Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 116

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 116

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AMES H. GAFNEY, an enterprising business man of Petersham, Mass., is a native of the neighboring town of Barre. He was born April 19, 1856, son of John and Mary (Rogers) Gafney. He was educated in the common schools, the Barre Academy, and at Howe's Business College, Worcester, where he took a commercial course. His business training began in a large pro- vision store in that city, where he worked his way upward to the position of foreman. He

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next went to Northboro as manager for A. E. Walker, with whom he remained a year, and thence coming to Petersham he was employed in the same capacity for a few months. In 1878 he opened the first regular meat market established here, and gave his attention wholly to the provision business until 1897, when he opened a first-class grocery store, carrying a large and varied stock of goods. The liberal patronage accorded him is ample proof that his enterprise is heartily appreciated by the people of Petersham. He is also engaged in the grain, coal, and ice business.

He is one of the vice-presidents of the Worcester County North-west Agricultural Society and a trustee of the Worcester County West Agricultural Society, taking a lively interest in the annual exhibition of each, and for the past three years has served as chief marshal. For a number of years he has been chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, and he resigned the chairmanship of the Dis- trict Committee in 1895 after a long member- ship. In 1893 he was a member of the Board of Selectmen, being the second Democrat elected to that body in forty years. He was his party's candidate for Representative to the legislature, receiving the largest vote ever cast for a Democratic opponent in this district. He has served as Overseer of the Poor, and was appointed a Justice of the Peace by Governor Wolcott in 1897.

Mr. Gafney married Alfaretta F. Hodgdon, of Marlboro, Mass. They have one son, Harry D., who was born in 1878, was fitted for col- lege at the Proctor Academy, Andover, N. H., and is now a student in the Harvard Medical College.

In Masonry Mr. Gafney has advanced to the thirty-second degree, and is a life member of all the Scottish Rites, being at present Senior Warden of Mount Zion Lodge, Barre. He is a member of Union Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Athol Commandery, Knights Tem- plar, Athol; Titus Strong Council, Royal and Select Masters, Greenfield; the Lodge of Per- fection, Lawrence Chapter, Rose Croix; God- dard Council, Princes of Jerusalem, Worces- ter ; Aleppo Temple of the Mystic Shrine and the Massachusetts Consistory, thirty-second

degree, Boston. He has also taken the high- est degree in Odd Fellowship, and belongs to Orange Lodge, No. 182, Fall Hill Encamp- ment, No. 59, and Canton Orange, No. 52, Patriarchs Militant, all of Orange, and is a member of Corinthian Lodge, Knights of Pythias, Athol.

IRAM FRENCH, for many years a well-known boot manufacturer of Worcester, where he died on July 2, 1872, was a native of North Bridge- water, Mass. Born May 25, 1812, son of Sylvanus and Silence (Keith) French, on the paternal side he was a descendant of John and Grace French, early settlers of Braintree, and on the maternal side of the Rev. James Keith, a Scotchman, educated at Aberdeen, who was the first minister of Bridgewater.

Hiram French learned the trade of a boot and shoe maker in North Bridgewater, and came to Worcester in 1844 to assume control of a part of the boot factory of Mr. Corbett. A few years later Mr. French purchased the entire business, which was then located at the corner of Pleasant and Main Streets. Gradu- ally increasing his operations, he at length removed to more commodious quarters in Franklin Square, where he carried on the business as long as he lived. Death came to him while he was yet in the vigor of manhood with the prospect of many more years of useful activity. A man of persistent energy, saga- cious and capable, he was wholly absorbed in his business, in which he met with success from the outset, and had his life been spared but a few years longer he would undoubtedly have attained a high position among men of wealth. In former years he belonged to the Home Guards of Worcester, and in later life he was identified with the Worcester County Me- chanics' Association. He was an active mem- ber of the Congregational parish. It may be said of him that in all respects he fulfilled his duties as a true and loyal citizen. He was a typical self-made man, having worked his way upward from a poor apprentice to a successful manufacturer.

Mr. French's first wife was Lucy A. Rich-

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ards. After her death he married on January 27, 1851, Mary Long, of Northboro, Mass., daughter of Lemuel and Lucy (Robinson) Long. Her father was born in Swanzey, N. H., and her mother in Salem, Mass., both coming from Colonial stock. Mr. and Mrs. French reared six children, namely: Thomas Bradford, of California; Hiram Keith, who entered the Worcester post-office as a clerk many years ago, and, having retained his con- nection with this office through the administra- tions that have since succeeded, has held many positions of trust and responsibility, and is now at the head of the money order depart- ment; Lizzie Robinson, who is now, and has been for years, head clerk in the office of the City Treasurer of Worcester, a position of trust and value; Mary Lee, wife of Benjamin S. C. Gifford, of Fall River, Mass. ; Emma L., living at home; and Lucy A., who is con- nected with the office of the City Treasurer.

RESTON P. ELLIS, one of West- minster's most respected citizens, is a native of Bellingham, Mass., and was born on December 15, 1831, to Preston and Samantha (Partridge) Ellis. His father, who was born in Franklin, Mass., settled in Westminster in 1833, and engaged in farming and the manufacture of lumber. He gradually worked into the canning busi- ness, and his canned fruits and preserves found a ready market. An interesting fact in con- nection with this business was the sale early in the fifties, to Mr. Breck, of James Breck & Son, of the peach pits from one season's pre- serves. These amounted to about two barrels, and were shipped by the Brecks to California. It would be difficult now to estimate the num- ber of peaches since shipped to New England from California that were grown from these stones. Mr. Ellis's mother, Samantha Par- tridge Ellis, was a native of Westminster.

Preston P. Ellis was educated in the public schools of his native town and at Westminster Academy. When a boy he learned the trade of bottoming chairs, but subsequently, in 1853, entered his father's canning factory. As buyer and seller and general overseer he was in

this business until 1892, when it was closed out. Since then he has been retired, although he still cultivates a farm of considerable extent. He is one of the directors of the Westminster National Bank of Gardner, Mass.

Mr. Ellis married Electra Bishop, daughter of Nelson Bishop. He has two children : Walter E., born June 22, 1862, who is in the employ of the New York, New Haven & Hart- ford Railroad; and Harvey L., born August I, 1869, who is a paymaster's clerk in the employ of the Boston & Maine Railroad.

UTHER SHUMWAY AMMIDOWN, who was a prominent business man of Southbridge for a number of years, was born in this town June 18, I822. A son of Captain Luther and Adelaide (Shumway) Ammidown, he was a descendant of Roger Ammidown, or Amadon, a Huguenot, who was residing in Salem as early as 1640. The birth of Lydia, daughter of Roger Ammi- down, in 1643, was the first event of the kind recorded in Boston in alphabetical order under the letter A. Descendants of this ancestor settled in Worcester County about the year 1670. Philip Ammidown, first, was born in 1669, and Philip, second, in 1708. When Southbridge was set off from the towns of Charlton and Dudley, the Ammidowns were its largest landed proprietors. Among them was Caleb Ammidown, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. The grand- father, Luther Ammidown, born July 8, 1761, married Polly Holmes, of Woodstock, Conn., a lineal descendant of John Holmes, one of the founders of that town. Captain Luther Ammidown, Luther S. Ammidown's father, who acquired his title in the State militia, was for many years a thriving merchant of Southbridge, where he died in October, 1877. He married Adelaide Shumway, who was born September 16, 1794, daughter of Jeremiah and Keziah (Freeman) Shumway. She became the mother of three sons, of whom one died in infancy. The others were: Luther S., the subject of this sketch; and Andrew Fuller, born in 1824, who died in 1862.

Luther Shumway Ammidown began his edu-

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cation in the schools of Southbridge. After completing his studies at an academy in Worcester he entered his father's store as a clerk. He and his brother, Andrew F., suc- ceeded to the store, which was located upon the site now occupied by the public library building, and for several years carried on quite an extensive trade. On November 21, 1843, he married Miss Mary L. Russell, a daughter of John and Lucy (Stone) Thompson Russell, of Charlton, and a descendant of Simon Stone, who came to this country in 1634, and died in Watertown in 1665. Mrs. Ammidown is the mother of two children : Albert H., born Au- gust 7, 1846; and Mary Adelaide, born Febru-

ary 4, 1852. Albert H. Ammidown prepared for college at Phillips Academy in Exeter, N. H., graduated from Harvard University in the class of 1868, and from the law school in 1869. Since then he has followed the legal profession in New York City. Mary Adelaide Ammidown, who completed her education in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., married Edward H., son of Holmes Ammidown, of New York City, and has had two children, of whom Philip Holmes Ammidown, now of Seattle, Wash., is living.

In politics Luther S. Ammidown was a Democrat. Though not an aspirant to politi- cal honors, he accepted some of the local offices at the earnest solicitation of his fellow-towns- men, irrespective of party. Taking pride in the progress and improvement of the town, he aided every measure designed for its benefit. He was a liberal contributor toward the sup- port of the Baptist church. Mr. Ammidown's death occurred January 16, 1897.

IRAM C. DUNTON, a furniture dealer and undertaker of Athol, was born in Phillipston, Mass., Novem- ber 4, 1855, son of Nehemiah and Elmira (Wellington) Dunton. His paternal great-grandfather was the first Dunton to settle in Phillipston, in which town Nehemiah Dun- ton, the grandfather of Hiram, resided. Mr. Dunton's mother was a daughter of Major Ezekiel Wellington, a resident of Ashburn- ham, Mass., and an officer in the State militia.

Hiram C. Dunton attended schools in Phil-

lipston and West Brattleboro, Vt., and subse- quently became a student at French's Business College, Boston. He was first employed as a clerk in Nathan Johnson's grocery store at North Orange, Mass. Later he worked in the same capacity in Springfield, Mass., where he remained two years, after which he returned to Orange. Subsequently coming to Athol, he worked four years for Mr. Cardeny, or until his employer's death, after which he managed the business until it was sold out. He then went into business for himself as an undertaker, and has since established a favorable reputation. Having previously attended the College of Em- balming at Boston, he is well qualified to suc- ceed in his profession. He also carries a varied stock of furniture and crockery ware of the latest design. By close attention to business and strict integrity, he has gained the confidence and patronage of the public, and has achieved a well-merited success. He is a member of the Board of Cemetery Commis- sioners, of Tully Lodge, I. O. O. F., and of the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Dunton married Mary Newton, daugh- ter of Willis S. Newton, of Athol. He has two daughters: Florence M., born in 1885; and Isabella, born in 1886.

RANCIS WAYLAND HIGGINS, for many years a well-known merchant of Worcester, a brother of E. G. Higgins, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this work, was born in Hardwick, Mass., on September 6, 1831, son of F. Henry and Ollie (Metcalf) Higgins. On both sides he comes of long lines of American ancestry. Repre- sentatives of the Higgins family were in the Plymouth Colony in the early days of its settlement, and from that time down to the present there have been among them men of marked ability, prominent in the various walks of life.

Francis Wayland Higgins spent his boy- hood in Hardwick, and obtained his education in the common schools of that town. He worked on the farm until nearly twenty years of age, when his ambition led him to go to Worcester, where his older brother, E. G., was

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engaged in the wall paper business. In 1867 he formed a partnership with his brother, which continued until 1873, and was very suc- cessful. This prosperity was in a great meas- ure due to the push and energy of the younger partner, who had practically the direction of the large number of men employed by the firm and who attended to many of the details, thus gaining a thorough knowledge of the workings of the business in every department. In 1873, when the partnership was dissolved, he opened a store on Austin Street, near Bellevue. The reputation he had already acquired was en- hanced, and he soon built up a lucrative trade ; but his energy led him to work beyond his strength, so that after a few years his health failed and he was obliged to retire. His death, which occurred on October 1, 1891, in the prime of his years, was lamented by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Hig- gins was a quiet citizen, but a worthy one. He was a man of strong religious convictions, and carried his principles into his daily life. He was a supporter of the Second Advent church, and a constant attendant of its ser- vics for many years. His life may well serve as an exponent of what is best and truest in American manhood, and his unfailingly hon- orable business methods are in every respect worthy of emulation.

Mr. Higgins was thrice married. His third wife, to whom he was married in 1871, was Mary Sargent, of Boxboro, Mass. By the first marriage he had two children, namely : Jennie L., now Mrs. J. E. Smith, of Worcester; and Josephine C., who died in infancy. By his second marriage there was one child - Hattie E., who died in 1898. By his third marriage there were two children - Irville F. and Myr- tice M., both of whom are living.

ON. HARTLEY WILLIAMS, for- merly Judge of the Central District Court of Worcester, was born at Mercer, Somerset County, Me., on August 12, 1820. He was a son of Simeon and Lydia Williams and one of a family of nine children. He obtained his early educa- tion in the common schools, and at the age of

seventeen entered what was then called a high school, where for two years he showed great proficiency in his studies, At the age of nine- teen he taught his first term of school in the neighboring town of Stark, meeting with marked success. In the winter of 1841 he came to Massachusetts on a visit to friends in Fall River, and was induced to remain and teach school in that vicinity. He subsequently taught in the State of Rhode Island. In 1842, while a student at Smithville Seminary, Scitu- ate, R.I., he conceived the desire to enter the legal profession. Coming to Worcester in De- cember, 1843, he entered the employ of Howe & Goddard, the predecessors of the Rice, Barton & Fales Machine and Iron Company, and for two years remained with them as book- keeper. In 1846 he engaged in the grocery business under the firm name of Nickerson & Williams; but this business was not to his taste, and he gave it up. Two years later he entered the office of the Hon. Francis H. Dewey, and gave his entire attention to the study of law. Already he was well informed on many points pertaining to the profession, as he had spent his leisure for several years in reading law books. In September, 1850, he passed with credit the examination for the Worcester County bar, and shortly after formed a partnership with Mr. Dewey, which continued successfully for thirteen years.

In 1854 Mr. Williams was elected a mem- ber of the Board of Aldermen. He was elected Commissioner of Insolvency in 1856, and was a State Senator in 1862 and 1863. As a member of the Executive Council in 1864 and 1865, he was one of Governor Andrew's most trusted and able advisers. He succeeded the Hon. P. Emory Aldrich as District Attorney in 1866, and continued to serve in that capac- ity until June 30, 1868, when he resigned to take the position of Justice of the Municipal Court, which took the place of the police court, and which in 1872 was changed to the Central District Court of Worcester. He ably filled that position until the day of his death, a little more than fourteen years later.

The following is an extract from a letter written to Judge Williams by Senator Hoar, dated at Washington, April 4, 1882: "You

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and I came to the bar at about the same time, and the lines of our lives have been very near each other for thirty years. They have fallen in very pleasant places. I have often thought that the office which you have filled so ably and successfully is the most difficult, as it is one of the most important in the administra- tion of our laws. Very few men among those who have made eminent judges of our highest courts would have discharged the responsible and arduous duties which have rested on you so wisely, humanely, and so much to the public benefit and satisfaction as you have done. Few men have the right to look back over their lives with more entire contentment with the public service they have been permitted to accomplish.

For nine long years Judge Williams was a faithful and valued member of the School Board. He was a member of the First Na- tional Fire Insurance Company of Worcester from its organization, and served officially as director, solicitor, and treasurer, with that care and sound judgment which characterized his life. For a period of nearly forty years he was a member of the Union Church Parish and prominently identified with its interests. In religion he was very tolerant. Making an eloquent plea before the Congregational Club of Worcester on behalf of a hearty Christian union of the churches, he said: "For myself, I would most earnestly advocate such a union, and I would recommend the adoption of this simple creed and have it written in letters of gold over every church door :

" For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight :

He can't be wrong whose life is in the right."

In June, 1872, Williams College conferred upon Judge Williams the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In 1878 the Judge and his daughter made an extended tour in Europe, and upon their return the former gave a most interesting account of his travels in a series of lectures delivered before the Union Church people.

Judge Williams was married to Rachel Harris, daughter of David Harris, Esq., of Industry, Me., on October 7, 1844, and came directly to Worcester. His marriage was a

most happy one, and was blessed by two chil- dren, a son and a daughter. The latter, who is the only living child, is the wife of Lieu- tenant Charles W. Bartlett, of the United States navy. The death of the Judge, which resulted from a stroke of paralysis, and oc- curred on August 17, 1882, was the occasion for many expressions of grief from those who had been his associates and friends. Memo- rial meetings were held by the "Natives of Maine," an organization of which Judge Will- iams was the first president, and by the Con- gregational Club, of which he was a most valued member. The Worcester County Court and Bar held a joint session in the September term, at which resolutions of loss and condo- lence were passed, and addresses made by the Hon. Peter C. Bacon, the Hon. F. H. Dewey, W. A. Williams, and John R. Thayer. The

Andrew Councillor Association, which con- sisted of all the executive advisers who had served in that branch of the State government during the administration of the great "War Governor," also tendered a message of sympa- thy to Judge Williams's family, and ordered a eulogy to be placed upon their records. The following remarks, which so carefully sum- marize the character of the Judge, are quoted from the address of the Rev. M. H. Harris before the "Natives of Maine " : ---

"Judge Williams's mind was distinguished by clear and accurate perceptions, sound judg- ment, a will strong in purpose, and a persist- ent patience, both in deliberation and inquiry. He began early, and never laid aside the habit of a thorough industry. So uniform was this and so deeply set as to wear the grace of some beautiful instinct. There was in it no bustle, no hurry. It was the genuine love of labor, stirring the whole being and keeping its ener- gies directed in constant application to wise and useful results. He seemed as one who could not rest idle, and yet his movements were such that he imposed no disagreeable con- straints on those near him, although his very presence was a reproof to a listless inaction. There were several very marked and sterling qualities exhibited by our friend which are all indicated when we say that comparatively few men can ever have been better fitted to counsel,

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guard, sustain, and re-enforce the minds of others. ... Many sought his counsel who had learned how dispassionate and cool, judicious and candid, gentle and sympathetic he was. He won and kept through life a perfect confi- 'dence in the hearts of those who knew him well. So delicate was his sense of honor, so pure his conscientiousness, so constant his fidelity, that none doubted that what he had under his control would be safe, and whatever he undertook to do would be done. His rea- son, affections, and conscience seemed to act always in harmony for a common end. Hence his character was uniform and consistent. One always knew where to find him. . .. Society could count him among her pillars. His opin- ions were deliberately formed, but were not easily disturbed when once settled in his mind. He was not hasty in his attachments, and they were never hastily abandoned. He. was dig- nified and self-possessed, not to be overcome by his own or others' emotion, yet tender and affectionate, and though of wonderful fortitude he always had a profound feeling of his abso- lute dependence on God for strength and aid."

HARLES B. SAWIN, a miller of Southboro, was born here, February 8, 1840, son of Moses and Mary (Morse) Sawin. He comes of a long line of millers. The earliest progenitor of the American Sawins was John Sawin, of

Watertown, Mass. John's third son, Thomas, bought of the Indians fifty acres of land in South Natick, for which he paid ten pounds lawful money. The conditions agreed upon obliged Thomas Sawin to build upon the premises a mill for grinding corn, him and his assigns to maintain the mill forever ; while, on the other hand, there was to be no other corn-mill built in the town without the consent of Thomas Sawin, his heirs and as- signs. Thomas Sawin was the direct ancestor of the subject of this sketch. He and his de- scendants held the mill from 1685 to 1833, a period of one hundred and forty-eight years.

Moses Sawin, Charles B. Sawin's father, sold the mill referred to above, and purchased of Deacon Gabriel Parker a lot of land with a

mill on it, situated half a mile west of the town hall in Southboro. In the following year he bought an additional lot on the south side and established a good farm homestead, building a substantial residence. Very active in public affairs, he was a member of the town Overseers of the Poor for many years, and he was influential in promoting temperance re- form. When William Lloyd Garrison called upon the nation to repent for supporting chattel slavery, Mr. Sawin did not hesitate to enlist in the great cause of humanity. He asked the members of the church to which he belonged to testify against slavery, and when his request was rejected he refused to com- mune with them as a church of Christ. For this the church cast him out, and he exultantly quoted to them the words of Christ, " Inas- much as ye did it unto the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." He was happy in living to see slavery abolished and his for- mer opponents acknowledge its wickedness and labor earnestly to overthrow it. Having lived seventy-six years, he passed away Febru- ary 7, 1871. The first of his three marriages was contracted in 1820 with Joanna T. Lane. The second took place in 1823, when Mary B. Morse became his wife. She bore him eight children. His third, in 1852, united him with Mrs. Catherine D. Rice.

Charles B. Sawin was educated in the pub- lic schools of Southboro. Afterward he worked with his father in the mill until 1863, when he enlisted in Company E, Fifty-first Massachusetts Volunteers. In active service during the greater part of his term, he partici- pated in the North Carolina campaign, the battles of Kingston, Whitehall, and Goulds- boro, and a number of minor engagements. He received his discharge in the summer of I864. When his father died he took charge of the extensive real estate interests and the mill. The latter was subsequently taken by the Metropolitan Water Works, and torn down to make way for other improvements. The mill building, which was bought and fitted up as a mill by Mr. Sawin, is the only one of the kind in this section. It measures one hundred and seventy by forty feet, is constructed sub- stantially of brick, and is thoroughly equipped

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 116

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