Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 102

Author: Biographical Review Publishing Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Boston, Biographical review publishing company
Number of Pages: 1238

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts > Part 102

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Marion W. Prescott was married to James T. Earley on October 7, 1855. Their chil- dren are: Marion Isabell, born October 28, 1858; Walter Herbert, born January 27, 1861 ; Annie Gay, born March 24, 1864; Emma Try- phena, born June 26, 1867; Christie Prescott, born June 14, 1871; Ella Christena, born De- cember 25, 1873; Clarence Frank, born Janu- ary 14, 1878; and Bertha Mabel, born August 4, 1882. Marion I. Earley is the wife of Archibald H. Mitchell, and has had three children : Archie Hunter, who, born December 24, 1891, died December 30, 1891, aged six days; William James, born January 8, 1894; and Bessie Isabel, born January 27, 1897. Walter H. Earley was married to Marion E. Wentworth November 28, 1894. No issue. Christie P. Earley was married to Grace E. Loring on October 18, 1894, and has two chil-

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dren : Marion Edith, born October 30, 1895 ; and Helen Loring, born May 27, 1898.

Sarah E. Prescott and William E. Boothby were married on March 17, 1863. Their chil- dren are : Ledru Sylvester, born September 25, 1864; and Nettie Roenna, born December 31, 1867. The son, Ledru S. Boothby, married December 23, 1891, Ella M. Kenerson, and has a daughter Ethel, born March 30, 1897. William W. Prescott was married to Jane E. Stone, March 20, 1869. Their children are: Clarence Edward, who was born February 4, 1876, and died October 27, 1879, aged three years, eight months, and twenty-three days; and William James, born August 12, 1880. James M. Prescott married Martha Stone, No- vember 27, 1889. No issue.

Roland C. Prescott was married to Joanna K. Cutler May 30, 1876. Their children are : Charles Sylvester, born February 23, 1878; Julia Tryphena, born May 23, 1880; Clarence Edward, born March 8, 1885; Leslie Sawyer, born July 28, 1887; Roland Cutler, born June 24, 1891 ; and Ida, born December 17, 1894. Julia T. Prescott was married to Harry A. Mixter October 14, 1897. They have one child - George Roland, born September 7, 1898.

Edwin S. Prescott was married to Abbie Hunter May 14, 1888, and had four chil- dren : Edwin Hunter, born April 10, 1889; Harry Hunter, born August 18, 1891; Isabel Mitchell, born September 11, 1893; and Willie James, born September 21, 1895.

In politics Mr. Prescott is a Republican. He has never cared to hold public office, but was for a time Constable and Highway Sur- veyor. For a number of years he was a trus- tee of the Rural Cemetery Association. Mr. and Mrs. Prescott are the oldest married pair living in Rutland. The fiftieth anniversary of their wedding was made the occasion of a most enjoyable meeting, at which were present one hundred and twenty-five persons, including not only their children and grandchildren, but a large number of friends who were glad of the opportunity to tender congratulations and to express hopeful wishes for the future. Two years ago, 1896, their sixtieth anniversary was celebrated in a similar manner. Mr. Prescott

is still an active member of the Rutland Farmers' Club, which was organized in his house the same year he came here. As a member of the Improvement Society he has done much toward beautifying the highway, planting many shade trees. He possesses a remarkable memory and considerable ability as a poet. Of an optimistic temperament and with always a kind word for every one, he has made a host of friends in his long life; and the weight of advancing years is scarcely felt, brightened as it is by cheerful companionships and neighborly kindness, as well as by filial affection.

ERBERT B. ROYAL, M.D., of Harvard, was born in Garland, Pe- nobscot County, Me., September 24, 1863, son of Josiah P. and Susan M. (Garland) Royal. He is a great-grandson of Josiah Royal, who fought for American in- dependence under Paul Jones in the Revolu- tionary War, taking part in the famous sea fight in the English Channel with the British ship "Serapis." Josiah Royal died in Dover, Me., which town in 1897 voted to erect a monument to his memory for his Rev- olutionary services. Dr. Royal's grand- father, Josiah P. Royal, was a lifelong resi- dent of Dover, Me., where he was engaged in farming. He died at the age of sixty years. Josiah P. Royal (second), father of Herbert and a native of Dover, when a young man set- tled upon a farm in Garland, where he and his wife now reside. The latter is a daugh- ter of Benjamin Garland, who was a prosper- ous farmer and sheep-raiser. The town of Garland was named in honor of her grand- father, Joseph Garland, a Revolutionary patriot. Josiah P. and Susan M. Royal are the parents of seven children; namely, Sarah E., Emma A., Charles E., Herbert B., George L., Lizzie M., and Nettie E. The parents are members of the Methodist Epis- copal church.

Herbert B. Royal attended the Foxcroft High School and Academy, graduating from both institutions. Then, after studying med- icine for eighteen months with Dr. T. H.

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Merrill, of Foxcroft, he entered Bowdoin Col- lege, Brunswick, from which he was graduated with the medical class of 1887. Locating first in Lowell, Mass., he resided in that city for a year, but since 1888 has practised his profession in Harvard. He has gained a high reputation for skill in his chosen calling, while he enjoys also a wide personal popu- larity.

In 1889 Dr. Royal was united in marriage with Alma T. Eaton, who was born in Deer- field, Mass., daughter of Dr. J. S. and Alma E. Eaton. Mrs. Royal's father, who prac- tised his profession in New Hampshire, died in 1888. Dr. and Mrs. Royal have had three children, of whom two are now living; namely, Kent T. and Ellery E.

Politically a Republican, Dr. Royal has been chairman of the Town Committee sev- eral years, and is at the present time serving as Auditor, Town Physician, and chairman of the Board of Health. He is a trustee of the Warner Lecture Fund, president of Harvard Historical Society, a member of the Worces- ter County and the Massachusetts Medical Societies. He also belongs to Harvard Lodge, No. 60, I. O. O. F. Keeping fully in touch with the advance of medical science, his knowledge and skill are manifest in the results of his practice, and he stands high in the estimation of his professional associates of this locality, as well as in that of the gen- eral public. With his wife he is a member of the Congregational church.

OSEPH HENRY WALKER, LL.D., statesman and financier, has been a resident of Worcester, Mass., since 1843, when he came here with his par- ents, Joseph and Hannah Thayer (Chapin) Walker. He was born December 21, 1829, in Boston, the temporary home of his father's family ; but his early years were mostly passed in Hopkinton, Middlesex County, where he received his elementary education in the pub- lic schools. That he is of substantial, well- rooted New England stock, numbering among his ancestors early and influential planters of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, may be

gathered from the records published in various town histories, notably that of Milford. From these it appears that on the paternal side he is of the ninth generation from Rich- ard Walker, of Lynn, 1630, later a Captain of the militia, in 1638-39 a member of the "Military Company of the Massachusetts," now the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and in 1641, 1648, and 1649 Rep- resentative to the General Court. The line of descent is: Captain Richard'; Samuel,2 of Woburn; Israel 3; Henry 4; Henry,5 of Hop- kinton, who perished in the Cuban expedition of 1740; Solomon,6 a soldier in the French and Indian War, who married Sarah Bullard, of Framingham; Joseph,7 born in 1760, mar- ried Mehetabel Gibbs; Joseph,8 born in 1804, who married Hannah T., daughter of Eli and Libby (Thayer) Chapin.

Mr. Walker's maternal grandfather, Eli Chapin,6 was the son of Lieutenant Ephraim, 5 a lineal descendant, through Joseph, 4 Captain Leth, 3 Josiah2 ("an eminent citizen of Men- don town"), of Samuel Chapin,' immigrant, of Roxbury, 1636, who with his wife, Cicely, later settled in Springfield, and was the father of the family of this name.

Shoe manufacturing may be set down as the hereditary occupation of this line of the Walker family. Joseph Walker, Sr., is said to have been the first in the country to use, instead of thread in making boots and shoes, wooden pegs, which were of his own invention. His son Joseph, father of the subject of this sketch, removed to Worcester in 1843, and here established himself as a shoe manu- facturer.

Three years later Joseph H., a youth of six- teen, left the high school and took the initia- tory step in his business career, entering his father's employ. Ambitious and painstaking, occupying a responsible position from the very first, he acquired a practical and thor- ough knowledge of every department of the business, and in 1851 became his father's partner, the firm being J. Walker & Co. until some time in 1862. His mother died in 1850, and his father in 1879. In 1864 J. H. Walker and his brother, G. M. Walker, formed a partnership for the manufacture of

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boots and shoes, which was continued till 1888, G. M. Walker retiring in 1870. This firm acquired a wide and enviable reputation as manufacturers of the "Walker boot," made of pliable leather on a last representing a composite foot-form, ingeniously derived from the different measurements of a large number of feet. In 1868 was established in Chicago the tanning and leather business by Mr. Walker subsequently known as Walker, Oak- ley & Co., Mr. Walker being the senior member.

The same energy, practical sagacity, and diligent appplication that have made Mr. Walker a successful man of business have characterized him in public life, in which his later years have been spent. A member of the Common Council of Worcester at the age of twenty-three, he was president of that body in 1869. He has also been a member of the School Board. In politics he is a stanch Re- publican and a strong advocate of the leading principles of the party, being a fluent and logical speaker, a clear and forcible writer. He served as Representative in the State legislature in 1879, 1880, and 1887, in the latter year being chairman of the Committee on Labor and a member of the Committee on Finance and Expenditures. He is now serv- ing his fifth term in Congress, to which he was first elected in 1888. He has been chair- man of the Committee on Banking and Cur- rency in the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congress, and member of it for ten years. At the late election, November, 1898, his district went Democratic. In the next Con- gress "the loss of Mr. Walker," as one has well said, "will be sorely felt; for his ac- quaintance with financial questions has in the past been of great value to his colleagues and to his party generally, and his sterling hon- esty compelled respect even from his most bitter opponents."

Mr. Walker is the author of a monograph on "Money, Trade, and Banking," published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., a valuable con- tribution to the literature of the currency question. Among his published addresses may be mentioned "Perils of Wage-workers in Continued Silver Coinage," 1886; and

"The Moral Aspects of a Protective Tariff : How it helps the Wage-worker and Farmer," 1888.

"It is as certain as experience can make it," says Mr. Walker, "that it is the quality rather than the quantity that is of the first consequence in the money of a people, and that an abundance in a country of what is called money does not indicate high wages or national prosperity or national wealth. On the contrary, a large amount of so-called money may indicate a low condition of civil- ization and low wages."

For several years Mr. Walker was president of the Worcester Board of Trade, also chair- man of the Committee on Foreign Trade and Exports, of the National Hide and Leather Association, a vice-president of the New England Shoe and Leather Association, and president of the trustees of the Worcester Academy for thirty years, and a trustee of Brown University for twenty years.

Mr. Walker married in 1852 Sarah Ella, daughter of Jubal Harrington, of Worcester. She died in 1859, leaving one child, a daugh- ter, now the wife of Milton Shirk, a banker in Peru, Ind. Mr. Walker married in 1862 Hannah M. Kelly Spear, of New Hampton, N. H. They have two sons - Joseph, a grad- uate of Brown University and Harvard Law School, and George, also educated at Brown - and a daughter Agnes, the wife of Adams D. Claflin, of Newton.

LBERT CONANT BUTTRICK, senior member of the firm of Buttrick & Pratt, civil engineers, Worcester, was born in Jaffrey, N. H., Septem- ber 2, 1829, son of Olvin and Louisa Eliza- beth (Sweetser) Buttrick. He is a descendant in the seventh generation of William Buttrick, who was born in England in 1616, and emi- grating in 1634 was one of the original. set- tlers in Concord, Mass. Samuel Buttrick, son of William, was born in Concord in 1654; and Deacon Jonathan Buttrick, son of Samuel, was born there in 1690. Nathan Buttrick, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Concord, as was also

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Charles Buttrick, the grandfather, who was born September 7, 1774. Major John But- trick, a member of the family, was a Revo- lutionary soldier. Charles Buttrick, the grandfather, married Betsey Blake, who was born in Holden, Mass., July 16, 1776; and of that union there were seven sons and one daughter. Betsey, the youngest, who was born April 28, 1825, died April 5, 1843; Charles, for many years a chair manufacturer at Ash- burnham, Mass., was born in 1801, and died in 1879; Elias was born in 1806, and died in 1824; Samuel Damon Buttrick, a farmer and mill owner, was born April 25, 1809, and died April 2, 1892; Otis, who became a farmer in Central New York, was born April 22, 1812, and died in 1895; Edward, who was born March 4, 1815, is now residing in Deering, N. H., where his parents settled; and John Blake Buttrick was born August 21, 1816, and died June 18, 1890. They were all un- usually tall men.

Olvin Buttrick, the father, was born in Chelmsford, March 1I, 1804. For a number of years he was quite an extensive lumber manufacturer in Holden, Mass., and he after- ward engaged in the fruit business in Boston. He was an able and successful business man, who possessed many commendable character- istics; and prominent among them was his generosity. His last days were spent in Worcester, and he died September 7, 1877. In his religious belief he was a Methodist. In 1828 he married Louisa Elizabeth Sweetser, who was born in Paxton, Mass., in 1806, daugh- ter of Stephen and Betsey (Fuller) Sweetser, and a descendant of the Rev. Daniel Dodge, a Baptist preacher. She became the mother of five children, of whom two sons died in in- fancy. Those who lived to grow up were : Albert C., the subject of this sketch; Louisa Ann Elizabeth, who married Sewell Skinner, of Worcester, and died suddenly of heart dis- ease April 21, 1898; and Adelaide R., who was born in 1841, married David Johnson, and died in 1885. The mother died in 1878. She was a woman of refined tastes, and pos- sessed much ingenuity and perseverance, which enabled her to successfully accomplish what- ever she undertook.

Albert Conant Buttrick attended the district and high schools and the Leicester Academy. His first knowledge of engineering was ob- tained at the high school, and after teaching school for a time in Southboro, Mass., he ac- quired his first practical experience under the Hon. Phineas Ball, of the firm of Boyden & Ball, the former of whom was the first resi- dent architect of this city, and the latter a prominent civil engineer of his day, at one time Mayor of the city. In 1852 Mr. But- trick entered the employ of the city, and in 1854 he opened an office on his own account. Forming later a copartnership with D. M. Wheeler, they became the leading engineers in Worcester, and also did a great deal of work in New England and New York States, locat- ing railroads and constructing dams, also con- tracting for and putting in water supplies for different cities in Massachusetts, and located the first narrow gauge railway in the State. Mr. Buttrick has built several residences and business blocks, among which the handsome brick and marble structure at the corner of Main Street and Barton Place is worthy of particular mention. The present firm of But- trick & Pratt, which is now transacting a large business, was established about fifteen years ago, and is located at 705 and 706 State Mutual Building. They have excellent facil- ities for accurately determining the exact lines of all city property of note, as well as making subdivisions, and employ a large force of capable assistants. For the past forty years Mr. Buttrick has been the consulting engineer and surveyor for the Salisbury estate, having been employed by the senior Salisbury to suc- ceed Mr. Ball when he became Mayor of the city of Worcester. He has also laid out into streets most of the large estates in the city, notably the John Hammond farm, the Colonel Wetherell farm, the Ephraim Mower tract, and the Samuel Davis tract, these being now near the central portion of the city and each containing large areas. He is chairman of the Board of Fence Viewers, having been elected to that office year after year for the past decade and as such it devolves upon him to make final decision as to the location of lines and boundaries within the city limits. Polit-

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ically, he was prior to 1856 a member of the Free Soil party, but since that year has been a Republican.

On March 7, 1855, Mr. Buttrick married for his first wife Elizabeth S. Newton, of this city, daughter of Guy S. and Dorothy (Davis) Newton. She died August 9, 1877, aged forty-seven years, leaving no children. In 1885 he married for his second wife Teresa Corbett, a native of England, and by this union has two daughters - Louisa Ann and Elizabeth N.

For many years Mr. Buttrick has been in- terested in musical matters, and the present Worcester County Musical Association is the outcome of a former society of which he was treasurer.

He joined the Old South Church in 1852, was formerly an Assessor, and was a member of the committee chosen to select the site, secure plans, and erect the present handsome church edifice; and some of its architectural beauty is the result of his suggestions.

He is a life member of the Worcester County Mechanics' Association and a charter member of the Congregational Club, also a member of the Worcester County Society of Engineers, being its first president.

HARLES CARROLL STRATTON, the senior proprietor of the Fitch- burg Sentinel, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Sturtevant) Stratton, was born in Fairlee, Vt., August 22, 1829. The father, who was a farmer of Fairlee and a member of the Republican party, represented his native town in the legislature, and held various positions of trust.

Having obtained his education in the dis- trict school and at Thetford Academy, Charles Carroll Stratton, when he was seventeen years old, began to learn the printer's trade in the office of the Democratic Republican at Haver- hill, N.H. Afterward he worked for a time in the office of the Aurora of the Valley at Newbury, Vt., for several months in the old Franklin Printing-office in Boston, and then in the Methodist Book Concern of New York City. In September, 1854, he entered the

office of the Fitchburg Sentinel, which at that time was a small weekly paper. Since then, excluding a few months during the Civil War, when he served in the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, and a short time spent in the Chris- tian Commission at City Point, Va., he has been connected with the Sentinel. In March, 1867, he bought a half-interest in the publica- tion. Some time after he proposed to make it a daily as well as a weekly paper, but his partner did not favor the project. He then became associated with his present partner, John E. Kellogg, and they began to publish the Daily Sentinel, issuing the first number on May 6, 1873. The enterprise was successful. Both the daily and weekly were enlarged suc- cessively in 1881, 1885, 1886, and 1890. In 1890 the paper (both the daily and weekly) was changed from a folio to a quarto; and in 1892 it was made an eight-page paper of fifty- six columns, printed on a perfecting press. The journal is devoted to the interests of Central Massachusetts, and has become an im- portant factor in the development of Fitch- burg. Started as a four-page paper, its pres- ent size and status speak volumes for the enterprise and skill of its managers.

Mr. Stratton is prominent in both the relig- ious and social doings of his adopted city, and enjoys the confidence and respect of a large acquaintance. Married June 11, 1873, to Maria S., daughter of John and Sophronia C. Putnam, of Fitchburg, he has one daughter, Louise S. In politics Mr. Stratton is a Republican. He is a member of the Fitch- burg Board of Trade, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Honor, and of the Fitchburg Historical So- ciety.

ON. JOHN E. MCCLELLAN, a leading resident of Grafton and Rep- resentative in the State Senate (1899) of the Fifth Worcester Sen- atorial District, was born September 5, 1847, in the adjoining town of Sutton, son of John and Ama (Daggett) McClellan. Respecting this family, which has been prominent in Sutton for several generations, interesting in-

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formation may be found in the History of Sutton. James McClellan, grandfather of John E., was a farmer by occupation and one of the leading men of the county.

John McClellan, son of James, came to Grafton from Sutton forty-three years ago, and began to carry on farming on an extensive scale. He was active and energetic, and a man of much public spirit. Before the Civil War, in his younger days, he was a Major in the State militia. During the war he was a Selectman, and at one time he went to the front to re-enlist those men of this section whose term had expired. For fifty years he was a Deacon in the Baptist church at Graf- ton, which had been liberally supported by his family, and for more than a half-century he was a trustee of Worcester Academy. In 1867 he represented Grafton in the legisla- ture. His wife, Ama, a daughter of Colonel John Daggett, was descended from one of the old families of Attleboro. Of their chil- dren, A. D. McClellan graduated from Brown University, and is now a practising lawyer in Boston. Three daughters are living in Worcester.

John E. McClellan received his education in the common schools of Grafton, and in Leicester and Williston Academies. In Au- gust, 1864, being then not quite seventeen years of age, he enlisted in the Northern army, First Battalion of Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, and was subsequently in the service until the close of the war, being mustered out in August, 1865. Two years later he went West to Illinois, where he was in business for a year. At the end of that time he pushed on farther toward the Golden Gate, and reached California, where he remained seven years, engaged in a freighting business to the mines. Subsequently he returned to Grafton, having spent thirteen years in his travels, and settled on the farm that had been his father's. Situated near Saundersville, this was one of the largest and best cultivated estates in the town. For ten years he has been engaged in a coal business, supplying the greater part of the coal used in Grafton. Also, for many years he has taken contracts for the construc- tion of sewers, water-works, and street ma-

sonry, and has built several stretches of State road. He has had charge of the roads in the town of Grafton for twelve years, and the fine condition of these furnishes ample proof that he has faithfully performed his trust. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Grafton Electric Company, and is at present its treasurer; and he is a trustee of both the Grafton Savings Bank and the co-operative bank. About seven years ago he bought his present house in Grafton village, which, with his family, he has since occupied.

Mr. McClellan has served as Selectman of the town for two years, and in 1896 and 1897 he represented Grafton in the legislature. While there he served on the Committees on Water Supply, Roads and Bridges, and in 1897 he was a member of the special commission appointed jointly by both houses, to investigate and report on the tuberculous cases at Lowell and Dracut, drafted the bill that was reported by the commission, and subsequently had charge of it in the House. It provided that "No person or persons having animals tested with tuberculin shall be entitled to compensa- tion from the State for any animals that react to the tuberculin test, unless such testing be done by the State Board of Cattle Commis- sioners, or their authorized agents acting as such at the time of the test; and such testing must be subject to the supervision and control of the State Board of Cattle Commissioners." Also, in the legislature, Mr. McClellan strongly advocated the building of State roads, and through his active efforts several bills securing appropriations for the purpose were passed. In November, 1898, Mr. Mc- Clellan was elected to represent the Fifth Worcester Senatorial District, and is now serving as a member of the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Drainage, and as chairman of the Labor Committee.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 102

Author: Biographical Review Publishing Company, Boston, pub Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Boston, Biographical review publishing company Number of Pages: 1238

Author: Biographical Review Publishing Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Boston, Biographical review publishing company
Number of Pages: 1238