Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 124

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 124

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Under his able supervision the Knowles Loom Works have achieved a remarkable growth and business success. Early in their history they established connections with an English firm at Dobcross, England; and in 1893 the George W. Stafford Loom Works, of Providence, R. I., were bought, and their scope and capacity en- larged. In March, 1897, the Knowles Com- pany and the Crompton Loom Works, of Worcester, consolidated under the name of Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, which or- ganized with Mr. Hutchins as its president, thus placing him at the head of one of the largest business enterprises of the country.

While Mr. Hutchins is largely known through his connection with the loom busi- ness, he has many interests and responsibili- ties in the business world outside of this, being interested in the manufacture of woollen and worsted goods, and also in cotton, and is a director in no less than five cotton-mills. During the present year he has also been chosen president of the United States Enve- lope Company, which includes ten of the larg- est envelope factories of this country, and without doubt is the largest company for the manufacture of envelopes that was ever formed. Not only in manufacturing interests is Mr. Hutchins well known, but as a director in the Central National Bank and a trustee of the People's Saving Bank of Worcester. He was also president of the Exporters' Association of America, with offices in New York City, until the pressure of other duties made it imperative that he should resign.

Politically, Mr. Hutchins has often been urged by his friends to stand for important offices, but he has felt that the stress of busi- ness would not allow him to accept. With all the cares that his numerous duties have entailed upon him he has always found time to devote much activity to the religious world, and has been a most generous supporter both in time and money to things charitable. He was one of the founders of the Hospital Cottages for Children at Baldwinsville, Mass., and served as the honored president of the corporation for a number of years. He is also one of the Board of Directors of both the Home for Aged Women and the Home for Aged Men of

Worcester. He is a member of the Piedmont Congregational Church, and has always been one of its most ardent supporters and generous givers. The Sunday-school has been his es- pecial care, and he has several times served as its superintendent. In 1897 he was elected president of the Worcester Congregational Club, which is composed of members from all the Congregational bodies of the city and surrounding territory.

In his home life he has shown the same devotion and integrity as in the business world. Blessed with a son and a daughter, the atmosphere of his home is one of frank and generous confidence and comradeship.

ENRY W. WELCH, of Clinton, a prominent contractor and builder, is a native of Burke, Vt., born Febru- ary 18, 1838. His parents were Moses and Mary (Whitcher) Welch, the father being a native of Warren, N. H., and the mother of Danville, Vt. Moses Welch, who was a teamster by occupation, died at the age of seventy-seven. He was the father of eight children, of whom three are now living. Mrs. Mary Welch died at the age of sixty-nine years. Both parents were members of the Baptist church.

Henry W. Welch received his education in the common schools. After finishing his studies he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed as a journeyman until 1862. He then entered the pattern shops of the Parker Machine Company, where he was employed for five years. In 1870 he started in business as a contractor and builder in Clinton, where he has since been closely identified with the growth and improvement of the town, having erected many dwelling houses. He has lately erected several buildings for the State Indus- trial School in Lancaster, including a fine church, has put in a water and sewerage sys- tem, and is still employed there, having at times a crew of one hundred men at work upon the premises. He also does all the buying for the institution, and has charge of the repairing, being employed by the year at a fixed salary. In politics he is a Republican. He has served

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four years as Road Commissioner, during two of which he has been chairman of the board ; and he has been a member of the Board of Fire Engineers for ten years.

In 1865 Mr. Welch was joined in marriage with Jennie M. Fuller, a native of Framing- ham. Mass .. and a daughter of Samuel Fuller, her father being a shoemaker by trade. Mr. and Mrs. Welch have two children : Cora, who married Fred Stowers, a clerk in Lowell, Mass. ; and Frederick, who is employed as a book-keeper in Worcester.

Mr. Welch is connected with Clinton Lodge, I. O. O. F., and also with the encampment, in which he has occupied various chairs. He also belongs to the Golden Rule Alliance. He is a member of the Baptist church, and for a number of years has served upon the Pruden- tial Committee.

ENRY C. GRATON, treasurer of the Graton & Knight Corporation, Worcester, was born in Leicester, Mass., July 10, 1830, son of Will- iam and Lucy (Adams) Graton. William Graton, the father, was born in Leicester, September 1, 1797. For a number of years he was in the card clothing business in Worcester, and he died in this city about the year 1877. His wife, Lucy, whom he married April 2, 1829, was born in Brookfield, Mass., April 8, 1798, daughter of Daniel Emerson Adams. She was the second-born of ten children, two sons and eight daughters. Her two brothers were : Daniel E. and Eliakim Adams. Will- iam and Lucy Graton were the parents of three children, namely: Henry C., the sub- ject of this sketch; Ruth L., wife of Hastey Wight, of Lawrence, Kan. ; and John R., who was a resident of Lawrence, Kan., but died at Falmouth, Mass., July 25, 1872, leav- ing a widow and one daughter. Mrs. Lucy Graton died September 6, 1867. Henry C. Graton began his education in the district schools, and completed his schooling at the Leicester Academy when fifteen years old. Coming then to Worcester, he entered the em- ploy of Earl & Eames, with whom he learned the card-clothing business. After finishing

his apprenticeship he was employed for the succeeding eight years by T. K. Earl & Co., having charge of their business for four years of that period. In February, 1861, he formed a partnership with Mr. Knight, and, purchas- ing of Earl & Co. their belt department, has since been engaged in that line of business. From a small beginning the concern has en- larged its plant from time to time in order to meet the increasing demands made upon it, and early found it expedient to erect and equip tanneries for the preparation of its own leather. Some time ago the enterprise was incorporated as Graton & Knight with Joseph A. Knight president, Walter M. Spaulding secretary, and Henry C. Graton treasurer. The corporation employs a force of four hundred and fifty hands, and is the largest belt manufactory in New England and the second largest in the United States.

On June 7, 1863, Mr. Graton married Lu- cretia M. Gould, daughter of the late Charles M. Gould, of this city. His only child, Min- nie Etta, died at the age of four years. Polit- ically, Mr. Graton is a Republican. In relig- ious belief he is a Methodist, and was formerly a trustee of Grace Church. For the past thirty years he has resided at 37 Providence Street.

J OHN PEACOCK, manager and general agent for the Bay State Shoe and Leather Company, of Worcester, was born in Belmont, Yorkshire, England, February 8, 1838, son of Richard and Jane (Whitehead) Peacock. The father, who was a mill operative, emigrated to the United States in 1840, accompanied by his wife and two sons. He first located in Worcester, but later moved to Holden, Mass., where he found employment in a carpet-mill. Removing sub- sequently to Barre, he was for a few years overseer in the carding-room of a cotton factory.

In 1850 he returned to Worcester, and was employed in Henry Walker's boot factory for a time and also in the treeing-room of C. C. Houghton's factory. He died in 1887, sur- viving his wife, who had passed away the year previous. He was the father of four children, two of whom are living, namely : John, the

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subject of this sketch; and David, who is a file-maker in Boston. The others were James and Sarah.

John Peacock began work in a cotton-mill when eight years old, and continued in that occupation until he was eighteen, when he paid his father one hundred dollars for the remain- ing three years of his minority. After spend- ing some time as a hand stitcher in Timothy Stone's shoe factory, he was employed as a clerk in Chamberlain & Barnard's dry-goods store for a year, at the end of which time he resumed his previous occupation in the factory of Fitch & Otis; and in 1860 he operated the first sewing-machine used in a shoe factory in this city. Compared with the improved ma- chines of to-day, which are capable of closing twenty dozen pairs a day, the one used by Mr. Peacock nearly forty years ago was of little value, as it could stitch but three dozen pairs in the same length of time; yet it attracted much opposition at the time from the opera- tives, who regarded it as a menace to their in- terests. In 1861 Mr. Peacock went to C. C. Houghton's factory as a hand stitcher, remain- ing there until 1864, when he became fore- man of the stitching department in the Bay State Company's factory. In 1871 he was made assistant superintendent of the factory, which was under his immediate charge for the succeeding twenty years, and during that time the company's output was greatly in- creased. In 1891 he was appointed to the dual position of manager of the plant and general agent of the business, and is also at the present time a member of the Board of Directors. His numerous and exacting duties he has performed with unusual ability, and the present prosperity of the enterprise is largely due to the fact that it is directed by a man of so much practical experience and sound judg- ment. In politics he is a Republican.

In 1858 Mr. Peacock married Sarah J. Ran- dall, a native of Connecticut and daughter of John and Barbara Randall, her father being of Welsh descent. Mr. and Mrs. Peacock have three children; namely, Ida M., Flor- ence J., and Walter J. The latter went from Brown University to the Harvard University Law School, at which he was graduated in

1895. Admitted to the Suffolk County bar, he has since practised his profession success- fully in Worcester, having an office in the State Mutual Building.

OSEPH R. ROBINSON, of Hardwick, the village undertaker, was born in this town, January 16, 1827. A son of Jo- ·seph and Caroline (Banister) Robinson, he is of the fifth generation descended from James Robinson. . The latter came here from Boston in 1757, to pass his last days with his son, Samuel, who had previously located in Hardwick. He died March 16, 1762. James Robinson, second, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in a house lo- cated at the head of what is now State Street, in Boston. He came to Hardwick in 1739. In the same year he married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Benjamin Smith. His occupation was farming, and he owned land in the north-east- ern part of the town, which was then a part of the New Braintree grant. He died here May 21, 1799.

Joseph Robinson, first, the grandfather of Joseph R., born in Hardwick, was baptized April 7, 1745. He spent his entire life upon the farm that his father had improved, and he died April 23, 1836. His wife, in maiden- hood Lucy Ruggles, of Barre, died August 4, 1826. She was the mother of five children; namely, William, Sarah, James, Joseph, and Lucy. Joseph Robinson, second, son of the first Joseph, was born June 20, 1796. He moved from Hardwick to Barre in 1837, and resided there until his death, which occurred July 10, 1877. Being a man of considerable ability, he was quite successful for his day and opportunities. While residing in Hardwick he served as a Selectman, and was at one time Colonel of a cavalry regiment belonging to the State militia. Originally a Whig in politics, he subsequently became a Democrat. His wife, Caroline, who was born in Brookfield, Mass., in 1806, became the mother of seven children. Of the latter, three are living, namely : Joseph R., the subject of this sketch ; John N. Robinson, a resident of Worcester, Mass. ; and Eliza A., the wife of T. Hanson

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White, of Barre. The others were: Catherine M., Seth B., Lewis H., and William A. Robinson. The mother died July 11, 1879. Both parents were members of the Unitarian church.

Joseph R. Robinson was educated in the schools of Barre and Newburyport. Having bought a farm in Hardwick in 1848, he culti- vated it for twenty years. In 1868 he moved to the Centre. For the past twenty-one years he has been engaged in the undertaking busi- ness. He is actively interested in the pros- perity of the village, taking pride in keeping up its attractive appearance. As a member of one of the highly reputable families in the neighborhood, he is regarded with the utmost esteem by his fellow-townsmen. On June 20, 1854, he was united in marriage with Sarah M. Robinson, who was born in Hardwick, July 24, 1833, daughter of Joseph Robinson. He has three children : Joseph, born June 6, 1858; William Albert, born June 4, 1860; and Car- rie W., born December 16, 1862. Joseph, who is a prosperous farmer of this town, mar- ried S. Gertrude Slaney, and has four children - Annie, Joseph S., Carrie, and Catherine. William Albert, who is also engaged in farm- ing in Hardwick, married Alice H. Slaney. Carrie W. married Edward Johnson, of this town, and has one daughter, Rachel Johnson. In politics Mr. Robinson is a Republican. He has held no town offices except that of Sexton. Taking an especial interest in the Library Association, he has been one of its trustees for the past five years. Both he and Mrs. Robin- son attend the Unitarian church.

ILLIAM DICKINSON, while not a native of Worcester, was for many years one of the substantial business men and financiers of the city, belonging to a class of residents who have added greatly to her prosperity and renown. Born in Amherst, Mass., on October 6, 1804, son of Samuel Fowler Dickinson, who was a prominent mem- ber of the Hampshire County bar, he was one of a large family of children, several of whom came to occupy responsible positions in the public service.

Mr. Dickinson was well educated, but was not a college-bred man. At Amherst Acad- emy, after attending the common schools, he received such training as fitted him when about fifteen years old to enter upon the business life, in which he acquired such a fair name that he has long been regarded as a worthy model for imitation by those who seek a similar success. First employed by a dry-goods house in Boston, he subsequently held important positions with paper manufacturing concerns in Fitchburg and elsewhere; and later he invested in the business. In 1829, when twenty -five years of age, he came to Worcester, where he continued to reside until his death on September 7, 1887, a period of nearly sixty years. He was here engaged as a clerk for several business firms in turn until 1836. At that time he was elected cashier of the Central National Bank. He held this office for fourteen years, and such a reputation did he secure for promptness and in- tegrity in financial matters that he soon found himself in demand for several posts in which trustworthiness and financial ability were of first importance. He became treasurer of the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, of Worcester, which position he filled for forty years, and with ex-Governor Alexander H. Bullock, who was its president, shouldered the burdens and shared the honors for the success- ful upbuilding of the company, which to-day stands high in Massachusetts, and which has recently erected a million-dollar white marble office building in Worcester. Mr. Dickinson was a keen, far-sighted, and intensely practical financier, and rarely made a mistake in judg- ment where money matters were concerned. He was also treasurer of the Merchants' and Farmers' Insurance Company for about forty years, and in that company, too, his judgment was unfailingly correct. He was for a long period director in the Quinsigamond National Bank and a director of the Providence & Worcester Railroad. In 1863, with ten asso- ciates, Mr. Dickinson began the manufacture of paper-making machinery, which he contin- ued for several years; and in 1871 he engaged in the manufacture of felt on Foster Street, which he continued successfully up to the time of his death.

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At one time Mr. Dickinson was candidate for Mayor of Worcester, but was defeated by the citizens' ticket nominee. Although not an active politician and never obtrusive, he from time to time filled various local offices, and always with credit to himself and for the benefit of the public. For three years he was a member of the School Board. He was also in the City Council, and for several years he was Alderman. In 1876, while holding the latter office, he advocated the plan of granting licenses for the sale of liquor in this city, say- ing that thereby the State would derive some revenue, whereas for twenty-five years there had been prohibition which did not prohibit. This was the first year of local option in Massa- chusetts. So far as Mr. Dickinson was a par- tisan, he voted the Republican ticket, having previously been of the old Whig school. By Governor Benjamin F. Butler he was appointed trustee of the State Lunatic Hospital. Mr. Dickinson entertained profound esteem for General Butler, and the General reciprocated the feeling in a very large measure.

Mr. Dickinson was a regular attendant of the Union Congregational Church, but was not connected with the organization as a member. He always entertained a great respect for learn- ing, and was most liberal in his support of educational institutions. He gave the bell which is in the tower of the high-school build- ing and the artistic fountains that adorn the plat in front of it. A man of large means, his generosity kept pace with his accumulations. He was a director of the Free Public Library and a member of the Antiquarian Society. By all he was justly regarded as a most valuable citizen, a sympathetic neighbor, and a faithful friend. In social life he was esteemed for his intelligence, urbanity, and his broad charity. He had achieved his success in life unaided, and no one recognized merit in a struggling man more quickly than he.

Mr. Dickinson was twice married. His first wife was Eliza Hawley, of Andover. One son was born of that union. He was graduated at Brown University, and was settled as a lawyer in New York City, where he died in 1883. His second wife, Mary Whittier, of Andover, has been the mother of two sons and a daughter,

namely : Samuel F., who was in business with his father; George Stewart; and Helen W. George Stewart Dickinson, who is a graduate of Yale, resides with his mother, and assists in the care of the Dickinson estate in addition to looking out for his own affairs. He is greatly interested in athletic sports, has done much to equip and maintain athletic teams, and has offered valuable trophies to encourage contestants. Helen W. is now Mrs. Thomas L. Shield, of Sewickley, Pa.

WEBSTER NORCROSS, a lead- ing citizen of Grafton, Mass., was born in Boston on August 17, 1826, son of Otis and Mary Cunningham (Homer) Norcross. His mother was a daugh- ter of Eleazer Homer, a merchant of Battery Wharf, Boston. He is descended from one of the old Colonial families of Massachusetts, his first ancestor in this country being Jeremiah Norcross, a man of considerable property and prominently connected with the early develop- ment of Watertown.

Otis Norcross, father of D. W. Norcross, was for many years one of the leading mer- chants of Boston, where he started in business in 1808 as an importer of crockery ware, being one of the first in Boston to engage in this line of trade. His storehouses were located at first on Exchange (at that time Fish) Street and subsequently on South Market Street. Mr. Norcross built up an exclusive and profitable business, and at his death in 1827 the manage- ment of the concern passed into the hands of his widow, Mary C. Norcross, and Eliphalet Jones. In 1833 the eldest son, the second Otis Norcross, became a partner. In 1837 Mrs. Norcross retired. In 1847 Eliphalet Jones retired, and J. Addison Norcross was ad- mitted, remaining until his death in 1850. From 1851 to 1856 the partners in the firm were Otis Norcross, D. Webster Norcross, and Ichabod Howland. In 1856 David W. Hitch- cock entered the firm. In 1861 D. Webster Norcross retired and Jerome Jones entered. The firm of Otis Norcross & Co. was dissolved February 1, 1867, after having been in exist- ence about sixty years; and, notwithstanding

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DAVID H. FANNING.

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the severe financial trials that intervened, it was the good fortune of the partners to avoid disaster and close up their business affairs sat- isfactorily to all concerned. The firm was succeeded by Howland & Jones, and that firm by Jones, McDuffee & Stratton. In 1874 the place of business was removed to 51 Federal Street, corner Franklin, where it is now lo- cated.

Daniel Webster Norcross, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the public schools of Boston and of Jamaica Plain. When seventeen years of age he entered the employ of Walker, Emerson & Co., in the boot and shoe business, Boston, where he remained for the next seven years. At the end of that time he went into the business of importing crockery in company with his brother, Otis Norcross, and as selling partner travelled ex- tensively through the South and West. At that time there were no railways west of Chi- cago, Ill. Travelling was done in canal boats, river steamboats, stages, mud wagons, and on horseback, and was difficult and tedious. Goods were shipped from Boston via Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans and up the Missis- sippi and Illinois Rivers to the West and North-west. In recent years, while travelling across the continent in a rapid express and sur- rounded by all the comforts of Pullman car service, Mr. Norcross has had occasion to recall those tiresome trips made in the early fifties, and to note the immense improvements which have taken place in facilities for travel and transportation of goods since that time.

At about the time the Civil War broke out, in 1861, Mr. Norcross built his handsome residence at Grafton Centre, in one of the most charming and sightly spots to be found in Western Massachusetts. Since taking up his residence here he has been actively identi- fied with public affairs, and has given much time and thought to the service of the town. He was on the Board of Selectmen for two years, and was for three years one of the As- sessors. Besides these he has held many minor town offices; but his longest service to the community has been as a member of the School Board, with which he has been officially connected for thirty-one consecutive years, or

since 1867, being much of the time its secre- tary. Probably not another record equal to this can be found in the State. Mr. Norcross is keenly interested in all educational ques- tions, and is thoroughly in touch with the most progressive ideas and methods of modern education. He was one of the earliest and most earnest advocates for the abolition of the district school system and the introduction of the town system in 1869.

Mr. Norcross is well known in the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Columbian Lodge, F. & A. M., and of St. Bernard En- campment, K. T., both of Boston. Mr. Nor- cross married Delia A., daughter of Judge Joseph Bruce, of Grafton. Of this marriage four children have been born; namely, Web- ster, Harry B., Clara G., and Joseph E. Webster Norcross, who is a musician of in- ternational repute, now resides in London, England. After his five years of professional study in Germany he travelled for some years with the Carl Rosa Company, and subse- quently formed the celebrated musical club of Meister Glee Singers, so well known in London, of which he is at present the director. His wife was before her marriage Miss May Convis, of California and later of London. Harry B. Norcross is in California. Clara G. resides in Denver, Col., the wife of Melvin O. Stratton, manufacturer and wholesale dealer in clothing. Joseph E. is with the house of Jones, McDuffee & Stratton Company, of Boston.

AVID HALE FANNING, president of the Worcester Corset Company, was born in Jewett City, New Lon- don County, Conn., August 4, 1830, son of Henry Wilson and Sarah (Hale) Fan-

ning. His father was a native of Groton, Conn., born February 8, 1786; and his mother was born in Glastonbury, that State, July 19, 1788. She was a daughter of David and Ruth (Hale) Hale, her parents belonging to differ- ent branches of the well-known Connecticut family of that name. She was a skilled teacher, and before her marriage taught school in Glastonbury and Marlboro successively,

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 124

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