Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 141

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 141

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In 1879 Mr. Lundberg married Christina Maria Christofferson. She was born in Long- banshyttan, Sweden, which was the birthplace of the famous inventor, John Ericsson. Her father, Christopher Person, was identified with the iron works in that place, and was a well-to- do man. Mr. Lundberg has one daughter, Hulda Luella, who was born in Worcester in

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1889. He has been a director of the Young Men's Christian Association for ten years ; was for several years treasurer, and is now president of the Swedish Benevolent Society ; and was formerly a member of the Wellington Rifles, M. V. M.

OSHUA BARTLETT RICH, M.D.,* for twenty years a leading physician of Worcester, was born in Roxbury, Mass., on August 23, 1844, son of Joshua Gross and Mary N. (Day) Rich. He was the eldest of a family of fourteen children. Soon after his birth his parents removed to Maine, his father's native State. The Rich family came originally from England. They are said to be closely related to the Perry family, of which Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of Lake Erie, was a member.

In early life Joshua G. Rich followed the sea for some years. In 1842 he married Mary N. Day, of Roxbury, daughter of a prominent family. For forty years she shared with him the perils and hardships of a life in the prim- itive forests far from settled districts. He became one of the most noted of the hunters and guides of the Rangely Lakes. Up to the time of his death in February, 1897, at the age of seventy-seven, he was actively engaged as trial justice, pension solicitor, and news- paper correspondent. His wife died in 1884. Eight of their children are yet living, all of them married and settled in life.

Dr. Rich's early years were spent amidst the dangers and privations of the wilderness, where he acquired the strength that comes of sur- mounting obstacles, and developed a rare sweet- ness and nobility of character. Leaving school in Bethel, Me., at the age of nineteen, he pre- pared for college at Phillips Academy, An- dover, Mass., and entered Yale in the class of 1869. At the end of his junior year, however, he left the class, and was not graduated until

1870. His college record was in every way honorable and creditable. While a student he displayed conspicuously the earnestness, devo- tion to duty, and maturity of character which gave promise of the useful and noble life to follow. During the year succeeding his gradu-

ation he taught in a classical school at Lyme, Conn., and after that he studied three years at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, under the supervision of the eminent anatomist and surgeon, Dr. W. W. Keen. In 1874 he. received his medical diploma. During two years of his course of professional study, he was instructor in literature and science at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, where he showed extraordinary abil- ity and thoroughness. One of the most dis- tinguished philanthropists and teachers of the blind in this country thus writes of him :-

: "As a man, as a teacher, and as a physician he occupied a high place in public esteem, and his labors in behalf of the blind were well directed and productive of excellent results. He never ceased to feel a profound interest in the advancement of the cause of education among this class of our fellow-men, and I have often witnessed his warm and unfailing sym- pathy with them, and the many helpful things which both he and his good wife were con- stantly doing for them."

In September, 1876, Dr. Rich settled in Worcester, and became superintendent of the City Hospital; but this office he found it necessary to resign five years later in order to be able to meet the requirements of his ex- ceedingly large general practice. He contin- ued, however, to be on the surgical staff of the hospital until his death, which occurred on February 25, 1896. The following is quoted from the appreciative memorial sketch pre- pared by Edward Randall Knowles : -

"Dr. Rich's wide practice and popularity were vastly augmented by his fidelity of atten- tion, and the extent and multitude of his quiet benefactions and secret charities will never be half understood. As a surgeon and anatomist he held an eminent rank. His throat practice exceeded that of the specialists, and his gynæ- cological practice was very extensive. It is impossible to emphasize adequately the ad- mirableness of the spirit and method of his life and practice. ... While he did not 'wear his heart upon his sleeve for every daw to peck at,' he was invariably candid, open, and sincere. His unassuming charity and nobility of charac- ter endeared him to every one. Pre-eminently,

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Dr. Rich was a knight of truth, justice, and right, never hesitating to sacrifice comfort, human opinion, and self-interest in the cause of humanity and equity. ... But while this inflexible devotion to truth and justice was so conspicuous an adornment of this noble mind, yet there remains to be admired and loved that attribute which is an essential component of his very being - his inexhaustible and super- natural charity. He viewed all at their best, inspiring and cheering them to higher efforts and nobler ideals. To the depraved, the soul- disordered, and the sin-sick, his very presence was a truce to vice as well as an assuagement to suffering.

"His following of the higher life of useful- ness and duty was consistent, doing at the instant moment its immediate duty, and never leaving this exemplification of the God-life for the nonce to follow some fashionable formality of the hour because it might be esteemed 'the correct thing to do.'

"Ever earnest and marked by a regal dignity supported alike by interior character and physi- cal endowment, he was equally cordial, gentle, and companionable to those who enjoyed his friendship."

Dr. Rich was married in Philadelphia on February 8, 1873, to Sarah Jeanne Wrigley, daughter of Edward Wrigley, a prominent merchant of Philadelphia. Mr. Wrigley came from Yorskhire, England, about 1831, and es- tablished a clock factory at Philadelphia. His wife, Susan Paxson, was a niece of Timothy Paxson, a Quaker and an old-time resident of Philadelphia, one of the men chosen by Ste- phen Girard as a trustee of his will in carry- ing out the Girard College bequests. Mem- bers of the Paxson family served with credit in the War of the Revolution. Susan Paxson's father, brother of Timothy, was a leading mer- chant in Philadelphia, engaged in the East India trade, especially in coffee and spices. Mrs. Rich was for some years a teacher in the Philadelphia Institution for the Blind, and among her pupils was Edmund K. Ottrick, who is almost as widely known as Laura Bridgman, and is one of the most able blind men in Amer- ica. Mrs. Rich has unusual talent as a writer, and has contributed poems and prose articles to

several of the leading periodicals. She has been the mother of four children, as follows : Franklin Peale, born November 11, 1873, who was named for President Franklin Peale of the Philadelphia Institution for the Blind, and is now in business in Boston; Helen, who was born on January 15, 1875; Susan Marie, who was born on October 23, 1876; and Ethel, who was born on May 25, 1880, and died on January 12, 1882.

Dr. Rich was a member of the Worcester Medical Improvement Society, and of the American Academy of Medicine, and was two years president of the Worcester District Med- ical Society. He was a Mason of high stand- ing, and was affiliated with Quinsigamond Lodge; Worcester Chapter of Royal Arch Masons; Hiram Council, R. & S. M. ; Boston Commandery, K. T .; Goddard Council; Law- rence Chapter of Rose Croix; and Massachu- setts Consistory of the Scottish Rite.

AJOR ISAAC DAMON,* a repre- sentative of one of the leading families of the town of Holden, was born in the house where he now lives on October 26, 1817, son of Colonel Samuel and Alony (Chenery) Damon. His first ancestor in this country, John Damon, a native of Reading, England, came to America in 1633, and a few years later settled in Read- ing, his home being in what is now Wakefield, Mass. He was a Deacon of the Congrega- tional church. He married Abigail, daughter of Richard Sherman, a Boston merchant. From Deacon John' the line continued through his son Joseph2 (who removed to Dedham), Jo- seph, 3 and Joseph,4 to Samuel Damon, 5 who was born in Dedham on August 13, 1755, and came to Holden in 1779, shortly after his marriage with Abigail Penniman. The jour- ney occupied two days, Mrs. Damon and a negro servant riding one horse, and the house- hold goods being carried in an ox-cart. Mr. Damon had learned the cabinet-maker's trade in Medway before coming here, but not long after his arrival he opened a store, the first in the town. A part of the house where Major Damon now resides, and the store, were bought

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by him in 1800, and for more than a hundred years, with the exception of an interval of two years, a country store has been carried on here. The store extension, with doric columns, was built by Colonel Samuel Damon some years after the original purchase.

Colonel Damon, who was born in 1786 and died in 1851, went to work regularly in the store when sixteen years of age, and continued in business during forty-five years. In a short time he opened stores in Rutland, Paxton, and South Leicester, and of these was proprietor or part owner. He also became interested in manufacturing, and built and equipped a num- ber of mills - in 1828 the cotton-mill at Phillipston; and later mills at North Woods, Drydenville, Dawsonville, and North Oxford. Most of these he owned at the time of his death, together with the Trowbridge mill at Worcester. In addition to these varied activ- ities he was also interested in real estate, and the Registry at Worcester records over three hundred conveyances made by him. A man of unusual executive ability, Colonel Damon was for thirteen years Town Treasurer, and for four terms Representative to the legislature. He was commander of a cavalry regiment and a bank director. His wife, Alony, was the daughter of Dr. Isaac Chenery, who served under a Sergeant's commission in the War of the Revolution. She was the mother of nine children, only two of whom are living: Major Isaac, the subject of this sketch; and Susan, the youngest daughter, now Mrs. Gale.

Samuel Chenery Damon, D.D., whose name is known and loved by seamen the world over, was the oldest son of Colonel Samuel. He was born on February 15, 1815, and died on February 7, 1885. After his graduation from Amherst College in 1836, he studied theology at Princeton, and later at Andover, where he was graduated in 1841. He was ordained to the gospel ministry, and not long after went to Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, where, for forty-two years, he was pastor of the Bethel Church. He went out under the auspices of the American Seaman's Friend Society, and his duties in addition to his pul- pit work were to visit the different ships that touched at the port of Honolulu to distribute

Bibles, tracts, and other religious literature, and to converse with as many of the sailors as possible. When it is known that about six thousand seamen annually came within the circle of his ministrations, it will be readily seen that his labors must have been arduous in the extreme. He was a pleasing and forcible speaker, and was often called upon to address gatherings in behalf of charitable or educa- tional organizations, and to speak at all public missionary meetings. Only three months after his arrival in Honolulu he began the publication of a monthly journal called The Friend, which became one of the elevating and educating agencies in that part of the world, being read by thousands of people both on land and on sea. The Rev. Dr. Damon travelled extensively, visiting Egypt and the Holy Land, and nearly all the countries of Europe as well as many parts of the United States. He was a member of the American Antiqua- rian Society, and a corresponding member of the New England Historic-Genealogical So- ciety. He married Julia Sherman Mills, of Natick and had a family of five sons. Such a life as his leaves an influence so lasting in its character that its beneficent results cannot be computed.

Major Damon grew to manhood on the old home place, and was educated in the town schools and at Amherst and Leicester acad- emies. When a boy he worked some in the store, but later engaged in farming for himself in another part of the town. There he lived until he returned to the Centre, and again took up his residence on the Damon homestead. In 1862 he enlisted in Company B of the Fifty- first Regiment, in which he served until the expiration of his term in July, 1863. Like his father and grandfather before him, he has been prominently connected with the manage- ment of town affairs. For eighteen years he was Town Clerk, for twenty-two years a mem- ber of the Board of Assessors, and for a num- ber of terms Selectman. His title he acquired from his standing in the State militia. His army rank was that of Sergeant.

Major Damon was married in 1839 to Mary Harpwell, a native of Princeton, Mass., and daughter of Colonel Jonas Harpwell. Of this

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union eight children were born; namely, Helen, Marion, Julia, Mary, Isaac, Marion V., Harry C., and Anna C. The last three named are living. Mrs. Damon died on May 1, 1867. The Major attends the Congrega- tional church. In politics he votes with the Republican party. He is one of the oldest members of Morning Star Lodge, F. & A. M., at Worcester; also a member of Ferren E. Hall Post, No. 77, G. A. R., of Holden. He is in every way worthy of the honored name he bears.

RANKLIN WYMAN,* a resident of Worcester for more than twenty years prior to his death, which occurred on August 12, 1893, was an energetic, enterpris- ing, and successful business man and a citizen of worth. He was born in Westminster, this county, January 20, 1808, and was a son of David and Huldah (Brown) Wyman.

The emigrant ancestor of the family from which he sprang was Francis Wyman, who was a pioneer settler of Woburn, Mass., where he established an extensive business as a tanner and acquired riches by his industry. The line was thus continued: Timothy, born in 1661 ; Joseph, born in 1695, who settled in Billerica ; Joseph, Jr., born in 1725; David, 1767; and Franklin. David Wyman learned the art of fulling cloth in Dracut, and opened a mill for that purpose in Jaffrey, N. H. In 1793 he removed to Westminster, Mass., where he bought water privilege on a small stream and established the first fulling mill of that local- ity. He became identified with the leading interests of that town, in which he resided until his death in 1839.

Franklin Wyman was bred and educated in Westminster, and, having inherited in a marked degree the activity and push that char- acterized his father, he early desired to enter into business on his own account. When nineteen years old, he therefore went to him and said, "I want to buy my time." His father replied : "I don't talk with boys. You stay and work for me." Instead of obeying, the youth went to Gardner, Mass., where he bought a wood lot on credit. Hiring men to

clear it off, he sold the wood, made money in the operation, and returning home astonished his father by his success. Needing more money to continue his speculations, he tried to get some of his father, who refused to lend, saying, "You can't succeed by borrowing. You'll fail up, and lose all." The young man borrowed elsewhere, and in his subsequent operations as a buyer and seller of wood and woodland, made good profits, and soon repaid all obligations. Somewhat later he bought a mill, and for a few years was successfully en- gaged in manufacturing chairs. Settling afterward in Westminster, he built a mill on the same stream on which his father's was located, and embarked in an entirely new in- dustry, the manufacture of paper. He began with no experience, but succeeded as in his former undertakings, and in time accumulated a substantial property. Energetic and pro- gressive, he added every known mechanical improvement and process for making different kinds of paper, and as years rolled by built up such a large trade that he felt warranted in erecting two other mills on the same stream. His business grew rapidly. He became one of the most prominent paper manufacturers in the United States, and the products of his mills were sold in all parts of the world. In his manufactures he was intimately associated with Rodney Wallace, of Fitchburg, a man well known throughout the county.

A wide-awake, keen, practical man of busi- ness, Mr. Wyman was connected during his life with various enterprises, and was in many ways remarkable. He built a dam, flooded one thousand acres of land, and had control of the head water of the Nashua River. This water being needed to supply the city of Fitchburg, he sold out to that city in 1891, and his mills were in consequence closed. He subsequently lived retired. His great executive ability eminently fitting him to administer public affairs, he was repeatedly elected to official positions. He served efficiently as Selectman of Westminster six years, and was a member of the State legislature two terms. In politics he was an ardent Republican, and in his relig- ious belief a liberal Christian.

Mr. Wyman was first married on December

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31, 1839, to Henrietta W. Hazen, of Shirley, who died in 1860. His second wife, Amelia E. Ashley, whom he married on December 19, 1861, died in 1864. On December 7, 1865, he married Sophia L. Gardner, of Shirley, who survives him. Her only child, Evelyn May, was born December 10, 1870, and died in 1895. Two children were born to Mr. Wyman by his first wife, and are now living, namely : Charles F., of Worcester, who married for his first wife M. E. Fairbanks, and after her death married H. E. Wright; and Alfred A., of Fitchburg, who married Flora M. Wright, and has one child.

WALDO BATES,* a prosperous farmer of Phillipston and an ex-mem- ber of the legislature, was born upon the farm he now occupies, July 10, 1846, son of Emory and Mary Reed (Bigelow) Bates. The immigrant progenitor of the fam- ily arrived in New England at an early date in the Colonial period. Mr. Bates's grand- father, Asa Bates, accompanied his father from Bellingham to Phillipston, and the latter car- ried on farming in connection with tavern- keeping previous to the advent of railroads. Asa Bates succeeded his father as farmer and host. He owned and cultivated the farm which is now conducted by his grandson, and he held some of the important town offices as the candidate of the Whig party. He married Azubah Lamb, a native of this town. She died at the age of seventy-two. He lived to be seventy-eight years old. They reared five chil- dren; namely, Ezra, Diana, Emory, Ezekiel, and Caroline, none of whom are living.

Emory Bates, the father above mentioned, was born at the homestead, February 11, 1804. In early life he kept a tavern in Westminster, and was for a time engaged in trade there, but the greater part of his active period was spent in tilling the soil of the home farm in Phillips- ton. He served as a Selectman and Assessor for seventeen years, being chairman of the board. He was also an auctioneer and a jus- tice of the peace, and he settled estates. In politics he was a Democrat until the nomina- tion of U. S. Grant in 1868, and thencefor-

ward he voted with the" Republican party. Emory Bates at the time of his death, which occurred April 17, 1881, owned about three hundred acres of desirable land. In his relig- ious belief he was a Universalist, and took an active part in church matters. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary R. Bigelow, was born in Westminster, Mass., February 22, 1811. Her father, Asa Bigelow, was the youngest son of Lieutenant Jabez Bigelow, a Revolutionary soldier, who was an early settler in Westminster. Emory and Mary R. Bates had twelve children, nine of whom are living, namely : Mary R., who is now Mrs. Gibbs, of Athol; Asa B. Bates, of Phillipston ; Sally S., now Mrs. Whitcomb, of Athol; Emory S. Bates, of Lewiston; Simeon P. Bates, who lives in Phillipston; Stella M., who is now Mrs. Hood, and resides in Athol; C. Waldo Bates, the subject of this sketch; Herbert N. Bates, a resident of Cambridge, Mass. ; and Annette A. Bates, of Athol. The others were: Emory Bates, who died young; Lydia Ann, who became Mrs. Baker, and died at the age of thirty-four years; and Henry Bates, who died at the age of four years. Mrs. Bates died May 15, 1886.

C. Waldo Bates was educated in the schools of Phillipston and Athol. For some years in his early manhood he gave his principal atten- tion to lumbering, but of late he has devoted his energies to agriculture. He owns the homestead property, consisting of two hundred and fifty acres more or less. He makes a spe- cialty of dairy farming, keeping twenty-five head of cattle, embracing Jersey and Guernsey, full bloods and grades, and his product of butter, amounting to from seventy-five to eighty pounds per week on an average, is sold to one regular customer. The original house, which was built by his grandfather in 1785, was destroyed by fire in 1885, while still in a good state of preservation. The present residence, erected upon the site of the old dwelling, is one of the best in this locality.

On December 25, 1883, Mr. Bates was united in marriage with Stella M. Eddy, who was born in Enfield, Hampshire County, Mass., January 21, 1859, daughter of John and Sarah (Gross) Eddy. Her father, who was an

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industrious farmer, died May 25, 1895. Her mother is still living in Enfield. Mr. and Mrs. Bates have one daughter - Lena May, who was born January 29, 1885.

Mr. Bates was connected with public affairs as a town official for twenty-four years, seven- teen of which he was a Selectman, Assessor, and Overseer of the Poor, being chairman of that body fourteen years. He was a member of the State legislature in 1890, and again in 1894. He belongs to Athol Lodge, F. & A. M. ; Union Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; and Athol Commandery, Knights Templar. He is one of the original members of Athol Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and secretary of Pomona Grange, No. 4, which has jurisdic- tion in Franklin and Worcester Counties.

K. YOOSUF, M.D.,* a well-known medical practitioner of Worcester, where he has been located since 1895, is a native of Harpoot in Asiatic Turkey. His father, Kirk Yoosuf, was engaged in the production of the raw ma- terial from which silk is manufactured, finding a market principally in Constantinople. The

family is no doubt of Roumanian origin. Dr. Yoosuf's mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Nalbant, was of aristocratic birth. Being influenced to look with favor upon the Protestant religion, at considerable sacrifice on her part she sent her son, whose education had been begun in a private school, to the mis- sion school in Harpoot. On leaving the mis- sion school, he went to the preparatory school at Aintab, and thence to the Central Turkey College in that town, where he was graduated in 1886, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His high standing in college and the favor in which he was regarded by his instruc- tors are evidenced by the fact that directly upon graduation he was appointed as teacher in the preparatory department of his alma mater. Here he remained for three years, and meantime declined a very flattering offer to become principal of the Girls' Seminary in Aintab.

He decided to go to America, and late in the year 1889 he landed in New York City.

He shortly secured a position in the New York City Insane Asylum, where for two years he had charge of the hospital department, and was thus enabled to earn money with which to defray his expenses for a professional course. He had already had one year's study in medi- cine while in the college in Turkey, and had made up his mind to become a physician. Ac- cordingly, in 1892, he entered the Baltimore Medical College, and three years later was graduated with distinction. Coming to Mas- sachusetts he passed his examination before the State Examining Board, and immediately after opened an office in Worcester for the practice of medicine.

Dr. Yoosuf has been deeply interested in the Armenian question, and so much of his life having been spent near the scene of recent Armenian outrages, he has been able to give the American public much valuable and au- thentic information relating thereto. While pursuing his college course in Baltimore he was frequently called upon to give lectures upon this subject, and he contributed various readable articles to the columns of the daily press.

Dr. Yoosuf is at the present time, and has been for two years, president of the Alumni Association in America of the Central Turkey College. He is a member of the Massachu- setts Medical Society and of the Order of Foresters of America. The Doctor is un- married.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 141

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