USA > Massachusetts > Biographical history of Massachussetts; biographies and autobiographies of the leading men in the state, 1911, vol 7 > Part 25
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This proving a success, Mr. Wilbur and Mr. Nickerson financed another great road in 1880, the Mexican Central Railroad, furnish- ing the millions necessary, and gaining large returns on their in- vestment.
There is a spice of humor in the fact that the man who was instrumental in causing so many to ride, loved walking above every other form of amusement. It was a reminiscence of the days of the country boy. He was further interested generally in all out- door sports, and billiard playing was his recreation in later life. He also found great profit and pleasure in his reading of History, Biography, and the current topics of the day.
In politics Mr. Wilbur was always a Republican, although avoid- ing the holding of office, excepting during the period of the Civil War when he held the position of First Selectman in Watertown, Massachusetts.
In religion he was a Unitarian. In his own quiet way he had a deep artistic taste and was one of the original members of the Boston Art Club. He was also a member of the Unitarian Club and the Republican Club.
Mr. Wilbur was a Director in the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railroad, a Director in the Mexican Central Railroad, a Direc- tor and President of the California Southern Railroad, a Director in the Pawtucket Haircloth Company, and Director in the Boston Safe Deposit Company.
He married in 1845, before wealth was more than a dream to him. It was on the 18th day of May and the bride was Hannah, daughter of Maccajah and Ruth Reid.
His first wife, Hannah Reid, died in 1882; and in 1884 he mar- ried Frances M. Decker of Clinton, Maine, who survives him.
By the first marriage four children were born, three of whom outlived their father. Charles A., Clara, married James C. Melvin, and Mabel. His eldest daughter, Mary R. (Mrs. George Townsend Hill), died in 1905.
Mr. Wilbur died at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, on the 15th day of July, 1914.
CLARENCE WEST WILLIAMS
C LARENCE WEST WILLIAMS was born in Greensboro, Vermont, November 12, 1863. His father, Arthur West Williams, was a farmer who also had a country store. The great-grandfather of Clarence West Williams was James Williams, son of Samuel and Phebe Williams, born in Andover, Massachu- setts, August 22, 1759; married, 1786, Susannah Merrill, who was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, March 27, 1767. He resided in Littleton, New Hampshire, from 1789 until he died June 14, 1822. He was a farmer and hotelkeeper; later, a Revolutionary soldier; he enlisted as a Private in Captain Seth Drew's Company, Col. Ebenezer Sprout's Regiment, Massachusetts Continental Line, in March, 1781, and was discharged December 19, 1783. He was ac- tive and useful in town affairs. The town records gave him the title of Captain. He served as Selectman in 1790, 1792, 1794, 1799, and from 1801 to 1807; Moderator, in 1801 and 1802; Treasurer, in 1807 and 1808; Representative, in 1804; and first Postmaster in Littleton, appointed in September, 1802.
Clarence West Williams had the misfortune to lose his father when he was but ten years of age. The elder Williams was a most estimable man, very energetic and public spirited. To his mother, Eliza Ann (Clark) Williams, he is deeply indebted for a strong and wholesome hias toward those primary virtues which make the basis for a noble character. Such education as the dis- trict schools of Northern Vermont furnished, he received regularly.
He was a sturdy boy and it seemed imperative that he should do what he could to fill the vacant breadwinner's place. At eleven years old he went to work in a country hotel. His difficulties and privations made him only the more keen to know and to learn. He obtained, in spite of his handicaps, a respectable training in the local academy and in the Tilton, New Hampshire, Seminary.
The range of his boyhood reading was quite restricted but it in- cluded the Bible, "Pilgrim's Progress," "Robinson Crusoe," and any books on mechanical subjects which he could get hold of. He had from childhood a decided bent for mechanics.
At sixteen years of age he went to Littleton, New Hampshire, to learn the business of heating, ventilating, and sanitation. He had the ambition to become more than a workman in his chosen line of activity-his purpose was to become a mechanical engineer. He joined the Young Men's Christian Association and made all the use he could of the night school it afforded. Mastery of the practical or workmen's side of his chosen department of mechanics was duly
Clarence West Williams
CLARENCE WEST WILLIAMS
acquired, and he studied the theoretical part in the available lit- erature on the subject. He continued for some time to apply his acquired skill and knowledge in New Hampshire with a good de- gree of success, but the increasing attention to scientific ventila- tion of public buildings, institutions, and hospitals finally led Mr. Williams to seek a new field in Massachusetts.
He was appointed Mechanical Superintendent and Chief Engi- neer of the Massachusetts General Hospital, and held that position for eight years. Increasingly frequent calls for expert advice from outside quarters led him to devote his whole time and energy to the business of a consulting engineer.
Mr. Williams is a member of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers, the New England Association of Com- mercial Engineers, the American Hospital Association, the New England Deaconess Corporation; Chairman of the Standing Com- mittee of the Deaconess Hospital, President of the Men's Bible Class, Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, member of the Somerville Board of Trade, Chairman of the Public Affairs Com- mittee.
He has been a member of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion since he was fourteen years old and belongs to the Somer- ville branch. He belongs to Somerville Lodge, A. F. and A. M. He was a member of the School Committee in 1895 in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and a member of the Somerville School Committee for 1914-15, and is now its Vice-Chairman. He is a Republican in politics and has been twice a delegate from Somerville to the Re- publican State Convention.
He has been an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since he was thirteen years old.
He was married April 10, 1885, to Lillian, daughter of A. W. Streeter, granddaughter of Levi Streeter, and a descendant from Stephen Streeter, who came from Kent, England, to Charlestown, Massachusetts, about 1652. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have had two children, of whom one is living, Arthur Phillips, student in class of 1915, Dartmouth College.
Mr. Williams attributes his success in large measure to the childhood home training of his mother. He places strong emphasis on the constant private study he has carried on. He feels a debt of gratitude to the virile men with whom he has rubbed elbows.
He is positive that a young man to succeed in life needs early to choose a life vocation, suited to his tastes and ability ; and he is sanguine that if the young man pursues it with determination and energy and a "Never say die" persistence, clean of life and honest of purpose, he will arrive at the desired goal.
WALTER PELLINGTON WINSOR
W ALTER PELLINGTON WINSOR was born at Fair- haven, Massachusetts, August 11, 1846, and died there December 8, 1911. He came from splendid sea-battling stock, men who in their day carried the fame of New England to every shore. He could trace his ancestry back to William Winsor of Devonshire, England, who settled in Boston in the days of the Colonies. His son, Samuel Winsor, settled in Duxbury, Massa- chusetts. Samuel Winsor's grandson was Zenas Winsor, who was the first of the line to follow the sea.
Walter Pellington Winsor's father was Alexander Winsor, who was one of the old-school clipper ship captains. He was master of some of the most famous vessels that sailed the sea : the Flying Cloud, the Herald of the Morning, and the Sea Nymph. Captain Winsor married Sarah Pellington Allen of Fairhaven. Besides Walter P. Winsor, there was another son, Captain Alexander Winsor (born 1845), who inherited from his father and his environ- ment a love for the sea. For over twenty years he handled the greatest steamers of the China Merchant Steam Navigation Com- pany. When the war between China and Japan broke out, he was in charge of the transport Mee Foo. In recognition of his services during this war, the Chinese Government decorated him with the order of the Double Dragon-a notable emblem presented to him by the Prime Minister himself, Li Hung Chang.
Walter P. Winsor was educated in the public schools of his native town and later completed his course at the private school of John Boadle of New Bedford.
At the age of seventeen he left his home for the position of book- keeper with a firm on Broadway, New York.
In 1866 he became clerk for the Union Mutual Marine Insur- ance Company of New Bedford. Here hiis worth soon became known. He rose rapidly from clerk to be the Secretary and Treas- urer of the company and retained that position until 1874.
Immediately upon severing his relations with the Insurance Company he was offered and accepted the office of Cashier of the First National Bank. In this capacity he served for twenty-five years. On the death of the President of the bank in 1899 he was unanimously elected his successor. This position, for which he was so eminently fitted, he held up to the day of his death.
In politics Mr. Winsor was a staunch Republican. He served his town of Fairhaven in the position of Selectman for thirteen
WALTER PELLINGTON WINSOR
years, a service which reveals how his friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens appreciated him.
In religion, Mr. Winsor was an ardent Unitarian and always carried the interests of the Unitarian Church in Fairhaven near to his heart. He was a close friend of the late Henry H. Rogers. So highly did Mr. Rogers value his integrity and business sagacity, that he made him one of the executors of his great estate. He was also a Director of the Virginian Railway which Mr. Rogers organ- ized and built. He was Vice-President of the Atlas Tack Com- pany ; Director of the Wamsutta Mills; Director of the Union Street Railway Company; Treasurer of the Fairhaven Water Company; and Treasurer of the Millicent Library of Fairhaven.
Mr. Winsor was married in 1876 to Mary G. Bancroft, daughter of Sylvia W. (Thwing) Bancroft and Joseph B. Bancroft of Hope- dale, Massachusetts. Three of his children survive him, the eldest, Walter Pellington, Jr., having died only six months previous to his father's death. Those surviving him are: Anna Bancroft, now Mrs. Carl Clapp Shippee, who has two sons, Winsor and Robert; Bancroft, who studied at the Worcester Polytechnic and Massachu- setts Institute of Technology ; and Allen Pellington, who is a gradu- ate of Harvard University.
In appreciation of Mr. Winsor the following editorial appeared in the Morning Mercury of December 11, 1911:
"In the death of Walter P. Winsor there passes out one who has been for many years, a prominent figure in the large financial affairs of this community. Throughout his long business career, no act of Mr. Winsor's was ever at variance with that first impression which his noble appearance inspired. His ability as an accom- plished banker and financier was high, but the surpassing trait was his exalted honor and trustworthiness, and his judicious conserva- tism in handling the important affairs and the responsibilities en- trusted to his management and care. Outside of his business ca- reer he lived the life of a gentleman of quiet and refined tastes, one who loved flowers and simple pleasures, and his home above all.
"Of soul sincere In action faithful, and in honor clear, Who broke no promise, served no private end, Who gained no title, and who lost no friend."
The life of such a man lives after him. When men of a later generation are tempted amid the stress and strain of almost im- possible business conditions, they will be steadied and held firm to their highest ideals, when they think of such a man as Walter Pellington Winsor.
JOHN WOOD
J OHN WOOD was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, June 21, 1847 and died at his home in Brookline, June 18, 1914. He was the son of Edward E. Wood, a Boston commission mer- chant, and Sarah (Spaulding) Wood.
John Wood's devotion to his mother during her entire life was very marked, while her moral and spiritual influence was of the greatest service to him throughout his career.
His grandfather, John Wood, was born in Bath, Maine, May 13, 1775, and died in Newburyport, Massachusetts, May 13, 1853. His grandmother was Elizabeth Smith.
The founder of the family in America, Daniel Wood, came from England about 1675 and, having settled in Rowley Village, served there for a term of years both as Selectman and Town Treasurer.
As a young lad John Wood removed with his parents to Dor- chester, and after a course of study in the public school was grad- uated from the Dorchester High School. He subsequently worked on his father's farm, then took up the carriage business, and, a few years later, established with his brother Edward E. Wood, a paint and oil business in Boston. This was carried on successfully for thirty years under the firm name of Wood Brothers, till ill health compelled retirement from active business life.
Even from boyhood John Wood took the greatest enjoyment in reading, especially works of history, travel and fiction. Music made a strong appeal to his nature, and he enjoyed greatly hearing symphony and classical music generally.
He was a liberal in religion and regularly attended the Unitarian Church while his political sympathies were with the Republicans. Loving home life more than most men, he could never be induced to accept any public office or become a candidate. His interest in civic affairs, however, was both active and intelligent. He was long a member of the Boston Paint and Oil Club and a charter member of the Boston Athletic Association.
Mr. Wood was married on January 18, 1893, to Caroline D. Hodges, a daughter of William G. Hodges, and a granddaughter of James Leonard Hodges, a once prominent citizen of Taunton, Massa- chusetts, who served as Representative in Congress from 1827 to 1833 and was State Senator in 1823 and 1824. The only child of Mr. Wood is John Wood, Jr., who is in the insurance business in Boston.
Mr. Wood kept himself well informed as to the trend of current events; he took much pleasure in driving about the country ; and the lure of the best in literature as well as in the symphony concert hall seldom appealed to him in vain.
1951
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