably in land at
different times, and is now the owner of sev
eral farms, in addition to property in both
Russell and Westfield.
On May 25, 1865, the union of Mr. Parks
and Miss Elizabeth M. Brown was solemnized.
Mrs. Parks is a native of Blandford, Mass., a
daughter of Israel and Louisa (Mitchell)
Brown, both of whom were natives of the
same town. Israel Brown was a shoemaker
by trade, and followed that occupation all his
life. He died in Blandford at the age of
sixty-three. The mother was also a life-long
resident of her native town, departing this
life at the age of sixty-eight. Mr. and Mrs.
Parks are the parents of one child, a son —
Dexter R.
Mr. Parks cast his first Presidential vote in
1844 for James K. Polk, and has since been
a strong adherent of the Democratic party.
He has been a member of the Board of Select
men for a number of terms, and in 1870 was
elected to the legislature, in which position
he served with much credit to himself and
satisfaction to his constituents. Mr. Parks
has always been regarded as a man of integ
rity and honor, and is held in respect by his
community, whose interests he is ever ready
to promote by all means within his power.

T^HARLES D. ROOD, President and
I \r^ Treasurer of the Keating Wheel
^^Is^ Company, and President and Direc
tor of the Hamilton Watch Com
pany, was born in Ludlow, Mass., where his
grandfather, Asahel Rood, lived many years,
having moved there from Connecticut before
the present century. Mr. Rood has recently
purchased the farm for which his grandfather
received a deed eighty years ago. His father,
J. Dexter Rood, was connected with the Bos-'
ton & Albany Railroad for nearly forty years.
His mother, Clarissa A., is grand -daughter of
Orrin Walker, a Revolutionary soldier, who
lived for many years in Belchertown. The
wife of Asahel Rood was Asenath, daughter
of Elisha Fuller, who was one of the first
merchants in the town of Ludlow, and for

644

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

many years the only one, drawing his mer
chandise by team from Boston, Hartford, or
New York, and who owned immense tracts of
land in Ludlow.
After completing his studies at Williston
Seminary, Mr. Rood was for a short time
assistant paymaster and clerk at the Indian
Orchard Mills, and went from there to New
York in the employ of a jewelry manufactur
ing and watch importing house at a salary of
five hundred dollars per year. Within twelve
months thereafter one of the firm's travelling
men came home discouraged with his efforts
to sell goods, and Mr. Rood was requested to
finish his route and travel temporarily. This
position at that time involved very hard work
and great responsibility, as he had to take
with him a large amount of goods, including
watches, diamonds, and jewelry, to deliver to
the trade as sold. Returning after about a
three months' trip, he offered his resignation,
having partially decided to go into the oil
land business in Pennsylvania. Finally, how
ever, he accepted the firm's offer of a two
years' engagement, his salary for the second
year to be twenty-five hundred dollars, more
than double the amount they had ever paid
any clerk before. Before the expiration of
this term arrangements were made for his
admission to the firm as a partner for five
years; but, before that time expired, the firm
name was again changed to Spadone, Rood &
Co., Mr. Rood becoming an equal partner in
the new firm. They were very largely en
gaged in manufacturing fine jewelry and
importing watches and diamonds, having the
sole United States agency for some of the
most celebrated foreign watches, and also
dealing largely in American watches.
In 1876 Mr. Rood sold his interest in the
firm, and in the latter part of that year and
early in 1877 aided in organizing the Hamp
den Watch Company out of what little was
left of the New York Watch Company, whose
works had been burned. On the completion
of the organization, June i, 1877, he was
elected Director and Treasurer, the following
provision appearing on the records: "That
the entire management and responsibility
shall rest with the Treasurer, subject to the

Board of Directors." Mr. Rood continued to
hold these offices with the same conditions
until 1884, when in addition he was elected
President of the company. The success of
the Hampden Watch Company was phenom
enal under his administration. Its begin
nings were of the most inauspicious kind,
with a plant utterly unfit for the purposes of
watch-making, with machinery neglected and
out of order generally, and with a deep-seated
prejudice against the old company, caused by
its unbusiness-like and peculiar methods, they
having been in the habit of making only par
tial payments in cash on their pay-rolls, some
times paying their help wholly with watch
movements at list prices, for which the
recipient was obliged to take a much less sum
when he realized cash for them. This, of
course, made very unpleasant feelings among
the employees. On the day of Mr. Rood's
election as Treasurer he stated to the stock
holders that his resignation would occur on
the very day when the company did not pay
its hands — not only in full, but at the time
promised. And later, even while the com
pany owed a very large sum and was losing
money, when it was strenuously urged that a
dividend should be paid in order to enhance
the selling value of the capital stock, he again
stated that, if money were borrowed and used
for that purpose, he would resign immediately.
There were few familiar with the circum
stances and the business outlook but that
prophesied positive failure. Great efforts
were made to sell stock, in order to have the
industry continued for the general good of the
city and for private interests, but only one
party was induced to take it outside of the old
stockholders of the old New York Watch
Company; and his subscription was induced
by having recently purchased a large hotel
property in the city. But it was found after
all these efforts that two or three hundred
shares yet remained unsold, and must be
"retained in the treasury." The company
had several hard years of struggle without
means ancl with a very large floating debt of
about one hundred and twenty-five thousand
dollars, but all the obstacles were finally over
come. One of the parties who was almost

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

645

forced to take stock, and was only prevailed
to do so as in part payment for an indebted
ness of twenty-two thousand dollars against
the New York Watch Company, which was
absolutely worthless against that company,
but was assumed by the Hampden in the
reorganization, received in selling out his
stock about eighty thousand dollars in cash.
The Hampden Watch Company paid divi
dends several times more in amount than the
original stock cost, and at the time of Mr.
Rood's retirement from the business the books
showed each share to be worth about five hun
dred dollars.
Mr. Rood purchased the controlling interest
of the Aurora Watch Company at Aurora,
111., several years ago, and later organized the
Hamilton Watch Company at Lancaster, Pa.,
of which he is now President and Director.
This company, it is said by nearly every
dealer who has thoroughly tested their merits
and critically examined their watches, makes
the finest watches in America to-day at any
thing near equal prices. They have a capital
stock of three hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars, and are preparing to do a very large
business in this line. He is also President
and Treasurer of the Keating Wheel Com
pany, manufacturing bicycles at Holyoke.
The merits and renown of this wheel do not
need any word from us, as it has been a lead
ing production in this line in many very
essential points; namely, beauty of outline,
fineness of material, finish, strength, and
lisfhtness. When Mr. Rood became inter-
ested in this company, August, 1893, its
credit was entirely gone, and it was impossi
ble for them to proceed with the plans of
manufacturing. To-day it is generally con
ceded that the Keating Wheel Company stands
among the most prominent bicycle manu
facturers in the country. During the pres
ent season, 1895, they have made of net
profits a very large amount.
Besides these Mr. Rood has a large lumber
interest in Michigan and several land and
building investments; one in Canton, Ohio,
includes about thirty houses and one hundred
and sixteen acres of fine building property
within a half mile of the centre of the city.

Mr. Rood has inherited a great fondness for
animals, particularly horses, of which he
keeps several, both for driving and saddle rid
ing. He also enjoys wheeling. He was mar
ried in 1880 to Caroline Abbe, daughter of
James Abbe, of Springfield. They have three
children — two daughters and a son.

Y^YMAN SMITH, a well-known resident
I J] of Hampden, engaged in mercantile
JLjf ^ business with his brother, the Hon.
Sumner Smith, a sketch of whom
appears elsewhere in this work, was born at
Willington, Conn., December 29, 1829. His
parents were Charles and Hannah (Thresher)
Smith, and both his father and his grand
father, whose name was John Smith, were
natives of Connecticut. He was educated in
the schools of Willington and Stafford, his
father having moved to the latter place, where
he was engaged as a manufacturer and a
farmer. At the age of thirteen years Lyman,
who was an intelligent, active youth, went to
work in a woollen-mill at Stafford, and,
becoming a thorough master of the trade,
remained there until he reached the age of
eighteen. He then came to South Wilbra
ham, now Hampden, where he was employed
for a while, and was afterward for four years
Superintendent of the Valley Mill in the
adjacent town of Wales. From that place he
went to Springfield, and assumed charge of a
stock of goods upon which he had a claim.
At the expiration of two years he closed up
the business, and returned to Hampden, where
he has since been engaged in his brother's
store. At the age of twenty-seven years Mr. Smith
married his first wife, whose maiden name
was Minerva A. Waters, and who was a
daughter of Jared Waters, of East Long
meadow. Mrs. Minerva A. Smith died one
year after marriage; and in 1862 Mr. Smith
wedded for his second wife Abbie B. McGreg
ory, of East Longmeadow, daughter of Henry
and Janet McGregory. Mr. Smith has always
been a Republican in politics, and both him
self and wife are members of the Baptist
church.

646

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

(^LVI M fa:

LVIN SIBLEY, a very prosperous
farmer of West Springfield, was born
at Westfield, August 27, 1821,
being a son of William Sibley, a
native of Connecticut. His grandfather,
Ezekiel Sibley, who was formerly a resident
of that State, moved to Massachusetts within
a few years after the birth of William, and
resided for some years in Westfield, where he
purchased land. Later he sold his Westfield
property, and, removing to West Springfield,
invested in a large tract of land, and resided
there for the remainder of his life, his death
occurring at a good old age. William lived
with his parents in Westfield until after his
marriage, when he purchased a farm in West
Springfield, which he occupied about thirty
years; and here he died at fifty years of age.
His wife, whose maiden name was Naomi
Miller, was a native of West Springfield.
She survived her husband a number of years,
and' died at the age of seventy-five, having
been the mother of three children — Alvin,
Celia, and Andrew ]., the latter being now
deceased. Alvin Sibley was educated in the town
schools, and in his youth acquired from his
father a practical knowledge of agriculture.
The father dying when Alvin was twenty
years of age, the management of the home
farm devolved wholly upon him. He pur
chased the interest of the other heirs, and
continued to carry on the place successfully,
his energy and progressive ideas soon mak
ing themselves plainly visible in the many
improvements he effected. He erected a sub
stantial brick house, together with a large and
finely appointed barn, and now owns, besides
his homestead of one hundred and twenty-five
acres, several valuable tracts of outlying land.
On May i, 1849, be was united in marriage
to Miss Lovisa M. Owen, a native of West-
field, daughter of Hiram Owen. She was
summoned from her earthly home in 1874;
and for his second wife he wedded Mrs. Maria
(Root) Lloyd, widow of the late Samuel
Lloyd, and daughter of Benjamin and Rhoda
(Fairman) Root, of Blandford, Mass. Mr.
Sibley has four children — Emma, Hattie,
Lizzie M., and Arthur. Emma married

Charles Bliss, and has three children — Ar
thur, Nelson, and Harold; Hattie is the wife
of Frank Ewing; Lizzie M. wedded Frank S.
Dewey, Jr., and has two children — Florence
M. and Carlyle S. ; Arthur married Hattie
Smith, and has two children — Claudius and
Raymond. Mr. Sibley is independent in
politics, but has been accustomed to take an
active interest in local public affairs, and
served as a Selectman of his town during the
trying times of the Civil War.
On the opposite page will be seen a por
trait of the worthy septuagenarian whose life
story is briefly recounted above, a veteran of
the plough and the reaper, who has bravely
done his part in subduing and planting the
little corner of the earth which fell to his
keeping, and has thereby reaped abundant
harvests.

/^HARLES R. FOWLER, a prominent
I v-^ business man and farmer residing in
^_^ ^ the town of Westfield, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in that
locality, December 29, 1848. He was the
son of Charles and Harriet (Taylor) Fowler,
and grandson of Porter Fowler, a native of
Massachusetts, supposed to have been born in
Hampden County. Porter Prowler was a rep
resentative farmer of his time, owning the
farm he cultivated and on which he resided.
He died quite early in life, being but thirty-
nine years old at the time, and left a family
of five children, whose names are given as
follows: Wells (deceased); Mary (deceased),
wife of Horace F. Latimer; Charles (de
ceased), father of the subject of this sketch;
John, who resides in Westfield; and Eliza
beth, wife of Daniel Munson, residing in
Syracuse, N.Y.
Charles Fowler was born in Westfield,
December 2, 1822; and, after his education
in the schools of the town was completed, he
turned his attention to farming. "The death
of his father. Porter Fowler, put the farm
management into his hands; and he went on
with the work of general agriculture, adding
to his business the buying and selling of cat
tle. Being a man of executive ability, he

ALVIN SIBLEY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

649

became very successful in his different enter
prises. Later in life he engaged in the
tobacco trade, establishing a reliable busi
ness. Mr. Fowler accumulated- wealth, and
left a handsome property to his heirs.
On May 21, 1846, Mr. Fowler was married
to Miss Harriet 'Taylor, who was a native of
Westfield, born May 26, 1821. Mrs. Fowler
belonged to one of the old families of the
county. Edward Taylor was the first member
of the Taylor family in direct line to settle in
Westfield. He was a Congregational minis
ter, a graduate of Harvard College in 1671,
and moved to Westfield soon after receiving
his degree, preaching his first sermon in that
town, December 3, 167 1. He remained in
charge of this pastorate during his life, in all
probability, as it is known that he died there
in 1729. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler were the par
ents of two sons — Charles R. and Edward T.
Both reside in Westfield, and constitute the
members of the firm known as Charles Fow
ler's Sons, carrying on the tobacco business
established by their father, who originally
used that firm name. In politics Mr. Fowler
was a Democrat. He was a Congregationalist
in his religious belief, and was a liberal
supporter of the church. He was highly
esteemed in the community, where his com
manding figure was well known on the streets
and in places of public business. His death
occurred January 24, 1890, when he was sixty-
seven years old. His wife died much earlier
— February 3, 1853.
Charles R. Fowler, our subject, spent his
youth on the home farm. He attended the
village schools, and supplemented 'his educa
tional course there by study at the Suffield
Literary Institute and later at the Wilbraham
Academy, near Springfield. On leaving
school he began to assist his father in his
farm work, and when he had reached the age
of twenty-one made a business engagement
with his father, taking an active part in his
operations of buying and selling tobacco.
This business he has continued to the present
time, while also conducting a good farm, on
which he has a handsome residence; and part
of his time is occupied in looking after other
lands owned by him in the same county.

On March 8, 1871, Mr. Fowler was married
to Miss Eloise Ives, of Meriden, New Haven
County, Conn., a daughter of Eli and Gelina
A. (Pomeroy) Ives. Her father, Eli Ives,
was a manufacturer of tinware in his younger
days, and later in life, after he had retired
from that employment, devoted most of his
time to law matters and to the settling of
estates. His death occurred at Meriden,
when he was seventy-eight years old. Mr.
Ives was a Democrat in politics. In his
religious belief he was a Baptist. His wife
lived to be eighty-two years old. Their six
children were named as follows: Pomeroy;
Sarah E., widow of Anthony Parshley, who
lives in Middletown, Conn. ; Isaac O. ; Isa
dore (deceased), who was the wife of Alfred
E. Ives, now of Brooklyn, N.Y. ; Charles P. ;
and Eloise W., wife of our subject. Charles
R. Fowler and his wife, Eloise, have one
daughter, who bears her mother's name,
Eloise Ives Fowler, born September 18, 1886.
Mr. Fowler votes the Republican ticket. In
his religious views he is liberal, and Mrs.
Fowler is a member of the Congregational
church in Westfield. As an intelligent busi
ness man and as a good citizen Mr. Fowler
holds a high position in the town in which he
lives.

LISHA CLARK, who is one of the sub
stantial men of Montgomery, is also
one of the oldest native-born citizens
of the town, the date of his birth being Octo
ber 18, 1813. His great-grandfather, Oliver
Clark, was, it is supposed, a native of Con
necticut, migrating thence to Massachusetts,
and becoming a pioneer settler in Montgom
ery. There he selected a tract of forest land
near Shatterack Pond, erecting a log cabin
against a ledge and clearing a farm, on which
he spent the remainder of his life.
His son James, the grandfather of Elisha
Clark, was born in Canterbury, Conn., on
July 5, 1740, and was reared to agricultural
pursuits, which he made his life occupation.
He purchased a farm in the town of Chester,
which he brought under a good state of culti
vation, and upon which he passed his declin-

6so

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ing years. He was married in Norwich,
Conn., in 1765, Ruth Holley becoming his
wife. She was a native of Hopkinton, R.I.,
and a daughter of Samuel and Ruth Holley.
Oliver Clark, the father of Elisha, was born
in the town of Montgomery in 1767, and was
reared on the farm, following agricultural
pursuits during his entire life. Much of his
life was passed in his native town, where he
died at the age of si.xty-seven. He married
Phoebe Moore, a native of the same town as
himself. In those days there were neither
railroads nor canals, and in consequence no
convenient markets, and the people were
obliged to subsist chiefly on the products of
their land. Mrs. Clark's life was one of
unremitting toil. In addition to her house
hold cares she used to card, spin, and weave,
clothing her children in homespun. She died
in the prime of life, aged forty-four.
Elisha Clark was but thirteen years old
when his mother died, and he then made his
home with Orin Parks, a farmer, assisting on
the farm and attending school a portion of
each year until his majority, when he com
menced life for himself, his entire cash capi
tal being one hundred and fifty dollars, which
he had received as wages from Mr. Parks. In
addition, however, he was possessed of perse
verance, industry, and keen foresight, and
last, but not least, a robust constitution. For
a time he worked out by the month on a farm,
laying by his earnings, until finally he was
enabled to purchase a tract of ninety-six acres
in the southern part of the town, which he
improved, and upon which he resided until
1856, when he bought the farm that he now
owns and occupies. This comprises three
hundred and fifty acres, and, being highly
cultivated, with good buildings, and equipped
with all necessary implements, is considered
one of the best in the town. Mr. Clark is also
the owner of another farm, which covers one
hundred and fifty acres.
Mr. Clark married Evelina Allyn, the cere
mony which united their lives being solem
nized December 8, 1839. Mrs. Clark was
born in the town of Montgomery on April 17,
1 8 10, and was a daughter of David and Desire
(Tyler) Allyn. Of this union two children

were born — Ransom and Elbertine. The
former has been an invalid for a number of
years. Elbertine is the wife of Ocenas E.
Moore, and the mother of one child — Agnes
E. Mr. Moore was born in Montgomery, and
is a son of Wareham and Achsah (Russell)
Moore. Mr. Clark suffered a sad bereavement
in the death of his wife, who departed this
life on June 29, 1886.
Politically, Mr. Clark has always been a
stanch upholder of the principles of the Dem
ocratic party. He may "well be regarded as a
fine example, worthy of imitation by the youth
of to-day. Born in a log house, with but
slender opportunities for advancement, he yet
resolved to accomplish his purpose — that of
attaining a higher position in life — and
slowly, but surely, made headway against
adverse circumstances, surmounting all diffi
culties by the force of his strong will and firm
determination. Gradually, but certainly, he
attained a firm foothold on the ladder of suc
cess, whence he can now look back with satis
faction upon his long and well-spent life.

OHN FRANCIS BUCKLEY, M.D., a
successful physician of Holyoke, was
born at Branford, Conn., August 13,
1862, and is a son of Lawrence and
Mary (Murphy) Buckley. His father, a na
tive of the city of Cork, Ireland, where the
family had resided for many generations, emi
grated to America when a young man, and
settled at Branford. He worked for a time as
a mechanic at lock works, and, when able to
command sufficient capital, established him
self in the grocery business, which he has
successfully conducted for over thirty years,
being at the present time the oldest grocer in
the town. His wife was born at St. John,
New Brunswick, and while still a young girl
came to Connecticut with her father, who had
secured a large contract upon one of the rail
roads of that State, which he completed, and
then purchased a fine farm of three hundred
acres. Fle was a native of County Cork, Ire
land, as was also his wife, whose maiden
name was Mary Donaven. The family of
Lawrence Buckley consists of seven children.

JAMES D. ELDRIDGE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

653

as follows: John Francis; Lawrence, Jr.,
M.D., a physician of Stamford, Conn.; Han
nah, wife of J. T. Sliney; Anna, Katie, and
Julia, who reside at home; and Mrs. Otell.
The family worship at the Roman Catholic
church, the parents having been among the
earlier members of the parish.
John Francis Buckley attended the public
schools of his native town, and, on attaining
sufficient age and strength to be serviceable,
was employed in his father's mercantile busi
ness. Being, however, a youth whose intel
lectual abilities and scholarly tastes early
marked him as a candidate for one of the
learned professions, he shortly became a stu
dent at the Niagara University at Suspension
Bridge, N.Y.; and, after remaining there for
six years, enjoying the most liberal educa
tional advantages, he entered the medical
department of the University of Vermont at
Burlington, from which he was graduated in
the class of 1885. During his summer vaca
tions while in college he attended courses at
Bellevue Hospital, New York City, and also
took a post-graduate course at the New York
Polyclinic, graduating in 1887. Alert and
progressive, he has since attended several
other courses, in order to observe and secure
all new discoveries and improvements in the
science and practice of medicine.
After taking his degree, he travelled for a
time, and at length located his office at Man
chester, Conn., where he was successfully
engaged in practice for over three years,
being also interested with J. C Carter in the
drug business. On the death of Dr. J. J.
O'Connor, of Holyoke, he decided to remove
to this city, where the professional field would
be necessarily larger, and accordingly he
became a resident here in 1888, and at the
present writing is one of the busiest and most
popular medical practitioners in the city.
He is a valued member of the staff of physi
cians at the City Hospital, also of the House
of Providence Hospital, of which he was one
of the organizers.
Dr. Buckley is a member of the Hartford
Medical Society, of the Ancient Order of
Hibernians in this city, of which he is physi
cian, and also of Court Paper City, Ancient

Order of Foresters, in which he is medical
examiner. When the order of the Knights of
Columbus was established here, he became
a charter member, and was appointed the first
medical examiner, a post which he held for
over one year and then resigned. Dr. Buck
ley is now City Physician, having been elected
to the office for three years. He is also sec
retary of the Board of Health.
On April 28, 1890, he wedded Miss Mary
T. Manning, of this city, daughter of P. J.
and Honora (Donahue) Manning, her parents
being old residents of Holyoke. Mrs. Man
ning formerly conducted a large millinery
and dressmaking business on High Street,
dealing also in dry and fancy goods, her estab
lishment being for many years the most exten
sive of its kind in the city. She retired after
a successful business career of thirty years.
Dr. arid Mrs. Buckley have two children —
P""rank Edward and Anna Maria. The family
worship at the Church of the Sacred Heart,
and reside at No. 264 Maple Street.

RS. SARAH SMITH ELDRIDGE
lives in the pleasant home on the
west bank of the Connecticut
River, about two miles from
Springfield, which she and her husband, the
late James D. Eldridge, whose portrait we are
pleased to present herewith, occupied more
than forty years. Her father, Nathan Smith,
was born at Westfield, Mass. ; and her grand
father was,, it is thought, a native of Lyme,
Conn., and of English ancestry. He learned
the trade of a tanner and shoemaker, and
when a young man moved to Westfield, where
he conducted business for a number of years,
and died at the age of ninety-eight. His wife
before marriage was Abigail Fowler, who
was, so far as known, a native of Westfield.
Nathan Smith at the age of ten years went
to reside in Hebron, Conn., with his father's
brother Nathan, for whom he had been named,
and who, having no children, adopted him.
Inheriting his uncle's property, he followed
agricultural pursuits, and died in Hebron, at
the age of sixty-eight years. His wife was
Jerusha Ashley, a native of West Springfield.

654

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

She was the daughter of Moses Ashley, Jr.,
and great-grand-daughter of Benjamin Ashley,
who was probably a life-long resident of West
Springfield. The maiden name of Mrs. El
dridge' s maternal grandmother was Sarah
Rogers. Mrs. Jerusha Ashley Smith passed
her declining years in Hebron, where she had
carefully reared her five children, who were
named as follows: Martha, Sarah, Seth, Sam
uel, and Moses.
Miss Sarah Smith was educated at the
schools of Hebron, her native town, and there
resided with her parents until reaching the
age of twenty-three years. She was then
united in marriage to James Demeress El
dridge, who was born at West Springfield in
the month of February, 1819, and was a son
of Elisha Eldridge, a native of New Britain,
Conn. Mulford Eldridge, father of Elisha,
came to West Springfield; and he settled
upon a tract of land in Riverdale. He was a
mechanic, and engaged in the manufacturing
of spinning-wheels, which were extensively
used in those early days, when the grand
mothers of many now living were accustomed
to spin and weave cloth for their entire fami
lies. Elisha E. Eldridge inherited a tract of
land at Riverdale, and resided thereon for
many years, but" in later, life went to Ann
Arbor, Mich., where he passed his last days
with a daughter, his decease occurring at the
age of eighty-nine years. His wife, whose
maiden name was Triphena Bagg, was a life
long resident of West Springfield.
James D. Eldridge attended the public
schools, and assisted his father upon the farm
until reaching the age of sixteen years, when
he entered the Merriam printing house for the
purpose of acquiring a full knowledge of the
business; but, after completing his trade,
having found that indoor occupation did not
agree with him, he returned to the old farm,
which, after attaining his majority, he con
ducted in partnership with his brother for a
number of years. He finally rented the an
cestral homestead, and in 1853 purchased the
attractive place on the river's bank, where
Mrs. Eldridge continues to dwell. Here with
her he passed life's meridian, and, lingering
till eventide, when the shadows fell, was

called April 15, 1894, to his long home.
Both Mr. Eldridge and his wife united with
the Congregational church in their youth, and
Mrs. Eldridge is now a member of the First
Congregational Church at West Springfield.

ERBERT N. KINGSBURY, of West-
field, Secretary, Treasurer, and Man
ager of the Fraternal Accident
Association of America, is likewise
President of the Berkshire Health and Acci
dent Association, also Treasurer of the In
ternational Association of Accident Under
writers, and a member of its executive com
mittee. He was born in St. Lawrence
County, New York. His father, Albert G.
Kingsbury, was born in Canton, in the same
county, being a son of Ira Kingsbury, who
was a native of the old Bay State, claiming
Oxford as his birthplace. From Daniels's
"History of Oxford, Mass.," it is learned that
Josiah Kingsbury, of Needham (grandson of
Joseph Kingsbury, emigrant, who settled in
Dedham, Mass., in 1637), bought land in
Oxford on what was known as the " Hobart
grant " in 1732. Two of his sons, Josiah, Jr.,
and Theodore, settled on that land, and there
some of his posterity remain to this day.
Ira Kingsbury migrated to York State when
a young man, becoming a pioneer of St. Law
rence County. He was possessed of much
intelligence and enterprise, and, engaging in
the lumber business, erected the first saw-mill
in the locality. He also conducted an exten
sive mercantile trade. The last years of his
life were passed in the county of his adoption.
Albert G. selected agriculture as his life
occupation, and is still prosperously engaged
in that pursuit in the town of Stockholm, St.
Lawrence County, N.Y. He married Elvira
Nichols, a native of Agawam, Hampden
County, Mass., and a daughter of Guy and
Rhoda (Richardson) Nichols. Of this union
there are three children — Roseltha E.,
Hiram A., and Herbert N., subject of the
present sketch.
Herbert N. Kingsbury received his educa
tion at the district school and the academy at
Lawrenceville, and at the age of eighteen

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

655

commenced teaching at Stockholm, remaining
there one term. He then went to Springfield,
Mass., where he soon secured a position with
the American Express Company, which he
retained for four years ; and at the expiration
of that time he became connected with the
American Cigar Company, being soon made
Secretary and a Director. In 1881 he was
compelled to give up business on account of
failing sight, and took an ocean voyage to
South America, being absent six months.
On his return he travelled in the interests of
the American Cigar Company until 1886, in
which year he entered the office of the Bay
State Beneficiary Association. One year later
he organized the Fraternal Accident Associa
tion of America, which he has since success
fully managed.
In the month of January, 1877, Mr. Kings
bury was united in wedlock with Miss Jane
E. Avery, a native of Westfield, and a daugh
ter of Silas and Zeruab Avery. Their union
has been graced by the birth of a son — Har
old. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kingsbury are mem
bers of the First Congregational Church.
Politically, Mr. Kingsbury is a stanch sup
porter of the principles of the Republican
party. Socially, he is connected with the
following mystic orders : Woronoco Lodge,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which
he is Past Grand; Wildey Encampment, Past
Chief Patriarch, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows; Patriarchs Militant, Independent
Order of Odd P^ellows, Canton Westfield; St.
Elmo Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of which
he is Past Chancellor; Mount Moriah Lodge,
A. P". & A. M. ; Evening Star Chapter, Royal
Arch Masons; Springfield Commandery,
Knights Templars; and has attained the
thirty-second degree in Masonry.

TT^HARLES W. PERKINS, a member
I \f of the firm of LeNoir & Perkins, the-
\%^_^ atrical bill posters, of Springfield,
Hampden County, Mass., and a
well-known and respected resident of this
city, was born here, July i, 1848, being a son
of Dr. Cyrus and Ellen Perkins. His father
was a native of Brooklyn, L.I., where he took

a course in learning the art of dentistry, and
later came to this city, commencing practice
and attaining success in his work, which he
here continued during the remainder of his
life. Dr. Perkins was for many years the
oldest practising dentist in Springfield.
Charles W. Perkins received his education
at the public schools, after which he engaged
with Kibble Brothers as an employee in their
candy factory. He later went to New Haven
while still a young man, and, having already
attained some experience, he was able to take
a more responsible position in the wholesale
confectionery and fruit business of Douglass'
& Sons. At the time he was twenty-three
years old he went from there, and began on an
entirely different career by entering the show
business. His first engagement was for one
year with W. C Coup's circus; his second,
for the same period, with Howe & Gushing,
his work being altogether in the advertising
department. He next went with William B.
Levett's St. James Combination. This
arrangement gave him the opportunity of
going up into Canada, and also into many of
the States of our country. In 1874 he came
back to Springfield to remain permanently,
and soon after formed a partnership with
W. C LeNoir, and bought up the business of
Tilly Haynes, which at that time had but
seven or eight boards for posters. They have
now so enlarged their business that they dis
play three thousand feet of boards, these being
scattered about over the city, making it one
of the most extensive enterprises of the kind
in Massachusetts west of Worcester.
Mr. Perkins's experiences have qualified
him for other public positions, and he is
employed by Mr. Gilmore as door-keeper at
Court Square Theatre, as before the establish
ment of this theatre he had been employed by
Tilly Haynes. Mr. Perkins is now next to
the oldest man in the city engaged in this
kind of work. As pictorial advertisements,
the result of artistic development and decora
tive skill, are becoming more than formerly a
method of drawing public attention to the
work of established trades and the ingenious
inventions of the age, as well as to amuse
ments of all kinds, there is an increasing

656

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

demand for men of judgment to display them
in a proper manner. Mr. Perkins's business,
justified by past success, is therefore likely to
be stimulated to greater prominence in the
near future.
In October, 1879, Charles W. Perkins was
united in marriage to Miss Anna Jones, of
Philadelphia, Pa. Their residence is at No.
36 Harrison Avenue, and in its genial atmos
phere friends are welcomed with warm
hearted hospitality; and so the truth of the
words of a modern writer are proved when he
says, "It is of no importance how large the
house, how beautiful the grounds, you quickly
come to the end of it all; but, if the man is
self-possessed, happy, and at home, his house
is deep-founded, indefinitely large, and inter
esting." Mr. Perkins has served in the city
government for the Second Ward for two
years, 1893 and 1894. He is a member of
the Hartford Lodge of Elks and Foresters, of
Springfield.

B

AVID LEWIS ALLYN, Town Clerk
of Montgomery, is widely known as
a prosperous husbandman, being the
proprietor of a well-kept and well-
appointed farm in that town. His birth
occurred December 31, 1844, in what is now
the town of Huntington, Hampshire County,
Mass., his parents being Lewis Tyler and
Dorcas (Squier) Allyn, natives of the town of
Montgomery. His great-grandfather, whose
name was David Allyn, was, according to the
most reliable information obtainable, a native
of Connecticut, born October 23, 1759, and
was an early settler of Hampden County,
Mass., locating there about 1795, and pur
chasing timber land near the present site of
the reservoir. There he resided for a number
of years, then sold, and removed to the south
ern part of the town, where he spent his
declining years. He married Desire Taylor,
who was born on May 11, 1772; and they
reared a family of thirteen children.
Their son David, the grandfather of our
subject, was born in Connecticut on July 29,
1 79 1, and was but four years old when he was
brought by his parents to Hampden County.

There he was reared, being instructed in the
various branches of agriculture, which became
his life calling. He made several changes in
his location, for a few years living in the
town of Blandford ; but his last years were
passed in Montgomery, the date of his death
being January 4, i860. He took for his wife
Joanna Barrett, a native of Montgomery, and
a daughter of Daniel Barrett. David Allyn
was a Whig in politics and a firm believer in
the principles of that party. Both he and his
wife were members of the Congregational
church, of which he was a Deacon for a num
ber of years.
Lewis Tyler Allyn, the father of David
Lewis Allyn, was born July 31, 181 7. After
his marriage he located in Huntington, where
he managed a farm belonging to his father,
upon which he resided for a number of years.
He next removed to the town of Montgomery,
purchasing a farm near the church, which he
cultivated until 1885. In that year, selling
his farm, he removed to Connecticut, where
he resided for a year. He then returned to
the old home, and there spent the remainder
of his life, his death taking place on January
17, 1893. At the time of his death Mr.
Allyn was Town Clerk of Montgomery. His
wife, Dorcas Squier, was born in Montgom
ery, a daughter of Lothrop and Betsy (Leffing
well) Squier. She still survives, a hale and
hearty old lady of seventy-five, and makes her
home with her son David. She has reared a
family of six children — Mary E., Martha E.,
David L., Emma D., Julia A., and Cora
Estelle. David Lewis Allyn was educated in the
public schools, residing with his parents
until 1872. In the autumn of that year he
removed to Connecticut, where he spent the
winter, and then, returning to Massachusetts,
purchased the farm where he now resides.
There he lived until 1885, in which year he
removed to Bristol, Conn., and engaged in the
manufacture of paper boxes. At the end of a
year he returned to the farm, upon which he
has since resided. He has purchased other
land at various times, and is now the owner of
about three hundred acres, which are in a
good state of cultivation.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

657

On New Year's Day, 1872, Mr. Allyn was
united in marriage with Miss Delia E. A.
Plitchcock, who was born in Bristol, Conn.,
on March 27, 1851, and is a daughter of
Benajah Hitchcock, who was born in Chesh
ire, Conn. He was for some years a manu
facturer, but later became a minister in the
Second Advent church. At the present time
he is a resident of Bristol, Conn. He mar
ried Nancy A. Mix, a daughter of Asahel and
Amna (Judd) Mix, and a native of Bristol,
Conn. The parents of Mrs. Allyn reared two
children — Delia E. A. and Ellen Louise.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Allyn has been
blessed by the birth of five children — Lewis
B., Winifred L., Walter D., Edith D., and
Rachel M.
In politics Mr. Allyn is a strong Prohibi
tionist. In 1893 he was appointed Town
Clerk, to fill the unexpired term of his father,
and in March of the same year was elected to
the position, being re-elected in 1894. Mr.
and Mrs. Allyn are members of the Second
Advent church. The -family occupy a pleas
ant and tasteful home, where they extend a
generous hospitality to a large circle of
friends.

'OMER BUSH, a farmer of Westfield,
Hampden County, Mass., and one
\\s \ of the representatives of the fifth
generation of the family in Amer
ica, was born on the old homestead in the
town, January 7, 1848. His parents were
Seth and Lucy Ann (Kellogg) Bush, and his
paternal grandparents, Asahel and Sally
(Noble) Bush, both of whom were natives of
Westfield. Asahel Bush was a farmer, carry
ing on general agriculture with ability, indus
try, and success. He held the principles of
the Democratic party in politics, and served
as Selectman for many years. He and his
wife both lived to advanced age. Of their six
children, who all grew to maturity, three are
now living, as follows: Luke, in Westfield;
Amelia, widow of Ephraim Crary; and Asa
hel, residing in Oregon. The others were:
Mary, Seth, and Edmund.
Seth Bush was born May 5, 1820, and after

he grew up devoted his energies to farming.
He became owner of about seventy-five acres
of land, which he put under cultivation; and,
as he was energetic and diligent and a good
manager, he raised the market value of his
estate by improvements. He was a Democrat,
and made himself useful in town affairs, hold
ing the office of Selectman during the four
years, 1859, i860, 1861, and 1880. His
death occurred May 30, 1894, he having
reached the age of seventy-four years. The
marriage of Seth Bush to Miss Lucy Ann
Kellogg took place January 20, 1847. She
was born I'ebruary 22, 1827, and survived her
husband but a short time, dying early in the
present year, 1895. They were both church
members; and all of their five children are
now living, as follows: Homer; Lucy A.,
also residing in Westfield; Mary K., wife of
E. S. Chipley, residing in Atlanta, Ga. ;
Emma E., wife of J. O. Haskins, living in
Suffield, Hartford County, Conn. ; and Will
iam Seth, residing in 'Westfield at the old
Bush homestead on East Silver Street.
Homer, the eldest of the family, grew up
on his father's farm in Westfield, finished his
education at the high school, and then began
farming, which occupation he has continued
to the present time. He now owns part of
the old homestead property, on which his
father formerly resided, and which in part is
owned and occupied by his brother. Mr.
Bush has been twice married. His first wife,
Christie R. Loomis, a daughter of Dr. John
and Clarissa (Robinson) Loomis, of Jefferson-
ville, Ind., was born I)ecember 4, 1850, and
died April 22, 1886. Her father is a well-
known and successful physician of that city,
and both parents are still living there. They
have had nine children, three of whom are
now deceased, namely: Kirke, Christie, and
Clarissa. The six now living are: John,
Clara, Jacob, Herbert, Arthur, and Alice.
Mr. Bush contracted a second marriage Jan
uary 18, 1888, with Miss Martha Maria Pease,
of Middlefield, Hampshire County, Mass., a
daughter of Walter and Mary (Ingham) Pease.
Both of her parents were born in the same
town, her father September 12, 181 7, and her
mother November 24, 18 14. Walter Pease

6s8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was a farmer during his lifetime, was a good
citizen, and was successful in his work; in
religion he was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, in politics an adherent of
the Republican party. Of their eight chil
dren five died in youth — ^ Mary Conklin, Eu
genia Ann, Charles, and also two infants not
named here. The three still living are: Wal
ter L., of Huntington, Mass. ; Martha Maria,
Mrs. Homer Bush; and Emma J., residing in
Stephentown, Rensselaer County, N.Y. Mr.
and Mrs. Pease both died in Stephentown, the
former March 24, 1887, and his wife, six
years later, April 16, 1893.
Mr. Homer Bush by his first wife has three
children, as follows: Homer Earle, born
December 12, 1881; Clara Loomis, born
April 8, 1883; and Seth Leroy, born July 14,
1884. The family are members of the Meth
odist Episcopal church, in which Mr. Bush
has held the office of Steward. A Democrat
in his convictions, he has always taken part in
the political questions of the day, seeking for
qualifications in voting for a candidate rather
than to follow the predilections of party bias.
As a result, Mr. Bush is reckoned, among the
men of the community, not only as a success
ful farmer, but as a worthy successor of
worthy and well-remembered ancestors.

^^»»>

]Ci'dWARD MURRAY LOMBARD, real
R estate agent of Springfield, Mass., the
"^^-i— ' city of his nativity, was born August
31, 1842. His father, Zelotes Lombard, was
the proprietor of a large machine-shop and
brass foundry in Springfield, for a long period
the only one on this side of Worcester. Plis
paternal grandfather, Obed Lombard, was the
original owner of Forest Park, and, when the
taxes upon it were raised higher than he
thought just, a remonstrance made by him
resulted in the formation of a syndicate, of
which Mr. O. H. Greenleaf was one of the
leading men, which finally purchased the
property, and gave it to the city.
Zelotes Lombard was an inventor. He
manufactured machinery for making barrels;
and he was awarded silver medals for improve
ments in machinery at the Mechanics' Insti

tute, New York, in 1838. He held many
prominent offices in the city, was a zealous
member of the Order of Odd Fellows, and an
active member of the Universalist church,
toward the building of whose house of worship
he gave the support of influence as well as
pecuniary aid. He was born in 1800, and
married Miss Ruby Sexton, the daughter of
Oliver Sexton. She had been a successful
school-teacher, and among her pupils were
many who became prominent citizens. Mrs.
Ruby Lombard died in 1889, having lived to
the advanced age of ninety years, and retain
ing all her faculties to the last. Her husband
died at the early age of forty-eight years.
Edward Murray Lombard attended the pub
lic schools of Springfield, and was afterward a
pupil of Mr. Goldthwaite's private school at
Longmeadow. Among his school -fellows
were Dr. Frederic'K Chapin and his brother,
C Dudley Chapin. At about sixteen years of
age young Lombard, animated by the long,
long thoughts of youth, began business life,
his first situation being that of clerk in the
general wholesale grocery, oil, and flour store
of Shurtleff & Noyes. In 1861 he took a
position under the United States government
as time-keeper at the water-shops of the ar
mory, and remained there until the close of
the war. He then went to Knoxville, Tenn.,
and was engaged on the East Tennessee and
Georgia Railroads. Having learned the
machinist's trade while in Springfield, he was
employed together with a number of other
machinists by the government in reclaiming
from the Tennessee River the locomotives
that the rebels had during the war thrown into
its bed by running them on to a bridge to
which they then set fire. The work of recov
ering the heavy engines was arduous, and
occupied nearly a year.
On his return to Springfield Mr. Lombard
entered the Newell Brothers' Manufacturing
Company. This was a joint stock company,
and Mr. Lombard was actively engaged with
them for twenty years. In the mean time he
had established a button factory at the old
machine-shop formerly built and occupied by
his father, the water-power of the work being
supplied by the town brook. The water-

EDWARD M. LOMBARD.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

66i

power, which had been in litigation for some
time, was now condemned by the city authori
ties because of the sewerage purposes for
which it had been used. During the mayor
alty of Samuel Spooner a committee was
appointed to adjust the matter. On this com
mittee were Horace Smith, Mr. Mulligan, of
the Connecticut River road, and other promi
nent citizens. The result of the investigation
was the sale of the water privilege to the city
and of the machinery to the Newell Brothers'
Manufacturing Company, in which Mr. Lom
bard had been a partner. Although his active
interests with this company ended some years
ago, he is still a stockholder in the business.
Real estate transactions have engaged Mr.
Lombard's attention more or less for a quarter
of a century; and he has directed his time to
this line of investment of late almost exclu
sively, with, the exception of the two years
following the severance of his connection with
the Newell Company, when he was Superin
tendent of the George R. Lombard Iron
Works, located at Augusta, Ga. Mr. Lombard
has recently cut a street through his property,
which will greatly facilitate travel in the city,
and is now engaged in having a similar thor
oughfare made for the benefit of the Newell
Brothers. In politics Mr. Lombard is a Republican,
and has always been active in city affairs.
He was a member of the Common Council
from Ward Six in 1879 and 1880, was on the
Board of Aldermen in 1881 and 1882, served
on the City Republican Committee during the
time ex-Lieutenant Governor Haile was its
chairman, and was Alderman while he was
Mayor. Mr. Lombard is a member of Ros
well Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of the Royal
Arch Chapter and Council, and belongs also
to the Hampden Lodge, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows.
On February 4, 1868, Mr. Lombard was
married to Miss Etta L. Bliss. This lady,
whose birth date is January 31, 1850, was a
daughter of Mr. William C Bliss, a carriage
manufacturer in Springfield, though a native
of Lee, Mass., where he was born in the year
1 8 14. Mrs. Lombard's mother, whose maiden
name was Eliza Oakley, was born in Kinder-

hook, N.Y., July 4, 1815, and was a member
of the Oakley family whose name has become
noted in connection with the large soap manu
factory of Jesse Oakley. Of the six children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Lombard one died in
infancy. The five who are living are: Frank
M., Frederick B., Paul I., Ralph E., and
Helen R. Frank M. is in Buffalo with the
firm of Clapp & Co., boot and shoe dealers.
Frederick B. is a student at the Worcester
School of Polytechnics, and the other children
are all at school in Springfield. Mr. and
Mrs. Lombard and their eldest son are mem
bers of the First Congregational Church of
the city, and their home is at No. 811 South
Main Street.
An excellent likeness of this enterprising
and public-spirited citizen meets the eye of
the reader on an adjoining page.

'ARVIS WATSON GIBBS, an old and
esteemed resident of Russell, who has
lately passed from the scenes of earth,
was born in the town of Blandford on
December 9, 1820, a son of Lester Elam
Gibbs, a native of the same town. The fam
ily is of English ancestry. Three generations
were born in Blandford, that town being the
birthplace of the grandfather, Samuel Gibbs.
He was the owner of a good farm in the north
ern part of the town, which he cultivated and
upon which he spent his last years.
Lester Elam Gibbs was reared on the farm,
and chose agriculture as his life occupation,
also dealing extensively in horses. He was a
life-long resident of Blandford, where he died
at the age of fifty-eight. His wife was Polly
Boies, a native of Blandford, a daughter of
David Boies. Her father was a farmer and a
resident of Blandford for many years. He
spent his last days in the West with his sons,
who were residents of Willoughby, Ohio.
Jarvis Watson Gibbs was educated in the
public schools, and at the age of twenty com
menced teaching, taking charge of a school in
Blandford, "boarding round " and receiving a
salary of fifteen dollars per month. He sub
sequently taught in Chester, Mass. In both
these places only the winter months were

662

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

occupied in teaching. Later he took charge
of a school in New Jersey, to which he
devoted a full year of his time. At the age
of twenty-four he went to Russell, and there
engaged in mercantile business, opening a
general store, which he successfully conducted
for a number of years. He finally sold out,
and for a time lived retired from the cares of
active life. Not being content, however, he
again purchased a store, and started in busi
ness, which he carried on about one year.
He then disposed of it, and lived retired up
to the time of his death, which occurred on
March i8, 1895. He is buried in the Russell
cemetery. Mr. Gibbs was thrice married: first in
April, 1845, when Tryphena E. Mann became
his wife. She was born in the town of Ches
ter, and was a daughter of Ashley and Janet
(Cannon) Mann. She departed this life in
1854, leaving one child — Howard A. Three
years later Mr. Gibbs was again married, tak
ing for his wife Olive C Parks, a native of
Blandford, and a daughter of Roland and
Marcy (Culver) Parks. She died in June,
1887, leaving' one child — Mary T. On June
27, 1889, the union of Mr. Gibbs with Miss
Sarah Sophronia Combs was solemnized.
Mrs. Gibbs was born in Middlefield, her par
ents being Ebenezer Stacy and Jane (Hazle-
ton) Combs.
Mr. Gibbs was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, to which his widow also
belongs. He was a Republican in politics,
and served as a member of the town commit
tee, and for four years — 1 889-1 893 — was
Postmaster of Russell. Fraternally, he was
connected with Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F.
& A. M.

"ANNY gates BRADFORD, whose
long and useful life extended over the
exact period of a century, was born in
an humble cottage home in the village of
Monson, August 20, 1794. The genealogy of
the Gates family in America dates back to
Stephen Gates, who came from Norwich, Nor
folk, England. He was a passenger on board
the "Diligent," which arrived in New Eng

land in 1638. Stephen Gates settled in
Hingham, and was made a freeman in 1654^
at Lancaster. He died in Cambridge, Mass.,
in 1662; and by his will, drawn in that year,
he left his property to his wife, three sons,
and one daughter. His widow, who married
again, but after the death of her second hus
band resumed the name of Gates, died Febru
ary 5, 1683. Simon, second son of Stephen,
was born in England. His eldest son, Simon,
died in early childhood, and, being anxious to
perpetuate the name, the next son also was
called Simon. This third Simon Gates, born
January 5, 1676, died in 1739. He was mar
ried on May 29, 17 10, to Miss Sarah Wood,
and a son was born, whose birth date was
December 11, 1710. This son, who also bore
the name of Simon, was the grandfather of
Mrs. Bradford. He died April 11, 1777. In
1749 Simon Gates married Sarah Howe; and
two of their sons served through the Revolu
tionary War, Asa Gates, the father of Mrs.
Bradford, fighting at Bunker Hill, and his
brother witnessing the execution of the unfort
unate Major Andre. Asa Gates was born
January 29, 1756, and was a clothier by trade.
He married Miss F'anny Field, and they had
nine children. One son died in Brimfield in
infancy; a child died at two years; and a son
passed away at the age of sixteen, while
attending school at Leicester. Four sons and
the only daughter, Fanny, the subject of this
sketch, grew to maturity.
Fanny Gates was married to Mr. Otis Brad
ford, March 26, 1823, in the village of Mon
son. Mr. Bradford, who was born in Holland,
Mass., October 14, 1796, was the representa
tive of an old and honored name in New
England, being a descendant of Governor
William Bradford. Mr. Bradford was, like
Mrs. Bradford's father, a clothier. The last
fifteen years of his life he was an invalid.
He died December 27, 1873, aged seventy-
seven. His genial disposition, kind heart,
and large sympathies drew many close friends
about him, and during his long invalidism
made the duties of the nurse a pleasure rather
than a burden. Four daughters were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Bradford : Mary Ann, who died
at nine years of age; Jane, the wife of Mr.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

663

William Sawyer, who lived only one month
after her marriage, dying January 25, 1857,
at twenty-nine years of age; Anna Bradford,
who died April 25, 1881, aged forty-six ; and
Sarah E. Bradford, who is the only surviving
member of this family. Mrs. Fanny Gates
Bradford passed from earth on November 16,
1894. Her remarkably long career of useful
ness was passed in the village of her nativity,
with the exception of nine years spent in
Leverett and three in Amherst. She was a
woman in whom a deep piety and a motherly
instinct of tenderness were conspicuous char
acteristics. Though she never had a son of
her own, she seemed naturally to know all of
the needs of boy nature; and during the time
that she conducted the academy boarding-
house in Monson many a homesick student
was cheered and many a wayward boy elevated
by her serene and gentle influence. Looking
back beyond the memory of her oldest con
temporaries, she was often the interesting
raconteur of the early days of the village,
when her father, who was a clothier, built the
first woollen factory on his farm on the Chico
pee Creek, and when the mode of life of the
villagers was primitively simple. She was a
member of the Congregational church, having
joined that body under the pastorate of the
Rev. Dr. Ely in 181 3; and this venerable
minister was the officiating clergyman upon
the occasion of her marriage, and baptized her
children into the fellowship of the Christian
faith. Her name, which was a household one
among the townsfolk, will long be held in
loving reverence by those who remember her,
as one who did "good, and not evil, all the
days of her life." Each year of the hundred
that she lived saw her more gentle, more spir
itual, more loving, and more lovable, until
at last the kindly eyes that had grown dim
to earth's glories were opened to that light
that "shines more and more unto the perfect
day."

fHOMAS J. FINTON, of the firm of
Hannan & Finton, machinists and
machinery dealers of Springfield,
Mass., was born in this city, August 7, 1867,

and is the son of Patrick and Mary (Garvey)
Finton. His father, a native of Dingle,
County Kerry, Ireland, which was the ances
tral home of the family for many generations,
emigrated to the United States when a young
man, settling at Springfield, where he ac
quired the machinist's trade, which he has
since followed as an occupation. He married
Miss Garvey in this city, whose birthplace in
Ireland was the same as her husband's; and
their union was blessed with three children.
The one son now living forms the principal
subject of this article. They were formerly
members of the first Catholic parish organized
in this city, but since the establishment of
the Church of the Sacred Heart the latter has
been their place of worship.
Thomas J. Finton received a good practical
education in the public schools of Springfield,
and, after completing his studies, served an
apprenticeship in the machine-shops of Fran
cis Ellison, subsequently working for a period
of nine years as a journeyman, and, having
been advanced to the position of foreman, ably
serving in that capacity for three years. He
then formed a partnership, in 1892, with Mr.
Hugh Hannan, and under the firm name of
Hannan & Finton purchased a small machin
ery establishment, with which Mr. Hannan
had formerly been connected. This firm
immediately infused the push and energy of
young enterprise into the business, which
soon felt the thrill of new life; and at the
present time they are the largest dealers in
second-hand machinery in Western Massachu
setts. They also conduct a finely equipped
machine-shop for general jobbing, in which
they employ a force of skilled workmen, their
premises being the scene of unabated industry
and enterprise, Mr. Hannan travelling contin
ually in the interest of the concern, while Mr.
Finton assumes charge of the shops.
He was most happily married two years
ago, on January 25, 1893, to Miss Mary
Griffin, of Ware, Mass., and has one son —
Patrick. They worship at the Church of the
Sacred Heart, and reside at No. 119 Essex
Street. Mr. Finton, while not being active
in politics, generally supports the Democratic
party, especially in national issues.

664

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

B

AVID F. ASHLEY, the oldest
printer and publisher in Springfield,
was born in that city on June 4,
1815, just at the close of the last
war with Great Britain, and was the son of
David and Sophia (Brass) Ashley, a direct
ancestor being Robert Ashley, the first repre
sentative in Massachusetts of the Ashley fam
ily, and the very first settler at Mill River,
Hampden County, Mass., early in the seven
teenth century. David Ashley, grandfather
of David F., was born in Springfield; and
several Ashley generations before him were
prominent citizens of the same neighborhood.
The father of our subject was born in Spring
field in 1790, soon after the formation of our
Union, and became a wheelwright. As that
trade diminished, he worked in the Springfield
Armory, but died at the age of twenty-six,
leaving a wife and two little children, besides
David, who was only a babe. The eldest,
Harriet Ashley, became the wife of R. M.
Cooley, and died several years ago; and the
second child died in childhood. The widowed
mother married a second husband by the name
of Sanderson; and after his death she married
John Charter, who had been the second hus
band of her first husband's mother, the widow
of David Ashley, the same house being the
home of both wives. Mrs. Ashley Sanderson
Charter died at the age of sixty-six.
While still a boy, her son, David F. Ash
ley, left Springfield, where he had attended
the common schools, and went to Westfield to
live with an uncle. There he remained till
be was sixteen, going to school in winter and
working on the farm. Then he returned to
Springfield, where he spent another year in
school. The next year he entered the print
ing-office of the Hampden Whig, then pub
lished by John B. Eldridge, and was an
apprentice for three years. Then the paper
passed into the hands of E. D. Beach, in
whose employ David remained for a time, and
then took the mechanical department on his
own shoulders. This arrangement had lasted
one year, when young Ashley bought half the
paper, the name being changed to the Hamp
den Post, indicative of a change in its politics
from Whig to Democratic. The partnership

between Messrs. Beach and Ashley continued
several years; and then the junior associate
became sole owner of the paper, which was
then a weekly, but was soon issued thrice a
week, and finally became a daily. Previous
to this time the Springfield Daily Republican
was started, though the Post was its very suc
cessful rival for public favor. Meanwhile
Mr. Ashley became the publisher, and finally
sole owner, of the Northampton Democrat.
Anticipating the modern system of syndicate
offices and "patent outsides," that portion of
the Democi'at containing general matter was
printed in the Springfield office, while the
local half was printed in Northampton. In
the political Know Nothing times, between
1854 and i860, he printed the American.
The Daily Post endured until 1853, and even
after that Mr. Ashley did some newspaper
printing; but to this he did not give his un
divided attention, having begun to run teams
for the sale of Yankee notions. Though his
printery has never been given up, the work
done now is mostly job work.
Mr. Ashley married Elvira A. Hendrick, of
South Wilbraham, now called Hampden,
November 25, 1841. She was only seventeen,
having been born January 25, 1824, and was
the daughter of PPiram Hendrick, a farmer;
she received her education in the public
schools and at the Wilbraham Academy. She
is a woman of most estimable and amiable
qualities, retaining her vigor and personal
attractiveness to a remarkable degree. The
home of Mr. and Mrs. Ashley has been
blessed with seven children, two dying in
infancy. The five remaining are : Frank
Ernest, born in 1844, and now in business in
Troy, N.Y.; Isabella E., born in 1846, and
now the wife of John I. Kelley, of Spring
field; Winona Adeline, now the wife of Frank
D. Tower, inspector of plumbing for the city
of Springfield; Hendrick Patton, born in
1850, a commercial traveller; and Herbert
Hendrick, born in 1855, drummer for an oil
concern. Both of these brothers make
Springfield their home. There are four
grandchildren. Mrs. Kelley has two chil
dren — Gertrude Kelley, the wife of Charles
Proctor; and Edward Kelley, in business with

DAVID F. ASHLEY,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

667

his father as a mason and builder. Mrs.
Tower also has two children — Edith and
Ralph. Mr. Ashley has not been an office-holder,
being independent in his opinions, with a
leaning toward the Democratic party. He is
equally independent and liberal in his relig
ious views, but his wife is interested in Sec
ond Adventist doctrines. Their Springfield
home has been at 21 Spring Street ever
since their marriage in 1841 ; but Mr. Ash
ley also owns and carries on a farm in the
suburbs, though not now living on it during
any part of the year. When Mr. Ashley
bought his home, there were but few dwell
ings in that neighborhood, and his view of the
railroad buildings was unobstructed. He
recalls the appearance of Springfield when it
was a village of only three thousand inhabi
tants, whose attention was divided between
two Congregational churches. Well does he
recollect the raising of the first Methodist
Episcopal church, near the water-shops, in
1 8 19, when he was four years old, and of the
first Baptist meeting-house two years later, in
1 82 1, when he was a child of six. A good
many years ago he paid only four hundred and
ten dollars for a lot on 'Wortbington Street,
where the school-house stands, and the fact
that he sold it for just ten times as much
illustrates the increase of the city. Mr. Ash
ley's portrait, a welcome addition to the gal
lery of Springfield's popular printers, will be
found on another page of this book.

iDWIN D. HUTCHINSON, M.D., a
successful physician of Westfield, well
known in both Hampden and Hamp
shire Counties, was born in Livermore, Me.,
on September 20, 1840, son of Joseph Hutch
inson, a native of Hebron, the same State.
He is a direct descendant of Sir Thomas
Hutchinson, who was governor of the Massa
chusetts Colony until relieved by General
Gage, his grandfather, the Hon. Daniel
Hutchinson, being a grandson of Sir Thomas.
The Hon. Daniel Hutchinson was a minister
in the Baptist church. At an early date he
settled in that part of Massachusetts which is

now included in the State of Maine, locating
in what is now the town of Livermore, and,
being the first minister there, received a grant
of land. He became prominent in public
affairs, and represented his district in the
Senate. He lived to the advanced age of
eighty years. His son Joseph, the father of
our subject, received good educational advan
tages, and was graduated from Buckfield
Academy, for a time following the profession
of teaching. He became a professing church
member in his youth, and at the age of thirty
he was ordained pastor of the Baptist church
at Minot, going thence to Auburn, where he
remained for four years. He then accepted a
call to the First Baptist Church of Brunswick,
Me., ministering to that congregation until
1857, when he went to Hanson, Mass., re
maining with the church there until 1862, in
which year he removed to Russell. From the
latter place he went to Middleboro, Mass.,
accepting a call to the First Baptist Church,
which is one of the oldest churches of that
denomination in the State, and continuing as
its pastor until his death, which took place in
February, 1875. His ministry was fruitful of
much good, many accepting the higher life
through his teachings and example; and his
death was universally regretted. The maiden
name of his wife was Polly Dearborn. She
was a native of Livermore, Me., a daughter of
Axel Dearborn. She died at Middleboro in
1872. The parental household included ten
children — John, Franklin, Mary, Daniel,
William, Jane, Albion, Edwin, Roscoe, and
Calvin. John, Franklin, and Albion served
in the late war, John being Sergeant of Com
pany E, Fourth Massachusetts Volunteer In
fantry. He was promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant, but died in the service at Frank
lin, Ga., before his commission reached him.
Franklin served as Sergeant of Company K,
Seventh Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry,
and was injured at Malvern Hill, from the
effects of which injury he died. Albion, who
was Lieutenant of Company E, P'ourth Maine
Volunteer Infantry, now resides at Whitman,
Mass. Edwin D. Hutchinson received his early
education in the public schools of Brunswick,

668

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Me. On June 14. 1861. he enlisted for a
term of three years in Company K, Seventh
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantrv. as drum
mer, and was with the regiment until March,
1863, when he was honorably discharged on
account of disabilitv. and returned home. In
the autumn of the same year he went to Cort
land, X.Y.. where he was employed in a store
until 1S67. In that vear he commenced the
study of medicine, with Dr. D. C Waters as
his preceptor. He attended medical lectures
at the L^niversitv of Vermont, and was grad
uated from that institution in the class of
1875. In 1 87 1 he commenced practice at
Russell, but in 1S75 went to Huntington,
remaining there until 1S8S. when he came to
the village of Westfield. where he has since
been actively and successfully engaged in
practice. Dr. Hutchinson was united in marriage in
Cortland, X.Y., in 1866, with Miss Effie
Butts, a native of Cortland, and a daughter of
Elias and Laura Butts.
In politics Dr. Hutchinson affiliates with
the Republican party. He organized H. C
Lee Post. Grand Army of the Republic, of
which he was a member during his residence
in Huntington; and he is Major, commanding
the Third Battalion, Third Regiment of Patri
archs Militant. He is a Royal Arch ]\Iason,
and also belongs to Evening Star Chapter.
Both the Doctor and his wife are consistent
members of the Baptist church.

T**'1IDXEY STRONG SHURTLEFF,
a veteran of the late war, now
profitably engaged in the pleasant
occupation of farming in Russell,
]Mass., was born in that town on April 14.
1843, a son of Luther Shurtleff. The latter
was a native of the town of Montgomerv, a
son of Elisha Shurtleff, who was of English
ancestry and one of the pioneers of Montgom-
er_\", where he purchased a tract of timber
land, and improved a farm. He final I v sold
this, howe\er, and removed to Russell, there
spending his last years, passing from earthlv
scenes at the age of seventv. The maiden
name of his wife was Susan Strons:. After

the death of her husband she accompanied her
son Vincent and others to L'tah. the journev
being made overland with a team the greater
part of the wav, and proving a long and weari
some one, Thev were among the first settlers
of Salt Lake City, where Mrs, Shurtleff died
when about eighty jears of age.
Luther Shurtleff was reared in his native
town, in young manhood coming to Russell,
in the southern part of which he purchased a
farm, and was engaged in agricultural pursuits
for a number of vears. He then went to
Westfield, where he bought land, and built a
good residence, there living retired the re
mainder of his life, his death taking place
when he was in his sixty-ninth year. He
took for his wife Sophia Holmes, a native of
Russell, and a daughter of David and Chloe
Holmes. Mrs. Shurtleff died at the age of
forty-eight. She reared two children — -our
subject and a daughter. Cordelia, who died
when sixteen years old.
Sidney Strong Shurtleff was educated in
the public schools, remaining at home until
sixteen years of age. when he commenced life
on his own account, without means, but self-
reliant and possessed of a buoyant disposition.
The first year he was emplo^-ed by his uncle,
Newman Bishop, Jr., receiving thirteen dol
lars per month in summer and ten dollars per
month in the winter season. The following
year he went to \\'estfield, entering the
employ of E, R. Van Dusen, with whom he
remained for a year, continuing in Westfield
until 1 86 1, in the fall of which vear he en
listed in the service of his country, becoming
a member of Company I, Fifteenth Massachu
setts \'olunteer Infantry, and joining his regi
ment at Poolesville, Md, He participated in
eleven battles, the more important of which
were: South Mountain, Seven Pines, second
Bull Run, siege of Yorktown, White Oak
Swamp, :\Ialvern Hills, and Antietam, In
the last-named engagement he was severely
wounded b}' a ball, which broke his right arm,
incapacitating him for further service; and
after a sojourn of several weeks in the hos
pital he was honorably discharged, and
returned home. For a year he was unable to
perform manual labor. Then, his strength

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

669

being assured, he purchased a farm near Haz
ard Pond in the town of Russell, where ho is
now profitabl}' eng;iged in general farming and
fruit-raising. On April 2, i8tiS, Mr. Shurtleff was united
in marriage with Miss Betsy Ernestine Dan
iels, a native of Becket, Berkshire County,
Mass., and a daughter of Joel and Sophia
(^Atwood) Daniels, the former of whom was
born in Pittsfield, M:iss.. and was a son of
Jehial Daniels. Jehial Daniels was a success
ful farmer, and passed most of his life in
Pittsfield, but died at the home of his son
Joel in the town of Becket, The father of
Mrs, Shurtleff was reared to agricultural pur
suits, which he chose as his life occupation,
and now owns and occupies a fineh" improved
farm in the towm of Becket, His wife was a
native of Huntington and a daughter of Peter
Atwood, She died :rt the age of fifty-six
vears. In politics l\Ir. Shurtleff affiliates with the
Republican party. Ho is a member of the
Grand Armv of the Republic, being connected
with IP. C. Lee Post, No. 176. Fraternally,
he is a member of Woronoco Tribe, No. 10,
I. O. R. M. In 1S03 he was appointed meat
and cattle inspector for the town of Russell,
being reappointed in 1S04. Mr. and Mrs.
Shurtleff occupv an assured position in the
community, and are among the most highly
esteemed citizens of the town of Russell.

HAl^XCEY E. KENT, one of the
prominent residents of Southwick,
Hampden County, Mass.. was born
on the f.arm where ho now resides,
August 26. 1830. Ho is the son of Josiah
and Lucinda (^Gillett^ Kent, and represents
one of the oldest families in Southwick, trac
ing his lineage back over two hundred years
to" Colonial times. His great-grandfather,
John Kent, was a patriot of the Revolution,
a prominent man in the town, where he was
Selectman for a number of years. In the
early records of Southwick, John Kent is
spoken of with respect as one of the leading
citizens, active and prominent in all matters
which concerned its administration.

Josiah Kent, grandfather of Chauncey E.
Kent, was an enterprising farmer, an indus
trious worker, and a good citizen. The farm
he owned and cultivated consisted of about
one hundred acres, and this ho was able to
pass on to his descendants in a fair condition
of productiveness. His wife was Mehitable
Berry. Mr. and Mrs. Kent spent their last
davs on the old farm, both living to adwtnced
ago, Mrs. Kent reaching her ninct\'-sixth
\ear. Josiah Kent was a Democrat in his
political \-iows, and always interested in the
welfare of the town. Ho aiul his wife wore
members of the Baptist church in Southwick.
They had fi\"e children — one son and four
daughters — none of whom are now living.
Josiah Kent, son of Josiah and father of
Chauncey P^. Kent, was born on his father's
farm, and grew to manhood in his native
town, acquiring an education in the district
schools. He became a successful farmer, and
b\" purchasing the interests of the other heirs
succeeded to the homestead property. B\-
degrees he added to the original land, increas
ing the estate during his life to one hundred
and fiftv acres. Josiah Kent was well known
in the town as a man of industry and integ-
rit)-, following in the steps of his forefathers
in the exercise of these virtues. He lived to
bo eightv-six vears of ago, and his wife also
died at eight\--six. Mr. Kent was a Demo
crat in his political opinions. Both he and
his wife wore members of the Baptist church.
All thoir children grow to maturitv, and three
are still living, as follows: Laura, residing in
Westfield; Ann. wife of Mills Barnum, resid
ing in Providence, R.I.; and Chaunce\- F.,
the youngest of the family. Tho members
of the family who have passed awav are:
^larietta Kent, who died at cightv \ears;
Marilla (^trs. Hudson^ who passed awav at
about cightv: Lucinda (^Mrs. Holcomb), who
died at forty years: Selah, who died at the
age of scvontv-fivc; and Josiah P., who was
a fanner in Ulster County, X.Y.
Chauncey E. Kent spent his boyhood on the
home farm, attending the district schools and
acquiring a good education. Before he was
thirtv vears of ago ho became the owner of the
homestead, and since that time he has success-

670

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

fully managed the farm. He has been a hard
worker, and has brought the land to a high
degree of productiveness. In tobacco culture,
especially, he has met with exceptional suc
cess. Mr. Kent has given special attention
to the development of fine qualities of fruit,
and can always command high prices, because
he offers only superior productions. In
peaches, especially, he has met with unusu
ally good luck, considering the variableness
of the climate.
On May 14, 1861, Mr. Kent was united in
marriage to Miss Ann M. Root, adopted
daughter of Oliver- and Maria Root. She was
born September 19, 1838, and represents
another of the old and highly respected fami
lies of the town. Mr. and Mrs. Kent are the
parents of one daughter — Georgia L., born
September 21, 1865, and married February
28, 1893, to Eugene W. Reed, of North
Brookfield, Worcester County, Mass.
Mr. Kent votes the Republican ticket, and
maintains a character in the community for
probity and good citizenship. He has been
Justice of the Peace since 1876. Mr. and
Mrs. Kent are both governed by religious
principles, and Mrs. Kent is a church mem
ber. Their residence is a model one, and the
farm and buildings are characterized by order
and thrift. The estate comprises about one
hundred and fifty acres of land, and may be
pointed out as one of the finest farms in the
town of Southwick.

W\

ALTER MAYNARD GREEN, a
progressive farmer of Wilbraham,
was born in Palmer, June 18, 1836.
His father, Ralph Green, was born at Town-
send, Middlesex County, Mass., September
25, 1791 ; and his grandfather, Solomon
Green, was, as far as known, a life-long resi
dent of that town. He died May 31, 1803,
aged thirty-nine years. The maiden name of
his wife was Sally Kilborn. She died Sep
tember 2, 1850, aged eighty-two years. Solo
mon Green at his decease left nine children,
the youngest of whom was but one year old.
Ralph Green, our subject's father, learned the
trade of a cabinet-maker in Wales, Mass., and

about the year 18 14 came to Palmer, where he
soon found enough to do. At that time most
of the furniture was custom-made, and he did
a prosperous business in the above line, also
manufacturing coffins. He continued in busi
ness for. a number of years, then purchased a
farm, and turned his attention to agriculture,
which he followed for the remainder of his
life. He died May 23, 1858. The maiden
name of his wife was Harriet Maynard. She
was born at Sudbury, Mass., daughter of
Moses Maynard. After Mr. Green's death
she married again, becoming the wife of Har
vey Foster, a sketch of whose career appears
elsewhere in this work. She was called to
rest in the month of October, 1875. She was
the mother of three sons and two daughters —
Ralph, Walter M., and Alvin S. Susan M.,
the eldest child, born June 25, 1831, died
April 13, 1850. Harriet E., born October i,
1839, died May 21, 1842.
Walter Maynard Green received a good edu
cation in the town schools, and at an early
age became of valuable assistance to his
father upon the farm, where he resided until
reaching manhood. In 1859 he settled upon
a portion of the home farm, which came to
him by inheritance, and, in addition to farm
ing, engaged in the wood and lumber busi
ness. In 1864 he entered the employ of the
Boston & Albany Railroad Company to super
intend the cutting of wood, first engaging for
one year, but continuing in their employ for
ten years, during the last five of which he was
engaged in measuring wood along the line
from Worcester to Albany. In 1865 he pur
chased the farm upon which he now resides,
situated in the north-east part of the town of
Wilbraham. It is a large and valuable piece of ~>
property, well adapted for general farming and
grazing; and, besides cultivating the soil, Mr.
Green is engaged in dairying and stock-raising,
Holstein cattle being his favorite breed.
On April 15, 1858, he was united in mar
riage to Julia A. Butler, who was born in
Wilbraham, July 9, 1834, daughter of Benja
min Butler, whose career appears upon an
other page of this work. (See sketch of Jason
Butler.) Their union has been blessed with
six children: Fred W., born February 10,

\

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

671

1859; Ella A., July 9, 1861; Benjamin B.,
May 27, 1863; Julia M., March 6, 1866;
Henry M., February 16, 1868; and Lydia A.,
August 23, 1873. Of these Fred was married
April 6, 1882, to Mary M. Robbins, and has
five children, named as follows: Florence M.,
Walter R., Ruth P., Marjorie H., and Fred
W. Ella A. was married September 30,
1885, to Leroy Warner, and has four children
— Ethel E., Harold E., Leroy M., and Hazel
J. Benjamin B. was married December iS,
1890, to Esther Chilson, and has one child —
Everett H. Julia was married January 18,1888,
to Arthur W. Lyman, and has three children
— Emma Louise, Walter Green, and Bernice
R. Henry was married February 15, 1888, to
Lora Rindge, and they had one child — Bessie
Agatha, who died at the age of six months.
Mr. Green is a member of the Eastern
Hampden Agricultural Society and of Thomas
Lodge, A. F. & A. M. Mrs. Green is a
member of the Church of Christ.

{^G

EORGE REYNOLDS, one of the
\ '3 1 oldest contractors and builders of
— Springfield, where he has resided
since 1841, was born at Southbridge, Mass.,
September 15, 1822. He is the son of
Stephen and Sybil (Vinton) Reynolds, his
father having been born at Dudley, Mass.,
March 25, 1798, and his mother at South-
bridge, January 4, 1799. Stephen Reynolds
acquired the blacksmith's trade in his native
town, and in early manhood settled at South-
bridge, where he married, and continued to
reside until 1831, when he moved to Wilbra
ham. He reared a family of three children —
George, our subject; Henry, now a resident
of New Haven, Conn. ; and Louisa, now
deceased, who became Mrs. George Edeson,
and after Mr. Edeson's death married Otis
Chapin. Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Reynolds
were both summoned to their final rest at
Wilbraham, the former on March 26, 1871.
The latter laid down the burden of life, and
followed her husband on the very next day.
George Reynolds accompanied his parents
from Southbridge to Wilbraham when he was
nine years of age, and received his education

in the public schools of that town. At the
age of nineteen he came to Springfield, where
he worked for a private family for six years,
after which he was employed at the United
States Armory, where six years more of his
life were spent. At the expiration of this
time he established himself in business as a
general contractor, and in that line has been
very successful for more than four decades.
He has constructed many streets and high
ways, and has completed a large part of the
grading at Forest Park, in company with
J. Sackett, furnishing employment to large
forces of laborers, sometimes using as many
as one hundred and fifty in one operation.
He has been associated in a business way for
the last half-century with Justin Sackett
(an account of whose career appears elsewhere
in this work), and was a partner with that
gentleman for about forty years, or until
1892, when the firm dissolved. They were
for many years the most extensive highway
contractors and excavators in this city, and
their long business association was produc
tive of the most satisfactory financial results.
Mr. Reynolds has invested in real estate to
a considerable extent, and has erected several
houses for residential purposes, which he still
owns. He is a Republican in politics, but
not in any way an aspirant for office.
On April 13, 1845, he wedded Miss Har
riet Angeline Colton, of Longmeadow, Mass.,
daughter of Hanan Colton, a veteran of the
Revolutionary War, and has two children —
Louisa, wife of H. A. Hastings, of Amherst;
and Howard S., a contractor, in partnership
with his brother-in-law, Mr. Hastings, their
headquarters being at Springfield. Howard
S. Reynolds married Miss Josephine Davis,
of this city, and has one child, named George
Harold. Mr. George Reynolds has resided at
355 Maple Street for the past thirty-five years,
and attends the Methodist Episcopal church.

this

-OHN GIBBS FREELAND, a resident
of Agawam, Hampden County, Mass.,
and a representative man of the farming
districts of New England, was born in
town June 2, 1833. His father, Jona-

672

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

than W. Freeland, was the adopted son of
William Freeland, who, so far as known, was
a native of Blandford, in the same county,
from which locality he removed in 1822, and
purchased a farm in the town of Agawam.
On that property, which was at the northern
end of West Street, he resided during the re
mainder of his life, being somewhat over
eighty years of age at the time of his death.
Jonathan W. grew up on William Free-
land's farm as his own son, employed in
youth in learning the processes of agriculture.
At the time of his marriage he purchased a
farm on West Street, which he occupied till
1864, when he removed to the Hinsdale
Smith farm, and there held the position of
superintendent till 1870. In that year, giv
ing up active labor, he retired to the home of
his son, John G. Freeland, where his death
occurred two years later, then being sixty-four
years old. His wife, Julia A. Gibbs, was the
daughter of John and Persis (Moores) Gibbs,
and was a native of Blandford, where her pa
ternal grandfather was one of the early
settlers. Her death occurred in 1870. John
Gibbs was a farmer, and spent his long life
of ninety years in Blandford. Mrs. Persis
Moores Gibbs was born in Palmer in 1780,
daughter of Jonathan and Phebe (Parsons)
Moores. Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan W. Freeland
were the parents of four children, who all
grew to maturity, namely: Achsah, now the
wife of Enos W. Boise, of Blandford; Pau
lina; Cornelia (deceased); and John'C, of
the present sketch.
John Gibbs Freeland, the only son, ac
quired his education in the district schools
and by a supplementary course at a school in
Blandford of a higher grade; and when he had
reached the age of seventeen, being consid
ered qualified to teach, had his first experi
ence in that vocation in Agawam Parish.
He taught, in all, seven terms of winter
schools. At twenty-one he received, as a
good capital to begin life with, one-half in
terest in his father's real estate, stock, and
tools; and he then went into partnership
with his father in farming operations, this
arrangement being continued for a number of
years.

In 1866 he sold the home farm, and in
the autumn of that year he purchased an es
tate in the town of Agawam, located at
Feeding Hills, consisting of three acres of
land, three dwelling-houses, and a building
designed for store purposes. At this time
Mr. Freeland formed a partnership with
C C Wright, and they began together a ca
reer in mercantile business; but one year
later he purchased Mr. Wright's interest in
the business, and thereafter continued the
management, of it alone until 1875, when he
sold out to J. W. Moore. During this period
of nearly ten years Mr. Freeland had likewise
been giving his attention to farming and
dairy enterprises. His landed possessions
had been increased by successive purchases
till they now consisted of about one hun
dred and twenty-five acres; and, not self
ishly content with personal success, he be
came one of the organizers of the Springfield
Co-operative Milk Association, acting at first
as its Director and as its second President,
endeavoring, by the establishment of a system
of sale, to insure better production for the
market and better pecuniary returns to the
farmers. On June 30, 1859, Mr. Freeland was mar
ried to Miss Antoinette M. Taylor, a native
of Chesterfield, Hampshire County, a daugh
ter of George D. and Juliana (House) Taylor.
They have one daughter, Mariette House
Freeland, and are members of the Congrega
tional church in Agawam. Mr. Freeland cast
his first vote for General John C Fremont,
and has been a Republican since the forma
tion of the party. He has served as member
of the Board of Selectmen and as delegate
to various district and county conventions,
these official honors being indications of the
high esteem and appreciation in which he
is held by his fellow-townsmen in Agawam.

ON. THOMAS KNEIL, a public-
spirited and influential citizen of
19 I Westfield, is an old resident of
this village, he having made his
home here for a period of over fifty years.
He was born on the Isle of Man — an island

THOMAS KNEIL.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

675

in the Irish Sea — on April 30. 1S16. his
parents, William and Margaret (Craine)
Kneil, being natives of the same isle, as were
also the grandfathers on both sides, the pa
ternal grandfather, Daniel Kneil. being an
independent farmer and a life-long resident of ;
his native island. The maternal grandfather,
John Craine, was the owner and operator of a
flouring-mill, and spent his entire life on the
Isle of ^lan.
William Kneil was the only member of his
father's family who came to America. He
was reared and educated in his native land,
and was there married. In 1827. accom
panied bv his familv. consisting of his wife
and five children, he immigrated to this coun- >,
trv. the voyage being made in a sailing-
vessel, and taking nearly fifty days. L'pon
his arrival here he located in Utica, X.Y..
where he followed his trade of carpenter and
joiner, and there resided until his death, at
the advanced age of seventy-seven. William
and Margaret (Craine) Kneil reared a family
of five children: William, Margaret. John,
Thomas, and Christiana.
Thomas Kneil com^llfcced when very young
to earn his own living, and at the age of
twenty-one started out in life for himself, en
tirely dependent upon his own exertions. In
1838 he came to the village of Westfield, and
for a number of years folluwed the trade of
cigar-making, but for the past ten years has
been engaged in the wood and coal business,
in which he has met with much success.
On May 25. 1842. Mr. Kneil was united
in marriage with Mary Bush, a native of
Westfield. daughter of Asahel Bush. Mrs.
Kneil passed to the life beyond on August 8,
1887. Of their family the following are liv
ing: Martha, who is the wife of C H. Snow:
Mary A., who is engaged as a teacher in the
Brooklyn High School; Sarah, who is a
teacher in the Westfield High School;
Thomas, who is superintendent of streets at
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Emily, residing at
home; Robert H., who is associated in busi
ness with his father; and Arthur S., who is
an attorney and a member of the State leg
islature. Politicallv, :Mr. Kneil was formerly a

Whig, but has been a Republican since the
formation of the party. He has been promi
nent in public affairs, having ser\'ed as a
member of the State legislature for three
years, as Senator for one term, as chairman
of the Board of Selectmen for some time, and
as a member of the board for a number of
years. Mr. Kneil was Postmaster for twelve
years, having been appointed by General
Grant : and during his incumbency great im
provements were made in the office. He has
also made a good record as an active and
efficient member of the School Board, and has
always taken a keen interest in the cause of
education. To his efforts in this direction is
due, in a large measure, the high degree of
efficiencv for which the schools of Westfield
are noted. ]\Ir. Kneil is a member of the
First ^Methodist Episcopal Church, as was his
late wife. He is held in the highest regard
in the community, his manv sterling traits of
character and upright life winning the respect
of all. His portrait will be found on a neigh
boring page of this volume.

v^j HOMAS J. DEWEY, a prosperous
_'j farmer of \\'estfield, was born in this
"" towm on iNIay 10, 1S27. The Dewey
family, which is of English origin, has here
been represented more than two hundred
years, the first of the name to settle in West-
field having been Thomas, Josiah. Israel, and
Jedediah, who came in the years from 1667 to
1670. David Dewey, great-grandfather of
the subject of the present sketch, was a na
tive resident of \\'e5tfield, and a descendant of
Israel Dewey. David's son Timothy was born
on January 24, 1755; and Timothy's sun.
Charles C. father of Thomas J., was born on
April 22. 17S4. Charles C Dewey settled
on the farm which is at present occupied by
his son. and carried on general farming, build
ing the farm-house, in which he resided till his
death. His wife. Electa Sackett, \vas alsn a
native of Westfield, born August ;. 17S8.
Her death occurred in February, 1861. she
having been the mother <if ten children, of
whom three are nnw living.
Thomas J. Dewey grew to manhood in

676

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Westfield, and received his education in its
graded schools. Since then, up to the present
time, he has devoted his energies and interests
to agricultural pursuits, in which he has met
with good success. He has about fifty acres
of land in various parts of the town, all in a
fine state of cultivation, from seven to ten
acres being devoted to tobacco-raising, his
staple production for many years, and in the
main a reliable and profitable crop. He has
also a dairy of- from six to ten cows of fine
quality Durham stock.
Mr. Dewey was married October 10, 1858,
to Miss Tirzah Bliss, of West Springfield,
who was born in that town, August 6, 1826,
and was a daughter of f-Posea and Tirzah (Bagg)
Bliss. Hosea Bliss was born in Ellington,
Tolland County, Conn., and was a blacksmith
by trade. He died in West Springfield at the
age of seventy-four years. He had been twice
married. His first wife was a native of the
town — born in 1778, and died in 1821 — and
was the mother of ten children. The second
wife bore two children; and, of the twelve
in all, "three children now survive, namely:
Achsah and Betsey, who reside in West
Springfield ; and "Tirzah, Mrs. Thomas J.
Dewey, of this sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Dewey
have had four children — Minnie B., born No
vember 17, 1859; Charles, born June 10,
1861, died October 22, 1861; Charles A.,
born June 11, 1866; and Thomas James,
born April 7, 1868. All three of these now
living reside at home. Mr. Dewey is not an
office-seeker, but in regard to governmental af
fairs is closely in touch with the Democratic
policy. He resides with his family in a com
modious residence on Silver Street, and with his
wife holds an influential and respected position
among the citizens of the town with which the
family has been so long identified.

TTAHAUNCEY E. WHITP:, an old and
I V^ esteemed citizen of the city of Spring-
^U^_^ field, whose home is at No. 44
Clinton Street, is now living re
tired from the active pursuits of life, enjoying
the well-earned fruits of his many years of in
dustry and enterprise. He was born at West

Springfield, November 20, 1819, being a son
of Edward C and Lucy (Cooley) White, both
of whom were descended from ancient and
respected families, the mother being a daugh
ter of Jonathan Cooley, and the father a son
of Edward White, a well-to-do farmer of
Hampden County.
Lucy Cooley was twice married, her first
husband being Ebenezer Bagg, a native of
West Springfield, who died, leaving her with
five children. Her second husband, Edward
C. White, died in 1822, leaving but one
child, Chauncey E. , the subject of this sketch.
The father was an officer in the War of 1812,
at first a Lieutenant; and after' the battle of
Sackett's Harbor, where he proved his bravery,
he was commissioned Captain. At the battle
of Lundy's Lane they were in the thickest of
the fight, and only sixteen men of the company
came out alive. Some time after the close of
the war Captain White settled in West Spring
field, and there carried on general farming
until his death, as above mentioned.
Chauncey E. received his education in the
little district school-house in the town in
which he was born, and at the age of sixteen
years entered the composing-room of the
Springfield Republican, one room at that time
serving for all purposes of the publication,
and there served as an apprentice until attain
ing his majority. Samuel Bowles, the first,
then controlled the paper. Young White re
ceived thirty dollars per year and board ; and
before his term of apprenticeship had expired
he was made foreman of the office, a position
which he held eighteen years of the twenty-one
that he was employed on the paper. During
that time Samuel Bowles, the second, and Dr.
J. G. Plolland were connected with the paper;
and he had a most friendly and pleasant ac
quaintanceship with both. The articles of
agreement, or apprenticeship paper, written
and signed by Samuel Bowles in 1836 are still
cherished by Mr. White. After leaving the
office of the Republican he went to Lockport,
N. Y., which was then on the western border
of civilization, and for three years was engaged
with PI. F. Cady in building and repairing
boats on the canal. On his return to Hamp
den County Mr. White began working for the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

677

Boston & Albany Railway Company as gen
eral utility man at the station, remaining in
that capacity for two years. In 1864, return
ing to newspaper work, he assisted Mr. Ed
ward Anthony in starting the Springfield
Union, which was then published as an even
ing paper, Mr. White at first soliciting adver
tisements, but afterward having supervision of
the mechanical department, getting out the
first copy of the paper, and continuing his
connection with the office for six months.
Plis next engagement was with Mr, Adams,
proprietor of the refreshment rooms at the Bos
ton & Albany Railway station in this city,
in whose emplo)' he remained for a number of
years, becoming perfectly familiar with the
details of the business, which he bought on the
death of the proprietor, and successfully con
ducted by himself the ensuing twelve years.
During that time he furnished food to thou
sands of ¦ people, and was brought into close
communication with a large part of the railway
force, forming many pleasant and warm friend
ships. Selling out to Mr. Armstrong, the
present manager, Mr. White, though still
continuing to reside in the city, then took
charge of his large farm, which was in reality
two farms, and which he had heretofore em
ployed a man to oversee and to furnish sup
plies therefrom for the restaurant. In the
spring of 1894 he sold the larger of the two
farms. The smaller he retains, but has given
up its active care into other hands.
Mr. White has been twice married. His
first wife was Margaret Foote, a daughter of
Noah Foote, formerly inspector in the armory.
After her decease he married her sister, Miss
Angeline Foote. Plis only child is a daugh
ter, Clara, by his first marriage, who lives at
home. Mr. White has always affiPiated with
the Republican party, though never an as
pirant for official honors. When a young man
he joined the Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows, but, on his removal to Lockport, re
ceived his withdrawal card, and never reunited
with the order. He and his family are com
municants of Christ's Episcopal Church, and
are held in high consideration throughout the
community in which they have lived for so
many years as people of sterling worth.

KORENZO HUTCHINSON, an enter
prising and prosperous wagon-maker of
^ Monson, where he is well known
and universally respected, was born
in Ware, Hampshire County, Mass., August
9, 1844. Plis father, Zina Hutchinson, who
was also a native of Hampshire County, was
born in 1807, son of Benjamin Hutchinson,
whose wife was a Miss Jocelyn. The grand
parents reared six sons and two daughters, of
whom but one son and one daughter are now
living. Benjamin Hutchinson died at the
age of eighty, after a life spent for the most
part in agricultural pursuits. His wife also
reached a good old age.
Zina was the third child and son of his
parents; and, like his father, Benjamin, he
became a tiller of the soil. His marriage,
which occurred about 1836, united him with
Miss Jemima Gibbs, of Dana; and she proved
a faithful companion and a good mother to her
children, of whom she reared seven — five
daughters and two sons. Three of the daugh
ters and both the sons are still living. They
are as follows: Frances, wife of Benjamin
Harwood, of Enfield ; Luthera, wife of Baxter
Snow, of Springfield, and Lorinda, her twin
sister, wife of John Thayer, of Springfield;
George A., who resides in Ware, and com
bines the occupation of farmer with that of
carpenter; and Lorenzo. Their sister Eme
line, wife of John Mariam, departed this life
when about fifty-four years old, leaving a son
and daughter ; and Ellen, wife of Edward M.
Moore, died in 1867, at the early age of
twenty-two, leaving an infant daughter. The
father died March 26, 1886; and the mother,
a few months later, in the early part of July,
aged seventy-six. They were members of the
Congregational church, and so lived as to win
the respect and good will of the community
in which their lot was cast.
Lorenzo Hutchinson was reared to farm life,
receiving his education in the common schools.
At the age of eighteen he began to learn the
wagon-maker's trade, and applied himself with
such diligence that in a few years he was able
to start a shop of his own in Fiskdale, where
he remained four years. Coming to Monson
in 1 881, he purchased an old stand, tore down

678

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the old building, and erected his present large
shop and factory, consisting of two stories
thirty-four by forty-two feet, the main build
ing and the rear shop being twenty-five by
thirty-three feet. The shop is fitted up with
the most improved machinery, operated by
steam-power, steam also being used as a means
of heating. The business is growing rapidly,
and Mr. Hutchinson now employs from four
to eight men, though he began with but one
assistant, a blacksmith.
On January 18, 1882, he was married to
Eliza J. Robinson, of Elizabeth, N.J., daugh
ter of Thaddeus Robinson, a native of Worces
ter, Mass. Mrs. Hutchinson was first mar
ried to Oscar Robinson, who died in 1869,
leaving one son, Arthur T. Robinson, a grad
uate of the Medical College at Albany, N. Y. ,
in the class of 1895. James Mariam, son of
Mr. Hutchinson's sister Emeline, is a bright
and promising young man, who was graduated
with honors from Amherst College. He is
now studying law in Worcester, with abundant
promise of a bright future.

"bpRANK ALEXANDER RIVERS, one
r^ of the largest contractors and builders
of Hampden County, was born at St.
Albans, Vt. , January 13, 1852, son of Alexan
der and Clemence Rivers. His father, who
was of P'rench descent, was a resident at the
above-named place for some years, having
charge of a section of the Vermont Central
Railroad, a position which he occupied until
his decease, in 1855. His wife, who was
called to rest some three months afterward,
left a family of four children, of whom three
are still living — Matilda, wife of Levi De
Moris, of Manchester, Conn. ; Clemence, wife
of John Rich, of St. Albans; and Frank Alex
ander. The other was Mary, wife of Moses
Stone, who resided at West Shepherd, Conn.
The parents were communicants of the Roman
Catholic church.
Frank A. Rivers after the death of his par
ents lived with his uncle at North Troy, Vt. ,
where he attended a night school and worked
in the woollen-mill. At the age of thirteen
years he came to Plolyoke in company with

his uncle, Peter Beaurguard, with whom he re
mained until reaching the age of eighteen,
and worked in the finishing department of
woollen-mills, after which he went to East
Douglass, Mass., where he was employed for
a time in the axe manufactory. On his return
to this city he worked about eight years for
D. H. & J. C Newton, the well-known con
tractors, learning his trade of a millwright,
and was engaged with them in the erection of
many large mills, the latter portion of the
time holding the position of foreman. He
next entered the employ of the Holyoke Water
Power Company, with whom he remained about
nine years, during which period they raised
the Holyoke dam and completed other impor
tant work under his supervision.
In 1888 he commenced the contracting busi
ness upon his own account, having established
the firm of Rivers & Barber, their first opera
tion being the construction of a dam and
paper-mill for the James Ramage Paper Com
pany at Monroe Bridge, Mass., also overhauling
and adding to the Fairfield Paper Company's
mill. By mutual consent the partnership was
finally dissolved; and Mr. Rivers has con
tinued the business alone for the last four
years, an exceptionally busy period in his
career. In this time he has furnished employ
ment to a large number of men and completed
a great amount of work in different parts of
the country, including the Connecticut River
Paper Company's large mill and power plant,
the Plampden Paper Company's enlargement,
several large tenement blocks, together ^vith
some difficult underground work, both at Plol
yoke and Springfield, the National Papeterie
building, which is known as the quickest job
ever accomplished in Springfield, the A. N.
Mayo warehouse, and the first electric light
station in that city. The last-named gave
such general satisfaction to the company that,
when its enlargement was necessary, the work
was placed in his hands. He also erected the
Newell button-shops, one of the additions to
the P^orbes & Wallace Company's building,
together with much work for E. Morgan, in
cluding his summer residence at Ashfield.
Mr. Rivers has been remarkably successful
in the completion of works difficult of accom-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

679

plishment, among which may be mentioned
the construction of a coffer-dam at Birming
ham, Conn., for the purpose of repairing the
stone dam, which had been partially washed
away, his plans for repairing successfully the
South Hadley Falls reservoir, and the lowering
of the raceway of the Beebe & Holbrook Paper
Company's plant, in order to allow more room
for the water waste, the latter being accom
plished in four days and nights without dis
turbing either mill or machinery. Another
extraordinary piece of work was the sinking of
a well at the new electric light station and
running pipes eighty feet from the river to the
building, six feet beneath low-water mark.
Among his later achievements are the Phoenix
Block, one of the finest buildings in Spring
field, which was erected at a cost of ninety
thousand dollars, also the Besse Block. And
he is to assist in the erection of the American
Whip Company's building at Westfield, to
gether with the Crane Paper Company's plant
in the same town. Pie is likewise building
the towers for the dam at South Hadley Falls
and Holyoke.
Mr. Rivers owns considerable real estate in
Holyoke, inclusive of a fine residence at Elm
wood. He has been a member of the City Council,
and, being on several important committees,
rendered valuable service to the city. His
first wife was Miss Julia Tart, who died, leav
ing two children — Edward P., who is engaged
in business with his father; and Julia J. In
1883 he married for his second wife Miss Julia
Lague, of Holyoke, by whom he has one child
living — Rhea B. The family attend the
Roman Catholic church, and Mr. Rivers is a
member of the Knights of Pythias and Fores
ters, of this city.

"ENRY SIMEON JONES, a progres
sive agriculturist of Ludlow, Mass.,
\[3 \ where he owns a well-improved and
pleasantly located farm, was born
in the town where he now resides on October
31, 1828. The family trace their lineage in
this country back to Thomas Jones, the immi
grant ancestor, who was a native of Wales.

Following him in the line of descent were his
son Benjamin and his grandson Benjamin, Jr.
Stephen Jones, who was the grandfather of
the subject of this biography, was born in
Somers, Conn., and removed thence in 1799
to Ludlow, Hampden County, Mass., where
he purchased a large tract of land near the
centre of the town, and engaged in the peace
ful pursuit of agriculture, here spending the
remainder of his days, his death taking place
on June 2, 1828. He was twice married, the
maiden name of his first wife, grandmother
of Henry Simeon Jones, being Lucy Cooley.
The family removed from Somers, Conn., a
short time previous to the birth of Simeon,
father of Henry S. Stephen Jones married
for his second wife Mary Booth, who was born
in Enfield, Conn., and was a daughter of
Joseph Booth. At the time of her marriage
to Stephen Jones she was the widow of Israel
Chapin. Simeon Jones was born in 1799, and was
reared in the town of Ludlow, being brought
up to agricultural pursuits. He purchased of
the heirs their interest in a large portion of
the old homestead, and upon it passed the
greater part of his life, dying in 1866, at the
age of sixty-seven years. He married Mary
Chapin, who was a native of Springfield,
Mass., where she was born, August 31, 1801,
daughter of Israel and Mary (Booth) Chapin.
She departed this life in her eightieth year.
The parental household included the follow
ing-named children: Hannah, Delia, David
C, Henry Simeon, Daniel, Eliza, Pamelia,
Sarah A,, and Irene T,
Henry Simeon Jones, having acquired the
rudiments in the district school, studied
higher branches of learning at Easthampton
Academy, and at the age of eighteen com
menced teaching, being thus engaged two
winter terms, with which exception he has
always been employed in agricultural pursuits.
At the time of his marriage he purchased
forty acres of land, which are now included in
his present farm, built thereon a substantial
frame house, and later a large barn, and has
added to his estate by subsequent purchase,
until his farm now comprises about one hun
dred acres. In 1884 he erected his present

68o

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

residence, which is a commodious, modern
frame house, located directly across the road
from the old home, the latter being at the
present time occupied by his son.
October 28, 1852, was the date of the mar
riage of Mr, Henry S, Jones and Miss Sarah
Elizabeth Parsons, Mrs, Jones was born in
Ludlow, March 21, 1830, a daughter of Elisha
T, and Hannah D, (Charles) Parsons, Her
paternal grandfather, Elisha Parsons, was, so
far as known, born in Enfield, Conn., of
which place, it is believed, his father, Thomas
Parsons, was a native and a life-long resident.
Thomas was three times married, becoming
the father of seventeen children. His son,
Elisha Parsons, married Lovisa Gleason.
Elisha T, Parsons was born in Enfield, but
when a young man left his native State, com
ing to Massachusetts and settling in Ludlow,
where he had secured an engagement as a
teacher. Here he met and married Hannah
D, Charles, and, deciding to engage in farm
ing, he purchased a tract of land in the west
ern part of the town, and there resided until
1875, He died March 12, 1895, having al
most reached his ninetieth birthday. The
mother of Mrs, Jones was born at Ballston
Springs, Saratoga County, N,Y,, and was
a daughter of Danforth and Independence
(Booth) Charles, She departed this life at
the age of sixty-six years.
Of the three children of Mr. and Mrs, Jones
but one is now living — Charles Parsons
Jones; he married Josephine E. Fuller, and
has a family of five children — Lillian M.,
Arthur M,, Wilfred F,, Marion E., and
Henry Charles. The two children who died
were: Clinton Howell, who was born PY'bru-
ary 11, 1871, and died January 3, 1875; and
Robert Parsons, born February 2, 1863, who
married Alice R. Miller, and died in Colo
rado, August 5, 1894, having gone to that
State four years previously for the benefit of
his health. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jones are
connected with the First Congregational
Church, he having been a Deacon for many
years. Politically, he is a stanch Republican,
and for a number of years has served as a
member of the Board of Assessors. Frater
nally, he is connected with Ludlow Grange.

TT^HARLES WESLEY BOWEN, M.D.,
I Ky a leading physician of the village of
\% Westfield, was born in Castle Creek,
Broome County, N.Y., on January
21, 1844, a son of Isaac and Sarah (Seamans)
Bowen. Isaac Bowen was born in Litchfield,
Conn., on November 3, 1798, and was a son
of Amos and Alsa Bowen, both of whom were
life-long residents of Connecticut, the former
living to attain the great age of ninety-six
years. Isaac Bowen removed to Providence, R. I.,
when a young man, and was there employed
in the print-mills for a time. On the Fourth
of July, 1 8 19, he married, and soon afterward
accompanied his wife's parents and family to
the State of New York, locating in the town
of Solon, Cortland County. There he pur
chased a tract of timber land, on which he
erected a log cabin. Hardly was his home
completed, however, when a violent wind-storm
blew down a large tree, which, falling upon
the cabin, completely demolished it, though
fortunately no one was injured. Like the ant,
which sturdily sets about repairing the damage
caused by a careless passer's foot, Mr. Bowen
erected another home, this time providing
against possible accidents. He was a natural
mechanic, and part of the time worked at the
cooper's trade, being also engaged in the
manufacture of shingles. He resided in Solon
a short time, then removed to Chenango,
Broome County, where he purchased land,
upon which he has since resided. He has
erected a good set of frame buildings, and
otherwise improved the property. Mrs.
Bowen, our subject's mother, was born in or
near Providence, R.I., October 13, 1800, and
was a daughter of Jonathan and Alsa Seamans,
the former a native of Rhode Island and a
pioneer of Broome County, New York, where
he died at the advanced age of ninety-nine
years. Mrs. Sarah Bowen died in 1888. She
reared five children.
Charles Wesley Bowen received his early
education in the public schools of Chenango
and in Binghamton, and at the age of eighteen
commenced teaching, being thus occupied in
the winter season and engaging in agricultural
pursuits during the remainder of the year. In

JOSEPH MERRICK.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

683

his twenty-fifth year he began the study of
medicine with Dr. S. P. Allen. He attended
lectures at the Syracuse University, and was
graduated from that institution with the class
of 1874. In 1889 he took a post-graduate
course at the University of New York. Dr.
Bowen commenced the practice of medicine at
Centre Lisle, N. Y., continuing there for three
years, then went to Granville Corners, Mass.,
remaining there until 1880, when he came to
Westfield, and has since been in active prac
tice here.
Dr. Bowen was married October 19, 1865,
to Margaret C. Alderman, who was born at
Castle Creek, Broome County, N. Y., and is a
daughter of Israel P. Alderman, a native of
West Springfield, Hampden County, Mass.
The grandfather of Mrs. Bowen, Bradley
Alderman, was also a native of the old Bay
State, as was his father. Gad Alderman. The
latter spent his last years in West Springfield.
Bradley Alderman removed from Massachu
setts to Castle Creek, N.Y. , being one of the
early settlers in that locality. At the time of
his removal there were neither railroads nor
canals, and, in fact, no public highways; and
in going to niill he was obliged to follow a
trail marked by blazed trees. He improved
his land, and became the owner of a good
farm, upon which "he resided until his death.
The maiden name of his wife was Sarah
Phelps. She was born in Suffield, Conn., and
died at the age of ninety-five years. The
father of Mrs. Bowen was reared to agricult
ural pursuits, and has always followed farming,
in connection with which he is engaged in the
lumber business, owning a steam grist and
saw mill. He married Caroline Griffin, a
native of Granby, Conn., and a daughter of
Zopher and Margaret (Trumbull) Griffin.
She died in 1891, at the age of sixty-seven.
She was the mother of four children.
Dr. and Mrs. Bowen are the parents of two
children — Henry C and Caroline. The
former was educated in the public schools of
Westfield and at Wilbraham Academy. He
early turned his attention to the study of medi
cine, and received his diploma from the Uni
versity of New York with the class of 1892,
and one year later was graduated in surgery

from Bellevue Hospital. He is now actively
engaged in practice in the city of Springfield,
Mass. Dr. Charles Wesley Bowen is a member of
Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of
Malta Commandery, of Springfield. He is
also a member of the State Medical Society,
and of the American Medical Association.
The Doctor and his wife are both consistent
members of the Methodist Episcopal church,
of which he has been treasurer for the past ten
years.

OSEPH MERRICK, a life-long resident
of West Springfield and a representa
tive of one of the original families
that settled in this section, was born
February 27, 1820. He is a direct descend
ant of Thomas Merrick, a native of either
England or Wales, who was born in the year
1620 and emigrated to America in 1630, first
settling in Roxbury. A few years later he
joined a party of venturesome people who
penetrated through the dense forests and made
their homes in the Connecticut valley. On
July 14, 1639, he married Sarah Stebbins,
daughter of Rowland Stebbins.
Their son, Thomas Merrick, was born at
West Springfield ; and here he resided dur
ing his entire life, the maiden name of his
wife being Hannah Dumbleton. Lieutenant
James Merrick, son of Thomas, married Sarah
Hitchcock, and lived in West Springfield.
The next in line was Joseph Merrick, a
farmer by occupation, and a Deacon of the
Congregational church, who married Mary
Leonard. Tilly Merrick, son of Deacon Joseph, was
the paternal grandfather of the present Joseph
Merrick. He was born at West Springfield,
and graduated from Harvard College in 1773.
His farm included the site of the present vil
lage of Merrick, where he died in 1836. He
was a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and
was a member of the Congregational church,
as was also his wife, whose maiden name was
Lovisa Colton. Their son, Daniel Merrick,
father of Joseph, the subject of this sketch,
was born March 20, 1785. He inherited the

684

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

old homestead and resided there until his de
cease. His wife, who before her marriage was
Laura Day, was born in what is now Holyoke,
and was a daughter of Joel Day. She died at
the old homestead, having reared six children,
namely: Aaron C, Joseph, Francis T. ,
Daniel, Charles E. , and Edward P.
Joseph Merrick was educated in the old dis
trict schools, and at a very early age began to
help in the farm work at home. He well re
members when communication with the differ
ent trade centres was mostly carried on by way
of the Connecticut River, and stage lines ran
in every direction. In his youth the town of
West Springfield was about as populous as was
the Springfield of that day, and equally im
portant as a commercial centre. At the age
of twenty years Mr. Merrick established a
milk route in what was then the town of
Springfield, his sales being at first but a few
quarts per day, but soon increasing to several
hundred ; and he conducted a prosperous busi
ness for many years.
He succeeded to the ownership of the home
stead by purchasing the interests of the other
heirs, and continued a general farming and
dairying business until after the close of the
Civil War, when he sold a greater part of the
original farm, upon which has since been
erected upward of one hundred and fifty
houses, and purchased a valuable piece of real
estate, where he erected his present comely
and substantial residence, a commodious frame
house, pleasantly situated on Park Avenue.
The grounds consist of four acres handsomely
laid out and planted with shade and fruit
trees. Mr. Merrick at the age of thirty years was
united in marriage to his first wife, P'rances
E, Hamlin, of Feeding Hills. She died about
fourteen years later; and he wedded for his
second wife his cousin, Mrs. Lucretia D.
(Colton) Hollister. Mr. and Mrs. Merrick
are both members of the Congregational
church, and Mr. Merrick is a Republican in
politics. This brief biographical record shows
that he comes of good New England stock on
both paternal and maternal sides, deep-rooted
in the old Colonial times, stanch supporters
of popular government and of religion.

LY BROTHERS. Charles F. and
Henry Wilson Ely, attorneys-at-law,
are representatives of an old and
prominent family, which for nearly two cent
uries has been closely identified with the best
interests of Hampden County. From a gene
alogy of the family compiled by Heman Ely,
published in 1885, we learn that the first
member to settle in this country was Nathaniel
Ely, who immigrated from England, locating
in Cambridge, Mass., and thence accompany
ing the Rev. Thomas Hooker to Hartford,
Conn., where he secured a home. Later he
removed to Norwalk, being one of the first
settlers there. In 1659 he sold his property,
and removed to Springfield, Mass., where he
passed his declining years. His son Samuel
was married in Springfield on October 28,
1659, Miss Mary Day, a daughter of Robert
and Editha (Stebbins) Day, becoming his
wife. He was very successful in his business
transactions, and acquired a large estate. The
next in order of descent was his son Samuel,
who was born in Springfield on May 9, 1668,
and was twice married, his second wife being
Sarah Bodurtha, a daughter of Joseph and
Lydia Bodurtha. He also was successful
financially, and was prominent in public
affairs, serving as Selectman and Parish Clerk.
His son Samuel was the next in line. He was
born in Springfield, September 21, 1701, and
married Abigail, daughter of Samuel and Abi
gail (Day) Warriner. He was identified with
the public interests of West Springfield, of
which he was a life-long resident, dying
December 8, 1758. His son. Captain Levi
Ely, was born in West Springfield on Novem
ber 26, 1732, and was killed in battle with the
Indians near Utica, N. Y., on October 19,
1780. He was in command of a company of
his townsmen, nearly all of whom were killed.
His son, the Rev. Elihu Ely, grandfather of
the Ely brothers, was born in West Spring
field in July, 1777, and was there reared and
educated. He removed from there to West-
field, where he spent the remainder of his life,
passing from worldly scenes on September 28,
1840. His wife, Grace (Rose) Ely, was born
in Providence, R.I., in the same year as her
husband, and was a daughter of Colonel Sam-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

685

uel Rose. She also died in Westfield, passing
away September 28, 1840, the same day as her
husband. "Lovely and pleasant in their lives,
in death they were not divided. "
Joseph Minor Ely, father of the Ely
brothers, was born in the town of Westfield,
on November 26, 1807, and spent his early life
on a farm. In young manhood he became a
manufacturer of whips and lashes, being one
of the founders of that branch of industry
here. He was thus actively engaged for many
years, meeting with much success, and ac
quiring a competence. He was a resident of
"Westfield all his life, his death occurring in
1885. He was a man of decided convictions,
a thoughtful reader, and a deep thinker, and
well informed on all matters of interest to the
community at large. He cast his first Presi
dential vote for Andrew Jackson, and was
always a stanch supporter of the true princi
ples of Democracy. In i860 he supported
Stephen A. Douglas. He was strongly op
posed to slavery, and throughout the war was
a firm adherent of the Union. He was promi
nent in public affairs, and filled various offices
of trust, serving as a member of the Board of
Selectmen, as Assessor, and also as one of the
School Committee. He was elected to numer
ous county, district, and State conventions,
and to the National Conventions that nomi
nated Douglas, Tilden, and Hancock. He
was also a member of the State Constitutional
Convention of 1853. Mr. Ely was a devoted
member of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church, and an earnest worker in all enter
prises tending toward its spiritual welfare.
He filled its various offices, and for a number
of years was superintendent of its Sabbath-
school. In all philanthropic undertakings he
bore an active part, laboring to the best of his
ability to ameliorate the sufferings of man
kind; and his death, deeply mourned and re
gretted by the community, was to him but the
gateway to that brighter world where, in the
presence of the Master whom he had so long
and faithfully served, he should receive his
reward for the deeds done in the flesh.
The maiden name of the wife of Joseph
Minor Ely was Elizabeth Gross. She was
born in Southwick, and was a daughter of

Jonah and Roxanna Gross. The household in
cluded five children — Elizabeth, who is the
wife of the Rev. S. O Dyer; Joseph M.,
who, following in the footsteps of his father,
became a manufacturer, but died at the early
age of thirty-six; James A., who also departed
this life at the age of thirty-six; Charles
Franklin ; and Henry Wilson.
Charles Franklin Ely was born July 3,
1850. He was educated in his native town,
and was graduated from the Westfield High
School in the class of 1868, and from the Nor
mal School in the class of 1870. He then
entered Wesleyan University at Middletown,
Conn., being graduated from that institution
in 1874. He was converted in early youth,
uniting with the Methodist Episcopal church,
and turned his attention to the study of theol
ogy, being ordained at Chippewa Falls.
Owing to ill health he was compelled to aban
don the ministry, however, and shortly after
ward commenced the study of law, being
admitted to the bar in 1877, since which time
he has been engaged in legal practice, being
associated with his brother, Henry W. On
May 21, 1880, he was united in marriage with
Miss Orra H. Jones.
Henry Wilson Ely was born on November
10, 1853, and was educated in Westfield,
being graduated from the high school in the
class of 1870, and from the State Normal in
the class of 1872. He was occupied as a
teacher for a short time, then turned his atten
tion to the study of law, being graduated from
the law department of Boston University in
1875, since which time he has been engaged
in the active practice of his profession in the
town of Westfield.
On June 12, 1880, Mr. Ely was united in
marriage with Miss Sarah N. Buel, a daughter
of Phineas and Phebe (Gilman) Buel. Three
children have blessed this union — Joseph B.,
Florence E. , and Charles P. Politicall)', Mr.
Ely is a Democrat, and a stanch supporter of
the principles promulgated by his party. Both
he and his wife are earnest members of the
P'irst Methodist Episcopal Church, as is also
his brother Charles, both having filled the
offices of Trustee and Steward. They also take
a deep interest in Sabbath-school work, and in

686

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

every way are worthy and honored members of
their community.

-AMES PRENTICE NYE, son of Ran
dall and Louisa (Cook) Nye, and grand
son of James and Sarah (Clark) Nye,
was born in Blandford, Hampden
County, Mass., February 5, 1851. James
Nye was born in Charlestown, R.I., May 13,
1758, and died October 27, 1840. Sarah, his
wife, was born December 28, 1762, and died
April 2, 1846. They came to Blandford about
the year 1800, bought land, and became one of
the influential families of the locality, the
estate comprising two hundred and fifty acres
of land, which Mr. Nye paid for in English
money. He was a hard worker on the farm,
and his wife equally so in domestic affairs,
spinning and weaving the cloth of which the
family garments were made. They were liberal
in religious matters, showing practical Chris
tianity in their lives. Mr. Nye was a Demo
crat in politics. They had eleven children
— George, Sally, Jonathan, Hazzard, James,
Clark, Rebecca, Mary, Alice, Randall, and
Dennis. All of these save one lived to be over
fifty years of age, and all are now deceased.
(For account of Mr. J. P. Nye's parents see
sketch of George D. Nye, given elsewhere.)
James P. Nye grew to manhood in Blandford
on the old farm, attending the schools of the
town, and later, becoming a farmer, succeeded
to the ownership of the homestead, on which
he resided till 1891, when he sold the estate,
and in July, 1894, purchased his present place
of residence. The house has been remodelled
and enlarged to suit the requirements of city
boarders, the extensive scenery and pure air
making it an attractive place of resort for sum
mer guests. The location is the finest in the
vicinity, having an elevation of about sixteen
hundred feet, giving a view of thirty miles.
James Nye is one of the leading farmers of the
neighborhood. He makes a specialty of dairy
supplies, and has the best record in town for
choice butter, making from grade Jersey cows
as much as eighty-four pounds in one week
besides the family table supply.
Mr. Nye was married October 22, 1884, to

Miss Alice Holmes Tiffany, who was born
December 18, 1858, a daughter of Levi D. and
Huldah (Holmes) Tiffany, her father repre
senting one of the old families of New
England. Pier grandfather, Bela Tiffany,
was born in Barkhamsted, Litchfield County,
Conn., and was an enterprising fanner and an
extensive cattle dealer, in politics a Republi
can. Pie came to Blandford in 1852 and set
tled on the farm which is now occupied by
Frank Tiffany. Bela Tiffany died at a good
old age. His wife, Laura Johnson, a native
of Barkhamsted, born June 16, 1803, sur
vives him, and still resides on the old home
stead. They had eight children, all of whom
are now living save Levi D., Mrs. Nye's
father, who was born July 9, 1824. Johnson
J. Tiffany was born October 20, 1826; Laura
T. , January 23, 1829; Eunice W. , July 15,
1831 ; Lydia A., July 12, 1833 ; Bela B., May
-7) 1835; Franklin G., June 5, 1837; Loomis
T. , June 28, 1839.
Levi D. Tiffany spent his youth in Bark
hamsted, and was educated in the schools of
that town, and also taught school many terms,
both there and in the town of Blandford. He
also engaged in agriculture in this place, and
owned the farm on which Mr. Nye now re
sides, consisting of about one hundred and
twenty acres. He was considered one of the
leading farmers of the day, and took an active
part in town affairs, being on the School Com
mittee many years, also serving as Town Clerk
one year. He was a liberal supporter of the
Congregational church in Blandford, of which
he was a Deacon. He died at the old home,
April 15, 1894, PPis wife, Huldah Plolmes
before her marriage, which occurred March 14,
1852, was a native of West Stafford, Tolland
County, Conn., and was born November 12,
1830. She outlives her husband, residing in
South Hadley, Mass. They had two children
— Alice Holmes, wife of James P. Nye, and
Prances Estelle, wife of William DeBraal,
born November 21, 1864, and residing in
South Hadley, Mass. Mrs. Nye, who is a
woman of much intelligence, versatility, and
strength of character, attended the Westfield
Normal School two years in her maidenhood,
and has had some experience in teaching

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

687

school. By her marriage with Mr. Nye she
became the mother of one daughter. Pansy
Beatrice, born January 19, 1887.
The summer residence, called "Mountain
View," now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Nye in
Blandford, was established many years ago by
Mrs. Nye's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Tiffany;
and the refined and cultivated guests who
enjoyed its hospitality and good cheer in for
mer years still continue their patronage, its
present improved arrangements insuring them
a still greater degree of comfort. Mr. and
Mrs. Nye are both members of the Congrega
tional church. Mr. Nye is a Prohibitionist,
but takes little part in politics, his other re
sponsibilities demanding most of his attention.

/STTo

EORGE FOSTER, a prosperous resi-
\ •> I dent of the Eighth Ward, Spring
field, where he conducts a fine farm,
was born in Springfield, August 9, 1830. His
father, Harvey Foster, was a native of Bark
hamsted, Conn., where he was born July 28,
1796; and his grandfather, Eli Foster, was,
as far as can be ascertained, also a native of
Connecticut, and moved with his family of
six children to Springfield, where he purchased
and settled upon a farm located about four
miles from the United States Armory. Here
he resided until his death, which occurred at
the age of sixty years. The maiden name of
his wife, George Foster's grandmother, was
Catherine Lathrop.
Harvey Foster purchased a tract of land sit
uated about one mile from the home farm, but
a short time previous to his marriage ex
changed this for a farm adjoining his father's
property, which he improved, and by subse
quent additions increased its acreage to a con
siderable extent. He became very prosperous,
and after a long and active life died at the
age of eighty-two years. His wife, whose
maiden name was Laura Alden, was a native
of Connecticut, and the daughter of Nathan
and Sarah (Besten) Alden. She died at the
age of sixty-one years, having been the mother
of seven sons, whose names were as follows:
Walter, Eli F. , George, Festus H., Ralph,
Cyrus A., and Nathan A.

George Foster attended the public schools,
and supplemented the education gained therein
by a course at the Wilbraham Academy. He
commenced at an early age to assist his father
on the farm, and so acquired a thorough knowl
edge of the different branches of agriculture.
He resided with his parents until his marriage,
at which time he purchased the farm he now
owns and operates, which consists of two hun
dred acres of good land advantageously situated
upon the Wilbraham road, within easy reach of
the markets of Springfield. It is one of the
very best-cultivated farms in the locality, and
is well supplied with all modern conveniences
in the line of farm implements and improved
machinery. Mr. Foster has been very success
ful, and is regarded as one of the leading
agriculturalists of his locality. He is a Re
publican in politics.
On May 23, 1855, he was united in mar
riage to his first wife, Ella Warner, who was
born at Wilbraham, and was _ the daughter of
Vashni and Ellen Warner. She died in April,
1859; and Mr. Foster wedded for his second
wife Mrs. Matilda (Smith) Cowan, the cere
mony occurring in October, 1867. Thirteen
years later, on October 15, 1880, she was sum
moned to her final rest ; and Mr. Foster was
again married, August 2, 1883, to Miss Ida
Porter, of Longmeadow. She, too, was called
to rest, her death occurring in 1888; and he
later wedded his present wife, whose name
before marriage was Sarah Ellen Capen, she
being a native of Springfield. Mr. Foster has
one son by his second marriage — George
Hubbard Foster.

'wJ^/TlLIAM H. bugbee, of Monson,
Ytey is a man who has won his way by
v-j Vi strength of mind and hand from
comparative poverty to fair prosperity. He
was born in Union, Conn., April 16, 1828,
and is the son of Newman and Eliza (Smith)
Bugbee, and the grandson of Marcus and Sylva
(Corbin) Bugbee. Marcus Bugbee was a na
tive of Woodstock, Conn., born about 1771.
He was an able farmer, and found a livelihood
for some time in Woodstock, afterward remov
ing to Union, Conn. PPe died in Union at the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

age of sixty-five, and was there buried. There
also rest the remains of his wife, who died
April 20, 1828. They had fourteen children,
thirteen of whom reached mature age, four
daughters and nine sons. All are now de
ceased, many of them having lived to be over
eighty. The two youngest sons, Jasper and
Justus, were twins ; and each met a tragic
death. Justus was drowned when nineteen
years old ; and Jasper, who was a volunteer in
the Civil War, and one of the first to go, was
mortally wounded at the battle of Fredericks
burg, and lived only long enough to reach his
home in Dudley, Mass. There he passed away
in 1863, being then forty-eight years old. He
left a widow and four children.
Newman Bugbee, the father of our subject,
was born in Union, and there passed his
life. He was an industrious farmer, a man of
great strength and vitality, who lived to be
eighty-nine years old. His activity was im
paired by a broken hip joint, the result of a
fall; but his intellect was clear and strong up
to the time of his death, which occurred in
August, 1890. His wife was a native of
Stafford, Conn. ; and there he was married to
her on December 18, 1826. She passed away
in 1889, at the age of eighty-seven, and is
buried in Stafford, Conn., with her husband.
They had a family of six children, four of
whom they reared, namely : Lucius Bugbee,
employed at the Kimball Clothing House
at Milwaukee, Wis., who has one son; Will
iam H. Bugbee, our subject; Sylva C, wife
of Arthur Brewer, at Staffordville, Conn. ;
Nelson Bugbee, who was a farmer on the
old farm in Union, and there died in 1886,
at the age of forty-four, leaving a widow only.
William H. Bugbee acquired a fair amount
of learning at the district school, supplemented
by one term at a select school. He lived on
his father's farm until he reached his majority,
when he started out for himself, joining the
force at work on the construction of the New
London & Northern Railroad, and laboring in
that way for one year. He then entered the
woollen-mill at Old Staffordville as a weaver
of satinet, and worked in one room for twenty-
three years, becoming a skilful and reliable
weaver, for a long time having charge of six

teen weavers and thirty-two looms. But
indoor work will undermine the strongest con
stitution ; and, feeling the need of a change,
Mr. Bugbee removed in 1872 to Monson, and
for fifteen years furnished board for the em
ployees of the straw factory, and did the team
ing for Merrick, Fay & Co. ; and he was in
Springfield two years, in the employ of Bar
ney, the great scraper manufacturer. Mr.
Bugbee has acquired some property, and,
besides his real estate in Monson, owns three
village lots in Minneapolis which are yearly
increasing in value. He began to build his
present home the day the martyred President
Garfield was shot, but did not take up his resi
dence there until within the past two years,
two years prior to that time being spent in
charge of the Monson Poor Farm.
Mr. Bugbee was married when little more
than twenty-one years old, on December 17,
1849. He took for his bride Emmeline C,
daughter of Loring and Eliza (Adams) Marcy,
of Holland, Mass., and grand-daughter of
James Marcy, a farmer of that town. She was
born in 1830, and was one of six children —
one son and five daughters, two of whom,
besides herself, are now living, namely:
Sarah, wife of Ezra Remington, of Worcester;
and Carrie, Mrs. Cutting, who also lives in
Worcester. Mrs. Bugbee' s sister Elizabeth
died of consumption at the age of twenty-one.
Mary, the wife of Orin Lincoln, passed away
when about forty-four years old, leaving two
children; and her brother, George Marcy, died
at the age of fifty-four, leaving four children.
Mr. and Mrs. Bugbee have two children, who
received a good education in the schools of
Monson. Their son, Nelson A. Bugbee, re
sides in the same house with his parents. Pie
is foreman in the straw factory, and has a wife
and three children; and their daughter, Hattie
E., is the wife of John Lockwood, an electri
cian in the famous Plankington Plouse at Mil
waukee, Wis.
In politics Mr. Bubgee is an Independent,
though he has generally voted the Democratic
ticket. He is one of the Selectmen of Mon
son, and the Town Inspector of Cattle. So
cially, he is a Master Mason. Mr. Bugbee is
a member of the Universalist church.

EDWIN HEDGES.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

691

jDWIN PIEDGES, chairman of the Board
of Selectmen of Westfield, was born in
that town on July 12, 1834, and is a
son of Joseph Hedges, a native of Middletown,
Conn., who was born October 26, 1794. The
first ancestor of the family in this country
came from England about 1640, locating on
Long Island, but removed from there to Mid
dletown, where he spent his last years. Our
subject's great-grandfather, Henry Hedges,
was a native of Sag Harbor, Long Island ; and
his grandfather, Abraham Hedges, was born
in Middletown, Conn., removing from that
town to Westfield about 1804. He purchased
a farm at Feeding Hills, and followed agri
cultural pursuits for a number of years, finally
removing to the village of Westfield, and pass
ing the remainder of his days with his son
Joseph. The maiden name of his wife was
Thankful Barnes.
Joseph Hedges, the father of Edwin, learned
the trade of carriage and wagon making, and
in 1 8 16 located in Westfield, where he soon
established himself in business. He died at
the age of seventy-two years. Plis wife before
marriage was Mary Avery. She was born in
Hartford, Conn., in 1798, and was a daughter
of Jonathan and Mary (Sheldon) Avery. (See
genealogy of the Avery family. ) Mrs. Hedges
departed this life at the age of severity-two
years. There were six children in the pa
rental household — Mary S., Juliet T., Jo
seph, Adeline, Albert A., and Edwin. Mary
S. and Joseph have passed away.
Edwin Hedges received his early education
in the public schools, and was a student at
Westfield Academy. At the age of eighteen
he commenced to learn to make metal organ-
pipes in the shop of William A. Johnson, serv
ing two years. He then did journeyman work
until 1856, when he started in business for
himself, in which he has since continued the
greater part of the time.
In 1858 Mr. Hedges was united in marriage
with Miss Clara B. Bancroft, a daughter of
Caleb J. Bancroft, and a native of Enfield,
Conn., 1836 being the year of her birth.
Three children have blessed this union — Ada,
Gertrude, and Edwin Bancroft.
Mr. Hedges cast his first Presidential vote

for Stephen A. Douglas, and has ever since
been a stanch supporter of the principles of the
Democratic party. He has been elected to fill
various offices of trust, having been Assessor
three years, and is now serving his seventh
term as chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
In local affairs he takes a generous and deep
interest, and has exerted a marked influence in
advancing the various enterprises inaugurated
to develop and promote the prosperity of his
native town. The portrait of Mr. Hedges,
which accompanies this article, is a welcome
addition to the gallery of representative men
of Hampden County.

LINTON K. LAMBSON, of West-
field, the well-knov^?n and popular
furniture dealer, who has been suc
cessfully engaged in business here
since 1863, was born in the town of Granville,
Hampden County, Mass., the date of his birth
being October 15, 1829. His great-grand
father on the paternal side was, according to
tradition, a native of England, and on coming
to this country settled in Connecticut. A son
of the emigrant resided for a time in Granby,
Conn., removing thence to Granville, Mass.,
where he spent the remainder of his life. His
son, Apollos, father of Clinton K., was born
in the town of Granville, and was there reared
and educated, receiving also in his boyhood
practical instruction in the art of agriculture.
In 1832 he removed from Granville to South
wick, purchased a farm, and engaged in its
cultivation until his death. The maiden name
of his wife was Lovisa Kellogg.
Clinton K. Lambson commenced when
young to assist his father in the various labors
of the farm, attending school whenever an
opportunity presented. He made his home
with his parents until his twenty-first year,
and then started in life for himself, about even
with the world. For a time he engaged in
tilling the soil and other farming industries
during the summer season, dealing in lumber
in the winter, and subsequently for a period of
fifteen years was employed as a travelling
salesman. He continued to reside in South
wick until 1863, in which year he came to

692

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Westfield, and succeeded John Grant in the
furniture and undertaking business, which he
has since successfully conducted.
In 1857 Mr. Lambson was united in mar
riage with Miss Sarah P. Drake, of Westfield;
and of their union there is one daughter living
— Lillie, who is the wife of Alfred P". Lilly,
an attorney residing in Westfield. Mr. Lamb
son cast his first vote with the Democratic
party; but later, differing with them in his
views upon the more important questions of
the day, he joined the Republican ranks, and
has since been a stanch supporter of that
party's principles. Pie has served in various
local offices, for nearly five years having been
Postmaster of Westfield, and during the last
two years of his residence in Southwick was a
member of the Board of Selectmen. He is
the Vice-President of the Westfield Savings
Bank, is President of the Foster Machine Com
pany, and President of the Independent Whip
Company, also President of the Pine Hill
Cemetery, having had charge of it for over
twenty-five years. P'raternally, Mr. Lambson
is a member of Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F.
& A. M., also of Evening Star Chapter,
Royal Arch Masons.

RS. ELIZABETH L. COBURN,
a lady of high social standing in
the town of Monson, where she is
a resident, was born in Thompson,
Conn., daughter of William G. and Mary
(Gay) Earned. Her grandfather on the pater
nal side was William Earned, of Providence,
R. I. , an intelligent and energetic man, who
was engaged in many public enterprises. He
died at the age of seventy-five, having been
twice married, his second wife, Sarah Smith,
being the grandmother, of Mrs. Coburn. She
was wedded at the age of sixteen, and her span
of life was completed at eighty-five. Eleven
of the sixteen children to whom she gave
birth lived to reach mature life — six sons and
five daughters. One son, Samuel, was chargi-
li' affaires at Lima, South America. Another
died at twenty-one, while a student at Brown
University. John S. Earned was supercargo
of a merchantman for many years. Henry

Earned was similarly employed, and died at
Gibraltar in middle age, unmarried. Laura
Earned married Benjamin F. Hallett, the
famous lawyer of Boston ; and their son, Henry
Hallett, was United States Commissioner' at
Boston at the time of his death.
Mrs. Coburn's maternal grandfather, Rich
ard Gay, was a farmer in good circumstances
in Thompson, Conn. He also was twice mar
ried ; and his first wife, Elizabeth Haley, was
the grandmother of Mrs. Coburn. His second
wife was Miss Susan Bates. By both mar
riages he had four sons and two daughters.
William G. Earned, Mrs. Coburn's father, was
born in Providence, R. I., but was married in
Thompson, Conn., and lived there for some
years. Later he returned to Providence, and
in that city spent about twenty years, being
connected for a time with the Providence
Journal, and later with the Morning Coicrier.
When he had acquired a fair competency, he
retired from business, and passed the remain
der of his days quietly in Thompson, dying
there in 1872, at the age of eighty-six. In
181 1 he was married to Mary Gay, a native of
Thompson, who died in 1874, also aged
eighty-six, and whose body rests beside that of
her husband in the cemetery at Thompson.
Elizabeth Earned, Mrs. Coburn, was the
second of four children, and is the last of her
family. It is a little singular that her hus
band was also one of four children, her brother
had four children, and her sister Sarah, wife
of Dr. Charles Osgood, of Norwich, Conn.,
had four children. Elizabeth received a good
education in Providence, and spent part of her
early life in Thompson, at which place she
met the Rev. David N. Coburn, to whom she
was married in 1841. He was born in Thomp
son, and prepared for college at Monson, Mass.
Graduating from Amherst in 1838, he was
ordained at Ware in 1841, and was there set
tled for thirteen years as pastor of the First
Congregational Church. In 1855 he came to
Monson and purchased the estate where Mrs.
Coburn now resides, and which is pleasantly
located on the hillside above the library build
ing, commanding a fine view of the village and
the valley below. Mr. Coburn had boarded
here when a student, and the place always

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

693

seemed like home to him. The dwelling is
one of the old landmarks of the town, though
so modernized as to look like a house of recent
build. The Angel of Death has twice invaded Mrs.
Coburn's home, taking, besides her husband,
who died December 7, 1877, an infant son,
William Rufus, at the age of twenty-two
months. Her elder daughter, Sarah E., is the
wife of the Rev. Edward S. P""itz, pastor of the
Baptist church at Roadstown, N.J. They
have a daughter, Helen J. Fitz, and a son,
William Seymour Tyler Fitz (named for Pro
fessor William Seymour Tyler, of Amherst),
attending school in Springfield, Mass. Both
these grandchildren are bright and promising
students, and are skilled pianists, having a
natural taste for music. Mary Earned Coburn,
the other daughter of Mrs. Coburn, is unmar
ried, and lives with her mother.

JRA ROCKWOOD FAIRBANKS, a pros
perous farmer and market gardener of
West Springfield, was born at Winches
ter, N. H., August 5, 1822. His father,
Zenas Fairbanks, was born at Chesterfield in
the same State; and his grandfather, also
named Zenas, who was a son of Samuel Fair
banks, was probably a native and life-long
resident of New Hampshire. His wife's name
was Mehitable Woods. Zenas Fairbanks,
Sr. , was a farmer, and resided a greater part
of his life in Winchester, reaching a good old
age. Zenas Fairbanks, Jr., purchased a large
farm at Winchester, which he occupied for a
number of years, but at length removed there
from to Northfield, Mass., where he died at
the age of eighty-three years. His wife,
Relief Platts, who was a native of Fitzwilliam,
N. H., died in Winchester, at the age of sixty-
eight years, having reared eight children, as
follows: Samuel, Cornelius, Elizabeth, Ira
Rockwood, Lois, Martha A., Silas, and
Emeline. Ira R., the third son, was educated in the
public schools of his native town, and at the
age of twenty years began to learn the carpen
ter's trade, at which he served an apprentice
ship of two years, and then followed that

occupation for ten years in the city of Worces
ter, Mass. From there he next went to Win
chester, where he engaged in the manufacture
of pails, and later conducted a factory for the
production of sashes, doors, and blinds. In
1865 he came to West Springfield, and, enter
ing the employ of the Wason Car Company,
was for seven years foreman of their shops.
He purchased a farm at West Springfield, sit
uated about one mile from the bridge, but
continued to occupy his position in the car-
shops for a period of two years after its pur
chase. Since then he has devoted his entire
time and energy to agriculture, having culti
vated tobacco to some extent, but for the past
twenty years has been largely engaged in
market gardening.
On December 29, 1847, he was united in
marriage to Miss Louisa A. Willard, who was
born at Worcester, Mass., March 13, 1831,
being a daughter of Archibald Willard, a
native' of Worcester County, whose father,
Solomon Willard, was probably a native of the
same county. He was a farmer, and moved
from Princeton to Worcester, where he pur
chased a farm, and resided thereon until his
decease. The maiden name of his wife, Mrs.
Fairbanks's grandmother, was Lydia Johnson.
Archibald Willard was reared to farm life;
but after his marriage he kept a hotel at Tat-
nuck for a few years, and then purchased a
farm situated about three miles from the city
of Worcester, and known as the Ranks place,
where he resided until his decease at the age
of forty-nine years. He was twice married,
and by his first wife, Lucy Ranks, had a son,
John R. Willard, who is still living. Mrs.
Fairbanks's mother, whose name before her
marriage was Margaret Harwood, was a daugh
ter of James and Margaret (Verry) Harwood,
of Leicester, Mass. She was called to rest at
the age of thirty-nine years, after having
reared eight of her children ; namely, Lucy,
Lydia, George A., Louisa, Isaac, Elvira,
Charles, and Walter. Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks
have two children — George H. and Isabella
A. The daughter resides with her parents;
and the son, who was born at Winchester, July
6, 1850, married Maud Challoner, and has
two children — Alfred and Arthur.

694

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

^HARLES L. GARDNER is a native
of Cummington, Hampshire County,
¦« Mass., and has been prominent in
national politics as well as in judi
cial circles. He was born in the town above
mentioned on May 27, 1839. Mr. Gardner's
great-grandfather, Jacob Gardner, Sr. , was
born in Hingham, Norfolk County, England,
came to America, and settled in Abington,
Mass. Very little is known of him ; and the
names of all of his children have passed from
family traditron except that of his namesake,
Jacob, Jr., who was born in 1787, married
Hannah Cook, and settled in Ashfield, Frank
lin County, Mass., from which town he after
ward removed to Cummington, where as a
mechanic he passed the remainder of his life.
Of his seven children six were sons — Bela,
Elisha, Andrew, Nelson, Reuben, and Levi.
Their only daughter bore the name of Caro
line. Elisha, the second son, who was the
father of Charles L. , was born in Ashfield in
1809. The greater part of his life was spent
in Cummington, where he followed the occu
pation of a mechanic until he retired from
active work. He died in Palmer, Mass., in
1886. His wife was Miss Elvira Sprague.
They left three children — Mary E., born in
August, 1836, who married Mr. Chauncy
Hastings, a resident of Westfield, Mass. ;
Charles L. , our subject; and Ellen L. , born
May 18, 1842, now Mrs. Jacob Read, of Hills
dale, N.Y.
Charles L. Gardner, after leaving the public
schools of his town, spent some time with his
father in mechanical work, but afterward
entered the Ashfield Academy, from which he
graduated, and immediately afterward began
studying law under Judge S. T. Spaulding at
Northampton, Mass. He was admitted to the
bar in that city in 1867, ,and immediately
began to practise law in Palmer, where his
legal reputation was soon established, and
where he has since remained. Here he be
came associated with the late Judge James G.
Allen under the firm name of Allen & Gard
ner. In 1870 this partnership was dissolved;
and Mr. Gardner conducted his practice alone
until 1894, when his son, Charles G. , became
associated with him. His practice extends

throughout many of the towns of Hampden
County, including Springfield, the county
seat. Soon after his admission to the bar he
received the appointment of Trial Justice of
Hampden County, a position he held until the
establishment of the District Court at Palmer
in 1872. Mr. Gardner is a Republican, and
has rendered his party valuable service. In
1875-76 he was a member of the lower branch
of the legislature, elected from the Second
District. During both years he was on the
Judiciary Committee, and during the second
year served on the Joint Special Committee
on Constitutional Amendments. In 1878-79
he was a, State Senator, and was a member
both years of the Judiciary Committee, his
legal knowledge and ability being of great
value. On retiring from the Senate he was
elected a member of the Republican State
Committee, continuing in that office for two
years, in the executive department. He also
held the appointment of Assistant Internal
Revenue Assessor until the office was abol
ished, and in 1886 became a member of the
Board of Trustees of the State Primary and
Reform Schools. At the expiration of his
term of office he declined a reappointment on
account of the demands of his private business.
In 1892 he was elected District Attorney for
the "Western District, which comprised the
counties of Hampden and Berkshire, the term
of which office extended over three years. In
local affairs Mr. Gardner has not been less
active. Since the organization of the Palmer
Savings Bank he has been one of its officers,
holding the place of President a part of the
time. The best interests of the town have
always had an influential advocate in Mr.
Gardner, who has done much toward promoting
its growth and prosperity.
Soon after becoming a resident of Palmer,
Mr. Gardner was married to Miss Esther E.
Gilmore, of Monson, a daughter of Mr. Na
thaniel Gilmore, now deceased, formerly a
leading citizen of Stafford, Conn. Two chil
dren were born of this union — Charles Gil
more, who is associated with his father in
legal work ; and Edwin Sprague Gardner.
Mr. Gardner's influence is widely felt in the
community in which he lives, and his services

WILLIAM H. A. YOUNG,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

697

to his State and district have the respectful
consideration of both political parties.

\^/Tllia V^ well
^^ high!

[LLIAM PI. A. YOUNG, M.D,,
known as belonging to the
ighly esteemed class of older prac
titioners of medicine in Springfield, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in Lowell, Mass,,
September 15, 1836. His parents were Heze
kiah and Mahala (Dame) Young, but when he
was only three years of age his father died.
His mother's birthplace was in that part of the
town of Laconia, Belknap County, N. H.,
called Meredith Bridge. She was the daugh
ter of Colonel James Dame, who was an officer
in the militia service. Hezekiah Young and
his wife Mahala had two children — Mary P,
deceased, wife of John S. Rawlins, whose
home is in the West; and William H. A., of
this sketch. Their mother is still living at
the advanced age of ninety years, having been
born in 1805, and through this long life has
maintained the principles of the Baptist faith,
in which she believes.
On the death of his father the little William
went with his mother to Gilmanton, Belknap
County, N.H., to live at the family homestead
with the paternal grandparents. He attended
school in the town during his boyhood, and
then studied medicine under the instruction of
J. M. Templeton, M.D., of Montpelier, Vt.,
and later practised with him for a period of
eight years. This practice was in the city and
its immediate neighborhood, and gave Dr.
Young a wide country experience ; but, desir
ing further knowledge of modern scientific
methods, he went to New York City, where he
entered the Eclectic Medical College, and,
after taking a full course, was graduated from
it in 1872. He then came to Springfield,
opened an office, and began a practice which
has gone on with success till the present time,
he having gradually won the confidence of the
public and the respect of other established
physicians of the city.
Dr. Young's residence is at the corner of
State and School Streets, a most favorable
situation, being in the vicinity of several fine
churches, the public library, new Art Build

ing, and many fine residences, while at the
same time within the limits of a brief vi'alk
from the business portions of the city. Loca
tion and environment are among the influences
which promote or hinder success in the higher
professions, as well as in business; and with
out doubt Dr. Young's selection for a
permanent residence and office has been an
advantageous one, as his medical practice has
been continuous, making constant demands
upon his time. He is a member of the State
Eclectic Medical Society, also of the National
PIclectic Medical Society, thus keeping in
touch, by papers and discussions, with the
scientific developments of the age, especially
the forward trend of modern thought in rela
tion to medical and surgical work.
We scarcely need to call the attention of our
readers to the portrait of William H. A.
Young, M.D., on a neighboring page, he being
one to whom the words apply, "Everybody
knows the Doctor, and a very important per
son he is to us all. "

NDREW WHITE, an enterprising
farmer in Southwick, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in that
town, January 20, 1837, son of
Moses and Betsey (Doane) White. His
grandfather was an Englishman who came to
America in the early days of its settlement,
and located in Granby, Hampshire County,
Mass. He was a successful farmer, and dur
ing the Revolutionary War served as a private.
He died on his farm at an advanced age. Of
his eight children one only is now living —
Margaret, widow of Lyman Ferry, residing in
New Haven.
Moses, his son, father of Andrew White,
went from his home to Westfield when about
seventeen years of age, and found work there
at farming. When twenty-four years of age
he bought a tract of land, consisting of about
eighty-five acres, which was the nucleus of the
home now owned by his son. This land he
gradually added to, and at one time owned one
hundred and fifty acres. He was a hard
worker, and successful in his undertakings,
also taking part in civil matters. In politics

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

he was first a Democrat, later a Republican.
He was a representative in the legislature,
and was Selectman of the town. In religious
views he was liberal, but attended the Congre
gational church. Mr. White died at the age
of eighty-six. His wife, to whom he was
united in October, 1829, was born in West
Springfield, and lived to be eighty-eight years
of age. Of their six children all grew up save
one. Their names are as follows: Joseph,
who lives in New Haven, Conn. ; Homer P.,
who died at the age of six years; Mrs. Sarah
J. Cooper, residing in North Haven ; Andrew,
living in Southwick; Mrs. Abigail Terry and
Mrs. Emily Terry, residing in Springfield,
Mass. Andrew White grew to manhood in . his
native town, acquiring a fair share of book
knowledge at the district schools. For two
years he was engaged in farm work with his
father, taking the labor on shares. He then
bought the farm, and has since resided there.
Mr. White has been very active and industri
ous, and now owns two hundred and fifty acres
of farm land in the to'wn, devoted chiefly to
the cultivation of .tobacco, corn, and potatoes,
hay also being an important crop. He also
has a dairy of ten or twelve cows, which is a
profitable source of revenue.
Mr. White was married October 24, i860,
to Miss Mary A. Black, a native of East
Granby, Conn., born November 28, 1836, a
daughter of Quartus and Amanda (Shepard)
Black. Quartus Black was born in South
wick, and during his active days was a suc
cessful farmer in that town. He lived to be
seventy-four years old. His wife, who was a
native of Westfield, died at the age of seventy-
eight. Mr. Black was a Democrat in politics.
His wife was a member of the Methodist Epis
copal church. They had four children —
James L. , who died at forty-two years; Mary
A., wife of our subject; Mrs. Emily G.
Sproule, residing in Springfield; and George
M., residing in Denver, Col.
Mr. and Mrs. White have had five children,
namely: Bessie A., who died in Colorado, at
the age of twenty-two; Mrs. Fannie L. Kil-
lenberger, residing in New Brunswick, N.J.,
who has had four children — Fred A., Edith

T. , Raymond S. , and Ernest H. (deceased);
James Spencer, who married Emily Terry, and
lives in Southwick; PPomer A., a farmer in
Southwick; and Mary E. (Mrs. C G. Stone),
who also lives in Southwick, and has one
child, Cedric A.
In politics Mr. White is a Republican. He
takes an active part in town matters, and has
been Selectman two terms, and is a Trustee of
the School Fund. He is liberal in his relig
ious views. Mrs. White is a member of the
Congregational church. Mr. White is one of
the leading farmers of Southwick, and is
highly esteemed by his neighbors and towns
men. His farm lands are well cultivated, and
his buildings are kept in fine order. Mr.
White may well be mentioned as one of the
representative farmers of New England.

-115)

^aHINEAS AUGUSTUS SHERMAN,
I v»/ of the well-known firm of E. W.
J_l£> Shattuck & Co., contractors and
builders of Springfield, was born in
Rochester, Plymouth County, Mass., in 1841,
and is a son of John S. Sherman, who was
born at Dartmouth. His family, representa
tives of which first settled in Rhode Island,
was of ancient lineage in England. Philip
Sherman came to Massachusetts in 1633, set
tling first at Roxbury, whence he removed to
Rhode Island, and was one of nineteen who in
1638, at Portsmouth, R. I., signed a compact
incorporating themselves into a body politic.
Two or three of his sons removed to Dart
mouth, Mass. John S. Sherman died in 1847,
while still a young man. His wife, Mr.
P. A. Sherman's mother, was before her mar
riage Selina S. White., She was born at
Acushnet, Mass., daughter of Phineas White,
a direct descendant of Peregrine White, who
was born on board the "Mayflower." She
survived her husband, and now resides in
Bridgewater, Mass.
Mr. Sherman' was educated in the public
schools of Middleboro and Marion, Mass., and
after completing his studies acquired the trade
of a carpenter and joiner in New Bedford,
serving an apprenticeship of three years. In
1862 he came to Springfield, and entered the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

699

employ of Edwin W. Shattuck, and soon
attained to the responsible position of foreman,
assuming charge of that well-known builder's
numerous operations. He continued a most
valuable assistant to Mr. Shattuck until 1887,
when he became a partner ; and since the
commencement of their business association
they have erected many important blocks, resi
dences, and public buildings, among which
may be mentioned the Museum of Fine Arts,
the Memorial Congregational Church Parish
House, the Highland Baptist Church, the
Warwick Bicycle Factory, and several of
George W. Tapley's buildings, together with
some fine, substantial dwelling-houses.
In 1876, Mr. Sherman settled in West
Springfield, where he lived on Main Street,
until 1890, when he erected his present resi
dence, which is one of the finest in town, and
was constructed from plans of his own drawing.
This, together with several other elegant
structures which he has designed, places him
in the foremost ranks as an architect as well as
a builder; and for his ability in that direction
he has received many tributes of praise from
eminent judges. In 1872 he was united in
marriage to Miss Frances Beckwith Lyman,
who was born at Springfield, -Mass. , and is a
daughter of Moses Lyman. Mr. and Mrs.
Sherman have two sons — Charles Phineas,
Yale, 1896; and Frederick Lyman.

ILLIAM HOLBROOK, M.D., one
of the most noted surgeons and phy
sicians of Hampden County, was
born in Sturbridge, Worcester County, Mass.,
June 23, 1823. The earliest record of his
first American ancestor is found in a ship's
list of passengers from Weymouth, England,
bound for the New England States. This list
includes Thomas Holbrook, his wife Jane,
both aged thirty-four years, and their children.
They settled in Weymouth, Mass., and accu
mulated a large fortune. Their son, Thomas
Holbrook, Jr., settled in Braintree, Mass.,
where he became the owner of a large amount
of real estate. He died July 22, 1697. He
and his wife Joanna became the parents of
seven children — Thomas, Mary, John, Peter,

Joanna, Susanna, and Joseph. Peter Hol
brook, who was born August 5, 1655, settled
in Mendon, Mass., and also became an exten
sive land-owner. He was an active member of
the Congregational church, in which he was
Deacon for years. He died in 171 3. He
married Miss Elizabeth Pool; and eleven chil
dren blessed their union — John, Peter, Jo
seph, Sylvanus, Joanna, Richard, Eliphalet,
William, Samuel, Thomas, and Mary. John,
the first son of Peter, was born September 29,
1679, at Braintree, and died May 11, 1765.
He married Miss Hannah Pool ; and they be
came the parents of eight children — Thomas,
Hannah, Lydia, Josiah, Moses, John, Luke,
and Aaron. The fourth son, John, Jr., was
born in Bellingham, Mass., September 24,
1 72 1, and settled in Sturbridge, where he
became the owner of about five hundred acres
of land.. He married Patience Fisher, and
reared a family of nine children — John, Eli
jah, Amariah, Patience, Bathsheba, Lucy,
Abner, Lovina, and Joel. John, their eldest
son, was born October 21, 1751. He came
into possession of the old homestead in Stur
bridge, and there passed his life. He was a
commissioned Lieutenant in the Revolutionary
army. Lieutenant John Holbrook married
Miss Lucretia Babbit, and ten children were
born to them — Mary ; Moses ; Sylvester ; John ;
Lucretia; Harriett, who died young; another
daughter of the same name, Harriett; Erasmus;
Henry B. ; and Charlotte. Erasmus, who was
born at the old home in Sturbridge on April
25, 1793, was a Major-general of the Massa
chusetts militia. He was a man of far more
than the ordinary amount of education in those
days, and was a teacher for twenty-two win
ters. During the last term that he taught, four
of his children also were teaching. General
Holbrook was noted for his exquisite penman
ship, specimens of which have been preserved
and are in the possession of Dr. Holbrook.
He died March 5, 1849. His wife, whose
maiden name was Betsey Smith, departed this
life October 11, 1883, being then in her
eighty-fifth year. _ General Holbrook was
affiliated with the Whig party and was an
active politician. He was an authority in
educational matters, and was a member of the

70O

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

School Committee for some years. He and
his wife were zealous members of the Congre
gational church. They were the parents of
ten children — George, Eliza, William (the
subject of this sketch), Lucinda, Sarah, Free
man, Alvan B., Lucy, Julia, and Edward.
Dr. William Holbrook, the second son of
General Erasmus Holbrook, was born at the
ancestral home. As a boy he attended the
public schools and the academy of Monson,
working at home during the months of summer
vacation. He taught school for five terms,
and at two and twenty began the study of
medicine under Dr. Alvan Smith, of Monson,
and Dr. Fisk, of Fiskdale. PPe afterward
attended the Medical College of Berkshire,
and graduated from the New York University
in 1848. Dr. Holbrook began to practise in
Bondsville, PPampden County, Mass., immedi
ately after receiving his degree. Fifteen
months later he moved to Palmer, where he
has been in active practice up to the present
time without intermission, except for the years
during which his professional services were
devoted to the Union army. In 1861 he was
appointed Assistant Army Surgeon and in
January, 1862, Surgeon of the Eighteenth
Massachusetts Volunteers. He was Brigade
Surgeon for two years, and chief operator of
the brigade until his term of service expired.
In connection with his practice in Palmer,
Dr. Holbrook established a drug store, the
first in the village, which was a positive boon
to the patients, who often had long journeys
to make in order to fill even an ordinary pre
scription. During the early days of his life
in Palmer he had sometimes to ride fifty miles
a day to see patients, and so successful was he
in his practice that throughout the county
people were willing to go to any amount of
inconvenience for the sake of securing his
services. On February 24, 1850, Dr. Holbrook mar
ried Clara, daughter of Mr. Peter Belknap.
Mr. Belknap died at the age of sixty, leaving
two daughters and one son — Clara ; Linus,
who is dead; and Ursula, now Mrs. William
White. To Dr. and Mrs. Holbrook three
children were born — William, born July 25,
1852, a graduate of Amherst College and of

Harvard University, now a physician in P.ynn,
Mass. ; Clara B. , born August 20, 1856, who
married Mr. George Ellis, who died, leaving
her with one son, George W. Ellis. Mrs.
Ellis was married a second time to Mr. Arthur
D. Ellis. Dr. Holbrook's youngest child,
Idella Louise, born July 20, 1865, lives with
her parents.
Dr. William Holbrook's career in profes
sional, political, and private life has been one
of phenomenally brilliant success. Besides
holding many town and county offices, he has
filled positions of wider importance. In 1882
he was a member of the legislature, and has
for seventeen years been the Medical Examiner
of Hampden County, and for thirty years
Consulting Physician of the State Primary
School. Under P'illmore's administration he
was the Postmaster of Palmer; and he has been
Pension Examiner for Hampden County.
Besides his handsome residence and office on
Main Street, he owns some desirable property
at the Point of Rocks, where he purchased
twenty acres of land and erected three modern
dwellings. Dr. Holbrook has been President
of the Eastern Hampden Agricultural Society.
He belongs to the Masonic Lodge, and is also
a member of L. L. Merrick Post, No. 107, of
the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he
has been Commander and is now Surgeon.
In church work Dr. Holbrook is no less active
and efficient than in political and municipal
concerns, and he and his wife are zealous
members of the Congregational church. In
physique Dr. Holbrook is tall and athletic,
with a dignified and impressive carriage.

RS. NATHANIEL H. TALCOTT,
a lady of refinement and high
standing in Monson, was born in
that town, March 5, 1831. She
is the daughter of Erasmus and Grace (Heath)
Gates, and grand-daughter of Asa Gates. The
latter was born in the town formerly called
New Worcester, and with his bride, Fanny
P"'ield, came to Monson at an early date; and in
that place Erasmus Gates was born, August
27, 1807. He learned the trade of painter and
decorator, starting to work at Three Rivers

EDWIN Y. CARTER,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

7°3

when seventeen years old, and soon becoming
a skilled workman. He painted a high church
spire in Worcester while still an apprentice —
a difficult feat for an experienced painter —
and was employed on important contracts in
various cities. While in the employ of Mr.
Rice, of Three Rivers, he was sent to Hart
ford. It was before the time of railroads; and
the journey was made by four-horse stage, with
numerous stops on the way for relays, very
different from the present mode of transit.
He remained in Hartford for a time, and later
worked in Boston, where he perfected himself
in the artistic branches of the trade. In 1829
he moved to Monson, where he was employed
from that time to 1881 — over fifty years. He
kept up his business all his life, though crip
pled badly by an accident, having fallen from
a staging ladder, a distance of eighteen feet,
on to the rocky bed of the North Factory Pond.
The fall broke both legs, making five serious
compound fractures. Some beautiful rockers
and other chairs in use in Mrs. Talcott' s house
are living witnesses to her father's taste and
skill. He was also an adept in lettering, as
shown by his work upon caskets and other
articles. For his first year's work Mr. Gates
received the very small sum of forty dollars;
but, as time went on, he acquired a fair com
petency, and came to this home in 1829. An
upright man himself, Mr. Gates had no suspi
cion of others; and, when a sharper invited
him to go into the mulberry business, he
trusted the man implicitly, and lost his all.
Mr. Gates was married March 4, 1830, to
Grace Heath, who was born in Amherst, Octo
ber 3, 1809. She died June 17, 1888, when
nearly seventy-nine years old; and thirty-one
months later, in January, 1891, he was laid by
her side in the cemetery at Monson Centre.
They left three daughters — Julia A., the sub
ject of this sketch ; Mary Ann ; and Frances
F. Frances F. Gates, after graduating from
Monson Academy, attended Mount Holyoke
Seminary, and became a very accomplished
young lady. She became the wife of the Rev.
E. F. Howe, a Congregational minister, who
died in Peoria, III., in 1887. Mrs. Howe
died in Newtonville, Mass., November 11,
1882; and there they are both buried. They

left four children. Mary Ann Gates married
Myron C. Pratt, a young man who lost his life
in the service of his country. He was a vol
unteer from Holyoke in the First Massachu
setts Cavalry, and became Captain of Company
G. A shot from a rebel sharpshooter in
ambush ended his life November 3, 1862,
when he was but twenty-nine years old. His
remains rest in Newfane, Vt. He left one
son, Arthur F. Pratt, who is now living at
Cambridge, Mass., and has a wife and two
children. Julia A. Gates received a liberal education
in Monson, completing her school days at the
academy, where she was a diligent and be
loved pupil. She was married on November
12, 1 85 1, to L. D. Brakenridge, a native of
Ware, where he was a clothing salesman. He
died at the age of thirty-six, leaving his widow
with two children — Ellen P., now the wife of
E. N. Fisher, of Rochester, N. Y. , and mother
of six children; and William H. Brakenridge,
of Waterbury, Conn., who has four children.
In 1878 Mrs. Brakenridge was married to her
second husband, Nathaniel H. Talcott. He
was born in Vernon, Conn., January 18, 1816,
and died April 5, 1895. He is buried in Tal-
cottville cemetery, Vernon, Conn.

iDWIN YOUNG CARTER, a prosper
ous business man of Springfield and a
substantial representative of its me
chanical and manufacturing interests, has been
for the past thirty-three years in the pattern-
making and wood-working department of the
United States Armory, and a respected resi
dent of the city since 1847. He comes of
good old New England stock, being a lineal
descendant of the Rev. Thomas Carter, who
emigrated from England in 1635, and was the
first minister ever settled in "Woburn, Mass.
The line of descent to the present generation
is as follows: one, the Rev. Thomas Carter;
two, the Rev. Samuel Carter ; three, Samuel
Carter; four, Josiah Carter; five, Jacob Carter;
six, Jacob Carter; seven, Edwin Y. Carter;
eight, Edwin A. Carter, son of the subject
of this sketch.
Edwin Y. Carter was born in Athol,

704

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Worcester County, Mass., September 26,
1 818, being a son of Jacob Carter, who was
born in Leominster, June 14, 1796, and at the
age of fourteen years went to Athol, where he
learned the cabinet-maker's trade, working at
it in that town until after his marriage. Re
moving to Belchertown, in Hampshire County,
in the latter part of 181 8, Jacob Carter there
carried on a large business in cabinet-making,
having eight or ten men in his employ, and in
addition to the legitimate business of his trade
engaged in the manufacture of organs. In
1863 he came to Springfield, where he spent
his remaining days, dying at the venerable age
of ninety years. He married Arethusa Young,
who was born November 29, 1797, and died
September 12, 1852. She was a daughter of
Captain David Young, a prominent farmer and
lumber dealer of Athol, who served as a Cap
tain in the Revolutionary War. Both she and
her husband were conscientious. God-fearing
people, and valued members of the Belcher
town Congregational Church.
The education of their son, Edwin Y. , was
obtained in the district, private, and high
schools of Belchertown. After learning the
cabinet-maker's trade with his father, he re
mained beneath the paternal roof-tree until
coming to Springfield in 1847, when he went
to work for the Western, now the Boston &
Albany, Railway Company, on the repair of
cars. His business was the removing of the
haircloth with which the sides of the cars were
upholstered, and putting in the modern veneer
work, which was about the first of its use.
The cars of that period were very short, and
many had but four wheels. He remained thus
engaged eight years, then found employment
with Harris & Birnie at pattern-making for
the next four years. He was subsequently
engaged in carpentering for a time, and as
sisted in the erection of the Massasoit Plouse,
going from there into the armory, where he is
still employed after thirty-three years of con
secutive service. In i860 Mr. Carter built
himself a pleasant residence on the corner of
Worthington and Chestnut Streets, where he
has since lived. He cast his first Presidential
vote as a Whig for General William Flenry
Harrison, and has never missed an election

since that time. He was a Know Nothing
during the short period of the existence of that
party, and has since been a Republican.
Mr. Carter was united in marriage Novem
ber 5, 1847, to Rebecca Lydia Dickinson, who
was born in Amherst, Mass., April 12, 1826,
being a daughter of Jonathan Dickinson.
The Dickinson family have been among the
prominent citizens of Amherst for many
generations. Noah Dickinson, the paternal
grandfather of Mrs. Carter, was a veteran of
the Revolution. He married Susan Ward;
and they reared two children — Jonathan; and
Lucena, the wife of General Mattoon, of Am
herst. Jonathan, who was a farmer by occu
pation, was a soldier in the War of 1812. He
married Amy S. Dickinson, who, although
bearing the same surname as himself, was no
relation. Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Y. Carter are
the parents of two children, as follows: Susan
D., the wife of Lewis F. Carr, Treasurer of
the J. S. Carr & Co. Manufacturing Company;
and Edwin A., Cashier of the City National
Bank of Springfield. Mr. Carter and his
wife are valued members and generous support
ers of the North Congregational Church, in
which they are active workers. A portrait
of Mr. Edwin Y. Carter appears on an adjoin
ing page.
Edwin A. Carter was born in Springfield,
February 20, 1863; and, having completed his
education in the high school of this city, he
entered the City National Bank at the time of
its organization in 1879 as a clerk. He was
soon after promoted to the position of book
keeper, and in 1883 became teller, being
then but twenty years of age. In 1893, on the
resignation of the former cashier, Mr. Carter,
who in his former position had won the
approval of the directors of the bank, and
gained the good will and confidence of the
public, was elected to fill the position thus
made vacant. This bank has been a financial
success from the time of its organization, its
officers being among the most sagacious finan
ciers of the county. The president is James
D. Safford, and the directors are men of well-
known ability. It has a capital stock of two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, with a sur
plus fund of one hundred thousand dollars ; and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

705

the deposits amount to more than one million
dollars. Edwin A. Carter, like his father, is a Re
publican in politics. He served one year as a
member of the city council from Ward Two.
Socially, he is a Mason, the Treasurer of
Springfield Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and also
a member of the Morning Star Chapter, the
Springfield Council, Springfield Commandery,
and the various Scottish rite bodies of the
city. PPe is likewise a member of the De
Soto Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows, and belongs to the Winthrop and the
Nayasset Clubs, in both of which organizations
he is prominent and active. Religiously, he
is a member of the North Congregational
Church.

(SThe

HE FORWARD BROTHERS. Jo-
II seph M. and Andrew J. Forward, com-
monly spoken of as the Forward
brothers, are well-known residents of South
wick, Hampden County, Mass., representing
one of the early Colonial families whose orig
inal ancestors flourished in England. The
first of the name in this country was Samuel
Forward, a pioneer from Devonshire, who on
his arrival in 1666 settled in Windsor, Hart
ford County, Conn. He is believed to have
resided there till his death, which occurred
October 16, 1684. His wife, Mary Forward,
died June 22, 1685, The direct line of de
scent is traced as follows : Samuel Forward,
son of Samuel and Mary Forward, shown by
the records to have been the first of the family
born in America, was born in Windsor,
Conn., July 23, 1671, and died in 1738,
Joseph, son of Samuel, was born November
10, 1707, in Simsbury, Hartford County,
Conn, Joseph, son of Joseph, was born June
9, 1733, in Granby, same county, Joseph,
son of Joseph and Mary (Owen) Forward, was
born February 11, 1759, in East Granby,
Joseph Morton, father of the Forward
brothers, was born June 22, 1785, in
Granby, Conn,
Joseph Forward, the grandfather, came to
Southwick about 1786-87, He was a sad
dler by trade, and also a farmer, owning a

large tract of land, which he cleared and
brought under cultivation while as yet the
country was in a primitive and wild condition.
In his business undertakings Mr, Forward
was very successful ; he carried an interest in
the powder-mills, and was part owner of a
grist-mill. He also carried on mercantile
pursuits to advantage, Mr, Forward was a
Democrat in politics. He was a man of abil
ity, and became prominent in the community,
being returned as member of the legislature
for a number of years. This was a mark of
honor not so readily conferred as now, when
often money or unfair lobbying is an influ
ence brought to bear in elections. It is a
well-established fact that seventy-five or a
hundred years ago the affairs of the govern
ment were put into the care of men known to
be above reproach; consequently, to have been
member of the House was no empty honor.
In the town he filled the office of Selectman
many years. In religious profession he was
an Episcopalian. His death occurred in
Southwick, in December, 1840. His wife
died March 3, 1841. All of their children —
eight in number — grew up, and are now
dead. Their names were as follows: Joseph
M,, Polly, Pliny, Ruth, Pearly, Robert, Cath
erine, and George,
Joseph Morton Forward, the eldest son,
father of the Forward brothers, came to South
wick as a very young child. He received his
education in the town schools, and on at
taining manhood engaged in teaching during
the winter, carrying on farm work in the sum
mer. About the year 1815 he went into the
powder and milling business, taking part also
in the mercantile enterprise in which his
father was engaged, and becoming one of the
firm of Foot, Forward & Dewey, Mr, Dewey
was not, however, connected with the powder
business. Mr. Forward took an active inter
est in these various enterprises a number of
years, at the same time conducting a farm,
which consisted of about two hundred and fifty
acres, requiring personal oversight. He was
a member of the House of Representatives,
and also was State Senator several years. In
military matters he was actively interested,
holding the rank of Brigadier-general of the

7o6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

State militia. He died at the age of seventy-
five at the old homestead, December 21, i860.
His wife died January 8, 1876. They had six
children who reached maturity — Homer M.,
born October 2, 1816, who died March 15,
1859; Maria Louisa, wife of B. Y. Butler,
born September 18, 1819, who died in Octo
ber, 1858; Mary R., born June 10, 1823,
who died March 11, 1859; Joseph M., born
January 6, 1821; Andrew J., born August 9,
1825; Fanny E., widow of Hinsdale Smith,
born January 11, 1828.
The Forward brothers, Joseph M. and
Andrew ]., received their education in the
schools of Southwick. Joseph started in life
as a clerk in a dry-goods house in Springfield,
later (1845) going into mercantile business
at Southwick, where he remained five or six
years, after which he turned his attention to
farming in company with his brother Andrew.
They are most widely known, however, as to
bacco dealers, doing business under the firm
name of J. M. & A. J. Forward, This
business was established about 1865, and up
to the present day has been uniformly suc
cessful. The firm is one of the oldest-estab
lished tobacco firms in the county, and has
an extensive trade.
Both brothers are Democrats in politics,
Andrew J, has served on the Board of Select
men for a number of years, and each has acted
as Postmaster in Southwick during a long pe
riod of time, the office of postmaster being
held by the Forward family for over forty
years. In religious belief they are liberal.
The old family residence was bought in 1822,
and contains many interesting relics and some
ancient furniture. The family Bible dates
back to 1730. The large eight-day clock,
with its brass dial showing the changes of the
moon, is over one hundred and fifty years old,
besides which there are other bits of vertu
which would rouse the envy of the relic-hunter.
The house furnishings all show discriminat
ing taste and much care in preservation,
Joseph and Andrew Forward are prominent
citizens in the town of Southwick and vicin
ity, and their long ancestral line and their
present state of business prosperity place
them in the front rank of notable residents.

MOS G. CROSS, senior member of
the firm of Cross & Church, succes
sors to the Century Manufacturing
Company, has been identified with
the business interests of Springfield since
1890, and has been a resident of the place
since 1891. He was born in Washington,
Berkshire County, Mass., September 23, 1844,
being a son of Amos W. and Clarissa A.
(Gamwell) Cross.
Mr. Cross is of Highland Scotch antece
dents, his great-grandfather, David Carn-
cross, having come to America during the
progress of the Revolutionary War, with Gen
eral Burgoyne's army, in which he was First
Sergeant of a company of Highlanders. At
the close of the war the young Sergeant lo
cated in the town of Washington, and, leav
ing off the first syllable of his name, was
known as David Cross until the day of his
death, which occurred in 1850, when he had
reached the venerable age of ninety-five years.
He was a farmer by occupation, and to that
pursuit reared his son John, Amos Cross's
grandfather, who died when a comparatively
young man.
The father of Amos Cross was a well-edu
cated man, and in his early life wielded the
birch for a time, but subsequently exchanged
it for the yardstick, and for many years was
engaged in mercantile business, being one of
the leading general merchants of the town of
Becket for a space of twenty or more years.
He was a man of influence wherever he lived,
taking a lively interest in local and State
matters, and while a resident of Middlefield,
Mass., was a representative to the General
Court. He lived until 1875, and his death
was a loss to the community in which he had
resided for so long. His wife was a daughter
of Suell Gamwell, of Chester, a well-to-do
agriculturist, and the descendant of a promi
nent family of Tyringham, Mass. She died
in the first flush of young womanhood, when
Amos was but ten days old.
Amos G, Cross was the recipient of excel
lent educational advantages; and, having
graduated from the public schools of Becket,
where the days of his boyhood were spent, he
attended Bryant & Stratton's Commercial

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

707

College in Boston, After completing the
regular course at that noted business school,
he began his mercantile career by clerking
for six months in a store in Akron, Ohio.
Before he had reached the twentieth anni
versary of his birth, he enlisted in the service
of his country, becoming a member of the
One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio Volun
teer Infantry, joining Company F on May 2,
1864; and with his regiment he was at once
sent to Arlington Heights, Va., remaining
there until the expiration of his term of en
listment, a period of five months. The follow
ing five years Mr. Cross was engaged in the
grocery business in Boston, going thence to
Becket, where he joined his father in traffic
in general merchandise, continuing thus for
seven or eight years. He next embarked in
the hotel business, opening a summer hotel,
the Claflin House, of which he was the genial
and successful proprietor and manager for
eleven years. He became identified with the
best interests of the town of Becket, serving
as Clerk, Town Treasurer, and Tax Collector
for five years, as a Justice of the Peace for
seven years, and as a member of the School
Committee, being in some official position all
of the time during the last ten years of his
residence there.
Disposing of his business, he, in company
with Henry R. Chase, of Northampton,
bought the Powers Paper Company's notion
business in Springfield, which had been es
tablished for twenty -eight years; and they
carried on a successful business in notions
and novelties for two and one-half years,
under the firm name of Chase S: Cross, when
our subject sold out his interest to his part
ner. Mr. Cross subsequently formed a co
partnership with Mr. O. U. Church, of
Middlefield, buying out the business of the
Century Manufacturing Company; and they
have since carried it on with ability and sa
gacity, and most excellent financial results.
In their factory, which is located at the
corner of Harrison Avenue and Dwight
Street, they make a specialty of manufactur
ing butchers' and grocers' goods, including
frocks, aprons, coats, etc. They have a
power plant, and give employment to about

thirty women in their shops, besides travel
ling agents and others, 'Their house is the
only one of the kind in Western Massachu
setts; and their trade embraces the principal
cities and towns from Augusta, Me,, to Chi
cago, 111, Mr, Cross is likewise interested
in real estate, and has made many wise and
paying investnients in different localities, his
judgment and knowledge of property values
being unexcelled. In politics he is a stead
fast adherent of the Republican party.
Mr. Cross was married August 3, 1 871, to
Miss Lida A. Ford, of Ashfield, and the only
child born to them is Frederick B. Cross, who
is now a pupil in the Springfield High
School. The family are all esteemed mem
bers of the community in which they reside,
and are worshippers in the North Congrega
tional Church, to which they belong.

ILLIAM A, JOHNSON, an old
resident of Westfield, held in high
esteem for his many excellent
qualities, is well known throughout the coun
try as a builder of pipe organs. Although
now about to enter his eightieth year, he is
remarkably active and a most interesting con
versationalist. Both he and his wife are cult
ured people, Mrs, Johnson being a talented
artist. The walls of Masonic Hall are
adorned with paintings by her hand, repre
senting all the Past Masters of Mount Moriah
Lodge. Mr. Johnson was born at Nassau, N.Y,, on
the 27th of October, 1816, being a son of
William Johnson, who was a native of New
Hampshire. The paternal grandfather was
born in Dunstable, N.H, His household
included four children — Abijah, John, Will
iam, and Mary. His son William learned the
trade of millwright, and, removing to the State
of New York, located in Nassau, where he
followed his trade until 18 19, in which year
he removed to Hawley, Franklin County,
Mass. He resided in that town a short time,
and then came to Westfield, where he was en
gaged as a millwright and as a contractor on
the New Haven & Northampton Canal. He
removed at length to Roxbury, Mass., and

7o8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lived there a few years, but finally returned
to Westfield, and here ended his days. The
maiden name of his wife was Eliza Allen.
She was born at Martha's Vineyard, and was
a daughter of Robert Allen, who was, as far
as known, a native of the same place, but
spent his last years at Williamsburg. Mrs.
Eliza Allen Johnson died at the age of sixty-
eight years, having reared a family of eight
children, William A. being the eldest.
William A. Johnson attended first a private
school and later the public school, and at the
early age of thirteen began to earn his own
living, working on a farm, at which employ
ment he was engaged two years. He then
worked for a time in a glue factory, and later
in a whip factory. In the month of Septem
ber, 1834, he apprenticed himself to a mason
for a term of three years and three months,
during two winters of this time being em
ployed in a cotton-mill in Chicopee. At the
close of his apprenticeship he started in busi
ness for himself as a contractor, so continuing
until he reached the age of thirty years. In
1843 the Methodist Episcopal church was
completed, and he assisted in setting up the
organ, in which he was much interested.
The following winter he procured a set of
tools, and' without machinery or any personal
aid succeeded in making an organ. It was a
small instrument, but proved to be salable;
and the next winter he built two others, and
one the succeeding winter. The fourth win
ter he built three, and in the ensuing fall laid
aside his trowel and entered into business as
an organ builder. He employed mechanics,
giving them instructions, and soon had fifteen
men at work, for many years doing all the
voicing and tuning himself. His business
increased rapidly, and he soon had sixty-three
men in his employ. His organs have been
sold all over the United States and on the
Bahama Islands.
In November, 1839, Mr. Johnson was
united in marriage with Miss Mary Ann
Douglas, a daughter of Plenry and Mary
(Wilcutt) Douglas, and a native of Westfield.
"They are the parents of one son, William H.,
who was born June 30, 1841. Pie attended
the public schools and Westfield Academy,

and at the age of sixteen commenced work in
his father's factory; and, having inherited
talent, soon became a thorough master of the
trade, and probably there is no man in the
country to-day who is more capable of attend
ing to every branch of the business than he.
Since 1871 he has been associated with his
father as a partner. In 1873 he married Miss
Lucia R. Williston. Fraternally, he is a
thirty-second degree Mason. His father is
also a member of the Masonic fraternity, and
was the second Master of Mount Moriah
Lodge, A. F. & A. M.

LISHA MORGAN, President of the
Morgan Envelope Company of Spring
field, Mass., was born at Northfield,
September 7, 1833, son of Elisha and Harriet
(Ruggles) Morgan. His father was also born
at Northfield, June 16, 1793; and his mother,
who was a daughter of Edward Ruggles, was
born January 28, 1797. Elisha Morgan, Sr. ,
conducted a general mercantile business, and
also carried on an extensive farm. Pie was in
the State militia after the War of 181 2, and
died in the town of his nativity in 1856. His
wife, who survived him, was called to her rest
at the age of seventy-eight years. They re
sided at Northfield Farms, five miles from the
centre of the town, and were members of the
Universalist church. They reared a family of.
nine children, of whom the subject of this
biography was the seventh child.
Mr. Morgan is a direct descendant in the
fifth generation of Miles Morgan, who was one
of the pioneers of Springfield. He received
his education in the common schools of his
native town, and, after a short course at the
Academy, began to assist his father both upon
the farm and in the store, of which at the age
of thirteen years he practically assumed full
charge, selling goods, keeping the books, and,
in short, attending to every detail. At six
teen he entered a grocery store in Greenfield
as clerk, where he remained for about two
years, and between the ages of eighteen and
nineteen was employed by the Connecticut
River Railroad Company as a book-keeper for
six months at Greenfield, from which town he

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

709

was sent to Holyoke in the same capacity.
The latter position, however, was attended
with more responsibility; and, after remaining
there for six months, he was transferred to the
general office at Springfield as clerk for the
superintendent and assistant paymaster. He
rapidly acquired the esteem and confidence of
his superiors, at the age of twenty-one was
promoted to be paymaster, at twenty-three
received the appointment of General Freight
Agent, and two years later was made General
Ticket Agent of the company, which position
he held until 1864.
He then resigned for the purpose of engag
ing in the manufacture of envelopes — a busi
ness which has since expanded into mammoth
proportions, and in which enterprise he was
joined by Chester W. Chapin, President of
the Boston & Albany Railroad, who for the
first eight years was virtually a partner, the
firm of E. Morgan & Co. being the very first
to embark in that particular branch of industry
in this city. In March, 1872, the firm ex
panded into a corporation with a capital stock
of one hundred thousand dollars, which figures
at the present time are merely nominal, as the
company has for several years conducted a
business which would warrant a much larger
capitalization. At its incorporation Mr. Mor
gan was elected Treasurer ; and he has always
been its practical head, as it was he who engi
neered the business successfully to its present
magnitude and secured for it the high reputa
tion which it now enjoys throughout the land.
He continued as Treasurer until the natural
result of circumstances placed him in the posi
tion of chief executive of the corporation, his
former duties as Treasurer being assumed by
Mr. Robert W. Day, whose career is outlined
upon another page of this work; and he has
since remained the official head of the enter
prise, the success and stability of which are
mainly due to his foresight and energetic busi
ness ability.
Mr. Morgan inaugurated the envelope indus
try in Springfield upon what he would now
consider a very small scale, the capacity being
at first about three hundred thousand per day,
which has increased to two million; and dur
ing this time other useful and novel paper

products have been successfully manufactured
by the concern. They were the first to place
upon the market fancy box papers, known as
papeteries, which have become so popular; and
they also produce and dispose of nine hundred
tons of toilet paper per annum. They were
the original contractors with the United States
government for furnishing postal cards at the
time they were introduced, and for four years
manufactured them exclusively for the Post-
office Department. In 1874 they secured a
half-interest in the factory at Hartford, Conn.,
which supplied the government with stamped
envelopes — a contract which has been main
tained for more than twenty years — and at
the present time are furnishing them at the
rate of seven hundred million annually. The
plant at Springfield occupies a floor space of
seventy thousand square feet in a fine, large
six-story brick block which Mr. Morgan
erected personally for the accommodation of
the business.
Mr. Morgan is a Director of the Massasoit
Paper Company of Holyoke, the Chester Paper
Company of Huntington, the Plartford Manilla
Company of East Hartford, and of the Han
cock National Bank of Boston. Besides these
he is one of the incorporators of the electric
railway running between Hartford and Rock
ville, a Director of the Somerset P'ibre Com
pany of Waterville, Me., and a Director of the
Springfield Printing Company. He is one of
the original corporate members of the Nayasset
Club, and was very active in bringing it to its
present position. He is President of the
United Electric Company, having been one of
its organizers, also President of the Western
Massachusetts Fire Insurance Company, and
has been a member of the Springfield Club for
a period of thirty years. He is also Presi
dent of a syndicate of ten capitalists who
organized what is known as the Real Estate
Improvement Company, which controls a great
deal of land, including the site of the proposed
new market ; and he personally owns nearly
all of the property in the neighborhood of
Hillman and Dwight Streets, besides having
erected several large blocks which provide
space for many manufactories.
On January 16, 1861, Mr. Morgan wedded

7IO

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Miss Sarah L. Grant, of Manchester, Conn.,
daughter of Sidney Grant ; and they have four
children, as follows: Helen; Roger, who is
interested with his father in business; Louise
C, wife of Alfred Leeds, of this city; and
Daniel Harris. Mr. Morgan has always been
an active supporter of the Republican party.
He was one of the Presidential electors in
i, and in 1892 and in 1893 was a member

of the Executive Council of the State. He
was chairman of the Republican City Com
mittee for the years 1888, 1889, and 1890.
Since 1858 he has been a member of the First
Congregational Church, which his family also
attends.

ILLIAM W. THAYER, a retired
manufacturer of Springfield, was
born at Winchester, N.H., July 4,
1812, His parents, Uriah and Flavia (Rock-
wood) Thayer, were in comfortable circum
stances, the father being a large lumber dealer,
and owning, besides a saw-mill and brickyard,
a farm of good dimensions and fertile soil.
William W. Thayer attended the district
schools of his native place until he reached his
fifteenth year, when he went to Belchertown,
Mass., to learn the millwright's trade under
Mr. Smith Arnold, of that place. Two years
later he secured employment as journeyman,
and was engaged in the building trade for sev
eral years, there being at that time no avail
able opening for his especial line of work.
Finding that there was a demand for carpen
ters, joiners, and builders, he established him
self as a house builder, and finally built a sash
and blind factory at Winchester, N.H., which
was the first one in that part of the State, and
had the distitiction of being the first factory to
introduce the sale of sashes and blinds in the
city of Boston. In 1861 Mr. Thayer, who
had prospered in his ventures, came to Spring
field, where he formed a co-partnership with
T. M. Walker, with whom he remained asso
ciated until four years ago, when he sold out
his interests to his partner's son, Mr. E. M.
Walker. Feeling that his long years of toil
had won a respite from further labors, Mr.
Thayer now withdrew from the cares of active

business and began to enjoy that prosperity
which was the fruit of his life's efforts.
He had twice formed matrimonial alliances.
His first wife was Miss Sarah Naramore, a
daughter of Horace and Rachel (Pomeroy)
Naramore. She bore him a son and a daugh
ter : Ellen M., who became the wife of Milton
Bradley, and is the mother of two children —
Florence and Alice Lillian; and Marshal H.,
who married Miss Jeanette Parker, and has one
daughter, Grace M., now the wife of Joseph
D. Jewett, a hardware merchant of Boston.
The son. Marshal PP. Thayer, is employed in
the manufacturing establishment of T. M.
Walker, where his father's interests were for
many years centred. Mr. Thayer's second
marriage was to Miss Plenrietta Buswell, of
Newton, Mass. Miss Buswell's parents were
Eben and Mary (Haskell) Buswell, and her
father was a native of Litchfield, Me. The
Thayers are members of Trinity Methodist
Episcopal Church of Springfield. Mr. Thayer's
political faith is plighted to the Republican
party, in whose principles, although not a
blind partisan, he is a firm believer. The
family have a pleasant home at 517 State
Street, where they reside in the quiet enjoy
ment of well-ordered, rational, and Christian
lives. The portrait of Mr. Thayer which
appears, in this connection will be widely
recognized and appreciated.

"EXRY K. HERRICK, one of the
most influential, and public-spirited
citizens of Blandford, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in this
town, August 24, 1839, and was the son of
Thomas and Mary A. (Knox) Plerrick. His
grandfather, Thomas Herrick, Sr., removing
here in early times from Southampton, bought
land and established a home in the eastern
part of the town. Later, however, he pur
chased the farm on which his grandson, Henry
K. Herrick, now resides. Pie was a hard
worker, and made a success of his farm labors
during his busy life, which was not of long
duration, as his death occurred at the age of
fifty-five years. His wife, Betsey Brock way,
lived to be ninety-one years old. All of their

*•#

WILLIAM W. THAYER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

713

six children grew to maturity; and two are
still living — Mrs. Harmony Healy, of North
Blandford ; and Mrs. Ursula Pratt, residing in
West Springfield.
Thomas Herrick, son of Thomas, Sr. , and
father of Henry K., of this sketch, was born
in Blandford, August 26, 1809, and followed
farming pursuits during the period of his
activity, living at the old family homestead,
and carrying on its various enterprises till his
death, which occurred February i, 1872. Plis
wife, formerly Miss Mary A. Knox, was born
May 7, 1813. She became the mother of ten
children, seven of whom are now living;
namely, Charlotte E. , Henry K., Ursula,
Emma, Elizabeth, Melissa, Ada A. The
three others were Isabella, Bessie, and Hattie.
Mrs. Herrick lived to the age of eighty-two,
and died in Springfield early in the present
year, January 15, 1895.
IPenry K., the only son in the family, was
born in the home which had been his father's
and grandfather's before him, and grew up
under the pleasant influences of farm life. IPe
attended the district schools of the town in
his childhood and youth ; and, when he was
twenty-four years old, he made his first pur
chase of land, an estate known as the old Wat
son Farmer place, consisting of about sixty
acres. He married at this date, and went
there to reside, cultivating the property, and
managing its various departments. Seven
years afterward the death of his father, Thomas
Herrick, brought a change in the family; and
he left that farm, and, having bought out the
other heirs, went back home to reside, and
lovingly care for his mother during her declin
ing years.
Mr. Herrick was married November 20,
1862, to Miss Sarah E. Parks, a native of
Blandford, born August 15, 1843, daughter of
Lewis and Mary E. (Cook) Parks. They
became the parents of three children — Hattie
P., born August 25, 1863; Jennie M., born
September 10, 1864; and Sadie E., born No
vember 18, 1875. Mrs. Herrick is a member
of the Congregational church, her husband
being liberal in religious matters. In politics
Mr. Herrick is a Democrat. He has been a
leading man in the town of Blandford, taking

a prominent part in everything concerning its
welfare and doing much to advance its inter
ests. He has devoted much time to public
affairs for thirty years or more, and has
served in most of the town offices, having been
one of the Board of Selectmen six succes
sive years, Town Clerk Assessor, Overseer of
the Poor, and chairman of the School Board.
Elected to the House of Representatives in
1886, he filled the office with credit to himself
and to the district. Mr. Herrick has also
been a member of the State Agricultural Soci
ety, and has held the office of President, hav
ing previously held its other minor offices.
Mr. Herrick' s homestead farm is a fine one,
now containing about two hundred and seventy
acres, mostly under cultivation, making a good
showing in its substantial buildings and its
fruitful grain fields and meadows. He is also
owner of another farm in the town, containing
one hundred and forty acres. Mr. Herrick's
success and prosperity as a farmer must be
attributed to intelligent methods, practical
skill, good business ability, and downright
hard work.

iHARLES WILLIAM JACKSON,
M.D., a well-known and competent
physician and surgeon at Monson,
Mass., was born in North Brook
field, Worcester County, July 31, 1852. His
father was William C Jackson, a resident of
Barre, in this State ; and his grandfather was
Deacon George Jackson, a native of Pennsyl
vania. Deacon Jackson removed about 1840
to the vicinity of Barrington, Mass. ; and
later, with. a number of others, he went from
West Stockbridge to North Brookfield, where
he conducted a farm. He married Hannah
Jenks, widow of the Rev. Mr. Jenks, a New
England preacher. A sister of this lady, Mrs.
Lydia Feuary, widow of Andrew Feuary, for
merly engaged in marble works, is still living,
in full possession of her faculties, at the
advanced age of ninety-eight. Deacon Jack
son died in 1876, at the age of seventy-eight.
His widow died in 1880, aged eighty-six ; and
their bodies sleep side by side in West Brook
field. They reared but two children, one of

7^4

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

whom, Charles H. Jackson, now living at Red-
lands, Cal., retired from active business, was
engaged for years in the manufacture of corsets
in West Brookfield.
The other son, William C. Jackson, men
tioned above, was born at Wilkesbarre, Pa.,
April 28, 1820. His wife was Phebe P.,
daughter of George Harwood, of North Brook
field. Her father was a scion of an old fam
ily, claiming descent from General Harwood,
of Revolutionary fame. Dr. Jackson's parents
were married about 1840 in North Brookfield,
where they settled; and in that place his
mother died in March, 1868, at the age of
fifty-two, leaving five children, of whom all
are yet living but the youngest, Laura E.
She was the wife of Alphonso Coombs, and
died in 1889, a young mother. The survivors
are: Andrew F. , residing at Peterboro, N.H. ;
George PP., a mechanic at Natick, Mass. ;
Anna J. Ferris, M.D. (wife of Adam Ferris,
at Meriden, Conn.), who is a graduate of the
Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia, has
been a successful practitioner for some time,
and was the first woman admitted to the Con
necticut State Medical Society; and Dr. Jack
son, of Monson.
Charles W. Jackson was reared on his
father's farm until fifteen years of age; and
after the death of his parents he started in the
world as a salesman in New Haven, Conn. ,
subsequently finishing his education and tak
ing up the study of medicine. He spent two
years at the Jefferson Medical College at Phil
adelphia, and in 1884 he was graduated at the
University of Vermont. In 1885 he came to
Monson, having previously practised one year.
He is devoted to his profession, taking a lively
interest in every advance of medical science.
Dr. Jackson is a member of the Massachusetts
State Medical Society and of the Eastern
Hampden Medical Society. He belongs also
to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
to the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
He is influential in educational matters, being
clerk of the Monson School Board, of which
he has been an active member for seven
years. In politics he is a sound Republican,
always ready to further the movements of his
party.

"CJDWIN W. SHATTUCK, a prominent
P] contractor and builder of Springfield,
""^^- — • was born at Am.herst, Mass., August
12, 1834, son of Henry and Tirzah (Porter)
Shattuck. His father had removed from Deer
field to Amherst, where he followed agricult
ural pursuits for a period of twenty years. He
ranked as Captain in the State militia, and
hence was always known and recognized by that
title. Captain Shattuck, whose father was
Oliver Shattuck, had a family of four children
by his first wife, and by his second one son,
Edwin W.
Edwin W. Shattuck was educated in the
common and select schools of Amherst; and,
after completing his studies, he served an
apprenticeship of three years at the carpenter's
trade, at the conclusion of which he worked as
a journeyman until the death of his mother,
when he went to Kansas. After remaining
for a short period at Leavenworth in that
State, he returned as far East as Crystal Lake,
near Chicago, sojourned there for one year, and
at the end of that time resumed his homeward
journey, settling down in Springfield as a car
penter in 1859. Here in 1862 he began to
conduct business for himself as a contractor
and builder; and, having worked for Mayo &
Hallett, when they separated he entered into
partnership with Mr. Hallett, which continued
for two years, or until Mr. Hallett's decease.
Mr. Shattuck then continued the business in
his own name solely up to within five years,
since which time it has been carried on under
the name of E. W. Shattuck & Co.
During his long business career Mr. Shat
tuck has erected a large number of the better
class of buildings, both business blocks and
private residences, having taken an important
part in the enlargement and rebuilding of the
city, employing at one time as many as one
hundred and twenty skilled workmen, his aver
age number being thirty. Among the promi
nent buildings which may be pointed out as
witnesses of his constructive skill are the
Chicopee National Bank, the Kinsman Block,
the George W. Tapley manufactory, the War
wick Cycle shops, Dr. Cochran's residence,
and those of Mrs. E. B. Smith, George Hol
brook, Fred Harris, H. J. Chapin, and the fine

r

..^

ff

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

717

new Art Building. He is at present engaged
in building a new parish house, of brick and
stone, for the Memorial Church, which is to
cost thirty-five thousand dollars.
Mr. Shattuck has given much time and
activity in aiding the development and useful
ness of many worthy objects, educational and
other. He has been a Trustee of the City
Library Association for many years, and also
of the School of Technology. He is a Re
publican, but nc# active in politics.
He wedded Miss Sarah L. Bugbee, of
Belchertown; and they have two children — ¦
Emma R. and Hattie E., the latter being
the wife of E. F. Leonard, of this city. Mr.
and Mrs. Shattuck were formerly members of
the North Church, but are now united with
the Memorial Church, in which he has been
chairman of the parish committee for twelve
years and a Deacon about the same length of
time.

I DWARD F. TOWER, freight agent of
the Boston & Maine Railroad at Spring
field, Mass., was born at Northamp
ton, February 23, 1855. His father, Edward
Tower, for whom he was named, and who was
a tailor by vocation, was born January 22,
1825 ; and his mother, whose maiden name was
Bridget Madden, was born in 1835. Eleven
children were born to these parents, who
gladly toiled to feed and clothe and educate
the little ones that were intrusted to their
gtfidance, never feeling that any additional
little' mouth to fill was a superfluous one or
unwelcome. Seven of these children were
sons and four were daughters; six have died,
one son dying last year in his twenty-sixth
year, and a daughter passing into that other
life while yet on the threshold of womanhood,
at seventeen. The five who are living are :
Edward F. ; Sarah E. ; Mary Agnes ; the Rev.
James P., pastor of a church in Baltimore;
and William J., who is a clerk for his brother
Edward. The parents are living at 192 Union Street,
Springfield, in which city the subject of this
sketch received his early education. At
seventeen years of age, and within a month of

graduating from the high school in the class of
1872, Mr. Tower left school to take the posi
tion of clerk in the freight office of the Con
necticut River Railroad, now the Boston &
Maine. The young man gained the confidence
of his employers by the diligent and faithful
discharge of his duties, and gradually rose from
one position to another until his present place of
responsibility and trust was attained. Various
clerkships, followed by the position of cashier,
were the preliminary rounds of the ladder
which culminated in his promotion to the
freight agency of the company. In the freight
office at Springfield Mr. Tower has under his
supervision a cashier, eight clerks, twenty-
five carriers or handlers, and eleven yardmen,
so that his time is constantly occupied and his
mind engaged in the various details of which
he is most cognizant.
In politics Mr. Tower is a Democrat, and
he served as a member of the City Council
from Ward Two in 1888. He was on the
Committee of the Fire Department, and was
also on the Police Department the first year of
its establishment.
On February 19, 1884, in Springfield, Mr.
Tower was united in marriage to Miss Bridie
A. Ward, a daughter of the late John and
Catharine Ward, of this city. They have no
children. Mr. and Mrs. To-wer live at 78
Plainfield Street.

,RS. MARY W. ALLEN, of Spring
field, Mass., who occupies her
ta.steful home at No. 22 Sheldon
Street, a woman of much intelli
gence and strength of character, highly es
teemed in the circle of her acquaintance, is
the widow of Thomas H. Allen, whose por
trait, an excellent steel engraving, appears in
connection with this biographical sketch.
Her husband was for many years a prominent
business man in this city. He was born at
Woodstock, Conn., on November 3, 1817,
and died in Springfield on September 17,
1881. Thomas H. Allen was a son of Charles
H. Allen. He was educated in the common
schools of Woodstock and Pomfret, and lived

7i8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

on his father's farm until he was nineteen
years old. At this age he went to Baltimore,
Md., in the employ of a business firm, and
there obtained his first practical knowledge of
business methods. About a year after his
return to Woodstock he was married, and
shortly moved to Southbridge, Mass., where
he established a meat market. His business
attained large proportions during the twelve
years he remained in Southbridge, where he
employed a number of men. Besides the
meat market, he owned and managed a farm,
and was the proprietor of the only hotel in
the village, the hearty co-operation and ready
tact of Mrs. Allen being here notable factors
in his success. Selling out his interests in
Southbridge in 185 1, he came to Springfield
in that year and located his stand on the
corner of State and Walnut Streets, having
bought out " Commodore " Rogers, who had
previously owned the place.
Here he soon established a trade, supplying
all the first-class hotels and filling the larger
meat orders all over the city. He moved his
market afterward to the corner of Cypress
Street, where the Hotel Russell now stands.
Mr. Allen took a personal supervision of the
entire business, although his son, George P.
Allen, was associated with him for three
years. After the death of his son, which oc
curred June 14, i860, Mr. Allen's brother,
Charles H.^ Allen, became a partner in the
firm. The retail business gradually merged
into a large wholesale establishment, when
the firm began operations in Hampden Street.
On February 7, 1837, Mr. Thomas H.
Allen was married to Miss Mary W. Payson,
who was born at Woodstock, January 7, 18 19,
daughter of Thomas and Lurana D. (Warren)
Payson. Mr. Payson was born February 6,
1793, at Woodstock, and his wife at Kill
ingly, Conn., on December 20 of the same
year. He was a farmer by occupation, but
shouldered a musket during the War of 181 2.
Both parents were descended from early set
tlers of this section of the State, and the
paternal grandfather was an officer in the
American Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Payson
had three children: John H., who died at
Killingly; Ellen M., the wife of Mr. Dan

forth D. Chase of the same town, and Mary
W., who became Mrs. Allen. The maternal
grandfather, Luther Warren, of Killingly,
was a man of special prominence in that towij,
being a Justice of the Peace and Selectman
for twenty-nine sessions, and a member of the
legislature of Connecticut.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen lived for thirty-three
years on North Street. They had four chil
dren, none of whom attained maturity, ex
cepting George P., whose loss they were
full soon called to rriourn. Mr. Allen was
closely occupied with his business and the
care of his farm, but was notwithstanding able
to discharge ably and satisfactorily various
public offices, being at one time an Alderman,
and serving for some years as Overseer of the
Poor, in which capacity he instituted exten
sive reforms. Mr. Allen and his wife at
tended first the Olivet Church in Springfield,
and then the North Congregational Church,
but later became connected with the Memorial
Evangelical Church, in the organization of
which, in 1865, he took an active part. A
business man of strict integrity and a citizen
of public spirit, Mr. Allen enjoyed the re
spect and good will of the entire community
in which he lived, and has left a good name
to be held in remembrance.

/STTo

¦<-?••-»

EORGE N. MERRILL, A.M., a
V 3 1 leading civil engineer in Spring-
field, was born on June 10, 1855, in
New Boston, N.H. His grandfather, Nathan
Merrill, went from Massachusetts in 1800 as
one of the early settlers, and there he bought
land and became an extensive lumberman.
The family soon became influential, both in
business and town affairs, and Grandfather
Merrill had teams go all the way through to
Boston for his own accommodation. His son,
Leonard W. Merrill, who was also a farmer
and lumberman, was born after the removal
of the family to New Boston. When a young
man he went to P""lorida, and spent five years
in the then wild interior. His wife was
Sarah Elizabeth Brown, a native of Lyme,
N.FI. Her father, Samuel Brown, was a
farmer in Lyme, where he was born in 1800,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

719

but he subsequently moved to New Boston.
From this marriage came a family of five chil
dren, four of whom are still living, the eldest
being George N., of Springfield. Henry
Samuel Merrill is in Chicago; Charles Asa
Merrill in Rochester, N.Y. ; and Nellie Flor
ence Merrill is principal of the high school at
Huntington, Mass. Their parents still live
in New Boston, N.H. George N. went to the
district school with the other boys, and then
studied at McCollum's Academy in Mount
Vernon, not far from his home, graduating in
our centennial year. Then he went to Colby
University, at Waterville, Me., from which
he in due time received the degrees of Bach
elor and Master of Arts. While pursuing his
studies he had taught in Maine, and also in
New Hampshire, being principal of the high
school in Amherst. As a student he had
given special attention to civil engineering,
acquiring practical experience in vacation,
and even during term time, when oppor
tunity offered. After graduation, in 1881, he
went West, and found employment with the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, with
headquarters at Burlington and Creston, la.
He was placed in charge of a division of three
hundred and fifty miles, which was soon in
creased to seven hundred and seventy-five
miles, extending from Burlington to Council
Bluffs, and including all the branches.
Under him was a corps of engineers. In this
locality he remained three years, then going
farther West to make preliminary surveys over
the Rocky Mountains for the same company,
though not in its own name. The route ex
tended from Denver, through Middle Park, to
the Grand River. All the winter he endured
the hardships of camp life, in charge of one
division; but in the spring he came back east
ward and had charge of the Diagonal Railroad
— preliminary location and construction of the
section between Des Moines and Kansas City.
From there he went to the Chicago, Burling
ton & Northern Railroad, in charge of the
construction, bridging, and track-laying on the
branch from Iowa City to Clinton. After
completing that work he became chief en
gineer of the Chicago, St. Louis, & Nashville
Railroad ; but, when the work was nearly

done, he was obliged to resign his position
on account of the malarial character of the
climate. Then he became connected with the
Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad,
taking charge of a portion of the construction
along the line of bluffs on the Mississippi
between Savanna, 111., and St. Paul, Minn.,
with his headquarters at De Soto. After the
completion of this work he was offered the
locating of a line to Bismarck, N. Dak., and
also the position of location and construction
engineer for a difficult railroad line on the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and
that of permanent engineer on the Chicago,
Burlington & Northern, all of which offers he
declined; but he soon became associated with
the Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska Railroad as
construction engineer. After the road-bed
was in order, he took charge of the founda
tions and bridge building. That being done,
he came home on account of the sickness of
his parents, and had a rest of three months,
his first vacation for eight years. His next
position was as resident division engineer in
charge of the line-construction through Col
orado Springs and Western Kansas, remaining
there until the completion of one thousand
miles. During the ensuing years he held all
sorts of railroad engineering positions, half of
his time being passed in camp. In 1887 he
returned to the East and took charge of a por
tion of the Central New England & Western
Railroad, running from Boston Corners, Berk
shire County, Mass., to Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Another position, as locating engineer through
the mountains of Pennsylvania, was tendered
him; but he refused it, and became construct
ing engineer for the Louisville & Nashville
Railroad, doing the heaviest work on the line,
through the Cumberland Mountains, with the
exception of the tunnel. On account of ill
health of his family he was obliged to re
turn North before its completion. His next
undertakings were on a complex electric
freight road through Fall River; a prelimi
nary survey for an elevated road in Boston;
the electric roads from Haverhill to Law
rence and to Lowell; the road to the sum
mit of Mount Tom, which demanded a new
system of construction and deep foundation

720

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

work for sewers and aqueducts in different
states. In 1 891 he took up his residence in Spring
field, with an office at 292 Main Street. He
constantly has on hand a large amount of rail
road work and other engineering, and employs
twelve or fifteen subordinate engineers.
On March 10, 1886, Mr. Merrill married
Sarah Frances Cleaves, a daughter of the Rev.
Francis Cleaves. The family belong to the
Highland Baptist Church, Springfield, Mass.,
of which Mr. Merrill is a Deacon. He has
also a large class in the Sunday-school ; but
his connection with the church at New Bos
ton, which he first joined, was not severed
until he came to Springfield. While at
Waterville he was made a mason, and was ad
mitted to the Royal Arch degree at Oakland,
Me. At present he belongs to Roswell Lee'
Lodge, Morning Star Chapter, Springfield
Council, and Springfield Commandery, also
to the Ancient Order of United Workmen,
P'raternal Helpers, and for several years has
been a member of the American Society of
Civil Engineers.

r.ACE GREEN WEBBER, M.D.,
, well-known and highly successful
physician of Wilbraham, was born
in the town of Wales, Hampden
County, November 25, 1854. Plis father,
Jonathan Parker Webber, son of Eleazer Web
ber, was born at Brimfield, and was trained to
agriculture. He resided with his parents
until his marriage, when he purchased a farm
at Wales, which he successfully conducted
until the spring of 1861. Then selling the
property and returning to Brimfield, he pur
chased a fine farm in that town, and has since
resided there. His wife, whose maiden name
was Sarah Green, was a native of the town of
Wales. She died in 1882, having been the
mother of ten children, as follows: Frank G. ,
deceased; Eunice M. ; Charles M. ; Fred M. ;
Sarah M. ; Horace G. ; Sena J. ; Hattie S. ;
Chloe C and Jonas G. , both also deceased.
Horace G., the fifth child, as named above,
after pursuing the usual course of study in the
lower schools, attended the Hitchcock Free

High School at Brimfield, from which he grad
uated in 1872. At the age of twenty-one he
began the study of medicine with Dr. George
E. Fuller, of Monson, and subsequently at
tended medical lectures at the University of
New York, where he received his diploma as
a member of the class of 1880. He was busily
engaged in professional work at Wales and
Brimfield until 1884, when he established him
self at Wilbraham, where he has since been
actively engaged in the healing art. IPe is
held in high repute both as a skilful physician
and a courteous gentleman, and he enjoys a
very large share of practice. In 1884 he was
united in marriage to Mabel J. Moulton, of
"Wales, daughter of Lauriston and Cornelia
(Nelson) Moulton. Dr. and Mrs. Webber
occupy a most pleasantly situated residence at
Wilbraham, and are the parents of one son —
Rea Moulton Webber.

STUART KIRKHAM, of the firm of
Whitcomb, Kirkham & Hazen, of
Springfield, piominent dealers in
stoves and heating apparatus, was born
in this city, August 24, 1852. He is a son of
Albert H. Kirkham, a sketch of whom appears
elsewhere in this work. He received a pub
lic-school education, and, after completing his
studies in the high school at about the age of
sixteen, engaged with the old firm of Lee &
Baker, carriage and saddlery hardware dealers,
as clerk and book-keeper, and remained with
them in that capacity for a period of seven
years, at the end of which time he accepted a
position as book-keeper with the Plampden
Paint and Chemical Company, which he occu
pied four or five years. He then entered the
employ of W. L. Wilcox & Co., one of the
oldest stove concerns of the city, and retained
a clerkship until Mr. Wilcox, on account of
failing health, found himself obliged to dis
pose of his business and retire.
Mr. Kirkham now formed a partnership with
George R. Estabrook; and this firm, which
was known as Kirkham & Estabrook, became
successors to the long-established business.
After about three years of successful trade
the partner.ship was dissolved by mutual con-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

"Jit

sent, Mr. Kirkham disposing of his interest to
his partner, who continued the business, while
another partnership was formed between Mr.
Kirkham and E. C Hazen. Together they
purchased the store and good will of Wilson
& Patterson, who were in the same line of
business on State Street. This firm immedi
ately sprang into popular favor ; and the busi
ness rapidly developed into a most prosperous
and healthy condition, which continued with
out interruption until 1893, when it was
deemed advisable to consolidate with C S.
Whitcomb, a rival in the business, which was
accomplished ; and the combined enterprise
was established at 140 State Street. Since
their union they have steadily advanced to the
front rank in their particular branch of trade,
and besides handling stoves make a specialty
of placing furnaces and all kinds of steam-heat
ing apparatus, also dealing extensively in drain
and sewer pipes. They employ regularly from
twenty to twenty-five men, and the wheels of
industry are constantly in motion at their busy
establishment. Mr. Kirkham is a member of Hampden
Lodge of A. F. & A. M., Morning Star Chap
ter, Springfield Council, and Springfield Com
mandery, he being at present time Junior
Deacori of the Lodge. He is not active in
politics, except that he votes independently.
On June 15, 1880, he was most happily united
in marriage to Miss E. Lillian Wilcox, the
only daughter of his former employer, the late
William L. Wilcox. Her father died Decem
ber 24, 1891. Her mother is living. Mr.
and Mrs. Kirkham are members of the South
Congregational Church, of which he is Treas
urer, being also actively interested in the Sun
day-school. They reside at No. 76 Elliott
Street.

Wi

'Tl.LIAM WIRT GILLETT, a farmer
Southwick, Hampden County,
Mass., who represents one of the
old families of that town, was born on the
family homestead, July 27, 1832. He was
the son of Sardis and Ursula (Wright) Gillett
and grandson of Rodolphus and Eunice (Cush
man) Gillett. His great-grandfather, Seth

Gillett, settled in Southwick at an early date.
Seth Gillett reared a large family. His son,
Rodolphus, the grandfather of our subject, was
born November 18, 1771. Fle was a success
ful farmer, and was held in esteem by the
community for his habits of industry and for
his good qualities as a citizen. He died No
vember 19, 1849. On August II, 1794, he
married Eunice Cushman, whose birth took
place January i, 1770. Mrs. Gillett passed
from earth two months prior to the decease
of her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Gillett were
members of the Episcopal church. Their
union was blessed by seven children, two of
whom died in childhood. Sardis Gillett, son
of Rodolphus and father of our subject, was
born in Southwick, September i, 1798, and
grew to manhood in his native town. He first
engaged as a travelling salesman, carrying
whips, cigars, and powder, manufacturing the
latter himself; but the chief work of his life
was farming, and to that business the latter
part of his life was devoted, prosperity attend
ing his labors. He was wont to say that dur
ing his residence on his farm he had been
brought under the jurisdiction of three coun
ties — Hampshire, Hampden, and Plartford —
and had lived in two States — Massachusetts
and Connecticut, changes in the lines of the
States and divisions of counties being respon
sible for his seeming fluctuation. His death
occurred December 28, 1876. His wife, to
whom he was united January 14, 1832, was the
adopted daughter of Reuben Clark, of South
wick, and was born June 22, 1799. She died
October 24, 1867. Sardis Gillett was known
in Southwick as a man of intelligence and
general ability. He was a Republican, and
held several offices of trust in the town. In
religious belief Mr. and Mrs. Gillett were
Episcopalians. They became the parents of
five children, as follows: Cornelia; Sardis
Wells, residing in Cleveland, Ohio; Harrison
G., who died at Waterford, Pa., at the age of
sixty-one years; William Wirt, onr subject;
and Kate E., wife of S. Spring, residing in
Bristol, Conn.
William Wirt Gillett received his education
in the schools of the district, and gradually
became familiar with agricultural pursuits.

722

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

PPe succeeded to the ownership of the home
stead farm, and as he reached manhood devoted
his energies to its cultivation on the same
lines which his father had found profitable,
raising large quantities of corn and potatoes,
and making a specialty of tobacco. His lands
comprise about one hundred and thirty acres;
and their cultivation involves untiring energy,
labor, and good management, qualities which
Mr. Gillett has exercised to great advantage.
On March 31, 1869, Mr. Gillett was mar
ried to Miss Sarah S. Palmer, a native of
Southwick, born September 27, 1840, the
daughter of Lemon and Salome (Root) Palmer.
Lemon Palmer was a well-known farmer of the
town, residing there till his death, which
occurred in his sixty-eighth year. Mrs. .
Palmer is still living in Southwick, and is
eighty-five years old.
Mr. and Mrs. Gillett have a family of two
children — Minnie Edna, born March 17,
1874; and Susie Emily, born January 26,
1880. Mr. Gillett is a Republican in his
political principles, not seeking active service,
but known as a public-spirited and loyal citi
zen. The family are members of the Meth
odist Episcopal church.

/^TeORGE E. cooley, of the firm of
\ '3 I Carpenter & Cooley, meat dealers on
Walnut Street, Springfield, Mass., is
a native of this city, and first saw the light of
this world May 25, 1835, on the family home
stead, where his father, George A. Cooley,
was born, and where he died January 10, 1895,
the house being situated just within the limits
of the city of Springfield. The property is a
part of the estate of four hundred acres formerly
owned by Clark Cooley, the grandfather of the
subject of this sketch, who erected the house
for himself and family, and there lived until
his demise.
George A. Cooley succeeded to the owner
ship of the house and farm, on which he spent
his entire life of eighty-three years; and in
addition to conducting the farm he was long
one of the leading carpenters of the city and
one of its influential and most public-spirited
citizens. He always took a deep interest in

church work; and it was mainly through his
untiring efforts that the Methodist Episcopal
church, of which he was an active member,
was built. Pie married Fidelia S. Kibbe, a
daughter of Captain Kibbe, their union having
been celebrated sixty-two years ago, she being
then twenty-one years of age, one year younger
than her husband. Six children were born to
them, namely: George E. and Morris A., both
of Springfield; Billings, a county official,
residing in Longmeadow village; Pldelia S. ,
the wife of James Button, for many years an
engineer of the Homestead Building Company
of this city; Anna (deceased), who married
Dr. C L. Cross, a dentist of Palmer; and
Irwin, a policeman in Ludlow.
After leaving the district school, George
pursued the course of studies of Wilbraham
Academy, one of the finest schools of that day.
Early taught the necessity of self-dependence
as a preparation for a successful life career,
from the time he left school he worked hard,
and returned his wages to his father until he
attained his majority. His first regular em
ployment was with Perkins & Purple, meat
dealers, with whom he remained two years,
leaving them at the age of twenty-one years to
engage in business for himself. He opened a
grocery store in the vicinity of the water-
shops, and having worked up a good trade
gradually enlarged his operations, finally add
ing to his grocery a meat market. He has
since continued in the mercantile business,
having located in different places in the city;
and at one time he was for the space of sixteen
months manager of the Sovereign Market, then
the principal meat market of Springfield, con
ducting it until he came to his present loca
tion, 112 Walnut Street. In 1878 Mr. Cooley
formed a partnership with Homer I. Carpen
ter; and they have since carried on a very
large and lucrative business, under the firm
name of Carpenter & Cooley. He has labored
energetically and sagaciously through boyhood
and manhood, and is recognized as one of the
able and substantial business men of the place.
He is likewise connected with various corpo
rate companies of the city, and is considered a
man of sound practical judgment. Mr. Cooley
has never taken an active part in politics. So-

i<? '%

HENRY D. CARROLL.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

725

cially, he is an important member of the
Hampden Lodge, Independent Order of Odd
P^ellows, having been through all the chairs of
that Lodge and also of the Canton organization.
In 1859 Mr. Cooley built a comfortable and
cosey dwelling on the water-shops hill ; and the
the same year, on the 20th of October, he was
united in marriage with Ruth A. Bradley, a
daughter of Chester and Marietta Bradley.
Their entire wedded life has been spent in
their pleasant home, of which they immedi
ately took possession, and which is at No. 81
Allen Street.

'ENRY D. CARROLL has been a
resident of Springfield for nearly half
a century, and for thirty-six con
secutive years was familiarly known
to the travelling public as one of the most pop
ular and efficient conductors on the Connecti
cut River, now Boston & Maine, Railway, a
position which he "reluctantly gave up in 1886
at the urgent solicitation of his physician
and friends. Mr. Carroll was born in West
Springfield in 1830, being the fifth son born
to John and Tryphena (Puffer) Carroll. The
father was a tailor; and shortly after the birth
of the boy he removed to Spencertown, N. Y.,
where he followed his trade for a time, going
thence to Chatham, which he made his home
until called to his final rest in 1878.
Having received a substantial education in
the common and high schools of Spencertown,
Henry D. Carroll began his life work as clerk
in a country store, which was a good experi
ence for him, giving him an opportunity to
become acquainted with the details of business.
P"'rom that place he went to Hartsville with
Henry Hill, a personal friend, as head clerk, a
move which his parents did not favor, deeming
him too young for so responsible a position.
Two years later, through the influence of Dr.
Skiff, a prominent physician of New Haven,
Mr. Carroll was offered a clerkship in the
wholesale dry-goods store of William J. Fryer
in Albany, an offer which he accepted without
hesitation. Mr. Fryer carried on an extensive
wholesale and retail business; and the ten
clerks in his employ became members of his

family, he boarding them and looking after
their spiritual and moral welfare as well as
their physical comforts. He rented the two
pews directly in front of his own in Dr.
Wykoff's church, and saw to it that each
clerk was regularly in his appointed seat on
Sunday. Mr. Carroll subsequently went with
his brother-in-law, P. W. Bishop, and under
the firm name of Bishop & Co. opened a dry-
goods store in Chatham, N. Y. , which they
continued for a time with excellent results.
In 1849, being then under twenty years of
age, Mr. Carroll had an opportunity to go on
the Connecticut River Railway as a clerk,
and some six months later was appointed thfe
company's agent at Holyoke, which was then
booming, the first dam having just been com
pleted, the agency including all the general
business of the office, sale of tickets, and care
of freight and express matter. In 1851, under
the management of Chester W. Chapin, who
was then president of the road, Mr. Carroll
was appointed conductor on the one o'clock
train, the heaviest on the road, the train that
had formerly been in charge of George W.
Burrows. The run was from Springfield to
Brattleboro, Vt., the latter city being his place
of residence, but, he not liking to make that
his continuous home, Mr. Chapin assigned to
him the morning train, which left Springfield
at 8. 50 A.M. , thus giving him an opportunity
to continue his residence in Springfield.
From 1852 until 1886 Mr. Carroll had charge
of this train, and also ran the White Mountain
train up and back during the season ; and in
all these years he never lost a day for which he
did not draw his pay. He had vacations given
him at various times, some of them being long
ones; but his salary was always continued.
His watchful attention and fidelity to the
interests of the company were appreciated by
the officials of the railway company ; and,
although he served under several presidents,
including Erastus Hopkins, Chester W.
Chapin, Daniel L. Harris, and N. A. Leon
ard, he was never at any time questioned as to
his acts or as to his reasons for doing thus
and so.
In 1883, acting upon the advice of his phy
sician, Mr. Carroll spent the winter in Flor-

726

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ida ; but, notwithstanding his absence from
his duties, the company continued his salary,
a recognition of worth that he was not slow
to appreciate. Returning from the South
somewhat improved in health, Mr. Carroll
continued in his former position for three
years, when his physicians urgently requested
him, if he had any desire to live much longer
in this world, to entirely sever his connection
with the railway; and since that time his
genial and kindly face has been sadly missed
by the patrons of the road, with whom he was
a general favorite. Mr. Leonard, desiring
to retain him in some capacity, appointed him
to look after the interests of the road up the
valley; but even that was too severe a strain
upon him, and in 1887 he gave up all active
business, and has since lived retired. He is
of an ingenious and inventive turn of mind,
and made considerable money in the manufact
ure at Chicopee Falls of a ventilator, called
Carroll's ventilator, which was adopted and
was in general use on many of the roads for
several years, although it is not now avail
able for the more modern cars. He is also
interested in real estate in the city, and has
been quite active in the management of city
affairs. During the mayoralty of Mr. Ladd,
Mr. Carroll was a member of the Board of
Aldermen and one of the Committee on Public
Property, on the Almshouse, and on the Light
ing of the Streets; and during that time elec
tric lights were introduced into the city.
Mr. Carroll has a beautiful home at No. 30
Clinton Street, where he has lived since 1857.
His first wife was Almira L. Groat, daugh
ter of Captain Peter Groat, an old and well-
known resident of Chatham, N.Y. The pres
ent Mrs. Carroll, who was before marriage
Miss Henrietta Ingram, is a daughter of Will
iam Ingram, a prominent citizen of Troy, N.Y.
In politics Mr. Carroll is a straight Repub
lican. He joined the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows when a young man, but being so
busy did not continue his membership. Pie is
very liberal and progressive in his religious
views, and was formerly a member of the
North Church; but on the formation of the
Memorial Church, which was largely due to
the efforts of Dr. J. G. Holland, he was en

rolled among the first members of the society,
and has since been a regular attendant at all
services held there, and has served for many
years as a member of the parish committee.
In reviewing his career Mr. Carroll may
well take pride in the fact that during his
connection with the railway company, which
included the period of the war, when travel
was the heaviest and there was but a single
track, not a life was lost through his careless
ness, and that he never caused the company a
dollar's expense for damages, a record attained
by few men that serve as long a time as he
did, and one that will ever be to him a most
pleasing remembrance. As a man of excep
tional ability and rare faithfulness, long hold
ing a position which brought him in contact
with many people, Mr. Carroll has gained an
enviable reputation, and won hosts of warm
friends. His portrait on a neighboring page
will be highly appreciated by the readers of
this volume.

[T^ASCAL JOHN NEWELL, formerly
' ' station agent of the Connecticut
_19 River Railroad at Willimansett, and
an extensive real estate owner in
Chicopee, was born at Dudley, Mass., August
27, 1839, son of Hiram Newell, who was born
at Wardsboro, Vt., January 24, 1803. His
great-grandfather, Philip Newell, was born in
the vicinity of Boston, and, according to the
best information at hand, was of English an
cestry. He settled at Dudley, where he re
sided for a time, but, having indorsed notes,
was thereby deprived of his property, and
some years previous to the Revolutionary War
moved with his family, which consisted of his
wife and nine children, into the wilderness of
Vermont, where he secured a tract of land in
the town of Wardsboro and engaged in farm
ing, residing there until his decease, at the
age of eighty-four years. The maiden name
of his wife was Evans. Their second son,
Hiram, the grandfather of our subject, was
born at Dudley, Mass., October 3, 1763, and
spent his life on a farm in Wardsboro, dying
in 1 8 14. He married Mary Simpson, who
was born November 14, 1763, and died April

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

727

15, 1836, having reared seven children.
Hiram Newell, Jr., was reared and educated
in his native town; and, having inherited a
portion of his father's property, resided there
and followed agriculture. At that time,
there being no railroads, he was obliged to
transport his produce to Boston by team, in
order to exchange it for the supplies needed at
home; and, as this was no small undertaking,
he proposed to reside in closer proximity to
the market centres. With this end in view
he moved in 1838 to Dudley, Mass., the
former home of his grandfather, where he pur
chased a farm and resided for the remainder
of his days, his earthly labors ending on Feb
ruary 12, 1865. His wife, whom he wedded
March 15, 1827, was before her marriage
Rebecca Wilder, born at Newfane, Vt., in
1807, daughter of John Wilder. She died
November 24, 1865. In politics Mr. Newell
was a Whig and later a Republican. He and
his wife were both members of the Congrega
tional church, of which he ¦ was a Deacon.
Their five children were named as follows:
Philip W., Amanda, Russell S., Pascal ].,
and Elizabeth.
Pascal J. Newell received a good education
in the schools of Dudley, and resided there
with his parents until twenty-one years of
age, when he entered the employ of the Con
necticut River Railroad, commencing as fore
man of the track repairing department, in
which capacity he continued for something
over a year. For the next year he was bag
gage master at Chicopee. He then returned
to Willimansett as station agent, commencing
his duties as such on December i, 1864, and
remaining in that position thirty years. He
was appointed Postmaster in 1865, and has
held that office' continuously for a period of
twenty-nine years. During his long and
honorable connection with the railroad com
pany Mr. Newell invested and dealt quite
extensively in real estate with extremely ad
vantageous results.
On April 25, 1859, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Nancy Elizabeth Tenney, who
was born in the town of Gill, June 2, 1838,
daughter of John A. Tenney, a native of
Northboro, Mass. His father, Gideon Ten

ney, was a teacher during his entire life,
most of which was passed at Northboro. He
moved to Brandon, Vt., where he resided for
a time, then to Gill, and later to Cumming
ton, where he spent his last days, dying at
the age of eighty-four years. His wife passed
her last years in Northampton, and died in
her ninety-eighth year. Gideon Tenney was
a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and his
widow was a pensioner during her latter years.
Mrs. Newell's father settled at Gill when a
young man, and there married, and purchased
a farm, upon which he resided a number of
years. He subsequently moved to Williman
sett, where he passed the rest of his life, his
death occurring when he was eighty years old.
Mrs. Newell's" mother before marriage was
Nancy Lyons, daughter of Dr. Jeremiah and
Mary (Richards) Lyons, of Gill, Mass. She
was called to rest March 6, 1839, having
reared five of her children..
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Newell — John Hiram, who was born on Au
gust 28, i860, and died in infancy, and Edward
P. T., born April 28, 1866, who died August
6 of the same year. They have an adopted
daughter, Mary Wilder Newell, who was born
July 9, 1873.
Mr. Newell is a Republican in politics.
He is a Jtvstice of the Peace, having been
appointed by Governor Russell in 1892, and
is a member of the Board of Health. Both
himself and wife are members of the Congre
gational church on Chicopee Street.

Trj)EWIS C NYE, a prominent farmer
Ijj and stock-raiser in Blandford, was
J.^ ^ born in that town, October 17,
1828, son of Clark A. and Dolly
A. (Tracy) Nye, and grandson of James and
Sarah (Clark) Nye. The grandparents came
to Blandford from Rhode Island, which was
their native State, when Clark Nye was about
four years old; and here they settled, being
the first of the family in Massachusetts. Both
were industrious and hard-working people.
James Nye bought two hundred and fifty acres
of land, and gradually added to his property
until he was owner of an estate of one thou-

728

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

sand acres. In politics Mr. Nye was a Demo
crat, and in religion he held liberal views.
He lived to be eighty-two years of age, dying
October 27, 1840. His wife was a frugal
and industrious helpmeet, who, besides at
tending to the ordinary household duties, spun
and wove the cloth for the family needs,
clothing eleven children in garments of her
own manufacture. She passed from earth
April 2, 1846, being then in her eighty-fifth
year. Clark Nye, father of Lewis C Nye, grew to
manhood in the town of Blandford, and on
leaving school devoted himself to farm work,
following that occupation through his life.
He became noted for good sense and ability
in his agricultural operations, and was so suc
cessful in his methods of cultivating the soil
that he took the premium which was con
ferred by the town for the best farm in the
locality. He owned the farm on which his
son Lewis now lives, and died there, October
II, 1886. Clark Nye was a Democrat, but
took no active part in politics. His wife
died April 8, 1895, on the old home farm.
They reared a family of three children, all
now living, as follows: Lyman R. ; Lewis C;
and Emily E., widow of Eli Cross, residing
in Westfield.
Lewis C Nye grew up on the farm where
he now resides, attending the schools of the
town in his youth, and became a farmer, as
his forefathers had been. He has added
stock-raising to his farm interests, dealing
in fine cattle and oxen. He has also a choice
dairy. In connection with his stock-raising
enterprise he has travelled through most of
the New England States. He is now culti
vating about three hundred and fifty-six acres
of land, which is owned by the family jointly.
Mr. Lewis Nye is a Democrat in politics, and
takes an active interest in all that concerns
the welfare of the town. He has been Select
man two years. He keeps abreast of the
times in all that relates to farming, and has
been connected with the Union Agricultural
Association since its organization. On relig
ion his views are liberal.
Mr. Nye was married December 30, 1852,
to Miss Melinda Cook, who was born in

Blandford, November 15, 1831, and is a
daughter of Prentice and Elizabeth (Os
borne) Cook. The former was born in Ston
ington, New London County, Conn., and the
latter in Blandford, Mass. Mr. Cook was
one of the early settlers in Blandford, and
was a successful farmer. He died at about
sixty years of age, and his wife at about
seventy years. Mr. and Mrs. Nye have had
a family of three children, namely: Ida Bell,
who died March 28, 1857, aged twenty-two
months; Albert H., born March 22, 1858,
who married Miss Hattie Holcomb, a native
of Granby, Conn., and has one son — -Edmund
Russell, born November 3, 1891; and Marion
Ophelia, born January 21, 1863, wife of
Charles Sanderson, residing in the State of
Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson have
five children — Louie, Ethel, Blanche, Pearl,
and Charlie.
Mr. Nye is a Democrat in politics. He
and his wife are liberal in religion. He takes
an active interest in field sports, and main
tains the prestige of the family, who for gen
erations have been noted for their success in
hunting.

.RREN DOWNE KINSMAN, pro
prietor of a leading fancy dry-goods
store in Springfield, Mass., was
born in Fitchburg, Worcester County, on
October 11, 1837. The Kinsman and Downe
families had lived in that vicinity for several
generations, and were highly respected, the
later generations being identified with the
antislavery movement. Our subject's par
ents were Timothy and Joanna (Downe)
Kinsman, and the father was a life-long resi
dent of Fitchburg.
Warren D. Kinsman received his early
education in his native town; but at the age
of fourteen he lost his father, and was obliged
to begin caring for himself. After a few
months' experience in a Fitchburg store,
where he gained his first ideas of mercantile
transactions, he went to Manchester, N.H.,
where he remained nearly six years in a dry-
goods establishment. From the spring of
1858 to November, 1861, he was in the same

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

729

business in one of the finest Boston stores;
but from November, 1861, to July, 1862, he
was in charge of J. C Howard's Springfield
store, in which he became a partner, under
the style of Howard & Kinsman. This lasted
till 1866, when Mr. Kinsman bought out Mr.
Howard, and became sole proprietor of the
business, then located in the Pynchon Bank
Block. In 1870 Mr. Kinsman moved to No.
360 Main Street, double the size of his old
place. In 1880 he completed the Kinsman
Block, containing four stores, three stories
high, with ninety-seven feet front on Main
Street and a hundred and forty feet on Bridge
Street. The new store was first occupied in
April, 1880, and there its owner has since
remained. Mr. Kinsman is a Director in the Fire and
Marine Insurance Company, and also in the
Springfield National Bank, of which he was
one of the organizers. In politics he is a Re
publican, and, socially, belongs to the Win
throp and Nayasset Clubs. His wife was
formerly Addie L. Dow. They were married
on February 16, 1865; and she died Decem
ber 3, 1891, aged forty-seven, leaving four
children — Alice L., Helen I., Howard L.,
and Rose Adelle. Howard is in business
with his father as clerk. Mr. Kinsman and
his children attend and contribute to the support
of the Memorial Church. His home is at the
corner of St. James Avenue and Florida Street,
in a fine residence, which he erected in i

kOSES A. MAYNARD, an enter
prising business man and one of
the progressive citizens of Spring
field, came here with his parents,
when a boy of fifteen years, from Wilbraham,
where he was born, October 11, 1840. He is
descended from the Maynard family who
were for many generations respected residents
of Sudbury, Mass., of which they were among
the original settlers. Moses Maynard, the
grandfather of the subject of the present
sketch, married Elizabeth Haynes; and a
more extended notice of the family may be
found in the sketch of Judge Maynard, which
appears on another page of this volume.

Walter Maynard, son of Moses and father
of Moses A., carried on general farming in
Wilbraham until 1855, when he removed to
Springfield, where he bought a large tract of
land, which is now included within the city
limits. He took an active part in advanc
ing the interests of his adopted city, and was
a member of the city government. He mar
ried Hannah Burr, who bore him eight chil
dren, of whom the following are now living:
Moses A.; Elisha B.; Nellie F., wife of
William H. Doty; and Kate, who married
A. M. Wright. The parents were people of
education and means, enjoying the esteem and
confidence of their neighbors and associates,
and were conscientious members of the P'"irst
Baptist Church. The father is not living, he
having joined the silent majority in 1888.
During his boyhood, Moses A. Maynard
attended the district schools of Wilbraham,
later completing his studies in the select
school of Charles Barrows, a well-known edu
cator. He was fifteen years of age when he
came with his parents to Springfield, where
he subsequently started in business as a
market gardener. He bought all the land
in the vicinity of Sherman and Catherine
Streets, extending beyond Andrews Street,
including eighty acres that are now covered
with dwelling-houses, many of them being
among the most attractive in the city. After
successfully carrying on his marketing for
four years, he disposed of his real estate at a
great advance, and the following two years
was engaged in the meat business, having a
market on State Street. Being better pleased
with his former occupation, he then bought
back a portion of the property he had sold,
and resumed market gardening, which he con
tinued until 1870, when he sold out, and
removed to old Cambridge, where he estab
lished a coal and lumber yard, his first vent
ure in that kind of business. He had a large
yard, and built up a lucrative trade, which,
however, he was obliged to relinquish in
1876 on account of failing health. Mr. May
nard next established a hide and tallow busi
ness in Meriden, Conn., remaining there
until 1880. Coming back to Springfield, he
opened a coal and wood yard on the hill, on

730

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the Wilbraham & Boston Road, the land ex
tending to the New England Railway; and
here he is carrying on an extensive arid
profitable business in coal, wood, and drain
pipes, giving employment to eighteen or
twenty men. With characteristic enterprise
Mr. Maynard afterward established a second
yard, in the south end of the city, on York
Street, on the New York, New Haven & Hart
ford Railroad; and this he has managed for
the past six or seven years.
Mr. Maynard was married April 8, 1863,
to Abigail B. Potter, a native of Wilbraham,
and the daughter of Philip P. Potter, now a
respected resident of Springfield. The only
child born of their union is Miss Florence A.
Maynard, a graduate of the Springfield High
School, and now a student at Vassar College.
Mr. Maynard is a man of high moral princi
ples, honest and upright in all of his deal
ings, and has contributed largely toward
building up the industrial interests of the
city. He has never taken an active part in
politics, but votes for men and measures he
considers most conducive to the general
welfare. Socially, he is a member of the
Hampden Lodge, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows.

jUfRANKLIN A. ROBINSON, a very
p| prosperous farmer of Granville, was
born upon the farm he now owns and
cultivates, November 3, 1831. He is the son
of Chauncy and Polly (Hubbard) Robinson,
his father having been born upon the same
farm, June 19, 1795 ; and his mother was born
in the town of Tolland, April 13, 1794.
Captain Daniel Robinson, who came from
Durham, Conn., previous to the P"'rench and
Indian War, was the first of the Robinson
family to settle in that part of the town where
their property is located. He was a pioneer
in this region, and braved the dangers which
constantly beset the hardy race whose persist
ent energies and noble self-sacrifice opened
the way for the future development of the un
limited agricultural resources of this Com
monwealth. He struggled manfully against
many vicissitudes, and succeeded in establish

ing a comfortable home for himself and
family, which was the foundation of their
future prosperity, and died at a good old age.
He was a Captain in the State militia. His
son, Daniel Robinson, Jr., grandfather of our
subject, succeeded to the farm which his father
had cultivated, a part of which he owned.
He improved a large portion of the estate,
which in all covered about nine hundred
acres, and became a very prosperous man.
In politics he was a Whig. Mr. Robinson
attended the Congregational church. He
died at the -age of eighty. His wife, whose
maiden name was Betsey Cowdry, lived to an
advanced age. They reared nine children —
three sons and six daughters — who became
heads of families, and have all passed away.
Mr. Robinson's maternal great-grandfather,
Nathaniel Hubbard, was an early settler in
Granville, and operated several saw-mills in
the town. While attempting to break a jam
of logs, he was carried over the dam and
drowned. His son, Titus Hubbard, Mr.
Robinson's maternal grandfather, was born
in Granville, December 27, 1762; and his
wife, Rachel (Miller) Hubbard, was born in
the same town on August 16, 1767. They
made their home in Tolland. He was a suc
cessful farmer and a soldier of the Revolu
tionary War; serving through the entire
struggle. He died March 22, 1845, at the
age of eighty-two years. His wife was called
to rest August 29, 1841. They reared three
children who grew to maturity, two of whom
had families. Their son. Colonel Alanson
Hubbard, was prominent in the old State
cavalry militia.
Chauncy Robinson succeeded in turn to the
family estate, and followed agriculture from
his boyhood to the end of his life. He was,
like his ancestors, of an industrious and ener
getic nature, and attained a degree of success
which equalled, if not surpassed, that of his
sterling progenitors. In his younger days he
learned the trade of a blacksmith, and fol
lowed that occupation for about seven years at
Suffield. Chauncy Robinson died at the old
homestead, January 31, 1875; and his wife
followed him to rest, March i, 1882. Fle
was a Republican in politics, and was a

FREDERICK C. STEELE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

733

veteran and pensioner of the War of 1812.
He took an active interest in local affairs, and
enjoyed the respect and esteem of his fellow-
townsmen. Mr. and Mrs. Chauncy Robin
son reared a family of two sons — Franklin A.
and Henry C The latter was born January
30, 1821, and resided at Granville, where he
followed agriculture in his earlier years, and
was for a period of eleven years engaged as a
travelling salesman, dealing in Yankee no
tions and jewelry. He died November 6,
1886. Henry Robinson's wife died January
29, 1894, at the age of seventy-two years,
leaving three children, all of whom were
daughters. Mary is the wife of Charles
Treat, a resident of Granville, and has one
son, also named Charles; Laura married Gil
bert Miller, and resides in Granville, having
three children — Henry, Milo, and Franklin
A. ; Sarah married John Phelon, of Granville,
and has three children — Lucy, Susan, and
John. Franklin A. Robinson received a good
practical education in the schools of Granville
and at the Easthampton Seminary. At the
age of twenty-one he assumed entire charge of
the farm, and later acquired by purchase the
home property, his parents residing with him
during their declining years.
On July 15, 1857, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Marietta Richards, who was
born in Blandford, April 2, 1829, and was
the daughter of Davis and Betsey (Leming)
Richards, her father a native of Waterbury,
Conn., and her mother of Massachusetts.
Davis Richards was a well-to-do farmer of
Blandford, who died at the age of seventy-
nine. His wife attained the age of sixty-four
years. Of their ten children- two are now liv
ing, namely: Psaac and Eliza. Elmon R.
died May 21, 1895. Mrs. Robinson died
March 24, 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson
were called upon to mourn the loss of their
only daughter — Celia — who was born March
7, i860, and died February 12, 1865.
Mr. .Robinson is a Republican in politics,
and has served as a Selectman, having also
held other offices. His property now consists
of about one hundred and seventy-five acres of
fertile land, capable of yielding abundant har

vests. In 1827 lightning caused the total
destruction of the large barn, which was well
stocked with hay and grain, and also con
tained a considerable amount of valuable lum
ber. On August 5, i860, the house and
sheds were totally destroyed by fire, and Mr.
Robinson had no insurance. These draw
backs were necessarily felt, but did not check
the continuance of the family prosperity.
Mr. Robinson lives the quiet, exemplary life
of the prosperous New England farmer; and,
although he has known hard work, he also
knows how to enjoy the blessings which are
its sure reward.

fREDERICK C STEELE, wholesale
dealer in meats and provisions at Hol
yoke, Mass., was born March 17, 1841,
in West Hartford, Conn., where his father,
Sherman Steele, owned a farm and also con
ducted a nursery. He was also a native of
West Hartford. His wife, Eunice Brooks,
died in 1849.
Frederick was reared to agricultural pur
suits, and commenced his education in the
public schools of Hartford, later attending the
Suffield Literary Institute for two years.
After completing his studies, at the age of
nineteen he assumed charge of his father's
farm, and conducted it for a period of six
years. Mr. Steele then engaged at Hartford
in the wholesale meat and provision trade, a
business which he has since followed with
the most pronounced success. Going to
Springfield in 1875, he established himself
in trade upon the site now occupied by the
Union Station, and engaged in the handling
of Western meat products, receiving his sup
plies from Chicago by refrigerator cars, and
conducting a very large business in that line
until 1881, when he removed to Albany,
N.Y., where he established for G. H. Ham
mond & Co., of Detroit, Mich., the first
dressed-meat agency west of the Hudson
River. In 1885 he came to Holyoke to
engage in the same line of trade, having se
cured a suitable location at 46 Race Street.
At the present time he is handling the prod
ucts of the Armour Packing Company on

734

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

commission, which is proving very satis
factory financially, as he carries on a very
extensive wholesale trade.
Mr. Steele is very active in the Republican
party. He was a member of the Common
Council of the city of Holyoke for the years
1889 and 1890, and in 1891 and 1892 was on
the Board of Aldermen, serving upon various
important committees, and during his last term
in the upper branch was chairman of the Com
mittee upon Highways and Bridges. He is
connected with Lafayette Lodge of P""ree and
Accepted Masons at Hartford, and is a member
of Hampden Lodge of Odd Fellows at Spring
field. In 1861 he wedded Miss Jennie E.
Tuttle, of West Flartford, daughter of Elam
and Betsey (Loomis) Tuttle, and has one
son — Ernest S., who is now with him in the
business. The family attend the First Bap
tist Church, and have resided at Elmwood,
a suburb of this city, for the past nine years.
The lineage of Mr. Steele is unknown to
the present writer, but it is evident that the
original of the foregoing sketch and the pre
fixed portrait is a scion of good old Colonial
stock. It is a matter of history that two
brothers, George and John Steele, were early
inhabitants of Cambridge, Mass., being made
freemen in 1634, and that they were among
the original proprietors of Hartford, Conn.,
two years later. It is known that John held
important public offices, and that George
served in the Pequot War.

-USTIN L. WORTHY, President of the
Worthy Paper Company of Agawam,
Mass., and a resident of West Spring
field since 185 1, was born in Hillsdale,
Columbia County, N.Y., on July 21, 1823.
His grandfather came from England amid the
Revolutionary War, and died, leaving a son,
Orrimill, who was then only three or four
years old. The boy grew up to be a strong
and influential man in his native town of
Hillsdale, where he was running a grist-mill
when the War of 1812 was under way; and he
was drafted into a company which marched to
Boston by way of Northampton and Spring
field. Perhaps he was then attracted by the

Connecticut valley. At any rate, he subse
quently took up his residence in West Spring
field, where he died in the winter of 1859.
His wife, who was Hannah Hackett, had died
a short time before. Both were unquestion
ably worthy members of the Methodist church.
The education of Justin L., son of Orrimill
and Hannah (Hackett) Worthy, was received
partly in Hillsdale and partly in West Stock-
bridge, Berkshire County, where he attended
the academy; and he has lived in Massachu
setts ever since. Working life began in
1835, at the immature age of twelve, with his
father, with whom he remained until his ma
jority. Then he began milling for himself in
the towns of Great Barrington and Egremont,
Mass. In 1850 he went to Yates County, New
York, but came to Springfield the next year,
and bought the Ashley Mill, which afterward
came to be known by his own name. He in
troduced many improvements, grinding not
only corn, but wheat and other grains; and
the plant gradually increased in value, com
ing in 1885 under the management of his
son, Frank L. Worthy. The Worthy Paper
Company, the largest industry in Agawam,
began running in 1872, when Mr. Justin L.
Worthy became President of the company.
The capital stock is one hundred thousand
dollars, and the works give employment to
nearly fifty persons. In 1872 Mr. Worthy
erected for the Springfield Printing Company,
which occupied it sixteen years, a five-story
brick block, measuring fifty by a hundred and
forty-two feet, on the corner of Main and
Worthington Streets, Springfield. In 1889
this building was transformed into the Glen
dower Hotel, which was burned in 1893. In
1894 work was begun on a fine six-story fire
proof structure of buff brick, with terra-cotta
trimmings. It is partly occupied by the City
National Bank; but the main body of the
building is to be a hotel, known as The
Worthy, with caf6, offices, parlors, over
eighty chambers, steam, electricity, gas, ele
vators, and mosaic floors of quartered oak.
In 1866 Mr. Worthy was elected representa
tive from West Springfield on the Republi
can ticket. He married August 26, 1858,
Mary Jane Spooner, a sister of Major Spooney

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

735

of Springfield, and they have two children :
their daughter Cora is now Mrs. George L.
Wright, Jr., and lives in Springfield; Frank
L. Worthy, above mentioned, was born in
1863. Their father belonged to the Housa
tonic Lodge of Odd Fellows in West Stock-
bridge while the organization was in exist
ence; but for these many years his increasing
business has demanded his almost exclusive
attention.

'OHN BLISS WARREN, who has been
a prominent manufacturer of Hampden
County, is now living at his country
seat in Agawam, giving his attention
to his real estate and other private interests.
He was born in what was then South Wilbra
ham, now the town of Hampden, in this
county. His father, Aaron Warren, was also
born there; and his grandfather, the Rev.
Moses Warren, was, it is supposed, a native
of Upton, Worcester County, Mass., and the
son of Jonas Warren. The Rev. Moses War
ren was a graduate of Harvard College, and
was the beloved pastor of the Congregational
church at South Wilbraham for more than
forty years, continuing his labors through his
life. The maiden name of his wife was Lydia
Bliss. She was born at South Wilbraham,
and was a descendant of one of the early-set
tled families of that place. Her father, John
Bliss, who came from Longmeadow, was a
soldier in the French and Indian War and a
Lieutenant Colonel in the Revolutionary War.
His children's graves were the first in the
burial-ground at South Wilbraham. Their
names were Lydia, Abel, and Lucy. The
Rev. Moses and Lydia Warren reared a fam
ily of four children — ^ Lydia, John, Moses,
and Aaron. Moses and John both had a col
legiate education. Moses was a tutor at Am
herst College. John entered the ministry,
and went South. He organized a Congrega
tional church at Mobile, Ala., and later
founded another in New Orleans, where he
was also an editor. The only daughter,
Lydia, married the Rev. Levi Smith, a Con
gregational minister.
Aaron Warren succeeded to the ownership

of the home property, and followed agriculture
throughout his entire life. As his increasing
means permitted, he invested in land, and
became one of the largest real estate holders
in the town of Hampden, where he resided
until his decease in 1851, at the age of fifty-
five years. He married Betsey Stacy, a na
tive of Hampden, daughter of Ebenezer and
grand-daughter of William and Mary Stacy.
She died in 1878, having reared three chil
dren: Lydia, who married Orville Selden;
Moses; and John Bliss, the subject of the
present sketch.
John Bliss Warren was thirteen years old
when his father died, and he was then in the
public school. He was sent to East Windsor
to fit for college, but returned to the home
stead at the age of eighteen to look after the
affairs of the place. He then succeeded to
the calling of his father, and soon embarked
in the lumber business, cutting, hauling, and
manufacturing all kinds of lumber, having pur
chased large tracts of timber land for the pur
pose of obtaining the stumpage. Soon after
reaching his majority, he became interested in
the manufacture of paper, and bought a small
mill in Hampden, which he enlarged, and
superintended its operations personally until
1 87 1, when he traded it for real estate in
Springfield. During the year 1873, in com
pany with Royal Dickinson, he purchased the
Excelsior Mill at Holyoke, where they en
gaged in the manufacturing of paper. Soon
after the establishment of this enterprise Mr.
Warren purchased an unimproved water-power
at West Ware, which he improved in 1882 by
constructing a dam, and proceeded to erect
a large paper-mill. After its completion he
put it into the hands of a stock company,
he being elected Treasurer and S. P. Bailey,
of Greenwich, President. He continued as
Treasurer of the corporation until 1887, when
he sold his interest; and for the next four
years he resided in Springfield, whence he
removed to Agawam in 1891.
In 1868 Mr. Warren was united in marriage
to Miss Emily A. Bell, of Chicopee, daughter
of Thomas J. Bell. Her father was born at
Hillsboro, N.H., but passed his boyhood and
youth in the town of Antrim. When a young

736

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

man, he engaged in the manufacture of cotton
cloth. at Lowell, Mass., and later moved to
Chicopee, where, in company with Robert
Bemis and others, he established the first mill
ever operated in that place. He resided there
until his decease, which occurred at the age of
seventy-two years. He was for a long period
closely identified with the industrial develop
ments of Chicopee, and saw it rise from a
small hamlet to the dignity of a flourishing
city. The wife of Thomas J. Bell was Emily
Deane, of Bellows Falls, Vt. Her great
grandfather was a surgeon in the Revolution
ary War, who afterward became a practitioner
at Bellows Falls. Her grandfather entered
the Continental service at the age of sixteen
as a drummer boy. Mr. Warren is a stanch
Republican in politics, and both himself and
wife are members of the South Congregational
Church at Springfield.

"ENRY ELIHU MARSH, proprietor
of the Cooley House in Springfield,
(s I Mass., with which he has been in
some way connected ever since
1866, was born on May 30, 1846, in North
Hatfield, Mass., in the ancestral home of the
family on the banks of the Connecticut River.
The grandfather, Calvin Marsh, was a car
penter there many years. Elihu Marsh, son
of Calvin, who was a North Hatfield farmer
most of his life, died in 1889. The subject
of this sketch was the eldest of four children,
the others being Myron Norman Marsh, now
of Springfield; Charles Warren Marsh, of
North Hatfield; and a daughter who died in
infancy. The wife of Elihu Marsh was Mary
Ann 'Warren, daughter of p-'liny Warren, of
an old family in Williamsburg, Hampshire
County, Mass. Mrs. Mary A. Marsh, like
her husband, belonged to the Congregational
church. She died in i860.
While a growing boy, Henry E. Marsh
attended the schools in his native town
winters, working on the paternal farm the
rest of the year, and then finished his book
education with a year in Wilbraham Academy.
In 1866, before he had attained his majority,
he came to Springfield as office boy in the old

hotel bearing the name of its landlord, Mr.
Cooley. For fifteen years he attended to vari
ous duties, serving first as night and then as
day clerk, and then in 1881 was admitted to
partnership with his employer, the firm being
Justin M. Cooley & Co. Eight years later,
in 1889, Mr. Cooley sold the hotel to his
junior partner and his partner's brother,
Myron N. Marsh, who together for two or
three years conducted the establishment; but
in 1892 Mr. Henry E. Marsh became the sole
possessor of the entire property, which he has
since controlled with great success. It is a
fine inn, second to no New England house
outside of the metropolis, and widely popular
among all classes of travellers. In the old part
are four stories, and in the annex five. The
building covers an entire block, from Liberty
to Main Street, its two hundred rooms being
supplied with electricity, water, and steam.
On November 26, 1870, at the age of
twenty-four, while still only the clerk, Mr.
Marsh was married to a young lady from
Danielsonville, Conn. — Mary Louise Fisher.
Three sons have been born to them, of whom
two are still living, the eldest, Edward Fisher
Marsh, born in 187 1, having died recently,
October 16, 1894, at the age of twenty-three.
The other two are Phillips Allen Marsh, born
in 1873, and Harry Cooley Marsh, born in
1876. The Marshes belong to the Memorial
Church, whereof the father was a founder;
and they have a private family home on Sar
gent Street. Mr. Marsh belongs to the
Hotel Men's Benefit Association of the
United States and to De Soto Lodge of Odd
Fellows; while as a Mason he is affiliated
with Springfield Lodge, Morning Star Chap
ter, Springfield Council, and Springfield Com
mandery. Though interested in public affairs,
he has refused to serve a second term in the
Common Council, deeming it best to give
his attention wholly to the details of his
hostelry.

m

ILLIAM NORCROSS FLYNT, of
the well-known W. N. Flynt Gran
ite Company of Monson, Mass.,
was born in this village, across the street

'P?v

4

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

739

from his present residence, March 14, 1818.
Plis father was Rufus Flynt, who was born in
the town of Western, now Warren, Worcester
County, in 1775, and died January 15, 1836.
His wife, Sarah Norcross P"lynt, a lady of
remarkable intelligence, died in 1863, her
faculties unimpaired, at the age of eighty-
three. She was a daughter of Joel Norcross,
whose wife was a Miss Fay.
Rufus Flynt removed to Monson in 1792,
and became clerk for William Norcross, a
pioneer merchant. At his majority he was
made a member of the firm; and he remained
in trade up to the time of his death, holding
also the office of Postmaster of Monson, to
which he was appointed in 1826, being the
first incumbent. He was active in the militia,
being known as Captain Flynt, was foremost
in promoting business and educational inter
ests, for a while was the banker of the place,
and was Justice of the Peace for many years.
Captain Rufus Flynt was of the sixth genera
tion from Thomas Flint, whose name appears
on the town records of Salem in 1650, the line
from the emigrant down to the present being
Thomas,^ John,^ John,^ Rufus,* Jonathan, ^
Rufus, s William N.' John, of the third gen
eration, settled in Windham, Conn., and there
the spelling of the name seems to have been
changed to its present form. Jonathan Flynt,
of Windham, Conn., grandfather of William
N., was a clothier by trade and occupation.
His wife's father, Ezra Leonard, of Hardwick,
Mass., born in 171 1, is mentioned in the his
tory of that town as Ensign of Captain War
ner's company, which in 1757 marched to the
relief of Fort William Henry.
Mr. William N. Flynt is the youngest and
only survivor of four children. His sister
Maria, who was the wife of the Rev. Lyman
Coleman, professor in Lafayette College, a
well-known writer on theology, died in Mil
waukee, Wis., aged nearly seventy, one of
her two daughters surviving her. His brother
Rufus, a young man of talent and great
promise, who entered Yale College in 1823,
died in 1825, at the age of eighteen. The
other sister was Olivia, an accomplished
young lady, educated at Monson and New
Haven, who died in 1837, before the promise

of her early days was fulfilled. William N.
Flynt was educated at Monson Academy, and
at the age of seventeen became a salesman in
his father's store. Shortly after the death of
his father he began directing his attention to
a quarry which had been worked by him on a
small scale as early as 1825. This Mr. Flynt
proceeded to develop, and in fifty-eight years
the business has increased enormously. The
quarry is situated one mile north of Monson,
covers about five hundred acres, and seems to
be inexhaustible. The product is a dark blue
and white granite, and is largely used for
dams, buildings, and monumental purposes.
Mr. Flynt built a railroad two miles in
length, to connect the works with the New
London Northern Railroad, so that stone is
now shipped directly from the quarry to all
parts of the country. He has also a large
quarry at West Dummerston, Vt., the output
from which the past year was three thousand
carloads. Mr. Flynt is a very interesting man in con
versation, his memory reaching back to the
days of the historic "one-boss shay." In
such a vehicle he and his father rode to Bos
ton to buy goods, the journey occupying a
whole week. Their produce, potash, pork,
and so forth, was conveyed to that city by a
six-horse team. He has a tax receipt, dated
1 812, for four dollars' tax on a two-wheeled
chaise. His residence has been changed but
once in his life — seventy years ago — when
he moved across the street to his present
abode. Although this fine house was m.ainly
built by his father just before that time, a
part of it is over one hundred years old;
but it has been so modernized that it appears
to be of recent construction. Among other
curiosities Mr. Flynt has a badge such as
were worn by the enthusiastic supporters of
"Old Tippecanoe" in the days when the log
cabin became famous. It bears date 1840,
and he wore it when he went to Washington
to attend the inauguration of the grandson of
his first Presidential candidate. He has also
some rare old books, one of them a Bible two
hundred and eighty-three years old, published
in London. Mr. Flynt was Town Treasurer
for thirty-one years, was in the legislature in

74°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1848, and again in 1861, and was a member
of Governor Andrew's Council in 1865 and of
Governor Bullock's in 1866. He was alter
nate delegate to the Chicago Convention to
nominate Benjamin Harrison in 1884. Under
Governor Gardner he was Justice of the Peace,
and Justice of the Peace and Quorum in 1865.
He has been a Trustee of Monson Academy
since 1850, being now the oldest member of
the Board. He organized the Monson State
Bank in 1852, of which he ¦was the first Presi
dent, was Vice-President of the New England
Granite Manufacturers' Association, and is
now one of the Directors; and his fellow-men
have shown their confidence in him by elect
ing him to many other offices of trust. His
services and his benefactions will long be
remembered. He has given to the public a
park of two hundred acres on the west side of
the town, a most romantic and pleasant resort,
which was opened twelve years ago. This
park contains a menagerie, a museum, and
many other objects of interest, including an
old-fashioned kitchen, quaintly furnished, and
a tower one hundred and four feet high, the
top of which is one thousand feet above sea
level. In June, 1846, Mr. P'lynt was married to
Joanna, daughter of Colonel Isaac King, of
Palmer. She died in December, 1850, aged
about thirty, leaving one son, William King
Flynt, who died in February, 1886, at the
age of thirty-five. This gentleman left a
widow and three children — one son and two
daughters. Mr. Flynt was again married, No
vember 23, 1852, to Eudocia Carter Converse,
daughter of Marquis and Sophia (Lyon) Con
verse. Mrs. Flynt's father died at the age of
fifty-seven, her mother at sixty-seven. Seven
children survived, one of whom, Lydia L., is
the wife of John W. Foster, LL.D., ex-Presi
dent of the American Scientific Association,
and resides in Denver; another, Alfred L.
Converse, is now living in Warren, Mass.,
having reached the age of seventy. Six chil
dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Flynt, all of
whom are now living; and they have twenty-
two living grandchildren, three being de
ceased. The children are: Maria L., wife of Henry

A. King, a prominent lawyer of Springfield,
Mass.; Rufus, living at Palmer, Treasurer of
the P""lynt Building and Construction Com
pany; Lyman Coleman Flynt, a merchant in
Monson; Sarah Converse, wife of William A.
Lincoln, of Springfield, Mass., Treasurer of
the Safe Deposit and Trust Company ; Ella
Eudocia, wife of William C Dewey, a banker
and real estate agent in New York City;
George Converse, Treasurer of the William
N. Flynt Granite Company in Monson. Mr.
Flynt's sons, Rufus, Lyman C, and George
C, are in trade in Monson, on the same
ground where their grandfather was estab
lished in the year 1800. Their store now
has a frontage of one hundred and twenty
feet, and is heated by water, and lighted
by electricity. A part of it is the original
building occupied by their grandfather. The
portrait accompanying this sketch is one
which could hardly fail to be recognized any
where in Hampden County. It is that of a
solid business man of the best New England
type.

TJ^HARLES LEWIS CAMPBELL, a
( \r substantial farmer, residing on his
\^Js^^ own estate in Agawam, was born in
the town of Killingworth, Middle
sex County, Conn., November 4, 1827. Plis
father, Charles Campbell, was born March 13,
1797. probably in Middletown, in the same
county, as also his grandfather, Andrew,
whose birth took place February 13, 1768.
His great-grandfather is supposed to have
been one of three brothers who emigrated from
Scotland to this country in Colonial times,
and settled in Middletown.
Andrew Campbell was a tanner by trade,
and carried on that business in connection
with shoemaking in the town of Killingworth;
but eventually he moved to Agawam, Hamp
den County, Mass., and here spent the latter
part of his life. His death occurred in May,
1846. His wife, who was before her marriage
Miss Mary Bacon, was born November 12,
1760, and died August i, 1826. She brought
up their nine children, whose names are here
given: Mary and Anna, twins; Sally and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

741

Charles, twins; Ruth; Andrew; Rhoda;
Gould; John Noise.
Charles Campbell followed the trade of
blacksmith in Killingworth till 1835, at
which time he removed with wife and children
to Agawam, and, settling on the farm on
which his son now resides, turned his atten
tion to agriculture. His death took place
June 12, 1848. He was married on October
15, 1823, to Miss Electa Rutty, whose birth
place, it is supposed, was Killingworth, the
date being June i, 1803. Her father, Mi
chael Rutty, was born March 18, 1772, and
died November 21, 1839. The maiden name
of his wife, to whom he was married February
4, 1793, was Thankful Parmelee. She was
born October 7, 1774. Josiah Parmelee, her
father, who was born April 17, 1749, son of
Josiah and Hannah (Griswold) Parmelee, was
a farmer and, as far as known, a life-long
resident of Killingworth, Conn. The maiden
name of his wife was Mary Buell. She was
born in July of 1754, and was a daughter of
Jeremiah and Mattaniah Buell. Josiah Parme
lee died January 18, 1836, and his wife
December 20, 1833.
Charles Campbell and Electa, his wife,
brought up five children — Charles Lewis,
Ruth E., Susan M., Sereno D., and E.
Elthea. Electa, his widow, married Alanson
Chapin in 1861, and died June 23, 1881.
Charles Lewis Campbell was seven years
old when the family moved from Killingworth
to Agawam, and he received his education in
the common schools of the village and city.
On the occasion of his father's death, when
he was twenty-one years of age, he took charge
of the homestead, and later succeeded to the
ownership of the estate. His farm opera
tions have been successful, land has been
added to the estate, and it now consists of
upward of one hundred and fifty acres in
the town of Agawam.
Mr. Campbell was married December 11,
1853, to Miss Eliza Kelsey, who was born at
Killingworth, Conn., August 3, 1830. Her
father, Willis D. Kelsey, was born in the
same town, November 5, 1800; and her
grandfather, Jonathan Kelsey, was born there
August 14, 1776. Her great-grandfather was

Jonathan Kelsey, Sr., son of David Kelsey,
son of Daniel Kelsey, who was a son of Isaac
Kelsey — all of them natives of the town of
Killingworth, settled near Pond Meadow.
There seems no reason to doubt that the
Kelseys here named were lineal descendants
of William Kelsey, who was made a freeman
at Cambridge, Mass., in 1635, went thence to
Hartford, Conn., where he received a grant of
land in 1639 as one of the original proprie
tors, and removed thence with his son John
to Killingworth about 1663. The settlement
of North Killingworth was begun in 17 16,
and one of the first to make his home there
was "Psaac Kelsey, Esq.," a native of the
First Parish. Jonathan Kelsey, Sr., married
Zerviah Stevens, and his son Jonathan mar
ried Polly Parmelee. Willis D. Kelsey, Mrs.
Campbell's father, was a farmer, also sawed
lumber for ship building, residing in Killing-
worth during his life, and much respected
by his townsmen for his many estimable
qualities. His death occurred December 10,
1873. He married on March 3, 1824, Miss
Charlotte Lane, who was a native of Kil
lingworth, born July 4, 1803. Her parents
were Joseph and Elizabeth (Porter) Lane;
her grandparents, Robert and Sarah Lane.
Robert Lane was an emigrant ancestor, who
settled in Connecticut about 1670.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Campbell have
five children now living: Willis Charles, born
P""ebruary 4, 1856, a farmer, residing in Aga
wam, married March 18, 1879, to Miss Lucy
G. Sikes; Hollis Andrew, born December 17,
1858, now pastor of the Congregational
church in Seymour, Conn., married April 11,
1887, to Miss Delana L. Alden; Nellis E.,
born February 17, 1862, residing with her
parents; Frank Edward, born June 13, 1865,
a farmer, residing in Agawam, and married
November 18, 1885, to C Louise Granger,
who has one daughter, named Bertha Louise,
born December 30, 1889; Elbert Lewis, born
April 19, 1868, married February 15, 1894,
to Laura Agnes Burr, who has a son, named
Ralph Burr, born January 6, 1895. Elbert is
associated with his father in carrying on the
homestead farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are both mem-

742

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

hers of the Congregational church, of which
Mr. Campbell has served as Deacon eight
years.

t LBERT P. CASEY is a wealthy and
retired citizen of Springfield, residing
at No. 475 Union Street, whose
— ' only business activity now is in the
care of his plentiful real estate, as he is the
owner, not only of land, but of houses built
under his direction, for which he himself
made the architectural designs. He belongs
to old Rhode Island stock, and was born in
Exeter in that State on October 3, 1828,
within a month of the death of his father,
John Casey, who was born in the same town
in 1806, and died in 1828, at the early age of
twenty-two, his death being the result of
ignorant medical treatment while suffering
with the measles.
Besides this son Albert, John Casey left a
daughter Hannah, born in 1827, who died
April 24, 1834. The mother, Almira Corey,
was born in 18 12, and lived till October 3,
1885. Five years 'of her life were passed in
Exeter; but she afterward returned to Provi
dence, where she belonged to the Roger Will
iams Church, and married for her second
husband a leading master mechanic of that
city, Simeon M. Pike. Her father was Paris
Corey, a Revolutionary soldier for five years,
who afterward became a resident of Killingly,
Conn. The ancestral immigrant, Thomas
Casey, came to Newport, R.I., in 1658.
Many descendants have been in the navy and
army; and one of them is Brigadier-general
Thomas L. Casey, of Washington, D.C,
holding an office in connection with the army
department. Abel Casey, the grandfather of
our subject, was likewise a native of Exeter;
and the great-grandfather, Thomas Casey, was
the owner of land enough for a township, pur
chased from one hundred and fifty to one hun
dred and seventy-five years ago.
Albert P. Casey's first education was in
Providence, where he graduated at the high
school. Beginning self-support, he was at
first ' clerk in a clothing store in Pawtucket,
a town almost a part of Providence, but later

learned the trade of machinist in a North
Providence shop, whereof his step-father, Mr.
Pike, was a leading proprietor. In 1849, at
the age of twenty-one, he received an appoint
ment in the model-room of the Springfield
Armory, retaining his relations with the
establishment nearly thirty years — in fact,
till our Centennial; but during all this time
he was not in the same position. Three years
he was an inside inspector, and was then sent,
as an outside examiner, to Colt's Armory,
Hartford, in 1875 and 1876. Next he was in
Troy, N.Y., for eight years, in the double
capacity of master mechanic and master
armorer, with three hundred workmen and
thirty soldiers under him. Returning to
Springfield, he was appointed naval inspector
of ordnance, including ammunition, with
headquarters in Hartford, Bridgeport, and
Lynn. This involved a careful inspection of
side arms and the duty of testing and stamp
ing every cartridge shell, though with the
privilege of employing as many assistants as
he needed.
At the expiration of this service, at the age
of sixty-four, he was not sorry to be retired
from these duties, on May 14, 1892, and pass
his declining years in Springfield, where he
already had so much at stake. Though the
builder of nine houses, and dealing with both
purchasers and tenants, he has never been
involved in a lawsuit. He has not, however,
wholly confined himself to real estate transac
tions ; for he was at one time connected with
the New York Fire-arms Company, besides
holding the agency for life and fire insurance
companies, from which he still derives an
income, though no longer in the work. A
decided Republican, he has been a delegate to
various conventions, and is at the present
time, 1895, a member of the City Council for
Ward Five. Masonically, he belongs to
Hampden Lodge, Morning Star Chapter,
Springfield Council and Commandery, In
the brotherhood of the Evening Star he be
longs to Adelphi Chapter.
His marriage to Miss Parnell C Cleveland,
a daughter of Dr. William Henry Cleveland,
one of our oldest Springfield physicians, and
cousin of President Grover Cleveland, took

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

743

place July 5, 1851, when the bride was
twenty-one years of age, having been born
October 9, 1830. By this happy union there
are two living children, others having been
taken away. The eldest, Charles A. Casey,
was born in Springfield in 1854, and died on
the twenty-third day of the next June. Mary
Josephine Casey was born August 10, 1856,
is the wife of "Wells Lathrop, of Holyoke, and
has one child — Nellie De Ett Lathrop.
George C Casey, the youngest brother, was
born in New Haven on December 6, 1866,
and, though now at home, was long employed
in Colt's Armory, and was a naval inspector.
He married Gertrude Dustin, their one child
being Christina Frances Casey. The Caseys
are connected with the Episcopal body, and
belong to Christ Church Parish; and their
pleasant home is in a house 'ouilt by Mr.
Casey about the time of his change from the
Springfield Arsenal to outside work, in 1875.
Mr. Casey was appointed in December, 1894,
as inspector of ordnance for the United States
Navy.

W:

ILLIAM O. KENTFIELD, pay
master of the Chicopee Manufact
uring Company, was born in Chico
pee Falls, June 30, 1843. His father was
William R. and his grandfather Samuel
Kentfield, a native farmer of Northampton,
Hampshire County, Mass. William R. Kent-
field was born in Northampton in 18 14, and
grew up on the home farm, receiving his edu
cation in the district school. On reaching
manhood, he then set out on an independent
career by coming to Chicopee Falls and
engaging work in the bleaching-room of
the Chicopee Manufacturing Company, after
which he became overseer and manager of the
masons' work, having charge of the building
known as old No. 2, besides several of the
other buildings connected with their work.
He continued serving the firm in this capacity
for a number of years, and finally retired, at
the age of sixty-seven, dying in his seventy-
third year. Mr. W. R. Kentfield, who was
known as a man of intelligence among his
townsmen, was a stanch Republican, held sev

eral offices in the town and the village where
he chiefly resided, and in 1873 was elected to
the legislature. He was a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge of
Chicopee Falls. His wife was Miss Sarah
Goff, of Rhode Island, where her father was
an extensive cotton manufacturer. They were
both members of the Baptist church in Chico
pee, and were the parents of two children —
William O. ; and Arthur, a son who died in
youth. Their mother passed a long and honor
able life among her children and friends,
remaining till the age of eighty-five.-
William O., now the only survivor of his
father's family, attended school in the town in
his early years, and at the same time was em
ployed as clerk in a stationer's store, where
he went morning and evening and on Satur
days, learning his school lessons between
times. At the age of eighteen he went into
the cloth-room of the Chicopee Manufacturing
Company, but left that place shortly to go into
the armory at Springfield, where he was em
ployed until 1874. He then entered the
office of the Chicopee Falls Manufacturing
Company as paymaster, which involved the re-
ponsible duties attached to the keeping of the
pay-roll, according to present time, of about
twelve hundred operatives. This factory was
incorporated in 1822, and from small begin
nings has increased to a very large business
in the manufacture of cotton cloths, chiefly
cotton flannels.
Mr. William O. Kentfield was married in
1865 to Miss Jennie A. Clough, a daughter of
Joseph and Lucy (Humphrey) Clough, who
was born in Chicopee Falls, January 19, 1844.
Joseph Clough was born in Springfield in
1 8 10. He established a carriage business in
South Hadley, Hampshire County, and after
conducting it there for a time moved it to
Springfield, and later came to Chicopee
P'alls, being successful in each location and
well reputed for the excellent quality of his
work. In 1849 be went to California; and
he at first undertook mining, but soon turned
to his old trade, establishing a carriage-shop
in Shasta City. After remaining there ten
years, he then gave up active labor, and re
turned to Chicopee Falls, where he died at

744

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the age of seventy-four years. His wife,
Lucy, was born in Littleton, Mass., February
26, 1809, her father being a well-known
farmer of that town. She lived to be eighty
years of age, and was prominent in the Meth
odist Episcopal church, being an active helper
in its various branches of work, as also in
other Christian societies. Mr. and Mrs.
Clough were blessed with eight children —
Joseph, Henry, George, Jennie, Edgar,
P^anny, Emma, and Herbert. Mrs. Kentfield,
their daughter Jennie, like her mother, takes
an active part in religious and philanthropic
work, being President of the Ladies' Auxil
iary of the Young Men's Christian Associa
tion and one of its Directors, and Treasurer
of the Ladies' Society of the Methodist Epis
copal church at Chicopee Falls.
Mr. and Mrs. Kentfield have a fine resi
dence, with spacious grounds, which Mr.
Kentfield built in 1891, at No. 292 Grove
Street, where guests may always find an open-
handed hospitality. He takes active interest
in municipal matters, and was elected one of
the first Aldermen of the city, always uphold
ing the Republican party. He is a member
of the Belcher Lodge, A. F. & A. M., also
of Unity Chapter and of the Springfield Com
mandery, holding in religious matters very
liberal views. As a well-known resident and
a business man of good qualifications he is
regarded as one who may be safely intrusted
with the affairs of the community which call
for good judgment and practical ability.

ON. FRANCIS ELLIOTT CLARK,
a prominent citizen of Wilbraham,

and a member of the State Board of
Agriculture, was born in Spring
field, February 5, 1830, and is the son of
Horace and Lovina (Jones) Clark, a more ex
tended account of the family connections of
whom may be found in a sketch relative to the
career of Henry Clark, which appears else
where in this work.
Mr. Clark was educated in the town schools
and at Wilbraham Academy, where he exhib
ited a remarkable proficiency in his studies.
At the age of nineteen years he commenced

the somewhat arduous occupation of an educa
tor. He inherited musical talents of no mean
order; and, aside from his duties as a teacher
in the district schools, he taught evening
singing schools for five winters, and also pre
sided at similar schools at East Longmeadow
and other places. The school sessions in
those days were confined to the winter season;
and he was occupied during the remainder of
the year in farming, which he diligently pur
sued. In 185s he settled upon the farm
which he now owns and conducts, it being a
part of his father's property that had com
prised the old homestead. He became a
thoroughly successful farmer, and devoted his
time and energies to the scientific practice
and development of agriculture, upon the
various topics of which he is now a recognized
authority. On the 31st day of May, 1855, he was
united in marriage to Miss Annise Lucretia
Fuller, who was born in Montgomery, Hamp
den County, Mass., in 1835, daughter of
William and Annise (Bosworth) Fuller.
Their union was blessed with six children,
four of whom are living, as follows: Ella,
William H., Harry E., and Edgar C Ella
married Edwin L. Shaw, of Chicopee, and
has two children — Ernest and Warren C
William H. wedded Nellie M. Lyman, and
resides in Denver, Col., having three chil
dren — Ernest W. and Everett F., who are
twins, and Geneva E. Edgar C wedded Ida
M. Atchinson, of Ludlow, and has one son —
Percy H.
In politics Mr. Clark has been an active
supporter of the Republican party since its
formation. In 1873 he was elected to the
legislature, and was a member during the ex
citing and memorable session of 1874, when
the late Charles Sumner's successor was ap
pointed; and in that famous legislative strug
gle he firmly and unflinchingly supported the
candidacy of the Hon. Henry L. Dawes. Mr.
Clark has been frequently called upon by his
party to serve as a delegate to the county,
district, and State conventions, and as such
has always handled Republican interests with
ability and success. He has served as Town
Clerk and Treasurer three years. Assessor

FRANCIS E. CLARK.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

747

three years, and was a member of the School
Committee three years; and he was a Select
man for a period extending over nearly eleven
years, and for twenty-one years he has served
as Justice of the Peace. Besides being a
member of the State Board of Agriculture, he
is also prominent in both the Hampden
County and East Hampden Agricultural So
cieties, and was President of the former for
three years. He is also a member of the Bay
State Agricultural Society and the Flampden
Harvest Club, Past Master of Wilbraham
Grange, No. 153, and of the Springfield Dis
trict Grange.
Mr. and Mrs. Clark are members of the
First Congregational Church at Wilbraham,
and Mr. Clark has served as both secretary
and treasurer of the society and as a member
of the parish committee, also as clerk and
treasurer of the church. He is very active
in the Sabbath-school, of which he was super
intendent for a number of years and also a
teacher. The portrait of Mr. Clark which accom
panies this sketch is a welcome addition to
the gallery of notable men in this volume.

SIThe

HE MOSELEY FAMILY. Edward
l| and Thomas Benton Moseley, with
-¦-. their sisters, Mrs. Robinson and Mrs.
Whitney, now occupy the old Moseley home
stead, which is located on Union Street,
Westfield, and is one of the most ancient in
the town, the house having been erected in
1787. It is a commodious frame structure,
well- built and well preserved, with panelled
walls, corner cupboards, old-fashioned win
dow-seats, lofty garret, spinning-wheel and
loom — all suggestive of a by-gone generation.
Shaded by beautiful elms, which are one hun
dred and seven years old, it occupies a pleas
ant location midway between the wooded hills
and the Westfield River. Within its walls
are many interesting relics which have been
handed down from Colonial times. The
family first settled here in 1677, and the
younger generation of to-day is the ninth in
America and the eighth in Westfield.
The first ancestor of the Moseley family in

America was John Moseley, a native of Lan
cashire, England, who sailed from the port of
Plymouth early in 1630 on the ship "Mary
and John," and arrived at Nantasket on the
30th of May. He settled in Dorchester,
which was his home the remainder of his life,
his death taking place iri 1661. His remains
were interred near those of Richard Mather.
His son John, who was the second son in order
of birth, removed from Dorchester to Windsor,
Conn., and thence in 1677 to Westfield, where
he secured land on both sides of the river,
but, after residing here for a number of years,
returned to Windsor, where he died in 1690.
He married Mary, daughter of Benjamin New
berry. Their son Joseph was born on the
2 1 St of December, 1670, and married, in
1696, Abi'gail Root. About the year 1719 he
removed from Westfield to Glastonbury,
Conn., and there spent his declining years.
The next in line was his son, David Moseley,
Esq., who was born February 9, 1704, resided
in Westfield, was a Tory in pre-Revolutionary
times and a man of much influence in the
community. His commission as Justice of
the Peace from King George III., bearing the
date 1749, is still in the possession of his de
scendants. He married Margaret Dewey in
1730, and died January 3, 1768. His son.
Colonel David Moseley, of the Third Regi
ment of militia, was born in Westfield on
March 7, 1735, and died November 5, 1798.
He commanded a company in the Revolu
tionary War, led it to Ticonderoga, and was
present at the surrender of Burgoyne. The
diary kept by him during the war is a sacred
relic in the family. His wife was Lydia
Gay, of Dedham, Mass. In 1787 William
Moseley, son of Colonel David and Lydia,
erected the house where his grandchildren
now reside; and here his commission as Cap
tain in the State militia, signed by Governor
Samuel Adams, is preserved. He was born
April 6, 1764, married Lydia Noble, of West-
field, a daughter of Matthew Noble, and died
April 30, 1839.
A third David Moseley, son of William,
was born in Westfield on the 6th of March,
1798. Plis education was received at the
publie school and at Westfield Academy,

748

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

which was then a flourishing institution. In
1828 he was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel
of Artillery in the First Brigade, Fourth Di
vision, of the militia of the Commonwealth.
He was a man of much influence, being con
stantly consulted as a referee in disputed
matters, and also served as administrator and
executor of numerous estates. He took a
deep interest in all social, political, and edu
cational matters, promoting all enterprises
having for their object the advancement of
his native town. For some years he was
chairman of the School Committee and a
Trustee of Westfield Academy. He was also
a member of the Board of Selectmen. In
1 841 he served as representative in the legis
lature, and in 185 1 was a member of the State
Senate. A friend of progress in husbandry
and especially interested in the culture of
fruit and forest trees, he was a member of
the New England Agricultural Society. He
was familiar with all the roads and bridges of
the vicinity, and, having inherited a taste for
surveying, suggested many improvements.
He was a man of decidfed convictions and
fearless in their expression, and was of a
genial, social disposition, his home being
ever the centre of a generous hospitality. In
his religious views he was liberal, but imbued
with a deep reverence for God as the Father
of all, and the Bible as containing the word
of life. His remains rest in the ancient
burying-ground of his native town, mingling
with the dust of five generations. Although
many seasons have come and gone since he
passed away, on August 26, 1871,
" The soft memory of his virtues yet
Lingers, like twilight hues when the sun is set."
Colonel Moseley was united in marriage
January 24, 1823, with Silence Champion, a
daughter of Reuben and Silence (Ely)
Champion, of West Springfield. This union
was blessed by the birth of eight children,
the record of whom is as follows: Adelia,
born January 14, 1824, was married Septem
ber 22, 1852, to Owen Rockwell, and is now
deceased. Henry Champion, born March 23,
1826, married Susan Ellis Benton. He went
to California in 1850, thence to Oregon,

and from Oregon to Washington, where he
served as a member of the territorial legis
lature. His death took place in Illinois.
F'lavia Isabella, born October 28, 1829, be
came the wife of Josiah C Robinson, of
Springfield, their union being celebrated on
Christmas Day, i860. Mr. Robinson is now
deceased, and his widow resides on the old
Moseley homestead. Maria, born December
12, 1 83 1, was married in February, 1869, to
Alonzo Whitney, formerly of St. Johnsbury,
Vt. She is now a widow, and also resides
on the old homestead. David Noble, born
April 3, 1833, married in May, 1865, Mary,
a daughter of Solomon Phelps. Edward, born
March 3, 1835, was for many years associated
with his brother David in the manufacture of
powder, but at the present time is engaged
in farming on the old homestead. Liberal-
minded, progressive, and fond of reading, he
is interested both in the new thought and
movements of the times and in the records of
the past. Forestry is one of his specialties,
and he is a member of the Hampden County
Historical Society. Benjamin Franklin, born
July 25, 1838, died June 29, 1842. Thomas
Benton, born December 27, 1840, married, in
1876, Clara M., a daughter of George H.
Moseley, and has one daughter — Katherine.
He has served for a number of years as a
member of the Board of Selectmen, and also
as Superintendent of Streets. Following in
the footsteps of their ancestors, the family are
generous and hospitable, extending a hearty
welcome to the stranger at their gates, and
ever mindful of the needs of the poor and
afflicted. Upright and honorable, they exert
a beneficent influence in their community.

OHN C OTTO, proprietor of the
Homestead Job Print of Springfield,
was born in this city on the 28th day
of January, 1866. His father, Charles
Otto, was born in Hanau, Germany, in 18 19.
Coming from a family long engaged in the
manufacture of gold and silver ware, he
learned the trade for which he showed natural
aptitude; and on the death of his father he,
being the eldest son, took charge of the busi-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

749

ness. Emigrating to this country in the
fifties, he immediately found employment in
the jewelry manufactory of John Rumrill in
New York City. When that firm removed
their factory to Springfield, he came with
them, remaining in their employ until they
closed out their business. He died in 1885,
survived by his widow and nine children,
namely: Charles G., Albert D., August R.,
John C, and Frank F., of Springfield; and
Robert C, Fred W., and Elizabeth D., wife
of George A. Brown, of Providence, R.I.;
and Dr. M. J. Otto, of New York City.
John C, the subject of this sketch, ac
quired his education in the public schools of
Springfield, including the high school, and
then went into the office of the Homestead
Job Print, which had just been started in a
very modest way in the summer of 1879. 'In
1887 he bought the plant, which was at that
time located in the Homestead Building on
West Worthington Street. The part he occu
pied being subsequently torn down, he moved
to commodious quarters in Abbe's Block on
Main Street, where he soon enlarged his
plant. The excellent work produced secured
an increased patronage, and necessitated an
increase in the force of hands employed. It
was while located here that the destructive
fire of November 22, 1893 (a date long to be
remembered by residents of Springfield) oc
curred; and new temporary quarters were
immediately secured at 100 Worthington
Street. A convenient and suitable place
was later found at 82 Worthington Street,
where he is now established. With every
thing new since the fire, machinery of the
latest and best make, and the choicest produc
tions of the type-founder's art, he is possessed
of an equipment without an equal in Spring
field. A unique method of advertising has
been pursued by him for the past eight years,
consisting of neatly printed blotters, which
have been mailed monthly to business men
and customers.
Mr. Otto is a Mason, a member of the Red
Men, Knights of the Essenic Order, Improved
Order of Heptasophs, and of the Springfield
Bicycle Club, and takes great interest in cy
cling matters. On January 31, 1894, he was

married to Miss Elizabeth Madeline Dimond,
of Millerton, N.Y., a daughter of Thomas
Dimond, of that town. They attend the
North Congregational Church of Springfield,
and reside at their home, 38 Greenleaf
Street, in the Forest Park district.

(sTr LBERT L. QUANCE, chairman of
t^ the Board of Selectmen of the town
Jj\\ of Russell, is a bright example
— ' of what can be accomplished by in
dustry and perseverance coupled with sound
business principles and good judgment.
Laboring with cheerful assiduity to make a
home for his family, to educate his children,
and to attain an honored position among his
fellows, he has at the same time freely lent
his aid toward the advancement of the com
mon weal, casting his influence ever on the
side of right, and is enabled while yet in the
prime of life to enjoy his well-earned pros
perity. Mr. Quance was born in Granville, Hamp
den County, Mass., on September 18, 1852,
his parents being Samuel and Lydia (Row
ley) Quance, the former of whom was a na
tive of Hadley, Hampshire County, Mass.
The paternal grandfather was a native of the
same county, it is thought, and is believed to
have been of Dutch ancestry. His last years
were passed in Granville. His son Samuel
served an apprenticeship to Horace Prout, of
Suffield, Conn., to learn the trade of black
smithing, and from Suffield removed to Gran
ville, where he followed his trade for a time,
later engaging in agricultural pursuits, his
death taking place in April, 1875. The
maiden name of his wife, the mother of
Albert L. Quance, was Lydia Rowley. She
was born in Granville, a daughter of Thomas
and Mehitabel (Stevens) Rowley, the father
being a native of Connecticut, from which
State he removed to Granville, Mass., which
was his place of residence the rest of his
life, his occupation being that of farming.
Mrs. Lydia Quance was born in Westfield,
Mass. She reared a family of six children —
George, Martha, Albert L., Mary, Lucy, and
Sarah.

750

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Albert L. Quance made his home with his
parents until he was ten years old, from that
time on earning his own living and assisting
in the support of the family. At the age of
twenty he purchased his time from his father,
paying him seventy-five dollars, and still con
tinued to labor on a farm, working by the
month. He was industrious and economical,
saving his earnings, and in August, 1876, was
able to purchase the farm he now occupies,
comprising two hundred and sixty acres, and
located in the valley, one mile from the rail
road station and seven miles from the village
of Westfield. He has practically recon
structed the buildings, and his improvements
compare favorably with the best in the town.
In addition Mr. Quance has purchased other
property, including the adjoining farm, upon
which are good buildings, and is now the
owner of upward of four hundred and sixty-
five acres, besides a house and lot at the mill.
On the 30th of October, 1879, was cele
brated the marriage of Mr. Quance with Miss
Marie F. Shelley. Mrs. Quance was born in
Westfield, her parents being George and
Elvira S. (Bates) Shelley. Her father was a
native of Southampton and a son of Norman
and Lorrilla (Tryon) Shelley, and her mother
a native of Collinsville, Conn., and a daugh
ter of William and Mary N. (Sackett) Bates.
Mr. and Mrs. Quance are the parents of two
children — Samuel and Nettie. Mr. Quance
is independent in politics, and has served
eleven years as a member of the Board of
Selectmen, four years of this time being its
chairman. Fraternally, he is connected with
Huntington Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; Woro
noco Lodge, No. 79, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, and Woronoco Lodge, No.
19, I. O. R. M.

of the lead-
Springfield, the Fuller
Building, has been a resident of
the city since 1865. He is a native of Ger
many, born in Bautzen, Saxony, August 30,
1833, being a son of George and Agnes
Mitschke, of that place; and he is the only

representative of his father's family in
America. Having received his education in the place
of his nativity, at the age of fourteen years he
became an apprentice to a tailor, for whom he
worked three years, and afterward worked at
his trade in Bautzen. From 1857 until i860
he was an employee in one of the foremost
tailoring shops of Berlin, going thence to
Dresden, where he was employed by Heiman
& Stupmann, fine custom tailors, for a year.
Mr. Mitschke then came to this country, land
ing in New York City, June 22, 1861. Not
being acquainted with the English language,
he attended school until he had learned to
read and write good English, and at the same
time worked at his trade, remaining in that
city until 1865, when he removed to Spring
field. Two years later he was established as
cutter for Charles Schober, remaining thus
employed until the death of Mr. Schober in
1885, when he bought out the business, which
he continued at the old stand in the Chicopee
Bank Building until the completion of the
Fuller Building in 1889, whereupon he took
possession of his present fine quarters.
He is here carrying on an extensive busi
ness in fine grade work, exclusively custom
work, having built up a lucrative trade and
won a good reputation for superiority of work
manship. Socially, Mr. Mitschke is a mem
ber of Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
Morning Star Chapter, Springfield Council
and the Commandery, and is ex-President of
the Schiitzen Verein. In politics he affiliates
with the Republican party, and cast his first
Presidential vote for General U. S. Grant.
On January i, 1867, he was united in mar
riage to Emma Mary P""ranzen, of Northamp
ton. She is of German parentage, and was
born either in Germany or on the sea between
Germany and England. They are the parents
of four children: Louisa, wife of Eugene
Winkler, of Springfield; Emma; Agnes; and
P'rederick A., who has learned the tailor's
trade, and is associated with his father in
business. Mr. Mitschke has occupied his
cosey home, at No. 42 P'remont Street, for
the past twelve years. Mrs. Mitschke died
March 22, 1877. She, as well as her husband,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

751

was beloved and respected by their neighbors
and friends, both being consistent members of
the Congregational church and active workers
in religious circles.

/ STeORGE ATKINS, a well-known and
\ '3 I highly successful contractor, residing
^-"^ in Palmer, Mass., was born in
Broome County, New York, in 1853, son of
Henry and Almira (Bardwell) Atkins. His
grandfather, Alvah, owned and for many years
conducted the old stage line from Boston to
Albany. He was an extensive dealer in
horses; and, aside from the many which were
necessary in his legitimate business, he always
had a number of animals on hand for the pur
pose of speculation, being very successful in
that particular branch of trade. He died at
the age of seventy-six, and his wife, Lucinda
Root, at the age of fifty years.
Henry Atkins was born at Westfield, Mass.,
in 1820, and as he grew to manhood was for
some time employed by his father as a- stage
driver. The very first number of the Spring
field Evening Republican issued contained a
notice of the marriage of Henry Atkins and
Miss Susan Howe, March 27, 1844. Mrs.
Atkins died, leaving two children — Ernest,
who died in infancy ; and Grace, who became
the wife of Samuel Little, and resides in Bos
ton. Henry Atkins married for his second
wife Almira Bardwell, a native of Whately,
Mass., daughter of Cyrus D. and Roxanna
(Waite) Bardwell, the parents having been
both natives of Tunbridge, Vt., and the father
being a blacksmith by trade. He was born
March 7, 1802, and died January 9, 1878.
His wife was born February 9, 1805, and died
F'ebruary 14, 1857, having had a family of
seven children — Almira, Hannah M., Mary
]., Electa A., Eliza M., Freddie W., and
Sarah V.
After his second marriage Henry Atkins
went to New York State, where he secured a
large contract in grading the Syracuse & Bing
hamton Railroad, in which he employed sev
eral teams; arid at its completion he in
company with his father secured and completed
a large contract on the John Brown tract of

timber land in that State. Later Henry be
came superintendent in the construction of the
New York City Reservoir; and, having con
cluded his engagement there, he went to Hol
yoke, Mass., where he assisted in constructing
the first dam across the Connecticut River.
He then became interested in contracting at
Chicopee, and after a residence there of twenty
years, during which time he carried a great
amount of important work to a successful
termination, removed to Palmer. Here he
died suddenly after a very short illness, at the
age of seventy-three years, leaving a widow
and three children: George M. ; Charles, who
married Miss A. V. Mitchell, and resides in
Palmer; and Lizzie V. L. , now the wife of
J. H. Woods, of Somerville, Mass. Henry
Atkins was originally a Whig, afterward a
Republican, in politics, and a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church. His widow now
resides at her very comfortable home in
Palmer. George M. Atkins, after completing his edu
cation, was for a time employed by his father,
with whom he eventually became a partner,
and came to Palmer in 1883, where he erected
a house on Converse Avenue, and later pur
chased a handsome residence on Thorndike
Street. He has completed many extensive
contracts in heavy stone work for the Boston &
Albany Railroad, and also has conducted some
important work in the sewerage system of
Springfield. Capable, thorough, and a good
business manager, with an unblemished record
for honesty and fair dealing, he occupies a
conspicuous place among Palmer's influential
citizens, owning in the town a considerable
amount of valuable real estate.
In 1876 he was united in marriage to Miss
Margaret Josephine Wakefield, who was born
at Needham, Mass., March 10, i860, daughter
of John and Mary L. (McGuyer) Wakefield.
Her father, who was born at Nottingham,
England, emigrated to the United States in
1850, and died at the age of sixty-five in the
year 1880. Her mother, who was born in
Boston, now resides at Newton, Mass., and has
had a family of eight children, as follows :
Joseph, William, Julia, Charles, Anna,
Josephine, Antoinette, and Willahmina. The

752

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

union of Mr. and Mrs. Atkins has been blessed
with four children: Charles H., born August
13, 1878; Allen W., born September 11,
1881; Harold Lisle, born July 18, 1887; and
Edna, born January i, 1893. Mr. Atkins is a
Republican in politics, with a thorough and
intelligent conception of the important issues
of both the State and nation, and is now
(1895) serving as one of the Board of Select
men of Palmer. Mrs. Atkins is a member of
the Baptist church.

SUMNER SMITH, merchant,
an influential resident of the town
of Hampden, Mass., was born at
Willington, Tolland County, Conn.,
August 21, 1825. His father, Charles Smith,
a native of the same town and a son of John
Smith, was reared to agricultural pursuits, and
resided at Willington until 1842, when he sold
his farm, and moved to Stafford, Conn., where
he engaged in the manufacture of boxes and
also conducted a farm. He was an enterpris
ing and well-known citizen, and resided in
that town until his decease, which occurred at
the age of fifty-four years. His wife, whose
maiden name was Hannah Thresher, was born
at Stafford, and passed her last years with her
children. She lived to reach her one hun
dredth year, having been the mother of nine
children ; namely, Sidney, Emily, Samuel,
Lorinda H., Martha, Charles, Sumner, Lyman,
and Mary.
Sumner Smith was educated in the public
schools, and remained with his parents on the
home farm until reaching the age of sixteen
years, when he entered the employ of the
Hydeville Manufacturing Company. In 1846,
after about five years' experience, he came to
South Wilbraham, now Hampden, where he
accepted a position with Bradford & Script
ure as overseer in the finishing department.
Afterward he was superintendent for Scripture
& Co., Scantic Mills; and for the last eleven
years of his mill work he was superintendent
for L. B. Chapman's woolen mills, where he
gave the best satisfaction, both to his em
ployers and to the help under his charge.
Soon after the death of P,. B. Chapman he left

the mill, and in 1877 bought out William
P. Fuller's general store at Hampden, where
he has since carried on a successful business.
Mr. Smith was Selectman in Wilbraham
three successive years, in 1892 being chair
man of the Board. When the town was
divided, he was chosen first Clerk and Treas
urer of Hampden, which office he held for
eleven years, when he declined further service.
At the present time Mr. Smith is a mem
ber of the Board of Selectmen, Overseer of
the Poor, and Postmaster. He has held the
office of Justice of the Peace for twenty-one
years. His first wife, whom he married in 1851,
Frances A. E. Stebbins, of Monson, daughter
of William C and Eliza (Perrin) Stebbins,
died in 1861. He married for his second wife
Miss Ella A. Arnold, of Somers Corners,
daughter of Enos Arnold ; and they are the
parents of two children — William and Mabel
D. Mr. Smith had two daughters by his first
marriage, namely : Lola, who died at the age
of sixteen ; and Mary, who died at the age of
four years. He has always been an active
Republican in politics, and served two terms
as Postmaster. He was elected in 1891 to
represent the Ninth Hampden District in the
legislature, and as such served with credit both
to himself and his constituents. Both himself
and wife are members of the Baptist church.
The foregoing record, which is accompanied
by a faithful portrait of its special subject,
shows that Mr. Smith's life has been one of
continuous activity, and that, as becomes an
intelligent and loyal citizen of a free country,
he has devoted much time and energy to public
affairs.

|IL0 CHAPIN, a prosperous farmer
residing in the Eighth Ward,
Springfield, was born upon the
farm he now owns and operates,
March 20, 1823. His father, Eliphalet Cha
pin, was born in Enfield, Conn. ; and his
grandfather, who was also named Eliphalet,
was probably a native of the same State. The
latter moved with his family from Connecticut
to Massachusetts long before the advent of

SUMNER SMITH.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

755

railroads, accomplishing the journey with a
team. He located in the eastern part of
Springfield, where he acquired a tract of land,
which he improved into a good farm, and on
which he resided for the remainder of his days.
The maiden name of his wife was Abigail
Pease. Eliphalet Chapin, Jr., was reared to
agricultural pursuits, and remained upon the
homestead until his decease, which occurred
in 1838, at the age of forty-nine years. His
wife, by maiden name Asenath Phelps, was
called to her final rest at the age of forty-one
years, after having reared a family of eight
children. Milo Chapin attended the district schools in
his spare time, and assisted his father in the
ifsual farm work, later acquiring possession of
the homestead by purchasing the interest of
the other heirs. 'The property is well im
proved, arid occupies a fine location, being
situated about five miles from Main Street, in
the district known as Sixteen Acres.
On January 14, 1846, Mr. Chapin was
united in marriage to Miss Thirza Ufford, of
Hampden, daughter of Dr. Daniel Ufford, who
was for many years a practising physician of
that town. "Pheir union was blessed with two
daughters — Lucy and Abby. Lucy, who mar
ried A. S. Gardner, died in December, 1893,
leaving three children — Gertrude, Robert C,
and Charles L. Abby is the wife of F. E.
Sawin, a resident of Springfield. Mrs. Chapin
was called to her final rest in September,
1893. Mr. Chapin is a member of Olivet Church,
as was also his wife; and he has been a Re
publican in politics since the formation of that
party.

W\

ALTER HERRICK OATLEY, one
of the prominent and influential
young business men of Blandford,
Hampden County, Mass., was born in this
town. May 2, 1858. His ancestors belonged
on English soil, the first member of the family
having come to this country and settled in
Rhode Island before the close of last century.
He was a weaver by trade, and lived and died
in that State. His son, Joseph Oatley, was

born in South Kingston, R. I., September 13,
1793- He became a farmer, and moved to Bland
ford when about thirty years of age, settling in
the southern part of the town, on what was
then termed Pudding Hill, the land, which by
hard labor he brought under cultivation, now
being owned by Almon J. Smith. He resided
on that place twenty years, and then bought
the farm of which his grandson, Walter H.
Oatley, is now the owner, by subsequent pur
chase increasing its dimensions from one hun
dred and sixty acres to two hundred. He was
an efficient member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and was a Republican in politics, dying
at last, "being old and full of days," January
13, 1883. His wife, Eliza Wells, was born
in West Hartford, Conn., December 26, 1801,
and died November 23, 1864, They were the
parents of nine children, only one of whom is
now living — Mrs. Susan Sperry, of Blandford.
Emerson Oatley, son of Joseph, was born in
Blandford, November 10, 1831, and in his
boyhood attended the schools of the town. Pie
was brought up to agricultural pursuits, which
he followed as his chief occupation through
life. He also dressed meat for the local
markets. In time he became the owner of
land in Blandford Centre, now in the posses
sion of Lucy Knox. On October 8, 1855, Mr.
Oatley was married to Miss Charlotte E. Her
rick, who was born July 11, 1837, daughter of
Thomas and Mary (Knox) Herrick. Her
grandfather, Thomas Herrick, Sr. , was prob
ably the first member of the Herrick family to
reside in these parts. He came from South
ampton to Blandford, and at an early day
bought farm lands in the eastern part of the
town, but later purchased the estate on which
H. K. Herrick now resides. IPe was a suc
cessful farmer, and was a Baptist in his relig
ious views. His death occurred at the age of
fifty-five years. His wife, Betsey Brock way,
died at the age of ninety-one years. T'wo of
their children are still living — Mrs. Dennison
Healey, residing in North Blandford ; and
Mrs. Julius Pratt, of West Springfield.
Thomas Herrick, son of the elder Thomas
and father of Mrs. Oatley, was a leading
farmer of the town. He was born in Bland-

7S6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ford, August 6, 1809, and died February i,
1872. Her mother was also born in the town.
May 7, 1 81 3, and died in Springfield, January
16, 1895. They had ten children, of whom
seven are now living: Mrs. Charlotte E. Oat
ley and H. K. Herrick, both of Blandford;
Mrs. Ursula Hawes, of Springfield ; Mrs.
Emma Nye, of Worcester; Mrs. Pllizabetb
Richards, of Wilbraham; Mrs. Melissa Nye,
of Westfield; Miss Ada A. Herrick, of
Springfield. The three deceased were : Isa
bella, at eighteen years ; Bessie, at sixteen
years; and Hattie, at seven years.
Mr, and Mrs. Emerson Oatley became the
parents of six children, namely: Emerson W. ,
born August 31, 1856, living in Springfield;
Walter Herrick, of this account ; Charlotte
E., born July 11, i860, died April 8, 1871 ;
Ruth Gaylord, born March 9, 1865, died
August 14, 1867; Rose Gertrude, born March
9, 1865; and Fred L., born August 9, 1867,
living in Springfield. Mr. Oatley, the father,
was a Republican in politics and liberal in
religion, and was a man of business activity
in the town. He took part in organizing the
Blandford Agricultural Society, and gave it
his support. His early death, at the age of
thirty-six, August 28, 1867, was deeply felt in
the community.
Walter H. Oatley received his education in
the Blandford schools and at the Wilbraham
Academy. On the death of his father he went
to live with James Richards; and after three
years he went to his uncle, W. R. Nye, with
whom he remained three years, attending
school as well as working during that time,
and receiving board, clothes, and fifty dollars
for his services. Returning to the old home
stead, he in company with his brother Emer
son soon took the management of the farm ;
and two years later he bought out the stage
route between North Blandford and Russell.
This proving a success, he next bought out his
brother's interest in the farm, and resided
there till May i, 1893, when, having brought
the land to a high state of cultivation, he sold
the estate. Before this he had bought a wood
lot and steam-mill, and begun the lumber busi
ness, which he continued for three years, and
then disposed of that also. Leaving the farm,

he moved first to the R. D. Boise place; and
from there he came to his present home.
Mr. Oatley is now conducting business as a
contractor and builder, being engaged in put
ting up a handsome residence for himself in
town and also two new houses in West Spring
field. He owns two cottages in the vicinity,
which he rents to summer residents. Mr.
Oatley is interested in all that concerns the
prosperity of Blandford, among other enter
prises being identified with the new water
works system, co-operating with Mr. Boise and
Mr. Henry, who with himself are owners of an
artesian well two hundred feet deep in solid
rock. Mr. Oatley has long been a member in
good standing of the great fraternity of busy
workers. He is a Republican in politics, lib
eral in religious views, and has served as Town
Treasurer and Tax Collector. His family
consists of his mother and one sister, Rose
Gertrude, both of whom are members of the
Congregational church, of which Mr. Oatley is
a generous supporter.

LTRANK B. morse, proprietor of the
pl^ Excelsior Steam Laundry, a flourishing
industry of Springfield, Mass., is one
of the city's enterprising business men. He
was born June 28, 1857, at South Royalton,
Vt., being a son of Thomas Perry and Chloe
E. (Hayward) Morse. The Morse family was
well represented in the early history of New
England. Anthony and William Morse,
brothers, from Wiltshire, England, came in
the "James," arriving in Boston June 3,
1635, and settling in Newbury. Samuel
Morse came in the "Increase " the same year,
and settled in Dedham. Joseph Morse is
known to have been in Ipswich, Mass., as
early as 1637, his son Joseph having previously
come to Watertown. Thomas Morris Morse,
the father of Thomas Perry Morse, was born
January 14, 1796, in Norwich, Vt., and was
there married on the 3d of December, 181 2, to
Electa Smith, who was born March 12, 1795;
and they reared a family of ten children. His
wife died in Claremont, N. H. ; and he subse
quently removed to Rushford, Minn., where
he was a pioneer settler.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

757

Their son, Thomas Perry, was born in Chel
sea, Vt., on December 3, 181 5. He learned
the use of tools of all kinds when young, was
well skilled in mechanics, and, being enter
prising and progressive, soon became a master
carpenter and then a contractor, spending the
larger part of his active life in his native
State, in the towns of Chelsea and South
Royalton, with the exception of ten years he
spent as a contractor and builder in Lowell,
Mass. He was a man of high moral character,
honest in deed and word, and held in general
respect. He married a Miss Hayward, a
native of Chelsea, Vt. ; and to them were born
eight children, as follows: Henry, who died
in January, 1894; Frances E., the wife of a
Mr. Murdock, of New York City; Mary E.,
the wife of L. E. Wardwell, of New" York
City; John W., of South Royalton, Vt. ;
Charles F., of Springfield; Emma V., who
died May 13, 1895, wife of W. C Weeks,
of West Randolph, Vt. ; Frank B., of Spring
field; and Eliza (deceased), who married
Elisha T. Beetle, of South Royalton, Vt.
Frank B. Morse was reared and educated in
the town in which he was born, remaining
there until eighteen years of age, when he
went to Boston to enter the employment of
Swift & Hathaway. A year later he made his
advent in Springfield; and the following eight
years was an employee of the American Ex
press Company, working in different depart
ments of their office. He next entered the
Troy Steam Laundry, where, after six months'
steady application to the details of the busi
ness, he was admitted to partnership, the firm
name being C A. Royce & Co. At the end
of a year Mr. Morse sold his interest in that
laundry, and built the fine three-story brick
block, forty-six feet by seventy-five feet, at
Nos. 29 and 31 Sanford Street. One of the
two stores in the block he has fitted up with
the most approved modern machinery for laun
dries, and is now conducting a remunerative
business, employing from fifty to sixty people
the year round, his large patronage necessi
tating the use of five teams for collecting and
delivering his laundry work. Mr. Morse has
other city property, having built a handsome
residence in Hawthorne Place, in that attrac

tive part of the city known as Forest Park, and
is also a stockholder in the Co-operative Bank
of Springfield.
On the 2Sth of August, 1880, Mr. Morse
was united in marriage to M. Alice Bush, a
daughter of G. A. Bush, of Springfield. Mr.
and Mrs. Morse are very popular in social
circles, their genial hospitality attracting hosts
of friends to their fireside ; and both are attend
ants of Faith Congregational Church. Mr.
Morse is a member of the Masonic fraternity,
belonging to Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M.,
and to Morning Star Chapter, Royal Arch
Masons. In 1880 he joined the Hampden
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows;
and he is also a prominent member of the
Springfield Bicycle Club.

ON. SAMUEL KNOX, a native of
the town of Blandford, but for many
years past a prominent attorney at
St. Louis, Mo., and a member of
the Thirty-eighth Congress, was born March
21, 1815, son of Alanson and Lucinda (Knox)
Knox. His father was born at Blandford,
January 18, 1784; and his mother, whose
maiden name was also Knox, as above men
tioned, was born in August of the same year.
His paternal grandfather, Elijah Knox, was" a
native of Blandford; and his paternal grand
mother, who before her marriage was Ruth
Huntley, came from New York State.
William Knox, grandfather of Elijah, is
mentioned in the History of the Connecticut
Valley as a pioneer settler in Blandford. Eli
jah Knox became extensively engaged in agri
cultural pursuits, and during the Revolutionary
War rendered much valuable patriotic service,
though not actually present in the field of
battle. He died in Blandford at the age of
seventy-three, and his wife at eighty-three
years. He attended the Congregational
church, of which his wife was an active mem
ber; and in politics he early united himself
with the old Whig party. The maternal
grandfather, Samuel Knox, who was also a
life-long resident of Blandford and a farmer,
did his share in assisting the cause of Ameri
can independence, though he did not carry a

758

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

musket. His death occurred at the age oi
seventy-three, and that of his wife, Betsey, at
the age of eighty-three years. Both were
Episcopalians. Samuel Knox became promi
nent in political matters, and was elected by
the Whig party to the General Court in 1811.
Alanson Knox was the eldest child of his
father's family, and grew to manhood in his
native town of Blandford. Entering the law
office of Eli P. Ashmun, he fitted himself for
the legal profession, and was engaged in prac
tice in Blandford until 1838, when he moved
to Ohio. At his residence in that State, sit
uated about sixteen miles from the city of
Cleveland, he died in 1865, having reached
the advanced age of eighty-two years. He was
a prominent citizen, ranking among the lead
ing lawyers of his day. He was a Whig in
politics, and served as a member of the Massa
chusetts legislature. His wife lived to reach
the ripe old age of nearly ninety-two years,
and both were communicants of the Episcopal
church. Of their four children one, Lavinia,
died before reaching the age of ten years, and
three arrived at maturity, two of whom are
now living: Elizabeth, the widow of the late
Chief Justice Chapman, who resides in Spring
field; and the Hon. Samuel Knox, who forms
the principal subject of this record, and who
is the youngest of the family. Ruth, the
widow of the late Thomas M. Bayard, died at
the age of over seventy years.
Samuel Knox made the best of the educa
tional opportunities afforded him in the
schools of his native town, and at the age of
fourteen years entered the Monson Academy,
where he fitted for his collegiate course. He
was graduated at Williams College in 1836,
and then studied law for a time with Messrs.
Chapman & Ashmun; and after a year's
course at the Harvard Law School he was
admitted to the bar in St. Louis, Mo., in
June, 1838. He immediately commenced the
practice of his profession, and, becoming well
and favorably known, attained to an eminent
position in the legal fraternity of the State of
Missouri. IPe has always been a spirited
leader in political affairs, having united with
the Republican party at its organization and
faithfully adhering to its principles. Pie was

elected a representative to the Thirty-eighth
Congress, and served with distinction beside
many statesmen who were celebrated in their
day. He has been active in the public affairs
of the city of St. Louis, serving for two years
as a member of the City Council, and also
serving as City Counsellor.
On March 18, 1845, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Mary Kerr, of St. Louis, daugh
ter of Matthew and Hannah Kerr. She died
on August I, 1863, leaving five children, as
follows: Samuel Knox, Mrs. Hannah S. Lus-
comb, Reuben, Henry, and Mary, the three
sons being lawyers. A fourth, Matthew
Henry Knox, died at the age of three years.
Mrs. Knox was a member of the' Presbyte
rian church, with which he is also united.
For several years past his St. Louis residence
has been at the Lindell Hotel, but of late he
has spent much time at Blandford ; and he
expects here to pass the greater part of his
remaining years. His native town certainly
has just reason to be proud of her son and to
do him honor.

His

ULIUS H. WELLS, an enterprising
grocer of Springfield, was born at Gran
ville, Mass., November 7, 1857, son of
Charles and Sarah (Dewey) Wells.
father, whose birth occurred at West
Hartford, Conn., May 25, 18 19, was a son of
Calvin Wells, the latter having been the son
of Bazie Wells, a soldier in the Revolutionary
War, belonging to an old Colonial family.
Calvin Wells, who was a farmer at Granville
during his latter years, moved from West Hart
ford, Conn., to Westfield, later residing suc
cessively at Chicopee, Granville, and Chicopee
Falls, at one time conducting business in the
latter place. Charles Wells learned the trade
of a carpenter, and came to Springfield in
1864, where he followed that calling, and also
entered into contracting upon a moderate scale.
He married Miss Sarah Dewey, daughter of
Richard Dewey; and they raised a family of
six children, three of whom now survive : Ju
lius H. ; Bella M. ; and Cora, wife of Edward
D. Moore, of this city. Charles Wells died
at Springfield on January 28, 1888, his wife

WALTER P. GRIFFIN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

761

having been previously called to rest on Sep
tember 20, 1864.
Their son, Julius H., commenced his stud
ies at the public schools of Chicopee Falls,
and completed them at the Springfield High
School, after which he learned the trade of a
painter, and during the years of 1876 and 1877
was engaged in that business on his own
account. Selling out at the end of the latter
year, and securing a position as clerk in the
grocery store of C. H. Bennett & Co., he
continued in that capacity until March, 1884,
when he purchased an interest in the concern,
with which he remained as a partner until
January 23, 1892, the firm having during that
time conducted a very profitable business. On
the date above mentioned he sold his interest
to his partner, and in the following May estab
lished himself in business at the corner of
Walnut and Cedar Streets, having secured
spacious quarters, sixty feet deep, in a sub
stantial brick block, which afforded ample
facilities for conducting an extensive retail
trade. He is thoroughly posted in the grocery
business, and since opening trade in the Hill
district, has been eminently successful, being
at the present time one of the solid merchants
of the city.
Mr. Wells has invested somewhat in real
estate, having purchased the old homestead
where his father formerly resided. He is a
member of Roswell Lee Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., Morning Star Chapter, and Springfield
Council, also Hampden Lodge, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and Springfield Lodge
of Knights of Pythias, being a very prominent
member of these fraternal organizations and
exceedingly active in forwarding their in
terests. On April 30, 1883, he wedded Miss Fidelia
Peckham, daughter of Cyrus Peckham, a resi
dent of Newport, R. I., and a prominent build
ing contractor of that city, whose family
ancestors were among the first to settle upon
the island of Rhode Island. Mr and Mrs.
Wells have had three children, two of whom
have passed away, the only surviving one
being Benjamin Slocum Wells. They attend
Christ's Episcopal Church, of which Mrs.
Wells is a communicant.

ALTER P. GRIFFIN, a practical
and progressive farmer in South
wick, whose portrait appears on a
neighboring page, was born in Granby, Conn.,
December 13, 1839, son of Philo Z. and Betsey
A. (Stevens) Griffin and grandson of Zopher
and Margaret Griffin. The grandfather spent
his entire life in his native place, the town of
Granby. He was a hard worker, and through
his own exertions came to be a successful man.
In politics he was a stanch Whig; and in
religion he held liberal views, believing that
one should have a standard of right and live
up to it, regardless of sects and dogmas. He
lived to be eighty years old. Grandmother
Griffin was also a native of Connecticut, and
during a long and busy life was a model wife
and mother. She reared thirteen children,
only one of whom is now living — Luther
Griffin, who resides in Suffield, Conn.
Philo Z. Griffin grew to manhood in Granby.
He followed in his father's footsteps, and was
an industrious farmer, owning at the time of
his decease a farm of one hundred acres in fine
condition. He was a Republican and a man
of principle, standing high in the esteem of
his townsmen, who made him Selectman and
also sent him to the legislature. He was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church up "
to the time of his death, which occurred when
he was eighty-six years old. His wife, who
was born at East Granby, Conn., passed to the
life beyond when seventy-five years of age.
They had eight children, seven of whom
are now living: Webster D., a farmer at
Warehouse Point, near Windsor Locks,
Conn. ; P.izzie A., wife of C. W. Holcomb, of
Washington, D.C; Walter P., of Southwick;
Charles Z. , living in Tompkins County, N.Y. ;
Alfred H., a farmer in Granby, Conn. ; Mar
garet, wife of Dwight Barnard, of Guilford,
Conn. ; and Marshall, a farmer in North
Granby. The other son, Porter J. Griffin,
died when forty-nine years old.
Walter P., having received his early educa
tion in Granby, left home at the age of twenty,
and worked out as a farm hand till September,
1862, when he enlisted to fight for the Union,
and was enrolled in Company E, Sixteenth
Connecticut Regiment, under command of

762

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Colonel Cheney. He was not in battle, but
was engaged in detail duty during his term of
service, which lasted until March, 1863. Re
ceiving an honorable discharge on account of
disability, he then returned to Granby, where
he took up his former occupation of farming.
While yet a single man he bought sixty acres
of land, which he proceeded to bring under
cultivation; and after his marriage he added
to it forty acres, making a fine farm of one
hundred acres. On April i, 1871, he moved
•to Southwick, and bought the farm he now
occupies, his real estate at present comprising
two hundred and sixty-four acres of arable
land, about twenty acres being in Suffield and
the rest in Southwick. Mr. Griffin is an
industrious and persevering man, who has
acquired his property through his own efforts.
He is considered one of the best farmers in
Southwick, and his fields and buildings are
remarkable for their neat and thrifty appear
ance. Mr. Griffin votes in the ranks of the
Republican party, and he and his wife are
members of the Congregational church.
On March 13, 1867, he was married to
Allena L., daughter of Abram and Anna (Coo
ley) Dibble. Mrs. Griffin was born October
14, 1845, in Granby, which town was also the
birthplace of her parents. Her father was
born in 1798, and died at the age of fifty-
eight. He was a farmer in good circum
stances, was an old-time Democrat, and favored
the Congregational church. Mrs. Dibble was
born October 13, 1802, and is still living at
the advanced age of ninety-two. She resides
at Granby, and is a member of the Congrega
tional church. They had six children, three
of whom are now living — Mary Jane, widow
of Marcus Cushman, residing in Granby; Hin-
man A. Dibble, a tobacco dealer in Hartford;
and Mrs. Griffin. The deceased are : Polly
Ann Dibble, who died at fifteen months; Mrs.
Diana L. Talmage, who died at the age of
thirty-four; and Mrs. Ellen P. Barnes, who
passed away at forty-two. Mrs. Griffin is a
member of the Congregational church, and is
the mother of four children, namely: Cooley
A. Griffin, a farmer, who married Effie J.
Dohaerty, and resides with his parents;
Charles W. Griffin, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who

has shown talent as an artist; Helen L. , wife
of Eugene Hoffman, depot master at South
wick; and Verna A. Griffin, who resides with
her parents at the pleasant home in Southwick.

LBERT DAVIS NASON, President of
the Bay State Corset Company, and
a resident of Springfield since Oc
tober, 1886, was born in Franklin,
Norfolk County, Mass., July, 13, 1842. The
generations of this family are represented
successively by a series of enterprising citi
zens and soldiers, beginning with Willoughby
Nason from England, who settled in Ipswich,
Essex County, Mass., prior to 1712. Then
followed his son, Thomas Nason, who removed
to Walpole, Norfolk County, Mass., prior to
the year 1740. Then followed a second Wil
loughby Nason, and then Jesse Nason, who
was born in Walpole, and removed to Frank
lin, Mass., before the nineteenth century came
in. After him followed George Warren Nason,
the father of Albert D., who was born in
Franklin, January 11, 1806, the year when
the British embargo began the restriction of
American commerce. Mr. Nason was highly
respected by all who knew him. He was
actively engaged in general country mercan
tile business in his native town for over forty
years, but devoted a good deal of his time to
the public service. He died in Franklin in
November, 1868, leaving a widow and six
sons, four of whom were volunteers in our
Civil War. In the genealogical notices in
the History of the Town of Franklin, pub
lished in 1878, is a lifelike portrait of Mr.
Nason, with the following sketch of his life
by the town historian : —
"Mr. Nason was a well-known and widely
regarded citizen, an early member of the Con
gregational church, and noted for strong and
tender feelings, great generosity to the poor,
and enthusiasm in every good work. He was
greatly instrumental in securing the location
of the first railroad through Franklin. He
was twice elected member of the State legis
lature, and for over thirty years occupied
many important municipal and county offices.
His funeral was attended by fully two thou-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

763

sand persons, and he was buried with Masonic
honors. The count}' newspapers of the day
said, 'No man in Norfolk County will be
missed more than Mr. Nason.'"
His wife, mother of Albert D., was Peacy
Borden Cook, of Fall River, Mass., a descend
ant of the Cook, Borden, and Durfee families
of that part of the old Bay State, who were
largely engaged during the last half of the
eighteenth century and early part of the pres
ent century in the whaling and merchant
marine service, which did so much toward
creating the solid financial foundations upon
which the present cities of New Bedford and
P"'all River are grounded. She died at Frank
lin in November, 1886, having outlived her
husband eighteen years.
Albert D. Nason, our subject, was the fifth
son. After the completion of his studies in
the Franklin schools he entered his father's
business, in which he remained until the sum
mer of 1862, then enlisting in Company C,
P""orty-fifth (Independent Cadet Corps) Regi
ment, Massachusetts Volunteers. He was a
non-commissioned officer, and served his term
of enlistment with his regiment in North
Carolina, being stationed a part of the time
with his company on garrison duty at More-
head City, N.C, where he acted as commis
sary of the post. He then served on detached
commissary duty under his brother. Colonel
George Warren Nason, Jr., at Newbern, N.C.
At the expiration of his term of service in the
army he returned to his home in Franklin,
remaining till January, 1864, when he
returned to Newbern, N.C, expecting to
enter the civil service of the United States
government, but engaged in wholesale busi
ness there from February, 1864, to June,
1866. One year after the close of the war,
finding the habits and discomforts of Southern
life at that time disagreeable in many ways,
he returned to Massachusetts in the summer
of 1866, and engaged in manufacturing in
Walpole and Boston in 1867, and was burned
out in the big Boston fire, November 9, 1872.
He then located in New York City, where he
engaged in the manufacturing of corsets,
organizing the Bay State Corset Company,
November i, 1885, with a partner, their fac

tory being at West Brookfield, Mass., and
their headquarters and sales-office in New York
City. They established another factory in
Springfield, February, 1886, and came to that
city from New York City to reside in the fall
of that year. The Bay State Corset Company
was incorporated in July, 1890, with a capital
of one hundred thousand dollars, and Mr.
Nason was elected its first Treasurer. The
company now employ from four hundred to
five hundred operatives, producing on an aver
age about four hundred dozen pairs of corsets
daily. Since July, 1894, Mr. Nason has been Pres
ident and General Manager of the company,
and for several years he personally attended to
the details of the trade, the largest of the
kind in the State. He is also connected with
many other corporations, being a Director in
the Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Com
pany. He was one of the founders of the
Springfield Board of Trade, and one of its
Directors for the first three years of its exist
ence. Masonically, he is a charter member
of the Springfield Masonic Lodge, having
become a Mason in the Revere Lodge, Boston,
in 1872.
The Nayasset Club largely owes its exist
ence to him; and he is its First Vice-Presi
dent, having given much valuable time and
attention to organizing the club and fitting up
the new club-house, said to be one of the finest
in the country. He is also a member of the
Winthrop Club, and since 1878 has been a
member of the Union League Club in New
York City. His charming home, at No. 29
Dartmouth Terrace, is in one of the finest and
most beautiful parts of Springfield; and in
front of his house, on Terrace Park, stands a
very handsome fountain, presented by him to
the city.
His wife, whom he married in January,
1865, was Anna Frances Gay, daughter of
Wilkes Gay, of New York City. She is,
however, a native of Franklin, Mass., and
grand-daughter, on her mother's side, of the
late Hon. Major Davis Thayer, of Franklin,
and a near descendant, in the second genera
tion, from the well-known Makepeace and
Thayer families.

764

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

The Nasons have two children : Mabel
Frances, born December 9, 1866, who is now
the wife of George Nye, Jr., of this city, and
has one child — Robert Nason Nye, born June
3, 1892; and Albert Warren Nason, born Jan
uary 30, 1876, who is now a Senior in the
Springfield High School.
The family attend the South Congregational
Church. Mr. Nason is a man of broad cult
ure and generous sympathies, worthy of his
eminently successful career.

rm^

FORCE H. NEWTON, one of the
\ '3 I brightest lawyers and most successful
real estate men in Monson, was born
in this village, June 13, 1831. He traces his
lineage back to Richard Newton, who was born
in Lancashire, England, about 1600, and came
to Massachusetts in 1640, landing at Boston.
He settled on a farm in the south part of Marl
boro, which later became Southboro, and lived
to be about one hundred years old. He
had six children; and one of his sons, Moses
Newton, born in 1646, was the father of
Josiah Newton, who was born November 19,
1688. Stephen Newton, son of Josiah, was born
June 28, 1735, in the town of Hardwick,
Worcester County, Mass. He was a soldier in
the Revolution, participating in the Bunker
Hill fight, and was known as Major Newton.
Some time previous to 1790 he came to Mon
son, and purchased a tract of land, on which
he built a frame building that is now standing
north of Memorial Hall, and is occupied by
Edward P. Newton. Major Newton was a car
penter, and built the house siding on to the
studding. It has a heavy strong frame of
hewn timber, and is in a good state of preser
vation, though it is about one hundred and
twenty years old, and has sheltered five genera
tions. It has been the scene of but four
deaths ; namely, those of grandparents and par
ents. Stephen Newton was married at Mon
son in 1790 to Susanna Davison, who was
born September 22, 1759. She was a large
woman, weighing in advanced life three hun
dred pounds; and their boys were all six-
footers. They had the characteristic New

England thrift, and accumulated a good prop
erty for that time.
'Their son, Lucius Newton, father of George
H. Newton, was born in this town about 1795.
He was a carpenter by trade and prominent
as a contractor and builder in Monson. He
was married in 1829 to Maria, daughter of
Reuben and Betsy (Norton) Dunham, of Ber
lin, Conn., where Reuben Dunham was well
known as an able farmer. Mrs. Newton died
July 28, 1838, when but thirty-three years old,
two of her three children surviving, namely:
George IP. Newton, the first-born ; and his
sister, Sarah M., now the widow of James A.
Gardner, who resides at Hyde Park, Mass.
Mr. Newton subsequently married Zerviah
Miller, of Prescott. She bore him three chil
dren, two sons and one daughter, of whom but
one is living — Abby, wife of J. C. Wing, of
Palmer. George H. Newton attended the academy in
Monson, leaving school at fifteen, having
studied Latin and Greek. He took up busi
ness as a clerk, handling general merchandise
for Newton & Co., his father and a nephew,
Charles O Newton, furnishing the capital.
When he reached his majority, he went West
to Fond du Lac, Wis. Here he ran an auc
tion store for two years. Pie then removed to
Milwaukee, and conducted the same business
there for three years, at the end of which time
he returned to Hampden County, and for three
years had an auction store in Springfield.
1863 found him once more in Monson. Mr.
Newton's talents were not confined to one line.
The printing-press had a great attraction for
him. Learning the "art preservative," for
three or four years he did the printing for Mer
rick, Fay & Co. ; and on January i, 1865, he
printed on his own press his first newspaper,
the Monson Times, of which but one copy is
now in his office. It was a four-page paper,
six by eight inches.
A number of years later Mr. Newton was
led to take up the show business. It happened
in this wise: While on a visit to Province-
town, he saw the body of a whale, which was a
great curiosity to him ; and he conceived the
notion that it would be a good financial
scheme to exhibit a whale in the West. This

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

76s

idea he carried out with enthusiasm. He
made a conditional bargain for one with Cap
tain Philip Cook, of Provincetown, a part
owner of several whaling vessels, and in No
vember, 1880, received a telegram stating that
the wished-for monster was at Provincetown,
ready to be towed to Boston. The whale was
eventually settled in a dry dock on Atlantic
Avenue. A contract was made with Morrison
& Foye, of East Boston, to load it upon a west
bound freight, which was successfully accom
plished ; and the first baleen whale ever
exhibited in the West was started for his des
tination. Some mishaps of course were en
countered; but Chicago was finally reached,
a special track laid from the B. & O. R. R.
into the exposition building, and the monarch
of the deep was exposed to the gaze of wonder
ing thousands. It was an expensive venture
for Mr. Newton ; but his partner bought one-
half interest for twelve hundred dollars, and
the exhibition was a success. Mr. Newton
had a descriptive pamphlet printed that is very
interesting reading. Plis whole experience in
the show business was from November, 1880,
to September, 1881, during which time it
proved a financial success.
Mr. Newton has been an Associate Justice
for the past two years, and is a notary public.
From the time of his majority he has voted the
Democratic ticket, and he has held various
offices in Monson. He was Town Clerk some
four years. Assessor for the same length of
time, and four years one of the Selectmen.
He was married August 14, 1852, to Harriet
T. Topliff, of this place; and they have two
children — Warren F. , a foreman in the ladies'
straw goods works at West Upton, who has a
wife and one son — George G. Newton ; and
Lura, wife of Arthur E. Fitch, of Palmer,
who has one daughter — Harriet.

r^EWRIE D. WINTER is one of the
best-known gentlemen in Springfield,
lis V not only on account of his own busi
ness ability, but also from having
succeeded to the business which was estab
lished by one of the most respected citizens of
the past generation, Mr T. D. Beach. Mr.

Winter was born at Belchertown, February 12,
1859, and is the son of Joel K. and Lovina E.
(Randall) Winter, his father, who was a gro
cery merchant, being also a native of that
place. In 1868 Joel Winter moved to this
city, and established himself in the grocery
trade, which he carried on until ill health
compelled him to retire, when he returned to
his native town, where he still resides. While
a citizen of Springfield, he was elected to the
Common Council, and always took an active
interest in politics, voting the Democratic
ticket. His wife, who is still active, is a
member of the Congregational church.
Newrie D. Winter received his education in
the public schools of this city, attending the
Elm Street school and later the high school.
After completing his studies he entered the
grocery business with his brother Welbie,
under the firm name of W. N. & N. D. Win
ter, in a store which was located upon the
site of the present post-office. This partner
ship continued for about two years, when he
retired from the firm, and accepted a position
with T. D. Beach in the real estate business.
On the death of Mr. Beach in 1885 Mr. Win
ter succeeded to the business, and has since
conducted it at the original location. No. 5
Elm Street. This agency is one of the oldest
and most reliable in the city; and Mr. Winter
has not only succeeded admirably in maintain
ing its high standard, but has in a great meas
ure enlarged and developed its field of
enterprise. He is very successful in conduct
ing real estate auction sales, his methods being
thoroughly practical and business-like. He
makes a thorough examination of all points
relating to the property he has to sell, and in
many cases by the time he is ready to make a
sale knows more about the property than does
the man who may have owned it for a genera
tion. He knows that people are not likely to
bid on property with the merits of which they
are not fully acquainted, and he makes it a
point to place them in possession of all the
information they would naturally desire.
Aside from his legitimate business Mr. Winter
is financially identified in street railway enter
prises, being a Director of the Holyoke Street
Railway and Treasurer of the Northampton

766

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Company, he, with John Olmsted and A. E.
Smith, having purchased a controlling interest
in the latter, which they thoroughly equipped,
introducing electricity as the motive power
and making it a profitable investment. He
also owns valuable real estate in the city, is a
Trustee of the Five Cent Savings Bank and
President of the Board of Trade.
He is a Democrat in politics and active in
city affairs, having been a member of the
Common Council for two years, representing
Ward Two, receiving seventy per cent, of the
entire vote in his second election, and during
his term was President of the Council, being
the only Democrat who ever held that position.
PPe has also held the nomination for Alderman
from his ward, and both wings of the local
Democracy united in nominating him for
Mayor; but he declined the nomination. He
has frequently been chosen a delegate to party
conventions, the duties of which he has always
performed with good judgment and political
foresight. Mr. Winter is a member of Hamp
den Lodge of Odd P'ellows, in which he has
held most of the offices, a member of Roswell
Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Eastern
Star Chapter, also of the Westminster and
Nayasset Clubs. he wedded Miss Delia
of his late employer,
The latter was an old
citizen of Springfield,
who for many years was a well-known figure in
the business enterprise of the city. He came
here in early life in company with his two
brothers, Erasmtis, an attorney, and Dr. John
C. Beach ; and his entire business career was
passed in this city, where he became the oldest
real estate dealer and auctioneer. He was
particularly pleasing and genial in his manner,
and a man of strict integrity, always paying
one hundred cents on the dollar He acquired
considerable property, most of which he had
the misfortune to lose during panic times, and
was noble-hearted and charitable in an unos
tentatious way, generously relieving want when
an occasion presented itself. An old-time
Democrat, he was not an office-seeker, but
accepted positions of public trust when forced
upon him by his party. He represented his

On April 9, 1885,
M. Beach, daughter
Theodore D. Beach.
and highly respected

district in the legislature four or five terms,
and many times declined the nomination for
Mayor. He was for many years a Trustee of
the Five Cent Savings Bank and an old atten
dant of the Church of the Unity. Mr. Beach
married Miss Delia Allen, of this city, who
died in 1878; and they had two children —
Kate V; and Delia M., the wife of Mr
Winter. Mr. and Mrs. Winter have two sons
— Theodore Beach and Dwight Randall Win
ter. The family attend the Church of the
Unity, and reside at 79 Buckingham Street.

rmc

EORGE D. NYE, a prominent and in-
\ 3 1 fluential farmer and land-owner in
the town of Westfield, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in Blandford, in the
same county, April 16, 1846, son of Randall
and Louise (Cook) Nye and grandson of James
and Sarah (Clark) Nye. James Nye was one
of the early settlers in Rhode Island, and
migrated to Blandford about the year 1805.
There he bought quite a large tract of land,
which he successfully cultivated, establishing
a home for himself and family. His death
took place, when he was seventy-eight years
old. His wife also lived to a good age. They
became the parents of thirteen children, who
all grew to maturity, but have all since died.
In religious belief Mr. Nye and his wife were
Episcopalians. Randall Nye, father of our subject, spent
his early years in Blandford, and in course of
time became one of the most extensive agri
culturists in the town. He and his brother
Dennis, who was a bachelor, jointly owned a
farm of six hundred acres, which they worked
together. They made a specialty of fine cat
tle, and were among the most extensive cattle
owners of the vicinity. Randall Nye lived on
the homestead farm till his death, which took
place when he was in his seventy-eighth year.
His wife, Louise, reached the age of sixty-
four. Of their six children four grew to matu
rity, and are now living. The names of the
children are as follows: Almeda, wife of
James Knox, of Blandford; George D., the
subject of this sketch; James P., a farmer of
Blandford; Carrie, wife of William C. Cal-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

767

kins, residing in Willimantic, Conn. ; William
R., who died at the age of forty-one; and
Edgar, also deceased. Politically, Mr. Nye
was a thorough Democrat. He and his brother
Dennis took an active interest in the agricult
ural association of the county.
George D. Nye grew up in Blandford, resid
ing with his parents till he had reached his
twenty-fourth year, attending in his boyhood
the schools of the town, and acquiring other
knowledge belonging to practical every-day
life. He has been a very successful farmer,
following his vocation closely till recent years,
when he has added other interests, dealing in
vegetables, fruit, and fine stock, and carry
ing on an extensive lumber business. His
first purchase of land was one of a hundred
acres in Blandford, to which he gradually
added till the estate was doubled in extent.
Mr. Nye has been engaged in a commission
business on quite an extensive scale in connec
tion with his productions. In 1888 he sold
his estate, and moved to the town of Westfield,
where he had bought a farm of sixty acres.
He has now added to the land till it comprises
one hundred and eighty-eight acres all together,
and is one of the largest farms in the locality.
Many enterprises engage Mr. Nye's attention.
Besides general farming he devotes consider
able interest to his apple orchards and to other
fruits, h^dling in 1894 no less than two thou
sand barrels of fruit, produced from his estate.
Two milk routes are also connected with his
establishment, and he trades in stock of high
grades. The farm buildings are substantial
and well cared for; and the estate, taken as a
whole, characterizes its owner as a man of
ability, energy, and good financial judgment.
On September 29, 1870, Mr Nye was mar
ried to Miss Melissa Herrick, who was born
in Blandford, March 29, 1851, daughter of
Thomas and Mary (Knox) Herrick, of that
town. Thomas Herrick was a native of Bland
ford, born August 26, 1809. He was a well-
known farmer of that region and one of the
earliest dairymen in the vicinity. His farm
was a large one; and he was a prominent citi
zen in the town, holding many town offices.
He served as Selectman and as member of the
School Board, besides filling with acceptance

other positions. His death occurred in 1872.
Mrs. Herrick was born May 7, 1813. She
resided for some years after her husband's
death with her daughter. Miss Abbie Herrick,
in Springfield; but she has lately passed away.
Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Her
rick, nine of whom grew up, and seven are now
living. Their names are: Charlotte, wife of
Emerson Oatley, residing in Blandford; Henry
K., a resident of the same town; Ursula,
widow of Emery Hawes, of Springfield ;
Emma, widow of William Nye, residing in
Worcester; Elizabeth, wife of James Richards,
of Wilbraham ; Melissa, wife of George D.
Nye, of Westfield ; Abbie, whose home is in
Springfield. Three have died : Isabella, at
eighteen years ; Bessie, at fourteen years ; and
Hattie, at five years.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. George D. Nye,
for whose educational benefit Mr. Nye removed
from Blandford seven years ago, consists of
five children, named, respectively, George Ar
thur, born December 19, 1871, who is a
farmer, and was married in 1892 to Miss
Lizzie Smith, of Westfield; Bessie H., born
March 17, 1873; Isabella M., born October 5,
1876; Paul Thomas, born July 22, 1879;
Vaile Elliott, born November 2, 1881.
Mr. Nye is a Democrat in his political pref
erences, but takes no active part in politics,
finding it desirable to make the best of the
work at hand. Mr. and Mrs. Nye are mem
bers of the Congregational church in West-
field. They take their part in the social life
of the place, and hold a high position among
the families of Westfield.

rgTENRY A. GRANGER, a respected
j-^-l resident of Springfield, is living, re-
II9 I tired from the active pursuits of
life, at his cosey home at No. 97
Florence Street. Pie is a native of Hampden
County, born April 27, 1839, in the town of
Southwick, which was likewise the place of
nativity of his father, Eaton Jerome Granger,
who was born September 22, 1816.
Heaton Granger, the paternal grandfather of
the subject, was born in 1795, in New Haven,
Conn., being one of the fourth generation of

768

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Grangers born in the United States. IPe
removed to Southwick, Mass., when a young
man, and was for many years the leading
blacksmith of the place and a representative
citizen, holding many of the public offices of
the town, and making it his permanent abid
ing-place until his decease.
The father of our subject was reared and
spent the larger portion of his life in South
wick. In 1849 he removed to New Haven,
and, engaging in mercantile traffic, selling
goods and having a general warehouse busi
ness, remained there until his death, Novem
ber 18, 1853. He married Sarah S. Taylor,
of South Hadley; and two children were born
to them, namely: T. M. Granger; and Henry
A., of whom we write. After the death of
her husband Mrs. Granger married Cyrenius
Barnes, of Southampton; and after his decease
she became a resident of Springfield, living
there until November, 1891, when she, too,
joined the silent majority on the brighter
shore. Henry A. Granger attended the common
schools of Southwick and New Haven, and
began the battle of life as a farmer. He after
ward worked in a shop for a while; but, his
health giving out, he came to Springfield, and
took up the outdoor employment of teaming,
and in 1866 went into the employ of Lillie &
Palmer, the oldest trucking company in the
city. With them he remained nearly twenty-
five years, the latter part of the time having
almost entire charge of their business. Mr.
Granger was in their employ a longer term of
years than any other person, and had the
entire confidence and respect of his employers,
as well as that of their patrons. He is a man
of genuine worth, upright and honest in all of
his transactions, and entirely deserving of the
regard in which he is held.
On July 17, 1858, he was united in marriage
with Ann J. Thayer, a native of South Kent,
but later a resident of Fair Haven, Conn.
She passed to the higher life March 8, 1892,
aged fifty-eight years. She was a sincere
Christian woman, and with her husband was a
devoted member of the Baptist church. They
had but one child, Frederick A. Granger, who
is now engaged in the apron and towel supply

business, being the first to introduce the apron
department into the city. He was twice mar
ried, his first wife being Lizzie Eggleston, to
whom he was united September 18, 1880.
She died in April, 1889, and in September,
1 891, he married Lucy M. Root, of Spring
field. He is well-known as one of the active
and enterprising young business men of the
place. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias
and the Royal Arcanum, and is organist for
Amity Lodge, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows.

HARLES CARPENTER, the venera
ble citizen of Monson whose portrait
appears on the opposite page, was
born in the west part of the town,
August 15, 1808. After many years of useful
activity, first as a teacher and later as a farmer
of intelligence and skill, he is now living in
retirement. His father, also a Charles Car
penter and a farmer, was the son of John Car
penter, a farmer in Wilbraham, now Hampden.
Grandfather Carpenter was born in 1754. He
was six feet in height, a man of few words
and much force of character. Besides attend
ing to his farm he manufactured ploughs at a
time when they were made of wood, the share,
or point, being covered with scrap iron nailed to
the mould-board. He married a Miss Chapel,
a native of New London County, Connecticut ;
and they reared two sons and two daughters,
who had families. Their son John conducted
the home farm, where they died, grandfather
at the age of sixty-six.
Charles Carpenter, Sr. , was born in 1782,
and seventy-eight years ago was sole proprietor
of the greater part of the farm of two hundred
acres now owned by his son, Charles, and his
grandson, Joseph H. In 1804 he was married
to Lois Newell, of Wilbraham, the daughter
of a Revolutionary soldier, who lived to be
ninety years old, witnessing the wonderful
growth of the country whose freedom he had
helped to establish. In 18 16, some time after
his marriage, Mr. Carpenter moved to East
Hill; and there two of his five children were
born. He died January 8, 1841, at the age of
fifty-nine; and Mrs. Carpenter died in 1865,

CHARLES CARPENTER,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

771

being then eighty-three years old. Their
graves are in the New Cemetery in Monson.
Their daughter Elvira died June 13, 1838,
aged eighteen. Louisa, wife of Robert R.
Wright, died December 26, 1851, aged thirty-
five, leaving four sons and two daughters.
Lavinia, wife of Alfred Whittaker, died March
9, 1865, aged fifty-nine, leaving two children.
Daniel Carpenter, the younger son, is a farmer
on East Hill. Charles, the subject of this
sketch, is the second child and elder son.
He was reared on the home farm, and
attended the district school, finishing his edu
cation by one term at the academy in 1828.
In 1829 he was chosen teacher for the district
school, his salary to be ten dollars a month,
eked out by boarding round. He taught for
ten winters, attending to the farm work in the
summer on the old homestead. At the time
of his marriage he removed to the farm of
his father-in-law, where he lived for twelve
years. In 1850 he returned to his own home,
and there remained until about 1885, when he
took possession of his present comfortable
dwelling at No. 19 High Street. Mr. Carpen
ter is a stanch Republican, and has held office
in the town, serving as Assessor some three
years and Selectman one term. He is one of
the leading members of the Congregational
church. On December i, 1836, he was married to
Lucy, daughter of Simeon and Alice (Goodell)
Keep. She died P'ebruary 11, 1881, at the
age of seventy ; and of her five children but
two are living — John Keep Carpenter died in
1853, when but four years old; and Charles
Clinton Carpenter, who was a volunteer in the
Thirty-sixth Massachusetts Regiment, and
served about a year, died at Crab Orchard,
Ky., September 26, 1863, at the age of
twenty-two, one of the many victims of army
dysentery. The bodies of three comrades who
died at that time were brought home together
Mary Louise Carpenter married the Rev.
William Howland, a missionary, spent with
him twelve years in gospel work in Southern
India, returned to this country in June, 1886,
and died at Atiburndale in March, 1887, leav
ing three children, namely: William C How
land born November 20, 1874, a promising

young man, whose home is with the Rev. Dr.
S. L. Blake, of New London, Conn. ; Mary
Bartlett Howland, born March 9, 1877, now in
the Moody School in Northfield, Mass. ; Leila
L. Howland, born November 6, 1881. These
children were all born in India. 'Two days
after his wife's death Mr. Howland followed
her to the Silent Land. Mr. Carpenter's sur
viving son, Joseph H., born April 13, 1838,
is a farmer, tilling with his father the farm
where his grandfather settled seventy-eight
years ago. He married Nancy Penniman, and
he lives at the old Carpenter homestead. He
buried one daughter, and has three children
living: Alice May, born July 27, 1882; Wal
ter C, ten years of age; and Ernest Howland
Carpenter, seven years old. Emma Carpenter,
who is still unmarried, lives with her brother,
Joseph H.
Mr. Charles Carpenter was married for the
second time on September 21, 1882, to Har
riet E. , daughter of the Rev. Harvey Blodgett,
a Presbyterian preacher and Bible teacher in
Northern Illinois, who died at Jacksonville in
that State in 1850, at the age of forty-nine.
Mrs. Carpenter was a teacher for a number of
years. She has two brothers — Charles H.
Blodgett, living in Bloomington, III. ; and
James H., in the Census Bureau at Washing
ton, D.C, who was for many years a principal
in the Rockford, 111., schools. She has two
sisters in Illinois — Mrs. John Ramsey, at
Belvidere ; and Mrs. Goddard, at 'Winnebago.
Mrs. Carpenter is an active member of the
Congregational church.

ILLIAM H. POMEROY, M.D.,
one of the most prominent young
physicians in Springfield, where he
has practised since 1887, was born at Stafford
ville, Conn., August 19, 1857, son of Dr.
S. F. Pomeroy, of whom a more extended
notice will be found elsewhere in this volume.
Young Pomeroy prepared for college at the
high school of Springfield, to which city his
father had moved in 1866, and graduated from
Brown University in 1882, taking the degrees
of A.B. and A.M. in 1885. While at college
he became a member of the Alpha Delta Phi

772

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and the Phi Beta Kappa Societies. After
leaving the university Mr. Pomeroy was made
master of Latin and Greek at De Veaux, an
incorporated Episcopal and military college at
Suspension Bridge, N. Y. , and the following
year entered the PParvard Medical School.
Three years later, in 1886, he graduated, and
was appointed assistant to the Professor of
Materia Medica for 1886-87, having to lecture
and also to demonstrate arid give instruction
in experimental therapeutics. This was cer
tainly good training for the professional
duties he was about to assume in Springfield;
but in 1889, not satisfied with his fund of
knowledge, he sailed for Europe, where he
visited the most celebrated hospitals, and took
a course at Vienna. Returning after some
months of careful investigation, he resumed
his practice, which has since become one of
the most extensive in the city. Dr. Pomeroy
is connected with most of the medical societies
of this section, among which may be men
tioned the State Medical Society, of which he
has been Adviser and Councillor, and the Soci
ety of Medical Observation, from which the
Springfield Medical Club was evolved. At
the organization of the City Provident Dispen
sary he was Physician in Charge, and is Visit
ing Physician at the Home of the Friendless
and the Children's Home, and Medical Disec-
tor of the Hampden County Children's Aid
Society. From his college to his professional
career Dr Pomeroy has displayed intellectual
brilliancy, steadfastness of purpose, and perse
verance. As a college student he took first
rank in mathematics and English literature,
and was Latin orator in his Junior and valedic
torian in his Senior year at Brown University.
At Harvard he took first rank in his class,
and had the opportunity of remaining and
working up to a professorship, but preferred to
become a practitioner at once. At the present
writing Dr. Pomeroy is Senior Examiner of the
New York Life and the Penn.sylvania Mutual
Life Insurance Companies in the city of
Springfield, and the duties of this office are a
heavy tax upon his time. In addition to the
manifold calls of his profession he is a member
of the Hampden Lodge, Morning Star Chap
ter, the Springfield Council and Commandery,

Massachusetts Consistory, Thirty-second De
gree, and is enrolled among the members of
the Nayasset Club. In religious faith he is a
Baptist, and attends the church of that denomi
nation on State Street.

AMUEL D. SHERWOOD, General
Agent for the Hartford Life and
Annuity Insurance Company for
Western Massachusetts, junior part
ner of the firm of Cone & Sherwood, general
insurance agents, and a resident of Springfield
since 1886, was born at Redding, Fairfield
County, Conn., November 26, 1853. His-
grandfather, who also bore the name of Sam
uel, was a native of Redding; and the ances
try is traced back to Colonial days and the
first settler of Stratford, Conn.
The parents of Mr. Sherwood were Moses
and Elizabeth Taylor (Dibble) Sherwood.
The father, a farmer, who was born in Red
ding, August 10, 1810, was reared in that
locality, and there lived and died, having held
all the local offices of the neighborhood and
having retained until his latest day the respect
of his fellow-townsmen. His wife, Elizabeth
Taylor Dibble, was a native of Bethel, in the
same State and county, where she was born
July 2, 1825. She was the daughter of Tim
othy Dibble. Her grandfather on her mother's
side, Joshua Taylor, served seven years in the
Revolutionary War, and was with Washington
at Valley Forge. The ancestors of the Taylors
were among the earliest settlers of New
Haven, so that on both sides Mr. Sherwood
may lay claim to the purest of New England
blood. The mother of Mr. Sherwood's father
was Miss Esther Goodsel, a descendant of the
first Presbyterian minister who settled at
Greenfield. One of her brothers, who served
in the War of 181 2, was wounded in the battle
of Lundy's Lane.
Samuel D. Sherwood, after attending the
common and private schools of his native town
and taking a supplemental course at the Red
ding Institute, began at sixteen years of age to
teach school. It was an anomalous position
for a youth to be in a place of authority over
boys scarcely younger than himself, but it was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

773

perhaps the best sort of training for his self-
development. For six years he taught, prepar
ing himself meantime for college, and in 1878
was able to enter Wesleyan University at Mid
dletown, Conn., graduating with honors from
that institution in the class of 1881 with the
degree of Ph.B. He then resumed his former
occupation, teaching at Ansonia, Derby, and
Irvington-on-the-Hudson, where he was prin
cipal of the Union Free School, No. i, for
three years. He was then elected principal
of the Worthington Street School of Spring
field, Mass., a position he filled from Sep
tember, 1886, until June of 1890, when he
resigned in order to accept the general agency
of the Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance
Company. In this corporation he has been of inval
uable service, building up a large patronage
throughout the territory under his control, and
inspiring all those with whom he has a business
connection with the utmost confidence. He is
now, as above noted, junior member of the firm
of Cone & Sherwood, general insurance agents.
Mr. Sherwood is a zealous Democrat ; and it
is an evidence of the esteem in which he is
held by all who know him, irrespective of
political opinions, that he was elected Alder
man for No. 5, a Republican ward, by a good
majority. From 1891-92 he served on City Property
and Educational Committees, and was chair
man of the Police Committee. He is a Direc
tor of the Co-operative Bank, and is a member
of the security committee. He was at one
time superintendent of the Christian Industrial
and Technical School, of which he is now a
Trustee, and holds a membership on its educa
tional committee.
On the 31st of August, 1886, Mr. Sherwood
was married to Miss Ada Clarke, of New York
City. They have two children, Elizabeth
Taylor and Malcolm Clarke. Both parents are
communicants of the Episcopal church. Mr.
Sherwood is closely affiliated with the Masonic
order, being Senior Warden of Roswell Lee
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and is also a member
of the Morning Star Chapter, Springfield
Council, R. & S. M., and Springfield Com
mandery.

RANK S. DEWEY, Jr., of the enter
prising firm of Dewey & Parsons, the
leading druggists of Westfield, Hamp
den County, Mass., was born here, March 22,
1857, and is a worthy representative of a fam
ily who have been residents and landholders
of the town for more than two hundred years.
Their progenitor was Thomas Dewey, who
emigrated to Massachusetts more than two
hundred and fifty years ago, and was one of
the early settlers of Windsor, Conn. His four
sons — Thomas, Josiah, Israel, and Jedediah
— born in Windsor, came to Westfield, it is
said, between 1667 and 1670.
The parents of Frank S. Dewey, Jr., were
P'rank S. Dewey, Sr. , and Maria E. (Goodwin)
Dewey. His grandfather, Seth Dewey, who
was born in the town of Berlin, now known as
New Britain, Hartford County, Conn., was
long a well-known resident of Westfield. He
used to lecture on phrenology, a popular sci
ence at one time. He also gave lessons in
dancing, not only in Westfield, but outside of
the town ; and, as those were not the days of
railroads, in meeting his engagements he often
walked as far as from Westfield to Hartford,
a distance of twenty or thirty miles, and still
felt fresh for the practice of his calling. Mr.
Dewey was a vegetarian during the last fifty
years of his life, and as he lived to a good old
age attributed his firm health and longevity to
his diet and to the cold bath which the icy
condition of the farm brook in winter did not
deter him from enjoying. Mr. Dewey was a
stout and rugged old man at the time of his
death, which took place in 1890, at the age of
ninety-one years. He was thorough in his
political convictions, and the Democrats had
in him a firm supporter. In religion he was
broad-minded and liberal. Seth Dewey and
his wife, Harriett S. Sackett, a native of
Westfield, were the parents of two children —
Frank S. , Sr, and Dwight J., residing in
Springfield. Frank S. Dewey, Sr. , father of Frank, Jr.,
has spent the chief part of his life in his native
town, although he lived awhile in New Hart
ford, and was married there. In 1849 he
"took the gold fever," and went to the P""ar
West, where at first he was engaged in driving

774

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

cattle across the plains ; but soon after he
began mining operations, in which he became
very prosperous. In 185 1 he returned East,
settled permanently in Westfield, and till the
time of his retirement from active business
worked at the tailor's trade, which he had
learned when quite a young man. He still
remains a resident of Westfield. His wife,
Maria, a native of New Hartford, died Febru
ary 12, 1879, at the age of fifty years. She
was a member of the Episcopal church, and
was the mother of four children, all of whom
are now living, namely: Henry G., of Boston,
a travelling salesman by occupation ; P"'rank
S. , Jr. ; Fanny M., wife of T. J. Clary, resid
ing in Westfield; Clarence W., a druggist in
Manchester, Vt. Mr Dewey is liberal in his
religious views, and is a Democrat in his
political principles.
Frank S. Dewey, Jr., grew to manhood in
his early home, and received his education in
the schools of Westfield. At the age of eigh
teen he began to learn the drug business by
engaging as clerk in the office of Dr. Andrews,
with whom he remained three years. Later
he secured a position with Henry Holland, of
the same town, with whom he remained seven
years. Pn the spring of 1888 Mr. Dewey went
into partnership with Mr. Parsons; and they
bought out the drug establishment of J. W.
Colton, setting up for themselves in the same
locality, corner of Elm and School Streets,
under the firm name of Dewey & Parsons.
Mr. Parsons is a graduate of the College of
Pharmacy, New York City, and has a thorough
knowledge of the drug business. The firm
have also established a branch drug store at
Nos. 35 and 37 North Elm Street, Westfield,
and in both stores are doing a successful
business. Mr. Dewey was married October 2, 1879, to
Miss Lizzie M. Sibley, who was born in "West
Springfield, a daughter of Alvin and Lovisa
M. (Owen) Sibley, of that place. A sketch of
Mr. Sibley with portrait appears elsewhere in
this volume. Mrs. Dewey's mother, his first
wife, is no longer living. Mr. and Mrs.
Dewey have two children: Florence M., born
January 26, 1884; and Carlyle S., born Octo
ber 7, 1888. In religion Mr. Dewey is lib

eral. In politics he is a Democrat, and in
1893 was a candidate for the legislature, but
missed election. He has been Water Commis
sioner for three years, and is a member of
Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Com
mandery Degree, of Westfield, the Woronoco
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
No. 74, and all the branches, the Independent
Order of Red Men, Knights of Pythias, St.
Elmo Lodge, and the Royal Arcanum, Hamp
den Council, No. 955. In addition to these
Mr. Dewey has also been identified with the
fire department in Westfield the past eight
years, but at the present time he is out of
membership.

RASTUS KING, who is enjoying the
leisure earned by a long period of dili
gent toil, has spent nearly seventy-
five years of his life within the limits of
Springfield, Hampden County, and has taken
genuine pride and satisfaction in watching and
assisting its development and growth from an
unassuming village to one of the foremost
cities of the great Commonwealth of Massachu
setts. He was born in Enfield, Conn., Sep
tember 21, 1 810; and that town was also the
birthplace of his father, Horace King, his
grandfather, Nabum King, having been a life
long resident of the place. Nabum King, who
was a plough-maker by trade, ran a blacksmith-
shop, and likewise engaged in wagon-making.
He married Mary Bugbee, who was a native of
the Green Mountain State.
Their son, Horace King, resided in Enfield,
Conn., the greater portion of the time from his
birth until 1820. In that year, accompanied
by his wife and children, he moved to this
county, locating in the town of Springfield.
The journey thither was made with teams,
there being no railways in the country, and for
a large part of the distance through a dense
wilderness. He bought a tract of wild land,
on which the only improvement made was a
small one-story frame house. With the energy
characteristic of the typical pioneer, he set
about the improvement of his land, and meet
ing with success in his labors soon bought
additional land, and by occasional purchases

'^ X r*

. .X

HENRY B. LEWIS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

777

became possessed of a large farm, containing
about two hundred acres, the most of which
he placed under tillage. In the year 1836 he
moved into the heart of the town, where he
bought six acres of land. Several years after
his death a street was opened through, which
was named King Street in his honor. There
he lived, retired from agricultural labors until
his decease, in 1847. He married Mercy
Treat, a native of Glastonbury, Conn., the
daughter of a sea captain, who was lost during
a voyage. She lived to the venerable age of
ninety-one years. She had seven children in
all. At her death only four were living.
Erastus was a lad of ten years when he
came with his parents to Springfield, which
was then sparsely inhabited and had but three
stores, two on Main Street and one on the hill.
The communication with surrounding towns
and villages was carried on by means of the
boats on the river or by teams across the coun
try, his father in the last-named way making
yearly trips to Boston for needed supplies.
The people subsisted chiefly on the productions
of the land ; and the busy women of those early
days carded, spun, and wove the material in
which the entire family was clothed. After
attaining his majority Mr. King continued to
reside beneath the parental roof until the
spring of 1834, when he went to Nahant, and
in that renowned summer resort found employ
ment during the season. The following season
he was similarly engaged; but in 1836, having
married, he bought a part of the old family
homestead, and there engaged in agricultural
pursuits. In 1852 he went to California via
the Isthmus of Panama, the journey from New
York to San Francisco occupying twenty-three
days. Joining the eager army of gold diggers,
he spent about four years in the mining re
gions. Returning then to Springfield, he re
sumed farming, and after a while bought the
adjoining farm of his brother, which, like his
own, was in former times a part of their
father's; and on this extensive farm he labored
successfully for many years. Here he is now
living, a venerable octogenarian, retired from
active pursuits.
Mr. King was united in marriage May 4,
1836, to Electa Ann Pettis, who was born in

Delaware County, New York, and was a daugh
ter of Joshua Pettis. She died on May 15,
1890, leaving six children, namely: Horace
P., Henrietta E., Homer E., Hobart J., Her
man L., and Howard G. By reason of his up
right life and his many sterling qualities of
character, as well as on account of his advanced
age, Mr. King is accorded sincere and hearty
respect, being recognized as one of the indus
trious and useful citizens who have helped to
bring this part of Hampden County to its pres
ent prosperous condition. In politics he cast
his first Presidential vote for Andrew Jackson,
and has never swerved from allegiance to the
Democratic party.

RY B. LEWIS, Associate Justice
)f the Western Hampden District
Court, was born in the village of
Chester, Hampden County, Mass.,
on February 15, 1820, a son of Daniel Lewis.
The latter was born in the vicinity of Hopkin
ton, R. I., April 25, 1785, his father, Jesse
Lewis, being a native of the same State.
Daniel Lewis was reared in his native State,
where he resided until about 18 12, when,
accompanied by his family, he removed to
Hampden County, the journey being made
overland with teams. Upon their arrival in
this county they located in the village of Ches
ter, where the father purchased a tract of land.
At that early period and for many years after
ward there were no railroads, and the people
subsisted chiefly on the products of their land.
The farmers generally raised flax and kept
sheep, and the women used to spin and weave,
the garments of the family being made of
homespun, even the coloring of the cloth being
done at home. Daniel Lewis devoted his time
to farming, improved his land, and upon the
place which he first purchased spent the re
mainder of his life, dying F'ebruary 25, 1842.
The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Shel
don. She was born May 25, 1785; and her
union with Mr. Lewis was blessed by the birth
of fifteen children, twelve of whom attained
maturity. Henry B. Lewis received a preliminary edu
cation in the district school, and prepared for

778

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

college at Mountain Seminary at Worthington,
entering Amherst College in the class of 1842.
He was, however, obliged to leave before grad
uation, owing to weak eyesight. By teaching
he had earned the means with which to pay for
his education, commencing at the age of seven
teen. For a time after leaving college he
taught and attended school alternately ; but,
although successful as a teacher, he did not
choose to follow that profession, and in 1851
began the study of law in the office of N. T.
Leonard. In 1854 he was admitted to prac
tice, and formed a partnership with Mr. Leon
ard, with whom he was associated until the
latter's retirement, since which time he has
practised alone. He has now been in active
practice in Westfield for a period of forty
years. Mr Lewis was united in marriage in 1854
to Miss Esther Fowler. She was born in
Westfield, and was a daughter of Alvin
Fowler. Mrs. Lewis lived but a short time
after marriage, dying in March, 1855.
Mr. Lewis affiliated with the Democratic
party until the war, but in 1864 cast his vote
for Abraham Lincoln, and has since been a
stanch supporter of the principles of the Re
publican party. He has been appointed to
various offices of trust, and since 1852 has
been Justice of the Peace and Notary Public.
He has served as chairman of the Board of
Selectmen and as a magistrate for forty-three
years, and since 1886 has been Associate Jus
tice. Mr. Lewis is connected with the
Masonic fraternity, having passed the thirty-
second degree. As one of the public men of
Hampden County Mr. Lewis is widely known,
and the portrait which accompanies this article
will be received with interest by many of the
readers of this volume.

OLYOKE PUBLIC LIBRARY. The
movement to establish a public
library in Holyoke was started early
in 1870, when an association was
formed, composed of about seventy-five of the
leading citizens, among them being W. B. C
Pearsons, William Whiting, the Rev. J. L. R.
Trask, Edwin Chase, James Newton, PI. A.

Chase, W. S. Loomis. It was incorporated in
April ; and the first annual meeting was held
in May, when the following officers were
elected: President, William Whiting; Vice-
Presidents, John E. Chase, Edwin Chase,
George C Ewing; Secretary and Treasurer,
Henry A. Chase; Board of Directors, William
Grover, W. B. C Pearsons, J. L. McElwain,
J. L. Webber, W. S. Loomis. Subscriptions
to the amount of twenty-five hundred dollars
were secured among the citizens, to be used
to start the new enterprise. Small libraries
owned by the Hadley Company, the Lyman
Mills Corporation, and the Hampden Mills
were given to the association; and to these
were added about two hundred volumes by pur
chase. A room in the Appleton Street Gram
mar School building was fitted up for the
reception of the fifteen hundred volumes, and
opened to the public in November of the same
year. The fee of one dollar a year charged for
the privilege of taking out books secured funds
for current expenses, and in addition to this
the association received a small appropriation
from the city for the purchase of new books.
In 187s the number of volumes was six
thousand two hundred and fifty. The library
having outgrown its quarters was then removed
to a room in the new city hall, a much needed
reference department being opened, in which
were placed dictionaries, cyclopaedias, maps,
and other works for consultation on various
subjects. In 1886 the city government voted
to increase its annual appropriation to the
library on condition that its privileges should
be made absolutely free to all citizens, without
the one dollar membership fee. At the annual
meeting in May the association voted to accept
the conditions, and on June 25 the library was
opened as a free public library. This change
was followed by a very large increase in the
number of persons using the library, also in
the annual circulation of books. The circula
tion in 1886 was eighteen thousand eight hun
dred and thirty-five volumes. In 1888 it had
grown to fifty-two thousand six hundred and
thirty-three volumes. Besides furnishing mis
cellaneous reading to the people of the city,
it is the aim of the library association to co
operate with the public schools in their educa-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

779

tional work. Such books as can profitably be
used by teachers and pupils in connection with
their studies are placed on the shelves; also
special privileges are granted teachers, which
are freely used. The number of volumes now
in the library is seventeen thousand five hun
dred, besides several hundred in the reference
department. The librarian is Miss Sarah E.
Ely.

'AZAEL PHILLIPS, formerly a resi
dent of West Springfield, an intelli
gent and industrious farmer and
self-made man, was born at Feeding
Hills, Hampden County, Mass., July 3, 1807.
His father, Simeon Phillips, was a life-long
resident of the same town and the representa
tive of a family whose ancestors were among
the earlier settlers of that locality. He mar
ried Roxanna Field, of Suffield, Conn.; and
they were the parents of six children, as fol
lows: Harvey, Waity, Hannah, Hazael, Eliza,
and Silas.
Hazael Phillips was reared upon his father's
farm, and attended the district schools as op
portunity was afforded him. At the age of
eleven years he had the misfortune to lose his
mother, after which sad event he left the pa
rental roof to reside elsewhere, and when about
sixteen years old went to Painesville, Ohio,
where he remained for two years. Returning
then to West Springfield, he entered the em
ploy of Justin Ely, for whom he worked for a
number of years. He purchased a home on
Main Street, where he resided for some time,
but later sold it, and purchased a piece of
property on Bridge Street, where he com
menced farming on his own account, taking up
as a specialty the cultivation of tobacco. In
1866 he sold his farm to the Boston & Albany
Railroad Company, and in the following
spring purchased an adjoining farm, upon
which he resided during the remainder of his
life. He was summoned to his final rest on
December 28, 1890, in his eighty-fourth year,
after an active and well-spent life. He was
a man of exemplary character, and by means
of persevering industry realized a fair compe
tence.

In May, 1842, he was united in marriage
to Miss Lucy Smith, of West Springfield,
daughter of William and Huldah Smith, who
were both natives of the same town and de
scendants of old and well-known families of
the locality. Mr. Smith was a well-to-do and
respected farmer, who at the time of his death
was well advanced in years.
Mrs. Phillips was called to her final rest on
December 7, 1878, having reared two chil
dren — Abbie and Anna E. The former died
November 5, 1891 ; and Anna E. Phillips
now resides upon the farm, which is located
upon high ground, about one and one-half
miles west of the bridge, and is provided with
good substantial buildings.

DWIN R. LAY, one of four sons of
Ralph Lay who fought for the Union
in the Civil War, occupies an
honored place among the citizens of West-
field, where his birth took place in the year
1834. His father was a native of Agawam;
and his grandfather. Gibbons Lay, was born
in Lyme, Conn. The father of Gibbons,
whose name is thought to have been Peter,
was, as far as known, a life-long resident of
Lyme. From Savage's "Genealogical Dic
tionary " we learn that an emigrant, Robert
Lay, was in Lynn, Mass., in 1638, and re
moved to Saybrook, Conn., probably in 1647;
also that Edward Lay and John, perhaps his
brother, went to Lyme, Conn., in 1648.
Several generations must have intervened
between them and the subject of the present
sketch. Gibbons Lay was a wagon and carriage
maker by trade. He removed from his native
town to Hampden County, Massachusetts, and
established himself in business at Agawam,
remaining there for a time, and thence going
to Feeding Hills, where he resided until
his death, which took place in 1863, at the
advanced age of eighty-eight years. The
maiden name of his wife was Bates. His son
Ralph learned the trade of wagon and carriage
maker, and later that of carriage and house
painter. In 1843 be removed to North Bland
ford, and in 1849 fo Pittsfield, but in the

780

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

year 1854 came to Westfield, where he fol
lowed his trade until his death, in 1866.
Ralph Lay was twice married. His first
wife, Sarah Hull, was born in Middletown,
Conn., and died in 1838, leaving four chil
dren — Sarah Jane, Charles H., Edwin Ralph,
and Lucy M. Mr. Lay's second wife was
Betsy Yale. Of this union there were also
four children — William G., James B., Henry
G., and Emma F. Charles H. Lay was
represented in the late war by a substitute.
William G. enlisted in Company K, Tenth
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, serving
three years, was twice wounded — at the first
battle of P""redericksburg and again in the
battle of the Wilderness; he is now de
ceased. James B. served in the same regi
ment and company, enlisting when but eigh
teen years of age, and was killed at the battle
of Malvern Hill before he was nineteen,
being the first Westfield boy to fall in battle,
Henry G. enlisted in the First Massachusetts
Cavalry, and was killed at the battle of Boli
var Heights, July 22, 1862, aged nearly
eighteen years. John C Wiesing, the hus
band of Lucy M., served in the Forty-sixth
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.
Edwin Ralph, the third child of this pa
triotic family, received his education princi
pally in the schools of Westfield and Pitts
field. He learned the trade of painter from
his father, and followed it until in July,
1864, when he enlisted in Company F, Seven
teenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and
joined the regiment at Newport Barracks,
near Newbern, N.C. He participated in
various campaigns and battles, and was honor
ably discharged at Greensboro, N.C, after
the close of the war, in July, 1865. Re
turning home, he worked at his trade until
1 87 1, in which year he first engaged in the
manufacture of whips, organizing the Lay
Whip Company, and later establishing a
branch at Stanstead, Province of Quebec,
Canada. He continued in the business until
1893, when, he was obliged to retire on ac
count of ill health, but still retains a financial
interest. Mr. Lay was first married in 1854 to Har
riet Van Loon. She was born in Athens,

Greene County, N.Y., a daughter of Samuel
Van Loon, who was a native of the same place
and of Holland ancestry. Mrs. Harriet Lay
died in January, 1892, leaving two sons —
Edward F. and Frederick E., both of whom
are married, the latter being the father of
one child, Ralph Chapin. Mr. Lay was again
married in 1893, Mrs. Sarah Kirtland Skin
ner becoming his second wife. She w'as born
in Westbrook, Conn., a daughter of Philip
and Lucy Kirtland; and at the time of her
marriage to Mr. Lay she was the widow of
Edmund Skinner. Mr. Lay is a member of
Lyon Post, No. 41, Grand Army of the Re
public.

APTAIN PETER SHARPE BAILEY,
the well-known Treasurer of the
Hampden Savings Bank in Spring
field, Mass., was born in New York
City on the last day of May, 1841, the year
when William Henry Harrison was inaugu
rated as President of the United States. His
parents were William E. and Jane (Sharpe)
Bailey. The father, from old Connecticut
stock, was a wholesale dealer in what was
then called the New Orleans trade. His
store was in New York, but his residence
was in Brooklyn, where he recently died, a
prominent adherent of the oldest Universalist
church. Peter S. Bailey received his education in
the Brooklyn schools and the high school in
New Britain, Conn. In 1858 he came to the
Agawam Bank as clerk and book-keeper, and
there remained until the breaking out of the
Civil War, when he enlisted, on September
26, 1 86 1, in the Twenty-seventh Regiment of
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, being com
missioned as First Lieutenant of Company G.
From Annapolis, where the regiment was first
sent. Lieutenant Bailey went with the Burn
side expedition to Roanoke Island, and then
to Newbern, N.C, where he remained until
the latter part of 1863. He was in all the
battles with this regiment, and was wounded
at Cold Harbor. In 1862 he was promoted to
a captaincy. At Beaufort, N.C, he was mus
tered out in March, 1865, and then returned

CHARLES F, FOWLER,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

783

to his old position in the Agawam Bank,
where he was soon successively promoted to
the positions of teller and Assistant Cashier.
In 1 87 1 he was made Treasurer, an office he
has held ever since. His bank is the second
oldest in Springfield, having been established
in 1852; and its deposits have gradually in
creased from less than five hundred thousand
dollars to three millions. Captain Bailey
has been a member of the Common Council
from the old Ward Three, elected by the Re
publicans in 1867; and he was Secretary of
the Hampden Masonic Lodge many years. In
1873 he was placed at the head of the Spring
field Commandery, a position he held four
successive years; and two years he was Senior
Warden of the Grand Commandery. Of the
old Masonic Association he was for some
time Treasurer. As a veteran he belongs to
the Loyal Legion, and is a charter member of
Wilcox Post of the Grand Army. His wife,
whom he married in 1867, was Ida F. Shap-
leigh, of New Hampshire; and they have one
child — George William Bailey, born in 1868.
Mrs. Bailey is a fine singer, and has been ten
years the soprano at the Church of the Unity,
to which the family belong. Their happy
home is at No. 27 Eliot Street.

/^HARLES FREDERICK FOWLER,
I V^ President of the Hampden County
\i9^ Agricultural Society and an ex-
member of the State Board of
Agriculture, is a successful farmer of the
town of Westfield and an extensive tobacco
grower. Mr. Fowler was born on the farm
where he now resides on September 28, 1835,
and is a son of Royal Fowler, who was born
in Westfield, September 15, 1788. For more
than two hundred years the Fowler family
have been prominent in Westfield, the first of
the name in that town being Ambrose Fowler,
a native of Windsor, Conn., who is believed
to have been the son of William Fowler,
Esq., of New Haven, and who was known in
Windsor as early as 1640. He was a member
of the Rev. John Wareham's church. He
located in Westfield in 1689, and, as far as
known, spent the remainder of his life there.

His son Samuel was born November 18,
1652; and Samuel's son Samuel, the great-
great-grandfather of our subject, was born
January 29, 1683. His son Daniel was born
in January, 1729, in Westfield; and his son
Frederick, the grandfather of our subject, was
born in the same town, April 21, 1758.
These facts in regard to the early history of
the family are taken from a work compiled by
James S. Fowler, Esq., of Westfield.
Frederick Fowler, the grandfather, owned
a farm on the south side of the river and east
of the village. His house was on the main
road from Springfield to Albany; and he kept
a hotel there for a number of years, finally
selling it, and removing to the north side of
the river, where he purchased a farm, upon
which he resided until his death. The
maiden name of his wife was Miriam Moseley.
She also was a native of "Westfield.
Royal Fowler, our subject's father, was
reared to agricultural pursuits, which he made
his life occupation. He inherited the old
homestead, and there his death took place on
August 27, 1875. His wife, to whom he was
united December 21, 1821, was Harriet
Smith, a native of West Haven, Conn.,
daughter of Enos Smith. Mr. and Mrs.
Fowler reared several children.
Charles Frederick Fowler received his
early education in the public schools, finish
ing with a course of study at Westfield Acad
emy. When quite young he commenced to
assist his father in the labors pertaining to
the farm, and at the age of sixteen was practi
cally its manager. He succeeded, mainly by
purchase, to the ownership of the old home
stead. His buildings having been burned,
he has erected others in their place; and his
improvements rank with the finest in the
county. Whatever he has undertaken to do
he has accomplished, when once he has put
his hand to the plough; and success has
crowned his efforts.
On May 21, 1861, Mr. Fowler was united
in marriage with Miss Emily Malinda Haw
ley, who was born in Hadley, Mass., and is a
daughter of Zachariah Hawley.
Politically, Mr. Prowler is a Republican,
and has served three years as Assessor. He

784

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

is now serving his second term as President
of the Hampden County Agricultural Society,
and for three years was a member of the State
Board of Agriculture. He is connected with
Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F. & A. M., also
with the American Legion of Honor and the
Masonic Benefit Association; and he is a
member of the Franklin Harvest Club. Both
Mr. Fowler and his wife are members of the
Second Congregational Church. Mr. Fowler
has always taken a deep interest in his chosen
life work, and has made the science of farming
a special study, with the object of solving
the best methods. He has written numerous
essays, the last of which was on the subject
of tobacco growing, and was published in the
reports of the State Board of Agriculture.
A portrait of Mr. Fowler will be found on
an adjoining page.

/p3Yo

EORGE NELSON, one of the long-
\ 3 1 established and prominent farmers
of Westfield, Hampden County,
Mass., was born in that town, November 29,
1 8 14, son of Horace and Charlotte (Sackett)
Nelson. Mr. Nelson comes of good sturdy
New England stock. His great-grandfather,
David Nelson, was an Englishman, and mi
grated from the State of Connecticut to Ver
mont, being probably the first member of the
family to settle permanently in the latter
State. It is known that he was a man of
energy and well-directed judgment. As time
went on he became the owner of an extensive
tract of land, which later on proved a valuable
possession. David Nelson died in his adopted
State, after attaining the age of ninety years,
esteemed and respected by his neighbors. He
reared several sons, one of whom, Daniel
Nelson, served through the Revolutionary
War. Aaron Nelson, grandfather of George Nel
son, our subject, spent his youth in Vermont,
and during the time of the war moved to
Westfield. He was drafted into the service,
but was actively engaged only a short time.
Aaron Nelson owned a very good farm, and
occupied his time chiefly in its cultivation
during his lifetime, his death occurring in

Westfield when he was sixty years old. He
married Miss Martha Loomis, of Westfield,
who lived to be nearly eighty. In politics
Mr. Nelson always voted the Democratic
ticket. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were members
of the Presbyterian church. Their children
were five in number, and grew to maturity;
but none are now living.
Horace Nelson, father of our subject, spent
his youth and early manhood in Westfield,
and became a hard worker, earnest and in
defatigable in the farm labors to which he
devoted his energies. Success followed his
work; and he became the owner of several
tracts of land in the town, accumulated
money, and was classed among the leading
farmers of the place. He reached the close
of his term of years while living on the farm
which his son now occupies, having attained
the age of sixty-three years. In political
matters he sided with the Democratic party.
He was twice married. The mother of
George Nelson, who was his second wife, was
Miss Charlotte Sackett, a native ,of West-
field. She reached the age of ninety years.
Both she and her husband were members of
the Methodist Episcopal church in Westfield;
and, as they lived in primitive times, they
journeyed to church on horseback. Horace
Nelson was the father of seven children, five
of whom grew to maturity, and two are still
living: George, our subject; and Lydia, wife
of Philo Bushnell, residing in Connecticut.
George Nelson received his education in
the common schools of the town, and after his
father's death took hold of the farm work with
energy. Inheriting his father's lands, he im
proved the original estate, and added to it
from year to year. His first purchase of addi
tional land consisted of but two acres. He
has gone on from that small beginning, how
ever, with such success that he has become
owner of five hundred acres all together. He
has also made a business of buying land for
sale, and has given some attention to the pur
chase and sale of cattle.
Mr. Nelson was married May 19, 1847, to
Mrs. Emeline (Holcomb) Whitney, who was
born October 24, 18 14, widow of William
Whitney and daughter of Elijah and Betsey

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

(Ives) Holcomb. Elijah Holcomb was a
well-known farmer of Southwick. Mrs.
Nelson died January 24, 1893. She was the
mother of three sons, one of whom, George
Arthur, died at the early age of ten years.
Horace G. is a farmer, residing on the old
homestead; he was married in 1885 to Miss
Sophia Melson, and they have two children —
Emeline and Ralph. IPenry N., the other
son, was born September 10, 1853, and resides
on the same farm, carrying on its general
work, and also conducting a saw-mill and
cider-mill. He manages quite an extensive
dairy for the district. In 1885 he was mar
ried to Miss Alice Morrison, and they are
now the parents of two children — Henry M.
and Marion Gray Nelson. The family attend
the Congregational church in Westfield.
A diligent and industrious worker, George
Nelson has acquired a competency, and is now
able to relax his labors. 'With wise and kind
forethought he has divided his property among
his children, retaining for his own use but a
portion, consisting of about two hundred and
eighty-eight acres of land. Mr. Nelson has
resided on the farm he now occupies for the
past twenty years. He is a Democrat in poli
tics, and was formerly a member of the State
militia. Mr. Nelson is liberal in his relig
ious views. Representing one of the oldest
families in the town, he and his sons have the
respect of the entire community.

'ORACE G. NELSON, eldest son of
George and Emeline (Whitney) Nel
son, a farmer residing in Westfield,
Hampden County, Mass., was born
in that town, February 22, 1849. He be
longs to a well-known and highly respected
family, whose members have been among the
noted citizens of the place since its early
settlement. Horace Nelson grew up on the
home farm, attending the district schools, and
spending one year in study at the high school.
He started life as a farmer when twenty-one
years of age, and has continuously followed
that occupation. His first purchase of land
was in the town of Granville in the same
county, and consisted of about one hundred

acres. This land he still owns; and he h;
added to his possessions property in varioi
parts of the town and vicinity, aggregatir
about seventy-five acres more. No farm
brought up to a high state of cultivation witl
out untiring industry, and Mr. Nelson's far
shows that much labor and care have bee
exercised to bring about its prosperous cond
tion. He has a dairy of fourteen head of pui
Jersey cows, and makes a specialty of fir
butter. Mr. Nelson was married October 7, 188;
to Miss Sophia Melson, a native of Sweder
and this union has been blessed by two chi
dren — Emma and Ralph.
Mr. Nelson is a Democrat, and takes an ir
terest in all matters concerning the welfar
of the town; but his chief interest lies in hi
farm and its various occupations. He an
his^wife are members of the Methodist Epi;
copal church. Mr. Nelson resides at the ol
homestead, and represents the typical Ne^
England farmer — intelligent, thrifty, honest
and successful; for the exercise of intelli
gence, thrift, and honesty rarely fails to brin
success.

DOLPH G. GRUENDLER, Manage
of the Indiana Bicycle Company i:
Springfield, Mass., was born i:
this city, September 21, i86c
His parents, Gustavo and Elizabeth (Was
sing) Gruendler, were among the oldest Ger
man inhabitants of Springfield, where hi
father was a hotel manager for thirty-fiv
years. Mr. Gustavo Gruendler was born i]
Acherslaber, Prussia, February 12, 1821, am
died on the 12th of April, 1892. His wif
was born in Oberingelheim, Hesse Darmstadt
Germany, in 1827, and is yet living in Spring
field. Adolph Gruendler received his earl-
education in the public schools of Springfield
and at sixteen years of age began his appren
ticeship in the machine-shop of Russell 8
Day on Hampden Street, which lasted for thre^
years. He then went to New York, and se
cured a position as clerk in Earle's Hotel, 01
the corner of Canal and Central Streets, an(
remained there for over a year. Returning t^

786

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Springfield at the expiration of that time, he
was employed as a die-maker in the Glenida
Button Factory at the foot of Broad Street.
Two years later he took a position in the
Duckworth Machine Shop on Hilman Street,
where his mechanical skill and knowledge
were of great value to both himself and his
employers. It was at this time that the mania for roller
skating was a sort of epidemic; and Mr.
Gruendler, who was a skilful skater, became
a professional teacher of rink skating, travel
ling through New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania, introducing the new and popu
lar amusement. When the interest in this
novel mode of exercise began to wane, Mr.
Gruendler decided to resume the occupation
for which he had been especially trained.
Going to Hartford, Conn., he sought and se
cured a situation in the machine-shop of the
Pope Manufacturing Company of that city.
The firm for which he was now working, per
ceiving Mr. Gruendler's ability, and finding
him an experienced cyclist, gave him the
entire charge of a new department — the rid
ing school — which they had recently estab
lished. Six months later the bicycle repair
ing department, in which quite a number of
subordinate workmen were employed, was put
under his control; and so eminently satis
factory was his management that he retained
the place for ten years, at the end of which
time he gave it up in order to take a position
in the repairing department of Banker &
Campbell in New York City, with whom he
remained until the failure of the firm. His
next engagement was with Hurlburt Brothers,
No. 26 West Twenty-third Street, as Super
intendent of their factory. He was also in
charge of a similar factory on Twenty-third
Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues.
At the expiration of a little more than a
year he returned to Springfield with Mr.
George M. Hendee, who was then selling the
Waverley bicycle, and immediately accepted
the proposition to take complete control of
his repairing-shop in the city. Shortly after
ward Mr. Hendee concluded to manufacture
and put in the market his own wheel, the
Silver King, which, of course, naturally

seriously affected the sale of the Waverley.
Mr. Smith, of the Indiana Bicycle Company,
perceiving that the Waverley would be virt
ually dropped from the Springfield market
unless some counteracting influence should be
exerted in its behalf, determined to establish
a branch office of the company in Springfield.
The demand for a thoroughly competent man
to conduct such an office was urgent ; and the
choice fell upon Mr. Gruendler, whose experi
ence and qualifications were well known.
The offer was made and accepted, and the
Indiana Bicycle Company secured the invalu
able services of their present manager, under
whose control the sales have been almost
doubled. In Mr. Gruendler's repair-shop.
No. 117 State Street, all the latest improve
ments in machinery may be found ; for ex
pense has not been spared to equip this shop
thoroughly, and the owner feels justly proud
of the result of his efforts. A large line of
wheels, both new and second-hand, are al
ways in stock; and Mr. Gruendler anticipates
an unusually large sale during the present
year. Mr. Gruendler married Miss Minnie Nor-
mand, the daughter of Mr. H. F. Normand, of
Worcester. 'They reside in Springfield.
Since 1888 Mr. Gruendler has been a member
of the Royal Arcanum Club, which he joined
while in Hartford, and is a member of the
Hartford Wheel Club, of which he was
formerly Captain. His reputation as a wheel
man has gone far and near, and on cycling
points he is a recognized authority. Cour
teous and obliging and of pleasing address,
he makes and retains many friends.

B

WIGHT WARREN ELLIS, a re
tired manufacturer of woollen goods
in Monson, a man who has climbed
to the height of prosperity through
his own industry and intelligence, was born
in Dana, Mass., December 22, 1824. His
father was Shepard Ellis, born about 1796,
and reared in "Wardsboro, Vt., a son of Greg
ory Ellis; and his mother was Electa, daugh
ter of Seth Johnson, of Dana, Mass. This
lady is still living, at Springfield, a widow,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

787

well into her ninety-second year, in full pos
session of all her faculties. John and Thomas
Ellis, brothers, and Richard Ellis, came to
this country about two hundred and fifty years
ago, and settled in Norfolk County, Massa
chusetts, John being a freeman in Dedham in
1641. Gregory Ellis was a farmer in Vermont and
Massachusetts, and died in Dana about 1839,
at the age of seventy-one, having reared nine
children — five sons and four daughters. One
of these children, Asa F. Ellis, is now living
in Warren, Mass., having reached the age of
seventy-seven, a fact worthy of note, as this
is not a long-lived family. Mrs. Gregory
Ellis, whose maiden name was Pierce, died
when eighty years old, about fifteen years
after her husband's decease. They were in
moderate circumstances, and so lived as to
win the esteem and respect of all who knew
them. The parents of Dwight W. Ellis were
married about 1821. Shepard Ellis was by
trade a clothier, and spent his active life in
the clothing and dyeing business. He lived
in different towns in Massachusetts and Con
necticut, and had a family of three sons and
six daughters, one of whom died in infancy.
The children now living are: Dwight W.,
the subject of this sketch; Justice ]., a wool
len manufacturer at Stafford, Conn.; Susan,
widow of Albert Hyde, living at Pittsfield,
Mass.; Mary, widow of George Spaulding;
and Belle, wife of John St. Clair, who resides
in Springfield. Stillman Ellis, who died at
Palmer in 1890, at the age of sixty-two, was,
like his brother Justice, a woollen manufact
urer, and carried on a successful business in
Wilbraham, leaving at his death real and per
sonal estate to the value of one hundred thou
sand dollars.
Dwight W. Ellis obtained his early educa
tion at the common schools, and when in his
teens was called to take an active part in his
father's business at Rockville, Conn. He
became an adept in handling fabrics, and was
associated with the Shaws, of Wales, as part
ner in the manufacture of fancy cassimeres.
His capital was his skill and the few hundred
dollars he had saved from his earnings. His
ability and his thorough knowledge of all

branches of the business, which he had ac
quired by industry and enterprise, made his
services worth more than money. In 1863 he
established a factory at Wilbraham for the
manufacture of fancy cassimeres and other
fine cloths, hiring a mill fOr that purpose.
When this structure burned down about two
years later, he erected another, which he
owned and operated until about 1888, his
brother Stillman being his partner until they
sold out. In 1868 he established a manufac
tory at Orcuttville, Conn., in the town of
Stafford, in company with Julius Converse.
Ten years later he sold his interest to his
brother Justice. In 1872 he came to Mon
son, and purchased a mill site where a build
ing had been burned, and fourteen acres of
land, on which he erected his factory for the
manufacture of cassimeres and many other
buildings, including his spacious and elegant
residence. Mr. Ellis was married in February, 1848,
at the age of twenty-four, to Mary, daughter
of George and Sarah (Gardner) Puffer, of
Brimfield, Mass. They had four sons, one of
whom died in infancy; another, P'rank P., a
young man of business habits and great prom
ise, died in this place at the age of twenty-
three, in 1875. "The children now living are:
Arthur D., a manufacturer here, in company
with his father, of whom a more extended no
tice is given below; and Frederick W. Ellis,
M.D., a Harvard graduate, married, and in
active practice in Monson.
Arthur Dwight Ellis, son of Dwight W.,
was born in Wales, Mass., in 1850. He ob
tained a fundamental education in the district
school, and at an early age began to work for
his father, in time familiarizing himself with
all the practical workings of the business,
becoming a partner in 1875. He is a man of
push and great business sagacity, believing
firmly in the old adage, " If you want a thing
well done, you must do it yourself." He is
modest and retiring, spending the greater
part of his time either at his home or his
place of business, where he superintends the
work himself, Mr. Ricketts, who is a partner,
attending to the book-keeping and the duties
of the office. Mr. Ellis votes the Republi-

788

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

can ticket, and thus far has escaped being
called to bear the burden of public life.
He was married in 1879 fo Martha Robin
son, a young lady of English birth and parent
age, who came to this country to visit her
sister in Springfield. Nathaniel Robinson,
her father, was an English excise officer;
and her mother before marriage was a Miss
Witheridge, also of English birth. Mr. and
Mrs. Robinson are now deceased, and their
remains rest in their native land. Mrs. Ellis
died March 18, 1891, aged forty-four, leaving
two children — Louise, ten years old, and
Dwight W., aged nine. Mr. Ellis erected
his palatial residence in Monson in 1882. It
is located on a hill overlooking the south of
the village, and is a wonderfully attractive
place, with its beautiful walks, drives,
arbors, and ponds. The exterior of the house
is handsome and imposing, and the interior
shows that Mr. Ellis has spared neither money
nor painstaking to make it an ideal home.
The solid stone masonry walling up the bank
around the large circular lawn and the massive
granite pillars each side of the driveway are
in keeping with the substantial buildings, and
give to the place an air that is at once strik
ing and pleasing.

r-

ROBERT WOLCOTT DAY, Treasurer
of the Morgan Envelope Company of
Springfield, Mass., was born Febru
ary 7, 1852, the year when Com
modore Perry led the commercial expedition
to Japan. His earliest ancestor on this side
of the Atlantic, Robert Day, well known to
genealogists as having come to Massachusetts
from England in the "Elizabeth" in 1634, is
now further spoken of as the son of William
Day, B.D., Provost of Eton College and Dean
of Windsor, and grandson of Morgan Day.
Robert Day settled at first in Cambridge,
Mass., where, as it is said in Paige's History
of that town, in 1635 he "owned a house on
the westerly side of Garden Street." Pie
removed within a year or two to Hartford,
Conn., and was one of the original proprietors
of that place. His second wife, and the
mother of his children, was Editha Stebbins.

Their second son, John Day, was the father
of John, Jr. The next in the line now being
considered were Abraham Day, son of the
second John, Abraham's son Nehemiah, and
his grandson, Nehemiah, Jr., great-grandfather
of Robert W., of Springfield. Major Day,
son of Nehemiah Day, Jr., was a distiller in
South Hadley, Mass., where he was born in
the last year of the eighteenth century, and
died in 1830, at the early age of thirty-one.
His son, William Waite Day, was born at
South Hadley on July 7, 1825, but came to
Springfield in early manhood. A machinist,
he was a partner in the firm of Russell &
Day, prominent machinists on Hampden
Street. For many years he has been con
nected with the fire department, being for a
time Chief Engineer. His wife's maiden
name was Russell, and they had four children :
Clara, the wife of Joseph Berry; Robert
Wolcott Day; William Otis Day, clerk, and
Edward Hooker Day, book-keeper, both of
the Morgan Envelope Company. Their
mother is a member of the Methodist Epis
copal church; and both parents are living,
the father at the age of threescore years and
ten. After Robert W. Day completed his educa
tion at the high school, in 1872, he entered
the employ of the Morgan Envelope Company,
and worked up from office boy through differ
ent positions, including that of book-keeper
and of commercial traveller, till in January,
1884, he was elected Treasurer. The com
pany has one of the largest envelope factories
in the country, with a capital stock of one
hundred thousand dollars, giving employment
to two hundred and seventy-five people, mak
ing five millions of envelopes annually, and
obtaining many government contracts. Mr.
Day was Director in the First National Bank
for two years prior to the organization of the
Springfield National Bank, with which he
has ever since been connected. Since 1893
he has been one of the City Flospital Trus
tees. He belongs to Golden Rule Lodge of
Hinsdale, N.H., and Springfield Command
ery, Knights Templars, and also to the
Winthrop and Nayasset Clubs. His wife, to

FRANKLIN D. MILLER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

791

whom he was united on September 26 of our
centennial year, was Ida L. Boyden, daughter
of Frederick Boyden, of Hinsdale, N.H.
Their four children are: Pauline Boyden, born
in 1877; Robert Frederick, born in 1879;
Winsor, born in 1886; Morgan, born in 1893.
The Days are adherents of the First Church
of Springfield; and they have resided since
1880 at 30 Salem Street, where they have an
attractive home.

XfRAl

RANKLIN DWIGHT MILLER, one
r*! of the real estate owners of West
Springfield, who also conducts an ex
tensive market garden in that town, was
born in Marlboro, Windham County, Vt.,
March 8, 1835. His father, Abram Dwight
Miller, and his grandfather, Abram Miller,
were both born in the same town. The latter
was a farmer, and spent his last days in
Marlboro. His son Abram was brought up on
the farm, and when quite a young man com
menced his business career by dealing in
horses. His custom was to buy them in Ver
mont, and transport them to Boston, New
York, and Hartford for sale. He also carried
on a produce exchange business, using a part
of the home farm in development of this side
enterprise. He died at the age of thirty-six,
passing away at a hotel in West Springfield
in 1 84 1, while on his way to Hartford in the
prosecution Of his usual work. His wife,
whose maiden name was Annah Bagg, died
July 17, 1846. Of her children three grew
up, namely: Sarah J., born December 3,
1829, who died April 30, 1844; Franklin D.,
the subject of this sketch; and Ellen S.,
born October 29, 1840, who died June 7,
1878. Franklin Dwight Miller was five years old
at the time of his father's death. His mother
removed to West Springfield, and the boy
received his early education in the district
schools of that town. At the age of four
teen he entered the Mount Airy Agricultural
Institution, in Germantown, Pa., and later
attended the Monson Academy, in Hampden
County, Mass. He made a special study of
civil engineering, and, after finishing his

course of study, entered the employ of the
New Haven & Northampton Railroad Com
pany, remaining in its service during the
construction of the railroad between North
ampton and Westfield. He was in the em
ploy of the Sackett's Harbor & Saratoga Rail
road eight months, and then went to Illinois,
where he was employed on the Western Air
Line Railroad, extending from the Mississippi
River eastward, via Galva, ' Henry County,
111., to Fort Wayne, Allen County, Ind.
Mr. Miller continued in the employ of that
company two years, and then went to Gales
burg, Knox County, 111., and was engaged two
years in the flour and feed business, at the
end of that time going to Rome, Oneida
County, N.Y., and' after a year removing to
Chase's Lake, Lewis County, N.Y., where
he remained a few months. He then came to
West Springfield, Mass., and was engaged in
farming till 1865. In that year he returned
to Chase's Lake, N.Y., and went into the
lumber business, manufacturing and selling
lumber for nine years. He then came back
to West Springfield, where he purchased prop
erty, built a comfortable house, and has since
devoted his time to market gardening and
to conducting a real estate business. Mr.
Miller is now the owner of the most valuable
tract of unimproved land in the town of West
Springfield. Mr. Miller was married September 30,
1858, to Miss Mary J. Chase. Her birth
place was Lowville, Lewis County, N.Y.,
where also her father, Charles Chase, was
born. IPer grandfather was Reuben Chase,
born December 15, 1783, in Plainfield, Wind
ham County, Conn. When Reuben Chase
took his first journey into New York State,
the country was a wilderness; and from Utica
northward to the town of Lowville he went on
horseback, following a trail of blazed trees.
After one year he returned home. In 1803
he married, and with his bride removed to
Lowville, where he engaged in the business
of carrying the mails. As the settlers in the
northern part of the State were destitute of
mail service, a contract was made with the
officials, by which mail could be delivered
to the residents scattered about in that sec-

792

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

tion; and for three years Mr. Chase made
regular trips on horseback from Utica, Oneida
County, to Sackett's Harbor, Jefferson County,
making stops at Lowville, Lewis County, and
Champion and Brownville, Jefferson County.
He subsequently bought a farm on the out
skirts of the village, on which he spent the
remainder of his life, his death occurring
when he was eighty-eight years old. In his
youth Reuben Chase had joined the Methodist
church and become a lay preacher, being dis
tinguished for his fervor and the earnestness
of his work. The maiden name of his wife
was Eunice Alexander. She was born in
Plainfield, Conn., and was a daughter of
Captain Alexander, who commanded a com
pany at the battle of Bunker Hill. Charles
Chase, father of Mrs. Miller, was a carpenter
by trade during the early years of his life.
He later became a lumber merchant at Chase's
Lake, where he still resides, being eighty-five
years old. He married Miss Roxy Mills,
daughter of Timothy and Catherine (Taylor)
Mills, natives of New York State and pioneers
in Lowville, who is still living in Lowville,
her native town, at the age of seventy-eight
years. She is the mother of five children,
who all grew to maturity: Mary J., wife of
F.D.Miller; Timothy M.; Frank; Frederick
C ; and Henry T.
Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Dwight Miller have
brought up six children: Ellen P., wife of
H. C Belden, M.D. ; Franklin D., Jr., who
died at the age of twenty-two years ; Eva
Louise; Annah B. ; Grace; and Charles A.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller are members of the Park
Street Church, which represents the Congre
gational body in West Springfield. The
portrait of Mr. Miller which accompanies this
sketch will be recognized with pleasure by his
wide circle of acquaintances.

OMER E. KING, manager and clerk
of the Hampden Co-operative Asso-
1^9 I ciation at No. 143 State Street,
Springfield, Mass., is well adapted
for the responsible position he occupies, being
wide-awake, enterprising, and energetic, and
possessing good business tact and excellent

judgment. This establishment is the pioneer
co-operative store of not only Springfield, but
of Western Massachusetts, and was organized
July I, 1892, its principal object being to
furnish its members with the purest groceries,
clothing, coal, boots, shoes, and other neces
saries of life at a small profit and for cash
only. The association is open to member
ship from the general public, and after the
payment of five per cent, per year on the capi
tal stock, and setting aside the legal reserve
fund, the profits are paid back as dividends on
purchases made by the members. Mr. King
has been connected with the association from
the beginning, and since the opening of its
place of business, October 17, 1892, has occu
pied the office of store manager. He is a
native of this county, having been born at
Sixteen Acres in October, 1840.
His father, Erastus King, was born in
Enfield, Conn., being a son of Horace King,
who was a soldier of the War of 1812, and a
brother of Colonel Abe King, a prominent
plough manufacturer of Enfield. Horace
King removed from Connecticut to this county
nearly fourscore years ago, and bought a large ¦
tract of land in Sixteen Acres, on which he
carried on general farming many years. In
1835 he bought real estate in the city of
Springfield, where he spent his last years,
dying in 1848, at the age of sixty-four years.
He left a lot of land in his name on what is
now King Street, which was opened up by his
son Erastus, and which was named for the
family. Erastus succeeded his father in the
ownership of the two-hundred-acre farm, and
was for many years one of the most influential
and prosperous agriculturists of the county.
He was a member of the Common Council,
and also Highway Surveyor for a long time,
having charge of the roads of the town.
After becoming somewhat advanced in
years, he removed into Springfield, where he
resided for ten years, but subsequently re
turned to the old homestead, and is now pass
ing the golden sunset of his life in the enjoy
ment of the fruits of his earlier years of toil.
Pie was born in 18 10, and is remarkably
vigorous and active, mentally and physically,
for one of his years. He married Electa A.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

793

Pattis, who ,was born in 1813, in Delaware
County, New York, whither her parents had
removed from Montgomery, Mass. She died
in 1890, being seventy-seven years of age.
Ten children were born to her and her hus
band, six of whom grew to years of maturity,
namely: Horace P., who lives on the old
homestead; Henrietta, the wife of E. F.
Markham, of Ward Seven, Springfield ;
Homer E. ; Hobart J., a furniture dealer in
Providence, R.I.; Herman L., of Springfield,
a carpenter; and Howard C, proprietor of a
general store at North Brookfield, the store
being owned and managed by the firm, Howard
G. King & Co.
Homer E. King obtained the rudiments of
his education in the district schools of Six
teen Acres, and was afterward a student at
Wilbraham Academy. He began his mercan
tile career with Gate & Chapman, grocers,
located at the corner of Walnut and State
Streets, being with them a year. In 1861,
when there was a great demand for men in the
United States Armory, Mr. King entered the
barrel department, where he worked until
toward the close of the war, receiving good
wages for his labor. Resuming his former
occupation, he was next employed by West,
Stone & Co., wholesale and retail grocers
on Main Street. He subsequently bought
the store on the corner of Walnut and Oak
Streets, which is now occupied by Henry
Wood, and for eight years carried on a suc
cessful business, coming out safely through
the panic of 1873, when the watch factory was
shut down and so many reliable firms were
obliged to suspend. In 1875 Mr. King
formed a partnership with his father-in-law,
and under the name of F. Mills & Co. stocked
the store at the corner of Main and Union
Streets ; and for eleven years they carried on
one of the leading groceries of the city. Dis
posing of that in 1886, he started for Kansas,
in order to look about for good investments,
but stopped in Chicago for a year, where he
was manager of the Drexel House on Drexel
Boulevard. Mr. King then returned to
Springfield, and the next three years was with
Root Brothers, grocers in Court Square,
remaining with them until the organization of

the co-operative store, in which he was one
of the most active and influential workers.
This association is organized on a sound
financial basis, having among its stockholders
such substantial men as Charles Churchill,
Herbert Myrick, and Henry D. Taylor, and
has a capital of two thousand dollars, which
is not increased except by subscription. It
has been a success from the start, doing a
business of thirty thousand dollars a year;
and the shares, which are valued at five dol
lars each, are distributed among two hundred
and fifty members. Mr. King has six men
in his employ, and gives his entire time and
attention to the duties of his position, which
he discharges most faithfully and efficiently.
Mr. King was united in marriage May 4,
1865, to Elizabeth H. Mills, daughter of
Frederick Mills, who was born in East Long
meadow, but passed the later years of his life
in Springfield. Three children have blessed
the union of Mr. and Mrs. King, but only two
are now living: the son, Frederick E. King,
is now with George J. Sidwell & Co., in
Chicago, 111.; Effie M. King died January 5,
1893, aged twenty-one years ; Fannie J. lives
at home. In politics Mr. King takes no
active part, but is strongly interested in the
temperance movement, and casts his vote
with the Prohibition party. He attends and
gives generous support to the Olivet Church,
of which Mrs. King is a valued member.
Their pleasant home, which they have occu
pied for twenty-two years, is located at the
corner of Quincy and Stebbins Streets; and
there they welcome their hosts of friends
with a sincere and cordial hospitality.

KYMAN NOBLE CLARK, editor of
the Westfield Times and Neivs-Letter,
^ is well known in Western Massa
chusetts and, in fact, throughout
the State. He was born in Northampton on
the 1 8th of May, 1835. His father, Horace
Clark, was a native of the same town, as was
also his paternal grandfather, Joel Clark, his
ancestors having been among the first settlers
of the Connecticut River Valley. Joel Clark
was an extensive land-owner and an agricult-

794

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

urist by occupation. He was a life-long
resident of his native town, passing from
earth at the ripe age of seventy-six years.
His wife, Achsah Stearns, survived him many
years, living to the great age of ninety-two.
Horace Clark was reared on the home farm,
assisting his father in the manifold labors
appertaining thereto. He, however, took ad
vantage of every opportunity afforded for the
acquirement of an education, and adopted the
medical profession as his life work. He com
menced practice in Northampton, continuing
actively engaged there for many years, but
after the death of his wife came to Westfield,
his residence here numbering but a few
months, when at the age of seventy-six he
was summoned to join the great majority.
In his younger years he joined the State
militia, and was commissioned Captain of a
company of cavalry. Politically, he was first
a Whig and afterward a stanch Republican.
Both he and his wife were members of the
First Congregational Church of Northampton.
He married Mary Noble, a native of West-
field, which was also the natal place of her
parents, Lyman and Mary (Drake) Noble.
Of this union there were seven children, three
of whom survive — Dwight L., Lyman Noble,
and Horace P.
Lyman Noble Clark received his early edu
cation in the public schools of Northampton,
and remained at home until the age of sixteen,
when he left the parental roof, and entered
the printing-office of Phelps & Eastman, pro
prietors of the Gazette and Courier, at Green
field. He spent four years in the family of
Mr. Eastman, from whom he received his first
lessons in journalism; and he subsequently
was an assistant to H. S. Gere, who in the
early fifties inaugurated the publication of
local news in the Northampton CoiLrier.
From Northampton Mr. Clark came to West-
field, and was employed on the News-Letter,
which was published by P. L. Buell & Co.
This firm sent him to Lee to establish a
branch office, and he there started the Lee
Home Companion, the paper being printed in
Westfield. This was a successful venture,
and the prospects were very encouraging; but
the town of Lee being visited by a very de

structive fire in January, 1857,^ involving a
loss of over seventy-five thousand dollars, a
heavy blow to the place, the News-Letter pro
prietors decided to abandon the intention of
establishing an office there, and Mr. Clark
returned to Westfield. In the early sixties
he went to Northampton, and was again em
ployed in the Gazette office, part of the time
working at the case. In i860 H. M. Burt
started the semi-weekly Free Press, conduct
ing it for five years, during part of which
time Mr. Clark was engaged on the paper as
a compositor. Pn January, 1864, Mr. Clark went to
Springfield, becoming the first local editor of
the Evening Union, so continuing until the
spring of the following year, when he became
editor of the Berkshire County Eagle, at Pitts
field, the publishers being Chickering & Ax
tell. Pn the autumn of 1868 the announce
ment appeared in the Springfield Republican
that the Westfield News-Letter was to be
bought by local capitalists, Mr. Clark to be
its editor. This was news to him, but the
notice, being the means of bringing about an
interview between Mr. Clark and District
Attorney E. B. Gillett, resulted in Mr.
Clark's coming to Westfield on the ist of
January, 1869, and the starting of a new
paper, the Western Hampden Times, the first
number of which was issued March 17, 1869,
and which was largely patronized by the Pitts
field people. For one year George H. Car
penter was associated with Mr. Clark, at the
expiration of which time C C Story, of
Claremont, N.H., took his interest, the firm
having since been Clark & Story. Pn 1874
the "Western Hampden Times and Westfield
News-Letter were consolidated, Mr. Buell
having retired some years previously, Sher
man Adams being then its publisher. Mr.
Clark is assisted in his editorial work by his
sons, Edward G. and L. N. Clark, Jr. The
paper is a weekly publication, giving both
general and local news, and has a large circu
lation. Mr. Clark was married first in March,
1864, to Martha E. Stone, who was born in
Readsboro, Vt., and was a daughter of the
Rev. Ambrose and Lucy (Amidon) Stone,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

795

both natives of the old Bay State. She died
January 4, 1880. Mr. Clark was a second
time married, May 11, 1881, to Miss Maria L.
Wood. She was born in Northampton, and
is a daughter of Asahel and Louise A.
(Clapp) Wood, the former a native of West
hampton and the latter of Northampton. Mr.
Clark has three children living — Anna G.,
Edward G., and Lyman N., Jr.
Mr. Clark cast his first Presidential vote
for John C Frdmont, and has since been a
stanch supporter of the principles of the Re
publican party. He and his wife, with two
children, are members of the First Congrega
tional Church, he having for several years
been chairman of the prudential committee of
the society, and now being chairman of the
music committee. Fraternally, Mr. Clark is
connected with Mount Moriah Lodge, A. F.
& A. M. ; Evening Star Chapter, Royal Arch
Masons; Westfield Lodge, Independent Order
of Odd Fellows ; Metacomet Tribe, I. O. R. M. ;
and St. Elmo Lodge, No. 85, Knights of
Pythias.

t RTHUR L. DAMON, M.D., a regu
lar practitioner in North Wilbraham,
is one of the rising young physi-
^^^ clans of Hampden County. He
was born in Cummington, Hampshire County,
Mass., November 7, 1867, and is a son of
Abner Damon, of Chesterfield, Mass., whose
father was also named Abner. The latter was
a farmer in easy circumstances, whose quiet
life was spent in Chesterfield; and in that
place he died, in 1872, being then in his six
tieth year. He married a Miss Bates, who
died in South Hadley P'alls in the spring of
1895. Mrs. Damon was the mother of five
children, four of whom are still living, one
son, Rawson, being deceased.
Dr. Damon's father was born in Chester
field about 1837. He is a machinist by
trade, and is now living in Williamsburg,
Mass., with his wife, whose maiden name
was Clarissa Willcutt. She is a native of
Chesterfield, and was married to Mr. Damon
when she was nineteen years old. They had
four children, two sons and two daughters, as

follows: William R. Damon, a machinist,
married, and living at Williamsburg; Minnie,
wife of Theodore Porter, who is superintend
ent of Whiting's extensive farm at Holyoke;
Dr. Arthur L. Damon; and Malura, wife of
Howard Pease, of Holyoke, Mass.
Arthur L. Damon was the third child and
the second son of his parents. When four
years of age, he was taken to Williamsburg,
and from that time until he was sixteen lived
in that town, attending the public schools.
At sixteen he entered Smith Academy, where
he distinguished himself as a hard-working
and ambitious pupil, graduating in 1885, salu-
tatorian of his class. He then spent three
years in Chesterfield, studying under Dr.
Streeter, after which he entered the medical
department of the University of Vermont.
From that institution he graduated in 1890,
one of five in the class who received diplomas
of honor from the medical department, and
earned the title of M.D. Dr. Damon's career
at school and college was such as to win for
him the esteem and confidence of all who
knew him ; and since he began practice at
North Wilbraham he has been kept busy in
the town and in the surrounding country.
His professional work is marked by care and
interest, and he follows with enthusiasm the
latest discoveries in medical science. The
Doctor votes for the candidates of the Re
publican party. Socially, he is a Master
Mason.

WEST SEXTON, who was for
many years associated with the
business interests of the city of
Springfield, is a native-born citizen,
the date of his birth being March 7, 1834.
His father, the late Oliver Sexton, was born
in 1786; in that part of old Springfield now
called Wilbraham; and his long and useful
life was entirely passed in this vicinity.
During the years of his activity he was em
ployed in the United States Armory, where
he was foreman of the lower water-shops for
forty years, or until 1843, when he went into
the armory on the hill, and worked for a time.
He subsequently retired to his farm, where

796

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

his death occurred in 1868. He married Mary
Cooley, the descendant of a representative
family of Agawam, the place of her nativity,
and they reared a family of twelve children,
of whom the following is a brief record:
Oliver, now seventy-nine years of age, lives
in Washington, D.C; Horatio died in
Springfield; Mary, who married Asher Moore,
died in 1842; Angeline, the widow of Syl
vester Brown, lives in Hartford, Conn. ; John
Q. A. is an employee in the armory; Rodney
died in 1864; Charles died in Springfield;
William B. C died in this city, June 18,
1894; S. West is the subject of this sketch;
Martha, is the wife of King Caldwell, of
Northfield; Lyman W., is master of the alms
house; and -Jerusha married Thomas Rodgers,
who is employed at the water-shops.
S. West Sexton, of whom we write, was
educated in the public schools of Springfield,
and, when of age to begin life on his own
account, made his first start as a dealer in
horses. He subsequently established a livery
stable on Walnut Street, near State Street,
it being the first large livery on the hill; and
for more than a score of years he carried on
an extensive and very successful business. In
1883 Mr. Sexton became proprietor of the
hotel at the corner of "Walnut and State
Streets, known as the Rockingham House;
and this he conducted for six years in addition
to his other business. In 1889 he disposed of
the hotel, and has since had more leisure to
enjoy the fruits of his many years of enter
prising industry. Twenty years ago Mr.
Sexton built a fine dwelling-house at No. 25
St. James Avenue, one of the first houses
erected on the hill, at that time a long dis
tance from town, but now in the heart of the
best residential portion of this beautiful city,
which has been rightly named "The City of
Homes." In politics Mr. Sexton is an ear
nest supporter of the Republican party, and,
socially, he is a member of the De Soto
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and belongs also to the Agawam Encamp
ment. Mr. Sexton was united in marriage Decem
ber 16, i860, to Miss Flelen Nason, who was
born in Great Falls, N.H., and is the daugh

ter of Aaron Nason, who was afterward pro
prietor of the Rockingham House in Spring
field, and died at that hotel. Seven children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sexton, and
two are now living, namely: Hiram, who was
educated in the Springfield schools, and is
now employed in the armory; and Helen
Josephine, who is still in school. Aaron
Sexton died, aged seventeen years; Eliza, at
the age of sixteen years; Oliver, at twelve
years; and two died in infancy.

T^OLONEL LUCIUS B. WALKLEY,
I vp a veteran of two wars, is a worthy
^Hs representative of those brave and
loyal sons of the North who in the
vigor of manhood, inspired by patriotic mo
tives, willingly gave up their cherished plans
and personal ambitions to become enrolled
among the defenders of the nation.
Colonel Walkley is a native of Westfield,
his birth taking place on September 21, 1822.
Being left an orphan at an early age, he was
taken into the home of an uncle, with whom
he resided until he was seven years old, when
he went to live "with a Mr. Oliver Rice, who
was a farmer. He made his home with the
latter for seven years, then returned to his
uncle, residing with him until 1840. In that
year Mr. Walkley enlisted, and sometime later
was assigned to Company B, Third Artillery
of the United States regular army, and the
foUowing year went to Florida to participate
in the Seminole War, continuing in active
field service throughout the war. At its close
he assisted in building three brick vaults
at St. Augustine and in gathering from the
battlefields the remains of the dead, which
were deposited in these vaults. Most of
these were the remains of the victims of the
Dade massacre. He was then stationed at
different points on the coast until the expira
tion of his term of service, in 1845, when he
returned to the village of Westfield, and com
menced to learn the trade of masonry. At
this he served an apprenticeship of two years,
at the termination of which time he did jour
neyman work for a short period, then began
his career as a contractor, continuing thus

LUCIUS B. WALKLEY,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

799

actively engaged until 1861. Upon the
breaking out of the war he assisted in raising
a company, and upon its organization was
elected Captain. This company was mus
tered into service June 21, 1861, as Company
K, and was attached to the Tenth Massachu
setts Volunteer Infantry, going into camp at
Hampden Park. A few days later the regi
ment was sent to Medford, and thence to
Washington, where Company K was engaged
in the erection of fortifications, remaining
there until spring, and spending one month at
Manassas Junction, in the month of ]\farch
going to Fortress Monroe, and starting on the
Peninsular campaign. Captain "Walkley re
mained with the command until July, when
he resigned, and returned home. He was
soon, however, commissioned Major of the
Forty-sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volun
teer Infantry, and went to Newbern, N.C,
where he was promoted to be Lieutenant
Colonel of the regiment, continuing in active
service in that State until June, 1863, when,
Lee's army invading Pennsylvania, he was
stationed with his regiment at Baltimore,
guarding the approaches to that city when the
battle of Gettysburg was fought. After that
engagement his regiment was attached to
Meade's army, and Colonel Walkley continued
in service until the month of August, when
he, with his regiment, was honorably dis
charged, the term of enlistment having ex
pired. On his return to Westfield he resumed
his business, which he has since successfully
carried on.
On December 14, 1847, Colonel Walkley
was united in the bonds of matrimony with
Miss Sarah C Young. She, also, is a native
of Westfield, having been born May 9, 1829.
Of this felicitous union there are six children
living — Charles F., Sarah E., Isabelle M.,
Clara E., George A., and Alice M. Mrs.
Walkley is a most estimable woman, in every
respect worthy of the high esteem universally
accorded her throughout the community in
which she has spent her entire life. She has
ever been foremost in the promotion of all
good works, lending a helping hand to the
needy, and comforting those in distress.
During the first six months of her husband's

army life she accompanied him, doing all in
her power to alleviate the discomforts inci
dent to such a life, and is now an honorary
member of the Tenth Regiment. She is also
a prominent member of the Women's Relief
Corps, of which she has been department
chaplain. With her husband, she is a mem;
ber of Golden Chapter of the Eastern Order
of the Star Lodge, of which she was Worthy
Matron four years. Of such a woman it may
be fittingly said: " Many daughters have done
virtuously, but thou excellest them all."
"Her children arise up, and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praiseth her."
In politics Colonel Walkley is a true-blue
Republican, and for twelve years served as
Deputy Sheriff. He is connected with the
Grand Army of the Republic, being a charter
member of Lyon Post, No. 41. Of Mount
Moriah Lodge, A. F. & A. M., he is Past
Master; and he is also connected with
Evening Star Chapter, Royal Arch Masons,
and with Springfield Commandery, Knights
Templars, and, as stated above, is a member
of the order of the Eastern Star. Both Colo
nel and Mrs. Walkley are active members
of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, of
which he is a Trustee. The portrait of
Colonel Walkley, which will be found on an
adjoining page, will be viewed with interest
by the readers of this volume as being the
likeness of one of the few men living to-day
who have actively participated in two of our
country's wars.

'OHN R. BOYLE, an enterprising farmer
in Southwick, was born in Tariffville,
in the town of Simsbury, Conn., April
3, 1857. He is a son of Robert and
Jennie W. (Thurston) Boyle and grandson of
John Boyle. Mr Boyle's father was born in
Southwick, June 11, 1830. He was a railroad
contractor in early years, and later engaged
in farming, occupying the farm where his son
now lives, which he kept in a fine state of
cultivation. His early years were spent in
unremitting toil, and his farm life gave him
time for long-needed leisure. In politics Mr.
Boyle was a Democrat, and in religion he held

8oo

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

liberal views. He died October lo, 1893,
when sixty-three years old. Mrs. Boyle was
born in Lowell, Mass., July22, 1835, and died
April 3, 1889. She was a member of the
Episcopal church. They had two children —
John R. Boyle, our subject; and Lizzie T. ,
wife of Walter C Wheaton, of Southwick,
who was born September 12, 1862, and died
June 6, 1883, leaving one child — Harry E.
Wheaton. John R. Boyle grew to manhood in Tariff
ville, where he lived with his grandfather
until twenty-one years old. In that place also
he received his early education, which was
supplemented by two years at Amherst and one
year at a business college at Hartford, Conn.
When his education was completed, he put it
to practical use in the pursuit of agriculture,
settling first upon his grandfather's place,
which he now owns, in the town of Southwick,
and afterward removing to his father's farm,
which he also owns. He carries on general
farming, raising among other things potatoes,
corn, and tobacco, and also has a fine dairy.
On the home farm he has one hundred and fifty
acres of arable land, and he has made marked
improvements from time to time. In other
parts of the town he owns about fifty acres,
and he ranks among the best farmers in the
vicinity. Mr. Boyle was married September 13, 1882,
to Fanny E. , daughter of Henry PI. and Ama-
ret L. (Aldeman) Hosmer, born in Southwick,
September 30, 1859. Mr Hosmer was born
in Southwick, May 14, 1821, and spent his
life there, a well-to-do farmer. He passed
away January i, 1894. Mrs. Hosmer was a
native of Broome County, N.Y., born Septem
ber 13, 1834. She is yet living in Southwick,
where also live four of her seven children.
These children were named as follows:
Arthur D., who died December 31, 1893, at
the age of twenty-four; Fanny E,, Mrs.
Boyle; Plenry B. Hosmer, an engineer, living
in Westfield; Merrill H., a fireman in West-
field; Luther P., a farmer in Southwick;
Charles H. and Edwin J., also farmers, resid
ing in Southwick. The union of Mr and
Mrs. Boyle has been blessed by one child, J.
Earle Boyle, who was born August 28, 1885.

In politics Mr Boyle is independent. He
is a genial and hospitable .man, and is de
servedly popular. Mrs. Boyle cheerfully per
forms all the duties incumbent upon a farmer's
wife, and is the light of her pleasant home.
They are both active members of the Baptist
church.

"1''^\(r\0SES PPARRINGTON WARREN,
t: I zJ an extensive farmer and lumber
I J|U I dealer of Hampden, Mass., was
born in this town, January 20,
1835, his father, Aaron Warren, being a native
resident. His grandfather, the Rev. Moses
Warren, who was a native of Upton, Worces
ter County, graduated from Harvard College,
and became the first pastor of the Congrega
tional church in what is now the village of
Hampden, where he continued to preach for
upward of forty years. His wife was Lydia
Bliss, whose ancestors were among the early
settlers of Hampden County. After his
father's death Aaron Warren succeeded to the
ownership of the Hampden homestead, and
here continued to reside. He diligently fol
lowed agriculture as a vocation, becoming ex
ceedingly prosperous; and, although he died
in the prime of life, in 1857, at the age of
fifty-five years, he was one of the wealthiest
farmers in the town. His wife before mar
riage was Betsey Stacy. She was a daughter
of P.orin Stacy, of Hampden, and was called to
rest in 1872, at the age of seventy years, hav
ing been the mother of three children — Lydia
B., Moses PP., and John B.
Moses H. Warren received his early educa
tion at a select school, and later profited by
the superior advantages of Phillips Academy.
Beginning at the age of seventeen, he taught
five or six terms of winter school. On attain
ing his majority he settled upon the farm he
now owns and occupies, a very desirable piece
of property adjoining the village, and one of
the best-improved farms in the town. In addi
tion to farming he engaged extensively in the
lumber business, which he has conducted with
the most satisfactory results.
At the age of tvventy-one he was united in
marriage to Miss Julia Elizabeth Selden, of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

8oi

Hartland, Conn., who died in 1872; and in
1894 he wedded for his second wife Mrs.
Louisa M. (Alden) Burleigh, who was born in
Springfield. Pier father, Elijah Alden, a
native of Stafford, Conn., and son of Elijah
Alden, Sr., learned the trade of a carpenter,
but went to California soon after the discovery
of gold in that State, and engaged in mining,
but after remaining there about eight years
returned East, and established himself in
Springfield as a contractor and builder. He
purchased land at the corner of Walnut and
Hancock Streets, upon which he erected a
residence, and there made his home for the
remainder of his earthly life, which closed at
the age of seventy-eight years. His wife was
Lucia Barber, of Agawam, daughter of Joel and
Mary Barber. She was summoned to her rest
at the age of thirty-nine years, having reared
three of her six children — Lucia, Louisa M.,
and Frank A. Louisa M. Alden was married
at the age of twenty-six to her first husband,
Albert Burleigh, a native of Wilbraham and
son of Abner ancl Cynthia Burleigh. He
learned the trade of a carpenter, and became a
successful contractor and builder at Palmer,
also engaging extensively and profitably in the
lumber business, and died there at the age
of forty-two years, their only son, Frederick
Alden Burleigh, ten years of age, also dying
the same year.
Mr. Moses H. Warren has reared six chil
dren, namely: Frederick H., who resides at
Chicago, and is a salesman in Franklin
McVeagh & Co.'s wholesale grocery store;
Moses De Witt, who died at the age of twenty-
eight years; Henry Selden and John Lyle,
extensive farmers at Monango, N. Dak. ; Julia
Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Bragdon, who is now
in business at Chicago; and Edward Morris,
editor of the La Moure Chronicle, of La
Moure, N. Dak., where he is also State super
intendent of schools. Mr. Warren has always
been a Republican, and has served as a Select
man, Overseer of the Poor, Assessor, and
School Committee. He was a Deputy Sheriff
for fifteen years, and in 1885 was elected to
represent his district in the State legislature.
In 1880 he was called to Connecticut for the
purpose of settling his brother's estate, and

while there was made a member of the Second
Company of the Governor's Horse Guards on
Major Strong's staff.

XTrANCIS warren CLARK, a pros-
pj perous agriculturist, whose fine farming
property is located in Montgomery, was
born in that town on November 13, 1829, and
is a son of Zenas Clark, Jr., who also was a
native of Montgomery, born October 6, 1806.
Deacon Zenas Clark, the grandfather, was,
it is believed, born in Southampton, Mass.
He purchased a tract of land in Montgomery,
which extended across the -line into Hunting
ton, and cleared and cultivated a good farm,
carrying on mixed husbandry. Pie died March
10, 1841. The maiden name of his wife was
Priscilla Gates. They were the parents of
four children — Zenas, Louisa, Electa, and
Priscilla. Both Zenas Clark and his wife
were consistent members of the Congregational
church, Mr. Clark being a Deacon for many
years. Zenas Clark, Jr., the father of Francis War
ren, remained at home on the farm, assisting
in its management and finally succeeding to
its ownership, and upon it passed his en
tire life. His death occurred November 30,
1 89 1, he having attained the ripe age of
eighty-six. He married Betsy Wright, a na
tive of Montgomery and a daughter of James
and Sarah Wright. She died at the age of
seventy-five. Five children completed the
household circle — Francis Warren, Harriet
N., Susan M., Happelonia, and Laurens.
Francis Warren Clark was educated in the
public schools, remaining with his parents
until 1856, in which year he started westward,
going via railroad to Dunleith, 111., where he
crossed the Mississippi River, thence going by
stage to Howard County, Iowa, some one hun
dred and fifty miles distant. That section of
country was then but very sparsely settled,
deer and other wild game roaming over the
plains; and much of the land was owned by
the government. Mr Clark purchased a large
tract of land, and at once set to work to com
pass its improvement, during one season work
ing a breaking team of four pairs of oxen.

802

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

While in the West he visited various points in
Minnesota and Illinois. In 1858 he made a
visit home, with the intention of returning
West, but, changing his mind, sold his inter
ests there, and in 1859 located on the farm
where he now resides, and engaged in general
farming and dairying, being very successful in
his operations.
On November 21, 1858, Mr Clark was
united in marriage with Delina Chapman.
Mrs. Clark was born in Montgomery, June 12,
1834, a daughter of Avery and Iduma (Moore)
Chapman, the former of whom was a native of the
same town. Her paternal grandfather, Elisha
Chapman, was a farmer, and also kept a tavern,
occupying for that purpose the house which is
now owned and occupied by David L. Allyn.
Mrs. Clark's father was a farmer, and spent
the greater portion of his life in Montgomery.
He died at the home of a daughter in East
hampton, aged eighty years. His wife, Iduma
Moore, was a daughter of Oliver Moore. She
died at the age of fifty-seven. Mr. and Mrs.
Clark are the parents of four children — Fred
Laurens, Etta Josephine, Edward Clinton, and
Zenas Scott.
Mr. Clark is an ardent Republican, and has
been called upon to fill the various town
offices. For a number of years he served as a
member of the Board of Selectmen, and is
now serving his ninth year as Justice of the
Peace. In 1872 Mr Clark was elected to the
legislature, fulfilling the duties of that posi
tion to the entire satisfaction of his constitu
ents. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are connected with
the Church of the Second Advent.

KRANKLIN L. GUNN, authorized ticket
agent for the Boston & Maine Railway
Company, with a city office at No. 271
Main Street, Springfield, Mass., has been
established here in his present business for
upward of thirty years, and is the acknowl
edged leader in his line in this section of the
country. He has permanent connections with
every State, city, and town in the United
States, and represents all the steamship lines
of the Atlantic coast. Being the official agent
of many of the New York roads as well as of

the New England roads, and of the Grand
Trunk and the Canadian Pacific roads, in
addition to his connections with the prominent
railways and steamship lines, he can sell
tickets to any accessible place on either of the
six continents. He is likewise agent for the
renowned firm of Thomas Cook & Son, whose
excursions around the world have become his
torical. Many other firms are also represented
on his list, including Judson & Co. and Phil
lips & Co. ; and Mr. Gunn is likewise agent
for the Travelers' Pnsurance Company and for
the Fidelity and Casualty Insurance Company,
the issuing of accident insurance tickets being
quite an important feature of his business.
Mr. Gunn was born in New Haven, Conn.,
December 8, 1833, son of Lucius and Emily
(Kane) Gunn.
Lucius Gunn was born and bred in the city
of New Haven, and there lived during the
entire thirty years of his brief life. He was
a carpenter by trade, and died when his son
Franklin L. was but four years old. His
wife's father was a prominent Connecticut
farmer of the name of Kane. His mother
lived to the remarkable age of one hundred and
two years. Mrs. Emily K. Gunn lived to the
age of threescore and ten years, dying in 1879.
She bore her husband three children, namely:
John, deceased; Lewis, a resident of Fair
Haven, Conn., where he is a wholesale dealer
in oysters; and Franklin L., the subject of
this biography.
Franklin L. Gunn received his preliminary
education in the district school, after which he
was a student in the Lancastarian School, then
in charge of the well-known educator, John E.
Lowell, whose assistant was Plenry H. Harri
son, now a prominent lawyer. At the age of
eleven years the fatherless lad began paddling
his own canoe, going first to Old Branford,
where he worked on a farm for five years.
Going then to New Haven, he served an
apprenticeship at the carriage-maker's trade;
but at the end of the five years, deciding that
he was better adapted to a mercantile career,
he entered a grocery store in the same city as
a clerk, remaining there until 1856. He then
proceeded to Savannah, Ga., and the next four
years had a position in a wholesale fruit store.

* s;

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

80s

In i860 he returned to New Haven; and on
the 25th of October of that year Mr Gunn
was united in marriage to Miss Hattie A.
Angin, and two days later he and his bride
started by steamer for Savannah, where they
spent the winter, remaining there until the
1st of March, when rumors of approaching
war filled the air, and they hastily made their
exit, taking the last steamer but one that left
the city prior to the blockade.
After spending a time in New Haven in a
wholesale grocery house Mr Gunn came to
Springfield, and opened a fruit and confection
ery store opposite the old Opera House. Two
years later he formed a partnership with
W. A. Stoddard, and they had a store in the
Massasoit Block. He next entered into simi
lar business with Mr Merrill, under the firm
name of Gunn & Merrill, selling at wholesale
fruits, confectionery, and toys, afterward till
1 891 conducting the business alone. During
all of this time, in addition to the selling of
fruits and confectionery, Mr. Gunn had carried
on a substantial business in buying and selling
railroad tickets, and this had so increased that
he now finally gave his whole attention to the
ticket agency; and since 1891 he has been
engaged in this only. He works in entire
harmony with the various railway companies of
the country, and carries a full line of all cou
pon tickets, being the authorized agent for
various roads, as before mentioned.
Mr. Gunn is prominently connected with
several social organizations, belonging to Ros
well Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., to the
Morning Star Chapter, and Springfield Com
mandery, and is also a member of the Hamp
den Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and of the Knights of Honor
Two children have been born to him and his
wife, namely: Mary L. , wife of A. Noble;
and Walter C, who is with the Elektron
Manufacturing Company.

fREDERICK W. CLARK, a resident of
Springfield for the past half-century, a
most liberal and philanthropic gentle
man, was born at Easthampton, Mass., Novem
ber 4, 1821. His father, Oliver Clark, and

his mother, whose maiden name was Phebe
Hannum, were both life-long residents of
Easthampton, where the former followed agri
culture, and died at the age of forty-seven
years. Pie was a veteran of the War of 18 12
and a Captain in the State militia for many
years, one of his swords being now in posses
sion of his son. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Clark
reared a family of six children, of whom Fred
erick W, was next to the youngest. The par
ents were members of the Congregational
church and highly estimable Christian people.
The paternal grandfather was one of the larg
est land-owners in Hampshire County, and was
not only prominent on account of his wealth,
but also from having reared an old-fashioned
family of nineteen children. He was an orig
inal settler of the town of Easthampton, where
he died, having been a very prosperous and
influential citizen.
Frederick W. Clark was educated in the
public schools of his native town, and also
attended the Easthampton Academy. In 1841
he became steward of Wright's Family School
at Hartford, Conn., where he remained one
year, acquiring the carpenter's trade. During
the panic of 1843 he was obliged to move
about from one place to another in search of
employment, and was unsettled, so to speak,
for a period of two years, a few months of
which were passed in New York City. In
April, 1845, he came to Springfield, where he
engaged as a carpenter with Chauncy Shepherd,
a prominent builder, who erected the South
Church, Foot's Building, the Olivet Church,
Hampden Hall, and other large edifices, con
tinuing with him in the capacity of foreman
until February, 1848, when he commenced
work at the United States Armory, and as
sisted in the construction of the large arsenal,
after the completion of which he found employ
ment in both the iron and brass departments
and also in the repair-shops.
He was an employee at the armory for many
years, with the exception of some interrup
tions, during the occurrence of which he found
ready engagements in the city, and upon one
occasion went to Pittsfield for the purpose of
erecting a fine residence for William C. Allen,
of New York City. His connections with the

8o6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

armory force continued until February, 1865,
he having passed through the rush made by the
contingencies of war, after the close of which
he engaged with the \Vason Car Company, and
assisted in finishing their first sleeping-car.
The occasion of its completion being a memo
rable one, the officers of the concern were so
elated that all who had been employed in its
construction were invited to christen with a
full bumper this new addition to the comforts
of railroad travel ; but Mr. Clark, never having
indulged in the use of liquor, thought it ill
time to begin then, and so declined. He was
with the car company at different periods until
1872, after which he continued to follow his
trade, his skilful labor being always in demand
and his occupation yielding him the most sat
isfactory returns.
On November 27, 1845, Mr Clark was
united in marriage to Miss Caroline E. , daugh
ter of Richard Avery, of Southampton. Their
only son, William A. Clark, who was a grad
uate of the Springfield High School and also
of the Amherst Agricultural College, where he
became a very proficient botanist, died at the
age of twenty years. May 23, 1872. Mr. and
Mrs. Clark have both been members of Trin
ity Church for a period of fifty years, in which
Mr Clark has officiated as Steward and class
leader. He assisted in the erection of the
new church edifice, both financially and as a
workman, laboring diligently with his hand
and generously contributing from his purse to
secure its completion. As a church builder
he has had large experience, having assisted
in the construction of no less than fourteen
churches, the spires and upper works of which
he has made a special feature of his trade; and
the placing of the cross upon the tower of the
old Catholic church was the work of his hands.
He is now one of three surviving members of
Trinity Church who were here fifty years ago.
Mr Clark is largely interested in real
estate, having built three houses and purchased
several others, the fine double brick block
numbered ^8 and 40 Byers Street, in which he
himself has resided since its completion, being
one of the former He has a large amount of
capital invested in valuable real estate, all of
which is the direct proceeds of his own per

sonal industry and exertion, he having started
in life with a five-dollar note, which he acci
dentally found upon the street in Northampton.
He is exceedingly domestic in his tastes and
habits, still preferring above all other the soci
ety of his amiable and helpful wife, with
whom he has lived for half a century and to
whom he gives much credit for his success.
A few years ago Mr. Clark, who has won a
reputation as a generous and cheerful giver,
visited his native town of Easthampton on
Christmas Eve, and presented the Methodist
Episcopal church of that place with a purse of
one thousand dollars. Besides giving twelve
thousand dollars to his nieces and nephews, he
has contributed largely to the preachers and
societies of the Methodist church and to other
churches as well, and has originated the some
what novel idea of taking out bank books in
the names of nine different persons, whom he
desires to be benefited at his decease and
receive their legacies without the necessity
of his making a will. He has also taken out
a bank book of one thousand dollars for the
Preachers' Aid Society, an act which met with
the grateful appreciation of those interested,
as the following letter will show: —
Easthamptox, Dec 30, 1890.
Dear Brother, — At the instance of the Board of
Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church in East
hampton I write to communicate their action and to
express the gratitude of the whole church and' congrega
tion for the ample and noble donation you were pleased
to make on Christmas Eve. It -was a Christmas sur
prise as agreeable as it was unexpected and as oppor
tune as agreeable, meeting a real and long-felt want.
The trustees give their own expression below. The
ladies, who have for several years carried the burden of
the interest, are enabled by your benefaction to breathe
easier, and will never cease to be thankful for the aid
you have afforded. But an act so noble and performed
by one living beyond our borders is intensely appre
ciated by all our people. For the days since, it has
been the theme of conversation in the place, and will be
long held in remembrance by a grateful people. In
these expressions of gratitude and good will I, as the
pastor of the church, desire to join ; and we shall never
cease to pray that you may enjoy prosperity and peace,
and that the blessing of Him who dwelt in the bush and
in the cloud may abide with you. The action of the
trustees I enclose on a separate paper.
Very fraternally,
D, Sherman.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

807

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church in Easthampton, held December
29, 1 890, the following record was made, namely : —
Resolved, That in view of Brother Frederick W.
Clark's very liberal donation of one thousand dollars,
made on Christmas Eve, to the Methodist church in
Easthampton, we desire, personally and as representa
tives of the society, to record our feeling of gratitude
for the kind remembrance, and to express to the donor
our deep sense of obligation for so generous a favor.
We trust that what has proved a blessing to the re
ceivers may prove a double blessing to the giver. We
request the secretary to transmit a copy of this resolu
tion to Brother Clark.

[An attested copy.]

C. W. Smith, Clerl:.

The excellent steel engraved portrait which
appears in close proximity to the present
sketch will be recognized as an admirable like
ness of Mr. Frederick W. Clark, whose liber
ality calls to mind the fact that "large char
ity " is ever the "best crop from the lands."

SEONARD G. CUSHMAN, a well-
known and popular hotel man and an
^ enterprising and progressive farmer,
now retired from active business
and residing at the Cushman House in Mon
son, was born in West Stafford, Conn.,
November 18, 1833. His father, Lemuel
Cushman, was the son of Nathaniel Cushman
by a second wife, the widow of a Mr. Parker.
Lemuel Cushman was born at West Stafford,
September 25, 1792. He was a thrifty
farmer, who looked well to his affairs, and at
his death left everything in good order and all
debts paid. He died at his farm-house in
South Monson, August 18, 1852, nearly sixty
years old. He was twice married. His first
wife was Nancy Newcomb, who died when
quite young. His second wife, Polly Gage, to
whom he was married December 15, 1828, sur
vived him seven years, dying November 15,
1859, when but iifty-five years old, and was
buried by his side in the country graveyard in
South Monson, in the Gage school district.
She bore him two sons — the subject of this
sketch; and his elder brother, Chester L.
Cushman, who later became a Congregational
minister of ability. He was a graduate of

Amherst, for which he prepared at Monson
Academy. His first pastorate was at Town
shend, "Vt. , his second at Ludlow Centre, Mass.,
his third at Phillipston, Mass., and his last at
Ludlow, where he died April 23, 1881, at the
age of fifty. He was an earnest Christian, and
did a grand work during his ministry of
twenty-three years. He married Laura M.
Montague, of Belchertown, a graduate of the
South, Hadley Seminary, who is yet living, a
widow, at Belchertown, Mass. They had five
children, namely: Fred, who died when eight
years old ; Catherine, who died at the age of
four; Mrs. Coyle, wife of the Rev. J. P. Coyle,
a Congregational minister at Denver, Col.,
now deceased ; Burt Cushman, who is a trav
elling salesman, employed at Chicago; and
Rufus Cushman, a druggist in Chicago.
Leonard C, the younger son, spent his child
hood and early youth at home on the farm,
and acquired a fair education at the district
school. Marrying, he brought his wife to the
home farm ; and together they attended to its
duties until August, 1861, when they re
moved to Monson, and he built the Monson
House, the first hotel in that town and a not
able factor in its growth. In connection with
the hotel he had a livery of thirty horses, for
which he erected the commodious hotel barn
and carriage-house, with the connected sheds.
He did a large business in teaming coal, build
ing roads, and other public work, and was the
first man to run a sprinkling cart on the
streets. For this cart, which was built in
Concord, N.FI., he paid five hundred dollars;
and he used it six years. He also conducted
at the same time a hundred-acre farm, and
kept constantly employed four teamsters, be
side a domestic force of eight or ten men and
six or seven women. On April 14, 1880, he
sold at auction twenty horses with outfit —
harnesses, carriages. A great crowd attended
the sale, the bidding ran high ; and he re
ceived forty-four hundred dollars in one day.
This sale reduced the livery to twelve horses
and carriages.
He sold the hotel in May for twelve thou
sand dollars, removed some of his buildings,
and took up his residence at his farm, one
mile west of Monson. There he erected a

8o8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

fine, large two-story house, which cost him
three thousand dollars, a fine office building
and a well-fitted barn, forty by fifty feet, with
cellar underneath, at a cost of fifteen hundred
dollars. .He is owner of a tenant house, and
has a large storage building for his carriages,
wagons, and farming implements, with place
for seventy-five tons of ice. His farm cost over
twelve thousand dollars, and some time ago
forty-four acres of it sold for two thousand two
hundred and fifty dollars. Mr. Cushman at
one time kept twenty-two cows, and he has
raised many fine horses. On the farm now
are eleven cows and six horses, with some
young cattle. On October i8, 1884, Mr.
Cushman again became owner of the Cushman
House and belongings, buying it at auction
for eight thousand two hundred and seventy-
two dollars. Having made many repairs and
greatly im-proved the place, he sold it to his
son in 1891, and is living here at present,
resting from his labors and looking after his
farm. He is a stanch Republican, but has
never sought office.
Mr. Cushman was married September 11,
1856, to Laura, daughter of Horatio Lilli-
bridge, of Ashford, Conn. She was born in
1827, and passed from this world to a better
on December 25, 1894. They had two chil
dren, a son and a daughter. 'Phe son, George
L. Cushman, is the present proprietor of the
Cushman House. He was married August 4,
1885, to Wealthy Crumb, of Mystic, Conn.,
and has three children — namely, George
Cushman, born July 2, 1886; Mildred, aged
four ; and Norman, three years old — a bright
and promising flock. The daughter, Hattie
L. Cushman, was married to W. C Young,
June 20, 1894, and resides in Monson. She
has one child — Harold Cushman Young.

WILLARD J.
Engineer (
Springfield

LITTLEFIELD, Chief
of the fire department at
Springfield, was born in Newbury
port, Mass., on July 10, 1855. He is the son
of Isaiah G. and Mary Elizabeth (Chase) Lit-
tlefield, and his ancestors were among the
early settlers of Massachusetts. Isaiah G.
Littlefield was a tinsmith by trade. He re

moved from Newburyport to Wells, Me., in
i860, when Willard was but five years old;
and there he died in 1865, leaving a widow
with three sons and three daughters. Mr. and
Mrs. Littlefield belonged to the Congrega
tional church, and in that faith their children
were reared.
Willard J. Littlefield received his educa
tion in the public schools of Wells, going to
school in winter and working in summer. In
the fall of 1865, when but ten years old, he
left home to work on a farm, still attending
school in winter ; and before he was seventeen
years of age he was engaged for two years in
running an engine in the saw-mill of J. M.
Eaton. He then left Wells, and learned the
carpenter's trade at Reading, Mass., with Ban
croft & Temple. After serving his apprentice
ship he went to Portland, Me., where he ob
tained employment at his trade, working there
for four years. In 1880 he left Portland, and
came to Springfield, where he entered the
employ of G. M. Burnham, builder and con
tractor. He stayed with him from 1880 until
1888; and during three years of that time he
was in the fire department as a call man, com
bining that work with his regular employment.
In 1888 he was appointed to the permanent
position of foreman for Hook and Ladder
Company, No. i, and served in that capacity
until 1894, when he was elected Chief of the
fire department. In politics Mr. Littlefield is
a Republican. He is a member of De Soto
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and attends and supports the Congregational
church.

/©>

EORGE FRANCIS FULLER a,
V i) I wholesale grain dealer in Springfield,
^"-"^ was born in East Midway, Mass.,
now called Millis, on March 8, 1842. On the
paternal side his earliest American ancestor
was Ensign Thomas Fuller, of Dedham, Mass.,
one of whose descendants is Chief Justice
Melville W. Fuller. Thomas Fuller was
admitted to the purchase of land in Dedham in
1642. He held the office of Selectman four
teen years, and was representative to the Gen
eral Court three years. His son Thomas

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

809

married Esther Fisher, and was father of Amos
Fuller, who was born in 1701, and married
Esther Kingsbury. Amos and Esther were
the parents of Asa Fuller, who was the father
of Elihu, the latter being grandfather of George
P., the subject of the present sketch. The
names of these early Fullers are taken from a
continuous article in the Dedham Historical
Register by Francis H. Fuller, who is prepar
ing a Fuller genealogy.
Asa Fuller, a carriage-maker, lived in Med-
way from 1752 to 1836. He served, it is
said, in Lieutenant Adams's company, Colonel
Smith's regiment, at the battle of Lexington,
was in Captain Josiah Fuller's company, Colo
nel Wheelock's regiment, which marched from
Medway to Warwick, R. I. , on the alarm of
December 8, 1776, and later, in 1780, served
two months and five days in Captain Lovell's
company. Elihu Fuller, born April 19, 1788,
son of Asa, married Rhoda Daniell, a descend
ant of Robert Daniell, who came from Eng
land prior to 1636, and settled in Watertown,
Mass., where he was granted five lots, and pur
chased the "homestall " of Nicholas Jacobs,
situated not far from the present site of the
United States Arsenal. Mr. Daniell was
admitted a freeman on March 14, 1639. His
wife, Elizabeth, died October 2, 1643, and
he himself on July 6, 1655. Their son,
Joseph Daniell, was the father of a second
Joseph and grandfather of a third Joseph; and
the latter in his turn had a son of the same
name. This fourth Joseph Daniell in direct
line, born in 1736, was father of Israel Dan
iell, whose daughter, Rhoda, became Mrs.
Elihu Fuller, as above mentioned.
Israel Daniell Fuller, son of Elihu and
Rhoda Daniell Fuller, was born April 5,
1 816, in Medway. On January 10, 1839, he
married Eliza P. Barber, a native of Medway,
daughter of Seneca and Nancy (Boyden)
Barber The earliest ancestor of the Barber
family in America was George Barber, an
English Puritan, born in 161 5, who came to
Massachusetts in 1638, settling in Dedham.
Subsequently he became one of the original
proprietors and settlers of Medfield, only a
few miles from Dedham and Medway. He
married Elizabeth Clark, and died in 1685.

This line can be traced through Zechariah
Barber, John Barber, two George Barbers,
Seneca Barber, to Eliza P. (Barber) Fuller.
Israel D. Fuller was a shoe manufacturer, liv
ing in Medway all his life, holding various
town offices, and taking great interest in the
advancement of the place. He belonged to
the State militia, and the family adhered to
the Universalist church. There were four
children, the eldest being George Francis, of
Springfield. The other three were daughters :
Emma, wife of E. PI. Holbrook, of Medway;
Anna, deceased, the wife of William White,
of West Medway ; Rhoda, now Mrs. George
F. Holbrook, of East Medway, now Millis.
George Francis Fuller, after graduation at
the high school, was employed by Baxter &
Sanborn, dry-goods dealers in Brighton, a part
of Boston, with whom he remained until he
enlisted to serve against the rebels on August
II, 1862. His company, the Eleventh Battery
of Light Artillery, was sent to Washington,
D.C, and placed in Camp Barry, a camp of
instruction. Thence the men were ordered
successively to Fairfax Station and Centreville
Heights, where they remained through the
winter of 1862-63. They did a large amount
of picket guard duty, being stationed at differ
ent forts in Washington and vicinity. After
the expiration of Mr Fuller's term of service,
nine months, he engaged in the grain and ele
vator business at Chicago, where he remained
eleven years, and suffered a loss by the great
fire in 1871. In October, 1874, he came to
Springfield as a dealer in grain by the carload,
his office being connected by direct telegraph
with that of Counselman & Day, of the Chi
cago Board of Trade.
In politics Mr. Fuller is a Republican, hav
ing cast his first vote in Chicago for Abraham
Lincoln's second election in 1864. In De
cember, 1893, he was elected to the Common
Council, serving on the Finance and Highway
Committees. In December, 1894, he was
elected Alderman from Ward One. He mar
ried on November 20, 1872, Lucy Emery, of
Springfield, daughter of Hiram and Eliza
Emery. They have had only one child, who
died in Chicago. They are supporters of the
Church of the Unity, and for eighteen years

8io

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

have lived in their delightful home at 155
Carew Street.

"ERMAN HEINRITZ, of Holyoke, a
partner in the firm of John Heinritz
& Sons, druggists, 401 Main Street
and 128 South Street, was born at
Clinton, Mass., December 6, 1862, being sec
ond child of John and Mary (Koehler) Hein
ritz. He enjoyed the advantages of study in
the public schools of Holyoke until sixteen
years of age, at which time he began to serve
a three years' apprenticeship as a wool sorter
in the Germania Mills. He then became a
clerk in the employ of his father and brother
in the drug business established by them in
1879. In 1885 he entered the Massachusetts
College of Pharmacy at Boston, graduating
with high honors in 1887. He had distin
guished himself in his Junior year, in 1886,
by being awarded the fifty-dollar gold prize
for Juniors, for proficiency in studies.
Upon his return from college he was ad
mitted as partner in the firm, and has since
1 891 been sole manager, having succeeded his
brother, Mr. Lebrecht G. Heinritz, who was
compelled to retire by reason of illness, being
a sufferer from nervous prostration. The repu
tation for reliability and profitable business of
both of these stores is an adequate testimonial
of his ability in his profession and as a busi
ness man. In politics Mr Heinritz is a
Republican; and in 1890 he was elected a
member of the Common Council, where he
rendered valuable service as a member of vari
ous important committees. In 1894 he was
elected a member of the School Committee for
a term of three years, a position in which he is
well qualified to serve. He is a member of
Mount Tom Lodge, A. F. & A. M., also of
Krankenverein Germania.
Mr. Heinritz is one of a family of four
children, the other members being Lebrecht
G. , Louise F., and Anna Vesters. The par
ents emigrated from their native country, Ger
many, the father from Bavaria in 1853, settling
at South Hadley Falls, the mother from Prus
sia in 1855, making her home at Clinton,
Mass., where their marriage took place. In

1864 the family removed to Easthampton, and
in 1866 from there to Holyoke, where they
have resided since that time. Mr. Heinritz
was married to Miss Martha Doering, of this
city in 1890; and they have a family of two
daughters and one son, residing at 620 East
Street.

ENRY CUTLER, the original of the
portrait on the opposite page, a well-
known and influential resident of
North Wilbraham, Hampden County,
Mass., was born July 21, 1826, in the town of
Holliston, Middlesex County. He is the rep
resentative of an old New England family,
whose emigrant progenitor, John Cutler, was
born in the county of Norfolk, England, and
sailed from Yarmouth, it is believed, in the
bark "Rose" on April 18, 1637. He settled
in Hingham, Mass., but died within a year,
leaving a widow and seven children. Nathan
iel Cutler, the third child, was born about
1630. Plaving grown to manhood, he removed
to Reading, Mass., where he married in 1655,
and by his wife, Mary, had five children, in
cluding an only son, who bore his name, and
who was born in Reading in 1659.
Nathaniel, Jr, died in 1714, leaving a son,
Jonathan, born in the same town in 171 1, and
who died in 1762. He was a farmer and
miller, and settled in Plolliston about 1730.
Here in the year 1749 was born his son Sim
eon, who was a soldier in the American Revo
lution, and afterward a Colonel in the State
militia. Colonel Cutler married Miss Eliza
beth Rockwood, of Holliston, and died in the
prime of life, not having yet attained his fif
tieth birthday. His wife, Elizabeth, born in
1753, daughter of Timothy Rockwood and
grand-daughter of Samuel Rockwood, who was
born in Medfield in 1695, lived to be ninety-
seven years of age. Her photograph, taken
from one of the earliest daguerrotypes made
after the discovery of the art, is a treasured
heirloom in the family.
The Hon. Elihu Cutler, son of Colonel Sim
eon and Elizabeth, was born in 1771. He
established woollen and cotton mills in the
county, and was prominent in public affairs,

HENRY CUTLER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

^^3

being four years a member of the State Senate.
He died at eighty-six years of age, his wife
scarcely passing middle life. They reared
three sons and two daughters, the eldest of
whom, Simeon Newton Cutler, born in 1799,
married Miss Mary Fitts, of Seekonk, now
East Providence, where she was born in 1801,
daughter of Mr David 1-^itts, whose wife was
before marriage Miss Bucklin. They were
the parents of many children, and lived in
Holliston, where the father was engaged as a
currier and farmer. Simeon N. and Mary
Cutler were married in Seekonk in 1821, and
settled in Holliston, Mr Cutler being a mill
wright by trade. In 1839 they removed to
Ashland, where he eventually established a
large grain business, beginning with a "cus
tom " grist-mill on the Sudbury River.
The following sons and daughters were born
to them : the eldest, Ellen Maria, became the
wife of Mr. Joseph Bullard, of Ashland, and
both are now deceased ; the second, George
Edward, President of the Farmington Savings
Bank, married, and has grandchildren living,
but no children; Henry was the third in order
of birth ; Lavinia married Joshua Smith, and
died in middle life, leaving one daughter;
Martha is the wife of Deacon Thompson, of
South Framingham, and is the mother of one
son; William C Cutler, M.D., is a practising
physician in Chelsea; Charles F. , the youngest
of the family, a business man in New York, is
President of the Metropolitan Telephone Com
pany, and is a resident of Morristown. Mr.
Simeon N. Cutler was prominent in public
affairs and a Garrisonian Abolitionist of pro
nounced type. He died aged sixty-eight years,
and his widow lived to be eighty-seven. Their
graves are in Wildwood Cemetery at Ashland,
of which Mr. Cutler was a trustee.
Henry Cutler received a common-school
education, and at eighteen years of age became
a partner in his father's business, to which he
had been reared. In 1851 he married Miss
Harriet Dennis, a daughter of Mr. William
Dennis, of Sandwich, Mass. Mrs. Harriet D.
Cutler died here in October, 1888, aged fifty-
eight, leaving five children : Maria, the wife
of William F. Ellis, a civil engineer of Brook-
line, Mass; Elihu H. Cutler, General Manager

of the Elektron Manufacturing Company at
Springfield, Mass., who has two sons and a
daughter ; Grace, the wife of Mr. Joseph M.
Perry, her father's partner in the milling busi
ness in Wilbraham; Henry Willis Cutler, who
is also in business with his father, and has a
wife and daughter; and Harriet Isabel, a stu
dent at Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
In October, 1890, Mr. Cutler was joined in
wedlock with Miss Emma Blades, of Westboro.
Mr. Cutler's mill is on the Chicopee River.
It is a water-power with a steam auxiliary,
which has the capacity to turn out ten car
loads a day. In this mill, feed is manufact
ured ; and the owners of it are extensive dealers
in flour, feed, and grain from the West.
He is absolutely independent in politics,
has held the office of Selectman, and has been
a member of the School Board for years. He
is liberal in his religious views, and is an
attendant of the Union Church of North Wil
braham. His handsome and attractive resi
dence was built for him in 1877, which was
also the date of his new mill; and each is a
model of completeness in its own especial line.
One of his most treasured possessions is a book
of family photographs, containing likenesses of
his ancestors for six generations, some of
which on both sides date back to 1753. The
genealogical record has been carefully pre
served since the arrival of the emigrant, John
Cutler; and family traditions have been trans
mitted to each successive generation bearing
the name, to which the subject of this sketch
has brought additional honor and esteem.

IT-

LYON, a farmer of Wales,
Hampden County, born in Stur
bridge, Worcester County, Mass.,
January 24, 1856, son of Julius M. and
P.aura W. (Eaton) Lyon and grandson of
Lyman and Maria Lyon. Lyman Lyon was a
native of Woodstock, Windham County, Conn.,
from which place he removed to Wales, where
he purchased the farm now owned by T. J.
Hines. While residing on this estate, he
made many improvements, and managed its
cultivation with such good judgment that he
became comfortably well off. He lived to the

8i4

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

age of seventy-six years, his wife, Maria,
being about eighty years old at the time of her
death. Their seven children were named:
Hannah, Caroline, Jasper, Ann, Julius, Martha
Washington, and Julia. Lyman Lyon was
a Whig in politics and later a Republican.
He held the offices of Assessor and Selectman,
and was also an efficient member of the School
Committee. Julius M. Lyon, his son, was born in Wales,
August 14, 1828, and at the age of seventeen
went to Woodstock, Conn., where he learned the
trade of carpenter and joiner, subsequently
assisting in the erection of many buildings
in Wales — dwelling-houses, factories, and
churches. He purchased a farm in the town,
and managed it with success in addition to his
other labors. In the Civil War he served as a
Lieutenant in the Forty-second and Forty-
sixth Regiments, and in 1874 he was sent as
representative to the State legislature. He
has also held the office of Town Treasurer,
Selectman, Assessor, School Committee, each
several years, much to the satisfaction of the
community. Miss Laura W. Eaton, to whom
Julius M. Lyon was married in 1849, was born
in Somers, Tolland Coiinty, Conn., and was a
daughter of Nelson Eaton, of that town, and one
of fourteen children. She died at the age of
thirty-seven years. In 1867 he was married
to Miss Eliza Tupper, of Monson, who died in
1888; and in 1889 he was again married to
Mrs. Jane Matthewson, widow of the Rev.
Henry Matthewson, of Woodstock, Conn.
Since his last marriage he has lived in Wood
stock, Conn., and Sturbridge, Mass. His
son, W. A. Lyon, was educated at the common
schools of Wales, the Hitchcock High School
of Brimfield, and at the Madison University
of Hamilton, N. Y. , after which he entered on
a business career by engaging in the straw
works of Searle, Daily & Co., at Medfield,
Norfolk County, Mass. Here he remained for
ten years, giving up his work at the end of
that time to take charge of his father's farm,
in the cultivation of which he has since been
constantly engaged, carrying on a dairy, rais
ing sheep and other stock, besides devoting
much land to fine gardens.
Mr Lyon was married in 1880 to Miss

Sadie S. Pitcher. Her native town was Cam
den, Knox County, Me., where she was born
April 13, 1861, and was the daughter of Will
iam H. and Sarah A. (Benner) Pitcher.
William IP. Pitcher was born at Salem, Mass.,
July 30, 181 8, and was the son of Hoffasus
and Julia Pitcher, who came to this country
from England and settled in that city. Will
iam H. Pitcher was a ship carpenter by
trade. Later he turned his attention to farm
ing, and now owns two hundred and fifty acres
of land near Camden, Me., where he and his
wife still reside in an attractive home. They
have seven children : Bertha, Lucinda, Ellen,
Julia, Sadie, Willis, and Mabel A. The fam
ily are members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. Mr. Pitcher is a Democrat in
politics. W. A. Lyon has been actively interested in
town matters. He has held various offices
with acceptance, having been one of the Board
of Selectmen, Town Treasurer, Overseer of
the Poor, a member of the Board of Health,
and also Postmaster of the town. He is a
member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows of Norwood, Mass., Encampment at
Hyde Park, Mass. As a good neighbor and
loyal citizen he has the respect of his towns
men and friends.

CA.UNCEY KILBON CAMP, super
intendent of the money order de
partment of the Springfield post-
office, was born at Durham, Conn.,
December 5, 1834, son of Samuel and Sarah
(Kilbon) Camp. His grandfather, John Camp,
was a shoemaker of Farmington, Conn.,
who married a Miss Cowles. Samuel Camp
was born at Durham, Conn., May 10, 1802,
and lived there until eleven years of age, when
he accompanied a Mr Baldwin to Durham,
Greene County, N.Y. , and worked on a farm
until attaining his majority. During that
time he also learned shoemaking; and on re
turning to Durham, Conn., he worked at his
trade. He married Sarah Kilbon, the daugh
ter of Luther Kilbon, a prominent farmer of
North Wilbraham, Mass. She was born July
2, 1793, and died June 7, 1840, leaving but

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

815

one child; namely, Chauncey K. Mr. Samuel
Camp afterward married a sister of his first
wife, Eunice Kilbon, who was born August
10, 1804, and died July 30, 1862, leaving one
daughter, Sarah B., of Springfield.
In 1836 he came to Springfield; and, after
working at shoemaking for a while with his
brother-in-law, he began to deliver letters to a
few of the prominent business men of the city
on a private contract before the days of general
delivery, continuing until he had a good pay
ing business. Subsequently he entered the
packing department of the United States
Armory ; and he remained a workman there
until about a year prior to his death, which
occurred. June 17, 1885. He had bought real
estate in the city at different times, and at his
decease owned the large lot of two hundred
and nine feet front on Union Street, on which
his son had lived, though not in the same
house, since ten years of age. He was a very
strong antislavery man, voting with that party
at first and later with the Free Soilers, in the
last years of his life being identified with the
Republican party. He was also a strong tem
perance man, never hesitating to express. and
uphold his convictions, and was practically a
Prohibitionist. He was an active member of
the Fourth Congregational Church, now known
as Olivet Church.
Chauncey K. Camp received his education
in Springfield, attending first the public
schools and completing his studies at E. D.
Bangs's Classical Institute. After working at
the carpenter's trade for a while, he began to
assist his father in the private distribution of
letters, finally having a route of his own. His
health failing, he spent a short time in New
York, then worked in the United States
Armory a few months, leaving his 'position to
serve as a clerk in the post-office. After being
again employed in the armory for awhile, in
1863 he accepted a clerkship under William
Stowe, Postmaster, in the post-office, which
was then located in the old building on Elm
Street, and afterward removed to the Haynes
Building. His second term in the postal
service was eight years. Removing then to
Chicopee Falls, he opened a store for the sale
of boots, shoes, clothing, and furnishing goods,

and with his partner carried on business for
three years under the name of Hall & Camp.
In October, 1874, he returned to Springfield,
and the following summer again entered the
post-office, and has since been an employee
there, having served under six different post
masters — "William Stowe, Horace C Lee,
E. P. Chapin, John L. Rice, H. M. Phillips,
and J. PI. Clune. He has served in different de
partments, first as mailing clerk, but has been
the larger part of the time in the money order
department, which now has an annual average
business of four hundred thousand dollars, an
assistant clerk being employed. Mr. Camp uni
formly casts his vote with the Republican party.
Mr. Camp has been twice married, his first
wife, who died in 1870, having been Emily P.
Foote, a daughter of Merritt P"oote, of Branford,
Conn. Her only child, the Rev. Edward C.
Camp, was graduated from Amherst College in
the class of 1889. He had previously been a
clerk in the Pynchon Mall Bank for two years
and with the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insur
ance Company of New York in their office in
this city for two years. Having finished his
college course, he studied for a year in the
Union Theological Seminary of New York
City, going thence to the Andover Theological
Seminary, from which he was graduated in
June, 1894, and receiving a call from the Con
gregational church at Worthington, Mass., was
there ordained to the work of the ministry,
October 10, 1894. Mr. Camp was again mar
ried in June, 1873, to Laura M. Hastings, a
daughter of Glover S. Hastings, of Holyoke.
Of the three children born of this union one
son died at the age of three years. The others
are: Helen A. and Chauncey Herbert, both of
whom are now in school.
Mr. Camp is a man of deep religious con
victions, and having early united with Olivet
Church has ever been among the most active
and influential members. Besides having been
one of the most efficient teachers of the Sun
day-school, he served as assistant superin
tendent, and for several years has been a
Deacon of the church. He is most happy in
his home relations, being a domestic rather
than a club man, and preferring the quiet of
his fireside to the bustle of society.

8x6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

^TjIdWARD F. morris, banker, a worthy
F»j representative of an old Colonial fam-
""^••«' . ' ily, was born in Monson, July 25,
1840. His father was George F. Morris, born
in South Wilbraham, now Hampden, May 4,
1 8 14, son of Edward Morris, who was born in
the same town, July 21, 1784, and was the
son of Edward and Lucy (Bliss) Morris, of
Woodstock, Conn. Edward Morris last named
was born December 12, 1756; and his parents
were Isaac and Sarah (Chaffee) Morris, the
father having been born at Woodstock Plill,
Conn., March 26, 1725, son of Edward and
Bithiah (Peak) Morris. This earlier Edward
was a native of Roxbury, Mass., born Novem
ber 9, 1688, his parents being Edward and
Elizabeth (Bowen) Morris. Plis father was
born in 1659, ^^^ was a son of Edward and
Grace (Bett) Morris, of England, who were
married in Boston in 1655.
The English Edward Morris was born in
Essex County, England, in August, 1630.
We hear of him first at Roxbury in 1652.
The record shows that he was a prominent
man, being Selectman for twelve years and
one of the three Trustees of the Eliot School,
serving also as Deputy to the General Court
from 1678 to 1686. Pie took an active part in
the stirring events of those times, was in the
House during the contest with King Charles
II. for the preservation of the Charter of
Massachusetts. Mr. Morris was one of those
sterling settlers from Essex County, England,
who were noted for honesty of purpose and
fearless character, ready to go to the stake, if
need be, for their principles. It was said that
they were the best of the English race, and
that at Roxbury, England, to hear an oath or
see a drunken man was a rare thing. The
vicissitudes of colony life but accentuated
their virtues; and the sturdy householder con
ducted his family to the meeting-house every
Sabbath with his loaded musket over his
shoulders, ready to meet the lurking Indians
that might spring out at any moment.
Edward Morris, of the sixth generation, was
twice married, his first wife, Sally Flynt,
bearing one son only, Edward Plynt Morris,
long deceased. His second wife, whom he
married June 27, 1808, was Mercy Flynt,

sister of his first wife and of Rufus Flynt,
of Monson. At the time of his marriage Grand
father Morris was a merchant in good repute
at South Wilbraham. He enlisted for the
War of 1812, serving as Quartermaster in the
First Brigade, Fourth Division, Massachusetts
militia. He took to farming shortly before
his untimely death at the age of forty, by
drowning, while bathing at Belchertown. His
devoted wife died at the age of forty-three.
They left six children, namely : Sally Flynt
Morris, wife of Daniel D. Chaffee, of South
Wilbraham ; Charles, a merchant tailor in
Keeseville, N.Y. ; George F. ; Maria M., who
has never married; Henry; and Jonathan
Flynt Morris, a prominent banker of Hartford.
Henry Morris is worthy of more extended
notice. He was reared in Monson, and later
in Springfield. P'ollowing his natural bent he
studied navigation, became a noted sea cap
tain, and, after an adventurous life, was lost at
sea, the "Mary Bright," on which he sailed,
February 29, 1844, from New York having
never been heard from ; and it was supposed
that she foundered in a gale. Captain Mor
ris's only son, John E., is Assistant Secretary
of the 'Travelers' Insurance Company of Hart
ford. George F. Morris, familiarly known as Dea
con Morris, was a wagon-maker, and believing
it "better to do one thing well than many
ill," followed his chosen trade all his life.
He was a Republican and a Free Soiler, took
an active interest in the public welfare, and
held the office of Town Clerk of Monson for
many years. He did not acquire a large fort
une, but gave his children a good education,
and was highly esteemed for his moral worth.
On May 15, 1839, he was united in wedlock at
Monson to Sarah A., daughter of Daniel and
Polly (Wood) Morse, of Belchertown, where
she was born September 19, 181 8. Of this
union four children were born, one of whom
died in infancy. The others were : Edward
P., the subject of this sketch; Henry, still
unmarried, living in Monson ; Frank Everett,
Treasurer of the Savings Bank at Monson.
Deacon Morris died April 5, 1891, aged nearly
seventy-seven ; and his wife followed him to the
better life on November 6 of the same year.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

817

Edward F. Morris acquired his education at
the public schools and the Monson Academy,
and taught during the winters of 1856 and
1857. In his seventeenth year he took the
position of clerk in the Monson National
Bank, and has been connected with it almost
continuously since June 15, 1857. On April
I, 1864, he was made Cashier, which position
he still holds. In 1872 the Monson Savings
Bank was incorporated, and Mr. Morris was
chosen Treasurer in June. For twenty-one
years he held office in both banks; and in all
that time his management was undisturbed
by differences, unmarred by suspicion. When
the Savings Bank was incorporated, it occupied
the same office and vaults as the National. In
1893 the new bank building was erected by the
Savings Bank, so that each institution could
have separate quarters. Since the change Mr.
Morris has been President of the Savings Bank
and his brother, Frank E., Treasurer The
brothers have been associated in business some
twenty-four years. In 1871 Mr. Morris was
made a Director of the National Bank, and is
now the oldest in point of service on the
board. While Mr. Morris has the reputation
of being a conservative, he has uniformly
secured success for the business enterprises
committed to his charge. His services have
been for a long time in active demand in set
tlement of estates and execution of pecuniary
trusts. With a single exception Mr. Morris
is in time of service the oldest Trustee of
Monson Academy, an institution which he has
served with zeal and fidelity. He was ap
pointed its Auditor in 1870, and served until
elected its Treasurer in 1877, which office he
continues to hold. He has served on its exec
utive committee since 1873. It is hardly
necessary to say that these services have been
rendered gratuitously.
It will be seen that Mr. Morris takes great
interest in the advance of education. He was
nine years Secretary of the Alumni Associa
tion of Monson Academy, and the Free Public
Library of Monson is deeply indebted to him
for fostering care and intelligent supervision.
This institution began as a reading-room in
December, 1875, when the Rev. C. B. Sum
ner, B. A. Day, and others, including Mr

Morris, opened it to the public in the Barton
Block, Mr Morris giving it his personal atten
tion and care. The library was formed two
years later, and in 1882 the handsome granite
building which it now occupies was dedicated.
This structure is a memorial to Horatio Lyon,
and cost thirty-five thousand dollars, with an
endowment of thirty thousand dollars. Mr.
Morris has been a trustee of the library since
its incorporation. Still another office was
added to the long list held by this busy man
when in the spring of 1894 he was appointed
one of the Water Commissioners. He takes
an interest in Masonry, and is a member of
the Royal Arch Chapter. The Lodge in Mon
son was named by Mr. Joseph L. Reynolds,
and Mr. Morris was the first member initiated,
in 1862. In 1866-67 he was Master of the
Lodge. In politics Mr. Morris has always
been a Republican, but not governed by con
siderations of mere partisanship.
On October 25, 1865, Mr. Morris was mar
ried to Louise J. Brown, adopted daughter of
Isaac K. Clapp, of Easthampton. She was
a lady of culture and high attainments, a stu
dent at Williston Seminary, and one of the
teachers in Monson Academy in 1864-65.
They have had four children — one who died
in infancy; Alice Amelia and Louise, young
ladies, living at home; and Edward Lyman,
an instructor in Amherst College, where he
was graduated in the class of 1891. Mr. Mor
ris and his wife attend the Congregational
church, of which he has been a member since
1856 and a Deacon since 1869. He has been
superintendent of the Sunday-school for the
past ten years, treasurer of the church thirty-
one years and of the Sunday-school thirty-four
years. In October, 1894, at a meeting of the
American Board of Foreign Missions at Madi
son, Wis., he was chosen as one of its cor
porate members.

TT^HARLES MARSH was born in Hart-
I Sr^ ford. Conn., April 13, 1832. His
y^Hs^ father was Michael Marsh, son of
John Marsh, the family having been
established in Hartford since 1633. Michael
Marsh was a leading merchant of the city.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

being a member of the firm of Allyn & Marsh.
His mother was Catherine Allyn, daughter of
Colonel Job Allyn, of Windsor, Conn., who
married Abigail Mather, the great-great-great-
grand-daughter of the Rev. Richard Mather,
the founder of the Mather family in this coun
try. Michael Marsh retired from active busi
ness in 1839, and with his family removed to
West Springfield, where he became promi
nently identified with the town, serving as
Postmaster and Town Clerk and Treasurer.
Charles Marsh was the second child and eldest
son, the other children being: Jane, Oliver,
and Daniel J.
Michael Marsh kept a country store in con
nection with the post-office, and it was behind
these counters that Charles had his first taste
of business. He soon mastered the routine of
the post-office work, and when fifteen years old
was virtually postmaster. The death of his
father and mother brought early responsibili
ties upon his shoulders, and as a lad of seven
teen he found himself face to face with the
serious problems of life. Though still a boy,
he was the head of his family; and his
brothers and sister looked to him for that
wise counsel which in after years was so often
and so fruitfully sought, and which proved one
of the noblest factors in a life of rare useful
ness. By a diligent use of time, shared be
tween hard work and study, Charles began to
prepare himself for college. He attended the
Westfield Academy, and in 185 i was ready to
enter Williams College. Though his prepa
ration had been meagre, his natural scholarship
and his determination to succeed enabled him
not only to take a creditable stand in his
studies, but soon to become the recognized
leader of his class. He proved his scholarly
ability by leaving college and working through
out his Junior year and still retaining the lead
in his class, graduating valedictorian of the
class of 1855, with ex-Senator Ingalls as his
foremost rival for the first honor. The asso
ciations of his college life he always cherished,
and Williams College and all its interests were
ever dear to him. There was an uncommon
bond between him and his beloved president,
and the death of Mark Hopkins in later years
came to him with peculiar meaning.

Leaving college with a record that could
hardly have been more full of promise, Charles
Marsh took up his residence in Springfield,
and after a short time spent in teaching
entered upon a business career In 1857 Mr.
Marsh was chosen Treasurer of the Five Cents
Savings Bank, and two years later he was
given the position of Secretary of the Hamp
den Fire Insurance Company. He served that
organization until its dissolution at the time of
the great Portland fire, and then was associated
with Dr. J. C Pynchon in a general insurance
business. In 1866 he was elected Cashier of
the Pynchon National Bank, and he continued
as an officer in this institution to the time of
"his death. The responsibility of the bank
soon fell upon him, owing to the advancing
years of the president, Colonel H. N. Case;
and for twenty-five years he directed its affairs.
At the death of Colonel Case, Mr. Marsh was
made President of the bank.
That Mr. Marsh should not have followed
a profession, in which with his exceptional
mental endowment and scholarly tastes he
could not have failed to have won wide distinc
tion, was a surprise and a disappointment to
many of his friends, and in later years was a
source of regret to himself; but in engaging
in business he never lost his love of books,
and throughout his life he was a scholar in
the truest sense. Charles Marsh has been
called the ideal college man in business. The
same trained mind which made him pre-emi
nent as a scholar he applied to the prolDlems of
the business world, and the widely diversified
interests which looked to him for guidance in
matters of finance attest his success as a man-
of business. His usefulness in the community
was proved by the almost unlimited demands
made upon his time. Few men in the city
in which he lived had a wider influence; and
no project, whether in the social, civic, or
religious world, which looked to the better
ment of the condition of his fellow-men failed
to enlist his sympathy, and no worthy cause
ever appealed to him without receiving gener
ous encouragement. He was a man thoroughly
abreast of the times, and was quickly respon
sive to modern thought. He had a wonderful
amount of general knowledge, and in con-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

819

stantly adding to it he was but satisfying the
demands of an intensely active mind.
Charles Marsh belonged to a family of
Democrats, but in relation to politics he was
consistently independent. He had no love for
politics as it pertains to the manipulating of
offices, but in the principles underlying the
greatest parties he was keenly interested. He
held a position of prominence and respect in
local politics, but was seldom persuaded to be
a candidate for office. He served one year in
the Common Council, and ran for Mayor in
1879; and in 1882 and in 1883 his name was
on the State ticket for Secretary of State.
Probably no one man in Springfield was actively
identified with so many institutions as Charles
Marsh, and he stood as the representative
of nearly all the charitable organizations of
Hampden County. The financial responsibili
ties which he carried in addition to those of
the Pynchon Bank were almost without num
ber. He was often chided by his friends for
undertaking too willingly the burdens which
were so continually put upon him ; but the
generous impulse of his nature would not allow
him to turn aside an opportunity for doing
good, even though it overtaxed his time and
strength. His first marked benevolent work was in
establishing the Soldier's Rest Fund at the
close of the war, and from that time on he
never ceased to work for the suffering. Mr.
Marsh was for many years, up to the time of
his death. Treasurer of the Springfield Hos
pital, and was untiring in his devotion to the
work of building up that institution to the
highest degree of usefulness. He was Treas
urer of the School for Christian Workers from
its organization in 1885, and to this work he
gave most generously of his time. He was
also Treasurer of the Hampden County Benev
olent Association, as well as of the Hampden
Conference of Congregational Churches. He
was a member of the Finance Committee of
the American Missionary Association, and
his report for that committee, delivered at
Northampton the year before he died, was one
of the inspiring features of the meeting. Pie
had served as Treasurer of the Connecticut
Valley Congregational Club, and one year as its

President. He was a corporator in the Clark
Institution for Deaf Mutes at Northampton ; and
was one of the most active members of the
board, never failing to be in attendance at the
annual meetings. He was Secretary and Treas
urer of the Springfield Cemetery Association,
and Auditor of the Springfield Home for Friend
less. He was also Vice-President of the Spring
field Institution for Savings, President of the
Springfield clearing-houses, Trustee and mem
ber of the Finance Committee of the Five Cent
Savings Bank, Treasurer of the old Springfield
& New London Road, commissioner of the city
sinking fund, and Auditor of the old Springfield
Fire Assurance Company. Aside from these
business and philanthropic associations, Mr.
Marsh had been the directing hand in the
settlement of some of the largest estates in
the city.
He joined the church while a student at the
Westfield Academy, and during his course at
Williamstown he was an active worker in the
religious life of the college. Immediately
after graduation he became a member of the
South Congregational Church, where he grew
to be a pillar of strength; and it was in his
church associations that the richest side of his
character was shown. He had held almost
every office in the church and parish, and in
him the pastors had found a true and helpful
friend. Pie was always deeply interested in
the work of the Sunday-school, partly out of
his love of studying the Bible; and he is
remembered by many who had not the privi
lege of an intimate acquaintance by his work
in his famous Sunday-school class. Here the
personality and character of the man found
ample play. His love of the truth was his
inspiration, and nothing gave him more genu
ine delight than in studying his Greek Testa
ment to find for himself an interpretation
which seemed to throw new light" on a passage
in question. In this way he turned his schol
arly research to practical use, and his Sunday-
school expositions to a class of a hundred or
more were full of originality. He was a care
ful student of modern theology, and he met the
progressive thought of the day with a frankness
that won deep respect even among those whose
narrower views were at variance with his.

820

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Charles Marsh was married in 1857 to Helen
Penniman; and to them were born four chil
dren : Lucy Penniman, William Charles, Anna
Bond, and Edward Harding. Mrs. Marsh was
the daughter of H. H. Penniman and niece
of Ephraim W. Bond. Mr Marsh's last ill
ness was of only a week's duration. He was
taken sick with a bilious fever, which quickly
developed into congestion of the liver. He
was beyond all human aid ; and death brought
a release from suffering on P^riday, November
27, 1891.

ILLIAM CHARLES MARSH, el
dest son of the late Charles Marsh
and ex - Treasurer of Hampden
County, was born in Springfield, February 1 3,
1862. In his birth history repeated itself, he,
like his father, being a second child and eldest
son. The Marsh ancestry were prominently
connected with early Connecticut history; and
facts therewith connected may be found in the
sketch of Mr. Charles Marsh, whose wife was
Helen Penniman.
Their son William, after being graduated
from the high school in the class of 1881,
began his life work as a clerk in the Chicopee
Bank, Springfield ; and after two years in that
institution he went into the Pynchon National
Bank, where he acted as book-keeper and teller
successively for ten years, which experience
afforded him valuable training for his position
as County Treasurer, to which he was elected
in 1 891. Indeed, Mr. Marsh's candidacy for
the office of County Treasurer was prompted
by his previously successful financial career.
The expectations of his constituents were
amply justified by his official record, for he
carefully and honestly handled the public
funds. The office was no sinecure ; but the
Treasurer had inherited insight and executive
ability from his gifted father, and his practical
sagacity was especially serviceable in negotiat
ing economically the county loans during the
monetary disasters of the past three years,
from 1892 to 1895. The warm indorsement of
his work by those most intimately acquainted
with county affairs attests Mr Marsh's tact in
taking advantage of every fluctuation in the

money market which might accrue to the inter
est of Hampden County.
Mr. Marsh has been chosen to many other
positions of trust, having been disbursing
agent for the new post-office. Treasurer of the
South Church, the Springfield Canoe Club,
and the Springfield Bicycle Club. He is now
also Treasurer of the Springfield Cemetery
Association and Trustee of the Soldier's Rest
Association. That he is universally popular
is shown in several ways. While the nominee
of the Democratic party, he had hundreds of
supporters in the Republican ranks; and in a
Republican County Convention held in 1895
the strongest speech was by a leading politi
cian of that order, urging Mr. Marsh's nomi
nation by that convention. In 1892 Mr.
Marsh's first election was aided by the general
dissatisfaction with previous official record.
His own management was not only eminently
satisfactory, but he instituted certain long-
needed reforms. As a candidate for re-elec
tion he had not only enthusiastic party sup
port, but the cordial approval of the press,
the principal bankers in the county, and the
leading members of its bar The time was
unfavorable, however ; and, owing to the
strong Republican sentiment prevailing, Mr.
Marsh was defeated by a small majority at the
polls. Since the expiration of his term of service as
County Treasurer, Mr Marsh has held an im
portant position in the Internal Revenue Office
of the port of Springfield, being Deputy Collec
tor of Customs. His ample mental endowments
from a long line of distinguished ancestors,
coupled with his habits of application and
thoroughness, are harbingers of continued use
fulness and yet higher achievement. Mr.
Marsh is a member of the best society of
Springfield, and is as popular on account of
his personal qualities as for his record as a
man of public affairs.

\'P:RETT SHERMAN, who represents a
family which has been known in Hamp
den County since the latter part of
the seventeenth century, was born in New
York City, July 18, 1861, son of Elijah and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

821

Catherine M. (Roberts) Sherman. Captain
John Sherman, the founder of the American
family of Shermans, came from Dedham, Eng
land, as a physician and surgeon in 1634, and
bought the section of land in Brimfield which
has descended to the present owner, Everett
Sherman, in a direct line. Captain John
Sherman's son Beriah, the great-great-grand
father of the subject of this sketch, left a son,
Thomas Sherman, whose son Orson was the
grandfather of our subject. Orson Sherman
was in possession at the time of his death of
an estate of four hundred acres of land. He
was affiliated with the political party known
in that generation as Whigs, and was a mem
ber of the legislature, and held all of the im
portant local offices of his town. He was a
member of the Congregational church. Orson
Sherman married Sarah R. Tarbell; and their
son Elijah, the father of Everett, was born at
the ancestral homestead, June 26, 1829. He
was educated at the common schools and at the
Monson Academy, and at seventeen years of
age went to New York as a clerk for S. C.
Herring, the great safe manufacturer. He
afterward became a partner in the firm, re
maining in New York until 1871, when, forced
by failing health to seek a change, he returned
to Brimfield, and speedily recuperated his phys
ical energies on the farm where his boyhood
had been spent. While here he built a large
and beautiful dwelling, spacious new barns and
out-buildings, and set out ornamental and shade
trees on the grounds, which he had graded
into smooth lawns and gay pastures. The
farm borders on the charming little Brimfield
Lake, and its location for picturesque beauty
is unsurpassed in this region. In 1873 he
resumed his connection with the safe manufact
uring firm in New York, but continued to
spend his summers at his home in Brimfield.
In political affiliation Mr. Sherman was a
Republican. He received the thirty-second
degree in the Masonic fraternity. In religious
faith he was a Universalist. He died at his
New York residence, October 8, 1886. Mrs.
Sherman spent her girlhood in Boston, where
her father, John L. Roberts, was an extensive
builder and contractor She is still living,
and spends her winters in New York and her

summers at the charming home beautified and
adorned by her husband. To Mr and Mrs.
Sherman six children were born: Ella M.,
born November 21, 1858, who married Mr.
W. S. Haynes, and is a resident of New
York; Everett Sherman, of whom this is writ
ten, born July 18, 1861 ; Florence, born July
10, 1864, who married Dr W. S. Pearsall, of
New York City; Gertrude, born September i,
1867, who married Dr. Frederick W. Hamlin,
a resident of the same city; Robert G. , born
October 30, 1869, in husiness with the
Remington-Sherman Safe Company of New
York; Irving P., born December 10, 1872,
now a physician and surgeon, living in New
York. Everett Sherman graduated from the high
school of Brimfield, and completed his educa
tion in New York. His first experience of
business life was in the employ of the whole
sale dry-goods house of Bates, Reed & Cooley
in New York ; and he was next engaged as
travelling agent for the safe company in which
his father was an active partner. This agency
entailed incessant travelling not only through
out the United States but over Europe, and
during Mr. Sherman's engagement with the
firm he made an entire tour of the world.
While foreign travel is in itself an education
and a delight, travelling done perforce rather
than by voluntary desire becomes a strain to
the physical and intellectual being; and in
1888 Mr. Sherman gave up his wanderings,
and returned to the beautiful old family seat
on Brimfield Lake, of which he assumed entire
control. Fine horses, blooded stock, and a
herd of dairy cows afford him, perhaps, as
much real pleasure as the old cathedrals, the
famous buildings, the rare works of art on
the "other side," all of which he has had the
opportunity to enjoy many times over.
In 1894 he was married to Miss Bessie
Frances Brown, born October i, 1869, a
daughter of James Reed and Louise (Tirrel)
Brown. Husband and wife are bound together
in spiritual bonds of a mutual faith, both
being within the communion of the Congrega
tional church. Mr. Sherman's political creed
is formulated in the expressed tenets of the
Republican party.

822

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lEV. JAMES TUFTS, of Monson,
whose portrait appears on the opposite
page, a man of culture and deep
learning, abundant in educational
labors and widely known, was born at Wards
boro, Vt., November 2, 1812. He traces his
lineage back to John and Agnes (Foot) Tufts,
of Scotch-Irish ancestry, who came from Eng
land to this country about 1734, and settled
on a farm in West Brookfield. The wife of
John Tufts died February 26, 1785, at the age
of eighty-two; and he passed away February
27, 1795, at the age of ninety-one. They
were deeply religious people. Their children
were: William, Thomas, John, Sarah, Betsey,
Anna, and Mary.
William Tufts was born in West Brookfield,
in early manhood took up a farm for himself
in New Braintree, and married Margaret
Browning, who was of Scotch descent. They
had three sons — James, Sr., John, and Will
iam, Jr. James Tufts, Sr., was born in New
Braintree, September 30, 1764. He was a
Congregational minister for forty-seven years,
and lived on a farm, where he found healthful
recreation between the hours of study and at
tention to the duties of his calling. His wife
was Submit, daughter of Daniel and Submit
(Flagg) Hayden, of Grafton, Mass., born
April 18, 1777, to whom he was married
in February, 1807. They had six children,
James, named for his father, being the fourth.
James Tufts, the subject of this sketch, was
reared on his father's farm, and there received
his early education. For a while he attended
Burr's Seminary at Manchester, Vt., where he
was a diligent student. At the age of seven
teen he began to teach, and by that means
earned enough to pay his college expenses.
In 1835 he entered the Sophomore class at
Yale, where he was graduated in 1838, taking
a prize in English composition. After leav
ing college he took charge of the academy at
Fairfield, Conn., in April, 1838, and taught
there for two years. In 1840 he left his place
to enter Andover Theological Seminary as a
member of the Junior class, thus by degrees
pushing toward the desired goal, the minis
try; but on account of a throat disease he
left the next year. This affliction has clung

to him since, and hampered him in his life
work. He was ordained in September, 1844, and
preached for two years, at the end of which
time his health failed; and he was obliged to
retire from active ministerial service. Subse
quently he again took up teaching, which pro
fession he followed with marked success for
many years. He taught in the seminary at
Castleton, Vt., during 1845-47; he was Super
intendent of schools in Windham County in
1848-50, taught in Northampton, Mass., in
1851, and, coming to Monson in 1852, held
the position of principal of the academy here
for seven years — from 1852 to 1859. Mr.
Tufts is not a robust man, and, when he felt
obliged to relinqui.sh his position at the acad
emy, he took up the lighter duties of a pri
vate school for boys at Monson, which he
conducted till 1892. Since then he has been
practically retired at his farm-house, about a
half-mile north of Monson; but he continues
to serve some of his old friends occasionally,
teaching in private families and hearing reci
tations at home.
Mr. Tufts has been prominently identified
with the public school system during his resi
dence in Monson, being a leading member of
the School Committee; he has been forty years
a member of the County Teachers' Association,
and by earnest zeal and stirring eloquence has
been an inspiration in the educational affairs
of this county. Many of his speeches are in
print, among them the able historical address
delivered when the new academy was dedi
cated, in 1887. On the walls of this institu
tion hangs a fine portrait of him, an oil
painting which cost four hundred dollars, con
tributed by his pupils. He is well known in
Congregational circles, and is often called
upon to fill some brother's pulpit. Seldom
has a pastor and teacher been more univer
sally loved or held in higher esteem than is
this venerable man. The eightieth anniver
sary of his birthday, celebrated November 2,
1892, was a grand testimonial to his life work
and worth, as witnessed by the number of
friends present and by letters from professors
and divines in colleges and throughout the
States. Pie is "the grand old man" of Mon-

JAMES TUFTS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

825

son, being, in fact, only about a year younger
than William E. Gladstone; and the bright
ness of his intellect is still undimmed.
Mr. Tufts was married March 21, 1855, to
Mary E. Warren, of Newfane, Vt., daughter
of Dr. John P. and Lucy (Wheelock) "Warren.
Mrs. Tufts was educated at South Hadley,
Mass., and Castleton, Vt., and taught for
three years in the seminary at the latter
place, and later was three years preceptress at
Monson Academy, becoming well known as an
accomplished and successful teacher. Their
eldest son, James, died at the age of seven
months, and they have one son living —
James Hayden Tufts — who graduated from
Amherst in 1884, and from Yale Theological
Seminary in 1889. He taught philosophy in
Michigan University at Ann Arbor in 1890-
91, and spent 1892 in the study of philosophy
in Germany, where he received the degree of
Ph.D. In 1893 he was appointed Associate
Professor of Philosophy in Chicago Univer
sity. His translation from the German of Dr.
W. Windelband's "History of Philosophy,"
a large octavo published in 1893 by Macmil-
lan & Co., has become a standard work. He
was married in August, 1891, to Miss Cynthia
H. Whittaker, of Leverett, Mass., a scholarly
and talented lady, who taught for several
years. They have one daughter, Irene, and
one son, James.

CORNELIUS J. DRISCOLL, a promi
nent attorney and owner of real
estate in Chicopee, was born in
the city of Springfield, Hampden
County, Mass., June 17, 1851. His father,
Cornelius O. Driscoll, was a man of consider
able character and ability. Born in the town
of Clonakilty, county of Cork, Ireland, in
1 81 3, with but limited educational advantages
in his youth, he, nevertheless, possessed con
siderable intellectual force; and, being ener
getic and persevering in the manual work by
which he earned his support, he gained in
later years pecuniary success, acquired a suffi
cient competency, and became finally known
as a sturdy and influential citizen. He was
thirty-seven years old when he came to Amer

ica, and began the work of his trade as an
experienced drop forger. He found employ
ment at the Springfield Armory, then under
the supervision of Major Ripley, the comman
dant at this government post. His work was
in the department where tools were tempered,
and, as he was an expert, he was valuable to
the company, and remained in their employ
fifteen years. In 1865 he bought a farm near
Chicopee, and from that venture he com
menced speculation in real estate, which
proved a lucrative enterprise; so that in 1881
he sold his farm, and retired from active busi
ness. He lived five years after this, enjoying
the quiet of a green old age among his friends
and neighbors, and receiving the attentions of
his family. His death occurred at the age
of seventy-three. The wife of Cornelius O.
Driscoll, mother of the subject of this sketch,
was Miss Mary Lynch, a native of Cork,
Ireland, whose father was a farmer there.
Her mother died when the children were
young, and she came with her sister to Amer
ica, and lived in Springfield till the time of
her marriage to Mr. Driscoll. She became
the mother of seven children, three of whom
died young. The other four children were as
follows: Dennis J., who is in the livery
business in New Haven, and who married
Ellen C Driscoll, and has five children;
Daniel M., a book publisher in Boston,
Mass., who married Mary Gordon, and has
two children; Henry W., a tinsmith for the
Boston & Maine Railroad Company, who mar
ried Nora E. Tobin (deceased), and has had
three children; and Cornelius ]., the subject
of this sketch.
Cornelius J. Driscoll received his early
education in the public schools of Springfield
and Chicopee, and then attended the college
in Ottawa, Canada, from which he was duly
graduated. He commenced his career as a
lawyer by studying with the Hon. E. H.
Lathrop, of Springfield. After completing
the necessary course of study, he was admitted
to the bar, November 12, 1879. He chose
Chicopee for the practice of his work, where
there seemed to be less competition and better
chances than in a city with a well-filled field;
and his judgment has proved to be a wise one.

826

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

as he has had prosperity from the beginning,
winning his first case in the courts, and going
on in the path of success from that auspicious
event. Mr, Driscoll is a decided Democrat, and
has held several public offices of distinction.
He has been Assessor one year. Clerk of the
Police Court for five years, and is a Justice of
the Peace and Notary Public. He is a mem
ber of the Chicopee Council and of the
Knights of Columbus, and is President of the
Irish National Land League. Mr. Driscoll
manages an insurance agency representing
seven different fire insurance companies. He
has dealt somewhat in real estate, and at the
present time is owner of three houses, besides
other property of value.

UGENE CLARENCE GARDNER,
senior member of the firm of Gardner,
Pyne & Gardner, Springfield archi
tects, was born in Ashfield, March 28, 1836,
son of Bela and Lucy (Barber) Gardner.
The father was a farmer and builder, living in
Ashfield until toward i860, when he moved to
that progressive part of Northampton called
Florence. Bela was the son of Jacob Gard
ner, a native of Plainfield. The family were
stanch Universalists in religion, and in poli
tics were first Whigs and then Republicans.
Mrs. Lucy B. Gardner was a native of Ash
field, but died in Florence, leaving four chil
dren: Isabelle, born in 1833, now Mrs. E. C
Davis, of Northampton ; John Gardner, born
in 1838, now of Dalton, Ga. ; Frederick N.
Gardner, born in 1848, now of Beloit, Wis.;
and Eugene C The maternal grandfather,
Mr. Barber, was a native of Derbyshire, Eng
land, but came to Ashfield from Providence.
In earlier days he was associated with Robert
Raikes in the London Sunday-schools, which
were really day schools for the poor, held on
the Sabbath; and afterward he helped to start
the first school of the kind in this country.
Bela Gardner was an intellectual man, a free
thinker, and an Odd Fellow in the growing
days of that order.
His son Eugene was educated at the com
mon schools of Ashfield, and then at the acad

emies in Ashfield and Conway. He worked
at farming and mason work until nineteen or
twenty years old. Between times he obtained
private instruction, and taught in Ohio, first
in the Cleveland public schools, and then for
five years in Tallmadge Academy, near Akron,
the leading seminary of the vicinity. There
he met James A. Garfield, afterward Presi
dent, who was teaching in the neighboring
town of Hiram. In 1861 Mr. Gardner re
turned to P'lorence to begin the study and
practice of architecture. He there developed
a successful patronage, and in 1868 opened a
Springfield office, with Mr. Jason Perkins as
partner. At the expiration of five years the
partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Gardner
carried on the office alone fifteen years.
During this interval he came into literary
prominence by a series of articles, written for
the Springfield Republican, on "Homes and
How to make Them," which were republished
in book form by James R. Osgood & Co.
This led to a second series, called "Illustrated
Homes," the first illustrated articles ever pub
lished in the Republican. A third series,
"Home Interiors," also published first in the
newspaper and afterward in book form, had an
extensive circulation. At the request of the
Boston Congregationalist he wrote another set
of papers on "Common Sense in Church Build
ing," afterward published by Bicknell, of New
York. The managing editor of Onr Continent
asked for some essays on Domestic Architect
ure, which were furnished and published under
the suggestive title of "The House that Jack
built," with an introduction by Judge Tourgee.
At the request of E. L. Kellogg & Co.,
school book publishers, Mr. Gardner prepared a
volume on "Town and Country Schoolhouses."
Thus embarked in periodical work, for three
years he edited The Builder, a journal devoted
to architectural and building interests, pub
lished by Clark W. Bryan, in Springfield.
On September 7, 1858, Mr. Gardner mar
ried Miss Harriet Bellows Hubbard, a daugh
ter of John Hubbard, of New Ipswich, N.PP.,
and grand-daughter of Professor John Hub
bard, of Dartmouth College, belonging to a
family which came to this country in 1634.
The Gardners have had two children. The

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

827

eldest died at the age of two and a half years.
George Clarence Gardner, the second son, was
educated at the Institute of Technology, and
supplemented his studies by foreign travel.
Besides literary work, Mr. Gardner has di
rected offices in Atlanta, Ga., and Washing
ton, D.C; for since 1888, when the present
partnership was formed, the senior associate
has spent his winters South. Not only has
he paid great attention to dwellings, but many
public buildings in Springfield are of his
planning — schools, churches, hospitals, fac
tories; and, owing to the circulation of his
books, his clientage extends through more
than half of the United States. With his
wife and son Mr. Gardner went abroad in
1888 and 1889; and they have travelled exten
sively in their own country. In politics he is a
Republican. He is a member of the Board of
Trade and of the Boston Society of Architects.

LVAH BISHOP, a farmer residing in
Blandford, and one of the leading
men of that town, was born in t"ne
adjoining town of Russell, Hainp-
den County, Mass., January 8, 1825. He
was the son of Jerry and Azuba (Williams)
Bishop, and grandson of Newman and Mary
Bishop, both of whom were natives of Con
necticut. Newman Bishop was born in North
Haven, and was one of the early settlers of
Russell, locating there in its primitive days.
He had the usual hardships of the pioneer to
undergo, the land being a wilderness, abound
ing in game, but infested with wild animals;
but he possessed courage and enterprise, and
helped to lay the foundations of the town,
where his posterity should enjoy their inheri
tance. Newman Bishop lived to be ninety-
eight years old. His wife lived to the age
of ninety years. Newman Bishop was a Whig
in politics, and was a highly respected citizen
of the town. In religion both he and his wife
were of the Baptist persuasion. They reared
seven children, all of whom grew to maturity,
but none are now living.
Jerry Bishop, his son, the father of Alvah
Bishop, spent his boyhood in Russell, and be
came a farmer, living in the town, and pursu

ing agriculture during the greater part of his
life. He owned an estate of one hundred and
twenty acres, which he cultivated with suc
cess. His later years were spent in Becket,
a town in Berkshire County. In politics Mr.
Bishop was governed by the views of the
Democratic party. He was a representative
in the legislature one term, and was Select
man many years. In religious profession he
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church. His last years were spent with a
daughter in Chester, Hampden County, where
he died at the age of eighty-two years. His
wife lived to about the same age. Of their
seven children three are now living, named as
follows: Mrs. Cornelia Harris, residing in
Westfield; Alvah Bishop, of this sketch;
Mrs. Mary Wilcox, of Westfield. The names
of those deceased are: Major, Jerry, Alfred,
and Maria.
Alvah Bishop grew to manhood in Russell,
attending the district schools in boyhood.
After concluding his studies, he entered upon
the work of the farm, and remained with his
parents till twenty-one years of age. He
purchased his first land in Russell, a farm of
two hundred and fifty acres, and there resided
seven or eight years. He then sold out, and
moved to the adjoining town of Blandford,
purchasing an estate, near which he now re
sides. The farm he at present occupies,
which consists of three hundred acres, he
bought in April, 1870. Mr. Bishop has been
a hard worker. Only constant and assiduous
toil could have brought so large a farm to its
present state of productiveness.
Mr. Bishop was twice married. His first
marriage took place in 1848, when he was but
twenty-three years of age, his bride being
Miss Lorinda Noble, a native of Russell.
She died three years later, leaving one son —
Edwin A. Bishop, born September 10, 1848.
This son settled on a farm not far from his
father's estate, and has become an enterpris
ing and esteemed citizen, already taking his
place in town affairs, and making his mark
among his elders. At the present time he is
chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and is
identified with the progressive movements of
the locality. On December 20, 1857, Mr.

828

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Bishop was united to his second wife, whose
maiden name was Betsey Morton. She was
born in Blandford, March ii, 1836, and was
a daughter of James and Fanny (Ellsworth)
Crooks, and adopted daughter of James Mor
ton. ' They have no children.
In politics Alvah Bishop is a Democrat.
He has held several town offices, serving as
one of the Selectmen of Blandford and as Tax
Collector, and has been otherwise connected
with local interests. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop
are liberal in their religious convictions.

KRY JARED BEEBE is the senior
nember of the firm of Beebe, Web
ber & Co., woollen manufacturers,
Holyoke, and lives in Springfield,
but was born in Monson, July 3, 1843. His
grandfather was Ansel Beebe, a farmer in
Monson, where he was a sturdy pioneer settler
in the early days. Jared Beebe, son of Ansel,
was born in that town in 18 14, amid the war
with Great Britain, and was nearly all his life
engaged in milling, his first undertaking
being with Holmes, Reynolds & Co., in
Somerville, Conn., where he remained till
i860, then removing to Holyoke, and building
a small woollen mill for himself. This in
1863 gave place to the large mill, which
remains substantially as it was in the begin
ning, with eight sets of machinery, in an
edifice four stories high, the main building
being one hundred and ninety feet long, on
Main Street, and two hundred and three feet
deep, thus affording space for two hundred
and fifty work-people.
In connection with his son-in-law, Mr.
Holbrook, Jared Beebe erected the Plolbrook
Paper Company's factory. He was a Director
in the Agawam Bank and a large owner in
the Farr Alpaca Company, which he was very
active in removing to Springfield, and of
which he was President when he died, on the
last day of July in our centennial year. His
wife, Mary Stacy, bore him seven children.
The eldest, Maria Louisa Beebe, was born in
1 841, and died in 1894, the wife of Joel S.
Webber, her brother's partner. Next came
Henry, our special subject. Mary Laura

Beebe, born in 1846, is the wife of a promi
nent Holyoke attorney, E. W. Chapin. Frank
Beebe, born in 1849, is a prosperous real
estate man in Plolyoke. Ellen Beebe, born
in 1852, married George B. Holbrook, of
Springfield, President of the Beebe & Hol
brook Paper Company. Nettie R. Beebe,
born in 1856, married E. D. Robbins, of
Charlestown ; and Carrie married the Rev.
George E. Merrill, but died in 1877. The
mother lived to be threescore and ten, dying
in 1886, after ten years of widowhood, at the
old family residence, 170 Main Street. She
was greatly respected by her kindred and
friends, and was a devoted member of the
First Baptist Church in Springfield.
The education of Henry J. Beebe in the
Monson schools was supplemented by study at
Wilbraham Academy, where he was graduated
in i860, at the age of seventeen. He at once
began work with R. B. Johnson, a Holyoke
clothing dealer, for by this time the Beebe
family had moved to that town from Monson.
The next year he worked for Wells & Young
love, in Chicopee, and then began business
in his father's mill, where he continued three
years. In 1864, toward the close of the war,
he thought he would try his hand in a larger
field, and went to New York City as repre
sentative of the Holyoke concern of O. H.
Sampson & Co. Thus he learned the selling
end of the business, and so was able, four
years later, to take a position as Treasurer of
the Springfield Silver Plate Company. In
1870 he united with his father in purchasing
the North Monson Woollen Mill, which
thereafter bore the firm name of Beebe & Son
till the elder gentleman's death. The firm of
Beebe, Webber & Co. soon bought the other
heirs out, bringing the Monson and Holyoke
mills under one management, and have con
tinued the business prosperously till the
present year, 1895, no Holyoke enterprise
being more flourishing. It has been running
since i860, and amounts to three hundred
thousand dollars annually. The monthly pay
roll is five thousand dollars, and the mills
produce three hundred thousand yards of
doeskin and cassimere every year. This
extensive manufacturing demands the use of

GEORGE E. FULLER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

831

three-mill power, a single-mill power meaning
the right to use water sixteen hours daily, at
the rate of thirty-eight cubic feet per second,
from a fall of twenty feet, which is equiva
lent to eighty-nine horse-power. The Beebe,
Webber & Co.'s mills, requiring threefold
power, pay the Holyoke Water Company
three hundred dollars a year for the privilege.
Mr. Beebe was elected as his father's suc
cessor on the Board of Directors of the Farr
Alpaca Company; and this position he held
as long as health would wisely permit, as he
was also a Director in the Holbrook Paper
Company, the First National Bank of Spring
field, the Indian Orchard Company, and the
United Electric Light Company of Spring
field, and Vice-President of" the National Au
tomatic Weighing Machine Company of New
'York. Socially, he is connected with the
Winthrop and Nayasset Clubs, being a char
ter member of the latter. In 1880 and 1881
he was honored with a place in the alderman ic
financial committee, and worked also in other
details of city government. When George D.
Robinson was nominated for Governor, Mr.
Beebe was a delegate to the Republican Con
vention. His first wife, whom he married in 1870,
was Othalie Vaughan, daughter of George
Vaughan, of Springfield, but she died in 1878,
leaving three little children. Henry Jared
Beebe, Jr., is associated with his father in the
factories, and so are his twin brothers, Albert
Augustus and Arthur Vaughan Beebe, born in
1875. In May, 1880, Mr. Beebe married a
second wife, Kate Elizabeth Glover Olmstead,
daughter of John Olmstead, of Springfield.
Some years later he built a commodious resi
dence, in Colonial style with a spacious lawn,
at 143 Maple Street, which is one of the
finest in that beautiful section of the city.
The family are attendants of the First Congre
gational Church; and Mr. Beebe has been an
extensive traveller, both at home and abroad.

rmo

P:0RGE E. FULLER, M.D., whose
\ J5T features are portrayed on the oppo-
^ — site page, and whose career is briefly
set forth in the following paragraphs, is a

physician of high repute in Monson, and one
of the leading practitioners in Massachusetts.
He was born in Wilbraham, December 25,
1838. Wilbraham was also the birthplace of
his father, Jonathan Smith Fuller, who was
born March 2, 1786. Dr. Fuller is of the
eighth generation of Fullers in this country,
descended from Edward Fuller, who, with his
brother. Dr. Samuel Fuller, came over in the
"Mayflower" in 1620. Edward's son Samuel
removed to Scituate, and thence to Barnstable.
John, the son of Samuel and grandson of Ed
ward, called " Little John," to distinguish him
from his cousin of the same name, removed
with his family to East Haddam, Conn., where
he lived from 1688 to 1697. His son Shubael
represents the fourth generation; Ephraim,
Shubael's son, the fifth; and Ephraim's son.
Lieutenant Ephraim Fuller, the grandfather
of the subject of this sketch, the sixth.
He was born in 1754, and it was in the
Revolution that he attained the rank of Lieu
tenant. He removed from East Haddam to
Wilbraham, Mass. He was a man of great
strength, one of his favorite feats being to
throw a barrel of cider into a cart over the
wheel. PPe teamed supplies for the army to
Boston in 18 12, when the journey to that city
occupied nearly a week. He died in Wilbra
ham, December 4, 1838, at the age of eighty-
four. His wife, Mary (Brainard) Fuller, laid
down the cares of life at sixty-four. They
had twelve children, all of whom reached
adult age, with the exception of one daughter.
Of these children Henry, Epaphroditus, and
Henrietta Maria were among the first who
went from the east to the Western Reserve in
Ohio, making the tedious and difficult journey
in heavy wagons across the rough and un
broken country. Having reached their desti
nation, they there cast their lot for life, and
reared families amid the hardships that beset
the pioneer. Ephraim, another of these chil
dren, lived to attain the ripe age of eighty-
nine. Lieutenant Fuller and his wife were
old-time Methodists; and their son, Jonathan
Smith Fuller, had to fight the good fight of
faith, and pay the tax levied for the support
of the Congregational church, and was active
in obtaining its repeal.

832

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Jonathan was the third son and the fifth of
the twelve children of Lieutenant Ephraim
Fuller, and was a house mason by trade, fol
lowing that line for some years. He finally
relinquished it to become a farmer in Wilbra
ham, tilling a large farm, and adding year by
year to his productive acres. He died De
cember 10, 1849, aged sixty-two, leaving a
property worth some seventeen thousand dol
lars to his four surviving children. His wife
was Abiah Hyde, to whom he was married on
June 6, 1819, at Norwich, Conn. She was of
the sixth generation in this country, which
makes Dr. Fuller of the seventh on the
mother's side. Her first ancestor in America
was William Hyde, an original proprietor of
Hartford in 1640, who removed to Saybrook
in 1648, and thence to Norwich about 1659
or 1660, and was there familiarly known as
"Old Goodman Hyde." His son Samuel
comes next on the family tree; then William,
son of Samuel; then James, son of William;
then Elisha, son of James.
Elisha Hyde was the father of Mrs. Fuller,
and he was born and passed his life in the
house where she first saw the light. This
house, situated facing the Common at Bean
Hill, became almost a landmark on account
of the magnificent elm which shaded it, the
tree measuring sixteen feet eight inches
around the base, and having a spread of one
hundred and twenty-four by one hundred and
twenty-six feet. Elisha Hyde was a godly
man, who obeyed the commandments to the
letter, and prepared his ground and. sowed his
seed, saying, "If God wills, I shall have a
good crop." Mrs. Fuller never forgot her
father's teachings and example, and up to the
time of her death was a "helpmeet indeed."
She passed away a year and a half before her
husband's decease, entering the life beyond
on July 13, 1848, at the age of fifty-two. In
the Old Cemetery at Wilbraham a monument
has been erected to their memory. Four
children survived, one daughter, Mary A.,
having died when but ten months old. Of
the others Samuel Smith Fuller died, unmar
ried, in 1855, at the age of twenty-eight;
Henry Eliab Fuller died in 1865, aged
thirty-six, leaving a widow and two chil

dren — George L. and Mary A.; James Hyde
Fuller is a farmer, living at Farmington,
Ohio. George E. Fuller, the subject of this
sketch, was left an orphan when a child, and
was cared for by his elder brother at home
until twelve years old. He was then sent to
a boarding-school at Norwich, Conn., for a
term. The following year he entered the
Monson Academy, and at the age of fourteen
he attended the Wilbraham Academy; but,
after spending one term there, he again went
to the Norwich school. In 1854 he became a
clerk in the drug store of Dr. Holbrook at
Palmer, where he acquired a knowledge of
drugs and studied medicine. In 1856 he at
tended the Williston Seminary, graduating in
1859. He entered Amherst College that year
in the class of 1863, and received his degree-
extraordinary in 1893, the years between those
two dates being crowded and eventful. He
left college in 1861 to join the army, enlist
ing over thirty men at Palmer, with whom he
went to Springfield in the Twenty-seventh
Massachusetts Infantry. He could have had
a lieutenancy, but preferred to be hospital
steward, as that was in the line of his chosen
profession. He served three years in North
Carolina and Virginia, receiving his dis
charge September 22, 1864. November 4,
1864, he entered the regular army in the hos
pital service. P'or some time he was sta
tioned at the Army Medical Museum, where
he assisted in making the Surgical History of
the War. He was discharged April 13,
1866, by special order. While at 'Washing
ton he took two courses of medical lectures,
and graduated at Georgetown University in
1865. Doctor Fuller's wide and varied
experience has been of the utmost value to
him in his professional work. He began
practice in Brimfield in 1866, and moved to
Monson in 1868, where he has been steadily
employed since. His pleasant home, where
he has lived for twenty-seven years, is in this
town. He is the author of papers on Phthisis,
Typhoid Fever, Diphtheria, and other dis
eases that flesh is heir to. He has per
formed many of the major operations in
surgery, and has frequently operated with sue-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

^33

cess for the relief of club feet and other
deformities. Dr. Fuller is a member of the
Eastern Hampden Medical Association, and
has been twice its President, a member of the
Hampden District Medical Society, and its
Vice-President in 1893 and 1895, member of
the Massachusetts Medical Society, several
years one of its Councillors, and twice one of
its delegates to the American Medical Asso
ciation, of which he is a member. He is
also a member of the New England Meteoro
logical Society, a Master Mason and Past
Master of Day Spring Lodge, and Commander
of Marcus Keep Post, No. 155, Grand Army
of the Republic, is President of the Monson
Free Library, and was one of its incorporators,
and is a Director of the Monson National
Bank. Dr. Fuller is a Republican. He is
¦an active member of the Congregational
church and prominent in good works.
While at Washington in 1865, Dr. Fuller
was married to Hattie S., daughter of the
late Daniel and Azuba (King) Green. Mrs.
Fuller was born June 10, 1842, and died
April 21, 1876, having been the mother of
three children, namely: two sons, Gardner
and Henry, who died in infancy: and one
daughter, Alice Green P^uller, now the wife
of Harry A. Merchant, who is at present
attending the medical college at Albany.
Dr. Fuller was married again, June 21, 1877,
to Carrie P'idelia Field, of Amherst, who had
completed her education at Mount Holyoke
Seminary. She died November 9, 1891, of
la grippe. On December 24, 1892, the
Doctor was married for the third time, his
bride being Asenath S., daughter of Jonas
and Sophia (Gardner) Green, of Wales, an
aunt of his first wife and the last survivor of a
family of three sisters and three brothers.

YP7\ICHARD WATERMAN CARTTER,
I \^ of West Springfield, the largest
\\p\ market gardener in Hampden
^¦^ County and one of the most ex
tensive in the State, was born at Chester in
that county, June 12, 1858, son of Lorenzo
and Lucinda (Gardner) Cartter. Lorenzo
Cartter was probably born in Blandford, and

followed the trade of a blacksmith for a num
ber of years at Chester. His wife is now
residing at Riverdale.
Richard Waterman Cartter was obliged by
force of circumstances to commence the task
of earning his own living at the tender age of
eleven years, when he entered the employ of
a farmer at Southwick, Mass., where he re
mained a period of three years, receiving in
compensation his board and clothing. He
was next employed at South Hadley Falls in
the same capacity, and, after continuing there
for another three years, wept to Springfield
for the purpose of seeking a situation. He
was engaged as a travelling salesman for one
year, at the expiration of which time he
returned once more to agriculture, being em
ployed by R. A. Bagg, the well-known market
gardener, with whom he remained until 1883,
when he established himself in the same busi
ness upon the farm he now owns and occupies.
He cultivates eighty-four acres of exceedingly
fertile land, which he has brought to a highly
productive state, and has two large green
houses — one two hundred by twenty-two feet,
and the other one hundred and fifty-six by
twenty feet — together with an extensive area
of hot-beds. His property is pleasantly
situated upon the west bank of the Connecti
cut River, two miles from Springfield and one
and one-quarter miles from Chicopee; and his
facilities for raising successfully all kinds
of garden truck and placing his products
upon the market very early in the season are
unsurpassed. He is thoroughly proficient
in this particular branch of agriculture;
and this knowledge, together with his able
management, is the true reason of his
success. In 1882 Mr. Cartter was united in marriage
to Miss Ada Belle Amadon, of Springfield;
and their union was blessed with three chil
dren, all of whom died in infancy.
Mr. Cartter is a close follower of all im
provements relative to the proper and effective
cultivation of early vegetables, and readily
avails himself of any and all practical meth
ods which are calculated to perfect his garden
ing facilities. He is well and favorably
known among business men of Springfield,

834

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and is a member of the Knights of Pythias
and the Royal Arcanum.

r^c

EORGE W. TERRETT, late a pros-
y [5 I perous farmer and prominent citizen
^ — of Granville, was born in Stoning
ton, Conn., February 18, 1800. He was the
son of Captain William and Hannah (Reset
ter) Terrett, and grandson also of a William
Terrett. Mr. Terrett's grandfather was born
in England in 1745, and came to America at
an early date, settling in Connecticut, where
is now the town of Stonington. There as a
merchant he was very successful, and was one
of the prominent citizens of the town. He
died November 4, 181 7; and his wife, Nancy
L. Terrett, who was born in England in 1754,
died October 20, 1836.
Captain William Terrett was born in Eng
land, May 17, 1772, but came to America
with his parents when a young child, and grew
to manhood in Connecticut. Some years of
his life were spent upon the sea, and there he
acquired the title of captain. He also con
ducted business as a merchant for some time
in Stonington, Conn. He was a well-to-do
man, and during the Revolutionary War had
a hard struggle to keep his property together,
being at one time compelled to pack his valu
ables and gold coin in a chest and hide them
from the British soldiers. He was a success
ful business man, but an indifferent farmer.
When he removed to Granville, and bought
the farm where the Terrett family now re
sides, which then comprised four hundred
acres, the country was new and the soil fresh
and fertile, and easy to cultivate. PPere
with his sons Captain Terrett resided until
his death, which took place January 14,
1847. Captain Terrett was a good citizen,
and stood high in the esteem of his townsmen.
He was liberal in his religious views. Mrs.
Terrett was born in Stonington, Conn., in
1773, and died in New York City, May 2,
1848. She was a strict Presbyterian. They
had eight children — seven sons and one
daughter. George W. Terrett spent his boyhood days
in Stonington. His first attempt at earning

a livelihood was in his father's store, but the
removal of the family to the farm at Granville
caused a change in his occupation. At that
time he took up farming, and, finding himself
adapted to it, adopted it as a life vocation.
He was one of the most successful farmers in
this part of the town, and added to the old
farm, so that at one time he owned four hun
dred and sixty acres. Mr. Terrett was a loyal
Republican, and was Selectman of Granville
for some time, and also held minor offices.
He was a member of Ihe Methodist Episcopal
church, in which he was an ardent worker,
and to whose support he liberally contributed.
He died May 24, 1876, while on a visit in
Pittsfield at his daughter's home, and was
buried in Granville, where he had spent so
many years of his life.
His wife. Prudence C Terrett, to whom
he was married November 3, 1822, in Hali
fax, Vt., died May i, 1884. She was a mem
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and
an indefatigable worker for the cause of the
gospel. They had ten children, nine of whom
reached maturity, and six of whom are now
living: Mary Ann, wife of Albert F. Webb,
born May 15, 1825, who resides in South
wick; "Maria A., widow of Lemuel G. Lloyd,
who resides in Pittsfield ; Melvina P. Terrett,
born July 18, 1827, who resides on the old
home farm, and is an active member of the
Methodist Episcopal church; Hannah E.,
widow of Sylvester Cole, born August 15,
1829, who resides in Chatfield, Minn.;
Charles W., born March 19, 1839, who now
owns the old homestead, and of whom a more
extended notice is given below; Catherine E.,
born June 29, 1841, who lives in Pittsfield,
and is unmarried. The deceased are: Will
iam D., who died September 5, 1837; George
W., who passed away January 6, 1873; Ben
jamin F., who died January 26, 1881; and
Adelia P., who died April 23, 1890. Charles
W. Terrett received his education in the
schools of Granville, and has there passed his
days, with the exception of three years spent
in mercantile business in Westfield and his
term of service in the United States army at
the time of the war. He enlisted September
20, 1 86 1, in Company F, Twenty-seventh

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

835

Massachusetts Regiment, under command of
Captain Thayer, of Westfield, and was in
many hard-fought battles, seeing active ser
vice in Burnside's expedition at Whitehall,
Kingston, Newbern, Gouldsboro, and many
other places, and receiving a painful wound at
Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864, on account of
which he spent some time in the hospital.
When convalescent, he came home on fur
lough, and was honorably discharged Septem
ber 30, 1864. He is a very successful farmer,
and in addition to general farming manages a
large dairy, being the owner of some fine full-
blooded and grade Jerseys. He has re
modelled some of the farm buildings, and
und'er his management the estate presents a
fine appearance. He has never married, but
depends upon his sister Melvina for house
hold comfort. In politics Mr. Terrett is a
Democrat. He is liberal in religious views.

Wi

ILLIAM A. WHITNEY, general
manager of the advertising depart
ment of the Phelps Publishing
Company and the Orange Judd Company,
Springfield, New York, and Chicago, was
born at Nashua, N.H., September 29, 1862,
and is a son of Richard D. and Laura A. (In
gram) Whitney. Richard D. Whitney was
born October 26, 1836, at Nashua, N.PP., son
of Jesse and Rebecca (Newell) Whitney. He
moved to Springfield in March, 1863, and
worked in the Springfield Armory till the
close of the war. He then entered the employ
of Harris, Hawkins & Burrill in Springfield,
remaining with them three or four years — till
they closed out their business — when he was
engaged by Ray & Taylor in the same city.
In August, 1870, he moved to Haydenville,
where he was engaged as contractor for Hay
den, Gere & Co. until April, 1874, when he
took charge of the steel department of the Bur
bank Manufacturing Company, remaining
with them thirteen years; and on January i,
1887, he accepted a position with the Wal
worth Manufacturing Company, South Boston.
Mr. Whitney was a member of the Common
Council in 1885. On November 24, 1858,
he was married at Nashua, N.H., to Laura A.,

daughter of Roswell and Laura (Pratt) In
gram, who was born May 17, 1838, at Will-
iamsville, Vt.
William A. Whitney has resided in this
city nearly his entire life, his parents having
established their home here when he was but
six months old. He received a good educa
tion in the public schools. In early boy
hood he sold newspapers, handling the Repub
lican and the Union and the Sunday Telegram,
which may be considered as the foundation
of his career as a newspaper man, he having
since the age of eleven years been connected
with journalistic interests. After leaving
the high school, he was for six months ship
ping clerk for the Newell Brothers' Manufact
uring Company, going from their employ to
that of the Phelps Publishing Company, in
1880, as an office boy, and later filling the
position of reporter for the city edition of the
Homestead. While connected with the Home
stead he was advanced to the position of mail
ing clerk, assuming entire charge of the mail
ing department, and erelong was transferred
to the business office, where he became an
assistant in the book-keeper's and cashier's
department. He next entered the advertising
department, eventually succeeding to the
entire management, and for the past eight
years has devoted his untiring energies to this
particular branch of the Phelps Publishing
Company's service. Their publications in
clude the Farm and Home, a semi-weekly,
with a circulation of two hundred and fifty-
five' thousand, the largest bona fide circulation
of any agricultural paper in the world; the
Springfield Homestead, a weekly family and
social journal ; and the Neiv England Home
stead, a weekly newspaper devoted to the in
terests of agriculture, with a circulation of
thirty-five thousand, which has recently been
sold to the Orange Judd Company, a concern
practically owned and controlled by the
Phelps Publishing Company. They also
publish the American Agriculturist, which is
divided into five editions, with a circulation
of one hundred and sixty-five thousand
weekly, and without doubt carries the largest
amount of paid advertising of any agricultural
journal issued. Mr. Whitney, being a stock-

836

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

holder in both companies, is necessarily
active in their management; and it is through
his business ability and unlimited capacity
for work that these enterprises are able to
retain their prestige among the extensive
advertisers of the country. Besides having
an extensive acquaintance among the adver
tisers of New England, he possesses the
peculiar and particularly essential quality of
procuring interviews and obtaining contracts
with eminent business men who would utterly
refuse to treat with or even receive an ordi
nary advertising agent, thus being able to
secure and control a great amount of exclusive
advertising which cannot be reached by
others. On October i, 1890, he wedded Miss
Catherine Kingsbury Wilkinson, only daugh
ter of the late Cyrus K. Wilkinson, of this
city, who was formerly a prominent business
man and, in partnership with his brother,
Warren H. "Wilkinson, a sketch of whom
appears elsewhere in this work, conducted an
extensive harness manufactory, and filled
large government contracts. PPe was active
in Masonic circles, and was a member of the
Commandery. He died at the age of twenty-
seven years. He married Miss Katharine
Barr, a sister of the well-known caterer of
this city; and they had one daughter, with
whom his widow now resides. Mrs. Whit
ney, after completing the primary branches of
her studies in the public schools of Spring
field, entered St. Mary's School at Burling
ton, N.J., where she perfected a most liberal
education, becoming thoroughly accomplished
in both music and art, the latter study being
still further cultivated by attendance at the
Boston Art School.
Politically, Mr. Whitney is a Republican,
though not in any way an aspirant for office.
He occupies a prominent position among the
social and fraternal elements of the city,
being a member of Springfield Lodge of
Masons, Morning Star Chapter, Springfield
Council, and Springfield Commandery,
Knights Templars. He is a great admirer of
outdoor sports, such as base ball, and is a
member of the Springfield Bicycle Club. Mr.
and Mrs. Whitney attend Christ Church

(Episcopal), of which she is a communicant.
'They reside at 21 P^radford Street.

KYMAN R. NYE, a well-known manu
facturer, and descendant of one of the
 old families in Blandford, Hamp
den County, Mass., was born in that
town, December 2, 1827, son of Clark and
Dolly A. (Frary) Nye, and grandson of James
and Sarah (Clark) Nye. James Nye was born
in Charlestown, R.I, March 13, 1758, and
came with his wife to Blandford about 1804.
He carried on a farm which he bought there,
and was also an extensive cattle dealer. He
died in Blandford, October 27, 1840. Mrs.
Nye was born in Rhode Island, December 28,
1762, and died April 2, 1846. Their family
consisted of eleven children, none of whom
are now living.
Clark Nye, who was born October 2, 1799,
was a boy of four years when his parents came
to Blandford. His life was principally de
voted to farming, although he was engaged in
other pursuits to some extent. He owned a
farm of about two hundred acres, which is
now in the possession of his son. Clark Nye
was a Democrat in politics and liberal in
religious opinions. He died October 11,
1886, at the age of eighty-seven years. His
wife, Dolly, died April 8, 1895. Their
family of three children are all living, as fol
lows: Lyman R., born December 2, 1827, our
subject; Lewis C, born October 17, 1829,
on the old homestead; and Emily A., born
May 23, 1835, widow of E. A. Cross, resid
ing in Westfield.
Lyman R. Nye spent his early years in his
native town, attending school and gaining
other practical knowledge. When twenty-
one years of age, he began to learn the trade
of carpenter and joiner, at which he worked
several years. In 1853 he bought a fine resi
dence he had himself built, and went there to
reside. Connected with it are a farm of about
thirty acres and a saw-mill, which Mr. Nye
manages, carrying on a business in lumber,
and also doing work at his trade. The mill
site is one of the oldest-established in the
State.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

837

Mr. Nye was married November 28, 1855,
to Miss Marion Lewis, of Blandford, who was
born October 4, 1835, and was a daughter of
Captain Horatio G. and Anna (Wheeler)
Lewis. Captain Horatio Lewis was a native
of Rhode Island, born January 16, 1778.
He spent the greater part of his life in
Blandford, where he was known as an indus
trious farmer and a man of sterling character.
A Democrat in politics, he was chosen to
represent Blandford in the legislature; and
he was active in military matters in Stoning
ton, Conn. Captain Lewis was a member of
the Baptist church. He died March 6, 1845.
• He was twice married. His first wife, Betsey
Lewis, who was born October 24, 1781, and
died October 14, 1820, was the mother of ten
children, two of whom are now living; and
his second wife, Anna (Wheeler) Lewis, who
was born August 23, 1798, and died Septem
ber 22, 1880, was the mother of twelve chil
dren, six of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs.
Nye have no children.
Politically, Mr. Nye is a Prohibitionist.
He has served as Selectman, Assessor, and
Overseer of the Poor two terms, and now
holds the office of Superintendent of Grounds.
He has taken an active part in the affairs of
the Agricultural Society, being one of its
official members from the beginning. Mr.
Nye is liberal as to religious opinions, while
Mrs. Nye is a member of the Congregational
church. They are among the old settlers of
this part of the town; and, while Mr. Nye has
been a conscientious worker and a successful
man, his wife has done her part as a model
helpmeet, and together they hold the respect
of their neighbors.

'AMES KIMBALL, Agent of the Board
of Health in Springfield, was born at
Mason Village, N.H., in that part of
the town now called Greenville, on
April 18, 1831, son of Benoni C and Mary
(Dunster) Kimball. Mr. Kimball's first an
cestor in this country was Richard Kimball,
who emigrated from England in 1634, and
settled in Watertown, Mass., moving from
there to Ipswich in 1637. From 1634 to the

present time the line of descent is traced
through: Richard Kimball and Ursula Scott,
Richard and Mary Kimball, Samuel Kimball
and Mary Witt, Jonathan Kimball and
Hannah Hopkins, Jonathan Kimball and
Martha Ober, Isaac Kimball and Abigail
Raymond, Isaac Kimball and Sally Cutter,
Benoni Cutter Kimball and Mary Dunster
(the parents of our subject). Benoni Kim
ball was born in Temple, N.H., March 13,
1 79 1. He was the son of Isaac and Sally
(Cutter) Kimball, who lived 'on the second
farm in Temple on the Mason Village road,
and was named for his mother's brother. Dr.
Benoni Cutter. By trade he was a house car
penter, and was finishing the inside of Jason
Dunster' s house when he became engaged to
his daughter Mary, to whom he was married
December 28, 18 15. He built a house at
Mason Village, N.H., for himself and bride.
Afterward he built another residence, in
which they resided until 1835, when he
bought two-thirds of the Dunster homestead,
purchasing the remaining third of the prop
erty on the death of widow Mary Dunster,
in 1858. He carried on his farm besides
being actively engaged in his trade. In poli
tics Mr. Kimball was a Whig. He was an
influential member of the Congregational
church, and took a prominent part in the
organization of the new church in Mason
Village, both he and his wife uniting them
selves with it by profession of faith in 1826;
and they had all their children baptized at
Mason Village. In all religious enterprises
they took an active and leading part. They
died within a few months of each other, and
were buried in the cemetery at Mason Village.
To this worthy couple were born fifteen chil
dren, and to them was granted the privilege
of seeing their children (with the exception of
two who died in infancy) united with a Chris
tian church, and all respected members of
society. On his mother's side Mr. James Kimball
represented the seventh generation traced
from the Rev. Henry Dunster, the first Presi
dent of Harvard College, who was born in
England, and came to this country in 1640.
He was educated at Magdalen College, Cam-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

bridge, England, and graduated as an A.B. in
1630, and received the degree of A.M. in
1634. Among his contemporaries at Cam
bridge were such noted men as Jeremy Taylor,
John Milton, Ralph Budworth, John Pearson,
John Harvard, and others who subsequently
became more or less distinguished. He re
tained the presidency of Harvard College from
August 27, 1640, to October 24, 1654, admin
istering its affairs with eminent success. On
June 21, 1641, he married Elizabeth, widow
of the Rev. Joseph Glover. She lived only
two years, and died without issue. He then
married Elizabeth (surname unknown). Tra
dition says that she came from England when
about eighteen years old, and soon married.
She died September 12, 1690. Her children
were: David, Dorothy, Henry, Jonathan, and
Elizabeth. Jonathan, of whom our subject
was a lineal descendant, was born September
28, 1653. He was a farmer, and inherited
lands on both sides of the division line be
tween that part of Cambridge called Monotony
(now Arlington) and Charlestown (now
Somerville). He married Abigail Eliot, a
niece of the apostle to the Indians. They
had two children — Henry and Elizabeth.
Henry, who was of the third generation from
President Dunster, was born July 17, 1680.
He married February 25, 1707, Martha Rus
sell. They were both members of the First
Church (Congregational) in Cambridge, now
Arlington. He died January 28, 1753, the
record of which appears in his'son Jason's
Bible (now in existence), written by the
pastor of the church, the Rev. Samuel Cooke,
as follows: "Mr. Henry Dunster Dyed Jan'
28 1753 Aet. 73. 'be ye also ready for at
such an hour as ye think not of the Son of
Man Cometh.' " Henry Dunster and Martha
(Russell) Dunster had eleven children —
Martha, Mary, Abigail, Elizabeth, Isaiah,
Henry, Elizabeth, Jason, Eunice, Jonathan,
Ruth. Jason, the fourth in descent from Pres
ident Dunster, was born July 24, 1725. He
married Rebecca, daughter of Samuel and
Anne (Harrington) Cutter, on October 26,
1749. They lived at the old Dunster home
stead for about eighteen years. He must have
sold the homestead, as on January 28, 1769,

we find him taxed in the town of Mason,
N.H., to the amount of nine shillings and
sixpence. Soon after his settlement in this
village a church was organized, in which he
took an active part. He had eight children — ¦
Ruth, Rebecca, Henry, Rebecca, second,
Martha, Isaiah, Jason, Samuel. Jason, the
fifth descendant from President Dunster and
the grandfather of the subject of our sketch,
was born at Cambridge (now Arlington),
March 27, 1763. It is probable that his
father brought him to Mason in 1769. He
enlisted as a private in the Continental army
in March, 1781, and served three years, being
then discharged. His pay was in Continental
money, a specimen bill of which, for thirty
dollars, is still kept among other ancestral
mementos. After his discharge he returned
to Lexington, Mass. At the age of twenty-
three he was taxed in Mason, N.H. He was
married April 18, 1793, to Mary Meriam,
daughter of Joseph and Mary (Brooks)
Meriam, who was born October 28, 1768, at
Concord, Mass. They had five children;
namely, Jason, Mary, Isaiah, Betsey, and
Samuel — Mary, the second child, "oeing the
mother of the subject of our sketch.
Mr. James Kimball was brought up on his
father's farm. His father also taught him
carpentering, and he worked at that trade and
that of cabinet-making, also manufacturing
school furniture at Lebanon, N.H., and at
Weston, Mass. For a time he acted as clerk
in the country store of his native town. In
1862, when the government mustered all its
available resources to work in the manufacture
of guns at Springfield, he went to that city,
and was employed in the National Armory
until 1885, with the exception of six years,
during which he was detailed for the inspec
tion of arms then being manufactured at
Providence, R.I., for the Turkish government.
In politics, although not a partisan, Mr. Kim
ball takes pride in having been a delegate to
the first Republican convention which was
held in the State, and has since seen no cause
for changing his political faith. During
1882, 1883, and 1884 he was a member of
the Common Council from Ward Five. In
1885 he was elected to his present position as

M. H. WHITCOMB.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

841

Agent of the Board of Health and also as In
spector of Milk and Provisions. His long
service in this position is a sure guarantee of
the efficiency of his work. He has been a
prominent member of the Independent Order
of Odd P""ellows from the time he was old
enough to join its ranks, and he still retains
his membership with that body. He is a
Past Grand member of the De Soto Lodge
and a member of Agawam Encampment, In
dependent Order^of Odd Fellows, of this city.
In religion he still adheres to the teachings
and training which he received from his par
ents; and, though perhaps his views are some
what more liberal than theirs, he has never
departed from the "faith of his fathers."
September i, 1853, he married Maria
Corbin, daughter of Stephen and Mary
(Squires) Corbin, born November 29, 1829,
at New Ipswich, N.H. They have one
child — James Newton, born in the town of
Weston, Mass., February 26, 1855. He grad
uated from the Springfield High School in
1873. For a time he worked as a civil en
gineer, but for the past ten or twelve years
has been a successful teacher of shorthand in
the city of New York. He is now principal
of a school for stenography at 1300- Broadway.
At one period of his life he had the unusual
honor of four grandmothers living, all bear
ing the name of Mary. He married Georgie
Ella Kennerson, daughter of George Kenner-
son, of Palmer, Mass., on November 10, 1879,
in New Haven, Conn., and they have one child
— George K.
Mr. and Mrs. James Kimball reside at 15
Orleans Street. His office is in City Hall;
and, although an unusually busy man, he has
always time for a word of kindly greeting
with his many friends.

"ON. MARCIENE H. WHITCOMB,
State Senator from the Second
Hampden District and ex-Mayor
of Holyoke, was born at Reading,
Windsor County, Vt., October 25, 1838. He
is a son of James Harding and Louisa (Phil-
brick) Whitcomb, his father having been a
native of Alstead, N.H., and the son of

Thomas Whitcomb, a school teacher and
farmer. James H. Whitcomb moved with
his father to Vermont when young, and there
learned the shoemaker's trade, which he fol
lowed as an occupation for his entire life.
He changed his residence from Reading, his
wife's native place, to the adjoining town of
Cavendish when his son Marciene was nine
years of age. Four of his five children sur
vive: Marciene H. ; Abbie, wife of C H.
Spencer, proprietor of the Worcester Oil
Works; Volney O., who resides at the old
homestead at Cavendish; and Victoria M.,
widow of James Norton, now residing at
Worcester, Mass. James H. Whitcomb died
at the homestead, both himself and wife hav
ing been members of the Universalist church.
Their son Marciene H., having received a
good education in the public schools, entered
the woollen mills as an ordinary hand, and
gradually worked his way to the position of
overseer. In the second year of the Civil,
War he enlisted as band master in the Six
teenth New Hampshire Volunteers, he having
been leader of the Newport Cornet Band,
nearly all the members of which entered the
service. He accompanied Banks's expedi
tion that relieved General Butler at New
Orleans, his band being detached from the
regiment and detailed as' Brigade Band under
General Emory, of Massachusetts. He was
located at Carrollton and New Orleans during
ten months of active service, and was mus
tered out at Concord, N.H., in June, 1863.
In the following October he re-enlisted as a
musician in the Second Brigade, which was
attached to the Second Division of the Ninth
Army Corps, commanded by General Burn
side, joining the .army at Hancock Station,
on Grant's military railroad, previous to the
assault on Fort Davis, and was present at the
battles which followed, the memorable cam
paign culminating in the fall of Petersburg
and Richmond and the surrender of General
Lee. He participated in the grand review at
Washington at the close of the war, and was
mustered out as a musician of the first class.
After finishing his mili_tary service, he re
turned to Newport, N.H., 'where he resumed
his position of overseer in the carding and

842

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

spinning department of a large woollen-mill,
later filling similar positions at Putney and
Springfield in Vermont, after which he again
went to Newport, N.H., and from thence to
Enfield, Mass., where he served in a like
capacity for the Swift River Milling Com
pany. He next assumed charge of the Eagle
Woollen Company's blanket manufactory, a
position which he later resigned to enter the
employ of the Otter River Company at
Templeton, Mass., and eventually becoming
Superintendent of a much larger mill, which
was operated by Rufus Frost & Co., of Boston,
with whom he remained for five years. In
1875 he came to Holyoke to assume charge
of the Springfield Company's blanket mills,
which under his energetic management be
came the largest establishment in the world.
In January, 1886, having relinquished his
connection with the wool manufacturing in
terests the year previous, he was appointed,
by Mayor J. J. O'Connor, Chief of Police, in
which capacity he served for five consecutive
years, giving that department a progressive
and healthy administration.
In 1892 Mr. Whitcomb employed his time
in improving his real estate, having erected
the Whitcomb Block, a structure four hundred
and seventy-two feet long and four stories
high, located on Dwight Street, which is
furnished with water-power, and is the largest
building in the city devoted to manufacturing
purposes, affording ample facilities for twelve
different industries, the most important being
the Keating Wheel Company, which alone
employs several hundred of the one thousand
men employed within its walls. He also
erected a fine business block on Cabot Street,
two dwelling-houses on Walnut Street, and is
interested in other valuable real estate. He
was one of the original Directors of the Keat
ing Wheel Company, is a Trustee of the Hol
yoke Savings Bank, and a stockholder in the
Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Dur
ing the year 1894 he acceptably filled the
office of Mayor of this city, the most notable
event of his administration being its persist
ent struggle with the liquor element, in which
he had the satisfaction of coming out vic
torious.

In November he was elected State Senator
for the Second Hampden District, in which
position he is striving earnestly to make per
manent the overthrow of the liquor ring by
introducing at the present session of the legis
lature, 1895, an act providing for the transfer
of the police department from the control of
the city to that of the governor of the State,
thus keeping it from the rule of local politi
cians. He is chairman of the Committee
upon Liquor Laws and the Senate member of
the Committee upon Fisheries and Game and
Federal Relations. Above all, Mr. Whit
comb is an earnest and persistent worker for
the advancement of practical temperance
legislation. He is a member of Lafayette
Lodge, No. S3, A. F. & A. M., of Caven
dish, Vt., of Holyoke Chapter and Council
and Springfield Commandery, Knights Temi-
plars, also a member of Kilpatrick Post, Grand
Army of the Republic, and of the Knights of
Pythias. In December, 1856, he married Miss Jane
Webber, daughter of Luther P. Webber, of
Newport, N.H., and has one son living,
Eugene H., who is superintendent of the
Whitcomb Building in this city, and resides
at 162 Walnut Street, having one son — Mar
ciene E. Mr. Whitcomb has occupied his
present home, at 161 Walnut Street, for the
past seventeen years, and attends the Second
Congregational Church, although rendering
financial aid to other denominations. A
portrait of this public-spirited and valued
citizen is presented on another page.

YgTORATIO L. CONVERSE, promi-
|-=rl nently known in the business circles
JJs I of Brimfield, Mass., where he was
born September 12, 1851, is the
son of Marquis and Mary C G. (Picket)
Converse. He is of good Puritan blood,
being a lineal descendant of Edward and
Ellen Converse, who sailed from England
with the Winthrop fleet in 1630, and were
granted a tract of land in Salem, Mass. This
Edward Converse ran the first ferry-boat be
tween Boston and Charlestown, and is men
tioned as a Deacon in the Congregational

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

843

church, and also as a representative at the
General Court. Our subject's great-grand
parents, Alpheus and Jerusha Converse, lived
in Thompson, Conn., where in 1785 their son
Marquis was born. Marquis Converse, who
was of the third generation from the present,
was the first of the name in Brimfield, and
owned almost all of the land in and surround
ing the village. He built the first hotel in
the village, and was also a merchant. He
was an active worker in the Congregational
church. He married Miss Sophia Lyon, who
was born April 27, 1788. The husband died
October 12, 1842, the wife on the 15th of the
same month, 1851. Eight children were born
to them: Marquis L., born February i, 1809;
Charles W., born December 12, 1810; Lydia
L., born March 4, 1815; Charles E., born
March 2, 1818; Eudocia C, born January 21,
1822; Alfred L., born August 23, 1824;
George A., born January 24, 1827; Sophia B.,
born May 21, 1831.
Marquis L. Converse, the father of Horatio
L. Converse, met with a heavy loss in the
beginning of his career, which might have
somewhat disheartened a less brave man than
he. Going to New York when a young man
of twenty years of age, he embarked in a
wholesale dry-goods enterprise, but a short
time after establishing himself was burned
out. Undaunted, though sorely tried, no
doubt, he started afresh in the same line of
work, and later went to Charleston, S.C,
with Pomeroy, Lymon & Converse, a firm
that conducted an extensive wholesale busi
ness in dry goods in that place. When the
Civil War broke out, he left Charleston, and
returned to New York, where he continued
his connection with the firm as its purchasing
agent, a position he held until his death.
He married Miss Mary C G. Picket, a
daughter of Dr. Charles Picket, of Delaware,
Ohio. She died in 1892, at sixty years of
age. They were the parents of four children :
Marquis P., born in August, 1847, who died
in May, 1862; Charles A., born in 1849, who
died in 1852; Horatio L., the subject of this
biographical sketch; and John F., born April
6, 1855, a retired merchant in Brimfield, who
married Miss Lizzie L. Wyles, a daughter of

the late William H. Wyles, and is the father
of seven children, three of whom have passed
away, namely : Henry Wyles, born February
4, 1880, who died November 4, 1881; John
¦Wyles, born April 9, 1888, who died June 4,
1890; and Gypsy Picket, born June 20, 1890,
who died August 11, 1893. The living are:
Albert, Anna, Lydia, and Marquis L.
Horatio L. Converse finished his educa
tion in the Hitchcock High School at Brim
field. At fifteen years of age he secured a
clerkship in the dry-goods house of Emerson,
Rhodes & Co. in New York, where he re
mained for two years. After leaving New
York, he went to Springfield, and engaged in
the grocery business for a short time, then
engaged as book-keeper for Mr. W. N. Flynt
in Monson, staying three years. His brother
John was a merchant in Brimfield; and in his
store Horatio clerked for four years, serving
meanwhile as Assistant Postmaster also, aid
ing his brother. In after years he bought out
the interest of his brother, and has since con
ducted a store, carrying a general line of mer
chandise, groceries, hardware, and agricultural
implements. Mr. Converse is a Democrat,
and in 1889 was appointed Postmaster.
On April 18, 1874, he was married to Miss
Mary Anderson, a native of Monson, born
March 16, 1855, and a daughter of Almus and
Sarah (Root) Anderson, of Monson. The
children of this union are: Florence W., born
October 3, 1875, who died September 11,
1877; Harry R., born March 6, 1878, who is
with his father in the store, and gives promise
of being a successful merchant; Frank A.,
born January 31, 1880; Sophy, born Septem
ber 16, 1881; and Horatio, Jr., born October
10, 1883. The family are, as yet, happily
united in that home life that moulds the char
acter of men and women, the memory of which
lightens the darker moments of maturer years.

HARLES M. SLOCUM, City Engi
neer, is one of Springfield's valued
is public officials, and has been con
nected with the department in which
he is now engaged for upward of twenty-two
years. He is a native of Hampden County,

844

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and was born July 19, 1854, in the town of
Tolland, which was the home of his ancestors
for several generations. His great-grandfather
on the paternal side was a resident of that
place for many years; and there his grand
father, Oliver E. Slocum, spent his entire
life, being a prosperous farmer and one of the
foremost men of his day. He took a broad
interest in State and national affairs, and
wielded a wide influence throughout that sec
tion of the county.
Philo M. Slocum, the father of our subject,
was born in Tolland in 1831, and was a man
of talent and broad culture. Pie was a noted
teacher, meeting with excellent success in his
pedagogical career, and was for some time con
nected with the Westfield Normal School as
a teacher of natural science. While in the
midst of his usefulness the silver cord was
loosed; and he passed to the life beyond in
October, 1861, being then but thirty years of
age. He married Henrietta Beach, who is at
present living in Tuscarora, N. Y. , although
her home is in Springfield. She is a woman
of exceptional merit and a devout member of
the Second Congregational Church of West-
field, to which her husband also belonged.
Two children were born of their marriage,
namely: Charles M. , the subject of this
sketch; and Philo M., who was born in Febru
ary, 1862, and died in August, 1889. He was
a civil engineer by trade, being engaged prin
cipally in hydraulic work, and at one time held
the office of Assistant Engineer in the city of
Springfield. Charles M. Slocum, who inherited in no
small degree the literary talent of his father,
received his education in the Wesleyan Acad
emy of Wilbraham, afterward studying with
private tutors for several years. After teach
ing for a year Mr Slocum went to Boston,
hoping to find some more congenial employ
ment, and from April until July, 1873, was
engaged in railway engineering. F'rom that
time until 1876 he was employed in the city
engineer's office as an assistant. Pie afterward
resumed his connection with the railway com
pany, working on a preliminary survey, after
which he returned to his former position.
During the latter part of the same year he

worked on the Springfield & Longmeadow
Railway construction, surveying, and when
that task was completed again entered the city
engineer's office as assistant. In 1886 he was
appointed City Engineer, and since that time
has fulfilled the arduous duties of his position
with commendable ability, fidelity, and skill,
devoting his entire time and attention to his
work. Under his supervision many important
improvements have been made, and many pipes
for sewerage and water works have been laid.
He possesses a thorough knowledge of his
work in all of its branches, and displays excel
lent judgment and superior management in his
official capacity. He is considered an author
ity on all questions connected with his work,
and is clerk and advisory engineer on the City
Board of Public Works. In politics he has
never been very active, but is an adherent of
the Republican party.
In August, 1885, Mr Slocum was united in
marriage with Miss Hattie M. Hancock, a
daughter of J. C. Hancock, of whom a sketch
may be found on another page of this volume.
One son has been born to them, Arthur P.,
a bright little lad. In April, 1892, Mr Slo
cum took possession of the beautiful house
which he had built on Sumner Avenue in For
est Park, and where he and his family have
since enjoyed all the possible comforts of a
happy domestic life. In their religious views
Mr and Mrs. Slocum are as broad and liberal
as in their social and literary culture, and are
firm believers in the creed of the Universalist
church.

ERBERT A. McEARLAND, a promi
nent man in the business circles of
Is I Wales, was born in Sturbridge,
Mass., April 14, 1840. As the
name implies, Mr McFarland is of Scottish
descent, his great-grandfather coining from
Scotland and settling in Sturbridge, where
David McFarland, his grandfather, was born.
P""or twenty-five years David McFarland, who
was a machinist and blacksmith, made knives
by hand in the village of Sturbridge, conduct
ing a large and thriving business. Mr. David
McFarland was a Whig in political belief.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

845

He was a Congregationalist in religious faith.
He lived to be eighty-five years old. His
wife, whose maiden name was Polly Stevens,
died at the age of eighty. They had ten chil
dren : Horace, Levins, Marshal, Bradford,
William, Warren, Cora, Dwight, David, and
Eliza. Marshal McFarland, father of our subject,
was born in Sturbridge in 1810, and worked in
his father's shop until he grew to manhood.
He learned the forger's trade in Ware, and
was accounted one of the most skilled workmen
in that region. In 1852 he moved to Stur
bridge, Mass., where his special line of work
was twisting iron for augers. Here, while
repairing a water wheel, he was killed. Mr.
McFarland was twice married. Plis first wife,
who was before marriage Miss Lorinda A.
Webber, died before reaching the meridian of
life, having only attained thirty-four years of
age. She left seven children ; namely,
Charles M., Mary A., Herbert A., Ursula
W., Elvira C, Emeline S., and Ellen M.
His second wife was Miss Clarissa Chapin.
One son was born to them, William D. Mc
Farland, who is a Congregational minister in
California. Like his father, Mr. McFarland
was a Whig and a Congregationalist.
Herbert A. McFarland, the third child and
second son of his parents, was educated in
the public schools. At eight years of age he
went to live with his uncle, G. L. Webber,
an active and prosperous farmer in Holland,
with whom he stayed until he was twelve years
old. He then returned to Sturbridge, where
he worked in the auger shop, attending school
meanwhiLe. At his father's death he returned
to his uncle's in Holland, which he made his
home until the year of his majority. He had
graduated from the Hitchcock High School in
Brimfield when he was nineteen, and during
the same year he began teaching. For ten
seasons he taught during the long, dreary
months of the Northern winter, and devoted
the spring and summer seasons to farming.
When he was twenty-seven years old he be
came book-keeper and paymaster in the Shaw
& Co. woolen mills at Wales, Mass., assist
ing also in the savings bank of that town ; and
this dual occupation he continued for another

decade. His accuracy as a book-keeper made
his services greatly in. demand, and he for
three years was the accountant of E. D. Shaw.
He also held the position of Treasurer of the
Savings Bank, where his capacities and probity
were long established. Having accumulated
a considerable sum of money, he was now able
to purchase five hundred acres of land near by
and establish a dairy, which furnished milk to
many of the villagers.
In 1868 he was married to Miss Mary
Houghton, of Wales, born in May, 1839,
daughter of Captain Asa and Roxie (Green)
Houghton. Mr. McFarland is now reaping the reward
of his long years of steady work, and is living
in his pleasant home in Wales a retired and
restful life. Mr. McFarland is a loyal Re
publican. In 1 89 1 he represented the First
District of Hampden in the legislature, and
until 1890 served as Selectman of Holland.
He has been Tax Collector, Justice of the
Peace and Notary Public, the latter of which
offices he still holds. He has also served on
the School Committee. For many years he
has had much business in the Probate Courts,
settling the estates of people whose faith in
his judgment and honor influenced them to
leave to him this trying and sometimes long-
drawn task. Both Mr. and Mrs. McP^arland
are church members, though holding different
creeds. Though Mr. McFarland is a Congre
gationalist, he has for a number of years led
the choir in the Baptist church, of which his
wife is a member. He is active in church
work, being Sunday-school superintendent, and
fully recognizes the obligations of religious
observances and the inestimable boon of Chris
tian faith.

WILLIAM J. RICKETTS, one of the
active partners in the Ellis Woollen
Manufacturing Company, who acts .
as book-keeper and attends to the office duties,
was born near Bath, England, November 9,
1838. His parents, John and- Ann (Stevens)
Ricketts, came to America when he was three
years of age, taking passage on a sailing-vessel
at Liverpool and arriving at New York after

846

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

a six weeks' voyage. John Ricketts, who was
a tailor by trade, became a Methodist preacher
after coming to the New World, and preached
at Westfield, Mass., Gill, Rutland, and Mill
bury. He is still living in Wales, but has
been out of the ministry some years. His
wife died in 1884, aged seventy years, leaving
three children. Their daughter, Mary, is the
widow of Mr. William B. Sexton, of Spring
field, Mass. A son, who is a graduate of Am
herst College and the Yale Theological
School, is a minister of the Congregational
church at Somers, Conn.
William Ricketts, the first-born, the subject
of this biographical memoir, was a student of
the Millbury High School, and was one year
at the Wilbraham Academy before beginning
his business career. Upon leaving school,
Mr. Ricketts took the first thing that offered,
which was a clerkship in a country store, after
ward doing a thriving business as a shoemaker,
earning quite a sum before he was twenty-one
years old. In 1 861 he enlisted as a volunteer
from "Wales in the Twenty-first Massachusetts
Infantry, Company D, and was during his
three years' service wounded twice, though not
seriously. He was the company's clerk dur
ing this time, ranking as Corporal, and acting
as Sergeant. Mr Ricketts participated in
some of the fiercest battles of the Civil War.
He was at Roanoke under General Burnside,
and fought at Newbern, N.C, and Antietam.
At Fredericksburg he received his first wound,
being shot in the hip. In 1863 he went into
Kentucky and Tennessee, where he was a par
ticipant in the battles of Loudon, Blue
Springs, and the siege of Knoxville. His
regiment was then ordered to join the Army of
the Potomac ; and Mr Ricketts was engaged
in the battle of the Wilderness, in Spottsyl
vania, and was wounded at Cold Harbor by a
shell of the Federal forces. He was also at
Petersburg. At the expiration of the three
years he returned home, and resumed the
practical duties of peaceful citizenship. Mr.
Ricketts immediately secured employment in
the woollen mill at Wales as an operator, and
in 1868 went to Monson, where he was
employed by Mr E. E. Town, a merchant.
Some years later he accepted his present posi

tion with the Ellis Manufacturing Company,
where his able services have met with uni
versal appreciation.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1867, he was mar
ried to Miss Mary E. Parker in Wales, Mass.,
a daughter of Luther and Mary E. Parker.
The children of this union were named as fol
lows : George, who died at three years of age;
William L. , who is in business with this firm,
a graduate of Tufts College and formerly a
teacher; Charles L. , now a member of the
Senior class at Tufts.
Mr. Ricketts, who is a Republican, served
in the State legislature in 1879. He has
served two terms as Assessor, has been elected
Selectman, and for several years has been
Moderator at the annual town meeting. He
has also been a member of the School Commit
tee. He is a Master Mason, and has filled all
the offices of Marcus Keep Post of the Grand
Army of the Republic. Mr. Ricketts is a
parishioner of the Universalist church, of
which he has been a choir member since its
organization.

B

ANIEL PEABODY, M.D., for many
years an active medical practitioner
*-5)y of Springfield, Mass., was born in
Somerset, Vt., in the year 1822.
When a lad in his teens, he went to North
ampton, where he made his home with Judge
Allen and attended school. He was afterward
a pupil in a school in Rhode Island, living
with his brother, a Congregational preacher
When a young man, he determined to become
a physician, but, having to make his own way,
was unable to enter fully into the profession
until 1863, in which year he was graduated
from the Albany Medical College. He had
previously, however, practised in the towns of
Lee and Warren; and on this account his col
lege classmates called him the "Massachusetts
doctor" He was intimate with Professors
Quackenbush, Ormsby, and Mosher, often
being called into consultation with them. In
1864 he came to Springfield, and entered upon
the duties of his chosen profession, soon be
coming widely known, and numbering among
his friends many of the best people of the city.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

849

Here he was engaged in practice nearly thirty
years, dying in 1893, at the age of seventy-
one. In 18441^-. Peabody was united in marriage
with Miss Sarah F"isk, whose family has for
several generations been prominent in West
ern Massachusetts. She was born in Green
field, Mass., on the 6th of December, 1820, a
daughter of Joseph Fisk. Her father was a
native of Deerfield, but resided many years in
Ashfield, where he was extensively engaged in
agricultural pursuits. The maiden name of
his wife was Mary Drake.
Mrs. Peabody was reared in Ashfield, Mass.,
and at the age of eighteen was graduated from
Sanderson's Academy. Of her union with
Dr. Peabody there were born four children,
but two of whom lived to years of maturity:
Clarence, who was born in 1845 and died dur
ing his Sophomore year at Amherst College;
and Isadore I., who was born in 1847, and
became the wife of Dr. Arthur Capron, of
Albany, but died without issue.
Dr. Peabody was a man of spotless integrity
and great strength of character Of genial,
unassuming manners, pleasant in speech, and
ever looking on the bright side of life, he was
always a welcome visitor in the homes of both
the sick and the well. His healthful, ruddy
complexion and open face were oftentimes
mistaken by strangers for Henry Ward
Beecher. It can truly be said of him that he
was conscientious in all things, faithful to
every duty; and his death, which was felt to
be a great loss to the community, was most
sincerely regretted. Mrs. Peabody is still a
resident of Springfield, her home being at 567
Main Street, where the family located upon
coming to the city. She is a Congregation
alist, clear-headed and of a cheerful, compan
ionable disposition, she was well fitted to be
the wife of such a man as Dr Peabody.
The foregoing outline of a busy career is
happily supplemented by a steel engraved por
trait, true to the life, of this well-known phy
sician, now departed, whose family name has
so long been an honored one in the annals of
our country, a name eminently distinguished
in commercial circles, in the professions, and
in philanthropy.

town,

lOAH BARBER NYE, an extensive
land-owner and one of the prominent
farmers of Blandford, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in that
August II, 1 81 7, being the son of
George and Judith (Clark) Nye, the former
born in Rhode Island, February 4, 1780, the
latter July 31, 1784. (For history of the
grandparents see sketch of James P. Nye.)
George Nye spent his early life in his native
State, and was there married. He moved to
Blandford about 1800, coming in an ox cart
with two yoke of cattle, the journey occupying
five days. He resided in Blandford some
time, and then bought about four hundred and
fifty acres of land in Tolland, and went there
to reside. George Nye was a type of the
sturdy pioneer of early days. He was a local
preacher of the Baptist faith, and was one of
the leading men in the town. He held relig
ious meetings in his own house, and was an
active leader in church affairs. In politics
he maintained a Democratic policy. Plis
death occurred at the age of fifty-seven years,
December 8, 1837. His wife died March 15,
187s, aged ninety years and eight months.
They were the parents of thirteen children,
twelve of whom grew to maturity. Four are
now living: William C>, living at Chester;
Almira Moore, in Collinsville, Conn. ; Noah
Barber, in Blandford ; and Sarah Cannon, in
Kent, Ohio.
Noah B. Nye spent part of his
Blandford and part in Tolland,
school in both towns and living at
the death of his father, i^vhen he took charge
of the home farm, caring for his mother during
her long life. The farm became his property
by purchase from the other heirs; and he
resided there for many years, carrying on gen
eral farming. He established a dairy, and
was considered the largest dairyman in the
town, and also was an extensive stock-raiser,
giving considerable attention to the raising
Mr. Nye was a diligent
improvements, and had a
good farm. He sold his farm in Tolland, and
moved to Blandford, December 17, 1867. He
now owns two hundred acres of land in fine
condition, with excellent buildings. His

youth in
attendinghome till

of cattle and sheep.
worker, made many

850

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

residence is on high land, with attractive sur
roundings, and has a wide and extended view.
Mr Nye was married May 20, 1845, to
Miss Harriet J. Rowley, born in Blandford,
in 1827, daughter of Gurdon and Salome (Can
non) Rowley. Gurdon Rowley was a native of
Windsor, Conn., born August 13, 1792. He
was a carpenter and cabinet-maker, also a
farmer in his later years. Pie came to Bland
ford when but twenty-one years old, residing"
there till his death, at the age of ninety-eight
years and nine months. May 22, 1891. His
wife, Salome, who was born in Blandford,
September 26, 1797, died at the age of thirty-
one, February 15, 1829. Both were members
of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr.
Rowley was a Republican in politics. He
was twice married, having four children all
together, named as follows : Parmelia E., born
May 10, 1822, who died September 9, 1880;
Harriet J., born in 1827, wife of Noah B.
Nye, of this sketch; Emma A., born June 14,
1833, wife of Watson E. Boise, residing in
Chicopee; Gordon C Rowley, born October 2,
1841, residing also in Chicopee.
Mr. and Mrs. Nye have two children : Car
rie S. , born December 11, 1846, wife of
George M. Emmons, residing at the home
farm; and Herbert B. , born July i, 1851,
residing in Springfield, Mass.
In politics Mr. Nye stands for prohibition.
While living in Tolland he served as Select
man, and filled other town offices; and in
Blandford Mr. Nye has been one of the Select
men, and has taken an active part in public
affairs. Pie is an interested member of the
Union Agricultural Association. In religious
matters both Mr. and Mrs. Nye are liberal.
They have been residents of Blandford for
nearly thirty years, and are justly entitled to
the respect and esteem of their townsmen and
neighbors.

[^ORMAN TAYLOR SMITH, a promi
nent farmer of West Springfield and
lis V President of the Springfield Milk
Association, was born in West
Springfield, January 31, 1833. His father,
Hervey, and grandfather, Noadiah Smith, were

also natives of the same town. Hervey Smith
was a prosperous farmer, and died at the old
homestead, February 10, 1873, at the age of
seventy-seven years. His wife, Sally Rogers,
was a daughter of Elijah and Lucy S. Rogers,
of West Springfield, an extended account of
whose family is found in the sketch of Talcott
A. Rogers, which appears in this work. She
was a woman of great strength of character,
and was the mother of six children, three of
whom died in infancy. Mercy Maria died at
the age of eighteen. Cordelia Augusta mar
ried Edward H. Wells, and resides in Russell.
After the death of her husband Mrs. Smith
lived with her son until her death, February
I, 1877, aged eighty-three years.
Norman T. Smith, being an only son, gave
up his cherished hopes of a liberal education,
and lived with his parents until his marriage.
Pie succeeded to the ownership of the home
stead ; and for a number of years he was exten
sively engaged in raising short-horn cattle,
but of late has paid more attention to the
dairying business. In 1873 he commenced
the manufacture of cider. He has a finely
appointed mill, containing improved machin
ery, operated by steam-power, and makes a
specialty of bottled cider for medical and fam
ily use, also pure cider vinegar.
December 9, 1857, Mr. Smith was married
to Miss Sarah L. Clark, who was born at East
hampton, August 27, 1836. She was the
daughter of Zenas and Sarah Wright Clark,
both of whom were life-long residents of the
town. She was educated in Williston Semi
nary, Easthampton, and the State Normal
School at Westfield, and was for many years a
teacher Mr and Mrs. Smith have buried
two sons; and their only living child, Cora
Taylor, is now the wife of P"'rank W. Smith,
of Torrington, Conn., and has one daughter,
Eloise Clark Smith.
Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics, and
for many years was a prominent member of
the School Board. He is the chairman of the
Board of Water Commissioners, and has always
been active in local and public affairs. He is
not only a progressive agriculturist, but a man
well posted on current events and the topics of
the day. Pie is a member of the Hampden

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

§Si

Agricultural Society and the Hampden Har
vest Club, and for some years was Master of
the West Springfield Grange. He is a mem
ber of the First Congregational Church of
West Springfield, with whose interests he has
been largely identified for nearly forty years.
Mr. Smith and his wife are both descended
from soldiers of the Revolution, and Mrs.
Smith had two brothers in the Civil War.

(^TrNDRl /-L\ nen
Jm. la

NDREW J. NORTHROP, a promi-
lent resident of Palmer, where he is
largely interested in real estate
and industrial enterprises, was
born at Fairfield, Vt., December i8, 1826.
He is the son of Willis and Amanda (Soule)
Northrop, grandson of Amos and Zurah
(Hungerford) Northrop, and great-grandson
of Joel and Johannah (Leach) Northrop, the
family being the descendants of Stephen
Northrop, who emigrated from England in
1645, and settled in Fairfield, Conn. Amos
Northrop was born at P'airfield, Conn., in
1765, and was a shoemaker by trade. In the
year 1792 he purchased a tract of wild land in
P'airfield, Vt., which he cleared and improved,
converting it into a valuable farm, at the same
time following his trade of shoemaking. He
became an extensive stock-raiser, and was a
very prominent man in his locality. Amos
Northrop was a veteran of the Revolutionary
War. He married Zurah Hungerford, who
was born in 1765. She was a daughter of
Samuel Hungerford, of the above-named town,
who moved to Northern Vermont at a very
early period; and all of his children settled in
Canada, with the exception of three daughters
— Zurah, who married Amos Northrop; Mar
garet, who married Job Hurlbert; and Eunice,
who married Timothy Soule. The children of
Amos Northrop were: Isaac, Laura, Rebecca,
Deborah, Horatio, Willis, and Thomas.
Willis Northrop was born at P""airfield, Vt.,
in 1792. He conducted a small farm, and
made a specialty of stock breeding and dairy
farming, furnishing butter to the Boston
market for a number of years. He later sold
his property in Fairfield, and purchased an
other farm at Crossbury, Vt., where he died

in 1875. Willis Northrop was a Democrat
in politics. He was a veteran of the War
of 1812. His wife, whose maiden name was
Amanda Soule, was born in 1793, and was
called to her final rest in 1852. The chil
dren of Willis Northrop were named as fol
lows: Isaac, born February 18, 18 16, who
resides in Fairfield, is married to Eunice
Pratt, and has one .son — Willis; Rebecca,
Isaac's twin sister, who married John A.
Larnard, and also resides in Fairfield;
Eunice, who was born in 18 18, and died in
1886; Jane E., who was born in 1821, married
Nelson Isham, and has four children — Mary,
Amanda, Warren, and Nellie; Clarissa, who
was born in 1824, and is the wife of John P.
Connor; Salina, who was born in 1825, and
died in 1827; and Andrew J., who is the
subject of this record.
Andrew J. Northrop received his education
at Fairfield, Vt., and Easthampton, Mass.,
and at the age of eighteen years entered a
mercantile house in Boston as clerk; but,
having been accustomed to the unrestrained
freedom of a farmer's life, he did not take
kindly to city ways and the necessary confine
ment of his mercantile position; so, deciding
to return home, he set out for Fairfield by
rail, and, stopping over at Monson to visit a
friend, he engaged there in farm work, and,
instead of pursuing his original intention of
once more returning to his parental roof,
remained four years in the above-named town,
where he found ready employment among the
prosperous farmers. He then returned to his
old home at Fairfield, where he remained but
a short time, subsequently purchasing a
farm of two hundred acres in Monson, which
adjoined the Shaw homestead. Here he
resided for thirty years, following the inde
pendent life of a farmer. He was constantly
engaged in improving his property, and during
his occupancy of the farm he erected no less
than four new barns, also completely remodel
ling the house. By his industry and careful
judgment he not only became a prosperous
farmer, but attained a position of wealth and
prominence in his town. He acquired a wide
reputation as a breeder of fine stock, and also
of superior horses; and animals of his breed-

852

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ing alwa3'S commanded a high price in the mar
ket. In 1884 Mr. Northrop moved to Palmer,
and; having erected a pleasant residence, with
a large and commodious stable, has since
resided in that town. He has invested with
remarkable success in real estate, and at the
present time owns some valuable parcels of
land in West Springfield, Warren, and Three
Rivers, and is interested in the manufacture
of cider and vinegar, and also in the ice in
dustry, having a tract of thirty acres near
Palmer containing an artificial lake, which
supplies the large ice-houses. Mr. Northrop
also conducts an extensive business in the
sale of wood at Palmer.
While in Monson Mr. Northrop met the
lady who became his life partner, Mary E.
Shaw; and they were married when he was
twenty-two years of age. She was born in
Monson on February 10, 1828, and is a daugh
ter of David and Susan P. (Anderson) Shaw,
and grand-daughter of James and Susanna
(McElwin) Shaw. James Shaw was born
September 24, 1764. He was one of the early
settlers of Monson, and was a well-to-do
farmer. His son David, Mrs. Northrop's
father, was born in Monson, June 18, 1801.
He purchased the old homestead of two hun
dred acres, but died at the age of twenty-six
years (October 23, 1827). His wife died July
21, 1870, leaving but one child, who became
the faithful wife and helpmate of Mr. Nor
throp. Mr. and Mrs. Northrop's married life
has been blessed with three children. Her
bert A. was born July 20, 185 1, and is a
highly respected business man of Palmer, in
terested with his father in the cider and vine
gar business, and owning jointly with him the
property which produces their ice crop. He
wedded Miss Josie Keith, and has one daugh
ter — Ola A. Olen S. was born in 1854, and
died September 5, 1878, his untimely decease
being a sorrowful blow to the bereaved par
ents, and the cause of much regret to the
entire community, who admired and appre
ciated his worth. Adelbert W. was born in
i860, and is now engaged in mercantile busi
ness at Boston. He wedded Miss Lillie
Wing, and they have two children — Gladys
D. and Donald Wesley.

In politics Andrew J. Northrop is a stanch
Democrat, but entertains thoroughly consistent
views of matters political, and has pronounced
though extremely sensible ideas concerning
public afl'airs. The Masonic fraternity has
long known him as an earnest member of the
craft, he being a member of Day Spring Lodge
and the Royal Arch Chapter at Palmer and
of Springfield Commandery. The Northrop
family and the others with whom they have
connected themselves by marriage have in the
past taken a prominent part in the foundation
and development of New England, and to-day
are extensively engaged in maintaining its
wealth and industries.

ERBERT E. SHAW, son of Elijah
Shaw, of Wales, Mass., the well-
known manufacturer and philan
thropist, whose portrait appears on
the opposite page, was born in this town on
July 31, 1865. Since his father's retirement
in 1889 Mr. Shaw, although yet a young man,
has had entire charge of the business of the
Shaw Woollen Mills at Wales, and has con
ducted it with spirit and enterprise worthy of
its founder. He is a grandson of Solomon
and Mary (Davis) Shaw, the former of whom
was born May 29, 1788, and died February 5,
1864; and his wife was born February 8,
1795, and died on October 15, 1882. Their
children were: Warren, Elijah, Salem J.,
Eden D., Nancy ]., Caroline R., and Mary L.
The Shaw family is said to have come to
Wales from Grafton, Mass. In early manhood
Solomon Shaw followed the trade of a black
smith, and later established himself in the
manufacture of axes and hoes, which he con
tinued with success for many years, applying
water-power to his industry, and securing a
ready market for his productions in different
parts of the New England States. He was
one of eight generous citizens of the town of
Wales who erected the Methodist church.
Elijah, his second son, was born May 29,
1 8 19, and received a public-school education.
He began to labor in his -father's shop at a
very early age, but, not liking the trade, he
learned that of a shoemaker, and, being ambi-

ELIJAH SHAW.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

855

tious and energetic, started in shoe manufact
uring for himself at seventeen years of age,
employing sixteen men in making shoes or
adding soles to the "tops," which he bought
in Hartford. After being thus engaged for
several years, he purchased an interest in his
father's business, and went forth as a commer
cial traveller, selling axes and hoes, also
wagons, and securing a large amount of trade
throughout the Eastern and Middle States.
In 1848, venturing into a new field, he bought
stock in the woollen mills at Wales, and be
came agent for the company. He later, in
partnership with his brother Warren, acquired
possession of both mills, which were then
operated under the name of the Wales Manu
facturing Company ; and they changed it to
the Shaw Manufacturing Company. He after
ward purchased his brother's interest in the
enterprise, which under his energetic manage
ment became a most pronounced financial suc
cess, so much so that he conceived and exe
cuted the plan of erecting three other large
mills, buying timber, from which he cut the
necessary logs, manufacturing them into lum
ber, and burning the brick with which the
mills were constructed.
In 1876 excessive competition, together
with the enormous amount of property which
he was handling, compelled him to suspend
operations for a short time, but he speedily
recovered, and resumed business on his accus
tomed extensive scale, which he continued to
actively superintend until 1889, when he re
tired permanently from business pursuits, and
has since resided quietly at his pleasant home
in Wales. He is responsible for the greater
part of the business development of Wales,
having improved and increased the industries
of the town, and constructed many buildings.
The Baptist church was erected by him at a
cost of twenty thousand dollars, and presented
to the society in 1874. At the close of the
Civil War Mr. Elijah Shaw was mainly in
strumental in founding and erecting the Shaw
University for the education of the colored
people at Raleigh, N.C, which is the largest
of its kind in the South. He has passed his
winters in the vicinity, and takes a lively
interest in its success.

His first wife, whose maiden name was
Jane L. Andrews, died in 1863, at the age of
thirty-six years, leaving a daughter — Ella,
who became the wife of J. C Burley. He
wedded for his second wife Jane M. Weaver,
daughter of Thomas J. Weaver, a prosperous
farmer of Wales; and that union was blessed
with but one child — Herbert E., who forms
the principal subject of this record. Elijah
Shaw is a stanch Republican in politics, and
has always taken an active interest in public
affairs. Besides filling many important offices
in the town, he served with distinction as a
representative to the legislature during the
years 1855 and 1865. Both himself and wife
are very active members of the Baptist church.
Herbert E. Shaw was educated at the pub
lic schools of Wales and the Hitchcock High
School of Brimfield. After completing his
education, he entered his father's office as a
book-keeper; and there he acquired a thorough
knowledge of the business, to whose manage
ment he has since succeeded. The mills are
now manufacturing a superior quality of coat
ings and cloakings, employing about one hun
dred hands. Fifteen hundred acres of wood
land supply the needed fuel. Pn 1891 Mr.
Herbert E. Shaw was united in marriage to
Miss Mary M. Steele, daughter of Henry E.
Steele, and has one daughter — Winona
Steele, who was born July 11, 1894. He has
erected a three-story business block in Wales,
which contains three large and convenient
stores. He is a Republican in politics and a
member of the Baptist church.

S RANCIS F. McLEAN, manager of
the Evans House, the leading family
hotel of this section of Hampden
County, has been a resident of Springfield the
past nine years, and during that time has won
popularity and renown as host and caterer.
Pie was born in the town of Ludlow, January
I, 1828, being a son of Lauchlan and Cyn-
donia (Hunn) McP.ean. Mr. McLean is of
Scotch ancestry. His great-grandfather,
Lauchlan McLean served as an officer in the
English army during the Revolutionary War,
and for his services therein was ceded land in

8s6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Nova .Scotia, whither he removed with his
family in 1786. Preferring this country to
the peninsula on which he had settled, he
came to Massachusetts, and, after visiting a
son who had settled in Ludlow, proceeded to
Buffalo, N.Y., which was then on the extreme
western border of civilization. Taking up
a tract of wild land, he erected a log cabin,
and redeemed a farm from the dense wilder
ness, remaining there until his death. He
was twice married, his first wife bearing him
two children — Alexander, the grandfather of
the subject of this sketch, and a daughter.
Alexander McLean was educated for the
ministry, and occupied the pulpit in various
places in Massachusetts and New Hamp
shire, his last pastorate being in Ludlow,
where he subsequently bought a farm, on
which he lived retired until his decease. He
was everywhere respected for his strong moral
character and upright principles, and in the
years 1829 and 1830 was a representative to
the State legislature. To him and his wife,
whose maiden name was Vienna Brainard,
five sons were born; namely, Lauchlan,
Francis A., Alexander J., Brainard, and An
drew J.
Lauchlan McLean was born at East Kings
ton, N.H., but spent the earlier years of his
boyhood in Provincetown, Mass., where his
father was settled for several years, and there
received his elementary education, which was
completed at Wilbraham, where he first en
gaged in farming. After his marriage with
Miss Hunn, a daughter of Erastus Hunn, of
East Longmeadow, he settled in Ludlow.
Lauchlan McLean and his wife remained in
Ludlow until 1851, when they removed to
Albion, N.Y., where they conducted a hotel
for two years. Coming thence to Parma,
Jackson County, Mich., he bought a farm,
and carried on general farming, both he and
his good wife spending the remainder of their
days there. Mr. McLean was not a politi
cian, but ever cast his vote with the Demo
cratic party. Both Mr. McLean and his wife
were active and conscientious workers in re
ligious circles, and were esteemed members
of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of the
five children born to them the following is

chronicled: Francis F. is our subject; De-
Witt Clinton lives in Frankfort, Kan. ;
Harriet C is deceased; Brittania Maximelia
is the wife of Nathan Staples, of Parma,
Mich.; and Andrew J. is deceased.
Francis F. McLean received his education
in the schools of Hamf)den County, studying
in Ludlow and Springfield. He assisted in
the labors of the homestead farm until he
obtained a position as clerk in the store of
Wilson & Chase in Springfield; and subse
quently he spent a year in the' office of the
Springfield Republican, which was then con
trolled by Samuel Bowles, Sr., the present
editor-in-chief and publisher, Samuel Bowles,
Jr., being a boy of his own age. Removing
to Cabotville, Mr. McLean entered the bakery
of L. E. & R. E. Ladd, and later established
himself in a similar business in Watertown,
Mass., as a member of the enterprising firm
of Adams & McLean, and for five years car
ried on a lucrative trade. His health becom
ing impaired by constant confinement, he re
turned to the place of his nativity, and carried
on the old home farm for several years, also
engaging in mercantile trade to some extent.
He was likewise agent at the Ludlow station,
on what is now the Athol Branch of the Bos
ton & Albany Road, but was then known as
the Springfield, Athol & North P^astern Road,
occupying that position for fifteen years, from
the opening of the road by Willis Phelps, a
personal friend, until his removal to Spring
field, having his son as an assistant a portion
of the time. In 1886 Mr. McLean assumed
his present position as manager of the Evans
House, a family hotel, centrally located on
Main Street. The house is a fine five-story
building with an iron front, and contains
eighty rooms. It is well furnished, having
all modern conveniences and appliances, and
under Mr. McLean's excellent supervision
has won a first-class patronage, and is a favor
ite resort for the travelling public.
Mr. McLean has been twice married. He
was united in marriage when twenty-two
years of age to Lucy Kendall, of Ludlow,
who died in 1882, leaving two children — •
James Kirk, of Ludlow; and Genevra B.,
the wife of C J. B. Root, of Ludlow. On

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

857

December 12, 1885, he was again married,
Mrs. Lizzie E. Hutchinson, of Springfield,
becoming his wife.
In politics Mr. McLean is a-sound Demo
crat, and while in Ludlow served as Assessor,
Commissioner, and Selectman, holding the
latter office during war times, when there was
a large amount of official work to be done,
which he performed in a most acceptable man
ner. He was also a member of the Demo
cratic Central Committee, and has been a
delegate to several conventions. Socially, he
joined the Masonic Order in Chicopee, and is
still a member of Chicopee Lodge, A. F. &
A. M.

-t^TON. CHESTER W. CHAPIN was a
l-^-| direct lineal descendant of Samuel
[U I Chapin, one of the early settlers of
— ^ Springfield, whose statue, executed
by the famous sculptor, Augustus St. Gau-
dens, now adorns one of its parks. Pynchon,
Holyoke, and Chapin may fairly be regarded
as Springfield's founders. They were its first
magistrates, and the confidence which the
sturdy Puritans of that day placed in them
and the character of the work they have left
to posterity sufficiently attest their wise
government and sterling worth. Samuel
Chapin is better known as Deacon Sam, ac
quiring that title because he was so frequently
called to perform the duties of a preacher.
The grandfather of Chester W. Chapin was
one of the largest land-owners of the day in
the Connecticut valley, his estate comprising
extensive tracts of land in Springfield, Lud
low, and Chicopee.
Chester W. Chapin was early called upon
to assume the responsibilities of life. His
father died before he had attained to manhood;
and the elder brother, Ephraim, having been
sent to college, the younger son was left with
his mother to look after the interests of the
family. His mother, a woman of rare quali
ties, so managed the business of the family
during. Chester's minority that he was enabled
to finish his education at the Westfield Acad
emy, after which he entered upon an active
career of business. After a brief service with

his brother Erastus, who was keeping the old
Williams House in Springfield, he formed a
copartnership with the late Stephen C Bemis,
his life-long friend. The condition of his
health was such at this time that by advice of
his physician he soon turned his attention to
out-of-door employment, and purchased an in
terest in the extensive stage line of the Con
necticut valley, which was at that time con
trolled by Jacob W. Brewster, of Sackett's
Harbor, and Horatio Sargent, of Springfield.
This business was conducted for several years
with great satisfaction to the travelling public
and considerable profit to the owners; but,
when Thomas Blanchard demonstrated the
possibility of using steam upon the Connecti
cut River as a quicker and more profitable
means of transportation, Mr. Chapin was
quick to see its advantages, and, against the
advice of some of his former partners, es
poused the new and better methods with great
zeal and signal success. He first bought out
Mr. Blanchard, and afterward entered into an
alliance with Commodore Vanderbilt, then
engaged in the same business at Hartford, an
alliance which proved of great mutual benefit,
and laid the foundation of a life-long commu
nity of interest and close personal friendship.
Again, when the use of steam as applicable
to transportation on land became profitable
and popular, Mr. Chapin was among the fore
most to discard old methods and throw himself
with renewed zeal and confidence into railroad
construction. Having established a success
ful line of steamers between New Haven and
New York on Long Island Sound, he under
took with others the construction of the Hart
ford & Springfield Railroad, of which, with
the extensions and additions, he was an active
Director during the balance of his life. One
of his favorite maxims, which he often quoted
to young men coming to him for advice, was,
"When you can't stem the current, get in and
steer" ; and no career ever exemplified the
truth and wisdom of the saying more fully
than his own. In 1850 Mr. Chapin was
elected a Director of the Western Railroad,
then running from Worcester to Albany, and
the same year was made President of the
Connecticut River Railroad Company, which

8s8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

office he held until 1854. He was then
called to the presidency of the Western Rail
road Company, a position which he occupied
with marked ability and success for twenty-
four years. He found the road in 1854 with
inadequate rolling stock, wooden bridges,
light rails, a single track, a depleted treasury,
and poor credit; and one of his first moves
was to go to London, where through his
acquaintance with Mr. Sturgis, the active
partner in the large banking-house of Baring
Brothers & Co., he effected a loan of half a
million dollars for the purpose of supplying
those requisites which he saw to be impera
tively demanded to meet the growing traffic
of the road. From that time until he effected
its consolidation with the Boston & Worcester
Road, and until it passed into the keeping of
his successors, the history of the Boston &
Albany Railroad was a conspicuous and unin
terrupted success. It would be impossible in
a brief sketch like the present to enter into
the details of Mr. Chapin's remarkable career
as a railroad manager. His practical knowl
edge of all the details of the business, his
wise judgment and foresight, his accurate
estimate of men and skill in so placing and
directing them as to utilize their respective
capacities, and, above all, his integrity and
high notions of honor, coupled vvith a rare
sense of justice, combined to attract the atten
tion of the business world, and make him a
marked man.
During all the period of great activity in
his chosen field of labor he found time also to
aid and counsel in ever-widening circles of
usefulness. As President of the Agawam
Bank, and subsequently of the Chapin Bank
ing and Trust Company, as Director in the
New York Central & Hudson River Railroad
Company, the Connecticut River Railroad
Company, the New York, New Haven &
Hartford Railroad Company, the Fire and
Marine Insurance Company, the Agawam
Canal Company, the New Haven Steamboat
Company, the City Library Association, and
other less conspicuous enterprises, his rare
judgment and exceptional business sagacity
were constantly consulted. He was for a time
President of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Rail

road, and was offered the presidency of the
Hudson River Railroad Company, which he
declined. He was also a member of the
Constitutional Convention which met at
Charleston, S.C, in 1854, and was honored
with a seat in the P'orty-fourth Congress from
a district largely Republican, although he
himself was a life-long Democrat. His
public benefactions were liberal, and his
purse was never closed to those in need.
Amherst College received fifty thousand dol
lars during his life, and the Church of the
Unity, where he was a regular attendant,
counted him among its most liberal sup
porters, receiving from him at one time the
handsome sum of twenty-six thousand dollars.
In 1878 he retired from the presidency of
the Boston & Albany Railroad Company and
from active business, and on June 10, 1883,
died at his residence in Springfield, deeply
mourned by the community which he had
served so honorably and so faithfully.
Mr. Chapin was married June i, 1825, to
Dorcas Chapin, youngest daughter of Colonel
Abel Chapin, a woman of rare worth and of
great usefulness in the community, her bene
factions extending to most of the successful
charities of which Springfield may justly be
proud. Four children lived to maturity:
Abel D.; Margaret C; Anna and Chester
W., now of New York City. Margaret was
married to William Bliss, now President of
the Boston & Albany Railroad, and Anna to
J. A. Rumrill, who was for fifteen years its
Secretary and Attorney, and for ten years its
Vice-President.

-^^EHEMIAH WHEELER RAND,
M.D., a practising physician in Mon
son, distinguished for literary abil
ity as well as medical skill, was
born in Francestown, N.H., September 14,
1853. He is a lineal descendant of Robert
Rand, who with his wife, Alice, emigrated
from England, and settled in Charlestown,
Mass., in 1635.
Nehemiah Rand, Dr. Rand's great-grand
father, spent his early life in Charlestown,
and was thrice married, two of his wives.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

859

Mary and Margaret Prentice, being sisters.
The latter was the mother of the second Nehe
miah, who was born in Lyndeboro, N.H.,
married Miss Sarah Batten, of Francestown,
and became the father of four sons, who grew
to manhood, and of twin daughters, who died
in infancy. Of these sons Nehemiah, the
eldest, was a physician in Nelson, N.H.,
where he died at about seventy years of age,
leaving no children except an adopted daugh
ter; Richard Batten, the next, became a
farmer, and died in Winthrop or Wayne, Me.,
at about sixty years of age, leaving no issue;
John, the third son, was a farmer in Milford,
N.H., and died in advanced years, leaving
two sons — J. M. Rand, a physician in New
ark, N.J., and N. S. Rand, an artist; Thomas
Prentice Rand, the fourth son, and father of
Dr. N. W. Rand, was born and spent his en
tire life as a farmer in Francestown, N.H.
In 1 841 he married Miss Lydia Wheeler, of
Lyndeboro, N.H., daughter of Josiah Wheeler
and his wife, Dolly Shattuck. Her father was
the son of Nathan Wheeler and his wife,
Lydia Adams, whose home was in Concord,
Mass. Dolly Shattuck was the daughter of
Nathaniel Shattuck and his wife, Catherine
Andrews, who lived in Temple, N.H.
Richard Batten, the father of Sarah, above
named, was a soldier in the French and
Indian War, and upon one occasion was taken
captive by the savage enemy. He was led off
to his supposed doom between two captors,
who, no doubt, were devising a more than
ordinarily cruel torture for their pale-face
victim. One of the savages left their pris
oner with the other Indian for a few moments.
Nerved by the courage of desperation, Richard
Batten made a bold effort to escape, dodging
downward and backward with such celerity
that his shirt was left in the hands of the
astonished aborigine, 'but he was free! The
released captive's feet seemed shod with the
fleetness of the wind as he sped through
the forest, scarcely conscious of anything save
that he was running a race with Death. For
fourteen days he wandered about without food
and almost naked; but the pangs of hunger
and the keen blast of the north wind were a
happy exchange for the scalping-knife and the

tomahawk, and while life lasted there was
hope of deliverance. Having reached a point
of safety, the exhausted man began to realize
his sufferings, and in after years the recital of
this adventure was a favorite story among his
children and children's children.
Deacon Thomas Prentice Rand and his wife
occupied the farm where his Grandfather Bat
ten had lived and died; and here were born
and reared their six children, two sons and
four daughters, namely: Sarah Catherine, who
has charge of the household of her brother
John in Worcester; Frances Dolly, a young
woman of rare intellectual ability, who was
for some time a teacher, and died in her
twenty-sixth year; Lydia Harriet, who is
mistress of her brother's home in Monson;
Nehemiah Wheeler, of this biography; Abby
Kimball, now Mrs. William H. Clark, in
Lyndeboro, N.H., where her husband is a
farmer; and John Prentice, a popular physi
cian in Worcester, who is a widower and
the father of one son. The mother died
in 1864, aged forty-six, the father, reaching
an age twenty years in advance of hers, died
in 1880. In this period he married for a
second wife Miss Sarah Deborah Clark, of
Lyndeboro. Nehemiah W. Rand in his boyhood attended
the public schools and the academy in his
native town, and, after teaching for a time,
took partial courses at Dartmouth College and
Boston University, and then entered the New
York Homoeopathic Medical College, from
which he graduated in 1878. For a few
months after receiving his degree he practised
with Dr. J. K. Warren in Palmer, Mass., and
on the isth of February, 1879, came to Mon
son, the first homoeopathist to locate in the
town. PPis skill and faithfulness soon com
manded recognition, and won for him a busy
practice at home and a reputation in the most
noted societies of the homoeopathic school
in the country, among which may be men
tioned the American Institute of Homoeopathy
and the Massachusetts homoeopathic Medical
Society, of which he is now "Vice-President.
In politics Dr. Rand is independent, casting
his ballot with the Republicans or Prohibi
tionists, according to the merits of candidates.

86o

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

In educational affairs he is especially inter
ested, has been an active member of the
School Board for the past nine years, and for
six years, as at present, its chairman. He
has enjoyed the advantages of foreign travel,
having spent a winter in the famous Vienna
Hospital and many months touring on the
continent. On July 20, 1883, Dr. Rand was married to
Miss Jenny Peck, of Monson, the only daugh
ter and youngest child of Luther B. and
Lucinda (Cross) Peck. From the date of her
birth. May 15, 1859, this last-born was the
centre of love and admiration in the family;
and as she grew from the interesting child to
the lovely maiden, and developed into gra
cious womanhood, the affection of parents and
brothers was shared by all who came within
the influence of her cultured mind and lovable
nature. Entering the academy at eleven years
of age, by her gentle manner and quick intel
ligence she won the love and a])probation of
her instructors, and during her course at
Mount Holyoke College gained distinction as
a student and loving regard as a companion.
Mrs. Rand died on April 21, 1886, mourned
by every one who knew her, and leaving two
children — Frieda, born February .16, 1885;
and Carl Wheeler, born April 8, 1886. A
memorial tribute from her husband, entitled
"A Sheaf of Memories," and dedicated to
their children, Frieda and Carl, evidences the
devoted esteem in which she was held by
teachers, school-mates, pupils, friends, and
family. Notwithstanding his many professional
duties. Dr. Rand has found time to sip from
the springs of Helicon, and has given to the
public some bits of verse which mark him as
a true priest of Apollo, and give promise of
further achievement in the world of letters.
Our readers will appreciate the charm of the
appended lines, written for the New England
Journal of Education : —
OUR WORLD.
Our world is a mote in the sunbeams.
And it circles and wheels in its play
With the numberless boonful companions
It meets on its mystical way.

It dives and it eddies among them.
By the breath of Omnipotence whirled,
Or floats in the boundless abysm, —
This infinitesimal world.

Our world is a mote in the sunbeams.
Despite all its boastful display
Of rainbows, auroras, and sunsets,
And mountains in regal array ;
Despite all its great roaring oceans.
And thunder-storms' menacing glare,
'Tis only a mote in the sunbeams.
Adrift in obscurity there.
Our world is a mote in the sunbeams ;
And we, the frail dwellers thereon.
Catch hardly a glimpse of fts wonders
Ere the light of our being is gone.
At the few shining specks that flit by us
We level our glasses with glee.
And foolishly fancy we've fathomed
Infinitude's vast mystery.
Our world is a mote in the sunbeams.
Just one of the millions unknown
That sweep through the infinite spaces
Like chaS from a threshing-floor blown.
One mote in the maze of creation !
And, since in the one we can see
Such order and beauty and grandeur.
What must the great universe be !

J ENJAMIN F. TOWNE, who is
numbered among the substantial
citizens of Westfield, is a fine ex
ample of what can be accomplished
by industry and perseverance, coupled with
sound judgment, good sense, and strict in
tegrity. Starting in life without means and
entirely self-dependent, he made his way,
step by step, doing with his might what his
hands found to do, and performing each duty
faithfully. That success crowned his efforts
it is hardly necessary to say; and he is now
enabled to live retired from active life, enjoy
ing the fruits of his former labors.
Mr. Towne was born in Plainfield, Hamp
shire County, Mass., on April 26, 1830, and
is a son of Benjamin and Electa (Nash)
Towne, both natives of the same place. The
paternal grandfather was a native of England,
and on coming to America settled in Plain-
field, where he resided the remainder of his

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

86i

life. His son Benjamin was reared to agri
cultural pursilits, and inherited the old home
stead, upon which he passed his entire life,
dying at the age of seventy-one. He was
twice married. His second wife, whose
maiden name was Electa Nash, was a native
of the same town as her husband, and died at
the family home in Plainfield. She was the
mother of seven children, five of whom were
by a former marriage. Mr. Nash reared six
children by his first union.
Benjamin F. Towne made his home with
his parents until the age of eighteen, when he
went to Northampton, and there served an
apprenticeship to learn the trade of carpentry,
remaining in that town four years. He then
removed to Springfield, where he resided a
few months, and then came to the village of
Westfield. Here he was employed as a jour
neyman for about ten years, eight years of
that time being engaged as foreman. In 1861
he started in business for himself as a con
tractor and builder, and was thus actively en
gaged for many years; but for some time past
he has been practically retired from active
labor, occupying his time in looking after his
private interests.
On October 16, 1856, was celebrated the
union of Mr. Towne with Miss Mary Phipps.
Mrs. Towne is a native of Maxfield, Me.,
and is a daughter of William H. and Sarah
(Hart) Phipps, the former of whom was born
in Pomfret, Conn., and the latter in Lunen
burg, Mass. The paternal grandfather of
Mrs. Towne was William Phipps, who, as far
as known, was a life-long resident of the
Nutmeg State. His son William was brought
up in his native State, removing thence to
Massachusetts, where he resided for a time,
finally going to Maine. There he commenced
the study of medicine, in the practice of
which profession he continued the remainder
of his life, dying in Maine at the advanced
age of seventy-two. His wife, Sarah Hart,
also spent her last years in that State.
Mr. Towne and his estimable wife have
well performed their part in sustaining the
intellectual and moral status of their com
munity, and have the respect and confidence
of the entire people.

1f=

ILLIAM BATES, one of the most
enterprising and intelligent citizens
of Blandford, was born on the farm
where he at present resides, August 11, 1846.
He is the son of David and Elizabeth L.
(Ripley) Bates, and grandson of Kilburn
Bates, who was the progenitor of the family
in this locality. Kilburn Bates was a native
of Connecticut, and settled on the farm in
Blandford which has been successively held
by his descendants. In business he was a
man of progressive temperament, and in addi
tion to farm enterprises established a tannery,
which is still in existence. He was a Demo
crat in politics, and in civil matters was
prominent. He represented the town in the
legislature during one term, and was also one
of the Selectmen of Blandford. His last years
were spent in North Blandford, where he died
at about eighty years of age. Mr. Bates was
twice married, having five , children, all of
whom grew up, two of whom are now living:
Francis, residing in Westfield ; and Samuel,
in Minnesota. Elizerman, David, and Cath-
ren have passed away.
David Bates was but a boy when his father
moved to Blandford from Connecticut. He
attended the schools of the town, and also the
academy at Wilbraham, and afterward took
up the work of farming, which he continued
through life. He purchased the homestead,
and carried on the farm, adding to its extent,
and finally owned one hundred and twenty
acres. Mr. Bates was a Democrat in politics,
and was one of the Selectmen of the town.
He was an Adventist in his religious views.
His death occurred April 25, 1891. Mrs.
Bates died December 13, 1881. They had
four children, namely: Maryett, deceased;
William; Lucy, wife of Arthur Bates, resid
ing in Springfield; and Hattie, a resident of
Westfield. William Bates attended school in Bland
ford, later taking a course in Burnham's Busi
ness College in Springfield. He succeeded
to the ownership of the homestead by pur
chase, and has carried on general farming in
connection with the tannery business since
that time. Having added to the farm lands,
he is now the owner of one hundred and

862

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

seventy acres, and has good buildings and a
fine farm.
He was married February 14, 1871, to Miss
Sarah M. Loop, a native of Edwards, St. Law
rence County, N.Y., and a daughter of Van
Rensselaer and Clarissa (Collister) Loop.
Her parents were both born in St. Lawrence
County, and her father still resides there.
Her mother died in 1870, at forty-eight years
of age. Mr. and Mrs. Loop were the parents
of nine children, all now living. They were
of the Methodist Episcopal belief.
William Bates and his wife have two chil
dren: Clarence W., born September 10, 1872;
and Pearl, born September 25, 1875. Mr.
Bates is a Democrat in politics. He has held
the office of Selectman six years, and has filled
minor offices. In religious belief Mr. and
Mrs. Bates are Adventists. Mr. Bates is
considered one of the leading citizens of the
community. He has a fine residence, and
keeps up with the times by reading and
gathering information from the great high
ways of thought, endeavoring by his influence
to promote the welfare of the town, and thus
the happiness of young and old.

jRASTUS COLLINS, President of the
Textile Manufacturing Company and a
veteran railroad man, is an old and
highly respected resident of Westfield, this
village having been his home for forty-five
years. He is a native of Chester, Hampden
County, Mass., where his birth took place on
August 23, 1823. His father, Charles Col
lins, was born in Huntington; and the pa
ternal grandfather, Daniel Collins, was a
native of Brimfield, Mass. He was engaged
in the mercantile business at Chester for a
number of years, removing from there to
Northampton, where he spent the last years
of his life.
Charles Collins was associated with his
father in business, and for a number of years
was Postmaster at Chester. He died when
he had but reached middle age. The maiden
name of his wife was Abigail Sackett. The
place of her birth was Norwich, Mass. ; and
she was a daughter of Jabez Sackett, who was

a native of the same State, but removed to
Meadville, Pa., where his death occurred.
Mrs. Abigail Collins lived to the great age
of ninety-five years. The parental household
included six children: Henry, who was for
many years a resident of New York City;
Haventon, whose home is in Binghamton,
N.Y.; Flavia; Erastus; Frances; and James.
Erastus Collins was reared and educated in
his native town, and when but a boy com
menced his career on the railroad, being em
ployed as contractor's clerk. This was when
the Boston & Albany Railroad was in process
of construction. Later he entered the employ
of the company as superintendent of track
repairs, occupying that position for about
twenty years, when he resigned, going to
Georgia to superintend the rebuilding of the
railroad extending from Atlanta to Macon.
He remained there for one season, then re
turned home, and soon engaged with the New
Haven & Northampton Railroad Company,
having charge of their track from New Haven
north for about one hundred miles. He con
tinued with this company until 1889, then
resigned, and has since lived practically
retired. He has been President of the Tex
tile Manufacturing Company since its or
ganization. On September 25, 1848, Mr. Collins was
united in marriage with Miss Mary Williams,
a native of Westfield and a daughter of Caleb
Williams. Mrs. Collins died at her home in
Westfield, November 19, 1872. Their union
was blessed by the birth of three daughters
and one son, only one of whom is living 
Lucy, who is the wife of Dr. James B. At
water, of Westfield. Fraternally, Mr. Col
lins is connected with Mount Moriah Lodo-e,
A. F. & A. M.

RRIN PEER ALLEN, of Palmer
I (son of Robert, son of Robert, son
of Joseph, son of Nathaniel, son of
Edward), the subject of the following
sketch and the accompanying portrait, was
born in Wallingford, Vt., September 30,
1833. Like most boys of the Green Moun
tain State, he was reared on a farm, and be-

ORRIN P. ALLEN.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

86s

came inured to the labor of rural life during
the summer and autumn, while the winter
season was devoted to study in the common
schools. He early evinced a fondness for
study and for nature, and devoted all his
leisure to books and to outdoor observation.
When a mere lad of ten, he often climbed the
highest hills alone, solely to enjoy the fine
scenery, thus showing the love of the beauti^
ful which has since characterized all his
writings. He finished his education at Ches
ter Academy, Vermont, where he was noted
for his scholarship. He supported himself
through the academic course by teaching
during the winter terms in his native State.
After graduating at the academy, he served
for two years as superintendent of schools in
¦Vernon, Vt., and then accepted a position as
principal of the Taanach Institute in Hacken-
sack, .N.J., where he remained a year. In
October, 1859, he came to Palmer to engage
in pharmacy, in which business he has since
remained with marked success.
Mr. Allen has served the public in many
positions of trust since his residence in
Palmer, having been a member of the School
Board, chairman of the committee which had
in charge the publication of the town history
in 1889, a member of the Public Library
building committee, for many years Director
of the Palmer Savings Bank, also a Director
and the librarian of the Young Men's Li
brary Association, and for several years super
intendent of the Sunday-school of the Second
Congregational Church. He still continues
to be the Secretary and Treasurer of the
Eastern Hampden Agricultural Society, which
responsible position he has held for nineteen
years. He is a member of several Masonic
bodies in Palmer, a member of the New Eng
land Historic Genealogical Society of Boston,
and of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial As
sociation of Deerfield, and Corresponding
Secretary of the Connecticut Valley His
torical Society of Springfield. He has the
best-equipped private library in Palmer. He
has been a close student all his life and quite
a voluminous writer on varied topics, embrac
ing poetry, history, religious and other
themes. His collected writings would fill

several volumes. He has recently become in
terested in the subject of genealogy, has pub
lished an outline genealogy of the Lee and
Doolittle families, and has nearly ready a
complete genealogy of his line of the great
Allen family. He has also collected con-
siderabl^e material for a history of the Scott
and Cady families. His ancestors include
individuals who made the journey to this
country on the " Mayflower " and long lists of
Colonial worthies and first families of New
England. Mr. Allen married February 20, i860,
Harriet Lyndon Maria Garvin, of Boston,
born September 12, 1844. She died February
25, 1862. The child by this marriage was
Ina Lyndon, born May 16, 1861. He mar
ried, second, June 16, 1863, Lucinda Elmina,
born June 5, 1845, daughter of Eleazer
Guerney and Sarah (Noyes) Scott, of Vernon,
Vt. — son of Eleazer, son of Ebenezer, son of
Captain Moses, son of Josiah, son of William
Scott, one pf the early settlers of Hatfield.
(Captain Moses Scott was a soldier in the
Colonial wars, who, with his wife and sons,
Moses and Ebenezer, was captured at the
surrender of Fort Massachusetts in August,
1746. Mrs. Scott and son Moses died at
Quebec. Captain Scott returned to Bernards-
ton and later his son Ebenezer was ran
somed, and served in the war of the Revo
lution, receiving a pension, and dying in
Vernon, Vt., in 1826.) Mr. Allen's chil
dren by his second marriage are : Walter
Scott, born February i, 1867, educated at
Mitchell's Boys' School, Billerica, Mass.,
now assistant in his father's pharmacy; Julia
Adeline, born July 6, 1869, graduated from the
Palmer High School in the class of 1888 and
from the Westfield Normal School in the class
of 1892, now a teacher of music; and Lillie
May, born September 7, 1870, graduated from
the Palmer High School in the class of 1888,
and educated in the Westfield Normal School.
Mr. Allen's ability and industry as a
genealogist may be judged from the following
paragraphs from his practised pen: —
Deacon Robert Allen, father of Orrin P.
Allen, was born in Shutesbury, Mass., April
16, 1805, removing with his parents to Wall-

866

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ingford, Vt., in 1806. He died in Vernon,
Vt., August 21, 1889, was a real estate owner
and farmer in Vernon, where he was for many
years a Deacon of the Church of the Advent,
a man widely known for his hospitality, in
tegrity, and piety. He married October 23,
1832, Eliza Paine Doolittle, born in Towns
hend, Vt., February 25, 1812 (now a resident
in Vernon), daughter of Roswell and Carissa
(Burt) Doolittle — son of Amzi and Jerusha
(Smith) Doolittle (she, Jerusha, was great-
grand-daughter of the Rev. Henry Smith, of
Weathersfield, 1640); son of the Rev. Ben
jamin and Lydia (Todd) Doolittle, of North-
field; son of John and Mary (Peck) Doolittle,
of Wallingford, Conn. ; son of Abraham and
Joan (Allen) Doolittle, one of the first set
tlers of New Haven and Wallingford, Conn.,
where he was one of the leading men. Abra
ham Doolittle was the son of Sir Archibald
Clark, Laird of Doolittle, of County Mid
lothian, Scotland, who was descended from Sir
Alamus Clark, of Comrie Castle, in 1349.
The Laird of Doolittle was Assistant Sec
retary to James I. of England. His son,
Abraham Doolittle, was born in London in
1620. It is said that the Laird, being a
Puritan,, would "do little" for the Church of
England, and in consequence received the
sobriquet of Doolittle, which name his de
scendants adopted. Carissa (Burt) Doolittle
was born in Deerfield, Mass., January 26,
1783, daughter of Ebenezer and Abigail
(Bartlett) Burt, the father being son of Lieu
tenant Jonathan and Bridget (Barnard) Burt.
Bridget was daughter of Dr. John Barnard and
grand-daughter of Captain Aaron Cook, great-
grand-daughter of William Westwood, also of
Elder John Strong, great-great-grand-daughter
of Deacon Henry, son of Deacon Jonathan,
son of Henry Burt, of Springfield, in 1640.
The children of Robert aqd Eliza Paine
Allen are: Orrin Peer, born September 30,
1833 (as noted above). Jason Cady, born in
Wallingford, Vt., February 26, 1835, married
December i, 1864, Mary S. Combes; he is a
real estate owner and farmer in Vernon, Vt.,
where he is a Justice of the Peace, and has
been an Assessor and Selectman. Julia
Augusta, born July 30, 1837, in Newfane,

Vt., died there, January 23, 1839. Charles
Anderson, born in Jamaica, Vt., February i,
1840, married September 6, 1864, Abbie E.
Ball, and died in early manhood at Athens,
Vt., August II, 1865; his wife died Septem
ber 9, 1872. Robert Clark, born in Jamaica,
Vt., October 8, 1842, married, first, June 16,
1864, Jane A. Rockwood, of North Spring-
¦field, Vt., who died April 29, 1867; married,
second, October 3, 1867, Lucy C Lockwood,
who died November 7, 1868; married, third,
November 15, 1869, Mrs. Hattie M. Henry.
He resides in North Springfield, Vt., where
he is a carpenter and road supervisor. Sarah
Augusta, born in Jamaica, Vt., October 30,
1846, married January 18, 1869, Lafayette
Stoddard,, who resides in Vernon, Vt. "Vesta
Eliza, born in Windham, Vt., November 6,
1854, died in Vernon, January 16, 1862.
Robert Allen, grandfather of Orrin P.
Allen, was born in Newport, R.I., October
10, 1767. His mother dying when he was
quite young, he was reared in the family of
his uncle. Captain Oliver Allen, of Roches
ter, Mass., and later of Hardwick and Shutes
bury. He commenced life in Shutesbury,
Mass., but removed to Wallingford, Vt., in
1806, to a part of the town then newly set
tled, where he cleared a farm and where some
of his descendants have since lived. He was
a farmer; but for many years he was engaged
in the business of buying and driving cattle
to Brighton market, in which he was success
ful. Both himself and wife were members of
the Baptist church in East Wallingford, Vt.
He died there. May 25, 1856. He married
in 1786 Rhoda Cady, a lady of remarkable
beauty, born in Shutesbury, Mass., March 16,
1765, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth
(Winter) Cady, son of Stephen and Abigail
(Lee) Cady — son of Captain Joseph and Sarah
Cady, son of Nicholas and Judith (Knapp)
Cady, who settled in Watertown, Mass., prior
to 1640. Elizabeth (Winter) Cady was born
in Killingly, Conn., January 7, 1728, daugh
ter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Philbrick)
Winter, son of John, son of John "Winter, the
emigrant, a proprietor in Watertown as early
as 1636. Elizabeth Philbrick was born No
vember 18, 1690, daughter of Ephraim and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

867

Elizabeth (Barron) Philbrick, son of John
and Anne (Palmer) Philbrick, son of Thomas
and Anne (Knapp) Philbrick (sister of Judith
(Knapp) Cady). Rhoda (Cady) Allen died in
"Wallingford, March 22, 1850. Their chil
dren were born in Shutesbury, Mass., as fol
lows: Rufus, born September 22, 1787,
married August 12, 1810, Sally Warren. He
died September 30, 1879. She died October
12, 1862. He lived in Wallingford, Vt.,
where he was a land-owner and a shoemaker.
Rhoda, born April 30, 1789, married Decem
ber II, 1808, Jonathan Anderson, of Walling
ford. She died September 28, 1840. He
was a real estate owner and a man of wealth.
He died December 9, 1872, at eight3'-six.
Deacon Oliver, born March 27, 1792, mar
ried October 9, 1813, Nancy Sweetland. She
died September 15, 1850. He married, sec
ond, Mrs. Jerusha Bissell, of Rutland, Vt.,
June, 1851. He died October 20, 1852. She
died December 12, 1867. He was a successful
farmer, and resided nearly all his life at East
Wallingford, where he was for many years a
Deacon of the Baptist church. Calvin, born
September 11, 1794, died September 28,
1796. Joseph, born August 27, 1797, mar
ried, 1825, Sally Cook. She died November
28, 1830. He married, second. Alpha Cook,
in 1832. He died July 20, 1875. She died
August 25, 1872. He commenced life as a'
merchant in Poultney, Vt., but removed to
Whitehall, N.Y., where for many years he
was a successful merchant and manager of a
hotel. Hepzibeth, born April 11, 1800, died
September 13, 1803. Betsey, born September
4, 1803, married November 12, 1822, Levi
Warren Marsh, a farmer of Wallingford, Vt.
She died December 8, 1887. He died Janu
ary 13, 1888. Robert was born April i6,
1805 (as above noted).
Joseph Allen, great-grandfather of Orrin P.,
born on Nantucket Island, April i, 1737,
died in Shutesbury, Mass., December 20, 1804,
was a cooper in Nantucket, Newport, and
Portsmouth, R.I., and is said to have been a
soldier in the Revolutionary War. Several
of the name of Joseph Allen are on the Rhode
Island rolls, and the tradition in the family
is that he served as a patriot. After the war

he was the owner of fast-going horses, and
even in those far-off days won many a hard-
contested race on the pike road. He lived in
his last days with his son Robert in Shutes
bury, Mass., where he died. He married De
cember 20, 1753, Hephzibah Coffin, born No
vember 18, 1736, at Nantucket, daughter
of Robert and Susanna (Coffin) Coffin, son of
Jethro and Mary (Gardner) Coffin, son of
Peter and Abigail (Starbirch) Coffin, son
of Tristram and Dionis (Stephans) Coffin,
who came from England to this country in
1642. Hephzibah (Coffin) Allen died at
Newport, R.I., about 1770.
The children of Joseph and Hephzibah
Allen were born on Nantucket, save Robert,
whose birthplace was Newport. The first
child, born in 1756, died in infancy. Heph
zibah, born about 1756, married February 21,
1 77 1, Peleg Gardner, of Nantucket, a mariner.
She died in 1784. He died in 1809. Mar
garet, born August 31, 1758, married Nathan
Brooks, of Nantucket. She died June 19,
1838. Betsey, born November 3, 1762, mar
ried December 3, 1780, Benjamin Brown.
She died September 16, 1808. He died De
cember 24, 18 1 8. Dr. Joseph, born 1764,
married, about 1800, Lucretia Smead. Dr.
Allen studied medicine with Dr. Kittridge,
and settled in Buckland, Mass., where he had
an extensive practice as a physician and sur
geon. He died in Buckland, October 23,
1823. She died in September, 1839. Robert
was born in 1767 (as above noted).
Nathaniel Allen, great-great-grandfather of
Orrin P., was born in Nantucket, February
24, 1700. He died there, April 7, 1776. He
was a land-owner on the island, but was en
gaged nearly all his life as a mariner and the
master of a vessel. At the time of his first
marriage he was a member of the Society of
Friends, but the second marriage was solem
nized outside of the meeting, for which reason
he severed his connection with them. He
married January i, 1724, Provided, daughter
of Captain Samuel and Provided (Southwick)
Gaskell, of Newburyport, Mass. She was a
grand-daughter of Cassandra Southwick, the
persecuted Quakeress of whom Whittier wrote
the notable poem, "Cassandra." She died

868

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

January 30, 1730. He married, second. May
2, 1732, Mercy, widow of Prince Coffin. She
was born September 3, 1701, and died April
24, 1 78 1. She was the daughter of Nathan
and Mercy (Chipman) Skiff, of Chilmark,
Martha's "Vineyard, grand-daughter of James
Skiff, of Sandwich, one of the first settlers
and a man of affairs; she was also a grand
daughter of John and Hope (Howland) Chip-
man, great-grand-daughter of John and Eliza
beth (Tilly) Howland and of John and Bridget
Tilly, passengers on the "Mayflower."
The children of the first marriage of Na
thaniel Allen were: Edmond, born in Octo
ber, 1726, unmarried, died August 26, 1763.
Provided, born July 12, 1728, married March
17, 1747, Daniel Gardner. She died Decem
ber 3, 1798. He died July 9, 1780. They
have descendants on the Island of Nantucket.
The children of the second marriage were:
Abigail, born April 10, 1733, married May 5,
1785, Jonathan Moore. She died February
14, 1817. He died September 3, 1795. Su
sanna, born March 2, 1735, unmarried, died
April II, 1796. Joseph, born April i, 1737,
married December, 1753, Hephzibah Coffin
(as above). Benjamin was born January i,
1740, and married Abigail Trott. He was a
mariner, and lost his life at sea between Nan
tucket and New Bedford, December 24, 1784.
She died November 18, 181 1. Mercy, iDorn
September 4, 1742, married December 4,
1760, Stephen Macy. She died March 29,
1825. He died February 8, 1822. The date
of birth of Captain Oliver is not recorded,
but probably is earlier than this order would
indicate, "rhe records show that he was a
land-owner and a sea captain as early as 1760
at Rochester, Mass. He afterward bought a
farm, and removed to Hardwick, Mass., where
he was a member of the Committee of Corre
spondence during the Revolution. Later he
bought a farm in Shutesbury, Mass., where
he died in 1792.
Edward Allen, great - great - great - grand
father of Orrin P. Allen, born in London,
England, about 1670, came to New England
about 1690, and settled on Nantucket Island.
He was a man of affairs on the island, where
he was chosen constable and a trustee, and

from time to time served in many other posi
tions of trust. He was a real estate owner, as
we find many transfers of land by him on the
records. He married about 1692 Ann, born
November 10, 1675, daughter of Joseph and
Ann (Bunker) Coleman, son of Thomas Cole
man, the emigrant from England and one of
the original settlers and proprietors of Nan
tucket. Edward Allen died on Nantucket,
February i, 1741. His wife died there, July
I, 1739. Their children, all born on Nan
tucket, were: Mary, born August 25, 1693,
married Paul Coffin. He died at sea, April,
1729. She married, second, November 29,
1 73 1, Clothier Pierce, of Newport, R.I. He
was the son of John and grandson of the cele
brated captain, Michael Pierce, of King Phil
ip's War. She died November 27, 1763.
Joseph, born October 10, 1695, died May 4,
1706. Benjamin, born March 22, 1697, un
married, died at sea on a whaling voyage in
1722. Nathaniel was born February 24, 1700
(as above). Daniel, born April 23, 1704,
married January 26, 1737, Elizabeth Bunker.
He died March 30, 1788. She died January
7, 1809. Sylvanus, born May 6, 1706, mar
ried January 8, 1727, Jemima Starbuck. He
was a constable of the island of Nantucket
and a prominent citizen there. Rachel, born
December 31, 1709, married October 2, 1726,
Thomas Starbuck. She died May 31, 1789.
He died February 5, 1779. Sarah, born June
4, 1713, married October 19, 1731, Joseph
Hovey. She died in December, 1766. Eliza
beth, born May 2, 17 16, married October 6,
1743' William Brown. Ebenezer, born De
cember 26, 171 8, married August 15, 1740,
Christian Heath, born August 5, 1724. He
died August 12, 1753. She died August 29,
1773. Her father, Edmund Heath, was the
son of titled and wealthy parents in England,
and was often the recipient of presents from
his relatives there.

OSIAH STEBBINS, a representative of
one of the oldest families in Brimfield,
Hampden County, Mass., a farmer and
an influential citizen, was born in that
town, on the farm owned and occupied by his

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

869

great-grandfather, June 10, 1835. His an
cestry is traced back through five generations
to Sir Thomas Stebbins, a baronet of York
shire, England, who came to this country and
settled iri Brimfield in 1636, where he raised a
family of seven children — five boys and two
girls. Thomas, his son, was born October 10,
1698, and died in 1773. He married Mary
Munn, and they had nine children — Thomas,
Ebenezer, Abner, James, Mary, Bethel, Ben
jamin, Jessie, and Asahel. Abner, son of
Thomas, was born May 3, 1729. He bought
the farm which his great-grandson now owns
and on which he resides, and also the farm
adjoining, when the land was in a wild state,
and applied his energies toward improving it,
clearing the property to some extent before
his death, which occurred November 19, 1810.
He married Martha Smith, and their children
were seven in number — Thomas, Hasadiah,
Abner, Martha, Mary, Josiah, and Vashti.
Abner, Sr., grandfather of Josiah Stebbins,
was born November 2, 1757. He worked with
his father until reaching manhood, when he
bought the old homestead, and took charge of
the entire property, thus relieving his father
of the care and responsibility connected with
its management. He then set about improv
ing the place, and bought more land, adding
to its size and value, until he finally owned
an estate of five hundred acres. He built the
house now occupied by his grandson, a fine,
two-story frame building. He gave a good
deal of attention to stock-raising, and was
considered a progressive farmer by his neigh
bors. He lived to the age of eighty-nine,
dying November 7, 1846. It is recorded that
Abner Stebbins served in the Revolutionary
War. He was a consistent member of the
Congregational church and highly respected
in the community.
Abner, Jr., father of Josiah Stebbins, was
born June 4, 1804, and grew up on the farm,
learning methods of agriculture, and lending
his strength to the prosecution of its work.
On reaching manhood, concluding to experi
ment in some new location, he went to the
town of Monson, Me., where he took up eighty
acres of land, part of which he cleared after
the manner of pioneer settlers, building a

house and other needful buildings. About
1827 he sold his farm, and returned to the
old homestead in Brimfield, and, receiving a
portion of his father's estate, settled down to
live there. He made many improvements,
and filled a useful place in the community.
He found time for the cultivation of his mind
as well as his land, and was considered a well-
informed man among his neighbors and towns
men. In politics he was a Republican, in
religious belief a Universalist. In 1827 he
was united to Sarah J. Fuller, the ceremony
taking place in Monson, Me., and they reared
four children: Charles E., born February 5,
1833, who married Adeline Lapham, and re
sides in Monson, Hampden County; Josiah,
of this narrative; Abner H., born April 13,
1839, who married Ellen A. Upham, and re
sides in Westfield, Hampden County; Sarah
]., born May 9, 1843, wife of Ezra P. Tucker,
of Warren.
Josiah Stebbins attended the schools in
Brimfield in his boyhood, and worked on the
farm with his father during his minority.
After that time he bought the old homestead,
and remodelled the house and barn, and built
a new carriage-house, besides making other
changes for comfort. He is a progressive
farmer, and, besides carrying on general farm
ing, makes a specialty of a fine grade of
butter, to produce which he has at the present
time a herd of ten choice cows. In 1891 Mr.
Stebbins gave land for the new road to P"os-
kett's Mill, which he was instrumental in
having surveyed, and laid out by the town.
Mr. Stebbins was married in 1868 to Miss
Sarah S. Shaw, a native of Palmer, Mass.,
born March 13, 1842, daughter of Charles and
Mariette (Orcutt) Shaw, and they are the
parents of three children: Nellie ]., born May
9, 1870, the wife of George H. Stebbins, of
Westfield, and mother of one child — Myrtle,
who died at the age of two years; J. Bert,
born December 3, 1871, a carpenter by occu
pation, residing in Westfield; and Mabel L.,
born June 5, 1874, a graduate of the Hitch
cock Pligh School of Brimfield, now residing
with her parents.
Mr. Stebbins is a Republican in his po
litical views, and has been Selectman of the

870

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

town the past four years. In religious matters
Mr. Stebbins and family favor the Univer
salist belief.

7TAHARLES L. GOODHUE, a promi-
I \y nent contractor, chairman of the
^Is^ Water Commissioners, and one of
Springfield's best-known citizens,
has been a resident of this city since 1854.
He was born in Ipswich, Mass., April 26,
1838, son of Aaron and Fanny Maria (Cooper)
Goodhue. The progenitor of the Goodhue
family came to America in 1634 on the good
ship "Arabella," a grant of Ipswich land
having been made to him by King Charles I.
This estate has descended from father to son
until it is now in the hands of Mr. Goodhue's
brother. The grandfather, also named Aaron
Goodhue, was a patriot soldier of the Revolu
tion; and Charles L. Goodhue has a sword
which belonged to his great-grandfather, who
did good service as an officer in the French
and Indian War. In Mr. Goodhue's posses
sion are letters written by his grandfather's
brother, William Goodhue, while serving in
the Revolution, copies of which are given
below: —

Prospect Hill, March i, 1776.
Honored Father, — I take the opportunity to write
you, and let you know I am well, and that I hear Na
thaniel's wife is sick with a fever. The things I re
ceived, you sent me by Uncle Lampson. I sent eight
dollars home by Jonathan's father a few days ago. I
should be glad if you would send me letters whether
Aaron's going to Danvers to learn a trade. I hear Mr.
Smith's wife is dead. You may tell Daniel Goodhue's
wife that he was well a few days ago. I remember my
love to all inquiring friends, so no more at present ; but
I remain your son, in love, William Goodhue.

Prospect PIill, March 18, 1776.
Honored Father, — I take the opportunity to write
you, to let you know that I am well. I would have you
send me two pair of stockings — my white stockings, if
they are done. The Regulars have left Bunker Hill, in
Boston, and gone as far as the Castle (in the harbor).
It is something likely that we shall move away very
soon, but I can't tell when. I don't want any other
clothes at this time. No more at present. William Goodhue.

Brooklyn, L.I., May 22, 1776.
One mile from New York.
Honored Father, — I take this opportunity to let you
know that I am in good health, blessed be God for it ;
and hope that it will find you in as good health as it
leaves me at present. We arrived at Providence three
days after we marched from Prospect Hill, and there
we stayed two days. Then we marched to Norige
[Norwich] in three days, and there we stayed one day.
Then we marched to New London in one day, and
there we stayed three days. Then we embarked board
of sloop, and sailed for New York ; we arrived April 21.
In May we encamped upon Long Island. I have no
news to write you at present. I remember my love to
sister and brothers, and all inquiring friends that ask
after me. I should be glad to have you buy me some
cotton, to make some shirts against next winter. If I
should live I should wear out these by that time, and
should be glad to have j-ou make me one pair of deep
blue stockings, and two pairs of deep and pale blue
mixed together; and you will have them all knit seamed,
and I will pay for them. I should be glad to have you
send me a letter by same post that brings these things.
Jno. Smith was well yesterday. No more at present.
William Goodhue, Jr.
Mr. Goodhue has also the war contract be
tween his grandfather, Aaron Goodhue, and
the town of Ipswich, dated October i, 1778: —
We, the subscribers, promise, in behalf of this town,
to pay unto Aaron Goodhue, who has engaged to serve
as a soldier in a regiment under command of Colonel
Josiah Cogswell, ordered to march to Boston, and to
continue in its service till the first day of January next,
unless sooner discharged, the sum of eighteen pounds
per month, including the continental and State wages.
Damel Rogers, ^
John Hubbard, \ Selectmen.
Da\'id Low. )
Aaron Goodhue filled his part of the con
tract; and then, a bounty being offered him,
he went again to fight, dying at West Point
of the camp fever.
Here is a marriage portion record of the
early days, copied, by his kind permission,
from the original document in Mr. Goodhue's
possession.
Account of what Hannah Smith has received toward
Iter portion, May, l^SQ. £
A bed weighed 60 wt  acct. 30
Bed sack bedstead &- flax for bedcord . . 6
Head coil & Teaster  2
Covers and quilts ......... 38

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

871

£ s. d.
Casadros ....  20
13 chairs, warming pan, frying pan . .27 2
2 pots, dish, cillet and iron cillet & 2 candle
sticks .  7 8
box irons & hearth knives & fork 2 weats . 9
2 curtains  15 10
To cotton and linen sheets . . . .25
To coarse sheets . . .... 13 6
2 tables  7
2 bed blankets ....  10
to pewter .... . . 20 2 6
to fine diapers  7 6
To coarse diapers  4
To fine pillow beers  2
To coarse pillow beers and table cloths . 20
Charles L. Goodhue received his education
in the common schools of Ipswich, but came
to Springfield at the age of sixteen, in 1854,
to learn plumbing, serving an apprenticeship
of four years with Robert E. Cooper on Main
Street. He followed his trade seven years,
or until the outbreak of the Civil War, when
he enlisted in Company K, Twenty-seventh
Massachusetts Regiment, and in the Septem
ber of 1 86 1 was first sent to Annapolis, and
then with Burnside's expedition to Roanoke
Island and Newbern, N.C Contracting a
fever, he was discharged on account of phys
ical disability, and left the company with
the rank of Sergeant. For a year after his
return to Springfield he found employment in
the United States Armory; but his next move
was the purchase of his former employer's
establishment, which he conducted success
fully for seven years. In 1871 he began his
career as contractor by building the water
works in Northampton, Mass. In 1874 he
formed a partnership with William Birnie, a
special sketch of whom is published in this
work; and during twenty years they built
water works in over seventy cities and towns,
from St. Albans, Vt., in the North, to Jack
sonville, Fla., in the South, and as far West
as the States of Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois.
The firm own a considerable amount of stock
in the plants they have engineered, over
which they have a care; and their reputation
for thorough and skilled work is well estab
lished, being second to none.
Mr. Goodhue is a man of quiet tastes and
retiring nature, neither seeking nor desiring

public honors. As a Free Mason he is a
member of Hampden Lodge, Springfield
Chapter, and Springfield Encampment. He
married Miss Hattie Elizabeth Hill, daugh
ter of Lewis Hill and grand-daughter of
Damon Beecher, of Norfolk, Conn. They
have an only daughter — Grace Beecher Good
hue; and the family are members of the old
First Church. Mr. Goodhue's new residence
on Stearns Hill is one of the most comely and
desirable in Springfield, its fine lawn and
beautiful location adding materially in its
attractiveness.

Lbiion,

ANFORD BOOTH, a prominent and
influential farmer of Brimfield,
Hampden County, Mass., was born
April 14, 1838, in the town of
Tolland County, Conn. He is the
son of Sullivan and Minerva (Coy) Booth and
grandson of Isaac and Elizabeth (Foskett)
Booth. Mr. Booth traces his lineage back to
Simon B. Booth, a native of Scotland, who set
tled in Enfield, Hartford County, Conn., in
i860, and in course of time became an exten
sive land-owner in that locality. . His de
scendants are distinguished as a sturdy and
long-lived people, intelligent and progressive
in their views.
Isaac Booth, grandfather of our subject, was
a farmer. He was endowed with a strong con
stitution, and at the age of ninety was able to
take the reaper's scythe and lead the men in
their work of cutting grain in the fields. His
farming was successful and his management
prudent, and at his death he left a substantial
patrimony to his descendants. He was a lover
of books, and was a very popular public
speaker. Both Isaac Booth and his wife lived
to advanced age. They were active members
of the Congregational church. Seven children
were born to them : Lydia, Samuel, Betsey,
Henry, Ellen, Isaac, and Sullivan.
Sullivan Booth was born in 1808. He
attended the public schools, and acquired such
proficiency in knowledge that he was able to
become a teacher himself, and conducted a
school in winter seasons, devoting the sum
mers to farming. He bought a farm in the

872

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

town of Union, Conn., and after his marriage
gave up school keeping, and devoted the rest
of his life to its cultivation. He was also
engaged in the lumber business, being very
successful in this occupation. In 1832 he
joined the Congregational church, in which he
was elected Deacon. He died at the age of
thirty-seven years, an honored and respected
member of the community. His wife died at
the age of seventy, April 3, 1883. They had
five children: Sanford, our subject; Melvin,
born November 17, 1839; Juliette, born No
vember 7, 1841, wife of Stephen B. Tifft;
Rosett, born October 12, 1843, wife of M.
Miller; Milo S., born December 23, 1845.
Sanford Booth was educated in the public
schools, and, like his father, made good use
of his opportunities. After finishing his
course, he was qualified to teach, and for ten
years was employed as a teacher. He then
went into the lumber business with Dexter
Moore at Union, and subsequently engaged
in farming at West Longmeadow, Mass. On
May 3, 1872, he bought part of the old Steb
bins farm, consisting of about two hundred and
twenty-five acres, a tract now known as Brim
field Township (Dunham town), Hampden
County. He has remodelled the house and
built new barns, so that now he^has a commo
dious set of buildings for grain and hay stor
age and for stock purposes, and made other
improvements. The farm, which has a fine
location, is considered one of the best in the
locality, the dairy of twenty-five choice cows
being one of its special features. Mr Booth
has also raised here some fine specimens of
trotting horses, which brought advanced prices
in the market.
Mr. Booth was married April 2, 1862, to
Miss Ellen A. Moore, daughter of Dexter and
Laura (Griggs) Moore. The Moore family
have an old record, tracing their ancestry to
James Moore, born in Ireland, an immigrant
to this country, who bought land in Union,
Conn., about December 19, 1739. Dexter
Moore was born September 11, 1809, and
early in life was a school teacher Later he
followed farming as an occupation, and also
engaged in the lumber business. His death,
which occurred November 5, 1884, was the

result of a mill accident. He left four chil
dren : Ellen A., Leslie, Malone, and Emer
son O
The children of Sanford and Ellen Booth
are four in number: Elmer E., born June 17,
1863, who is married to Sallie Daniels, and
resides in Spencer, Worcester County, Mass. ;
Malora, born November 2, 1864, a graduate of
the Brimfield High School in 1884, who is a
professional teacher; Milo D., born November
9, 1866, who is engaged in commercial busi
ness in Boston, Mass. ; and Milton S. , born
January 23, 1876, who resides with his jjar-
ents in Brimfield.
Mr. Booth takes an active part in public
local matters, and is a stanch Republican.
He has held the office of Selectman two years,
has been Assessor eight years and Overseer of
the Poor three years, besides being Commis
sioner of Highways. Sturdy and self-reliant,
he is a fine representative of the race produced
by grafting Scotch stock upon that indigenous
to New England soil.

OLONEL EMBURY R CLARK, of
Springfield, Sheriff of Hampden
County, was born at Buckland,
Franklin County, Mass., March 31,
1845, son of Chandler and Joanna (Woodward)
Clark. Ancestors of Colonel Clark emigrated
to this country from Scotland and Ireland, and
were among the early settlers of Bristol and
Plymouth Counties. Mr and Mrs. Chandler
Clark moved in 1859 to Holyoke, where they
were active members of the Methodist Epis
copal church and thoroughly upright Chris
tian people. They both died in Holyoke, the
father in 1877 and the mother in 1885.
Embury P. Clark was educated in the pub
lic schools, and began the battle of life as a
clerk in a grocery store. In the month of
July, 1862, when but seventeen years of age,
he enrolled his name with the thousands of
other young, intelligent, and loyal sons of
this Commonwealth to defend the Union,
and joined Company B, P""orty-sixth Regiment,
Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. The regi
ment was sent to North Carolina as soon as
organized, and immediately began campaign

0. W. SANFORD.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

875

work on an expedition to Kingston, White
Hall, and Goldsboro under General J. S.
Foster. The following summer it was ordered
to Fortress Monroe to join the Army of the
James, which was to proceed against Rich
mond ; but on arriving at Fortress Monroe the
order was changed, and the regiment was
despatched to Baltimore, then to Harper's
Ferry, finally joining the Army of the Potomac
at Funkstown, Md.
After his service in the army Colonel Clark
returned to Holyoke, and was successively a
druggist, paymaster of a large manufacturing
and building firm, and registrar of the Plol
yoke Water Works. The last position he held
from July i, 1876, till January i, 1893, when
he resigned to take up the duties of Sheriff..
Colonel Clark was prominently identified
with educational work in Holyoke, having
been for fifteen years a member of the School
Board. He was for several years Commander
of Post No. 71, Grand Army of the Republic.
Although a Republican in politics. Colonel
Clark has never attempted to assume an active
part in political affairs; and whatever position
he has occupied in the civil service of the
people has been acquired wholly without his
solicitations, his record and ability being
solely the recommendation for his promotion
to offices of public trust. In the fall of 1892
he was elected to his present position as
Sheriff of Hampden County, and assumed the
duties of this office on January 4, 1893, for a
term of three years. Colonel Clark has been
closely connected with the Second Regiment,
Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, since 1868,
with the exception of two years, and has
worked his way from a private in Company
K to the position of Colonel of the regiment.
In June, 1869, he was elected Captain of his
company, which he commanded until elected
Major in 1871 and Lieutenant Colonel of the
regiment in 1875, being discharged in 1876,
at the time the militia was reorganized. He
returned to the service in 1878, as Captain of
Company D, and the year following was again
elected Lieutenant Colonel, and finally, in
1889, was elected to the colonelcy of the regi
ment, which command he now holds.
Colonel Clark on August 21, 1866, was

united in marriage to Miss Eliza A. Seaver, a
most estimable lady, who was formerly of
Worcester, but previous to her marriage a resi
dent of Holyoke. They have four children, as
follows: Kate E. , Edward S. , Fred B. , and
Alice M.

SRO W. SANFORD, a progressive
farmer and extensive land proprietor
in the town of Westfield, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in the adja
cent county of Hampshire, in the town of
Huntington, then Norwich, November 25,
1839. His parents were Daniel and Lorinda
(Clapp) Sanford and his grandparents Holsey
and Lydia (Dimmock) Sanford. Holsey San
ford was a native of Connecticut, born October
10, 1765. He was a Revolutionary soldier,
entering the service at sixteen years of age,
and was wounded and taken prisoner at Fort
Griswold. After the war he went to Massachu
setts, and located in Hampshire County, being
among the early pioneers in that section. He
was an industrious farmer, and from exercising
frugality and good management became fairly
well-to-do. His death occurred in Hunting
ton, then Norwich, May 13, 1845. Mr San
ford was twice married. His first wife,
Lydia, was born September 30, 1766, and died
March 14, 1807. His second wife was Mir-
riam Lam ph ear.
Daniel Sanford, son of Holsey and father of
Osro, of this account, grew to manhood in
Huntington, then Norwich, his father's home,
and received his education in the common
schools of the town. At an early age he
became engaged in mercantile pursuits, and
later on he began farming. Pie was energetic
and a hard worker, and success followed his
labors. Mr. Sanford also took part in town
affairs, and was prominent in political matters.
He was for many years chairman of the Board
of Selectmen, and lacked but one vote of elec
tion to the legislature. He was a member of
the Congregational church, and took part in
all its interests. His death occurred Decem
ber 14, i860. His wife still survives, and
resides in Westfield, at the home of her daugh
ter, Mrs. Stebbins. Their children were four

876

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

in number, three of whom are now living:
Osro W., the subject of this sketch; Ellen,
widow of Charles A. Stebbins, born January
18, 1841 ; Edgar H., born September 23,
1844, who died April 18, 1862; Sarah E.,
wife of George B. Sackett, born September
23, 1854.
Osro W. Sanford remained on the home
farm during his early years, attending the
district schools and laying the foundations of
a good education. At the age of seventeen he
began life for himself, taking what work came
to his hand. Having inherited his father's
energy and perseverance, he has been generally
successful, and been able not only to get ahead
in the world, but to make an influential posi
tion for himself and his family. At the age
of twenty-two years (1862) he was already
controlling enough money to enable him to
buy the farm of one hundred and twenty acres
where he has since resided. He has increased
the amount of land to about two hundred and
eighty-six acres, and has made various
improvements, so that his farm is now a very
fine one; and, as it is well developed and kept
under good cultivation, it is worthy of a place
among the few exceptionally fine farms of the
town. He not only attends to the cultivation
of a considerable amount of tobacco, hay, and
corn, but also devotes his attention to salable
horses and a fine grade of pure Guernsey
cattle, also raised for the markets.
Mr. Sanford was married November 28,
1 861, to Miss Sarah A. Hitchcock, who was
born in Rockingham, Windham County, Vt.,
May 15, 1838, and was a daughter of Heli and
Sarah (Farr) Hitchcock, both parents being
natives of the Green Mountain State. Heli
Hitchcock, who was born November 29, 1798,
was a farmer. He died March 2, 1872. Plis
wife, Sarah, was born August 8, 1796, and
died May 20, 1871. They were both members
of the Congregational church in Rockingham,
Vt. Of their seven children three are now
living, as follows: Heli Plenry, born March
7, 1823, who resides in Indianapolis, Marion
County, Ind. ; Abraham P., born May 16,
1829, who resides in California; and Sarah
A. (Mrs. Sanford).
Osro W. Sanford and Sarah, his wife, are

parents of five children, as follows: Herbert
O. , born September 26, 1864, a farmer resid
ing in Westfield; Addie L., born January 13,
1867, who is married and resides in West-
field; Walter H., born April 30, 1878, who
resides at the home of his parents; Edgar H.,
born September 14, 1862, who died September
10, 1863; Mary E. , born July 30, 1874, who
died April 18, 1887.
Mr. Sanford is a Republican in politics, and
has filled the office of Assessor in the town,
taking part also in its fraternal interests as a
member of the Mount Moriah Lodge, A. P". &
A. M., of Westfield. Mr and Mrs. Sanford
attend the Congregational church, although
the former is liberal in his religious views.
Mr. Sanford built a handsome dwelling-
house in 187s, and the general appearance of
his estate establishes his right to be called
one of New England's representative farmers.
Plis portrait, which appears in connection with
this article, will be recognized with gratifica
tion by his numerous friends.

ILLIAM BRYAN HARRIS, an en
gineer and surveyor, whose services
to the government during the Civil
War were of acknowledged value, was born in
Charlestown, Mass., on P'ebruary 13, 1826,
son of John and Eliza (Whittemore) Harris.
His grandfather, Thomas Harris, was a sea
captain, who built the first ship that was con
structed after the Revolutionary War. 'Phis
vessel he named "the Fortitude" of Charles
town ; and the old sea captain loved his craft
as if it were a human being. John Harris,
the father of our subject, also followed a sea
faring life until he was about forty years of
age, when he established a house of merchan
dise in Charlestown, which supplied vessels
with everything necessary during a voyage,
his experience as a sea captain giving him
peculiar advantages as a ship-furnishing mer
chant. Captain John Harris during the latter
part of his life gave up mercantile pursuits,
and became a farmer at Needham, where he
died. He married Miss Eliza Whittemore,
the daughter of Mr. Nathan Whittemore, of
Cambridge, where Mrs. Harris was born, on

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

877

September 16, 1791. John and P^liza Harris
were the parents of six children, four sons
and two daughters: John M., born Ma\' 7,
1819; Ellen E., born January 8, 1821 ; Har
riot B., born November 15, 1823; William
Bryan, born, as before stated, P\'bniary 13,
1826; Charles S., born M:ii'ch 6, 1829; and
Plenty Coleman, born j\ugust 21, 1S33. Only
two of the family arc now lixing: William
Bryan and Hairict.
William Br\an Harris recci\ed his educa
tion in public and private schoids in Charles
town, and at nineteen ^'cal•s of age began to
study engineering, to which his subsequent
life has been dcx-otcd. His first work was
done on the Cheshire Railroad, where he was
cniphiyed for nearly three )'cars, He was then
engineer in charge of what at that time was
known as the "air line" to New York, built
from Boston to Woonsocket. After complet
ing this work be was put in full control of the
construction of the roitd from tjlouccstcr to
Rockport, or Pigeon Co\o. This being com
pleted in three years, Mr. Plarris came to
Springfield, where his brother Charles was
located, tho latter being in the employ of the
armory. This was in 1861, when business at
the armory was greatlv increased on account ol"
the Civil War. The government found it
expedient to establish two new government
clerkships, one of which was offered to Mr.
William B. Harris. Mr. Harris accepted the
position, and immcdiatolv entered upon his
now duties, taking charge of the stock books.
Throughout tho period of the Ci\"il War Mr.
Harris held this jiosition under Captain A. B.
D\cr, afterward Cicneral Dyer, who was com
mandant. During this time he was drafted for
the armv. Being exempted from field service
b\" reason of his government position, he might
simply have dismissed the summons; but, in
stead of taking advantage of his privilege, he
omploved a three \cais' substitute to fight in his
place. While in the employ of the government
he lived in one of the houses on the armors-
grounds. He was chosen City Engineer after
the war, and opened an office on Main Street,
which he retained until he became chief en
gineer of the Connecticut River Railroad.
When that road fell into the hands of the

owners of the Boston & Maine in 1893, Mr
Harris relinquished his position, and has since
had no office, although he has had a number of
engagements. On December 3, 1863, he was united in
matrimon)' to Miss Rebecca Bauer, a daughter
of Charles and Rebecca A. (Hopewell) Bauer.
Mrs. Plarris' s father, who was of German
birth, and livcil at Meta, Russia, where he
held a government position, was an accom
plished musician, and upon coming to America
ga\'e concerts and was an instructor in music.
His mother, who came to America with her
son, told interesting incidents of Napoleon's
invasion, and was wont to give, graphic ac
counts of the way in which the French soldiers
compelled her to taste every morsel of food she
had been forced to prepare for them, lest they
should be poisoned. Mr. and Mrs. Harris
ha\'e three children: Charles B., born Januai"}'
II, 1869; Helen PI, bqrn October 30, 1871 ;
and John W., born November 3, 1875. They
are all under the roof-tree of their parents at
39 Madison A\'enne. The religious element,
which is so necessar)- for the home where chil
dren are being brought up, has not been lack
ing in the Harris establishment, for parents
and children are regular attendants of the Uni
tarian church in the city.
Among the most treasured of all the family
heirlooms in Mr. Harris's possession is an old
water pitcher, which bears on one side a faith
ful representation of the ship "Fortitude,"
built by his grandfather, while the opposite
sitle displays a picture of Charlestown as it
looked just after the War of i8i2. This- bit
of china has been broken several times, and
the handle has been lost; but Mr Harris has
had the fragments put together carefully, and
prcserx'es it with jealous care.

*^» m »

P:NRY G. LOOMIS, one of Palmer's
most prominent and enterprising"
business men, was born at South
wick, Mass., August 8, 1842, son of
Shem and Jane (Carter) Loomis. His grand
parents were Shem and Rebecca (Phelps)
Loomis, the former an extensive real estate
holder, largeh" engaged in agricultural pur-

878

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

suits. Shem Loomis died at the age of
eighty-six. Plis wife lived to reach the
advanced age of ninety-nine years. They were
the parents of eight children. Shem Loomis,
Jr., the father of our subject, became promi
nently identified with the agricultural and real
estate interests of the town of Southwick,
acquiring a wide reputation as a liberal-
minded and public-spirited man, who was
always ready to assist, financially or otherwise,
in promoting the welfare of the community
and securing any needed improvement, al
though he invariably declined to serve in any
official capacity. PPe owned and cultivated
some three hundred acres of land, and also
was a noted dealer in and breeder of fine
blooded cattle, as well as superior horses.
Shem Loomis died at the age of eighty-five.
In politics Mr Loomis was a Whig. He
was twice married. His first wife's name was
Saloam Carter, and his second wife was Jane
Carter At her death the latter left five chil
dren; namely, Martha R., Elizabeth, Sarah,
Lemuel, and Henry G.
Henry G. Loomis was educated in the pub
lic schools of Southwick, and at the age of
fourteen years went to Suffield, Conn., where
he engaged in farm labor at fourteen dollars
per month. An agricultural life, however,
seemed to be distasteful to him ; for he very
speedily abandoned it for mercantile pursuits,
returning to his native State and entering the
general store of M. W. French at Palmer as a
clerk, where he remained for a period of three
years. After three years passed in Springfield
in the same capacity, he again went to Palmer;
and at the age of twenty years he became a
partner with his half-brother, J. S. Loomis,
in the furniture business. This enterprise
presented such a favorable outlook that at the
conclusion of the first year he purchased his
partner's interest and proceeded to conduct the
enterprise alone, continuing with considerable
success for six years, when he in turn sold his
entire interest to his former partner, and went
to New Hampshire, where he remained for two
years; but, not finding any business opening
of particularly promising outlook, he again
returned to Palmer, and once more joined
forces with his half-brother in the furniture

trade, purchasing a part interest. This last
venture was productive of the most satisfactory
results ; and they continued to carry on a large
and rapidly increasing trade with uninterrupted
prosperity until 1887, when he again by pur
chase acquired the entire business. Mr.
Loomis succeeded not only in maintaining the
usual run of patronage, but created a steady
advance; and in 1892 he erected a very sub
stantial and commodious business block on
Main Street, containing two large stores, in
which he now conducts his extensive trade.
He is also engaged in the undertaking
business. At the age of twenty-two years Mr. Loomis
married Miss Hattie A. Aspinwall, of Mount
Hope, Conn., daughter of George W. Aspin
wall, a prominent stock dealer and liveryman.
Mr. and Mrs. Loomis have one son, Marion
G., who was born January 19, 1883, their first
born, Clara C, a young lady of many rare
accomplishments and much promise, having
died at the age of sixteen years.
Mr Loomis is a stanch Republican in poli
tics. He was elected representative to the
legislature in 1894, and has been a Selectman
and Overseer of the Poor for the past four
years. He is frequently selected by his party
as a delegate to both the County and State
conventions, and is thoroughly versed in po
litical and parliamentary procedure. He has
been Trustee of the Palmer Savings Bank for
fourteen years, and was President of that in
stitution for two years. He is a member
of Thomas Lodge of A. F. &. A. M., also of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the
Knights of Honor at Milford, N. H., and the
Business Men's Club of Palmer He is a
member of the Second Congregational Church,
and Mrs. Loomis adheres to the Baptist faith.
The family occupy a most prepossessing and
comfortable residence, which Mr Loomis has
recently remodelled and beautified.

\CA^/ ILLIAM R HAYES, one of the
prominent younger members of the
Hampden County bar, having prac
tised since July 2, 1890, was born in this city,
March 27, 1866, son of John and Margaret

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

879

A. (Hayes) Hayes. His father was born in
Ring, County Cork, Ireland, and when a boy
came to the United States alone, and settled in
Springfield. His father, grandfather of the
subject of this sketch, came here in his old age
to take up his abode with his son, his wife
having died in Ireland. John Hayes, our sub
ject's father, was a railroad man, connected
with the Connecticut River Railroad at the
switch and freight yards in the city of Spring
field. He remained in the employ of the com
pany until a short time previous to his death,
which occurred September 10, 1877, at the
age of forty-one years. His wife, Margaret,
was born at Woodfield, County Cork, Ireland,
and came to this country when a young girl
with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Hayes.
She became the mother of four children, of
whom only two are now living. One died in
infancy; and a daughter, Mary C, was cut
off in early womanhood, dying September 20,
1894, at the age of twenty years. The living
children are: William P., whose name appears
at the head of this article; and Daniel J., who
resides in Springfield. The mother still sur
vives. The family are members of the Sacred
Heart Church in this city. Daniel J. Hayes
has been an Assistant Assessor of the city, and
has been since 1892 a student in the PParvard
Medical School.
William P. Hayes received his education in
the local public schools and in the high school,
being graduated from the latter in 1883. After
engaging in miscellaneous employment for a
few years, he spent one year at Ottawa Col
lege, at Ottawa, Ontario. He began the study
of law in the office of James B. Carroll, of
Springfield, where he remained for two years,
studying two years more in the Boston Uni
versity Law School, from which he was grad
uated with the degree of LL.B. in 1889, being
admitted the following winter to the bar by
examination. He held the office of Assistant
Assessor in Springfield in 1888 and 1889, and
also served as Special Assessor in the spring and
summer of 1890. He then took up practice,
commencing July 2, 1890, and has closely fol
lowed his profession to the present time,
engaging in a general line of practice with
success. His office is at 5 Elm Street, where

he has remained since commencing practice.
As a member of the Common Council, to
which he was elected from Ward One in
December, i8gi, Mr. Hayes did good service
for his constituents, serving two terms and dis
playing a good capacity for public affairs.
He also held the office of chairman of the
Democratic City Committee in 1890 and 1891.
As a member of the Common Council, he
served on the Committees on City Property
and Education both years. Since then he has
not aspired to public office. Mr. Hayes is
true to the religion of his forefathers, and is a
member of the Sacred Heart Church and of
the Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul
Charitable Society attached thereto, in which
he holds the office of Vice-President. He is
also a member of the Catholic Order of For
esters, Gallagher Court.
June 5, 1894, Mr. Hayes was united in mar
riage to Miss Mary L. Curtis, daughter of
Daniel J. Curtis, a sketch of whom will be
found elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and
Mrs. Hayes have one child, a daughter, Ger
trude Mary, who was born May 3, 1895.
They have lived since their marriage at 70
Charles Street.

EE W. HIGGINS, one of the enter
prising and noted business men of
Blandford, Plampden County, Mass.,
was born in the town of Worthing
ton, Hampshire County, October 31, 1861,
son of William C and Esther (Burleigh) Hig
gins. His great-grandfather, Elijah IPiggins,
was an early settler of that town, and followed
farming, as have most of his descendants.
His son, Elijah Higgins, grandfather of Lee
W. , was a resident of Worthington, where he
was born April i, 1790. In connection with
farm work he managed a saw-mill, making of
both undertakings a success. He died in
Worthington, July 24, 1856. His wife, whose
maiden name was Rhoda Pomeroy, was born
in Northampton, September 29, 1784. She
died February 10, 1847. Mr Higgins was a
Whig in politics. He and his wife were active
members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
They had five children, who all grew to matu-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

rity : Cynthia Cole, born June 15, 1813, died
April 23, 1 841 ; Electa Cole, born September
15, 1815, died August 29, 1891 ; Charlotte,
widow of William Jackson, born October 6,
1 81 7, lives in Worcester, Mass. ; Lyman, born
September 30, 1821, resides in Worthington;
William C. , the father of our subject, born
June 20, 1824, died May 19, 1884. William C.
Higgins received his education in the schools
of Worthington, and chose the trade of wheel
wright, which he followed for a number of
years. In war time he enlisted in Company
F, P'orty-sixth Regiment of Massachusetts
Volunteers. He was in service thirteen
months, and proved himself to be a soldier
"brave and true." On returning to his native
town, he engaged in the basket business ; and
in August, 1866, he went into company with
Mr. Sibley in Blandford, where they con
ducted quite a business as basket manufact
urers. In March, 1884, Mr Higgins retired
from active business, selling his interest to
his three sons — Ira O, Herbert, and Lee W.
Mr Higgins died in May, 1884, as stated
above. He was highly esteemed in the com
munity, and his loss was deeply felt.
William C. Higgins was married May 21,
1846, to Miss Esther A. Burleigh, a daughter
of Samuel and Amelia (Walker) Burleigh.
Samuel Burleigh was born in Monson, Hamp
den County, Mass., February 17, 1797. His
wife was a native of Wilbraham, in the same
county, and was born November 25, 1791.
Their marriage took place August 20, 181 7.
Mr and Mrs. Burleigh had seven children,
named as follows: Mary A. (Mrs. Putnam),
born August 19, 18 18, who died July 16,
1889; John D., born March 4, 1822, who died
March 29, 1823; John E., born April 6, 1824,
who died October 27, 1890; Esther A., wife
of William C. Higgins; Charlotte A. (Mrs.
Sibley), born December g, 1828, who died
January 18, 1889; Ira O, born May 24,
1831; Asa D., born February 16, 1834, who
died September 12, 1883. Mr Higgins and
his wife, Esther, became the parents of five
children: Corydon W. , born in Worthington,
Mass., October 21, 1847; Edith C, born
November 6, 1849, wife of Charles E. Cross,
of Blandford; Ira O, born September 11,

1 85 1, one of the firm of William C Higgins's
Sons, basket manufacturers; Herbert C, born
May 15, 1855, of Springfield; and Lee W.
Higgins, the subject of this sketch.
Lee W. Higgins was five years of age when
his father moved from Worthington to Bland
ford. He received his education in part in the
schools of Blandford, and later took a course
at Hinsman's Business College in Springfield,
Mass. After this he began to learn the basket
business, of which he had known something
since boyhood, and now with his brother is
engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of
baskets, giving employment to several men.
This is one of the leading enterprises in North
Blandford. He has also conducted quite a
large business in the sale of agricultural im
plements, wagons, carriages, sleighs, reapers,
mowers, and a general line of farmers' sup
plies. This also has been a successful
business. Mr. Higgins was married December 25,
1888, to Miss Laura E. Mann, who was born
in Blandford, September 19, 1865, and was a
daughter of Franklin J. and Martha M.
(Knox) Mann, who both reside in North
Blandford. Mr. Mann was born at Middle-
field, Mass., April 11, 1837, and his wife,
Martha, in Chester, October 7, 1838. Mrs.
Mann was a daughter of Leverett and Laura
(Parks) Knox. Leverett Knox was born in
Blandford, December 29, 1804. He lived in
Chester after his marriage, and carried on
farming, dying in that town at the age of
eighty years. His wife was a native of Bland
ford, and died at the age of forty-five years.
(The history of Mr Mann's parents is found
in the sketch of Charles M. Wait.) Mr
Mann is liberal in religious views, but aids
liberally in the support of the Congregational
church, to which his wife belongs. They had
five children, three now living: Israel G. ;
Warren P. ; and Martha, the mother of Mrs.
Higgins. Mr and Mrs. Lee W. Higgins have one
son, Ray Lee, born November 5, 1891. In
politics Mr Higgins is a Republican. He
has filled several town offices, and is now serv
ing his third term as Selectman. Socially, he
is a member of Huntington Lodge, A. F. &

|P» -w^

SETH BUSH.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

883

A. M. In his religious opinions he is liberal.
As a representative business man Mr Higgins
is held in high esteem by the community.

TCFrEDERICK LOUIS HEWES, Treas-
pl^ urer and Manager of the Hewes Paint
Company, a branch of the well-known
house of Wadsworth Howland & Co. (incorpo
rated) of Boston, was born at Lyme, N. H.,
December 16, 1861, son of Sewell and Mary
(Drake) Hewes. His father, who was born
July 28, 1834, and who is still living, was for
many years a prominent carpenter and painter
of the above-named town. His mother passed
away some time since.
Mr. Hewes attended the district schools of
his native town during the winters, and worked
as a house painter in the summer until reaching
the age of nineteen years, drawing at the age
of sixteen the full pay of a journeyman. He
pursued a five months' course of study at the
Westfield (Mass.) High School, after complet
ing which he returned to Lyme, and worked
with his father for a time. At the age of
twenty-two years he located in Westfield,
where he accepted a position as book-keeper
and salesman with his uncle, D. D. Hewes,
who conducted a large establishment devoted
to the sale of doors, sashes, and blinds, paints,
oils, paper hangings, etc. At the end of two
years he was given entire charge of the enter
prise, which included the purchasing of goods;
and on January i, 1888, he bought the busi
ness of his uncle, which he continued to
carry on until February, 1894, when he went
to Springfield, and opened the establishment
of which he is the present manager. The
extensive manufactory and wholesale house of
which this is a branch was established by Sam
uel Wadsworth in 1845 ; and the salesroom is
now located at 82 and 84 Washington Street,
Boston, ancl the factory at Maiden. The cor
poration conducts a very large business, and
has five different branches, which are situated
in as many different centres of supply ; and it
is needless to say that Mr. Hewes's long
experience in the business will enable him
to make the Springfield branch a thoroughly
profitable investment.

Mr. Hewes selected for a helpmate and life
partner a resident of his native town. Miss
Hattie Stark, daughter of John Stark, of
Lyme, N. H., their wedding occurring the very
day that was made notable by the marriage of
President Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Hewes
have three children, two sons — Fred Leland
Hewes and Lawrence Stark Hewes — and a
daughter — Plattie Lucile.
Mr. Hewes is an active member of the Sec
ond Congregational Church at Westfield, of
which he is a Deacon, and has been superin
tendent of the Sabbath-school for the past
three years. He is a Director of the Young
Men's Christian Association and President of
the Western Hampden Christian Endeavor
Union, which comprises all of Hampden
County west of the Connecticut River. He
still resides in Westfield, where he occupies a
very pleasant home situated at 57 Church
Street.

ILLIAM SETH BUSH, farmer, is
a descendant of one of the old fami
lies of Westfield, and represents the
fifth generation born on the homestead farm
in this town, the date of his birth being Jan
uary 8, 1855. His father was Seth Bush,
whose portrait will be recognized on a neigh
boring page, he having been a prominent agri
culturist of this neighborhood. He was a son
of Asahel Bush. The old farm-house, which
has had so many occupants, was widely known
in early times as a hotel. It was built by
Aaron Bush, great-grandfather of Seth. Aaron
was a descendant of Samuel Bush, who came
to Westfield about 1686. The farm itself con
sisted of one hundred and thirty acres of land
in the days of Asahel Bush, who was a promi
nent farmer, a good citizen, and much re
spected in his day, holding the responsible
office of Selectman. He married Miss Sally
Noble; and they became the parents of six
children, three of whom are still living,
namely': Luke, residing in Westfield; Asahel,
Jr, whose home is in Oregon; and Amelia
(Mrs. Crary), living in Westfield. The par
ents were of Methodist Episcopal belief.
Another son, Seth Bush, above-named, fol-

884

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lowed in the line of his ancestors by growing
up on the farm, which was already "old,"
learning agricultural methods and applying his
energies to making a success of his undertak
ings. Two interests engrossed his time and
thought, the raising of cattle, for which in
time he became noted, and the cultivation of
tobacco. Having good business perceptions,
he understood how to watch the markets, and
was able to make sales at just the right time.
Thus industry and sagacious management led
to prosperity. In politics Mr. Bush voted the
Democratic ticket; and during the years 1859-
60-61 and 1880 he served on the Board of
Selectmen, and was known as a man of probity
and good judgment. He was married in 1847
to Miss Lucy A. Kellogg, daughter of Alva
Kellogg, of Southwick. Mr. Kellogg was a
successful tanner, also a dealer in real estate,
making of this business a pecuniary success.
He lived to be seventy-four years old, his
wife, Eliza (Fowler) Kellogg, nearly reaching
the age of seventy-eight years. Seth Bush
and Lucy, his wife, became the parents of five
children, all of whom are now living, as fol
lows : Homer; Lucy; Mary, wife of Ezekiel
Shipley, residing at Atlanta, Ga. ; Emma,
wife of James O. Haskins, living in Suffield;
and William Seth, of Westfield. The death
of Mr Bush took place May 30, 1894. Mrs.
Bush survived her husband, and resided on
West School Street in Westfield until her
decease in April, 1895. In religion he was of
the Methodist Episcopal faith and she of the
Baptist. William Seth Bush has inherited the old
home farm where he grew up, in his boyhood
attending the dPstrict schools of Westfield and
learning to be a successful farmer, as his an
cestors had been before him. He has added
some little land to the estate, making it to
consist now of about one hundred and forty
acres. Mr Bush gives considerable attention,
as did his father, to tobacco-raising, and with
equally good success, a large part of his land
being devoted to its cultivation.
Mr William S. Bush was married Decem
ber 18, 1883, to Miss Fannie Noble, of South
wick, a daughter of David and Elizabeth
Noble. David Noble was born September 7,

1828, and is a blacksmith by trade and also
a cigar-maker; but he has now retired from
active business. He is a Democrat in poli
tics. His wife, Elizabeth, was born Novem
ber 25, 1839. They have only one child,
Fannie, Mrs. Bush, of this narrative. Mr
and Mrs. Bush are parents of three children :
Emma H., born December 16, 1884; Eliza
beth F. , born January 22, 1886; and Louise
H., born September 7, 1888. Mrs. Bush is a
member of the Second Congregational Church
of Westfield, her husband being liberal in his
religious views. Politically, he is a Demo
crat, and is a member of the Red Men, Meta
comet Lodge, No. 28, of Westfield.

'OHN L. PEEBLES, an extensive farmer
of Blandford, was born in that town,
October 10, 1824, and is a son of Syl
vester and Crucia (Cannon) Peebles,
the former a native of Granville, the latter of
Blandford. The family have been residents of
Hampden County for more than two hundred
years, and have followed agriculture through
the different generations down to the present
day. The original progenitor settled at Beach
Hill, or West Granville, previous to the
French and Indian War; and the land which
he cultivated is still in the possession of the
family. The first family residence was an old
fort, which served as a dwelling and as a shel
ter from the hostile savages, who were numer
ous and troublesome. At that time the
country was covered with virgin forests full of
wild game, and settlers were far apart, log
houses being the only possible habitations.
The great-grandfather, John H. Peebles, lived
in Granville; and in that town the grand
father, John Peebles, was born.
Sylvester Peebles, the father of our subject,
was the first of the family to locate in Bland
ford, where on January i, 1822, he purchased
a part of the farm upon which Mr J. L.
Peebles now resides, and there spent the
remainder of his days. He was a hard-work
ing farmer and fairly successful. Sylvester
Peebles was a Republican in politics. He
was a member of the Congregational church,
and lived an exemplary life, dying at the age

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

88s

of sixty-six. Of his family of six children but
two are living: John L. ; and Sylvester, Jr,
who resides at Freedom, Ohio.
John L. Peebles was educated at the schools
of Blandford, and followed in the footsteps of
his ancestors, becoming an extensive farmer.
He owns the old homestead, which he has
enlarged to a considerable extent, and at the
present time possesses about one thousand
acres of valuable farm property, which he has
acquired by unceasing toil, and is one of the
most prosperous farmers in the town.
On September 21, 1858, he was united in
marriage to Miss Elnora P. Smith, who was a
native of Blandford, a daughter of IPenry A.
and Huldah C (Bacon) Smith, who were old
residents of that town. The union of Mr. and
Mrs. Peebles was blessed with five children,
namely: Warren ]., a farmer at Blandford;
Crucia; Sylvester H. ; Hattie M. ; and Mary
E. , all of whom reside with their parents.
On February 12, 1891, Mrs. Peebles was sum
moned to her final rest, after having well and
faithfully performed her part in life's labors.
She was a devoted member of the Congrega
tional church, with which Mr. Peebles is also
united. He is now one of the oldest settlers
in his part of the town, and is still actively
engaged in attending to his extensive farm
interests. In politics he is a Republican.

KRANZ GEORGE JENSEN, manufact
urer and dealer in confectionery, ice
cream, etc., at Springfield, Mass., was
born at Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, March
16, 1852. His parents were Christien and
Anna Maria (Wolf) Jensen. The father was
a fisherman on the Baltic Sea, following that
occupation all his life. He was twice married.
By the first wife he had three sons and two
daughters, who all reside at Schleswig-Hol
stein with the exception of one son, who lives
in Chicago, 111. Franz is the only child by
the second wife. When our subject was
twelve years of age, the Province of Schleswig-
Holstein passed from Denmark's control to
that of Prussia. One great disadvantage re
sulting to Mr. Jensen from this transfer of sov
ereignty was that the change of government

was followed by a change of language in the
public schools, and scholars were forced to
give up the Danish language and learn the
German. At the age of sixteen he left school,
and for two years worked on a farm, receiving
for his services a sum corresponding to about
twenty-five dollars per year of American
money. Besides the yearly stipend of wages,
he was given, however, a few yards of home
spun cloth made from flax, which served for
summer clothing, and a few pounds of wool
just as it was sheared from the back of the
sheep. This wool his mother cleaned, carded,
wove or spun, and dyed; and he still cher
ishes as an heirloom a pair of stockings which
went through all these processes at his
mother's hands. When he was eighteen years
old, the question of his future came up for
solution. He wanted to learn a trade, but
Prussia required every man to serve in the
army ; and the prospect was that before he had
served his time as apprentice at a trade he
would be called to military service. Being
small of stature, he was not called to join the
army at eighteen years of age, but would
surely have been enrolled on or before his
twenty-first birthday. To avoid the interrup
tion and breaking up of his business by army
conscription he was advised to leave the coun
try and come to America. He therefore, act
ing on this advice, borrowed money to pay for
his passage, and landed in New York City in
1870. In that city he had an opportunity to
learn the business of making confectionery,
receiving for his service seven dollars per
month; but even this small pay was better
than giving his time and also paying for the
privilege of learning, as he would have been
obliged to do in his own country. He spent
seven years in New York City, working as a
journeyman after he had mastered his trade,
and then began to look about for a. place in
which to locate. Hearing that Springfield,
Mass., was a "pretty lively place," he vent
ured to go there; and in 1877 he saw for the
first time his future home. When he arrived
in the city he knew no one; but, walking
down Main Street, he saw a vacant store, and
forthwith hired it. He has occupied this store
(No. 489) ever since.

886

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mr. Jensen's available cash at this time was
forty-five dollars, a small capital on which to
start a business ; but he borrowed seventy-five
dollars more, making in all one hundred and
twenty dollars. His partner had a little more
than that amount, and they commenced busi
ness with a joint capital of four hundred dol
lars. Three years later, in 1880, a neighbor,
who had taken much interest in Mr. Jensen,
and had watched his business methods care
fully, volunteered to loan him one thousand
dollars with which to buy out his partner. He
accepted the offer; and since that date his suc
cess has been very gratifying, and shows that
industry and pluck can surmount all difficul
ties, even those which surround a stranger in a
strange land. By attending evening school in
New York one winter and by carefully noting
forms of speech in business life, Mr Jensen
has gained a good knowledge of the English
language; and his accent hardly denotes that
he is of foreign birth. He has been in busi
ness for seventeen years, at first giving em
ployment only to himself and partner. In
1888 the business required the services of
seven persons besides the proprietor, and the
use of a five-horse-power engine and two ice
cream machines, with a capacity of making
forty gallons of ice-cream an hour, to supply
his large wholesale trade in Springfield. Each
year has seen a notable advance over the pre
ceding one. Besides the store where he first
located he now has a branch establishment at
319 Main Street.
In i8go he started and named the Waldes-
ruhe at Forest Park, which he managed in con
nection with his two other stores; but, finding
it too much of a tax on his time, in the sum
mer of 1 891 he sold out the Waldesruhe to
Sanger & Co.
November 15, 1881, Mr Jensen married
Lillie A. Holmes, daughter of George Holmes,
of Worcester, Mass. They have four children ;
namely, Ollie A., Anna R., P"'ranz George,
Jr, and Harold Holmes. Mr Jensen votes
the Republican ticket. He is a member 'of
PPampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Springfield
Commandery, also of the Masonic Club, as well
as of the De Soto Lodge, Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, of Springfield. " His family

are attendants of the Congregational church of
Springfield. They reside at 199 Park Avenue.
Mr. Jensen's life is an exemplification of his
own words, "Where there is a will and a pur
pose to get on, there is no trouble about
the way."

Kl

EUBEN B. CURRIER, wholesale
lumber merchant at the corner of
Lyman and Dwight Streets, has
been a resident of Springfield since
he was ten years of age. His birthplace was
Three Rivers, near Palmer, Mass., where he
first saw the light on May 24, 1844. His par
ents were James Monroe Currier and Mary
Alzada (Powell) Currier. His maternal grand
father, the Rev. Prosper Powell, was a native
of Sheldon, Vt., and at an early age moved to
Richford, where he married Mary Goff. In
1838 he came to Three Rivers, where he was
pastor of the Baptist church for several years,
until he embraced the Second Advent faith
and became one of its preachers. At the same
time he was a farmer at Three Rivers, where
he died in March, 1881, and his wife in
August, 1868.
James Monroe Currier was a prominent
architect and builder in Springfield, and was
born in North Troy, Vt., on August 27, 181 8.
His parents were Ezekiel and Alice (Hoyt)
Currier, of North Troy, where James received
his early education. At the age of fifteen he
was apprenticed to his brother, to learn car
pentry. At twenty he was given the rest of
his time, and at the age of twenty-one had
accumulated over two hundred dollars in cash,
besides a horse and buggy. In 1839 he went
to Manchester, N. H., remaining there two
years, after which he removed to Palmer,
Mass., and resided until 1853. For twenty
years he was a member of the firm of Currier
& Richards, Springfield, with whom he worked
as carpenter, contractor, and builder, until he
became an architect, in which profession he
continued ten years. It has been well said
that any attempt to survey the work of this
active worker or to estimate the amount of
lumber and other materials cut up by his hands
or. under his direction would be a hopeless

y

R. B. CURRIER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

889

task. He was a man of sterling integrity.
Long residence won him many firm friends.
He was a Republican, and took a keen inter
est in public matters; but his personal tastes
never led him to seek political honors. His
second wife was Mary P. Russell, of Burling
ton, Vt., who survives him with her two
daughters: Nellie Ann, wife of Howard P.
Merrill, of Springfield; and Georgia M., wife
of E. A. Elwell, of Allston, Mass. Mr Cur
rier died July 26, 1893. "We know that if
our earthly house of this tabernacle be dis
solved, we have a building of God, a house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
Reuben B. Currier, our special subject, was
educated in the public schools of Springfield
and by private reading. He learned the brick
mason's trade, at which he worked for about
five years, when in 1862, at the age of eigh
teen, he enlisted in Company A, Forty-sixth
Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, at the time
of its organization. His experiences in and
around Newbern, N.C, where he was sta
tioned, may be found with the history of the
Forty-sixth Regiment in Bowen's "Massachu
setts in the War." After his return young
Currier went to Westfield, Mass., where he
was employed as book-keeper by a whip-mak
ing establishment managed by Rand, Lewis &
Rand. At Burlington, Vt. , with Lawrence
Barnes & Co., he learned the lumber trade,
and found in it an attraction not furnished by
his previous employment. After three years'
experience in Vermont he returned to Spring
field in 1870, as a member of the firm of
Chase, Currier & Co., engaged in the retail
lumber trade. Later he was for a year with
Charles H. Smith, to whom he sold his inter
est in 1873, and began the wholesale business
he has since followed, having his office for a
number of years in Kinsman's Block. On
July I, 1890, he organized the Springfield
Lumber Company, being elected President,
which office- he still holds. His duty therein
does not, however, interfere with his individ
ual trade, which is an entirely distinct branch
of the traffic. This he still conducts in his
own office, though it is attached to that of the
company. Mr. Currier is also Vice-President
of the Delta Lumber Company at Detroit,

Mich., which cuts about thirty million feet of
white pine annually and handles some five
million more.
Mr. Currier was the originator of the
Springfield Rescue Mission on September 15,
1892, and voluntarily gives much of his time
to philanthropic work. He belongs to the
West Springfield Baptist Church, and has
taken a great deal of interest in Mr. Moody's
evangelical and educational work at North-
field and elsewhere. His wife is Lucy Jane,
daughter of Charles A. Hastings, of Spring
field ; and they have three children : Gertrude
Hastings, Walter B. , and Ralph A. Currier.
The father is a man of culture and highly
spoken of in the community. His residence
is at 33 Edwards Street. In politics he is a
loyal Republican. A portrait of this enter
prising man of business, who has shown him
self a patriotic citizen and a helper of humanity
as well, will be noticed on another page.

/^^TeORGE ALONZO JONES, a resi-
\ •) I dent of West Springfield, well known
there as a dealer in real estate and
a successful man of business, was born in the
town of Becket, Berkshire County, Mass.,
October 11, 1839. Plis father, Daniel Riley
Jones, was born in the adjoining town of Otis,
as was also his father, who bore the name of
Daniel Otis Jones. His great-grandfather,
George Alonzo Jones, belonged to the same
place, and followed the trade of shoemaker.
Daniel Riley Jones, our subject's father, was
a farmer in Otis. He resided two or three
years in the State of New Jersey, and then
returned to Massachusetts, and located in Otis.
Subsequently he lived in Sandisfield, Ty
ringham, and Worthington, all towns in the
county of Berkshire. His last days were spent
at the home of his son George in the latter
town, where he died at the age of seventy-four.
The maiden name of his wife, mother of
George Alonzo Jones, was Nancy Snow. She
was a native of Becket, daughter of Pra Snow,
of that town. Her death occurred at the age
of fifty-two years.
George Alonzo Jones was the oldest of
eleven children, and commenced when a youth

Sgo

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

to assist his parents in household and farm
duties. He remained at home with them till
his nineteenth year, when he started in life for
himself, "even with the world." For the
first five years he was employed in teaming for
the Cold Spring Iron Company, at the same
time conducting a farm on rented land and
making his home in Otis. About 1862 he
removed to Springfield, and was employed in
the armory till the close of the -war. He then
went to Becket, and rented a farm of three
hundred and fifty acres, and was engaged there
in the lumber business five or six years, after
which time he returned to Springfield, and
entered the employ of the Connecticut River
Railroad Company, where he continued to
work for three years. He then went to West
Springfield, and engaged in the provision busi
ness, carrying that on two years, after which
he changed his location to the city of Spring
field, and commenced business there by open
ing a market on Bridge Street, conducting this
with success seven years. During this last
period of time Mr. Jones had given his atten
tion to outside matters, and had purchased a
farm in Worthington; and, after giving up his
Bridge Street market, he went there and
resided one year He then returned to Spring
field, and opened a market on Main Street,
running it successfully two years; and then,
on account of ill health, he closed out the
business. In the course of his career Mr.
Jones had become quite largely interested in
real estate in West Springfield, making it his
principal work during the latter part of the
time to improve and exchange real estate.
From this time on he devoted his time to
those transaction,s, for which he had a natural
aptitude; and he became known as a man of
good judgment and reliable perception in real
estate matters. Considering his success in
life and that he had nothing to rely on but his
own endeavor, Mr Jones may be cited as one
of the self-made men of the time.
Mr Jones was twice married : first in his
nineteenth year to Miss Emily L. Dunham, of
Sandersfield. She died in 1862. His second
marriage was in April, 1865, to Miss Hersey
Ann Oliver, who was born in Essex, Chitten
den County, Vt., and was a daughter of Alex

ander and Sarah (Robinson) Oliver, the
former a native of New York, the latter of
Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver were among
the early settlers of the country.
Mr. and Mrs. Jones have one son, Arthur
George, who married Miss Cora Alderman,
and has one child, named Ralph Arthur. Mr.
Jones is still in the prime of life, and in fol
lowing his present line of business bids fair to
do much, by improving the lands which pass
through his hands, toward perfecting a section
of the State which is already noted for its
fine cultivation.

LAYTON D. SMITH, a prominent
lawyer residing in Chester, Hampden
County, Mass., was born in that
town, March 31, 1857, son of David
and Laura Smith. Mr. Smith is a member of
one of the old families of the place. His
father, David Smith, was born on the home
farm, June 5, 181 7, in the house where his
father, John Smith, first saw the light. Our
subject's great-grandfather, John Smith, was
one of the first persons to settle in Chester
He came originally from Northampton, Hamp
shire County; and tradition says that, being a
strong man, he came on foot, carrying a "five-
pail iron kettle " on his back, not having other
suitable means for its transportation. John
Smith settled in the new locality in 1763, his
farm then consisting of one hundred acres of
land. A public-spirited man, he became iden
tified with the interests of the growing town,
and was the first Selectman. He served as a
Revolutionary soldier, and lived many years
after the independence of his country was
established, dying at an advanced age. John
Smith, his son, grandfather of Clayton Smith,
succeeded to the homestead property, and car
ried on farming through his lifetime. He also
was an enterprising citizen. In religious pro
fession he was a Congregationalist. He died
at Chester, at the age of eighty-seven. Of his
four sons and four daughters three are now
living: Nancy and David reside in Hunting
ton ; and Levi resides in Chester.
David Smith, father of Clayton D. Smith,
became one of Chester's leading farmers. He

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

891

owned a good deal of land in the town, and
was devoted to the occupation of farming, by
intelligent labor making it a financial success.
In 1872 he removed from Chester to the town
of Huntington, Hampshire County, where he
has since resided. Mrs. Smith was born in
Washington, Berkshire County, Mass. She
became the mother of four children, namely:
Elizabeth A., who died at the age of thirty-
seven; Elvira, who died at thirty-two years;
Clayton D., our subject; and Jennie E., at the
present time a teacher in one of the Hunting
ton schools. Mr and Mrs. Smith are mem
bers of the Congregational society. Since the
formation of the Republican party Mr Smith
has given it his allegiance and support. He
was Selectman for the town of Chester eleven
years, and in Huntington he has been identi
fied with whatever concerns the town's welfare.
Clayton D. Smith was brought up in Ches
ter in the home of his parents, receiving the
preparatory part of his education in the schools
of the town and afterward attending the Wil
liston Seminary, from there going to Amherst
College, where he took a three years' course.
On concluding his studies in that institution
he entered the law office of E. H. Lathrop in
Springfield, Mass., in which he remained two
years, and was then admitted to the bar. Be
fore settling down to the work of his career,
Mr. Smith took a trip through the West, and
on his return, February 8, 1886, located in
his present place of business. He has since
continued the practice of his profession as a
lawyer, with marked success. Plis ability in
professional work has brought Mr. Smith into
prominence, and he was sent to the legislature
from the First Hampden District in 1894.
He is a member of the Hampden County Bar
Association. Mr Smith was married October 10, 1888,
to Miss Edith M. Rude, a native of Chester,
daughter of Austin Rude, who represents one
of the early families formerly residing in the
town. Mrs. Smith's parents are now living
in Huntington.
Mr. Smith is a Republican in his political
views. He has filled many of the town offices.
He has been a member of the School Commit
tee two years, and at the present time is one

of the Selectmen of the town and chairman of
the Board, also Assessor and Overseer of the
Poor; and he is Trustee of the Public Library.
In religious matters he is liberal. His wife
is a member of the Baptist church.

ALTER BRAMLEY, one of the
leading manufacturers of Chicopee
P""alls, was born in Loughborough,
Leicester County, England, December 26,
185s, son of John and Elizabeth (Onion)
Bramley. John Bramley, his father, was born
in the same town, and was descended from sev
eral generations of knitters. He in time was
brought up to that trade, and took charge of
knitting machines in different factories. In
1870 with wife and all but two of his children
he immigrated to America, and located in
Newton Lower Falls (now known as Newton
City) in Middlesex County, Mass., where he
worked in the knitting-mills. As his health
suffered from the climate, at the end of three
years he returned with his family to England,
and for a time followed his usual occupation,
but finally retired from active work. He died
in 1893, shortly after his retirement. His
wife died in 1892. They were members of
the Baptist church. Mr and Mrs. Bramley
were the parents of twelve children, of whom
the following are living: Hannah, - wife of
Charles Rides; William, married to Elizabeth
Campbell ; James, married to Sarah Barratt ;
Martha, wife of William Elebrant ; Walter,
the subject of this sketch ; Fanny, wife of
Henry Wilson; Elizabeth; John; Isabella.
All of these are in England except James,
Walter, and John.
Walter Bramley received his education in
England. He came to America with his
father and mother, and worked at Newton
Lower Falls in the knitting-mills, but re
turned to England in 1870, and entered a
factory there, remaining till 1878, when he
concluded to come back to this country. On
arrival he sought out his old location in New
ton Lower Falls, where he was employed as
knitter for two years. He then went to
Springfield, Mass., and took charge of the
knitting department for the W. G. Medlicott

892

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Company, manufacturers of knit goods. Eight
years later (1888) he removed to Chicopee
Falls, and engaged in an enterprise on his own
account with Albert E. Taylor. They began
by renting a small room of the Lamb Knitting
Machine Company, manufacturers in the vil
lage, where they set up two knitting machines-
at first; but, soon outgrowing their limited
quarters, they rented more room, and added
more machines, till finally the business seemed
to warrant the establishment of a plant. Ac
cordingly, in May, 1891, they erected a three-
story brick block, thirty by sixty feet, at 61
Grove Street, Chicopee Falls, where they are
now established, giving employment to seventy
operatives. The firm makes a specialty of
ladies' and children's ribbed underwear of
high grade, and has become known quite ex
tensively among progressive manufacturers in
its line of work.
Walter Bramley was twice married. His
first wife was Miss Annie Gwilliams, a
native of Nottingham, England. She passed
away at the age of twenty-two years, leaving
an only son, Walter Mr Bramley's second
wife was Miss Carrie Barratt, a native of
Loughborough, Leicester County, England.
By this marriage he has two children: Harry
B. and Mildred E. The family reside at 227
Broadway, Chicopee P'alls. They are liberal
supporters of the Congregational church,
which they attend. Mr Bramley is a Repub
lican in principle, and is a member of Belcher
Lodge, A. F. & A. M. As one of the
builders of the industrial fabric of the commu
nity, he deserves a leading place in the ranks
of America's enterprising citizens.

^ROFESSOR FRIEDRICH ZUCHT-
MANN, an eminent musician of
Springfield, the author and origina
tor of the American Music System,
was born at Weidenthal-by-Neustadt in the
State of Pfalz, Germany, July 25, 1829. He
is the son of Leonhardt and Louisa (Fischer)
Zuchtmann, and is one of a family of teachers.
PPis musical studies were begun at Neustadt,
where he studied the violin with Carl Fischer
and piano with Guttermann. His education

was completed at Munich under Trutzer,
Wilhelm Walter, and George Bennighof, after
which he taught in the public schools of Ger
many for some time. In 1850 he was com
pelled by the outbreak of the revolution to
flee from Germany, and came to this country.
IPe taught for a short time in New York,
and then went to New Hampshire, where he
was engaged as teacher in Guilford Seminary.
In 1853 he went to Boston, and taught there
without intermission for twenty years, being
connected a part of the time with the Boston
Conservatory of Music; and for several years
he played the great organ in Music Hall, one
of the five largest pipe organs in the United
States. In 1874 he came to Springfield, and
founded the Springfield Conservatory of Music,
which is based upon the same principles as the
leading European conservatories. Advanced
scholars from all parts of this country and not
a few from Europe have sought instruction at
this institution. Professor Zuchtmann has
been engaged many seasons to lecture at dif
ferent summer schools of methods, training
schools for music teachers, conducted in con
nection with the Boston Conservatory of
Music. P'or seven years he was musical direc
tor at Amherst College. One of the strong
characteristics of the man is his wonderful
power to impart his knowledge to others. For
several years he directed the instruction in
music at the public schools of Springfield;
and at the two hundred and fiftieth anniver
sary of the city, in 1886, he gave an open-air
concert with three thousand school-children,
which was highly commended by the Century
and other high grade journals. He resigned
his position in the Springfield schools in order
to devote more time to the development of an
original system of instruction in the schools
of Holyoke, where, with the assistance and
co-operation of Superintendent E. L. Kirk
land, the American Music System has been
practically worked out and every feature thor
oughly tested by experience. Professor Zucht
mann 's original system, the development of
which is the result of twenty years of patient
labor and diligent application of pedagogical
principles, has received the indorsement of
prominent educators and eminent musicians

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

893

who have refused to consider any previous
method, and is meeting with great favor
throughout the entire country where it is
being introduced, the cities of Brooklyn,
Philadelphia, and Hartford having been the
first to adopt it. As a conductor of oratorios
Professor Zuchtmann has won an enviable
reputation, having been associated in this
connection with Carl Zerrahn and Theodore
Thomas. Some of his greatest successes have
been achieved with the conservatory chorus,
consisting of several hundred picked voices,
and the famous Thomas orchestra. He has a
personal letter from Sir Michael Costa, the
eminent English composer, thanking him for
his excellent performance of the oratorio of
"Eli." Professor Zuchtmann directed the Cho
ral Union of Holyoke from 1882 to 1887, and
is the founder of the Hampden County Musical
Association, of which he officiated as Director
for fifteen years. His whole life has been
devoted to music; and he has climbed to the
highest rank of the profession, winning a place
in that small circle of really eminent musi
cians in this country. Professor Zuchtmann is
a member of Roswell Lee Lodge of Masons,
of Springfield Commandery, and also of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On August 3, 1857, he wedded Miss Mary
C Robinson, of Marblehead, Mass., who was
born May 3, 1834, the daughter of the Hon.
Frederick Robinson. Their children are :
Katherine, who is an accomplished pianist;
Jennie, born in i860, who is a fine contralto
singer; and Leonhardt Eichberg, born in 1864,
who is now practising dentistry at Buffalo,
N. Y., and is also a skilful musician.

iVN. LYMAN HORACE BLAKE,
the pastor of the Second Congrega
tional Church of Westfield, was
born in Cornwall, Vt., on July 19,
1840, and is a son of Myron M. Blake, who
was a native of the same State, his birth tak
ing place in Castleton. The father of Myron
M. Blake was a husbandman; and he was
brought up to the same pursuit, after marriage
settling in Cornwall, where he purchased a
farm, and engaged in its development and

improvement until the year 1854, when he
sold it and removed to Middlebury, becoming
the owner of a farm there. In 1862 he went
to Washington, Berkshire County, Mass.,
where he resided for two years, at the end of
which period he removed to Salisbury, Conn.,
in which place he spent the remainder of his
life, dying in 1893, in his eighty-second year
The maiden name of his wife was Lucy Stone.
She was a native of the same State as her
husband, Cornwall being her natal place.
Her parents were Ely and Polly (Janes) Stone.
She passed to the other shore in 1894, having
attained her eighty-fourth year. The parental
household included three children, all sons.
They all received excellent educational advan
tages, and all are graduates of Middlebury Col
lege : S. Leroy Blake, D. D., who is now pastor
of the First Congregational Church at New Lon
don, Conn. ; the Rev. Lyman Horace Blake, of
whom we write; and Clarence E. Blake, Ph.D.,
who is a resident of Springfield, Mass.
Lyman Horace Blake received his early
instruction in the district school of- his native
town, and prepared for college at Burr Semi
nary in Manchester, his preceptor being Dr.
Joseph Wickham. In 1859 he entered Mid
dlebury College, being graduated from that
institution in the class of 1863. He then
entered the Theological Seminary at Andover,
studying there for two years, at the expiration
of which time he went to Guildhall, Vt., being
pastor of the Congregational church there for
one year. He then resumed his studies at
Andover, and was graduated in 1867. His
ordination to the ministry was solemnized in
River Point, R.I. ; and he was installed as
pastor of the Congregational church in that
place, remaining there two years. In 1869
he was called to the church at Rowley, Mass.,
in which he continued four and one-half years,
going thence to Methuen and ministering to
the church there until 1877, when he accepted
a call to Immanuel Church, Roxbury. In
1 88 1 he accepted the pastorate of the Second
Congregational Church in Westfield, of which
he now has charge. This church was organ
ized in 1856, an outgrowth of the First
Church, and has had a rapid growth, now num
bering four hundred and twenty-five members.

894

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mr. Blake has been thrice married : first in
1867, when Miss Isabella Mather became his
wife. She was a daughter of the Rev. Will
iam L. and Amanda (Palmer) Mather and a
lineal descendant on the paternal side of Rich
ard Mather, of Dorchester, celebrated in New
England history, an extended sketch of whom
appears in the Mather genealogy. On the
maternal side she was a direct descendant of
John and Priscilla (Mullens) Alden. Who of
us does not remember the history of the court
ship of Miles Standish, which has come down
to us through the generations, and is ever
interesting.'' And who can forget Priscilla' s
demure answer to John Alden when he, faith
ful to his trust, though sacrificing his fu
ture happiness, pleads earnestly in behalf
of his friend. Miles Standish, whose ambassa
dor he is, "Why don't you speak for yourself,
John?" Mrs. Blake died in June, 1879, leaving
three children: Ethel W. , Constance M., and
Isabella T. M. Mr. Blake's second wife was
Miss Elizabeth E. Stafford. She was born in
Plymouth, N. H., her parents being Charles F.
and Lucy J. Stafford. She passed away in
June, 1894, leaving one child, a son, C. Staf
ford M. ; and Mr. Blake was again married,
his bride being Lucy Frances, daughter of
Leonard and Frances (Hedges) Atwater, of
Westfield, Mass.

in

De FORREST DOUGLASS,
whose name as a manufacturer of
artificial limbs is well known in
both Europe and America, was born
Bloomfield, Conn., on November 9, 1827.

Ji

His father, P'rancis Douglass, was a carpenter
and builder. He removed to Elyria, Ohio,
when De Forrest was about six months old ;
and in the district schools of that town our
subject received his education, his school life
not extending beyond his sixteenth year, at
which time his father returned to the East.
His first year of business life was sjjent in a
piano factory in Waltham, Mass., he finding
employment subsequently in Boston. In 1846
he engaged as fine ornamental wood-carver of
furniture, spending three years in that occupa

tion, during one year of which he was em
ployed in Pittsfield. Subsequently he removed
to Springfield, and in 1849 secured a position
with Parmer & Co., manufacturers of artificial
limbs, and as the manager of their establish
ment on Main Street acquired a thorough
knowledge of that work. During the five
years of his connection with this firm he had
ample opportunity to note the deficiencies in
the mechanical contrivances devised for the
comfort of cripples; and during this time he
invented a new patent artificial limb, known as
the Douglass artificial leg. The invention
was a success, and Mr. Douglass began busi
ness for himself on independent lines. For
eighteen years he continued operations on
Main Street, while his enterprise gradually
grew in magnitude. In 1873 he built the
large brick building at 206-208 Union Street,
which served as residence, factory, and office;
and in this he has continued to do business
ever since. As his trade increased he found it
expedient to open a branch office in Boston,
and for the past quarter of a century has had
his place of business in that city at 13-15
Tremont Street, in connection with the firm of
Codman & Shurtleff, manufacturers of surgical
appliances, where for several days of every
month he may be found. The work done in
the Douglass factories is of such a superior
quality, and has attained such a widespread
fame, that there is a constant demand for the
artificial limbs made there from all parts of
the world. Orders come from France, Eng
land, Turkey, Cuba, New Zealand, South
America, the Azores, Mexico, Germany,
China, and the British possessions on this con
tinent. For the past twenty years Mr Doug
lass has, under contract with the United States
government, supplied disabled soldiers with
limbs; and he is under a bond of ten thousand
dollars, which is on file in the War Depart
ment at Washington, to guarantee good work.
In fulfilling this contract he has never failed
to give satisfaction to his hundreds of patrons.
Mr. Douglass is a strong advocate for advertis
ing, and for forty-five years his advertisement
has appeared in the leading medical and surgi
cal journals of Boston. Three years ago his
insertions were enlarged, and now only appear

WILLIAM W. LOOMIS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

897

fortnightly, though so well known is the firm
that advertising hardly seems necessary.
In 1850 he was united in marriage to Miss
Susan C Stickles, a daughter of David and
Elizabeth Stickles, the ceremony taking place
at Springfield. Mrs. Douglass was born
December 25, 1827, and died in April, 1888,
leaving one daughter, Jennie Grace, who is at
the head of her father's household.
In politics Mr. Douglass is strictly inde
pendent, voting for the man he considers best
qualified for the place.

ILLIAM WELLINGTON LOOMIS,
M.D., one of the well-established
physicians of West Springfield,
Hampden County, Mass., was born in Bark
hamsted, Litchfield County, Conn., June 16,
1853. The Loomis family traces its ancestry
back to early times in the history of the coun
try; and the genealogy, which is of an inter
esting nature, has been published by the family
in book form. Its members have been men of
note and always identified with leading profes
sions since the establishment of the govern
ment in these United States.
Lucius Loomis, father of Dr. William W.
P.oomis, and the grandfather, William Loomis,
were both natives as well as residents of the
town of Barkhamsted, the latter being a farmer
and spending his last days there. The maiden
name of his wife was Lydia Hewett. She was
born in Barkhamsted, where she is still living
at the advanced age of ninety-five years. Her
mother lived to the age of one hundred and
five years. Lucius Loomis inherited the old
homestead at Barkhamsted, and has since
resided there, carrying on farming in a general
way. He married Miss Amelia Barker, a
native of the town of Bristol, Hartford County,
Conn., a daughter of Daniel Barker, who came
to this country from England. They had
four children: William Wellington, Frank,
Clifford, and Grove. Frank died at the age
of twenty-nine and Grove at the age of thirty
years. Clifford is a resident of Riverton,
Conn. William Wellington Loomis was educated
in youth at the high school in Winsted, Litch

field County, and after graduating commenced
the study of medicine with M. L. Crosier,
M.D., of Riverton, Conn. In 1880 he entered
the University of Vermont in Burlington,, from
which he was graduated, receiving his diploma
in 1883. Soon after that he began the prac
tice of his profession in West Springfield,
and has since continued here with increasing
success. In 1885 Dr. Loomis was married to Miss
Caroline Barton, who was born in Dalton,
Berkshire County, Mass., daughter of Henry
Martin Barton and his wife, Electa Barton.
Dr. Loomis finds time to give attention to
social and fraternal interests, and is a member
of Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and also of
Tehah Lodge, No. 238, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows.
The attentive reader, whose eye has fol
lowed the writer in thus noting the principal
turning-points in the life course of Dr.
Loomis, will now view with interest his por
trait, which has a page to itself near by, and
which happily suggests the ideal Doctor of the
author of "Spare Hours," whose "very face is
as good as a medicine and sometimes better
and much pleasanter, too."

2EWIS PHILLIPS, a well-known and
prosperous farmer of West Springfield
 , and a representative of that old
school of New England agricultu
rists who are fast disappearing, was born at
Agawam, then West Springfield, November
21, 1825. His father, Elijah Phillips, was
born in the same town; and his grandfather,
Thompson Phillips, was, as far as known, also
a native of Agawam. The latter's farm was
located in what was formerly known as Ayres
Little, and there he resided until his decease.
The maiden name of his wife was Mary Mor-
ley. She was the mother of six children,
named as follows : Jared, Charles, Thompson,
Elijah, Catherine, and Polly. Elijah Phil
lips, the father of our subject, resided at Aga
wam until 1829, when he purchased a tract of
land situated upon the other side of the West-
field River in "West Springfield, near the Aga
wam bridge; and here he followed agricultural

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

pursuits during the remainder of his life, his
decease occurring at the age of eighty-three
years. Plis wife, whose maiden name was
Polly Smith, was born in the town of Russell,
and was a daughter of Isaac and Charity
(Cowen) Smith. She was called to rest sev
eral years previous to the death of her husband.
Mr. and Mrs. Phillips reared five children;
namely, Albert, Lewis, Jane, Lester, and
Charles. Lewis Phillips was four years of age when
his parents moved to West Springfield. He
made the best possible use of his advantages
for obtaining an education in the district
schools, and at the age of twenty took charge
of a school, teaching for several terms with
pronounced success. At the age of twenty-five
he located upon the farm where he now re
sides, which consists of sixty acres, and is sit
uated about two miles east of the bridge. He
has successfully conducted general farming,
and incidental to this has engaged quite exten
sively in the sale of wood.
Mr. Phillips was twice married. His first
wife, to whom he was united when he was
twenty-five years of age, was Lucinda I. Paine,
of Cavendish, Vt. , daughter of Ephraim and
Betsey Paine. She was summoned to her final
rest in 1856, leaving one son, Milton Phillips.
This son has been twice married, his first wife
being Cora Marsh, his second Mary Russell.
By his first marriage he has one son, Edward.
Lewis Phillips's second wife was Maria D.,
daughter of Oliver and Mary (Loring) Watson,
of Blandford. Oliver Watson was a tanner by
trade and a life-long resident of Blandford,
where he died in his ninety-ninth year. Mrs.
Watson was born in Leicester, Mass., and died
in Blandford. The union of Lewis and Maria
D. (Watson) Phillips has been blessed by two
children : Hattie, who married John Reed, and
has one child, Lawton ; and Watson, who
wedded Anna Casey, and has one son, Bernard.

(5II PPOI

HOMAS D. MILLEA, founder and
1I principal member of the Springfield
-*- Felting Company, was born at Preston,
Conn., November 23, 1857, son of Thomas
Francis and Susan (Lawless) Millea. His

father was born at Clonmell, County Tipper
ary, Ireland, May 24, 1834, and was the son of
John Millea, a prominent manufacturer and a
member of a very wealthy family, the repre
sentatives of which are highly respected and
influential people in Ireland. The present
mayor of Clonmell, the ancestral home of the
family for many generations past, is a relative
of Mr Millea.
Thomas F. Millea pursued the primary
branches of his education in the schools of his
native town, and at a very early age went to
New York City, where he was for a year
employed by Messrs. Snow & Sons as a book
keeper. He then returned to the old country
for the purpose of completing his education,
and graduated at the age of twenty-four from
Dublin University. Returning to New York,
he engaged as a dealer in old paintings, and
being endowed with artistic talent of a supe
rior order became a well-known portrait
painter. Being unfortunate in some financial
speculations, he taught school for a while in
Canada, and tried his fortune in various places.
In 1872 he located in Springfield, where he
passed the remainder of his life in retirement,
and died May 16, 1876. In 1853 he married
Miss Lawless at Providence, R.I., who was a
native of the County Tyrone, Ireland, born
July 14, 1835, daughter of David Lawless.
She came to America with her parents, who
settled in Providence when she was four years
of age, her father engaging in both agricult
ural and business pursuits. She now resides
in Springfield. Mr. and Mrs. Millea were
the parents of six children, four of whom
grew to maturity, namely: Francis J., owner
of the Enterprise Plating Works of Spring
field; Thomas D., our subject; John D., who
is in partnership with the latter; and Mary,
who married Dr. David Mclntire, of Boston,
and died October 4, 1892. Mr. and Mrs.
Millea worshipped at the cathedral in
Springfield. Thomas D. Millea received his early educa
tion in the public schools, supplemented by
private instruction from his father in the
higher branches of study. While yet very
young, he was employed as a cash boy for the
old firm of McKnight, Norton & Hawley, and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

899

was soon promoted to the bundle counter, later
entering the store of W. D. Kinsman as clerk,
where he remained until eighteen years of age.
He entered the manufacturing department of
the National Needle Company at its organiza
tion in 1874, and two years later became a
contractor for that concern, supplying them
with needles which he manufactured on his
own account, employing several workmen and
conducting a very successful business. In
1 88 1 he became connected with the Potter
Needle Company of Boston as an expert,
assisting them in establishing their enterprise
and remaining with them during their business
career. When this company closed up their
business, Mr. Millea returned to Springfield,
and in company with Mr. H. Woodard, of
that city, started the New England Felting
Company, for the purpose of manufacturing a
very durable and effective covering for steam
pipes, boilers, etc., which is Mr. Millea's
own invention. Although this was an entirely
new production, the concern did a very suc
cessful business for three years, at the termi
nation of which Mr. Millea withdrew, and
established the Springfield Felting Company.
In 1894, in company with his brother, J. D.
Millea, he increased the business to larger
proportions, under the present name of the
Springfield Felting Mills, at the same time
inaugurating what is known as the St. Peter's
Electric Engine Stop Company and occupying
the third floor of 21 and 23 Taylor Street.
The latter company is engaged in manufactur
ing an exceedingly useful device for factories
or machine-shops, which consists of a series of
electric buttons placed in all parts of buildings
where power is furnished by a steam-engine,
connecting with the engine-room, and thus
affording the means of stopping the engine at
a second's notice. This is also an invention
of Mr. Millea, and immediately sprang into
popular favor The felting and engine stop
companies now employ a force of about sixteen
skilled workmen, their shops being run night
and day in order to meet the rapidly increas
ing demand for their products. 'They also
have pending several other patents for inven
tions and improvements, besides manufacturing
patents for other parties.

On December 3, 1887, Mr Millea was
united in marriage to Miss Clara E. Davis, of
Northfield, Mass., daughter of Francis and
Mary A. Davis; and they have one daughter,
Susan Josephine. Mr Millea is independent
in politics. He attends the Church of the
Sacred Heart. His residence is at 432 Lib
erty Street, a very pleasant location. The
property, which was purchased jointly by Mr.
Millea and his brother, was formerly the
Josiah Cummings estate, and covers four acres
of finely cultivated land.

JUFrANK p. ware, Postmaster and sta-
p| tion agent at Brightwood (Springfield)
Mass., is an energetic and enterprising
business man, very successful in all of his
undertakings, and a valued resident of the
place. He was born at Warehouse Point,
Conn., March 8, 1863, and is a son of the late
Gilbert E. and Caroline E. (Pease) Ware.
His father belonged to one of the old and well-
known families of Warehouse Point, where he
was engaged in the hotel business for a long
time, and was connected with the Hartford
and Springfield stage line before the operation
of the railroad. He died while yet in the
prime of life, in 1879, leaving his widow, who
is a daughter of Alfred Pease, of that place,
with two children — Frank P., our subject;
and George C, proprietor of the typewriter
agency in Springfield. Mrs. Ware is still liv
ing, making her home with her son P'rank.
Frank P. Ware, after obtaining his educa
tion, which he finished in the Warehouse
Point High School, secured a position in the
telephone office on Pynchon Street, Spring
field, the first telephone established in the
city, the present manager being the day opera
tor, while Mr. Ware was the night operator.
There were very few subscribers in the city at
that time (1878) ; and one person could attend
to all of the calls, and still have plenty of
time to spare. Mr. Ware, having the option
of sleeping during calls, utilized the spare
time in the perfection of telegraphy. On
March 8, 1880, he began the study of telegra
phy at the office of the Western Union Com
pany in the Union depot ; and by assiduous

900

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

application to his work he acquired a thorough
knowledge of the business in five months,
a third of the time usually allowed. But Mr.
Ware was dependent upon his own exertions,
and assisted in the support of his mother, and
was ambitious to enter a business life. On
August 9, 1880, he was given the position of
telegraph operator in the Boston & Albany
freight office, with a salary of forty dollars per
month, very good pay for a boy of seventeen
years. While working there he was also made
librarian of the First Church Sunday-school,
and in 1882 was made treasurer of the High
School Club. As a notable occurrence of this
time he distinctly remembers the "dark day,"
September 26, 1881, the cause of which has
never been satisfactorily demonstrated. On
the ist of May, 1882, Mr. Ware returned to
the employ of the Western Union, working at
the main office, on Main Street, and was there
during the strike of 1882, being the first one
out and the last one back. He remained there
two or three years, then entered the brokerage
business on his own account in the Dickinson
Block, corner of Main and Bridge Streets, he
having two New York and two Boston wires
and one Chicago wire, being the very first to
have so many connecting wires and among the
first in the city to enter into this field in any
shape. Mr. "Ware's forte in business seems to
be finance. Conservative in his methods, he
was very successful in the handling of stocks
and bonds; and his judgment was considered
very good. He established a large and suc
cessful business, but after carrying it on three
or more years closed out on account of failing
health, intending to take a trip to California;
but, other business arising, he had to forego
that pleasure. In 1890 Mr. Ware was asked
by Mr. Mulligan, President of the Connecticut
River Railroad, to take the position of general
station agent at Brightwood, on the Connecti
cut River Road, and has since continued in the
office, although on April i, 1893, the road
passed into the hands of the Boston & Maine
Company. On August 25, 1890, he was
appointed Postmaster. Mr. Ware has done
much to promote and advance the interests of
Brightwood, having been influential in bring
ing the Birnie Paper Company from Spring

field, and also in establishing the Wasson
Avenue sewer, one of the leading improve
ments of the place, which was put in at a cost
of about eighty thousand dollars. He was
likewise a promoter in bringing the Spring
field Drop P""orging Company to locate there.
Having had connections with the different rail
ways, Mr. Ware has visited all the principal
New England cities, besides others farther
West. Mr. Ware was married June 15, 1887, to
Carrie E. Lull, a daughter of ex-Alderman
Lull, who was proprietor of the stage line
from the depot to the water-shops before the
establishment of the street car lines.
Socially, Mr. Ware was a member of the
Red Men until 1890, when he took a with
drawal card, and was a member of the
Springfield Bicycle Club when it was first
incorporated. He attends and supports the
Brightwood church, although he and his
wife are members of St. Paul's Church of
Springfield.

-OSHUA STEVENS, inventor of the
Stevens rifle and President of the J.
Stevens Arms and Tool Company of
Chicopee, was born in Chester, Hamp
den County, Mass., September 10, 18 14. John
Stevens, his grandfather, was a native of Mas
sachusetts, born in 1744, was a farmer and
miller, and because he was a miller was ex
empt from serving in the army. He lived to
a ripe old age, and had a family of eight chil
dren : John, Joshua, Henry, Aaron, Jude, Ira,
Lucy, and Hannah.
Joshua, the second son, and father of him of
whom this sketch is written, was born in
Brookfield, Mass., about the year 1782. His
father moved to Chester when the surrounding
country was wild and uncultivated, and pur
chasing a tract of land established a mill.
Joshua, who was a young man at the time, col
lected the scant supply of money which he had
saved from his earnings, gathered his clothing
and working utensils into a bundle upon his
back, and set off on foot upon the journey to
Chester, whither his parents and the younger
children had already gone. Arriving at the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

901

Connecticut River, the young pedestrian
paused perforce, there being no bridge or
ferry-boat. Soon, however, he hired an Indian
to paddle him across in a canoe ; and thus he
was enabled to pursue his journey. At Ches
ter he bought a hundred acres of partially
improved land, settled down to the toilsome
routine of farm life, and in the course of time
was married and planted a posterity. Joshua
Stevens, the elder, was a public-spirited man,
and faithfully fulfilled his duties of citizen
ship as well as social and domestic obligations.
He was an active politician, serving in the
legislature and holding several local offices.
Both he and his wife were earnest members of
the Baptist church. He died at seventy-four
years of age and his wife at sixty-two years.
Eight children were born to them, a goodly
"heritage of the Lord"; namely, Joshua,
Ruth, Fanny N., William, Nancy M., Lib
erty, Charlotte, and Eliza T.
Joshua, the eldest-born, attended the com
mon schools of Chester during his boyhood,
and at seventeen years of age became a bread
winner, working on the neighboring farms for
the scant requital farm labor in the rural dis
tricts at that time commanded. At nineteen
he apprenticed himself in a machine-shop at
Chester, where for three years he worked dili
gently, receiving for his services six dollars a
month the first year, eight the second, and ten
the third. As a versatile and skilled workman
he was then employed in the shop at the rate
of a dollar a day, the labor day's hours counted
from five in the morning to seven in the even
ing. At the end of a year he settled with his
employer, taking a note for one hundred and
fifty dollars, which bit of paper he has care
fully preserved as a memento of his start in
life. In 1838, immediately after leaving
Chester, he went to Springfield, where he
secured employment with Cyrus B. Allen,
manufacturer of pistols and muzzle-loading
fire-arms. He worked in the same line in
different places until 1844, when he went to
Stamford, Conn., and there with Harvey
Waters constructed the first pin machine made
in America. He was connected with Mr.
Waters until that gentleman sold his plant to
Dr Howe, of Birmingham, Conn.

It was at this time that Mr. Stevens made
the acquaintance of the since celebrated Sam
uel Colt, then a lecturer on astronomy, who
owned the patent of Colt's revolver, and was
having the weapon manufactured by Eli Whit
ney at Whitneyville, now New Haven. These
revolvers were being made by government
order; and, there being a sure sale of them,
Mr. Colt shortly established a small and
unpretentious shop on Pearl Street in Hart
ford, and employed Mr. Stevens as workman.
Here he made the first model of Colt's revolver
ever made in Hartford ; and Mr. Colt inter
ested a number of wealthy gentlemen in the
enterprise, who immediately formed a company
for its more extensive manufacture and sale.
The venture prospered from its incipiency, and
from the little shop on Pearl Street Colt's
Armory has been evolved and Mr. Colt's large
fortune amassed. In 1849 Mr. Stevens pat
ented a revolver called the Wesson, and inter
ested a number of capitalists at Chicopee
Falls, who established the Massachusetts Arms
Company. The work done by this company
was of the most delicate sort, the machinery
being imported from England, there being
none manufactured in America sufficiently fine
to produce the exquisite finish requisite. At
length Mr Stevens, who had charge of the
company's works, began visibly to fail in
health, and was forced to rest from his cares
for a season.
Buying a small farm of thirty acres, and
taking open air exercise, in a year's time he
was sufficiently recovered to accept the charge
of a pistol-shop at Worcester, from which was
developed the Joslyn Fire Arms Company of
Stonington, that turned out a large number of
fire-arms for the government during the Civil
War. Mr. Stevens now came to Chicopee
Falls, and together with W. B. Fay and A.
Bartlett established a small factory, where a
single shot pistol of his own invention was
made. From that the Stevens pistol and rifle
were evolved ; and in a small room in an old
grist-mill on the Chicopee River the first of
these fire-arms, now so famous, were manufact
ured. In 1865 they began to make tools,
introducing a spring caliper, which was the
first successful attempt with such tools in this

902

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

country. In 1867-68 the building they were
using was purchased, torn down, and rebuilt;
and the J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company
was established and incorporated with a capital
stock of forty thousand dollars — Mr. Stevens,
President, James E. Taylor, Agent, Secretary
and Treasurer — at 9 Montgomery Street,
where its executive head, though now eighty
years of age, may be found each day, actively
engaged in discharging the duties of his
position. Mr. Stevens's cheerful disposition and happy
nature have perhaps done much toward keeping
him youthful in mind and spirit and vigorous
in body. At thirty-five years of age he mar
ried Miss Jane Morris, born in New York
State in 1827. She died in 1882, leaving
three children: Addie L., now Mrs. Judge W.
F. Davis, and a resident of Meriden, Conn. ;
Isabella, who married Professor A. H. Tol-
man, of Chicago, III., and has one child; and
Jennie M. In politics Mr. Stevens is a stanch
Republican. His generous response to every
appeal of suffering or need endears him to all
who know him, and many have been recipients
of his generosity. Mr Stevens with his
daughter lives in the handsome residence at
123 Court Street, Chicopee Falls. He has
been the originator of many of the most not
able manufacturing enterprises in New Eng
land, and his name stands high among the list
of American inventors.

!ERT S. ATKINS, capitalist, a
irominent and highly esteemed citi
zen of Westfield, where he has re
sided since 1877, is well known
throughout the county for his many interests.
He was born in Southampton, Hampshire
County, Mass., on August 9, 1828, and is a
son of Luther Atkins, a native of Westfield,
and grandson of Chauncey Atkins. The
latter was for many years a resident of West-
field, being engaged as a contractor, and
was the owner of a grist-mill. He removed
from Massachusetts to the State of New York,
and spent his last years in the town of Otisco.
Luther Atkins, the father of Albert S., was
reared and married in Westfield, and a few

years after marriage removed to Southampton,
where he purchased a farm, there residing
until his death. The maiden name of his
wife was Jerusha Sackett. She was a native
of Westfield, and died in Southampton. She
was the mother of six children.
Albert S. Atkins was educated in his
native town, and at the age of twenty-one
started out in life for himself, having to
depend entirely upon his own exertions. His
first employment was at chopping wood, re
ceiving fifty cents per cord. This was hard
work, but he was strong and in the enjoyment
of perfect health ; and he persevered, saving
his earnings, and in due time laid by sufficient
money to purchase a small wood lot. In that
insignificant way he became a dealer in wood
and lumber, and laid the foundation of his
future prosperity. In 1854 he made a visit to
the West, travelling by rail to the western
terminus of the railroad. At Alton he took
passage on a steamer for St. Louis, and on
arrival there embarked on a steamer bound for
Kansas City. The water in the river being
very low, it took three weeks to make the
trip. From the latter place he started with a
mule team for Lawrence, Kan. At that time
Kansas was practically uninhabited save by
the Indians and wild game, elk and buffalo
abounding on the prairies. Mr. Atkins was
not favorably impressed with the outlook,
and in a few weeks returned home, resuming
the lumber business, also dealing in real
estate. He bought a number of wooded
farms, and in addition to his already exten
sive business engaged in agricultural pursuits.
He made his home in Southampton until
about 1877, in which year he removed to
Westfield, where he has since resided, with
the exception of the winter seasons, which he
spends in Florida, having a beautiful home at
Orlando, Orange County. He is still largely
interested in real estate in Southampton,
owning upward of eight hundred acres of land
there. He also has large interests in the vil
lage of Westfield, where he has erected a fine
business block and several dwellings. Mr.
Atkins was one of the incorporators of and is
now a Director in the Easthampton Savings
Bank. He is also connected with different

ALBERT S. ATKINS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

90s

manufacturing enterprises here, being Vice-
President of the Textile Company and a Direc
tor in and ex-Vice-President of the Vitrified
Wheel Company.
In 1856 Mr. Atkins was united in marriage
with Miss Sarah A. Robinson. She was born
where now is the city of Holyoke, on the
western bank of the Connecticut River. Her
father, Eli Robinson, was born at Chicopee
Falls, and was a son of Joseph Robinson.
He learned the trade of wheelwright, and
located on the present site of Holyoke years
before the dam was built. There he followed
his trade, and resided until his death, which
occurred at the early age of forty-two. He
married Miss Sarah Parks, a daughter of Pliny
and Sarah (Strong) Parks and a native of
Hampden County. The mother of Mrs.
Atkins was a second time married, becoming
the wife of Joel Lyman, and spent her last
years in Southampton, departing this life at
the advanced age of seventy-four. The union
of Mr. and Mrs. Atkins has been blessed by
the birth of one child, a daughter — Carrie J.,
who is the wife of I. T. Alstrom, and has two
sons — Albert Frederick and Harvey Stanley.
Mr. Atkins has been a Republican since
the formation of the party, and has always
taken an active interest in public affairs,
while in Southampton serving several terms
as Assessor and as a member of the Board of
Selectmen. In all enterprises promulgated
for the advancement of the best interests of
the community Mr. Atkins has taken an active
part, and his integrity and good sense in busi
ness matters have insured him the respect and
esteem of his fellow-citizens. A portrait of
Mr. Atkins will be found on an adjoining
page.

iVRON R. WILLIAMS, of the
wholesale paper company of Kast-
ner & Williams of Holyoke,
who since 1843 has been a resi
dent of Springfield, was born at Mount Holly,
Vt.j December 21, 1842, son of Isaac Eddy
and Lydia Ann (Foster) Williams. The
grandfather of Mr. Myron Williams was Joel
Williams, who married a Miss Eddy. Both

were from Wallingford, Vt. Joel Williams
learned the machinist's trade at Lowell, after
ward locating in Springfield, where he worked
in the Boston & Albany shops under the di
rection of his former pupil, Mr. Wilson Eddy.
Isaac Eddy Williams was a native of Walling
ford, Vt., where in his youth he was a farmer.
At Lowell, Mass., he served an apprenticeship
in the machine-shops of the Locks and Canal
Company during the time that his uncle, Wil
son Eddy, was there. On completing his
term of apprenticeship he returned to Mount
Holly, where for a short time he engaged in
farming. In the spring of 1843 he secured
work as a machinist on the old Western Rail
road, now a part of the Boston & Albany, and
extending at that time only as far as Spring
field. He also ran a locomotive, which was
known as the "United States," and made
daily trips to Worcester and back until the
road was extended west, when he was one of
the first engineers who crossed the mountains
to Pittsfield. From 1849 to 1855 Mr. Will
iams ran an engine over the North Adams
Branch, and for a period of forty-one years
drew his wages as regularly as the moons
waxed and waned. During the long period
of his daily runs ovei the lonely mountain
roads his engine became invested with almost
human attributes and instincts, to his mind;
and he bestowed upon it something like the
affection one gives a faithful horse or dog.
For a score of years, too, he was despatcher
on the road for both sides of the river — that
is, from Springfield and West Springfield —
and was holding that position at the time of
his death. Though never actively engaged in
politics, Mr. Williams was in strong sym
pathy with the Republican party. He was a
member of the old Alarm Fire Engine Com
pany of the Springfield Volunteers, of which
Mr. Henry Gray was foreman. He belonged
to the Hampden Lodge of A. F. & A. M.,
Springfield Commandery, and the intermediate
branches. Mr. Williams married Miss Lydia
Ann Foster, who was born P""ebruary 8, 18 19.
She was a daughter of Benjamin and Annie F.
Foster and grand-daughter of Abel and Mary
(Wood) Foster. Abel Foster was a soldier in
the Revolutionary War, and his son Benjamin

9o6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was a farmer in the neighborhood of Mount
Holly, Vt.- Mrs. Williams died February 20,
1888. Both husband and wife were members
of the First Baptist Church, in which the
former was a Deacon. Two sons were born to
them — P^ederick M. and Myron R. The
former, like his father, was a locomotive en
gineer, taking his father's engine in 1863.
But his career was a brief one. On October
6 of that year there was a fatal accident, and
the young engineer was killed. The other
son, Myron R., is the original of this bio
graphical memoir.
Myron R. Williams was educated in the
public and high schools of the city, graduating
from the latter in 1861. He then went into
the old wholesale and retail grocery store of
Pynchon & Lee as book-keeper, and from
there took a position in the Chicopee Bank,
where he was accountant for three years. He
then became identified with paper-making,
entering in 1866 the employ of the manufact
uring company of Greenleaf & Taylor, and
remaining several years. Mr. Williams was
engaged in the ladies' furnishing trade in
Boston for a time; but, being burned out in
the great fire there in 1872, he returned to
Springfield, and accepted a position with the
Powers Paper Company in Springfield, in
which he had charge of a department for ten
years, mastering every detail of the various
departments of the work. He then came to
Holyoke, and embarked in a job paper enter
prise, which was conducted under the name
of the Kastner & Williams Paper Company
of Holyoke. In this he is now engaged, and
most gratifying success has attended his latest
venture, the growth of which has justified the
establishment of a branch business at 99
Franklin Street, New York, where a large
amount of work is also accomplished. Be
sides these two central points of custom the
company has a number of men in its employ
who travel in the interests of the manufactory,
and cover the territory from the Provinces to
Chicago. From Main Street, the former
place of business, they have been obliged to
move to larger quarters, and are now occupy
ing the old Parsons Hall.
Mr. Williams was twice married: first to

Miss Harriet Emma Haselton, a daughter of
Mr. Clark Haselton, of this city. Mrs. Will
iams died December 11, 1887; and Mr.
Williams formed a second marriage October
23, 1889, his bride being Miss Virginia F.
Adams, a daughter of Mr. Nathaniel Adams,
of Springfield. Two children were the fruit
of this marriage: Myron R., Jr., who was
born October 22, 1890; and Marion S., born
December 28, 1894.
Mr. Williams has been a member of the
City Republican Committee for the past four
years. Since 1863 he has belonged to the
Hampden Lodge, Masonic Order, Chapter,
Council, and Springfield Commandery. For
many years he has been on the list of mem
bers of the Winthrop, the most exclusive and
luxurious club in the city. Mr. Williams
has spent most of his life in the vicinity of
Boylston Street until very recently, when he
moved from the familiar haunts of his boyish
days into the handsome new residence at 35
Randolph Street, Forest Park. For many
years he has been clerk of the First Baptist
Church of this city, with which he still holds
membership, and to which he is loyally
attached.

-EROME W. HYDE, manager of the
Springfield Steam Power Company, is
a popular and rising young business
man of the city of Springfield, well
fitted by natural endowments and liberal cult
ure for the important position he occupies as
manager of one of the most enterprising busi
ness concerns of the county, and one which is
a most potent factor in the upbuilding of the
manufacturing interests of Springfield. Mr.
Hyde is a native and to the manner born, his
birth occurring September 23, 1861, at the
residence of his parents, Plenry S. and Jennie
(Wason) Hyde. (For further parental history
see sketch of Henry S. Hyde.)
Jerome W. Hyde was afforded every advan
tage for acquiring a substantial education.
He, with his brother, spent two years at a
school in Vevay, Switzerland, where, in addi
tion to his other studies, he became familiar
with the French language. On his return

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

907

from Europe he entered the Springfield High
School, and after his graduation, in 1880,
completed his school life at the Worcester
School of Technology, known as the Worces
ter P""ree Institute, which he was obliged to
leave before graduating on account of an acci
dent to one of his knees, which layed him up
for over a year. In 1883 Mr. Hyde became
connected with the Springfield Steam Power
Company as Manager and Assistant Treasurer
of the company, an office which he still fills.
He is daily adding to the strength of his repu
tation as one of the hard-working young
business men of the city. Although still
young in years, he has already been connected
with many of the business enterprises of the
city, and was General Manager and Superin
tendent of the Springfield Electric Light
Company until it was merged into the United
Electric Light Company. PPe has been also
a Director of the Springfield Printing and
Binding Company from the time of its incor
poration until the present. Mr. Hyde is a
prominent Mason, being a member and one of
the incorporators of the Springfield Lodge,
A. F. & A. M., in which he is an officer.

ILBUR F. NICHOLS, principal of
the Hamilton Street School at
Holyoke and author of a series of
text-books which are based upon the educa
tional ideas of the- present public school sys
tem, was born at Stillwater, Minn., November
18, 1857. He is a son of the Rev. Henry M.
and Nancy H. (Sykes) Nichols. Henry M.
Nichols was a native of Huntington, Conn.
He attended the public schools of his native
State, and pursued his studies at Wilbraham
Academy, and at Oberlin College in the State
of Ohio. After being admitted to the New
England Conference of the Methodist Episco
pal church, he was assigned to different
charges of that denomination in Massachu
setts. He later moved to Stillwater, Minn.,
where he became pastor of the Presbyterian
church, and, after laboring there for a number
of years, accepted a call from the Plymouth
Congregational Society of Minneapolis. Dur
ing his pastorate there he met his death while

attending a family picnic, on July 5, i860, at
Lake Calhoun. Mr. Nichols's eldest son, in
company with others, while bathing was
caught in the quicksands; and the distracted
father, in a heroic but vain attempt to save
them, became himself engulfed by the treach
erous sands, and was drowned. His wife, a
brother-in-law, and two nieces, having joined
him in the attempt to rescue the children,
also perished. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols were
the parents of four children, two of whom
died in infancy.
Wilbur E., the subject of this sketch, was
the sole survivor of the family after the catas
trophe at Lake Calhoun. He was at that
time two and one-half years of age. He pur
sued his elementary studies in the public
schools at Belchertown, Mass., attended Wil
braham Academy, where he prepared for his
collegiate course, and graduated at Amherst
College in the class of 1880. He immedi
ately adopted the profession of an educator,
commencing his labors at Sheffield, Mass.,
where he taught one year, and subsequently
teaching for the same length of time in the
high school at Florence, Mass. In the
autumn of 1882 he was secured by the city of
Holyoke, and assigned to the Park Street
Grammar School, where he taught for six
years, or until the Hamilton Street school
building was completed, when he received
appointment as its principal, a position which
he has since occupied to the complete satisfac
tion of the department and the general public.
He has not only displayed unusual proficiency
in and a thorough understanding of his work,
but has introduced some practical and original
improvements upon the present methods
of systematic public-school instruction. For
this purpose he has carefully compiled some
valuable text-books relating to geographical
and mathematical subjects that tend to in
terest as well as educate the pupil. His work
entitled "Topics in Geography" has been
adopted by several school boards as a text
book, and is known and appreciated in differ
ent parts of the United States; and it has
even found its way beyond the Atlantic into
the school-rooms of Great Britain. The work
in arithmetic consists of a book for each grade

9o8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

of the public school, based on the new and
advanced ideas now demanded in all mathe
matical study. These books are now in the
hands of the publishers, and unite with arith
metic the principles of algebra, geometry,
and book-keeping.
In September, 1882, Mr. Nichols wedded
Miss Mattie E. Washburn, daughter of Dea
con Charles L. and Elizabeth (Strong) Wash
burn, of Belchertown, Mass. Mrs. Nichols's
father was for twenty-five years chairman of
the School Committee of that place and a
prominent officer of the Congregational
church. He served one term in the legis
lature, and at the time of his decease, which
occurred in September, 1882, was Town
Clerk, an office he had held for several years.
Mr. and Mrs. Nichols have two children —
Charles Washburn and Elizabeth Louise.
The family are members of the Second Con
gregational Church. They reside at 249
Walnut Street.

-|p)TENRY WHITE, a retired gentleman
l-^-l of Springfield, formerly in the ser-
1 19 I vice of .the Russian government,
— was born at East Douglass, Mass.,
May 13, 1828. He is the son of John and
Cynthia (Olney) White and grandson of
John White, a soldier in the Revolutionary
War. John White, the father of our subject,
was born in Mendon, Mass., in May, 1790.
He first learned the trade of cabinet-maker,
but after his marriage settled on a farm in
East Douglass. Subsequently he engaged in
the manufacture of shuttles at Uxbridge
Centre. Removing to North Uxbridge, he
established a large carriage manufactory, and,
retaining the shuttle business, also made cot
ton filling. His last years were spent at
Danielsonville, Conn., where he died No
vember 25, 1863. Pie married Cynthia
Olney, of North Providence, R.I., daughter
of Richard Olney. The Olney family is of
Colonial origin, and has an honorable record.
Richard Olney, our subject's grandfather on
the maternal side, was a merchant, and was
also a cotton and woollen manufacturer and a
banker at Oxford, Mass. He acquired a hand

some fortune. His residence was at North
Providence. Richard Olney, the present at
torney-general, is a cousin to the subject of
this sketch. Mrs. Cynthia (Olney) "White,
our subject's mother, was called to her final
rest at the age of eighty-four years, passing
away at Danielsonville, Conn., where her
husband also breathed his last. Mr. and Mrs.
White reared nine children, as follows:
Samuel O., of Windsor Locks, Conn.; Aaron
O., who died at Riverside, Providence;
Olney, who lived and died .at Woonsocket,
R.I.; Mrs. Abigail A. Robinson, a resident
of Winsted, Conn.; Izanna E., wife of Adol
phus Adams, residing at Danielsonville;
Corintha B., who married Charles Holmes,
and has passed away; Semantha, who married
Stillman Ray, and died some time since;
Henry, our subject; and Almira, wife of
Daniel Spaulding, also deceased.
Henry "White was educated in the public
schools and the academy at Uxbridge, and
on completing his studies entered the shops
of Paul Whitin & Sons at Whitinsville,
Northbridge, Mass., as an apprentice, for the
purpose of learning the trade of a machinist.
After serving seven years, he went to Hol
yoke, Mass., where he remained one year. In
1853 he went to Springfield, and was em
ployed at the Boston & Albany Railroad shops
with Wilson Eddy. He continued there
until 1859, part of the time acting as fore
man; and, being a thorough and reliable
master mechanic, he was offered, in July of
that year, a position in Russia by "Winans,
Harrison & Winans as assi'stant master me
chanic of the Nicolai Railroad. He accepted,
and started immediately for his new post.
At the end of a year he was promoted to
the position of chief of a division, with
headquarters at a town called Spirova, where
he had the entire charge until 1862. In that
year Winans's contracts in Russia expired, and
Mr. White returned to America, going di
rectly into the United States Armory in
Springfield, where he was busily engaged
until the termination of the war. He next
went to Rome, N.Y., and for a time held a
position in the mechanical department of the
Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad,

SILAS NOBLE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

911

but was in 1865 induced to revisit Russia
and assume the position of chief mechanic of
the Spirova Division. After a year's service,
he was assigned to duty at the St. Petersburg
station, where he assumed full charge of the
first division, including the rolling stock, both
locomotives and cars. Mr. White was in St.
Petersburg during the excitement which at
tended the assassination of the Czar Alexander
II. and the coronation of the late emperor;
and he received the highest praise, together
with a bronze medal bearing the impress of
the emperor's head and the St. Alexander
Ribbon, with permission to wear it exposed
to view, for the very able and complete man
ner in which he handled the traffic during
these eventful times. A copy of the cer
tificate accompanying the medal is here
given : — certificate.
By Imperial order, on 3rd day of November, 1883,
this certificate, annexed by the Government seal, was
given to Henry White, Superintendent of the ist Divi
sion of the Nicolai Railroad, to certify that he was
granted a dark bronze medal established by Imperial
order in memory of the coronation of the Emperor
Alexandre III., and to be worn on the breast near top
buttonhole on a St. Alexandre ribbon.
St. Petersburg, March 10, 1884.
(Signed by) Minister of Interior,
Count Tolstoi.
Director, 
During his residence in Russia Mr. White
acquired a thorough knowledge of the diffi
cult Russian language, which he speaks
fluently. In 1883, his health being under
mined by the severe climate, he was forced to
resign his position. He returned to the
United States by way of England, where he
remained through the winter, arriving at
Springfield in May, 1884, and at once settled
in his comfortable residence at the corner of
Union and Stebbins Streets, which he erected
in 1863, where he has since lived retired, and
is enjoying a well-earned rest. Mr. White
also has other valuable property in Spring
field. His first wife was Miss Cornelia Ann
Brown, of Providence, R.I., who left one son
and one daughter. The former, whose name

was Elzaphan Kirk, died January 11, 1873,
aged twenty-one years. The daughter, Del-
phine C, married John Braithwaite at St.
Petersburg, October 31, 1881, and has one
daughter — Edith. They now reside at
Templeton, Mass. Mrs. White died at
Springfield, October 6, 1857; and on March
5, 1874, Mr. White married Miss Mary A. M.
Kendall, who died at St. Petersburg, Russia.
His third wife was Miss Harriett Christiania
Vickerman, whom he wedded at Hull, Eng
land. She died June 26, 1887. Of this
union the following children were born: Ara-
bula A., born at St. Petersburg, October 12,
1875, who died June 26, 1876; Harriet Chris
tiania, born at St. Petersburg, March 5, 1878,
who died May 6, of the same year; Theodore
E., born June 22, 1885, in Springfield, who
died at Riverside, R.I., August 4, 1886;
Herbert Henry, who was born at St. Peters
burg, February 26, 1882, and is now residing
in this city. On June 3, 1890, Mr. White
was again married, his bride being Miss
Jennie Powers, who was born at Brantford,
Ontario, April 3, 1854.

ILAS NOBLE, late a well-known
and highly respected citizen of
Granville, where he was for many
years closely identified with the
industrial development of the town, was born
at Russell, Hampden County, Mass., Decem
ber 1, 1824. He is a son of Reuben and
Cynthia (Gowdy) Noble, the former a native
of Russell, the latter of Somers, Conn. The
ancestors of the family were among the very
earliest settlers in Hampden County, the first
of the line being Thomas Noble, who came
from England at an early date, and settled in
in Westfield, where he died January 20, 1704.
Silas Noble was two years of age when his
parents moved to Granville. In that town he
received his education in the public schools.
He commenced to learn the trade of a car
penter and joiner at the age of seventeen
years, and followed that occupation for a num
ber of years in Springfield. Returning to
Granville, he worked at his trade until 1854,
when he established an enterprise for the

gi2

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

manufacture of drums, which from a small
beginning developed into a very extensive and
flourishing industry. Associated with Mr.
Noble was the late J. P. Cooley, their busi
ness relation continuing until the partner
ship was dissolved by death. The enterprise
rapidly increased in importance until it as
sumed large proportions, and proved exceed
ingly profitable, their products finding a ready
market in all parts of the country. Silas
Noble occupied a prominent position among
the foremost citizens of Granville, and took
an active part in all matters of general in
terest to the community. In politics he was
a Republican, and represented his district in
the legislature in 1871. He also served as
Selectman of the town. He was liberal in
his religious views, and always Christian-like
in his dealings, and for forty years led the
choir in the Congregational church. He
passed to another life January 22, 1888.
On January i, 1855, Mr. Noble was united
in marriage to Miss Charlotte A. Gibbons,
daughter of Carlos and Almira (Tinker) Gib
bons, who was born in Granville, June 26,
1829. Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons were natives of
Granville, the former born July 12, 1793, the
latter December 17, 1794. Mrs. Noble's an
cestors were people of the highest character,
important factors in the early settlement of
that region. Her great-grandfather, Peter
Gibbons, was born April 20, 1730. He set
tled upon a large tract of land in Granville,
and was of that type of sturdy and industrious
pioneers whose persistent efforts and noble
self-sacrifice were the means of making possi
ble the present wealth of New England. He
became a prosperous farmer of Granville,
where he died, at the age of ninety-four.
Peter Gibbons was a Federalist in politics,
and served in the national struggle for inde
pendence. His wife, Sara, was born January
31, 1 73 1. She was a Presbyterian in relig
ious belief. They reared twelve children.
Jedediah Gibbons, Mrs. Noble's grandfather,
was born in Granville, February 18, 1770.
He was a farmer, and resided upon a small,
but exceedingly productive, piece of property
in Granville. He lived to be eighty-five
years old. His wife, whose maiden name was

Elizabeth Cowdry, was a native of Hartland,
Conn. She also lived to an advanced age.
Their family of nine children were named as
follows: Carlos, Mrs. Noble's father; Dam
aris; Philura; Amorett, who died in infancy;
Hiram; Amorett, second; Eliza; Martha,
who also died in infancy; and Watson J. Gib
bons, the only surviving member of the above
generation, who is now a retired merchant,
residing at Hartland, Conn. Carlos Gibbons
received the best education possible in the
primitive schools of Granville. In early
manhood he was an industrious farmer, but
in 1849 he established himself in the mer
cantile business in Granville, and in course
of time amassed a comfortable fortune. A
Democrat in politics, in 1848 he represented
his district in the legislature; and he also
held various important local offices, serving as
Postmaster for some time. In religious belief
Carlos Gibbons was a Universalist. He was
an exceedingly benevolent man, large of soul
and body, and strong physically and mentally.
He died February 2, 1865. Mrs. Noble's
mother was an exceptionally well-read lady,
eminently fitted for the responsible duties of
a wife and mother. In religious belief she
was a Congregationalist. She was summoned
to her final rest January 11, 1880. Carlos
Gibbons and his wife were the parents of
twelve children, eight of whom are living, all
but one residing in Granville: Nancy, born
May 3, 1 816, died December 18, 1834; Lu
cretia, born February 26, 1818, is now the
widow of Lyman Smith; Luciana, twin sister
of Lucretia, died November 22, 1834; Lydia
Pratt, born August 6, 1820, died June 27,
1891; Elizabeth C, born August 8, 1822,
married Edward Holcomb; Martha N., born
June 9, 1824, is now the widow of Edgar Hol
comb; Martin Tinker Gibbons, born April
27, 1827, is a farmer in Granville; Charlotte
A., born June 26, 1829, is the widow of Silas
Noble, our subject; Edwin Carlos, born
August I, 1 83 1, died in Kansas, September
18, 1869; John M., born November 15, 1833,
is a merchant in Granville; Phineas L., born
October 31, 1836, is a resident of Westfield;
and Nancy L., born November 10, 1839, is
the wife of John C Carpenter. Mr. and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

9^3

Mrs. Silas Noble were the parents of five chil
dren—Cora A., Nellie C, Orville R., May
C, and Raymond S. — all of whom are resi
dents of Granville. Raymond S. Noble is a
student at the Institute of Technology.
Orville R. Noble, who now manages his
late father's interest in business, was born at
Granville, November 23, 1861. After com
pleting his education at the Boston School of
Technology, he entered his father's factory
(in 1884), at first doing contract work, and
later taking charge of the books. After his
father's decease he succeeded to the business,
also acting as general manager of the enter
prise. The firm now consists of Orville R.
Noble and Ralph B. Cooley, sons of the origi
nal founders. The latter is the travelling
salesman for the concern. When the business
was established, in 1854, but six workmen
were employed. It has since developed into
a large and flourishing enterprise, requiring
in busy times the services of one hundred and
thirty men, and averages a force of seventy-
five men the year round. They manufacture
drums, musical toys, banjoes, tambourines, etc.
Their average monthly pay-roll is about twenty-
six hundred dollars, and has reached as high as
five thousand dollars. The present works were
erected in 1889, the former buildings having
been totally destroyed by fire in that year.
On October 23, 1890, Orville R. Noble
was united in marriage to Miss Annie C
Wilcox, daughter of Columbus and Jennie
Wilcox, of Granville; and they have one
daughter — Frederica L. Mr. Noble is a
member of Mount Moriah Lodge of A. P". &
A. M. at Westfield, and is an active, ener
getic business man.
A portrait of Silas Noble accompanies this
sketch, which, as representing one of the suc
cessful leaders in the march of industry in
Massachusetts, is a welcome addition to the
contents of this volume.

RLANDO CHAPIN, a highly re
spected resident of Springfield,
Hampden County, Mass., where he
has lived since 1850, was born in
that part of the old town now called Chicopee,

near Junction Depot, April 30, 1830. He
was the son of William and Lucy (Day)
Chapin, who were both natives of Chicopee.
The genealogy of the family may be traced
back to early times in the history of the
country. Samuel Chapin was the original
progenitor, and lived in Springfield. His
son, Henry, married Miss Bertha Cooley,
daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Cooley, of
Longmeadow, Hampden County ; Henry, their
son, born March 19, 1679, was married Feb
ruary 19, 1702, to Miss Mary Guernsey, of
Milford, Conn. ; William, their son, born
April 19, 1729, married February 21, 1754,
Miss Martha Chapin; William, their son,
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, mar
ried Miss Mary Church.
William Chapin, father of Orlando, was
brought up to the pursuit of agriculture, and
followed farming as an occupation during his
life. He was much esteemed by his towns
men and neighbors for his many sterling traits
of character, and served many years as Select
man of Chicopee. His wife, before her
marriage Miss Lucy Day, was a daughter of
Jonathan Day, a long-settled resident of the
place. Mr. and Mrs. Chapin became the
parents of eleven children, of whom Orlando,
the subject of this narrative, was the young
est. They attended the church then known
as the Second Congregational Church of
Springfield, which is now the First Church of
Chicopee. Orlando Chapin attended the schools of
Chicopee, and worked on his father's farm
till he was eighteen years of age, when he
spent a year at the Ames Machine Shops.
In 1850 he entered the Springfield Armory,
going to the south shop, where the alteration
of old flint guns was carried on. There he
was employed till that line of work was com
pleted. He was next engaged in boring and
strengthening gun barrels in the works at the
water-shops, under the management of the
United States government. When work was
temporarily suspended to allow of the erection
of new buildings, Mr. Chapin went to Hartford
to do contract work for Robbins & Lawrence,
who engaged to furnish arms for the Crimean
War. After one year there and one year

914

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

working at Colt's factory on pistols he was
recalled to Springfield, and again went to
work on boring and strengthening gun barrels.
In January, 1863, his health failing, he left
his position, and went to Norwich, Conn.,
where he took charge of work under contrac
tors, making guns for the government. He
continued at this work of overseeing three
years, or till the war closed, and then for a
short time was in the employ of Smith,
Hull & Buckland, in a cartridge-shop on
Mill River. He was employed at boring and
strengthening double-barrelled shotguns for
the Wesson Arms Company at Mill River,
and later was engaged at Wesson's, boring
barrels of the large army pistol, on the com
pany's first Russian contract. When that was
filled, Mr. Chapin was employed indepen
dently by the Russian government as inspector
of arms, with authority to put his stamp of
approval on perfect work ; and what he re
jected they considered condemned. At the
expiration of the contract he returned to the
armory in Springfield, and remained there
till 1893. Mr. Chapin has spent over forty
years in making and inspecting arms, and
is well posted on all things pertaining to the
subject. Mr. Chapin votes the Republican ticket.
He was elected member of the Common Coun
cil in 1863, and served till his removal to
Norwich. He prefers the comfort of his own
fireside to the pleasures of the club or the
fraternal society.
Mr. Chapin was married September 28,
1853, to Miss Martha J. Bush, of Westfield, a
daughter of Leonard and Lydia (Sackett)
Bush. Leonard Bush was a native of West-
field, a farmer, and was a contractor in a
small way, supervising among other buildings
the erection of the Jessopp Mill in Westfield.
Mrs. Chapin became the mother of five chil
dren, of whom but one is now living — Myron
E., a well-known veterinary surgeon of Spring
field. The other children were: Nellie, a
twin sister of Myron E., born February 19,
1859, who died July 13, 1859; Wilbur, born
January 22, 1861, who died in January, 1881,
a high school graduate, and at the time of his
death a student at the Worcester Institute of

Technology; Mattie W., born December 17,
1862, who died January 7, 1889; Fred Leon
ard, born January 12, 1865, who died October
14, 1866. To bear with resignation bereave
ments such as these requires a high attainment
of Christian faith; but the law of compensa
tion ever holds good, and
" 'Tis sweet, as year by year we lose
Friends out of sight, by faith to muse
How grows in Paradise our store."
Mr. and Mrs. Chapin are members of and give
their support to the Olivet Church. The
family residence at 539 Union Street, at the
corner of Union and Orleans Streets, has been
their home for nearly thirty years.

si¥^ lYRON E. CHAPPN, a distin
guished veterinary surgeon of
Springfield, Hampden County,
Mass., was born in that city,
February 19, 1859, son of Orlando and Martha
(Bush) Chapin, who are well known as old
and respected residents of Springfield. He
attended the graded schools and the high
school of the city, and after graduation went
to the Chicopee National Bank, where he was
employed at first as an errand boy, but,
gradually rising in the estimation of his em
ployers, was promoted to the position of book
keeper, which he held several years. In 1886
he went to the Montreal Veterinary College,
and attended classes and lectures during one
session. The next year, desiring further ex
perience, he went to New York, and entered
the American Veterinary College, from which
he received his diploma in 1888. Being thus
qualified to begin the practice of his profes
sion, he returned to Springfield, and began
work at once in the new field, soon winning
fame and appreciation. Dr. Chapin has given
his whole time and interest to the details of
his special line of work. That he has become
an expert in veterinary science is indicated by
the fact that he has been called on special
occasions to the cities of New York and
Boston to pass judgment on horses which the
city or individuals desired to purchase. Dr.
Chapin has also been appointed inspector of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

915

the horses used by the city of Springfield,
and has served to the satisfaction of those
concerned in all the requirements of the office
for the past four years. He has now been in
practice longer than any other veterinary sur
geon in Springfield, and has also a larger
practice than any other. Without doubt, the
old Latin proverb, applied originally to the
poet — that he " is born, not made " — may also
fit the man who is successful in any chosen
branch of work, implying that he has an inborn
aptitude for it, a something" in his individual
endowment which responds to study and con-
concentrated effort. 'While Dr. Chapin's suc
cess clearly indicates a natural capacity for
veterinary surgery, it is also apparent that his
powers have been made available only by care
ful and patient investigation and study.
Dr. Chapin was married September 12,
1891, to Miss Myra A. Chapin, daughter of
Frederick Chapin, of Springfield. Their resi
dence is in a pleasant part of the city, at 34
Thompson Street, where the Doctor may be
consulted by telephone, his office being at the
same place. The family attend the Olivet
Church, which is in their neighborhood, on
the hill, giving generously toward the sup
port of the society. Dr. Chapin prefers the
interests of his profession to those of a politi
cal nature, but he gives his allegiance to the
Democratic party, and is careful to give his
vote on election day.

USSELL HENRY PEPPER, a suc
cessful farmer of West Springfield,
was born upon the farm where he
now resides, August 19, 1831, son
of Russell and Betsey (Barnes) Pepper. His
grandfather. Gains Pepper, was, it is thought,
born in Massachusetts. He was adopted by
Samuel Morgan, and resided in his family
until reaching manhood. After marriage, he
settled upon the present farm, the original
deeds of which bear the seal of King George,
and are now in the possession of his grandson.
His death occurred when he was thirty-seven
years of age. His wife before her marriage
was Lettice Brooks. She reared three chil
dren — Pliny, Eleanor, and Russell.

Russell Pepper succeeded to the ownership
of the farm, and resided in the same house
during his entire life. His decease occurred
in 1840, when he was thirty-nine years of age.
He married Betsey Barnes, a native of South
ampton, daughter of Nathan and Naomi
Barnes. She survived her husband many
years, and died at the age of eighty-one, after
having reared a family of five children —
Clarissa, Russell H., Lamira, Rhoda, and
Ellen. Russell Henry Pepper, being left fatherless
at the tender age of eight years, commenced
at a very early period in his life to assist his
mother in caring for and supporting the
family, thus acquiring when very young the
habits of industry and thrift. He made
the best of the necessarily limited opportu
nities of obtaining an education in the public
schools, and the duties of managing the farm
soon devolved entirely upon him. His early
training in the stern school of necessity,
superadded to natural ability and careful judg
ment, have made him extremely successful.
In 1884 he was advised by his physician to
visit Florida, as a change of climate would in
all probability be beneficial to his health.
He therefore moved with his family to San
Mateo, Putnam County, in the latter State.
While a resident there, he invested in some
valuable property both in Putnam and in Lake
Counties. After a residence of four months
in the flowery State, he returned to the old
homestead at West Springfield, much improved
in health. Mr. Pepper has also travelled ex
tensively in the Western States, and owns
some valuable property in Manhattan, Kan.
On June 5, 1856, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Ellen Frink, who was born in
Seneca County, Ohio, daughter of Theodore
and Sabrah (Torrey) Frink. Her father was
formerly a resident of Holyoke, Mass., but
moved to the State of Ohio long before the
advent of railroads, accomplishing his long
journey by the aid of ox teams, upon which he
transported his family and effects. He set
tled upon a large tract of land, and became a
pioneer in the above-named State, where he
continued to reside until his decease. Mr.
and Mrs. Pepper have one child — Minnie A.

9i6

BIOGRAPHICAL REV1E^^

In p,-">Ii:ica.I views Mr. Pepper is a Repub
lican. He and his wife arrei.d the Pirst
Congreg""a:io:"'al Chi:rch of Wes: Springfield.
Together t'nev represe:"'-^ two of r'ne bes: f;imi-
lies in the St:-te. both claiming" dcsce;:* from
Miles Morg-an. and Mrs. Pepper's lineage
connecting" her wit'n S.inr.tel Chapiti. Their
residence is locareJ about three miles from
the citv of Springfield, upon at-^ eminence
which commands a view of the Connecticut
River and of the s.;rro"ancir.g country for a
considerable distance.

XfREDERICK N. LEONARD, the scion
T^ of an old and honored name in the
annals of New England historv. was
bom in Agawam. Mass.. December 31. 1818,
son of Pliny and ^Margaret (^ Prowler) Leonard.
The Leonard genealogy gives as the first
American ancestor John Leo:iarc. who owned
a lot of land in the Second Division of Spring
field, on the site of L"ncle Jerry's hotel, occu
pied in 1850 by Homer P\iots block. This
plat or lot was eight rods in width, extending
from the river to Armory Hill. John Leon
ard married Sarah Heath. September 12, 1640.
Six sons and eight daughters were born of
this marriage, in the following order: Joseph.
born Januarv i, 1643. died Januarv 20, 1643;
John, born June 25. 1644, died April 22.
164S; Sarah, born September 13. 1645, mar
ried John Keep in December, 1663; M:rrv,
born Julv 16, 1647, married Samuel Bliss,
November 10, 1665. and died March 16,
1724: Martha, born Februarv 15, ic^40, mar
ried Benjamin Waite in June. 1670: L^dia,
born August 2. 1650. married John Dunbar
ton, ]\Iarch iS, 1675; John, born July 10. 1652.
died March 13, 1662; Benjamin, born Julv 5,
1654. married Sarah Scott, February 7. 1670,
who died December 2, 1751, he passing awav
December 20. 1724: Abel, born Ma\- 22,
1656, married Mary Remmington, March 4,
16S7, and, he dj-ing at the age of thirtv-four,
his widow married Samuel Bedortha in fuh",
1691 ; Josiah, born January 2, 1658, married
Sarah Dumbleton, December 19, 1678, and
he dying Februar\- 12, loSS. on Januar\- 22,
1692, his widow married Thomas Root;

Hannah, born L^ecember 13. 1050. marrievl
D.iaiel Dunton, April 24, i6~v: Rebecca,
born March 2i\ 1661, raarried Thomas Miller,
December i. loSi, who was killed by the
Indi.ms. October 5. 1695, and his widow mar
ried Thomas Billings. December 30. i6o~:
Deborah was bom October 15, 1003: Rachel,
born November 8. itxs. married Thomas
Haney. March 17. 1083. The children of
Benjamin and S.ira'o. (^Scott) Leonard, the
direct proger.itors of our subject, were; John,
Iiorn July 12, i6Si: Nathaniel, born Novem
ber 6, 1085. wh6 married Sar.ih priy. April 24.
1720: Benjamin, born October 16, io8o. who
died before 1702; Margaret, born in 1087.
who married Joseph ICly, l^ecember 20. 1720;
Ebenezer. born J.'^nu.trv 20, loSo, who married
Joanna Shepenson, May 12, 1750: Sai-ah, born
^larch 23. Kx)0. who married P'rancis Ball,
January 28, 1714; Martha, born March 23,
1695. who married Joseph Ashley, Februarv
18. 1 710; Keziah. born November 25. 1697.
who married Dr. Lamberton Cooper, Decem
ber 25. 1734. and died March 2, 1742, her
husband p>assing away P^ecember 22. 1753;
Abel, born July 27. 1700, who married 1-rsthor
Austin in 1730; Benjamin, born August 17,
1702, who married Thankful Merrick, and
died July 25. 1780. Mrs, Leonard dying De
cember 31. 1770; Rachel, born Januarv 11,
1700. The children of PJeutonant Benjamin and
Thankful (Merrick) Leonard were: Thankful,
born November 8, 1728, who died September
-/. 1747 • Tamer, Iwrn Octolier 27. 1730,
who married Russell Leonard, December 20,
1757; Thomas, twin brother of Tamer: Ben
jamin, who married Catherine Miller. January
4, 1754: Colonel Plavid Leonard, born in
i/.v. '^^¦'"'0 married Mary I\liiler in 1760;
Pliny, born October 2t\ 1740. who married
Constance Leonard; Gideon, born September
20, 1744, who married Mary Warriner, August
1, 1771, and Pluebc Parmelee in 1814; Juba,
born ?ilarch 12, 1747, who married Amy
Worthington. December 10, 1772.
I'liny Leonard, Sr., the fourth son of
Lieutenant Benjamin Leonard, and the grand
father of the subject of this memoir, married
Constance, the daughter of Moses Leonard.

GEORGE N. CONE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

919

He died June 16, 1831, she on March 23,
1836. Their children were: Temperance,
born July 2, 1771, who married Gains Bliss,
a farmer of Springfield, November 17, 1798,
and died April 9, 1850; Lucy, born December
24, 1773, who died P'ebruary 26, 1833; Pliny,
born March 4, 1775; Constance, born August
12, 1785; Tamer, born September 12, 1789,
who married Abel C Ely, April 13, 181 5, and
died October i, 1840.
Pliny Leonard, Jr., married Margaret Fow
ler, l3ecember 31, 1807. Their children
were: Charles Ingersoll, born March 26, 1809,
who died April 11, 1810; Charles I., born
January 8, 181 1; Margaret, born April 11,
1 8 14, who died February 20, 181 5; and
Frederick N., who represents the sixth gen
eration in America, and whose name is the
caption of this biography.
I-'rederick N. Leonard's birthplace was the
home of both his father and grandfather. His
early education was obtained in the district
schools of Agawam, supplemented by a course
at the Wilbraham Academy. After leaving
school, he clerked for four years in the whole
sale and retail dry-goods store of John Mc
Lean, of Wilmington, Del. When he
returned to Agawam, he accepted after a
brief period of rest a position in the express
office at Hartford, Conn., which transferred
goods between New York and Hartford, and
was conducted by his brother. His parents
were now advanced in years, and he felt that
they needed his care and protection; so the
position in the express office was given up,
and he returned home to take charge of the
farm. In 1888 he moved into the city, and
engaged in buying and selling real estate,
making some very successful transactions and
accumulating much property.
Mr. Leonard has been married twice. His
first wife was Miss Mary A. Brown, to whom
he was united November 30, 1849, and who
died May 8, 1851. The issue of this mar
riage was one daughter — Mary Ann, born
April 30, 1 85 1. This daughter married Mr.
Otis Brown, of Peabody, Mass., November 20,
1873. -She is the mother of two children —
Ethelyn and Rena. Mr. Leonard's second
marriage was to Miss Jane Cady, November

26, 1857. This lady was a native of Ludlow,
born P3ecember 19, 18 19. She died, leaving
a son and daughter — Alice M. and Archer F.
Alice M., born October 8, 1858, married Mr.
Alfred R. Hathaway, registrar of the city
water works, the ceremony taking place in
Springfield on October 12, 1887. Mr. and
Mrs. Hathaway were the parents of one
child — Frederick Leonard, born June 23,
1890, who died March 13, 1891. Archer F.
Leonard was born August 7, i860. He is at
the head of the firm of A. F. Leonard & Co.,
dealers in agricultural implements and hard
ware, whose wholesale and retail establish
ment is located on Worthington Street. Mr.
Archer F. Leonard married Mrs. Alberta Ray
mond, and has a son — -Archer P., born June
21, 1894.
Frederick N. Leonard is a Republican in
political faith. He is an attendant of the
First Congregational Church in the city.
He lives at 319 Central Street, respected and
esteemed by all who know him.

/ ^JeORGE N. cone, station agent and
\ '3 I train despatcher at Chester, Hamp-
— den County, Mass., was born in
Middlefield, Mass., December 23, 1836, son
of Amos and Charlotte (Mack) Cone, and
grandson of David Cone, a native of East Had
dam, Middlesex County, Conn. Mr. Cone
is of French ancestry. Amos Cone, his
father, was born in East Haddam in 1786.
He was a farmer, and resided in Middlefield
during the active portion of his life. His
last years were spent in Chester, where he
died, at the age of seventy-three years. His
wife was a native of Middlefield, a daughter
of Captain Mack, of that town. She lived to
be fifty years old. Amos Cone was a Whig
in politics, and was a member of the legislat
ure from Middlefield in 1847. He never
voted after the Whig party broke up, but was,
however, always active in civil affairs. On
religious subjects his views were liberal.
Mrs. Cone was a Presbyterian in religious
belief. They were the parents of nine chil
dren, seven of whom grew to maturity, and
three of whom are now living: Amos S., a

920

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

farmer, residing in North Chester; Sarah M.,
wife of Edward Herrick, living in Westfield,
Mass.; and George N., the subject of this
sketch, the youngest child.
George N. Cone at the age of ten years went
to live with General Mack, a relative in Am
herst. He finished his education at Amherst
Academy, and returned home after the death
of his relative, for about two years depending
on casual employment. At the end of that
time he went to Becket, Berkshire County, to
learn the painter's traide, at which he worked
several years. Securing a position with
David Warner, of Springfield, he remained in
his employ three years. He then returned to
Becket, and for two years had several men in
his employ, and filled orders on an extensive
scale. This business proved very successful;
but, as his health began to fail, he was
obliged to make a change; and he was so fort
unate as to obtain a position as switchman at
the Becket station of the Boston & Albany
Railroad in 1861. The following year Mr.
Cone enlisted in the Second Massachusetts
Heavy Artillery, and went to the front, re
maining in the service till the close of the
war, when he was honorably discharged, hold
ing the ran'K of Sergeant. On returning to
Becket he secured his old position as switch
man, becoming later, in connection with the
work, an expressman, and finally, in 1868,
station agent at Chester, which office he con
tinues to hold, in addition to that of train
despatcher. In 1859 M'"- Cone was married to Miss
Sarah A. Ellsworth, whose death occurred the
following year; and in 1862 hemarried Miss
Eliza M. Pomeroy, who died in 1869. Plis
third marriage took place in December, 1872,
Miss Harriet Churchill being the contracting
party. Her death occurred in 1881 ; and Mr.
Cone was again married in 1883, Miss Nancy
M. Ayers becoming his wife. Mr. Cone
has one son — Clayton B., born in October,
1874, at the present time the assistant station
agent and baggage master at the Chester
station, in the employ of the Boston & Albany
Road. Mr. Cone is a Democrat, and has always
been active in town affairs, holding various

offices of trust. He was a member of the
legislature for the First Hampden District in
1887. He has been Town Clerk and Treas
urer since 1872. He is also Chief of the
Chester Fire Department and one of the
Water Commissioners; and he is "a Trustee of
the Business Men's Club connected with the
town. For over twenty years he was a Trus
tee of the Second Congregational Church.
Mr. Cone is one of the oldest employees in
the service of the Boston & Albany Railroad,
which fact, in connection with the various
official responsibilities he has carried, gives
proof of his character as a citizen and of his
worth as a respected member of the com
munity. The portrait of Mr. Cone which accom
panies this sketch will be recognized with
pleasure by many patrons of the Boston & Al
bany Road, to whom his features have become
familiar.

^jOBERT A. GRANT, President and
Manager of the Grant & Sanger Com
pany, manufacturers and wholesale
dealers in confectionery, ice-cream,
and toys, at 514 Main Street, Springfield, was
born at Columbia, S.C, June 23, 1863, and
is a son of James P. and "Virginia C (Deane)
Grant. His father, who has been in the con
fectionery business for the past twenty-five
years, was born in Philadelphia, June 30,
1837, being the son of a retired sea captain
of that city. James P. Grant is a member of
the Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of this
city, and also of the Odd P""ellows. His chil
dren are as follows: Robert A., George H.,
Mattie v., Charles W., and Emma V.
Robert A. Grant, after completing his edu
cation at the public schools of Springfield,
entered his father's store for the purpose of
learning the business. At the end of four
years he accepted a position in the Springfield
post-office, then presided over by General Lee,
and served through that gentleman's term and
during the incumbency, of his successor, E. P.
Chapin, resigning vyben John L. Rice was
appointed to the office. He then entered into
partnership with his father in manufacturing

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

921

confectionery on Lyman Street, which con
tinued for a period of two years, when they
sold the business to L. M. Lester. When
Colonel Phillips was appointed to the post-
mastership, Mr. Grant re-entered the service,
and at the expiration of two years was pro
moted to the railway postal service running
between New York and Boston. This posi
tion he resigned March 4, 1893, when the
present administration assumed the reins of
government. After his final retirement from
the postal service he purchased his father's
interest in the retail confectionery business
on Main Street. In October, 1893, he pur
chased the Waldesruhe restaurant at Forest
Park, and has this season a lease of the new
restaurant in the park called Woodside Lodge,
both of which he has since continued to con
duct with the most gratifying success. His
business during the season of 1894 far sur
passed that of any previous year, and his able
management of this beautiful pleasure resort
is appreciated by a phenomenally increased
patronage. A prominent feature and an ex
ceedingly pleasant one was the introduction of
band concerts, one of which was listened to
by over five thousand people, a most pro
nounced demonstration of the fact that enter
prise in the right direction is sure to produce
the most satisfactory results. In connection
with his Main Street store Mr. Grant runs a
very profitable newspaper business, having
had the exclusive agency of the Boston Sunday
papers from December, 1893, until July,
1894. In politics Mr. Grant is a Republican,
and has served as a delegate to several State
conventions. He is a member of the City
Council, having been elected from Ward
Three, which has been strongly Democratic
for years; and he is doing valuable service' as
a member of the Committees on Fire Depart
ment and Education. He was president and
one of the organizers of a popular wheel club,
which continued in active existence for a
period of four years.
Mr. Grant is as yet unmarried. He resides
at 59 Bliss Street. He is actively interested
in city affairs, and is in every way an ener
getic, progressive business man.

/STTlBERT POTVIN is one of the lead-
\ 3 I ing representatives of the French-
American element of Plolyoke, Mass.,
where his name stands among the highest in
business and social circles, his enterprise, in
telligence, and active labors having been
largely instrumental in contributing to the
growth and pro.sperity of his adopted city. A
sketch of his life is of more than usual interest
in illustrating the value of self-help. From
early boyhood he was the pilot of his own
course, and advanced from point to point by
the force of his own self-reliant effort until at
taining the position he now enjoys among the
prominent and successful business men of
Holyoke. He was born at Lalguevil, near
Montreal, Canada, February 14, 1838, son of
John and Delaide (Patnode) Potvin. The
paternal grandfather, John Potvin, came from
France and settled in the vicinity of Montreal,
not far from the birthplace of our subject.
The father was a native of Lalguevil, and was
an extensive farmer, following agriculture all
his life with marked success. Gilbert Potvin
was one of seven children, and was the first
born of his parents, who came to this city in
1868 to reside with him and pass the re
mainder of their days here. The father died
in Holyoke in 1892, at the home of his son,
the subject of this sketch ; and the mother fol
lowed her husband to the better world in
January, 1894.
Gilbert Potvin received a rudimentary edu
cation in his native town; and at the early age
of sixteen, .seeking to better his condition, he
came, like many of his countrymen, to the
United States, and entered the machine-shop
of Putnam Brothers in Fitchburg, Mass. Here
he served an apprenticeship of three years;
and during that time, desirous of increasing
his stock of knowledge, he attended an even
ing school, where he supplemented to good
effect the education acquired in the primary
schools at home. After obtaining a practical
mastery of the trade of machinist he went to
Worcester, Mas.s. , where he found employment
for a time, and later (about 1854) came to
Springfield, and worked in the Boston &
Albany Railroad shops, then under the super
intendence of Wilson Eddy. He remained

922

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

there, constantly employed, for a period of
eleven years, and in 1865 came to Holyoke,
which at that time could boast a population of
but three thousand. Here he made a new de
parture, and opened a dry-goods store on High
Street, keeping the largest stock in the city,
and conducting the business successfully for
about fifteen years. This venture was a prac
tical illustration of Mr. Potvin' s native enter
prise. The transition from the machinist's
bench to the position of proprietor of a leading
dry-goods store, which to most men in his
circumstances would have seemed a doubtful
and risky step, involving a serious disturbance
of settled habits and fraught with uncertain
consequences, was to him but one of a series
of advancing strides — another mile-stone on
the highway to success. The next step in
the series quickly followed. Foreseeing the
growth of the city, of which there were already
many indications, he threw himself with char
acteristic energy into building enterprises,
and erected many handsome business blocks,
as well as fine residences, among the former
the brown-stone block on High Street which
he still owns. So extensive were his opera
tions that he found it to his interest to pur
chase and operate a large brickyard at South
Hadley, to furnish brick at the smallest cost
for his own building operations — another il
lustration of his genius for business. Mr.
Potvin soon became the foremost contractor in
the city. He gave employment to a large
number of men, and some parts of the city of
Holyoke were almost entirely built up by him.
The value of his operations amounts to over
a million and a half of dollars. Many of the
largest and finest buildings in the city were
erected by him. During a part of this time
he was still carrying on his dry-goods store;
but in 1880 he sold it and embarked in the
clothing business, which he conducted for
three years. While building houses and stores
for other people, he found time to do some
thing for himself; and, besides the fine brown-
stone building already mentioned, he is
landlord of about two hundred tenements,
and is said to be the largest owner of residence
property in Holyoke and one of the largest
tax-payers. A homely proverb says, "Heaven

helps him who helps himself"; and, surely,
taking material blessings into consideration,
Mr. Potvin seems to he highly favored by
Providence. In the busy whirl of the multi
tudinous cares of business life Mr. Potvin has
found no time for active politics, but his help
and influence are readily obtained for any
cause calculated to advance the best interests
of the community.
Mr. Potvin's marriage occurred in 1859,
when, on September 7, he was united to Odele
Masel, of his native town of Lalguevil. In
her he found both a loving and useful compan
ion ; and much of his success is perhaps due to
her ready help and co-operation, she assisting
in the store for over fifteen years, whenever
her help was needed. She still found time to
discharge the duties of wife and mother, and
brought up her children with careful training.
One child, Gilbert, named for his father,
passed away to- the heavenly rest after a brief
existence of but four months. The next two
children were Jennie and Cora, the former of
whom became the wife of George Olivier, of
Holyoke, and the latter the wife of Thomas
I. Kenney, a well-to-do business man and
mill owner, of New Haven, Conn., and an
Alderman of that city. Gilbert, the second of
the name, married Ella Smith, of Springfield,
and is engaged with his father in the contract
ing and building line. The family are mem
bers of the Perpetual Help P'rench Catholic
Church of Holyoke. Mr Potvin is a member
also of St. Jean le Baptiste Society and the
French Union, and is a leading officer in both.
He and his wife may be found at their fine
residence. No. 272 Maple Street, where the
comforts of home are united with the refine
ments of wealth, dominated by the good taste
characteristic of the race to which they belong.

SEWIS F. CARR is an active and suc
cessful business man of Springfield,
_ ^ Treasurer of the firm of J. S. Carr
Company, and interested in various
other business enterprises. He was born in
Cambridge, Mass., June 25, 1850, son of John
S. and Maria (Merrill) Carr. His father
moving to St. Johnsbury, Vt., when Lewis

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

923

was but one year old, he obtained his early
education there, attending the common
schools, after he became old enough, until he
reached the age of nine, at which time the
family moved to Springfield. He then passed
through the common and high schools of this
city, and after finishing his studies found em
ployment in the bakery business conducted by
his father, obtaining a practical kno"\vledge of
every part of it.
He was given an interest in the business
about 1877, the firm being J. S. Carr Com
pany. In 1890 it was incorporated, under the
same name, with a capital stock of forty thou
sand dollars, this being merely a nominal sum,
as the 'business is owned by Mr. Carr and his
father, John S. Carr; and he himself devotes
most of his time to its management. Mr.
Carr is also a Director of the City National
Bank, and is a Trustee of the Vermont Live
Stock Company of Brattleboro. He is promi
nent in the various social orders, having
become a Mason in 1880, a member of Ros
well Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He is be
sides a member of Morning Star Chapter,
Springfield Council, Springfield Commandery,
Evening Star Lodge of Perfection, and Princes
of Jerusalem. Mr. Carr is a Republican in
politics, but has kept out of office in spite of
the solicitations of his friends, preferring to
devote his main attention to business affairs.
April 23, 1873, he was united in marriage
to Miss Susan Dickenson Carter, daughter of
Edwin Y. Carter, a sketch of whom appears
elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Carr is the
mother of three children — Florence, Rebecca,
and Harriett. The family are members of the
North Congregational Church, in which Mr.
Carr has held official position. They enjoy
life in a beautiful home at 156 Pearl Street,
adjoining his father's. The house was built
'by Mr. Carr in 1888, and is a tasteful struct
ure, surrounded by large and pleasant grounds
and fitted with every modern convenience.
Mr. Carr is a man whose mind has been en
riched, his sympathies broadened, by extensive
travel both in this country and abroad. He
keeps in touch with the advanced thought of the
day, and is interested in every worthy cause.
Besides belonging to the fraternal organiza

tions mentioned above, he is a member both
of the Winthrop and of the Nayasset Clubs.

KRANKLIN LEONARD, who for many
years was a prominent factor in the
business circles of Westfield, having
become a member of the Consolidated Stock
Exchange of New York and President of the
Comstock Tunnel Company of Nevada, has
established an office at 70 Broadway, New
York. Mr. Leonard was "born at Feeding
Hills, in the town of Agawam, County of
Hampden, on the 29th of October, 1843, a son
of Rufus and Abigail (Smith) Leonard, the
former of whom was a native of the same
place, born in 1809.
The first members of the Leonard family-
emigrated from England in Colonial times,
and settled in different sections of Massachu
setts. In Raynham, formerly a part of Taun
ton, stands the original Leonard house, built
by James Leonard about 1670, where, tradi
tion says. King Philip's head was for some
time deposited in the cellar. The house is
still occupied 'by one of the family of the
sixth generation from the builder, and, so far
as we are informed, is the oldest mansion now
standing in this country. The vane at one
of the gable ends is .inscribed with the date
1700, but there is little doubt of the house
having been erected at least thirty years
previous. It is modelled after an English
fashion of the eighteenth century. It was
near here that King Philip lived, on good
terms with these Leonards, and they often
traded with each other; and such was Philip's
friendship that, when the war broke out,
which was in 1675, he gave out strict orders
"never to hurt the Leonards." On an old
tombstone is found this epitaph: "Zephaniah
Leonard, Esq., who died April the twenty-
third, 1766, in the 63rd year of his age, and
Hannah his wife, who died the same day,
aged 62 years.
" To dust and silence so much worth consigned.
Sheds a sad gloom o'er vanities behind.
How mean ambition ; how complete the hate,
How dim the tinselled glories of the great
When death and hovering darkness hide us all."

924

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

The earliest ancestor in this country of
whom any extended history can here be given
was John Leonard, who married Sarah Heath,
September 12, 1640, and of whom mention is
frequently made in the history of Springfield,
Mass. IPe was one of the first settlers, with
William Pynchon, Miles Morgan, and others;
and he is said to have formerly owned a large
tract now included in the city, and extending
from the Connecticut River, across Main
Street, to the United States Armory. His
son. Dr. John Leonard, who was an eminent
physician, was born July 12, 1681, and died
November 28, 1744. He married Sarah Dick
inson, and was one of the first to practise in
Agawam, where he passed his last years, the
remains of both husband and wife being in
terred in the old cemetery on the hill. On
his tombstone is, "He sought after Wisdom,
and found her dwelling with Honesty." The
children of Dr. John were: John, Daniel,
Asaph, Mary, Sarah, and Russell. Sarah
married the Rev. Edward Upham, whose
daughter Mary married her cousin, James
Wade, and was the mother of the Hon. Ben
jamin F. Wade, Senator of Ohio, who is held
in honored remembrance as "one of the bul
warks " of the national cause in the darkest
hours of the Civil War. "This great Ameri
can Union, " he said, "was good enough for
Washington and Jefferson and Franklin, and
it is good enough for me."
Russell, the youngest son of Dr. John
Leonard, was born December 21, 1730, and
died about the year 1808. His son, Rufus
Leonard, the paternal grandfather of Franklin,
was also born in Feeding Hills. He was the
proprietor of a valuable mill property on West
Street, which he operated in addition to farm
ing, spending his entire life here. The
maiden name of his first wife was Betsey
Flower. She died in 1803; and his second
wife was Anna, a most lovable Christian
woman, with whom Franklin, her grandson,
spent much of his childhood. She died in
1874, at the age of eighty-five. Rufus Leon
ard, Jr., the father of Franklin, born in 1809,
was also reared to agricultural pursuits, and
also learned the trade of milling, succeeding
his father as owner of the mill, which he. suc

cessfully nianaged on an extensive scale. His
death took place in October, 1874, at the age
of sixty-five. He was a man of great energy
and vigor, possessed of strictest notions of
economy and marked business ability, and be
came one of the wealthy men of the place.
He married December 20, 1836, Abigail
Woodmancy Smith, who was born in Feeding
Hills, November 21, 181 1, a daughter of
Amasa and Hannah (White) Smith, who were
married February 8, 1809. Mr. Smith was
an officer in the War of 181 2. He died at
Feeding Hills in 1839. His wife, Hannah,
maternal grandmother of Franklin, was born
February 10, 1787, and died February 12,
1879, aged ninety-two. The last years of her
life she received a pension from the govern
ment on accoHut of her husband's military ser
vices. Mrs. Abigail W. Leonard died on
June 2, 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-
two, having reared eight children, seven sons
and one daughter — Daniel, Morton, Ambrose,
Franklin, Abbott, James, Edward Payson,
and Abbie Ann.
Franklin Leonard was educated in the dis
trict school, the Westfield Academy, and the
State Normal School, which he left to accept
a position in the Hampden Bank, then doing
business under the State system, and there
received his first practical instruction in busi
ness under the late Royal Weller, cashier.
Having served, with much credit to himself,
his apprenticeship, he then embarked in busi
ness on his own account, being most success
ful in his transactions. For a number of
years he was engaged in a banking and broker
age business, in connection with insurance and
real estate, but was obliged to retire from
active business life for several years in con
sequence of injuries received in a railroad
accident. His experience during the financial
panic of 1873 and the five dull years which
followed, in connection with real estate and
stock exchange business, although at the time
seemingly most expensive and trying, gave
him a practical education and valuable experi
ence in the laws of finance which few men
possess. During this period he purchased for
and in consideration of one dollar all his part
ner's interest in the real estate and personal

H. C. ROWLEY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

927

property, from the sales and subsequent man
agement of which he made a modest fortune,
the recorder's office in Springfield showing
him to be one of the largest conveyancers in
PPampden County ; and his friends who know
him best say that his nerve and his principles
always stand fire.
On the 6th of October, 1868, Mr. Leonard
was united in marriage with Sarah Lee Smith.
Mrs. Leonard is a native of Westfield and a
daughter of Henry Bates and Almira (Mather)
Smith. Mr. Smith was born in Lyme, Conn.,
April 19, 1 817. On his removal to West-
field he established the H. B. Smith Heating
Company, becoming one of the most successful
business men of the village. He is now re
tired from active life, hale and hearty at the"
age of seventy-eight. His wife, Almira
Mather, was born October 17, 181 7, and died
April 10, 1870. She was a direct descendant
of Richard Mather, of Dorchester, Mass.,
who played such an important part in early
New England history.
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard are the parents of
five children — Franklin, Jr., Sarah Almira,
James Mather, Jessie Morgan, and P"""rances
Lee. Mr. Leonard and his wife -and three
children are members of the First Congrega
tional Church. He is a man of integrity and
ability, of a genial disposition, generous and
kind-hearted, and has done much for the im
provement of the town, greatly increasing its
taxable property. He owned a valuable farm
of seven hundred acres in Blandford, which for
years he has occupied as a summer home, but
has recently sold it, together with the home
stead in Westfield, to the Hon. Theodore
Sutro, of New York. Plaving become largely
interested in the securities of the Comstock
Tunnel Company of Nevada, he has made an
extended trip through the West to reorganize
and improve its facilities and become ac
quainted with its management. The eldest
son, Phanklin, Jr., having graduated at the
Yale Law School, and studied for one year in
New York City, has been admitted to the bar
of New York, and is gradually rising in his
profession. The youngest son, James Mather,
a promising young man, is employed as book
keeper of the Comstock Tunnel Company.

Mr. Leonard has brought up his family in the
doctrine that "an honest man need fear no
evil, either in this or the life to come; for the
gods will take care of his concerns."

CURTIS ROWLEY, Secretary of
the G. & C Merriam Company,
publishers, Springfield, was born in
Trenton, N.Y., July 31, 1844, the
year made memorable by the first telegraphic
despatch. The Rowleys are of English de
scent. The pioneer ancestor of the family in
this country was Henry Rowley, who came
from England, and joined the Plymouth
Colony about the year 1630. He resided at
Scituate until 1639, when he removed, with
Pastor Lothrop and others of his flock, to
Barnstable, where he was one of the original
proprietors. In 1643, the date of the flrst
union of the New England colonies, he was
a member of the Barnstable committee. In
1644 and 1650 he was representative to the
General Court; and about the year 1661 he
removed to Falmouth, in the south-western
part of Cape Cod peninsula, where he died in
1673. His first wife, from whom the subject
of this sketch is descended, was Frances,
daughter of William Palmer, who came to
America in the good ship "Fortune" in 162 1.
Moses Rowley, Sr., son of Henry and
Frances (Palmer) Rowley, moved with his
father from Scituate to Barnstable, where he
resided about forty years. While there, and
lateron at Falmouth, he held many offices of
trust, and was representative to the General
Court for several terms. He died about the
year 1705. His wife was Elizabeth Fuller,
a daughter of Dr. Matthew P''uller, at one
time surgeon-general of the colony, and a
grand-daughter of Edward Fuller, who came
in the "Mayflower" in 1620. Moses Rowley,
Jr., the next in line, son of the elder Moses,
was born at Barnstable, November 10, 1654,
and after his marriage settled in Falmouth,
Mass.; but about the year 1698 he removed to
East Pladdam, Conn., where his death oc
curred in 1735. His wife, Mary, died in
1764, at the advanced age of ninety-seven
years.

9-'

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Their son. Ebenezer, St.. was born in P""al-
mouth in 1605, and was married June o, 1710,
to Marv Church, a descendant of Richard
Church, who came to New England in 1630.
Ebenezer Rowley. Sr., died in 1757 in P^ast
H.addam, Conn., where his son. Ebenezer, Jr..
was born October 20. 1727. Ebonezer Row-
lev. Jr., died about the year 1800. having
married October 18. 1750. Susannah Annable.
a descendant of Anthonv Annable, who came
to Plymouth in 1623.
Ashur Rowley, son of the last-named
Ebenezer. was born at Chatham, Conn., in
1766, and died in 1S43 at ^^'insted, Conn.,
where he had resided many \-cars. In 1702 he
married Mehitabel Dunham, daughter of Lieu
tenant Jonathan Dunham, a Revolutionarv
officer, who was descended from John Dun
ham, a ver\' early settler in America.
Warren Dunham Rowlev, son of Ashur and
father of H, Curtis Rowlev, whose name ap
pears at the head of this sketch, was born at
Winsted. Conn., September 16. 1 Soo. nine
months after the death of Washington. He
evinced a decided taste for learning, and re
ceived a good education, \^"llen twent\- \'ears
old he went South, spending three \-cars in
teaching school at Chesterfield, Va. Return
ing" to \\'insted, he became one of the instruc
tors in the ^^'insted Academy, and subse
quently conducted ;t select school there.
After this experience he removed to Utica,
N.Y., and later to Trenton, X.Y., where
he was engaged in the mercantile business.
and was highlv respected. He was Commis
sioner of Schools and Justice of the Peace
for several terms. In politics he was an
ardent Whig, and died with his pai"t\-, in
July, 1854, the year the Republican party was
formed. His wife, mother of ^Ir. H. C. Rowlc\-,
was Harriet Maria Curr\-, who was born in
Trenton on Independence Da\", 181 8. Her
father. Major Isaac Curr\-, an officer who
served with credit in a Now York regiment
during the \\'ar of 18 12, engaged extensively
in real estate, being connected with the Hol
land Company, and, accumulating in time
quite a generous competence, was known as
one of the most prosperous men of that local

ity. He was for \ears a Deacon of the Pres-
bvterian church. The Currv familv was of
Scotch ancestiv. John Curry, the father of
l\Iajor Isaac, was born in the county of Dum
fries, Scotland, in 1730. About the year
1760 he was married at Schencctadv, N.Y..
to Mrs. Cornelia Post Dudlcx". daughter of
Elias and Maria Post, and sister of John Post,
the first merchant of L'tica. Elias Post was
a native of the city of New York, where his
birth occurred on January 3. 1708. He was
a son of Cornelius Post, of New York, and
grandson of Elias. who came from Ams
terdam, Holland, shortl\" after the Dutch
made a settlement on ^Manhattan Island. He
married in New York Citv. in 1730. Maria
\'an Epps.
H. Curtis Rowley acquired his early edu
cation in the schools of his native town of
Trenton, and then completed a course of studv
at W'hitcstown Seminar\-. with the intention
of entering" Yale College. This latter plan,
howe\-er, was abandoned, owing to the un
settled condition of the times. In 1863 he
enlisted at P'tica. N.Y., in the Fourteenth
New York Heavy Artillcrv. but by his
widowed mother's protest was deterred from
entering the service at that time. On August
20, 1864, however, he enlisted in Company
C, Fifty-fourth N. Y. S. N. G., a regiment
mustered into the United States service on
an emergency call from President Lincoln,
and served with his regiment until its dis
charge in November, 1864, ' Shortly thereafter
he became a member of the firm of L. S,
Currier & Co.. wholesale dealers in books
and engravings, in Cincinnati, Ohio. In
1867 he returned to l^tica, where, with his
brother and an uncle, he established a whole
sale stationery ;md paper business, under the
style of Curry, Rowley & Co., afterward Row-
Icy Brothers & Co. IPe there remained until
1879, when he came to Springfield to accept a
position offered by the Merriams in the pub
lication of Webster's Dictionaries. Three
\'cars later he became a partner in the busi
ness, retaining this connection until the com
pany was incoriiorated in 1 892, when he be
came its Secretary and, with O. M. Baker,
its Manau'cr.

Itl()(;RAPlllCAI- RKVIKW

')¦'-')

Mr. Kowh'v is also a Diicoloi in tlio Pyn
chon National Pank, tho Spiinglii'ld Mdanl ol
'i'lado, till' Mulnal i''iro .Assiiianoo Cmupan\',
and llu' llampdi'ii 1 Im I icultural .Soriotv, and a
I'lnstoi' ol Iho .Soliool fol Cliiistiaii Wurkois,
tho JMi'iioli /\nu'tioan ('ollcgo, and llio Kosciic
l\l issiini. lie is a inoinlu'i ol tlio A Id i no Club
ol Now N'oik Citv, Iho Winlhiop ('Inh, llio
( 'oniioci iiiil \',illo\' t\ingi'o;-',atioiial Club, the
I'onnoolicnl \'alh'\' llislnrioal ,S(u'iol\', and ol
\\'iU'o\ I'osI, Grind Aiiii\' ol Iho Ko|inhlio.
ihiiiiij', sovoral \'oais lie was a Diiootor ol llio
.¦\iiiioi\' ilill N'oiiiij; Moil's Chi ist i, 111 .'Vssiioia-
lioii, in which ho was \oi\' .lotivo until pri'ss
ni'o ol luisinoss iiiado lliis no longi'i pos-
sililo. In I 88. 1 ho unilod with llopo Coiigio-
galional t'liuicli, whoio lor te'ii ^'oals ho was
.issocialo supoi inlondcnl ol tho .'~^iiiida\'-solio(d,
,md lor a poilion ol this period ,i inonilu'i
ol Iho 11,11 ish ooniinil loo. llo soi'\'od on llu'
huilding oiMnmitloo whoii tho now ohiircli
slruotuio w.is oioctod. .\t tho piosonl tiiiio
ho is ,1 moinboi ol' Iho .South t 'ongrogal imial
Chnioh. Mr. Ko\\'lo\' w.is niai I iod Dooomhoi -•, 1S7.1,
to Miss riiir.'a 1. Morriain, dauglilor of lloiiioi
Moiri.ini, whoso liiogr.iphicil skoloh mav ho
louiid I'lsowhoi'o in this volnino. Mis. Row
lev w.is horn in I'rov', N.\'. .Sho and hor
IuisIkuuI ,110 tho p.ii'onts of two children :
ll.iiold Morriain KowIon', borii at I'lit-a, N,\'.,
I,iiiu,ii\' 11, 1870, and now ;i sliidont al
riiillips .'XcidoniN', .\ndo\oi'; and Arthur
Moiii.iin Ko\vlo\', born in .'~ipi iiigliohl. .'Xngiist
3, 1SS3. " Wvndhui'sl," Mr. Row Ion's homo
on t'losoi'iit ilill, is I'onsidoiod Iho most dosir
,ililo losidonoo piopoilN' in .'"^pi ingliold. I'ho j
o\tonsivo ;;roiinds — some four 01 fuo acios
possess all Iho ,it tract ions I'l an P'nglish
piiwito paik; whiU' thoir oiMiini.indini; loci
tion .ill'ords an o\tont .md 1 iclinoss ol xiow
piol>.dd\' unsni p.issod in the t'onnoctiout
\',ille\'. In politics Mr. Ro\vlo\ is an .iidoiit
Ropnidicin, though nol ,m .ispir.iiit lor po
litic, il luuiois. His wilo, like liimsoU, is ,1 {
iiionilu'i ol the .'¦^outh t'ongrog.it ioii.il t'hiiioh, I
,md both ,u'o piomiiiont in tho host sooiot\' of
.Spi ingtiohl. riio .looomp, lining poiti.iit of
Mi. Rt>\vle\' will ho lOk'ogni/ed with plo.isuro
l>\' his numoHuis ti ionds. |

"RANKLIN I'JI'IRCP:, a loading oili/.on
ol' .Siiiingfu'ld, Mass., hoars I he sanu'
namo as Iho loiiilooiilh I'rosidont ol lliosi'
Unilod .Stall's, and is himsolf I'n'sidoiil ol tho
coipoialion knmvii as Iho lloh'dko Card and
r.ipoi' ( 'onipaiiN', .Spi iiigliold, lull was born out^
side ol Massachiisolls, in Iho lloniishing mann-
faotuiiiig i'il\' ol Maiu'hosloi', N.I I., on August
3. I'^^l')-
('oliinol Tliiiinas I'. IMoroo, Iho lalhi'i' of tho
subjocl ol this skoloh, was horn in Cholsoa,
Mass., on Iho 30th of August, 1820. llo
oamo Irom Rovoliitioiiai'\' stock on hotli the
lallioi's and niolhoi's side. .\tloi' limili'd
liaining in tho piihlio schools, he loariied Iho
1 1 ado ol oaiiiago and ornanionlal painting in
liosion. In i8.|o lu' wool lo Manchoslor,
N.ll., wliit'h was then a luisl ling place of si.\
hundred laniilios, springing into o\isloiu'e :is
a nianiilacluring \'illago, under Iho aiispioos of
tho .Anioski'ag t.aiul and W'atoi" Power Coni-
pan\'. With much of the rush and rockloss-
lu'ss ol a nowh' grown coimnnnih' there wore
then goims ol that onoig\' which has since
made Maiu'hoster an emiiionth' itrospoicuis
cil\. \oung I'ioii'o, not yet of ago, worki'd as
a ioui'iio\in,in al his trade, aiul h\' his unvai'\-
iiig c(uii li'sv and cheerl'iil spirit was ,1 faN'orilo
among his associates. llo was an actix't' mi'iu-
lu'i' ol the lamoiis .Stark (inaids, a popular
mililai \' oi'gani/al ion,
I'ho war with l\lo\ico hogaii in i8..|(>; and,
when it w.is ordoi'od thai a logimont of iiilaiilr\'
should bo raised in Now Fngland, Mr. Pierce
at iMU'o N'oluntooiod as a pi i\'ato, and was soon
.illor L'onimissionod h\ Piesidont Polk as .Soo-
oiul Lioutoii.mt ol one o( the companies. 'I'ho
oomnuind ol' this logiinont was fust assigned to
P'ranklin Piorco ; but on his iiromolion to the
ho, id of a lirig.ido il was gix'on to I'ruman H,
R.insom, ,1 hr.oo .md .locomplishcd officer from
N'oimont. I',iil\ ill the suimuor the brigade
Uiulor tionoial I'ioico w.is oidoiod lo piocood
to tho o.istoni coast ol Mexico and to land in
tho vioinilN' of N'or.i t'ru/, to lu' lo.uly to co-
oporito with the in.iin ,iiniv umlor ih'nor.il
Scott in tho march to the Mexican capit.il.
I'he troops disonihaikoil on tho 28tli ot Inno,
,1 most unl.nor.ildo se.ison ot the vear. Fhe
heit W.IS ,so intense on the low lands tli.it to

93°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

march between nine o'clock in the morning
and four in the afternoon was impossible.
With the exception of a few of the officers the
entire force was made up of new recruits. To
secure mules for army transportation occupied
two weeks. On the 14th of July the move
ment toward the city of Mexico began, and on
reaching the foothills every bridge and forti
fied pass was strongly guarded by hostile Mexi
cans. There was constant skirmishing, and
the enemy from the cliffs and thickets made
annoying and sometimes dangerous attacks.
The climate, the difficulties of marching, and
the hardships of military life in a strange coun
try bore heavily on the inexperienced soldiers.
Amid these perplexities the tact, the genial
spirit, and untiring attention of Lieutenant
Pierce to the wants of his comrades won for
him a high regard and strong personal attach
ment. In the sharp conflicts which occurred
on reaching the table-lands he took an active
part; and at the battle of Contreras, fought
August 19, he was personally complimented
by Colonel Ransom for bravery. In his report
of the battle General Scott placed the name of
Lieutenant Pierce on the list of those recom
mended for promotion on account of gallant
and meritorious conduct. The majority of the
army officers in that campaign were of this
character; and the young soldier at the close
of the war returned home in March, 1848, with
higher aims and a better and truer estimate of
the duties and responsibilities of life.
Colonel Pierce again engaged in business in
Manchester, which in the mean time had been
incorporated a city. In 1849 he became a
member of the city government, and in the
same year was appointed a member of Governor
Dinsmoor's staff. Upon the inauguration of
General P'ranklin Pierce as President in
March, 1853, he was appointed Postma.ster at
Manchester This office he filled for eight
years and to the entire satisfaction of all
parties. On the breaking out of the Rebellion in
1 86 1 Colonel Pierce was selected by Governor
Goodwin as commander of the Second New
Hampshire Regiment of the three months'
troops. Having satisfactorily discharged his
duties, he retired after the term of enlistment

was changed to three years. The next year,
September, 1862, unexpected difficulties hav
ing arisen, Governor Berry telegraphed to
Colonel Pierce to take command of the Twelfth
New Hampshire Regiment, then completing
its organization at Concord. Plow well he
accomplished the duty assigned him was ex
pressed in the following words in a statement
signed by the officers of the regiment at the
time of his withdrawal: "Your generous and
patriotic course in assuming temporary com
mand of the regiment during a period of great
excitement and confusion, thereby saving it
from dissolution and the State from disgrace,
merits our admiration and sincere thanks."
In 1866 Colonel Pierce removed to Nashua,
where he was a Director and President of the
Nashua Card and Glazed Paper Company, also
a Director of the Contoocook "Valley Paper
Company in Henniker, a Director of the Sec
ond National Bank, and President of the
Mechanics Savings Bank at Nashua. In .1874
Colonel Pierce was elected a member of the
New PPampshire State Senate, the only candi
date of his party ever elected from that dis
trict; and in 1875 and 1876 he was Sheriff
of Hillsboro County. While unwavering in
his attachment to the Democratic party, he
was not rabid in his policy or partisan in his
associations. He was selected by the city
government as chairman of the Committee of
Arrangements when President Hayes visited
Nashua in 1877; and no citizen took a more
efficient part in securing a proper observance
of the obsequies of President Garfield. He
and his family were attendants of the Univer
salist church. In 1873 he purchased the
beautiful homestead of the late General J. G.
Foster, and built a spacious and elegant resi
dence, surrounded by ample grounds and
stately trees, making a home of rare attractions.
Colonel Pierce died October 14, 1887. His
wife, Asenath R. McPherson, whom he mar
ried in 1842, was born in Bedford, N. H., in
1821, and is still living. They had two chil
dren, the son above named and a daughter,
Julia Maria, the wife of William N. Johnson,
of Manchester, who was at one time in the
dry-goods trade in Manchester, afterward was
associated with his father-in-law in the paper

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

93'

factory in Nashua, and still later was con
nected with tho Contoocook X'allcy Paper Mill
in Henniker, N. PI.
P'ranklin Pierce was of course cilucated in
the Manchester schools — primary, grammar,
and high. He then attended the Appleton
Academy at New Ipswich, in the same State.
On leaving school in 1865 he first worked
for his father in the ilry-gootls business in
his native city; and, when they renun-cd to
Nashua, he wont into the factory and thor
oughly learned paper-making, beginning" on
the lowest round of the huldcr. In 1870, ha\'
ing attainotl his majority, ho went to Chicago
as resident agent f(u- the sale of tho goods
manufactured b}' the Nashua Card and tila/cd
Paper Compan\'. At the expiration of three
years he returned to Nasliua, and took the
management of the sale of their goods for the
entire country, a situation which he very abl\'
filled, as might be infericil from the fact that
he occupied it twenty years.
In August, 1887, only two months prior to
his father's death, Mr. Pierce came to Spring
field, and purchased a large interest in the
Holyoke Card and Paper Compan\-, which had
been organized three •\'cars previous, and whose
capital of sixtv thousand dollars was then in
creased to eighty thousand, and two x cars
later, in 1889, was enlarged to a hundred thou
sand. The first President was W. M. Morrill.
He was succeeded in 1888 by Ii. I*". Strick
land; but two )'ears later Mr. Strickland died,
and Mr. Pierce was elected to the vacant posi
tion, which he has since filled with such
marked abilit}-. The specialt}- of the company
is the manufacture of cardboard and surface-
coatctl papers, such as are used in lithography,
steel engi"a\"ii'ig, paper-box making, and in ;ill
sorts of printing. The goods arc sold exclu
sively to jobbers. The mills are in the Bright-
wood suburb of Springfield, on the line of the
Boston & Maine Railroad, a vcr\" convenient
point for shipping, as spur tracks have boon
laid to the vcr\' doors of the shop, whence are
yearly taken a hundred and fifty thousand
reams of stock, weighing four millions of
pounds. This ni.ikcs an average weight of
over twentv si.v poumls per ream, but the paper
is made in huge rolls, x-arying from twent}- to

thirty-five inches in width. In a single year,
reckoning on a standard width of twenty-four
inches, tho annual product of the Brightwood
plant rc:iches the enormous length of a hun
dred and thirty-three and ;i third millions of
feet, or twenty-five thousand two hundred and
fift\-fi\e miles, a distance exceeding the cir
cumference of our globe. Not only is all this
freight sent away, but twchc hundred thou
sand pounds of coloring" material are taken in
every year. On the pay-roll are a hundred
and fifty names, and it takes sixty thousand
dollars annually to meet their wages.
As might be well surmised, Mr. Pierce is
connected with other business interests in
Springfield, such as the Springfield National
Bank and the Pbdyoke Belting Compan}', Hol
yoke, Mass., in both of which he is a Direc
tor. On November 15, 1894, he became a
Trustee in the Villa Bluffs Company, that day
organized; and he is also interested in many
other local enterprises in the city of Spring
field. He is likewise a member of the Nayas
set Club. On November 18, 1875, two years
after his return from Chicago, Mr. Pierce was
united in wedlock to Mar)' H. Mason, of
another manufacturing city, P'all River, a
daughter of Jeremiah B. and Mary PI. Mason.
The faniil)' are connected with St. Paul's L'ni-
\orsalist C'hurch. 'Phe name he bears is a
sufficient indication of the paternal politics,
whorofrom Mr. Pierce has never departed. To
a large extent he owes his success to an
observance of a law of life thus laid down by
the Phiglish wit, Douglas Jerrold, "Keep your
eyes and cars open if you ilesire to get on in
tho world."

11 \RLES i\IERRIAM KIRKHAM,
, LL.B., attorney and counsellor-at-law
|fl  ^ in his native city, Springfield,
Mass., was born November 10,
1862. The paternal grandfather of Mr Kirk
ham was William Kirkham, of Newington,
Conn. 'Phe father of the original of this bio
graphical sketch, who also bore the name of
William, was born in Newington, Conn., and
came to Springfield when he was sixteen years
of age. William Kirkham was employed by

932

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

his brother James in a jewelry store which was
conducted by the latter, and remained in this
position until his brother went into banking,
when William bought out the jewelry busi
ness. This he continued to manage until his
death in 1871. His wife was Harriet N.
Merriam, a daughter of Charles Merriam ; and
she was the mother by this marriage of three
children: Charles M., Guy Kirkham, and a
child who died in infancy.
Charles M. Kirkham attended the public
schools of Springfield, after which he spent
two years at school in South Williamstown,
Mass., three years at St. Paul's School, Con
cord, N. H., and two years at the Sheffield
Scientific School of Yale College at New
Haven, Conn. The Holyoke Chemical Paper
Company was established at about this time;
and Mr. Kirkham obtained a position in its
office, leaving there to take a clerkship in the
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance office.
He next went to Minneapolis, organized a
paper company, and became its Vice-Presi
dent. This proving unsuccessful, two years
later he returned to Springfield, where his
knowledge of paper manufacturing secured him
employment in the pulp-mills of the "Winona
Paper Company, located at Berlin Falls,
N. H., and in Nova Scotia. In 1889 Mr
Kirkham decided to apply himself to the study
of law, and after some preliminary reading he
entered the law school of Boston University,
from which he graduated in 1891. Immedi
ately afterward he entered the office of May
nard & Spellman. In the summer of 1891 he
was admitted to the bar He took the old law
office at 475 Main Street, afterward removing
to the Court Square Theatre Building. At
one time Mr Kirkham was interested in real
estate, and purchased a large tract of land,
which he has since disposed of, and now de
votes his attention and energies to his pro
fession exclusively. He .spent part of the
winter of 1892 at the national capital, where
through his instrumentality a bill was passed
by Congress for the clearing of the titles of
the government land, about which there had
been some trouble. IPe had the pleasure of
seeing the bill, which he had personally
drafted, signed by the President. Mr Kirk

ham's office in the new Court Square Theatre
Building is a model of comfort and conven
ience. He is a member of the Winthrop
Camp Comfort Club and the Roswell Lee
P.odge of Masons. He has been an extensive
traveller, having made four trips to Europe,
one to South America and Cuba, three across
the continent, besides having visited regions
rarely frequented by the conventional tourist.
In 1894 he spent the summer among the fjords
of Norway.

UGENE D. PARKS, Postmaster and
Town Clerk of the town of Russell, of
which he is a native, was born on the
17th of January, 1862, and is a son of Horace
Parks, who was born March 10, 1821, in the
same town. His grandfather, Robert, and
his great-grandfather, Elias Parks, were also
native residents, the latter being a representa
tive of one of the first families to settle in the
town. He was of early English ancestry, and
he was chosen one of the first Selectmen.
The maiden name of his second wife was
Lydia Lindsay. Their son Robert was reared
to farm work, and going to Blandford followed
that occupation there for a period of nearly
twenty years. He then returned to his native
town, where he passed away at the age of
seventy-four His wife, Sarah Shurtleff, was
born in Montgomery, and spent her last years
in the town of Russell. Horace Parks, son
of Robert and Sarah, early began his career as
a railroad man, entering the employ of the
Boston & Albany Railroad Company as fore
man of a gravel train. He has been station
agent at Russell for the past thirty-six years,
probably a longer term of service than that of
any man in a similar post in the employ of the
company. He has been prominent in public
affairs, and has filled all the various town
offices, having for thirteen years been chairman
of the Board of Selectmen ; and for a number
of years he was Postmaster His wife, form
erly Ellen M. Lewis, was born in Blandford.
Her father, the Hon. Horatio Gates Lewis,
who was of Welsh ancestry, removed from
Rhode Island, his native State, to Stoning
ton, Conn., where he resided until 1826, in

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

933

which year, accompanied by his first wife
and eight children, he removed to Blandford,
Mass., making the wearisome journey with
teams. Mr. Lewis became prominent in pub
lic affairs, and served as a member of the
State legislature. He commanded a company
in the War of 1812, and was also a Major
in the State militia. By his two wives he
became the father of twenty-two children.
He died at the age of sixty-seven. His sec
ond wife, the grandmother of Eugene D.
Parks was Anna Wheeler She died at the
home of a daughter, Mrs. Weltha Perkins, in
Blandford, at the advanced age of eighty-
four Horace and Ellen M. Parks reared a
family of three children: Arthur S. , Eugene
D., and Robert L. Arthur S. met his death
by accident at the age of twenty-five. Rob
ert L. is at present a member of the Board of
Selectmen of Russell.
Eugene D. Parks, having acquired his edu
cation in the district school and the Westfield
High School, engaged in mercantile business
in Russell, conducting it about ten years.
For the next two years he was in the employ
of the Boston & Albany Railroad Company,
and in the succeeding two he had the man
agement of the Woronoco Stock Farm, since
which time he has been engaged in the wood
and charcoal business. He is also a breeder
of and dealer in fancy trotting stock, having
brought out Queen Fearnaught, 2.25^^, and
Lavender, 2.28^. He has at his farm in
Russell two choicely bred young stallions, one
sired by Alcantara, 2.23, dam Blanchette, by
a son of Dictator, the other, named Unalaska,
sired by Unkamet, 2.22^^, dam Alcantara
Queen, 2.2iJ^, by Alcantara, 2.23, second
dam Modjeska, dam of Queen Fearnaught
and Lavender, as above. These are very fine
animals, and show extreme speed for colts of
their age. Mr. Parks's barns are conveniently
situated in Russell village, near the main line
of the Boston & Albany Railroad, about thirty
minutes' ride from Springfield.
Mr. Parks was first married in 1888 to Miss
Lizzie Belle Lewis, who was born in Russell,
and was a daughter of H. G. and Lizzie (Rus
sell) Lewis. She survived her marriage but
two years, passing from earthly scenes on the

1st of April, 1890. Mr. Parks was again
married October 10, 1894, to Miss Minnie
Belle Wright. By his first union he has one
son, Frederick E. Mr. Parks cast his first
Presidential vote in 1884 for Grover Cleveland,
and has since been a stanch supporter of the
principles of the Democratic party. He has
filled numerous town offices, having served as
a member of the Board of Selectmen, Treas
urer, and Collector, at the present time being
Justice of the Peace, Town Clerk, and Post
master. Fraternally, he is a member of
Huntington Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Woro
noco Tribe, No. 19, Improved Order of Red
Men.

,HILO PRATT KELLOGG, a promi
nent business man and much-re
spected citizen of Springfield, who
died December 13, 1892, after a
lingering illness of two years, was born in
Hebron, Conn., May 22, 1828. According to
tradition, the Kellogg family were originally
Scotch, and, being partisans of James VI. of
Scotland, went with that prince to England
when he ascended the throne of Great Britain
as James I. Nathaniel Kellogg received land
in Hartford, Conn., in 1639, but removed in
1653 to P""armington, where he died in 1657.
^is cousin, Joseph Kellogg, who was living
in Farmington m 165 1, removed to Hadley,
Mass., about 1662. A Daniel Kellogg was
an inhabitant of Norwalk, Conn., in 1655.
Philo P. Kellogg was two years old when
his father died, leaving a widow and four chil
dren, of whom he was the youngest. He
received his education in the public schools
and the village academy at Hebron. Of stu
dious habits and fond of books, it was a sore
trial to him to leave school and seek his fort
une in the business world. But, self-reliant
and persevering, he soon found employment
in a Hartford mercantile house; and, when he
attained his majority, his ability, honesty,
and devotion to the interests of his employer
were recognized by his being admitted to part
nership in the firm. In 1856 he established a
dry-goods and grocery store in the growing
railroad town of Palmer, Mass., where he

934

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

built up an extensive business, largely in fur
nishing supplies for the manufacturing vil
lages in the vicinity. He took an active
interest in everything pertaining to the wel
fare and prosperity of the town, and was an
influential factor in its political movements.
He was one of the founders of the Palmer
Library Association and its first President.
In 1868 Mr. Kellogg, turning his attention
to manufacturing, bought out the old Spring
field Envelope Company, and noting the pop
ular demand for writing" paper and envelopes
in the form of papeteries, was among the first
to extend his business in that direction, seek
ing more commodious quarters, and, by con
solidation with the Union Envelope and Paper
Company, forming the National Papeterie
Company, which is still in existence. After
some six or seven successful years Mr. Kel
logg sold his interest to his partners, retain
ing, however, the commercial envelope depart
ment, and bought a large brick block in the
central business part of the city, where he
established the firm of P. P. Kellogg & Co.,
taking his son as partner, and later admitting
Walter G. Morse. Though always attentive
to his own business, Mr. Kellogg found time
to aid in other enterprises, including" some of
a philanthropic nature. He was long a
Director and member of the financial com
mittee in the Second National Bank, Director
in the Co-operative Bank, member of the
finance committee of the Home for Aged
Women, Vice-President of the Business
Men's Association, and was associated with
the founders of the School for Christian
Workers. Mr. Kellogg possessed the sterling New
England character, and as a business man had
few superiors. Strong in an unfailing sense
of duty, "he was a foe to all forms of shrewd
ness that verged upon dishonesty. By patient
and persevering integrity he accumulated a
fortune, of which he made generous use, giv
ing liberally whenever a worthy cause was
presented to his attention, and using his
influence and means for the support of the
churches with which he was connected. A
man of cultivated tastes, he was interested in
the formation of the Springfield Art Associa

tion, serving as its Vice-President, and con
tributing five thousand dollars for the new Art
Building. Mr. Kellogg's life was quiet, and
in his later years the demands of a large busi
ness left him little time for active participa
tion in politics; but he performed the duties
of a good citizen at the polls by casting his
vote for the men whom he thought best fitted
for the responsibilities of high position. Al
though naturally reserved, to his friends he
was loyal and helpful to a rare degree. There
are few men to whom home signified more, for
to him it was the centre of happiness. Mr.
Kellogg married Miss S. Caroline Henshaw,
of Brookfield, and left at his death, besides
his wife, two children — Frederick T. and
Marian, now the wife of George Dwight
Pratt, of Springfield.

Ij'

OBERT M. KEATING, inventor of
the renowned Keating bicycle and
organizer of the wheel company that
bears his name, was born in the city
of Springfield, September 22, 1862. His
father and mother, Michael and Catherine
(Devitt) Keating, were of Irish birth, and
were small children when their respective
parents emigrated to America. Michael Keat
ing, who was a mechanic, spent his life in
Springfield, where he died, leaving a family
of five children : Robert N., then a little child
too young to realize the bereavement ; Brightie
E., wife of Frank E. Burtwell, of Springfield,
Mass. ; Mary E., the wife of Mr Joseph F".
Quirk, of Springfield, who was for some years
the general agent of the United States Mutual
Accident Association of this city; Katie T.,
who is at home; and John D., who is in busi
ness with his brother Robert. Mrs. Catherine
D. Keating is still living in Springfield, where
her childhood, maidenhood, and married life
have all been passed.
Immediately after completing the course of
the city schools, young Robert, whose natural
tastes all inclined toward mechanics, entered
the machine-shop of Richard & Dole, and
there served an apprenticeship. He easily
secured employment afterward in the city and
vicinity, where his superior skill was speedily

ROBERT M. KEATING.

BIOGRAPPIICAL REVIEW

937

recognized, and brought its just compensation.
While steadily engaged at his work, he re
ceived patents on several new inventions; and,
when the bicycle was put on the market, he
was among the first men in the city to own
one. Mr. Keating worked in several bicycle
manufactories, in one of the largest of which
he was superintendent; 'and thus, having
ample opportunities to observe the imperfec
tions of the various kinds in use, he was led
to make improvements. Before long he had
designed, patented, and built the first model of
his own invention, the wheel now known as
the Keating wheel, which was the first light
weight bicycle ever made for road use. This
was in i8go. The safeties had just come in;
and Mr. Keating made many improvements in
this style, besides originating the light-weight.
The bicycles then in use weighed from fifty to
sixty pounds, and Mr. Keating's thirty-two-
pound racer was at first regarded as of doubt
ful success. Being firmly built, it kept its
ground; and the subsequent build of racing
wheels, which average from fifteen to twenty-
one pounds, has proved his practical wisdom.
The Keating wheel having stood the test of
many trials, he had no difficulty in organizing
a stock company, which was incorporated a
few years since with a capital of ten thousand
dollars. At Westfield, Mass., the first factory
was established, in which ten men were em
ployed and during the first season seventy-five
wheels were made. Seeing that a larger field
of action was necessary for the success of the
enterprise, the 'company moved the plant to
Holyoke; and the capital stock was increased
to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In
this factory more automatic machinery is used
than in any other bicycle factory, much of
which machinery has been invented by Mr
Keating. The establishment is a four-story
building, covering an area of fifty thousand
square feet of space. Its three hundred work
men produce ten thousand wheels annually.
The company puts on the market wheels weigh
ing from nineteen pounds up to twenty-three
pounds, and conservative gaugers pronounce
the Keating Bicycle Factory the best-equipped
in the country. Mr Keating has from the
start been the Vice-President and Manager of

this company, and its success is largely due
to his foresight and capacity for business as
well as to his mechanical skill and inventive
talent. He is connected with other incorpo
rated companies, but that bearing his own name
naturally has the first place; and in its behalf
his energies are always in requisition.
Political questions have thus far been of
small interest to him, his faculties having
been devoted to the perfecting of intricate
mechanical appliances and the details of busi
ness management. He is yet unmarried, and
lives with his mother at 30 Adams Street,
Springfield, Mass. On another page of the
"Review " will be seen a portrait of this well-
known wheelman and prominent member of the
Springfield Bicycle Club, Mr. Keating being
not only a successful inventor and practical
machinist, but an accomplished wheelman.

^ff^ ^l- AM) THP-.ODORE REYNOLDS,
\\f^ "f Monson, Mass., manufacturers of
j_[9\ fine fabric dress goods, were born in
^~^ this town, the former on the i8th of
December, 1838, and Theodore in 1843.
These gentlemen are descendants of William
Reynolds, who in 1637 settled on the Provi
dence Plantations, R.I., where on July 27,
1640, he and thirty-eight others signed an
agreement for a form of government. Will
iam's son James was the father of Joseph Reyn
olds, who was born in Rhode Island in 1652,
and was the father of John, the latter being
the father of John, Jr., the great-grandfather
of the Reynolds brothers of this sketch. The
next in line was Eldridge Reynolds, son of
John, Jr., and father of Joseph L. Reynolds.
The farm in the village of Wickford, R. I.,
that was owned and occupied by John Reyn
olds, Jr., has been held in the family two
hundred years.
Joseph L. Reynolds, the father of R. M.
and Theodore, was born in the village of
Wickford, a part of North Kingston, R.I.,
December 31, 1796; and his wife, their
mother, was Oral, daughter of Rice and Lavinia
(Shaw) Munn and a native of Monson. They
were married on March 7, 1837, by the Rev.
Dr. Ely, and enjoyed almost fifty years of mar-

938

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ried life. They had three children, two of
whom are now living. Mr. Reynolds estab
lished the manufacture of cotton goods soon
after coming to Monson. He attended strictly
to his business, and never sought public office,
but was chosen by his townsmen to fill various
important positions, being Selectman for a
long term and occupying a seat in the Massa
chusetts Senate in 1854. He was a prominent
member of the Congregational church, and
died July 9, 1885, being exactly eighty-eight
and one half years old. Mrs. Reynolds was
possessed of womanly and motherly graces to
a remarkable degree, being gentle and modest
in disposition, warm-hearted and sympathetic
in nature, and a devout Christian, a member of
the Congregational church for over sixty years.
But few persons have both the desire and the
means to fill their lives full of generous and
worthy deeds as she did, so simply and natu
rally, shedding sunshine all about her. She
died in Monson July 15, 1891. Her grand
father was Reuben Munn ; and her ancestors
were among the very first settlers in this part
of Massachusetts, the town record showing
that on July 19, 1757, a daughter, Lois, was
born to Nathaniel Munn, Jr.
Rice M. and Theodore Reynolds received a
good .common-school education, which was sup
plemented by a course at the Monson Acad
emy. The business to which they succeeded
at their father's death has increased under
their management, and has aided materially
in the prosperity of this town. Their large
establishment is run on a liberal scale, em
ploying from one hundred and forty to two
hundred hands, and makes use of steam and of
water power supplied by a branch of the Chic
opee Brook. Mr R. M. Reynolds has re
cently buried his third wife. He has borne
his share of public office in his native town,
and served twice in the legislature. The
members of this family have been successively
Whig and Republican from the beginning of
these parties, and both Theodore and R. M.
Reynolds are prominent Chapter Masons.
The home of Mr Theodore Reynolds is a
fine old-fashioned country seat in the south
part of Monson, on an eminence overlooking
the factories of the firm. It is a most attrac

tive and quiet retreat, set back from the din
and dust of the busy thoroughfare, with ample
grounds shaded by a rich variety of ornamental
trees, the hills beyond being covered by a
thrifty forest of native wood. The roomy and
elegant residence was erected by his father
about fifty years ago, and both his parents died
there. Mr. Reynolds is a gentleman of domes
tic habits, though never married. The inte
rior of his house shows him to be of refined
taste. Many choice engravings and paintings
adorn the walls, among them the portraits of
his honored father and cherished mother, exe
cuted with such skill as to be startlingly life
like. The house, though richly furnished, is
more remarkable for an air of home comfort
than for grandeur, its most striking feature
being the extensive and valuable library,
which shows its owner to be a true bibliophile
and a successful collector. Among its treas
ures may be named a priceless copy of the
Baskerville Bible of 1763, a Matthew Bible of
1549, Raynolds & Hill, London, publishers —
these containing the prologue of William Tyn-
dale, and distinguished by the rare initial
letter T — a "Breeches" Bible of 1607, the
Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493, a small New
Testament of the Genevan translation, a Bre-
viarum Romanum of the twelfth century,
printed by hand on vellum, every letter and
page perfect, embellished with colors and
gold, Fox's "Book of Martyrs," three folio
volumes, black letter, dated 1641, Latimer's
Sermons, a choice copy of 1571, and a small
copy in black letter of 1549. On these
shelves are also many other rare and costly
works of art and literature, including standard
encyclopaedias and the Century Dictionary in
full Russia, the collection of Mr Reynolds
being unsurpassed by that of any other private
individual in Massachusetts.

tSAIAH HISCOCK, of the town of
Wales, who is now retired from active
business, is one of the largest real
estate owners in Hampden County. He
was born in Windham County, Vt., March 23,
1829, and is a son of Luke and Ruth (Leon
ard) Hiscock, and grandson of David Hiscock,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

939

a native of Ashford, Conn., where he lived
and died. He was a soldier in the Revolu
tionary War, a Whig in politics, and a mem
ber of the Baptist church. He lived to be
nearly ninety years of age, and reared a fam
ily of six children — David, Isaiah, Luke,
Stephen, Huldah, and Anstis.
Luke Hiscock was born at Ashford, Conn.,
February 2, 1784, and at the age of twenty-
five years purchased one hundred and twenty-
five acres of uncultivated land in Windham
County, "Vt., which he brought to a fertile
and productive state. As old age approached
he became desirous of passing the remainder
of his life in his native State; and, selling
his property in Vermont, he moved to Union,
Conn., where he purchased a farm, upon which
he resided until his decease, which occurred
when he was seventy-seven years old. While
in Vermont Mr. Hiscock met and married
Ruth Leonard, daughter of the Rev. James
Leonard, a Baptist clergyman of Guilford, of
that State. She was called to her final rest
at the age of fifty years. They reared eight
children — Luke, Stephen, Mary, Anstis,
Mark, David, Isaiah, and Lyman — all of
whom are now deceased except Isaiah, who is
the subject of this record. In politics Luke
Hiscock was a Democrat. He was a veteran
of the War of 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Hiscock
were members of the Baptist church.
Isaiah Hiscock was educated in the schools
of Union, Conn., and resided there until
reaching manhood, assisting his father in at
tending to the farm duties during the latter's
declining years. He was in the employ of
George B. Coleman for ten years, and at
the expiration of that time engaged in stock
speculating. He purchased three hundred
acres of land at Stafford, Conn., where he be
came an extensive dealer in cattle and horses,
following that line of business with the most
prosperous and satisfactory results for a period
of twenty years. He still retains the farm,
and resides there a part of the time, the re
mainder being passed at Wales, where he
has large property interests. This farm is
one of the finest and most productive pieces
of agricultural property in the locality, and
is fitted with substantial and well-appointed

buildings and all modern conveniences.
After relinquishing the stock business, he
engaged in the wool trade, which he followed
successfully for ten years, since which time
he has practically lived in retirement, with
the exception of attending to his extensive
real estate interests, and speculating when an
advantageous occasion presents itself. His
property consists of five tenement-houses and
a store, together with a farm of one hundred
and seventy acres, also one of one hundred
and fifty in the town of Wales; at Holland,
the Kinney House, a hotel with one hundred
and fifty acres of land attached; one hundred
and seventy acres at the head of Reservoir
Pond; the town farm, of one hundred and
eight acres; the Harriden place, of one hun
dred and thirty; and the B. Harold farm; in
Sturbridge, the Lumbard place, of one hun
dred and forty-five acres; the Jackson place,
of one hundred and sixty-five acres; at Brim
field, the Lumbard place, of one hundred and
fifty; and the Oakham place, of fifty acres.
In the town of Stafford, Conn., besides his
three-hundred-acre farm, he owns the Rood
farm, of one hundred and twenty-five acres;
the Heck place, of one hundred and sixty-
five; the Gage place, of one hundred; and
in Broome County, New York, the Luke Buck
place, of one hundred and sixty-five acres.
On August 3, 1858, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Laura L. Shaw, daughter of
Snell and Rhoda Shaw, who died at the age
of thirty-nine years. On June 25, 1883, he
wedded for his second wife Mrs. Amy A.
(Clark) Perry, who was born in Rhode Island,
October 15, 1838, and is the daughter of
Joseph and Phebe A. (Slater) Clark. Her
father was a native of Rhode Island, a ma
chinist, and also followed agriculture to some
extent. He died at the age of seventy-six
years. Mrs. Clark, whose maiden name was
Phebe A. Slater, is a descendant of the Slater
who constructed the first mill in New Eng
land. She is yet living, being now seventy-
six years old.
Mr. Hiscock has always been a stanch
Democrat, and has taken an active part
in public affairs, having been a Selectman
and Justice of the Peace in Stafford for a

94°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

number of years.
offices.

He has also held other town

ILLIAM OLIVER COLLINS, a
leading coal dealer in Springfield,
was born at Somers, Conn., on
July II, 1842, son of Noah Chapin Collins.
His earliest ancestor in America, Edward
Collins, who was born in England, was a
large landholder in Cambridge, Mass., as
early as 1636, and was Deacon of the church
there and representative sixteen years in the
General Court. His son Nathaniel graduated
at Harvard College in 1660, was ordained as
a minister, and settled over the church in
Middletown, Conn., on November 4, 1668,
and died there, December 28, 1684. His son
Nathaniel, Jr., born in 1679, was settled as
first minister of Enfield, Conn., and died,
aged seventy-nine. His wife was Alice-
Adams, a great-grand-daughter of Governor
Bradford. Their son William was one of
the first settlers of Somers, and died there
in 1804, aged ninety-three. William's son
Jabez lived in Somers, and died at the age of
ninety-five. His son, Colonel Oliver Collins,
was father of Noah C Collins.
Colonel Oliver Collins was an officer in
the War of 1812; but after the war he became
a farmer and business man in Somers, where
he held various local offices. His son, Noah
Chapin Collins, was a farmer and lumberman
in Somers, where he was born, and where he
died in 1 871, at the age of fifty-seven. He
was a valuable member of the School Board,
having been himself a teacher. Although
not seeking political preferment, he was rep
resentative in the State legislature one term.
His wife, Elvira Billings, was a daughter of
Deacon Solomon Billings, one of the old set
tlers in Somers, and they had five children:
twins, who died at the age of thirteen
months; Mary Collins, who entered Mount
Holyoke Seminary at the age of fifteen, and
died four years later; William Oliver; and
Martha Chapin Collins. The parents were
both members of the Congregational church
in Somers; and the mother died in 1882, at
the age of sixty-seven.

William O. Collins completed his educa
tion at the Wilbraham Academy, and then,
on December 11, 1872, he married Anna
Mathewson, of Enfield, Conn., daughter of the
late John Mathewson, superintendent of the
Hazard Powder Company; and they have four
children — Mary, Edith Louise, John Mathew
son, and William Oliver Collins, Jr. The
family reside at No. 789 State Street, corner
of Hawley, in a house he built prior to his
removal to the city, and which is next to
Hope Church, of which society he and his
wife and daughters are members; and he has
done much for its upbuilding.
After his marriage Mr. Collins entered
the lumber and farming business with his
father, remaining there until the last month
of 1875, when he came to Springfield, and
started a fuel yard on the line of the New
England Railroad, half a mile from the old
city limits; though since that time Spring
field has so grown beyond the spot that, in
stead of being east of the town line, it is now
at least a mile west of it. After several
changes Mr. Collins moved his office to his
present place on Main Street, where he has
been located since 1886. In the outset his
coal yard on Eastern Avenue could accommo
date hardly four hundred tons, whereas now
he carries in the same yard eight or ten thou
sand. At first he had to ship his coal from
Saybrook, over the Connecticut Valley Rail
road, and was thereby obliged to pay twenty-
five cents more freight by the ton than his
competitors, though still able to undersell
them. It was unloaded by the shovelful, and
Mr. Collins made up his mind to adopt a more
economical method; so the eastern yard was
refitted, according to his ideas, a- thousand
square yards of earth being excavated, and the
change enabling him to dump his coal from
the cars directly into enormous bins.
His next move was to purchase Gray's coal
yard, at the corner of Lyman and Spring
Streets, for the convenience of his down-town
patrons; and he immediately altered the new
yard to correspond with the old one. He
then enlarged his side tracks on Eastern
Avenue, so that he could run forty cars upon
them at the same time; while on Lyman

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

941

Street nine cars could find room, besides a
storehouse for the sale of hay, grain, and
plaster. Mr. Collins then bought a building
at the foot of Gardner Street, where he keeps
a stock of coal for winter use. At his Lyman
Street yard, which is like a union depot, he
is able to make connections with the New
York & New England, Boston & Albany, and
New York & New Haven Railroads. The
Eastern Avenue establishment is worth
examination; for it has an electric motor in
constant operation, raising the coal seventy
feet into the lofty bins of a building measur
ing forty by one hundred and twenty. In
these bins are forty screened openings at the
bottom, so that it is only necessary to pull
a valve, and the waiting wagon beneath is
straightway filled. The receiving capacity of
this' yard from the cars is seven hundred and
fifty tons a day, the system making feasible
the purchase of large quantities when the
price is low, with a corresponding reduction
to consumers; while the novel method of
transfer from car to bins and bins to wagons
minimizes the expense of delivery.
Men of Mr. Collins's enterprise have had
much to do with making Springfield what it is
to-day. As it has no tide-water accommoda
tions, and the Connecticut River is not yet
navigable to this point, it has been necessary
for brains to devise plans for the utmost use
of railroad facilities, to have any chance for
competition with communities nearer the sea.
In many ways Mr. Collins has done his part.
He is a stockholder in the Elektron Company,
the Schasty Company, Waltham Tool Com
pany, and several other corporated companies,
and has opened at least six new streets in the
eastern part of the city, besides building many
houses. He employs thirty men in his yards;
and he is President and the largest stock
holder in the Westfield Plate Company of
Thompsonville, Conn., employing one hun
dred workmen in the manufacture of coffins
and trimmings. Before telephones came into
general use he bought the boxes, renting the
receivers, and secured the right to put up five
lines of wire to his own premises and other
important points. Though too busy in other
directions to accept office, he always votes the

Republican ticket. In all he owns some forty
acres of land, has put in many rods of curbed
walks, has a park well under way, and has
recently bought a block of a hundred and
fifty feet, fronting on Main Street, at the cor
ner of P'ranklin, and is utilizing it for a com
mission-house. He is a member of both
the Winchester and Winthrop Clubs, but,
being domestic in his tastes, seldom visits
them.

tDDISON L. GREEN, A.B., a promi
nent attorney and counsellor-at-law
of Holyoke, where 'ne has been in
^" — ' active practice since 1888, was
born at Westfield, Mass., October 23, 1862,
son of Thomas J. and Alvira F.. (Loomis)
Green, the former a native of Lunenburg,
Mass., born in 1836. The New England
branch of the Green family are related to the
famous old Southern Clay-Green families,
many of whom were prominently identified
with national affairs. Our subject's grand
father was Asahel Green, of Lunenburg, a
farmer and a veteran of the War of 181 2. He
lived to reach a good age, residing at the
family homestead until his decease, and is well
remembered by his grandson.
Thomas J. Green settled at Westfield in
early manhood, establishing himself as a con
tractor and builder, also engaging in the lum
ber business, which he still carries on, having
been a prosperous dealer in that branch of
trade for the past thirty-five years. He was
for many years an extensive contractor and
builder, and erected a large number of build
ings, both for business and residential pur
poses. He married Miss Alvira E. Loomis,
daughter of Orrin Loomis, who was a native
of one of the Western States. Of the four
children born to them three are now living:
Addison L., our subject; Lena E., who is
now Mrs. Edwin Humphreyville, of West-
field; and Arthur E., also of Westfield, who
is a member of the T. J. Green Lumber Com
pany. Mr. T. J. Green is still actively
engaged in business. In politics he is a Re
publican. He is a member of Mount Tekoa
Lodge of A. F. & A. M. Both himself and

942

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

wife are earnest members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, of which he is a Trustee.
Addison L. Green received the primary
portion of his education in the public schools
of his native town, and, after graduating with
distinction from the Westfield High School
in 1 88 1, attended the Wesleyan University at
Middletown, Conn., from which he graduated
in 1885 with the degree of A.B. He then
taught Greek and Latin for a period of two
years at the Westfield High School, in the
mean time reading law with Henry Fuller,
formerly State Senator and County Commis
sioner. Later Mr. Green went to Spring
field, where he continued his legal studies
with the well-known law firm of Maynard &
Spellman, and was admitted to the Hampden
County bar in November, 1887. In the fol
lowing year he opened an office at Holyoke,
where he has since continued to practise with
uninterrupted prosperity, his business steadily
increasing until at the present time he is con
ducting a very large and lucrative general law
practice. He has figured as counsel in many
prominent cases before the civil and criminal
courts; and his able defence of Wallace "W.
Holmes, together with his management of
several important civil processes, has entitled
him to rank among the foremost lawyers of
this county. Mr. Green has always been ac
tive in forwarding the interests of the Demo
cratic party; and as a member of the City
Committee and an eloquent campaign speaker
he has rendered valuable service, being a
convincing agitator and capable of profound
logical argument. Without previous knowl
edge, he was nominated for representative to ¦
Congress from the First District in 1894;
and, although the tide ran decidedly counter
to his party, he received a most flattering vote
in his own city, which indicates to what
extent his ability is appreciated by those who
know him personally. Mr. Green has been
attorney for the People's Savings Bank for
some time, and Trustee since 1891.
On December 17, 1891, he was united in
marriage to Miss Maud J. Bennett, of Hart
ford, Conn., daughter of Joseph L. Bennett,
who was for some time connected with the
custom-house in the above-named city, and

later was a chief clerk in the Patent Office at
Washington, D.C, where he continued until
a change in administration necessitated his
retirement. He is now a patent attorney at
the national capital. The union of Mr. and
Mrs. Green has been blessed by two chil
dren — Addison Bennett and Donald Ross.
Mr. Green joined the ranks of the Masonic
fraternity some time ago, and is a member of
Mount "Pom Lodge. He is also connected
with Mount Holyoke Chapter and Springfield
Commandery. Mr. and Mrs. Green reside at
the corner of Cabot and Linden Streets, one
of the most beautiful locations in the city,
where in 1894 Mr. Green erected a substantial
and comfortable home. They attend the Epis
copal church.

DWARD WESLEY PETTIS, a well-
known agriculturist of the town of
Montgomery, was born on the farm
where he now resides, on January 26, 1843,
and is a son of Allen and Delania (Chapman)
Pettis. His grandfather on the paternal side
was Abial Pettis, who, it is thought, was born
in Norwich, Conn. Leaving his native State,
he came to Massachusetts, accompanied by his
family, the journey being made with a team
of oxen, and necessarily being a slow and irk
some one. Upon his arrival in Hampden
County he made his way to the town of Mont
gomery, and there purchased a large tract of
land, the greater portion of which was covered
with timber, and at once erected a log house,
which later was supplanted by a frame one,
that occupied the site of the present residence
of his grandson, Edward Wesley Pettis.
Here he made his home the remainder of his
life, dying when about sixty-five years old.
The maiden name of his wife was Eunice
Allen. She was born in Connecticut, and
was a member of the same family as was
Governor Allen. The household circle was
completed by ten children.
Allen Pettis was born on August 12, 1798,
on the farm which his son, Edward Wesley,
now owns and occupies, and was reared to
agricultural pursuits, succeeding his father in
the ownership of the homestead, upon which

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

943

his long life was passed. He attained the
venerable age of ninety-four years, and died
on Christmas Day, 1892. He took for his
wife Delania Chapman, a native of Mont
gomery, a daughter of Elisha and Mercy
(Avery) Chapman. She departed this life on
February 13, 1889, aged eighty-six years.
Their union was blessed by ten children —
Mary E., Elisha, John A., Eunice, Samuel
Henry, Electa, Austin L., Emily, Edward
Wesley, and Ellen S.
Edward Wesley Pettis was educated in the
public schools, and while yet a boy com
menced to assist in the farm duties. In
August, 1 86 1, he enlisted in Company A,
Eighth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, serv
ing until September 7, 1862. He went
South with his regiment, but after participat
ing in the battle of Fort Macon was taken
sick, and, being unable to rejoin his regi
ment, was given an honorable discharge in
September, 1862, returning home. After a
partial restoration of his health, he re-
enlisted, but was rejected by the surgeon,
and accordingly resumed farming, succeeding
his father in the ownership of the home farm.
Upon it he has erected a new house and many
other improvements, and is successfully en
gaged in general farming.
On February 23, 1869, Mr. Pettis was
united in marriage with Huldah A. Johnson,
who was born February 23, 1845, in Chester,
and is a daughter of Amasa N. and Huldah
(Sherman) Johnson, the former of whom was
a native of the same town, and the latter of
Easton, Conn. The family on the paternal
side are of English descent. The grand
father, Daniel Johnson, who also was born in
Chester, was a farmer and a life-long resident
of his native town. He married Martha
Pomeroy, who, as far as known, was a native
of Chester, and there passed her entire life.
The father of Mrs. Pettis was a stone mason
by trade, but during the latter part of his life
engaged in agricultural pursuits. Removing
from Chester, he located in Suffield, Conn.,
residing there two years, then went to South
wick, where he made his home the rest of his
life, his death occurring on January 10, 1894.
His wife, Huldah Sherman, was a daughter

of Beach and Rhoda (Hubbell) Sherman.
Beach Sherman, the grandfather of Mrs.
Pettis, was a carpenter by trade, and spent
his entire life in Easton, Conn., dying at the
age of seventy-three. His widow, Mrs. Hul
dah Johnson, still survives, having attained
the age of seventy-nine, and is now a resident
of Southwick. Her mother lived to be
ninety-six years old.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Pettis has been
blessed by the birth of two children — Charles
Allen and Nellie Johnson.
Politically, Mr. Pettis is an adherent of the
Republican party. Both Mr. and Mrs. Pettis
are connected with the church of the Second
Advent. Their residence is located upon a
beautiful site, occupying a commanding
position, with a view of at least four towns,
and is the centre of a hospitality which is
dispensed with a lavish hand to a large circle
of friends.

Y^EONARD LEROY DAVIS, Treasurer
|j| of the Davis Electrical Works,
JLJf ^ Springfield, Mass., was born Feb
ruary 21, 1838, at Gilmanton, N.H.
His parents were Jonathan and Nancy Gale
Davis, the former a farmer by occupation.
Leonard left the village school at the age of
twelve years, and was apprenticed to George
W. Bean, of Laconia, N.H., where he began
to learn the blacksmith's trade. The follow
ing year he entered the works of the Randlet
Car Cofnpany, from which factory he went a
year later into the repair shops of the Boston,
Concord & Montreal Railroad, spending a
portion of his time in the company's service
on the road. After several years' experience
in the engine room and machine-shops, Mr.
Davis found employment at the Manchester
Locomotive Works. After one year in Man
chester he went to Boston, where he was
employed by the Hinkley & Williams Loco
motive Works. From there he went to the
iron works of Dearborn, Robinson & Co.,
Dorchester, Mass., where he remained about
one year, returning to Boston and being for
a time employed by Denio & Roberts, safe
manufacturers. A year later he was in the

944

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

employ of Allen & Endicott, manufacturers of
steam-engines and general machinery, Mr.
Davis serving a sufficient length of time in
the different places of employment to get a
general idea of the various branches of work
of which he was desirous of acquiring a prac
tical knowledge. He then returned to his
former position on the Boston, Concord &
Montreal Railroad, where he remained until
1861. By this time his mechanical ability
and inventive genius had been recognized by
some of the leading mechanics and manufact
urers in New England. His next place of
employment was with the E. & T. Fairbanks
Company's Scale Works at St. Johnsbury,
Vt., which company at that time had a large
contract for cavalry and other government
work requiring many special tools and fixtures
for their manufacture, the construction of
which Mr. Davis had in charge. While in
this position he became favorably known to
one of the government inspectors from the
United States Armory at Springfield, Mass.,
by whom Mr. Davis was induced to come to
this city after severing his connection with
the Fairbanks Company, which was in the
latter part of 1862. He was given a posi
tion in the United States Armory, where he
remained a little over one year, when he de
cided to go into business for himself, com
mencing the manufacture of a bolt heading
machine, for which he had secured patents in
the United States and Canada. This machine
found ready sale among the railroads, loco
motive works, and nearly all the large iron
works throughout the United States. Its
manufacture and sale was carried on for about
eighteen months with profitable results. Mr.
Davis then sold out his patents, and retired
for a time from active business. His next
business venture was a traffic in general
machinery and railway supplies; but he had
in the mean time invented a spirit level and
inclinometer combined, for which he secured
patents in the United States, England, Ger
many, Belgium, and France, and in 1867
commenced the manufacture of these goods in
connection with other mechanical tools and
railway supplies. This business was contin
ued up to 1892 in the same place where his

electrical works are now located, 30-32 Taylor
Street. At this time Mr. Davis organized a
stock company for the manufacture of incan
descent lamps, which is known as the Davis
Electrical Works. Besides the incandescent
lamps a general line in the way of electrical
supplies are being turned out at his factory,
meeting with a large sale, the business being
in a very prosperous condition. In addition
to the electrical works Mr. Davis is Manager
and Treasurer of the Electric Railway Switch
and Supply Company, which has a large pat
ronage in this and foreign countries.
Mr. Davis was married in Laconia, N.H.,
in 1856, to Miss Caroline Adams, daughter of
Warner and Abigail Ambrose Adams, and has
one daughter, Abbie A. Their family resi
dence is at Laconia, N.H.

DWIN LEANDER KIRTLAND, su
perintendent of the Holyoke public
schools, is a native of Westbrook,
Conn. His father, Philip Marvin Kirtland,
was a son of Captain Nathan Kirtland, a
veteran of the Revolutionary War, whose an
cestors were among the early settlers of old
Saybrook and the adjacent portion of Con
necticut, where New England's longest river
finds an entrance into Long Island Sound.
The maiden name of Mr. Kirtland' s mother
was Lucy Ann Kelsey. She was a daughter
of Ephraim Kelsey, also of Westbrook, who
married a Miss Buckingham.
The childhood of Edwin L. Kirtland,
together with that of his seven brothers and
three sisters, was passed in that prosperous
and well-located farming town, where he at
tended the public schools until reaching the
age of fourteen years, when he became a clerk
in the dry-goods store of Daniel Huntington
at Norwich, where he was employed for four
years, his leisure hours being spent in reading
and study. At the end of that period, return
ing to Westbrook, he fitted for college at the
academy, and then entered Yale, from which
he graduated in 1859. He began his services
in the educational field as principal of the
Westfield Academy, but shortly went again to
Yale as a student in the law school, not to

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

945

remain long, however, as he soon received an
appointment to a position in the Pension
Bureau at Washington, and entered on the
discharge of his duties there just two days
previous to the battle of Bull Run. He
stayed in the department until the close of
the Civil War, thus necessarily sharing, as an
official, in the weighty responsibility and
agonizing suspense which prevailed at the seat
of federal government through those perilous
years of our country's history. Much of his
spare time was spent in the hospitals, helping
to relieve the sufferings of the sick and
wounded soldiers. Having gone to Ford's
Theatre on the fateful evening of April 14,
1865, in the hope of seeing General Grant,
Mr. Kirtland became a witness of the tragedy
which plunged the nation into mourning for
the loss of its great and good President.
In October, 1865, he resumed the study of
law at the Columbia Law School, depending
upon his scanty leisure for that purpose, the
greater part of his time being consumed as a
correspondent of various newspapers; but, the
absence of the major part of the competent
official force throwing much work and re
sponsibility upon the remaining few, his
studies were finally brought to a close. Some
time subsequent to resigning his position in
the Pension Bureau Mr. Kirtland, at the so
licitation of a Philadelphia friend, entered
mercantile life in that city, where he remained
for two years, and then returned to his old
home in Connecticut, whither his family had
preceded him on account of the fatal illness
of his wife's mother, Mrs. Magna, In 1869
he was elected to the State legislature, which
called him to Hartford, where he formed the
acquaintance of friends who induced him to
take up his residence in Springfield, Mass.
Later he was attracted to Holyoke by an
advantage'ous offer of an editorial position in
the office of the Transcript of that city,
together with an engagement with the choir
of the Second Congregational Church. He
soon purchased an interest in the paper,
which he continued to hold until 1875, when
he sold it to his partner, Mr. W. S. Loomis,
and in the same year was elected to the
Massachusetts legislature from the district

which includes Holyoke, Chicopee, and Pmd-
low, and which formed a part of the Senatorial
district made prominent as being represented
in the Upper House by ex-Governor Robinson,
who was then elected for his first term.
Mr. Kirtland next engaged in the paper and
stock business, which he conducted for a year
and a half, and on September 4, 1878, ac
cepted the position of secretary of the Hol
yoke School Committee and superintendent
of schools, in which responsible capacity he
has since continued to serve. The school
department, like others of this rapidly grow
ing city, has passed through various stages of
development, the population having advanced
from fifteen thousand three hundred in 1878
to forty thousand four hundred and fifty-four
in 1894, necessitating at present the employ
ment of one hundred and thirty teachers.
Mr. Kirtland, being a firm believer in prog
ress, during the seventeen years in which he
has been at the head of the public schools has
inaugurated several important and salutary
changes, which are signal departures from the
old methods. His chief efforts have been
directed toward the study of language and
cultivation of the art of vocal expression. In
1 89 1 he was elected President of the New
England Superintendents' Association, a so
ciety which has contributed much toward the
advancement of educational ideals.
He has been connected with church choirs
since he was sixteen years of age. He comes
from a race of music lovers, and has many
qualities and qualifications entitling him to
be called a musician. He was for many years
associated with the Second Congregational
Church of Holyoke as choir-master or leading
tenor, but his more important work has been
the production, conjointly with Friedrich
Zuchtmann, of the American Music System,
originated in the schools of Holyoke, but now
used in some of the leading cities of the
country. On November i, 1864, Mr. Kirtland
wedded Miss Edwina Magna, daughter of
Joseph Nicholas and Maria (Spencer) Magna.
Mrs. Edwina M. Kirtland died in October,
1884, leaving two children — Edwina Magna,
wife of Louis E. Bellows, agent of the Dean

946

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Steam Pump Company of this city; and Maria
Lucy, wife of Isaac N. Sawyer, teller of the
Holyoke National Bank. On July 6, 1892,
he married for his second wife Mrs. Laura
Maria (Newton) Whiting, daughter of Moses
and Maria (Arms) Newton, and widow of the
late Charles Whiting of this city.

B

AVENPORT L. FULLER, a re
tired merchant of Indian Orchard,
was born at Ludlow, February 28,
1823, the family for four genera
tions having been residents of that town, where
they were engaged in agricultural pursuits.
His father, Ezekiel Fuller, was born about
the year 1794, and became prominent in local
town government, serving as Selectman. He
married Miss Lucy Rood, of F'eeding Hills
Parish, West Springfield. Mrs. Lucy Rood
Fuller was a descendant of the Hancock
family of New England, whose most distin
guished representative was John Hancock,
President of the Continental Congress and
first signer of the Declaration of Indepen
dence. She became the mother of four sons,
as follows: Edmund, who lives in Ludlow;
Albert E., deceased; Davenport L., of this
article; and Henry C Fuller, proprietor of
an extensive livery business in Springfield,
who died January 23, 1895. Mr. and Mrs.
Ezekiel Fuller were members of the Congre
gational church. The paternal grandfather of
Mr. P"'uller was also named P^zekiel, and was a
life-long resident of Ludlow, he having been
the son of Joshua, who came with his father.
Young Fuller, from Tolland, Conn., at a very
early period. The first PZzekiel Fuller was a
soldier and a pensioner of the Revolutionary
War. Davenport L. Fuller obtained his education
at the town schools of Ludlow and at a pri
vate school which he afterward attended. He
remained with his father, from whom he
acquired a thorough knowledge of agriculture,
and at the age of twenty-two years began life
for himself by purchasing a small farm in his
native town, commencing with a capital of
three hundred and seventy dollars, and by
industry and the practice of strict economy

was enabled gradually to increase his landed
property till he became the possessor of a
home tract, which he eventually sold for four
thousand dollars, besides owning about one
hundred acres in different parts of the town.
Mr. P'uller for many years was extensively
engaged with his brother in buying and sell
ing horses. But at length, abandoning that
traffic, and selling his farm in 1877, he moved
into Indian Orchard, and entered mercantile
business, having purchased the store of O. E.
Tilley at the corner of Main and Oak Streets,
where he conducted a general country trade,
which rapidly developed; and within a few
years he was able to purchase the entire block.
He is also quite heavily interested in real
estate, having built several residences, besides
his own at 74 Oak Street, and invested in
tenement-houses. He personally conducted
his large store until 1890, when he retired.
He is interested financially in the Indian
Orchard Company, manufacturers of warps
and fancy yarns, and also in several of the
Springfield banks.
He married for his first wife Miss Susanna
McClintock, who, dying, left two children —
Frank D. and Ida E. Fuller. On November
14, 1865, he wedded for his second wife Miss
Melina N. Charles, of Ludlow, daughter of
Henry Charles, a farmer of that town, but a
native of Ballston, N.Y. Mrs. Fuller was
born at Ludlow, March 11, 1836. She was
educated in the public schools of both Ludlow
and Springfield, and after attending a private
institution of learning taught school for a
number of years. Their only son, Harry C
Fuller, who was a remarkably bright and in
telligent boy and a natural student, was very
unexpectedly taken from them after a short
illness, at the age of sixteen years. He being
also gifted with phenomenal musical talent,
and already of valuable assistance to his father
as book-keeper, his untimely demise was a
shock to the entire community, as well as a
sorrowful blow to his bereaved parents.
P'rank D. Fuller, who now conducts the mer
cantile business established by his father,
married Miss Mary Green, of Wilbraham.
Ida E. Fuller married George P'isher, of Bel
chertown, and has four children — Lewis R.,

CHARLES M. WAITE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

949

Grace A., Mary Blanche, and Melina E.
Fuller. In early manhood Mr. Fuller acquired a
wide reputation as a musician, and was for
twenty-eight years chorister at the Congrega
tional church, about six years of which his
mother and aunts were members of the choir.
He also taught singing school in the different
school-houses, and for a time played a trom
bone in the Ludlow Band. He served as
Assessor for a number of years, and was
Deputy Sheriff for nine years. During the
administration of Mayor Ladd and in that of
Mayor Phillips he represented Ward Eight on
the Board of Aldermen. He is a member of
Roswell Lee Lodge of A. F. & A. M., and
has passed from the Blue Lodge, through the
Chapter, to the Springfield Commandery of
Knights Templars. In politics he is a stanch
Republican, his father having followed the
great majority of Whigs into that party at its
organization. He has always been a Congre
gationalist in his religious faith, and is a
member of the Evangelical Church at Indian
Orchard.

TT^HARLES M. WAITE, a prominent
I \y manufacturer of Blandford, was born
\7b^^ July 6, 1822, at Hubbardston,
Worcester County, which was also
the birthplace of his mother. His father,
Moses Waite, was born in Marlboro, Mass.,
May 28, 1780, married Phebe Warren, Octo
ber II, 1804, and died May 19, 1871. She
died October 29, 1874. Joseph Waite, father
of Moses, was a soldier in the Revolutionary
War. He married Hepzibah Sherman, and
removed from Marlboro to Hubbardston in
1782. He died July 26, 1819, aged sixty-
five, and she, November 5, 1849, aged eighty-
nine. Moses Waite was a very prosperous
farmer at Hubbardston, where he also op
erated a large saw-mill, and entered into the
manufacture of hand cardboards and handles,
a business that steadily advanced in impor
tance until it became an established and prof
itable enterprise. He attained a leading
position in public affairs, was a Selectman for
nineteen years, and representative in the legis

lature for six years; and, after a long life of
usefulness, he died, at the advanced age of
ninety-two years, his wife reaching nearly the
same age. Moses Waite was a second cousin
of General Sherman. He was a Deacon of the
Unitarian church and a Republican in poli
tics. Of the nine children born to him and
his wife all but one lived to reach maturity,
and four still survive, namely: Moses Waite,
Jr., who resides at Orange, Hampshire
County; Increase S., who resides in Worces
ter County; Charles M., of Blandfoird; and
Addison Waite, of South Gardner, Worcester
County. Charles M. Waite received a good educa
tion in the public schools of his native town,
and, after acquiring a thorough knowledge of
his father's business, came to Blandford in
i8'4,6, and established a similar manufactory.
This enterprise his sterling business ability
and untiring energy has brought to a most
gratifying success. The demand for his prod
ucts in different parts of the country necessi
tates the maintaining of a constant supply.
Mr. Waite takes an interest in local public
affairs, and has served two years as Select
man. He is a Republican in politics. On
April 26, 1847, he was most happily united in
marriage to Miss Sarah E. Mann, who was
born at Becket, January 11, 1822. She was
the daughter of John Mann, who was born at
Chester, January 26, 1793; and her mother,
whose maiden name was Sally Lathrop, was
born at New Milford, Conn., December 20,
1798, daughter of Daniel and Grace (Lov-
eridge) Lathrop. Her father was a cooper by
trade. He died at the age of ninety-six years,
having been twice married and the father of
twelve children.
John Mann was a farmer, a carpenter and
builder, and also a manufacturer for a greater
part of his life, having erected the first paper-
mill at Middlefield, where he resided about
twenty-five years. Fle followed agricultural
pursuits and lumbering for some time at
Becket, but spent his declining years at Lud
low, where he died July 5, 1873. Pie was a
strong man, capable of much physical endur
ance, and when at the age of sixty years
walked sixty miles in a day. In politics he

95°

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was formerly a Democrat, but later a Repub
lican. His wife died at the home of Mrs.
Waite in Blandford, March 17, 1887. They
attended the Baptist church. Their ten chil
dren grew to maturity, with the exception of
one, and five are now living, namely: Mrs.
Abigail Green, who resides at Palmer; Mrs.
Elvira Gibbs, at Westfield; John L. Mann,
of Ludlow; Stephen V. Mann, of Iowa; and
Franklin J. Mann, of Blandford. Those
deceased were: Laura, Eliza, Sarah, Lydia,
and Eleanor. Mrs. Waite's grandfather,
Joseph Mann, emigrated from Scotland, and
settled at Chester, where he became a success
ful farmer. It is said that he used to ride
on horseback a long distance to pay court to
his future spouse, whose maiden name was
Sarah Freeland. They reared a large family
of children, all of whom have passed away;
and they both lived to reach a good old age.
Mrs. Waite was called to her final rest on
December 30, 1890, leaving two sons —
Frederick M. and Byron H. The first-named,
who was born in Blandford, July 25, 1854,
married Sarah M. Cannon, and has had ten
children, nine of whom are still living. He
has served as a Selectman and School Com
mittee three years each. Byron H. Waite
was born March 12, 1858, and was married on
December 25, 1879, to Miss Ella L. Burdick,
of North Blandford. They have had two chil
dren — Roy B., who died at the age of five,
and Amy M., at the age of three years.
Father and sons are Republican in politics
and liberal in religion.
Mr. Charles M. Waite is a vigorous scion
of good old New England stock. We are
happy to present his portrait on another page.

-OHN WOODWORTH MORGAN, be
longing to one of the oldest families
of the county, was born in the town of
Brimfield, Mass."; July 14, 181 5. His
lineage may be traced back to Miles Morgan,
the first of the name in the county, who came
from Bristol, Wales, and settled in Spring
field. His son David was born February 16,
1679, and was the first of the family to settle
in Brimfield. Joseph, son of David, was a

farmer on two hundred acres of land. He
married Margaret Cooley. Aaron, Sr., son of
Joseph, was born March 16, 1749. He pur
chased about one hundred acres of land, since
known by the name of Little Rest, and erected
a saw-mill and a grist-mill, to which the
farmers from far and near brought their grain
for grinding. He also ground large quantities
of corn for soldiers' use during the war of
the Revolution.
He was represented in the town offices as
Assessor and Town Clerk, being liberal in
religion. His wife was before marriage
Abigail Sherman. Their son, Aaron Morgan,
Jr., was born in Brimfield, December 6, 1797,
and died May 3, 1851. His occupation was
teaching school, painting, and also farming.
He and his wife, Almira Aspinwall Morgan,
both lived to a good old age. He was a Whig
in politics, held many town offices, and at his
death owned a comfortable property. They.
were parents of ten children, named as follows ;
Lucy C, Martha C, John W., Lucretia S.,
Augusta R., Zalmon A., William W., Char
lotte E., Margaret W., and Harris S.
John Woodworth Morgan was educated in
the common schools, and at fifteen years of
age he commenced learning the painter's trade
of his father, effecting this by working during
the summer, and attending school during the
winter season, until twenty years of age. He
then went to Boston, where he spent a year or
more in learning the decorative and frescoing
branches of painter's work. Returning to his
home, he began business for himself at Brim
field as a house, sign, and carriage painter.
In 1863 he removed to Springfield, opened an
office in Abbe's Block on Main Street, and for
many years was extensively engaged in fresco
ing and decorating public and private build
ings, employing several assistants. Besides
his work in that city specimens of it may be
seen in all the New England States, also in
New York. In 1893 he retired from business,
and came back to Brimfield, where he has
since resided, owning a residence with a few
acres of land in the town.
Mr. Morgan was married May 16, 1855, to
Miss Julia L. Fyfield, who was born in Lud
low, Mass., April 7, 1830, and was the daugh-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

951

ter of Nathan and Eliza (Demon) Fyfield.
Both parents are deceased. Mrs. Morgan is
a member of the Second Congregational
Church. Mr. Morgan is a Republican in his
political views.

^HARLES N. MARSHALL, one of
,. the most enterprising and public-
' Is spirited citizens of Tolland, was
born in this town, September i,
1834. His parents were Alonzo and Phebe P.
(Smith) Marshall, his father having been a
native of Tolland, and his mother of Cole-
brook, Conn. His grandfather, Dudley Mar
shall, was born at Simsbury, Conn. He set
tled in the south-west corner of Tolland,
where he successfully followed agricultural
pursuits, and died at the age of seventy-five.
The father of Dudley was Perez Marshall,
who was the first of the family to settle in the
present town of Tolland. He purchased a
tract of wild land containing five hundred
acres, and was an energetic and prosperous
farmer. Dudley Marshall, who early took an active
part in developing the agricultural interests
of the town, reared a family of three children,
all of whom have now passed away. His son
Alonzo, aside from the hereditary calling of
farming, engaged in industrial enterprises,
establishing a saw-mill and a furniture fac
tory, both of which he successfully conducted
for many years. He owned a farm of about
fourteen hundred acres, and became prominent
in public affairs, serving as Selectman and
Assessor, both himself and wife becoming
united with the Congregational Church, in
which they were earnest workers. He was
born April 12, 1806, and died January 24,
1888; and his wife, who was born March 29,
1807, died February 2, 1875. Their family,
which consisted of six children, two of whom
are now living, were as follows : Dwight, born
June 29, 1 83 1, died April 20, 1852; Sarah
E., born January 11, 1839, died May 20,
1872; Roswell, born October 29, 1836, died
January 21, 1893; Georgianna, born October
25, 1848, died August 10, 1885; Charles N.
lives at Tolland, and is further mentioned

below; Miles W. Marshall, born P'ebruary 25,
1 84 1, resides at Westfield and has a large
cattle ranch in Montana.
Charles N. Marshall attended the schools of
Tolland and Easthampton, in which he pro
cured a good practical education, and after
finishing his studies, engaged in business
with his father. On March 12, 1856, he was
united in marriage to Miss Maria H. Moore,
who was born in Tolland, November 9, 1835,
a daughter of Elizur D. and Harriet (Wads
worth) Moore. The former was a native of
Tolland, his birth having occurred July 26,
1800, and the latter born at West Hartford,
Conn., September 16, 1798. The parents of
Elizur D. were Marvin and Hannah (Fowler)
Moore, and his grandfather- was Reynolds
Marvin Moore. Mr. Elizur D. Moore was a
successful farmer and lumberman, and was in
fluential in public affairs, representing his
district one term in the legislature. He was
a Deacon of the Congregational church, and
an exceedingly worthy man. He died No
vember 4, 1881, while on a visit to his son in
Missouri, and his wife was called to her final
rest July 3, 1880. Four of their children
still survive. The other, Addie H., died
January 9, 1864, at the age of twenty-three
years. The three brothers of Mrs. Marshall
are: Reynold T. Moore, who served in Com
pany F, P'ourteenth Connecticut Volunteers,
during the Civil War, and now resides at Bay
ard, Md. ; John W. Moore, a lawyer, residing
at California, Mo., who was a soldier in Com
pany F, Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Volun
teers, and was promoted to be Captain and
Major; and Bennett, who resides at Win
chester, Conn.
Mr. and -Mrs. Marshall have been the par
ents of three children, but one of whom is
living. Elmer died at the age of seventeen
months, and Lilly at the age of one month.
Hattie R. Marshall is the wife of Wellington
F. Hale, a progressive farmer and a leading
citizen in the town, of which he is now a
Selectman. Mr. Marshall is one of the large
land-owners of Hampden County, possessing
at present about nine hundred acres, and he
has held as high as fifteen hundred acres. He
also owns and operates two saw-mills, and was

952

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

formerly extensively engaged in manufactur
ing furniture. He has served as a Selectman,
and has held many other town offices, being
in politics a stanch and consistent Democrat.
Pie is at present ably serving as School Com
mittee, being particularly interested in the
advancement of education. He is connected
officially with the Congregational church, of
which both himself and wife are members.
Intelligent, liberal-minded, generous, and
hospitable, they are well known in the west
ern part of Hampden County, and as thor
oughly esteemed, having many friends.

7~A0RNELIUS SEARLE HURLBUT,
I N|-^ D.D.S., who has won more than a
^^Hs local reputation as a dentist, was
born in West Springfield, March
1 8, 1832. His parents, Asaph and Asenath
(Searle) Hurlbut, were both natives of South
ampton. Asaph Hurlbut, who was born in
1805, and died in 1867, was a carriage-maker
and millwright by trade, following the latter
calling during the greater portion of his life.
He built the first paper-mill ever erected at
Niagara Falls, and did work on most of the
paper-mills in this vicinity, notably those at
Agawam, Chicopee, West Springfield, and
Mittineague. He also built several powder-
mills in Westfield, Mass., at one of which he
very nearly lost his life. It happened in this
wise. He was one day on his way to this
particular mill, and had nearly reached it
when there was an explosion within, and the
whole building was blown to atoms, he, how
ever, escaping uninjured. Mr. Hurlbut was
connected with the Republican party, having
made the natural transition from the Whig
party, and held several of the town offices dur
ing his life. He was a member of the School
Board, and in early manhood held the office
of "tithing man," whose duties were to keep
order in the church. The old English law
was then enforced in New England, under
which the State supported the church, the
State church at that time being the Congrega
tional. Mr. Hurlbut was also surveyor of
wood and lumber. His wife, who was born
May 10, 1806, and who died in i860, bore

him six children — Milton Clark, Cornelius
Searle, Sarah Jane, Edward Asaph, Jairus
Searle, and Louis Seneca.
Cornelius S., the original of the present
memoir, assimilated all that was offered in
the guise of mental food at the schools of
West Springfield, and at the age of eighteen
began teaching, which he continued for two
years in Hampden and Hampshire Counties.
At twenty he began the study of dentistry
under Dr. G. H. White, on Main Street.
Three years later, after his graduation from
the Baltimore Dental College, he bought the
office of his instructor, and began to practise
his profession. In later life he was for ten
years a member of the Board of Visitors of his
Alma Mater. Duiing the many and busy
years of his professional duties he has built
many houses and blocks in the city, notably
the Vendome and the first building on Ver
non Street. Owning the land where the Gills
Block now stands, he built a handsome granite-
block, which was unfortunately destroyed by
fire. The stone trimmings of the present
handsome building were from the ruins of the
former edifice. Thirty young dentists have
under Dr. Hurlbut's tutelage acquired their
professions, seven of whom have established
offices in the city. Among these are his
brother, J. S. Hurlbut, Doctors Derby, An
drews, Morgan, Cross, Litch, and Baldwin.
In politics Dr. Hurlbut is a Republican. In
1867-68 he was made a member of the
Common Council from Ward Two, and did
the city a signal service by his instrumental
ity in getting the Union Street sewer laid.
He was also for nine successive years on the
Board of Education.
In Hatfield, Mass., October 20, 1858, he
was united in marriage to Miss Mary Waite
Allis, a daughter of Mr. Dexter Allis. Six
children have been born of this union: Mary
Allis; Dexter Allis, who died in infancy;
Martha Asenath; Marion Elizabeth; Mabel
Grace; and Cornelius Searle.
The Hurlbuts live at 233 Carew Street, in
a house built by W. H. Allis, and at the time
of its erection one of the handsomest in
Springfield. Doctor Hurlbut has done a great
deal for the profession of dentistry, not only

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

953

in his own locality, but throughout New Eng
land; for he has been a pioneer in new depart
ures, being the first dentist in the section to
introduce new tools, new discoveries, and the
latest improvements to his patients. It was
he who introduced the bridge device for utiliz
ing sound teeth as a support to artificial ones,
and he first used gas as a means of making the
extraction of teeth painless. The "Hurlbut
crown " is his most successful invention, and
is to-day in great demand wherever it has
been introduced. Doctor Hurlbut, having
begun the active practice of dentistry in
Springfield more than forty-two years ago, has
seen the gradual development of the place
from a village to a city, and has always been
deeply interested in everything tending
toward the city's welfare. When his son
returns from the long, severe course of train
ing he is now undergoing at the university,
he will enter into partnership with him; and
thus the name, reputation, and profession will
be worthily sustained in the second genera
tion.

ENJAMIN FRANKLIN BURR, a
I . prominent resident of Ludlow, well
U~;V known throughout Hampden County,
was born in the above-named town
on July 6, 1831. The family has long been
identified with the best interests of the town.
The great-grandfather on the paternal side,
Jonathan Burr, was born in 1740, and mi
grated from Ellington, Conn., his native
place, to Ludlow about 1768. This was be
fore the time of railroads and canals; and the
journey was a long one, being of necessity
made with teams. Upon his arrival at his
destination he purchased a tract of land near
what is now the site of the reservoir, and at
once set about its improvement, making a
home, and there passing the remainder of
his days, his death occurring in 1807. His
wife's maiden name was Priscilla Freeman-
Their son Ashbel, the grandfather of Ben
jamin F. Burr, was born on November 3,
1776, in the town of Ludlow," and was brought
up on the farm, naturally adopting agriculture
as his life occupation. He was a life-long

resident of his native town, where he was
highly esteemed. In religious belief he was
a Congregationalist, and was Deacon in the
church at Ludlow many years. He passed
away on September 25, 1861. Ashbel Burr
married Clarissa Sikes, who also was a native
of Ludlow. She was born December 19,
1782, and was a daughter of Benjamin Sikes.
She died at the age of sixty-six, on November
13, 1848.
Lyman Burr, the father of Benjamin F.,
was born October 26, 1805, in Ludlow, and
was reared to agricultural pursuits, in the
meanwhile learning the trade of carpentry,
which he followed for a number of years. Pie
inherited the old homestead, and upon it re
sided until his death. Lyman Burr also was
a prominent member of the Congregational
church at Ludlow. He departed, this life
on November 11, 1880. Mr. Burr married
Harriet Stebbins, their union being solem
nized October 16, 1828. She is a native of the
town of Brattleboro, Vt., her birth taking
place December i, 1804. Her father, Edward
Stebbins, was born in Springfield, Mass., his
parents being Edward and Chloe (Brooks)
Stebbins. He was a hatter by trade, and
followed that business for many years, spend
ing the declining years of his life in Brattle
boro, Vt. His wife was Anna Taylor, a
native of West Springfield, Mass. Mrs.
Harriet Stebbins Burr still survives, and is
now in her ninety-first year. She is the
mother of four children — Harriet E., Ben
jamin P., Martha Julena, and Mary H.
Benjamin Franklin Burr received his early
education in the district school, and was a
student at Wilbraham and Monson Academies.
He made his home with his parents, at the
death of his father succeeding to the owner
ship of the homestead, the management of
which he had for many years superintended.
On March 29, 1854, Mr. Burr took to himself
a helpmate in the person of Mary Jane Brewer,
who still most ably and gracefully presides
over his household. Mrs. Burr was born in
the town of Ludlow on the last day of Decem
ber, 1832, and is a daughter of Daniel and
Sarah K. (Miller) Brewer. Her great-grand
father on the paternal side was Isaac Brewer,

954

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

who settled in Ludlow about the year 1753,
some three years after his marriage. He
died at the comparatively early age of forty-
seven. He married Sybil Miller, and they
were the parents of eleven children. Their
son Chauncey, the grandfather of Mrs. Burr,
was born in Ludlow, of which town he was
a life-long resident, being actively engaged
in agricultural pursuits. His wife, Lucena
Mandeville, was a native of Granby, Mass.,
and died when about eighty-five years of age.
Their son Daniel, the father of Mrs. Burr,
always followed agricultural pursuits, owning
and occupying a farm near Collins station.
He departed this life in the eightieth year of
his age. The maiden name of his wife was
Sarah K. Miller. She was born in Ludlow,
and was a daughter of Moses and Lucy (Jones)
Miller, the former of whom was born in the
town of Ludlow, a son of Leonard and Mary
(Sikes) Miller, pioneers of that town. The
mother of Mrs. Burr died at the age of sixty-
three. Mr. and Mrs. Burr are the parents of one
child, a son — Frederick L., who is associated
with his father in the wood, coal, and grain
business at Ludlow. He married Fannie E.
Fuller, a daughter of Edmund and Eliza
(Lyon) Fuller, and has three children —
Julena E., Frank R., and Benjamin Frederick.
Politically, our subject was first a Whig,
but has been a true-blue Republican since the
formation of the party, and has filled numer
ous offices of trust, serving as Treasurer and
Collector for a number of years, and also as a
member of the Board of Selectmen. He is
now (1895) serving his fourth term as Justice
of the Peace, and is also Special County
Commissioner. In 1879 he was elected rep
resentative to the State legislature, serving
with much ability. Mr. and Mrs. Burr are
Congregationalists in their religious views,
and are connected with the First Church of
Ludlow, in which for twenty-five years Mr.
Burr was leader of the choir. It was to
this church that Mr. Burr's father and grand
father belonged.
Mr. Burr is looked up to by both old and
young, his counsel being sought and his ad
vice acted upon. But few men of his years

have been called upon to settle as many es
tates as he, his adjustment giving universal
satisfaction. Ever foremost in all projects
having for their object the upbuilding of the
community, he is worthy of the high esteem
in which he is held by his fellow-townsmen.

ILLIAM L. CLOUGH, the enter
prising proprietor of the popular
coffee and lunch rooms open day
and night at 473 Main Street, Springfield,
Mass., was born in Plartford, Conn., Novem
ber 6, 1858. His parents, Francis and Eliza
J. (Kelly) Clough, brought him to this city
when an infant, the father then being engaged
in business here. William Clough attended
the various graded schools of the city, includ
ing the high school, after which he went to
New York City to learn the business he had
decided to adopt as his occupation. He was
then between sixteen and seventeen years old;
and a few years later he set up a small place'
on his own account down in the lower busi
ness part of New York, which he continued
for some time, getting experience and, what
was also of importance, good pecuniary returns
for his outlay and work.
In 1879 the death of his father in Provi
dence, where he at that time was engaged in
some enterprise, required his return to Spring
field, and accordingly he left New York, and
soon after secured employment here as a letter
carrier at the post-office. Colonel Horace Lee
being Postmaster at that time. Mr. Clough
served also under his successors, Messrs.
Chapin, Phillips, and Rice; and then, having
been nine years in that department of the
civil service, he resigned, and immediately
turned to the business which he had formerly
carried on in New York, setting up a lunch
room at 473 Main Street, which proved a
success from the start, being the pioneer
establishment of its kind in the city. It was
his purpose to supply a dime lunch at any
hour of the day or night, and the enterprise
met with immediate favor and a constant flow
of custom. Mr. Clough has been obliged to
enlarge his quarters several times; and he
now employs six persons in this work, which

JOHN McFETHRlES.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

957

he has carried on for only five years. He also
owns the barber's shop next door, with con
nected bath-rooms; and in this he gives
employment to four persons, it being a very
useful branch of his business. The dime
night lunch may be considered one of the
institutions of Springfield which will continue
to receive patronage.
William L. Clough was married on April
13, 1882, to Miss Belle Norton, daughter of
J. N. Norton, of this city. Mr. Clough is a
member of the Knights of Pythias, being Cap
tain of the uniformed rank, also is Past
Sachem of the Improved Order of Red Men,
and has been representative to the Great
Council for two years.
R. W. Emerson once wrote that "the high
prize of life, the crowning fortune of a man,
is to be born to some pursuit which finds
him employment and happiness, whether it be
to make baskets or broadswords, or canals
or statues, or songs." Mr. Clough certainly
appears to be happily engaged in the business
he carries on with advantage to the public as
well as to himself.

"ON. JOHN McFETHRlES, Treas
urer of the Waltham Watch Tool
\\s \ Company, Springfield, was born at
Airdrie, Scotland, on March 13,
1830. His mother is still living, in 1895, at
West Springfield, admirably retaining her
strength and ability at the age of ninety-
three. Both she and her husband belonged
to the P^ree Church of Scotland. Her father,
Thomas Carbarns, was of wealthy ancestry,
and born on an estate in Hamilton, where the
family was highly respected; and he lived to
be eighty-four years old.
Our subject attended school till he was
nine, when he had to begin work. At nine
teen he came to America, and worked as a day
laborer until able to acquire the trade of ma
chinist, in which capacity he was employed
seven years by the Boston & Albany Railroad
at its Springfield shop. In 1859 the young
man became a master mechanic on the St.
Petersburg & Moscow Railroad, having charge
of from three hundred to five hundred men.

After serving the road ten years, he was
promoted to the charge of all the works on
the Nejenese & Novgorod Railroad, with the
supervision of fifteen hundred men. Later he
was offered a still better position in Southern
Russia, on the Kazaloff & Varonish Railroad,
as locomotive and mechanical superintendent,
having the direction of two thousand men and
three large shops, and being obliged to go
over the road, five hundred miles long,
twice every month. He reached home in our
centennial year, and, turning his attention to
local business, shortly took charge of some
property for the Springfield Institution for
Savings. Becoming interested in Springfield
real estate, he formed a partnership with
W. E. Wright and Albert E. Smith, in the
Highland Extension Company, for the pur
chase of thirty-five acres, upon which they
built three factories and forty-five dwelling-
houses. Since the Waltham Watch Tool
Company removed to Springfield, he has been
its Treasurer. He drew the plans for the
French Protestant College, and supervised its
erection. Of the School for Christian
Workers he is a Trustee, and also of the
Christian Industrial and Technical School and
the Springfield Rescue Mission. He belongs
to the Young Men's Christian Association,
and is chairman of the International Young
Men's Christian Association Training School
building committee. He has been connected
with both the Hope and Park Churches, and
served on their various committees. In 1889
he was elected Alderman from Ward Five.
As chairman of a joint committee on a better
water supply he was instrumental in the in
troduction of a twenty-four inch water main
between Ludlow and Springfield, at the same
time saving the old twenty-four inch main,
which is still in use. He was also on the
Sewer and Drain Committee, and arranged
the uniform scale of charges now in use for
sewer connections. In 1890 and 1891 he was
elected on the Republican ticket to the State
legislature from Ward Five. As a legislator
he was placed on the Water Supply and
Woman Suffrage Committees both years,
being clerk of the former the second year.
His proposition for the taxation of legacies

958

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was defeated. He further urged a tax system
for the relief of rural ownership. To this end
he advised that the State tax personal prop
erty, the income thus derived to be divided
according to the voting population in each
town. Mr. McFethries was married March 13,
1869, the ceremony taking place in the Brit
ish-American Chapel at St. Petersburg, the
bride being an English lady, Emily Pudan,
daughter of James Pudan. Our subject is a
member of Hampden Masonic Lodge, and is
one of the corporators of the Institution for
Savings. The family home is at 52 Cornel]
Street, in the house built by Mr. McFethries
in 1890.

jHARLES E. STACY, Town Clerk
and Treasurer of Wilbraham, where
1^ ^ he is also engaged in conducting a
general mercantile business, was
born at Springfield, May 13, 1849, son of
Gilbert and Sabrina Tolcott (Ladd) Stacy.
Gilbert Stacy was born in that part of Wilbra
ham now included in the town of Hampden,
as was our subject's grandfather, Lorin Stacy,
and his great-grandfather, Ebenezer Stacy.
The great-great-grandfather, William Stacy,
was born in Salem, Mass., in August, 1716,
and arrived in Hampden County between 1748
and 1750, settling in what was formerly the
East Precinct of Springfield, now Hampden.
According to the town records, he formerly
resided in Greenwich. In Hampden he se
cured a large tract of land, and devoted his
time to agricultural pursuits. He died in
1800, aged eighty-four years. His wife's
maiden name was Mary Chaffee. Their son
Ebenezer, the great-grandfather of our sub
ject, was born in 1752. He took possession
of the farm after his father's death; and his
son, Lorin Stacy, succeeded him as owner of
the homestead, passing his entire life there,
his decease occurring April i, 1859. His
wife was Clarissa Root, of Middlefield, Mass.
The maiden name of Charles E. Stacy's
mother was Sabrina (Tolcott) Ladd, daughter
of Stephen and Elizabeth (Kingsbury) Ladd;
and she was born in 1820.

Charles E. Stacy attended the schools of
his native town, and after completing a course
at the Monson Academy went to New Haven,
Conn., where he entered a grocery store as
clerk at the age of twenty-two years. After
remaining in the latter city two years, he
engaged in the provision business at North
Wilbraham, which he successfully conducted
for a period of nine years. Disposing of this
business, he moved to Cambridge, Mass.,
where he conducted a grocery store on Main
Street, opposite the old City Hall. At the
expiration of twenty-two months he sold his
business there, and, returning to Wilbraham,
purchased the provision business of Mr.
Gates, which he conducted alone until 1893,
when he acquired the entire mercantile enter
prise which the above-named gentleman had
carried on for some years, and has since been
engaged in general mercantile trade, carrying
a varied stock, including nearly every article
required for household use.
On August 16, 1871, Mr. Stacy was united
in marriage to Miss Helen Elizabeth Leach,
of Wilbraham. He is a Republican in poli
tics, and has served as a delegate to many
State, county, and district conventions. He
was elected Clerk and Treasurer in 1878, but
resigned when business made it necessary for
him to rem^ove to Cambridge. About two
years after his return he was re-elected, and
has since continued to serve the town ably and
faithfully. Mr. and Mrs. Stacy are members
of Grace Union Church.

/pTTo

EORGE A. STONE, a thorough-
\ ST going, straightforward business man,
is one of the proprietors of the long-
cstablPshed firm of A. D. Stone & Co., contrac
tors and quarrymen, whose office and yard are
located at 223 Liberty Street, Springfield,
Mass. He is a native of this thriving city,
the date of his birth being July 29, 1858.
His father, the late Ambrose D. Stone, who
was born in L'Assomption, Canada, June 30,
1823, was of French ancestry. While in
Quebec he learned the stone-cutter's trade, and
afterward worked in Montreal, coming thence
to Springfield in the early forties. He worked

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

959

for a short time at his trade in East Long
meadow, and then entered the employ of
A. S. Dwelly as a common workman, but was
soon promoted to the place of foreman of the
yard, and later became a partner, the firm
name being A. S. Dwelly & Co., which on
the entrance of Mr. Dwelly' s son to the firm
was changed to Dwelly, Stone & Co. Mr
Stone afterward became senior member of the
firm, and in 1886 his son George was admitted
to partnership; and the firm has since carried
on business under the name of A. D. Stone &
Co. Ambrose D. Stone married Florette
Grandau, of Chicopee; and of the children
born to them the four following grew to matu
rity : Xzelia (deceased), wife of George Rus
sell, of the Union Paper Company; Frances;
Willmore B. , a leading attorney of Spring-
' field; and George A., the subject of this
sketch. The parents were prominent members
of the cathedral church until the organization
of the French Catholic church, which they
were largely instrumental in establishing and
afterward supported, Mr. A. D. Stone being
a leader in the religious societies of the
P^rencb-Canadians. He was also one of the
charter members and the first President of the
St. John Baptist Association of Springfield.
PPe also served as President of the general
society of the United States, attending many
of its conventions in that capacity. His wife
passed away February 28, 1887; and he sur
vived but a few months longer, dying Decem
ber 4 of the same year.
George A. Stone was educated in the gram
mar and high schools of the city of his birth,
and began his industrial career in the office
with his father, gaining a thorough knowledge
of the entire business. In 1883 Mr. Stone
visited Dayton, Ohio, where he spent a year
in the car-painting business. Returning to
Springfield, he resumed his former position in
the stone yard, and in 1886 became a member
of the firm, which was then composed of the
following gentlemen : A. D. Stone, George
A. Stone, and Joseph P. Stone. Since the
death of the senior member the name has re
mained unchanged, but the business is con
ducted in the same able manner. It was first
established nearly half a century ago ; and.

being the first business of the kind started in
the vicinity, it was carried on quite exten
sively, the firm putting up many of the early
stone buildings of the city. They had granite
quarries at Fitzwilliam, N. H., and sandstone
quarries at East Longmeadow, employing from
sixty to eighty men at each place. This busi
ness of late years has materially increased,
and under its present management fills large
contracts in this and neighboring towns and
cities, the firm being well-known and having
an unblemished reputation for honest and
reliable work.
Mr Stone takes little interest in politics
save to vote for the best men and measures ;
but he is very influential and prominent in
social organizations, belonging to Amity
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and to Agawam Encampment. He is likewise
a member of the Roswell Lee Lodge, A. F". &
A. M., of the Morning Star Chapter, Spring
field Council and Commandery, of the Law
rence Chapter of the Rose Croix of Worcester,
and belongs to the Boston Consistory, making
him a thirty-second degree Mason and includ
ing membership in the Aleppo Temple of the
Mystic Shrine of Boston. Mr Stone is also
an active member of the Springfield Lodge,
Knights of Pythias, and belongs to the Ousa-
mequin Tribe of the Improved Order of Red
Men, and at one time was a member of B. P.
Order of Elks. He is also an important mem
ber of several of the city clubs, belonging to
the Winthrop, the Masonic, and the Bicycle
Clubs, and likewise to the Masonic IPall Asso
ciation.

'OHN E. CLARK, General Manager of
the George R. Dickinson Paper Com
pany of Holyoke, was born at Ashland,
Mass., July 24, 1847. Plis father,
Edward Clark, was a native of Hopkinton,
Mass., and his mother, Lucinda (Allard)
Clark, of Holliston. Edward Clark followed
agriculture until reaching middle life, when
he moved to Worcester, and there entered
mercantile pursuits, and died September 12,
1882. His wife survived him nearly six
years, entering into rest August 2, li

960

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

John E. Clark was educated in the public
schools of Worcester, and at the age of sixteen
years went to New Haven, Conn., where he
entered the employment of R. C Dickinson &
Co., wholesale dealers in rags and paper stock
and manufacturers of tin and iron ware. At
the age of twenty-one he was admitted as a
partner in the firm, which then consisted of
R. C. and George R. Dickinson and John E.
Clark, the first-named gentleman retiring from
the concern three years later. They did a
very large and increasing business, and in the
course of a few years consolidated with
Thomas H. Wheeler, who carried on a similar
traffic. Previous to 1880 Mr Dickinson re
tired from the firm ; and in the spring of that
year Mr. Clark was reluctantly compelled by
failing health to sell his interest to Mr.
Wheeler and his brother, William H. Clark.
A year later, in company with Mr. George R.
Dickinson, he purchased of the Crocker Manu
facturing Company the old Albion Paper Mill
at Holyoke, which they operated under the
name of the Dickinson-Clark Paper Company,
conducting an extensive business until 1890,
when they disposed of the mill to its former
owners, as its limited quarters offered no
room for the expansion and development of
their business. Owing to the death of Mr.
Dickinson the affairs of the firm were necessa
rily wound up; and in the autumn of that year
Mr. Clark began his connection with the
George R. Dickinson Paper Company, of
which he assumed the position of General
Manager. The mill is one of the largest in
Holyoke, and produces a very high grade of
writing and book papers, its capacity being
from twenty to twenty-five tons per day.
Some time subsequent to his locating in
Holyoke Mr. Clark re-engaged indirectly in the
paper stock business at New Haven, princi
pally for the purpose of establishing his
brother-in-law, Mr. Ives, in business; and he
remained in the firm for several years, or until
the flourishing condition of the enterprise
enabled his partner to purchase his interest.
While a member of the Dickinson & Clark
Paper Company he owned a third-interest in
the Excelsior Paper Mill, in company with
Messrs. George R. and D. M. Dickinson ; and

after the death of the former his brother suc
ceeded to his interest, which he sold, together
with his one-third interest, to Mr. Clark, who
operated the mill upon his own account until
forced by impaired health to dispose of it.
He is a stockholder and a Director of the P'ord
Bit Company, Vice-President of the People's
Savings Bank and one of its charter members.
Mr. Clark is a lover of good horses and the
owner of several, including Linden, a stallion
with a record of 2. 15.
In politics Mr. Clark is a Republican, and
during the years of 1885 and 1886 represented
Ward Seven in the Board of Aldermen, serv
ing upon various committees and being chair
man of the Committees on City Property,
Accounts and Claims, and Police; but after
two years of distinguished service he declined
a third nomination on account of business
pressure. He married Miss Adella E. Ives,
of Wallingford, Conn., daughter of Walter W.
and Sarah (Bartholomew) Ives, and has had
four children, three of whom are living,
namely: Roy E. , a student at the Wesleyan
Academy in Wilbraham; Aline B. , a member
of the graduating class of the high school,
189s ; Walter E., who is attending the public
schools of Holyoke; and another child, who
died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Clark, to
gether with their two elder children, are mem
bers of the Second Baptist Church; and they
reside at 240 Hampden Street.

spected
families DeaconLudlow,

!UBEN SIKES, a prosperous farmer
and prominent citizen of the town of
Ludlow, where he was born on
April 25, 1824, is a highly re-
representative of one of the oldest
in Hampden County. His father,
Alva Sikes, who was also a native of
born March 19, 1796, was the son of
Jonathan and Mary (Montague) Sikes, a more
extended account of whose family connections
may be found in the biographical notice of
E. J. Sikes, which appears elsewhere in this
work. Alva Sikes received his early educa
tion in the district schools of Ludlow, and
pursued an advanced course at a private school
in Springfield, after which he taught in dis-

ALVA SIKES.

REUBEN SIKES.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

965

trict schools, receiving in compensation the
sum of ten dollars per month and boarding
among the parents of his pupils. During
the summer he assisted his father upon the
farm, which, he eventually inherited; and
he followed agriculture during the remain
der of his earthly course, departing this life
on August 6, 1856. He served his town
with credit in several public offices, was
Selectman two years. Assessor six years, and
was representative in the General Court in
1849. The maiden name of his wife was Emilia
Walker She was born at Belchertown, March
6, 1800, and was the daughter of Jason
"Walker, a native of that town. PPer father
was a son of Captain James Walker, who was
a native of Weston, Mass. ,' born in the year
1732, he being a son of Nathaniel Walker
Captain James Walker moved to Sturbridge,
where he married Esther Shumway in 1754,
and in 1755 removed to Belchertown. He
was a veteran of the French and Indian War,
and died in 1806. Jason Walker was a farmer
and a life-long resident of Belchertown, where
he died July 6, 1851, in his eighty-fourth
year. His wife, who before her marriage was
Elizabeth or Betsey Mcintosh, died in 1848.
Their daughter Emilia, Mr Sikes's mother,
died November 8, 1885, at the age of eighty-
five years, both herself and husband having
been members of the Congregational church,
in which Mr Sikes was a Deacon from 1839
to the close of his life. The children of Dea
con Alva and Emilia Sikes were: Harriet E. ,
who married Oshea Walker, of Ludlow ; and
the Hon. Reuben Sikes, whose name begins
this record.
Reuben Sikes received his early education
in the district schools of Ludlow and a select
school at Chicopee. In 1853 he lived on the
Rood farm in the west part of the town, and in
1854 removed to Granby, where he resided for
one year, after which he returned to Ludlow,
and settled upon the old homestead. Here he
continued to reside until 1874, when he sold
the' property to the city of Springfield for a
reservoir, and removing to North Brookfield
purchased the Dean farm, which, after con
ducting it twelve years, he sold to his son ; and

he then returned to Ludlow, where he bought
land and erected his present residence.
On January 13, 1848, he was united in mar
riage to his first wife, Eliza Ann Keyes, a
native of Ludlow and daughter of Willis and
Chloe (Frost) Keyes. She died on February
23, 1884; and he wedded for his second wife
Juliet Walker, who was born in Belchertown,
May 12, 1833, and was the daughter of Orrin
Walker, also a native of Belchertown, and born
May 30, 1799. The father of Orrin was Dea
con James Walker of the Congregational
church, who served in the Revolutionary War.
Pie was one of twenty-seven patriots who
marched one hundred and forty miles in July,
1777, to join Colonel Porter's regiment; and
his name is now inscribed upon the Soldiers'
Monument at Belchertown. He died in 1853
in his ninety-sixth year. He was one of the
leading men in the community and a member
of the Board of Selectmen at the time of
Shays's Rebellion. He married Rebecca War
ner, of Granby, who died in 1842. Orrin
Walker inherited the old homestead, and re
sided there until his decease at the age of
eighty-six. The maiden name of his wife was
Mary Sikes. She was born at Ludlow in
1802, daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Mon
tague) Sikes, and died in her eighty-third
year. Mr. and Mrs. Sikes have had five children:
Sarah E. , wife of E. N. Fisher; Maria L. ,
wife of Sanford Briggs; Alva; and Martha
B. , who is the wife of Lincoln Smith. Wil
lis K., their fourth child, died at the age
of seventeen years. Mr. Sikes has been a
Republican since the formation of the party;
and in 1871 he was elected to the State legis
lature, and in the ensuing session faithfully
attended to his duties as a law-maker under
the gilded dome in Boston. He has been a
member of the Board of Selectmen of Ludlow
for three years, and was Assessor four years.
Both himself and wife are members of Grace
Union Church at North Wilbraham.
Readers of the " Review " will be gratified
to notice two portraits in this connection, the
likeness of Mr. Reuben Sikes and that of his
father. Deacon Alva Sikes, of revered memory
— teacher, farmer, and church official.

966

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

T^HARLES H. PRINDLE, M.D., a
I Ky leading physician and prominent citi-
^^1^ zen of Chicopee, where he has
resided since 1887, was born in
Charlotte, Chittenden County, Vt. , September
20, 1856, son of Mark and Saline (Davenport)
Prindle. His father was also a native of
Charlotte. His grandfather, Gideon Prindle,
was born in 1767, and was of Scotch descent.
He was a tanner by occupation, owning what
was considered in those days a large tannery.
His marriage to P""lavia Hosford occurred
August 18, 1805. He died March 14, 1836;
and his wife died May 12, 1862. The names
of their children were as follows: Sarah,
George, Mark, Egbon, Seymour, Flavia,
Almah, Charles D., and Martha A.
Mark Prindle was born September 25, 1823 ;
and as he grew to manhood he learned the
shoemaking trade, working as an operator in
manufactories at Charlotte, Vt. In later years
he bought a farm, on which he settled and
remained engaged in agricultural pursuits
until his death at the age of sixty-one. He
was a Republican in politics and a member of
the Episcopal church. His wife died at the
age of forty-eight. They had only one child,
Charles H., the subject of the present sketch.
Charles H. Prindle received his education
in the common schools of his native town, the
high school at Vergennes, Vt. , and Middlebury
College, Vermont, and acquired a thorough
knowledge of medicine in the medical depart
ment of the University of Vermont, from
which he was graduated in 1885, and afterward
studied at the New York Post graduate Medi
cal College. He returned to Burlington, Vt. ,
and opened an office and practised his profes
sion for a year, at the end of that time re
moving to Westminster, Vt. , where he also
remained for a year As before stated, he
removed in 1887 to Chicopee, where he has
remained ever since, engaged in successful
practice, his medical knowledge and skill
being widely recognized not only by the gen
eral community, but by his brother practi
tioners. He is a member of the Board of
Health, and has held the office of City Physi
cian, performing the duties of that post with
satisfaction to the townspeople. He is also

affiliated with the principal fraternal societies,
being a member of Lodge No.  of Chico
pee, A. F. & A. M., and of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows of Burlington, Vt.
Soon after coming to Chicopee Dr. Prindle
bought the beautiful Ball homestead at 120
Springfield Street, which he has since greatly
improved and where he makes his home.
He was married in 1887 to Miss Nellie V.
Lane, daughter of Henry C Lane, of West
minster, Vt. Mr Lane, Mrs. Prindle's
father, is a very prominent citizen in West
minster, being active in politics, and is Presi
dent of the Savings Bank of Bellows Palls, Vt.
Dr. Prindle and his wife have one child, a
bright, winsome little girl, born February 4,
1892. The family attend the Congregational
church, and are prominent in the best society
of Chicopee.

iHARLES A. KIBBEE, one of the
prominent citizens of Springfield,
where he was born May 9, 1848,
belongs to a family which is noted
for practical sense and ability. PPis father.
Dr. Charles P. Kibbee, was born in Tolland,
Conn., November 16, 1819, and after attend
ing the village school and the seminary at
Wilbraham read medicine in Philadelphia,
graduating from the Medical College of that
city. Pn 1842 he went to Springfield, and was
in active practice there up to the time of his
death, November 28, 1855. Dr Kibbee was
married March 2, 1843, to Miss Harriet C
Kibbe, who, though distantly related to her
husband, spelled her name differently. She
was born in Somers, Conn., and was a daugh
ter of Horatio and Content (Gowdy) Kibbe.
Horatio Kibbe was born in Somers, January
22, 1787, and on October 20, 1814, was mar
ried in Enfield to Miss Gowdy, who was born
August 14, 1790. Harriet C Kibbe, our sub
ject's mother, was educated in the best schools
of Tolland and Wilbraham. Her two brothers,
George A., born at Somers, September 2,
1 81 7, and Horace, born February 18, 1820,
came to Springfield in 1840 as young men.
Both were masons by trade, and worked in the
city upon some of the principal buildings then

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

967

in process of erection. Within a year, how
ever, they learned the details of candy manu
facturing, and opened a small establishment,
the specialty of which was the manufacture of
a certain sort of lozenge, which found imme
diate favor with the public. A small shop in
Court Square was the scene of their first opera
tions, but as the trade increased they were
obliged to enlarge their place from time to
time until they built the large block on the
corner of Harrison Avenue and Main Street,
where they did a wholesale and retail business,
selling their candies all over the United States
and Canada. Before railroads had brought the
neighboring villages into close commercial
contact with the city they kept a great number
of teams on the road. By accident or design
the horses conveying their wares were always
gray in color, giving the unique impression of
uniformity, which was itself an advertisement.
From a modest beginning the enterprise be
came the largest candy manufactory in
Massachusetts outside of Boston, and gave
employment to about one hundred men.
George A. Kibbe died January 16, 1882.
He married Miss Sarah Pepper; and they
reared two children: Ella, the wife of James"
Dayton, of Quincy, III. ; and Georgiana, who
married Mr. Frank Dayton, of the same city.
Horace Kibbe was prominently identified with
the establishment of the Children's Home and
the Home for Friendless Women, being one of
the original founders of the two institutions,
which were formerly conducted under one roof.
He died March 30, 1887. His wife was Miss
Roxala Chapman, of Tolland, Conn. They
had no children.
Charles A. Kibbee was educated in the com
mon and high schools of the city in which he
was reared, and engaged in early life in the
hardware business under the firm name of
Chapin & Kibbee. He was also for some
years teller in the Second National Bank, a
position which he held until called to adminis
trate as executor upon the large estates left by
his uncles, George and Horace. Under Mr.
Kibbee's wise management the large amount
of real estate left by the Kibbe brothers has
been developed to its utmost. Streets have
been opened, lots laid out and sold, buildings

erected upon the vacant tracts of ground, thus
turning everything to pecuniary advantage.
The Hotel "Warwick and various other blocks
are included in the sales made.
For forty years Mr. Kibbee resided on Bliss
Street, and for a half-dozen years he has lived
at Cooley's Hotel.

,ATHAN ROOT, who was at the time
of his decease the oldest resident of
Chester and in many ways a distin
guished citizen of that town, was
born at Middlefield, Mass., April 11, 1806.
He was a son of Solomon and Polly Root, and
descended from an old and highly respected
family, representatives of which are distrib
uted throughout the entire length and breadth
of the land, his ancestry being as follows: —
John Roote, son of John, of Badby, North
amptonshire, England, settled at Farmington,
Conn., in 1640, had eight children, and died
at about seventy-six years of age. His son
Thomas, born at Farmington in 1648, settled
at Westfield, Mass., was married three times,
had ten children, and died in 1709, at the age
of sixty-one years. Timothy, son of Thomas,
was born at Westfield in 1685, became one of
the first settlers of Somers, Conn., had seven
children, and died at the age of fifty-eight
years. His son Thomas, who was born at
Somers in 1726, resided for a time at Enfield,
and moved to Middlefield, Mass., where he
died at the age of ninety-five years. He
was twice married, and had seven children.
Solomon Root, son of the second Thomas,
born at Enfield in 1765, settled in Middlefield,
where he followed agricultural pursuits, and
died in 1831, aged sixty-six years. By his
wife, Polly, who lived to be ninety-one years
old, he had several children, all of whom have
now passed away, one of them being the late
Nathan Root, of this article.
Nathan resided with his parents at Middle-
field, and assisted in the farm labors until
reaching the age of about twenty-five years, at
which time he came to Chester and purchased
for twelve hundred dollars the property known
as the Shepherd farm, upon which stands
to-day the greater part of the village of Ches-

968

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ter. Mr. Root here became extensively en
gaged in farming, which he followed with
much success;, and in 1839, the year that the
railroad was laid through the town, he erected
the large residence which he opened as a hotel,
under the name of the Railroad House, there
being then but two other houses on the east
side of the river. Mr. Root continued to
entertain the travelling" public for a period of
four years, also conducting for a considerable
length of time the only store in the town. He
presented the railroad company with two acres
of land upon which to erect its station, and
later gave the town a large tract, which is
now valued at one hundred thousand dollars.
As the town advanced in population he divided
his large farm into house lots, which he sold
to good advantage, thus realizing a comfort
able competency ; and he was widely known
and recognized as a man of unusual intelli
gence and force of character, thoroughly up
right, and a good counsellor.
At the age of twenty-five years he married
at Middlefield Mary Abbott, daughter of
Joseph and Polly Abbott; and their union was
blessed with two daughters: Mrs. Mary J.
Church, who was born at Middlefield, and
Elizabeth (Mrs. George Knowles), born
in Chester, both of whom now reside here.
The late Mr. Church was born at Middlefield
on June 26, 1831, and died March 24, 1874,
leaving two children : Mrs. W. M. Ray, of
Worcester; and W. H. Church, of Chester.
Mr. George Knowles was born in England,
and was formerly a tinner, but at present is
not conducting business. He and his wife
have two daughters : Hattie R. and Florence M.
The death of Mrs. Root on July 25, 1884,
was the first to occur beneath their roof, which
had given shelter to thousands of people. Mr.
Root was destined to suffer a long and wasting
illness, which gradually weakened a powerful
constitution ; and he at length from sheer
exhaustion and loss of vitality responded to the
imperative summons, his decease occurring on
June 29, 1894, at the age of eighty-eight
years. He was a Baptist in his religious
views and a Democrat in politics, although in
local affairs he voted independently. He was
for many years a well-known figure in the

town, being a public-spirited and valued citi
zen. The community feel the loss of a noble-
hearted, genial gentleman; and his children
will ever mourn a kind, sympathetic, and in
dulgent father.

W\

A EDO ALLEN LOUD, President
of the Blair Manufacturing Company
of Springfield, was born in this city,
May 19, 1854, son of Horatio and Martha
(Warner) Loud. His father was a native of
Plainfield, Hampshire County, and his mother
of Cummington. They died in Springfield.
Five of their family of seven children lived to
maturity; namely, Ida I., Eva A., Waldo
Allen, Hattie, and Bessie. Their latest-born
died in infancy, and a little boy, Charles, at six
years. Waldo then grew to manhood as an only
son, getting his education in the schools of
Cummington, the little town nestled among
the Hampshire hills that has long been
famous as the birthplace of the poet Bryant.
Beginning the work of life betimes, young
Loud early learned the trade of a wood turner,
which he followed for about six years, working
for a time in Cummington and continuing
this occupation at Springfield. In 1873 he
was engaged at the Smith & Wesson Arms
Manufactory, where he remained for about five
years; and in 1878 or 1879 he went to Elgin,
111., as a mechanic in the tool department of
the Elgin Watch Company. After a year's
absence in the West he returned to this city,
and immediately entered the employ of the
Blair & Fisk Manufacturing Company, where
the value of his services was soon recognized,
he being in a very short time promoted to the
position of superintendent of the works. In
1 89 1 Mr. Blair, being desirous of retiring
from active business, Mr. Loud entered into a
copartnership with A. B. Case; and they pur
chased the entire enterpriser which is still
conducted in its original name, as incorporated
in 1884, under which its wide reputation was
secured. The company manufacture lawn mowers,
lawn sprinklers, lawn sweepers, and turf edgers
of a superior quality, which are protected by

ALVIN CHILSON.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

971

patents, their exclusive property, and to which
the great merit of their productions is largely
attributed. The factory is equipped with spe
cial tools and machinery, their svstem and
facilities being unsurpassed; and thus thev are
enabled to produce the very finest qualitv of
goods at competing prices. The fact that
their business shows a constanth" increasing
growth is sufficient evidence that their produc
tions are appreciated. They occupy extensive
quarters at 34 Taylor Street, using three large
stores, with basement seventy-five by sixty
feet, together with other adjacent rooms ; and
their annual output reaches a very large figure.
Mr. Loud is connected with Roswell Lee
Lodge of A. F. & A. ;M., and also with De
Soto Lodge of Odd Fellows, and is a Republi
can in politics. In 1874 he was united in
marriage to Miss Clara Isabel Wakefield ; and
they have four children, as follows : Ralph
Waldo, Harold Owen, Roy Elliott, and Stan
ley Dunham Loud. The familv attend the
Universalist church, and reside at 381 Central
Street.

L\TN CHILSON, a prosperous farmer
of Wilbraham, was born at North
Adams, Mass., September 20, 1836.
He is a son of Noah Chilson, a
native of Westhampton, ^lass., of which town
the grandfather, Joseph Chilson, is believed to
have been a life-long resident. Noah Chilson
was reared to agricultural pursuits, and after
his marriage moved to Berkshire Countv,
where he resided at different times in the
towns of North Adams, Great Barrington,
Florida, and Otis. He then removed to Chic
opee Falls, Hampden County, where he re
mained for a period of seventeen months,
finally purchasing a small farm, which was
located upon the Boston road in the city of
Springfield, where he passed the remainder of
his life, his death occurring at the age of sixtv
years. His wife, whose name before marriage
was Philinda Hayden, was born in the town of
Chesterfield, daughter of John and Mary Hay
den. She was called to her filial rest at the
age of seventy-two years, having been the
mother of five sons and four daughters.

Alvin Chilson attended the schools of his
native town, and assisted his father in his farm
duties, remaining with him until 1861, when
he purchased his present farm at ^^'ilbraham,
and successfully pursued agriculture until
1872. In that year he erected a residence on
State Street in the city of Springfield, which
he occupied for a short period, and then sold
it, returning to his farm. In 1884 he removed
to \\'ilbraham Street, in order to give his chil
dren the advantage of attending the academy,
and having purchased a house resided there for
two years, aftgr which he again returned to his
farm. Besides fam-iing ]\Ir. Chilson has for a
number of years had charge of the roads, and
is at present superintendent of that department.
On April 6, 1 861, he \vas united in mar
riage to ]Miss Celia Bramble, an account of
whose family connections ma}" be found in a
sketch of Franklin Bramble upon another page
of this work. Their union has been blessed
with two children: Esther B., wife of Benja
min Green, of Wilbraham, and mother of one
son — Everett H. ; and Arthur A., now a resi
dent of Boston.
^Ir. and Mrs. Chilson are members of
the Wilbraham Street Methodist Episcopal
Church. ]\Ir. Chilson is a Republican in poli
tics. He ably fills his position as Superin
tendent of Streets, and is also a member of the
Board of Assessors. His portrait, which ap
pears on the opposite page, is well worthv of
a place in a pictorial gallery of Hampden
County's prominent citizens.

whereApril

¦A]\IES MLTR, senior member of the
firm of Muir Brothers, the leading
dealers in cut stone, also prominent
quarrymen and builders of Springfield,
he has resided since 1885, was born
25, 1856, at Galston, Ayrshire, Scot
land, the picturesque and storied region im
mortalized by the genius of Robert Burns.
^Ir Muir's birthplace was in the vicinity of
Kilmarnock, where the first volume of Burns's
poems was printed in 1786. His parents were
Gavin and :\Iary (Jamison) :\Iuir The father.
although a weaver in his \ounger davs, was a
dealer in and trainer of horses, who passed his

97-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

entire life in his natixc land with the excep
tion of about eight months, in which ho visited
the United States. Of the six children com
posing his family two daughters died young;
and the four sons, who still survi\'c, arc: \\'ill-
iam and John, residents of (.ilasgow; and
Da\'id and James, who arc ixirtnors in business
in this city. Glasgow has been the home of
the famil)' for main' generations. ("laxin Muir
survived his wife two \ears.
James Muir recei\"cd his education in the
national schools of Scotland, and before reach
ing the age of fourteen \cars was apprenticed
to a stone cutter, with whom he serx'cd two
and one-half \'ears, acquiring a gooil knowlcilgc
of the trade. Ho then went to Ncwcastle-upon-
'l"\'ne and other places in luigland, changing
his location frequently in order to obtain new
ideas and to become familiar with varied
materials and different methods employed in
his craft, making quite a protracted sta\' at
Manchester, whore he worked to considerable
extent upon the Town Hall and other noted
buildings. In 1879 he came to the Ibiitoil
States, being" first emphned in New >'ork C"it\'
as journeyman and later in Chicago, Ccdar>
Rapids, la., Kansas Cit)-, and other Western
points, and after again w(n"king for a period in
Now York came to Springfield in 1885 as
superintendent for Messrs. James & Marra,
whose works were then the largest in the cit\'.
Pie remained in that capacit\' with the abinc-
namcd firm for ono )'oar, at the expiration of
which he entered into partnership with Will
iam Mitchell and John Russell, who wore of
long experience in the stone business, under
the firm name of Muir, Mitchell & Russell,
and established a yard on Dwight Stroot, the
first of its kind to be located there. Thc\' also
leased a quarry at Longmeadow. yXftor con
ducting business for about sixteen months, the
firm was changed to INIuir & Russell; and at
the death of the latter, on December 10, 18(13,
David entered into business, and tho firm be
came Muir Brothers, James Muir being the
jirincipal owner,
They contnd tho product of fixe quarries
of Longmoadiiw red sandstone, ;nul do :i large
wholesale business, shipping cut and uncut
stone to Boston, Alban)', 'Proy, Now \'ork.

and other points within five hundred miles,
and in the quarry alone furnish employment to
from thii'ty-fi\'c to sixty men. "l"lie\' ha\'c
acquired largo ground space on the line of the
Now York & Now Phigland Railroad, where a
torce of sixty skilled workmen ;ire constanth'
emiiloyod. "Phe firm also does a great deal of
contract work, including e\'ci'\' kind of stone
structure, ;ind makes a spccialt\' of building
churches, having recenth' finished a fine stone
edifice for tho Ihiitarian sociot\' at tirconfiehl,
which furnished employment for a large num
ber of workmen, antl is a substantial as well
as an ornamental structure. It is of frequent
occurrence tor tho firm to Ikixo one hundred
names on their pay-roll; ami thoir xanls ;ind
quarries arc the scene of constant enterprise,
it being" a well-known fact that Muir Brothers
furnish more employment and arc the direct
source of prcn'iding with sustenance of life
more people than an\' other stone firm in this
locality. Mr. Muir in i8(.)2 erected for himself a x'orv
handsome red-stone residence at the corner of
Pvu' Stroot ;ind the a\'ciuie ol" that iKuue,
where he now resides, haxiug married Miss
Jane Kirkwoml Russell, ol" New York, daugh
ter of his tormer partner, who was an old
resident of tho metropolis. Mr. Muir is a
member of both the Masonic fraternitv and the
Odd Follows, and indopenilent in politics.

IKTMAS CLARK VACF. a prominent
husiness man in Chicopee P'alls, was
born in Hollis, \'oi"k County, l\le. ,
Ajiril 23, 1832, son of Janios and P'.liza (Wood
man) Pago. Mr. Pago's grandfather came from
P'ngland, and settled ;it first in Portsmouth,
N.H., but al'toi-ward reniox'cd to Waterboro,
Mc, , where his son James was born in 171)7.
James Page w;is ;i millwright by trade; and,
thoro being but lew mills in the c(ninti'\' in
those (la)s, he went from place to ]ilace in
order to secure employment. Pic died at the
coniparatixoly early age of forty-three x'cars,
leaving a widow and sex'cn children. Mrs.
Page w;is left with scant me;iiis of support and
a family of small chihlrcn, of whom the eldest
was fifteen )'ears of age, de]K'iulont upon her

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

973

for food and raiment. She lived to be ninety-
two years of age. These children were : Amos
W., John W., Abigail, Mo.ses, Thomas C,
Harriet A., and Eliza J.
As they grew old enough, it was necessary
for them to be as far as possible self-support
ing ; and so at an early age Thomas went to
work on his uncle's farm, being allowed to get
whatever education at the village school might
be imbibed on rainy days. At twelve he was
apprenticed in a shoe manufactory at Haver
hill, Mass., where he staid two and one-half
years, going thence to Saco, Me., where he
learned the machinist's trade. The boy was
ambitious, and made good use of his scanty
opportunities, attending school whenever he
could and studying diligently in his leisure
hours. In 1853 he went to Holyoke, Mass.,
as a journeyman machinist, and during the
financial depression of 1857 and 1858 estab
lished a small repair-shop in a room scarcely
large enough to contain a lathe and vice
bench. This enterprise, started so modestly,
in due time became one of the largest of its
kind in Massachusetts; and the young machin
ist had in seven years accumulated enough
money to buy an interest in a knitting
machine, invented by I. W. Lamb.
Mr. Page immediately began to manufacture
these machines at Rochester, N.Y. ; and in
1867 the company purchased real estate at
Chicopee Falls, and organized a stock com
pany, with a capital of two hundred thousand
dollars, known as the Lamb Knitting Machine
Manufacturing Company, making Lamb and
Tuttle knitting machines. The name of this
company was retained until 1893, when a com
bination was made with the well-known firm of
A. G. .Spalding & Brothers of New York, the
capital was increased to five hundred thousand
dollars, and the new company was called the
Lamb Manufacturing Company. This new
change brought a large and varied amount of
business, consisting of Spalding bicycles, gym
nasium apparatu.s, American club skates, golf
and other sporting goods, giving employment
to nearly five hundred hands. The factories
have been more than doubled in the past year.
The officers of the new company are A. G.
Spalding, President; Emerson Gaylord, Vice-

President; T. C Page, Treasurer These fac
tories, which are equipped with every modern
improvement, being lighted by both gas and
electric lights, make a specialty of finely fin
ished work, and are under the control of Mr.
Page, who besides being Treasurer is Manager
and agent.
In 1855 Mr Page married Miss Charlotte
Wheeler, born at Newton Upper Falls, Mass.,
in 1832, a daughter of Jonathan and Abigail
Wheeler. Her father was engaged in the
manufacture of tacks and small iron tools.
Six children were born of this union, three of
whom grew to maturity. In 1878 Mrs. Page
died, leaving three sons; Frank H., who mar
ried Miss Bertha Bausman, of Minneapolis,
Minn., and is now a resident of Chicopee
Falls; Edward C, who married Charlotte
Hatfield, living in the same town; and George
K., a book-keeper for D. B. Griggs & Son.
In 1879 Mr. Page formed a second marriage
with Miss Mary E. Davis, of Ellsworth, Me.,
whose parents, the Hon. James P'. and Jane
(Lord) Davis, were both natives of that State,
Mr. Davis being a hardware merchant.
Mr. and Mrs. Page have one daughter, Kath
erine, who was born in 1886. They live in
their beautiful home at 105 East Street.
Mr. Page owns, besides, a number of valua
ble houses in the city. He is a member of
Belcher Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Unity
Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Chicopee
Falls, Springfield Commandery and Massachu
setts Consistory. He holds a prominent posi
tion in business and financial circles, being
Vice-President of the Chicopee P'alls Savings
Bank and a Director of the First National
Bank of Chicopee. In political affiliation he
is loyally Republican.

BLANCPIARD, a promi-
of "Wilbraham, was born
wn, P'ebruary 23, 1837,
Abisha Howard and Sophro
nia (Calkins) Blanchard. His father, Abisha
Howard Blanchard, was born at Union, Conn. ;
and his grandfather, John Blanchard, was, as
far as known, a native of that State, passing
his latter years in the town of Mansfield.

974

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

The maiden name of his wife was Patience
Howard. Abisha Blanchard left the parental
roof in boyhood, and went to reside in the
family Of "Welcome Converse at Monson. He
learned the shoemaker's trade, which became
his future occupation, and, when a young man,
went to Wilbraham, there boarding with a
family that conducted the farm upon which his
son, A. J. Blanchard, now resides. For some
years he worked at his trade in Wilbraham,
and there purchased a home, in which he re
sided for the remainder of his life. He died
in 1864, at the age of fifty-seven years. His
wife was a native of Wilbraham, as was also
her father, John, and her grandfather, David
Calkins. Her great-grandfather, James Cal
kins, was one of the early settlers of Wilbra
ham, and located in that ' part of the town
called Glendale, where he purchased land and
engaged in farming.
David Calkins, the maternal great-grand
father of A. J. Blanchard, was, it is believed,
a life-long resident of the above-named town,
where he followed agricultural pursuits. The
latter's son, John Calkins, grandfather of Mr
Blanchard, who also followed the trade of
shoemaking, never enjoyed perfect health, but
was a man of superior mental activity, an
exhaustive reader and a profound student. He
was, besides, an ardent Abolitionist, a co-
laborer with William Lloyd Garrison, Wen
dell Phillips, and Gerrit Smith, his home
being one of the stations of the underground
railroad, through which many a slave found
his way to freedom. He assisted Mr. Bibb to
establish at Windsor, Canada, a paper called
The Voice of the Fugitive ; and, although his
means were limited, he gave freely of what he
possessed to aid in the humane cause. In his
religious A'iews he was what is known as a
Restorationist, and was associated with Adin
Ballon and Ebenezer Draper in establishing a
community of that sect at Hopedale, Mass.
Mr. Blanchard's mother was summoned to
her final rest in 1894, at the age of seventy-
eight years, having reared three children : A.
Jackson, Phianda L., and Lucy L. Phianda
L. , now deceased, was well educated, and
taught school for a number of years. Lucy L.
is the widow of E. M. Edson.

A. Jackson Blanchard commenced at a very
early age to assist his father in the support of
the family, thus causing his means for obtain^
ing an education to be necessarily limited.
He was a great lover of books, and made the
best of his opportunities at the district school ;
but the major part of his learning was obtained
by study at home, and he diligently applied
all of his spare moments to that purpose. At
the age of eighteen he commenced teaching
school, which he continued to do during por
tions of the year for upward of thirty years.
In 1882, his health having become somewhat
impaired, he visited the North-west, stopping
for a short time in Dakota and then journey
ing south through Kansas and Nebraska to
New Mexico, and from there to the Rocky
Mountains, where he sojourned for a time,
finally purchasing an interest in a cattle ranch
in the neighborhood of Fort Scott, Osage
County, Kan. At the end of a year he sold
his interest, and returned to his home near
Glendale, in the town of Wilbraham, where he
has since been engaged in agricultural pur
suits, which he follows in connection with his
official duties.
Mr. Blanchard is a member of the Eastern
Hampden Agricultural Society, a member and
Director of the Hampden County Agricultural
Society, an honorary member, of the Spring
field Horticultural Society, and also a member
of the Amateur Horticultural Society of that
city; and he is Past Master of the Wilbraham
Grange, No. 153.
Politically, Mr Blanchard is a Republican,
and cast his first Presidential vote for John
C Fremont. He was chairman of the Board
of Assessors twelve years, and has served as
a member of the School Board for a number of
year's. Pie was appointed a Justice of the
Peace previous to attaining his majority, and
has continued to act in that capacity ever
since. On August 4, 1867, Mr Blanchard was
united in marriage to Elvira C Day, who
was born at Wilbraham, September 24, 1847,
daughter of Lyman Day, a native of the same.
town. The latter was a son of Alvin and
Temperance (Snow) Day; and an extended
account of their ancestors and connections can

MYRON E. SEARLE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

977

be found in the Genealogy of the Day Family,
compiled and published by George E. Day, of
Northampton, Mass. Mrs. Blanchard's father
was a farmer, a life-long resident of Wilbra
ham. Pier mother, whose maiden name was
Chloe Stanton, was a daughter of Robert Stan
ton and a native of the same town. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Blanchard are members of the Meth
odist Episcopal church. Mrs, Blanchard is
quite extensively engaged in the raising of
poultry, and can show many fine specimens.

REDERICK WARREN ELLIS, M.D.,
of Monson, Mass., son of Dwight W.
and Mary (Puffer) Ellis, of whom a
special sketch appears elsewhere in this work,
was born in Wales, Mass., April lo, 1857.
In his early youth he attended the schools
of Wales, Wilbraham, and Palmer, and then
took the classical course at Monson Academy,
where he graduated in 1875. After a course
of private study under tutors, in 1877 he en
tered the Medical School of Harvard Univer
sity, from which he graduated in 1880, with
the highest rank of his class. Having fin-
. ished this course of professional study. Dr.
Ellis opened an office in Springfield, where
he began the practice of medicine. After two
or three years of experience in general practice
in Springfield and Monson he returned to
Boston, and devoted several years to the
special study of diseases of the eye and ear
and to original research in the physiological
laboratory of the Harvard Medical School.
The results of his original work at this time
were published in several medical and scien
tific journals.
In 1887 he built a laboratory in Monson,
which also contains his office. Here for the
past eight years he has been engaged in
scientific research and practice in his special
line — diseases of. the eye and ear. He has
virtually abandoned general practice, except
as a consultant, in order to devote himself to
his extensive special practice. Dr. Ellis's
office and laboratory is a handsome building
of wood and stone, containing two stories and
a basement. It is finely equipped with the
most modern and approved scientific apparatus

and mechanical appliances of American and
European manufacture. The basement con
tains a complete work-shop for the manu
facture of scientific apparatus, furnished with
steam-power and machinery of the finest work
manship. The laboratory contains many
unique and original features, and was de
signed especially for original scientific work.
The second story of the building is devoted
to a large and rapidly increasing library of
English, French, and German medical and
scientific works.
In 1893, on December 27, Dr. Ellis was.
raarried to Miss Martha C Alvord, of South
Windsor, Conn., a daughter of the Rev. Fred
erick and Susan (Ely) Alvord, and a grand
daughter of the Rev. Alfred Ely, D.D., who
was for sixty years pastor of the Monson Con
gregational Church. Mrs. Ellis graduated
from Wheaton Seminary, Norton, Mass., and
was afterward a student at the Harvard Annex.
She was for a time teacher of German and
literature in Monson Academy.
Dr. Ellis has done much original scientific
work, and has written many valuable articles
for medical and scientific journals. He has
invented several pieces of scientific apparatus,
some of which are used extensively in physi
ological laboratories in this country and
Europe. He is one of the original members
of the American Physiological Society, an
association of the leading physrologists in the
country. Dr. Ellis is an independent Repub
lican, and has held various local offices. He
is a Trustee of Monson Academy and of the
Savings Bank, and served a number of years
upon the School Committee.

J~XEACON MYRON E. SEARLE, a
=\ prominent business man of Westfield,
Sy held in high esteem by its citizens,
was born in Southampton, Hampshire
County, Mass., on June 27, 1837, and is a
son of Nathaniel E. Searle, who was a native
of the same town. The paternal grandfather,
Jared Searle, was a life-long resident of the
old Bay State. Nathaniel E. Searle learned
the trade of shoemaking. At that time all
shoes were custom made ; and he conducted

978

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

a custom-shop, continuing in business in
Southampton all his life. The maiden name
of his wife was Mary Taylor. She was born
in Ashfield, Mass., and was a daughter of Eze
kiel Taylor. She died in Southampton in
1878. Myron E. Searle received his. early educa
tion in the district school and Williston Sem
inary, graduating from the latter institution in
the class of 1854. He then went to Canada,
where he was engaged in teaching for two
years in London and Port Burwell. Subse
quently he located in Westfield, and was sta
tion agent of the N. H. & N. R. R. five years,
at the expiration of which time he engaged in
his present business. His partner at the
present time is L. Gladwin, Jr. The firm
does an extensive business in coal, wood, flour,
lime, and cement. Conscientious in all their
transactions, energetic, and painstaking, they
are deserving of their present success.
In 1868 Mr. Searle was married to Augusta
L. Blood, who was born in Westfield, and is
a daughter of Lemuel B. Blood. This union
was blessed by the birth of one child, a daugh
ter — Edith L. She was given every advan
tage for acquiring an education. In 1887 she
was graduated from the Westfield High
School, and then entered Smith College, from
which institution she was graduated in 1892,
and the following year accompanied her father
on a European tour. She early consecrated
herself to Christ, and united with the First
Congregational Church, in which she was an
active worker, and also took a deep interest in
the Sabbath-school, being a devoted teacher.
She was Secretary of the Society of Christian
Endeavor and a member of the Hopefully
Well Affected Club, and in all projects tend
ing toward the advancement of Christ's king
dom bore an active part. On Saturday, P'eb
ruary 23, 1895, she was called from earthly
scenes, dying at the early age of twenty-five,
after a brief illness. Pier parents, though sor
rowing over their own irreparable loss, are not
left as those without hope, knowing that with
her it is well, that she has but exchanged this
world for a brighter, and are enabled to re
joice for her that she has gone to receive her
reward.

" There is no Death ! What seems so is transition ;
This life of mortal breath
Is but the gateway to the life elysian,
Whose portal we call Death."
Mr. Searle has been a member of the First
Congregational Church since 1864, serving as
Deacon since 1870. There are few enter
prises of a nature to benefit the public which
do not enlist the interest and aid of Mr. and
Mrs. Searle, and their advice and co-opera
tion are constantly solicited.
The portrait of Mr. Searle which accom
panies this sketch will be recognized with
pleasure by his many friends and by those
with whom he has had business relations.

(^JY LFRED DESAUTELS, of Chicopee
fciJ Falls, a prominent merchant in the
_/J[j,V line of groceries and provision sup-
— ' plies, was born in Chambly, Que
bec, Canada, November 19, 1838, son of Abra
ham and Elisabeth Monjeau Desautels. His
father was born in Canada in 1812, and carried
on a farm at Roxton Falls, where he also re
sided. A man of energy and ambition, he
gained by industry and frugality quite a com
petence, but has now retired from active
labors. His first wife, Elisabeth, died in her
forty-fourth year, leaving ten children — Isai'e,
Olimpe, Olivier, Derothie, Octavie, Ludger,
Ferdinand, Victor E., Alfred, and one other
who died when quite young. Abraham Desau
tels married for his second wife a Miss Benoit,
who became the mother of one child, named
Lumina. She and her husband are still liv
ing, enjoying the fruits of early toil and much
respected by the community.
Alfred I)esautels received his education in
the public schools of Canada, and at the age of
seventeen began work on a farm in Vermont ;
but after a year and a half of that occupation,
which did not suit him as a calling for life,
he went to Natick, Middlesex County, Mass.,
and entered the employ of Bickford & Co.,
boot and shoe manufacturers. Later he went
to Brookfield, Worcester County, and worked
at Bachelor's big shoe-shop. In 1868, in
partnership with John Rivers, he opened a
general furnishing store at Indian Orchard,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

979

where he remained six years, having a very
prosperous business ; but in 1873 he sold out
and removed to Chicopee I-^alls. Here the fol
lowing" year he opened a general store in com
pany with O. Prarie, at the end of a year
buying his partner's interest, and conducting
the business on his own responsibility until
1892, when he concluded to make another
change. Accordingly, selling out his equip
ment, in the same year he opened a grocery
store at No. 94 Main Street, where he has a
large and successful trade.
In 1864 Mr. Desautels was married to Miss
Ozias Goyette, who was born in St. Mathias,
Canada, in 1844, a daughter of Amable Goy
ette, a progressive farmer. Mr. Desautels has
an attractive residence at No. 202 Main Street,
known as the Cadwell homestead. The house
at the time it was built was considered one of
the best in Chicopee, especially in its inte
rior finish. Since its purchase Mr. Desautels
has remodelled the inside, adapting it to mod
ern tastes and requirements, so that it remains
the finest on the street.
Mr. Desautels is a Democrat in his political
opinions, and has taken a good citizen's part
in promoting the growth and welfare of the
village. He served on the prudential commit
tee six years, and has been one of the Trustees
of the Chicopee Falls Savings Bank ten )'ears.
He is a member of the St. Jean Baptiste So
ciety and of the St. Joachim Church. Mrs.
Desautels joins her husband in social activi
ties, and to her may be attributed some of her
husband's success and popularity in the com
munity.

{V,/YDAI\IS O. SINCLAIR, who has been
superintendent of the famous Spring
field Bicycle Club track since its
completion, has spent a large por
tion of his life in this city, and is well and
favorably known throughout its limits. He is
a native of the Green ^ilountain State, having
been born in Hardwick, August 13, 1826, and
is a son of Nathaniel and Laura (Hager) Sin
clair. The Sinclairs are of Scotch origin, the
great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch

having emigrated from Scotland to America
in the last half of the last century, settling in
Vermont, where Nathaniel Sinclair, Sr. , the
grandfather, was born. Nathaniel Sinclair,
Jr., was a resident of Woodstock, Vt. , the
larger portion of his life, moving there when
his son Adams was quite young. While yet a
boy he took part in the War of 1812, his
home at that time being in the vicinity of
Plattsburg. He was a carpenter and joiner
by trade, and assisted in the erection of many
of the substantial buildings of Woodstock,
remaining there until a short time before his
decease, when he removed to Canton, Mass.
Mrs. Sinclair, whose maiden name was Laura
Hager, was a native of Flartford, Vt. Her
father, who was but a boy at the time, was an
unexpected participant in the first battle of
the Revolution, at Concord, arriving there
the morning of April 19, 1775, while on his
way to Boston with an ox team. When young
Hager grasped the situation, and, noting the
murderous fire of the redcoats, saw
¦¦ How the farmers gave them ball for ball
From behind each fence and barnyard wall,"
he left his team and turned soldier. Mrs.
Sinclair died in Springfield at the advanced
age of eighty-four.
Adams O Sinclair remained with his par
ents until eighteen years of age, when he
started for Boston, hoping to find some profit
able employment. He secured work as bag
gage master on the Boston & New Bedford
Railway, and remained in that position a year
or two. He then assisted in building the
raihva}' running from Canton to Stoughton,
which was a part of the Old Colony system,
and after its construction was road master
for a year. He then assisted his father in set
ting up factory machinery, and subsequently
learned the moulder's trade with Lyman Kins
ley. In 1856 Mr. Sinclair went to Califor
nia, going by steamer, via the Isthmus. He
established himself in business in Sacramento,
dealing in oils and oil fixtures, but afterward
sold out to Leland Stanford, for whom he
travelled awhile, visiting all parts of the
State, which was then in a wild condition,
dotted here and there with miner's camps.

980

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mr. Sinclair next visited Nevada, where the
silver mines were then being developed, mak
ing the journey on horseback. There he
found work in building cloth houses, painting
signs, and anything which yielded him a
profit, and while engaged in his business did
some prospecting on his own account. He
made some money, and finally returned to
Massachusetts by way of the Isthmus, having
been away nearly four years. Mr. Sinclair
worked in Canton for Oakes Ames the follow
ing year; and in February, 1862, he entered
the Springfield Armory as an ordinary work
man, and gradually worked his way up to the
position of inspector. He was afterward em
ployed by the United States government as
inspector of arms and ammunition for Turkey,
with headquarters at New Haven, Conn., and
also inspector for the Spanish and Russian
governments. He occupied that important
position until the close of the Turkish war in
1878. In the mean time he had put his stamp
on one hundred and thirty-two thousand Win
chester rifles and six hundred million packages
of ammunition, doing all the gun inspection
himself and putting on each stamp, the number
of pieces marked in a day sometimes amount
ing to six hundred thousand. Mr. Sinclair
has since that time worked for the government
much of the time, and every fifth year has
-served as Census Enumerator. He also makes
a register of the births and of the children of
school age of Springfield annually. He has
served as inspector of oils for the past twenty
years and as a special officer. He has been
connected with the Bicycle Club since its
organization in 1881, and has had entire charge
of the track, which has to be kept in good con
dition, and which under his supervision is con
sidered one of the finest in this country.
Mr Sinclair married Harriet F. Pettingill,
a daughter of William Pettingill, of Canton,
a prominent manufacturer of that town, their
wedding being celebrated January 2, 1849.
She died October 27, 1891, leaving one child,
Frederick O, now an employee of the govern
ment. He married Miss Minnie Decker, of
Deerfield, Mass. ; and they have one child,
who bears the name of his grandfather, Adams
O. Sinclair Mr Sinclair is a member of

Hampden P.odge, A. F. & A. M., to which he
has belonged for thirty-three years.

ville.

AMES MONROE JUSTIN, a promi
nent contractor and builder, one of the
Selectmen of West Springfield, Plamp
den County, was born in West Gran-
that county, February 4, 1841. He is
the son of Otis and P'rances (York) Justin, the
former a native of Westerly, R. I., the latter
of Watch Hill, in the same State. Otis Jus
tin made his home in Rhode Island until 1840,
when he removed to West Granville, Mass.,
and there spent the remainder of his life,
dying at the age of sixty-six. His wife,
whose maiden name was Frances York, was
a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Nash)
York, both of whom spent their entire lives at
Watch Hill, R.I. Mrs. Justin's grandfather,
the great-grandfather of our subject, was the
keeper of the light-house at Watch Hill in
Revolutionary times; and one of his lineal
descendants, a great-great-grandson, is now
postmaster at that place. Our subject's
grandfather on the maternal side was a soldier
in the Revolutionary War. Mr. and Mrs.
Justin reared five children — Elizabeth, James
M., George H., Martha A., and Lydia.
James M. Justin was the eldest son of the
parental household. After completing his
education in the common schools of his native
town, he worked with his father until the
breaking out of the Civil War, when he re
sponded to the first call for troops, enlisting
in April, 1861, in Company I, Tenth Massa
chusetts Volunteer Infantry. His regiment
was sent directly to the seat of war; and
among the more important battles in which he
actively participated may be mentioned those
of Manassas Junction, Williamsburg, the
siege of Yorktown, and the battle of Fair
Oaks. At the latter, on May 31, 1862, Mr
Justin was severely wounded, a bullet passing
nearly through him, incapacitating him for
duty for several months. In September of
that year he was commissioned Captain of
Company I, P'orty-sixth Regiment Massachu
setts Volunteer Infantry, and going to North
Carolina wa.s at the front in the battles of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

981

Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsboro. At the
expiration of his term of service, in July,
1863, Captain Justin was honorably discharged
and returned to his home. Very soon after he
entered the employ of the Boston & Albany
Railway Company; and after working for
them a year he was placed in charge of their
shops at Hinsdale, where he served ably and
faithfully for nineteen years. The following
two years Mr Justin was stationed at West
Springfield. He then established an inde
pendent business as contractor and builder,
and in this occupation is meeting with good
success. Mr. Justin was united in marriage in 1864
to Miss Susie E. Clark, who was born in
Pittsfield, Berkshire County, a daughter of
Enoch and Julia Clark, of that place. Six
children have come to bless their union ;
namely, Fred C , William H., Mary E., Ella,
Minnie, and Edward.
Mr. Justin is independent in politics and
a strong advocate of temperance. During his
residence in Hinsdale he was interested in the
welfare of the town, serving as Selectman, and
is now serving his second term as Selectman
in West Springfield. Pie is prominent in
many social organizations, belonging to W. "W.
Rockwell Post, No. 125, Grand Army of the
Republic, and to the John A. Logan Post of
Union Veterans. He is also a member of
Tekoa Lodge, No. 138, Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and of Roswell Lee Lodge,
A. F. & A. M.

'AMES PEASE, an excellent representa
tive of the substantial and well-to-do
citizens of the town of Westfield,
stands high among the progressive and
business-like agriculturists of this section of
Hampden County. He was born March 7,
1 83 1, on the homestead where he now resides,
being a son of Chauncey and Julia (Fowler)
Pease, the former of whom was a native of
Suffield, Conn., and the latter of Westfield,
Mass. Chauncey Pease spent his early years in the
place of his nativity, and, being a natural
genius and possessing true Yankee wit, could

turn his hand to any kind of work, succeeding
either as a carpenter, wheelwright, farmer, or
blacksmith. He moved to Westfield at an
early day, settling on Little River, where he
purchased the Little River Mills, which he
operated for some years very profitably. He
afterward invested in land, being at one time
one of the most extensive property-owners of
the vicinity, having at least two hundred acres.
He was a skilful and enterprising farmer, plac
ing his homestead under a fine state of culture,
and occupied a prominent and influential posi
tion in local affairs, serving as Selectman and
as representative to the General Assembly.
He lived to the age of sixty-three years, spend
ing his last days on the home farm. His wife
departed this life at the age of fifty-two years.
She was a most estimable woman and a con
sistent member of the Baptist church, while
he was liberal in his views on Christianity.
They were the parents of ten children, as fol
lows ; Baron Steuben, who died at the age of
forty-seven; Adaline (Mrs. Underbill), who
died at the age of sixty-eight; Plenry, who
died when sixty-seven years old; Hannah,
who passed away at the age of twenty-two
years; Julia (Mrs. Judson); John, who died
when young; James, the subject of this brief
record; Mary and Martha, who died when
young; and Charlotte, the widow of P'rank
Terrett, who is a resident of West Suffield,
Conn. James Pease attended the public schools in
the place of his birth, assisting in the labors
incidental to life on a farm until eighteen
years of age. Previous to that time he had
learned the cigar-maker's trade of Charles
Hull; and at this occupation he subsequently
worked in different shops in Suffield and West-
field until 1852, when, inspired by the won
derful accounts of life in the mining camps of
California and of the riches there obtainable,
he took a trip to the Pacific Coast, sailing
around Cape Horn and being six months and
five days on the journey. He remained there
a year and a half, engaged in mining and hav
ing an interest a part of the time in a saw
mill. He was fairly successful, but concluded
to return home, coming by way of the Isth
mus, and at once resumed his former trade.

982

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and also engaged in general farming. At the
death of his father he succeeded to the owner
ship of the paternal homestead, on which he
has labored with diligence, and is now consid
ered one of the most intelligent and thriving
farmers of Plampden County. In i860 Mr.
Pease built his comfortable and substantial
house, which, with convenient farm buildings
and neat and pleasant surroundings, gives evi
dence of thrift and good management.
Mr. Pease was married December 17, 1856,
to Mariette P. Moody, who was born in Mon
son, Mass., January 8, 1831, a daughter of
Daniel and Sarah (Perkins) Moody, the former
of whom was born in Amherst, November 24,
1805, and the latter in Springfield, January
2, 1809. Mr. Moody was a jeweller and sil
versmith in the town of Monson, where he
carried on business until his death, which oc
curred July 20, 1864. His widow lived until
November 28, 1881. Of the five children
born to them the following is recorded ; Mrs.
Sarah Langdon is a resident of Plartford ; Ma
riette is the wife of our subject; George is a
resident of Boston ; Mrs. Susan Merrill died
May 28, 1892; and Ellen L. died December
25, 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Pease have no chil
dren of their own ; but they reared an adopted
daughter, who makes her home with them.
She married Arthur Dumbleton ; and they
have two children; James P. and Mariette P.
In politics Mr. Pease is an earnest supporter
of the principles promulgated by the Demo
cratic party. Both he and his wife are liberal
in their religious views.

EEONARD ATWATER, who for many
years was a prominent factor in the
^ business circles of the village of"
Westfield, but is now living retired
from active life, was born in the town of
Russell, Hampden County, Mass., on October
23, 1817. From a genealogy of the family,
published by Edward E. Atwater, of New
Plaven, Conn., it is learned that the first
ancestor in this country was David Atwater,
a native of England, who emigrated to Amer
ica in 1637, and became one of the first pro
prietors of New Haven. When the allotments

of land wore made, a tract was set off for him
at the Neck, as tho strip of land lying be
tween Mill and Ouinnibec Rivers was called;
and it is believed that he spent the later years
of his life there. Plis death occurred on
October 5, 1692.
His son Jonathan was born at New Plaven
on July 12, 1656, married Miss Ruth Peck,
and passed from earthly scenes June 3, 1726.
Their son Joseph was born in New Haven on
December 9, 1694. He married Plannah
Doolittle, and a few years later removed to
Wallingford, locating in that part of the town
now included in Cheshire, where his death
took place on January 9, 1766. The next in
line was Joseph'.s son, Benjamin, also a native
of New Plaven, his natal day being April 7,
1727. He married Phebe Moss, and for a
number of years kept a public house in Chesh
ire. Pie was successful in his business, and
gave his children their choice between an edu
cation and one thousand dollars in cash. Two
of his sons became professional men. His
son Joel, the father of Leonard Atwater, was
born in Cheshire on the 22d of April, 1769, and
was brought up in that town, p-le learned the
trade of tailoring, which, however, he did not
follow, but when in young manhood purchased
three hundred acres of land in the town of
Russell. There he engaged in farming dur
ing the remainder of his life, dying at the age
of sixty-eight. His wife was Lydia Sackett,
of Westfield, a daughter of PIzra Sackett. She
became the mother of ten children, and lived
to the venerable age of ninety-seven years.
Leonard Atwater commenced when young
to assist his father on the farm, at the same
time making the best of his opportunities to
obtain an education by attending the district
school a portion of each year until the age of
sixteen, when he began the battle of life for
himself. Plis first employment was on a
farm, where he worked for nine months,
receiving twelve dollars per month. Pic then
attended Wilbraham Academy, for one year, at
the cx])iration of which time he engaged for a
few months as a travelling salesman, selling
powder. Pic then taught one term of school,
after which he once more started on the road,
selling powder and also whips. In 1840 he

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

983

went to Ohio with a load of whips, making
the journey with a team; and during each of
the succeeding four years he made a trip to
the same State. He then went to New Bruns
wick, N.J., and for a number of years trav
elled in that State, carrying whips and cigars.
While living in New Jersey, he became a leader
in the more progressive element in the advo
cacy of the measure which gave to the State
its present admirable free school system, which
was established during his residence there.
Mr. Atwater continued to make his home in
New Jersey until the year 1857, when he went
to Independence, la., and there engaged in
the real estate and loan business for two
years, at the end of which time he came to
Westfield, and at once became prominently
identified with the business interests of the
town. He was foremost in the organization
of four different whip companies, all of which
did a successful business during the time of
his connection with them. Since 1889 he has
lived practically retired from active business,
devoting his time to his private interests.
On October i, 1839, ^^- Atwater was
united in marriage with Miss Juliet Sackett,
a daughter of Daniel and Elvina (Loomis)
Sackett, and a native of Westfield. She was
born September 6, 18 16; and she departed
this life on October 12, 1846, leaving two
children — Ellen Marion and Albert C Mr.
Atwater was a second time married, January
3, 1849, to Miss Frances Hedges, the date of
whose birth was February 19, 1825. Her
parents were Dennis and Alvena (Noble)
Hedges, of Westfield. The union of Mr. and
Mrs. Atwater has been blessed by the birth of
seven children, five of whom are living,
namely: Dennis H., Leonard C, James B.,
Lucy F., and Margaret C All received
excellent educational advantages, and are now
in the enjoyment of homes of their own. Mr.
and Mrs. Atwater are Congregationalists in
their religious views, the First Church of
Westfield finding in them earnest and active
members. Mr. Atwater is a Director in the
Woronoco Street Railway Company, and, fra
ternally, is connected with Mount Moriah
Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He has served as
chairman of the Board of Health.

XfREl

REDERICK VICTOR VARIN, pro-
JP prietor and Manager of the .Springfield
-'- Cutlery Company, is an enterprising
and progressive business man. He was born
in Brooklyn, N.Y., February 3, 1862, being
a son of the late Victor and Susan (Scharvonn-
Bonswair) Varin.
Victor Varin, the father of the subject of
this brief chronicle, was a native of France,
and, when a young man, immigrated to Amer
ica, locating in New York City, where he
worked for many years as plumber, being one
of the foremost men in that line of business
in New York City, with an office under the
Tribune Building. He died suddenly, while
yet in the vigor of manhood, leaving a widow
and four children. He married Mrs. Susan
(Scharvonn) Bonswair, a native of Switzer
land, where Mrs. Scharvonn, her mother, is
now living, at an advanced age. When a
young lady, Mrs. Varin, who was beautiful
and accomplished, was maid of honor to the
Empress Eugenie and a general favorite at
court. At one time, being stricken with
typhoid fever, she was nursed and cared for by
the Countess Saint-Julien, who held her in
high regard.
Frederick Victor Varin acquired an excel
lent education in the public schools of his
native city, after which he learned the busi
ness of manufacturing surgical instruments in
the establishment of George Tieman & Co.,
with whom he served an apprenticeship of
three years. Finding that it would require a
small fortune to establish himself in a business
of that kind, he changed his occupation to
that of a manufacturer of small novelties, also
grinding cutlery. Going to Minnesota, Mr.
Varin established a plant in the city of Min
neapolis, at 244 Hennepin Avenue, where he
carried on a successful business for three
years. Disposing of that, he spent some time
in Chicago and New York City, and was
Superintendent of the business of Lewis A.
Jones in Springfield two years. In January,
1 89 1, he bought out the grinding department
of Mr. Jones's factory, and has since turned
his attention to the manufacture of cutlery
and the grinding of edge tools of all descrip
tions, having a power plant at 48 Taylor

984

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Street, and giving employment to several
men. He has built up a large trade, his
establishment being one of the finest and most
complete in its details in Western New Eng
land, and reflecting great credit upon his
knowledge, ability, and ingenuity.
Mr. Varin was married July 4, 1887, to
Miss Theresa Werden Miller, of Saginaw,
Mich. ; and their union has been blessed by
the birth of three fine children, namely: Vic
tor, Lottie, and Marian. Mr. and Mrs. Varin
are believers in the tenets of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and are performing their
part in upholding the moral, social, and intel
lectual status of their community.

T^TARRISON LOOMIS, a prominent
L^-l resident of West Springfield, chair-
|i,9 I man of the Board of Selectmen, was
— " born in that town, December 20,
1840, son of Frederick B. and Charlotte
Elizabeth (Wilson) Loomis. Mr. Loomis is
of English descent, the first of his family in
this country being Joseph Loomis, a woollen
draper of Braintree, England, who immigrated
to America in 1638. He resided in Boston
about a year, in 1639 moving to Windsor,
Conn., where he died August 17, 1652. As
the family increased, the members sought
different habitations, and to-day it is repre
sented in every State of the Union. Though
an extensive genealogy has been compiled,
but little information can be gained relative
to the personal movements of many of its
early representatives ; and it is impossible to
ascertain with any degree of authenticity the
name of the original settler in West Spring
field. The son of Joseph Loomis, mentioned
above, was Deacon John Loomis, who was
born in England in 1622; and his son Thomas
was born November 7, 165 1. John Loomis,
the son of Thomas, was born January 14,
1 681; and his son Jonathan, who was born
August 13, 1722, was the great-great-grand
father of our subject. FIis son Noadiah, the
great-grandfather of Harrison Loomis, was
born in West Springfield, August 14, 1750.
He was a life-long resident of the above-
named town, where he followed agriculture.

and also was a teamster, engaged in the trans
portation of supplies and all kinds of mer
chandise from Hartford and Boston. He
assisted in teaming the iron from Boston to
Lal<e Erie for the purpose of constructing
what was probably the first light-house in that
section. Noadiah Loomis served as a soldier
in the Revolutionary War. His son, Row
land Loomis, the grandfather of our subject,
was born in West Springfield, July 7, 1781,
and for many years followed agricultural pur
suits, passing his last days in his native town.
Frederick B. Loomis, the father of our sub
ject, was born in West Springfield, March 7,
1805. The scene of his life work was not
limited to the narrow confines of his native
town. Accompanying a party of surveyors
which was engaged in locating government
lands in the West, he assisted in erecting
the first building at Marshall, Mich. — a
double log house — and also visited Chicago
when it was but a small trading -post. After
spending some time in the West, he returned
to his native town, where he engaged in
moving buildings. He died in 1893. The
maiden name of his wife, the mother of Harri
son Loomis, was Charlotte P^dizabeth Wilson.
She was a life-long resident of West Spring
field, and died in 1882, at the age of sixty-
four years, having reared five sons and five
daughters. Harrison Loomis was educated in the
schools of West Springfield, and in 1862
entered the United States Armory at Spring
field, where he was employed two years. In
1866 he projected and successfully completed
a novel and somewhat difficult journey through
the then almost trackless region lying beyond
the Missouri River, travelling by rail to St.
Louis, and from there by river-boat to Fort
Benton, whence he, with four others, provided
with mule teams, together with provisions for
ninety days, set out for California through a
section of the country inhabited only by
Indians. They traversed the territories of
Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, en
countering on the way large herds of buffalo
and antelope, and at Salt Lake City met Brig
ham Young. Mr. Loomis travelled along the
Pacific Coast, and, after visiting many points

HARRISON LOOMIS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

987

of interest in California, started on his return
East by way of the Isthmus of Panama, stop
ping at intervals on his way down the Pacific
Coast to visit different places in Mexico. He
arrived safely at his home after an absence of
one year, having travelled upward of twelve
thousand miles. During his trip through the
Territories he came in contact with no less
than fourteen distinct tribes of Indians; but
fortunately it was a time of general peace, and
the party was in no way molested. Immedi
ately after his return to West Springfield he
purchased a saw-mill, which he operated for
a time, and which he still owns, and later
engaged in the manufacture of cider and vine
gar, which in the last few years he has carried
on to a considerable extent and with the most
satisfactory results.
Mr. Loomis was twice married. His first
wife, whom he married in 1869, was Miss
Abbie Smith, who was born at Granby, Prov
ince of Quebec, Canada, November 5, 1847.
She died, leaving three living children —
Ida L., Nellie M., and Abbie. His second
wife was Miss Julia Sullivan, of Boston,
daughter of James and Mary (Bolster) Sulli
van. Mr. Loomis's only son, Harrison, was
drowned in 1888, at the age of eight years.
Mr. Loomis is a Republican in politics.
He has been Assessor five years. Collector ten
years, and a Selectman four years, three of
which he has served as chairman of the
Board. The portrait of Mr. Loomis which
accompanies this sketch will be viewed with
interest, as being that of one of the represen
tative men of Hampden County.

t RTHUR C CHANDLER, one of the
most highly respected citizens of
Hampden County, who is living,
*• — ' retired from the active cares of
business life, at his pleasant home in the city
of Springfield, was born at Bellows Falls,
Vt., March 11, 1853, son of David and
Lavinia W. (Chapin) Chandler, and is de
scended from honored Puritan stock.
His paternal grandfather, David Chandler,
Sr., was born and reared to maturity in En
field, Conn. Removing to South Hadley,

Mass., when a comparatively young man, he
engaged in mercantile trade, and was for many
years the leading merchant of that locality,
and for a quarter of a century was Postmaster
of the village, and also kept a hotel. In addi
tion thereto he owned a large farm, and was
numbered among the most influential and
prosperous citizens. He was a member of the
State militia, being Captain of a company.
David Chandler married Miss Clarissa Good
hue, a daughter of Dr. Joseph and Martha
(Clay) Goodhue, the latter of whom was a
relative of the distinguished statesman, Henry
Clay. Dr. Goodhue was a native of Putney,
Vt., being a son of the first minister ever set
tled in that town, and was for twenty years a
surgeon in the regular army, being stationed
at P'ort Constitution.
David Chandler, Jr., the father of our sub
ject, was born. February 18, 18 14, at South
Hadley, Mass., and was a resident of that
town the first thirty years of his life. Fol
lowing in the footsteps of his father, he
entered upon a mercantile career when young,
and also succeeded to the office of Postmaster.
He was a man of ability and influence, and
filled many of the important offices of the
town. He was a valued member of the Con
gregational church, a superintendent of the
Sunday-school for many years, and one of its
most active teachers. Removing to Bellows
Falls, Vt., he became agent of the Cheshire
Railway Company, of which his brother-in-
law, E. A. chapin, was Superintendent.
After the extension of the road to Keene he
was sent there, which was considered a. pro
motion, and remained until his death, which
occurred in 1857, while he was yet in the
prime of a vigorous manhood. Plis wife, to
whom he was married in December, 1843, was
born in what was then Springfield, but is now
Chicopee Centre, April 24, 1817, being a
daughter of Atlas and Mary S. (Chapin)
Chapin. Atlas Chapin was born in Chicopee Centre,
December 26, 1791, and there spent his entire
life. He was a contractor and builder and a
well-to-do citizen of the place. He married
Mary S. Chapin, who, although bearing the
same surname, was not a relative. He died

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

at the early age of thirty-three years, leaving,
besides his widow, four children, of whom the
following is recorded: E. A. Chapin, who
died at the age of forty-eight years, was Gen
eral Superintendent of the Toledo, Wabash &
Western Railway; Mary J., deceased, was the
wife of Rufus N. Nichols, of Brimfield;
Lavinia W. was the wife of David Chandler,
Jr. ; and Baxter, an apothecary in Lowell,
Mass., died at the age of twenty-eight years.
Mrs. Chapin's grandfather, Japhet Chapin,
was a life-long resident of Chicopee and one
of its most conspicuous and noteworthy citi
zens, holding a prominent position among the
town officials, and being everywhere respected
for his upright moral principles and integ
rity. He was a direct descendant and the
worthy representative of the well-known Dea
con Samuel Chapin. After the decease of her
husband, Mrs. Atlas Chapin married Deacon
Selah Monson, of Cazenovia, N.Y., in which
place she lived until she was again left a
widow. The mother of the subject, who had
but one child — Arthur C — took her little
son to Cazenovia after Mr. Chandler died, and
resided with her mother until the death of
Deacon Monson, when they both returned to
Springfield. They bought a house at 82
Charles Street in 1865, and there they have
since lived. Mrs. Chandler is a true and sin
cere Christian woman, and while a resident of
her native town united with the Congrega
tional church ; and on the organization of the
Memorial Church in Springfield, in 1865, she
became a charter member. Her husband was
also active in church work and an esteemed
member of the Congregational church.
Arthur C Chandler began his education in
the Cazenovia schools, and after coming to
Springfield was a pupil in the Hooker School,
ranking as one of its most brilliant students.
His first employment was in the boot and shoe
store of Mr. Hitchcock, where he clerked for
two years. He subsequently occupied a like
position in the establishment of H. A. Gibbs
for twelve years, being one of his most faith
ful and trustworthy clerks. But his health
became impaired by constant indoor work;
and Mr. Chandler was forced to give up the
active pursuits of life, and is now enjoying

the freedom of his leisure hours. He is of a
genial and social nature, and was one of the
original members of the Winthrop Club, He
attends and supports the Memorial Church,
which Dr. Holland was largely instrumental
in organizing, and has been its librarian for
several years.
Mrs, Chandler, the mother of the subject,
has many fine portraits of distinguished ances
tors, many of them being valued as works of
art, having been painted by famous artists.
She is also interested in collecting rare and
valuable china, antique furniture, and curiosi
ties. In making collections of this kind she
has the assistance of the subject, who is an
enthusiast on the matter, and has in his pos
session one of the finest and most valuable
collections of the kind in the county, which is
well worth many miles of travel to view.
The articles in his collection are valued for
their beauty and intrinsic worth as well as for
their age ; and many are of great monetary
value. Among his stock is a cupboard, or
sideboard, of solid mahogany, beautifully
inlaid and veneered, which is more than two
centuries old, and worth fully five hundred
dollars. One of the pieces of furniture most
highly prized is a chest of drawers, in a fine
state of preservation, which came over in the
"Mayflower"; and he has a beautiful piece
of linen that was brought over at the same
time. He has some old parchments in excel
lent condition, one, two feet square, bearing
the date of 1593, and another, forty inches by
fifty inches, dated 1658 — both being finely
inscribed and perfectly legible. There are
other valuable documents — one, a deed of
Springfield property, dated 1781, containing
the autographs of William Pynchon and John
Morgan as witnesses. Included in the papers
of more recent date was the commission of his
grandfather, David Chandler, Sr., as Postmas
ter, signed in 1821 by J. Meigs, Jr., Postmas
ter-General, and also the commission of David
Chandler as Sergeant, signed by the governor.
In the collection of ancient newspapers Mr.
Chandler has a copy of the Federal Spy, dated
December 23, 1800, published at Springfield
by Ashby & Brewer, also a copy of the Hamp
shire Herald, or the Weekly Advertiser, dated

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

989

Tuesday, October 26, 1784, published and
printed in Springfield by Brooks & Russell,
at their printing-office, one door south of the
court-house. No greater pleasure can be granted a person
than a few hours' visit with Mr. Chandler (no
one ever thinks of giving him a simple call);
for he is a most genial host, a pleasant con
versationalist, and a rare entertainer. He is
held in high esteem throughout the commu
nity where he has lived for nearly three
decades, and is in every way deserving of the
respect universally accorded him.

7TAHARLES J. ROOT, a leading citizen
I Ky of the town of Southwick, was born on
^^Hs the farm where he now resides, Jan
uary 24, 1836, son of Oliver and
Maria (Judson) Root. His family is of Eng
lish origin, and was first represented on
American soil in 1725. His great-great
grandfather, John Root, was one of the origi
nal settlers of the town of Southwick. He
bought an extensive tract of wild land, some
of which he subsequently sold to his son, Gid
eon Root, Sr., great-gran-dfather of the subject
of this sketch. Mr. Charles J. Root, now
holds in his possession the deeds, bearing the
date March 17, 1760, and a part of this same
land is still owned by the Root family.
Gideon Root, Sr., was born in 1734. He
was one of the first settlers of Southwick,
which was then called Westfield, making his
home there when the country was compara
tively new and the forests abounded in wild
game. He owned a large tract of land, and
was one of the foremost men of the town.
He served throughout the Revolutionary War,
at its close returning to his farm, where he
died in August, 1804. His wife, Huldah
Root, was born in 1738, and died March 28,
1813. They reared a large family of children.
The grandfather of our subject, Gideon
Root, Jr., was born in Southwick, June 9,
1763, and during his long life of fourscore
years saw the vast forests give place to well-
improved farms, and watched the gradual
development of the small hamlet into a town
of considerable size. He was one of the

prominent farmers of the town and an influ
ential and public-spirited citizen, holding
many offices, and serving as Justice of the
Peace for many years. He was in sympathy
with the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal
church in his religious beliefs. He died
November 17, 1844. His wife, Eunice
(Whitney) Root, was born November 16,
1763, and passed to the silent majority Octo
ber 14, 1842. Their son, Oliver Root, the
father of our subject, was born on the old
Root homestead, October 24, 1797, and there
passed his life. He selected as his wife
Maria Judson, who was born in Huntington,
Conn. Charles J. Root acquired his education in
the place of his nativity, completing his
studies in the high school. Having a natural
aptitude for a business life, he then entered
upon a mercantile career in Southwick, form
ing a partnership with Mr. Shurtleff. They
conducted business in Southwick for eight
years, then removed to Westfield, where they
had a general clothing store for four years.
Mr. Root then opened a clothing store in
Thompsonville, Conn., and after carrying on
a substantial business there for two years
made another change, going to Waterbury, in
the same State, where he remained four years.
Disposing of his business in 1877, Mr. Root
returned to Southwick, and, purchasing a part
of the old Root homestead, has since resided
there, engaged in the pursuit of agriculture.
He has one hundred acres of excellent land;
and in addition to general farming he has a
fine dairy, containing from ten to fifteen head
of grade Jerseys. His residence, which is
one of the oldest in the vicinity, is in a com
plete state of preservation, occupying a beau
tiful site, and commanding an extensive view
of the surrounding country.
Mr. Root has been twice married. His
first wife, whose maiden name was Catherine
Shurtleff, passed away after a short married
life, leaving one son, Fred C Root, who is
now a machinist, employed in the Winchester
Arms Company Works at New Plaven, Conn.
On February 20, 1878, Mr. Root was united
in marriage to Emma D. Judson, who was
born in San Francisco, Cal., June 10, 1854,

990

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and is a daughter of Dr. Azaiah and Julia
(Pease) Judson. Dr. Judson is now a resi
dent of Athens, Bradford County, Pa. Dr.
and Mrs. Judson had two children, of whom
Mrs. Root is the only one living. Mr. Root
has five children by his second marriage,
namely: J. "Whitney, Julia A., Nellie E.,
Josie J., and George W.
In his political views Mr. Root is a stanch
member of the Democratic party. He takes a
sincere pleasure in doing whatever he can to
advance the interests of his town, and has
served it faithfully in many different capaci
ties, having been Town Clerk from 1861 to
1865, Selectman one year. Assistant Postmas
ter, and the incumbent of other offices, and at
the present time is Trustee of the Free Public
Library of Southwick. He is a member of
the Masonic Order, belonging to Doric Lodge,
No. 94, of Thompsonville, and to Command
ery No. 7 of Waterbury, Conn., having
taken all the intermediate offices. Relig
iously, both he and Mrs. Root are liberal in
belief, but attend the Methodist Episcopal
church.

"ENRY PEARSON, Superintendent of
the Wason Manufacturing Company
of Springfield, was born at Stock
port, England, September 14, 1852.
His parents, William Henry and Emma
(Cross) Pearson, were both natives of Eng
land, born in 1812.
William H. Pearson was the Superintendent
of a cotton-mill in England. He came to
America in 1865, and was engaged in the
manufacture of woollen goods until his death.
Henry Pearson atended the public schools
in England until eleven years of age, when he
entered the office of George Fernley & Co., of
whose mills his father was Superintendent.
Beginning as office boy, he worked his way
up, and was finally given charge of the loom
products of the mill office. In 1866 he came
to this country, and secured a situation in the
finishing department of a woollen-mill in
Ashuelot, N.H., remaining there about a
year. Thence he moved to Hinsdale, N.H.,
where for a short time he was employed in the

weaving-room of Haile, Frost & Co.'s wool
len-mill. He had previously been promised
a situation in the machine-shop of Holman &
Merriman, where he intended to learn the
machinist's trade, and, soon after engaging
with Haile & Frost, the promised situation
was offered and accepted. P'or fourteen years
Mr. Pearson was with this firm, with the
exception of an interval of six months, during
which time he was inspector at the Miller's
Falls Manufacturing Works. Mr. Pearson's
reputation as a clever mechanic was becoming
generally recognized, and his next situation
was as tool-maker in the Harris Corliss
Engine Works at Providence, R.I. A year
later he was offered charge of the machine
department of the Wason Manufacturing Com
pany at Brightwood, which he accepted, enter
ing upon his duties in the spring of 1881.
The following year he was promoted to the
position of Assistant Superintendent, and in
1883 was made Mechanical Superintendent,
in which capacity he has acted for the past
eleven years. Mr. Pearson is President of the
Mutual Insurance Company, which is exclu
sively composed of the employees of the
Wason Manufacturing Company. He is thor
oughly identified with the land of his adoption.
He visited England in 1872, when called
thither by the death of his brother, and re
mained only about eight weeks, the only time
he has ever been absent from his business.
In 1872, at Hinsdale, N.H., Mr. Pearson
was united in marriage to Amelia Cook, a
daughter of Mr. Chauncey P. Cook, a promi
nent manufacturer of cutlery in that town.
Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have one daughter,
Nellie Lillian, born in 1873, who was re
cently married to Mr. Austin E. Pease, of
Springfield. In politics Mr. Pearson is a Republican.
He is a member of Plampden Lodge, Indepen
dent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Pearson and
his wife reside at 578 North Main Street.

ILLIAM HENRY RICHARDSON,
a respected resident of West
Springfield, Hampden County,
Mass., was born at Woodstock, Windsor

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

991

County, Vt., January 12, 1823. His father,
Henry Richardson, was born in Canaan, Graf
ton County, N.H., and early learned the trade
of shoemaking. He removed from his native
State in the course of time, and made a home
for a few years in Woodstock, and in 1825
concluded to try pioneer life, and accordingly
went northward with his family to what is now
the town of Westfield, in Orleans County,
Vt., not far from the Canada line. Their
experience was that of most pioneers. They
lived at first in a log house, which he rented
until he built a small frame house. In 1871
he sold the place, and came to West Spring
field, where he spent his declining days with
his son William, dying here at the age of
eighty-nine. Although from his retired life
he had not many opportunities to serve in
local offices to the advantage of town or
county, yet he found one opportunity to per
form a useful part in the community, by
becoming the first energetic Postmaster of
Westfield, Vt., during his time of residence
in that town. His wife, Adeline Streeter,
was a native of Rindge, Cheshire County,
N.H. Her death occurred in her eightieth
year, in 1882.
William Henry Richardson was an only
child, and was two years of age when his par
ents removed to Westfield, Vt. It was before
the time of railroads and canals, and the
transportation of their goods was accomplished
by teams. The little lad was reared amid the
scenes of pioneer life. His mother did the
cooking for the family at the fireplace, and
used to spin and weave, and clothe her family
in homespun made by her own hands. All
merchandise was brought to that place by
teams, the most of it being drawn from Bur
lington, and some from as far as Boston.
William Henry attended the pioneer school,
the first being held in a log house, where the
seats for the children were made of slabs of
wood sustained by wooden pins at either end.
The boy made much, however, of his limited
opportunities, and secured a fair amount of
knowledge, occupying the teacher's desk him
self during one term, on arriving at manhood.
After this he turned his attention to farming,
and in 1850 commenced the manufacture of

potato starch, carrying on this business more
than twenty years. He likewise engaged in
mercantile business of another kind, but
remained a resident of Westfield till 1871, at
which time he came to West Springfield, and
purchased a farm on the main road leading
from Springfield to Holyoke. Plis principal
business since removing here has been to look
after private interests.
Mr. Richardson was married in 1848 to
Miss Julia A. Hitchcock, a native of West-
field, Vt. Her father, Medad Smith Hitch
cock, was born in Brimfield, Hampden
County, Mass. ; and her grandfather, Medad
Hitchcock, was, as far as can be ascertained,
a native of that town, but spent his latter
days in Westfield. His wife before her mar
riage was a Miss .Stebbins. Medad Smith
Hitchcock always devoted his energies to
farm work exclusively. He succeeded his
parents in the ownership of the homestead,
and resided thereon to the end of his life,
which was but of forty-one years. His wife,
Patty Hitchcock, daughter of Elisha and
Ursula Hitchcock, died at the age of eighty-
seven years, having been the mother of six
children — Aaron C, M. Clark, Julia A.,
Janette, Lucia, and Perry S. The family are
members of the Congregational church, to
which they give active support. Mr. Rich
ardson was formerly a Whig in his political
preferences, but has voted the Republican
ticket since the formation of the party. His
first vote was cast for Henry Clay.

LI FRANKLIN FOSTER, who has
been a teacher in Springfield since No-
^ vember 13, 1848, with the exception
of one year, and whose hair has grown gray in
the service of youth and childhood, was born
in the city where his life work has been ac
complished, on August 22, 1828. His par
ents were Plarvey and Laura (Alden) Foster,
the father a native of Barkhamsted, Conn.,
where he was born July 28, 1796. The great
grandfather, Pelatiah Foster, married Miss
Rhoda Pomeroy. Eli Foster, the grandfather,
for whom the original of this sketch was
named, was a farmer of Barkhamsted, who

99-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was born September 21, 1767, at East \\'ind-
sor, Conn., and died July 16, 1827. A part
of his life was spent in Springfield. He mar
ried Miss Catharine Barker, of Torrington,
Conn. Harvey Foster was a lad of twelve
years when his father, Eli Foster, settled in
Springfield, in 180S. Following his father's
vocation, he cultivated a farm in Sixteen
Acres, a hamlet near Springfield. He held
many offices of public trust, acting as executor
of estates, and holding the position of high
way surveyor; and he was the second Alder
man of the city elected from Ward Eight.
He was also Captain of the old Floodwood
militia, and could have been Colonel had he
not refused to be promoted on account of tem
perance scruples which made it impossible for
him to offer anything that was of an intoxi
cating nature to the soldiers, as was the
custom at that time. In 1846 he was
elected Deacon of the P"'irst Baptist Church
of Springfield. Mr. Foster's wife was a
daughter of Mr. Nathan Alden, and was the
seventh in line from John Alden and Pris
cilla, the Puritan maiden. Laura Alden Fos
ter, who was born January 23, 1801, and mar
ried June 25, 1825, bore her husband seven
children: Walter, who is dead; Eli Franklin,
of whom this is a memoir; George; Fes
tus H.; Ralph, who is dead; Cyrus A.; and
Nathan A.
Eli Foster attended the country schools
until he was sixteen years of age, and, having
then decided to fit himself for a teacher,
entered Wilbraham Academy for a term, and
then was for two years a student at Suffield,
Conn., and at twenty began to teach. The
young man found that teaching young ideas
how to shoot was not altogether a sinecure;
and he began to think, if he once got out of the
precincts of the school-room, nothing could
tempt him back. Determining to enter the
university, he was compelled to teach in order
to acquire the requisite sum for his expenses;
and so he did not abandon the work he had for
a time grown to dislike. At Brown Univer
sity he took an elective course, which he came
within two years of finishing; but, being
urged by friends to take a position as teacher
in an academy at Stillwater, Saratoga County,

N.Y., he accepted the position, and after one
term he offered his resignation. The resigna
tion was not accepted by the Trustees, and
so it fell out that he remained. In 1853 he
became principal of the Central Street School
in Springfield, a position he held for fifteen
)'ears. From the Central Street School he
was tinanimousl)' elected principal of the
Worthington Street School, and accepted the
position. In this school, which under his
jurisdiction became large and flourishing,
employing a regular corps of ten or eleven
instructors, occupying nine class-rooms, and
with an average attendance of five hundred
pupils, Mr. Foster remained for seventeen
years. In 1886 he was induced by Mr. D. B.
Wesson to become tutor for his grandchildren,
and Mr. Foster found the change a pleasant
one. While in Stillwater, Mr. Foster formed an
attachment for and married the principal
teacher. Miss Marcia Howe, on the 7th of
April, 1853. Mrs. Foster, \vho taught in the
South before her marriage, and saw the Con
federate President, Jefferson Davis, return
home from Mexico, and who was a teacher up
to the date of her marriage, was born in Hop
kinton, N.H. Both Mr. and Mrs. Foster are
members of the State Street Baptist Church,
of which Mr. Foster has been clerk since its
organization. He has occupied his present
home for thirty-seven years, and also owns the
next house to it. During his long residence
in Springfield he has witnessed many marked
changes of growth, improvement, and develop
ment, and has seen the population increase
from twelve thousand to the present number.
Besides the duties which his position as prin
cipal of one of the largest schools in the city
necessarily entailed upon him, he was often
called upon to settle up estates, his ability
and integrity inspiring confidence among his
contemporaries. Mr. Foster has wielded a
powerful influence over a large number of the
youthful population of Springfield during the
many years he has been a teacher, and many
of the men and women wdio are holding
responsible positions in society owe much of
their success in life to his elevating influence
and wise counsel.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

993

RP:DERICK MORAND, an honored
citizen of Westfield, who is now living
in retirement, enjoying the results of
his early labors, is one among the many men
who have amassed their property solely by
their own industry and business tact. Start
ing in the battle of life entirely dependent
upon his own exertions, he determined to suc
ceed, and, putting his shoulder to the wheel,
worked early and late to accomplish his
worthy desire. Possessed of good business
talent, sagacity, and foresight, seconded by
strict integrity, it could hardly be otherwise
than that success should crown his efforts.
Mr. Morand is a native of New York State,
his birth taking place in Buffalo on Christmas
Day, 1822. His father, Addison Morand,
was born in Suffield, Conn., and was a son of
P''riend Morand, who was a native of the
Emerald Isle and of Scotch ancestry. Friend
Morand immigrated to America when a young
man, locating at Windsor Locks, Conn., and
was a contractor on the canal extending from
Thompsonville to Windsor Locks. He finally
purchased a farm at Suffield, following agri
cultural pursuits until his death. He married
a Miss Barron, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., and
of early Scotch ancestry.
Their son Addison, the father of Frederick
Morand, elected to follow the life of a sailor,
and after his marriage removed to Buffalo,
where his family resided while he plied his
vocation on the lakes. In 1826 they returned
to Windsor, his wife and children making the
trip on the Erie Canal to Albany, and the
remainder of the way by stage. Mr. Morand,
however, still continued to follow his chosen
pursuit. Pie died about 1838, while on a
visit to Shelbyville, 111. He married Miss
Laura Allen, a native of Windsor and a
daughter of George Allen. The latter was born
in the same town, and was of early English
ancestry. He passed his entire life in Wind
sor, engaged in farming, and died at the ven
erable age of eighty-nine. The maiden name
of his wife was Sabra Case. She also was a na
tive of Windsor, where she died at a ripe age.
Mrs. Laura Morand attained the age of eighty-
four. The parental household included three
children — George, James, and Frederick.

Frederick Morand was but three years old
when his parents removed to Windsor; and he
was there educated, remaining at home until
he was sixteen, when he started in life for
himself, even with the world. After some
consideration he decided to go to the town of
Blandford, Plampden County, Mass., as afford
ing better opportunities than could be found
at home; and, saying farewell to his family
and friends, he thus at the early age of sixteen
took the first step toward that prosperity
which later became his. Securing a ride with
a man from Norwich, who had been to Wind
sor to dispose of a load of lumber, he jour
neyed with him to Westfield, and there met a
farmer, whose home was in the town of Rus
sell, riding six miles with him toward Bland
ford. On his arrival at his destination he
hired out to work on a farm. This was in
the spring of the year; and he remained until
fall, when, failing to obtain his wages, he was
obliged to begin anew. He obtained employ
ment at picking corn for one month, receiving
but his board. This was discouraging; and
he concluded that he could do better at home,
and decided to return. He accordingly started
on the journey, walking to Westfield; but
there he met Hiram Harrison, the pioneer
whip manufacturer, and applied to him for a
position, which he was fortunate in securing,
and was in Mr. Harrison's employ three
years. At the expiration of that time Mr.
Morand entered the employ of Henry Bush,
and while there learned the trade of whip
finisher. Mr. Bush failing in business, he
lost all his earnings. This was a severe blow
to Mr. Morand; but, not discouraged, he
again sought a position, and entered the
employ of Theron Ives, going to Rochester to
work at the whip trade. While there he made
the first whalebone whips manufactured in
that city. He remained there for a period
of eleven months, but was again unfortunate,
receiving but a small per cent, of his salary.
Such repeated losses would have disheartened
many men. Not so Mr. Morand, however;
for, returning to Westfield, he again went to
work, securing a position with the firm of
Plarrison & Bush, and continuing with them
between four and five years. Then, in com-

994

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

pany with a Mr. Gillett, he engaged in the
manufacture and sale of whips, but after a
time sold his interest to his partner, and went
into the confectionery business, in connection
with the sale of toys and notions, so continu
ing for nearly twenty years, when he sold out,
and opened another store, remaining in it
between four and five years. He then sold
out, and in 1869 went to "Washington, D.C,
where he became the proprietor of a cigar and
tobacco stand. There he remained about
twenty years, when, leaving a young man iia
charge of the business, he returned to West-
field, and has since devoted his time to his pri
vate interests, with the exception of a few years
when he was associated with George Moseley
in the real estate business. Although meet
ing with so many disappointments, Mr. Mo-
rand's motto was, "Never despair"; and the
next task was undertaken with the same in
domitable will and the laudable ambition to
attain success. His life may well be an incen
tive and an example to a younger generation.
Mr. Morand has been three times married,
his first wife, to whom he was united when he
was twenty-one, being Miss Ruth Cole, who
died within four years, leaving one child, who
died at the age of three years. His second
wife was Miss Dorothy Sackett, and with her
he enjoyed twenty-eight years of married bliss,
when the death angel severed the tender tie.
For his third wife he married Emma Wash
burn, .who still survives, and with whom he is
now passing his declining years in the ease
and comfort which he has so well merited.

7TAHARLES E. GARVIN, General Su-
I Ky perintendent of the Collins Manufact-
\vs^ uring Company's paper-mill at
North Wilbraham, was born at
Hadley Falls, Mass., November 29, 1858.
Mr. Garvin's great-grandfather was a native
of Ellsworth, N.H. His' grandfather, Stephen
Garvin, was born in 1795 in Shapleigh, Me.,
and was captain of a merchantman, for many
years following "the fickle fortunes of the
sea." He once fell from the yard-arm during
a storm, and broke bis hip. The accident
was not so serious as it might have been, but

Captain Garvin felt that the agility and
strength of his youth had somewhat waned, "so
gave up his commission, and settled down as
a quiet citizen in Ellsworth, where he died in
his seventieth year. The old sea captain had
many a tale to tell of the War of 1812, among
which was a vivid account of the occasion
upon which his gallant craft was run down by
an English privateer, and he was obliged to
forsake her on the coast of France. Most of
his crew were drowned in trying to reach the
shore. Having sailed under the American
flag, he received indemnity for the loss of his
vessel and cargo. Captain Garvin married
Miss Lydia Neil, whose father was a farmer
and lumberman, owning a saw-mill at Shap
leigh, Me., and was a man of influence. Cap
tain Garvin was the father of four sons and
two daughters. Three of the younger sons
died of consumption before reaching maturity.
Orrin, who was born in Shapleigh in 1824,
was the father of Charles E. Garvin, the sub
ject of this sketch. He was a millwright by
trade, and worked in Biddeford for some time,
entering the employ of the Hadley Falls
Water Company of Holyoke in 1853. He
soon after went to Mittineague, where he
built the Agawam and Worthy mills, in the
latter of which he was Superintendent. In
1 88 1 he went to South Hadley P'alls as Super
intendent of the Carew Paper Mills, where he
resided for five or six years, when he retired
from the cares of business. Pie passed the
residue of his life in peaceful quiet in his
pleasant home on Maple Street. In 1850
Orrin Garvin married Miss Sarah Batchelder,
daughter of Samuel Batchelder. She is still
living, aged seventy-one years, and resides at
the home on Maple Street. They had four
children. George Garvin, the oldest son, is
in the employ of the Whiting Paper Company
of Holyoke; and a younger brother is also in
a paper-mill in the same place. Each has a
wife and one son. Sarah F. Garvin died
when only two and a half years old.
Charles E. Garvin received his education in
the district and high schools of West Spring
field, and at nineteen began working in the
paper-mill under his father's superintendency.
Beginning ' in a subordinate position, he

LEWIS L. WHITMAN.

lUOCKAPlllCAL RKVIKW

997

worked through all tlio diU'oionl doparl ment s,
ni;isloiing evor\' detail ni Iho \arioiis hianchos
ol the woik, ami in six Noars was snriioionl ly
qualillod to take ch.irgo ol the .Springdale
Paper (,'ompaiiv at Woslliold, Mass. .So elli-
oioiU was ho that ho was spoodih' rooogiii/od
as a inastor workman ol lomarkahlo i'xociili\'o
al>ilil\', and the lollowiiig \'o,ii' ho roooix'od an
olfor lioiii the managois of the Porhc Ov llol-
Inook Mills at lloh'oko. 'Phcro ho rom.iinod
two \'oai's, and seven no.iis ago oamo to W il
hr.iham, where ho was installed as .Superin
tendent ol ihe mill owned and opoialed b\ llio
Mossrs. Whiting, ot Ilcd\oko, .1 position ho
has hold lor tlio p.isl soxoii \'oai's. Phis mill
w'.is built \i\ the Collins Paper t'ompaiu' in
1870, and turned o\ei' lo its picsonl owners in
i8S.'. I'he buildings in which the ni,innl,ul-
uriiig is dime are all substanti, illy oonslinol od,
and are ol hriok. 'I'ho m,iin building is throe
hundred and oiglii fool hmg, rill\-li\'o tool
wide, and is roiir stories high. I'ho sloio
house and rag-room incisure toilN-six 1>\ one
hundred and thirtv loot. I'he maehiiu'-room
is one hundred loot long and lilU' feet wiile.
'I'ho bleaeli-room is one hundred h\ lorl\ leet,
;ind the .ip.irlment eoniaining tho boilers is
eighlv bv foiiv feet. ,\ large block of about
litl\' tenements supplies homes and lodgings
for about two hundred men and women who
aieemploNod in the mill. 'Phe eiiterpi iso is
a prosperous one, and has a ste.uly growth.
The women earn from a tlollar lo a doll, 11 .md
a li.ilf a d,i\', ,iiid the men from one doll. ir and
thii'l\ live cents to three doll, lis. .\ll X'.irie-
ties of writing p.iper. including the finest
linen, .ire m.iiiut.ietiired there.
Mr. tiarvin devotes himself to his work
with but few intermissions lor reere.it ion.
lie r.ireh' h'.i\'es home, but w.is iiuliieoil to go
to the "While C'ilv " during the greit ,\nieri-
e.ui ICxposition .it t'hie.igo. He is ,i Knight
Pempl.ir, ,ind belongs to the M.isonie ttider.

Y^I'A\'l-^ I.N'MAN Will I'M. \N, whose
I ]| poitriit is herewith piesented. one of
J%. ^ the noti'd ,ind inlluontial n.itivo
^ ^ residents oi .\g.iw.im, w,is born on
March .\[. 1831. His Lit her. 1 yniau Whit

man, w.is horn in tlu' same town, Ma\' 20,
I7i).|, being a, son of the Rev. Jesse Whitman,
a native of (iroton, (,'onn., who came to Aga
wam in 1781), and, organizing the first Iviptist
eliurch here, was installed its pastiU" in 1790.
( li.iiidtalhor Whitman remained a resident
here I ill his death, which look place .Soptem-
her JO, 1817. In 1701 ho married C)'nthia
lUitlon, of ,\gawani ; ;ind the\' leared six chil
dren, whose naiiK's are as Udlows: Jesse,
Pvniaii, .\sa P., Warien, Newluii')', and
t'\'nlhia. When l,\'m;in, the second son, was sixteen
N'eais old, he w.is appient ieed to .1 Mr. White
to le;irn the trade of machinist. Ho worked
for a time in .\i;a\v,im, and then went with his
eniplii\er to 'Pro\', N,\',, and while working
.il his trade there was dnil'ted into the service
of the W,ii' of 181 J, in which he continued for
a \c:[\. Reluining at length to his native
lowii, he opei.ited a eotlon-mill at Whitman'.s
t'oineis. Ills next business undert, iking was
in p.irtnership with his brother .Asa B. at
Russell, where he took eli.uge of ;i mill sev-
er,il \'ears. Ho then returned to .\g:iw'am,
and superintended a grist-mill for three \'eais,
at the close oi which time he sold out. In
185,1, in connection with llar\"ev Porter, he
purchased the old eotlon-mill, turned it into a
p.ipei-iiii 11, ;ind went on manuf.ieturing paper
till 18(17, at the s.ime time carr\'ing on a
mercantile husiness. In 1855 Mr. Whitman
eiig.iged with his f.uhcr in the manufacture of
W.I 11 p.iper, whieh the\' continued till 1S08.
lie died ]\\nc 12, iS(H). L\'man Whitman
w.is a neiiiiier.il in politics, ;iiul serxed as
Postmaster for upward of thiitx' years, besides
serxing sever.il terms as one oi the Board of
.Selectmen. He w.is iiKuried December 17,
18 JO, to M,ii\' Keiukill, who was born Xovom-
ber :'7, 1800, ;ind w.is the d;uighter of Joshii,i
.uul M,ii\ (^Smith) Kendall. Her death oe-
eurrcd Xovemher 30. 180 J. Joshua Kcnd.ill
was an extensive land-owner in Suffield,
t'onn.. where he w.is .1 life-long resident.
Phe children of l.ym.m and Mary Whitman
were ,is here enumerated: Lewis l.\'man;
M.ii'N I'idelia: and John K... who died in the
twentv -lirst \ e.ir of his .ige.
lewis Lyman Whitman received his carlv

998

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

education in the district schools of Agawam,
attending later the academy at Mystic, Conn. ;
and on completing his course of study lie
began his practical business career by assist
ing his father as clerk in the store. Later on
he became interested in agriculture, and has
owned and managed a farm of two hundred
acres in Agawam. In 1887 he purchased an
interest in a four-thousand-acre ranch in Wyo
ming, situated in the locality known as Gran
ite Canyon, four miles east of the Divide, and
considered one of the choice ranches of the
State, being well stocked with a high grade of
cattle. In 1881 Mr. "Whitman leased a distil
lery from Plarvey Porter, and in 1884 bought
the entire establishment, which he conducted
till 1891. This business was incorporated in
1780, and held in the ownership of the Porter
family for over one hundred years.' It is,
undoubtedly, the oldest business of its kind
in the county, its product bearing the well-
known brand, "Connecticut River Valley
Gin." Mr. Whitman has always been a
stanch upholder of the principles of the
Democratic party in matters of government.
He has filled various offices of trust during
the course of years, and is now a member of
the Board of Selectmen in the town of Aga
wam. He is the owner of the Methodist
church in Agawam, and, while providing for
its repair, permits any religious denomination
or society to make use of it free of charge.
November 30, 1855, Mr. Whitman was mar
ried to Miss Martha E. Pepper. Her father,
Thomas PI art Pepper, was born in Danbury,
Conn., April 16, 1803. Pier grandfather, the
Rev. Bennett Pepper, was pastor of the Bap
tist church in Southwick. He married Sarah
Ridley, of Bristol, Conn. From his inventive
skill and practical ability Thomas Plart Pepper
was a machinist of note in his time. Amone
other things he invented a centrifugal saw,
which attracted much attention. He was a
resident of Southwick during the latter part
of his life. His wife, Eunice Laurette Sack
ett, was born in that town, August 13, 1809,
a daughter of Royal and Emma (Hastings)
Sackett, both life-long residents of Southwick.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Lyman Whitman are
the parents of the following children: Fred

L. was born February 17, 1857, married
Miss Lizzie Cordia Whiton, and has two chil
dren — Theodore W. and Tirzah Cordia. Pie
is an attorney and a stenographer, employed
in the office of the National P'lectric Signal
and Switch Company. Minnie Annette Ken
dall, born August 28, 1859, married Albert
Edward Worthington, and died in May, 1883,
leaving one daughter — Carrie Alberta. John
P., born January 4, 1863, died January 4,
1874. P'lorrie L. married Chauncey Kendall
Sias, and has ono son — Cyril Whitman.
Bret Plartc married Mary Rosaline Delamater,
and has one child — Bret Harte, Jr. Mr.
Whitman has always been public-spirited, and
has identified himself in various ways with
the well-being of the community. He is a
member of the Hampden County Agricultural
Society, the Connecticut River Valley To
bacco Growers' Association, the Connecticut
River Valley Plistorical Society, the Spring
field Lodge, Independent Order of Odcl P'el
lows, also the Plampden Lodge, No. 27, In
dependent Order of Odd P'ellows, and the
Springfield Lodge, No. 61, B. P. O. E.

RTHUR E. WOOD, a successful con
tractor and builder of Springfield,
Flampden County, is a skilful me
chanic and a man of enterprise and
ability. He has been a permanent resident
of Springfield since 1885, and during the days
of his boyhood also spent several years within
its limits. He was born August 20, 1864, in
the town of Monson, which was also the place
of nativity of his father, Emerson Wood. The
latter was a carpenter by trade, and about the
year 1870 came to Springfield, whore he lived
for seven years. Returning to Mon.son he
carried on his chosen occupation until 1885,
wd-ion he returned to Springfield, where he still
resides. Pic was a soldier in tho late Rebell
ion, serving for nine months in Company G,
P'orty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry,
and is now a member of the Grand Army of
the Republic. Phnerson Wood married Au
gusta Corbott, and their union was blessed by
a family (if sc\'en children. Arthur p:. Wood
began his pursuit of knowledge in the Monson

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

999

schools, and for .some time was a pupil in t'r.e
schools of Springr.eld. afterward completing
his education in ;Mon5on. After beccmir,i,-
some'.vhat familiar with the use of tools from
working with his father. Mr. Wc d e i.tcrcd
the employ of the Flint Building and Con-
stmction Company, where he learned the car
penter s trade. He remained with them sev
eral years, working in Springneld, ^Nlonsi n.
and Palmer, and helping t ¦ erect -orne of the
finest buildings of those places. In 1887 Air
Wood started in bii.^iness on his own acci -;nt.
and built quite a number of hcuses in Spring
field, mostly in the residential part. qi,i:ig
employment t:> as many as thirtv men in the
busy season. He continued thu~ for two
years, when he accepted a paying p;?:t; -n
with the Old Comer \\'all Paper Companv. in
the picture moulding department, where he
remained until the i ^t of Januarv, 1894. Re
suming his business as contractor and builder.
Air. Wood has since been activeiv at work. h;~
first important contract being the erection of
the substantial and handsome blcck of five
stores, at the" comer of Alain and Elmwood
streets. Springfield. He keep- ten men in
constant employment, and has now several
contracts on hand, his primptness and atten
tion to the details of his 'cv.-iness and t'^c
excellence and honest'.' of his workmanship
being well rccgnized by his patrons. He
has an assured position among the leading
contractors and builders of the c::., and is
building up an extensive and remunerative
business. On October 2;. i^<S, Air Wood was
wedded to Miss Lizzie Al. Lyman, a daughter
of Israel F. Lyman, of Springneld; and thev
are the parents of two interesting children —
Beulah and Greta.
In politics Air. Wood affiliates with the
Republican party. Socially, he i~ a member
of Hampden Lodge. A. F. & A. AL, and of
the De Soto Lodge, Independent Order of
Odd Fell'j.vs, Air. and Mrs. Wood are reg
ular attendants of the H:pe Congregational
Church, and cheerfully contribute toward its
support. Their home is at 48 Wilbraham
Avenue, the house having been built by Air.
Wood himself.

OAIER GR ANNIS GILAIORE, a
-^-| prominent insurance agent in Spring
field, where he has resided since
December, iSfS. is a war veteran.
wh'jse honorable record extends t'nre'-agh the
greater part of t'ne Rebellion. He was bom
in West Claremont. N.H., Deeera'rer 22.
1837. and is the son of Leonard and Sarah
Alarcia (Grannis ) Gilmore. born des:er dants
cf Worthv Colonial and Revoluticnar." ances-
tijrs. Homer Gilmore is a direct descendant
of Robert Gilmore, who settled at London
derry, N.H., in the sr.enteenth centurv.
The great-grandfather of our S"abject was Colo
nel James Gi'mrr. cf Windham, N.H..
bclcnging to the third generation from Rob
ert. The C'/ione; '.vas a Lieutenant a: the
battle of Bunker Hill, and held the iatenen-
irg cmces 'ill he commanded the Eighth New
Hampshire Regiment. He .vas a land-owner.
a man of affairs, and quite a politician, hold
ing town and cc'cnty offices, and reprcsenting
his town in the legislature. His son. Homer
Gilmcres grandfather, .vas the Hon. Gawin
Gilmore. a prominent citizen of Acworth,
N.H.. State .Senat :r. and High Sheriff of his
c junt'.-. and having various other irons in the
fire; for he carried on 'r.acksm.it'ning and a
countrv store. His son. the father 0: our
subject, was Leonard Gilmore. bom in Ac-
worth in 1798. In bis youth he worked in
his father's stcre. but later became a manu
facturer of edge . tools and other hardware.
turning cut many scythes and axes. He also
cut lumber, ground tiour, ran a grist-mili, and
wa; Postmaster of West Claremont from his

earlie

remembrance till 1S61. when

the Republicans came into p c.ver. and DemiO-
crats were placed in the backscrcund. His
mill -vas not given up from 1837 till his
retirement from, business in iS*^i. In 1S22
he married Sarah Alarcia Grannis. of Clare
mont. the daughter of Tim. cthy Grannis. a
descendant of excellent Connecticut anccstrj'.
who was hcth a farmer and sur.evor. and
became one of the prominent settlers of Clare
mont. In politics hei "vas a Whig. Of the
children of Leonard and Sarah Gilmore our
subject is the ol'iiest now living. The others
are: Leonard Grout, bom in 1^:0. and now

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

living in Springfield; Annis Elizabeth, born
in 1842, the wife of George Grannis, of West
Claremont; Timothy, born in 1845, now liv
ing in Moline, 111. ; and Gawin, a resident of
West Claremont. The father died in our cen
tennial year, aged seventy-eight, and the
mother a year earlier, in 1875. Both were
members of the Episcopal church, he being
Warden. Homer Grannis Gilmore was a pupil in the
public and private schools of West Claremont
until his eighteenth year, when he entered the
machine-shop in Claremont village for an
apprenticeship of three years. The hard
times of 1857 coming on, the shop was closed;
and in December, 1858, the lad came to
Springfield, and went to work. with Smith &
Wesson, making parts of pistols, continuing
this work till 1861, when the war began. In
1859 he had joined the Springfield City
Guards as a private; but before the end of a
year he was made Corporal, and soon after
ward Second Sergeant. In May, 1861, the
company was reorganized for active service;
and Mr. Gilmore was elected First Sergeant
of his company, the men offering to make him
a Lieutenant. They enlisted as Company F,
in the Tenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infan
try, going first into camp on Hampden Park ;
but in July they were ordered to Medford,
Mass., near the capital. There they re
mained until the news of the battle of Bull
Run, when they were hastily ordered to Wash
ington by boat from Boston, and reached the
national capital on the Sunday after that
defeat. Young Gilmore was promoted to the
rank of Second Lieutenant on November 6,
1861; was made First Lieutenant on August
9, 1862; became Captain on November 26,
1862; was mustered out in July, 1864; and
was named Brevet-major on March 13, 1865,
¦for meritorious service. He was at Yorktown
through the siege in April, 1862; at the fights
in Williamsburg on May 5, 1862; Fair Oaks
on May 31 and June 25, 1862; at Charles
City Cross-roads on June 30, 1862; at Mal
vern Hill on July i, 1862; and at Fredericks
burg, December 11- 15, 1862. He was in the
Mud Campaign, January 20-23, 1863; at St.
Mary's Heights on May 3 and 4, 1863; at

Franklin's Crossing on June 7-14, 1863; at
Gettysburg, July 2-4, 1863; at Rappahan
nock Station, November 7, 1863; Mine Run,
December i, 1863. He was also in the Wil
derness from May 5 to May 7, 1864, and at
Spottsylvania Court-house from May 8 to May
12, where he was wounded and placed in the
hospital, but came home on furlough a month
before his discharge.
In September, 1864, Major Gilmore began
work again with Smith & Wesson, remaining
till July, 1866, when he entered the insurance
business. For the first two years he worked
on a salary, and then became a partner with
J. W. Holmes, under the nafne of Holmes &
Gilmore, this connection lasting until March,
1877, when Mr. Gilmore was made a direct
agent for the Travelers' Company of Hartford,
and moved his office into the Five Cent Sav
ings Bank Building, where it still remains.
Since then, besides retaining the old agency,
he has represented many other strong com
panies, such as the New York Underwriters;
the Delaware Insurance Company, Philadel
phia; the Springfield Fire and Marine Com
pany, for which he has been agent since 1877;
the City Trust Safe Deposit and Surety
Company of Philadelphia. In 1866, on the
organization of the Peabody Guards as a vet
eran company, every member having seen ser
vice in the field. Major Gilmore was elected
First Lieutenant, a high honor, coming from
men so long his associates. He remained
with the guard till the organization of the
Second Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer
Militia, of which he was first elected Major;
and after some years he was promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel, serving in this
capacity till July of the centennial year, when
he resigned. About this time he was ap
pointed Justice of the Peace for this county;
and his appointment has been renewed every
seven years, so that he is now in his third
term. He was one of the original members
of the Soldiers' Union, remaining in that
body until the formation of Wilcox Post of
the Grand Army of the Republic, of whi(:h he
was a charter member, and was Quartermaster
for several years. Declining re-election, he
was made Senior Vice-Commander in 1880.

SOLOMON R. LAWRENCE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1003

He has been in the Loyal Legion since April
7, 1875, and a member of the Council of
Administration since 1892, serving two years.
Once he was nominated to the House of Rep
resentatives by the Democrats of Wards Four
and Six and Longmeadow; and, though this is
a strictly Republican district, and he did no
active work in the campaign, he came very
near being elected.
On June 7, 1865, Major Gilmore married
Minerva E. Clark, of Springfield, daughter of
William C Clark, of Blandford, Mass., where
she was born; and they have had one child —
Frank Clark Gilmore, whose death, at the age
of five years, was a sad blow to the parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore are connected with the
Episcopal Church, Christ Parish, of which
Mr. Gilmore has been a Vestryman for some
years. Their residence is on Pearl Street.

-USTIN SACKETT, an extensive con
tractor of Springfield, was born in
Westfield, September 5, 1814. His
grandfather, Joel Sackett, was an old
resident of Westfield, having moved thither
from Agawam when that village was flooded.
Mr. Sackett's father, Elijah Sackett, was born
in Westfield, and lived there until 1817, when
he came to West Springfield. His wife, Cyn
thia, whose family name was the same as his
own, bore him five children: Israel, deceased;
Clarissa, the wife of Noah Ashby, of West
Springfield; Justin; Cynthia, deceased; and
Elijah. Justin, having attended school at Ashley
ville, West Springfield, came to Springfield
when a boy, and hired himself to a farmer for
a number of years. In 1840 he went to work
in the old Springfield cemetery, where he was
employed for thirteen years. He then went
to St. Johnsbury, Vt., and took the contract
for laying out a cemetery there. Having
complete charge of this work, Mr. Sackett
gained a considerable reputation for skill and
executive ability. The tracks and dike of
Hampden Park were built by him, the length
of the two tracks being a mile and a half.
He here employed a force of thirty men. At
the same time Mr. Sackett was busily engaged

in fulfilling a contract for the Northampton
Hospital, and one-half of each day was given
to the supervision of the respective works.
He continued taking contracts for earth works,
and in 1859-1860 he was superintendent of
the city streets. For nine years he held this
important position, which he finally resigned.
His main line of work was building of streets,
putting in sewers, and grading lawns, which
gave employment for a large number of men,
and was the means of supplying many fami
lies. This especial work he continued until
1892, when his last contract, which was for
the building of the Forest Park roads, was
completed. He was one of the originators
and directors of the Oak Grove Cemetery,
which he took charge of personally, and which
was mainly laid off upon his own ground.
Mr. Sackett married Miss Sophia O. Marsh,
a daughter of Mr. Apollo Marsh, who was a
soldier in the War of 18 12 and a representa
tive of the old and well-known Marsh family
of Springfield. Three children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Sackett: Edward, the
eldest, who is a railroad man and engaged in
the city; Alice, the wife of Mr. Charles Rust;
and James, who has succeeded his father in
business. The family attend the Unitarian
church. Mr. Sackett, though formerly a
Whig and later a Republican voter, has not
been an active politician. Mr. Sackett has
owned a large amount of real estate in and
about the city. He has also built several
residences. His own home, which is sur
rounded by a lawn covering an acre of ground,
was built in 1861, and was then considered a
long way out, though now in the heart of the
city. 'The family still occupy this attractive
old place, endeared by the associations of so
many years. Mr. Sackett was for some time
a member of the Board of Public Works, in
which body he was an acknowledged authority.

,RS. MARIA LAWRENCE, a
highly esteemed resident of
Palmer, widow of the late Solo
mon R. Lawrence, was born at
Saxton's River, Vt. , March 22, 1824. Her
parents, Leonard and Betsey (Woodward)

1004

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Whitcomb, were well-to-do farming people of
Swanzey, N.H. ; and the Whitcomb family
have long been identified with the agricultural
interests of that place. (See sketch of Will
iam Merriam, which appears upon another
page of this work. ) Leonard Whitcomb died
at the age of seventy-six, and his wife reached
the advanced age of eighty years. In religion
they were Universalists, and showed the
strength and sincerity of their faith in their
every-day life. Their four children were as
follows: Eliza, Alanson S. , Maria, and Al
bert. On January 20, 1846, Maria Whitcomb was
united in marriage to Solomon R. Lawrence,
who was born at Winchester, N. H., April 24,
1819, and belonged to an old Colonial family,
many members of which were prominent in
public affairs in New England in the last half
of the seventeenth century as well as the eigh
teenth, and who rendered eminent service in
the national struggle for independence. John
Lawrence, of Wisset, England, "the ancestor
of many New England families of the name,"
came to Massachusetts about the year 1630.
His grandson, John Lawrence, settled at Lex
ington in 1693, the town being incorporated
twenty years later. Solomon R. Lawrence
was a son of Nathaniel and Sally (Rixford)
Lawrence, of "Winchester, N. H., who were
married in 1806, and settled upon a large tract
of wild land which Nathaniel purchased in
that town. He cleared and brought to a good
state of cultivation a large and valuable farm,
the log house and primitive sheds that first
served to shelter the family and the stock in
due time giving way to substantial buildings,
which are still in a good state of preservation,
and are to-day in the possession of his de
scendants. Upon this farm Nathaniel Law
rence reared a family of nine children, as fol
lows : Mary; Selah V., who died young;
Lorenzo D. ; Nathaniel S. ; Sarah M. ; Solo
mon R. ; Rhoda S. ; Harriet N. ; and Selah W.
Nathaniel Lawrence died April 12, 1837, aged
fifty-six; and his wife was called to her final
rest September 7, 1841, at the age of fifty-one
years, both having occupied a very prominent
position in the community and lived useful,
Christian lives. Nathaniel Lawrence was a

son of Nathaniel, a cattle drover and a pro
gressive farmer, who was an early pioneer in
the State of New Hampshire. He served with
distinction at the battle of Bunker Hill.
After receiving a fair education in the
schools of his native town, Solomon R. Law
rence abandoned the paternal roof, and coming
to Palmer, Mass., engaged in the butchering
business, which he followed for a number of
years. In 1875 he became interested in real
estate enterprises, and erected several houses
and a brick block on Main Street. Sagacious
and prudent, he was an exceedingly successful
business man, and accumulated a large prop
erty. Pie built a very handsome resiclence on
Main Street, which his widow now occupies,
and did much to enhance the valuation of the
town and increase its attractiveness. PPe came
to Palmer with but his own energy as capi
tal, which, however, was sufficient, as he
knew well how to turn this to good account.
Being known as a man of strict integrity
he was able to command unlimited credit;
and he laid the foundation of his wealth in
buying and selling hides during the Civil
War. He was for many years actively interested in
public affairs, and attained to a position of
local political prominence, being a Selectman
for three years and a representative to the
legislature in 1861, at a time when that body
was called upon to act in matters of the most
vital importance. After a long career of use
fulness as well as of prosperity he was called
from earth in November, 1883, at the age of
sixty-four years. Mrs. Lawrence, having been
left childless, has always taken a deep interest
in the welfare and progress of the town, and
is held in the highest respect and esteem by
a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
A portrait of Mr Lawrence appears on
another page of this volume.

'ENRY M. V/INCHELL, a successful
armer and fruit grower, is proprietor
of one hundred acres of good and
finely improved land in the town of
Granville, where he has spent his entire life,
having been born near the place where he now

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

IOCS

lives, August 20, 1832. His father, Luke
Winchell, was born near Turkey Hill, in the
town of Granby, and his mother, Persis (Mil
ler) Winchell, at West Granville. He is a
representative of one of the oldest families of
the town, the Winchells being people of prom
inence in this vicinity for many generations,
Winchell Mountain receiving its name in
memory of one of the members of this family.
His paternal grandfather, Eli Winchell, was
a native of Granby, and followed farming in
that vicinity for some years, but removed to
Hampden County at an early day, buying a
farm in East Granville; and in connection
with tilling the soil he kept a public house for
several years. He lived to the venerable age
of ninety-two years. His wife outlived the
allotted period of life by five years, and was
the mother of six children, all of whom grew
to maturity and reared large families.
Luke "Winchell, the father of our subject,
was a clothier by trade and a man of versatile
talents, an expert mechanic. He bought land
in Granville, and in 1827 moved to the farm
adjoining the one now occupied by his son,
and there engaged in the manufacture of
woollen cloth, forming a copartnership with
Lemuel Bancroft. The firm carried on a large
business for those days. Mr Winchell finally
bought out Mr Bancroft's interest in the busi
ness; and, being a man of good business tact
and a wise manager, he made a great success.
The old mill passed out of existence a long
time ago. Mr Winchell sold his property,
which comprised about eighty acres, in 1862,
and removed to Illinois, going thence to' Mis
souri, where he died at the age of fourscore
years. He was twice married. His first wife,
whose maiden name was Persis Miller, die(l
at the age of twenty-seven, leaving one child,
our subject. His second wife, whose maiden
name was Caroline Gibbons, lived to be sixty-
five years old. She was the mother of two
children, who are both dead. In politics
Luke Winchell was a Democrat of the old
school. Henry M. Winchell spent his early life in
Granville and in Collinsville, Conn., which
was only twenty miles away, receiving his
education there and in the Granville schools.

Inheriting in a large measure the mechanical
ingenuity of his father, he is an adept in the
use of tools and a skilful wood turner He
has engaged in various kinds of business, and
as carpenter and joiner built fifty or more of
the buildings of his native town. He was
also engaged for a while in making powder
kegs, then a leading industry in this vicinity.
In 1861 Mr. Winchell bought his present
farm, and has since been industriously engaged
as a tiller of the soil.
Mr Winchell married Artemese Johnson,
who was born January 7, 1837, in the State
of Connecticut, a daughter of Ralph and Beu
lah (Case) Johnson, neither of whom is liv
ing, he having departed this life at the ripe
age of eighty-seven years, while his wife
passed away at eighty-nine. They reared
seven children. No children have come to
brighten the pathway of Mr and Mrs. Win
chell. Mr Winchell is a true type of the
energetic, sturdy, and thrifty men who have
maintained the supremacy of this section of
the county as a farming region. P'ollowing in
the footsteps of his honored ancestors he has
ever sustained the principles of the Demo
cratic party, but has been too busily engaged
with his private business to seek public office.

T^ORENZO WAITE COLE, M.D., is
|j| o"^ of the skilful physicians and sur-
-LJf ^ geons of Springfield, Hampden
County, Mass., where he has been
in practice since 1881. Pie was born in
Pittsfield, Berkshire County, December 19,
185 1, the son of Dr Harvey and Ariette T.
(Waite) Cole. Dr Harvey Cole was of Ger
man descent, his father having been a native
of Germany, coming to this country when a
young man, about the close of the Revolution
ary War Dr Harvey Cole was born in Leb
anon, N.Y., where his father had located, and
received his medical education at the Berk
shire Medical College at Pittsfield, after which
he settled down to practise his profession in
that locality. He practised there for thirty
years, winning confidence and high esteem
throughout the locality, far and near In
1867 he was obliged to bring his work to a

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

close on account of iai'a:'g health, and accord
ingly removed to Hartford, where he died
February 8. 1871. ,u the .;ge of fifty-five.
His wife was a native of \Miately, P^ranklin
Countv. She outlived her husband twentv
vears. dying in Sp,-p^,g(;,^>i^i ;„ 1801, at the
age of seventy-three. She left tw"o children :
Alfred O. , of rittstleld; and Loi"en.TO. the sub
ject of this sketch.
Lorenzo \\". Cole attended the public and
high schools of Pittsfield, and suidied medi
cine with his father on the honuvopathic prin
ciples. He took a two vears course of lect
ures at Bellevue e ollege and Hospital in New
York City, and also attended the Xew" York
HomoiO-AIedical College as a student; and
after completing" his course he w"as gr.uluated
w"ith honors. The death of his father prevented

his taking a further course, as hi

ired ; and.

as he had the opportunitv of succeeding to his
cousin's practice in \\aterford, X.Y. , he went
there, and entered upon a very successful work.
But his mother and sister, who w"ei"e residing
in Springfield, desiring his care, he removed
to that city, and has there built up a large
practice, his work being of such a character as
to place him among the leading phvsici;ms of
the city. Dr Cole takes a friendlv interest
in what his brother pibysieians are accomplish
ing, and is a member of the i\Iassaeluisetts
Homceopiathic Medical Societv.
Dr Lorenzo W. Cole was married June 30,
1S83, to Miss Carrie Hammett, a daughter of
Alichael Hammett, of i\Iontpelier, N't,
Dr Cole is affiliated w"ith the Order of Red
i\Ien, belonging to the Springfield branch; and
he belongs to the association of A, F. &:
A. M., being a member of the lodge at Water
ford, X.Y, The Doctor and his wife are mem
bers of the State Street Baptist Church,
As a member of the medical fraternitv, our
subject holds a place in the hearts of his fel
low-men. The phxsician has a superior olfice
in any community, for upun his judgment and
skill depend the coming and maintenance of
human life. The apocryphal Scriptures give
special commendation to his othce : "Honor
the physician, for the Lord hath created him.
Give place to the physician and let him not
go from thee, for there is a time when in his

ha;u;s is good s'aceess : tor he shall prav unto
the Lord that he wouUi prosper that which he
giveth. for ease and remedy, to prolong life"
(p-cclesi.isticus^

i /k^'EORGP: M. BURNHAM, a prosperous
\ If I citi.'cn of Springfield, was born at
Windsor Locks, Conn., tV-tobcr ;o.
' 1843. the son of Plenry L.-and Sarah J. (Judd)
Burnham. His father was born in 1806, and
during thtj greater part of his life worked suc
cessfully ;it his trade as a builder and as a
maker of tools. \\"heu his son. (.ieoige Al.,
was .1 year old, he moxed to Amherst, where
he eng.iged in business with his brother
I George, making all kinds of tools for carpen-
I tering. He lived in Amherst for eight \ears.
and then moved to Springfield, where for some
years he worked for others, eventuallv going
into business for himself as a builder He
died in 1884. His wife was born in iSii,
and ;tt the present time, at the advanced age
of eighty-three, is hale and he.irtv,
tieorge M. Burnham was educated in the
public schools of Springfield, J. D. Stratton
being one of his te.iehcrs, Plis last school
year w"as spent at the high school at Chicopee
P'alls. under the instruction of Ph P. Xettle-
ton. .At the age of sixteen he left school;
and the ensuing year, i8(n, he enlisted in
Company Ph Thirty-first Massachusetts Regi
ment, under command of General Benjamin P'
Butler N\h H. Wcldou. of Pittsfield, was
colonel; and his former sehool teacher Ph P,
Xettlcton, filled the office of ciptain. This
regiment was the first to arrive at Xew Orleans
and report for duty ; and there they encamped
during that winter, and then were ordered to
Port Hudson, and engaged in tho campaign.
Phe following winter thev slaved at Baton
Rouge, La., and in the spring were ordered to
Xew Orleans as mounted cavalrv to participate
in the Red River campaign, under General
Banks. P'or forlv days thev wore under fire.
.\t the end of the c;unpaign they returned to
Xew Orleans. In .\ngust, 1804', Mr Burn
ham received a furlough of thirty davs, whieh
he spent at home, and then returned to New
Orleans, Through the ensuing winter the

HIOCKAI'IIICAL RKVIKW

1 007

reginieiil skilled the Mississippi l\i\"ei', }',iiaiil
illg Ihe slav'os, and in Ihe lipiiiij', were oiihacd
hack lo New ( )| leail.s In engage in the Mohile
eaiiipai;',ll, They niaiehed (i\'erla.n(l In I'ensa-
cola, wliiae lliev eaplllicd Ihe lolls, and llieil
eidSSed liver illlo IVInliilo, wlu'ie llley were (lis-
niissi'd Imni seiviee and wiail home, leaehing
Ihoie ()etii|iei' I, 18(15, Mr, Hui'iih.im look
p.iil in iiiaii\' hallles, among llieiii New ( )i
leans, I'nil lliidsiui, Hislaiid, .Sahiiie ('niss-
inaiLs, N'ellow l!a\'(iii, and alsn a, skiiniish al
N.ilehiliiehes, lie was aiiiniig the lew Idilii-
Hale niiai who relui'iied from the war im-
sealheil. .Allei his reliiin Mr. Itiniiham
leaiiied Ihe liade ol eai peiitei i iij', ; and on Jan
uarv I, 18(18, he Weill iiilii the business as
eolil raelor and luiildel", l\laii\' fine lesideiiees
and liiisiiiess Idneks, ele., show his liaiidi wm k,
pi niiiiiieiil aiiioiij', which are llenry Heehe's
hiiiise on Maple Slieel and (' L, t iiindhiie's.
Mr. Huinharn (aceled all the luiildings oeeii
pied \\\ the slieel iail\va\', also lirewei's
liloek, Ihe Kiikhaiii v\' (Mmslead Ulnek on
.Slate .Slreel, and lilted all the club rooms in
liieeih'. 1 le eieeled the .Spi iiigliehl Ihewillg
t '(iiiipaii\''s buildin;',, t' 1'. Iuiiom's block on
Fmel^¦ .Streel, hiuises for W. I,. W'ileox,
t'nhiiiel I'dinl, and inaii\' others in Ihe eii\',
doiiij',' a luisiiiess aniniiiil in;', in value lo one
hundred and lill\' Ihousand dollars a ye, 11, He
sides the Imildiiij', which he has dune ill his
owiiciU' Ml. Itiii iihani eieeled Ihe Ait Huild
ill}', al Molinl lloU'oke .Seminal \', .iksoa l.ng.e
Iniililiii}', in ('hieiipee, and has Ulled emil laels
ill oilier cilies and towns around .Spi iiiglield.
lie empliiNS on ,111 .iveiar.e ImU' men, and this
\'e,ir he will j.'.ive work lo mam' more, lie
has luiill all the seals loi the I lai v.ii d and
\',ile foolhall j'.aines for Ihe past foui \'eais;
and so well has the woik heeii done that not
.III .leeideiit has oeeiiiied, ,ilthoii;;h mi an a\'ei-
age Iweiih' Ihous.md people liasc heeii sealed
al a lime. I'he se.ils for Ihe bie\'ele laei's
weie also made by Mi. Ihii iili.im,
(irliilu'i It;, t8(ui, Mr. liuiiihani maiiied
Miss Mai\' Louise M.iish, ol .Nr.aw.im, Mass.,
(Linghlei ol llei.ilio M.irsli, ,1 l.iimei. I'Iion
h,ive four children: h'dilh M., who maiiied
Kolu'it Dwighl, of this city; Aithur M. ; ld,i
P. ; ;iiul k.ilpli.

III piijilies Mr. Mui'iihani is a Kepiihliean,
and has lieeli a delegate liiiiii his waul l(i ikhii
iiiato ediinly and .Slate offieors Irom his dis
tiiol. lie is a iiieniher nl 1 bimpdeii Lndgo,
A. P'. (<¦ A, IVL, of .Spriiiglield, and is also
a, memlier of J. K. Wilenx I'lisl, N(i. 16,
(iiaiid Army of the Kepiiblie. llis family
alLaid IIk^ Memorial ( 'hlireli. 'I'hey reside (in
koiind Ilill, iioilh side, where Mr. Ihirnham
luviis a line properly. lie is a very busy
man, and hnpes to e(iiil iiiiie in his present
aiLlN'o lile lor many \'eal's to enme.

I^Nh'.rplR TUI'h'.K, one of the self-made
«y men of (!hieiipee, where his name is
'•> lainiliar to all, was born al P'orl
( 'ii\'iiigliiii, iM'anklin ('mint)', N. \'.,
Nm'eniher 25, 18. p), smi of I'eter and Janet
(McDonald) 'I'liper and giandsmi of reler and
Angeline (lieaheaii) Tnper. 'I'he giandfalher
was limn al ( 'll.imbh', ( »iieliee, Cianaila, and
was lliere maiiied, le'iiiining later t(i l''m't
(!o\'inglmi, N, \',, where he lidiight a farm, on
whieh he resided most of his aeli\'e life. He
sulise(|iieiil 1\' wiait lo Mmitre.il, where he led
a relireil lile uiilil his death, al the age of
liilU'U' live years. llis wife died at the age
ol se\'enl \' one. Tlie\ weie people who wi-re
held in high esleem li\' their neighbors and
aei|uaintaiiees for their niaii\' admir.ilde (piali-
lies. They were the paiiails of a largo family,
emisisi ing of Ihii leen children.
I'eter, seemid of the name, was horn in
t'haiiilil\', (bielioi-, ill i8.'ii, and, when a yoiiiig
man, seemed eiiiplo\iiieiit as lireman on a
sleamlioal on the .S|. Lawienee Ri\'er, heiiig
the lirst while iiKUi Ihal ever fired a steanihoat
limning thnuigh the l.achine kapids. lie
remained thus engaged fm ele\'en \'eais, then
went lo P'oil ( 'miiiglon, N,\',, where he i.'n
gaged in Ihe trucking busiiu'ss for si\ \eais,
later liii\ing lilt\' aeies of new and unculti-
v.iled land, on which he built a log house, and
wdiich in eouise of lime, with the assislaiiee of
his children, he greatlv iinpnned, the log
housi' heing rcpPieed li\' good modern Iniiltl-
iugs, lie remained llu'i'i.' lor m;ui\' yens;
but, ;is old age ,i(l\'anei.'d, he sidd his f.iriii, ami
lived a retired life with his children until his

looS

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

death, at the age of sixty-five. llis wife,
Janet INlcPDonald, was born at P'ort Coxington
in 1830, and w.is of Scotch descent. .She
lived to the age of sixt\' Noars. The\' were
the parents of a largo famih', as fidlows:
Peter, our subject ; .\ngeline, who dictl at tho
age of twcnt\'-tw'o \'cars ; Julia; Jauc, who mar
ried M. L. P'ullcr; Delia, who married llcnrN'
\\'oods; Alice, wdio married John Hunter;
Mary, who became the wife of Moses Jolt ;
Thomas, who married Anna LaBelle; Alexan
der, who took for his wife Mar\' P'olo\'; Gil-
lean; PHiza; Phnma ; .Arthur; and .\ngclinc.
I'eter Tuper, third of the name, was earU'
obliged to earn his own living, and worked out
when a mere lad. He earnotl his first mono)'
at the age of twelve b\' digging fift\' bushels
of potatoes in one day, receixing sixpence for
his labor. Ho then worked for a Mr. Burrows
for six dollars per month, remaining with him
for two years. At the end of that time he
found employment in the cotton-mills of the
Chicopee Manufacturing (^'ompam' at Chicopee
P'alls, working eight )'ears in the cloth-room
of mill No. 4. Pie then went to work for the
Lamb Manufacturing Company, and learned
the trade of machinist, remaining with the
above-named compan)- for eighteen years.
His next emplo)'nient was with the (">\'erman
Company, for which he worked on contract,
and is still thus engaged.
At the age of nineteen )'ears he married
Mary A. Plopkins, of Hinsdale, Mass., daugh
ter of John and Ann (Burns) Hopkins. Mr
and Mrs. Tuper have two children: Anna and
William P. The family have a fine residence
at 155 Belcher Street, Chicopee P'alls. Mr
Tuper is a Republican in polities, and stands
high among the people of his town for his ex
cellent qualities as a man. He (iceupics the
positions of City Inspector and Superintendent
of P'ire Alarms, and is a member of the Royal
Arcanum, Lodge No. 659,

ACA^/ ii^i'iAM p- flp:'1'ciip:r, one (.f
Southwick's energetic and promi
nent business men, a dealer in flour,
grain, feed, hay, agricultural implements,
fertilizers, was born July i, 1851, in the town

of tir.inln", Hampshire Conntx', Mass., and was
tho son of P'.raslus and P'lniira (IIci'vca)
P'letehcr, who were both natives of Massa
chusetts. Phastus P'letehcr was a shoemaker
b\" trade, and fidlowed that oceiip;itioii in
carh' xears ; but the main business of his life
was agriculture, he being the owner of a farm
in Granln'. A man of reetitude and of good
judgment, he was universally looked up to In'
his neighbors and townsmen. He li\'ed to
be cight)'-se\'cu \eai's old. His wife sni'\'i\'es
her husband, and is still residing ;it the home
stead. 'Phe\' were sueeessfnl in their family
life, and brought up all of their eight chil
dren, whose names are gi\'en ;is follows:
(iem'ge N. , a farmer of .Southwick; (.'liarles
W., residing in Granby; William Ph, of this
sketch; Herbert 11., residing in Boston ; liar-
land P'., lix'ing in .Spriiiglield; IPittie Ph,
wife of II. C Botiton, whose home is in
Southwick; P'.mma, wife of (,". 11, (.'oopcr, de
ceased; and P'.llen, wife of John L, .Sparks,
of Ibdyoke, Mass.
William P'. , the third son as named abox'O,
grew up on the home fiirm, attending the com
mon schools of Granb)'. On linishing his
studios he began life for himself b\' going to
Chicopee. where he entered the cmidox' first
of the Ames Maiinfaeturing C"omp;ll'l^', and
later of J. .Ste\'cns & Co., of Chicoiiee P'alls,
manufacturers of small fire-arms and target
rillcs. He ((.'mained with that lirm for some
time, learning the business and also the trade
of miller, in connection with ;i grist-mill run
ning in tluil place. llo next went into busi
ness in ("iranb)', his native town, running ;i
grist-mill and cai'r)'ing on a flour and feed
business, in which he was successful, although
but eighteen )'cars old and as )et inexperi
enced. At the end of a x'car tliis mill and
business were piirehased by other parties; and
Mr P'letehcr was c:illcd to Chicopee P'alls, to
take charge of a Hour ;ind grain mill for Har
vey Hubbard, going later to .Spriiiglield, cari)'-
iiig mi his work there in connection with
William Plliot, in the managi'ment of ;i steam
grain-mill, A year later he went to Little
Rix'or, and took eharge of the mill now owned
by Mr. .Sherman, where he remained till a
change in the property occasioned his return

f

WILLIAM F FLETCHER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lOII

to Granby ; and then he sta\ ed on the old
homestead for a year, devoting his energies to
the improvement of the farm lands and gar
dens. After this i\Ir. P'letcber was called to
his old place in Springfield as miller for the
firm of William Elliot & Co., and continued
there for about two years. In October, 1S7;,
he left Springfield, and has since made his
headquarters at Southwick, hiring the present
propertv of Boyle & Gilbert and continuing to
carry it on with his usual success and pros-
peri t v.
Mr. Fletcher was married on October i,
1879, to !\Iiss Ada IMills, a native of Biloxi,
Miss., a niece of Dr. J. W. Rockwell, with
whom she was living at the time. Her father,
Solomon IMills, was a hotel proprietor and a
manager of summer resorts. He was living at
the South during the Civil ^^'ar; and, being
forced to enter the Confederate annv, he re
mained in that service till he was captured by
Northern forces, and came Xorth. He re
turned to New Orleans after the close of
the war, and there he died on Januarv 22.
1876. Mr. and ]\Irs. Fletcher have three
children: William R., Grace, and Ra3'mond
!Mills. While liberal in their religious views
thev are attendants of the Congregational
church. William P~ Fletcher is a Republican, as
was his father, Erastus. He has taken active
• part in political matters, and, although never
seeking an office for himself, was persuaded to
become a candidate to the legislature in i8Sa.
only just missing election, and has filled vari
ous local offices of minor character, having
been Town Clerk four years, being elected
three vears in succession without opposition,
Selectman two vears, acting as chairman of
the Board one year, also ser^dng at the same
time as Assessor, and being Overseer of the
Poor two vears. He is a member of the
American Legion of Honor at Westfield. ]\Ir.
Fletcher mav be classed among the popular
representative men of Southwick. Success
ful in his practical work and known as a
citizen of true worth of character, he holds
the regard of his townsmen and business as
sociates. His portrait appears on an adjoining
page.

DGAR H. AMIDON, proprietor of the
baggage transfer at the Ihiion Depot,
Springfield, I\lass. , was born in that
citv, September 2, 1869, the son of \^'illiam
C. and Carrie D. (Hamilton) Amidon. His
paternal grandfather, Roger Amidon, was one
of the well-to-do farmers of Row"e, Mass. He
was also a carpenter and builder by trade, and,
removing to Springfield, was for some time in
the employ of the Wason Car Company. The
last years of his life were passed in Bright-
wood. \\'illiam C. Amidon was born in the
tow"n of Rowe, Franklin County, Alass. , and
was there reared and educated. \\'hen nine
teen years of age, he removed to Conway,
where he worke(l as a carpenter for several
years, moving from there to Springfield, where
he has since resided. He has been an em
ployee of the United States Armory at Spring
field for upward of thirt}' ^"ears. Mr. Amidon
married Carrie D., daughter of Dr. D. P".
Hamilton, of Conway; and of the four chil
dren born to them the subject of this brief
sketch is the onlv one now" living.
Edgar H. Amidon received a thorough
knowledge of the common branches of studv at
the public schools of his native citv, and after
ward took a business course at Child's Com
mercial College. Having fitted himself for
the position of a book-keeper, he engaged with
L. i\I. Remington of the Citv Plxpress, for
whom he worked two \ears, and then contin
ued as book-keeper for Henrv Huck, Mr.
Remington's successor, until January i, 1893,
¦when he established himself in his present
profitable enterprise, buving the business of
Talmage & Co. and the use of their name.
I\lr. Amidon has the use of a good office in the
Union Depot, and in the transfer of trunks and
baggage gives employment to several men.
He has plent}- of work for the six fine, strong
horses he owns, and is meeting with excellent
success in his business.
]\Ir. Amidon was married October 22. 1890,
to Miss Bessie M. Brest, a daughter of Will
iam Prest ; and their pleasant home at 47 Pine
Street, is enlivened by the presence of a beau
tiful little girl, Hazel May.
I\Ir. Amidon is desen-edly popular with all,
and in his quiet, unostentatious manner makes

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

friends of all with whom he is brought in con
tact, whether in a business or a social way.
He is a valued member of Hampden Lodge,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which
his father is Past Grand.

UGENE T. BALLARD, a resident of
Springfield and the Assistant Postmaster
of that city, was born in Somerville,
Mass., on August 30, i860, son of Frederick
L. and Annie J. (Campbell) Ballard. His
father, who was born at Stratton, Vt., is a
compositor. The family comprises two chil
dren: Virginia C ; and Eugene T., the sub
ject of our sketch.
Eugene T. Ballard lived at Stratton until
eight years of age, and then with his parents
moved to Springfield, where he has lived ever
since. His education was received in the
schools of that city; and after finishing his
public-school course he obtained a situation
with Newell Brothers, button manufacturers,
remaining with them for about one year.
Feeling the need of a practical business train
ing, he entered the private business college of
C. C. Burnett ; and at the end of a year he
accepted a position with Gay Brothers, book
publishers. He next entered the store of
J. D. Gill, art dealer and bookseller, on the
corner of Main and Bridge Streets. lie left
Mr Gill's for an entirely new field of useful
ness, that of night clerk in the postal service,
entering on his duties April 16, 1880, under
General Horace C. Lee, postmaster At that
time the department required only eight clerks
and the same number of carriers ; but the in
crease of the population of the city and the
development of its business interests have ne
cessitated an increase in the service, and now
the force includes twenty-three clerks and
twenty-nine carriers, as well as nine substitute
carriers. Mr Ballard has successfully filled
every position in the postal service except that
of postmaster He was appointed Assistant
Postmaster on February 28, 1890, Colonel
H. M. Phillips being the principal at that
time. Pie has held his present position under
three postmasters, Mr Phillips, Mr H. S.
Hyde, and Mr J. H. Clune, the present in

cumbent. Since he entered the post-office ser
vice in 1880 there have been six different
postmasters, Lee, Chapin, Rice, Phillip.s,
Hyde, and Clune.
Mr. Ballard is a Republican, and adheres
strictly to his party's principles, voting a
straight Republican ticket. He is much in
terested in matters pertaining to the realm of
bicycling, being an active member of the
Springfield Bicycle Club. He lives with his
father and mother at their home, 801 Main
Street.

OSEPPI H. MOORE, a wide-awake,
enterprising, and brainy young man,
one of Hampden County's busiest citi
zens, was born April, 11, 1862, in the
town of Blandford, son of Henry and Elizabeth
(Hall) Moore, both natives of Blandford. His
great-grandfather, one Thomas Moore, was a
pioneer in that locality, locating in the midst
of the woods, where his nearest neighbors were
dusky savages ; and, erecting the customary
log house for his family, he afterward im
proved a good farm, on which his children were
born and reared. His son Joseph, the grand
father of our subject, spent his entire life in
Blandford, where he was known as a progres
sive and skilful farmer. He experienced all
the trials and tribulations of pioneer life,
watching with interest the gradual .transforma
tion of the forest into a well-cultivated coun
try, and was an active participant in the ad
vancement of the welfare of the community.
He reared a family of nine children, all of
whom grew to mature years.
Henry Moore, the father of our subject, was
prominently identified with the later develop
ment and progress of his native town. He
followed farming to some extent, but was a
carpenter and joiner by trade, a very success
ful man of business and an important factor of
the industrial interests of the place. In poli
tics he was a strong champion of the princi
ples of the Republican party. He was a resi
dent of Blandford throughout his life, and died
at the age of sixty-eight years. He married
Elizabeth Hall, a most estimable woman, a
sincere and faithful member of the Methodist

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1013

P'.piscopal church, to which he also belonged.
Three children were born to them, namely :
P^aura Ih ; Joseph PL; and llenry C, who
died at the tender age of three years. Plis
widow still lives in the village of Blandford,
and is held in high esteem in social and relig
ious circles.
Joseph PL Moore laid the foundation for his
education in the public schools of the town of
his nativity, and afterward studied the higher
branches of learning at Wilbraham Academy.
After leaving school Mr. Moore began an agri
cultural career, and has since been actively
and successfully engaged in farming. PIc is
also an expert iDlacksmith, ha\'ing learned the
trade himself and followed it the past six
years, his native ability giving him a fore
most position among the blacksmiths of that
section of Plampden County, his trade being
almost exclusively among regular customers.
Pie has a well-equipped shop and all the
modern appliances and tools for carrying on
his work, and has an extensive and lucrative
patronage. Politically, Mr. Moore is a Republican, one
of the most intelligent in the locality. He
has aided in the management of civic affairs as
Selectman and Superintendent of Streets, and
is now filling the position of Town Auditor.
He is a true citizen in every respect, and has
an excellent reijutation as a straightforward
business man, a successful farmer, and an
honest workman.

i.)|-l 1.P'RP:D M. ROSS is a prominent
dentist of the city of Springfield,
Mass., who has been in the practice
of his profession in Plampden
County for the past seventeen years. His
birthplace was Troy, Rensselaer County,
N. "Vh ; and the date is registered as Nox'cmber
9, 1849. Plis parents were Nelson and Jane
A. (Dummer) Ross. Dr Ross is of Scotch
extraction, being the great-grandson of Stephen
Ross, a sturdy and enterprising Scotchman,
who immigrated to this country in the early
times and settled in Troy, N.Y.
Nelson Ross, our subject's father, was born
at Hanover, Grafton County, N.PL, April 20,

1820, and spent his boyhood in his native
town. In 1844 he went to Troy, N. Y. , to
study dentistry with Dr Bartlett, a noted
practitioner of that city; and, when fully qual
ified, he began practice for himself in Troy,
continuing successfully for nearly forty years.
During this time of practice, from 1847 to
1885, he had become established as one of the
two leading dentists of the city, and had ac
quired a well-earned reputation for excellence
and skill. He was a member of the Third
District Dental Society of Troy and honorary
member of the Connecticut Valley Dental
Society and of the State Society also. Pie
was interested in masonry, and was a member
of King Solomon Lodge, A. Ph & A. M., of
Troy. In 1846 Dr. Nelson Ross was married to
Miss Jane A. Dummer, a grand-daughter of
Elias Dummer, a respected merchant of Water
ford, N.Y. , who was familiarly known as Dea
con Dummer. Mrs. Ross is still living, and
resides at Troy. They became the parents of
five children: Julia C, who resides in Troy;
Alfred M., the subject of this sketch; Charles
R., of Reading, Pa.; Nelson D., of Troy;
and Emma, wife of Charles E. Goodwin, of
Boston, Mass.
Dr. Alfred M. Ross received his early edu
cation in the common and high schools of
Troy, and, settling on dentistry as his future
profession, went into his father's office, where
he had practical opportunity for initiation into
the methods and science of that line of work.
He remained with his father five years; and
then, in his twenty-fifth year (1874) he en
tered the New York Dental School. Pie
worked under the guidance of Dr. \\h PL
Atkinson, of New York, and made intelligent
and practical use of the opportunities gi\'cn
him for perfecting himself in dental science.
On leaving New A'ork he went to Hartford,
Conn., where he began his first practice inde
pendently, and remained there a year and a
half. Then, preferring a different field for
work, he went to Chicopee, Plampden County,
Mass., where he met with such good success
that he remained nine years. At the end of
that time he concluded to try a wider sphere,
and changed to the city of Springfield, where

I0I4

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

in 1886 he located in the office at the corner
of Main and Bridge Streets. After a time,
however, he changed his location to one more
desirable, 285 Main Street, where he has con
tinued up to the present time, doing a success
ful work and adding to his reputation with
every succeeding year. Dr. Ross is member
of the Connecticut Valley Dental Society, of
which he has been President one year and was
Secretary four years. He is also a member of
the State Dental Society, and is a contributor
to various dental journals.
Dr. Ross was married September 2, 1880,
to Miss Anna E. Beckwith, of Chicopee,
Mass. The doctor and his wife attend the
Church of the Unity.

7T%HARLES H. STEELE, senior mem-
I Ky ber of the firm of Charles H. Steele
^is^ & Co., grocers and meat dealers in
the city of Springfield, is one of the
foremost men in his line of business in the
county, and has built up a prosperous trade.
He is a native of Middletown, Conn., where
his birth occurred, February 12, 1863, he
being the descendant of an old and honored
family of New England. John and George
Steele, brothers, who were in Cambridge,
Mass., in 1632-33, removed thence, two or
three years later, to Hartford, Conn., where
they were original proprietors. Both married
and had families. George served in the
Pequot War John was Secretary of the col
ony 1636-39, and was Deputy many years.
He removed to Farmington, Conn., where he
was Town Clerk. P""urther particulars con
cerning this family may be learned from the
genealogical history prepared by Daniel Steele
Durrie. Henry S. Steele, a descendant, if we mis
take not, in the eighth generation of George
Steele, was for many years engaged in the
livery business at Middletown, but removed to
the town of Middlefield, Conn., where he still
resides, being one of its influential citizens,
and often serving with acceptance in the vari
ous local offices. Pie married Lydia Roberts,
daughter of Jacob Robert.s, an old and re
spected resident of Middletown, Conn. ; but

she lived only a few years after her marriage,
dying when her son, Charles H., was an infant
of three weeks.
Charles H. Steele was reared on the farm
of his paternal grandfather, Sanford Steele,
and attended first the district and then the
high school of Middletown, leaving the latter
when about seventeen years of age.' Coming
to Springfield he worked for some years as a
clerk in the employ of his uncle, B. Frank
Steele, who was engaged in the fruit business.
In 1886 Mr. Steele entered into business on
his own account, opening a store in one half
of a small room, ten by twelve, on the lower
end of Bay Street. From this modest begin
ning he has worked up one of the most thriv
ing trades in the city, even while occupying
the limited space in which he commenced
his mercantile career, carrying on a business
amounting to thirteen thousand dollars a year.
Outgrowing his first quarters Mr Steele built
the large, double, two-story building at 243
and 24s Bay Street, in which the firm have
a well-stocked grocery and a fine meat market,
it being, with the exception of a similar estab
lishment on State Street, superior to any other
in the city. The excitement caused by the
erection of his store in the midst of the resi
dence part of the city was very great, the
people of the locality threatening to boycott
him ; and he was finally obliged to secretly
get possession of the land and commence
the building. The entire business Mr Steele
built up by his own unaided efforts; but, as
it continued to increase and he needed help,
he took into the firm as a partner his brother-
in-law, Charles M. Bugbee. Now they both
keep busy the entire time, and also employ
nine men to assist them. Recently they have
erected a large block on the corner of Bay and
Princeton Streets, having four large store
rooms besides the upper part, which is ar
ranged for living-rooms, being the most com
plete establishment of its kind in Springfield
outside of Main Street. Mr Steele was mar
ried October i, 1885, to Miss Mary S. Bug
bee, a daughter of H. D. Bugbee, of Spring
field ; and two children have been born to
them, of whom only one is living, Robert H.,
the other, also a son, having lived but thirteen

CHARLES H. STEELE.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1017

months. Mr. .Steele has never aspired to
political ofliee, but is a inember of Amity
Lodge, No. 172, liidependeiit Order of ( )(ld
P'ollows, and belongs to the Knights of Honor,
He is likewise a member of the Massasoit
Hieyele Club ami of tlu' Westminster Club.
lie is dcserxedl)' popular ;mioiig his Irati'inal
and busiiu'ss assoeiaU's, and bids fair to 1k'-
coiiie one of the k'ading nu'ii in the linaneial
circles of the eit\' which he calls his home.
We ;ii'e happ)' lo present to our ri'adcrs a por
trait of so excellent ;i represeiital i ve of one of
the eailiesi setlled families of Ihe Connceti
cut valley.

tmo

[•'.ORGP: p. WARRINP'.R, city Mcs-
\ i) I senger of .Spriiiglield, Mass., was
born at P'rederieksbiirg, \'a., Niu'om-
ber 3, 1 8. 1 2, son of .Alfred ami Pimil)' Ph
(Ow(.'ii) Wari'iner. Tlu' Warriners aie an old
and ri.'speeti.'d famih'. Our subi('i.'t's giaiid-
latlier serx'ed in the Ri'X'olut imiai'\' War, /\1-
fred Warriner was a carpenter, find had charge
of a force of men in the (.'iiiploy of the Boston
K; /Mbaii)' Railroad from i8q.| to 1870. He
was a member of the t'oiigregal ional ehureh.
Mr. and Mrs. Warriner had three ehildi'i,'n :
.Allen 1)., Newton Oscar, and (iemge L.
(iem'ge L, Warriner reeeix'ed his education
mostl)' in the schools at .Spriiiglield, finishing
his studies ;it a pi'i\'ate school in West .Spring-
fu'ld. In l8()2, lired with the i.'iitliusi;ism ;ind
patriotism of the times, he enlislcd, and was
in till' war until its close. Uo took an a(.'tive
part in sixteen battles, and was diseliai'g(.'(l
Juno 1(1, 1805, al Riehinond, \'a., limn the
United .Stales ser\-iee, and from the State
serv'iei.' on Jnl\' 8, 18(15, at Readville, Mass.
Tlirei' times during his period of serxice he
w';is strnek b\' bullets, but iie\'i.'r was hurt seri-
onslv. .After being discharged from the arm\'
he entered the gi'oeer\' business at Springfield,
continuing in it for a \'ear. He then sold out,
ami engaged with .Smith vK: Wt'sson, mamifaet-
ureis ol pistols, remaining until 1873, when
he went to tho village of Rock P'alls, Middle-
Held, Conn,, and took the stocking contract for
Savage iK: Smith, pistols. .\t the end of three
\eai's he took a contract of the same kind for

Hyde .Si .Shattuck at Hat held, Mhss. When
he had linished this eontraet, he returned to
Springneld again, and entered the employ of
Smith M: Wt'ssmi. On Si'ptcmbcr 7, 1881, be
was elected to the ofliee of City Messenger,
and h.is since oecupii.'d that position.
Mr. Warriner married Aratine Ph lUigbey,
daughter of Alanson Bughcy, of Connecticut;
and they have had two children; l,illi;in Ih
and P'dward A. The latter was drowned in
I 878,, when' in his ninth ye;u". 'I'ho daughter
is living and married. Mr. Warriner is a
member of Hampden Lodge, Independent
Order of Odd ]''ellows. PIc is also a member
of the (irand Army of the Republic, which
he joined on its organization; and he is .See-
rctai')' of 1 lope Colon)', Pilgrim P'alhers. The
Warriners hax'o a pleasant home at 125 ^ViIl-
iams .Street, .Springfield.

MITll HRO'l'HlCRS, Clarence P"..
and Justus P., are well-known ;ind
popular residents of Mittineague,
in the town of West .Springlield,
wlieie for manv \'i.'ars tlu'\' coiulueted an e\-
fensixe real estate ;ind mercantile business, in
which the)' became (.'xeeedingl)' prosperous.
This eopai tiiei'ship continued until 18112,
when In' mutual consent fliev' di\'ided the mer
chandising, C P'.. Smith remaining a dealer
in groeeiies, meats, dr\' goods, gentlemen's
furnishings ami drugs, while j. B. Smith sells
besides the first two commodities hardware,
gi';iin, and ha)'.
'Phcir father, Milton .Smith, who was born
in Middlclield, Mass., October 27, 1818, w;is
a son of (Mixer Smith, also a n:itix'e of Mid-
tllclicld, bom ttetober 28, 1703; :iiul he was
a son of (,'alx'in Smith, xvhosc hiith occurred
at l'".ast Haddam, Conn,, Noxember 28, 17(11,
(,'alvin xvas a son of the fifth Marten Smith,
xvho moved t(i i\liddleficld about the vear
1780, making the jouriu')' with teams ;uul ac-
c(mipanicd by his xvife and children. He pur
chased a Iract of xvihl land heaxilx cox'crcd
xvilh timber, and erected a hvg house in the
wilderness, xvhere he and his family resided
lor some xears. lie clc;ireil a good farm, upon
which he conducted a daiix', and also cnnasjcd

loiS

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

in raising sheep, he having been the first to
enter this branch of agriculture in the locality.
His efforts were attended with considerable
success; and he continued a resident there
until his decease, which occurred November
1 8, 1832. His wife, whom he married on
January 15, 1784, was Anna Anable. She
was born in Connecticut in 1762, and died
July 29, 1852.
Oliver Smith followed the vocation of his
father, who gave him land ; and he engaged in
sheep raising on an extensive scale, in which
he was very successful, and with his acquired
profits he purchased more land. He resided
in Middlefield his entire life, and married
Fanny Root, of that town, who was a daughter
of Daniel and Fanny Root. When a young
man he united with the Baptist church, and
was a Deacon for many years. In politics he
was originally a Whig, but joined the Repub
lican party at its formation, and held various
town offices. He also represented his district
in the State legislature, where he advocated
and voted for the Massachusetts prohibitory
law, being a total abstainer and a strong tem
perance man.
Milton Smith attended the district and
select schools of Middlefield and the high
school at Shelburne Falls. After completing
his education at the Cummington Academy,
he commenced teaching when he was txventy
years of age, and followed that arduous pro
fession for several years, at length relinquish
ing it for agricultural pursuits, purchasing a
farm in his native town, upon which he re
sided until 1882, when he removed to Mit
tineague, where he has since lived practically
retired. His wife, the mother of Clarence E.
and Justus B. Smith, was Mary Browning, of
Lee, Berkshire County, a daughter of Justus
Browning. She died in Middlefield at the age
of sixty-five years, having been the mother of
eight children, as follows: Justus B., Clar
ence Emmons, Julia, Alice, Mary, Wayland,
Dwight, and Fanny.
Clarence E. Smith attended the schools of
Middlefield until fourteen years of age, and
during the next three years pursued his studies
at Hartford, Conn. Pie remained upon the
farm until reaching the age of twenty-one

years, when he went to Becket, where he
resided for a year and one half. He next
started in business at Hazardville, Conn.,
dealing in stoves and tinware, in which he
continued for a period of four years. In 1874
he came to Mittineague, where he engaged in
mercantile and real estate business, as above
mentioned. He and his brother have done
much toward building up the village of Mit
tineague, and are still interested together in
real estate. In September, 1883, he was
united in marriage to Miss Addie E. Fuller,
of Stockbridge, daughter of James and Addie
Fuller. Mr. and Mrs. Clarence E. Smith
have two children, Carl and Earl. He is a
Republican in politics, and both he and his
wife attend the Congregational church.
Justus B. Smith was born at Middlefield,
December 24, 1844. He received a good edu
cation, and remained with his father upon the
farm until he was twenty-two years of age.
He then engaged as a clerk in the store of
Edward Pease at Huntington, where he re
mained three years, after which he conducted
business himself at Russell, with the most
profitable results, and in 1874 entered into
partnership with his brother, C. E. Smith, at
Mittineague. In the same year he wedded
Miss Ella Frances Loveland, of Worthington,
Mass., daughter of Ambrose Loveland. They
are members of the Congregational church,
and Mr Smith is a Republican in politics.
Mrs. Ella F. Smith died in August, 1892;
and on June 19, 1895, Mr Smith was married
to Mrs. Hattie (Morse) Smith, of Westfield,
Mass.

JSAAC N. COLLORD, a well-known citi
zen of Chicopee, Hampden County,
Mass., where he has resided for over
thirty years, was born in New York
City, January 19, i S48. Mr Collord is the
son of James Collord, who was born in Al
bany, N. Y., in 1804, and grandson of Isaac
Collord, who was born in Newport, R.I. The
latter was by occupation a silver-plater, doing
a large business in his line and working al
most up to the time of his death. He died at
the advanced age of eighty-one years. Isaac

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1019

Collord was Democratic in his political princi
ples. He and his wife were members of the
Methodist Episcopal church. Their children
were four in number : Mary, James, John, and
Eliza. James Collord, father of the subject of this
sketch, worked with his father at silver-plat
ing until manhood, and then went into busi
ness for himself, prospering increasingly as
the years passed. About fifteen years before
his death he retired from active business. He
died at Chicopee at the age of eighty-seven.
He married Margaret M. Mott, a native of
South Norwalk, daughter of a prominent and
well-to-do farmer of that town. She lived to
be sixty-two years of age, and was the mother
of several children, whose names are here
given : Mary, wife of Charles P. S. Thomp
son, residing at Hartford, Conn., who has four
children; Ellen (deceased); James, Jr., liv
ing in Chicopee, who married Olive Smith,
and has five children; Edward H., of Chico
pee; Isaac N. , our subject; Walter R., who
was twice married, and has two children by
his first marriage;. Samuel (deceased); and
one other, who died young. The parents
were members of the Ej^iscopal church. Mr.
Collord. was a Democrat in his political views.
Isaac N. Collord was educated in the schools
of New York, and at eleven years of age went
to Greenwich, Conn., to work in a general mer
chandise store, remaining two years. Decem
ber 22, 1862, he entered the Ames Company
manufacturing shops at Chicopee, and for two
years worked on bayonets, which were in
demand during the war of the Rebellion. For
this work he received seventy-five cents per
day, which was considered a fair price for so
young and inexperienced an employee. He
next applied -himself to learning (designing,
engraving, hammering, and all kinds of hand
work in metals, becoming in time one of the
best engravers in the country and engaging
successfully in metal work, which is still his
chosen pursuit In 1881 he was appointed
station agent at Chicopee for the Boston &
Maine Railroad Company, which position he
has filled in connection with his other busi
ness since that date, having an office for his
work in the depot.

Isaac Collord was married June 18, 1870, to
Miss Sarah Bulliss, daughter of Isaac and
Margaret (Lawson) Bulliss, of Chicopee. Her
parents lived to a good age, her father attain
ing sixty-seven years and her mother seventy-
four. They had four children ; namely,
James, Newton, Lewis, and Sarah. Mr. and
Mrs. Collord were the parents of five chil
dren, as follows: Freddie B. (deceased); Mar
garet M. B. ; Arthur Lewis; Elizabeth (de
ceased) ; and Bettola Gertrude. In politics
Mr. Collord is independent. He is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen,
both of Chicopee. He has a fine home at 314
Springfield Street.

DWARD C BROWNELL, coal dealer,
a representative business man of the
city of Springfield, was born in the
town of Moodus, Conn., January 27, 1856, his
parents being Charles E. and Abigail P".
(Loomis) Brownell.
Mr. Brownell' s ancestors were prominently
known in New Bedford and Westport ; and in
the latter town his paternal grandfather, Ed
ward P. Brownell, was born and reared.
When a boy in years he migrated to Moodus,
and there became a pioneer in the manufacture
of cotton, establishing a large mill.
Charles E. Brownell, the father of the sub
ject of this brief biography, was born in
Moodus, Conn., and graduated from Yale Col
lege in the class of 1850. Pie subsequently
became associated with his father in the cotton
manufacture in Moodus, and after the death
of the latter continued in the business, being
now the owner of two mills and one of the
most extensive and prosperous manufacturers
in that section of the country. He is xvell
and favorably known throughout his vicinity,
and in the year 1869 was chosen to represent
his district in the State legislature. He mar
ried Miss Abigail F. Loomis, of Westchester,
Conn., their nuptials being celebrated on
Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1852. She
lived but a few years, dying December 30,
1864, leaving a family of four children,
namely: George I., who is engaged in the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

manufacture of machinery in Worcester,
Mass. ; Edward C, our subject; Charles H.,
who is in business with his brother in Worces
ter; and Abbie F., who died at the age of
sixteen years. The mother was a woman of
refinement and Christian culture, and an es
teemed member of the Congregational church.
Edward C Brownell was reared to years of
discretion in his native county, and there at
tended the common schools, completing his
education at the Williston Seminary at East
hampton, being graduated from that institu
tion in 1874. After spending two years as
a teacher in Moodus, he worke(l for two years
with his father in the cotton-mills. In 1878
he established himself in the coal business
with a Mr. Warner, and under the firm name
of Warner & Brownell conducted a flourishing
trade for three years, when he bought out the
interests of his partner, and continued alone
for several years, haying a large and extensive
trade. In addition to his coal business Mr.
Brownell was also Postmaster at Moodus under
the first administration of Grover Cleveland,
and likewise served as a member of the Board
of Education in East Haddam. In 1889 Mr.
Brownell sold out his entire business to his
former associate, Mr. Warner, and, coming to
Massachusetts, settled in Springfield, where
he has since been successfully engaged as one
of the foremost dealers in coal, his large coal
sheds on Waltham Avenue connecting with
the tracks of the New England Railway.
During the few years he has been in the city
Mr Brownell has established a reputation for
fair and upright dealing, and is ranked among
the thorough-going and substantial business
men of this section of Hampden County.
On August 23, 1882, while yet a resident
of Moodus, Mr. Brownell was united in mar
riage to Miss Lilla J. Alexander, who was born
March 14, 1859, the daughter of James Alex
ander, an old and honored resident of Moodus.
Their union has been blessed by the birth of
three children, namely: Edward A., born
January 11, 1885; Abigail F., born June 20,
1888; and Sylvia J., born June 8, 1893. Mr
and Mrs. Brownell are regular attendants of
the Hope Congregational Church, of which
Mrs. Brownell is an active member.

¦OSEPH T. HERRICK, M.D., an active
practitioner of Springfield and one of
the foremost physicians in Hampden
County, was born in the city of Madura,
South India, August 17, 1859, being a son of
the Rev. James and Elizabeth (Crosby) Her
rick, missionaries at that station.
The IPerrick family were old New England
settlers, and in the early days of the settle
ment of Beverly, Mass., were important and
influential citizens of the town. James Her
rick, the father, was born in Dummerston,
Vt. , and acquired the rudiments of his educa
tion in the schools of that town. Determin
ing to fit himself for the ministry, he trudged
on foot to Williamstown, Mass., and entering
Williarhs College applied himself diligently
to the prescribed course of study, graduating
with the degree of A. B. Going from there to
Andover he received his diploma from the
Theological Seminary in 1845. That same
year he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of
Joseph Crosby ; and the young couple coura
geously started for India in the autumn, under
the auspices of the American Board of Com
missioners for Foreign Missions. Mr. Her
rick labored there for forty years, making but
two visits to his native country before return
ing permanently in 1884. He spent his de
clining years in West Brattleboro, Vt. , where
he departed this life in November, 1891, leav
ing a widow and six children, of whom we
record the following: Mary is the wife of
John PI. Dunkley, of West Brattleboro;
James Frederick, who died February 4, 1893,
was for many years connected with the Spring
field Republican and the New York World ,
William Henry is a resident of St. Louis, Mo. ;
Emily H. is the wife of the Rev. George Mar
tin, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of
St. Louis; Joseph T. is the subject of this
sketch; and David S. is now a missionary in
India, having charge of the station where his
father labored for so long a time.
Joseph T. Herrick was reared in South
India until twelve years of age, although he
spent the time from his fourth until his sev
enth year in New England. He pursued his
studies with his father until 1871, when, at
the age of twelve years, he returned to this

WILLIAM T. GREGG.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1023

country alone, coming via England and going
to Auburndale, Mass., where he attended the
grammar school.
Pie next entered the academy at St. Johns
bury, Vt., where he was prepared for college;
and, after studying a few months in New York
City, he entered the medical department of the
New York City University, from xvhich, after
three years of diligent study, he was graduated
in the class of 1883. He was one of eight
members of his class to take the competitive
examination for the position of resident physi
cian and surgeon at the Workhouse and Alms
house Hospital on Blackwell's Island; and,
having outdistanced his competitors, Dr. Her
rick was assigned to the place. During the
two years that followed, his experience was
large and valuable in many ways, giving
a close acquaintance with diseases of all kinds
and a thorough knowledge of the use and
effects of medicine. In 1885 the Doctor came
to Springfield, locating in a modest tenement
just across the street from his present resi
dence, and without the aid of special influence
or friends has established a lucrative practice
and won the trust and confidence of an exten
sive patronage, which embraces some of the
best families of the city. He is a close
student of every branch of medical science,
making a thorough investigation of every case
brought professionally to his notice and giving
prompt personal attention to the minutest
details of his business. The Doctor is a
member of the Massachusetts Medical Society,
of which he was formerly Secretary, and until
1893 was Treasurer of the Hampden District
Branch of that organization. He also be
longs to the Medical Observation Society.
Dr. Herrick married Mary, daughter of
Colonel Franklin Fairbanks, the well-known
manufacturer of scales, their union being sol
emnized at St. Johnsbury, Vt. , September 8,
1886; and one son, Paul Fairbanks Herrick,
has been born to them. The Doctor and his
wife are highly esteemed in the community
where they reside, and actively participate in
the development and advancement of the social
and religious welfare of the city, being valued
members of the Hope Congregational Church ;
and for some time Dr. Herrick was a lecturer

in the School for Christian Workers. He is
likewise a valued member of the Winthrop and
Westminster Clubs of Springfield. His office
is in the beautiful house at the corner of State
and Thompson Streets, which he built in 1887.

ILLIAM T. GREGG, whose portrait
appears on the opposite page, is a
prominent contracting mason and
builder of Springfield, Mass., where he was
born June i, 1854, of Scotch ancestry. His
father was Thomas Gregg, son of James and"
Catherine (Brock) Greig (Scotch spelling), of
Perth, Scotland. James Greig died shortly
before the birth of Thomas, which occurred on
board the ship in which his widowed mother
had taken passage for America, coming with
her brother, John Brock, who had secured
work in Montreal. Mrs. Greig died on April
15, 1866, aged sixty-eight. In Montreal the
fatherless Thomas grew up and learned the
trade of stone-cutting, which for generations
had been followed by those of his blood.
While a young man he went to California to
try his fortunes in the gold mines, but finally
returned to Springfield, where he was engaged
in doing work by contract and completing
some of the largest buildings erected in the
city at that time. Thomas Gregg was left
a widower, and formed a second marriage with
Miss Martha Sanborn, the daughter of Simon
Sanborn, an early and prominent builder, who
built one of the oldest churches in the city.
William T. Gregg was the son of Thomas
by his first wife, whose maiden name was Coll
ier. After leaving the grammar school in
Springfield, he served an apprenticeship of
three years with John W. Rice, a prominent
mason of the city, and then worked for a year
under Royal Harrington, a builder, who had
acquired quite a reputation. He next went to
Philadelphia with the ultimate intention of
going West. This was the year before the
opening of the great Centennial Exposition,
1876; and there was much work in progress in
the city. Mr. Gregg accepted employment on
the new City Hall, and after its completion
took a six months' business commission in
Philadelphia under a shrewd old man by the

1024

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

name of Crittenden. During his stay in the
city of "Brotherly Love" Mr. Gregg was
united in marriage on October i6, 1876, with
Miss May J. Perkins. Business being some
what dull, Mr. Gregg went to work upon the
farm of his father-in-law in Chesterfield, where
he remained for a year, and then returned to
Springfield. As there was not much work
to be done here just at this period, he went to
Brookfield, and for two years worked there and
in the adjoining towns. Upon his return to
Springfield he was variously engaged until he
assumed entire charge of the work of Captain
McClellan, a travelling contractor of Chico
pee, who had contracts all over the country.
Since 1882 Mr. Gregg has been busy in filling
large contracts in Springfield, having begun
business in that year. He has a number of
men in his employment, as many as fifty at
times, as for instance during the erection of
Meekins & Packard's mammoth building.
Mr. Gregg has prospered in his affairs, and is
now the owner of a great deal of valuable real
estate, besides an interest in a Longmeadow
quarry, in which he is a silent partner.
Though independent in politics, in national
issues he usually votes with the Republican
party. He is a member of the Hampden
Lodge of A. F. & A. M., and is also a mem
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. and Mrs. Gregg with their three children
— May, William T. , Jr., and Ruth-— live at
163 Eastern Avenue, where the elevating at
mosphere of Christian faith is an all-pervading
influence, both parents being members of the
Plighland Baptist Church, in which Mr Gregg
is a Sunday-school instructor. In reviewing
Mr Gregg's career one notes with interest the
obvious fact that his entire success is owing to
his own unaided efforts, and that the high
place he now holds among prominent business
men has been acquired and retained by indus
try, energy, and stability.

-AMES S. BLAIR, of Springfield, a
pioneer in the manufacture of lawn
mowers, organizer and first President of
the Blair Manufacturing Company of
this city, was born at Brimfield, Mass., Sep

tember 2, 1 8 19, and is a son of Oliver and
Emma (Hoar) Blair. His father was born at
Warren, Mass., the ancestral home of the
family, March 19, 1773, and, when a young
man, moved to Brimfield, where he became
extensively engaged in agriculture, and at
tained a prominent position, representing that
district in the legislature one term. He died
at Brimfield November 16, 1859, at the age of
eighty-six years. His wife, who was born at
Brimfield, March 8, 1775, and beciame the
mother of ten children, of whom Mr. James
S. Blair is the youngest and also the only one
now living, died in her native town October
24, i860. She was a member of the Congre
gational church at Brimfield.
James S. Blair attended the schools of
Brimfield, and spent two years at the Wilbra
ham Academy; but he was obliged to leave
school before his education was finished, in
order to assume charge of the farm, his father
having become aged and infirm. After the
death of his parents Mr. Blair sold the prop
erty, and moved to Springfield, about the year
1 861. Some time previous to that he had
become interested in the manufacture of lawn
mowers with his nephew, Henry Fiske, who
had secured patents upon a device of that kind.
Mr. Blair furnished the necessary capital, and
they commenced business under the name of
Blair & Fiske; but erelong Mr. Blair pur
chased the interest of his partner, and took
measures to incorporate the Blair Manufactur
ing Company, which organized with a capital
stock of forty thousand dollars, their mower
being the second one ever made and the only
light practical one at that time. The business
increased yearly until thousands of the ma
chines were in use, the average daily produc
tion amounting to one hundred lawn mowers;
and the business field reached the most remote
parts of the civilized world. It soon became
necessary to enlarge the manufacturing facili
ties, and this was done to a considerable ex
tent. Mr Blair was the first to introduce the
use of the electric light in Springfield, estab
lishing a plant for his own manufactory and
also supplying other consumers. This plant,
however, he eventually disposed of; but he has
been a stockholder in the Electric Light Com-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1025

pany ever since its organization. He added
the manufacture of lawn sprinklers to the lawn
mower enterprise, and this soon formed an im
portant item in the business. About two
years since, Mr. Blair decided to retire from
active business ; and he sold his enterprise in
its entirety to Messrs. Loud & Case, who in
cluded in their purchase the original name
of the company, upon which the world-wide
reputation of the enterprise was founded.
(A sketch of Mr. Loud's career appears else
where in this work.) On selling the busi
ness Mr. Blair resigned the presidency of the
corporation, which he had held since its organ
ization. Mr. Blair chose for a life partner Miss
Sarah C Fiske, who was born at Enfield,
Mass., January 25, 1821, and is the daughter
of Amory Fiske, an experienced millwright,
who constructed the first dam at Chicopee.
It is a fact worthy of mention that at the time
of the initial development of this magnificent
water-power, the dam under construction being
exceedingly faulty, its weak points were
sighted by Mr. P'iske, who claimed that it
would not stand ; but, others believing other
wise, its construction was continued, and it
fell to pieces before it was ready to fill. Mr.
Fiske was then employed to construct a log
dam, which, being finished, proved to be what
was actually required. Mrs. Blair was a grad
uate of the Warren High School. Of the two
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Blair but one
lived to reach maturity — Jennie, now the wife
of William S. Buxton and the mother of two
children. While a resident of Brimfield Mr. Blair
served as Selectman and Collector of the town,
and also acted as a Trustee of the Hitchcock
Free High School; but during his long and
active career in Springfield he has been too
closely confined to the care and development
of his business enterprise to officiate in any
public capacity. He has also been obliged to
forego connection with clubs or secret socie
ties, the only organization of the kind in
which he ever participated having been the
famous Know Nothings of a former exciting
political period. Mr Blair was formerly a
member of the Congregational church at Brim

field, and attends one of the churches of that
denomination in Springfield.

YMAN W. SEXTON, master of the
City Almshouse of Springfield, was
born March 9, 1840, in that city,
and is a son of the late Oliver and
Mary (Cooley) Sexton. His father was born
in "Vermont about the year 1800, and, when
a young man, removed to Springfield, and for
more than half a century was employed in the
United States Armory, being foreman a por
tion of the time, and for several years had
charge of the lower water-shops, which are not
now in existence. A few years prior to his
decease he retired from active work, and lived
on his farm. He was over fourscore when
he passed away. Oliver Cooley was a Mason,
a member of Plampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M.
To him and his wife a family of twelve chil
dren were born, the subject of this sketch
being the eleventh child in order of birth.
Lyman W. Sexton was educated in Spring
field, and after leaving school was in the em
ploy of the American Express Company for
ten years. Pie subsequently turned his atten
tion to the pursuit of agriculture, engaging in
general farming for the succeeding ten years
and becoming well known as a successful and
prosperous agriculturist. Seven years ago
Mr Sexton accepted the responsibilities of his
present position, being appointed April i,
1888, by the overseers of the poor. His
sound sense, practical judgment, and excellent
executive ability render him peculiarly fitted
for the responsibilities of his office, which are
considerable, as the institution is the largest
one of the kind in the Western part of the
State. The main building is of brick, four
stories in height and one hundred and twenty-
five feet by forty feet in dimension. Another
building is one hundred and eight-five feet in
length, another one hundred feet long, be
sides which there is a good-sized hospital.
During the summer season there are about one
hundred and seventy inmates, and this number
is largely increased in cold weather. Mr.
Sexton has twenty employees to look after,
and in addition to the care of the house itself

1026

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

superintends the tilling of the fifty acres of
land connected with the institution. The con
dition of the institution reflects great credit on
his excellent management and foresight.
Mr. Sexton was rharried in the month of
April, 1862, to Miss Emma Scott .Sessions,
a daughter of Abner Sessions, of East Long
meadow; and two children have been born of
their union, namely : Charles, a druggist in
Chicopee; and Mabel, who is with her par
ents. Mr. Sexton is identified with the Ma
sonic fraternity, being a member of" Hampden
Lodge, A. P". & A. M., and belongs to the
Morning Star Chapter, the Springfield Coun
cil, and the Springfield Commandery.

SUCIUS F. THAYER, who is widely
known throughout Hampden County
^ as a civil engineer proficient in
his calling, was born in the village
of Westfield on August 22, 1834, son of
Lucius P". and Lydia (Ellsworth) Thayer.
His grandfather, Dr. Nathaniel Thayer, stud
ied medicine in New Haven, married Anna
Fowler, of Durham, Conn., and after practis
ing in Connecticut for many years came
thence to Westfield, and continued active in
his profession till his death in 1824. His
second son, Lucius Fowler Thayer, came to
Westfield when a young man, and here pur
chased a large farm, part of which was in the
village. He engaged extensively and success
fully in agricultural pursuits, and here resided
the rest of his life, dying in 1843, aged forty-
six years. His wife, who was a native of East
Windsor, Conn., lived to the advanced age of
eighty-four years, having reared six children
— Irene, Adeline, Serviah, Eliza, Mary, and
Lucius F.
Lucius F. Thayer, son of Lucius P. and
Lydia E. Thayer, received his education at
the village schools and Westfield Academy,
and, having studied civil engineering, at the
age of eighteen went to Indiana, and assisted
in the survey of the New Albany & Salem and
the Logansport & Peoria Railroads, returning
home after an absence of three years. He has
since continuously followed his profession,
accomplishing much in that line for the town

and county, building most of the county
bridges, including those that span the Con
necticut ancl Westfield Rivers.
In 1857 Mr. Thayer was married to Miss
Martha A. Harrison, a native of Westfield and
a daughter of Hiram and Martha (Lee) Harri
son. This union has been blessed by the
birth of five children, as follows: Lucius H.,
who is pastor of the First ' Congregational
Church at Portsmouth, N.H. ;. Hiram PP., who
is Cashier of the National Bank ¦ of Commerce
at Minneapolis, Minn. ; William P., who is
superintendent and Treasurer of the Westfield
Gas and Electric Light Company; Charles S. ,
a student at the Theological Seminary at New
Haven, Conn. ; and Mary S. , who is teacher
of English literature at "The Elms," a select
school in Springfield, Mass.
Politically, Mr Thayer is a Republican,
and has served efficiently for twelve years as
a member of the Board of Selectmen, in this
position always guarding carefully the inter
ests of the people. He is a Trustee of the
Westfield Savings Bank, and has also for
many years been one of the Trustees of the
Westfield Academy fund. Mrs. Thayer is a
Congregationalist in her religious views, and
is connected with the First Church of West-
field. The family occupy a beautiful home at
the corner of Broad and Silver Streets, the
house having been built by Mr. Thayer in
1867. It is surrounded by spacious grounds,
which were formerly included in his father's
farm, one bundled and sixty acres of which
are now in possession of Mr. Thayer Here
is dispensed a generous hospitality, their
many friends ever finding a hearty welcome.

-ACOB CHRISTIAN LUTZ, a promi
nent Springfield lithographer, was
born January 15, 1 831, at Leiselheim,
near Worms, in the Grand Duchy of
Hesse Darmstadt, before its consolidation
with the great German empire. The Lutz
family for many generations lived in Leisel
heim, where Daniel Lutz, the father of our
subject, was born in 1799. As a boy he
served six years in the army, during the latter
part of the Napoleonic war of 1815, and was

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1027

afterward a shoemaker till the end of his life,
in 1874.. His wife Katherine, daughter of
Christian Neidlinger, was born in Moerstadt
in 1808; and they had four children, Jacob
Christian being the eldest. His brother,
Christian Lutz, born in 1833, is a farmer in
his native town. Margaret Lutz, born in
1836, married a worthy citizen of Worms.
George Christian Lutz, born in 1840, is now,
1895, at Highland Station, in the suburbs of
Boston, Mass.
After completing his school education in
a Worms seminary, similar to one of our high
schools, Jacob C. Lutz spent three years
learning lithography, when that art was in
its infancy. At the age of eighteen, April
17, 1849, the year when gold was discovered
in California, he came alone to New York.
Though he had studied English, he needed
practice, and learned the language quite thor
oughly of Yale students who wanted to study
German. Within a fortnight he found a po
sition, which he retained until 1851, then
going to New Haven, Conn., where he worked
on the largest map of the United States that
had ever been made, measuring twenty-two
and a half feet by twenty-eight and a half,
and intended to be printed on oil-cloth and
laid on a large table. He was next asso
ciated with Charles Goodyear, the inventor
and manufacturer of hardened rubber goods.
After fifteen months' residence in New
Haven, Mr. Lutz returned to New York,
and began making chrome yellow, blue, and
cream paints, which were not then exten
sively manufactured. His paints found such
a ready sale that it became advisable to take
a partner, though Mr. Lutz furnished the
capital as well as the practical knowledge,
and did the office work.
At the end of eighteen months he sold out
to his partner, and again went into lithog
raphy, this time remaining in the metropolis
till January i, 1859, when he once more
went to New Haven, still working at his art.
There he stayed only a year, for in i860 he
removed to Hartford. In February, 1862, he
came to Springfield and began work for
Milton Bradley, with whom he remained till
midsummer, 1865, when he began business

for himself in a small way in Goodrich Block,
where some of his competitors said it would
be impossible for him to long maintain him
self. In two years, despite such croakings,
he was obliged to enlarge his business, and
moved to the corner of Main and Taylor
Streets, in Dwight Block, where he could
have both steam-power and power press. A
fire in the spring of 1874 compelled removal
to Hillman Street, with an entirely new
outfit. There his trade went on successfully.
In 1876 he went back to Taylor Street, in
what is now known as the Springfield Power
Company's building, where he obtained still
better facilities; but, before long, that space
was insufficient and another removal was ne
cessitated. He now has the best-equipped
lithographic plant in New England, outside
of Boston, with rare appliances and machines,
made to order; for Mr. Lutz is a thorough
master of his art, and gives employment to
two dozen people.
He was married in New York, in 1856, to
Gesina Miller, a native of Bremen, Germany,
and they have five children. Jacob Grim
Lutz, born in 1857, is with his father in the
shop. Addie Wilhelmina Lutz, born in
1859, is the wife of Henry W. Tannatt, of
Springfield. Gesina J. Lutz, born in 1862,
is at home. Elmer Ellsworth Lutz, born in
1865, is also in his father's employ, and mar
ried to Katie Blankman, and has one child,
Gesina Miller Lutz, born in 1890. Bertha
Miller Lutz, born in 1868, is now Mrs. L. D.
Crosby, of Hartford, and has two children
— Addie May Crosby and Jacob Christian
Crosby. Mr. Lutz is a liberal supporter of
churches, doing personally whatever he thinks
needs to be done. He has an excellent brick
house on Bliss Street, where he has lived
since 1883.
Mr. Lutz came to this country a decided
Abolitionist, and his first vote was cast, seven
years after his arrival, with the new Republi
can party, with which he has ever since acted.
In 1 88 1 he was elected to the Common Coun
cil from Ward Three, serving three successive
years; and in 1884 and 1885 he was Alderman
from the same ward. As a Councilman, he
was on the Street Lighting, Bill Enrolment,

I028

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and License Committees. On the Board of
Aldermen he was chairman of the Fire De
partment Committee two years, and has the
credit of keeping the department in the best
shape it had ever enjoyed before the fire com
mission was established. He has been a del
egate to State, county, city, and senatorial
conventions. In 1880 he revisited his native
land, spending four months at Wiesbaden for
the baths. He is a member of Hampden
Lodge, Morning Star Chapter, Springfield
Council and Commandery, and has taken
thirty-two masonic degrees. He has been a
Director in the Masonic Mutual Life Associa
tion since its organization, and was many
terms its Vice-President; and he is the only
honorary member of the Schiitzen Verein.

Ji

AVID MUIR, of the firm of Muir
Brothers, Springfield, stone-cutters
and contractors, was born in Ayr
shire, Scotland, on the 14th of Feb-
853, his ancestors on both sides being
FIis father, Gavin
He lived

ruary, i
of pure Scotch blood.
Muir, was a weaver and mechanic
his life out in the neighborhood in which he
had been born and reared, only visiting his
son, who had emigrated to America, once.
David, whose education was begun and
finished in Galston, near his father's home,
was apprenticed for four years to a stone
cutter, under whom he received the most
thorough instruction in the various branches
of his art. Working in the different large
cities of the United Kingdom, he acquired
additional skill and experience; and upon
coming to New York, in 1811, he immedi
ately secured work. He had held the posi
tion of foreman for a year when he came to
Massachusetts, and with a Mr. Read estab
lished in South Framingham the firm of Muir
& Read. Mr. Read soon leaving the firm,
Mr. Muir conducted the business (of which
contracting was a main feature) alone, build
ing up an extensive trade. In 1893 he sold
out, and came to Springfield, where he formed
a partnership with his brother James, who
had been here for some years, and had opened
,a yard on Bay Street Avenue, known as the

Muir & Russell yard. (See sketch of James
Muir on another page of this work.) Mr.
Russell dying, Mr. David Muir bought out
his interest. The Muir Brothers employ
from seventy-five to one hundred men, and
are extensively engaged in building, contract
ing, and quarrying. They own a fine red-
stone quarry at Longmeadow, which furnishes
the stone for their own work and much that
is shipped to other localities. Church work
is a notable feature of their business; and the
Worthy Block, of which they did the stone
work, is one of the handsomest and most
effective buildings lately built in the city.
Mr. Muir's whole attention has been given
up to his business, and he has had little time
for politics or outside matters. In 1876 he
married Miss Jeanette Wilson, who is also of
Scotch birth. Five of their nine children
are living: Gavin, who has been at work for
two years since finishing his course at the
grammar school; Robert, who has been in
business since leaving school, a year ago;
Jeannie, who is at school ; and Maggie and
Jessie. Their pleasant home is at 45 An
drews Street. Mr. Muir's thrift and perse
verance are as characteristic of his nationality
as are his loyalty and geniality.

ON. JASON BUTLER, an influential
and esteemed citizen of Wilbraham,
whose portrait is herewith pre
sented, well known as the master
mechanic for the Cutler Company, was born
January i, 1847. He is a son of Colonel
Benjamin Butler, who was born in Monson;
and his grandfather, also named Benjamin, is
thought to have been a native of the same
town. Plis great-grandfather, Daniel Butler,
according to the best information at hand,
came from Stafford, Conn., and settled in
Monson. Benjamin, son of Daniel, followed
agricultural pursuits, and was a life-long resi
dent of that town. His wife, whose maiden
name was Hannah Cross, was a daughter of
Stephen and Sarah (Vinton) Cross, the former
a farmer in Monson. She reared a family
of ten children, as follows: John H., Ira,
Lucinda, Eunice, Laura, Benjamin, Hannah,

JASON BUTLER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

103 1

Matilda, Horace, and Sarah, all now deceased
except Sarah and the brother named below.
Benjamin Butler received his education in
the town schools, and commenced to support
himself at a very early age. He was em
ployed for a time at farm work, and later
became a teamster for the Jenks Mill Com
pany. He next engaged in operating a saw
and grist mill for Dr. Marcus Shearer, but
afterward conducted the enterprise on his
own account, thus securing a start, and con
tinued to successfully carry on the business
during the period in which the Boston & Al
bany Railroad was being constructed. For
some years he held a contract with the rail
road company to furnish them with wood, and
later was in their employ, superintending the
clearing of wood lots and cutting and hauling
lumber in Berkshire County. Pie was also
employed by them to settle fire damages along
the entire line, in which capacity he was of
great value to the road, and his long experi
ence in its employ afforded him the best of
opportunities for p'archasing real estate, which
he took advantage of, and became one of the
largest land-owners in the county. When
wood was superseded by coal as locomotive
fuel. Colonel Butler turned his attention to
agriculture, and still resides upon the farm
which has been his home for upward of fifty
years. He married Hannah B. Cross, daughter of
Stephen and Rachel (Boyden) Cross, of Mon
son, and grand-daughter of Stephen and Sarah
(Vinton) Cross, mentioned above. Their
union has been blessed with the following
children: Philip M., Julia A., Ellen M.,
Henry C, Perlin S., Lyman D., James K.,
Jason, Royal D., Hannah B., and three who
died in infancy. In early manhood Benjamin
Butler, Jr., became connected with the State
militia, enlisting first as a private, and was
soon promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. He
continued to rise in regular order through the
grades of Captain and Major, retiring from the
service with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Jason Butler began his education in the
town schools, continued his studies at the
Wilbraham Academy, and completed his
course at the State Normal School in West-

field. At the age of nineteen years he began
teaching, which he continued for eleven con
secutive terms. Being a natural mechanic,
he preferred to take up some handicraft as a
vocation, and in 1871 engaged at the trade of
a carpenter, which he successfully followed
until 1880, when he accepted a position with
the Cutler Company, first as general clerk and
later as a book-keeper and cashier. In 1887
he resigned this position to engage with F. Ph
Marcy, of Palmer, as foreman, with whom he
remained nearly three years, and then re
turned to the Cutler Company as master me
chanic, which responsible position he has
since held, having been constantly at his post
except when granted leave of absence to attend
to legislative duties.
In 1 87 1 he was united in marriage to Sarah
Cornelia Perrin, daughter of Aldis and Sarah
(Paine) Perrin, of Woodstock, Conn. Mr.
and Mrs. Butler have one adopted son, Lester
E. Butler. The Hon. Jason Butler is a Repub
lican in politics, and cast his first Presidential
vote for General Grant. He has served as a
member of the School Committee fourteen
years, and was for nine years chairman of the
Board. He served as Selectman two years,
and in 1893 was elected to represent his dis
trict in the legislature. He is at present
Justice of the Peace, having received his first
commission from Governor Oliver Ames in
January, 1887. Both himself and wife are
members of the Church of Christ.

'RANKLIN H. BISHOP, a wealthy
farmer of the town of Russell, is a
representative of an old and prominent
family of this town, one that has taken an
active part in promoting the general welfare.
Mr. Bishop's great-grandfather, Amos Bishop,
who was of English ancestry, was born in
North Haven, Conn. ; but, leaving his na
tive State, he came to Massachusetts, and
spent his last years in the home of his son
Newman. Newman Bishop, Sr., the grandfather of
Franklin H. Bishop, was born in North
Haven, and was there reared and married,
shortly after which event he started out on

1032

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

horseback on a prospecting visit to the State
of Massachusetts. Selecting a tract of timber
land in the town of Russell, he then went
bac'K to Connecticut for his family, and made
the return trip with a team. Upon his arrival
at the chosen spot he at once set about the
erection of a log house, and commenced to
clear a portion of his land. P''or many years
after his settlement here there were neither
railroads nor canals; and the people subsisted
chiefly off the products of their fields and
game, of which there was an abundance. Mr.
Bishop raised sheep; and his wife, who was a
true helpmate, in addition to her household
duties used to card and spin, clothing her
children in homespun of her own manufacture.
She and her husband worked in unison, with
the end in view of securing a comfortable
home and a competence for their later years;
and their perseverance was amply rewarded in
the large farm, with its excellent buildings
and fine improvements, which was the result
of their arduous labor. Here they spent their
declining years in ease and comfort, retired
from the cares and anxieties of life; and here
they passed from earthly scenes, Mr. Bishop
dying at the great age of ninety-eight, and his
wife attaining her ninety-fifth year. He was
prominent in town affairs, and was called
upon to fill various offices, serving with credit
to himself and satisfaction to his townsmen.
His wife, who was before marriage Mary Tut
tle, was a native of North Haven, Conn., and
a daughter of Hezekiah Tuttle.
Their son, Newman Bishop, Jr., was one of
a family of eight children. Pie was born in
the town of Russell, and was brought up to
the life of a farmer, which he always followed,
being a life-long resident of his native town.
He possessed much influence in the commu
nity, filling various town offices, and was
looked up to by all classes, his counsel being
frequently sought and his advice acted upon.
He departed this life at the age of eighty-
eight, his death being sincerely regretted.
The maiden name of his wife was Sally
Holmes. She was born in Connecticut, and
was a daughter of David Holmes (see sketch
of William Holmes). She died at the ripe
age of eighty-three years. The parental

household included two children — Melinda
and Franklin H.
Franklin H. Bishop attended school in his
youth, and assisted his father in the various
duties of the farm, finally becoming associated
with him in its management, and continuing
to make a home with his parents, never being
separated from them while they lived. In
February, 1888, the marriage of Mr. Bishop
with Mrs. Esther (Lizmor) Clement was
solemnized. Mrs. Bishop was born in Dart-
ford, county of Kent, England, being a
daughter of Robert Lizmor, who was a native
of Brentford, county of Middlesex, England,
and a son of John and Mary Lizmor. The
father of Mrs. Bishop was occupied at differ
ent times in various branches of business, and
spent his entire life in his native land, dying
at the age of eighty-four years, his wife hav
ing passed away at the age of fifty-four.
Mrs. Bishop was first married at the age of
nineteen to John H. Clement, a native of the
county of Kent, England; and in 1870 they
came to America, residing in Parksville,
N.Y., for a time, and thence removing to Del
aware County, New York, which was their
place of abode for a brief period. P''rom there
they went to Rondout, in the same State,
thence coming to Massachusetts. Upon their
arrival here they resided first in South Adams,
and then in Dalton, finally removing to the
town of Russell, where they purchased a farm,
and engaged in its cultivation and improve
ment; an(P here Mr. Clement died. By her
first marriage Mrs. Bishop is the mother of
eight children — Esther, Mary, Eliza, Eliza
beth, Ada, John, Annie, and Alice. Mr.
Bishop has been an adherent of the Republi
can party since its formation, and has served
as a member of the Board of Selectmen of
Russell. He keeps well informed on current
events, and enjoys a high reputation as an
intelligent, liberal-minded man.

ILLIAM L. DICKINSON, super
intendent of both the street and
sewer departments of the city of
Springfield, which position he has occupied
for the past six years, was born here on July

WILLIAM L. DICKINSON.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1033

I, 1850. He is the son of Isaac P and Eme
line (Look) Dickinson, his father being a
native of Russell, Mass., born September 6,
1829. Mr. Isaac P. Dickinson came with his
parents to Springfield at the age of twenty-six,
and here became extensively engaged in mar
ket gardening, which he followed with pro
nounced success. He attained a prominent
position in public affairs, having been elected
to both branches of the city government for
several years, and was a very active supporter
of the Republican party and a member of the
County Committee. He is well advanced in
the Masonic Order, and when here was a mem
ber of the Springfield Commandery.
He married the daughter of Jacob Look, a
mechanic and a pioneer in the early days of
Springfield's industries, and had a family of
three children, of whom William L. is the
eldest, the others being Charles C, of Spring
field, and Ada, who married George D. Lang,
also of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Dickin
son moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., about ten years
since, where he is now engaged in the real
estate business, he having amassed a consid
erable fortune by investing in land located in
the vicinity of Forest Park when it was low,
which he was able to dispose of at a handsome
profit. They attended the Second Baptist
Church. Mr. Dickinson's grandfather, Linas
Dickinson, who abandoned agricultural pur
suits, and moved from Russell to Springfield,
where he figured conspicuously in the early
development of the city, accumulated quite a
large amount of property. The Dickinson
family is one of the very oldest in the State.
William L. Dickinson, after attending the
public schools and the Springfield Classical
Institute, pursued an advanced course at a
school in Suffield, Conn., thus receiving a
good practical education. He then engaged
in market gardening, the business under his
energetic direction shortly assuming very
large proportions, employing seventy-five men
and one hundred boys and girls, and cultivat
ing an extensive acreage, numbering at one
time as high as one hundred and twenty-five,
which were located in and around the present
Forest Park. This enterprise became exceed
ingly prosperous, and its energetic promoter

soon attained prominence among the business
men of the city, who, taking advantage of his
ability, drew him into public affairs, the
administration of which he has proved himself
abundantly quali'fied to superintend. After
rendering valuable service to the local Repub
lican party as a member of the City Commit
tee from Ward Six in 1881, he was elected in
turn to both branches of the city government,
and while on the Board of Aldermen served
with distinction as a member of the Commit
tee on Streets, also on the Board of Super
visors and upon the Committee on Fire and
Pauper Departments. At his first election to
the City Council he received all but ninety-
six votes out of the six hundred votes con
tained in the ward; and at his re-election all
parties indorsed him as a candidate, which
caused him to receive the largest individual
vote of any candidate at that time. After
serving three years in the city government, he
was elected Superintendent of Streets, the
duties of which office he assumed on April i,
1889, since which time he has had full charge
of both the streets and sewers.
His department is a most important as well
as an exceedingly busy one, employing in its
different branches a force of from one hundred
to three hundred men; and since becoming its
official head he has introduced the spirit and
energy which is a part and parcel of himself
into each particular branch, it being his ambi
tion to bring his department to the very high
est standard of excellence, and put the streets
in the best possible condition. With this
end in view he conducted an extensive corre
spondence with other cities relative to the
best means of accomplishing the desired
result. He remodelled and reorganized the
department on a new basis, and now has a
most thoroughly disciplined and competent
force, which is kept perfectly free from politi
cal influence, each employee holding his place
solely through merit. His method of carry
ing on public works on strictly business prin
ciples has excited considerable interest in
other cities, so that his advice has been much
sought; and he frequently visits other munici
palities for the purpose of assisting in bring
ing about desired reforms. Mr. Dickinson

1034

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

superintends the entire business of his depart
ment, the contract system being dispensed
with ; and his courteous treatment of his em
ployees has inspired each and all to take a
personal pride in the work, and to aid in
maintaining its well-earned reputation.
Mr. Dickinson is interested in real estate
outside of the city. He is Vice-President
and a member of the Board of Directors of the
Massachusetts Highway Association, which is
composed entirely of practical road builders,
and has been consulted as an expert by the
State Highway Commission. He is a mem
ber of the Hampden Lodge of A. Ph & A. M.,
of Morning Star Chapter, and of Springfield
Commandery. On September i, 1878, he
was united in marriage to Miss Nellie V.,
daughter of Amasa B. Parsons, an old resident
of this city. The home of Mr. and Mrs.
Dickinson is on Long Hill Street.

^mc

EORGE DOHERTY, one of the fore-
\ 3 I most farmers in Southwick, was born
February 2, 1846, in County Done
gal, Ireland. He is the son of Patrick and
Rebecca (Wilke) Doherty, who were both of
Scotch ancestry. Patrick Doherty was a
farmer in easy circumstances in Ireland, and
is still living in that country, at the- advanced
age of eighty-eight. Mrs. Doherty is also
living, and is seventy-one years old. They
reside in Glenby, Donegal. Mr. and Mrs.
Doherty are both members of the Episcopal
church. They had thirteen children, nine of
whom are now living, five being in America.
They are named as follows : James, a farmer
in Southampton; George, the subject of this
biography; Patrick, in Ireland with his par
ents; Samuel, in Easthampton; and Charles,
in the United States Army, the two last-named
being twins; Rebecca, who is with her par
ents; Robert, in Westhampton ; Maria, living
with her father and mother; William, in Aus
tralia. Sarah, John, Jane, and Mary Ann are
deceased. George Doherty received his early educa
tion in Ireland, and also attended school in
this country. He came to America when
eighteen years of age, about the time of the

close of the war, landing at Quebec. The
voyage occupied thirteen days, and Mr. Do
herty joyfully welcomed the first sight of the
land where was to be his future home. He
went to work as a farm hand, receiving eigh
teen dollars a month. When but a short time
in this country, he went to Easthampton, and
was hired by Nathan Lyman, with whom he
remained five years. He then farmed land on
shares for about a year, and subsequently
bought a farm of alDOut one hundred acres.
For some years he carried on general farming
in Southampton, until November, 1872, when
his barn and its contents were burned. He
then sold out, and moved to Westfield, where
he took up farming, and also went into the
trucking business. There he remained until
1877, when he removed to the place where he
now resides. In Westfield also he was burned
out, and lost all he had, which was consid
erable. For his next venture he went into
partnership with Mr. Isaac H. Plumby, and
bought the farm which he now cultivates. It
covered some four hundred acres, mostly tim
ber land ; and for three years the partners
were engaged in lumbering, from which they
realized a neat sum. At the end of that time
Mr. Doherty bought out Mr. Plumby, and now
owns the whole farm. He raises hay, grain,
and tobacco, and has also a first-class dairy.
He is a hard-working and persevering man, as
shown by the results of his labors. He in
curred heavy financial loss when burned out,
the second loss, when he was in the trucking
business, being especially severe; and part of
his farm was rough and mountainous and cov
ered with timber. After the trees were
felled, he converted some of the land into
good planting ground ; and the rest, which is
growing up to timber again, he uses as past
ure for his cattle. Besides his losses by fire,
Mr. Doherty has lost large sums of money
through helping so-called friends, for whom
he signed papers when asked to do so. But
he seems to have the knack of recuperating
each time, and he is classed among the well-
to-do farmers of Southwick to-day. He has
a fine home, and his barns and other buildings
are well kept. Mr. Doherty is a Republican,
and was elected Selectman in 1894. He is a

WILLIAM HOLMES.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1037

member of Woronoco Lodge, No. 74, Inde
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and also of
Metacomet Tribe, No. 28, of the Improved
Order of Red Men. He attends the Congre
gational church.
Mr. Doherty was married April 5, 1871, to
Nellie M., daughter of Thomas and Miranda
(Damon) Rude. Mr. Rude was born in
Huntington, and was a farmer in good circum
stances. -He died at the age of fifty-nine.
His wife was a native of Chesterfield. They
had five children, of whom Mrs. Doherty is
the oldest living. The others are: Charles
M. Rude, a moulder and whip-maker, living
in Westfield ; Merritt, Albert, and Charles,
who are deceased. Mrs. Doherty is an able
helpmeet to her husband, and is a practi
cal Christian, attending the Congregational
church. She is the mother of two children,
namely: Effie J., wife of Cooley A. Griffin, a
farmer in Southwick, born December 13,
1872; and James W. Doherty, born December
8, 1874, who lives with his parents.

ILLIAM HOLMES, a thrifty agri
culturist of the town of Russell, of
which he has been a life-long resi
dent, was born on the farm where he now
resides on September 18, 1830, a son of Will
iam and Bethia (Ward) Holmes. The pater
nal grandfather, David Holmes, was born in
the locality known as Nine Partners, in the
State of New York, removing thence to Tor
rington, Conn., where he resided for a time.
He then went to Winsted, where he followed
agricultural pursuits for a time, and subse
quently removed to Russell, purchasing land
in the southern part, which he improved, and
upon which he resided the remainder of his
life. William Holmes, Sr., the father of the sub
ject of this biography, was born in Torring
ton, Conn., and was twenty-two years old
when he accompanied his parents to the town
of Russell. At that time there were neither
railroads nor canals, and the people were
obliged to team their produce to Westfield and
Springfield, doing all their marketing there.
Mr. Holmes purchased the farm which is now

the home of his son William, and shortly
afterward took for his wife Miss Bethia Ward,
a daughter of Amos and Bethia (Washburn)
Ward and a native of Russell. Her father
was born in Middletown, Conn., and, remov
ing from, his native State, became a pioneer
of Russell, where he purchased about five
hundred acres of land, most of it covered with
timber. Of this he improved quite a tract,
and upon it resided until his death, which
occurred when he was in his sixty-second
year. His wife died at the age of forty-four.
William Holmes, Sr., died at the advanced age
of eighty years, his wife attaining her eighty-
second year. They were the parents of four
children — Elvira, Miner, Olive, and William.
William Holmes, Jr., the subject of this
memoir, was educated in the public schools,
and commenced when young to assist in the
labors of the farm, to the ownership of which
he succeeded, and upon which, with the ex
ception of two years, he has ever since re-
si(ded, successfully engaged in his chosen
occupation. On November 6, 1859, Mr. Holmes was
united in marriage with Miss Phebe A. Stew
art. Mrs. Holmes was born in Chester on
August 4, 1832, and is a daughter of James
and Anna (Lathrop) Stewart, the former of
whom was a native of Blandford and a son of
William Stewart, who, it is supposed, was a
native of the same town and of Scotch ances
try. William Stewart was an agriculturist,
and spent his last years on his farm in the
town of Blandford. He married Mary Knox,
who was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. She also
died on the home farm. Their son James,
following in the footsteps of his father, be
came a farmer, and after marriage removed to
Chester, where he lived for a few years, then
returned to Blandford, where he purchased a
farm, upon which he passed the remaining
years of his life, dying at the venerable" age
of ninety-three. His wife, Anna Lathrop,
was born in New Milford, Conn., and was a
daughter of Daniel and Grace (Loverage)
Lathrop. She died at the age of sixty-nine,
having reared six children — Charlotte D.,
Mary G., Phebe A., Spelman ]., Sheldon W.,
and Amasa L.

1 038

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Mr. and Mrs. Holmes are the parents of
three children — Cora E., Millie B., and
Lena R. Mr. Holmes has been a stanch sup
porter of the Republican party since its organ
ization. He has served for a number of years
as a member of the Board of Selectmen, and
is also a member of the Blandford Agricult
ural Society. Mr. Holmes has always been
an indefatigable worker; and his present suc
cess is the result of his industry, honesty, and
integrity. The family are most pleasant,
social people, and are held in high esteem
throughout" the community. A portrait of
Mr. Holmes will be found on an adjoining
page.

KRANKLIN BRAMBLE, of Ludlow, an
extensive contractor and a veteran of
the Civil War, was born on the site of
the present village of fndian Orchard, January
25, 1 83 1. His father, Orrin Bramble, was
born at Lyme, Conn., in 1807, and came to
Massachusetts at the age of twenty-two years.
He settled in the town of Springfield, and
immediately after his marriage rented of Dr.
Osgood a farm which was located a few miles
north-east of the city, in what is now Indian
Orchard, his house being at the time his son
P'ranklin was born the only residence in that
locality. He conducted the farm on shares
until 1836, when he purchased another farm
situated upon the Boston road, where he re
sided for a period of twenty-five years, after
which he sold, and resided in different places,
finally settling in Wilbraham. He there
passed his declining years, and died in 1870.
The maiden name of his wife was Pamelia
Slater. She was born at Springfield in 181 1,
daughter of Anthony and Louisa (P'rost)
Slater, also natives of that place, and died in
1863, having reared a family of thirteen
children. Franklin Bramble received his education in
the public schools, and at the age of ten years
began to assist his father in supporting the
family. He resided with his parents until
reaching the age of seventeen years, and from
that time was engaged in employment of vari
ous kinds, until in August, 1862, he enlisted

as a private in Company K, Twenty-seventh
Massachusetts Volunteers. Joining that regi
ment at Newbern, N.C, he served until Janu
ary, 1864, when he re-enlisted in the same
regiment, with which he served throughout
the remainder of the struggle, participating in
several memorable engagements, among them
those at Goldsboro, Kingston, Gun Swamp,
and Little Washington, Cold Harbor, and
Petersburg. He was mustered out in July,
1865, and returned to his home, where he
soon commenced operations as a contractor
upon public works, his first job being the con
struction of a public highway at Pndian
Orchard. He has since acquired a wide repu
tation as a capable and reliable contractor,
and has fulfilled extensive contracts on both
the Framingham & Mansfield and the Fram
ingham & Lowell Railroads, together with the
wire works at Palmer and the gas works at
Wallingford, Conn. He constructed water
works for Weymouth, Quincy, Marblehead,
Swampscott, and Maynard in Massachusetts,
Montgomery, Decatur, and other places in
Alabama, Racine, Wis., Marion, Ohio, Dur
ham, N.C, and Chester, Pa.
In 1854 he was united in marriage to Miss
Julia Thayer, of Ludlow, daughter of Arnold
Thayer; and their three children are as fol
lows: Frank Dwight, Hattie E., and Gracie
M. The son, Frank D. Bramble, married
Estelle Whitney, and has four children,
namely: Arthur, Lena, Ida, and Vina. Hat
tie married Frank Rindge, and has four
children — Nellie, Louis, Frederick, and
Raymond. Mr. Bramble in 1867 settled upon
his present farm in Ludlow, which he has
greatly improved, and now has a fine set of
buildings with modern conveniences. He has
been a Republican in politics for many years,
and has served as a Selectman. Mrs. Bram
ble is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church.

jOLONEE CHARLES L. YOUNG,
of Springfield, manufacturer of lodge
and society regalias and parapher
nalia and a well-known member of
many fraternal societies, was born at Colum-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1039

bus, Ohio, May 23, 1850, son of William H.
and Maria (Biddle) Young. His father was a
native of Charlestown, Jefferson County, Va.,
born August 18, 18 19; but when a young man
he moved to Columbus, where he followed the
carpenter's trade. He became a very promi
nent contractor and builder of that city, and
erected some of its fine public edifices, to
gether with many private residences. He
attained a position of eminence in Odd Fel
lowship, having been Past Grand of Central
Lodge, No. 23, and Past Chief Patriarch of
Capitol Encampment, also Past Sachem of
Algonquin Tribe, Improved Order of Red
Men, and Past Chancellor of Joseph Dowdall
Lodge of Knights of Pythias. In his relig
ious faith he was a Methodist, and was a
member of the society worshipping at Wesley
Chapel in Columbus, Ohio. Plis wife was
born in North Radnorshire, Wales, November
27, 1819, and was a daughter of John Biddle,
who emigrated with his family to Richwood,
Union County, Ohio, when she was four years
of age. By her marriage with William H.
Young she had seven children — George H.,
who now is a resident of Evans, Col.; Elvira
K., who died young; Mary E., wife of Edwin
Lawrence, of Columbus ; Charles L. ; Alfred
Kelley, also deceased; Margaret A., wife of
G. A. Ramsey, of Columbus; and Joseph,
also of that city. The mother died in 1893.
After leaving the high school of his native
city, Charles L. entered on January 15, 1864,
the employ of Walkup & Ury as an errand
boy, remaining with this firm until 1869, hav
ing advanced to the position of head clerk.
He then accepted a position as travelling
salesman with Reed, Jones & Co., manufact
urers and wholesale dealers in boots and shoes,
his territory extending from Western New
York to Denver, Col. ; and he became well
and favorably known among commercial trav
elling men, as well as the trade in general.
He continued thus engaged until the time of
his removal to Springfield, where he was one
of the organizers of the C W. Mutell Manu
facturing Company, and was President of that
corporation until November 21, 1892, when
he was elected Secretary of the Odd Fellows
Mutual Relief Association, which was one of

the largest societies of its kind in New Eng
land. Disposing of his interest in the Mutell
Company, he worked exclusively in attending
to the duties of his office and promoting the
welfare of the association until November 21,
1893, when he formed a partnership with
L. H. Hosley for the manufacture and sale of
society goods. The new firm has been very
successful from the start, and they now occupy
an important place among the leading manu
facturers of their special line in New England.
Mr. Young became prominent in public af
fairs at Columbus, Ohio, and was for two
years a Police Commissioner of that city.
He was a candidate for the office of clerk of
Franklin County; but, the Republicans being
in the minority, he was defeated by his Demo
cratic opponent. He rendered most valuable
service to his party as a campaign speaker,
and was engaged by the State Central Com
mittee to stump the State of Ohio, which he
did with gratifying success. The Massachu
setts Republican State Committee have also
availed themselves of his services on several
occasions, and he has proved himself a strong
and fluent speaker and thoroughly conversant
with political affairs.
He is particularly interested in fraternal
societies, and probably no man is better
known or more thoroughly posted in the affairs
of the different leading orders of which he is
a member. He is Past Grand Master of the
Odd Fellows of the State of Ohio, having on
the 2 1st of January, 1871, united himself with
Central Lodge, No. 23, and held all of the
various subordinate lodge offices, together
with those of the Encampment, and at length
reached the very highest office within the gift
of the Grand Lodge of the State — that of
Grand Master — which exalted position he held
during the years 1884 and 1885. He served
as a representative to the Sovereign Grand
Lodge at the sessions held at Columbus, Ohio,
and Topeka, Kan., in the years 1888 and
1889, and was appointed upon the staff of
Lieutenant-general John C Underwood as
Assistant Quartermaster with rank of Major,
afterward being promoted to the rank of Colo
nel, which he now holds.
He has reached the thirty-second degree in

1040

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Masonry, being a member of the Blue Lodge,
Chapter, Council, Commandery, Royal and
Select Masters, Lodge of Perfection, Princes
of Jerusalem, Rose Croix, and the Cincinnati
Consistory. He is also connected with Pyra
mid Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of Bridge
port, Conn., Adelphi Chapter of the Order of
Eastern Star, of Ousamequin Tribe of Im
proved Order of Red Men, in which he has
risen to the position of Past Great Repre
sentative to the Great Council of the United
States. Besides the above, he is Past Chancel
lor of Springfield Lodge, No. 63, Knights of
Pythias, and Outer Guard of the Grand Lodge
of the State, and of Harmony Council, No. 9,
of United American Mechanics, also Past
Representative to the National Camp of the
Patriotic Sons of America, a member of Lin
coln Grove Druids, of Columbus, Ohio, Buf
falo Legion of Select Knights, Buffalo, N.Y.,
the Royal Arcanum, Pilgrim Fathers, Excel
lent Senator of J. G. Holland Senate, No.
354, K. A. E. O., and several other orders.
Mr. Young is likewise a member of the Ma
sonic Club of this city, the Commercial Trav
ellers' and Republican Clubs, Past Supreme
Officer of the Commercial Travellers' Asso
ciation of America, Past President of the
Springfield division of the Travellers' Pro
tective Association, the Toledo Travelling-
Men's Association, and the Columbus Com
mercial Travellers' Association of Columbus,
Ohio. He was a member of the General Court in
1895, representing the Seventh Hampden Dis
trict. He was married to Cora E. Richardson
at Worthington, Ohio, October i, 1872.
This union has been blessed by three children
— Elva Hulburd, Charles L., Jr., and Eliza
beth R. Younsj.

'AMES E. TAYLOR, the efficient Sec
retary and Treasurer of the Stevens
Arms and Tool Company at Chicopee
Falls, was born in this town on the
1 8th day of January, 1829. His grandfather,
Oliver Taylor, whose birthplace is unknown,
was a successful farmer in South Hadley,
Mass., who lived to be eighty-two years old.

During the War of 1812 he was drafted, but
was not called into actual service. He and
his wife, Lucy White Taylor, were members
of the Congregational church. Their chil
dren were: Sylvester, Erastus, Alvira (Mrs.
Judd), PWeline (Mrs. Woodward), and Sally
(Mrs. Smith).
Sylvester, the first-born, whose advent was
in 1793, received but meagre schooling, edu
cational advantages being very limited at that
time. When a young man, he earned his
livelihood as a butcher, and was noted for his
strictly honest dealings. About the year
1826 he was induced to open a trade at Chico
pee Falls, and thither he drove his meat cart
twice a week, supplying the townsfolk with
joints and cuts that were always just what
they were represented to be, and proving him
self a benefactor to housekeepers ami pro
viders. In 1828, having previously invested
the entire amount of his earnings, he was
obliged to borrow a thousand dollars from Mr.
Dwight, who had instigated the enterprise,
and to whom he gave his note for security.
This paper was lost, but in due time the debt
was honorably paid by Mr. Taylor. There
being no other meat vender in Chicopee Falls,
he did a flourishing business here, and soon
added provisions to his trade. He also en
gaged in the manufacture of bricks, and lat
terly was a successful dealer in real estate.
As he prospered, he invested in land, and in
1854 was the owner of four farms in South
Hadley, two of which he sold, and bought two
other estates near the Falls. Having trans
ferred his business to his sons, he at length
retired from the weary round of bargain and
traffic. He was a Whig, and served in vari
ous offices, and was a member of the legislat
ure of 1836.
He married Miss Sarah Eaton, of South
Pladley, only daughter of Justin and Ellen
(Chapin) Eaton. Mrs. Taylor had two
brothers — Justin and James. Mr. Taylor
died at eighty-eight years of age, his wife at
an age ten years less than his own. To them
were born ten children: Ann Sophia (Mrs.
West); Harriet, who died in her youth; Susan
C, who married Louis Buckland, and is dead;
George S., who married Asenath Cobb; Bar-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1041

num, deceased, who married Elizabeth Curtis;
Charles, who was married twice — first to
Elizabeth Davenport, second to Julia Curtis,
whom he survives; James E., of this sketch;
V/illiam O., deceased, who married Mary
Barker; Sarah J., deceased, wife of George
Nettleton; and David E., who married Adelia
Withey. James E. Taylor purchased a part of his
father's business when he retired from active
life, but sold out after two years, and accepted
a position as superintendent of a large mining
company. He invested afterward in some
mines which he let to be worked, and in 1855
returned home, and was in the same year mar
ried to Miss Electa Buckland, a daughter of
Captain Norman Buckland, of Manchester,
Conn. Mr. Taylor, now in partnership with
his brother, B. W. Taylor, re-entered com
mercial life, and added to their general
merchandise a complete line of musical
instruments and sewing machines, this vent
ure being a pronounced success. In 1864
Mr. James E. Taylor sold out his share of the
concern, and purchased an interest in the
Raymond Paper Collar Company, in which
business he remained only for one year. At
the end of that time he sold his interest, and
invested in the Stevens Arms and Tool Com
pany, of which he is now agent and Treasurer.
This company manufacture the celebrated
Stevens rifles, shot-guns, reloading tools,
shells, and machinists' tools. Their rifles
and guns have a world-wide reputation for
superiority in accuracy, simplicity, portabil
ity, and durability.
Mr. Taylor has a handsome home at 71
Church Street, which presents an imposing ap
pearance amid its spacious and beautiful lawn.
The death of the three younger children has
cast a shadow over this home, iDut the parents'
hopes are centred upon their one son, Frank
S., who is Assistant Superintendent of the
Linden Paper Company of Holyoke. Mr.
Taylor is a loyal Republican, and has served
on the School Committee and Board of Select
men of Chicopee P^alls. He belongs to the
Masonic Order, and is a member of Belcher
Lodge. Both he and his wife are members of
the Congregational church.

ZEE A. PACKARD, of the Spring
field firm of Meekins, Packard & Co.,
was born in Conway, Mass., Sep
tember 22, 1849. His parents were
Bradley and Mary (Webster) Packard. The
father was a native of Conway, where he lived
on the same farm until he was sixty years old.
Pie was a well-educated man, with broad and
liberal ideas, keeping pace with current
events; but he was of a retiring disposition
and no seeker for notoriety. In his latter
years he removed to the centre of Conway,
where he built a house, and remained until his
death in March, 1881, at the age of seventy-
three. His wife was a native of Goshen, a
town in the same part of the State. They had
three children besides our subject: P'anny, the
wife of G. W. Barney, of South Hadley Falls;
John Bradley, who lives on the old homestead
in Conxvay; and Elvira, who was the wife of
William C. Howes, of Conway, and died in
June, 1893. The parents were menibers of
the Congregational church, in which Mr.
Packard was very active, having professed re
ligion early in life.
At the age of fourteen Azel A. Packard
entered the employ of Azel D. Mathews &
Sons, of Brooklyn, N.Y., as errand boy; but
at the end of a year he returned to the Conway
Academy, to complete his studies. Thence
he entered a country store near by; and at the
end of another year he secured a position in
the old dry-goods store of T. B. Root & Co.,
Greenfield, where he served in the carpet
department for six years. Mr. Meekins, his
cousin, then offered him a position in the car
pet department of Tinkham & Co., Spring
field, whose store at that time was the largest
and best in the Connecticut valley. After
three years more he became a partner in the
firm of Meekins, Packard & Co., which
was then established, the coworkers being
Emery Meekins, Mr Packard, and William
G. "Wheat. Their first plant was in a store
measuring twenty feet by seventy, where they
kept only a small stock of carpets and house
furnishing goods, their only helper being a
colored boy; but they were a host in them
selves, ami customers felt that they had the
personal attention of the firm. Trade so in-

1 042

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

creased that soon the'walls of their little store
were too narrow ; and the firm moved into new
quarters, fifty feet by eighty, at the corner
of Main and Hillman Streets. In less than
two years they were obliged to triple their
floor room, and in the new store the dry-goods
department was found on the left side and the
carpets on the right. Two years later they
had six times as much space as when they
first started; but again the quarters became
too small, and this time there was an expan
sion on the north side by an addition of a new
apartment, forty by sixty feet, to be devoted
to rich dress goods." In two years another
addition was built on the rear of the store,
increasing its depth by fifty feet; and this
brought the carpet space nearer the public
demand, the main floor and basement furnish
ing nearly twenty-seven thousand square feet.
Meekins, Packard & Co., however, had no
notion of resting on their oars; and the next
year they took the rear half of the lower story
of the Curtis Block, thus gaining an area of
fifteen hundred feet for the new drapery depart
ment, which proved so successful as to neces
sitate the addition of the Hillman -Street half
of the first story of the Curtis Block. The
next year they took the upper story also, and
added a furniture department. Next the
cloak and suit business demanded more room ;
and three apartments were taken in the Evans
House overhead, each twenty feet square. In
1892 they erected a two-story structure on
Hillman Street, adjoining the rear of their
old store; and this was used entirely for addi
tional furniture and carpet space. In 1894
the new annex was carried up four more sto
ries, the upper being appropriated to the car
pet workshop and other stories to furniture.
The whole mammoth establishment is one
of the largest in New England, occupying
now a space ten times as great as that required
eight years ago. The carpets, mattings, and
rugs demand twenty-one thousand square feet
of floor space, an increase about matching that
of the dry-goods section. There are eighty
thousand square feet devoted to furniture ; and
the drapery department, fifty feet by sixty in
dimensions, is another outcome of the eventful
years since 1887. The firm justly attributes

such phenomenal success to their personal
conduct of affairs, the work being carefully
divided between them. Mr. Meekins looks
diligently to the finances, considering no detail
too trivial for his careful scrutiny. Mr. Pack
ard makes a specialty of furniture and carpet
ing, regarding it a privilege as well as a duty
to know all about them and make everything
complete by expert attention. To build up
such a department in a whole lifetime would
be enough credit for any man.
Mr. Packard's wife, whom he married on
Bunker Hill Day, 1874, was Mary Vilas,
daughter of Cyrus K. Vilas, a prominent drug
gist and office-holder in his native town,
Alstead, N.H. Mrs. Packard was a graduate
of Tilden Seminary in West Lebanon, N.H.
Mr Packard was one of the organizers, and is
now a Director, of the Western Fire Insurance
Company. Pie has belonged to the Winthrop
and Nayasset Clubs ever since their organiza
tion. He and his wife are members of the
First Church, he having been on the parish
committee fourteen years. They reside at 36
High Street.

ILLIAM BOYLE, a progressive
farmer and well-known resident
of Southwick, Hampden County,
Mass., was born in Russell, a town in the
same county and State, July 4, 1832, and is
the son of John and Betsey (Stevens) Boyle.
John Boyle was born in Ireland, and came to
this country when a boy. He worked on the
railroad most of the time during his life, and
being energetic and frugal accumulated money,
and purchased real estate of considerable
x^alue. He became owner of several houses
and also of a saw-mill and grist-mill in the
town of Southwick, At the time of his death
he had risen to a state of prosperity ; and, as
success in any rank of life commands respect,
John Boyle received in his old age the regard
and esteem of his townspeople. He died at
the home where his son now lives, at the age
of eighty-seven years. John Boyle was twice
married. His first wife, the mother of the
subject of this sketch, died quite young. His
second wife lived to the age of sixty-seven

a«4.^'

<!^

WILLIAM BOYLE.

BIOGRAPHICAL RE'VIEW

1045

years. He was the father of a large family of
children, but one of whom is now living —
William. '
William Boyle received his education in the
schools of Easthampton, Plampshire County,
living with his parents and helping his father
on the farm till his eighte.enth year His
life has been chiefly devoted to agricultural
pursuits and looking after the estate which
he inherited from his father.
Mr Boyle was twice married. In 1851,
being then in his twentieth year, he was
united to Miss Cornelia Viets, who died in
1886, leaving two children — Elizabeth, wife of
William F. Saunders, residing in Southwick,
who has six children; and Catherine Isabella,
wife of Chester L. Galpin, who has eight chil
dren, and also resides in Southwick. His
second marriage was in 1891 to Miss S. Lizzie
Brace, who was born in Wallingford, New
Haven County, Conn., September 28, 1856,
a daughter of John W. and Elizabeth (Doug
lass) Brace. John Brace was a native of Con
necticut, born December i, 1827. He was
a mechanic by trade, and was an industrious
man, successful in all his undertakings, prose
cuting his work with good judgment and dis
criminating power. His most notable achieve
ment was the invention of the compound to
which he gave the name of Roach Extermina
tor. This invention has now become famous,
and has proved a profitable thing for its in
ventor and his heirs. Mr. Brace was a Repub
lican in his political views. He died in
Springfield April 12, 1882. His wife was
born in Plainfield, Windham Count)', Conn.,
and is still living, making her home with her
daughter, Mrs. Boyle. John and Elizabeth
Brace were the parents of four children, as
follows: George W. Brace, M. D., residing in
Southwick; Charles W. , a compositor in the
office of the Springfield Republican, residing
in Springfield; S. Lizzie, wife of William
Boyle, of this narrative; and John D., agent
for the Exterminator, who also resides in
Springfield. William Boyle is considered one of the rep
resentative men in the town of Southwick, and
has taken some part in its civil welfare, as
occasion served. He is a Democrat, politi

cally, and has filled the office of constable;
but his chief interest is the management of his
estate. This consists of about one hundred
acres under successful cultivation; and in ad
dition he has the care of various parcels of
real estate in Southwick. As a land proprie
tor and united with the Brace family, Mr.
Boyle represents one of the substantial resi
dents of the town, as well as one of its enter
prising farmers. Mr. and Mrs. Boyle are
members of the Congregational church known
as the P'irst Church in the city of Springfield.
A portrait of Mr. Boyle accompanies this
article, which, .as representing one of the sub
stantial men of Hampden County, is a wel
come addition to the contents of this volume.

/^TeORGE ROBINSON, of judicial au-
y '3 1 thority and title in the town of
^-"^ Palmer, Hampden County, Mass.,
was born in Hubbardston in this State, Octo
ber I, 1835. Judge Robinson counts back
five generations to the first American ancestor,
who also bore the name of George, and who
was born in Wales, Great Britain, in 1656.
This George Robinson came to Massachusetts,
and settled in Needham, where he died in
1726, leaving a son of his name, who settled
in Dudley, Worcester County, where he bought
seven hundred and twenty-four acres of land
for two hundred and twenty-two pounds. The
second of the name left a family of seven chil
dren — Mary; Sarah; Eliakim, who died; an
other son of the same name; Paul; Silas; and
Samuel. F'rom the last three brothers the
name has descended. Paul, the great-grand
father of the Judge, was a man prominent in
the affairs of his locality and a large land
owner. He married Miss Mary Jones, who
died, leaving six children — Eliza, Eliakim,
Mary, Sarah, Elijah, and Hannah. His
second wife, PPannah Tremble, was also
the mother of six children — Elijah, Aaron,
Mary, Moses, John, and Mehitabel. Moses
Robinson, son of Paul, was born May 3, 1757,
in Dudley. After his marriage to Miss Han
nah Smith, he moved to Athens, Vt. , where
he speculated in land. He also bought and
sold lands in Connecticut and in Wendell,

1046

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Palmer, and Greenwich, Mass., besides en
gaging in farming. He served as a soldier in
the American Revolution. Both he and his
wife were members of the Congregational
church. He died May 22, 1839, and was sur
vived by his widow until P'ebruary, 1843.
They were the parents of eleven children;
namely, Hannah, Sarah, Lyman, Mary, Ly
man, Moses, Smith, Betsy, Esther, Ebenezer,
and Hannah. Ebenezer, who became the
father of the subject of this sketch, was col
lege-bred, and fitted himself for the ministe
rial life. He then went to Boston, and stud
ied medicine under Dr. Thomas, teaching
school during the winters. His first profes
sional work was in Haverhill, where he began
practice. On the 26th of May, 1825, he was
married to Miss Eliza Wales, whose father,
Royal Wales, was a farmer and an extensive
manufacturer of satinets, in which enterprise
he amassed a large fortune. Pie was a repre
sentative of the family from which the town of
Wales derived its name. His wife, who was
before her marriage Miss Pallis Cardington,
died quite young, leaving two daughters,
Eliza and Sally. Dr. Ebenezer Robinson be
sides being a physician was also a minister of
the gospel, at first a Unitarian and later a
Universalist. He died at Warren, March 10,
1861. His wife survived him thirty years,
dying May 12, 1891. Their children were:
Charles, who was born F'ebruary 3, 1834, and
died at two years of age; George, whose birth
is recorded above; Christopher, born January
-7. 1837, died in infancy; and Charles S. , who
was born July 4, 1840, enlisted in the ranks
of the Forty-third Massachusetts Volunteers,
and died in P-'almer, July 28, 1885.
George, the second son, immediately upon
leaving school took a position as clerk in E.
Brown's hardware store in Palmer, where he
remained for six years. He was afterward
clerk for a year in a similar store in Salem,
Mass., which was during the year 1857. After
his marriage he bought a leather establish
ment, the especial line of which was the cur
rying of rough leather, which he sold after
two years. He then bought a hardware and
furniture business at Ware, which he con
ducted until 1866, when he entered as a part

ner the paper manufactory at Belchertown.
Shortly afterward the mill was burned, and he
came to Palmer, where he was a clerk for Mr.
Eben Brown for a short time before opening
a hardware store of his own. This he con
tinued to conduct until 1886, when he sold
out. He was united in marriage to Miss Mary
Louise Breckinridge, who was born August
12, 1833, a daughter of Azel and Eliza W.
(Smith) Breckinridge. Mrs. Robinson's
grandparents, Obadiah and Chloe (Watson)
Breckinridge, were among the first settlers of
Northern Palmer, where her father was born
and where in 1828 he bought a hundred acres"
of land near the village and built a small
house, xvhich still stands. Later he built a
large house and barns. Mr. Azel Breckin
ridge besides farming dealt extensively in
lumber, buying tracts of woodland and prepar
ing lumber for the markets. Both parents were
actively engaged in church work; and Mr
Breckinridge was superintendent of the Sun
day-school of the Congregational church, in
which both held their membership. He died
in 1858, aged fifty-three. His wife was horn
in Monson, her parents being John and Lucy
(Cooley) Smith, the former a farmer and
cooper. Their seven children were: Marcus,
Evelyna, Eliza W., Eli, Alfred, Emily, and
Julia E. Mrs. Breckinridge is still living
at the old homestead.
Judge and Mrs. Robinson have had six chil
dren — Ellen Eliza, born December i, 1861,
died December 21, 1861; a second daughter,
who also died in infancy; Mary Eliza, born
May 3, 1864, now a librarian in Palmer;
Helen Louise, born April 3, 1867, a teacher;
George Eben, born March 14, 1869, died May
8, 1869; an infant, born and died May 6,
1871. In the seventies he was appointed Special
Justice; and upon the death of Judge J. G.
Allen he received the appointment of the
judgeship which he still holds. In 1887 he
bought one hundred and seventy acres of land
in Palmer, which he improved to the utmost
and in which he takes a very great interest.
Judge Robinson built the first silo in Hamp
den County; and, while preparing the corn for

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1047

it one day, his left hand was caught in the
machine, and was so crushed that both hand
and arm had to be amputated. This accident
occurred on the 7th of October, 1887. Judge
Robinson is a member of the Thomas P.odge,
A. F. & A. M., Hampden Chapter, Washing
ton Council, and Springfield Commandery, of
the Eastern Star Revere Chapter, and also of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and
is Past Grand Master of Palmer, Agawam En
campment, Springfield, and Rebecca Lodge.
He also holds the position of Past Master of
Eden Lodge of Ware, A. F. & A. M., and
also of Thomas Lodge. In politics the Judge
is zealously Republican. Both he and Mrs.
Robinson are active and earnest members of
the Universalist church.

'AMUEL L. WHEELER, superin
tendent of the fire alarm telegraph
of Springfield, Mass., has been con
nected with the fire department of
this city since 1881, having been call man and
assistant foreman of Hose No. 3 for the first
six years; but since 1887 he has occupied his
present position, under his supervision the ter
ritory covered by its wires having been more
than doubled and the number of boxes in
creased from thirty-four to eighty-four. The
system has been greatly improved, more mod
ern apparatus having been introduced, among
the new devices being electrical door-open
ings. Under a new act of legislature calling
for a supervisor of all telegraph, telephone,
and other electric wires, Mr. Wheeler was
appointed to that office in 1891 ; and all of the
city wires are now under his restriction and
supervision. He is a native of Hampden
County, born at Chicopee, October 27, 1861,
being a son of William and Emeline (Mans
field) Wheeler
Mr. Wheeler's grandfather, Samuel Cook
Wheeler, was born in New Ipswich, N.H.,
and there spent his entire life, dying in 1876,
aged eighty-nine years. His father had emi
grated from England during the Revolutionary
War William Wheeler, son of Samuel C,
was born in New Ipswich, N.H., in 1815;
and, after carrying on a successful butchering

business there for several years, he removed in
1843 to Chicopee, and there continued the
same profitable occupation until his death in
1862. Pie was a man of sound judgment, well
versed in public matters, and served as a val
uable town and county official many yearSj
having been Tax Collector and County Con
stable. He was a member of the Masonic
fraternity, and in his religious belief coin
cided with the doctrines of the Baptist church,
to which he and his wife belonged. He mar
ried Emeline Mansfield, also a native of New
Ipswich, born in 1817. She lived until 1885,
and left a family of five children, as follows:
William E., of Chicopee; Wilhelmina
Amanda, widow of Joseph Manegin, of Spring
field ; Emma P., wife of Leander Comstock,
of Springfield ; Martha Jane, wife of H.
Glynn, of Springfield; and Samuel L. , the
subject of this brief sketch.
Samuel L. Wheeler acquired his education
in the excellent public schools of Chicopee,
being graduated from its high school and re
maining in the town of his birth until 1881,
when he came to Springfield, which has since
been his home. After working for a while in
the Smith & Wesson factory, he entered the
fire department as a call man, and three years
later was appointed assistant sujaerintendent
of the fire alarm telegraph, and in 1887
was made superintendent. Since that time
he has given his entire attention to his official
duties, the work of the department having
increased so largely the past few years that
he is obliged to keep not only an assistant
but frequently several other persons employed.
His fine office is fitted up in a most conven
ient and comfortable manner after plans of
his own, and there he is usually hard at work.
Under his intelligent supervision the fire de
partment of Springfield is acknowledged to be
one of the finest and best-organized in the
State, always rendering prompt and efficient
service. In his political views he has the
courage of his convictions, and usually votes
independent of party restrictions. Socially,
Mr Wheeler is a valued member of Roswell
Lee Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and belongs to
the Morning Star Chapter and the Springfield
Council.

1048

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

On July 16, 1883, Mr. Wheeler was united
in marriage with Fannie E. Burwell, a native
of Enfield, Mass., and the daughter of Charles
E. Burwell, now a respected resident of
Springfield and the inventor of the first fric
tion clutch ever manufactured. They have
one child, William Samuel, who is the life
of their pleasant home on Greenwood Street,
where they have lived the past five years. Mr.
and Mrs. Wheeler are regular attendants and
supporters of the Baptist church on Carew
Street.

FRANK NICHOLS, V.S., one of
the foremost men in his line of busi
ness in Springfield, was born at Pen-
field, N."V., August 15, 1847, son of
Ezra J. and Hannah (Hipp) Nichols. The
father was born in the vicinity of the Cats-
kills, living there until 1856, when he re
moved to Adrian, Mich., where he spent his
remaining years. Mrs. Nichols died when
quite young leaving the following children:
B. S., a resident of Coldwater, Mich.; Celia,
now deceased who married William Taylor;
Stanley L., who resides in San Luis, Cal. ;
Cornelia, the wife of Isaac Waring, of
Rochester, N.Y.; Edwin W., deceased, for
merly a practising veterinary surgeon in com
pany with the subject; Jay G. B., of Santiago,
Cal.; B. Frank, the subject of this sketch;
Theodore R., a farmer in Mason, Mich.; and
Frederic, of Kalamazoo, Mich.
B. Frank Nichols was educated in his
Michigan home, and at the early age of fifteen
years enlisted, with three of his older brothers
— Stanley, Edwin, and Jay — on August 16,
1862, in Company F, Fourth Michigan Cav
alry, he being one of the youngest men in the
rank and file during the whole war. He was
sent with his regiment to Louisville, Ky.,
and thence to Stone River, where he took an
active part in the battle. During the autumn
of 1862 this regiment made several attacks on
Morgan's guerillas, and on the 13th of De
cember, by a forced march, captured the
pickets at Franklin, Tenn. In May, 1863,
the Fourth Michigan Cavalry led a charge
into camp of three regiments of cavalry, and

took fifty-five prisoners, besides capturing the
colors of the First Alabama. According to
the roster of this gallant regiment the list of
its engagements numbered ninety-seven; and
it added to its renown by capturing the rebel
president, Jefferson Davis, in May, 1865.
On the Sunday evening preceding the capture
three hundred men, under charge of Lieuten
ant Colonel Pritchard, who was afterward
appointed General, were ordered out under
sealed orders, and, after marching all night,
rested, and fed the horses about daylight.
Continuing the march throughout Monday,
they went into camp about nine o'clock in the
evening, in the midst of a terrific thunder
storm. Mr. Nichols was placed on picket
duty that night. In the morning the men
were mounted, and continued their march;
and about noon, Tuesday, they reached Haw-
kinsville, Ga., where the orders were to be
opened. Colonel Pritchard there met a de
tachment of the First Wisconsin Regiment,
and, after breaking the seal, read his orders,
and, holding council with the officers of the
Wisconsin detachment, found that both were
there for the same purpose; namely, the capt
ure of General Davis. Colonel Pritchard
called for one hundred and fifty volunteers
from his three hundred men, but only one
hundred and twenty-eight responded, among
these being our subject. After stripping
their saddles as closely as possible, and
bunching their chattels on the ground, the
volunteers were ordered to pick the best horses
of the party, and start forward. Arriving at
an old grist-mill toward sunset, the party
stopped for rest and to feed and water their
horses, when they continued on their way.
Colonel Pritchard had a longer route to trav
erse than the Wisconsin men, but at two
o'clock on the morning of May 10, 1865, they
arrived at Irwinville, where through an old
darky they learned that there was a party in
camp a short distance beyond the town. 'Tak
ing the man as a guide, the Colonel ordered
thirty men to dismount, and to proceed noise
lessly to the camp, which they were to sur
round, and under no condition to allow any
living person to pass outside the guard. They
were to remain thus until the break of day,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1049

when an officer was sent out with a squad of
men to picket the road, as there were rumors
of rebels advancing toward them. Soon after,
perceiving a body of soldiers coming, fire was
opened upon them; but that body proved to
be the Wisconsin detachment. An attack was
soon made upon the tents of the camping
party, there being two, one of them occupied
by Jefferson Davis, his wife, her sister, and
the children and servants, and the other by
Davis's staff. One of the soldiers opened the
tent door, and to his great surprise was con
fronted by a lady, who indignantly expressed
her surprise that he should venture into a
lady's apartments. A few minutes later three
persons, apparently women, came outside the
tent; and Mrs. Davis asked a soldier if he
would not allow her mother to go to the creek
for some water. He, being off duty, did not
reply; and the women moved toward the
guards, when a soldier, named George Mon
ger, noticed that one of the party wore cavalry
boots, and, ordering the supposed woman to
throw up her arms, Jeff Davis stood revealed,
clothed in a dark gray Prince Albert suit
under his feminine disguise. The capture
was made, and the reward of one hundred
thousand dollars claimed, amounting, when
distributed according to rank, to two hundred
and ninety-three dollars for each private.
The prisoners were taken first to Macon, Ga.,
where Mrs. Davis and the other women were
allowed to go free, while Jefferson Davis was
conveyed to Savannah, thence by steamer to
Fortress Monroe, where he was delivered by
his guard, among them being Mr. Nichols, to
General Miles. The regiment soon after
marched to Nashville, where it was mustered
out of service July i, being disbanded at De
troit, July 10.
Mr. Nichols was less than nineteen years
old when he returned to the duties of civil
life; and he at once engaged in the care and
training of horses in Adrian, continuing with
his brother there until 1878, when he began
to prepare himself by study for the profession
of a veterinary surgeon. After four years of
close application to his studies Mr. Nichols
established himself in business in Coldwater,
Mich. He spent some time with Dr. M. W.

Friend, and later with Dr. Samuel Brenton
in Detroit. After the death of his brother
Edwin, who had been a successful veterinary
for ten years, Mr. Nichols came to Massachu
setts, locating in Springfield in 1890. He
has a well-equipped hospital, and has estab
lished an extensive and lucrative practice, and
won an excellent reputation for skill and abil
ity. Socially, he is a member of Wilcox
Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He is
very popular in social and business circles,
his frank and genial manners making friends
of all with whom he is brought in contact.
While a resident of Michigan, Mr. Nichols
was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Jew
ett, of Coldwater, and two children — Jessie
and Ralph — came to bless their happy union;
but the angel of death crossed the threshhold
three times within the short space of seven
months, bearing to their bright home above
the wife and children.
" Hancis may clasp, and hands must sever —
Symbols tl-iat a day endure ;
But tire hearts, that live forever.
Hold each link of love secure."

Athol, Lurana
native
prime

E\'. ETTA C AMES, of Westfield,
a preacher in the Second Advent
church, also among women a pio
neer manufacturer, was born in
Mass., a daughter of Leonard and
(Collar) Ames. Her father was a
of Brattleboro, Vt. , but died in the
of life in Athol, where he had been

engaged for a number of years as a contractor
and builder. He married Lurana Collar, a
native of Northfield, Mass., and a daughter of
Jacob Collar, who was a life-long resident of
that town and for many years a Deacon in the
Red Church on Northfield Mountain. The
maiden name of the wife of Jacob Collar was
Susan Foster. Her father was a soldier in
the Revolutionary War The mother of Miss
Ames, surviving her husband, was a second
time married, becoming the wife of James L.
Lewis. She is a resident of Athol, and al
though she has reached her seventy-eighth year
is still in the enjoyment of good health and in
possession of all her faculties.

loso

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Miss Etta C. Ames was educated in her
native town, and was graduated from the high
school. She was converted in her youth, and
early became an evangelist, at the age of
twenty accepting the pastorate of Christ
Church at Norfolk, Conn. Energetic, ingen
ious, and practical, upon coming to West-
field she drifted into the whip business, estab
lishing a factory for the manufacture of the
Philadelphia whip snap, part of the machinery
used being of her own invention. She is,
without doubt, the first of her sex to engage in
this branch of business, and has thus been in
strumental in opening a new field of labor for
women. Although thus actively engaged Miss Ames
does not permit her business cares to inter
fere with her evangelistic work, in which she
has labored extensively in the North-east
ern States. Of pleasing address, imbued with
deep earnestness, and a fluent and forcible
speaker, she has given good proof of her call
ing; and her ministry has been characterized
by faithful and acceptable service.

'OHN BLACKMER, M.D., for many
years a prominent allopathic physician
in Springfield, was born in Plymouth,
Mass., on July i8, 1828. His grand
father, John Blackmer, was a highly respected
deacon in the Plymouth Congregational
Church, but came from an English family
which settled in Canada before coming to the
States. The Doctor's father, also named John
^Blackmer, -was born in Plymouth in 1797, and
lived there until his death, in 1885, aged
eighty-eight. The family were strong Con
gregationalists, having been reared in strictly
Orthodox views; and the wife, Esther (Bart
lett) Blackmer, was a Plymouth woman, and
died there in 1865, at the age of sixty-five.
They had eight children — four sons and four
daughters — seven of whom came to maturity,
the father's namesake being the fourth, and
the others as follows: Laurette, now the
widow of Truman Holmes; Esther, wife of
Marston Holmes; Sarah Harriet, the wife of
Elias T. Fisher; Abbie Sarah, who married
the Rev. Daniel H. Babcock; George Arthur,

who was graduated at Bridgewater State Nor
mal School, and died at the age of twenty-one;
Sidney Bartlett Blackmer, who remains on the
old homestead.
John Blackmer was fitted for college at
Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., and took
a select course at Brown University. At this
time he seriously considered whether or not
he ought to prepare for the ministry, but was
deterred by the fear that he could not success
fully make parish calls, and eventually de
cided upon the medical profession. After
reading medicine with Dr. Aaron Cornish, of
Falmouth, Mass., and studying anatomy and
surgery under Dr. Luke Miller, of Troy,
N.H., he entered the medical department of
Harvard College, from which he was graduated
on March 4, 1840. While pursuing his stud
ies, he had the privilege of hospital experi
ence. Effingham, Carroll County, N.H., was
the scene of his first practice, where he re
mained five years, also superintending the
public schools. He was a member of both
the county and State medical societies, and
gave the annual oration before the latter in
1873- From Effingham Dr. Blackmer went to the
insane asylum at Augusta, Me., as assistant
physician for a year, and then accepted a simi
lar position in the Massachusetts asylum at
Somerville. Two years later, in September,
1862, he entered the army as assistant physi
cian for the Forty-seventh Massachusetts "Vol
unteer Infantry, and was sent to Boxford,
where he was to remain in camp, examining
recruits, till the regiment was ready to march.
Unexpectedly he was summoned to Boston to
undergo an examination for promotion, and
was at once commissioned as regular surgeon
of the Forty-seventh Regiment, and ordered
from Readville to Eastern New York, whence
the regiment was sent to Ship Island, and
later to the defence of New Orleans. In its
vicinity the men spent their time in fighting
disease, the post being specially insalubrious.
The Doctor was entitled to two assistants;
but, having none, he finally broke down
through overwork. However, he remained
with his regiment until it reached Cleveland,
Ohio, where he stayed until mustered out.

JOHN BLACKMER.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1053

He then sought and received an appointment
as acting surgeon in the navy, and 'steamed
away from New York to join Admiral Bailey's
fleet at Key West.
There he was stationed at first vn the
United States bark "Pursuit," which was
blockading St. Joseph's Bay, on the Western
Florida coast ; but after a few months he was
ordered to the steamer "Montgomery," of the
North Atlantic squadron, just before the bat
tles at Fort Fisher, said to be the greatest
naval contests ever witnessed on our side of
the globe. He was under General B. P.. But
ler at first, and then under General Terry.
After the last fight Dr. Blackmer was reported
killed, another surgeon being mistaken for
him. During five days Mrs. Blackmer sup
posed herself to be a widoxv; and the Boston
and New York papers had his obituary ready
for press, when he was heard from as still
alive. Of the rumor of his death the Doctor
knew nothing, however, till an order for his
body was placed in his own hands. After the
war he was still retained in service on the
"Montgomery," but obtained two furloughs,
of thirty days each, in order to take the place
of Dr. Bancroft, of the Concord, N.H., Asy
lum, who wished to go abroad.
The furloughs ended in Dr. Blackmer's
resignation ; and he remained in Concord
seven months, till Dr. Bancroft's return. Dr.
Blackmer then renewed general practice at
Sandwich, N.H., where he had to do a great
deal of professional riding, and was on the
School Board. In 1874 he removed to Prov
incetown, on Cape Cod, where he had a vil
lage practice for three years. At this period
of his life he wrote in his journal, "I trust
that I have accomplished some good, espe
cially through the Sunday-school, of which I
was superintendent at the Centre Church for
nearly three years." Desiring a better oppor
tunity for the education of his children, he
came to Springfield in November, 1877, tak
ing the place of Dr. N. L. Buck, who was
about removing to California. PPere he had
a very successful practice for about eighteen
years, or till the time of his death, in April
last, gaining year by year the increased re
spect of his townsmen. As an organizer of

the Prohibition party in New Hampshire in
1867, he met with its first State convention in
Concord, was for years chairman of the State
Central Committee, and editor of the Prohibi
tion Herald, and three years successively the
gubernatorial candidate. In 1876, at Prov
incetown, he threw the only Prohibition vote
in the county. For a quarter of a century he
was closely identified with temperance inter
ests, taking an active part in every canvass,
speaking in nearly every county in New
Plampshire and Massachusetts. In Spring
field, he -has run as the Prohibition candidate
for the various offices of Mayor, Senator, Con
gressman, Governor, and Lieutenant Governor,
being nominated for the latter position five
times. Concerning his record as an advocate
and supporter of the Prohibition movement,
we quote the following from the Spring'field
Republican : —
"That Prohibitionists should work in a
separate party Dr. Blackmer firmly believed ;
and he recently said emphatically, 'I believe
in uniting religion and politics, if both are of
the right sort.' Another characteristic utter
ance was that 'temperance people must talk,
vote, and pray.' He. was hopeful, but never
over-sanguine, especially in the many political
campaigns he entered. When discussing the
outlook with a firm friend and sympathizer a
few months ago, he said he did not expect to
live to see national prohibition, although he
firmly believed it would come some time. To
be consistent he avoided alcoholic stimulants
as much as possible in his professional work.
For ten years he used it only sparingly, and
was then satisfied it was necessary only in
rare cases; so he avoided it almost altogether,
holding that 'what would kill a well man is
not good for the sick.' On this point he
wrote frequent articles, differing with men in
the profession. But Dr. Blackmer never lost
his temper, and was hardly ever known to
utter a harsh word of another. He was gra
cious and cordial in his manner, approachable,
and always ready in conversation. As an
orator he was in demand by the party because
he could make a clear, calm statement, and
was loaded with facts. His voice was rather
shrill, his stature slight; but he was full of

1054

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

earnestness, and had no little reserve force
that he could use with effect.
"Dr. Blackmer's writings were very numer
ous, very constant, and maintained a cred
itable level of temperate and reasonable
consideration of the subject on which his life
was principally engaged. He was the main
stay of some prohibitionist journals, and a
valued and important contributor to many
others. His editorial work on these papers
would make a large volume; and the addresses
he made to conventions, his letters of accept
ance of nominations, his many communica
tions to the daily press, would make another.
No one can survey the printed record of his
faithful engagement in this cause without con
ceiving the most entire esteem for the writer
as a man of high principle and solid sense,
whether one agreed with him or not as to his
particular contention. His writings are de
void of that ill-temper and that denunciation
of all holding a different opinion which are
so common to the Prohibitionists. It was
this open-mindedness to the variations of
human opinion which enabled him to approve
of the submission to the popular vote of the
Norwegian system of regulating the sale of
intoxicants. He was bitterly attacked by men
with whom he had labored for years because
of this position ; and finally he did retire from
it — not that he felt that his action was
wrong, but that it injured in a way the cause
of prohibition. His ground for accepting
the chairmanship of the Committee to obtain
the Submission of the Norwegian Mode to the
People was that of two forms of license it was
much better to have the strongest one chosen,
and that the people had a right to decide upon
it, especially as no community that desired
prohibition would be compelled to accept any
license system. Dr. Blackmer also wrote
interesting letters to the Republican and to
other papers on subjects remote from prohibi
tion or any phase of the liquor question; and
these were always interesting in themselves
and in their subjects. It is worth while to
quote from one of his editorials this statement
of the conviction that governed all his action:
"'It may be a very deplorable thing to be a
real fanatic, but it is well to remember that

there are ten men spoiled by the servile fear
of becoming fanatics where there is a single
one injured by actually overstepping the
bounds. When you are quite sure a thing
ought to be said, say it; when a good cause
requires aid, give it; when a thing needs to
be done, do it, without fear or anxiety as to
what others may think or say about it.'
"Besides his antagonism to liquor Dr.
Blackmer was a foe to tobacco, an(l at one
time wrote on the subject. He was interested
in the working of the various liquor and nar
cotic cures, and once represented the Morrell
Company of Westfield, watching the progress
of his patients with no little pride. As a
physician Dr. Blackmer stepped out of the
old school ways enough to get somewhat out
of touch with fellow-practitioners. But his
patients believed in him, and he won affection
by his gentle traits and earnest Christian
character." Dr. Blackmer died at his home, of pneu
monia, April IS, 189s, after a week's illness,
on the same day and of the same disease as
his intimate friend and associate in Christian
work, Dr. N. E. Ames. On Wednesday, the
I oth. Dr. Ames telephoned to Dr. Blackmer
to attend him, as he was ill from pneumonia;
but on that day Dr. Blackmer was himself so
ill that he could not respond to his friend.
Five days later both entered into rest. On
Sunday, the 28th, a commemoration sermon
was preached by the Rev. F. B. Makepeace at
the North Congregational Church, and in fit
ting words allusion was made to Dr. Black
mer's conscientious Christian life and his
noble work for the advancement of the king
dom of God. His wife, whom he married
October 22, 1863, was Ellen S. Dearborn, of
Effingham, N.H., daughter of John Shepherd
Dearborn, and she has two children: Helen,
born in 1864, the wife of Dr. George F.
Poole, of the School for Christian Workers;
and John Allen Blackmer, now on the New
York Herald.
The family attend the North Congregational
Church, where the Doctor for fifteen years had
charge of the adult Bible class, numbering
fifty. He also edited the Domestic Journal of
Springfield, a religious, temperance, home,

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1055

farm, garden, and hygienic monthly of si.xteen
pages. From 1883 to the time of his death
he had written eighty or ninety articles for
the Homestead on Health Hints. His writ
ings will undoubtedly be issued in book form,
as he long ago began saving his manuscripts
for that purpose. Dr. Blackmer was a mem
ber of the Grand Army of the Republic, and
had resided on Pearl, State, and Buckingham
Streets, making his home for some years at
the latter place, where Mrs. Blackmer now
lives. She, like the Doctor, has for years
been very active in church, temperance, and
benevolent work. She has been a prominent
and active member of the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union since she came to Spring
field, and was one time President of the order
and local county superintendent of scientific
temperance instructions in the public schools.
A portrait of Dr. Blackmer is published in
connection with this biography, and will be
appreciated by his hosts of friends and for
mer coworkers in the cause of truth and
righteousness.

[OHN L. HUBBARD, a very successful
farmer of Agawam, his native place,
was born on April 30, 1835. His
father, George J. Hubbard, was born
in the same town, January 18, 1802; and his
grandfather. Deacon Elias Hubbard, was born
August 26, 1776. The great-grandfather was
Captain George Hubbard, a native of Con
necticut, who commanded a company in the
Revolutionary War, and at the close of that
struggle settled at Agawam, in the locality
which has since been known as Hubbard's Cor
ners, where he engaged in agricultural pur
suits and passed the remainder of his life.
Deacon Elias Hubbard inherited land from
his father at Hubbard's Corners, and there
followed farming until his decease, which
occurred when he was forty-two years of age.
The maiden name of his wife was Mary Sears.
She was born in Connecticut, July 13, 1767,
and lived to reach the advanced age of nearly
eighty-nine years, the date of her decease
being February 11, 1856.
George J. Hubbard was reared and educated

in his native town, and at the age of sixteen
years began his life's labors by travelling on
foot to New York State, where he went to
work on a farm, his employer agreeing to give
him seventy-five dollars for eight months' ser
vice; but at the expiration of the period of his
engagement, being unable to obtain the cash,
he reluctantly accepted a note instead, and
returned home on foot. After a short sojourn
in his native town he revisited New York
State, and, on his arrival there, traded the note
for a horse, saddle, and bridle, with which,
having perfected the necessary arrangements,
he started out as a travelling salesman, selling
whips and cigars at an annual salary of two
hundred dollars. This amount having been
increased to four hundred -dollars for the sec
ond year, he continued travelling for three
years, at the end of which time he married,
and settled on the old home farm at Hubbard's
Corners, seventeen acres of which was his own
by inheritance. By industry and sagacious
management he was enabled to acquire a hand
some competency.
He resided at Hubbard's Corners until his
decease, which occurred after a long and use
ful life. On October 24, 1824, he wedded
Miss Marian Adams, who was born in Connect
icut, March 10, 1798. Her father, Jonathan
Adams, was born February 7, 1762, and was
a life-long resident of that State. His wife
was Eunice Allen, also of Connecticut, whose
birth occurred November 9, 1758; and the
ceremony of their marriage was celebrated on
April 19, 1792. Mrs. Marian A. Hubbard,
who was the mother of John L. Hubbard, hav
ing died October 10, 1851, George J. Hub
bard married for his second wife Malvina
Pease Perry, widow of Theodore Perry, of En
field, Conn. By his first wife he had eight
children and one by his second.
John L. Hubbard, having acquired a fair
knowledge of the fundamental branches of
learning in the public schools, advanced his
education by an attendance at the Wilbraham
Academy; and on attaining his majority he
settled on the old family homestead in Hub
bard's Corners, where he has since resided.
Aside from being an extensive and successful
farmer, he has dealt considerably in real

ios6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

estate. His present farm consists of one hun
dred and eighty-five acres. It is highly culti
vated and extremely productive, he being a
thoroughly proficient agriculturist. In 1877
Mr. Hubbard was united in marriage to Miss
Sarah M. Atwater, a native of Suffield, Conn.,
and a daughter of Joel Atwater. Mrs. Hub
bard passed into the life beyond in 1883, leav
ing no children. Mr. Hubbard is a Democrat
in politics, a member of the Knights of Pyth
ias, and is well known both as a valuable
citizen and a representative of an old and
highly respected family.

/STeORGE a. RUSSELL, President of
\ 3 I the Papeterie Company of Springfield
and one of the most enterprising and
progressive business men of the city, was born
in Manchester, N.H., December 16, 1847,
son of Joel, Jr., and Mary (Poor) Russell.
His earliest American ancestor on the pater
nal side was Robert Russell, a native of Scot
land, who, it is believed, settled in Andover,
Mass., taking up his residence in that part of
the town since known as "Scotland District."
He died in 1710, in his eightieth year.
Joel Russell, Sr., a lineal descendant of
Robert, was born in Andover, and resided
there all his life, being prosperously engaged
in agriculture. He was a man highly re
spected in the community, being a member of
the Congregational church, in which he served
as Deacon, and actively supporting all enter
prises for the good of the town.
His son, Joel Russell, the younger, father
of George A., was also born in Andover, but
when a young man went to Manchester, N.H.,
as superintendent of a machine-shop, which
position he held until he removed to Holyoke,
Mass., where he became one of the most
respected and prominent citizens. During
the Civil War he served as Selectman of that
town. He was a Republican in politics, and
his public acts were always dictated by a
strong sense of loyalty to the nation and fidel
ity to l(scal interests. His wife, Mary Poor,
was a native of Exeter, N. H., and possessed
the highest womanly qualities as a wife and
mother. She died, leaving three children — -

Mary Ann, Robert, and George A. Russell.
Mary Ann married John Q. Adams, a well-
known attorney of Biddeford, Me., but is no
longer living. Robert Russell is successfully
engaged in the hardware business in Holyoke.
George A. Russell was but two years old
when he came to IPolyoke with his parents.
He received a preliminary education in the
public and high schools of the city, and later
attended Williston Seminary at Easthampton,
from which institution he was graduated in
1866. He then found employment for a short
time with E. L. Frink, a Holyoke manufact
urer of envelopes. In 1868 Mr. Frink sold
out to Springfield parties, who carried on the
business with a capital of sixty thousand dol
lars, under the style of the Springfield
Envelope Company, Mr. Russell finding em
ployment with the new firm. In due time he
became one of the partners, and during his
eleven years' connection with the concern had
the satisfaction of seeing it grow immensely,
though afterward consolidated with the Union
Envelope Company, under the name of the
Wall Papeterie Company. When the busi
ness was organized into a stock company, with
a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, Mr.
Russell was chosen its first President and
Treasurer. The factory was located in hired
quarters on Hillman Street for several years,
but in 1 89 1 the company bought, at the junc
tion of Ouincy, Orleans, and Tyler Streets, a
large lot of two acres, covered with buildings.
A fine five-story brick block, measuring one
hundred and eighty by fifty feet, was erected,
and is now entirely devoted to the manufact
ure of papeterie, pocket-books, and fancy
goods. Besides giving local employment to
two hundred persons, the company keeps
twelve or fifteen men on the road; and such is
the rapid growth and present extent of their
business that they are already obliged to hire
several other buildings. A large share of
their success is due to the admirable business
capacity manifested by Mr. Russell ever since
his connection with the firm.
Plis rare qualities as a business man have
been widely recognized, and the benefit of his
experience eagerly sought by other business
firms. He is accordingly President of several

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1057

other companies, including the Blake Manu
facturing Company, incorporated in 1892,
with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dol
lars, and giving employment to two hundred
and ten persons; the Warwick Cycle Com
pany, incorporated in 1878, with a capital of
two hundred thousand dollars, and employing"
three hundred skilled workmen, occupying a
fine brick block, three hundred by fifty feet,
comprising three brick stores, where several
thousand wheels were turned out during the
past year; and the Rush Cutlery Company,
incorporated in 1892, with a capital of fifteen
thousand dollars, giving employment to forty
or fifty persons in the manufacture of a
patented knife handle. Mr. Russell is also
President of the Springfield Envelope Com
pany, a stock company with a capital of sixty
thousand dollars, as mentioned before, which
manufactures all grades of commercial enve
lopes, at the rate of over a million per day.
This company has the latest improved machin
ery, besides many original patents, and em
ploys a hundred and fifty persons. Mr.
Russell is likewise a Director of the National
Envelope Company, of "Milwaukee, Wis.,
organized partly by himself, which is equipped
with the finest machinery, and can turn out
nearly one and a half millions daily.
Mr. Russell is one of the busiest of busy
men, for, apart from all these enterprises, he
has been for many years a Director in the Sec
ond National Bank of Springfield, the oldest
in the city, also Director in two other corpora
tions — the Pledner & Porter Manufacturing
Company of Unionville, Conn., and the How
land Falls Pulp Company at Howland, Me.,
for the manufacture of sulphite pulp. The
old mill was burned in June, 1894, and has
been replaced by one of the finest in the coun
try. Mr. Russell is a man of public spirit,
and takes a deep interest in the welfare of the
city. He is a Republican in politics, has
served as Alderman from Ward Five, and has
been on several important committees. In
1894 he was re-elected on the Republican
ticket, and when the Board of Aldermen was
organized with the new year he was elected
President. Mr Russell has been no less con
spicuous in church than in business and mu

nicipal affairs, being a loyal member of the
State Street Baptist Church, in which he has
served as Deacon and Sunday-school superin
tendent. He has also been President of the
Young Men's Christian Association.
In 1870 he was united in marriage to Miss
Abbie S. Allen, of Holyoke, and they have
three children: Evangeline, born in 1871,
now the wife of William W. Tapley, of
Springfield; Irving S., born in 1880, who
attends school at Worcester; and Gertrude,
the youngest, living at home. Mr. Russell
has a beautiful residence at 375 State Street,
facing the armory. The family stand high
in the best social circles of Springfield, and
their influence is felt for good in many
directions.

OSEPH H. DeGRAY, whose success in
life has been the result of energetic
effort, was born in Malone, Franklin
County, N. Y. , August 27, 1852. His
grandfather, Rudolph DeGray, was a Canadian
by birth and a farmer by vocation, coming
from the Dominion to Franklin County, where
he pursued the same line of occupation. He
lived to be eighty years of age, and left seven
children — Levi, Rudolph, John, David,
Mary, Angeline, and James. James, the
father of Joseph H. DeGray, was born near
Malone, in Franklin County, where he was
educated, grew to maturity, and was married
to Miss Marietta LaFlure. When the Civil
War plunged North and South into the bloody
contest of 1861, James DeGray enlisted in the
ranks of the Federal army, and received a
death wound from the enemy while in camp.
He was killed not amid the din and rush of
battle, but while off duty and in the supposed
security of tent and bivouac. Four children
were thus orphaned in the cause of liberty and
a preserved Union — Joseph H. ; Jerry, who
married Miss Mary Shurrat, and lives at Fort
Covington, N.Y. ; Mary, who married Mr
Edward Holcomb, and died, leaving one
child; and one child who died in infancy.
Mrs. James DeGray formed a second marriage
with j\fr. Edward i\IcOueen, and is again a
widow, and a resident of Chicopee Falls.

ios8

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Three sons and one daughter were born of the
second marriage. Joseph H. DeGray, whose
life story is recorded in the present sketch, is
an illustration of what individual effort may
accomplish under a democratic civilization,
being a self-made man. The term, though
often misapplied, still stands at its best for
something very commendable. Left without
the care and protection of a father at ten years
old, the boy at the age of thirteen, being
forced to get his own living, hired himself to
a neighboring farmer, who agreed to provide
him with bed, board, clothing, and schooling
in exchange for his work on the farm. No
opportunity for self-improvement was lost,
and by diligent application a fair education
was in due time acquired. As a young man,
he went to Whitehall, N. Y. , where he drove
a team for the construction of the Burlington
& Whitehall Railroad. After a short time,
he was made superintendent of different parts
of the work, and proved himiself possessed of
unusual executive ability. In 1878 he came
to Chicopee Falls as head clerk for A. F
Wiles in the Wiles Hotel, and retained this
position for a period of six years. Profiting
by his hotel experience, he then opened a res
taurant in the same town, which he conducted
with notable success for a few years. In
1886 he sold his establishment, and leased
the Wiles Hotel, on the corner of Main and
Church Streets, and on the ist of November,
1887, purchased the property, which he imme
diately began to remodel and enlarge. At the
same time Mr DeGray conceived the idea of
purchasing the Opera House of Chicopee
Falls, and connecting it with the hotel. This
plan was duly effected, the Opera House
being also repainted, enlarged, and newly
decorated, and joined to the hotel building by
the addition of a brick wing, the first floor of
which was used for store-rooms, the second for
hotel apartments. This establishment opened
on Main Street; and in 1891 Mr. DeGray
built a handsome three-story brick building
adjoining it, fronting on Church Street, the
first floor of which is occupied by the post-
office. The lower part of the Opera House is
occupied by the American Express office, a
meat market, and a grocery store, so that a

handsome rent roll is realized from his in
vestment. On the 8th of February, 1876, Mr. DeGray
was married to Miss Victoria LeVine, of Fort
Covington, N. Y. , a daughter of Peter LeVine,
who had a family of five children — Hattie,
Victoria, Lucy, Minnie, and Anna. Mr. Le
Vine is a shoemaker in Chicopee Falls, and
resides with Mr and Mrs. DeGray, who are
the parents of four children — Alvah L.,
Elmer E. , Cora L., and Lottie. Mr. DeGray
is a Democrat and a member of Skenungonuck
Tribe, No. 108, Improved Order of Red
Men, also of the Springfield Lodge, No. 61,
B. P. O. E. Driving is a favorite pastinie
with Mr. DeGray, and he takes great pride in
the three handsome and spirited horses which
he keeps for his own private use.

countyson of
loney.

of

ICHAEL D. MALONEY, a well-
established and capable dairy
farmer residing in the town of
Monson, Mass., was born in the
Clare, Ireland, September, 1835,
Michael and Hannah (McNarra) Ma-
Michael Maloney was born in the
same part of Ireland in 1816, and came to
America on the sailing-vessel "Salet," the
voyage occupying six weeks. Directly after
his arrival in New York he came to Hampden
County, Massachusetts, and engaged in farm
ing in Palmer till 1859, at which time he
purchased one hundred acres of land in the
town of Wales, which he owned and managed
several years. In 1864 he bought a house at
Palmer Depot, and went there to reside; but
in 1888 he leased his residence, and went to
live with his son, Michael D. He had sent to
Ireland for his wife and children in 1853, and
their voyage on the ship "Australia" occupied
twenty-one days. His wife died at the age
of eighty-five, having been the mother of six
children; namely, Bridget, Michael, John,
Mary, Elizabeth, and Thomas.
Michael D. Maloney received his first book
knowledge in the schools of Ireland, and later
attended the schools of Palmer, after which for
six years he worked at farming in various
places. He then went to Wales in the same

<^

FERDINAND A. JACOBS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1061

county, and took charge of a stationary engine
for the Shaw Manufacturing Company. At
the end of a year he came to Monson, to
work in the same capacity for Horatio Lyon,
with whom he remained seventeen years, and
then purchased a farm in the town of Palmer,
containing one hundred and seventy acres of
land. During his stay there Mr Maloney did
much to improve and cultivate the estate, sell
ing it eventually after ten years' residence.
It is now owned by the Palmer Water Supply
Company. After this Mr Maloney purchased
land to the extent of one hundred and fifty-
three acres in Monson, known as the Judge
Knowlton place, lying between the villages of
Monson and Palmer Here he built for him
self a large brick dwelling-house and well-
arranged barn, also remodelling other build
ings, and established a dairy, which is now
one of the largest in Monson. He is the
owner of twenty-two fine milch cows, and
makes a specialty of a fine grade of butter.
He also carries a fair amount of young stock.
Mr. Maloney was married at the age of
twenty-five to Miss Catherine McGuire, who
was born in Westmeath, Ireland, February 20,
1 84 1, daughter of John and Ellen (Brown)
McGuire. Her father left his native country
in 1857 for America, and after landing in New-
York City worked there at his trade of car
penter. His death took place at the age of
fifty-eight years, his wife living to be forty-
nine years of age. Their children were:
Mary, William, Catherine, John, and Hugh.
Mrs. Maloney came over from Ireland in 1853
on the sailing-vessel "Asbertrand," the
voyage occupying nine weeks and three days.
Mr. and Mrs. Maloney have had two chil
dren, both of whom died in infancy. Mr.
Maloney is an Independent in politics, taking
an active interest in all the improvements set
forward by the town in which he resides.

b^ERDINAND A. JACOBS, now living
r* in retirement at Springfield, is a native
of Neubrandenburg, a municipality in
the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, Germany,
and was born August 23, 1822. His parents
were Augustus and F'rederica (Diedrich)

Jacobs, his father having been an officer in the
German army, who served during the event
ful campaign of 181 5, which resulted in the
triumph of the coalition against the great
Napoleon. Ferdinand received a good education in the
national schools, and after finishing his studies
learned the saddler's and harness-maker's
trade, which also included carriage-trimming,
receiving from his employer on account of
good behavior his time at the expiration of
four and one-half years, the full time of ser
vice being five years. He then travelled ex
tensively through Germany, working here and
there for short intervals, visiting Dresden,
Breslau, and other cities; and he also- worked
at Copenhagen, Denmark, for a time, which
city he with all other Germans was obliged to
leavfe. The very low state of business affairs
in Germany, caused by the revolution, forced
him to travel about in search of employment;
and after visiting Bavaria and the Rhine dis
tricts he determined in 1852 to come to the
United States. Accordingly, he embarked on
board a schooner called the "Peter," arriving
in New York on October 8 of that year, after
a passage of twenty-eight days. He remained
in that city but one night, and then came
direct to Springfield, where he found imme
diate employment in the carriage manufactory
of David Smith. Here he continued to work
for a period of fifteen years. The carriage
business at this time passed through a dull
season ; and Mr. Jacobs was engaged about
two years in the manufacture of albums, and
worked at the Bemis Collar Factory for twelve
years. He then resumed his former occupa
tion at the carriage manufactory of William
Smith, a son of his old employer, and contin
ued there without interruption until 1892,
when failing health compelled him to relin
quish active labor.
He married Miss Caroline Foth, of Spring
field, a sister of Albert E. Foth, the brother
having been a schoolmate of Mr. Jacobs in
Germany. This union was blessed with two
children — Amelia, who married Oscar West-
rich, of Springfield, a tailor by trade; and
Albert Frederick Jacobs, who married Milly
E. Halford, and has two sons — Raymond,

lob:

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

aged nine; and Harold, aged sC\'en years.
Albert F. Jacobs is a prominent musician and
a member of the Philoharmonic Orchestra.
Jdrs. Caroline F. Jacobs died in 1892.
The family residence is at 174 High Street,
Mr. and Mrs. ^^'estrich residing with her
father. Mr. Jacobs is a P")eraocrat in politics,
and both himself and family are members of
the Church of the Unit)', of which he was
sexton for a period of twenty years; and on his
retirement from his long service a vote of
thanks was accorded him, xvhich was also or
dered to be entered upon the records of the
society. The excellent likeness of i\lr. P'erdinand A.
Jacobs, which accompanies this brief account
of his busy, useful, and exemplary life to the
present time, will be recognized and valued by
many friends and acquaintances.

ILSON GOODRICPI, one of the
pioneers in the lunch-wagon busi
ness in Spring'field, has been a resi
dent of this city for the past quarter of a
century, and by energetic industry, shrexvd
foresight, and judicious investments has won a
place of prominence among the substantial and
respected citizens of this section of Plampden
County. He was born in Meriden, Conn.,
October 22, 1855. His father, Joseph Good
rich, was born and reared in Canada, and
while a resident there was a man of much in
fluence in his communit)', being not only a
merchant, but a Notary Public, which is there
a very important office, and a Postmaster.
Removing to Connecticut, he resided at first
in Stonington, then in Meriden; and by his
wife Elizabeth, a young lady of P'rench de
scent, he had a family of nine children,
namely: Wilson, of whom we xvrite; Joseph,
a contractor with Smith & Wesson ; Charles,
also a contractor with the same firm ; Peter,
a resident of Boston ; Frank, junior member of
the firm of Spade & Goodrich, of Springfield;
Alene; Lena, a resident of Duluth, Minn.;
Lilly, xx'ife of Charles Broxvn, of .Springfield;
and Georgina, xxho has just left school.
Wilson fioodrich obtained a practical edu
cation in the schools of his native city, and.

when a youth of eighteen years, came to Spring
field and entered the emplox'ment of Smith &
Wesson. He presently took a contract, which
he held for many )'cars, and which he
found x'crx' remunerative. He made good use
of his monc}', inx'csting in paying enterprises,
and in Julx', 1892, gaxcup contracting and es
tablished his present business, in xvhich he is
meeting xvith great financial success. PIc has
four wagons running in Springfield, delivering
night lunches, and has likewise started a simi
lar business in other cities in Massachusetts
and in Nexv York, also in Montreal, he being
the pioneer in his line of business in Canada,
bax'ing a first-class trade. His wagons are
built under his own supervision, costing one
thousand two hundred dollars each, and are
sold on the instalment plan to responsible
parties xvishing to start a night-lunch busi
ness in neighboring towns and cities. In
the central division Mr. Goodrich takes charge
himself, employing all the help to do the
cooking. (hi September 3, i8go, Mr. Goodrich was
united in xvedlock to Miss Emma L. Remi-
land, of Springfield, though a native of Can
ada; and one child has been born of their
union, Valcerene. In politics Mr Goodrich
is an adherent of the Republican party, though
he takes no actix'e part in municipal or na
tional affairs. Socially, he is quite promi
nent, belonging to Massasoit Lodge, Knights
of Pythias, to the Toto Tribe of the Order of
Red Men, to the American Legion of Honor,
to the Ro)'al .Society of Good Fellows, and
also to other orranizations.

R.\NK A. RUC(;LP;S, a well-known
and influential resident of the toxvn of
'aimer, Mass., was born in the city
P'itchburg, ( )etober 6, 1857, being a son of
Silas Ruggles, grandson of Solomon W. Rug
gles, and great-grandson of Sohmion Ruggles,
of Plaxvlcy, Mass. Solomon W. Ruggles was
born January 9, 1804. PIc had a decided taste
for mechanical pursuits, and became noted as
the inventor of irregular turning". The name
of his wife before her marriage was Tryphema
Weeks; and they were the parents of five chil-

HIOGRALM-IICAL REVIEW

1063

(Iron lieiijamin, John, Mary, Silas, ;ind
P'rederiek. .Silas, father of P'rank A. Ruggles, xvas born
Novemlier 28, 1833, and entered on his husi
ness eiireer b)' working in the I'utnam Machini'
.Shops at l''ileliluii'g, having ;i taste for me-
clianies, and, like his latlua", possessing IIk'
inx'enlivc laeiill)'. .Seviaal of his inventions
hax'e lieeii |ialeiite(l, as the rotai'}' lan-hlowi.'r,
a clieese press, Rtiggles's windmill, with mail)'
others whieh have found fax'or. Alter a time
.Silas Ruggles left his line of work, and went
into a drug store, where he aeeiimulated sulh-
eienl mono)' to |uiieliase the stock; and, i.'ari')-
iiig on the business independentl)', heappli(.'(l
the profits toward getting an eduealion. llo
enlered llarx'ard ('ollege, Cambridge, Mass.,
and aller his conrsi.' there attended the Medical
("ollege in I'hiladelphia, Irom which he xvas
graduated in due time. lie began the prac
tice of niedieine in 1 lubbardstoii, xvheie he
continued four )'eai's, and in 18(16 removed
to 'Phorndike. In 1872 he eanie to Phree
Rix'ors; and iu this place he spent the ri'-
niainder of his )'eais, ae(|iiiiing a X'ery large
and successful practice, and bceoming the
owner of considerable ri'al eslat(.' in the x'il-
lage, iind also of a farm in the neighborhood,
on xvhieli he laid out many impidx'oments.
Mr. Ruggles xvas a Republican in his politi
cal principles. Ik' xvas a member of the
.Sehool ( 'ommiltee sex'oral x'oars, and took an
;ielix'c iiiteresl in the growth and prosperit)' of
the town. IP' married llarriel P'a)', daughter
of ,\(!am II. and Julia A. (Ilastin^;s) l'';i\', of
Cliesler. 'Phe children of Mr. :ind Mrs. Rug-
<;leswei'e: Prank A., Nellie P!, , Charles P'. ,
'WiUie N., and Pitta J. Mr Ruggles died
P'obruary <>, i88(i. llis xvife, xxho xx'as born
func \l, 183(1, died 1 Jeeemlier .|, 18S7.
{"rank /X. Ruggles i'ecei\'i.'(l his education in
the public sehoids of I'libiu'r, the New .Sah'iii
Aeademx', the. llitehcoek High School at
Hrimfield, and the Weslexan Academy at Wil-
hraham, Mass. lie then studied medicine
xvilh his father, hut haxiiig ox'ei'taNi.'d his con
stitution gax'c up his books for open-air xxdi'k,
;ind xvith his brotlu'r, Charles P., took hold of
Ihe eullivation of his father's farm, engaging
in the raising of berries, fruits, ;uid vegetables

on an extensive scale, this enterprise being
very sueeessfnl. After the death of his bithcr
Mr. Ruggles undertook a building and con
tracting business, ereeting several houses and
becoming owner ol a large amount of rc;il es
tate in Tliri'c Rivers. lie still k(.'eps open his
father's olliee, retail ing to customers from the
large stock of drugs which it contains; and he
represents the Red Letter Chemical Company,
whose xarious remedies hax'o l'jcc(mie generally
popular. llax'ing inherited the inventive gift,
he has patented the h;ind-rcv()Iving cultivator,
papi,'!' holder, and other labor-saving apidi-
aiices. Mr. Ruggles xvas married June 9, 1880, to
Miss Martha L. Knox, daughter of John K.
and Pllhina M. (Pa)') Kno.v, of Palmer, and
grand-chuightcr of Colonel Cyrus and I'eggy
(.Sbiixv) Knox, xx'lio xvere people of ])rominence
in the town. Mrs. Knox, mother of Mrs.
lvngt;les, xvas a daughter of Rufus and Rachel
('l':ilt) Pa)', of Munson. Rufus P'ay xvas the
son of Jiide P';iy, a soldier of the Rcx'(dution,
also a member of the legislature for txvo terms
and an active jiolitieian of his time. Mr. and
Mrs. Ruggles liaxe sex'on children, namely:
Willie P., born July 2(), 1881 ; Ruth le, June
10, 1883; Kiio.N S., Nox-ember 20, 1885;
John K., April 23, 1887; Harold N., August
21, 1888; Hattie P:., May 13, 1890; and
Louisa, P'chruar)' 23, i8()2. 'Pho family re
side at the old homestead, and are members
of the .Second Congregational Church. Mr
Ruggk's is a Republican in polities, and has
lu'i'ii lor three xears a nicmher of the .School
Hoard. lie is I'ast Grand Master of the In
dependent Order of Odd P'ellows of Palmer,
;ilso ;i member of 'Phomas Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., of the same toxvn.

,-jjl'A^ S.XMPIEL IIP'.NRV L1':P;, Prcsi
dent ol the P'rench-Amcrican (.'oIIclto

in .Springfield, Mass., xv:is born in
Hanover, Conn., midway in General
Jackson's presideiicv of tho ITnitcd States. If
the Puritan Nexv Phigland stock had made
much aecounl of Christmas, Henry would have
Ih'oh cmisidei'cd a holida)' gift to his parents,
William ;ind Sally (StoVrs) Loo. William

1064

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Lee was a farmer; but his father, the Rev.
Andrew Lee, was pastor of the Congregational
church in Hanover for sixty-four years, an
uncommonly long pastorate even in those days,
when a ministerial settlement was usually for
life. Sally Storrs was born in 1790, during
Washington's first presidency; but her hus
band was fifteen years her senior, being born
on August 15, 1775, soon after the battles of
Lexington and Bunker Hill.
The subject of our sketch went to the dis
trict school in Hanover, and then went to an
academy at Plainfield for one winter. The
next fall, 1847, he entered an academy in
Worcester, Mass., and in the winter began
teaching a school in his native town at ten
dollars a month in addition to his board,
which was furnished him in rotation at differ
ent houses in the district, as was then the
fashion. He was not yet seventeen years old,
but besides teaching successfully could do
hard work on the farm in summer. In 1850,
when eighteen, after the hay, grain, and fruit
were harvested, Henry went to the State Nor
mal School in New Britain, and remained
through the summer and fall of the next year,
thereafter taking for the winter term th'e
school in the western part of that town at
thirty dollars a month. In the spring he re
turned to the normal school, stayed till hay
ing-time, studying again in the fall ; but the
next winter he again taught a district school,
this time in Greenwich. The year 1852 foumP
him again at his normal task; and he was
graduated that summer, a member of the sec
ond class the institution ever sent forth. He
now took up the role of pedagogue in the town
of Farmington, where he taught the Pmglish
branches in Simeon Hart's private school, at
the same time studying Latin, to which he had
not been able to give much previous attention.
The next year he went to "Williston Seminary
at Easthampton, Mass., where he was grad
uated in 1854, and then entered Yale College,
whence he was graduated in 1858, after the
usual four years' course, in the same class
with Judge Gideon Wells, of Springfield, the
Rev. F. A. Noble, D.D., of Chicago, the
Hon. George P. Andrews, of the Nexv York
Supreme Bench, and the Hon. William T.

Harris, United States Commissioner of Edu
cation. In college at the same time were
other men of local prominence, such as Judge
S. G. Knowlton, the Rev. George H. Griffin,
and Mr. J. L. Shipley. Leaving college, Mr.
Lee returned to the normal school as teacher
of mathematics for two years. Already in the
odds and ends of time he had studied Hebrew
and theology; and in i860 he entered the
Divinity School at Yale, and was graduated
therefrom in 1862. He had already received
a call to the pastorate of the Porter Evangeli
cal Church (Congregational), in that part of
Bridgewater, Mass., now called Brockton, and
was ordained there on September 17, 1862, on
the very day of the battle of Antietam ; for,
while Mr. Lee was earnestly pursuing his
studies, the Republican party had come into
power, Lincoln had been elected President,
and Rebellion had raised its crested head
against the Union. Not only was Mr Lee
a patriot, but he had inherited radical anti-
slavery sentiments, which now found vigorous
forensic expression. Lincoln's preliminary
emancipation proclamation was issued a day or
two after the ordination, and was the text of
the young minister's next Sunday's sermOn,
greatly to the indignation of many in his con
gregation, who were not accustomed to politi
cal discourses in the pulpit. Even his best
friends were disturbed; but Mr Lee told them
the pulpit and pews might as well be split up
for kindling-wood, if such topics as union and
freedom were to be forbidden at such a crisis.
Gradually his hearers became solidly united in
patriotic feeling. At the expiration of four
years, however, he resigned. Then came a
call to the Hammond Street Church in Ban
gor, Me. ; but this he declined, preferring to
accept a settlement over the church in Green
field, Mass., xvhere he was installed in Au
gust, 1866, and remained till 1872, doing
much to heal divisions which had previously
existed among the members, in leading them
unitedly to erect an expensive stone church in
place of the old one. His next call was to
the First Congregational Church in Cleveland,
Ohio. At Brockton the salary had been a
thousand dollars, in Greenfield two thousand;
but now Mr. Lee received three thousand, and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1065

his pastorate of nearly seven years was in
every way satisfactory. In 1878 he was of
fered the Professorship of Political Economy
in (Oberlin College, Ohio, with the added duty
of obtaining funds for the institution ; and he
entered upon these duties in October After
five years at Oberlin, family responsibilities
demanded his presence in New England; and
he had temporary charge of the old parish in
Brattleboro, Vt., for txvo years. In Decem
ber, 1885, he took up his residence in New
Haven, Conn., preaching often in the city
churches, and supplying for long periods two
pulpits outside, though his chief business was
in connection xvith the establishment of a
Semitic and Biblical professorship in Yale
University. It was through him that Profes
sor W. R. Harper was placed in charge of this
department. In the spring of 1890 Air. Lee xvas invited
to Springfield to fill a position in the Ph"ench-
American College, similar to the one he had
held at Oberlin, as financial solicitor, as well
as Professor of History and Political Economy.
Three years later, in July, 1893, upon the
resignation of the Rev. C. E. Amaron, Mr
P.ee was appointed his successor as President
of the institution. Since then its standard of
instruction has been greatly elevated, the num
ber of students has largely increased, and the
name has been changed from French Protes
tant to French American College — a change
which indicates a widening of the scope of
the institution, so that the pupils shall not
only be thoroughly trained in P'rench language
and literature, but in English also, to the end
that ultimately they may lead our French-
speaking population into the best American
ideas and citizenship. In the fall of 1893
a new dormitory was built for the younger
boys, and called Gymnasium Hall, Owen
Street Hall being occupied by young men, and
the cottage by young women ; for all depart
ments are open to both sexes. In the faculty
are seven teachers, all graduates of Nexv Eng
land colleges; and the property of the school
is valued at nearly fifty thousand dollars. As
there is no endowment, the support comes en
tirely from tuition and from the annual gifts
of interested friends; and his endeavors to

enlist the sympathy of the public take Presi
dent Lee into some pulpit nearly every Sun
day. The movement is rapidly gaining in
favor, and, if well supported, will result in
great gain to the cause of enlightened free
dom. Mr. Lee has not been single all these active
years, having been married in August, 1861,
a twelvemonth before his ordination, to Emma
C. Carter, of Pleasant Valley, Conn., daugh
ter of Plx'its and Emma (Taylor) Carter. To
them have come four children. One, born in
1862, is the Rev. Gerald Stanley Lee, of
West Springfield, Mass., pastor of the Park
.Street Congregational Church. Christabel,
born in 1865, is the wife of Philo P. Safford,
Esq., a laxvyer in Brooklyn, N. Y., and has
a son a year and a half old, Geoffrey Lee
Safford. The two youngest children — Grace
Lee and Samuel Theodore Lee, born in 1867
and 1873 — are still at home. The family
reside in their new house on the Wilbra
ham road, not far from the college. Above
the walls of the latter might well be written
the paragraph President Lee would fully in
dorse, uttered by Theodore Parker at a Boston
antislavery convention in 1850, a whole dec
ade prior to Lincoln's election: "There is
what I call the American idea. . . This idea
demands, as the proximate organization
thereof, a democracy; that is, a government
of all the people, by all the people, for all the
people — of course, a government of the prin
ciples of eternal justice, the unchanging law of
God. For brevity's sake, I will call it the
idea of Freedom. "

, ICHAEL CONNORS, an enterpris
ing cigar manufacturer of Hol
yoke, proprietor of the Kaffir and
Kenwood brands of the fragrant
weed, was born in New York City, September
27, 1856, and is the son of Thomas and Jo
anna (Kennedy) Connors. His father, who
was a native of County Kerry, Ireland, im
migrated to the United States when a young
man, and settled in Springfield, Mass.
Michael Connors received a good education
in the public schools of Springfield, and ac-

io66

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

quired the cigar-maker's trade, at which he
xvorked in different parts of the United States
and Canada. In April, 1884, he went to
Holyoke, where he worked as a journeyman.
He was a delegate to the Cigar-makers' Inter
national Union at their meeting in California
in February, 1886; and, returning to Holyoke,
in the spring of 1888 he established his pres
ent business, and by his energy and ability has
pushed himself rapidly to the front among the
cigar manufacturers of the country. His spe
cial brands soon sprang into popular favor, and
his average sale annually amounts to over a
million. He employs thirty or more hands.
On September i, 1890, Mr. Connors wedded
Miss Nellie Connors, of Springfield; and they
have three children; namely, Russell T. ,
Mary P., and Arthur M.
Mr. Connors is an active politician in the
ranks of the Democratic party. His first
nomination for office, however, came from the
Labor party in 1885, when he was named as a
candidate for Alderman from Ward Four; but
he declined the honor. He takes a great in
terest in public affairs, and served on the
Board of Aldermen during 1891, 1892, 1893,
and 1894 from Ward Three. He was chair
man of the Committee on City Property dur
ing three years of his service, and was also
appointed upon the Committees on Highways,
Bridges, and Sidewalks, and in 1894 was
chairman of the Committee on Fuel and Street
Lights. He is a member of Court North Star,
Ancient Order of Foresters, and also of Wam-
panoag Tribe, No. 10, Improved Order of Red
Men. The family worship at the Roman
Catholic church. They reside at 411 Main
Street.

C\UDIUS C. MARGERUM, a resi
dent of Springfield, Mass., a member
of the firm of Margerum Brothers,
cigar manufacturers and tobacco
nists, was born March 29, 1844, in Suffield,
Conn. His father and mother were Edward
G. and Rebecca Margerum. They had five
children, three sons and two daughters,
namely: Claudius C. and Edwin F., business
partners; John C. ; Adelaide; and Mary.

Claudius C, the subject of the present
sketch, was educated in the public schools of
Suffield; and then, deciding on learning the
same business which his father had engaged
in, that of manufacturing cigars, he served an
apprenticeship for two years. At the end of
that time, when he was but eighteen years of
age, he enlisted on the iith of June, 1862,
with the Sixteenth Connecticut Volunteers,
and for the three years next ensuing followed
the fortunes of war as a defender of his coun
try's flag. He took part in the battles of
Antietam, Plymouth, and Fredericksburg and
the siege of Suffolk. He shared the fate of
many hundreds of his comrades in his first en
gagement, having his skull fractured by a
piece of shell at Antietam, and was con
fined in the hospital for over four months.
On April, 1864, at the battle of Plymouth,
N.C, he was captured by the enemy, and held
prisoner for nearly eight months. He was
exchanged on the last day of November, 1864,
at Florence, S.C, brought to Annapolis, and
from there sent to the front at Newbern, N.C,
where on the 24th of June, 1865, he was mus
tered out of service.
After the war he came to Springfield, and
for a short time worked at his trade, and then
spent a few months in Windsor, Conn., from
which place he went to Suffield, and obtained
the position of foreman in the factory of P'rank
Holloway, remaining there for three years.
Pie next manufactured cigars for himself, but
returned to Springfield at the end of a year;
and in October, 1875, he and his brother,
Edwin F., formed the partnership known as
Margerum Brothers. Since that time the firm
has met with great success, the business hav
ing increased, until now they manufacture
cigars at the rate of from six hundred thousand
to seven hundred thousand yearly. They give
employment to twenty hands ; and their goods
are sold in large quantities in the western
part of Massachusetts, where the bulk of their
business is done.
Mr Margerum takes a deep interest in
municipal affains, and for ten years past has
served as a member of the Common Council,
and is now on the Board of Aldermen, this
being his third term of office in that capacity.

M. E. CUMMINGS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1069

For three years he has also been elected by the
Board as Supervisor of Highways and P5ridges,
his election to these various offices- showing
the appreciation of his friends for his efficient
services. He is also on the Standing Commit
tee of Streets and Sidewalks and Drains. Mr
Margerum is a member of the Grand Army of
the Republic, and belongs to the P3aptist
church in his native town of Suffield, Conn.,
but now attends Grace Church (Methodist
Episcopal) in Springfield, Mass. In the year
1867 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Will
iam Holmes, of Suffield. She became the
mother of two children, Jennie and Grace, of
both of whom they have been bereft. Mr.
Margerum and wife have a pleasant home at 62
Mill Street.

kICHAEL E. CUMMINGS, the
well-known contractor and builder
of Holyoke, whose portrait ac
companies this sketch, was born
at Dundee, Canada, March 4, 1853. His
parents, John and Mary (Murphy) Cummings,
were natives of Ireland.
John Cummings moved from Canada to the
United States in 1855, and settled at Thomp
sonville, Conn., where he worked at his trade
of shoemaking. Five of his children died in
infancy. Those surviving are: Michael E.,
Anthony, Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary, Owen,
and Cornelius.
Michael E. was the eldest of the twelve;
and he began the work of life very young,
after a brief time of study in the public
schools, at the age of seven years entering the
employ of the Hartford Carpet Works in
Thompsonville, where he continued until his
parents removed to Warehouse Point. He was
then employed in a woollen-mill operated by
E. Sexton, who was extensively engaged in
manufacturing army clothing for the United
States government. After working there for
about one year he was employed by the Medli
cott Company for a short time; and then,
changing his occupation for one of quite a dif
ferent nature, he worked upon the iron bridge
from Warehouse Point to Windsor Locks,
which was being constructed by the New York,

New Plaven & Hartford Railroad Company.
In the spring of 1865 he came to Holyoke,
and, after working in the different woollen-
mills for about four years, in 1869 began to
learn the carpenter's trade with Watson Ely.
When Mr. Ely retired from business, Mr.
Cummings entered the employ of Mr. Ranger,
with whom he continued about three years;
and then in the autumn of 1884 he began busi
ness for himself, his first contract being the
erection of a paper-mill for Wilder & Co. of
Boston at Ashland, N. H., after completing
which he erected the Parsons paper-mill No.
2- at Plolyoke, the Farr Alpaca Company's
new mill, the Linden Paper Company's new
mill, and the Denver paper-mill at Denver,
Col. He also built the Kearney cotton-mills
at Kearney, Neb., the Ticonderoga Company's
pulp and paper plant at Ticonderoga, N. "Y. ,
the Glens F'alls Paper and Pulp Company's
mill at Fort Edward, N.Y. , which is said to
be one of the largest and most complete of its
kind in the United States, together with mills
for Ganger & Sullivan at Lancaster, N. H. ;
and he is now building a very large paper and
pulp mill at Piercefield Falls, N. Y., for the
Piercefield Paper and Mining Company, which
is located five miles from Tupper Lake village,
in the heart of the Adirondacks, and the entire
material for which, except the iron work, is
cut, sawed, and seasoned in the immediate
neighborhood. Mr. Cummings has also been engaged in
repairing, remodelling, or enlarging nearly
every mill in this city. He erected the Bos
ton & Albany stations at Spencer and Mitti
neague, Mass., several fine business blocks and
many prominent residences in Holyoke, to
gether with the Massasoit, a large family
apartment building, which he owns in com
pany with Mr. A. B. Tower. He owns two
buildings, containing eight apartments each,
that he erected on Chestnut Street, and one
containing three apartments, on Maple Street,
in which he resides. He married Miss Helen
F. Frawley, of Claremont, N. H. ; and they
have had three children, one of whom died
in infancy, the others being Fanny Jane and
Helen Louise. The family reside at 362
Maple Street. In politics Mr. Cummings is

1070

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

a Republican, and he is a member of the
Knights of Columbus.

/^STeORGE W. BURDICK, who for the
I '3 I past twenty-eight years has wrought
— at the forge and anvil in Monson,
and whose toilful career has been crowned
with well-merited success, was born in Cum
berland, R.I., eight miles north of Provi
dence, on the 14th of July, 1828. Mr Bur-
dick's grandfather, Thomas Burdick, was a
farmer in Plainfield, Conn., where his father,
John Ashur Burdick, was born in 1808. On
the maternal side Mr. Burdick is a descendant
of Daniel Ray.
The father left Plainfield in his youth, and
removed to Cumberland, where he was em
ployed by Mr. Daniel Smith, a contractor, to
take charge of the hands and teams employed
in the construction of the Blackstone Canal.
Daniel Smith, who was a wealthy farmer, was
the father of a young daughter, whose bright
eyes flashed a glance straight into the young
foreman's heart; and the old, old story of
faith and love was once more repeated. The
pretty Betsey laid her hand in the broad palm
of her stalwart lover, who xvas a brawny speci
men of six feet, four inches and a half of man
hood, weighing two hundred and twenty-five
pounds, and cared not that he had neither fort
une nor fame to lay at her feet, but only cour
age, devotion, strength of limb, and a purpose
to succeed. In 1831 he died in the city of
Baltimore, leaving his widow with one little
son. Mrs. Burdick was married a second
time to a Mr. Otis Whipple, a representative of
one of the best families in the city, whom she
also survived. There being no issue of the
second union, Mrs. Whipple, with her aged
mother, in 1863 joined her son in Monson.
Later, the mother becoming homesick and un
happy in her new surroundings, Mrs. Whipple
took her back to her former home.
At his father's death George W. Burdick
went to live with his grandfather Smith, and
remained with him until his death at eighty-
four years of age in 1849. When thirteen
years old he went to Wrentham, Mass., to learn
the blacksmith's trade, serving a three years'

apprenticeship. He then worked for a year on
a neighboring farm, and at seventeen went to
Attleboro, Mass., where he secured employ
ment in the establishment of Harvey, Man
ning, Richards & Co., manufacturers of jew
elry. He was employed by the firm for more
than two years, receiving twenty cents an hour
for his labor, and was allowed to put in as
many hours of labor as he chose. He then
went into a carriage spring manufactory at
Attleboro, agreeing to work three months
without wages. Being anxious to master all
the branches of the work, he was so faithful
in the discharge of his duties that at the ex
piration of the period agreed upon the firm
made him a gift of fifty dollars. During
spare time he made bolts by the thousand,
which were sold at half a cent apiece, and
nails by the bushel, that brought six cents a
hundred. When a lad of about thirteen the
desire to try his fortunes as a sailor fired the
young mind with romantic plans of foreign
travel ; but the desire never developed into
action, and after the death of his grandfather
Smith he went to Ouincy, where he designed
to learn to make steel tools. Through the
spring and summer seasons he worked in the
steel works at one dollar and thirty-three
cents per day for a year, the firm establish
ing a business somewhat later at Cape Ann.
The chief superintendent of the works took
a very great liking to young Burdick, and
recognized his mechanical genius and skill at
once. In May, 1853, he was married to Martha
C. Low, a native of Cape Ann, who became
a faithful wife and the mother of twelve chil
dren, of whom the following are now living:
Genevra, wife of Isaac Rosendill, of Monson,
who has three children; George, who is a fine
mechanic and worker in steel in Palmer, and
has one son ; Janette, the wife of George
Gates, of Leverett, who has one son living —
A,shur, a horse trainer in Philadelphia, a
married man ; James, who is at home in the
employment of his father, having charge of the
water works contract, and who married Miss
Mary Wood; Carrie, a young lady at home;
Lillie May, who is now studying stenography;
and William, who has adopted his father's

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1071

trade, and has already displayed rare mechani
cal talent.
Mr. George W. Burdick is an independent
voter, regardless of party. He has taken an
active interest in the fire department, in which
he has filled all the important positions, and
has served as Surveyor of Wood. He came to
Monson in the employ of Mr. W. W. P'lint in
1 86 1, and has during the last twenty-three
years worked for three different firms. When
Fort Sumter was fired upon, he left Columbia,
S.C.., where he had been engaged at work
for some time, and immediately came North,
being zealously loyal to the Union. Plis busi
ness place and home have cost him many days
of hard labor, besides the expenditure of six
thousand dollars of his earnings. Pie has a
fine pond, which furnishes the water-power of
a national turbine wheel; and his blacksmith's
shop is the best equipped one in this section.

|HARLES F. j. KENNEDY, B.L.,
M.A., M.D., a prosperous and pro
gressive young practitioner of
Springfield, is a man of keen intel
ligence and high mental attainments, and bids
fair to become one of the foremost physicians
of Hampden County. He was born in Phila
delphia, Pa., April 26, 1866, and is a son of
the late Captain Charles G. and Dr. Catherine
M. (O'Eeary) Kennedy.
Captain ICennedy was a resident of Philadel
phia the larger part of his life, being a civil
engineer by trade and a man of unusual abil
ity. During the progress of the late Civil
War he enlisted in the Twenty-seventh Penn
sylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was actively
engaged in many important battles. He was
severely wounde(l in one engagement, and sub
sequently died from the effects of the wound
thus received. He was of Scotch ancestry,
and while a young man married Miss O'Eeary,
a native of Ireland, who immigrated to Amer
ica when a young lady. Of her union with
Captain Kennedy one child only was born,
Charles F. ]., the subject of this brief sketch.
After the death of her husband, Mrs. Ken
nedy, who had previously received an excel
lent education, began the study of medicine,

and was graduated from the Woman's Medical
College of Philadelphia in 1873. P'or nearly
three years thereafter she practised in the
hospitals of that city, and in 1876 came to
Springfield. She was the first Roman Catho
lic woman physician to graduate in this coun
try, the first to locate in Springfield, and is
the only Roman Catholic lady physician in the
city at the present time. She has been very
successful in the practice of her profession,
in which she is still active, having an office
with her son. She is a member of the Massa
chusetts Medical Society, and a devout mem
ber of the Church of the Sacred Heart.
P)r. Kennedy received his elementary edu
cation in the the public schools of Springfield,
and, after spending five years at Holy Cross
College in Worcester, Mass., took a two
years' course in philosophy at Ottawa Univer
sity, in Ottawa, Ontario, where he received
the degree of B. L. in 1887. Before entering
Ottawa University, however, he had studied
medicine for a year; and soon after leaving
that institution he entered the medical depart
ment of Harvard College, and subsequently
took a two years' course at the University
of Pennsylvania, being graduated from there
with the degree of M.D. in 1891. During his
time at this university the doctor had superior
advantages, being under the tuition of Profes
sor B. B. Wilson, and the latter part of the
time his assistant. He also took charge of
the office of the Professor's son, who hatl just
died, and was urged to continue there, but
preferred returning to Springfield, and in
May, 1 891, located in this city, opening an
office jointly with his mother. He already
has an extensive and lucrative practice, and
has many official duties in connection with his
profession. He has been elected physician to
the Knights of the Father Mathew Temper
ance Organization ; and he has been appointed
physician to the letter carriers, and examining
physician to their insurance order, and also to
Plibernicus Division, No. 8. Dr. Kennedy
is likewise examining physician for the Catho
lic Order of P'oresters, and attending physi
cian to the members of that society. Relig
iously, the Doctor is a member of the Church
of the Sacred Heart; and, socially, he belongs

1072

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

to the Sacred Heart Temperance Society, to
the Ancient Order of Hibernians, to the P""or-
esters, and is Past Warden and examining phy
sician of the New England Order of Protec
tion, which has a membership of seventeen
thousand. Dr. Kennedy is also a prominent
member of the Phil Sheridan Association.
He is an influential member of the Massachu
setts Medical Society, and takes an active part
in their meetings.
The Doctor is also an accomplished musi
cian, having great native musical ability, and
has a more than local reputation as a pianist
and vocalist. He is a close -student yet, keep
ing abreast of the times in everything pertain
ing to his profession, as well as in matters of
general interest; and in 1892 he received the
degree of M.A. from Holy Cross College of
Worcester. His residence and office are at
' 147 Main Street, a central location, and one
well adapted to his needs.

I MIL EERCHE, proprietor of Lerche's
Hotel and Summer Garden on West
State Street, excellently represents
the German-American citizen of Springfield,
and is a most genial and agreeable host. He
was horn in Posen, Germany, August 13,
1842, and was quite young when his father,
Emil Lerche, Sr, died. Emil acquired a
substantial education in the model schools of
the fatherland, and there learned the trade of
a gun and lock smith. In i860 he emigrated
to this country, and very soon after landing in
New York made his way to Hartford, Conn.,
where he worked for three years in Colt's
Armory. Coming then to Springfield, Mr
Lerche obtained a similar position in the
United States Armory, and remained a trusted
employee until 1872, when he established
himself in business on his own account, open
ing a general grocery store on Main Street,
near the United States Hotel. This was the
first German grocery in the city, and proved
a financial success from the start.
Five years later he added bottling works to
his other business, and, after conducting a
restaurant and grocery for a while, sold out
his property and removed to Elm Street,

where he opened the Central House, on the
present site of the Court Square Theatre, re
maining there nine years, and enjoying an
extensive patronage. The following year his
establishment was located on the corner of
Willow and State Streets; and during that
time Mr. Lerche built his present hotel,
which is a fine three-story brick building,
thirty feet front and one hundred and five feet
deep, and includes a residence and all modern
accommodations. The lot on which it is sit
uated is one hundred and twelve feet by one
hundred and ten feet ; and the grounds are
beautifully ornamented with flowers, statuary,
and a fine fountain, the whole being brilliantly
illuminated in the evening hours by electric
lights, presenting a most attractive and pleas
ing appearance. He moved into his present
quarters in May, 1884, and has carried on a
lucrative business.
Mr. Lerche is very popular in social circles,
belonging to many of the more prominent so
cial organizations of Springfield, among them
being Hampden Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Chap
ter and Council, Springfield Commandery, and
Rose Croix. He is also a charter member of
the German Order of Hungari, of which he
has been an officer most of the time since its
organization, and from 1891 until 1892 was
Grand Bard of the State, and is now Treas
urer He is Over Bard of the Germania
Lodge of Springfield, a member of the
Schiitzen Verein, and Treasurer of the Miin-
nerchor Society, of which he is a charter mem
ber He is likewise a member of the Order of
Red Men, and belongs to the Masonic Club of
the city. Mr Lerche married Miss Emily
Louisa Borlen, who is of German parentage,
but a native of Springfield; and both he and
his wife are attendants and generous supporters
of Christ Church (Episcopal) of Springfield.

TEPHEN JONES MILLER, late a
prosperous agriculturist of the town
of Ludlow, his native place, was
born on August 22, 1815. His
father, Moses Miller, was born in the same
town on December 11, 1779, and was the son
of Leonard Miller, who was a native of West

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1073

Springfield and a representative of one of the
early-settled families of the county. Leonard
Miller removed to Ludloxv, and there became
the owner of a large tract of land, including
the present site of the village, his home being
in the locality known as Collins Station. He
engaged in tilling the soil and improving a
farm, and upon it spent the last years of his
life, dying in 18 19. He was twice married, his
first wife being grandmother of Stephen. His
children were named as follows : Moses Ithamar,
Joseph, Silla, Polly, Orris, Susan, and Katie.
Moses Miller was brought up on the farm,
and upon the death of his father inherited part
of the land, settling upon it in 181 1, erecting
buildings, and commencing his career as an
independent farmer, in which station of life
he was fairly successful. His farm was one
mile long, and was bounded upon the east by
the Chicopee River. He died on the 5th of
April, 1855. His first wife was Lucy Jones,
who was born i\Iay 15, 1784, in Somers,
Conn., and was a daughter of Stephen Jones,
for whom she named her son, the subject of
this biographical notice. Mrs. Lucy J. Mil
ler died February 14, 1845; a-^d the father
married Sally Fuller, who died in 1877. The
parental household comprised nine children —
Lucy, Sarah K., Moses H., Mary S., Stephen
Jones, Delia T., Delina, Leonard, and Lo
renzo W.
In Stephen Jones Miller's youthful days
stage routes extended in every direction, but
there were no railroads, and, markets being
far distant, farm produce had to be conveyed
thither by team. The industrious farming
people of that early time were mainly clad in
garments made of homespun flax and wool.
Stephen resided with his parents, with the
exception of a year spent at the home of a
sister, until his marriage, and then settled on
a farm on which he made his home until the
close of his life, when almost an octogenarian.
In the month of May, 1844, Mr. i\Iilkr was
united in the bonds of sacred matrimony xvith
Mary Walker, who was born in Belchertown,
Mass., March 12, 181 1, her parents being
Jason and Betsy (Mcintosh) Walker. Her
father was born on the same farm, June 6,
1768, son of James and Esther (Shumway)

Walker, both natives of Belchertown. The
mother of Mrs. i\liller was a native of Need
ham, Mass., the date of her birth being Sep
tember 29, 1777. Jason Walker departed this
life at the age of eighty-three years, and his
wife at the age of seventy-two. Mary Walker
made her home with her parents until her
marriage, being instructed in the art of spin
ning and weaving; and she also learned the
trade of tailoring. Of her union with Mr.
Miller there are four children living — Oliver
B., Herbert E., Edward P., and Jason W.
Both Mr. and i\lrs. Miller were earnest and
active members of the First Congregational
Church, Mr. Miller being a teacher in the
Sunday-school up to the time of his death.
He and his wife took pleasure in advancing to
their utmost ability all enterprises calculated
to promote the spiritual and material welfare
of the community, and their loss caused a
general thrill of sorrow.

/^OLONEL ROBERT J. HAMIL-
I Sy TON, a retired farmer and veteran of
^U the Civil War, who now resides at
his pleasantly situated home at 621
Chestnut Street, Springfield, was born in that
city, July 18, 1843, son of John and Isabella
(James) Hamilton. His father xvas born in
Ireland, of Scotch-Irish parents, who were
strong adherents" of the Methodist church and
people of the highest respectability. Coming
to the United States at an early age, John
Hamilton settled first in New York City, and
later located at Hartford, xvhere he was em
ployed in the crockery business conducted by
John. Bull, from whom he acquired a full
knowledge of the trade. Removing to
Springfield, he there became a prominent
business man, and -^yas the first merchant to
make a specialty of the crockery business in
that city, which he conducted most success
fully for many years. He was also a pioneer
in the petroleum oil trade, making arrange
ments in 1866 to supply that commodity, and
establishing facilities for its reception and
sale in conjunction with- his other trade. He
was prosperously engaged in business until
1 89 1, and at the time of his decease was the

1074

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

oldest merchant in town. John Hamilton was
actively interested in public affairs, and was a
member of the local government when the
town advanced to the dignity of a city. He
was an earnest member of the Methodist Epis
copal church, was exceedingly active in its
councils, and, besides being Steward and a
Trustee, also attended to its finances as treas
urer. His wife, whose maiden name was Isa
bella James, was a native of St. John, New
Brunswick, and was married to Mr. Hamilton
at Hartford. Mrs. Hamilton is still living.
She was the mother of seven children, five of
whom are now living, namely: Belle C, of
Springfield; Mary B., wife of William M.
Collins, who also resides in Springfield; Mag
gie J., who married B. F. Atkinson, and re
sides in Illinois; Robert J., our subject; and
Charles J., a resident of Springfield.
Robert J. Hamilton attended the public
schools of Springfield, and after graduating
from the high school prepared for college at
Williston Seminary, Easthampton; but, in
stead of pursuing his original idea, he enlisted
as a private in Company I, Third Massachu
setts Volunteer Infantry, and, after being sent
to Virginia, was transferred to the Fifty-fifth
Massachusetts, attached to the department of
South Florida. This regiment figured con
spicuously at the siege of Forts Sumter and
Wagner, the attack upon James Island, and
other important operations. It also partici
pated in the battle of Olustee, P"'la. , and
formed a part of the right wing of Sherman's
army on its famous march to the sea. Mr.
Plamilton was promoted successively to the
rank of Sergeant, First Sergeant, Second
Lieutenant, Captain, and Major, and had
charge of the placing of the celebrated Swamp
Angel, which did such effective work in se
curing the surrender of Charleston. While in
Florida, he went upon a scouting expedition,
and, being absent five days, was given up as
lost, but returned all right, having been
obliged to lie concealed two days in a swamp.
He was mustered out at the termination of the
war, after having seen three and one-half years
of actual service, and returned to Springfield,
where he engaged in business, with his father,
who was conducting a large wholesale store on

what was known as Commercial Row. After
remaining with his father for several years, he
disposed of his interest, and established an
independent business, being the first to intro
duce the sale of gasoline. He carried on a
most successful trade until 1880, when he sold
his business, and was appointed Chief of
Police by Mayor H. M. Phillips, who is now
State Treasurer. He remained at the head of
the police department for a period of three
years; and it has been said that during his
administration the city had a remarkably well-
discipl ined police force, and many consider it to
have been the very best the city has ever had.
Colonel Hamilton was Deputy Sheriff for
one year, and since his retirement has been
extensively engaged in farming, being the
possessor of a very productive and conven
iently located farm of ninety acres, which he
has cultivated with flattering results. He has
also given considerable attention to the rais
ing of fancy Polish poultry, and has won
prizes in Boston, Buffalo, and New York exhi
bitions. He has made poultry - raising a
source of both pleasure and profit, and has
reached a high standard of excellence in that
particular branch of work. At the great
exhibit in New York in 1893 fifteen of his
specimens entered drew prizes, ten taking first
prizes, and five second. He makes a specialty
of W. C Black, Buff, and Golden-bearded
Polish breeds, and has acquired a wide reputa
tion, having shipped birds to California, Aus
tralia, and New Zealand.
He wedded Miss Hannah Foot, of this city,
daughter of John B. Foot, a native of Spring
field and an old railroad man, whose family has
long been a prominent one in New England.
Colonel Hamilton is a comrade of Wilcox
Post, Grand Army of the Republic. His resi
dence is most delightfully situated on Chest
nut Street, surrounded by generous and
well-kept lawns.

JCHAEL W. GLEASON, a highly
respected resident of the town
of Chicopee, Hampden County,
Mass., ably serving the public in
different capacities, was born in Limerick

M. W. GLEASON.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1077

County, Ireland, February 18, 1833, being a
son of William and Mary (McAuliffej Glea
son, and grandson of Dennis and Catherine
(Kane) Gleason, all of whom were natives of
the same place. The grandfather was an in
telligent and vigorous farmer in Ireland, who
lived to the remarkable age of one hundred
and four years, his wife, Catherine, reaching
nearly the same age. They were parents of
seven children; namely, John, William, Cath
erine, Nora, Bridget, Mary, and Ellen.
William Gleason, the second son, was
brought up to farming pursuits in Ireland, and
in 1850 came with his wife and family to
America. He stayed for a short time in New
York City, and then journeyed on to Chico
pee, near Springfield, where he proceeded to
buy a house; and, having done this, he took
in boarders, operatives from the mills in the
vicinity, making of it a lucrative and success
ful business. He carried this on till quite
advanced in life, and died in Chicopee, at the
age of seventy-seven years, his wife reaching
the lesser age of sixty-nine. They were the
parents of twelve children, as follows: Ellen,
John, Michael W., Catherine, Bridget, Mary,
Dennis, William, Margaret, and three others
who died in childhood.
Michael W., the third child, as named
above, had finished his school education in
Ireland before the family set out for America;
and on his arrival in Chicopee he found work
in the cotton-mill of the Perkins Manufact
uring Company. He continued in this mill
three years, and then turned his' attention to
the copper and tinsmith business, which he
proceeded to learn and which he followed for
seventeen years. He then had an opportunity
to establish himself in the undertaking busi
ness, and fixed upon a location at 145 Centre
Street, where he now owns a good home, with
rooms for undertaking purposes. His busi
ness has grown to be quite extensive as he
has become more widely known in the town
and his work found to be characterized by
good taste and the skill suitable to the de
mands of the present age. Mr. Gleason has
acceptably filled the position of sexton of the
Church of the Holy Name of Jesus the past
thirty years, and he is likewise sexton of the

two cemeteries — St. Matthew's and Calvary —
located in the outskirts of the town. He has
also other interests, being ticket agent for the
European Steamship Company.
Although Mr. Gleason has missed in his
maturer years the softening influences which
naturally belong to domestic ties, he has,
nevertheless, manifested a kindness and sym
pathy, when brought within the precincts of
sorrowing homes, which have won for him the
regard and good will of the community at
large. Mr. Gleason is not politically in
clined, but takes an active interest in all the
affairs of the toxvn, and is the owner of several
houses in Chicopee in addition to his own
residence.

T^HRISTOPHER T. CALLAHAN, a
I Ky rising young attorney and counsellor-
^Is^^ at-law of Holyoke, was born in
Boston, February 18, 1868, son of
Christopher and Anna (O'Callaghan) Calla
han! His father was a machinist by trade.
Christopher Callahan's childhood xvas passed
in Unionville, Conn.; and there he received
his education in the public schools. On leav
ing the high school, he went to Holyoke, and
in June, 1884, entered the law office of R. O.
Dwight, Esq., with whom he pursued the
study of law for a period of four years, and
was admitted to the bar at the early age of
twenty-one. In order to defray his expenses
while studying, j\fr. Callahan sought for em
ployment, and secured a position as reporter,
first for the Democrat, and later for the Tran
script, being employed by the last-named jour
nal as a regular reporter for a year. In
February, 1890, he commenced the practice of
his profession, in xvhich he immediately se
cured a firm foothold; and in the following
year he was elected City Solicitor. In 1895
he was re-elected to that important office.
He is a Democrat in politics, and has faith
fully and effectually served his party, both in
committee work and upon the platform. In
1889 he was clerk of the City Council Com
mittees, and the same year was the candidate
of his party for representative from the Third
Hampden District; but the district is largely

1078

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Republican, and Mr. Callahan was defeated
by the Republican candidate, John Hildreth.
He is a member of Plolyoke Council, Knights
of Columbus, and of Court Paper City, An
cient Order of Foresters.
On June 20, 1893, Mr. Callahan was
wedded to Miss Ella M. Teahan, an able and
successful school teacher of this city, a daugh
ter of M. J. Teahan, a prominent business
man. Mr. and Mrs. Callahan have one daugh
ter. The family worship at St. Jerome's
Church. They occupy a very pleasant resi
dence at 39 Fairfield Avenue, which Mr.
Callahan erected in 1894.

lERRILL E. STREETER, who
conducts a general blacksmith's
establishment at Indian Orchard,
and is now serving his second
term as Alderman from Ward Eight of the
city of Springfield, was born at Wilbraham,
August 2, 1850, son of James P. and Minerva
L. (Langdon) Streeter. His father, who is
also a blacksmith, was born at Vernon, Vt., in
1 82 1; and his grandfather, Paul Streeter, fol
lowed the same occupation. Paul Streeter
was born at Vernon, Vt., November 9, 1778,
and resided at the old homestead of his par
ents until his marriage, when he purchased a
farm in the same town, which he carried on in
connection with his trade. His wife, Anna
Dresser, was born December 13, 1784, and
died March 7, 1858; and his death occurred
November 6, 1857.
James P. Streeter passed his earlier days at
Vernon, where he learned of his father the
hereditary trade. At the age of twenty years
he moved to Wilbraham, Mass., and estab
lished himself as a general blacksmith, at the
same time conducting a large farm. P'or
many years he was a prominent resident of
that town, and did a very profitable business.
Plis wife, Minerva L. Langdon, was a daugh
ter of Walter Langdon, an old resident of
Wilbraham, she having been born September
8, 1820. The ceremony of their marriage
occurred November 26, 1840, and they had
four children, namely: Erluna Sophia, widow
of William Cleveland, now residing with her

daughter, Mrs. George Hubbard, at Ludlow;
Merrill E., of this article; Elbridge ]., who
was born January 5, 1853, and is now a farmer
at Ludlow; and P'rank Raymond, who was
born August 19, 1858, and is a resident of
Springfield. Walter Langdon was a native of
South Wilbraham and the son of Paul Lang
don, who served as a Captain in the Revolu
tionary War, and became an early pioneer in
that town. The grandfather of "Walter was
also a Paul Langdon, and was probably the
soldier of that name who served in the French
and Indian War. Mr. and Mrs. James P.
Streeter have been members of the Congrega
tional church for over half a century, and are
of the earnest and sincere kind of (Christians.
Their eldest son, Merrill E., attended the
common schools and the Wilbraham Academy,
thus receiving a good practical education.
He grew up, so to speak, to the blacksmith's
trade; and it is difficult for him to state just
when he mastered his calling. After com
pleting his school studies, at the age of seven
teen years, he worked in his father's shop at
Wilbraham for a period of one year. He then
came to Indian Orchard, where he erected a
shop in the vicinity of his present location,
and in company with his brother conducted
general blacksmithing, together with the busi
ness of building and repairing carriages. A
few years later he sold his interest to his
brother; but before long he purchased of him
the entire establishment, since which time he
has continued to carry on the business alone,
being thoroughly capable and practical, and in
busy times employing several hands. He was
united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Meloy, of
Wilbraham, on January 29, 1874; and they
have one daughter — Bertha. Mr. and Mrs.
Streeter attend the Congregational church.
In 1892 Mr. Streeter was elected to the
Common Council, and served upon the Com
mittees on City Property and Ordinances.
Plis services in the lower branch of the city
government having been most acceptable to
his constituents, he was elected to the Board
of Aldermen the following year, and has ably
served as a member of the Comn"iittees on City
Property, Ordinances, Elections, and Streets.
In the autumn of 1894 he was re-elected; and

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1079

he is on two of the former committees,
together with that on State and Military
Aid. He is actively interested in his po
litical party, the Republican, and has been a
delegate to both the State and county con
ventions.

Wt

ILLIAM JAMES, lately deceased, of
the firm of James & Marra, masons,
stone cutters, and contractors, was
born at Frampton Cotterell, Gloucestershire,
near Bristol, England, on June 27, 1829.
Benjamin James, his father, was also a stone
cutter; and it was under apprenticeship to
him that William learned his trade, which he
plied in England until 1848, the date of his
emigration to America. His early education,
which was received in the schools of his native
village, did not extend over a long period,
for the lad began his apprenticeship at fifteen
years of age. His mother (who was before
marriage Miss Ann Scuse) and father did not
accompany their son to America, as is fre
quently the case when children cut loose from
the old moorings;, and so in the spring of 1848
William James and his wife arrived in New
York. They remained only a week in the
great Western metropolis before setting out
for Newburyport, Mass., in which town he had
a cousin, with whom he secured employment
sewing shoes. During the summer he worked
at his trade; but as winter came on there was
but little to be done in this line in Newbury
port, so he was compelled to take a position in
the Bartlett Cotton Mills of that place until
stone cutting should prove a more profitable
employment. For a short period during the
summer months he succeeded in securing some
stone cutting again ; but, as the demand for
this particular line of work decreased, it be
came necessary to move to a larger place,
where employment might be secured, so Mr
James removed to Boston. Here he was em
ployed by Mr Meaney and afterward by Mr
Carew on Tremont Street, where monument
and gravestone lettering was a specialty.
This work was very trying upon his eyes; and
Mr James, whose vision had become greatly
impaired by the constant use of the chisel,

came to Springfield, and secured the position
of foreman in the establishment of Dwelly &
Stone, marble and stone cutters. In -1874 he
formed the copartnership with Mr. Peter
Marra, which existed until his death, and
which is still perpetuated by his widow, who
retains the larger interest in the business,
which during the twenty years of her husband's
connection with it has prospered and extended
greatly. The firm filled large contracts, send
ing stone from their quarries at East Long
meadow to all parts of the country; and from
their large stone yard on Franklin Street some
of the handsomest specimens of workmanship
ever shipped from Springfield have been sent
out. Since the death of Mr. James, which oc
curred on August 28, 1 89 1, two years after
that of the other member of the firm, Mr.
Marra, the business management of the firm —
still continued under the same name — has de
volved upon Mrs. James's eldest son, Charles
W. James, and the brother of the late Mr.
Marra, Mr. James having charge of the quar
ries and Mr. John Marra of the yards in the
city and a general supervision of the entire
business. Mrs. James, who was Miss PZllen Hollister,
of Frampton Cotterell, England, where she
was born March 29, 1827, was married to Mr.
William James on August 14, 1848. Her
parents, Richard and Mary (Bryant) Hollister,
lived in the village of Frampton, where her
father plied the shoemaker's trade until his
death. She reared a family of five sons and
five daughters, of whom eight are still living.
All are married, and reside in Springfield with
the exception of one married daughter, who
lives in Albany, N.Y.
Mr. James was a member of Hampden
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Hampden Lodge,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Pie was
a communicant of Christ Church (Episcopal)
in Springfield, and by his death a good citizen
has been lost to the community in which he
moved. Mrs. James lives in the house built
by her husband at 109 Linden Street, a home
endeared by the early associations of married
life and as the birthplace of her children, who
were all reared within its walls.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

[^ELSON JOSEPH HERRICK, a xvell-
known florist of Springfield, where he
119 V has conducted business for the past
fourteen years, xvas born at Canaan,
N.Y., September 20, 1843, son of Joseph
Trowbridge and Fidelia (Taylor) Herrick.
His father was a native of Worthington, Mass.
Having grown to manhood and learned the
trade of a wheelwright, Joseph T. Herrick
moved to Canaan and from there to Chatham,
N.Y. , his decease occurring at the latter town
at the age of forty-three, when his son. Nelson
J., was about thirteen years old. Fidelia
Taylor, whom he married, was a native of
Northampton, and became the mother of eight
children, seven daughters and one son. She
is still living, a well-preserved old lady and a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Both the grandfather and great-grandfather of
Mr. Nelson J. Herrick, as xvell as his father,
bore the name Joseph.
The Herrick family in America are lineal
descendants of Sir William Herrick, Bart., of
Plerefordshire, England, who was related to
the poet Herrick. Some of this name came
to America among the early colonists; and the
family, which now contains many branches, is
distributed over different parts of the country.
Nelson J. Herrick succeeded in procuring
a fair education in the public schools of Ca
naan and Chatham, and at the age of twelve
years was sent to xvork for Dr. Belden at P'alls
Village, Conn., his compensation being his
board, clothing, and three months' schooling
per annum. He remained there two years,
and then returning to Chatham, his father
having died in the mean time, went to school
another winter, after xvhich he worked on a
farm in Peru, Berkshire County, Mass., still
attending school until reaching the age of
eighteen years. At the commencement of the
Civil War he enlisted as a private in the
Thirty-first Massachusetts Volunteers, Com
pany E; and in 1861 his regiment was at
tached to General Butler's command, and sent
to Ship Island, where it was held in rendez
vous, preparatory to the attack upon New
Orleans. IPe witnessed the bombardment of
Forts Jackson and St. Philip by Admiral
Porter's fleet; and his company was the first

to land in New Orleans, the Thirty-first being
quartered at the custom-house in that city,
where he remained from May until October,
when he was discharged on account of sick
ness and sent home.
After his return North, Mr. Herrick entered
the employ of the Harlem Railway, holding
different positions for two years, at the end of
which time he shipped for a whaling cruise of
six months off the Cape Verde Islands and the
coast of Africa, from which he returned after
passing through some rough experiences and
having been exposed to considerable danger.
He re-entered the employ of the Railway
Company, where he remained until 1868,
when he came to Springfield, and became for
a short time a brakeman on the Boston &
Albany Railroad. P.ater he established him
self in the grocery business upon the site of
the present post-office, and after taking in a
partner, with whom he continued for the space
of one year, sold out his interest and started
anew in the same business at West Springfield,
which he closed out after a six months' trial,
and began the raising of tobacco and vegeta
bles for the market. During the same year
he erected a small greenhouse for the purpose
of starting early vegetable plants, having
taken in a lot of plants to winter, from which
he procured cuttings or slips; and from this
small commencement his present large florist's
establishment has arisen. He steadily ad
vanced in this enterprise, erecting a new
greenhouse each year for three years, when he
purchased the stock and fixtures at the corner of
Chestnut and Worthington Streets, going into
floriculture exclusively and once more occupy
ing the store where the post-office now stands,
having erected a small greenhouse in the rear
In the course of a few years the business
outgrew his limited quarters ; and he found it
necessary to enlarge both his sale and culti
vating" facilities, which he did by purchasing
the extensive greenhouses on Plainfield Street
formerly conducted by A. Melieze, containing
twenty thousand square feet of glass. Here
he continued to do a constantly increasing
business until the land was taken for building
purposes, when he removed to still more spa
cious grounds situated on Osgood Street, pur-

HERBERT L. HANDY.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1083

chasing one and one-half acres of land, upon
which he constructed his greenhouses; and,
though he began with seemingly ample space,
each year he found it necessary to still further
add to his covered space, until at the present
time he owns and occupies thirty-two thousand
square feet of glass, his establishment being the
largest of the kind in Western Massachusetts.
He cultivates and retails every kind of flower
or plant that can be successfully grown, and
devotes his entire time and concentrated ener
gies to continued development of his business.
On May 22, 1868, Mr. Herrick was united
in marriage to Miss Ellenore M. Granger, of
Hinsdale, Mass., and has two children: Clar
ence W. , who is a florist in the city of Worces
ter; and Ada E., a graduate of Smith College,
where she acquired superior rank for her profi
ciency in the higher branches of study and her
literary talents, which she has displayed most
effectually in the dramatization of "Passe
Rose," a most creditable piece of work, which
attracted much attention and extremely favor
able mention. Mrs. Herrick was born at
Worthington, Mass., and is the daughter of
Almarin and Ella Granger, who now live in
West Springfield. Her father was in partner
ship with Mr. Herrick when the latter first
began his business career.
Mr. Herrick and his family are members of
the Park Street Church at West Springfield,
and occupy a very desirable residence in that
locality. Mr. Herrick is a member of Hamp
den Lodge of A. F. & A. M., Morning Star
Chapter and Springfield Council, also of De
Soto Lodge of Odd P'ellows, the Encampment,
the Improved Order of Red Men, and the
Grand Army of the Republic.

'ERBERT L. HANDY, wholesale pro
vision dealer, was born in Hyannis,
Barnstable County, Mass., January
13, 1856, son of Hatsel and Desire
B. (Lewis) Handy. His grandfather was a
shipbuilder and sea captain; and his father,
PPatsel Handy, another stanch son of the Cape,
was also a seafaring man, becoming master of
a vessel as. soon as he was old enough and fol
lowing this vocation for twenty-five years.

At sixteen years of age Plerbert L. Plandy
left school, and went to Hartford, Conn.,
where he worked in a meat market for some
time. From Plartford he came to Springfield,
and was here employed by his brother in the
same business. In the spring of 1875 his
brother sold out and went to California; and
in the autumn of the same year Herbert, whose
enthusiasm was fired with the desire to seek
his fortunes in the "West, followed. Arriving
at San Francisco he found himself utterly
penniless. His brother obtained a place for
him in a hotel, where his services were to pay
for his board and lodging; but at the end of
ten days the wily innkeeper presented a bill.
As all of the effects of both brothers were in
pawn the situation was a serious one. Her
bert's persuasions with the landlord were at
last of effect, and the bill was remitted ; but
by this time the young man was anxious to
return to the parental roof-tree and abide for
a time beneath its kindly shelter. The wel
come summons at last came ; but, as he had
not the wherewithal to pay his travelling ex
penses, the homesick youth despatched a mes
sage to the old sea captain, which read,
"Please send money by telegraph. I want to
come quick." He shortly received sufficient
money' to buy a first-class ticket ; but, with
a generosity that was always a notable charac
teristic, he .bought a ticket on an emigrant
train, and gave the remaining money to his
brother. Upon his arrival in Springfield Mr. Handy
went to work for his father, who was then en
gaged in the grocery business in the city, and
remained with him for four years. He next
secured a place in a meat market, where he
worked for some months, when he conceived
a plan by which he could set up in business
for himself; but, in order to accomplish this,
he was obliged to borrow the necessary funds
for the enterprise. Succeeding in negotiating
a loan, he went into partnership with a young
man by the name of Cleeland, and bought
out his former employer, George W. Hollister.
This venture was a financial success, and at
the end of two years Mr. Handy sold out his
interests to his partner for five hundred dol
lars. In a short time, having spent txvo bun-

1084

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

dred dollars of this, he invested the remaining
three hundred in manufacturing Bologna .sau
sages. Buying a horse, wagon, and sleigh for
fifty-two dollars, he began making and ped
dling these sausages, which found ready sale.
When the days were .short, he worked at night,
and displayed a wonderful amount of energy.
One day he made the acquaintance of Mr
Skilton, of the firm of Charles H. North &
Co. of Bo.ston, who inquired if he could sell
his provisions in this part of the country,
which his former agents had failed to do.
Mr Skilton further asked Mr. Handy how
much money he had. "I have none at all,"
was the honest reply. "I like your frank
way," said Mr. Skilton, and immediately
offered to sell Mr Handy goods upon credit.
This was the beginning of a business connec
tion which has been of equal benefit to both
parties, and has grown into one of the largest
meat trades in the country. Commencing
without a dollar Mr. Handy is now controlling
a traffic the monthly income of which is from
seventy-five thousand dollars to eighty-five
thousand dollars. F'rom 1884 to 1893 he
dealt exclusively xvith North & Co. , fulfilling
all the requirements of the first contract. Tho
place of business, which in 1884 was at 15
Hampden Street, was changed to a larger one
before long; and from No. 15 he moved to No.
27. Again the business outgrew the space it
occupied, and he had for a time to sell his meat
from a car. In the spring of 1893 he pur
chased the block 41, 43, and 45 Hampden
.Street, which he remodelled into a beef and
provision house and sausage factory. This
establishment is thoroughly equipped and ar
ranged for the business for which it was de
signed, and Mr. Handy has been more than
ordinarily successful during the ten years of
his career as a meat dealer. Besides this es
tablishment in Springfield be owns a half-in
terest in a beef house in Manchester, Mass.
Mr. Handy was married in Springfield,
January 26, 1881, to Miss Plenrietta Pluck,
a daughter of Herman Pluck, of this city.
Their three children are : Meda, Herman
Pluck, and Herbert L. Handy, Jr. Mr. and
Mrs. Handy and their family occupy an at
tractive residence on the corner of St. James

Avenue and Princeton Street, where they
enjoy a pleasant home life, and receive their
friends with cordial hospitality.

RASMUS BRADFORD GATES, a re
tired merchant of Wilbraham, was born
in that town, March 30, 1827, son of
Asa and Mary (Ploughton) Gates. His grand
father, Asa (!iates, was a native of Worcester
or Leicester, Mass., and served in the Revolu
tionary War, at the termination of which he
settled in Monson, where he purchased a tract
of land containing a water-power, situated just
east of the village; and upon this he erected
a carding and fulling mill, which he operated
for many years in conjunction with farming.
He passed the remainder of his life in Mon
son, and died at the age of seventy-eight
years. The maiden name of his wife was
P'anny Field.
Asa Gates, Jr., commenced at an early age
to assist his father in the mill, thus becom
ing thoroughly conversant with the business.
F'rom Monson he went to I'almer, where he
remained for a time, later settling at Wilbra
ham upon a tract of land xvhich afforded ample
facilities for the continuation of his business,
as it included a good water-power; and he
proceeded to utilize this by erecting a carding
and fulling mill. As this enterprise was at
tended with the most satisfactory results, he
constructed another mill, for the purpose of
manufacturing woollen goods, but was not per
mitted to witness the completion of his second
enterprise, being called to another life before
the machinery was placed in position. He
died in 1841, at the age of forty-nine years.
He married Mary Ploughton, a native of the
town of Wales, daughter of Asa and Mary
(Bradford) Ploughton. The latter was a direct
descendant of Governor Bradford. Mr and
Mrs. Gates had seven children, who were
named as folloxvs: Adelia P'., Benjamin S.,
Plarriet PL, Charles H., Asa PI., Erasmus B. ,
and George W.
PIrasmus Bradford Gates also followed for
a time the trade of a carder. Pie received a
good education at the town schools, and as
sisted his father in his business, having com-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1085

menced while still young to be of valuable ser
vice in the mill. After the death of his par
ent the mills xvere rented for a time; and he
was attracted to the Golden State, reaching
San P'rancisco, by way of the Isthmus, just
one month after leaving Nexv York, taking his
departure from the latter city on January 4,
1853. After a stay of a little more than a
year, with an elder brother,- he returned P2ast,
and entering into partnership xvith Elijah
Shaw operated the mills for a period of two
years, at the expiration of "which time they
sold a share of their business to Almon Nel
son, and continued the enterprise for four
)'ears more, when, just previous to the com
mencement of the Civil War, they decided to
close up their business affairs, and finally sold
the mill property. In 1864 Mr. Gates estab
lished himself in mercantile business at North
Wilbraham, where he opened a large general
store, and carried a x'aried stock of staple mer
chandise. This enterprise was attended with
long-continued success, and for nearly thirty
years Mr. Gates sustained a high reputation
as -a merchant. In 1893 he sold the business,
since which time he has lived in retirement.
On January 2, 1862, he was united in mar
riage to Miss Harriet Kent, of Chicopee,
daughter of Harvey and Harriet Kent ; and
their union was blessed with four children, as
follows: Howard E., George L., Mabel, and
Myra. Ploward E. married Grace Bassett,
and has one child, named Russell.
Mr. and Mrs. Gates are members of the
First Congregational Church of Wilbraham.
He is a Republican in politics, and has served
eight years as Postmaster.

town
July 2
Kathar
a well
in that
of her
in the

ATRICK KILROY, a resident of
.Springfield, Hampden County, Mass.,
and prominent among the younger
lawyers of the city, was born in the
of Lossett, Cavan County, Ireland,
5, 1864. His parents were James and
ine (O'Reilly) Kilroy, his father being
known and respected farmer, still living
locality. His mother spent four years
life after reaching the age of si.xteen
United States, at which time she made

her home in the city of Worcester, Mass.,
where her brother, afterward the Bishop of the
Cathedral Church in Springfield, was at that
time serving as priest in one of the Catholic
churches. Guided by Bishop O'Reilly's influ
ence, his sister Katharine returned to Ireland ;
and later, having formed the happy domestic
ties of wife and mother, she centred her in
terests permanently in her native land.
Pier son, Patrick Kilroy, the subject of this
sketch, attended the national schools of the
county in his early }'outh, and then spent two
and a half years in St. Patrick's College at
Cavan, the chief city of the county which
bears its name. I'rom there he came to
America, on his arrix'al seeking first his
uncle. Bishop O'Reilly, in Springfield. The
bishop was a man eminently well fitted for his
office, and was highly esteemed by citizens of
all classes, irrespective of creed, for his men
tal culture, his beneficence, his patriotism,
and for his many other distinguished x'irtues.
Such an influence was most happy for the
young stranger, planning a career in a strange
new country; and his subsequent course
showed that he had profited by his advantages.
After a short time Patrick Kilroy entered the
College of the Ploly Cross at Worcester, where
he remained five years, graduating in 1885,
with the degree of B. A.
His next step was in the direction of the
work for which he had been preparing, the
study of law, which he pursued in the office of
Judge Joseph D. Fallon in Boston, where he
remained one year, going from thence to begin
a three years' course in the Boston University
Law School, from which he was graduated in
1889 with the honorary degree of LL.B., re
ceiving one year later from his Alma Mater
the degree of M.A., the result of special work.
During a part of this year he was in the office
of J. B. O'Donnell, of Northampton, whence
he came to Springfield, where he has already
built up a steady and successful practice,, his
sound education and store of general informa
tion serving to give him well-deserved promi
nence among the intellectual and cultivated
residents of the city. In 1894 Mr Kilroy had
made so marked an impression upon the com
munity that he was nominated for the legis-

io86

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lature in the Sixth Hampden District. He de
clined the nomination, however, not caring to
enter political office. The lawyer thoroughly
conversant with the various departments of his
profession is able to undertake cases in any
one of them, as occasion may offer. Mr. Kil
roy is no exception to this rule, but, while
attending to general business, interests himself
chiefly in the legalities connected with pro
bate and in the adjustments of real estate.
On October 29, 1894, Mr. Kilroy was
united in marriage to Miss Katherine L.
Dunn, daughter of Michael Dunn, a well-
known resident of Round Hill. Their taste
ful dwelling at 43 Church Street may be men
tioned as one of the many refined and pleasant
homes which give beauty and honor to the city
of Springfield. The family are members of
the Church of the Sacred Heart. Mr. Kilroy
gives his personal interest as a member to the
Society of the Knights of Columbus, and has
also been active in establishing a Catholic
Social Club in Springfield.
Year by year depart the faithful-hearted
men, long devoted to the welfare of the city,
who have advocated principles of integrity as
the foundations of its prosperity, and have in
dicated by their benefactions their belief in
education as a. moral factor in society. The
work they have left is for others to carry
on, and it is cheering to see that so many of
the younger men who are coming forward to
fill the vacant places are qualified by educa
tion and influenced by Christian principles.
Among these may be mentioned Mr Kilroy,
who, not by political display, but by advocat
ing the cause of truth and right, already indi
cates his intention to further the prosperity of
the community.

ii^aATRICK j. O'CONNELL, a retired
brass founder and one of Spring-
[19 field's successful business men, was
born in County Limerick, Ireland,
March 15, 1834. He is a son of Cornelius
and Bridget (Noonan) O'Connell, his parents
having immigrated to the United States in
1848 and settled in Boston, where his father
carried -on quite an extensive cooperage busi

ness, dying December i, 1869, at the age of
sixty-nine. His mother was called to rest on
August 17, 1872, at the age of seventy-two
years. Of their eight children, four are now
living, namely: Patric'K J.; Margaret, wife of
Jeremiah Brennan, of Boston; Bridget, wife
of Jeremiah Devron, of Milford, Mass. ; and
Michael, a resident of Charlestown, Mass.
The family are among the earlier members of
the Roman Catholic Church of SS. Peter and
Paul, South Boston.
Patrick J. O'Connell received his education
in the public schools of Boston, and, after
completing his studies, acquired the trade of
a coppersmith, serving an apprenticeship of
three years. In 1857 he came to Springfield,
where he entered the employ of Kimball &
Potter, and later he was with P. P. Emory.
After remaining with the latter for a few
years, he established business on his own ac
count, beginning on a small scale in the
Goodrich Block, and gradually enlarging his
facilities until he became the head of an ex
tensive brass foundry. In 1881 he purchased
a fine brick block situated at the corner of
Main and Ferry streets, to which he trans
ferred his shop, and where he had much better
accommodations for developing his constantly
increasing business, which then necessitated
the employment of twenty-two hands, mostly
skilled workmen. This enterprise he con
ducted with the most profitable results until
1891, when he sold to George C Kimball,
and practically retired from active business
pursuits. In 1891 he was chosen a Director
of the P. P. Emory Manufacturing Company,
in which he retains an active interest; and
he still owns the brick block on Main Street
and also other valuable city property, which
he has accumulated by his industry and busi
ness ability.
On April 11, 1855, Mr. O'Connell was
united in marriage to Miss Mary Ann De
laney, who was born at Mount Mellick,
(Jueen's County, Ireland, in 1832, daughter of
Bernard and Mary (Hogan) Delaney. She
came to the United States, and resided in New
York City until her marriage, which occurred
five years subsequent to her arrival in this
country. Of the six children born to them,

ARTHUR D. NORCROSS.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1087

but two are now living— Julia Frances and
Gertrude Emily, both of whom reside at home.
Bernard C, xvho was in business with his
father, died June 17, 1S93, aged thirty-five
years, leaving one daughter, Mary B. The
other children died when quite young.
The family are worshippers at the Cathe
dral, being among the oldest parishioners,
and are also members of the Holy Name So
ciety. They have a pleasant home at 61
Locust Street.

rr^-^ I" ARVEY EVERTON, a retired farmer,
owns and occupies a finely located
homestead in the toxvn of West-
field, where he has spent his entire
life, having been born in the West Parish,
April II, 181 1. As a worthy representative
of the agricultural interests of this section
of Hampden County, and a highly esteemed
citizen, he is especially deserving of mention
in this biographical volume.
His father, William Everton, died at his
home at the advanced age of eighty-five years,
the most of which he had spent in Westfield.
Pie was a carpenter and joiner by trade, work
ing in this locality at that occupation as long
as able and had a good reputation as a
willing and reliable workman. He married
Eunice Loomis, who died at the age of
seventy-five years. She was a faithful mem
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, of
which he was a regular attendant. In poli
tics he was a Jacksonian Democrat. Six
children were born of their union, all of
whom married and reared families, the sub
ject of this sketch being the only one now
living. The names of the deceased are:
William, Harriet, Maria, Mercy, and Laura.
Harvey Everton has watched the growth
and development of his native town through
the years of his boyhood, youth, manhood,
and old age, and has never been sparing of
his time or energy toward advancing its pros
perity. At the close of his school life he
learned the trade of a carpenter, at which he
worked at times through his earlier years,
but has devoted the most of his attention to
agricultural pursuits; and during the entire

period of his married life of more than three
score years he and his faithful helpmeet have
occupied the same farm. He has been a
hard-working man, and, having exercised
sound sense in the management of his affairs,
has his land under a good state of cultivation,
and has made practical and substantial im
provements on his pleasant homestead, ren
dering it one of the best in the locality.
On November 20, 1833, Mr. Everton wedded
Sarah Rising, who was born in Southwick,
December 25, 181 2, being a daughter of
Thaddeus and Lucretia (Bush) Rising. Mr.
Rising was a farmer and a very successful
business man, living until the age of seventy-
txvo years. Plis wife preceded him to the
better land, dying at the age of threescore
years. Both were members of the Baptist
church, and he was a strong Democrat in his
political views. They reared a family of six
daughters and two sons, of whom Mrs. Ever
ton and Mrs. Lucy Fuller are the only ones
now living. Eight children were born to Mr.
and Mrs. Everton, of whom the following five
are deceased: Clayton H., at the age of
twenty-one years; Sarah L., aged thirteen
years; Izatus T., an infant; Duane E., aged
thirty-six years; and William, aged fifty-six.
The children now living are: Izatus A. and
Eugene R., residents of Somerville ; and
Leverett D., of Westfield. There are seven
grandchildren in the family, five being the
children of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene R. Everton,
as follows: Edward Harvey, who lives with
his grandparents, having charge of the farm;
Clayton, Duane L., Daisy A., and Elsie M. ;
Willie H. and Ellen A. are the children of
Izatus A. Everton and his wife. Mr. and
Mrs. Everton have been guided through life
by high moral and Christian principles, and
are active and valued members of the Meth
odist Episcopal Church, in which he has offi
ciated as class leader, Steward, and Trustee.

RTHUR D. NORCROSS, a well-
<nown business man of Monson, and
First Selectman of his town, comes
of a long line of New England
ancestry, whose records have been preserved

io88

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

in a manuscript work now in the library of
the New England Historic Genealogical So
ciety at Boston, written with painstaking
minuteness and accuracy by Joel W. Norcross,
uncle of the subject of this sketch. The first
progenitors of the family in this country were
Jeremiah and Adrean (Smith) Norcross (the
latter a second wife), who came to America
in 1638 and settled in Watertown, Mass., in
1642. Their children were: Nathaniel,
Richard, and Sarah, all born in London,
England. Richard (second in line), who was
born in 1621, was twice married, first to
Mary Brooks, who died in 1672, this mar
riage occurring in 1650, and second to
Susannah, widow of William Shattuck, of
Watertown. This second wife died Decem
ber II, 1686. Mary Brooks, the first wife
of Richard Norcross, had seven children, of
whom Richard (second of the name), born
August 4, 1660, comes next in line. He,
like his father, was twice married, his first
wife_ being Rose Woodward, of Watertown,
the marriage taking place in 1686. His
second wife was Hannah Sanders, to whom
he was married in 1695. This second wife,
Hannah Sanders, died May 14, 1743. The
husband resided a part or most of his life in
Western Mas.sachusetts. The next in line was
William Norcross, son of Richard (second)
and Hannah (Sanders) Norcross. Plis birth
took place March 14, 1715, in Shrewsbury,
Mass. He married Lydia Wheeler, daughter
of John Wheeler, who was born March 25,
1722. Their son William (second) was the
next in genealogical order, and was the first
of the family to settle in Monson. His birth
took place September 20, 1748, and in 1774
he married Sarah Marsh, of Sturbridge. She
was born February 13, 1756, and died Janu
ary 9, 1825. He laid out the little cemetery,
which he was the first to occupy, dying while
yet a young man. The next in line was Joel
Norcross, the grandfather of the subject of
this sketch. His birth took place August 6,
1776, and he was one of six children, four
sons and two daughters, the others being:
Amos, who was a hotel man in Monson for
many years; Sally, who became the wife of
a Mr. Flint; Betsey, who married Timothy

Packard; William; and Erasmus. Joel Nor
cross was twice married; first, in 1798, to
Betsey Fay, who died September 5, 1829.
(See the "Fay Genealogy," by Joel W. Nor
cross, in the New York and New England
Genealogical Society Library.) She had
eleven children, seven sons and four daugh
ters, of whom Joel W. Norcross, author of the
works above mentioned, is the youngest and
the only one now living. The second wife of
Joel Norcross was Sarah Vaill, daughter of
the Rev. Joseph Vaill, of Hadlyme, Conn.,
to whom he was married in 1834. Sh'e was
born March 29, 1788, and died April 25,
1854. Joel Norcross was one of the founders
of the Monson Academy, and was a very
prominent man in public affairs. He was a
Congregationalist in religion. His son, Al
fred, the father of the subject of this sketch,
was born July 16, 181 5. He worked as a
clerk in early youth, and was later engaged in
the livery business before his father's death,
at which time he succeeded to the latter's
business, Joel Norcross having been one of
the founders of the Hampden Manufacturing
Company in Monson. Alfred Norcross was
married January 20, 1841, to Olivia Chapin,
of Monson, whose birth occurred January 26,
1 8 16. Her parents were Jonathan and Olive
(Dickinson) Chapin, the (jbapins being early
settlers in Monson and the Dickinsons from
Northampton. Alfred and Olivia (Chapin)
Norcross had fix'e children, as follows :- Eliza
beth Porter, born May 12, 1843, who died in
infancy; Maria Olivia, born October 29,
1845, who died at the early age of five years;
Arthur Dickinson, whose name heads this
article, born November 7, 1848 ;• Herbert
Chapin, now a merchant in Monson, born No
vember 8, 1855; and Edward Dickinson, born
September 3, i860, who died in infancy, at
the age of eighteen months. The father died
in 1S88, leaving a good estate, which he had
largely inherited from his father, Joel, who
owned one thousand acres of land.
Arthur D. Norcross attended the Monson
Academy and the Massachusetts Agricultural
College, graduating from the latter institution
in the class of 1871, the first class to graduate
from that college. Mr. Norcross was a prime

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1089

mover in the social, literary, and athletic life
of his Alma Mater, being the first President of
the Washington Irving Literary Society, the
first K. F. of the D. G. K. secret fraternity,
captain of the Wilder Base-ball Nine, and a
member of the winning boat crew of 1871.
After leaving college, he was in the employ
of Merrick, Fay & Co. for two years, and for
seven years was Assistant Postmaster under
R. S. Munn, Postmaster, occupying the posi
tion of Postmaster himself during the Garfield-
Arthur administration. He was engaged in
mercantile trade eleven years.
On January 4, 1882, Arthur D. Norcross
was united in marriage to Augusta V., daugh
ter of George and Mary (Gleason) Kinney,
who was born February 4, i860.
Mr. Norcross has been chairman of the
Board of Selectmen of Monson four years, and
for two years has been chairman of the Water
Board. Since boyhood he has been an ardent
devotee of music, for twenty-six years sing
ing in quartet choirs in Amherst, Monson,
Worcester, and Boston; and he has been
director of numerous musical organizations.

ON. EBER ATWATER EGLES
TON, a representative of one of the
early-settled families of Westfield,
was born on September 28, 181 5, a
son of Judd Egleston, who was a native of the
same town. The paternal grandfather, Eber
Egleston, was, it is thought, also born in
Westfield, his grandfather, Bygott Egleston,
being a native of the north of Wales. The
latter, accompanied by his brother Simeon,
immigrated to America in Colonial times,
locating at Windsor, Conn., where he resided
for a time. Later Simeon went to the State
of New York, and Bygott settled in Westfield,
purchasing a tract of land five miles north of
the village, upon which he erected a log
house. At that period Westfield was a fron
tier settlement, and the country was still in
habited by Indians. Mr. Egleston improved
his land, and here resided until his death.
Eber Egleston, our subject's grandfather, was
reared to agricultural pursuits, which he made
his life occupation, dying in 181 5, at the age

of sixty-four. The maiden name of his wife
was Eunice Clapp. She was a native of
Southampton. Judd Egleston, following in the footsteps of
his father and grandfather, was a farmer by
occupation. He spent his entire life in his
native town, dying at the age of sixty-four
years. The name of his wife before marriage
was Anna Steele. She was born in Berlin,
Conn., and was a daughter of Jason Steele.
Mrs. Anna Egleston died at the age of fifty-
four years. The parental household included
seven children, five of whom attained to years
of maturity.
Eber Atwater Egleston commenced when
very young to earn his own living, and also
assisted in the support of the family. Before
he attained his majority he had aided his
father in paying for the home farm, and had
also purchased and paid for seven acres adjoin
ing, upon which he afterward built, and where
he resided for a time. In 1850 he made the
journey to California, going byway of steamer
from New York to Chagres, and then across
the Isthmus to Panama, thence on a sailing-
vessel to San Francisco, which at that time
was but a hamlet. Mr. Egleston was very
sick upon the journey; and, in fact, did not
fully recover during his stay in California.
He remained eleven months, and then re
turned home. Upon recovering his health
sufficiently, he was placed in charge of the
highways of Westfield, which position he
occupied six and one-half years, and held a
similar one in West Springfield two years.
He was then engaged in the provision busi
ness for twenty-five years, but of late has
lived retired from active life, employing his
time in looking after his private interests.
Soon after coming to Westfield he became in
terested in real estate, and is now an exten
sive owner of village property. Mr. Egleston
is, in every sense of the term, a self-made
man. Starting out a poor boy, with indomi
table courage and perseverance as his sole cap
ital, he began the struggle of life with the
purpose of making a place for himself in the
world. Possessed of sound judgment, and
imbued with a spirit of strict integrity, he
was always scrupulously just in his dealings;

logo

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

and Dame Fortune smiled upon him, success
crowning his every effort. Having always
been the encourager and supporter of every
enterprise calculated to advance the xvclfarc of
his community — intellectually, socially, and
morally — he is held in high esteem by his
fellow-citizens. On February 14, 1840, Mr. Egleston was
united in marriage with Miss Julia Lee. She
was born in Westfield, July 22, 18 18, and is a
daughter of Captain Charles Lee. One child
blessed this union — Nellie A., now the wife
of Walter M. Dizer.
Mr. Egleston was one of the first seven men
who voted the Abolition ticket in Westfield.
During the past few years he has been inde
pendent in politics, and in 1884 was nomi
nated to the legislature on the Democratic
ticket, being elected, and re-elected the fol
lowing year. In principle he has always been
a Prohibitionist, and while in the legislature
did all in his power to further that cause.
While he was a member, the question of the
free text-book was pending. Having been a
poor boy himself, he felt the need of such a
measure, and made an eloquent plea in the
House for the bill, which became a law.

K RANCIS MARION BENNITT, M.D.,
who has achieved a very unusual degree
of success in his profession, and is
undoubtedly the most prominent homoeopathic
physician in Central Massachusetts, was born
in Big Flats, Chemung County, N.Y., on
the loth of October, 1857. Dr Bennitt is
of Scotch-English descent. His great-grand
father, Abraham Bennitt, was a farmer in Orange
County, New York. Jacob's son John, with
an older brother. Comfort, came to the Che
mung valley in his youth, and located at Big
P'lats, the latter becoming the largest land
holder in that part of the State, leaving to
each of his twelve children one hundred acres
of land. John, the grandfather of Francis,
was also a thrifty and successful man, though
less fortunate than his brother He and his
good wife, Sarah Rockwell, were members of
the Free Will Baptist Church, and helped to
erect the first church in that vicinity. They

died at the age of about sixty-eight and sixty-
five respectively, leaving nine children :
Thomas, F^lias, Jerusha, Josiah, Rachel, Com
fort, Plannah, John, and Miles, of whom
Josiah, Plannah, and Miles, are now living.
Miles C. Bennitt was born in the town of
Big F'lats, N. Y., August 4, 1830, and was
the youngest of his family. After his father's
death it fell to his lot to take care of his
mother; and upon her demise the homestead,
which consisted of about one hundred acres of
land, came into his possession. This he
retained till the spring of i860, when he
traded for a farm of one hundred- and sixty
acres nearer the river (Chemung) and on the
Chemung Canal. Here he built a small gro
cery and feed store, and stables for the accom
modation of canal horses, which enterprises,
in connection with his farming, secured for
him a good degree of material prosperity. He
also built a grain storehouse, and in company
with Samuel Smith began buying and shipping
grain to New York and other points reached
by the canal. As the business increased, he
built a large and handsome boat for grain
transportation, and named it after his only
son, "Francis Marion." This was for many
years considered the finest boat on the Che
mung Canal. He also built a blacksmith and
wagon shop, opened a shoe-shop over his store,
and established a branch post-office for the
accommodation of his neighborhood. This
also became a favorite shipping-point for lum
ber and logs. The place was known quite
generally as Bennitt's Corners. After the
canal was abandoned by the State some ten or
twelve years later, howex'cr, this miniature
city began to decline; and now practically
nothing is left to mark the place except the
Bennitt homestead.
At the age of two and twenty, on March 3,
1852, Miles C Bennitt was united in marriage
to Mary Brace, of Ulysses, Potter County,
Pa., a daughter of Leonard Brace and grand
daughter of Stephen Brace, who came to Pot
ter County from Hartford, Conn., in the early
part of this century, and cleared with his one
arm the first farm cultivated in the county.
Pie made the entire journey from Plartford
"into the forest primeval" with his family

FRANCIS M. BENNITT.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

-1093

in an ox team, having to clear a way with his
axe some of the distance for his rude vehicle.
Stephen Brace was a scion of one of the origi
nal Puritan families who" came from Massa
chusetts to settle Hartford, Windsor, and
Wethersfield about 1635. Leonard Brace
was born in Hartford, Conn. ; but, being
young when his father moved ""West," he
spent most of his long life in Pptter County.
He had eight children : Emeline, Stephen,
Rebecca, Allen, Mary, Nancy, Henry, .and
Chauncy, of whom Allen, Mary, Nancy, and
Chauncy survive. Mary's mother died when
she was quite young; and, her father being
unable to maintain his large family, she was
"bound out " to a shoemaker of Ulysses by the
name of Armstrong. , This man Armstrong
also had a large family; and Mary was obliged
to- work very hard, having little or no oppor
tunity to go to school, a fact which she always
deeply deplored. On reaching womanhood
she removed to Big F'lats, N.Y., where she
met Mr. Bennitt.
Miles Bennitt was at one time a Democrat,
but in later years became a strong Republican,
castirtg his first vote with this party for John
C P'remont. During the C^vil War he was
an enrolling officer. Though never seeking
office and having repeatedly refused nomina
tions for the legislature,' he has several times
represented his party in State and county con
ventions. He and his wife are members of the
Baptist church. Two children were born to
them: Kittie Belle, born September 27, 1866,
who lives with them at Big Flats; and Francis
Marion, of whom the present memoir is writ
ten. They also have an adopted daughter,
Jennie, now Mrs. Levi Brown, who lives near
them. Francis Marion Bennitt attended the dis
trict school near his home when a boy, assist
ing his father during vacations on the farm
and in the store until he reached his seven
teenth year, when he began a four years'
course at Cook Academy in Havana (now Mon
tour F'alls), N.Y. Entering that institution
at its opening in 1873, he was graduated with
the class of 1877 in the classical course, and
soon after passed his college entrance exami
nations. During that summer he taught the

school where he had attended when a boy, and
in the fall entered the university of Rochester.
On account of his father's financial embarrass
ment he was obliged to relinquish his college
course in the Sophomore year. Now thrown
wholly upon his own resources he determined
to take some steps toward a preparation for
his chosen profession. He succeeded in bor
rowing of an old friend two hundred dollars,
with which and thirty dollars more he took a
year's special course in biology at Cornell
University, under the preceptorship of Profes
sor Burt G. Wilder, paying his tuition and
laboratory fees in full, besides living expenses.
His board and room were not pretentious,
costing less than a dollar a week on an aver
age. But the work of that year enabled him
to continue his medical studies to advantage
during the subsequent two years of teaching,
and to enter medical college a year in advance.
From 1879 to 1881 he taught in the Cou-
dersport graded school at Cotidersport, Pa.,
and in the fall of the latter year matriculated
at the New York Homoeopathic Medical Col
lege and Hospital, from which he took the,
degree of M.D. in 1883. The young physi
cian immediately began active practice at Put
nam, Conn., in connection with Dr. Gardner
L. Miller, as the latter's assistant. After
about five months of professional work together
Dr. Miller's confidence was so well estab
lished in his young associate that he went
abroad for some six months, leaving his entire
practice in Dr. Bennitt's hands. The success
of the youthful practitioner during this period
of unwonted responsibility proved the judg
ment of his patron and far surpassed his antici
pations. After Dr Miller's return Dr
Bennitt came in the spring of 1884 to Spring
field, Mass., and opened an office on Court
Square, in the Odd Fellows Building. The
following autumn he bought out the practice
of Dr J. P. Hadley, of Chicopee, Mass., and
commenced active practice there, retaining for
a time, however, his Springfield office.
On the 26th of May, 1887, Dr Bennitt
married Miss Elizabeth Chandler Allton, of
Putnam, Conn., whose birth date was February
18, 1865, the elder daughter of C Jerome and
Olive B. (Averill) Allton. Her father, who

1094

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

was the son of Daniel and Nancy (White) All-
ton, was born in Putnam, Conn., February 5,
1836, and during his business career has been
a merchant and manufacturer of warps and
yarns. He has also been for many years a
Director of the National Bank of his town.
Mr. Allton is a loyal Republican, and both he
and his wife are members of the Congrega
tional church. Owing to poor health he gave
up the active cares of business life several
years ago, and has since been living in quiet
retirement. Mrs. Allton was born in Pomfret,
Conn., on the 31st of January, 1837. Her
parents, Frederick and Elizabeth (Chandler)
Averill, were direct descendants from the
early Puritan settlers of Eastern Connecticut,
the latter being a member of the celebrated
Chandler family, and connected also with the
Randolphs of Virginia. Their three children
were: Elizabeth Chandler, who married Dr
Bennitt; Helen (now Mrs. E. C Bohanon),
who resides in Putnam ; and Frederick, who
died in childhood.
Shortly after his marriage Dr Bennitt
removed from Cabot Street to 96 Grape Street,
Chicopee, and erected an office building near
his residence. He had succeeded in consid
erably enlarging the homoeopathic practice of
Chicopee, when Dr Samuel Alvord, a widely
known and very successful homoeopathic physi
cian of Chicopee Falls died at an ' advanced
age. It was Dr Alvord's wish that Dr Ben
nitt should succeed to his practice; and the
latter accordingly moved to that part of the
city, located at 38 High Street, and occupied
the office of his distinguished predecessor at
119 Church Street. Retaining his former
office at Chicopee and succeeding to Dr Al
vord's large practice in Chicopee Falls, Dr
Bennitt has perhaps the most extensive prac
tice in the county. One may gain a fair idea
of the large professional responsibilities of
this busy practitioner by a visit to his waiting-
room during office hours. Dr Bennitt is a
member of the American Institute of Honue-
opathy, the Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medi
cal _ Society, the New England Cremation
Society, and has been for some three years
chairman of the city Board of Health. Pie is
also a member of the Independent Order of

Odd Fellows, Hampden Lodge, No. 27, of
Springfield, and of the Cabot Encampment at
Chicopee. In political faith he is a Republi
can, but does not believe in the infallibility
of parties. He is not a member of any
church, but attends, when opportunity permit.s,
the Congregational church, to which his wife
belongs. Three sons have been born to Dr and Mrs.
Bennitt to bear the family name to future
generations: Allton, born March 28, 1889;
Brace Wentworth, born August 5, 1890; and
Chandler, born August 30, 1893. Dr. Ben
nitt has felt the necessity of relieving the con
tinued strain of excessive and constant work
during the past few years by an annual vaca
tion. In the spring of 1893 he found himself
so much exhausted as to require a somewhat
extended respite, and with his wife set sail
for Europe. Something over two months was
spent in Belgium, France, England, Wales,
and Scotland, during which the Doctor took
occasion to visit a number. of the larger hospi
tals of the Old World, and also spent some
time investigating the sanitary management of
the city of London. The trip brought re
cuperation of mind and body, besides furnish
ing an almost inexhaustible store of pleasant
recollections.

]rjDWIN R. VAN DEUSEN, who for
Jp! many years has been identified xvith
'^•^-'K,^—- the industries of Westfield, and was
formerly a whip manufacturer of prominence,
was born at West Stockbridge, Berkshire
County, Mass., October 30, 18 17. His father,
Ethan "Van Deusen, was a native of Great
Barrington, and his mother, Climena (Toby)
Van Deusen, of Afford, both in Berkshire
County. FIis grandfather, Isaac Van Deusen,
was born in Van Deusen ville, in Great Bar
rington, which was named in honor of the
family. Pie was a sturdy New England
farmer, who became exceedingly prosperous,
and passed his declining years with his grand
son, Mark Van Deusen, at Alford, where he
died, at the advanced age of fourscore. He
was an Episcopalian in his religious faith and
a Whig in politics. His family of four sons

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1095

and two daughters all lived to reach a good
old age. Ethan Van Deusen was also a very
successful farmer, and lived a most exemplary
life, residing at his home in West Stock-
bridge, where he died, at the age of seventy
years; and his wife was called to her final rest
at the age of eighty years. They were Epis
copalians, and he supported the old Whig
party. Their family of three sons and one
daughter were as follows : Edwin R. ; Selina,
-who married Henry Lowry, and resides at
Baltimore; George, who resides in Westfield;
and Charles, who died at the age of twenty-six
or twenty-seven years.
Edwin R. Van Deusen received his educa
tion in the public schools of West Stock-
bridge, and in 1837 came to Westfield, where
he was employed as a whip pedler by the firm
of Heman Sacket & Sons. It being before
the advent of railroads, he travelled with a
large supply wagon drawn by a pair of horses,
visiting all parts of New England, New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland and
Canada. After -remaining five years in the
employ of the above firm, he established him
self, in 1842, in the manufacturing of whips
at Westfield, under the firm name of S. Dow
& Co., and continued thus engaged for five or
six years, at the expiration of which he sold
his interest to enter the hardware trade, re
turning to the whip industry in 1850. In
these early days of the business whips were
made entirely by hand, with no aid from
machinery, their production being necessarily
slow, and rarely, if ever, exceeding the
demand. Mr. Van Deusen applied himself
diligently to the development of his enterprise
for a period of three years, and then, in com
pany with Mr Hiram Hull, secured the labor
of the convicts in the Massachusetts State
Prison at Charlestown, which consisted of an
average of thirty hands. At the end of two
years the firm disposed of the business to the
American Whip Company. Some time pre
vious to this date Mr. Van Deusen had estab
lished a branch of his business in New York
City, being- the first to introduce it there; and
he was also the pioneer manufacturer to send
whips to the Australian market, which he did
with the most" satisfactory result.

He has been longer and more closely iden
tified with the whip trade than any other liv
ing" dealer in Westfield, having followed it as
a legitimate occupation since he was twenty
years of age; and, although he is now practi
cally retired from the business, he is still a
heavy stockholder in the American Whip
Company. Mr. Van Deusen has also been in
terested in various other enterprises, includ
ing the cigar trade in Montreal, with which
he was connected some three years, and the
fur business, in which he has been connected
with the famous Hudson Bay Fur Company.
He has speculated largely both in leaf to
bacco and real estate. He owns a substantial
brick block on Elm Street, which was built in
1872, having also erected in 1864 the brick
structure upon the Dr. Davis property, which
was the first of its kind in that locality. He
possesses two farms, one of two hundred and
one of three hundred acres in Westfield, to
gether with some valuable property in Spring
field, substantial evidences of his success in
his long and energetic business career.
On August 14, 1844, Mr. Van Deusen was
married to Miss Mary A. French, who was
born in Loudon, Merrimac County, N.H., De
cember 26, 1 8 16, her parents, Samuel and
Susan (Tilton) French, having been also na
tives of the same place. Her father was
prominently identified with public affairs in
his locality, having served as chairman of the
Selectmen for eighteen years and for sixteen
years as Town Clerk. He was a representa
tive to the legislature two years, and served
many years as Sheriff, being also appointed a
Judge by the Governor. He died at the age
of sixty years, his wife living to reach the
advanced age of eighty-four years. Of the
nine children two are now living — Mrs. Van
Deusen and Reuben L. French, a retired mer
chant of Pittsfield, N.H. The French family
were Congregationalists, and their ancestors
were among the first settlers of the Granite
State. Mr. Van Deusen's only son, Freder
ick, died at the age of forty-six years, leaving"
a widow and one son — Edxvin R. Van Deusen.
Mrs. Van Deusen has been united with the
Congregational church since she was sixteen
years of age, and Mr. Van Deusen is a Presby-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

terian. Politically, he is a Republican, and
has served upon the Board of Assessors.

17, I i

'OHN E. COONEY, a prominent busi
ness man of the town of Blandford,
Hampden County, Mass., was born in
Somers, Tolland County, Conn., April
52, son of Patrick and Margaret (Dunn)
Cooney, both of whom were natives of Ireland.
Patrick Cooney was a tailor by trade, and
spent most of his early life at that business.
He was a single man when he came to Amer
ica, and first settled in St. Paul, Minn., but
later, coming East, took up his abode in Con
necticut, where in time he married. Pie at
length removed with his family to Hunting
ton, Hampshire County, Mass., where he still
resides. Mr. Patrick Cooney has the repu
tation of being an industrious and careful
worker, and as such has the respect of the
community. He is a Catholic in his religion,
and is a Democrat in politics. He has
brought up a large family of children, seven
of whom are now living, as follows: James
W., of Holyoke; Thomas B., of Suffield,
Conn.; John E., of Blandford; Frank I., of
Chicopee; Mary A. and Maggie, of Hunting
ton; William H., of Blandford; Plenry and
an infant, deceased.
John E. Cooney came from Somers to
Blandford when a boy of twelve years. He
attended the schools of the town, and then set
out in life, working by the month for the
neighboring farmers. This kind of employ
ment he continued till his twenty-sixth year,
when, in company with his brother Thomas,
he bought the stock of groceries owned by
Gurney & Spaulding in Blandford, and com
menced business for himself. Having in
P'ebruary, 1891, bought the entire interest of
the owners, he now (1895) runs the leading
store of the village. Mr. Cooney keeps a
miscellaneous stock suitable for country trade,
including flour and feed, and also buys all
kinds of farm produce, handling the product
of forty dairies, as much as one thousand
pounds of butter per week in the busy season.
In 1894 he carried on business to the extent
of twenty-five thousand dollars.

On May 5, i8go, Mr. Cooney was married
to Miss Flora M. Ring, a native of Illinois,
daughter of Lyman IT. (now deceased) and
Hattie M. (Conwell) Ring. Her mother now
resides in Westfield. Mr. and Mrs. Cooney
have one son — Russell L. Cooney, born
March 18, 1892. Mrs. Cooney is a member
of the Congregational church, Mr. Cooney
being also a Protestant and an attendant of the
same church. Politically, he is a Republican.
He is an active, wide-awake man about town,
taking an interest in all municipal affairs.
He is the Town Treasurer, also one of the
Board of Selectmen, and is Assistant Postmas
ter. Mr. Cooney is a member of the Hunt
ington Lodge of A. F. & A. M., also of the
Red Men, Woronoco Tribe, No. 19, at Rus
sell, a neighboring town in the same county.
A man of industry, enterprise, integrity,
and self-reliance, he deservedly enjoys the
confidence and good will of his fellow-towns
men.

J2\ANIEL JAMES CURTIS, a well-
=^ known Springfield contractor and
9y builder, who has been in business
here for a quarter-century, was born
in Ireland on September 8, 1837. His par
ents were Patrick Curtis and Ann (Salmon)
Curtis, who emigrated to America with their
nine children in 1844, when Daniel was only
seven years old, settling in what is now called
Chicopee. His father died at the age of
sixty-five, on November 8, 1852: and his
mother died twenty-two years later, December
15. 1874-
Daniel J. Curtis received his education in
the public schools; and, being fifteen years
old when his father died, he became an ap
prentice with Charles McClallan, of Chicopee,
and learned masonry. Having mastered the
trade at the age of nineteen, he continued
working for Mr. McClallan as journeyman till
1858, when he went to work in Savannah, Ga.
Foreseeing the troublous times, he returned
North just before the Civil War, and found
employment with some of the older Springfield
builders until 1868, when he began business
for himself. With wise prudence he advanced

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1097

slowly and surely, putting up many prom
inent buildings in this and neighboring
States. In latter years Mr. Curtis has engaged in
brick manufacturing", owning the Blackberry
Hill Brick Yard at Chicopee, formerly owned
by his old employer, Charles McClallan, and
the yard at 1005 Main Street, Hartford,
Conn., both of which have an annual capacity
of four million brick. He is also interested
in real estate, erecting his own buildings;
and his local trade has always been uniformly
good. While not an active politician, he has
served one year in the City Council.
He was married January 6, 1869, to Hannah
L. O'Conner, of Chicopee, and they have four
children: Mary L., born September 11, 1871 ;
Daniel John, born December 28, 1873, now
associated with his father in business; Ger
trude Rachel, born March 12, 1877; 3-nd
Anna Louise, born January 9, 1879. ^^¦
Curtis was one of the first Sacred Heart Cath
olic Parish members, and for twenty-three
years has occupied his pleasant house at 77
Everett Street, it being one of the first built
in the locality.

/§>

EORGE R. BOND, one of the most
\ "3 I prominent figures in business and in
musical circles of Springfield, was
born in this city, November 10, 1855, son of
George T. and Anna L. (Dodd) Bond. His
paternal grandfather, Thomas Bond, was born
September 17, 1777; and, after a long resi
dence in West Brookfield, during which he
acquired an ample fortune, he removed to
Springfield, and purchased the old Sargeant
home, on the corner of Main and Sargeant
Streets. There he resided with his family
until 1842, in which year he removed to the
corner of Main and Bridge Streets, where
Gill's Art Building now stands.
For many years Thomas Bond was one of
Springfield's leading men, and at the time of
his death was one of the wealthiest men in the
city. He was the owner of much valuable
property, including a large portion of that sec
tion of the city now occupied by Hampden
Park and extending from Main Street to the

river, and other property in the vicinity of
Carew Street and elsewhere. He took an
active and useful part in public affairs, serving
as representative to the State legislature before
the days of railroads, when it was necessary
to make the trip to Boston by stage. He was
liberal in his support of all projects for the
public good, and was an active member of the
Old South Church on Bliss Street, having
transferred his allegiance to it from the old
First Congregational Church.
His wife was Jemima Plolloway Bush, of
an old Boylston family; and of this union nine
children were born, six sons and three daugh
ters, namely: f-Penry M. ; Thomas, Jr. ; Will
iam B. ; George T. , father of the subject of
this sketch; Ephraim W., an account of whom
appears on a neighboring page of this volume;
Edward N. ; Lucy A. ; Clarinda; and Mary.
Clarinda is a resident of Springfield, and is
the widow of Samuel Raynolds, who at the
time of his death in 1850 was President of the
Chicopee National Bank. Mary is the wife of
the Rev. John G. Hall, D.D., of Cleveland,
Ohio. Thomas, Jr., and Edward N. are both
business men of New York City, the latter a
prominent broker. Mr. Bond's death, which
occurred January 6, 1852, was the occasion of
the following obituary by Samuel Bowles, Sr. ,
which appeared in the Springfield Republican.
"It is with profound regret that we record the
death of one of our oldest and most respected
citizens, Mr. Thomas Bond. Twenty-seven
years ago he removed from West Brookfield to
this town, and from that day to this he has
maintained a character spotless in its honor
and radiant in its discriminating and unosten
tatious benevolence. Though it is in the
course of nature that a life leaning so far from
the shore of time over the ocean of eternity
should drop its ripened apple of gold into the
abyss, we still weep to see it disappear, and
miss it with sorrow from the trembling bough
which it adorned and where it hung."
George T. Bond was born in West Brook
field, Mass., January 22, 181 7, and, after com
mencing his studies in his native town,
continued them in the public schools of
Springfield, attending the old high school on
School Street, then under the charge of the

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

late Rev. Simeon Calhoun, and completing
a course at the Monson Academy. He re
ceived a good mercantile training, and, while
still a young man, moved to Jacksonville, III ,
where he was engaged in business for some
time. After returning to Springfield, he
formed a partnership with Walter H. Bowdoin,
under the firm name of Bowdoin & Bond, and
for some time conducted a general store on
East State Street, in the locality known as
"on the hill." In 1852 he became Treasurer
and Manager of the Hampden Paint and Chem
ical Company, with which he remained con
nected for twenty-one years, and which under
his direction attained a rapid and prosperous
growth. They had the distinction of making
the pigment that was used by the government
on the bills known in popular parlance as
"greenbacks." Mr. Bond resigned his posi
tion with this company in 1873; and after a
period of comparative inactivity he in 1878
organized the Springfield Weaving Company,
whose place of husiness was on Taylor Street,
and of which he was at the head as Treasurer
until his death, which occurred November 17,
1886. Mr. George T. Bond was an excellent man
of business, and pursued a course of unswerv
ing rectitude. PPis generous, lovable qualities
were manifested in his every-day life; and his
keen enjoyment of home and social pleasures
was in accord with his even and well-balanced
character Having united with the South
Church in 1844, he remained an active and
valuable member to the close of his life.
He was also closely identified with the early
life of Hope Church, to which he rendered
substantial aid.
He was twice married. Plis first wife, to
whom he was united on June i, 1854, was
Miss Anna L. Dodd, of Burlington, Vt., a
sister of the late Mrs. James Brewer, of this
city. His children by that marriage are as
follows: George R., of Springfield; Fannie
L. ; Charles D. ; and Ephraim W. After the
death of his first wife, which occurred October
29, 1864, Mr Bond married in October, 1866,
for his second, Mrs. Plelen M. Hitchcock, of
La Fayette, N. Y., who survives him.
George R. Bond received a substantial edu

cation in the public schools of Springfield, and
in January, 1874, entered the Pynchon Na
tional Bank as clerk, from which small begin
ning he rapidly advanced, taking the position
of teller in 1875. Pie served in this capacity
until 1889, when he was elected to the respon
sible position of Cashier, which he still holds.
He has been prominent in the administra
tion of the affairs of the bank ; and his sound
judgment, jDractical business knowledge, and
mature experience have contributed in no
small degree to the prosperity and stability of
the institution. Mr. Bond is also interested
in industrial enterprises, being a Director of
the Lamb Manufacturing Company of Chico
pee Falls and President and Director of several
thriving corporations outside of Springfield.
He and his brothers, Charles D. and Ephraim
W. , are the proprietors of the Hutchins Nar
row P'abric Company, formerly located in
Worcester, but now on Wilbraham Avenue,
where they have a large new factory, a model
structure of its kind, for the manufacture of
non-elastic and loom webs, spool tapes, stay
bindings, etc. He is besides Treasurer of the
Hampden County Horticultural Society and of
the PPampden Benevolent Association of Con
gregationalists. His experience in financial
affairs has been widely recognized, and he
has been called upon to administer many large
estates. Mr. Bond has done much toxvard fostering a
love for music and creating a taste for musical
culture among the people of Springfield. He
is an excellent vocalist, having been gifted by
nature with a voice of pleasing qualities, which
he improved by a thorough course of instruc
tion under Professor George L. Osgood, of
Boston, and is besides a skilled organist, hav
ing officiated in that capacity as well as a
singer in various churches in Springfield for
some years. He is a member of the Orpheus
Club of Springfield, having served on its
Executive Committee several years, and is one
of the corporate members of the Plampden
County Musical Association, an organization
of great merit, much of which is due to his
capable management and untiring efforts as a
Director and chairman of the Examination
Committee.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1099

On June 17, 1890, Mr Bond was united in
marriage to Miss Anna M. Dakin, a niece of
Mrs. E. W. Bond and grand-daughter of Colo
nel A. G. Flazard, the ceremony being cele
brated at the house of his uncle, E. W. Bond,
on Maple Street. Mrs. Bond was educated at
the Misses Howard's School for Young Ladies
in Springfield. She is the mother of two chil
dren — Arthur Hazard and Fanny Flazard.
Mr and Mrs. Bond are both members of the
South Church.

|PPIRAIM WARD BOND, a lawyer of
exceptional ability, for many years a
leading citizen of Springfield, was
born at West Brookfield, Mass., May 15,
1 82 1, son of Thomas and Jemima (Bush)
Bond, mention of whom may be found in the
sketch of George R. Bond. After preparatory
studies at Monson Academy he entered Am
herst College, from which he was graduated in
the class of 1 841 as valedictorian. While in
college he formed a strong friendship for the
afterward celebrated foreign missionary, Dr.
PPowland, their reunions in after years being
looked forward to and keenly enjoyed by both.
After taking a post-graduate course in litera
ture at Yale, he read law in a Boston office,
and then entered the Flarvard Law School, at
that time pre-eminently the great law school
of the country. Here he made some valuable
acquaintances, among them the future Presi
dent Hayes, with whom he boarded during his
stay, and whom he found a hard student and
interesting talker. Other fellow students were
George Walker, late Consul-general at Paris,
and Chief Justice Brigham of the Superior
Court. After remaining a year and a half in the
law school he was graduated in 1844 with the
degree of LL.B., the next year was admitted
to the Hampden County bar, and opened an
office on Elm Street in Springfield, six years
later forming a jjartnership with E. D. Beach,
which continued until 1864. The business of
the firm extended through all branches of the
civil and criminal law, the practice being then
less specialized than now. Mr. Bond's sound
learning and care and accuracy in the prepara

tion of cases admirably supplemented the elo
quence of his elder partner; and the firm did
a large business until it dissolved in 1864,
trying more cases than any other in the
county. Mr. Bond was perhaps more promi
nent as a commercial laxvyer than otherwise,
his natural business talent eminently fitting
him for that branch of the profession. Al
though his briefs were frequently written in
great haste, he often appearing in court at the
last moment with his hands full of papers for
filing, the work was always well done and
his clients' interests faithfully attended to.
Mr. Bond was also long and prominently
connected with several of the financial institu
tions of the city. Pie was one of the original
promoters of five cent savings banks; and,
when the Springfield F'ive Cent Savings Bank
was incorporated in 1854, he was one of the
corporators, and later acted as Trustee, Vice-
President, and President, succeeding Dr.
Pynchon in the latter office. He was also one
of the Directors of the Pynchon National
Bank from its organization under the national
banking law in 1865, and was previously a
Director while it was a State bank under a
charter granted in 1853. Perhaps the highest
business position which Mr. Bond ever held
was that of President of the Massachusetts
Mutual Life Insurance Company, to which he
was promoted from its vice-presidency in 1873,
having been elected to the latter office in
1867. He remained its chief executive until
1886, when he retired, still retaining, how
ever, a deep interest in its affairs as a member
of the I'inance Committee. Another matter
in which Mr Bond was specially interested
was the charter of the Hampden Savings Bank,
which he secured in spite of much opposition
from Mr Henry Sterns, the then Treasurer of
the Springfield Institution for Savings, on the
ground that there "was not then and never
would be " business enough for more than one
savings bank in Springfield. The matter was
finally compromised by inserting in the charter
a clause requiring the Hampden Savings Bank
to be "located within twenty-five rods of the
present passenger depot of the Western Rail
road in Springfield."
Mr Bond was largely instrumental in secur-

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ing for the city of Springfield its large and
valuable public library and reading-rooms, his
efforts in this direction being extended over
a period of many years. He assisted in ob
taining its charter, and supported the enter
prise liberally from his private purse. When
the movement was begun in 1864 to raise the
funds for the erection of a library building, he
headed the subscription with the sum of five
thousand dollars, and in 1884 contributed- a
similar sum toxvard the endowment fund. He
was Vice-President of the Library Association
during the entire term of Mr. Daniel L. Har
ris's presidency, and in May, 1880, was elected
President to fill the vacancy caused by the
death of the latter, xvhich office he retained
until his death, working always for the en
largement of its usefulness as a free public
institution. The City Library Association
was the eventual outgrowth of the Springfield
Young Men's Institute, which was founded in
1843, but reorganized in 1847 as the Spring
field Institute. Its leading object was to
establish a library and reading-room out of the
funds raised by individual gifts and courses of
lectures each winter Mr Bond was chosen
first Vice-President of the institute on his
admission to the bar in 1845, and his connec
tion with the institute continued in one form
or another until it was merged in the City
Library Association. Mr Bond was an ardent
admirer of his Alma Mater, Amherst College,
and established a prize of one hundred dollars
for composition and oratory.
In politics he was in early years an ardent
Whig. This was in the days of Webster and
Clay, and every Whig had to come to the polls
on election day or else produce a doctor's cer
tificate that he was sick. Mr Bond kept such
complete lists of all the Whig voters in
Springfield that he could predict with almost
unerring certainty how many votes would be
cast for the Whig candidates on election day.
After the disruption of the Whig party he
generally voted the Republican ticket; but,
when no important principles were involved,
he did not hesitate to vote for the men he
thought best fitted for the places for which
they were nominated, without regard to strict
party lines. Of local offices he had his share.

being one of the Selectmen of the old town of
Springfield in 1848 and 1 850, member of the
Common Council from Ward Two in 1853,
when Caleb Rice xvas Mayor, and Alderman
from Ward Two in 1861 and 1862 during the
administration of Stephen C. Bemis. He was
a representative in the legislature in 1852;
and during that session many measures of local
interest were passed, including the original
city charter for Springfield, which he assisted
in preparing.
His wife was Fanny Hazard, daughter of
Colonel Augustus G. Hazard, a prominent
citizen of Enfield, Conn., and proprietor of
the Flazard Powder Company of Hazardville,
Conn. There were no children by this mar
riage. Mr Bond was long associated with the
South Church, being a member of the parish
committee and a liberal supporter of the soci
ety, besides contributing frequently to the
support of other charitable and benevolent
institutions. His death occurred at the home
of his nephew, George R. Bond, on School
Street, December 5, 1891. He passed away
after a two weeks' illness, thus closing a well-
spent life, the memory of which will linger
long in the hearts of his fellow-townsmen.
His wife survives him, and is a lady highly
respected for her womanly graces of heart and
mind.

AIRUS SEARLE HURLBUT, D.D.S.,
a leading dentist in Springfield, where
he has been in practice since i860,
was born at West Springfield, January
5, 1842. The Hurlbut family is one of the
oldest in Massachusetts, our subject being a
descendant in the eighth generation from
Thomas Hurlbut, who is said by Savage to
have served in the Pequot War in 1637. Dr.
Hurlbut's grandfather, Stephen Douglas
Hurlbut, was born in Groton, Mass., but be
came a resident of Southampton in the same
State. His son, Asaph Hurlbut, Dr. Hurl
but's father, was born at Southampton, Sep
tember 28, 1 80 1, but moved to West Spring
field when a young man, and became a
mill-owner. Later, to gain better educa
tional opportunities for his six children, he

J. SEARLE HURLBUT.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1 103

came to the center of Springfield, where he
was in the employ of the Boston & Albany
Railroad until his death, in 1867. His wife,
Asenath Searle, whom he married before
coming to West Springfield, was also a native
of Southampton.
Jairus S. Hurlbut was ten years old when
his parents came to this city, where he was
graduated at the high school, under Ariel
Parish, in i860. He then went into the
dental office of his brother. Dr. C S. Hurl
but, with whom he was associated as student
and partner until 1865, in which year he
went to the Philadelphia Dental College, from
which he was duly graduated. He went West
to begin practice; but, after spending a year
in St. Paul, Minn., he returned to Spring
field, and located at No. 374 Main Street,
whence in 1893, after an occupancy of
twenty-seven years, he removed to the Ma
sonic Building, corner of State and Main
Streets, where he has fitted up an elegant
dental office, with electric motors, fans, and
self-cleansing fountains, and all the latest
improvements. Dr. Hurlbut belongs to the
Connecticut Valley Dental Society, of which
he has been President and an executive
officer. Of the Massachusetts Dental Society
he has been President, Orator, and a member
of the executivfe committee; and he belongs
to the American Academy of Dental Science,
the New England Dental Society, the Amer
ican Dental Association, the International
Dental Congress, and the Odontological So
ciety of New York: At the passage of the
State dental law, in 1887, he was appointed
by Governor Ames on the Board of Registra
tion, and since 1891 has been its President,
and is also President of the American Associa
tion of Dental Examiners. As every aspirant
to the profession in Massachusetts must come
before this board for examination, its impor
tance cannot be overestimated.
Dr. Hurlbut votes the Republican ticket,
but does not wish political honors. Although
domestic in his tastes, he belongs to the
Winthrop and Nayasset Clubs. He married
October 15, 1868, Julia Ann Sampson, daugh
ter of Ira Bradford Sampson, formerly tax col
lector and a mill-owner, whose wife was Julia

Ann Blush. Mrs. Hurlbut is a native of
Worthington, Mass., but came in infancy to
Springfield, where she has remained ever
since. She and her husband attend the South
Congregational Church. In 1887 Dr. Plurl-
but built a new house at No. 33 School Street,
on the same spot where they were married,
and had already lived txventy years.
It will be gathered from the foregoing
sketch of a busy career that Jairus S. Plurl-
but, studious, alert, progressive, from his early
youth, as a doctor of dental surgery stands
to-day in the foremost ranks of his profession.
We are pleased to present the Doctor's por
trait on another page of this volume.

OSEPH WELCH, one of the most en
terprising citizens of Gran-ville, was
born in Plymouth, Mass., April 7,
1 85 1. He is the son of Peter and
Mary Welch, both natives of Ireland. Peter
Welch was a rope-maker, and for some time
had charge of a large rope factory. At the
time of the breaking out of the war he was
foreman for the Means Rope Manufacturing
Company, and relinquished his position to
join the army, enlisting in the Sixt3'-third
New York Regiment. His life was offered
up for his adopted country, he being killed at
the battle of Gettysburg. Mr. Welch was
about forty years old at the time of his death.
In politics he was a Republican. In relig
ious views he was liberal. His wife had died
some time before her husband's decease, hav
ing laid down the cares of life in 1858. They
had five children, all of whom, with the excep
tion of the subject of this biography, died be
fore attaining the age of ten years.
Joseph Welch lived in Marblehead until
twelve years old. In 1866 he went to West
Granville, where he lived with Cyrus Phelon
for six or seven years, receiving board,
clothes, and schooling in return for work
about the place. For several years his time
was occupied by farm work in - summer and
lumbering in winter, the first wages he re
ceived being twenty-five dollars for a whole
winter's work. But he saved his meagre
earnings, and attended school when possible,

1104

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

spending four years at the academy in Wilbra
ham, and studying during two terms at Boston.
F'rom Boston he returned to West Granville,
where he taught school, and also worked as
clerk for H. W. Croker one year. In 1880
he bought a farm in Granville of two hundred
and ten acres, on which he resided some five
years, and engaged in general farming, mean
while greatly improving the estate in various
ways. This farm is still under his manage
ment. Subsequently he went into partnership
with Mr. Croker in mercantile business, and
at the end of a year bought the entire property
and stock; and up to the present day the busi
ness has been remarkably successful in his
hands. He has also been occupied in lumber
ing to a large extent, and owns a good saw
mill, where he has cut over one million feet
of lumber.
Mr. Welch was married March 7, 1880, to
Laura Ellen, daughter of Harry Miner, a
well-to-do citizen of Ellington, Conn., in
which town Mrs. Welch was born. The
Miner family is one of the oldest in that vi
cinity. Both of Mrs. Welch's parents are
now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Welch have four
children — Sarah B., Joseph M., Mary E., and
Laura. Mr. Welch has been an indefatigable worker
since the time of his boyhood. By grit and
perseverance he has surmounted all obstacles
and climbed to the top of the ladder of suc
cess. He pays strict attention to business,
and is fair and honest in all his dealings.
He is a stanch Republican, and has been Post
master for the past six years and Justice of the
Peace for two years. In religion he holds
liberal views.

'AMES H. MALONEY, superintendent
of the registry division of the post-
office at Springfield, which position he
has held for the past seven years, hav
ing been connected with the office for a longer
period, was born at Palmer, Mass., May 11,
1858. Mr Maloney's parents, John and Anna
(Spellacy) Maloney, were both natives of
County Clare, Ireland, but came to America
in their youth, and were married in Hartford,

Conn. John Maloney was a landscape gar
dener by vocation, and settled at Pndian Or
chard in Plampden County in 1870, dying
there in 1892, in his sixty-ninth year. Mrs.
Maloney left nine children, of whom James
H., the subject of the present memoir, is the
eldest. The other children, named in the
order of their birth, were as follows: Michael,
of Chicago; Maria, of Springfield; John, of
Webster; Thomas C, of Lowell; Timothy,
xvho is dead; Elizabeth, residing at Spring
field ; Hugh and Stephen, both deceased. All
the members of this family are connected with
St. Matthew's Church at Indian Orchard.
James H. Maloney received his education in
the common and high schools of the town of
Palmer, after which he secured employment
in the Indian Orchard Mills, becoming assist
ant foreman in the spinning department. He
kept this position for four years, resigning in
order to accept a situation offered him by
D. L. F'uller, who conducted a general country
store in Indian Orchard. Here he got a gen
eral idea of mercantile methods, and shortly
engaged ¦ in an independent business venture.
Finding, however, that it was not pecuniarily
profitable, he abandoned it after a brief space.
Mr. Maloney was appointed by Colonel Phil
lips the first year of his mayoralty as Inspector
of Elections, a position he held as long as he
remained in Indian Orchard ; and he was nom
inated for member of Council from Ward
Eight, and though he was defeated ran fifty-
four votes ahead of his ticket. He was also
candidate for Alderman the year that George
PI. Bleloch was candidate for the mayoralty
against Colonel Phillips.
Mr Maloney withdrew from the candidacy,
however, in favor of ex-Mayor John M. Steb
bins, whose name appeared in lieu of his own
on the ballot. He has been a delegate to
every Democratic State Conventicm since he
became a voter until he xvas appointed to the
office of Secretary of the Postal Board of the
Civil Service Commission for Springfield.
This appointment was made by President The
odore Lyman of the Commission, and Mr
Maloney was the first incumbent of the posi
tion. Mr Maloney is a member of the Cathe
dral (Catholic) of Springfield, and belongs to

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lies

the Ancient Order of Hibernians, in which he
has held the position of President of the
Springfield Division for the past four years.
When sent to the National Convention that
met in Cincinnati in 1879, Mr. Maloney, who
represented Hampden County, had the distinc
tion of being the youngest delegate ever sent
as a representative to a like body, being then
just twenty-one years of age. Plis literary
tastes have led him to take great interest in
the Sheridan P^iterary Association of the city,
which he was instrumental in organizing and
of which for three years he has been presiding
officer. He is a member of the Springfield
Court of P'oresters.
He has a library of about seven hundred
well-selected volumes, which testify to his
literary tastes; and his ready wit and graceful
oratory proclaim at once his inheritance of
that national gift, Irish eloquence. With a
loyalty for the land of his fathers that in no
wise infringes upon his patriotism for Amer
ica, the land of his birth, Mr. Maloney is
affiliated with the Irish-American Society of
Springfield, where he is frequently called
upon to make one of the bright, stirring after-
dinner speeches for which he has won such
a reputation. Though yet in the flower of his
early manhood, Mr. Maloney is one of the
senior members of the postal service, having
served in this department with Colonel Rice,
Henry M. Phillips, H. S. Hyde, and Mr
John H. Clune, the present postmaster. In
his various business and social relations Mr.
Maloney has won the respect of all with whom
he has transacted affairs or come in personal
contact. He resides with his sisters in an
elegant home at 41 Richelieu Street, Spring
field.

rp^ETER MARRA, late of Springfield,
\-^^ Mass., whose death occurred April
lis 21, 1889, and brought sorrow to
many hearts, was junior member of
the firm of James & Marra. Pie was born in
Galway, Ireland, April 9, 1833, son of Owen
and Eliza (Lynch) Marra, his father being
a native of that city, .born in 1810, the mother
being a year younger than her husband.

Owen Marra, who was a mason and stone
cutter by occupation, left the home of his
childhood when his son Peter was three years
old, and with his family went from Ireland to
the town of Huddersfield, England, where he
followed his trade on a larger scale, employing
a number of men and taking contract work.
Peter Marra attended school until the age of
thirteen, when he began to learn the mason's
trade with his father, with whom he remained
some years, completing his knowledge of the
trade, however, with Mr. Grims, one of the
largest contractors in Huddersfield. He later
found employment in Sheffield, Manchester,
and Wakefield, and in 1859 came to America,
being shortly followed by his wife, to whom
he had been married in the preceding year.
Arriving in this country he secured employ
ment in a large stone yard in Boston, where he
soon rose to the position of foreman, and was
thus engaged for two years, when the condi
tion of his health necessitated a change; and
he set out for New Brunswick, where he pur
chased a farm of one hundred acres of rich
woodland, which he cleared and upon which he
built a house. His location was by no means
secluded, as his farm was in the neighborhood
of the beautiful city of F'redericton, the capi
tal of the province and on the line of the pres
ent Inter-Colonial Railway. Here he re
mained two years, when, finding his health
greatly improved, he returned to Boston and
resumed his old position.
In 1866 Mr Marra moved to Springfield,
and entered the employ of A. S. Dwelly &
Co., remaining with them till 1869, when he
cancelled his engagement with that firm, and
in connection with Mr James of this city
formed a copartnership under the business
title of James & Marra. This was the turn
ing-point in his career, for the new firm soon
became noted throughout the country for its
superior quality of material and workmanship.
They purchased at once the site they now oc
cupy, and erected buildings thereon adapted
to their business on P'ranklin Street. About
fifteen years ago the firm through Mr Marra
made a cash purchase of the famous Long
meadow brownstone quarries, as a feeder for
their growing industry. The famous and

io6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

beautiful variety of brownstone thus acquired
has been largely applied in connection with
pressed brick for buildings of various kinds
both in the blast and West, besides its use
alone for churches and other edifices and also
for stone trimmings.
During the last seventeen years the firm of
James & Marra have furnished dressed mate
rial for some of the finest buildings in the
country, . among them the New Pmgland Life
Insurance Building, Springfield, which was
finished in 1889, the Gibraltar and Massachu
setts Building in Kansas City, Mo., Judge
Lambert Tree's stately mansion, Chicago, and
the Union Club House in the same city, the
Pierce Building in Boston, and the new Bap^
tist church and the new government building
in Springfield. One of the last acts of Mr.
Marra was to sign a contract for supplying the
stone for the new edifice of the Church of the
Sacred Heart, at the corner of Chestnut and
Linden Streets. The family continue to have
an interest in the business since Mr. Marra' s
death. John Marra, the only brother of
Peter, and a well-known stone cutter of Hol
yoke, is now a member of the firm.
Mr Marra was married in Huddersfield,
England, June 30, 1858, to Miss Annie Lee,
of English birth, a daughter of John and Lydia
(Mellor) Lee, both of whom were born .. in
Yorkshire, England. Mr and Mrs.- Lee were
Episcopalians; and she was brought tip in that
belief, but afterward embraced the faith of her
husband, who was a Catholic. Mr and Mrs.
Marra had eleven children, of whom three
daughters and two sons died in childhood.
The remaining six are: John, who is foreman
in the stone yard on Franklin Street, is mar
ried, and has several children; Eliza A., who
married James N. Bigelow, and resides in
Holyoke; Lydia L. , wife of T. J. Duffy;
Mary A., living at home; P'rances E., who is
a Sister of Charity at Mount St. Vincent on
the Hudson; and Katherine L., also residing
at home.
Mr. Marra was kind, benevolent, and unos
tentatious, a good citizen and neighbor; and
his domestic life was of the happiest type.
He was an uncompromising hater of intemper
ance, and never used tobacco, proving by his

example that one can live an active, useful,
and contented life without weak aids to creat
ure comfort. Three years before his death
Mr. Marra went to Florida in search of health,
and in the ensuing two years visited many
Southern resorts, but without deriving perma
nent benefit. Returning home, after about
one year of weakness and a gradual giving up
of the world's interests he passed on to the
life beyond the veil. Mr. Marra was formerly
a Democrat, but. ten years ago he joined the
Republicans. He was a firm believer in the
public-school system of the United States as
capable of producing broad and elevating re
sults and a high grade of citizenship, and
though of foreign birth was in all his sympa
thies a thorough and patriotic American.

/^TeORGE TYLER BALLARD, M.D.,
V '3 I a resident of Hampden, was born in
Holland, Hampden County, Mass.,
June. 15, 1841. His father. Squire Jefferson
Ballard, was born at Killingly, Conn., where
his grandfather, Jacob Ballard, was, as far as
known, -a. life-long resident. The maiden
name of Jacob Ballard's wife, Dr. Ballard's
grandmother, was Sally Fuller Squire Jef
ferson Ballard was reared to agricultural pur
suits, and in early manhood went to Westerly,
R. I., where he was employed for a time in
a cotton-mill. After his marriage he moved
to the town of Holland, where he purchased
a farm, upon which he resided for a few years.
Disposing of this he purchased a piece of farm
property at Monson, where he resided until
1878, when he again sold his property, and
removed to the village of Hampden, where he
died in 1886, at the age of seventy-five years.
His wife, the mother of Dr Ballard, was be
fore her marriage Frances Ann Sisson. She
was a native of Westerly, R.I., and daughter
of John and Davis Sisson. She was called
to her final rest in 1893, at the ripe age of
eighty years, having reared four children : Eliza
Ann, who died at the age of sixteen years;
Charles Dwight, who died at the age of twenty-
two years; Albert P'., who is a farmer and
resides at Plampden ; and George Tyler, our
subject.

-'¦:^:; ' -^

GEORGE T. BALLARD.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1 1 09

George Tyler Ballard received a liberal edu
cation, and after attending both the Ware
High School and the Hitchcock Free High
School at Brimfield began, when he was seven
teen years of age, the somewhat arduous occu
pation of teaching school, which he continued
to follow each winter until reaching the age of
twenty-two years. At the age of nineteen he
commenced to read medicine with Dr John
Witter, of Brimfield, and attended lectures at
the Berkshire Medical College at Pittsfield,
Mass., from which he graduated in March,
1862. He immediately entered on the prac
tice of his profession at South Wilbraham,
now Hampden, where he very soon found him
self well on the road to success and prosperity,
and has since continued in active practice, en'-
joying the esteem and confidence of the entire
community. He was united in marriage on June 8, 1870,
to Miss Delia Morris Spellman, of Hamp
den, daughter of Solomon Clark and Martha
(West) Spellman, an account of whose family
may be found in an article relative to the
career of the Plon. C C. Spellman, which
appears elsewhere in this work. Dr. and
Mrs. Ballard have two children living; name
ly, Charles Spellman and Howard Thompson
Ballard. Dr. Ballard has always been a Republican
in politics, and has served both Wilbraham
and Hampden in various official positions.
He was eight years Selectman in Hampden,
five of which he was chairman of the Board,
and has served as_ health officer; and he was
a member of the School Committee seven
years in the old town of Wilbraham, and has
also served as a member of the School Com
mittee in Hampden. He is a member of the
Hampden County Medical Society and of
Hampden Grange, No. 165. He has for some
years been interested in agricultural pursuits,
and is the owner of two valuable farms, one in
Hampden and another located in Monson,
both of which are operated with profitable
results. Both himself and wife are members
of the Congregational church. The portrait
of Dr Ballard, which accompanies this sketch,
will be viewed with interest by his many
friends.

L^^ATRICK M. SHEA, of Chicopee
' Falls, Hampden County, Mass., ex-
3 Postmaster and a well-known under
taker, was born in County Kerry,
Ireland, March 15, 1840. His parents, Mau
rice and Ellen (Moriarty) Shea, were natives
of the same place, where the father followed
for a number of years the trade of blacksmith ;
but in 1849 he came to America, and located
in Holyoke, Mass., being there employed for
many years by Captain Mack, working, how
ever, at different places as opportunity offered.
Maurice Shea lived to be eighty-eight years old
and his wife to be sixty-two years of age. They
were the parents of six children, named as fol
lows : Johanna, Mary, Ellen, Catherine, Patrick
M., and John, all of whom are now living.
Patrick M. was educated in' the schools of
IPolyoke, and worked for a while with his
father at the trade of blacksmith. During the
early part of the war he was in the employ of
the Massachusetts Arms Company, and later
at Whitneyville he worked for the Whitney
ville Arms Company on guns and at tool forg
ing. After the war he came to Chicopee
Falls, and worked in the shops of Belcher &
Taylor, and also was in the employ of the
Lamb Manufacturing Company and of the J.
Stevens Company on fine work. In 1866 Mr.
Shea opened a dry-goods store in the village
on Bridge Street, which was in successful
operation till 1873. He then moved to Main
Street, and opened the undertaker's establish
ment, which he has since conducted, likewise
having charge of the Catholic cemetery, sell
ing the lots as required. He has also estab
lished a livery, which is the largest in the
village. He has erected new stables with
office in connection, also boarding stables, and
keeps a supply of from fourteen to twenty
horses for public use.
In 1861 Mr. Shea was married to Miss
Bridget A. Hoar, who was born in County
Kerry, Ireland, in August, 1840, daughter of
John and Elizabeth (Shea) Hoar, of that local
ity, who became farmers of Chicopee Falls
after coming to America. They both lived to
advanced age, the father being eighty-six years
old at the time of his death, and his wife
eighty-eight years. Their family consisted of

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

eleven children, as follows: Johanna, Patrick,
Mary, Ellen, Catherine, Elizabeth, Maurice,
Thomas, John, Bridget, and Michael, five only
of whom are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Shea
are the parents of thirteen children, namely:
Elizabeth, born in 1862, noxv wife of William
M. Scanlan, civil engineer, living in New
York City; Maurice, born 1863; Allen, born
1865 ; John, born 1867 (these three deceased) ;
Frank J., born 1869; Joseph T. , born 1871;
Patrick L., born 1873; Michael I., born
1875; Mary R., born 1878; Dorothy, born
1880; Cecelia, born 1883; Theresa C, born
1884; and Ambrose, born 1886 (deceased).
Mrs. Shea found time, in addition to the
management" of her large family, to establish
quite a business in dressmaking and millinery,
which indicates well the energy of her charac
ter and her habits of ceaseless industry.
Mr. Shea is a Democrat in his politics, and
takes an active interest in all matters which
concern the good government of the village.
He is one of the Trustees of the Chicopee
F'alls Savings Bank, and has served as Post
master under President Cleveland's first ad
ministration. As an enterprising business
man and a loyal citizen, he receives the confi
dence and respect of his neighbors and fellow-
townsmen.

(^OHN D. AND OLIVER B. COLTON,
well-known and successful farmers, re
siding in the toxvn of Longmeadow,
Hampden County, Mass., are members
of one of the earliest families who settled in
Hampden County. John D. Colton xvas born
April 20, 1828, and his brother, Oliver B.,
December 20, 1830. They are direct de
scendants of George Colton, who is said to
have come from County Warxvick, England.
He was in Springfield, Mass., as early as
1644, and settled permanently in the lower
part of the town, which was ultimately set
apart as a town by itself, and called Long
meadow. He was known as Quartermaster
Colton, and was representative to the General
Court in 1669. Pie married Miss Deborah
Gardner, in Plartford, Conn. ; and they had
nine children.

Alvah Colton, father of John D. and Oliver
B. Colton, was a direct descendant of George
in the fifth generation. He was born in Long
meadow, October 13, 1796, reared to agricult
ural pursuits, and always followed farming as
an occupation. In time he succeeded to the
ancestral estates. He was a life-long resident
of his native town, where he died at the
age of seventy-two years. His wife, whose
maiden name was Lois Work, was a daughter
of John Work, of Wilbraham, Mass. She
lived to the age of thirty-eight years, having
been the mother of five children; namely,
Thomas F'. W., Alvah, John D., Oliver B.,
and a sister Emerett. The three last-named,
who are the only surviving members of the
family, occupy the homestead, and ha-ve been
associated together all their lives, advancing
year by year on the road to prosperity.
They have a pleasant residence situated on
elevated ground on the west side of the town,
the land having been in the ownership of the
family over two hundred and fifty years.

IMOTHY SHEA, one of the leading
business men of Springfield in the line
of heavy teaming and trucking, also a
dealer in lime, cement, and masons' supplies,
was born in Pittsfield, Mass., January 26,
1855. His father, Andrew Shea, a native of
County Clare, Ireland, came to this country,
and for twenty years pursued the occupation of
brick mason.
Timothy was but eight years old at the time
of his father's death, and could attend school
only a little xvhile thereafter, as it became
necessary for him to earn his own living.
Accordingly, at the age of eleven, he went to
work in the woollen-mill of Lyman King. It
was severe labor for one so young, the twelve
hours' strain beginning at half-past six in the
morning, and lasting till seven at night, save
for the brief time allowed for dinner The
lad, however, though so early denied the free
dom of childhood, displayed a determined
spirit in his efforts to obtain an education, at
tending the Elm Street Evening School, and
in this way gaining a knowledge of the funda
mental branches. Pie was the eldest of five

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

lilt

children; and, from the time of their parents'
death, it should here be mentioned, he made it
his duty to care for the others and to see after
their education, so far as he was able, till they
could care for themselves.
After a time he secured a position which
was less hard and confining. This was work
at the IPoward waste-mill. The firm had a
good deal of work which required the use of
a horse and wagon, and for their transfers had
kept an animal which was not very young, and
from not being very tractable had iDcen given
the name of "Buckskin." But between the
horse and "Juba" Shea, as he was called,
grew up quite an affection ; and after about
three years, with the view of bettering his
condition and desiring to secure a change in
a pleasant way, he proposed to the firm to buy
Buckskin and pay for the animal on time,
while, as one way of liquidating the debt, he
would attend to the transportation connected
with the business. Young Shea having been
faithful in their employ and the horse being
so difficult to manage, the firm readily gave
consent. He secured an old wagon, with which
he began work, and soon had sufficient busi
ness to warrant the purchase of a pair of strong
horses; and from that time his success in busi
ness was assured. He became known as a
careful and reliable teamster; and orders came
to him thick and fast, his business in a few
years requiring twelve horses in addition to
his first faithful helper, Buckskin.
Opening a street office opposite one of the
public buildings, he arranged a telephone con
nection; and in 1889, giving up "xvagon draw
ing, he employed his time as superintendent
of transportation. He now owns eight large
trucks, capable of carrying ten tons on one-
load. His heaviest trucks, carrying twenty-
five tons, are made for him to order in Boston.
Mr. Shea has done some important government
work in the moving of castings, which were
very heavy, and made a load of nineteen tons
burden. Three horses abreast are required to
draw these and similar heavy loads. Mr.
Shea is the designer of the "Roman front," to
be applied in the construction of the dray
truck. Quite early in his career Mr Shea,
perceiving an opportunity for business success,

bought a sand-bank on Eastern Avenue, which,
being of very fine qualityj was speedily in de
mand by builders and others. To this he
added masons' supplies, cement, and lime, and
was able to supply contractors and other per
sons connected with business enterprises about
the city who desired first-class materials for
their work.
He has also taken contracts for preparatory
work, and has filled some extensive orders.
One of these was the excavating required for
the erection of the new Young Men's Chris
tian Association Building. Another was the
work in preparation for the armory building
put up by the government,- these being two of
the largest contracts ever given in the city, re
quiring the removal of over four thousand yards
of earth. Mr. Shea has built a large store
house on the line of the New England Rail
road, which furnishes an extensive floor space,
conveniently located, and adapted for the stor
age of supplies used in his business. He is
the owner of several lots of land bordering the
New England Railroad track, besides resident
property in the city devoted to rental purposes.
Mr. Shea carries on his business in all its va
rious branches without any partner, although
he handles as much as fifty thousand tons of
freight per month, which exceeds any other
establishment of the kind in the country.
In the early part of his business career Mr.
Shea found time to enter into the amusements
of the day, and connected himself with one of
the athletic societies of Springfield, where
with his characteristic energy he became prom
inent for his superiority in the various exer
cises, being known for many years as the most
agile sprinter in the city. On one occasion
he gained the championship for the society,
for which he received the prize of four hun
dred dollars in money. Mr Shea also added
dancing to his other accomplishments, and was
able to copy for the benefit of his friends the
various new motions which he saw given by
the minstrel troupes. But his work has al
ways engrossed his chief interests; and in
addition to his other enterprises he has become
owner of a number of wagons, which he rents
to various business firms in the city, and thus
finds them a source of profit.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

On .September 22. 1876, Mr, .Shea xx.is mar
ried to Miss Mai)' Kerxick, of Spriiiglield;
and tliex' haxc fix'c children: .\nna, John,
(iracie, .\iulrcxx', ;ind 'Phercsa. Phe familx
rcsitleat their pleasant home on (."hci 1 x' Street,
and are members of the ('athcdial Church.
Mr. .Shea has been independent as a X'oter, and
does not find time to engage iu xvard politics.
Pie is ;i member of the Soeietx' of Pbiitcd
Workmen, xvhich gixes him as xxide ,1 field for
influence among the xvidc-axvake men of the
time as he desires; and, judging from the
steady, pcrsex'ering industrx' and the entcrpi is
ing (.|u;ilities whieh Mr. Shea has displaxcd
thiring his cai'e('r of the past thirt)' x'cars, that
inllncnec must be of a most health)' and bene-
fici;il kind.

1F:0D0RP: L. IPWNP'.S, senior mem
ber of the firm of llaxncs (!v ('o. , 3^|(i
and 348 Main Street, Spiingrield, lead
ing clothiers, tailors, hatt(.'rs, and furnishers,
was born in Sudbury, Mass., /Xi.iril 2, 18311.
His parents were Lyman and Caroline (PItint)
Haynes, both of xvhom xvi,'re nati\'es of Sud
bury, the father hax'ing been born in that toxvn
in 1804 and the mother in 180S. L)man
Playnes xvas originally a brick-maki.'r b)' oeeu-
pation; but in 1832 he moved to Hilleriea,
and went into the hotel business, in xvhieli he
remained engaged for thirteen years, llnally
retiring from that to dex'ole his I'xelusix'e
attention to real estate opt'iations. He died
in Billerica in l8f)(); and his wife, who passed
her declining years in .Springfield, died in
1881. Their family emisistcd of eight chil
dren, as f(dlows: 'Lilly, now a. well-knoxvn
hotel proprietor; 'Plieodore L., subjeel of this
sketch; Cyrus, clerk in the clothing store;
Charles R., now in the railway postal serxice;
William, also a clerk at 3. pi Main Sheet;
John, acting as manager of the eslalilishment
in the absence of the senior member of the
firm; ('arrie, housekeeper at Ihe Proadway
Central Hotel, New \'ork Cily; Adeline,
wife of Joseph Hickey, assistant manager of
the United States Hotel, Itoston.
'Lilly Haynes hP't his home at the age of
twenty-one years, and came to Springfield,

xvhere in 18. pi he assumed charge of ;i clothing
house kiioxvn as (>ak llall. lie met xvilh
rapid success, and be("aiiie prmiiinent in busi
ness circles, cmiducliiig xarimis enterprises
:ind ereeting some line business blocks, to
gether xvith the old Music llall, lie eslab-
lishcd the business noxv eonducled hx' his
brother, Theodore I ,. llaxncs, and xvas con
nected xvilh him both as aelix'c and silent
p;irtiicr for some x'oars. Later remoxing to
Boston, he bceanie the proprietor of the Ciiiled
.States llolel. He is also at the present time
proprietor of tlu' Broadwax' Central Hotel in
Nexx' \'oyk Citx'. During his residence in
.Springlield, besides taking an aetixe p;ii't in
Iho cit)' gox'ernnu'nt, hescix'od for a xvhile on
till.' (hix'oi iior's eotineil. 1 le has sinet' ligni'i,'(l
promincntlx' in cil\' affairs in Hoslon, and at
one tinu' licld an appointment on the Gox'
einor's staff. As a suei.'essfiil hotel-keeper he
is xx'cU and favmahlx' known to the geiu'tal
public. 'Phi,'o(lorc L. llaxncs, the spi'dal subiect of
this skelch, rcccix'cd his education in the
schools of BilU'riea, and, like his brother
Till)', h'll limnc on alt;iiniiig his maimit)',
and came lo .Springliehl, He entered his
brother's cinplox', reeeixing ;il lirst for his
serx'iees his board and clothes; but, adxancing
rapidly in the business, he at length purchased
an inlerest in it, togellu'r with Messrs. .Alley
and Miller, the lirm being then kiioxvn as
Alley, Haynes \' Miller Liiler Mr, Haynes
bought out [ho inlerest of Alloy and Miller,
and himself emulneled the business, his
bidlher 'Pilly remaining assiniated xvith him
as silent partner iiiilil 18(13. H)' 1837 the
business had increased to such an oxti'iit that
more commodious (luarlers beeaine a necessity;
and in the midst of one of those periods of
financial stress knoxvn as panics the)' erected
a new and niiuli larger building. The firm
under Mr I laynes's carol iil managenienl passed
through a period of imprecedonled prosperity
until the month of July, i8(i.|, when a disas-
Lcus lire (iceiiired, which (lesti'o\'C(l their
building logetlier xvilh a large pari of the
.'^Liek. Tilly Haynes with ehaiaelerist ic cn-
tcrjiiise immedialely began the election of a
new building upon the site of the one just

lilOfJKAI'lllCAL REVIEW

1113

(h'slroyed; and at its emiiplction in 1865 tint
business was reopened Iherein by 'Plieodore
!,., 'Lilly having rtdiicd frmn the firm.
In 1875 Mr. Haynes moved iiilo IIk' Mass;i
chiisclts Mutual Pile Insiiiaiiee Huilding,
where he remained lor two years, and then
removed to llis pieseiit location on Main
.Street. Owing to rapid advance in the vol
iiine of trade on several dilleicnt occasions he
has bei'ii obliged to add more space, in order
lo meet the eonstaiitly growing demands, until
at the present time, wheii the store is thirly-
eiglit feet wide by two hundred long, and three
stories high, with a, large addition in the rear,
containing an actual flooi space of twenty lour
thousand three hundred HC|iiai(' feet, against
si.v hundred and thirty sipiare leet at the eian-
meiici'ineiil. 'I'he business now re(|nires the
services of forty salesmen, book keepers, and
tailors, besides Irmii one hundred to one hun
dred and Iwcniy-livo skilled ()p(a'atoi's. In
1H71 Ml'. Haynes iiivesled some surplus capi
tal in twenty acres ol land bordering upon
'I'liompson and .Stale .Sticels, which locality
ho has greatly iiiipidved by th(^ creel i(iii of a
Hiip(!rioi' class of (IweJ lings. He has also
given two lots for flu^ cslabliKhment of a ('hil-
di'cii's I loiiie.
Ill 18(11; Mr Iliiynes married Miss Jennie
Lewis, ol Utica, N.V., who died in 18(17;
,'iii(l in |8()8 he married lor his second wife'
Mrs. Pallia A. Holland, widow of 'I'hmiias
Hlanchard, of Moston, I he distinguished iiiveii
lor of the aiilomafie lallie, the tack machine,
and many useful and labor saving devices.
Mr. Haynes has one son, .Stanford Lyman
Haynes, who has been liberal ly e(liicat(-'d, and
is now well versed in his lathm's businesH.
'I'he family have a pleasant home at the
corner of State and Thmnpsmi Streets. They
attend Hope ( 'ongregalional Church, of which
Mr. Haynes has been a member of the parish
(¦omniittee for several years.

'AMICS SKIUJA', one of the most intel
ligent farmers in ' Soul liwiek, was born
in li'i'laiid, in (Jounly Hown, P'ebiuary
„'I, |8,|8. llis parents, Joseph iind
Jane (McKnight) Skelly, were both natives of

that emiiity,. the lather being a farmer in easy
( ir(aimstaiiees. He and his wife are now de
ceased, as are four of their children, namely;
.S;uiiiiel .Skelly, who died at the age of forty-
si.v; John, who lived to be thirty-three years
old; Joseph, who died at thirty-eight; Jane,
who passed away at the age of thirty-three- —
the only suivivor ol the family being James,
the subject of this biograjihy.
James .Skelly received his education in his
native land, and came to America in 1864,
a passenger on the "(,'ity of Paris," whieh
made the voyage in thirteen days. He landed
in New York, and at once sought employment
as a fariii hand. 'I'he first money he c:ariied in
this vicinity was received from Marvin Hast
ings, of .Suffield, near Hartford, Conn., who
paid him Ihirteeii dollars a month and for
whom he worked eight mmitlis. He labored
in the (aiiploy of dill'erent f;irmers some eight
ye:ii's, and al the expiration of that time, in
1872, bought the si.xty-aere farm where he now
resides, and whieh he has vastly improved.
'I'obaeeo is the main crop; and for this Mr.
.Skelly reserves about seven acres, and he has
also good past lire land for the Jerseys and
iJurliams of his excellent dairy. 'I'he estate is
a model of its kind, the buildings and fences
having a geiuaal air of neatness and good
repair. Mr. .Skelly is a very intelligent man,
and may be called self-made; for, stiirting
with nothing, by hard work, economy, and
good judgment he has succeeded in taking
rank among the well-to-do farmers of Hamp
den ( 'ounty. He votes with the Republican
paity, and is a member of the Baptist church
in .Suffield, and is also on its committee.
Mr Skelly was married March 28, 1872, to
Jane, (kiughter of William and Margaret
(Lowery) Orr. Mr. < )rr was a farmer on Irish
soil ill (!ounty Down, where now rest his re
mains and those of his wife. They had I'ight
children, si.x of whom are now living: Jane,
Mrs. .Skelly; .Samuel ( )rr, residing in .Suf-
lield, ('onn. ; Margaret, wife of .Samuel Wal
lace, in ( 'onneet ieul ; William Orr, in Suf-
lield. Conn. ; Martha, who died at the age of
twenty-seven; P^Iizabcth, who died when four
years old; .Sarah, wife of Dwight lulwards, of
.Suffield, Conn. ; Pdizabeth, wife of P'rank

III4

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Austin, of Springfield, Mass. Mrs. Skelly
has been a great help to her husband during
their twenty-three years of married life, which
have been years of patient toil. Like him, she
is a member of the Baptist church. Mr. and
Mrs. Skelly have had five children, as follows:
Emma J., horn February 5, 1873, who died
when nineteen years old; Margaret S., born
November 14, 1875; Elizabeth M., born
March 25, 1877; John, born June 24, 1879;
Ida Ann, born January 19, 1884. The four
children now living are at home with their
parents.

¦^rpWARD FOLEY, of the Hampden
R Bleachery Company of Chicopee Falls,
'^— — ' was born in Halifax, N. S., May 10,
1858. His parents, David and Catharine
(Gordon) P'oley, were from County Cork, Ire
land, where his father was born. Coming to
Nova Scotia in his youth, Mr. David Foley
secured employment with a railroad company
as station agent. Later for a few years he
was similarly engaged in California; but, not
liking the Pacific Coast, he returned to his
former position. He died in Nova Scotia at
eighty-seven years of age, and his wife lived
to the same age. They were the parents of
eleven children : John, James, David, Catha
rine, Margaret, Elizabeth, Mary, Edward, Mor
ris, and two who died in early youth.
Edward, 'who was educated in Nova Scotia,
learned the weaver's and bleacher's trades
when a boy, and upon coming to Chicopee
F'alls entered the employ of the Chicopee
Manufacturing Company. He soon became
an expert on the finishing process of cotton
flannel, and the company retained him as an
employee as long as he remained in the vicin
ity. After eleven years he went to Cornwall,
Ontario, where his long experience and knowl
edge of the work secured him the position of
overseer of the Canadian Cotton Manufactur
ing Company. A year and a half later he
established in Ontario the first elastic factory
in Canada. This enterprise flourished from
the start ; but, as the years .sped by and a
desire to be near his kindred grew strong upon
him, he let the factory to competent managers.

and returned to Chicopee Falls, where he im
mediately invested in an interest in the Plamp
den Bleachery, now known as the Dunn &
P'oley Bleachery. This bleacher)* employs
thirty hands, and has to be run both day and
night in order to supply the constant demands
of the locality, there being no similar estab
lishment within twenty miles. The water
supply of the factory being great, the company
has had three large ice-houses built, from
which the city yearly receives a large quantity
of ice. A hundred horse-power engine is re-
c|uired to run the works.
In 1876 Mr. Foley married Miss Mary Buy-
rus, a daughter of Daniel and Honora (Hayes)
Buyrus, of Chicopee Falls. Three of the
seven children born of this union are now liv
ing — Hattie, Eliza, and Willie. Besides the
handsome house on Gratton Street, which is
let, Mr. Foley owns and occupies a pleasant
and attractive residence on Taylor Street.
When Mr. Foley's friends comment upon the
great success that has attended his efforts, he
always answers with rare modesty that it is
simply the result of "never lying abed in the
morning, and not. shirking disagreeable work."
He is proud of his Irish parentage, and bears
a strong love for the Emerald Isle. With a
snug little fortune of thirty thousand dollars
Mr. P'oley is able to indulge his family in
many pleasures, a pair of well-kept horses and
a capacious carriage contributing not a little
to their enjoyment. Mr Foley is a member
of St. Patrick's Church, for which he bears
the loyalty that is a characteristic of his coun
trymen.

T^HAREES C. SPELLMAN, a lawyer
i ]\ ^^° ^^^ practised in Springfield for
^Js^^^^_^ more than a quarter of a century,
was born at South Wilbraham, now
Plampden, December 3, 1843. His parents
were Solomon C. and Martha Jane (West)
Spellman, his father having been a merchant
of the above-named town for probably fifty
years, and also Trial Justice, and a leading
citizen of the county.
From Stafford, (^onn., where he was born,
July 14, 1813, Solomon C. Spellman moved

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1115

to Wilbraham when about twenty-one years of
age,and, there establishing himself in trade, suc
cessfully conducted mercantile business until
a few yeare previous to his decease, when he re
moved to Springfield, to enter upon his duties
as keeper of the county jail, and remained in
this city during the latter years of his life.
He had held town offices in Wilbraham and
represented his district at the General Court.
He was a strong Democrat and an earnest
member of the Congregational church, being
very active in that society. He was also a
member of the Masonic fraternity and a
Knight Templar. His wife was the daughter
of Major John West, of Wilbraham, where she
died after having borne three children, two of
whom are still living: Charles C, the subject
of this sketch; and Delia M., who married
George T. Ballard, M. D., of Hampden.
Charles C Spellman, having attended the
town schools and Monson Academy, finished
his preparation for college at Williston Semi
nary, Easthampton, and entered Yale in the
class of 1867. After graduating he became
a student of the Harvard Law School, taking
the full course, and then continued his legal
studies in the office of the Hon. E. H. Beach
at Springfield, where he remained until ad
mitted to the bar, having successfully passed
the customary examination. He began the
practice of law in Springfield, first with the
Hon. C. A. Winchester, afterward becoming
clerk of the Police Court of Springfield, which
position he held for thirteen years, being the
first clerk appointed when that office was es
tablished. At the same time he attended to
his law practice, having become partner with
the Hon. E. B. Maynard and continuing with
him until that eminent attorney was appointed
to the bench, since which time Mr. Spellman
has practised alone. He was elected to the
legislature in 1887 on the Democratic ticket
from a strong Republican district, and ren
dered valuable service upon the Judiciary
Committee; and the following year he entered
the State Senate from the First Hampden Dis
trict, serving with distinction on the Judiciary
and the Harbor and Land Committees.
Mr Spellman, like his father, entertains
much interest in Masonic matters, being a

member of Roswell Lee Lodge of Springfield,
Morning Star Chapter, Springfield Command
ery, all the Scottish Rites bodies, and the
Consistory at Boston ; he has taken the thirty-
third degree, and is an honorary member of
the Supreme Council. He has been Past
Master of the Lodge, also head of the Coun
cil, Commander of Commandery, and head of
all Scottish Rite bodies that have done work
in Springfield. He has attended the different
triennial conclaves, and is a permanent mem
ber of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.
He is likewise a Director of Masonic Chari
ties and Trust Fund, an incorporator of the
Masonic Flail Association, and one of the
Directors of the building. Pie realizes much
of his social enjoyment as a member of the
Nayasset and Masonic Clubs, in both of which
he is specially interested.
On December 4, 1870, Mr. Spellman was
united in marriage to Miss Jennie H. Flagg,
a graduate of the Springfield High School,
daughter of Charles W. Flagg, a leading ice
dealer of Springfield. Mrs. Spellman is a
lady of much social worth. They have two
children: Charles P., who is a student at
Yale; and Bessie. The family attend the
Olivet Congregational Church, and reside at
590 State Street.

¦AMES B. CARROLL, of Springfield,
was born in the city of Lowell on Jan
uary 10, 1856, son of Patrick Carroll,
who came to America from Ireland in
1848. His mother and father were married
in Lowell, where they lived for many years,
his father dying in 1864. James attended the
Lowell public schools and the public schools
of Worcester, graduating from the Worcester
High School in 1874, and then went to Holy
Cross College, where he was graduated in
1878. After finishing his law course in Bos
ton University, he was admitted to the bar.
This was in June, 1880, and the next January
he began the practice of his profession in
Springfield, and, by dint of hard work, built
up a business. He has been admitted to prac
tice in the United States Court, and in 1886
and 1887 was appointed City Solicitor. Mr.

iii6

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Carroll is an active worker in the Democratic
ranks, and was a member of the State Central
Committee in 1892. In 1893 and 1894 he
was nominated for Lieutenant Governor, and
has been delegated to important party conven
tions. He belongs to the Knights of Colum
bus and to the Nayasset Club.
On July 15, 1884, Mr. Carroll married
Mary E. (Torbett, a teacher in Lowell, where
she was born and educated, the daughter of
Michael Corbett. The Carrolls are Roman
Catholics, and belong to the Cathedral Parish.
Mr. Carroll's only office since he started in
business has been in the block belonging to
the Five Cent Savings Bank. Recently he
has associated himself with William PI. Mc
Clintock, under the partnership title of Car
roll & McClintock.

77^ HARLES N. STIMPSON, a prosper-
I Ky ous manufacturer of Westfield and a
^Is dealer in pianos and organs, was
born in the town of North Dana,
Worcester County, Mass., his parents being
"William and Fannie (Clark) Stimpson. The
father was born in the same town, the grand
father, Thomas Stimpson, being a native of
the town of Sudbury. The great-grandfather
was a native of Scotland, a physician by pro
fession, who on coming to America located in
Sudbury, where he spent the remainder of his
life. His wife survived him a number of
years, and, marrying again, her second hus
band being a Mr. Garfield, removed to the
State of New York.
Thomas Stimpson, the grandfather, was a
patriot soldier in the Revolutionary War, en
listing at the age of sixteen, and, serving
until its close, he afterward settled in North
Dana. During the War of 18 12 a tariff law
was enacted affording protection to the manu
facturing industries of the United States; and
many woollen-mills were started, and did a
flourishing business. Thomas Stimpson com
menced the erection of such a mill, but before
it was completed the tariff law was repealed;
and business was demoralized, the mills that
were in operation ceasing to run. Conse
quently, his mill remained unfinished. He

followed agricultural pursuits, and resided at
North Dana until his death, which occurred at
the advanced age of eighty-seven years. He
married Ruth Tamplin, of Dana; and she
reared a family of seven children.
William Stimpson was brought up to farm
ing, which he followed the greater part of his
life, except during the winter season's, when
he engaged in the wood and lumber business.
He came to Westfield two years before his
death, which took place at the age of sixty-
seven years. His wife, Fannie Clark, was
born in Petersham, and was a daughter of
Hardin Clark. She passed from earth at the
age of forty-four years. The parental house
hold included three children — Warren,
Charles N., and Horace C
Charles N. Stimpson was reared and edu
cated in his native town, and at the age of
twenty years commenced to learn the trade of
piano-making, which he followed for some
time in North Dana, thence removing to New
York City to represent the company there.
In 1859 he came to the village of "Westfield
to engage in the manufacture of piano legs.
For some years he bought standing timber,
and, having a saw-mill, manufactured his own
lumber, at one time employing over one hun
dred hands. When times are good, he now
has from forty to fifty in his employ.
Mr. Stimpson was first married October 25,
1849, to Miss Sarah A. Chamberlin, -who was
born in New Salem, Mass., and was a -daugh
ter of Stillman Chamberlin. She died Octo
ber 2, 1855, leaving two children — Ella M.
and Sarah E. Mr. Stimpson was again mar
ried May 27, 1856, to Miss Juliet A. Phipps.
Of this union there is one daughter — P"" ranees
E. These children have received excellent
advantages, and are all good musicians. The
family are members of the First Congrega
tional Church, p-raternally, Mr. Stimpson is
a Mason, and is connected with Mount Moriah
Lodge, A. F. & A. M.

ILLIAM F. O'NEIL, one of the
leading merchants of Chicopee
Falls, was born in Richmond, Va.,
August 4, 1862. Plis grandfather, Eugene

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1117

O'Neil, was born in Ireland, and- was a
weaver by trade. He married Catharine
Devine, lived to a good old age, and at
his decease left five children. His son Will
iam, the father of the subject of this sketch,
was born in Ireland in 1832, and came
to America when he was eighteen years old.
He located in Connecticut, where he worked
as a farm laborer; but upon coming to Chico
pee he secured a position in a factory. He
afterward learned iron moulding, and is now
engaged in the employ of the Belcher & Tay
lor Manufacturing Company. In 1854 he
married Miss Joanna Curren, who was a native
of the same county in Ireland in which he was
born. They had a family of ten children;
namely, Mary, Eugene ]., Catharine, John
W., William F., Bridget, Theresa, Joseph F.,
Theobald, and Morris. Eugene J. married
Miss Mary. A. Hiderman, and is a manufact
urer of tape at Chicopee Falls, where in 1894
he was appointed Postmaster. He is an active
politician, and is the father of seven children.
His brother Joseph F. is his assistant in the
post-office. William F. O'Neil was educated at Chico
pee F'alls, and at eighteen years of age learned
to set type. Not liking, however, the print
er's work, he became a clerk in the clothing-
house of A. R. Martin, with whom he
remained for five years, learning all the
details of the business. He next became
manager for the firm^ of I. W. Montague &
Co., and in 1891, in partnership with W. J.
Dunn, opened a gentlemen's furnishing store.
In 1893 he bought out his partner's interest,
and has since carried on the business alone.
He has been more than ordinarily successful,
and his establishment carries the largest and
best selected line of ready-made clothing in
the town.
In 1888 Mr. O'Neil was married to Miss
Ellen F. Hannersey, a native of New Haven,
Conn., where she was born on September 20,
1868. Her father, Joseph Hannersey, is a
moulder, living at present in Geneva, N.Y.
The issue of this marriage was three children:
Emmet F., born July 30, 1889; Charles C,
born June 28, 1891 ; Irene, born in April,
1894, and dying in November of the same

year. Mr. O'Neil is a member of the Ancient
Order of Hibernians, No. 2, and since 189X
has served as Secretary of the Board of Trade.
He is independent in politics, and has been a
Justice of the P^eace. Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil
with their two children live in the handsome
new residence, which he has recently built,
on the corner of Lincoln and Washington
Streets, and which is one of the most thor
oughly equipped dwellings in Chicopee Falls.

fLLIAM E. GILBERT, teller of
the City National Bank of Spring
field, Mass., son of the late (jcorge
S. and Ella M. (Parkhurst) Gilbert, was born
in this city on August 28, 1870. George S.
Gilbert was born, bred, and educated in Mans
field, Conn., and when twenty-one years of
age settled in Springfield, having charge of
the railway mail service between this city and
Boston. He was afterward head clerk of the
first fast mail that ran between here and Chi
cago, and had charge of the mails en route.
After that service was fully developed, he had
the superintendence of a shorter run, and was
subsequently appointed superintendent of the
mails at the Springfield post-office, a position
which he retained until his death, April 16,
1893. He was for many years a member of
the Masonic fraternity, and had a firm faith in
the creed of the Universalist church, of which
he was a valued member. He left a widow
and three children — William E., Charles C,
and Harry S.
William E., the subject of this brief
sketch, having been educated in the graded
schools of Springfield, including the high
school, when a young man of eighteen years,
entered the Third National Bank as a clerk;
and during the five years that he was thus
occupied he was an industrious and trust
worthy employee. In 1893 Mr. Gilbert
accepted his present position in the City
National Bank, and has since discharged the
duties thereof with marked ability and faith
fulness. Politically, he is a firm adherent of
the Republican party, and in 1892 was elected
clerk of the Common Council, an office which
he still holds, having been twice re-elected.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

In 1893 Mr. Gilbert joined Roswell Lee
Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; and when the Spring
field Lodge was organized he became a charter
member, and is at present Secretary of the
lodge. Mr. Gilbert is a man of versatile
talent, and possesses much literary aptitude,
which was made apparent while he was a mem
ber of the Springfield High School, when he
conceived the idea of starting a school paper.
The result was the Recorder, which has since
developed into a journal of some note, being
now under the supervision of the officials of
the school. Mr. Gilbert was the first editor
of the paper, and in addition to inserting
school compositions and essays he published
personal notes and general news on his own
responsibility. He is fond of athletic sports,
and belongs to the Springfield Canoe Club.
Religiously, he is liberal in his views and
a regular attendant of St. Paul's Universalist
Church.

(JOSIAH R. SMITH, a prominent whole-
I sale and retail grocer of Holyoke, was
(tjj born at Stanstead, Province of Quebec,
Canada, August 19, 1857, son of Tim
othy P. and Louisa (Caswell) Smith. The
ancestors of the family were all natives of
Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Mr.
Smith's paternal great-grandfather was a sol
dier in the Revolutionary War; and his
maternal grandfather was a physician, who
originally came from the United States, and
settled at Caswellboro, a town which was
named for him, in the Province of Quebec.
Timothy P. Smith was a pattern-maker by
trade; but, after following that calling for
some years, he engaged in railroad construc
tion, and completed many contracts in the
United States. He is now residing upon a
farm at Ashfield, Mass. His wife, who is
still living, was the mother of six children, as
follows: Carrie, Josiah R., Albert Burton,
James A., Jennie M., and W. R. Parker
Smith. Josiah R. Smith attended the public schools
of Stanstead, Province of Quebec, Northamp
ton, Mass., and Dresden, Pettis County, Mo.
At the age of fifteen years he 'entered the

employ of the Bay State Cutlery Works at
Northampton, where he remained about two
years, and from there went to Missouri, where
he engaged for a short time in farming. He
then returned East, and located at Holyoke,
working for the Hadley Thread Company for
a year and a half, after which he engaged as
salesman for the grocery firm of Richards &
Thayer, with whom he remained ten years.
In 1884, with R. W. Sanderson as partner, he
established a grocery business at 405 Main
Street, and two years later purchased the lat
ter's interest, taking charge of the entire
business, which, under his able and energetic
management, rapidly developed. In June,
1892, he moved into his present quarters at
274 High Street, where he has since carried
on both a wholesale and retail trade. Mr.
Smith's trade has expanded so that he is
cramped for room ; and he is seriously con
templating the enlargement of his store,
which consists of two floors, twenty-five by
eighty feet. He conducts a cash business,
employing thirteen men and women, and re
quiring five teams to deliver goods.
Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics, but
beyond casting his vote takes no active part in
political affairs. His portrait, which is here
published, will interest many readers of this
volume.

fOHN J. O'CONNOR, M.D., a very
successful physician and surgeon of
Holyoke, was born in Springfield,
Mass., October 20, 1864, and is a son
of Bartholomew and Catherine O'Connor, his
mother possessing the same family name as
that of his father. Dr. O'Connor's parents
were both natives of Ireland, -his father having
been born in County Kerry, where he acquired
the trade of a stone-mason. Emiorating to
the United States when a young man, he set
tled in Springfield, in which city he readily
obtained constant and profitable employment.
John J. O'Connor pursued the elementary
course of his education in the public schools
of his native city, and, after preparing for col
lege at a private institution of 'learning in
Springfield, in 1884 entered the medical

JOSIAH R. SMITH.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

department of Harvard University in Cam
bridge, from which he graduated in 1888.
Returning to Hampden County, and opening
an office in Holyoke, he immediately applied
himself to the practice of his profession, being
admirably qualified to succeed. Since estab
lishing himself here he has earned a high
reputation, both as a medical practitioner and
a courteous gentleman, his substantial success
being amply merited.
In February, 1891, he was most happily
married to Miss Annie M. Manning, daughter
of P. J. and Honora (Donahue) Manning, her
father having been a prominent grocer of this
city; ancl they ha.ve one daughter. Dr.
O'Connor is a member of the Harvard Alumni
Association, and both himself and wife wor
ship at the Roman Catholic church. They
reside at 1-12 Dwight Street.

rDSEPH F. CALLANAN, a remarkably
progressive and singularly exemplary
citizen and able business man of
Springfield, is ' the proprietor of the
large and well-appointed grocery store and
meat market situated at 363 and 365 Chestnut
Street. He was born in Kinsale, County
Cork, Ireland, December 24, 1843, and is a
son of the late Blaney and Bridget (Casey)
Callanan, who emigrated to America, and set
tled at Springfield in the month of July, 1852,
when he was eight years of age. The father,
who was a carpenter by trade, followed that
occupation in this city, together with farming
at Agawam, until his decease, which occurred
January 8, 1868. Mrs. Bridget Callanan
survived her husband, and died in 1870.
He was second cousin of the Earl of Meath,
his family having been an old and prominent
one in Ireland and the original possessors of
the estate on which stands historic Blarney
Castle, the former seat and feudal stronghold
of his ancestors. The maternal antecedents of
Blaney Callanan were also prominent, his
mother having been a daughter of Captain
Brabson of the British army. Blaney Calla
nan and his wife raised a family of ten chil
dren, four of whom served in the Civil War
After completing his studies in the public

schools of this city, Joseph F. enlisted as a
private in Company B, Third Connecticut
Volunteer Infantry, being one of the first to
respond to President Lincoln's urgent call for
seventy-five thousand volunteers, and after
serving the three months for which he engaged
re-enlisted in the marine service for a term of
one year, being assigned to duty on board the
steamer "Cowan," which was stationed in
New York Harbor for three months, and after
ward was transferred to Cape Hatteras; but
the ship was condemned as not being sea
worthy, and the corps were discharged at Bal
timore. They were in one engagement, at
Newport News, on the James River, where the
Union gunboat "Savannah" was dismasted.
After his discharge from the marine service
young Callanan returned to Springfield for
a short sojourn, and then shipped before the
mast for Europe, on board the ship "Hemis
phere," and after cruising for some time, dur
ing which he visited different ports in Eng
land, Ireland, and Wales, abandoned the life
of a mariner, and obtained employment in a
foundry at Dowlis, in Glamorganshire. He
next went to London, where he became fore
man for John Aird & Son, who were laying
gas and water pipes. He was also employed
as a gardener at Crystal Palace for six months,
and was engaged at various kinds of occupa
tion in and about the metropolis, passing in
all three years and four months in the British
Isles, during which time he visited nearly
every important point of interest. He assisted
in laying pipes in and around many of the
famous old buildings in London, and availed
himself of the opportunity thus offered to care
fully examine those historic places, becoming
thoroughly acquainted with London and the
mode of life of its crowded inhabitants. Dur
ing his varied experiences on both sea and
land, although the surroundings were of a
nature to attract most men in his position to
the exercise of excessive indulgence, Mr Cal
lanan adhered to a strictly moral and temper
ate life, and never resorted to the use of stim
ulants in any form, nor cultivated the habit
of using tobacco.
He was one of four brothers, who, with true
Irish patriotism, went bravely to the front in

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

defence of the honor and integrity of their
adopted country. John, now a resident of
Nexv York, was in both the Forty-sLxth and
Third Massachusetts Cavalry; the late J. J.
Callanan, of Holyoke, who was Lieutenant of
Company D, F'ifth New York Cavalry, and
participated in one hundred and fifty-one en
gagements during his service, died January
II, 1894; and Charles Callanan, of the Third
Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, was supposed
to have been made a prisoner and sent to
Andersonville. From the commencement to
the close of the struggle some member of the
family was in the field, all who were able hav
ing volunteered their services. Mr. Calla
nan' s only sister, Mrs. T. M. Curnane, is at
Everett, Mass.
On his return to the United States Mr. Cal
lanan found ready employment in different
kinds of labor, being successively engaged on
the Boston & Albany Railroad, and also with
Florence J. Donahue on the stone work in the
erection of Granite Block. PPe was also at
one time engaged in the paper business at
Mittineague; and he purchased the farm for
merly conducted by his father, which he now
retains for the purpose of furnishing garden
truck for his store. After having saved a suffi
cient amount from his earnings, he established
himself in the grocery business in 1872, first
at Mittineague, where he purchased the busi
ness of O'Brien & Foley. He was one of the
first grocers in this locality to introduce the
practice of calling upon patrons for their
orders, and it was attended with immediate
success. For some time previous and during
the commencement of his mercantile career he
had worked both as a journeyman carpenter
and as a contractor, during which period he
erected St. Thomas Church at West Spring
field, and also worked upon the church at Mit
tineague, employing a full complement of
workmen. "While engaged in the grocery
business at the latter place he accumulated
considerable money, which he invested in two
houses, located on Essex Street, Springfield,
where in 1878 he established himself in the
same business. He continued there until his
rapidly increasing trade outgrew his quarters;
and he erected a large brick block at the

corner of Chestnut and Linden Streets, one
hundred and six by seventy feet, three stories
high, and divided into five stores, two of
which he now occupies himself. He is the
owner of considerable real estate. His time
and attention are now divided between his
business and the cultivation of his farm, in
which he takes great interest and pride.
A most meritorious labor of love which Mr.
Callanan has found time to prosecute has been
the foundation of several temperance societies,
he, in conjunction with his brother, the late
J. J. Callanan, and Dennis McCarthy, of Con
necticut, having organized the Father Mathew
Temperance Society in Springfield; and he
also organized the Father Mathew Society at
Mittineague, and was its President for seven
years, besides prompting and assisting the
organization of those societies at West Spring
field, Chicopee, and other places. He was an
officer in the Diocesan Union and Vice-Presi
dent of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union
of Massachusetts, also a delegate to the Na
tional Convention at Chicago in 1872, having
been a life-long total abstainer and a tireless
worker in the cause of temperance. He was
chosen President of the first Land League
movement in Springfield, and his able admin
istration of its affairs was the means of its
contributing the largest sum to the Parnell
fund of any similar organization existing in
a city of this size. In politics he has always
been a Democrat, and besides serving on vari
ous committees was chairman of the City
Committee, a member of the State Central
Committee, and a delegate to the National
Convention in 1884, which nominated Grover
Cleveland. In 1883 he represented Ward
One in the Common Council, but declined a
renomination. He is a member of the Grand
Army of the Republic and the Foresters.
Mr Callanan married Miss Ellen F'.
O'Brien, of West Springfield, a sister of the
Rev. John O'Brien, of East Cambridge. Mrs.
Callanan was called to rest from life's labors
after having become the mother of eleven chil
dren, eight of whom are living, as follows:
Joseph B., James, Sylvester, Frank, Edward,
Mary, Maggie, and Ellen. Of these, three
sons are engaged with him in the business.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1123

Both himself and family are faithful commu
nicants of the Roman Catholic church and
members of the Sacred Heart Society.
Mr. Callanan is the fortunate possessor of
the silver trowel used in the ceremonies of
laying the corner-stone of the above-named
church. It cost two hundred dollars, and was
presented to him as being the largest contrib
utor toward the erection of the building. He
has always been a liberal helper in the exten
sion and developing of church work.
In 1873 Mr. Callanan made a pleasure trip
to his native land, visiting as well England,
Scotland, and Wales, making a specialty of
the most important places in both countries.

lp)TrORACE GOODWIN, contractor and
L^-l builder, is one of the enterprising
\[s I and active business men of Spring-
— ' field, Hampden County, where he
has lived since 1887. He comes from an old
and well-known family of New England, being
the grandson of John Goodwin, who was for
many years a prosperous carpenter of Marble
head, Mass. On the maternal side of the
house he is the grandson of Samuel Green,
who piloted the frigate "Constitution," or
"Old Ironsides," into Marblehead Harbor dur
ing the War of 181 2. Joseph Goodwin, the
father of Horace, was a life-long resident of
the picturesque and historical village of Mar
blehead, where he was born in 1814 and died
in 1881. He was a leading contractor and
builder of the place and an upright and re
spected citizen. He was a prominent member
of the Masonic Order, highly esteemed in re
ligious circles, and with his wife was a con
sistent member of the Unitarian church. He
married Mehitabel Green, and they reared a
family of five children.
Horace, who was the second in order of
birth, was born in Marblehead, June 26, 1844,
and in the schools of his native place obtained
a practical education, being graduated from
the high school in 1859, with an excellent
record for scholarship and conduct. Having
inherited the mechanical genius of his father
and grandfather, he decided to follow their
footsteps in selecting his life occupation, and

accordingly learned the carpenter's trade of
his father With the patriotic zeal that fired
the hearts of so many New England boys he
enlisted in July, 1861, in the United States
Navy, and for two years served on the gunboat
"William G. Anderson." At the expiration
of his- term of service Mr. Goodwin returned
to Marblehead, and after finishing his trade
entered into partnership with his father, with
whom he worked until 1869, in that time put
ting up some of the finest buildings of the
town. The following three years he spent in
Nashua, N.H., where he carried on a good
business as carpenter and builder. Returning
then to the place of his nativity, Mr Goodwin
established himself in business there, and con
tinued until 1887, when, as before mentioned,
he came to Springfield. He was first engaged
as foreman for George M. Burnham, with
whom he remained four years; but in 1892 he
started in business for himself. He is now
located at 12)^ Taylor Street, and is meeting
with unquestioned success, being prompt, ca
pable, and trustworthy in every respect. He
makes a specialty of store and office fitting and
furnishing, giving employment to a dozen or
more men in the busy season, and is fast as
suming a front rank in his line of business in
the city.
While in Nashua, N. H., Mr Goodwin mar
ried Miss Mary S. Wilkins, their union being
solemnized November 13, 1869; and they are
the parents of two children, namely: Fred,
who is in business with the Goodwin Oil Com
pany ; and Harry B., a salesman. Socially,
Mr Goodwin has belonged to the Masonic
fraternity since a young man, having joined
the Rising Sun Lodge at Nashua in 1870.
After that time he was made a member of the
John Goodwin Post, Grand Army of the Re
public, of Marblehead, but in 1892 transferred
his membership to Wilcox I^ost, Grand Army
of the Republic, of Springfield, and in 1894
was elected Senior Vice-Commander of that
Post. He likewise belongs to the Philan
thropic Lodge, A. F & A. M., of Marble
head, of which during the years 1883-84-85
he was Master He is liberal in his religious
views, having never departed from the faith in
which he was reared, and gives his hearty

1124

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

support to the Church of the Unity in Spring-
field.

NDREW J. FLANAGAN, D.D.S.,
who has attained a leading position
among the practitioners of dentistry
in Springfield, was born in this city
on July 10, 1866. He is the son of Terrence
and Mary (McQuaid) Flanagan. His father
was born in the County of Fermanagh, Ire
land, and when but twenty-four years of age
left his native country, and went to Quebec,
where he spent some little time. F'rom there
he went to the State of Maine, where he made
a short stay, and then came to Springfield, and
was employed by the American Machine
Works. After a time he went into business
for himself as an expressman, and for many
years worked hard and successfully, thriftfully
putting by money for capital, which enabled
him to engage in the liquor business. He has
at present a wholesale liquor store at 100 State
Street, which position he has occupied for the
past thirty-five years. He gives of his money
freely for the support of the Democratic cause,
but has never held any political office. Plis
wife, the mother of our subject, was born in
Springfield, of Irish parentage. They have
six children living, namely : Margaret, wife
of William Sheehan, living in Springfield;
Rose, wife of Martin Gallagher, of Troy,
N.Y. ; Mary ]., wife of William Quilty, of
the firm of Quilty Brothers of Springfield ;
Sarah G. , wife of Daniel PL Toomey, of
Springfield; Andrexv J., our subject; and
Catherine E., who graduated from St. Joseph's
Convent High School at Springfield, attended
the Ursuline Convent at Stanstead, Quebec,
and xvho is now in Baltimore, Md., a student
at the Woman's College of Physicians and
Surgeons in the class of 1896. She also grad
uated at the Philadelphia Lying-in Charity
Training School for Nurses. Three children
of Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan have died, namely :
Terrence J., at age of fifteen; James E., who
was in the express business, and who died at
the age of forty-txvo; and William P'., xvho
was in partnership with his father in the

liquor business, and died at the age of thirty-
four This family have lived at 655 State
Street for forty years, and in that long period
of time many changes have come to their home
as well as to the city. They have ever been
devoted members of the Catholic church, at
tending service at the Cathedral. They were
members of the first Cathedral ever built in
Springfield; and, when the present structure
was being erected, Mr. Flanagan gave liber
ally toward its support.
Andrew J. Flanagan attended the Spring
field public grammar and high schools, and
graduated from the latter in the class of 1884.
He then entered the office of the late James
E. O'Brien, D. D. S., and studied dentistry
with him for three years. From there he
went to Philadelphia, where he took a two
years' course at the Philadelphia Dental Col
lege, and during the last year took a special
medical course at the Medical Chirurgical
College at Philadelphia. Mr. F'lanagan re
ceived the degree of D.D. S. at the graduation
of the class of 1889. He opened an office for
the practice of dentistry in this city in May,
1889, and has so faithfully devoted his time
and best efforts to his profession that he has
been enabled to build up a large and lucrative
business; and he is accorded a leading posi
tion among the younger members of the dental
profession. His office is at 352 Main Street,
and he has occupied the same rooms for nearly
six years. Mr Flanagan is a member of the
Massachusetts Dental Society and of the
Plampden District Dental Society, and at the
present time has the honor to occupy the high
est position in the latter (the District So
ciety), that of Secretary. He is greatly in
terested in music, and is a member of the
Hampden County Musical Society, in which
he takes an active part. He is also a member
of the Knights of Columbus, and was the
organizer of the Home City Council and its
first Deputy Grand Knight, and is at present
District Deputy Supreme Knight of this dis
trict. Pie is the Past Secretary of Division 6
of the Ancient Order of Hibernian.s, also Past
Chief Ranger of Court Abraham Lincoln of
the Ancient Order of Foresters of America;
and, when the division took place in their

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ranks, he with sixty-five others formed Court
Campipontis, No. 8050, of the Ancient Order
of Foresters, and at the present writing he is
District High Chief Ranger Mr Flanagan
is not married. He is largely interested in
real estate, especially in Willimansett; and
no young man in the city has a more enviable
reputation for industry and activity, both in
his chosen profession and in social circles,
than he has.

native of
years in
She was
follows :

RED H. SIBLEY, Clerk, Collector,
and Treasurer of the town of West
Springfield, was born July i, 1861.
He is a son of Henry A. Sibley, who was born
in Westfield, Mass., he being a son of Elijah
Sibley, who was a native of Wellington,
Conn., as was also Ezekiel Sibley, his father.
Elijah Sibley moved from Connecticut to
Hampden County, Massachusetts, and settled
upon a farm in "Westfield, which he conducted
for a number of years, and then removed to
West Springfield, where he passed the re
mainder of his days. The maiden name of
his wife was Lucy Lee. She was a
Massachusetts, and spent her last
West Springfield, where she died.
the mother of three children, as
Henry A., Augusta A., and Lorette.
Henry A. Sibley was trained to agriculture,
which he has followed as an occupation up to
the present time. Previous to his marriage
he purchased a farm in West Springfield, upon
which he resided for many years and which
property is still in his possession. His wife
before marriage was M. Amanda Cooley,
daughter of Rodney and Sabra Cooley; and
they became the parents of one son, Fred H.
Fred H. Sibley commenced his education in
the public schools of West Springfield, and
later attended the Westfield High School. In
1882 he went to Denver, Col., where he en
gaged in the bakery and grocery business with
C. E. Stery; but after fourteen months' resi
dence there, although successful in business,
he decided to return East, and accordingly
sold his interests, and returning home asso
ciated himself with his father in the manage

ment of the farm. In this occupation he con
tinued until 1890, when he was elected chair
man of the Board of Road Commissioners, and
later, in 1891, Clerk, Treasurer, and Collector
of the town, which positions he has held by
re-election up to the present time, perform
ing his various duties to the general satisfac
tion of the townspeople.
On September 25, 1882, he was united in
marriage to Miss Mary B. Whalen, who was
born in Des Moines, la., and is the daughter
of Michael and Ellen (Hayes) Whalen. Mr.
and Mrs. Sibley have three children living:
PPelen Marguerite, Rachel May, and Fred
H. E. Mr. Sibley is a Republican in poli
tics, and cast his first Presidential vote for
James G. Blaine. He is a member of De
Soto Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel
lows, and of Agawam Encampment.

OHN R. CALLAHAN, a prominent
attorney and counsellor-at-law of the
city of Holyoke, Mass., was born at
old Hadley, in Franklin County, April
1868, his parents, John and Bridget
(Stack) Callahan, being natives of County
Kerry, Ireland. The birth of his father oc
curred in the year 1819, and in 1850 he emi
grated to the United States. John Callahan
came of a sturdy family, who were all reared
to agricultural pursuits. His children were
as follows: Cornelius, Ellen (Mrs. James
Halpin), Patrick, Mary, Catherine, and John
R., two others having died in infancy.
John R. Callahan, after having attended the
public schools of old Hadley and prepared
for his collegiate course at Hopkins Academy,
entered Amherst College, where he was grad
uated in 1889, with the degree of A.B. He
immediately began the study of law at North
ampton in the office of Captain David Hill,
with whom he remained for two years, and
then further pursued his studies at the Boston
University Law School, after completing
which he was admitted to the Hampshire
County bar. For a short time he practised
his profession with his old preceptor. Captain
Hill, at Northampton. In the autumn of the

[126

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

same year, 1891, he opened his office in Hol
yoke, where he has since been in active prac
tice, conducting a very profitable general law
business and making a name for himself among
the legal lights of this county.
Mr. Callahan is an energetic and earnest
worker in the ranks of the Democratic party,
having made many effectual campaign speeches
during the past three years. He is a member
of the Knights of Columbus and the Park
Lyceum Club, and is still a single gentle
man. He worships at St. Jerome Church in
this city.

"ARROW GAMWELL, M.D., a promi
nent physician of Westfield, was
born in the town of Washington,
Berkshire County, Mass., October
30, i834rson of Morgan Gamwell, who was,
it is supposed, a native of the same town.
Morgan was a son of James Gamwell, who was
born in the Emerald Isle, his father, John
Gamwell, being a native either of Scotland or
Ireland and of Scotch ancestry. John Gam
well came to America in Colonial times,
accompanied by his wife and three sons —
James, John, and Hugh. He was drafted at
the breaking out of the Revolutionary War,
but his son James went in his stead, and
served throughout the entire struggle.
James Gamwell was a carpenter by trade,
and also followed farming. He resided in
the town of Washington for a number of
years, going thence to South Hinsdale, where
he purchased a farm, upon which he resided
until his death, at the age of sixty-nine. He
was twice married, and became the father of
sixteen children. The maiden name of his
second wife, the grandmother of Harlow Gam
well, was Mary Kingston. She was a native
of Connecticut, and died at the age of about
ninety years. Both she and her husband were
active members of the Baptist church, in
which faith they reared their family.
Morgan Gamwell assisted his father at his
trade and in the various duties of the farm.
In 1844 he removed from Washington to
Hinsdale, and, there buying a farm, occupied

it until his death, which took place when he
was eighty-four years of age. He was con
verted in his youth, and joined the Baptist
church, in which he became a licentiate
preacher. He was twice married, the maiden
name of his first wife being Julia Spring.
She was born in the town of Washington, and
was a daughter of Cyril Spring, who was a
shoemaker by trade, but later followed agri
cultural pursuits, residing in the town of
Washington, where he died in 1873, ^t the
age of ninety-seven years. The maiden name
of his wife was Rosetta Dibble. Mrs. Julia
Gamwell, the mother of Harlow, died at the
age of thirty-nine years; and the father was a
second time married, to Amanda Spring, a
sister of his first wife. He reared eight chil
dren by his first marriage and one child by the
second. Harlow Gamwell received his education in
the district school and at Hinsdale Academy,
and at the age of eighteen began teaching
in his native State. He later went to New
York, where he received a State certificate,
and taught in Cayuga and Ontario Counties.
He thence went to Pittsfield, Mass., where he
taught a grammar school for two years, occu
pying his spare time in the study of medicine,
Dr. Childs being his preceptor. He subse
quently attended, lectures at the Pittsfield
Medical College, where he was graduated in
the class of 1858, and then practised at Lee
for one year, going from that place to Hunt
ington. In December, 1861, Dr. Gamwell
entered the service of the United States as
Assistant Surgeon of the Second Massachu
setts Cavalry, and was with that regiment for
fourteen months, when he was promoted to be
Surgeon of the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry.
He was with the F'ifth Regiment in its
various marches, camps, and engagements
until nearly the close of the war, then resign
ing his position on account of ill health. At
the battle of Petersburg he was selected by
Dr. Dalton as a member of his advisory
board. Upon his return from the army he
resumed the duties of his profession in Hunt
ington, continuing until 1873, when he came
to Westfield, where he has since continued in
active practice.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1127

Dr. Gamwell was first married, in 1859, to
Miss Alice Lewis, who was born in Hunting
ton, and was a daughter of Gilbert Lewis.
Of this union there were two children, one of
whom survives — Alice. Ida died at the age
of three and one-half years, Mrs, Alice
Lewis Gamwell died in 1868. For his sec
ond wife Dr. Gamwell married Miss Sarah
De Wolf, a daughter of Dr. De Wolf, of Ches
ter, Mass., and to them have been born two
daughters — Correlia and Grace. Dr. Harlow
Gamwell has always taken a lively interest in
educational matters, and has been a member
of the School Board for the past nine years.
He is a Congregationalist in his religious
belief, and in him the First Church finds a
consistent member. He is a member of the
Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to
Lyon Post, No. 41, and, fraternally, is a
Mason, being connected with Mount Moriah
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Westfield Chapter,
Royal Arch Masons, and Springfield Com
mandery, Knights Templars. Dr. Gamwell is
one of the Directors of the Bay State Benefi
ciary Association, and is also its Medical
Director.

Wi

ILLIAM E. WRIGHT, of the firm
of Mcintosh & Co., Springfield,
Mass., manufacturers and wholesale
dealers in boots, shoes, and leather, was born
at Northampton, Mass., December 8, 1850.
His parents were Silas and Mary (Hilman)
Wright, the father, who was a carpenter and
builder, having been born in 1822 at a suburb
of the latter place, called North Farms. The
mother was born at Charlemont, Mass., in
1824, and was a daughter of William Hilman
of that place. Alanson Wright, father of
Silas, was a prosperous farmer.
Having begun his education in the schools
of his native town, William E. Wright took a
three years' course at Powers Institute, near
Boston, after which he engaged in the boot
and shoe business as a clerk for the firm of
Christopher Clark & Co., with whom he re
mained seven years. He then came to
Springfield, where he was employed in the

same capacity by the firm of which he is now
a member, having become a partner in 1875,
after a service of but two years. Their busi
ness has advanced to a position of great impor
tance in the mercantile world, and now covers
a very large field of operation, they being first
handlers of the goods, having a large manufac
tory of their own at West Brookfield, and
controlling the products of two factories in
Beverly, furnishing employment to about four
hundred people, producing an average output
of one hundred and fifty thousand pairs of
boots and shoes per annum.
The firm occupy three stores at 27, 29, and
31 Lyman Street, embracing the entire build
ing of six floors, one hundred feet deep, and
having a floor space of thirty-six thousand
square feet. They employ twelve travelling
salesmen and twenty-five clerks, their goods
finding ready sale from the Atlantic to the
Pacific coast: The firm was established early
in 1850; and' since Mr. Wright became a
member of it he has had full charge of the
purchasing and manufacturing departments,
which requires his entire time and concen
trated energies. He has during his labors
with the enterprise had the extreme satisfac
tion of seeing its output advance to more than
double its former figures. The other mem
bers of the firm of Mcintosh & Co. are A. J.
Mcintosh, who is also President of the Chico
pee Bank, and Elijah Belding.
Mr. Wright is one of the original Directors
of the Hampden County Musical Association,
of which he, in company with two or three
other gentlemen, laid the foundation. He
was also one of the first projectors of the
Board of Trade, of which he occupied a seat
among the Directors for three years. In con
junction with the Rev, David A, Reed he
took a very prominent part in organizing
the Christian Industrial and Technical School,
of which he is Treasurer and a member of the
Executive Board. He is Vice-President of
the Elektron Manufacturing Company, and
was instrumental in securing their removal
from New York to this city, where they now
manufacture electric motors, dynamos, and
elevators, transacting a business of one hun
dred and fifty thousand dollars per annum.

II28

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

He is also Vice-President of the Waltham
Watch Tool Company, manufacturers of tools
and machinery for watch making and repairing,
with an output of forty thousand annually.
He is likewise associated with John McFeth
ries, of the State legislature, and Albert D.
Smith, in the Highland Extension Company,
a real estate enterprise which has during the
past three years erected and sold from forty to
fifty houses, together with other property
amounting to four hundred thousand dollars,
and now have in course of construction six
other houses, which are already sold, their
enterprise having proved a most successful
one. On October 5, 1875, Mr. Wright was united
in marriage to Miss Mary J. Smith, of North
ampton, daughter of Cyrus Smith, and has a
family of five children — Harry E., Helen L.,
Bessie M., Bertha, and Alice. Mr. Wright
and family attend Hope Church.

^ClLMER D. POWERS, a prominent dealer
pi in real estate in the city of Springfield,
'^'— ¦ — ' was born in the town of Hardwick,
Worcester County, Mass., December 12,
1854, son of Lysander and Hannah H. (Dex
ter) Powers, and grandson of David and Molly
(Parkhurst) Powers, of Richmond, N.H.
David Powers, the grandfather, was one of the
earliest stage drivers on the road between
Boston and Richmond, and continued till long
past middle life to make his regular trips,
which occupied about a week, becoming known
far and near for his genial disposition.
Lysander Powers, his son, father of Elmer,
was born in Petersham, Worcester County,
and went with his parents, when three years
old, to his grandfather's home in Richmond.
On attaining maturer years, having a longing
for the freer life of the country, he went to
Hardwick, where he worked at first as a farm
hand, later entering into business as a meat
dealer. He was so successful in the latter
occupation that he was subsequently able to
purchase land, becoming the largest real
estate owner in the town. He then sent for
his parents to make their home with him dur

ing their declining years. He became promi
nent in the local politics of the town, first as
a Whig, and later as a Republican. He held
the office of Tax Collector twenty-four years,
and was also Selectman and Overseer of the
Poor. His death took place in 1891, at the
age of seventy-six years. His wife, to whom
he was married in 1844, was a native of Hard
wick, and died one year before her husband,
at the age of sixty-eight. She was the daugh
ter of Ichabod Dexter, a representative of
one of the old families of the town. He
was a farmer, and served as a soldier in
the War of 1812. He was also a prominent
Mason and a much-respected citizen. He and
his wife were the parents of three children:
Joel L., a resident of Hardwick; Frank, in
the hotel business in New York City; and
Elmer D.
Elmer D. Powers, after attending the com
mon schools of Hardwick, received further
educational advantages by taking a course of
study at the Wilbraham Academy, from which
place he went to Easthampton. At the age of
twenty-one he commenced business by starting
a meat market at Gilbertville, a small town in
Worcester County, and, although so young for
the responsibilities of public office, served the
town as Selectman and as Overseer of the
Poor. In the year 1880 he gave up the busi
ness, and went to Stafford Springs, Tolland
County, Conn., where he engaged in the
miantifacture of lumber, also dealing in tim
bered land. He was thus engaged for a period
of ten years, at the same time carrying on a
real estate business in Worcester, Mass. At
the end of this time he went to Springfield,
and purchased the real estate agency of George
F. Doane, the leading business of its kind in
the city, and which he still conducts. He is
the owner of considerable real estate, and to
his natural sagacity and good business quali
ties may be attributed much of his present
success. In politics he is a member of the Republi
can party. He is a member of Roswell Lee
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., also of the Wyoming
Star Chapter, the Springfield Commandery,
and the Springfield Council. Mr. Powers was
married June 29, 1875, to Miss Anna W.

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1129

Connant, of Barre, Worcester County, Mass.,
a daughter of Charles Connant, of that town.

"ON. FRANKLIN P. GOODALL,
ex-Mayor of Holyoke, and for many
years a very prominent business
man, was born at Deering, N. H. ,
August 15, 1834. His father, Robert Good-
all, was a son of Stephen Goodall, the family
being descendants of Robert Goodall, who
came to America in 1634, first settling at
Salem and later in what is now the town of
Danvers.

IDNEY ALLEN
wealthy organizer
Paper Company,
Springfield since
Ovid, N.Y., on the

GRANT, the
of the Bemis
has lived in
1 88 1, but was
last day of Au-

born gust, 1842. His grandfather, Ephraim Grant,
was a cousin of General Ulysses S. Grant's
grandfather, Noah Grant, and was clerk of
Tolland County, Conn., from its organization
until his death. The emigrant progenitor
was Matthew Grant, who came from England
in 1630.
Ephraim Grant's son, Sidney Grant, was
born in Tolland County on September 17,
1800; and on March 28, 1826, he married
Mary Ann McKenney, of Ellington, and went
to New York City as a contractor and builder.
He subsequently moved to Ovid, where he
remained a score of years, carrying on an
extensive business, and putting up most of the
public buildings in the vicinity. F'rom Ovid
he went to Hartford, Conn., pursuing the
same line of work for a few years, and then
moved to Manchester, N.H., where he built a
fine residence; and he and his wife celebrated
their golden wedding in the centennial year,
during the latter part of their distinguished
kinsman's presidency. They lived together
seven years afterward, he dying on February
28, 1883; but she survived until September
15, 1 89 1. Both belonged to the Congrega
tional church; and they had nine children, of
whom all but one came to maturity, though

only six have outlived their parents. Lucy
Grant married Thomas Mather, of Centrefield,
R.I. Miranda Grants deceased, was the wife
of the Rev. Payson Fuller, of the Baptist
denomination. Lorain Grant died in Hart
ford, unmarried. Sarah Grant is the wife of
Elisha Morgan, of Springfield. Helen Grant
is the wife of N. C Newell, also of Spring
field. Mary Grant married Charles Allen, of
Brooklyn, N.Y. Sidney Allen is one of the
younger children. Lizzie Harriet Grant is
Mrs. Albert F. Wilson, of Colorado.
Sidney A. Grant attended school in Ovid
until he was twelve years old, but completed
his book studies at the Hartford High School.
After a few years' clerkship in a dry-goods
store in that city, he went into the stationery
trade at Rockville, Conn. In 1869 he re
moved to Denver, Col., when in its infancy,
and there traded in real estate, besides manu
facturing paper and envelopes. At the end of
four years, in 1873, he removed to Cincinnati,
where for seven years he had the largest enve
lope factory in the city. In 1880, having sold
his interest, he came to Springfield, and
organized the company with which he is still
connected, inventing the machinery for mak
ing fancy papeteries, the first to bear the
Springfield name, and having patents now
in general use. Later, for the better manu
facture of envelopes, Mr. Grant invented a
machine which he took abroad with him in
1886, and sold to an English syndicate, of
which he remained a Director for eighteen
months, the factory being located in London,
and making the government envelopes.
Having his family with him, he travelled
quite extensively through Continental Europe,
returning to Springfield in 1888. Then he
invented a chainless wheel, and formed the
League Cycle Company of Hartford, of which
he was the prime manager. Having disposed
of this interest, he next invented the chainless
rear driving bicycle, and organized the Na
tional Cycle Company of Fitchburg, Mass., of
which his son Lewis is Vice-President. In
the present year, 1895, he has continued to
perfect a wooden bicycle, combining strength
and lightness, and costing far less than the
ordinary wheel. He has also been largely

II30

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

interested in real estate in this city, and owns
a large amount of both improved and unim
proved property. Though not conspicuous in
politics, he is loyal to the Republican party.
He is a member of the Hampden Masonic
Lodge, and also belongs to the Winthrop
Club. On March 27, 1867, before going West,
Mr. Grant married Louisa Maria Corbin,
daughter of Lewis A. Corbin, of Rockville,
whose biography may be found in the history
of Tolland County, as a member of the White
& Corbin Company, the largest envelope
manufacturers in the world. Mr. and Mrs.
Grant have had four children, two of whom
are living: Lewis Corbin Grant, born in
1868, and already mentioned; and Helen
Louise Grant, born in 1870, and still residing
with her parents. The other two children —
Sidney Allen Grant, Jr., and Mary Louise
Grant — were born in Ohio, and died young.
The family are members of the Hope Congre
gational Church, and have resided for fourteen
years in their pleasant house at 55 Sherman
Street.

"Y^jVpVARTIN DONAHUE, senior mem-
tn I =* ber of the well-known firm of
J Jjjs I Donahue Brothers, plumbers, of
Springfield, Mass., was born in
the town of Amherst, Hampshire County,
May 14, 1861, son of John and Julia (Curtis)
Donahue. His father, who was born in
County Clare, Ireland, came to this country in
his youth, and learned the trade of tinsmith
and plumber, which occupation he has fol
lowed through life. He has been very suc
cessful in his business, and brought up his
family well, becoming quite prominent in the
society connected with the Catholic church at
Amherst, of which he and his wife are mem
bers. Their pleasant home is at Amherst,
where Mr. Donahue has lived for over forty
years. The family consisted of ten children,
of whom five are still living: Daniel, now
engaged in the brick business in Hartford;
Martin, the subject of this sketch; James, of
Springfield, also occupied in brick manufact

ure; Frank, associated with his brother Martin
in the firm of Donahue Brothers, plumbers;
and Charles, one of the firm of English &
Donahue, of Springfield.
Martin Donahue received his early educa
tion in the public schools of his native town,
and when he was nineteen years old went to
Springfield, and learned his trade, working
four years as an apprentice for N. S. Beebe,
of that city. He then went to Boston, where
he worked as a journeyman till 1888, when he
concluded to return to Springfield. There he
set up a business of his own, taking his
brother P'rank into partnership, and beginning
in a modest establishment on Pynchon Street.
The brothers were cautious, and did not
attempt to begin with assistants in their work;
but, when orders and contracts required addi
tional help, they enlarged their force, and now
employ between fifteen and twenty men. The
increase of their orders after a time created a
need of more space, and accordingly they
changed their location to 9 Pynchon Street,
where they have since remained, carrying a
full line of plumbers' supplies.
Their work is of a superior quality, and
brings them commissions from well-known
and eminent business firms. Of the various
orders for plumbing the Donahue Brothers
have executed, may be mentioned the work for
the Court Square 'Theatre and the work for the
Young Men's Christian Association Building
in Springfield. The brothers handle a good
deal of real estate as a side line of business,
but devote their time and energies chiefly to
their trade. Martin Donahue has kept gener
ally out of politics, but takes an active inter
est in the work of the Cathedral (Roman
Catholic), to which he belongs. His home is
at the Hotel Gilmore.

RANK P. DONAHUE, junior member
of the firm of Donahue Brothers,
Springfield, Mass., was born in Am
herst in October, 1864. He acquired a good
practical education in the public schools of
Amherst, and at the age of sixteen was fairly
well fitted for his future career by a knowledge

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

1131

of the principles of business. He learned his
trade with W. W. Hunt, the most successful
firm doing plumbers' work in Amherst. At
the end of four years he went to Northampton
to join his brother John (who died some time
since) in similar work, remaining till 1887,
when he went to the city of Springfield, where
he spent a year in the employ of N. S. Beebe.
He then entered into partnership with his
brother Martin, under the name of Donahue
Brothers; and the firm is now one of the lead
ing firms doing plumbers' work in the large

and rapidly growing city where they have
made their business home. Frank Donahue
attends worship at the Cathedral. He is a
member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
Pie has taken no active part in politics, pre
ferring to give attention to business interests.
He is not married, and has resided for some
time at the Blackman House. As an active
business man Frank Donahue stands well in the
Springfield community, and, with his brother
Martin, shows what can be done in life by
strict attention to the work selected.

INDEX.

BIOGRAPHICAL

A
Abbe, James T  ^^
Abell, Charles D. . ... 154
Adams, John B. ..... . 214
Adams, Nathan, M.D. . . . 104
Alden, Charles P- . '. . 378
Alden, Frank M  307
Alden, Ralph V  379
Allen, Baxter ....;. 208
Allen, Carl A., M.D  500
Alien, Charles H  232
Allen, Elijah D  623
Allen, Ezra I. . . 27
Allen, Frank B  413
Allen, Ira B  59
Allen, Mrs. Mary W  717
Allen, Orrin P  862
Allen, S. Augustus . . . 634
Allis, Waitstill H  487
Allyn, David L  656
Ames, Rev. Etta C  1049
Ames, Robert P. M., M.D. . 285
Amidon, Edgar H  ion
Anderson, Henry S. ... 594
Anthony, Jeremiah C, M.D. . 550
Arnold, William . . -13
Arthur, Frank F  no
Ash, John H  45'
Ashley, David F  664
Atkins, Albert .S  902
Atkins, George  75^
Atwater, Leonard  982
Avery, Nathan C  1 79 1

Bagg, Joseph L. . . .
Bagg, Mrs. Susan A. .
Bailey, Henry F. . .
Bailey, Peter S. . .
Baker, Orlando M. .
Ballard, Eugene T.
Ballard, George T., M.D
Barker, John F. . . .
Barnes, William E.
Barr, Edwin C. . .
Barrows, Charles . .
Bates, William . .
Bateson, John . . .
Beauchamp, Joseph O., M.D
Beebe, Henry J 
Bemis, Stephen C. .
Bennett, Charles S.
Bennitt, Francis M., M.D,
Berry, Lauriston M., M.D
Birnie, George A. .
Birnie, William . .
Bishop, Alvah . .
Bishop, Franklin H.
Blackmer, John, M.D.
Blague, Edward P.
Blair, James S. . .
Blair, Royal E. . .
Blake, Rev. Lyman 11
Blanchard, A. Jackson
Blanchard, Franklin
Blanchard, Lee . .
Bleloch, George H.

489 525
3S8 780
256
1012 U06 402 638 552
528
861
387 612828 142
356
1090 192
439 20
827
1031 1050 153
1024 295
893
973 226271
348

Blodgett, Edwin A. . . . 527
Boecklen, Edward H. ... 489
Bond, Ephraim W  1099
Bond, George R  1097
Bonvouloir, Pierre . . .321
Booth, Sanford  871
Bosshart, Jacob  150
Bowen, Charles W., M.D. . 680
Bowen, James L.  366
Bowles, Samuel  25
Bowles, Stephen W., M.D. . 12
Boyle, John R  799
Boyle, William  1042
Bradburn, H. Dwight . . 327
Bradford, Fanny Gates . . . 662
Bradley, Addison M  579
Bramble, Franklin  1038
Bramley, Walter  891
Brazee, Frank S. . . . . 228
Bridge, M. Wells . ... 435
Brookings, Elias  180
Brooks, Simon  247
Brooks, William H. S. . . 629
Brown, Samuel W  532
Brown, Timothy M  388
Brownell, Edward C  1019
Bryan, Clark W  373
Buchholz, Herman  506
Buckingham, Rev. Samuel G.,
D.D  II
Buckley, John F., M.D. ... 650
Bugbee, Charles M  566
Bugbee, William H  687

"34

INDEX

Bull, Milan W. .

. . 269

Bullard, James H.

255

Bumstead, Josiah .

66

Burdick, George W.

1070

Burleigh, Charles H. .

• ¦ 99

Burnham, George M.

1006

Burr, Benjamin F.

• 953

Burr, Charles L.

¦ 399

Burt, George S.

82

Bush, Austin B. . .

100

Bush, Delizon S. . .

564

Bush, Homer

657

Bush, William S. . .

¦ • 883

Butler, Jason . .

. 1028

Buxton, Warren S.

• • 569

Caldwell, Winford N
Calkins, Abel H. .
Calkins, Mrs. Adelaide A. H
Calkins, Cheney H., M.D
Calkins, Marshall, M.D
Call, Charies A. . .

T.

Callahan, Christopher
Callahan, John A. .
Callahan, John R. .
Callanan, Joseph F.
Camp, Chauncey K.
Campbell, Charles L.
Capron, Eugene D.
Carmichael, John H., M.D.
Carpenter, Charles .
Carpenter, Homer I.
Carr, John S. . .
Carr, Lewis F. . .
Carroll, Henry D. .
Carroll, James B.
Carter, Edwin Y. .
Carter, Herbert W.
Cartter, Richard W.
Carver, Henry I.
Casey, Albert P.
Chandler, Arthur C.
Chapin, Albert P. .
Chapin, Chester W.
Chapin, Edward P.
Chapin, Milo . . .
Chapin, Myron E. .
Chapin, Orlando
Chapman, Dwight M.
Chapman, Samuel S.

319343
394 396392 84
1077 574
1 1 25
1121 814 740
499 44
768503 163
922 725
1115 703
438833 221 742
987 514
857 199
752
914913302
306

Chapman, William H.
Chase, Henry A.
Chase, John E. . .
Chilson, Alvin .
Church, Oliver U. .
Clark, Andrew .
Clark, Elisha . .
Clark, Embury P.
Clark, Francis E.
Clark, Francis W,
Clark, Frederick W
Clark, George H
Clark, Henry .
Clark, John E.
Clark, John W.
Clark, Leonard
Clark, Lyman N.
Clifford, Edward
Clough, William L,
Coburn, Mrs. Elizabeth L
Coburn, Thomas W.
Colburn, William W
Cole, Lorenzo W., M.D
Collins, Erastus .
Collins, Jabez
Collins, William O.
Collord, Isaac N.
Colson, Charles D.
Colton, John D. .
Colton, Oliver B.
Cone, George N.
Connors, Michael
Converse, Horatio L.
Cook, Frank O.
Cooley, Barnabas N
Cooley, Charles E.
Cooley, George E.
Cooley, Justin M.
Cooney, John E.
Cooper, James C.
Covell, Chauncey L,
Cowan, James M.
Crafts, Mrs. Olive L,
Crafts, Roswell P
Craig, Arthur
Craig, Rev. James M.
Crane, Frank S.
Crane, Roman A.
Crary, Ephraim .
Crosier, Emerson S
Crosier, William J.
Cross, Amos G. . ,

557520
605971 581561
649
872744801
805 130
544
959
481 253793 56
954692 183
202
1005 862 196
940
1 01 8
444
mo
mo 919
1065 842239 19
40
722 79
1096 184
412 588329
61-3 565591
328361279 58
509
706

Cross, Cyrus W.
Crowther, James . .
Cummings, Michael E.
Currier, Reuben B., .
Curtis, Daniel J.
Cushman, Leonard G.
Cushman, Solomon F.
Cutler, Henry . .

Damon, Arthur L., M.D.
Davis, Charles P. . .
Davis, Ella M., M.D. .
Davis, George W., M.D.
Davis, James L. . .
Davis, Leonard L.
Day, Alexander . .
Day, Alfred D. . . .
Day, Elbridge ...
Day, Robert W. . .
DeGray, Joseph H.
Denison, Charles H. .
Deroin, F. X., Jr., M.D.
Desautels, Alfred . .
Dewey, Frank S., Jr. .
Dewey, Thomas J. . .
Dickinson, Francke W.
Dickinson, Henry S. .
Dickinson, William L.
Doherty, George . .
Donahue, Frank P.
Donahue, Martin . .
Douglass, D. De Foi-rest
Drake, Elijah H. . .
Dresser, George, M.D.
Driscoll, Cornelius J.
Dunn, Daniel J.
Dwight, Robert O.

2TS 198
1069 886
1096 807504
810

795
260
392391625
943 352536
396 788
1057 167
380 978 773
675 102 16
1032 1034
1 130
1 130
894 67
498S25
473 285

Eaton, L. Oscar  466
Eddy, Horace W  309
Eddy, Wilson  283
Edwards, George E  87
Egleston, Eber A  1089
Eldridge, Mrs. Sarah S. . . . 653
Ellis, Dwight W  786
Ellis, Frederick W., M.D. . . 977
Ellison, George P  381
Elmer, Frank E  535

INDEX

i'35

Ely, Charles F. .
Ely, Ethan C.
Ely, Henry W. .
Emery, Fred . .
Emory, Paschal P.
English, Thomas F
Evans, John H. .
Everton, Harvey

684
446684 94
46S 545
425
1087

Fairbanks, Ira R. .

693

Farr, Dennie L. . .

. 401

Faulkner, John C. .

195

Fay, Sylvanus B. .

300
Finton, Thomas J.
663
Fisher, Eristes N. .
201
Fisk, Charles A.
327
Fisk, George C.
148
Fitch, Edward T. .
598
Flanagan, Andrew J.
1124
Fletcher, William F.
1008
Flynt, William N. .
736
Foley, Edward . .
1 114
Forbes, Alexander B.
33
Forward, Andrew J.
705
Forward, Joseph M.
705
Foster, Eli F. . .
991
Foster, George . .
687
Foth, Albert E. . .
298
Fowler, Charles F. .
. 783
Fowler, Charles R. .
646
Fowler, Joseph J. .
97
Freeland, John G. .
. 671
Freeman, James P.
107
French, Arthur M. .
• 457
Frissell, Glenville C.
287
Fuller, Davenport L.
946
Fuller, Edward E. .
462
Fuller, George E., M.D. . . 831
Fuller, George F. . . • 808
Fuller, Merrick L  347
Fuller, William A. .
231
G
Gale, Andrew  H
Gamwell, Harlow, M.D. . . 1126
Gamwell, William S. . 522
Gardner, Charles L  694
Gardner, Charles M. . . 237
Gardner, Eugene C  826
Gardner, William W., M.D.
Garvin, Charles E.
Gates, Erasmus B.
Gaylord, Ezra G.
Gibbs, Jarvis W.
Gibbs, Locero J., M.D
Gilbert, William E.
Giles, Jason . . .
Gillett, Edward . . .
Gillett, Frederick H.
Gillett, William W. .
Gilmore, Dwight O. .
Gilmore, Homer G.
Gleason, Michael W. .
Goetting, Col. August H
Goetz, David . . .
Goodall, Franklin P.
Goodell, Marcus M. .
Goodhue, Charles L.
Goodrich, Wilson .
Goodwin, Charles J.
Goodwin, Horace
Gordon-Forbes, Henry, M D
Granger, Henry A.
Granger, William E
Grant, Robert A.
Grant, Sidney A.
Green, Addison L.
Green, George D.
Green, Ralph
Green, Walter M.
Gregg, William T,
Griffin, Walter P.
Griggs, Joseph M.
Gruendler, Adolph G.
Gunn, Franklin L. . .
H
Hale, David . .
Hamilton, David S.
Hamilton, Henry C. .
Hamilton, John F. . .
Hamilton, Col. Robert J.
Hamilton, William .
Hancock, Joseph C. .
Handy, Herbert L. . .
Harmon, John M. . .
Harris, 't)aniel L. .
Harris, William B. .
Harvey, Benjamin C.
Harvey, Frederick H.
PAGE 181
994
1084 71
661
478
1117 482 209
472 721
483999
1074 177
377
1 1 29
368870
1062 35'
1123 408 767
419920
1129 941
467474 670
1023 761 211785
802
512 48
563 37
1073 24658s
1083 558 9
876 166
Hastings, Benjamin M. . . . 233
blastings, Justin W., M.U. . 540
Haviland, James . ... 484
Hawkins, Richard F. ... 597
Hayes, James F. . ... 3S5
Hayes, William P  878
Haynes, Theodore L  1112
Hedges, Edwin ... . 691
Heinritz, Herman . . . 810
Hendee, George M  160
Herrick, Henry K. . . . 710
Herrick, Joseph T., M.D. . 1020
Herrick, Nelson J. . . . 1080
Hersey, John W. ... . 91
Hewes, Frederick L. . 883
Heywood, Francis D. . . . 302
Higginbottorn, Allen . . . 249
Higgins, Lee W. . ... 879
Hill, I. Clark, M.D. . . .576
Hiscock, Isaiah ... . . 938
Hitchcock, Dexter B. . . 355
Hitchcock, Edward N. . 120
Hoag, Charles E. . . . 127
Holbrook, William, M.D. . . 699
Holcomb, Birney G  123
Holley, Thomas W. . . . 254
Holmes, Rufus B. . . . 310
Holmes, William  1037
Holton, Augustus W. . . .83
Hooker, Lothrop L. . .171
Houghton, Charles L. . 580
Hubbard, George  114
Hubbard, J. Clark, M.D. . 471
Hubbard, John L. . . . . 1055
Hunn, Charles F. . . . . 75
Hurlbut, Cornelius S. . . 952
Hurlbut, Jairus S. . . . iioo
Hutchinson, Edwin D., M.D. . 667
Hutchinson, Lorenzo .... 677
Hyde, Henry S. . . . . 387
Hyde, Jerome W. . . . 906
Hyde, Louis C. . 13S
Isham, John N. ... 536
Ives, Dwight H. . . 301
Jackson, Charles W., M.D. . . 713
Jacobs, Ferdinand A  1061
II36

INDEX

James, William  1079
Jennings, Alvah F  147
Jensen, Franz G. . . . . 885
Johnson, Franklin L  636
Johnson, Frederic A. . . . 93
Johnson, William A  707
Jones, George A. . . 889
Jones, Henry S  . 679
Jones, Samuel M. . . . 465
Judd, Gilson  411
Judd, William E  594
Justin, James M. . . . . 980

Kane, Edward A. . .

289

Keating, Robert M. .

934

Keith, Reuben F. . .

53
Kellogg, Edward A.
136
Kellogg, Philo P.
933
Kendrick, Edmund P.
i8
Kennedy, Charles F. J., 1
W.D.
1071
Kent, Chauncey E.
669
Kent, Harvey . . .
575
Kentfield, William 0.
743
Kibbee, Charles A. .
966
Kilroy, Patrick . .
1085
Kimball, James .
837
Kimberly, John . .
543
King, Ansel D. . .
59
King, Erastus . .
774
King, Frank H. . .
440
King, Homer E.
792
King, Thomas E. .
617
Kingsbury, Herbert N
654
Kinsman, Warren D.
728
Kirkham, Albert H.
29
Kirkham, Charles M.
931
Kirkham, James . .
74
Kirkham, James W.
73
Kirkham, J. Stuart .
720
Kirtland, Edwin L.
944
Kneil, Thomas . . .
672
Knight, John L. . .
420
Knox, Samuel
• 757
Ladd, Charles H. .
Ladd, Charles R. .
Lambson, Clinton K.
200
626691
Lawrence, Hiram B. .
Lawrence, Mrs. Maria
Lay, Edwin R. . . .
Lee, Cyrus ....
Lee, Henry S. . . .
Lee, Gen. Horace C. .
Lee, Rev. Samuel H. .
Leffingwell, Zenas C. .
Legein, Joseph L. . .
Le Noir, William C. .
Leonard, John J.
Leonard, Franklin . .
Leonard, Frederick N.
Leonard, Judson W. .
Lerche, Emil ....
Leshure, Abner P. . .
Lewis, Henry B. . .
Lewis, James . .
Lewis, James H. . .
Library, Holyoke Public .
Library, Springfield City
Lincoln, William A. .
LitUefield, Willard J. .
Lombard, Edward M. .
Lombard, Hosea C.
Loomis, Francis D.
Loomis, Harrison .
Loomis, Henry G. . .
Loomis, Silas . .
Loomis, William W , M.D
Loud, Waldo A.
Lutz, Jacob C. . . .
Lyford, Edwin F. .
Lyman, Edward M.
Lyon, George W. D. .
Lyon, W. A. .
607
1003 779556 112113
1063 137
263
416 108
923916 144
1072 221777
428 266 77S 189
620808658 115
551
984 877 ^57
897
968
1026 224 272
416 813
M
Machol, Morris  613
Mackintosh, Donald . . 494
Makepeace, George G. . 207
Maloney, James H  1104
Maloney, Michael D  1058
Mansfield, Robert J., M.D. . . 236
Margerum, Claudius C. . . 1066
Marra, Peter  1105
Marsh, Charles .... . 817
Marsh, Daniel J.,  169
Marsh, Henry E  736
Marsh, William C  S2q
Marshall, Charles N  951
Martin, Adolphus R.
Martin, Joseph C. .
Maryott, Erastus E., M.D
Mather, Charles M.
Maynard, Moses A
Mayo, Mrs. Hester A. R,
McDonald, Capt. Henry
McFarland, Herbert A.
McFethries, John .
McGregory, George
McGregory, Nelson H
McLean, Francis F
Mellen, Daniel W.
Merchant, Alvin B.
Merriam, Charles
Merriam, Homer
Merriam, William
Merrick, Joseph .
Merrill, George N
Merritt, Albert D.
Merritt, Christopher C
Merritt, Samuel F;
Miellez, Adolph .
Millard, Charles H
Millea, Thomas D.
Miller, Calvin S.
Miller, Franklin D.
Miller, George W.
Miller, Henry M.
Miller, Stephen J.
Mitchell, Linwood H
Mitschke, August
Moody, Levi . .
Moore, Curtis
Moore, Joseph H.
Moore, Oliver A.
Morand, Frederick
Morgan, Edward H
Morgan, Elisha .
Morgan, John W.
Morgan, Milo W.
Morris, Edward F.
Morris, Francis E.
Morris, Oliver B.
Morse, Frank B.
Morse, Moses G.
Morse, Winslow B.
Moseley, Edward
Moseley, Thomas B.
Muir, David . .
Muir, James . .
Mullen, Henry .
312 630 172
174
729 123
575844
957 426490 855
443 533 37
134
265683 718 171
234 509
587
600898 641 791
223
232
1072 322 750
206
317
1012 624993365 708
950 210
816 140
214 756 500245 747
747
1028 971 168
INDEX

"37

Mulligan, Johri . .
Mutell, Charles W. N

Nason, Albert D. . .
Nelson, George
Nelson, Horace G.
Newell, Elijah A.
Newell, Pascal J. .
Newman, Frederick S
Newton, George H.
Nichols, Benjamin F.
Nichols, B. Frank .
Nichols, Mrs. Eliza J.
Nichols, Wilbur F.
Noble, Joseph S. .
Noble, Silas . .
Norcross, Arthur D.
Northrop, Andrew J.
Norton, Francis . .
Norton, Hiram R. .
Nye, George . . .
Nye, George D.
Nye, James P. . .
Nye, Lewis C. . .
Nye, Lyman R.
Nye, Noah B. .

Ashle

51
355

762784785 47
726
220 764 87
1048 371 907 125
911
1087 851 290236 73
766
686 727
836 849

o
Oatley, Walter H  755
O'Connell, Patrick J  1086
O'Connor, John J., M.D. . 1118
O'Neil, William F  1116
Orcutt, Edward R  546
Osborne, Hiram H. . . . 318
Otto, John C  748

Packard, Azel A.
Page, Thomas C.
Page, 'Woodman S.
Paine, Charles .
Palmer, Leeman
Parker, Simon B.
Parks, Dexter .
Parks, Eugene D.
Parks, Lewis . .
Parsons, Joseph C.
Peabody, Daniel, M.D

261

• 972

337

454

116
• • 155
' • 643
• ¦ 932
. . 586
¦ ¦ 359
-I.D.
. . 846
Pearson, Henry
Pease, Henry D.
Pease, James . . .
Pease, Marshall .
Pease, William C.
Peebles, John L.
Peirce, Benjamin F.
Peirce, Edward T. .
Pepper, Russell H.
Perkins, Benjamin F.
Perkins, Charles W.
Perkins, William .S.
Pettis, Edward W. .
Phelps, Rev. Charles A.
Phelps, Edward H.
Phelps, Enoch ....
Phelps, William W. .
Phillips, Hazael . .
Phillips, Lewis ....
Pierce, Franklin . . .
Pinney, William H. . .
Plumley, Elijah . . .
Pomeroy, Collins . . .
Pomeroy, Dr. Stephen F.
Pomeroy, William H., M.D
Potter, Timothy D. . .
Potvin, Gilbert . . .
Powers, Elmer D.
Prentiss, George W.
Prindle, Charles H., M.D.
Purcell, Thomas A., M.D.
Putnam, Joseph M.
Quance, Albert L. . .
Quigley, Frederick W.
Quimby, Horace A.
Rand, N. Wheeler, M.D
Ray, George W.
Read, William H.
Reed, George F.
Remkus, Gustav
Reynolds, George .
Reynolds, R. M.
Reynolds, Theodore
Rice, Frank C. . .
Rice, Harry E., M.D.
Rice, Richard W. .
990 182
981 519
386 884362
449 915 436 655 299
942 562240 3330
779
897 929604468 129 141
771
452 921
1128 422966620 219
749 546278
238
492 344 280
671937937 521 156
227
Rice, Rev. William, D.D. . . 186
Richardson, Alfred W. . . . 121
Richardson, William H. . . . 990
Ricketts, William J  845
Rivers, Frank A. . . . 678
Roberts, Oscar W., M.D. . . 445
Roberts, William L  360
Robinson, Ethan C  185
Robinson, Franklin A. . . . 730
Robinson, George  1045
Rogers, Edward C  63
Rogers, George S. . . . . 268
Rogers, Henry G. . . . . 526
Rogers, Talcott A  611
Rood, Charles D  643
Root, Charles J. . . . . .989
Root, John A  628
Root, Nathan  967
Ross, Alfred M  1013
Rowley, H. Curtis  927
Royce, Fred M. . . . 335
Ruggles, Frank A  1062
Rumrill, Col. James A. . . . 95
Russell, George A  1056
Russell, John W  460
Sackett, Justin  1003
Sanderson, Hiram Q  109
Sanford, Osro W  875
Sawin, Robert N., M.D. . . . 459
Scott, Rev. Joseph  549
Scott, William C  539
Searle, Myron E  977
Sessions, George F  449
Sessions, Sumner  85
Sexton, Lyman W  1,025
Sexton, S. West  795
Seymour, Charles E  320
Seymour, Edwin H. . . 91
Shattuck, Edwin W  714
Shaw, Dwight L  582
Shaw, Herbert E  852
Shaw, Wallace  98
Shea, Patrick M  1109
Shea, Timothy  mo
Shepard, F. B  280
Shepard, James L  557
Sherman, Everett  820
Sherman, Henry  46
Sherman, Phineas A. . . . 698
II38

INDEX

Sherwood, Samuel D.
Shipley, Joseph L. .
Shurtleff, Sidney S.
Sibley, Alvin . .
Sibley, Fred H. .
Sikes, Elihu J.
Sikes, Ethan T. .
Sikes, Reuben
Sinclair, Adams O.
Skelly, James
Sleeper, Augustus iM. .
Slocum, Charles !\L
Smith, Ambrose O.
Smith, Capt. Arthur H.
Smith, Charles C.
Smith, Clarence E.
Smith, Clayton D. .
Smith, Fred M. .
Smith, George H., M.D.,
Smith, George W. V. .
Smith, John M. .
Smith, Josiah R.
Smith, Justus B.
Smith, Lyman . . .
Smith, Murray A.
Smith, Norman T.
Smith, Quartus J. .
Smith, Samuel . .
Smith, Samuel D. .
Smith, Sumner . .
Smith, Zera W. .
Spellman, Charles C
Spencer, Charles W.
Squires, Gilbert H.
Stacy, Charles E.
Stebbins, John B.
Stebbins, Josiah
Stedman, Phineas
Steele, B. Frank
Steele, Charles H.
Steele, Frederick C
Steele, Jason W.
Steere, Marcus M.
Stevens, Joshua .
Stevens, Samuel
Stewart, Amasa L
Stewart, Henry A.
Stiles, Henry S.
Stimpson, Charles N.
Stoddard, Eli A.
Stone, Admiral P.
Stone, George A.

772 53
668 646
1 125
475641960979
1113 336
S43636 69
3"
1017 S90
477 292
382314
11181017 645619850494 8042
752
476
1114 205 42
958
414 868
374457
1014 733
2SS 164
900350 566
213
330
1116 372 193
958

Streeter, Merrill E.
Symonds, William 11.

Taft, Edward C.
Taft, Stephen S.
Talcott, Mrs. Nadianiel

Taylor, George S.
Taylor, James E.
Terrett, George W.
Thayer, Lucius F. .
Thayer, William W.
Thompson, Milton S.
Thorpe, Lyman F.
Tilley, Orrin E. . •
Titus, Andrew
Toole, James W.
Tower, Edward F. .
Towne, Benjamin F.
Towne, Marquis de L.
Towne, Orange C. .
Townsley, George R
Trask, John L. R., D D
Tucker, Frederick A.
Tufts, Rev. James .
Tuper, Peter .
Tyner, George N. .

U
Uhl, Edward
Underhill, Arthur B.

Van der Pyl, Rev. Nicholas
'Van Deusen, Edwin R. . .
Van Wagenen, Mrs. Frances A
Varin, Frederick V. . .
Vaughan, George N. . . .

W

Waite, Charles M. . .
Walker, Coleman M.
Walker, Timothy M. .
Walkley, Col. Lucius B.
Wallace, Andrew B. .
Walther, Edward . .
Ware, Daniel W. . .
Ware, Frank P. . . ,

TAGE
1078 31

360 178
700 60
341
1040 S34
1026 710 1 22
603570
325313 717
S60
349
433 I II
136
593
822
1007 5JI

32

44
1094 581
9S3305

949 513
276796 15
262573
S99

Warren, John B, . , .
Warren, Moses H. . . .
Warriner, George L. . .
Webber, Horace G., M.D.
Webber, Joel S. . . . :
Webber, William L.
Weeks, Joseph W.
Welch, Joseph .
Wells, James R.
Wells, Julius H.
West, John . . .
West, John R. .
Weston, John B. . , .
Wheat, William G.
Wheeler, Samuel L. . .
Whitcomb, Marciene H. .
White, Andrew . .
White, Chauncey E.
White, Henry . .
Whiting, William .
Whiting, William B.
Whitman, Lewis L.
Whitney, Ale.vander
Whitney, William A.
Whitten, Nathan H.
Wight, Francis . .
Wight, Henry K. .
Wilber, Fred W.
Wilcox, Horace M.
Wilkinson, Warren H
Williams, Myron R.
Williams, William M.
¦Winchell, Henry M.
Winchester, George W
Winchester, Reuben
Winter, Newrie D.
Wood, Arthur E. .
Wood, Henry M. .
Woodward, Henry L
Worthy, Justin L. .
Wright, Charies I\L
Wright, George L. .
Wright, Marquis L.
Wright, William E.

Young, Col. diaries L. . .
Young, William H. A., M.D.

Zuchtmann, Prof. Friedrich

735
800
1017 720
61S592 76
1 103 41
758 Si
103
493338
1047 841
697676908 2 C2
251
997 52
835
427 277
599
607 533 133
905 178
1004 57
297765
998 151
250 734
497 119 72
.1127

1038 697

892

PORTRAITS.

D.

Adams, John B.
Adams, Nathan, M.D.
Allen, Cari A., M.D.
Allen, Elijah D.
Allen, Orrin P. . .
Allen, Thomas H.
Allis, 'Waitstill H. .
Ashley, David F. .
Atkins, Albert S. .
Bagg, Mrs. Susan A.
Baker, Orlando M.
Ballard, George T.
Barker, John F.
Barr, Edwin C. .
Barrows, Charles
Bennitt, Francis M
Birnie, William .
Blackmer, John, M.
Blair, Royal E. .
Boyle, William .
Bradley, Addison M.
Bugbee, Charles M
Bush, Seth . .
Butler, Jason
Carpenter, Charles
Carr, John S.
Carroll, Henry D.
Carter, Edwin Y.
Chapin, A. P.
Chapin, Mrs. Olive
Chilson, Alvin .
Clark, Francis E.
Clark, Frederick W
Cone, George N.
Cooley, Justin M
Cowan, James M
Cummings, Michael E
Currier, Reuben B.
Cutler, Henry . .
Day, Alexander . .
Day, Alfred D. . .
Day, Elbridge . . •
Davis, George W. . .
Dickinson, William L.
Eddy, Wilson . . .
Eldridge, James D.
Emory, Paschal P. . .

M.

215

Fletcher, William F.

1009

105

Flynt, William N. . .

737

501

Fowler, Charles F. . .

782

622

Fuller, George E., M.D.

830

S63

Fuller, Merrick L. . .

346

716

Fuller, William A. . .

230

486

Gibbs, Locero J., M.D. .

479

665

Gleason, Michael W.

1075

903

Goetting, August H. .

176

524

Gregg, William T.

1022

257

Griffin, Walter P. .

760

1 107

Hancock, Joseph C.

584

403

Handy, Herbert L. . .

1082

553

Harmon, John M. .

559

529

Harris, Daniel L. .

8

1091

Hawkins, Richard F.

596

21

Hedges, Edwin ...

690

1051

Hersey, John W.

90

294

Holmes, William .

1036

1043

Huribut, J. Searle .

IIOI

578

Jacobs, Ferdinand A. . . .

1060

567

Jennings, Alvah F. .

146

882

Jones, Samuel M. . . .

464

1029

Judd, Gilson ...

410

769

Keating, Robert M.

935

162

Kimberly, John . .

542

724

King, Thomas E. .

616

702

Kneil, Thomas ...

673

517

Lawrence, Solomon R.

1002

516

Le Noir, William C. .

417

970

Lewis, Henry B.

776

745

Lombard, Edward M. . . .

659

804

Loomis, Harrison ....

985

918

Loomis, William W., M.D. . .

S96

78

Lyman, Edward M. . .

273

589

Martin, Joseph C.

631

1068

McFethries, John 

956

887

Mellen, Daniel W 

442

811

Merriam, Charles

36

353

Merrick, Joseph

682

537

Merritt, Samuel F. . .

508

397

Miller, Franklin D. . .

790

390

Mulligan, John 

50

1032

Nichols, Mrs. Eliza J. Ashley .

370

282

Noble, Joseph S. . . . .

125

652

Noble, Silas . . .

910

469

Norcross, Arthur D 

1087

D D.

Orcutt, Edward R. .
Peabody, Daniel, M.D.
Peirce, Benjamin F. .
Phelps, Edward H.
Prentiss, George W. .
Rice, Rev. William,
Rogers, Edward C.
Rogers, Talcott A. .
Rowley, H. Curtis .
Sanford, Osro W.
Searle, Myron E. .
Sessions, George F.
Shaw, Elijah . . .
Sibley, Alvin .
Sikes, Alva . . .
Sikes, Elihu J.
Sikes, Ethan T. .
Sikes, Reuben . .
Smith, George W. V.
Smith, John M. . .
Smith, Josiah R.
Smith, Quartus J. .
Smith, Sumner . .
Spencer, Charles W.
Stedman, Phineas .
Steele, B. Frank
Steele, Charles H. . . .
Steele, Frederick C. . . .
Stiles, Henry S. . ...
Stiles, Mrs. Laura C. Chapman
Taylor, George S 
Thayer, William W. .
Thorpe, Lyman F 
Titus, Andrew . ....
Towne, Mrs. Eugenia S. Tenney
Towne, Orange C. . . . .
Tufts, Rev. James 
Vaughan, George N 
Waite, Charles M 
Walkley, Col. Lucius B. . . .
Ware, Daniel W. . . . .
Whitcomb, Marciene H.
Whitman, Lewis L 
Wilkinson, Warren H. . . .
Wright, George L 
Young, William H. A., M.D. .

547
847
363 241
423 186 62
610
926 874
976
448 853
647
962
475 640
963 383
315
1119 495 753204
375
456
1015 732
333 332
340 711
602 324
430
431 823 304
948 797
572
840996 132
118
696

YALE UNIVERSITY

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