Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 123

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 123

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For a year during the Civil War Mr. Sawin served in the United States navy. He was a member of the local Board of Trade, of the American Mechanics' Association, of the Royal Arcanum Mutual Benefit Society, and of the A. O. U. W. Identified by membership with All Souls' Universalist Church, he contributed liberally toward its support. On January 29, 1879, at Marlboro, Mass., he married Eliz- abeth Temple, daughter of Hiram and Emily

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(Howe) Temple. Mrs. Sawin and her four children - Blanche, James, Julius Chapin, and Miriam Fairbanks - now occupy the handsome residence which Mr. Sawin built on May Street a few years ago.

ARRY M. WHITNEY, who owns and occupies one of the oldest estates in Harvard, was born in Albany, N. Y., January 20, 1845, son of Isaiah and Mary A. (Gove) Whitney. He is a descendant in the eighth generation of John Whitney, who was probably the first Ameri- can ancestor of the family. From John the line of descent is traced through Thomas, Isaiah (first), Isaiah (second), Isaiah (third), Cyrus, and Isaiah to Harry M. Mr. Whit- ney's farm has been in possession of the fam- ily since 1722. At least four generations of Whitneys have been born in Harvard. An extended account of the family may be found in the Whitney Genealogy, published by Fred- erick C. Pierce in 1895. Cyrus Whitney, grandfather of Harry, was born in Harvard, August 17, 1771. He inherited and occupied the homestead, and also established and oper- ated a cotton-mill in this town. He died in 1847.

Isaiah Whitney, Harry M. Whitney's father, was born April 22, 1815. He was reared and educated in Harvard, and when a young man went to Albany, where he entered mercantile business as a clerk. He subse- quently succeeded to the possession of the homestead; and the active period of his life was divided between his business interests in Albany and the cultivation of his farm in this town. He died in Harvard, June 30, 1867, aged fifty-two years. Successful as a general farmer, he was awarded several premiums for meritorious exhibits, and was an active mem- ber of the Farmers' Club. His wife, Mary, who was born in the State of New York, July 9, 1822, became the mother of five children, of whom four are living; namely, Harry M., Ella C., Edwin H., and Charles G. She died July 14, 1889. Both parents were members of the Unitarian church.

Harry M. Whitney came to Harvard at the

age of three years. He acquired a practical education in the common schools of this town, supplemented by one winter term in West Acton. At the age of twenty he went to Worcester, where he entered Pond's machine shop as an apprentice; but, after remaining there for a year and a half, he returned to Harvard. He was then occupied in attending to farm duties until his mother's death, and when the estate was settled he came into pos- session of the property. He owns forty-six acres of well-located land, which is divided into tillage land, orchard, and vineyard; and besides general farming he grows apples, peaches, and grapes. Politically a Repub- lican, he has long been identified with local affairs, having served as Selectman four years, one year of which he has been chairman, as Assessor seventeen years, Road Commissioner thirteen years, and Overseer of the Poor three years, in all of which offices he has displayed ability and fidelity to the interests of the townspeople.

In January, 1887, Mr. Whitney married Carrie W. Wright, who was born in Harvard, daughter of Isaac F. Wright. He has one daughter, Emily Ella, who was born October 24, 1893.

Mr. Whitney has occupied all of the im- portant chairs of Harvard Lodge, No. 60, I. O. O. F. He attends the Unitarian church, of which he has been clerk for the . past twelve years. He has also been a trustee of the First Parish Fund ten years and treas- urer of the Sunday-school twelve years.

RAN A. KELLEY, farmer and stock dealer, residing at 1002 Lincoln Street, Worcester, was born in West Winchester, N.H., September 2, 1842, son of Oran A. and Maria (Bacon) Kelley. His paternal grandfather was Abner Kelley, a native resident of Warren, Mass., by trade a carpenter and builder. He lived to be seventy-nine years old, and reared five children, among whom was Abner, Jr., who became a well-known business man of Worcester.

Oran A. Kelley, first, son of Abner, was

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born in Warren, September 1, 1812. At the age of twenty-one he left home with a view of starting in life for himself, and in 1846 he settled permanently in Worcester. For many years he kept a grocery store on Arch Street. He was a building contractor, and he owned a wood lot on Laurel Street, from which he cut and sold wood. Through his energy and busi- ness ability he accumulated a fortune amount- ing to one hundred thousand dollars. He was quite active in public affairs, and served in the Common Council several years. He died July 2, 1881. His wife, Maria, who was a native of Charlton, Mass., and a daughter of Charles Bacon, died in 1889, aged seventy-five years. She was the mother of four children, namely: Eliza, who resides on Main Street, Worcester, and is the widow of A. M. Eaton; Louisa, who died September 5, 1840, at the age of one year ; Oran A., second; and Emma L., who married S. D. Houghton, and resides at the corner of Claremont and Silver Streets, this city.

Oran A. Kelley, second, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the Worcester public schools, and completed his studies while in the ninth grade. Entering his father's gro- cery store as a clerk at the age of eighteen, he remained there two years, and then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. His father had already purchased for him a tract of forty acres, which he later increased to eighty ; and, taking charge of this after leaving the store, Mr. Kelley has added to it from time to time, possessing at present a desirably located farm of four hundred and twelve acres. In 1873 he erected a barn one hundred by forty-four feet, which has become inadequate, owing to his extensive stock dealing; and he is about to build another, to be used especially for cows. He keeps an average of one hundred head of cattle, including from sixty to seventy brown Swiss and Holstein cows. He uses twelve horses upon the place and in his milk busi- ness, and has bred some that have become not- able for speed, among them Don Pedro, who trotted in 2.16. Mr. Kelley's property is located two and a half miles from City Hall, and is admirably adapted for stock and dairy purposes. His milk business alone is

extensive, and he has supplied that necessary article of diet to the Chronic Insane Asylum on Summer Street for the past twenty-four years.

On June 19, 1864, Mr. Kelley married Mary S. Bond. She was born in Boylston, Mass., daughter of Thomas and Harriet (Slo- cum) Bond, the latter a native of Shrewsbury, Mass. Thomas Bond, who was a prosperous farmer, lived to be eighty-three years old, and his wife lived to be eighty-one. They reared a family of two sons and four daughters, all of whom are living except one son. Mrs. Kelley is the mother of three children, namely: Oran A., third, who is associated with his father in business, and has charge of the books; Herbert B., who is married and re- sides in Worcester; and Florence H., who is living at the parental home.

Politically, Mr. Kelley is a Republican. He represented Ward Two in the City Council two years, and was a member of the Board of Overseers of the Poor for the same length of time. He is prominent in Masonic circles, and has advanced in the order to the thirty- second degree.

AVIS P. GRAY, one of the most highly respected citizens of North- bridge, Mass., was born in Easton, Mass., September 5, 1827, son of Lewis and Louisa (Packard) Gray. In 1849, when in his twenty-first year, he came to Northbridge, and entered the employ of P. Whitin & Sons as a moulder. His faithful- ness and general ability soon won the favor of his employers; and after a few years he was made superintendent of the foundery, which position he retained for upward of a quarter of a century, during which time the number of the workmen under his charge increased from fifty to a hundred. In 1880, after a long career of activity and usefulness, he withdrew from the foundery, and since that time has had no connection with manufacturing inter- ests. He has taken an active part in local politics, and has served his fellow-townsmen in various offices. For many years he was chairman of the Republican Town Committee.

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In 1871 he was elected to the State legis- lature, where he was appointed a member of the Committee on Engrossed Bills, and where he showed the clear head, sound judg- ment, and firm grasp of public affairs that mark the born legislator. In 1888 he was re-elected as Representative, and during his term in the House served as a member of the Committee on Education. Under President Harrison he was appointed Postmaster of Northbridge, which place he filled for four years to the sat- isfaction of all patrons of the office. Subse- quent to that he was for four years chairman of the Board of Registration. March 18, 1898, he was appointed Postmaster of North- bridge by President Mckinley. He married Louisa M. Winter, daughter of David Winter, of Northbridge, and a descendant of an old and highly honored family. Mr. and Mrs. Gray have two daughters: Mrs. Lillia F. Alexander, who resides in Springfield, Mass .; and Mrs. Clara E. Dolliver, who is a resident of Whitinsville, Mass.

ARREN WHITNEY DUTCHER, for many years a leading business man of Hopedale, Mass., was born on the Fourth of July, 1812, in Shaftsbury, Vt. He was the second son of Peter and Lucy (Slye) Dutcher, and was of the fourth generation in descent from Gabriel Dutcher, whose father, it is said, came from Holland and settled near New York City in early Co- lonial times. Benjamin Dutcher, son of Ga- briel, was born in Dutchess County, New York, in 1742. He married Thankful Ben- son, who was ten years his junior. They set- tled at White Creek, N. Y., but later removed to Shaftsbury.

Peter Dutcher, above named, the second of their family of eight children, was born on March 1, 1778, at White Creek. On Septem- ber 5, 1801, he married Lucy Slye, a native of Shaftsbury and daughter of James and Meribah (Brown) Slye. Her father, who was a farmer by occupation and was generally known as Captain James Slye, was a self- educated man and a volunteer preacher in the Baptist denomination. Of the twelve chil-

dren born to Peter Dutcher and his good wife, ten grew to maturity.

The eldest of these, Elihu C., who was born on November 9, 1802, married Sarah Ploss, of Hoosick, N. Y., on March 15, 1827. Although an ordained Baptist clergyman, he devoted much time to wagon-making as a means of increasing his income. He preached several -years in Pownal, Vt., and afterward in Williamstown, Mass., as well as in other places. In 1847, however, he closed his min- istry, and removed to North Bennington, Vt., where he gave his attention to mechanical pursuits. In 1850, in connection with his brother, Warren Whitney, he perfected and patented the famous "Dutcher Temple." The two brothers jointly engaged in the man- ufacture of their valuable loom-temples and continued with signal success up to 1854. At that time E. D. and G. Draper, of Hope- dale, Mass., purchased the Rev. Elihu's in- terest in the business, and shortly after they arranged with Mr. Warren W. Dutcher to re- move to Hopedale with his family and manufacturing machinery. The Rev. Elihu Dutcher bought a valuable estate in Waukesha, Wis., and removed thither, but died of Asi- atic cholera on the second day after reaching his new home.

Warren Whitney Dutcher took up his resi- dence in Hopedale on May 20, 1856, and con- tinued the manufacture of temples in connec- tion with the Draper Brothers, he being the manufacturing agent at home and they the selling agents abroad. The business proved most successful, and has steadily enlarged as improvements have been made. In 1867 the concern became a legal corporation, under the name of the Dutcher Temple Company. The following year George Draper & Son suc- ceeded E. D. & G. Draper in the selling de- partment of the business, Mr. Dutcher still retaining the charge of the manufacturing.

Mr. Dutcher was married on October 10, 1841, to Malinda Amelia Toombs, daughter of Lyman and Eleanor (Stearns) Toombs and a native of Hoosick, N.Y. Her maternal grandfather was Captain William Stearns, a devoted Revolutionary patriot and soldier, who died in Jamestown, N. Y., in the eightieth

WARREN W. DUTCHER.

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year of his age. Numerous relatives of Cap- tain Stearns are living to-day in the vicinity of Worcester, and are among the most highly respected citizens. Mr. Dutcher died on Jan- uary 26, 1880, and rich and poor vied with each other in giving expression to their es- teem and sorrow. He was the father of the following named children: Charles Volney, who was bornon April 23, 1848, and died in infancy; Grace Mary, who resides in Hope- dale; and Frank Jerome, who was born in North Bennington, Vt., on July 21, 1850. His wife survived him eight years, passing away February 9, 1888.

Frank Jerome Dutcher is one of the man- agers of the business with which his father was for so many years connected. He is a man of genius, intelligence, and integrity. He has been connected with the Draper Com- pany since 1868, and was the treasurer of the Dutcher Temple Company until the consoli- dation in 1897. He is at the present time as- sistant agent of the new corporation. He is also interested in numerous other business and financial enterprises, being a director in the Home National Bank of Milford and president of the Shaw Stocking Company of Lowell. He is actively concerned in town affairs, and has served on the School Board since the town was incorporated. He has also been for some time chairman of the Republican Town Com- mittee. Since June 23, 1874, he has been a Justice of the Peace.

Mr. Frank J. Dutcher was married on June 27, 1877, to Martha Maria, daughter of Israel and Mary M. (McDonald) Grimwood, of Paw- tucket, R.I. Of this union was born on Au- gust 29, 1880, a son, who bears the honored name of his grandfather. There are also two daughters, who are now in school -- Daisy G., born November 28, 1881, and Ruth C., born April 21, 1887.

[We are indebted for most of the foregoing sketch, and also for other biographical and genealogical details in these pages concerning present or former residents of this part of Worcester County, to the very interesting and valuable History of Milford, by the Rev. Adin Ballou, of blessed memory, published by the town in 1882.]

ARL WILHELM BILDT, chief in- spector / for the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, of Worces- ter, Mass., was born in Sweden, August 27, 1854, a son of Abraham Gustaf Bildt. He is of distinguished descent, being a scion of a noble Swedish family, whose gene- alogy he possesses back to 1442. By another line he traces his ancestry directly to a family that in 1585 owned a very large estate in Mor- landa. He has the family coat of arms, a unique design in blue and bronze, sent to him by his cousin, Carl Bildt, a former Secretary of the Legation at Washington, D C., but now the Swedish Minister to Italy.

Mr. Bildt's paternal grandfather, Olof Vin- cent Bildt, was born February 24, 1787, and died January 22, 1863. He was an influential citizen, and for many years filled the important office of Magister. He married November 10, 18II, Sophia Elizabeth Mannecrantz, who was born October 23, 1790, and died February II, 1860. They had but one son, Abraham Gus- taf, and two daughters.

Abraham Gustaf Bildt was born November IO, 1814, and died November 29, 1869. He was a prominent military and public character. He was a Lieutenant in the army in 1835, and in 1837 he held the position of Bevaknings Kontrolër at Strömstad, Tullkammar district. On September 21, 1845, he married Frederika Axelina Bidderstam, who was born July 26, 1820, and died in May, 1888. They reared seven children, three sons and four daughters, of whom all are living except one daughter. Only two members of the family have crossed the ocean: namely, Carl Wilhelm; and his brother, August Fredrick, who is a civil engi- neer in Boston.

Carl Wilhelm Bildt was graduated at the Polytechnical School in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fall of 1879, and in 1880 came to this country. He at once began work with the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company as a laborer in the yards. He was subsequently promoted to the rolling mills, then to the rod- mills and heating furnaces, after which he worked at the charcoal furnace, and was later made foreman of the charcoal forges and rolling mills. Having proved his fidelity and ability

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in each of these positions, he subsequently became a chemist and draughtsman, and in 1885 was made chief inspector of the entire works of the company, an office which requires a man of practical knowledge, keen intellect, sound judgment, and good executive ability.

Several times Mr. Bildt has been sent by the company to England, Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, and Sweden, to visit the dif- ferent iron and steel works with which Wash- burn & Moen have had business connections, in order to supervise and inspect the manufactur- ing of the iron and steel bought by the firm of those concerns. For the same purpose he has also made visits to iron and steel works in this country.

RRIN F. JOSLYN, of Oxford, a re- tired shoe manufacturer, was born in East Thompson, Conn., July 13, 1831, son of Elliott and Almira (Davis) Joslyn. He is a descendant, it is said, of Equideus Joslyn, a nobleman of Brit- tany, who settled in England during the reign of Edward the Confessor. Mr. Joslyn's first American ancestor arrived in New England about the year 1718, locating first near Hing- ham, Mass., and removing in 1725 to Thomp- son, Conn. John Joslyn, the next in line of descent, had a son Edward, who was Orrin F. Joslyn's great-grandfather, and who served as a Sergeant in the Revolutionary War. Jesse Joslyn, the grandfather, and Elliott Joslyn, the father of Mr. Joslyn, were both residents of Thompson. His mother was a daughter of Abner Davis, of East Thompson.

Orrin F. Joslyn pursued his elementary studies in the common schools of East Thomp- son, and subsequently attended a private school at Webster, Mass. At the age of fifteen he took a position as clerk of a general store in the last named town, where he remained two years. Then going to Worcester, he was em- ployed there in the wholesale dry-goods store of B. L. Hardon & Co. for the succeeding five years, or until failing health caused him to seek the quiet and healthful surroundings of the home farm for the purpose of recuperation. After his recovery he came to Oxford, learned

the cutter's trade in a shoe factory, and was employed by different concerns here for a num- ber of years. In 1870 he and his brother formed a copartnership under the firm name of A. L. Joslyn & Co., and began the manufact- ure of shoes with a new factory fully equipped with improved machinery. For twenty-six years they carried on a successful business, enlarging their plant and increasing their out- put from time to time in order to keep up with the demand, their product finally amounting to as many as fifteen hundred pairs per day. Mr. Joslyn retired from the shoe business in 1897. He is director of the Oxford Bank. A leading spirit in the local Republican organization, he was chairman of the Town Committee for fifteen years. He also represented the towns of. Webster, Oxford, and Auburn in the legis- lature during the session of 1895, and was assigned to the Committee on Banks and Banking.

Mr. Joslyn married Helen E. Field, daugh- ter of Rodney A. and Theda A. (Plummer) Field, of Brattleboro, Vt. He is a trustee of the Free Public Library, and was chairman of the Board of Trustees of the First Congrega- tional Church, in which he was also superin- tendent of the Sunday-school for nearly twenty- five years.

"ERBERT E. KENDALL, a prosper- ous dairyman, residing in the Eighth Ward, Worcester, was born in Barre, Mass., October 31, 1863, a son of Henry Jones and Mary Jane (Joslyn) Kendall. The first ancestor of the Kendalls in this country came from Gloucestershire, Eng- land, at an early date, and several generations of the family have since resided in Massachu- setts. Mr. Kendall's paternal grandfather, David Kendall, born in 1790, was a well-to-do farmer of Barre, in which town he resided all or most of his life. An intelligent man, of sound judgment and progressive ideas, he was highly respected by his neighbors and acquaint- ances. He married Mary Estabrook, of Holden, Mass., and they reared two of their three children - Henry Jones and Caroline E. The latter is the wife of Estes Hawes, a mer-

C. H. Hutchins

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chant and banker of Barre. David Kendall died in 1862, at the age of seventy-two years. His wife survived him thirty years, dying in 1892, at the age of eighty-seven, having pre- served her mental and physical powers in a wonderful degree almost to the close of her life.

Henry Jones Kendall was born in Barre, Mass., September 21, 1832. In April, 1854, he married Mary Jane Joslyn, a daughter of Levi Joslyn, of Hubbardston, Mass. Her mother was in maidenhood a Miss Wright. Soon after their marriage they settled on a farm of some two hundred acres in Barre, Mass. They had three children : Ella, who died at the age of seven years; Herbert Estabrook, the subject of this sketch; and Louis Jones, a stock and dairy farmer of Worcester. A sketch of the last named may be found on another page of this volume. The mother is still living.

Herbert E. Kendall received his education in the common schools of Worcester and at a business college in this city. Trained to agri- culture, he has been thus engaged from his boyhood to the present time, and has resided since 1890 at his present location. He has always resided in Worcester with the exception of a period of about two and a half years, 1884 to 1887, when he had charge of a ranch in Kansas City, Kansas, the property of Morti- mer R. Platt, a wealthy man, who devoted his eight hundred acres of land to the breeding of pure blooded Galloway cattle. He now gives his chief attention to dairying.

Mr. Kendall married Miss Isadore Grace Thayer, daughter of Alden and Martha C. (Knowles) Thayer. They have one daughter, Grace Phyllis.

HARLES HENRY HUTCHINS, of Worcester, president of the Cromp- ton & Knowles Loom Works and of the United States Envelope Com- pany, was born in East Douglas, January 13, 1847. His father and grandfather were born in Maine, the grandfather being a sea captain. £ His father married a daughter of Oliver Hunt, of Douglas, Mass., who founded

the Douglas Axe Company; and thither Mr. Hutchins's father came to act as superintend- ent of the works, which was one of the first of its kind in the country.

It was here in this typical New England village that Mr. Hutchins was born and grew up to young manhood, developing those traits of honesty and integrity that have contributed so much to his success as a man of business ability, both progressive and aggressive. While attending the town school he was not idle Saturdays and vacations, as he lived in a time when the old saying, "Satan finds work for idle hands to do," was more literally ac- cepted than in the present day; and he was therefore obliged to spend his spare moments in the axe works of which his father was super- intendent and general manager. After leav- ing the high school he spent two years in this business, developing by practical experience his natural aptitude for machinery of all kinds and getting an insight into business methods. Leaving the shop, he served an apprenticeship of two years in the country store in the town, after which he entered the dry-goods store of Horace Sheldon & Co. in Worcester, where he removed permanently in July, 1867. Mr. Hutchins remained in this business seven years, until 1874. In 1873 he was married to Eliza E. Knowles, daughter of the late Francis B. Knowles, one of the founders of the Knowles Loom Works.

After severing his connection with the firm of Horace Sheldon & Co., under the firm name of C. H. Hutchins & Co., later changed to the Hutchins Narrow Fabric Company, he organ- ized a concern for the manufacture of tapes and webbing. This prospered highly, so much so that shortly after the death of Mr. L. J. Knowles in 1884 Mr. Hutchins was induced to accept a position with the Loom Works. Find- ing this took all of this energy, he sold out the Narrow Fabric Company and devoted his whole time to the loom industry. The business was soon after incorporated with Mr. F. B Knowles as president and Mr. Hutchins as treasurer. On the death of Mr. Knowles in 1890 Mr. Hutchins was elected to the joint office of presi- dent and treasurer, which he held until the con- solidation with the Crompton Loom Works,

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 123

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