Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 115

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 115

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of Littleton, Mass., who died in August, 1867, from injuries received when thrown from a carriage. On March 23, 1869, he con- tracted a second marriage with Miss Char- lotte E. Boyden, a daughter of Cyrus and Mary (Wheelock) Boyden. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton have had two children, neither of whom is now living. The eldest son, George B., died September 8, 1875, aged fourteen months; and Harry Putnam, born May 29, 1877, died of spinal meningitis, February 15, 1888.

OHN FRANCIS SEARLE, who is connected with the manufacturing in- terests of Worcester County as the rep- resentative of the Wright & Colton Wire Cloth Company, of Worcester, was born in Grafton, Mass., November 5, 1839, son of Uriah and Tabitha (Hall) Searle. His ances- tors for a number of generations have been resi - dents of New England and principally of Massachusetts, in which State his great-grand- father, Andrew Searle, and his grandfather, James Searle, spent their entire lives. Uriah Searle, father of John T., was born in Towns- end, Middlesex County, Mass., and there learned the trade of a boot and shoe maker, which he afterward carried on in Grafton for a number of years.

John Francis Searle acquired a good educa- tion in the public schools of Grafton, in which town in his early manhood he held a conspicu- ous position among its influential and leading citizens. Loyal and patriotic, he enlisted from Grafton, soon after the breaking out of the Civil War, in the Fifty-first Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, with which he served nine months, mostly in North Carolina, and participated in several engagements, including the battle of Goldsboro. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he joined the First Bat- talion, Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, which was stationed at Fort Warren, in Boston Har- bor, from 1862 until 1865. On returning home Mr. Searle resided in Grafton for a while, and. for twelve years was Postmaster of that town. In 1876 he was elected as a Representative to the State legislature from

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Grafton and Shrewsbury, and served his con- stituents with ability and fidelity in the Gen- eral Court. In 1877 he entered the employ of George C. Whitney, a manufacturer of val- entines, for whom he subsequently became travelling salesman, a position that he retained eleven years. In 1889 he became connected with the Wright & Colton Wire Cloth Com- pany, one of the leading manufacturing firms of Worcester, which he has since capably represented in different parts of the Union. A man of superior intelligence and business ability, he has the confidence of the firm in an eminent degree, and is intrusted with impor- tant responsibilities by his employers. Mr. Searle is a strong Republican in politics, an enterprising and progressive citizen, and a supporter of the highest and best principles of good government. Fraternally, he is a mem- ber of George H. Ward Post, No. 10, G. A. R., of Worcester; of Franklin Lodge, F. & A. M. ; and of the Knights of Malta.

Mr. Searle has been twice married, his first wife having been Ellen E. White, of Grafton, Mass. After her death he married September 3, 1865, Emeline R., daughter of John Searle, of Wilton, N. H. Mr. and Mrs. Searle have two children - Minnie E. and Harry W. The latter is unmarried. Minnie E. is the wife of George M. Wright, a young man of exceptional business ability, now the general manager of the Wright & Colton Wire Cloth Company, with which Mr. Searle is connected. She has three children; namely, George F., Ralph W., and Florence M.

J ULIUS CÆSAR ZAEDER, propri- etor of the Zaeder House, Worcester, was born in Hartford, Conn., August 7, 1865, son of Benjamin and Ellen (Karst) Zaeder. His father was born in Al- sace, September 13, 1834, of German parent- age, was apprenticed to learn the machinist's trade when a boy, and became at nineteen a skilful mechanic.

In 1853 Benjamin Zaeder came to the United States for the purpose of setting up some German engines at the Pacific Mills, Lawrence, Mass. ; and he was subsequently

employed to set up other engines of the same make in different parts of the country. In 1876 he established a German restaurant at 14 Mechanic Street, Worcester, which he car- ried on successfully for the rest of his life, from a small beginning developing the busi- ness now owned by his son. He was familiar with five languages, and translated readily from one to the other. For many years he was a leading spirit in musical circles, being the founder of a well-known society in this city, an accomplished instrumentalist, and a personal friend of Carl Zerrahn, the distin- guished musical conductor of Boston. In 1858 Benjamin Zaeder was married in this city to Ellen Karst, who was born in the region of the Rhine, Germany, April 10, 1834. He died September 28, 1891, and Mrs. Zaeder died April 29, 1897. They had seven chil- dren, namely : Amanda, who died at the age of twenty-four years; Benjamin, who died at twenty-six; Cecilia, widow of Henry F. Arms; Julius C., the subject of this sketch; George E., an attaché of the Worcester post-office; Frederick J., who was graduated from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, class of 1893, and is an electrical engineer; and Emil, a graduate of the Boston University Law School and an attorney of this city. Emil Zaeder left his practice to serve as a private in Company C, Second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish war, 1898, and returned from Cuba in August, stricken with disease.

Julius Cæsar Zaeder at an early age began to assist his father in business. He was edu- cated in the common and high schools of this city, and after the completion of his studies he and his brother Benjamin opened a real es- tate office in Holyoke, Mass., where he re- mained three years. He then returned to the hotel. Succeeding to its ownership since his father's death, he has conducted it successfully to the present time.

On October 1, 1896, Mr. Zaeder was united in marriage with Miss Minna Wagner, of Worcester. They have one daughter - Minna, born October 4, 1897.

Politically a Democrat, Mr. Zaeder takes an active interest in local affairs. He is a thirty-

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second degree Mason; is prominently identi- fied with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and belongs to several clubs and organizations, including Battery B, the Worcester Light Infantry, the City Guards, and Continentals. His city residence is at 59 Exchange Street, and he has a summer cottage at Lake Quinsigamond, near the Wapity Club, of which he is president.

BEN S. FULLER, of Clinton, an ex- tensive real estate dealer, was born in Lancaster, Mass., March 31, 1833, son of John and Sophronia (Adams) Fuller. His paternal grandparents were Ebenezer and Lydia (Goddard) Fuller, of Roxbury, Mass., where John Fuller, their only son, was born on December 28, 1806. Both Ebenezer Ful- ler and his father fought for American inde- pendence in the Revolution, the former enter- ing the army at the age of sixteen and serv- ing seven years, during the entire period of the war.

John Fuller for some years worked at his trade of clothier, which he learned in Lancas- ter of Ephraim Fuller. Afterward he engaged in the finishing of combs. The later years of his active life were passed in farming. He died in 1890, aged eighty-four years. He was a prominent Unitarian, and was a Deacon of that church in Lancaster. He was married to Sophronia Orange Wadsworth Adams in Lan- caster by the Rev. Dr. Thayer in 1828. Mrs. Fuller was the only child of Samuel and Mercy (Sherwin) Adams, of Ashburnham, Mass. She was born March 31, 1806, and died in 1890, at the age of eighty-four. Her father settled in Grafton, Vt., as a pioneer, but re- moved to Lancaster in 1816, when Sophronia was ten years old, and died there at an ad- vanced age.

Mr. and Mrs. John Fuller were the parents of ten children. The living are: Sophronia, wife of Horatio Bailey, of Lancaster; Eben S., the subject of this sketch; Sidney T., a prominent engineer, who has held important positions on a number of railroads in this sec- tion, as well as serving as superintendent of an important line in Mexico; and Edwin M. Ful-

ler, who served as Major in the Federal army through the Civil War and is now a physician in Chicago.

Eben S. Fuller completed his education at the Lancaster High School. He was then employed for a time at a comb manufactory, afterward for a year being engaged in the pianoforte business. In 1859 he bought of C. C. Stone the door, sash, and blind busi- ness in Clinton. As trade improved he added a saw-mill and other wood-working machin- ery. In 1890 his son bought out the business. Mr. Fuller had previously interested himself . in real estate, to which he has since given a good share of his attention. He has been one of the largest landholders in this locality, and has built many houses, his tenements at one time numbering over seventy. He owns and cultivates farms in Lancaster and Sterling.

On November 7, 1861, he married Nancy Goss Fuller, who was born in Lancaster, Mass., on March 22, 1840. She was the daughter of Ephraim Fuller, a successful cloth manufacturer, who lived to be eighty-three years old. She died August 4, 1871, having been the mother of four children, namely : Jessie Genevra, born October 15, 1862; John Ephraim, born November 12, 1864; William Andrew, born September 24, 1866; and Susie Gertrude, born October 8, 1868. John E., who became a real estate dealer, died in Duluth, Minn., June 28, 1892. Jessie G. is the wife of the Rev. James C. Duncan, a Unitarian minister of Clinton, Mass., and has two chil- dren - Robert F. and James. William A., who succeeded his father in the lumber busi- ness, married Bessie E. Farwell, of Clinton, Mass., and has two children - John F. and Beatrice Louisa. Susie G. is the wife of Joseph J. Albright, a broker of Buffalo, N. Y., and has one child, John by name. Eben S. Fuller married for his second wife, on March 4, 1891, Cora Adelaide Chilson Butterfield.

Mr. Fuller is a director of the Clinton First National Bank, a trustee of the Clinton Sav- ings Bank, and a director of the New Boston Aqueduct Company. Politically, he is a Re- publican, and has served as Selectman and Overseer of the Poor in Clinton. He takes an active interest in the advancement of the town

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and the development of its various resources, and is a member of the Worcester East Agri- cultural Society. He is a Deacon of the Unitarian parish.

LBERT H. FOSTER, of North Brook- field, an extensive dealer in coal, was born November 12, 1839, in New Braintree, Mass. A son of James R. Foster, he is a grandson of Barnaby Foster and a descendant of an Englishman who emi- grated from Old England to New England in Colonial times. The father, born in Middle- boro, Plymouth County, Mass., was there reared to agricultural pursuits. After his marriage with Nancy Henry, a native of Rut- land, descended from Scotch-Irish ancestors, he lived for a few years in New Braintree, this county. Then he removed to the nearby town of Oakham, where he was engaged as a gen- eral farmer for the remainder of his days.

But seven years old when his parents settled in Oakham, Albert H. Foster completed his schooling in that town. At the age of four- teen he left the parental rooftree, and, coming directly to North Brookfield, secured a situa- tion with the firm of T. & E. Batcheller, boot and shoe manufacturers. From 1853 to April, 1879, with the exception of the three years spent in the army, Mr. Foster continued with this firm as a faithful and trusted employee. In April, 1861, he enlisted in Company F, Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Poto- mac, and served under various generals, in- cluding McClellan, Hooker, Meade, and Grant. At the battle of Ball's Bluff he was captured by the rebels, and was subsequently confined in a Richmond prison for four months. Later he was paroled, and then exchanged. Having rejoined his old company, he was among the troops that repelled Pickett's charge at the battle of Gettysburg. After participating in the second battle of Fredericksburg he was detailed to a conscript camp in Long Island, Mass., where, in addition to the general rou- tine duties, he had the charge of delivering men to their respective regiments. Here he continued until the expiration of his term of

enlistment, on July 11, 1864. Returning then to North Brookfield, he resumed his former occupation with E. & A. H. Batcheller, the name of the firm having in the meanwhile been changed. When he left the employment of the Messrs. Batcheller in 1879, he engaged in his present coal business. He is also connected with the North Brookfield Savings Bank as one of its trustees and as a member of its Board of Investment.

In politics Mr. Foster takes an independent course, voting for men and measures regard- less of party. Fraternally, he is a member of Maradian Sun Lodge, F. & A. M., of North Brookfield; of Woodbine Lodge, I. O. O. F., of this town; and of the Ezra Batcheller Post, No. 51, G. A. R., of which he was Com- mander for two years. His first wife, for- merly Addie M. Ashby, of North Brookfield, bore him three children - Harold A., Frank W., and George B. George is now deceased. The mother died February 3, 1892. Mr. Fos- ter subsequently married Miss Alice W. Smith, also of this town. Both he and Mrs. Alice W. Foster attend the Union Congregational Church. Their pleasant home is the centre of social activity.

ATHAN LUCE DAGGETT, for many years a well-known and respected resi- dent of West Boylston, was a native of Farmington, Me. Reared upon a farm in that town, he subsequently learned the trade of shoemaker, which he followed for some years after coming to West Boylston. Later he settled upon a farm here and tilled the soil energetically until his death, at the age of sixty-two years, December 6, 1887.

In 1855 Mr. Daggett married Harriet F. Pierce, who was born in West Boylston, a daughter of Ezekiel and Ruth (Perry) Pierce. Her father, who was a native of Sutton, Mass., settled in West Boylston previous to his mar- riage, and was engaged here in the manufact- ure of scythes for several years. He owned the first trip-hammer used in this section of the country. Later he became the owner of considerable land and a prosperous farmer. One of the most prominent residents of his

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day, he took an important part in local public affairs, and is still remembered for his services to the town as Selectman, Assessor, Tax Col- lector, and Overseer of the Poor. In politics he was a Republican. His wife, Ruth, was born in Hopkinton, Mass., a daughter of Moses Perry, an industrious farmer of that town. Ezekiel and Ruth Pierce both died at the age of seventy-seven years. They were the parents of four children, of whom Mrs. Daggett was the youngest, and is the only one now living. Those deceased are: Estes, Emily, and John Q. A. Estes Pierce died at the age of seventy- seven years. Emily, who married Charles Merrifield and died at seventy-nine, left two children - Harriet J. (Mrs. Harrington) and Charles E. Merrifield, both of whom are mar- ried and have families. John Q. A. Pierce, who died at the age of seventy-three, married for his first wife Delia Bliss, and two of his children by that union are now living. His second wife, Elizabeth Whitaker, bore him two children, one of whom survives. Mrs. Daggett is still residing in West Boylston, where she is highly respected for her fine womanly qualities. She attends the Congre- gational church, in which her husband was actively interested.

AMES PURSEY, who acquired a high reputation in Worcester as a baker and caterer, was born in Bath, Somerset- shire, England, December 9, 1844, son of Joseph and Johanna Lawrence Pursey. Having learned the baker's trade with his father, he came in 1869 to the United States. After visiting his parents, who had come to the country five years before, and were then living in Worcester, he took up his residence in Westboro. A few years later he settled permanently in Worcester, where he estab- lished himself in business on Southbridge Street, beginning on a small scale and enlarg- ing his facilities as trade increased. In 1882 he found it necessary to open a branch store on Pleasant Street in order to supply the large demand for his goods. In 1888 he secured a centrally located position at 584 Main Street, opposite the new post-office, where he soon

built up an extensive baking and catering busi- ness. Aside from the usual line of bread, cake, and pastry he introduced some English special- ties that found favor with his patrons and did much toward enhancing his reputation. His genial and courteous disposition also contrib- uted in no small measure to his success; while the readiness and liberality he displayed in relieving the poor, who were never turned away empty-handed from his door, gained for him general esteem.

At one time Mr. Pursey belonged to no less than twenty-seven fraternal organizations. He, however, saw fit to sever his connection with some of these; and at the time of his death, which occurred April 17, 1898, he was a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Knights and Ladies of Honor, the Elks, the Frohsinns, the Worcester Continentals, the Denver Association, the Wapiti Club, and the Masonic order. In the Masonic fraternity he had reached the thirty-second degree. At the obsequies, which were held in the First Universalist Church, conducted by the Rev. Dr. Almon Gunnison and the Worcester County Commandery of Knights Templar, the edifice was completely filled with friends and acquaint- ances and delegations from the various socie- ties of which he was a member. Previous to coming to the United States, Mr. Pursey was joined in marriage with Elizabeth A. Cole, who, with an adopted daughter, survives him. The business is now carried on by Mrs. Pursey.

ARTIN TRULSON, proprietor of Hotel Du Nord, Worcester, is a native of Sweden, and was born October 5, 1857. He obtained his elementary education in the public schools, and also attended an agricultural school. Emigrating to America in 1879, he spent four months in Kansas City, Kan. In the winter of 1880 he came to Worcester and entered the employ of the Washburn & Moen Company. Two years later he was appointed assistant fore- man, a position which he held for six years, but which he relinquished at the end of that time in order to go into business for himself as proprietor of a restaurant. He carried on the

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CALVIN L. HARTSHORN.

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restaurant business successfully until 1896, when he opened the Hotel Du Nord at 39, 41, and 43 Summer Street. The hotel is a four- story brick building, which he had commenced to build the previous year. It contains thirty- two well-furnished rooms, and is equipped with all modern improvements, including steam heat and electric lights.

On February 12, 1885, Mr. Trulson was joined in marriage with Johanna C. Sjogran, a native of Sweden. He has been the father of five children, four of whom are living, namely : Rudolph, born in 1885; Victor, born in 1890; Mabel Josephine, born in 1893; and Henry Francis, born in 1896. In politics Mr. Trulson is a Republican. He belongs to the Benevolent Order of Elks, the Mystic Brothers, the Svea Gille, and the Foresters. He has worked his way forward to his present position as a substantial business man solely through his own energy and perseverance, and is es- teemed and respected by a large circle of friends.

ALVIN LYON HARTSHORN, an extensive farmer and market gardener, residing in the Seventh Ward of the city of Worcester, Mass., is one of the solid business men of the place and a citizen of considerable prominence. He was born in Worcester, December 25, 1832, a son of Deacon Jonas and Eunice (Patch) Harts- horn.

His paternal grandfather, Deacon Ebenezer Hartshorn, was a farmer and carpenter. The first wife of Ebenezer Hartshorn died young, leaving him several children. He afterward married for his second wife Betsey Greenwood, who bore him four children, as follows: Susan, who married William Ken- dall, of South Royalston, Mass., and died some years later, leaving a family; Jonas; Sarah, wife of Simon Partridge, of Boylston; and Calvin, a millwright in Walpole, Mass.

Betsey Greenwood was a lineal descendant of Thomas Greenwood, who, a weaver, aged twenty-two, came in 1665 from England to Boston, and two years later settled in the south-east part of Cambridge, now Newton,

Mass. He married first Hannah Ward, and had three children. He married second Abi- gail (probably) Spring, and by this union had three more children. William Greenwood, the second child of the second marriage, a farmer by occupation, was a Deacon of the church and a prominent man of affairs in Sherborn, Mass. He married Abigail Wood- ward, and had ten children. The fifth of these, a son Jonas, was a resident of Sher- born and probably a farmer. He married Catherine Fuller, and had five children, the eldest being the daughter Betty, who married Deacon Ebenezer Hartshorn, as stated above.

Jonas Hartshorn, son of Ebenezer and Betty (Greenwood) Hartshorn, was born in Sher- born, Mass., in June, 1802, and died in Worcester, Mass., August 7, 1880. When a boy of seven years he was bound out to a fam- ily in old Boylston, named Temple, with whom he lived several years. He was after- ward for a while guard and turnkey in the jail, a position which he resigned to engage in farming in Worcester. In 1839 he sold the land that he had purchased when first coming here, and from the Patch brothers, Joseph and William Whipple Patch, bought one-half of their farm of two hundred acres, taking the half now owned by his son, Calvin L .; while William Whipple Patch assumed possession of the other one hundred acres. Soon after coming here he erected a good dwelling-house, and set out extensive orchards and shade trees along the highway. On the site of a barn that was burned he built the present commodious barn, and made other val- uable improvements. He served in the City Council, and for many years was a Deacon in the Pleasant Street Baptist Church. On April 1, 1828, he married Eunice Patch, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Flagg) Patch. She died in 1834, having borne him three children, as follows: John Clark, Nathan Greenwood, both of whom died in infancy ; and Calvin Lyon, the subject of this sketch. In 1835 he married Laura Ann Patch, who bore him five children, of whom but one sur- vives, - namely, John Warren, born September 9, 1839, who resides in New London, Conn.

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The second wife was a daughter of William Whipple and Sarah (Willard) Patch. Jonas Hartshorn married the third time, August 10, 1844, Abigal Whitney. She died March 23, 1862, having had one son, Alfred Augustus, who died young. Jonas Hartshorn married March 15, 1864, Lydia A. Bray. She died January 1, 1894. No children were born of this fourth marriage.

Calvin L. Hartshorn obtained his element- ary education in the common schools of Worcester, and afterward attended a seminary in Essex, Conn. He has since lived on the home farm, to the ownership of which he has succeeded, and has met with eminent success in his agricultural and horticultural pursuits. A number of years ago he began raising early vegetables for the markets on a very modest scale, having at first a small hot-bed covered with a few panes of glass; and he has gradually increased his operations until now he has about three hundred hot-beds covered with sash, and two greenhouses, one hundred and seventy-five feet long by eighteen feet wide. The oxen kept by his father have been re- placed by horses, the work now requiring ten of them. He employs twenty-five to thirty assistants in the summer season and fifteen during the winters, and is constantly in- augurating new improvements. He has en- tirely remodelled the original dwelling-house, and has erected a new carriage-house and storehouse besides his two greenhouses, all of which are equipped with the most modern conveniences suitable for their use. A por- tion of the farm has been divided into village lots; and several public thoroughfares, includ- ing May, Chandler, June, Mill, Lovell, Cout- land, and Walworth Streets, cross the estate. On one of the lots in 1893 Mr. Hartshorn built a large brick machine shop, now occu- pied by the Guild Piano Manufacturing Com- pany; and he has more recently built a new house in which his son, Arthur Ernest, re- sides, who ably assists him in the manage- ment of his business.

Mr. and Mrs. Hartshorn are charter mem- bers of the Worcester Grange, which he has served as Master. Mr. Hartshorn is likewise a member of Morning Star Lodge, F. &

A. M .; of the Worcester Agricultural So- ciety, in which he has often been at the head of different committees; and of the Worcester County Horticultural Society, of which he has been a trustee for many years, and is now one of the Vice-Presidents. For twelve years he was one of the State Board of Agriculture, for six years he was a member of the Dairy Bureau, and for three years a member of the State Experiment Station at the Agricultural College. He was for four years a member of the City Council, for nine years he was an Overseer of the Poor, and for one year Park Commissioner, then resigning the office because his own business required all of his time. In 1879 and 1880 he represented his ward in the State legislature. He has re- peatedly refused official honors, and, having received the nomination of Mayor of the city unsolicited, refused to accept. He is a Jus- tice of the Peace. On September 30, 1858, Mr. Hartshorn married Helen Marcelia Marcy, who was born in Charlton, Mass., a daughter of Andrew and Clarentine (Towne) Marcy, but was bred and educated in Worcester. Mr. and Mrs, Hartshorn have two children - Annie Maud and Arthur Ernest. The former, who married William K. Stanley, an employee in the dry-goods house of Barnard, Sumner & Putman Co., resides on the home farm, and has two children - Helen Maud and Grace Hartshorn. The latter, who occupies the new house built by his father, corner May and June Streets, married Annie Maria Williams, of this city, daughter of Thomas Williams, Esq. Mr. and Mrs. Hartshorn are members of the Dewey Street Baptist Church.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 115

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