Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 106

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 106

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Mr. Paige is also connected with other enterprises. He is a director of the South-

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bridge National Bank; a trustee and a mem- ber of the Board of Investment of the South- bridge Savings Bank; the president of the Southbridge & Sturbridge Street Railway Company, of which he was one of the chief promoters; the president of the Southbridge Water Supply Company ; and a director and the auditor of the Central Mills Company, and also of the Southbridge Gas and Electric Com- pany, which he was instrumental in consoli- dating, and of which he was the first treasurer. He has been and is now interested in sev- eral real estate projects. In company with F. L. Chapin he has built quite extensively on Elm and Chapin Streets. Recently he and Mr. Chapin built and opened Fairview Park in Sturbridge, a reserve of ten acres on the line of the street railway, now an at- tractive and popular resort. Fairview Farm, of twenty-six acres, and sixty acres of the Brooks estate, located opposite the park, is a recent purchase of theirs.

On October 18, 1873, Mr. Paige was united in marriage with Ida F. Edwards, a daughter of the late John and Mary E. (Irwin) Ed- wards. Born of this union were Mary D. in 1874 and John Edwards in 1879. After pre- paring for college at Mrs. Hayes's school in Boston, Mary D. entered Vassar in 1893. She died two years later. John Edwards Paige, who pursued his preparatory courses at Hopkinson's school in Boston, is now a stu- dent at Harvard University, class of 1901. In politics Mr. Paige is a Republican. He was a Representative in the Massachusetts legislature of 1878, and served upon the Com- mittee on Taxation, being considered an au- thority on that important subject. For a number of years he was the chairman of the Republican Town Committee. He is a mem- ber of the County Committee, and was the chairman for several years of the Worcester Third Senatorial District Committee. In 1884 he first served on the Republican State Central Committee, was its assistant secretary in 1885 and 1886, was again elected in 1894, and is now the chairman of its Committee on Finance. He has been a candidate for the State Senate. In 1884 he was a delegate to his party's national convention, which nomi-

nated James G. Blaine for the Presidency, when, he takes pride in stating, he cast two votes in succession for that candidate. Mr. Paige is a member of the Home Market Club of Boston, has been president of the South- bridge Board of Trade, and is a trustee of Nichols Academy in Dudley, Mass. In relig- ious belief he is a Baptist. As a progressive and public-spirited citizen he merits and re- ceives the esteem of his fellow-townsmen, all of whom have directly or indirectly profited by his enterprise and sound judgment.

EORGE F. SEARLES, the well- known hardware merchant of North- 2 bridge, was born in Sutton, Septem- ber 27, 1832, son of George and Julia (Will- iams) Searles. His paternal grandfather, Curtis Searles, who came from England to this country; lived on Grassy Hill in Millbury. The father moved to Uxbridge in 1837, and there resided for the remainder of his life. A carpenter by trade, he became interested in the manufacture of ploughs, samples of which were awarded first premium at the Worcester County Fair. Having cut the timber for the ploughs, it was his custom to make them in the winter and sell them in the summer. The mould board and land side were of oak, while the point was tipped with iron. He was sub- sequently engaged in repairing ploughs, and later gave his attention more exclusively to general carpentering. His children are : Abbie, who resides at Northbridge Centre ; Warren, who is a painter in Meriden, Conn. ; Julia, who is now the widow of S. R. Chip- man, late of Uxbridge; Andrew, who is a tin- smith in Whitinsville; and George F., the subject of this sketch.

George F. Searles attended school at Ma- comber's Academy in Uxbridge, then a noted secondary school, receiving students from all over the country. At the age of sixteen he learned the tinsmith's trade at Uxbridge, where he worked for nine years. He was then in Lowell for six months. At the end of that time he went to Whitinsville, where he worked on tin in the machine shop for nine

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years. Going thence to Meriden, Conn., he started the manufacture of stoves, hardware, and fancy tinware. After a year, during which he had a very flourishing business, employing thirteen assistants, he lost his plant and stock by fire. In May, 1871, he came to North- bridge and opened his present business. At

first he had only one room. He now has a building one hundred feet in length, and occu- pies the three floors. His finely assorted stock of hardware is said to be the largest carried by any retail dealer in the county. In connection with this he does a large business in plumbing and in the fitting of steam and hot water heating apparatus.

Mr. Searles has always taken a vital interest in public affairs, and has occupied several im- portant public positions. For five years he served on the Board of Overseers of the Poor, being the chairman of the board for three years of the time. He was a Justice of the Peace for ten or twelve years. In 1881 he represented Grafton and Northbridge in the General Court, where he was a member of the Committee on Parishes and Religious Societies. His relig- ious faith is the Congregational, and he has been a member of that society since 1861. The fraternal organizations with which he has been connected include the Odd Fellows, of which he has been a member since 1854; the Free and Accepted Masons, having member- ship in Granite Lodge, a charter membership in St. Elmo Chapter, a membership in Worces- ter County Commandery, and a membership of thirty years in Hamilton Council of Meriden (Conn.) ; the O. E. S., Dekamus Chapter, No. 20, of which he was a charter member and first Worthy Patron; the Improved Order of Red Men, of which he is a charter member ; the Knights of the Golden Eagle; and the Sons of Temperance, I. O. G. F. He helped in forming two lodges of Odd Fellows and Granite Lodge, F. & A. M., withdrawing from King Solomon's Temple Lodge for that pur- pose.

Mr. Searles married Eveline Fisher, daugh- ter of Captain Josiah Fisher, of Uxbridge. Captain Fisher was successively a merchant and a wool sorter, and Captain of a militia company in the early twenties. Mrs. Searles's

grandfather Fisher was a commissioned officer in the war of the Revolution, enlisting from Franklin and being stationed on the Hudson in New York. Mr. and Mrs. Searles have three children -- Arthur, Frank, and Mabel. The last named is an invalid. The sons mar- ried sisters, daughters of Charles L. Smith. Frank has three children. Mr. Searles, Sr., resides in the handsome house at the corner of Church and Pleasant Streets. His sons live in a new house built at the corner of Cottage and Prospect Streets.

OHN FAIRBANKS POND, prior to 1876 a leading real estate operator of Worcester, was born in Franklin, Mass., on May 20, 1798, son of Barzil- lai and Millicent (Fairbanks) Pond. He was descended from Daniel Pond, who is known to have been in Dedham, Mass., about 1652, a landholder and wealthy man for those days. Daniel's son John settled in Wrentham, where he carried on farming. John's son, John, Jr., who was born in 1688 or thereabouts, lived at West Medway.

The next in line, Benjamin Pond, who was born in Wrentham on June 15, 1726, was a farmer, and resided in Franklin, formerly a part of Wrentham. He was a minute-man in Captain John Boyd's company, and marched to Lexington on April 19, 1775. His wife, Mary, was from Hopkinton. Benjamin's son Barzillai, the father above named, was born in Wrentham on July 26, 1759. He also served in the Revolutionary War, entering the army when only seventeen years of age as a private in Captain Ebenezer Pond's company, which marched from Franklin, Mass., for active ser- vice on December 8, 1776. He subsequently enlisted in an independent company com- manded by Joseph Lovell; and still later he was in Captain Asa Fairbanks's company, then on duty in Rhode Island. In July, 1780, he marched to Rhode Island as Corporal of the Fourth Regiment, which was commanded by Major Seth Bullard. He eventually settled in Franklin, Mass. His wife, Millicent, died when John F., her only son, was but ten years of age.

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John Fairbanks Pond spent his boyhood on his father's farm in Medway, and attended the schools of that town, his parents having re- moved thither in 1804. In 1822 he went to Great Barrington, Mass., and a year later to Alstead, N. H., where he spent five years on a farm. In 1828 he secured employment in a bakery in Mendon, Mass., and remained there until 1830, when he removed to Phenix vil- lage in Warwick, R.I. In 1831 he went to Fiskeville, R. I., but two years later took up his abode in Providence, where for nine years he engaged in mercantile pursuits, in the pros- ecution of which he accumulated a fortune. In Providence he took an active interest in public affairs, and was a member of the first Board of Directors of the Providence & Worcester Rail- road corporation. He became widely known for honest dealing and good executive ability, and was popular with all who knew him. In 1842, during the time of the Dorr Rebellion, he received from Governor King, who was com- mander-in-chief of the law and order forces, a commission as Assistant Commissary in the Third Brigade of Rhode Island Militia, which was commanded by General Stedman. Al- though he occupied this position for only a short time, as the rebellion was soon crushed, he showed himself remarkably well qualified for it, being several times called upon to act in emergencies requiring quick decision and despatch.

In November, 1842, Mr. Pond came with his family to Worcester, having purchased a large tract of land here known as Union Hill. He began to improve this estate by laying out house lots and building streets. He contrib- uted the land now occupied by Providence Street, and also gave a lot to Asa Matthews upon condition that he should build upon it. Thus was built the first house on that street. Most of the streets east of Water Street, as well as those in the vicinity of Bloomingdale Road and Suffolk Street, and nearly all those upon Union Hill, were laid out and built under Mr. Pond's direction. He gave liberal inducements to mechanics and persons of moderate means to locate in that part of the city, and his generosity in this direction is not yet forgotten. Mr. Pond was one of the first

to advocate the building of a union railroad station, and through his efforts one of the most extensively signed petitions ever presented to the legislature from the city of Worcester was obtained for that purpose. He desired this especially in order that the tracks might be removed from the most populous portion of the city and also from the common. He was also influential in securing the location of the Medical College (now Worcester Academy), and gave lands and money toward its establish- ment. Although Mr. Pond's opportunities for education in early life were limited, he was a man of broad information. He had an excel- lent memory, especially for dates, and was a fine penman. In personal appearance he was tall, well proportioned, and of dignified bear- ing. He was an interesting talker, and he appreciated humor as well as any man. Mr. Pond died very suddenly of apoplexy at his home in Worcester in October, 1876, being at that time seventy-eight years of age.

Mr. Pond was twice married -the first time in 1821 to Betsey Foster, and the second time on November 17, 1835, to Mary M. Eddy, of Oxford, Mass., who survives him, now in her eighty-fourth year. Mrs. Betsey Pond died on July 7, 1832, leaving four children, as follows: Barzillai Foster, who was born in Medway on November 25, 1822; Mary Amelia, who was born at Alstead, N. H., on April 8, 1825, and who is now the widow of W. H. Harris,. late of Brooklyn, N. Y .; Willard Fairbanks, of Worcester, who was born at Al- stead on June 15, 1827; and Susan Millicent, who was born at Mendon, Mass., on February 28, 1830, and married Joel B. Harris, late of Springfield (both deceased). Mrs. Mary M. Pond has been the mother of the following named children : Betsey Foster, who was born in Providence on September 26, 1836; John Eddy, who was born in Providence on July 10, 1840, and died in 1889; Daniel Emerson, who was born in Providence on June 12, 1841 ; Emma Louisa, who was born in Worcester on February 22, 1843, and died on September 28, 1866; Charles Burnett, who was born in Worcester on August 4, 1845, and died in 1851 ; and Isabelle Merriam, who was born in Worcester on August 23, 1847. Betsey Fos-

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ter Pond married A. W. Curtis, of Williams- port, Pa. Isabelle married Charles F. Mann, of Worcester, and is the mother of one son, Edward Forrester Mann.

John Eddy Pond was for many years the sec- retary and to a large extent the guiding spirit of the Bridgeport Patent Leather Company. He was a man of unusual ability, and his death, which occurred on January 9, 1889, was deeply regretted. When only a youth he ob- tained employment with a Boston hardware firm, and later, when the business was removed to New York, became travelling salesman. During the war of the Rebellion, although he never enlisted, he rendered service as a civil- ian clerk in the commissary department of General Banks's division during his Ken- tucky campaign. In 1864 Mr. John E. Pond started a hardware store in Williamsport, Pa., but two years later he went to Bridgeport and entered the employ of the Patent Leather Company. The same year he married Maria Niles, who, with two sons and a daughter, sur- vives him. Her father was Samuel Niles, of Bridgeport. Mr. John E. Pond was a thirty- second degree Mason. In politics he was an active worker on the Democratic side. From 1874 to 1876 he was a member of the Board of Police Commissioners. He was also Auditor and at one time a member of the Common Council. He was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church, in which he held the posi- tion of vestryman. His personal friends were many.

Daniel Emerson Pond when twenty years of age enlisted in the war of the Rebellion, being mustered in as Corporal of Company H, Twenty-fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volun- teers. He was discharged from the Twenty- fifth, March 9, 1863, and accepted a commis- sion as First Lieutenant of the colored troops known as "Uhlman's Brigade," and was serv- ing in that capacity when honorably dis - charged. While in the Twenty-fifth he took part in the engagements of Newbern and Roa- noke Island. After the close of the war he went West and settled in Monticello, Ia., where he engaged in real estate and insurance. He is a prominent citizen of Monticello. He has held many elective positions of trust and

responsibility, and is now the Postmaster of that city. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Knight Templar.

He has been twice married. His first wife was Mrs. Harriet Pickering, of Hartford, Conn., by whom he had one daughter, Emma, now the wife of William Milner, of Milner- ville, Ia. By his second wife, formerly Mar- garet Leichardt, of Monticello, he has had four children; namely, John, Margaret, Mary, and George.

IDWIN A. HOWE, the popular Town Clerk and Tax Collector of Grafton, was born here, March 4, 1843, son of Martin and Pallina L. (Bosworth) Howe. The grandfather, Lemuel Howe, who was a native of Sudbury and for some years a farmer in Marlboro, came to Grafton when his son Mar- tin was eight years of age, and settled on the old Sherman place in Farnumsville. Refer- ence is made to him in Pierce's History of Grafton.

Martin Howe spent the greater part of his life engaged in shoemaking. He was much interested in politics, and took an active part in town affairs. For twenty-five years he was sexton of the Baptist church. He died April 7, 1898. Of the ten children born to him and his wife, there are living: Frank M., who resides in Milford; Hattie M., who is the wife of Lowell H. Davis, of Whitinsville; Louisa M., who is now Mrs. Bradley, of Rochester, N. H. ; Mary L. and Nettie B. ; and Emma A., who was the wife of Edmund C. Cottle, a prominent tanner of Woburn, and died some twenty years ago.

Edwin A. Howe received a public-school education. He began his working life as an employee in a shoe shop, but had not been there very long when the war between the North and the South broke out. On July 15, 1863, he enlisted, and was assigned to Company A, Second Regiment of Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. He was at Newbern, N.C., for some time, chiefly engaged in garrison duty. In 1864 the yellow fever broke out, and his company was quarantined all summer. In the fall he was himself stricken down with the

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dread disease, but recovered sufficiently to be brought North in January, 1865. He was in the hospital at Worcester from that time until the following June, when he was mustered out of service. Although Mr. Howe saw but lit- tle fighting, he acquired some notion of the horrors of war in the hospital, the agonizing scenes of which he will never forget. When he was able to work again he went back to his old position in the shop, and remained there for some years. In 1888 he was first elected Tax Collector, and every year since he has been re-elected without opposition. Previous to this the collection of taxes had been given out to the lowest bidder. Since 1891 he has' been elected Town Clerk.

Mr. Howe was married on March 28, 1867, to Elvesta K. Wood, daughter of Lyman Wood, of Grafton. Of this marriage three children have been born - Minnie G., Mabel L., and Harry E. Minnie G. is now Mrs. Nelson Borden, of Somerville, Mass. Harry, who resides with his parents, is Captain of William G. Scanlon Camp, No. 42, S. of V. Both Mr. and Mrs. Howe are members of the Grafton Grange. Mr. Howe is also a mem- ber of General A. B. R. Sprague Post, G. A. R., of which he was Adjutant for seven years. He is now serving his fifth consecu- tive year as Commander of the post. He al- ways makes it a point to attend the State encampments, and in 1895 he was sent as a delegate to the national encampment at Louis- ville.

OWERS C. HATHAWAY, a re- tired carpenter, contractor, and builder of Westboro, Mass., was born March 18, 1823, in Freetown, near Fall River, Mass., son of Ennis Hatha- way and a grandson of Simeon Chase, who was a soldier of the Revolution.

Ennis Hathaway, who was born at Free- town in 1794, died in 1887, at the venerable age of ninety-three years and eight months. He came of a race noted for its longevity. A sister of his lived ninety-five years, and a brother reached the age of ninety. He was one of a family of twelve children, of whom

six that had passed their eightieth birthday were living at one time. A soldier in the War of 1812, he was stationed at Fort Phenix, Fairhaven, and was a participant in the capt- ure of the privateer "Nimrod." He was a member of the last company that volunteered to protect New Bedford from an invasion by the British, and at his death was the only pensioner of the War of 1812 living in this part of the State. To him and his wife, Clarissa Chase Hathaway, seven children were born, six of whom are living, namely: William E., a merchant of East Boston ; Bowers C., the subject of this sketch; Frank- lin L., a contractor in Providence; Mrs. Clarissa J. Babbitt, of Berkley; Alonzo H., of Dorchester; and Charles E., who lives on the old homestead in Freetown.

Bowers C. Hathaway remained on the pa- rental homestead until he was fifteen years old. Then he shipped as a sailor, and spent two years on the sea. In 1840, when seven- teen years old, he started for New Bedford to learn the carpenter's trade, and walked the entire distance rather than spend the dollar which his father had given him to pay his fare. He served an apprenticeship with Braddock Gifford, a very thorough instructor, who gave him thirty dollars a year and his board. At the end of three and a half years he began working as a journeyman, and in the fall of 1845 he went to Boston as foreman of a gang. of carpenters. When this engagement ended, in 1847, he came to Westboro to work on the buildings for the State Reform School. He was boarding in the same family with the superintendent of the institution when, on November 1, 1848, the first boy sent to a re- form school in the United States was brought there; and as a favor to the superintendent he took charge of the pupil until morning. Mr. Hathaway subsequently superintended the erection of the new buildings connected with the school, and was there at the time of the disastrous fire in 1859. In 1875 and 1876 he had charge of the rebuilding and enlargement of the institution, which cost the State one hundred thousand dollars. In addition to this he has built many of the larger buildings of the town, including the post-office, the Na-

BOWERS C. HATHAWAY.

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tional Straw Works, the Henry Block, Amer- ican Block, the Park and Griggs Buildings, the Whitney House, and the factories of Gould & Walker and the Hunt Manufactur- ing Company. He has also erected many business houses in Waltham and several school-houses.

Mr. Hathaway served from May until Au- gust, 1864, in the late war, and now belongs to the Arthur G. Biscoe Post, No. 80, G. A. R. In politics he affiliated with the Whigs until the formation of the Republican party, since which he has been a loyal sup- porter of that organization. At one time he was the chairman of the Twelfth Worcester Republican District Committee. He was chief engineer of the local fire department from 1887 until 1892, inclusive, and, be- sides having served as president of the West- boro Board of Trade, was Selectman of the town in 1889, 1890, 1891, and 1896, serving during the last three years in the capacity of chairman of the board. In 1894 and 1895 he was a Representative to the State legislature, and he served during both terms as a member of the Committee on Public Charitable Insti- tutions. He is now one of the trustees of the Westboro Savings Bank and one of the In- vestment Committee. He is chairman of the Republican Town Committee, and he belongs to Siloam Lodge, F. & A. M., and to Bethany Chapter, O. E. S.

On November 26, 1846, Mr. Hathaway married Mary A., daughter of Captain Guil- ford Barrows, of New Bedford. Captain Bar- rows went on several whaling voyages as com- mander of a vessel, circumnavigated the world three times, and rounded Cape Horn on nine occasions. Mrs. Hathaway's grandfather, Luther Reading, went through the Revolu- tionary War. Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway have one son, Charles, who lives in Seattle. On November 26, 1896, they celebrated in a royal manner the golden anniversary of their wed- ding, receiving the congratulations of friends living in New Bedford, Dighton, Boston, Worcester, and other large places, as well as of their townspeople. Of the four hundred and fifty guests invited, a large number re- sponded, and many valuable and beautiful

gifts were presented to the host and hostess. Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway have a grand-daugh- ter, Blanche Rosamond Hathaway, who makes her home with her grandparents, and is now attending high school.

ILLIAM HYLAND, manufacturer of mattresses and dealer in all kinds of bedding at 164 Main Street, Worces- ter, is a native of Ireland, and was left an or- phan when a child. He was reared in Eng- land on the banks of the Mersey, where he resided until eighteen years old. In 1861 he enlisted in the British navy, and served in the Marine Artillery for seven years, during which time he sailed twice around the world, visiting China, Japan, the South Sea Islands, and New Zealand, and participating in several actions. Leaving the service in 1868, and having saved about nine hundred dollars, he visited his native land, from whence he crossed the Atlan- tic, arriving in New York October 22 of the same year. After working upon a farm and in a mill at Webster, Mass., for a while, he went to Boston in 1870, and spent a year in learning to make mattresses, receiving one dollar per day during his apprenticeship. He was next employed at the National Bridge and Iron . Works, where he labored fourteen months, a part of that time earning seven dollars and fifty cents per day. Coming to Worcester in 1873, he bought a machine, and, with a capital of three hundred dollars, established himself in the mattress business on Park Street. From a small beginning his business has steadily grown in importance, and at the present time he manufactures and handles at wholesale and retail all kinds of bedding, including mat- tresses, pillows, comforters, and spreads, all of which find a ready market in New England and Canada. He travels considerably, solicit- ing orders, attends to every detail of the busi- ness, including the buying, and employs an average of forty hands. His present location on Main Street, formerly the old Central Or- thodox Church, he purchased several years ago; and his title deeds to the historic building bear the signatures of a number of noted citi- zens, among whom are ministers, deacons, ex-

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 106

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