Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 127

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 127

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he is the clerk of the Board of Engineers. In 1894 he represented the town in the State legislature. On March 7, 1877, he married Mary E. Barrows, of Millbury, the only child of the late Thomas A. Barrows, who died De- cember 31, 1891, aged sixty-four years. Mr. Barrows was a wool-dyer by trade, and also a manufacturer of dyes. In company with Gustave Molt, he carried on a profitable busi- ness for several years, making an indigo blue dye that was specially noted for its durable qualities. Mrs. Barrows, whose maiden name was Pamelia Holt, survives her husband, and is now living with Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson.

OUTHWORTH PRATT, JR., of North Brookfield, was born in Co- hasset, Norfolk County, Mass., May 3, 1857. He is a representa- tive of early settled families in the Old Colony, being, as judged from the best infor- mation at hand, a lineal descendant of Phineas Pratt, who came to America in the ship "Swallow " in 1622. Southworth Pratt, first, his grandfather, was a lifelong resident of Co- hasset. He was a farmer, and owned a large farm in the south-east part of the town, now traversed by the railroad. His wife, Mercy Gannett, of Scituate, Mass., was, like himself, of early Colonial ancestry. They both lived to a good old age.

Captain Southworth Pratt, father of South- worth, Jr., was born in Cohasset, January 12, 1815. He early commenced the life of a sailor, and rose to the position of master mariner. He commanded different vessels in the merchant marine service, some of which he owned, and was engaged mostly in tropical fruit trade. He was an expert diver, and was in his younger days often employed in that capacity by a Boston firm in work along the shore. When the Sea Rock Light-house was built upon Minot's Ledge off Cohasset, he assisted both in laying the foundation and in its erection. He married May 1I, 1845, Mary Pritchard Barnes, of Hingham, Mass., daughter of Captain Malachi and Anna (Beal) Barnes, both natives of Hingham and de- scendants of old families. Mrs. Pratt died

March 28, 1898. She had reared seven chil- dren. Of six of these brief mention may be made, as follows: Mercie Gannett is the wife of Clinton A. French, of North Weymouth ; Cordelia Snow is the wife of William G. Litchfield, of North Weymouth, and has six children ; Albert Francis married Mary Abbie Dyer, and has one child; Mary Barnes married Charles A. Alexander, and has one child; Elmer Ellsworth, who mar- ried Lucy Reynolds, and resides in Worces- ter, has one child; Annie Barnes married E. Sanford Litchfield, and died September 9, 1885, leaving two children.

Southworth, Jr., the fifth child, of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of his native town. He was reared to agricult- ural pursuits, and he followed farming chiefly until 1887, when he went to Worcester to enter the employ of the Boston & Albany Railway Company. He shortly removed to North Brookfield, and continued in the em- ploy of the Boston & Albany Railway Com- pany till the fall of 1898, when he resigned to accept a position with the Warren, Brookfield & Spencer Electric Railway Company. He married in 1881 Miss Eliza Ford, of North Weymouth. Mr. Pratt is a member of the Daughters of Rebecca and of Ridgeley Pro- tective Society of Worcester.

R. CHARLES W. ESTER- BROOK, a skilful dentist of Worcester, was born in this State, October 16, 1826. The seventh child of Taylor and Sally (Stone) Ester- brook, he belongs to the fifth generation descended from the Rev. Joseph Esterbrook, who came from Enfield, England, and pre- sided over the church at Concord, Mass., for many years. His father was a carriage-maker and a builder of the old-time stage-coaches.

Having obtained his education in the com- mon schools of his native town and at Leices- ter Academy, Charles W. Esterbrook at the age of eighteen years began to learn the coach and carriage making business from his father, and soon became an important member of the firm. In 1848, associated with his brother-

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in-law, Charles Bradley, he started a manu- factory of light buggies and carriages at Spen- cer, Mass., and there carried on a most successful business for the ensuing five years. The firm's vehicles, being well built and fashioned after the most approved and stylish designs, were well known and in much de- mand. In 1853 Mr. Esterbrook disposed of his interest in the business, and decided to enter the dental profession as a calling, to which he was better suited. For this purpose he prepared himself in the office of Dr. How- land at Barre, Mass., where he gained a prac- tical knowledge of dentistry, and rapidly ac- quired skill. In 1854 he opened an office for himself at Canton, Mass., being the pioneer dentist of that town. Here he remained for six years, in the course of which he acquired a good practice. Then he removed to Great Falls, N.H., where he did a good business for two years. During the early years of the war of the Rebellion he began to practise in Worcester, where he has since remained, es- tablishing a reputation for skill and progres- siveness, and acquiring a generous share of the city's patronage. Although he began with little preparatory training, the Doctor has al- ways kept in step with the progress of dental science, and has been among the first to adopt improved methods. In 1893 he retired from practice.

While the Doctor supports the Republican party on general principles, he is a stanch ad- herent of free trade and the single tax doc- trine. He was an anti-slavery man, and took an active part in the abolition movement. His religious views are broad and not con- fined to the creed of any denomination, and he was an early advocate of the principles of Theodore Parker. His first marriage was con- tracted in 1845 with Louisa Woodward, of Hubbardston. She bore him one son, George R., who was born in Hubbardston, Mass. After her death, which occurred in the fifties, he married for his second wife Ellen Carr, of Worcester, a daughter of Dudley Carr, of Ver- mont. By this marriage there were two sons: Dr. Charles T. Esterbrook, born January 23, 1873, who graduated from the medical college at Brooklyn, N.Y., and is now a practising

physician; and William H., born October 18, 1876.

EORGE TOWER, a well-known hotel owner, long a resident of Worcester, was born in Charlton, Mass., De- cember 23, 1822, son of Isaac and Rebecca (Dexter) Tower. On the paternal side he is of Welsh and English descent, his ancestor, John Tower, of Hingham, England, having settled in Hingham, Mass., in 1632. His mother was a member of the Dexter family, settled at Smithfield for many years; and through her Mr. Tower is descended from Gregory Dexter, who settled the Providence Plantations with Roger Williams in 1636.

George Tower was educated in the schools of Charlton and at Dudley Academy. At the age of nineteen he began to teach school in Charlton, and so continued for eleven terms, his work being eminently successful. About 1843 he was induced to visit Mantua, Ohio, by an uncle resident in that town, and made the journey - a thirty days' drive - behind a pair of horses. There he taught school for one winter, the school-house consisting of one small room, where thirty-six pupils of all ages gathered at eight o'clock each morning for a long day's study. He received a small salary, and "boarded round " with different families in turn. After his return East he was em- ployed during the winter in teaching and in the summer in hotel work. For nine seasons he was steward of the Ocean House at New- port, R.I., where he was highly esteemed and made many friends. In 1864 he moved to Worcester, where he successfully conducted a large boarding-house until 1866. He then secured a five years' lease of the Lincoln House, formerly the Worcester House, on Elm Street, which under his management became well patronized. In 1871 he opened the Tower House, now Hotel Pleasant, on Pleas- ant Street. His lease running out in 1876, in the following year he again took charge of the Lincoln House, buying the entire property and enlarging and improving the buildings. Under his management, which lasted until 1893, it became very popular with the travel-

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ling public, and acquired a wide reputation as a first-class hotel, its proprietor ranking as one of the most successful and honorable men in the business in New England. In 1871 Mr. Tower built the Tower's Hotel at Fal- mouth Heights, Mass., which he conducted very successfully for twenty-five seasons, dis- posing of the property at a handsome profit in 1896. He also erected the first house at Fal- mouth Heights, and influenced others to build there, thus being the pioneer settler of the place. This was notwithstanding doleful pre- dictions of failure made by the townspeople of Falmouth, who, however, had not gauged the full extent of Mr. Tower's foresight and enterprise. Mr. Tower retired from business in 1893, and now attends to his investments, enjoying a well-earned leisure in the society of his friends, of whom he has many. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Monticule Lodge, Worcester. He is also an honorary member of the George H. Ward Post, No. 10, G. A. R., of Worcester.

ILI BELISLE, a successful contractor and builder of Worcester, Mass., was born in Charlotte, Vt., February 23,

1858. His parents, Oliver and Damitile Belisle, now reside in this county. His pa- ternal grandfather, Michelle Belisle, was a native of Canada, and remained a resident there some time after marriage, eventually re- moving to Massachusetts, and working in the mills for the small wages of those early times. He reared six sons and seven daughters. He died in Wauregan, Conn., at the age of seventy years.

Oliver Belisle, the father, was born in St. Damase, P.Q., in 1829. He has spent much of his active life in farming. He has reared thirteen of his seventeen children, of whom nine sons and two daughters survive.

Eli Belisle in his early years attended school in Canada and in Worcester. At the age of ten he began work in the carding-room of a linen-mill, a day's labor at that time con- sisting of thirteen or fourteen hours; and for six years he was an operative in the factories at Webster and Manchaug, being advanced to

the position of second overseer of the spin- ning-room at one dollar per day. He subse- quently assisted his father upon the farm dur- ing one summer, after which he served his apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, re- ceiving one dollar and a half per month the first year and one dollar and seventy-five cents the second, with board. Having saved enough from his small earnings to pay his fare back to Massachusetts, he went to Manchaug, where he remained a year, at the end of which time he went to Wauregan, Conn., and fol- lowed his trade there for a year and a half. Coming to Worcester in 1880, he worked in the car shops a year, and for the next six years was employed by S. H. Batchelder. After a short period spent in Manitoba he en- tered the meat market business in this city, but relinquished it some two years later to en- gage in the building business, which he has since followed. Among the more notable contracts completed by him are a church, three school-houses, a fire engine house, a hospital, a parochial school, and the Langlois Block. He resides at 19 Portland Street in a six-tenement brick block, which he purchased in 1896. He owns valuable property on South Gate Street, devoted to business and residential purposes, and also a lot on Albert Street. Aside from his business in this city he is associated with his brother in carrying on a general store at Manchaug.

On June 24, 1884, Mr. Belisle was united in marriage with Minnie Fifle, who is of Ger- man descent. He is the father of two chil- dren, namely: Corrunna, aged eleven; and Rose Blanche, aged four years. Mr. Belisle belongs to the Foresters and several other societies and clubs.

ILLIAM PATHIE, an enterprising and well-known business man of Worcester, Mass., was born January 15, 1840, in Haverstraw, N. Y., a son of Charles Pathie. His parents were born and bred in Scotland. They emigrated soon after their marriage, and settled in Haverstraw, but subsequently removed to New York City, where both died in early life.

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Left an orphan in his youth, William Pathie was separated from his brothers and sisters. He came to Worcester, Mass., prior to 1860. During the summer seasons he was employed by a firm of submarine divers in various coast cities and towns, an occupation in which he continued until after the Civil War was well in progress. On September 25, 1862, he enlisted in the Third Massachu- setts Cavalry for a term of three years; and on May 20, 1865, after the war had ended, he was honorably discharged from the service. Under the command of General N. P. Banks he participated in the following engagements : Irish Bend, La., April 14, 1863; Port Hud- son, La., July 8, 1863; Henderson Hill, March 22, 1864; Sabine Pass Road, April 8, 1864; Pleasant Hill, the next day; Care River, April 23, 1864; Pineville, May I, 1864; Alexandria, April 28, 1864; Swag Point, La., May 15, 1864; Bayou de Plaze, the following day; Muddy Bayou and Yellow Bayou, the same month. Subsequently, under General Phil Sheridan, he was in the follow- ing battles: at Winchester, Va., September 19, 1864; Fisher's Hill, September 22; and at Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864. While storming Port Hudson, Mr. Pathie was one of the leaders of what was called the "forlorn hope," and one of the few that survived the fearful but successful attack on breastworks that covered six miles of obstructed land. He was often under heavy fire in the heat of battle, and had many marvellous escapes.

After the war Mr. Pathie followed the sub- marine business three summers, and in the winter time worked at the machinist's and other trades in Worcester. He decided at length to settle permanently in this city, and, securing a situation with the Washburn Car Wheel Company, was employed in their rolling-mill six years. He subsequently worked as a ma- chinist under D. W. Pond, in the Crompton Loom Mills, a few years, and then started in business for himself on Houghton Street, making phosphorescent or luminous signs after a process of his own creation. Begin- ning in 1883 on a modest scale, he has added to and greatly enlarged his operations, and has built up a very extensive and lucrative

business in manufacturing metal signs of all kinds, including copper and brass. A com- plete master of his trade and a man of excel- lent business capacity, he has placed these signs in the market, and in the face of strong competition receives large orders from every part of the United States. Loyal and patri- otic, a strong lover of American ideas and in- stitutions, Mr. Pathie at all times is a sup- porter of the highest principles connected with good citizenship.

On February 18, 1867, Mr. Pathie married Eliza D. McFarland, a daughter of James Mc- Farland, of Worcester, and the descendant of one of its earliest settlers, the founder of the McFarland family having located in this part of Massachusetts early in the eighteenth cen- tury, or about 1718. Mr. and Mrs. Pathie have two children, namely: Clifton, who is employed in the office of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company in this city ; and Sarah Gretchen, living at home.

IMORY A. WHEELER, a son of Alden Wheeler, was born in 1822 at Lit- tleton, Mass. His childhood was spent in his native town, but he subse- quently settled in Medfield, becoming agent of the Adams Express Company and conducting a coach line between Medfield and Medfield Junction for many years. He took an interest in public affairs, was ever ready to help any good cause to the extent of his means and in- fluence, and was respected by his fellow-towns- men as a worthy, useful, and progressive citi- zen. His death, which occurred March 20, 1878, caused widespread regret.

He married May 8, 1855, Eliza A., daugh- ter of Orion Wight, of Medfield. Her father was born in Medfield on February 19, 1799. He was a descendant of Thomas Wight, who came from England to Watertown, Mass., as early as 1636, thence removed to Dedham and later to Medfield. From Thomas the line of descent was through Samuel, and four in suc- cession who bore the name Jonathan, to Orion. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler had two children - L. Wight and Alden Hartwell,

L. Wight Wheeler, who was born in 1856,

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attended school in Medfield, and was subse- quently employed in the express business car- ried on there by his father. After the latter's death he conducted the business with his brother, but finally sold out his interests there to become agent of the express company at Saxonville. He is employed at the present time in the Boston office of the express com- pany. He was married December 12, 1877, to Mary C. Winship.

Alden H. Wheeler was born in Medfield, May 27, 1858, and was educated in the public schools of his native town. Subsequently he worked with his father and brother until 1881,' when he entered the Worcester Polytechnic School, at which he was graduated three years later. He was afterward employed for some time as mechanical engineer and expert draughtsman in a car shop at Salem. He then came to Worcester and entered the employ of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Com- pany as mechanical draughtsman and engineer. The factory is one of the largest wire works in the world, and Mr. Wheeler has been master mechanic at the South Works for the past six years.

He was married July 6, 1886, to Jennie A. Clarke, daughter of Joseph Clarke, a highly respected citizen of Medfield. He has two children : Bertram A., born October 13, 1890; and Margaret W., born March 30, 1896.

OSEPH BURNETT, first owner of the famous Deerfoot Farm at Southboro, the place of his birth and burial, and founder of the well-known firm of Joseph Burnett & Co., now the Joseph Burnett Company, of 36 India Street, Boston, was a son of Charles Burnett, of Southboro, and be- longed to an old Worcester County family.

He was born in 1820, received his early education in the district schools of his native town, and afterward pursued the higher Eng- lish branches and Latin in Worcester schools. A youth of seventeen seeking a wider field for his energies, he entered the employ of Theodore Metcalf, druggist, of Boston, his knowledge of drugs and chemicals, his prac- tical ability, and his ambition to excel,

making his services valuable from the begin- ning. During the last years of his associa- tion with Mr. Metcalf he was his partner. In 1854 he disposed of his interest in that concern, and began business for himself as a manufacturing chemist on Central Street. The enterprise was well managed, and proved profitable. Burnett's flavoring extracts found a ready market, and won a world-wide reputa- tion for purity and excellence, which they have not failed to maintain to this day.

Mr. Burnett's Southboro home, where his summers were spent as long as he lived, and his winters until 1875, when he first occupied his Beacon Street residence in Boston, was the Deerfoot mansion, which he built about 1850. He eventually became the owner of an estate in Southboro of five hundred acres, whose fields and stock gave employment to many hands. Cordial relations existed between Dr. Burnett and his business associates. In 1878 and 1879 he was president of the Boston Drug- gists' Association. In 1865-66 he was presi- dent of the Middlesex South Agricultural Society. He was also one of the fifty mem- bers of the Commercial Club of Boston, a body representing, as has been well said, the "old school of merchants, renowned for their integrity and conservatism, honored by all men.'

Originally a Daniel Webster Whig, Mr. Burnett in his later years was a firm friend and supporter of President Grover Cleveland. He never sought office, but was sometimes induced to accept a position of public trust, the duties of which he failed not to discharge with abil- ity and faithfulness. Appointed as Prison Commissioner by Governor Rice, he was chair- man of that body while in charge of the erec- tion of the Women's Reformatory at Sherborn. In Southboro he served for a time on the School Board, as Road Commissioner, and as chairman of the Building Committee of the Town Hall.

A zealous churchman, formerly a vestryman of the Church of the Advent, Boston, St. John's Church, Framingham, and of St. Paul's, Hopkinton, Mr. Burnett at the time of his departure from this life was Senior Warden of St. Mark's Parish, Southboro, of

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which he was in 1860 one of the founders. The stone church was given by him to the parish in 1862. Three years later he was instrumental in founding at Southboro St. Mark's School for Boys, an academy of high rank.

The death of Mr. Burnett, which occurred on August II, 1894, was caused by an acci- dent while he was out driving. Sincere sor- row was felt by all who had known him. Habitually considerate of others, sweet-tem- pered, courteous, and kindly, Mr. Burnett had won the regard of many friends. In Southboro his loss was felt as a public calam- ity. On Wednesday, August 15, at St. Mark's Church, at 10.30 A. M., the impressive funeral rites were conducted by Bishop Lawrence, assisted by the Rev. G. S. Converse, D. D., and the Rev. A. St. John Chambre, arch- deacons. Sorrowing kindred and friends filled the church to overflowing, conspicuous among the mourners being some who had been his employees for thirty years. His grave was the first in the enclosure in the rear of the church.

Mr. Burnett was married in 1848 to Joseph- ine Cutter, of Boston, daughter of Edward and Ruth (Torrey) Cutter. They had twelve chil- dren, of whom one died in infancy. The others, who with their mother survive the father, are: Edward, Harry, Robert Manton, Waldo, Josephine, Esther, Ruth, Charles C., John T., Louise, and Eleanor.

The Hon. Edward Burnett, graduate of Har- vard 1871, member of Congress 1886-88, now of Madison, N. J., married Mabel, only child of James Russell Lowell. Harry Burnett, who was graduated at Harvard in 1873, with his brother Robert conducts the manufacturing business of the Joseph Burnett Company. Robert M. Burnett is also proprietor of Deer- foot Farm. He has for some years taken a prominent part in State politics, being chair- man of the Democratic State Committee. The Rev. Waldo Burnett was educated at St. Mark's School, Southboro, Harvard Univer- sity, and at Oxford University, England, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1878 and of Master of Arts in 1881. He took orders in England, and was for four years

curate at Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, and private chaplain to the Duke of Marlbor- ough. Returning to this country, since 1885 he has been rector of St. Mark's Parish, Southboro, and also since 1892 of St. Paul's Parish, Hopkinton, one of the oldest Episco- pal societies in New England, dating as far back as 1736. He was also first rector of Trinity Church, Marlboro; is secretary of the Massachusetts Church Union; and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fay Library in Southboro. Josephine is the wife of C. A. Kidder, son of the late Henry P. Kidder, founder of the banking house of Kidder, Pea- body & Co., of Boston. Esther is the wife of George P. Gardner, of Boston. Ruth is in the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Albany, N. Y. Charles Cutter Burnett, who was grad- uated at Harvard in 1886, is employed in the office of the New York, New Haven & Hart- ford Railroad at Providence, R.I. He mar- ried Miss Ethel Mason, of that city. John T. Burnett, who was Assistant Postmaster of Bos- ton during President Cleveland's second term and Acting Postmaster after the death of Colo- nel Coveney, is now secretary of the Boston Elevated Street Railroad Company. Louise is the wife of Charles F. Choate, Jr., a lawyer and Selectman of Southboro, and son of Charles F. Choate, Sr., the well-known railroad man, president of the Old Colony Railroad until its consolidation with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Eleanor, who is unmar- ried, resides at home with her mother.

ALCOM G. CLARK, one of the active business men of Leicester engaged in the woollen manufact- uring industry in the village of Greenville, was born in Leicester, January 30, 1841, son of Asa W. Clark. Of Scotch extraction, he is descended from one of the early pioneers of Hampshire County. His paternal grandfather, Asa Clark, spent his life in Belchertown, that county.

Asa W. Clark was born and bred in Belcher- town, which he left when a young man to take charge of a district school in Rochdale. Sub- sequently deciding to make a permanent loca-

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tion in Leicester, he bought a farm owned by his father-in-law, Ebenezer Dunbar, in the southern part of the town, and was thereafter engaged in agriculture until his demise in Au- gust, 1889. A man of ability and integrity, he exerted an influence for good in the com- munity ; and as one of the Selectmen for sev- eral years he assisted in advancing the welfare of the town. Especially interested in the re- ligious growth of the community, he early united with the Baptist church in Greenville, and for years rendered faithful service as one of its Deacons. His wife, whose maiden name was Lydia W. Dunbar, was born and reared on her father's farm, and continued to live there after her marriage, rearing her whole family there. They had four children, as follows : M. Adelaide, deceased; John D., also de- ceased ; Malcom G., the subject of this sketch ; and Cecilia L., the wife of F. A. Blake, of Greenville. Mrs. Lydia W. Clark died De- cember 7, 1898. She was a lineal descendant of John Dunbar, an original settler of Leices- ter, who came here from one of the sub- urbs of Boston in Colonial days. His son, Abner, her grandfather, was a soldier in the Revolution. Abner's son, Ebenezer, was her father.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 127

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