Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 109

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

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Joseph Wheeler Gird was born October 21, 1839, at Jackson, La. After the death of his father he came with his mother to Worcester, Mass., where he was educated. Having grad- uated from the high school, he obtained a posi- tion on the staff of a Fitchburg paper, and was subsequently connected with the Worcester Transcript until the breaking out of the late Civil War. After enlisting for the war in Company F, Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Vol- unteer Infantry, he was discharged therefrom on August 26, 1862, on account of his promo- tion to the rank of First Lieutenant in the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Thereafter he was in active service in the Roanoke River section until his discharge, at the expiration of his term of enlistment, on May 19, 1863. Returning to Worcester, he began the study of law with Colonel Wetherell, and had already made some progress when he responded to another urgent call for volunteers, and on November 3, 1863, was commissioned Second Lieutenant of the Fifty-seventh Mas- sachusetts Volunteer Infantry. On December 31 of that year he was made Captain of his company. At the battle of the Wilderness his regiment was in the reserve line, and, when the order came for them to advance, his men were lying on arms, The courageous young

Captain, stepping to the front of his company, cautioned the men not to be hasty, to keep cool and calm, not to break the line, nor to fire until commanded, and then to fire low. Before he had time to give a single command, he was seen to throw up his hands and fall backward, having received a rebel bullet in the head. Thus ended a brave young life, already notable in many ways, his faithfulness and gallantry as a soldier having been fully demonstrated, and his talent for law, argument, and oratory having been practically proved.

Prior to enlisting, Captain Gird married Adeline Augusta Alden, a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, immor- talized by Longfellow. She died February 8, 1891. Her daughter, Josephine, married Everett H. Warren, of Worcester, and has one child, Elizabeth Warren.

OSIAH ABBOTT, A.M., M.D., à re- tired physician and surgeon of Win- chendon, was born in Framingham, Mass., May 22, 1811, son of Josiah and Ruth (Estabrook) Abbott. The paternal grandfather, Samuel Abbott, a native of Fra- mingham, was a farmer during the active period of his life. He married a Miss Jennings, who bore him four children. Of these, Josiah, Sr., Dr. Abbott's father, was the only son. The latter, born at the family homestead in Framingham, September 26, 1775, spent his entire life thereon. After inheriting the es- tate he became a successful as well as an ex- tensive farmer. He died August 11, 1856, aged eighty years, ten months, and fifteen days; and his wife, who was born in Holden, Mass., April 16, 1782, daughter of Ebenezer Estabrook, died July 21, 1863, aged eighty- one years and three months. They had eleven children, two of whom are living, namely : Dr. Abbott, the subject of this sketch, who was the fifth-born; and Susan M., the widow of Benjamin Schneider, D. D., who was a mis- sionary in Turkey. Both parents were mem- bers of the Congregational church.

Josiah Abbott, the subject of this biography, attended the common schools and Framingham Academy, prepared for his collegiate course at

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JOSIAH ABBOTT.

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Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., and gradu- ated from Vale College in the class of 1835. He next pursued a course in theology at the Vale Divinity School with a view to engag- ing in foreign missionary work. After receiv- ing his license to preach in 1839, he supplied pulpits to some extent. Subsequently, chang- ing his plans, he studied medicine, received his degree of Doctor of Medicine at the medi- cal college in Fairfield, N. Y., and com- menced the practice of his profession in Marlboro, Mass., in 1840. From that town in 1845 he moved to Rindge, N. H., where he afterward acquired a good reputation as a phy- sician. At the breaking out of the Civil War he entered the regular army as assistant sur- geon of the Thirteenth Heavy Artillery, and in the spring of 1865 he was commissioned surgeon of the One Hundred and Nineteenth United States Infantry, with the rank of Major. A severe attack of fever during the war, together with the effects of overwork, compelled him to resign his commission in the fall of that year; and, as his health was per- manently injured, he has since lived in retire- ment. He resided in Rindge until 1874, in which year he came to Winchendon.

On January 5, 1842, Dr. Abbott was united in marriage with Persis Arminda White. Her parents were Joseph and Matilda (Davis) White, an account of whom will be found in the biography of Joseph N. White. In poli- tics the Doctor is a Republican. In 1860 and 1861, while residing in Rindge, he repre- sented his district in the State legislature. A thirty-second degree Mason, he is a member of the following Masonic bodies: Worcester Lodge of Perfection, Goddard Council, Princes of Jerusalem, and Lawrence Chapter, Rose Croix, Worcester ; Massachusetts Consistory, S. P. R. S., and Aleppo Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., Boston; Charity Lodge, No. 18, A. F. & A. M., and Signet Chapter, No. 15, Order of Eastern Star, East Jaffrey, N. H. ; and Hiram Council, Royal and Select Masters, Worcester. He also belongs to the Commandery of the State of Massachusetts, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and is surgeon of G. C. Parker Post, No. 153, G. A. R., Department of

Massachusetts. While he is a member of the Congregational church, Mrs. Abbott is a Baptist. He is now one of the oldest living graduates of Yale College.

jDWARD WHITNEY, formerly a well- known business man and a prominent religious worker of Worcester, was a native of Westminster, where several genera- tions of his family have lived. Born on Au- gust 12, 1834, he was the sixth of the eight children of John and Lydia (Allen) Whitney and a descendant in the eighth generation from John Whitney, who came from England in 1635, and settled in Watertown, Mass. The Whitney estate, on which his parents resided, was originally acquired by his great-grand- father, Captain Nathan Whitney. The family, according to Burke, was founded in England at the time of the Norman Conquest.

Edward Whitney obtained his elementary education in the public schools of his native town. In 1852, at the age of eighteen, he went to New York to strike out for himself. There he remained for four years, holding a position of trust in the Metropolitan Bank. In 1856 he came to Worcester, joining his elder brother, Sumner A. Whitney, in the stationery business, which was carried on in a store in Butman Block for a few years. Continuing the business after the death of the brother in 1861, he removed soon after to what was then called Bowen Block, corner of Main and Me- chanic Streets, where he remained some twenty years. Then he removed to Front Street, where the business has since been carried on. Since he received his sons into partnership, the firm name has been the Edward Whitney Company. The firm has now extensive con- nections throughout New England.

Mr. Whitney died February 5, 1897. Dur- ing the last few years of his life he spent some time in travel, visiting various parts of this country, Europe, and the Holy Land. He never cared for public office, but in church and Sunday-school was a constant and efficient worker. He united with Union Church when he first came to Worcester, was the superin- tendent of its Sunday-school for more than ten

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years and a Deacon for a lengthy period. About five years before his death he transferred his church membership to Plymouth Church. It has been said of him that he was "inter- ested in whatever was conducive to human wel- fare, and he did much to promote the better life of his adopted city and to lift the world to a higher level."

Mr. Whitney was the president of the Worcester Young Men's Christian Association for two years, the chairman for several years of the Executive Committee of the State Young Men's Christian Association, for two years the president of the Worcester Congregational Club, and he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Home for Aged Men. The first of his two marriages was contracted with Susan Louise, daughter of Nathan H. Cutting, a native of Westminster and afterward a resident of Worcester. She died in 1880, leaving two sons - Edward C. and Harry S., both of whom became associated with their father in his business. In 1886 Mr. Whitney, Sr., married Miss Emma Rice, who resides at 29 Chestnut Street. She is a sister of William E. Rice, the president of the Washburn & Moen Manu- facturing Company. Two brothers also sur- vive Mr. Whitney, George C. and Emerson Whitney.

J J. NELSON, son of James Addison and Martha B. Nelson, has been en- gaged in manufacturing business in Upton for thirty years. His father, who was for many years in the grain and flour business here, served the town for a long period as treasurer, and was actively interested in church work. Four of James A. Nelson's children grew to maturity, and two - Frank and J. J. - are living. George, the eldest son, died at the age of twenty-two, and Herbert died in 1896.

J. J. Nelson was born in Upton, September 23, 1842. In his boyhood he attended the public schools, and he subsequently studied for three months at Westfield Academy under Mr. Holland's tuition. He then worked in Milford as book-keeper in a boot and shoe shop for Clement & Coburn. For ten months dur-

ing the time of the war he was clerk in a colored brigade in the South in the Department of the Potomac, having charge of keeping the accounts relating to wagons, mules, and tents. He was at Akins Landing at the time of the surrender of Richmond, and went with the United States troops to that city the second day after. Returning to Upton, he was at- tacked with fever and ague, and during the next two years was unable to attend consecu- tively to any business. In 1868 he formed a partnership with B. L. Benson; and the firm of Benson & Nelson, with two factories, began business on the corner of Main and School Streets. In 1893 a severe fire occurred, which entailed a loss of thirty-six thousand dollars, and the following year Mr. Benson went out of business; while Mr. Nelson formed a new partnership with Robert La Dow, under the firm name of Nelson & La Dow. The factory is thirty-five by one hundred and twenty feet in dimensions, and produces two hundred dozens of hats per day, employing a force of one hundred and twenty-five persons. The goods are shipped to all parts of the country.

Mr. Nelson has served the town as Select- man and also for a long period as treasurer. Politically, he is a Republican. He was in- itiated as a Mason in Montgomery Lodge, Mil- ford, in 1864, and is now a member of Temple Chapter, of Milford, and of the Commandery. He has lived in his present residence since 1870 ..

Mr. Nelson was married in 1868 to Mary Taft, daughter of Perley and Maria Taft and a descendant of one of the old and esteemed families. Of this union has been born one son, George Nelson, now in business with his father. He is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and of Harvard College.

RS. WEALTHY C. COBB, of Worcester, widow of Elisha T. Cobb, late of North Adams, is a native of Goshen, Mass., and a daughter of George and Tryphena (Cathcart) Abell. On the mother's side she is of Scotch descent and on the father's of French descent. Her immigrant ancestor was her great-grand-

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father, who settled in Goshen, Mass., and was there engaged in farming. Succeeding to the family estate in his turn, George Abell became a well-to-do farmer. He was a man of much natural ability, and took a prominent part in the affairs of Goshen.

On November 11, 1869, Wealthy C. Abell married Elisha Thomas Cobb. He was born in Buckland, Mass., April 10, 1846, son of Elisha Rice and Lucinda (Blood) Cobb. His first ancestor in this country was Elder Henry Cobb, who arrived at Plymouth, Mass., in 1628 or 1629. Elder Cobb located at Scituate in 1634, and removed to Barnstable in 1636. He was the father of seven sons and four daugh- ters. Elisha Rice Cobb, who was a prosper- ous farmer and highly respected in Ashfield, his native town, died in 1895.

Having begun in the schools of Ashfield, Elisha Thomas Cobb completed his education with a commercial course at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. During the Rebellion he enlisted for service in a Massachusetts regiment, but was shortly afterward discharged on account of ill- ness. At the age of twenty-two he entered the employ of the Conway (Mass. ) National Bank, and filled the position of teller and book- keeper in that institution for the succeeding six years, gaining the confidence of his supe- riors. In 1876, having become an expert book- keeper, he established himself as a professional accountant in North Adams, and in due time was given charge of the accounts of several business concerns. Although a constant sufferer from the disease which eventually proved fatal, he attended to business regularly until June, 1884, when he went to Litchfield, Minn., for the benefit of his health. The change, however, proved of no avail, and he died August 1, 1884, seven weeks after his arrival. He was considered an exceedingly accurate book-keeper, and his upright charac- ter gained for him general esteem and many warm friends. For some years he served in the State militia, and he also belonged to the Masonic order. A prominent member of the First Congregational Church of North Adams, he served it for some time in the capacity of treasurer.

Since 1891 Mrs. Cobb has resided in

Worcester. Her only son, Henry Lewis Cobb, who was born in Conway, July 7, 1873, pursued the regular course at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, graduating therefrom in 1895, after which he took a post-graduate course. Since then he has been employed by the Morgan Construction Company, who regard him as a mechanical and electrical engineer of more than ordinary ability.

ETER RICE, well known in this county as a valiant soldier in the Civil War, resided in the city of Worcester during the greater part of his active life, and at the time of his death, in April, 1875, was engaged in the insurance business. He was born in Holden, Mass., in 1820, son of Peter, Sr., and Mary (Hart) Rice. His father was a native of Auburn, Mass., and lived there many years. He was a lineal de- scendant of Deacon Edmund Rice, who settled at Sudbury, Mass., in 1638 or 1639.

Peter Rice, the subject of this sketch, re- ceived his education in the common schools. He remained at home and worked on his father's farm in Holden until he was twenty years of age, when he came to Worcester and opened a confectionery store. After carrying on the business successfully for a number of years, he went to Illinois, bought land, and there followed agricultural occupations for five years. Returning to Worcester, he enlisted in Company D of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteers, and went to the front as a defender of the Union. He was in the Roanoke campaign, and was in all the battles with his regiment, which saw much active ser- vice. At the battle of Cold Harbor he was wounded and left on the field for dead. Re- covering in a measure, he came North on a short furlough and then rejoined his regiment. Being then unable to do duty in the ranks, he was detailed to care for the sick and wounded in the hospitals. Mr. Rice was in service for four years. He enlisted with the intention of remaining until peace should be declared, and despite his severe wounds and consequent physical disabilities he never for a moment wavered from his purpose. Though advised by

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his friends at the time of his visit North to procure his discharge, he refused to do so. An ardent anti-slavery man, believing thor- oughly in the right of personal freedom, he demonstrated his attachment to his principles by risking in their behalf the dearest thing a man can give - his life. After the war Mr. Rice returned to Worcester, and for some years was a member of the police force; but the wounds he had received unfitted him for this work, and he subsequently retired from it and opened an office on Main Street as an insurance agent. In this business he was successful. His death was hastened by the diseases brought on during his service in the war, and he is as much a martyr for his country as if he had fallen on the battlefield.

Mr. Rice was married in October, 1845, to Sarah Barton. Six children were born of this union; namely, Clara E., Mary Eliza, Ed- ward B., Lizzie Lee, Nellie F., and Charles F. Of these, only Mary Eliza is living. Mr. Rice was a Mason and a member of Post No. IO, G. A. R.

ORACE BLAKE BUCK, for nearly thirty years a prominent business man of Worcester, was born in Portland, Conn., October 15, 1822, son of James and Ruth (Matson) Buck. He was a representative of the Buck family whose ancestors were among the first settlers in Wethersfield, Conn., and probably a descend- ant of Emanuel Buck, born in 1623.

The first of the family to settle in Portland was Thomas Buck, who arrived there in 1710, and became a large land-owner. He married Sarah Judd. Isaac, of Portland, while serving in the Revolutionary War was taken prisoner by the British, and died on the Jersey prison- ship at New York in 1777. It is thought that Isaac Buck and his brother Samuel, the grand- father of Mr. Horace B. Buck, were grandsons of Thomas. Samuel Buck, born in Portland about the year 1730, died suddenly near White River Junction, Vt., while on a busi- ness trip, about the year 1790. His second wife, Hannah Wright, born in 1737, died at the home of her son James in 1831. She was

the mother of thirteen children. The church records give the following dates of baptism of nine of them: Pelatiah, April 3, 1763; Jere- miah, March 20, 1764; Hannah, August 30, 1767; Isaac, March 3, 1772; James, March 27, 1774; Polly, March 17, 1778; Samuel, second, May 3, 1779; Justus and Esther, twins, September 3, 1789. The others were: Samuel, first, who died in infancy; Betsey ; Rose; and Sally.

James Buck, the third son that grew to ma- turity, was bound out when a lad to Enoch Sage, one of the most extensive farmers in town. He afterward learned the ship and house carpenter's trades with his brother Jeremiah; and, settling in the north-east part of the township, a neighborhood which was at that time thickly covered with chestnut tim- ber, he built a saw-mill and supplied much building material to the people of Middle- town, also ship timber to one Charles Churchill, who built several vessels. He was a natural mechanic, as was nearly every mem- ber of the family; and, erecting a blacksmith shop and carriage factory, he and his son Erastus were the first carriage-builders in Portland. He was the inventor of several devices, including a corn-sheller, a butter worker, a washing machine, and a feed-cutter, all of which were patented at a time when he was obliged to drive all the way to Washing- ton in order to register them. He lived at a time when the ministers were supported by a direct tax; and, as he believed this to be un- just, he refused to comply, with the result that his cows were attached and sold at the whipping-post.

On December 24, 1795, he married Ruth Matson, born in Glastonbury, Conn., Febru- ary 2, 1776. Her parents, Thomas and Mary (Goodrich) Matson, were natives of that town. They were married January 14, 1767, and they had seven children. Thomas Matson was married three times. For some years he was a lumberman on the Connecticut River. Later in life he removed to Oswego, N.Y., where he died in 1812. Mary Goodrich, his first wife, was born November 18, 1745, daugh- ter of William and Rachel (Savage) Goodrich. His father, Thomas Matson, Sr., removed

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from Middletown to Glastonbury about the year 1732. He married Rachel, daughter of Ebenezer Fox, and had eight children. James Buck died January 8, 1838, aged sixty- three years. Ruth Matson Buck died August 12, 1857, aged eighty-one years. The follow- ing is a record of their children: Almira, born October 9, 1796, died January 24, 1819; Erastus, born August 13, 1797, died August, 1839; Samuel, born January 7, 1801, died December 10, 1881; Thomas M., born No- vember 27, 1802, died April 9, 1864; Barnard B., born January 13, 1805, died March 28, 1875; Ruth M., born March 22, 1807, died in 1885; Adaline, born October 14, 1809; Frances, born October 29, 1812, died Novem- ber 5, 1813; James F., born December 8, 1814, died November 28, 1888, aged seventy- three; Justus, born March 20, 1817, died February 12, 1837; Fanny A., born August 9, 1819; and Horace Blake, born October 15, 1822, died April 25, 1896.

When fifteen years old, Horace Blake Buck was thrown upon his own resources by the death of his father, and for two years after that event he lived with his sister Fanny. In the spring of 1839 he went to South Glas- tonbury to learn the carriage-maker's trade with his brother James, and two years later they returned to Portland to engage in busi- ness. In February, 1844, Horace bought his brother's interest, and for a number of years he conducted the only carriage factory in town, also carrying on a foundry and manu- facturing ploughs quite extensively. In 1860 his two sons died of scarlet fever, and, after recovering from an almost fatal attack of that disease, he sold his business. Removing to Pecowset, he bought a grocery store, and, transferring the stock to the post-office build- ing in the centre of the village, did a suc- cessful business until 1866, when he sold out to T. E. Buck. In November, 1867, he came to Worcester as agent for a co-operative store, and, after remaining in charge of that estab- lishment for a year, he turned his attention to other lines, including the Bigelow heel ma- chine business, with which he was connected until 1876. In that year he built a carriage factory at 68 Chandler Street, where he con-

ducted a profitable business until 1888, when, having amassed a competency, he retired from active pursuits. He had previously invested in real estate, and, remodelling his factory into four tenement houses, he now became the owner of eighteen tenements in all. The property on Chandler Street bought by him in 1886 is a part of an estate given to the city by George Jacques, and consists of four thou- sand, three hundred and thirty-nine feet, for which he paid forty cents a foot.

On March 2, 1845, Mr. Buck was united in marriage with Eliza Ann Hall, born in Port- land, November 21, 1823, daughter of Abner and Eliza (Butler) Hall. Her father was a son of Abner Hall, of Chatham, Conn. He was born in that town, April 11, 1801, and spent the active period of his life upon a farm in Portland, where he died April 17, 1885. His wife, Eliza, was born in Portland, Octo- ber II, 1801, and died June 23, 1874. She was the mother of twelve children; namely, Martha, Eliza Ann (Mrs. Buck), Abner, Jr., Betsey C., Charles, William, Frederick A., Jane E., Mary Ellen, Harriet, Emma, and Adelaide. Mr. and Mrs. Horace B. Buck had three children: Martha E., who was born De- cember 31, 1845, and died September 1, 1848; Olive H., born August 9, 1853, died April 24, 1860; and Earl A., born Septem- ber 1, 1857, died April 14, 1860.

As a business man Mr. Horace B. Buck was upright in all of his dealings, and his friends speak of his generosity in the highest terms. At one time he served as Selectman in Portland. In his younger days he was a Democrat, but later he joined the Republican party. He was temperate in everything. He possessed a vein of wit and genial satire which made him a welcome guest at social gatherings. In 1894 he published a gene- alogy of the Buck and Matson families, to which the REVIEW is indebted for much of the data for this sketch. The following observa- tions taken from its pages will be found inter- esting, as showing the character and original- ity of the man. "Having started in the world with no one to help me, and having had a little experience in the world, I would say to my young friends, Be honest, be faithful in

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whatever you undertake. Never be called upon three times for a bill due. Never con- tract a debt with no means of paying it. If you want a little credit of the butcher, grocer, or to hire a tenement, or borrow a little money, do not be hanging around the beer saloon, or go with a cigarette or cigar in your mouth, or go to the theatre more than three times a week, or hire a horse to ride out on Sunday more than four times a month. A

word to the older ones. If the grocer, butcher, landlord, or money lender should not receive his pay the day it is due, and hears the sound of the hammer or the handsaw from seven in the morning until six at night, wait on him a little longer. If you find he is hanging around the rumshop, call in your money, tell him some one wants the tene- ment, and trust him no more."

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 109

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