Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 1

Author: Nelson, John, 1866-1933
Publication date: 1934
Publisher: New York, American historical Society
Number of Pages: 700

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GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01101 2298

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WORCESTER COUNTY

A NARRATIVE HISTORY

By JOHN NELSON

AUTHOR, JOURNALIST AND MEMBER EDITORIAL STAFF THE WORCESTER TELEGRAM AND THE EVENING GAZETTE

VOLUME III

THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. NEW YORK 1934

1134245

WORCESTER COUNTY

Wor .- 1

WORCESTER COUNTY

GEORGE F. BOOTH-Once in a while a man enters into the life of a community who is possessed of great gifts for its constructive good. Such a one was Isaiah Thomas, patriot newspaper man, who in the American Revolution transferred his paper, the "Massachusetts Spy and Oracle of Liberty," from Boston to Worcester, where he served through a long life as a stimulus to civic advancement and a builder of public institutions. A century and a quarter later, in 1899, to be exact, history repeated itself and another newspaper man of the same rare Yankee breed took up his resi- dence in Worcester. His name is George F. Booth. He did not have to bring his newspaper with him. It was waiting for him, for he had bought the "Worcester Evening Gazette" and was about to become its publisher and editor. Now he is publisher and editor of the "Worcester Tele- gram," and "The Evening Gazette and Sunday Tele- gram." In the intervening thirty-five years he has been doing for the great city of Worcester, and, in fact, for all the thriving cities and towns of Central Massachusetts, what old Isaiah did for the country village. His record is one of great usefulness and achievement.

George Francis Booth was born in Hartford, Connecticut, November II, 1870, son of William Henry and Eliza (Jackson) Booth. His initial intention was to study law, but circumstances willed otherwise. The bar lost a member who no one can doubt would have been a leader. But daily journalism gained one of New England's most brilliant newspaper men.

An old saying is that "Once daub a man's hands with printers' ink he never gets it out of his sys- tem." Another is "Once a newspaper man, always a newspaper man." In Mr. Booth's case the daub- ing occurred and the virus was introduced in his blood very early in life, for as a young lad, while on a summer vacation in Norwich, Connecticut, he served for a few weeks in a humble capacity on the "Norwich Bulletin." His first professional experi- ence came a little later as private secretary to Col. L. L. Morton, general manager of the American Publishers' Association, an organization having for its membership the leading newspapers of the United States. Among other valuable experiences of this period of his career was the young man's indirect association with the "Boston Post," the affairs of which were then being conducted by Col. Morton for its trustees, a responsibility which ended with the purchase of the property by the late E. A. Grozier.

Mr. Booth's next connection was with the "New Haven Register." There he was given the oppor- tunity to master the details of the newspaper busi- ness in all its departments. Within a few years he was made general manager of the paper, the leading daily of New Haven and a powerful influ- ence throughout Connecticut.

His long career in Worcester began in October, 1899, when, in partnership with John Day Jack-

son of New York and New Haven, one of the owners of the "Register," he purchased the "Worcester Evening Gazette," then at the ebb-tide of an existence which even in that day was nearly a century old. It was founded as the "National Aegis" in 1801, and took the name of "The Eve- ning Gazette" in 1866 when it became a daily. When Mr. Booth assumed control, it had been published and edited for years by Charles H. Doe, and, following him for a relatively brief period, by David B. Howland, who had come from the "Springfield Republican." Ownership rested in a group of prominent Worcester men, who, when Mr. Howland's health broke down, were glad to dis- pose of their holdings to men so well connected in the newspaper field as Mr. Booth and Mr. Jackson.

Mr. Booth immediately took charge as publisher and editor. He was not yet thirty years old, and looked much younger. The property was very badly depreciated. The equipment was obsolete. Worcester was then a city of 120,000 people, the center of a large and growing agricultural and industrial district. Yet "The Gazette" had a daily circulation of only 3,000. But its columns had always been kept clean and respectable, and, in an old-fashioned way, the paper had been well edited. As a consequence it possessed a certain amount of valuable prestige.

The new publisher, in effecting changes, pro- ceeded slowly and wisely. He lost no time in mak- ing it clear to all that the new ownership was inde- pendent of every interest excepting the interests of the people of Worcester and its county. There was no change in fundamental policies and polit- ical affiliations. But Mr. Booth's readers quickly sensed the presence of a new virility, as strong points of the old paper were emphasized and the weak eliminated. The old mechanical plant was discarded and the establishment was given an ade- quate press and other machinery.

At first the increase in circulation was slow. Then came the acceleration which was inevitable under the new circumstances. How well the young publisher seized his opportunities is shown by the fact that in fifteen years the 3,000 daily circulation had grown to 31,000, and was the largest daily evening newspaper in New England outside of Boston, with the exception of one in Providence.

In 1901, "The Gazette" plant was moved from the ancient Main Street block, where the Slater building now stands, to the building at the corner of Mechanic and Norwich streets, and again the equipment was replaced by new.

In 1921, "The Gazette" was consolidated with the "Worcester Telegram," and Mr. Booth's part- nership with Mr. Jackson came to a close. Four years later, in 1925, Mr. Booth, in partnership with Harry G. Stoddard, bought the stock of the Worcester Telegram Publishing Company, and be- came the publisher and editor of the three news- papers, "The Evening Gazette," "Daily Telegram," and "Sunday Telegram." Under his direction his

WORCESTER COUNTY

newspapers grew apace, until their combined daily circulations passed the 100,000 mark. Costly im- provements have been made in the plant on Frank- lin Street, which is now one of the most complete in the country in its equipment and conveniences. It is a self-contained unit, comprising everything required to produce a modern newspaper at the highest speed and with a maximum of efficiency.

Rarely does a newspaper man possess the dual ability to be an active, successful publisher, with detailed knowledge of the business affairs of his paper, and at the same time an accomplished writer and judge of news values and meanings. George Booth is one of these exceptions. One would expect the myriad of matters which must come to his attention as publisher, with the endless number of calls made upon him, would absorb every minute of available time and occupy his mind to the ex- clusion of the news and editorial departments. Such is far from being the case. No man in these departments of the "Telegram and Evening Ga- zette" has a keener, if as keen a grasp on what is happening in city, State or Nation, or in the world at large, in its relation to the news, or to the editorial columns for discussion or comment. One reason for this is a seemingly tireless mentality, coupled with extraordinary power of concentra- tion and a marvelous memory. Another reason is his wisdom in the selection of executive assistants and his policy of placing responsibility among them and holding them to it. Yet another reason is George Booth's retention of his boyish enthusiasm for play. He is an accomplished fisherman and the Maine woods and the Canadian wilderness know him well. So, too, do the golf links. In these and other wholesome ways he is able to throw off his professional cares, refresh his mind and keep himself fit and keen.

As to his pen, it is loved and it is feared. Few can so well express sympathy or a kindly, appre- ciative thought, or set forth so convincingly and feelingly the sponsoring of a worthy cause. Also, in almost violent contrast, few men possess so trenchant and incisive a style when it becomes ne- cessary to attack an unworthy cause, or to correct an abuse, or to turn scorn upon a malefactor. Long ago the public service corporations learned the con- sequences which follow the thrusts of the Booth rapier or the strokes of the Booth battle-axe. Abusers of public trusts have felt his journalistic wrath. Personal friendships have not stood in the way. No one has ever asserted that George Booth lacked the courage of his convictions. It might seem strange that the years have not accumulated a host of enemies for the fearless publisher and editor, were it not for the fact that Mr. Booth is recognized and respected everywhere as a just man.

Mr. Booth has long occupied a conspicuous and influential place in the political activities not only of his city and county but of his State. His belief has always been, and religiously adhered to, that a newspaper editor should keep himself free from all entangling alliances, and therefore should never accept an office to which a salary is attached. At times it has been difficult for him to live up to this conviction, because of the insistence of citizens that he step into the breach where a man of his stamp and character was needed. On one occasion he escaped the Republican nomination for mayor only by disappearing in company with Mrs. Booth until

it was too late for him to sign the Republican nom- ination papers, as was necessary under the election law if his name were to go on the ballot. Had he desired to go to Congress, he had only to express his willingness to accept the office.

But as a non-officeholder his political influence has been and is enormous. Only those very close to his everyday life have adequate idea of the im- portance given his advice and counsel. He has always been a great power for good in local poli- tics. In the affairs of the State he sits in the inner councils of his party and his advice has frequently been sought by opposition parties when matters of large public concern were under consideration. His knowledge and understanding of his public, his judgment of individual men and women, his searching and far-reaching political vision, are known to many people. It is no wonder that few political matters are decided until his opinion has been sought.

In the political campaigns, and between times when questions of party policy have arisen, the editorials of the "Telegram and The Evening Gazette" are watched eagerly by candidates and party leaders. City or State wants to know what Mr. Booth thinks about it. He is a Republican, and under ordinary circumstances what is known as a sound party man. But he is by no means hide- bound in his views. When party candidate or party management leaves much to be desired, he has never been afraid to say so, in print. More than once such a Booth editorial has constituted, not an in- cident, but an event.

His refusal to accept salaried office has not meant that he has not served in positions of public trust. On occasion he has given his time to the work of a commission, without compensation. As to political honors, the Republicans of his con- gressional district twice have elected him their del- egate to the national convention, in 1924 and 1932. In the last mentioned year, the Massachusetts del- egation made him its chairman.

The name of George F. Booth will long be asso- ciated with the expansion and development of Worcester's rarely rivaled, far-flung system of public parks and playgrounds. Edward Winslow Lincoln was the founder of the parks, when, largely through his influence, the land for Elm Park was purchased by the city. He earned the sobriquet of "Father of Worcester Parks." But his dream never included park lands set aside for the amusement and active recreation of the people, old and young. To him and his contemporaries a park was a place of beauty, whose lawns must not be trod upon. His immediate successors as chair- man of the Parks Commission shared, to a large extent, in the then common idea of park manage- ment, that the lands under their control must be confined to the aesthetic enjoyment of the commu- nity. It was not until Mr. Booth assumed the chairmanship, first of the public playgrounds, then of the Parks and Recreation Commission, that the people of Worcester began to get full, almost un- trammeled enjoyment of the parks system.

Of far the greatest importance was the inaug- uration of the playground movement, in which Mr. Booth played the leading rôle. This proceeded rapidly, first as the work of a semi-private organ- ization of public-spirited and humane men and women of Worcester, then for five years under the

WORCESTER COUNTY

direction of special municipal body, the Playground Commission, and finally as an essential and vigor- ous element of the parks system. From its incep- tion, for more than fifteen years, Mr. Booth headed its activities. To him is given the title "Father of Worcester's Public Playgrounds." And to this might well be added "Upbuilder of Worcester's Park System."

The playground movement had its origin just previous to 1910. Worcester was growing very rapidly. Its tenement districts were expanding and were becoming more and more congested. Their swarms of children had no proper place for play. They were compelled to confine their amusements to streets and gutters and back yards which were often filthy. Twenty-five years ago tenement dis- tricts were far less hygienic than they are nowa- days. The need was great of places where the young children could play in clean and wholesome surroundings under intelligent and sympathetic supervision.

Mr. Booth was among the first to see this need. Without delay, through his newspaper and pri- vately, he began to foster the movement. He gave the best that was in him in energy and influence. He must have visualized a system of playgrounds for the little ones embracing all sections of Worces- ter that needed them. But his wildest dream could not have approached the reality of what had grown out of this beginning before he brought to a close his chairmanship of the commission in 1926 -great public athletic fields which today, among other opportunities for sport, contain twenty full baseball diamonds, wading pools for the young children, thirty tennis courts scattered all over the city, one of the finest municipal golf links in the country, even a bowling green. Such has been the expansion which, speaking largely, may be said to have grown out of the slender beginning of a play- ground movement.

The Playground Association was in process of organization. The members very naturally turned to Mr. Booth to be its president. They recog- nized that above them all he possessed those quali- ties which were demanded in the difficult task that confronted them. He did not want the job. Surely he was carrying a sufficient load without taking on anything of the magnitude of such a task. "The Gazette" was growing rapidly, and demanded the lion's share of his time and strength, and other public and philanthropic interests were already en- croaching upon his time. So, as the organization meeting approached, he found it a convenient time to depart for a fortnight's fishing in the Maine wilderness. But his associates countered by ad- journing the meeting until his return, and presently he found himself, willy-nilly, president of the Play- ground Association.

His first task was the raising of the necessary fund. The amount needed was tentatively set at $10,000. Worcester had never had a "drive." To get such a sum of money by public subscription seemed impossible-to everyone but Mr. Booth. He said it could be done, and it was done. The campaign closed with subscriptions totalling $11,- 000. So the association established the nucleus of the playground system, and conducted it for a year. Then President Booth persuaded Mayor James Logan and the city council that the city should take over the work as a new municipal department, and

in May, 1911, the Playground Commission was established, with Mr. Booth as its chairman.

As time went on, the playgrounds became so closely affiliated with the park system, that upon Mr. Booth's recommendation, Mayor Pehr G. Holmes and his city council acted to consolidate the two departments as the Parks and Recreation Commission, which in May, 1917, elected Mr. Booth as its chairman. For ten years he con- tinued this important task, the results of which may be found wherever the park system extends. At the expiration of his term in May, 1926, he de- clined reappointment, relinquishing an arduous duty to others who have carried forward the exacting work zealously and well.

Mr. Booth has played a conspicuous part in rais- ing many millions of dollars by popular subscrip- tion. In the World War he was an active leader in every campaign, including the Liberty Loan drives. He was general manager of the most dif- ficult of all these tasks, raising Worcester's quota of the United War Work fund. The campaign was scheduled to open on November 1I, 1918, the day of the armistice. With the war ended, patriotic incentive to give was believed naturally to have dwindled. The city's quota was $585,000. Few thought it would be realized. Yet, under Mr. Booth's management, the people subscribed $1,- 070,000, nearly twice the allotted sum. All through the war he was vice-chairman of the administra- tion committee of Worcester Chapter, American Red Cross, and he took active part in the Red Cross campaigns. He was chairman of the com- mittee which raised the money that sent the Clark College Ambulance Unit to France, and so suc- cessful was the campaign that the fund not only paid the expenses of twenty young men who went across with the ambulance, but was left with a sur- plus which later established a Clark scholarship.

Mr. Booth was one of the founders of the Worcester Community Chest and has been active in the series of annual Golden Rule drives, which have raised the money with which to carry on the work of Worcester's charitable and welfare organ- izations. He was chairman of the committee which raised the money with which to pay off the mort- gage on the Grand Army building on Pearl Street.

It was George Booth who took the initial step toward the erecting of a memorial to commem- orate the self-sacrifice and valor of the Worcester men who gave their lives in the World War. The project had been long delayed when in 1927, he offered $5,000 for his partner, Mr. Stoddard, and himself to be the nucleus of a fund for the purpose. From this beginning the movement began to take practical form, and in 1927 a popular campaign quickly raised $130,000.

Mr. Booth was made chairman of the commis- sion to which was entrusted the selection of a design for the memorial, to stand, as the terms of the campaign designated, on the plot reserved for the purpose in front of the Worcester Boys' Club at Lincoln Square. Subsequent events gave the site the beautiful, monumental background of the Worcester Memorial Auditorium. In this $2,000,- 000 auditorium project, Mr. Booth, although not a member of the commission, was a prominent factor in its conception and its accomplishment as a me- morial to Worcester soldiers of all the long series of wars in which America has been engaged, as

WORCESTER COUNTY

colonies of Great Britain and as a nation. He was a member of the Committee of Award which se- lected the winning plan in a competition in which the outstanding architects of the country par- ticipated.

Under Mr. Booth's direction as chairman, the War Memorial Commission proceeded deliberately and wisely, with the final accomplishment a design which has the full approval of the art critics and of the people of Worcester.

For years he has maintained a lively interest in the Worcester Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, and was its president from 1920 to 1923. He was a founder and the first president of Worcester Council of Boy Scouts, directing its affairs from IgII to 1915. He is a trustee of Red Cross Lodge at Sterling, maintained for the city's tubercular children.

From 1924 to 1926, he served as one of three members of the Metropolitan Water Supply In- vestigating Committee, which made an exhaustive survey and study of the future water supply of the Metropolitan District of Boston, including its relation to the future requirements of the city of Worcester.

In 1933, when after three years of depression the banks throughout the country were closed by order of the President and the Worcester Bank and Trust Company was among those not allowed im- mediately to reopen, Mr. Booth was in the fore- front of those who devised a plan of settlement. By that plan all depositors of $500 or less received their money in full. All larger depositors received 40 per cent. immediately. Mr. Booth is a member of the Worcester Depositors Corporation which took over the arduous task of liquidating the frozen assets of the bank for the benefit of depositors, an undertaking which is still in progress as this book is published.

His activities and accomplishments in the fields of philanthropic and welfare work have been so extensive as to be difficult of brief narration. Hun- dreds upon hundreds of these projects have received the full-hearted support of his newspapers, par- ticularly where they have promised to affect the well-being of little children, of boys and girls ap- proaching manhood and womanhood, of poor and unfortunate women and children, and of the aged. His personal interest in enterprises of this char- acter and his personal efforts in their behalf, in- cluding their management, have been bestowed with the same prodigal hand.

As to Mr. Booth's outside business affiliations, he is a vice-president and trustee of the People's Savings Bank and a director of the Worcester Morris Plan Company. He has directed the affairs of various important civic organizations having to do with the mercantile and industrial life of Worcester, among them the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, then known as the Board of Trade, of which he was president in 1907-08. He has been a trustee of the Worcester Polytechnic Insti- tute since 1928 and a trustee of Worcester Acad- emy since 1933. He was one of the early presi- dents of the Worcester Economic Club, and it was under his administration that the policy was estab- lished which has prevailed ever since, of securing as speakers only men of the highest standing in the world, each discussing a topic on which he is a foremost authority. Needless to say, this practice

has been of great educational importance in broad- ening the knowledge and vision of members and the many others who have availed themselves of the opportunities offered.

Mr. Booth stands high in the esteem of his fel- low newspaper publishers, as demonstrated by the fact that he is a former president of the New Eng- land Daily Newspaper Association and also of the New England Newspaper Alliance, which was an association of leading evening newspaper publish- ers outside of Boston. He is a member of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association and of the Associated Press.

In 1932 he was appointed by President Hoover to the official board of visitors to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.

In 1933-34 he was one of two publishers ap- pointed to serve as adviser on the newspaper code on the Industrial Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration (N. R. A.).

He is a member of the Worcester Club, Tat- nuck Country Club, Worcester Country Club, Bohemian Club, Boston City Club, National Press Club, American Antiquarian Society, Worcester Historical Society, American Federation of Arts, Worcester Art Museum, Players Club of Worces- ter, Worcester Drama League, Worcester County Musical Association, Worcester Economic Club, Foreign Policy Association, Worcester Natural History Society, Massachusetts Audubon Society, American Forestry Association, National Recrea- tional Association, Worcester County Fish and Game Association, Worcester Animal Rescue League, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Worcester Chamber of

Commerce, Advertising Club of Worcester, Worcester County Mechanics Association, Massa- chusetts Safety Council, Worcester Young Men's Chrstian Association, Boy Scouts of America, Worcester Council; Unitarian Laymen's League, American Red Cross, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Worcester County Republican Club and the Republican Club of Massachusetts.

Mr. Booth is a Mason, a member of Wooster Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Franklin Chapter, Royal Arch Masons of New Haven, and Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templar. He attends the First Unitarian Church.

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Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume III, Part 1

Author: Nelson, John, 1866-1933 Publication date: 1934 Publisher: New York, American historical Society Number of Pages: 700

Author: Nelson, John, 1866-1933
Publication date: 1934
Publisher: New York, American historical Society
Number of Pages: 700