Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 126

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 126

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In politics Mr. Garno is a Republican, and has served as delegate to party conventions. His success in business has been achieved by his own unaided efforts. He is a prominent member of the Fitchburg Board of Trade, and was Representative to the State Board of Trade during the last session, which was held in the fall of 1896. He is also a member of the Merchants' Association. Fraternally, Mr. Garno is a member of Apollo Lodge, No. 205, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has been secretary and is now Past Grand, having passed the chairs on July I. He is also a member of King David Encampment and Canton Hebron, No. II.

Mr. Garno was married in 1881 to Louisa, daughter of John Flagg, one of the leading farmers of Lunenburg. Mr. Flagg was born in Worcester. Mr. and Mrs. Garno attend the Orthodox church. He is a member of the Young Men's Christian Association of Fitch- burg.

IMON P. BICKNELL, wheel- wright, for many years a resident of Mendon, Mass., was born in Providence, R. I., June 10, 1808. He was but three years old when his father, who also was a wheelwright, died. Some years later a brother, Asa Bicknell, who was a sailor, met his death in mid-ocean at the hands of pirates. Young Bicknell attended school in his native town, where he later learned his trade, becoming a careful, painstaking, and exceedingly reliable workman. It is related that, when Mr. Bicknell was about to leave Providence to start in business for himself, his old master requested of him the best sample of his ability in shape of a wheel. He completed the work, with expectations of severe criti- cism; but his former instructor pronounced it to be the best wheel he ever saw. The same compliment was many times repeated by his patrons. Establishing himself in business in Mendon, he was for many years engaged in carriage-making. He also did carpenter work, and was an expert in both kinds of handicraft. He was noted for his strict integrity, his painstaking, and other commendable qualities.

His affection for his home and family could not be alienated. In politics he was a Jack- sonian Democrat.

Simon P. Bicknell died November 29, 1882, and his loss was sincerely mourned by the entire community. His first wife, Rebecca, daughter of Josiah Bates, was for many years an invalid. For his second wife he married Mary H. Burdick, daughter of Rowland Bur- dick. Their daughter, Minnie F. Bicknell, married George E. Thayer, a grocer of Mil- ford, and is the mother of three children - Grace, William, and Doris Bicknell Thayer.

T HOMAS CROCKER EASTMAN, long a valued citizen of Milford, was born in Dennysville, Me., January 6, 1836, son of Thomas and Mary (Wilder) Eastman. He came to Milford from Hingham, Mass. At the breaking out of the war for the Union he enlisted on June 21, 1861, in Company G of the Fortieth New York Regiment (the Mo- zart). But on reaching Camp Sackett, Va., he was taken seriously ill, and no hopes were entertained of his recovery. Mr. I. N. Davis went to the camp and brought him home; and, as he was never able to rejoin his regiment, he was honorably discharged from the service on December 27, 1861. Later, in order thor- oughly to restore his health, he shipped to the East Indies as supercargo, and was gone about three years. On his return he became asso- ciated as a partner with Mr. Davis and S. A. Fisher in the manufacture of boxes in Milford. About 1872 he became sole proprietor of the business, which he afterward enlarged consid- erably by the introduction of a paper box making department. He also engaged in transactions in grain, and operated a grist-mill at the basin. In 1887, finding that business cares were weighing heavily upon him, he took into partnership his brother, S. A. Eastman, and Edward A. Hobart, the latter taking charge of the grist-mill.

Mr. Eastman was identified with many of the business enterprises of this town, being a director of the Electric Light Company from the time of its incorporation, of the Milford

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Shoe Company, of the Business Men's Asso- ciation and the Milford Water Company, and president of the Charles River Shoe Factory Company. He was also a member of the Bos- ton Chamber of Commerce. He was promi- nent in Masonry, being at the head of the three local organizations. He was a charter member and Past Dictator of the Milford Legion of Honor and a valued member of Post 22, G. A. R. Mr. Eastman's death occurred on October 4, 1888, at his home on Congress Street. He was a genial, large-hearted man, commanding by his sturdy integrity the confi- dence and respect of all with whom he came in contact.

IERRE FONTAINE, a merchant of Worcester, was born in St. Hugues, P. Q., June 4, 1844, son of Paul and Genevieve (Paradis) Fontaine. Mr. Fontaine's father was a native of Canada, as was also his grandfather, Charles Fontaine, whose birth took place prior to the Revolu- tionary War. The latter, who was a prosper- ous farmer, had a family of eighteen children, twelve of whom lived to an advanced age; while the mother lived to be nearly one hun- dred years old. Paul Fontaine, who also fol- lowed farming, died in 1870, at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife, Genevieve, who was a daughter of Joseph Paradis, of the Prov- ince of Quebec, became the mother of nine children, of whom five are living. She died in Canada in 1876, aged seventy-four years.

Pierre Fontaine began to make himself use- ful upon his father's farm at the early age of nine years, and his only education has been that acquired through his own efforts. In

1860 he went to Natick, R. I., where he was employed in the cotton-mills for one year. Subsequently he went to Boston, where he acquired a knowledge of the brick-making in- dustry. Going to California in 1865, he was in charge of brickyards there for three years. He then returned East, and locating in Worces- ter took a contract for making brick. He fol- lowed that business for eleven years, the last three of which he was foreman of the yard. In 1880 he formed a partnership with a Mr. Du-

breuil for the purpose of carrying on the bak- ery and flour business, wholesale and retail, under the firm name of Dubreuil & Fontaine. For some ten years subsequently he was a member of the firm of Fontaine & Contu in the grocery and provision business, the firm carry- ing on two stores on Washington Street. On July 1, 1889, he organized the Bay State Coal Company, of which he is overseer.

Mr. Fontaine married April 23, 1870, Phel- onice Dery, who died five years later. She was the mother of two children, neither of whom is living. For his second wife he married Mary Jane Perry, who died leaving no children. He was again married, taking for his third wife Mrs. Melina Deselle, née Ré- millard, a native of Canada. She has borne him two children, one of whom, George Peter, who was born April 26, 1887, survives. The second son, Louis Joseph, born November 30, 1889, lived only nine months.

In 1892 Mr. Fontaine purchased, in com- pany with his brother-in-law, Mr. Contu, two and one-half acres of land, upon which he erected a brick residence, which they occupy together. His success has been remarkable from the fact that he engaged in business with- out any training whatever, trusting entirely to his own sagacity and determination to carve out for himself a successful career. The vari- ous enterprises with which he has been con- nected yielded him good financial returns, and he is regarded as one of the most substantial and enterprising French-Canadian citizens of Worcester.

ORNELIUS R. DAY, an enterprising business man of Millville, town of Blackstone, was born in this village, December 29, 1847, son of David L. and Jane H. (Mahony) Day. His paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Day, a native of Attle- boro, Mass., and a carpenter by trade, married Elizabeth Southwick. The father, who was born in Smithfield, R.I., followed the tanner's and currier's trades in Millville for a number of years, and died in 1887, aged sixty-nine years. On September 6, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, Twenty-fifth Regiment, Massa-

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chusetts Volunteers, Colonel Edwin Upton, of Fitchburg, and Captain Wallace Clark, of Mil- ford, Mass., and was appointed Orderly Ser- geant. He served for three years in the Civil War, and his regiment was at one time attached to General Burnside's command. His wife, Jane H., a native of Providence, R. I., was a daughter of Cornelius Mahony and a grand- daughter of Timothy Mahony, who served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. She be- came the mother of four children, namely : Mary M., who resides in Hopedale, Mass. ; Elizabeth S., who married Charles H. Robin- son, and resides in Millville; Charles M., who acts as agent for the Drapers, of Hopedale; and Cornelius R., the subject of this sketch.

Cornelius R. Day was educated in the public schools and at Bryant & Stratton's Commer- cial College in Providence, R.I. Prior to en- tering the last-named school he was for a year employed as book-keeper by F. B. & A. E. Smith, woollen manufacturers at Geneva, North Providence. After completing his busi- ness education he was for the same length of time employed as cashier by B. P. Cunning- ham, a furniture dealer in Providence. Dur- ing the year 1869 he was book-keeper for T. T. Smith, Millville. Purchasing a livery stable on Centre Street in 1870, he was asso- ciated in business with D. F. Southwick for the succeeding two years. Selling his interest in 1872, he conducted a livery business in Woonsocket, R. I., for a year. From there he went to Slaterville, and became associated with A. M. Armstrong in the same line of business. A short time later the firm of Day & Arm- strong bought of Mr. Southwick the stable in Millville now owned by Mr. Day, and contin- ued to carry on business in this town and in Slaterville until 1880, when they sold their property in the last-named place. Having previously purchased the hotel property in Millville, they carried it on in connection with the livery business until 1883, in which year they sold the furniture and leased the house. Messrs. Day & Armstrong continued in partnership until November, 1895, when the latter sold his interest to Mr. Day, who has since continued the livery and teaming business. He also deals quite extensively in

coal, wood, hay, and ice, and is the treasurer of both the Rhode Island Mining Company in Oldham, Montague, N. S., and the Blackstone Water Company.

On November 7, 1875, Mr. Day was joined in marriage with Ida F. Paine, daughter of David S. and. Dianna N. (Fernald) Paine, of Blackstone. His only child, Ida Paine, born September 3, 1876, attended Dean Academy in Franklin, Mass., and is now studying music and elocution. In politics he is a Republican, and he has well served his party in the capacity of chairman of its Town Committee. He has been Selectman one year, was a member of the Board of Road Commissioners for eight years, has been a member of several town committees, and is now upon the Water Committee. He was elected to the legislature of 1896, being assigned to the Committee on Printing, and during his second term. he was in addition placed upon that on Federal Relations. His public services have been valuable to the town. He belongs to the Sons of the American Revolu- tion. In religious belief he is an Episcopa- lian and a vestryman of St. John's Church.

ETER SPEARCE WALKER GEDDES, M.D., an able physician of Winchendon, was born in Rindge, N.H., July 8, 1864, son of Joseph and Agnes (McGill) Geddes. His paternal grandfather was Joseph Geddes (first), a Scotchman, and by trade a weaver, who spent his entire life in his native country. This Joseph married Martha Walker. Of his nine children, two are living, namely: Martha, the widow of the late Adam Harrip, an Eng- lishman, by whom she had four children - George, Aaron, Martha, and Mary; and Eliza- beth, the widow of James McGregor, late of Scotland, and the mother of four children - Margaret, Alexander, Joseph, and James. The grandfather died at the age of seventy- four years, and the grandmother died at sixty- two.

Joseph Geddes (second), the third of his parents' children, was born in July, 1830. Learning the trade of a block printer, he ap- plied his knowledge of the craft to the manu-

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facture of shawls until 1855, when he came to the United States. He was a chemist of good standing, graduating from the Edinburgh Institute, Scotland, and for the last twenty years of his life was engaged in preparing medicines for his brother, Dr. Robert Geddes. He died June 12, 1891. Agnes, his wife, whom he married February 23, 1851, was born in Scotland, January 12, 1831, daughter of John and Jeanette (Campbell) McGill. Her grandparents, William and Agnes McGill, reared seven children, of whom John, the eldest, was a moulder by trade. Her maternal grandparents were Jeremiah and Jeanette Campbell, the former of whom was a son of Jeremiah Campbell, of the famous Campbell clan. Joseph and Agnes (McGill) Geddes were the parents of eleven children, of whom two were born in Scotland and six are living. The latter are: Agnes, who married James Perkins, of Concord, N.H., and has one daughter, Ada Margaret; Esther Geddes, of whom there is no special record; Robert W., who married Lottie Finney, of Nova Scotia, and has three children - Harry, Bernice, and Clorer; Peter S. W., the subject of this sketch; Harriet E. R., who married Edward J. Hood, of Derry, N. H .; and Susan Josephine Geddes.

Peter Spearce Walker Geddes began his edu- cation in the common schools. Subsequently he attended the Winchendon Academy and high school, and completed his studies at the academy in Ashburnham, Mass. After teach- ing school in Royalston, Mass., for a short time, he entered the Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1886. While pursuing his pro- fessional studies he acquired much valuable experience at the Cincinnati City Hospital. Immediately following his graduation he lo- cated in Winchendon, where he applied him- self diligently to the practice of his profes- sion, and has met with gratifying success.

On April 20, 1892, Dr. Geddes was united in marriage with Bertha L. Poland, a daugh- ter of Sylvanus and Martha Jennie (White) Poland, of Fitchburg. Born of this union there is one daughter, Hazel Evangeline.

Politically, Mr. Geddes is independent.

He has membership in the Boston District Eclectic Medical Society, the Massachusetts Eclectic Medical, and the National Eclectic Medical, and is an ex-president of both the first two societies mentioned. An advanced Mason, he is a member of Jerusalem Com- mandery, Knights Templar, of Fitchburg. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Both he and Mrs. Geddes at- tend the Baptist church.

HOMAS ALONZO CLARK, formerly the president of the Clark-Sawyer Company, the leading crockery and glassware dealers of Worcester, was born in Boston, February 15, 1810. A

son Thomas and Sarah (Tyler) Clark, he was a lineal descendant of Hugh Clark, who, born in England in 1613, arrived at Watertown, Mass., previous to 1641, and who, as the rec- ords show, was a member of an artillery com- pany in 1666. It is also known that this an- cestor was a citizen of excellent character and an industrious yeoman. His descendants have been long identified with that part of Water- town which is now included within the town of Belmont.

Thomas Clark, who was born in Watertown, for a number of years followed mercantile pur- suits in Boston. In 1816 he went to Pernam- buco, Brazil, where he engaged in trade, and also edited a newspaper. Having been finan- cially successful there, he in 1837 prepared to return North. It is supposed that he was murdered on the night preceding the day of his intended departure, and no trace of his assassin or fortune was ever found. Sarah Tyler Clark, his wife, came of a reputable Boston family, and was related to John Han- cock, in whose house on Beacon Street Thomas A. Clark was accorded the privileges of a relative. Mrs. Clark married for her second husband the Rev. G. Van Husen Forbes, a Methodist minister, afterward re- sided with him in Natchez, Miss., and died in that city. By her first husband she had four children, of whom none are living.

After his father's departure for South America, Thomas A. Clark went to reside

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with his grandparents in Watertown. Hav- ing passed through the common schools, he attended Master Jackson's school in Newton for a time, and completed his education at the Bridgewater Academy. When nineteen years of age he obtained employment as a clerk in the dry-goods store of Nichols & Leeds on Salem Street, Boston, where he remained five years. Then he resided for a time with Na- thaniel Clapp in Walpole, Mass. From Wal- pole he went to Chicago by way of the Great Lakes, arriving there in 1836, and when there were but five thousand inhabitants in the town. He engaged in business; but, as his wife did not take kindly to the manner of liv- ing in what was then the Far West, he soon disposed of his interests, and returned to Mas- sachusetts. He next embarked in a mercan- tile business in Springfield, being associated for one year with Lewis Barnard and for two years with E. H. Sanford, his brother-in-law. In 1844 he settled permanently in Worcester, first engaging in business on Main Street, in partnership with Orin Rawson. His next venture was to open a dry-goods store oppo- site the Bay State House, in which he was again associated with his brother-in-law. Al- though their capital was small, their enter- prise and reputation for integrity were such that they easily obtained credit with the job- bing houses. A conflagration that destroyed their entire stock was a serious set-back to them. Yet they immediately resumed busi- ness in the vicinity of their old store. A short time later Mr. Clark sold out his inter- est to his associate in order to engage in the manufacture of windlasses with one William Rich. This latter speculation proved disas- trous. His credit was unimpaired, however; and he soon after formed a partnership with John Firth in the retail crockery business. Two years later Mr. Firth died, and was suc- ceeded by Stephen Sawyer, who was thence- forward closely identified with the firm. The business increased year by year, until the con- cern became the largest handlers of crockery, glass and silver ware, art bric-à-brac, and house furnishing goods in New England, outside of Boston. New quarters were procured in Taylor Block on Main Street, opposite Park

Street; and the concern was subsequently in- corporated as the Clark-Sawyer Company. The career of the house was not one of un- broken prosperity, however, as the store was destroyed by fire successively in 1880 and 1893. Mr. Clark was a typical self-made man of New England. His prominent characteris- tics were courage, sound judgment, prudence, and punctuality in meeting his business obliga- tions. His close application to business seri- ously affected his health; and, although he practically retired in 1891, he was the presi- dent of the Clark-Sawyer Company until his death, which occurred on March 29, 1894.

In 1836 Mr. Clark was united in marriage with Miss Susan Tracy Sanford, of Belcher- town, Mass. Her grandfather, Dr. Howe, was a Revolutionary soldier; and three of her uncles - William Howe, of Derby, Vt .; Estes Howe, of Albany, N. Y .; and Sam- uel Howe, of Northampton, Mass. - were judges. Mrs. Clark died April 29, 1894, leaving twin daughters: Nancy H. S., who married George M. Piper, of Worcester; and Susan D. S., now the wife of John H. Gam- well, the treasurer and general manager of the Palmer Water Company. When a young man Mr. Clark was a member of the Boston mili- tary company known as the Winslow Blues. Later he was an artillery man in the militia. He was a Republican in politics. In the Ma- sonic order he had advanced as far as the com- mandery. For more than twenty-five years he resided at the corner of Harvard and State Streets, in the homestead now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Gamwell.

AMES H. FERGUSON, a well-known business man of Millbury, was born in Bristol, R.I., July 12, 1851, the thir- tieth anniversary of his mother's birth. He is of Scotch parentage and ancestry, the Highlands of Scotland having been the home of his forefathers.

John Ferguson, the father of James H., was born in Glasgow, Scotland, July 12, 1822. At the age of eight years he began to work for his living in a cotton-mill near his home. Here, possessing considerable mechanical

JAMES H. FERGUSON.

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ability, he gained a thorough knowledge of the work of the different departments, and in course of time became an expert spinner. In February, 1845, he was induced by certain manufacturers to come to New England to set up the first power mule in a cotton factory. Having taken passage on a sailing-vessel, he was six months in making the voyage to New York City. Thinking that his stay in this country would be short, he had left his family at home; but in less than two years he sent for his wife. The latter came at once, bringing with her their younger child, and leaving the elder, Annie R. John Ferguson was an oper- ator in a cotton-mill at Bristol for a number of years, removing subsequently to Lonsdale, R.I., where he remained for three years. June 19, 1869, he removed to Millbury, where he spent the rest of his life, and died March 29, 1892. After coming here, with the pur- pose of taking a sea voyage for the benefit of his health, he went to New Zealand to a brother who had gone there with the first gov- ernor of the new colony. The trip was so beneficial to him that two years later he made one to Australia. His wife, in maiden- hood Charlotte Ralstone, was born in Glas- gow, Scotland, July 12, 1821, and died in Millbury, Mass., August 21, 1893. They had ten children, namely: Annie R., born in Scotland, who is now the wife of Solon F. Smith, the superintendent and treasurer of the water-works in Grafton, Mass. ; Margaret G., also born in Scotland, who is the widow of the late George WV. Sawyer, and resides with Mr. Ferguson; Maria H., the wife of B. F. Aiken, of Millbury; James, Maria's twin brother, who died in infancy; James H., the subject of this sketch; John D., who died in infancy; Peter, who is now a clerk in the store of his brother, James H .; John Charles Fremont, born in 1856, who has since died, leaving a wife; William Leonard Dayton, John's twin brother, who is now employed in a mill in Philadelphia; and Jane, who died in childhood.

James H. Ferguson attended the district schools of Bristol until he was ten years old. Then he began to be a wage-earner in the cot- ton-mill, in which he afterward worked his

way through some of the lower departments. At the age of nineteen he began to learn the tailor's trade; but a year and a half later he gave that up in order to serve an apprentice- ship as a tinsmith and plumber with his brother-in-law, S. F. Smith, in Saundersville and Grafton, this county. Coming to Mill- bury in 1874, he worked in the hardware store of L. G. Pierce & Co. until the death of Mr. Pierce in 1876; and for the following nine years he was employed by the succeeding firm, A. W. Lincoln & Co. In 1885, in company with a Mr. Crane, he bought out his em- ployers, and for five years carried on a good trade as junior member of the firm of Crane & Ferguson. During the following two years be conducted the business alone. Afterward he was the head of the firm James H. Fergu- son & Co. until March 23, 1897, when his partner, John Martin, died. Since then he has carried on the business very successfully, becoming one of the leading hardware mer- chants of Millbury and vicinity. In addition to the fine brick block in which his commo- dious store is located, he owns the Odd Fellows Hall, erected in 1889 and 1890 by his father- in-law, and a handsome residence built nearly twenty years ago.

A thirty-second degree Mason, Mr. Fergu- son has done much to advance the interests of the order in this locality. He is Past Master of the Olive Branch Lodge and one of the general committee of five that planned the successful celebration of the centennial anni- versary of its organization, held on Septem- ber 14, 1897. He is also Past High Priest of the Tyrian Chapter in Millbury and one of the committee of thirty-three charged with the building of the projected temple in Worcester. Also an Odd Fellow, he is one of the original members of the local lodge. In politics he is a straight Republican, and for ten years has served as chairman of the Republican Town Committee, a position which he reluctantly accepted. In 1888 and 1889 he was Selectman, and for two years he was the clerk of the board. Now he is the clerk of the Board of Health. For fourteen years he was connected with the fire depart- ment, which he assisted in organizing; and

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 126

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