Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 37

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 37

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James A. Rice has been engaged in farm- ing and lumbering since he left school. The old Rice farm, which he is now cultivating, is one of the largest in Barre. It contains five hundred and forty acres of excellent land, well adapted for dairy purposes. His stock aver- ages fifty head of the Durham breed, of which thirty are milch cows. He also raises thor- oughbred horses of a mixed Morgan and Eng- lish strain, having upon his farm specimens of the sixth generation bred on the home farm. From one hundred to one hundred and fifty tons of hay are cut by him annually. The house, which was built in 1785 and is still in a good state of preservation, contains a fire- place six by four feet, capable of holding a log five feet long and two feet in diameter. The interior is ceiled with white pine boards, thirty-two inches wide; and the old clock and desk, which belonged to the great-grandfather of Mr. Rice, are still a part of the furniture. An old elm-tree standing in front of the house, and which was set out by the original settler, is thought to be about one hundred and twenty-five years old. Mr. Rice is not married. In politics he is a Republican, and he has performed his share of service to the town as an assessor and in other offices. He attends the Congregational church.

HANDLER JACKSON GREENE, a leading dairy farmer of West Au- burn, son of Samuel Chandler and Martha (Jackson) Greene, was born in Rutland, this county, on November 2, 1848. His great-grandfather, who was the eldest of nine children, was born on October 18, 1745. The grandfather, Jeduthun, born in 1785, who died in 1871, was a farmer by occupation. He was married in 1809 to Betsy Stone Dadmun, who was born on August 1, 1788, and who bore him nine children, namely : George S., on March 2, 1810; John William, November 10, 1811; Betsy Jane, September 12, 1813, who is now the widow Whiting, residing in Brookfield; Harriet Dad- mun, January 24, 1816, who was the wife of

Charles King, and died on September 25, 1864; Ruth Maria, May 1, 1818; Charles Jeduthun, July 9, 1820; Samuel C., Septem- ber 24, 1822; James Estabrook, May 28, 1825 ; and James Slayton, April 21, 1834. Of these, Charles, George, John William, Sam- uel C., and the three daughters grew to matu- rity and had families. Mrs. Whiting is the only surviving daughter. An old rifle, which is one of the cherished heirlooms of the fam- ily, was bought in 1816 by Jeduthun and Betsy Greene.

Samuel Chandler Greene was a lifelong agriculturist in Rutland, on the farm left by his father. During the Civil War he enlisted for nine months in Company B, Fifty-first Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry. He died in Rutland in 1888. His wife, Martha, born in Vermont on June 28, 1826, was the mother of five children, namely : Chandler J., the subject of this biography; Jane, who died at the age of twelve years; Eliza, who is the wife of Sumner Strout, of Maine; Ada Maria, who died in infancy ; and Stella A., who lives in Worcester.

Chandler Jackson Greene received a public- school education, and subsequently remained at home until he was eighteen years of age. He then began working out for himself at farm labor, and for eight months was on a farm at Lansingburg, N. Y., where he received twenty-five dollars a month. Returning after this to Massachusetts, he drove a team for the next year and a half in Coldbrook and subsequently from Barre to Worcester. Then he was in teaming in Worcester with from one to four teams until May, 1894, when he purchased the Loomis Stone farm of two hun- dred acres, one of the finest in this section, for which he paid twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Greene keeps about fifty head of stock, in- cluding from four to seven horses, and a dairy of from thirty to thirty-six high-grade cows. In 1894 his large barn, one hundred and forty by forty-six feet, with the tower, was built by Darling Brothers. A silo, having a capacity of one hundred and ninety tons, was built in 1896. Prior to September, 1897, he had a milk route, but since that time he sells milk at the door.

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In September, 1873, Mr. Greene was married to Mary E. Wheeler, only child of Hiram and Jane (Smith) Wheeler, all of Rut- land. Mr. Wheeler died forty-five years ago, leaving his widow and his year-old daughter. The mother subsequently married Paul Wheeler, a brother of her first husband, by whom she had a son, H. Edward Wheeler, now a farmer in Rutland. She died in Sep-

tember, 1881, aged forty-five. Mr. and Mrs. Greene have been the parents of four children, as follows: Paul S., who was born on Novem- ber 2, 1874, and is now a student in the Poly- technic School at Worcester; H. Everett, who was born on April 25, 1881, and is now at- tending school in West Auburn; Harrie L., who was born on October 26, 1883, and is now attending the district school; and Ruth E., who was born on April 5, 1891. In politics Mr. Greene is a Republican. He is one of the solid men of this town, and has the confi- dence of the community.

ILLIAM H. BLOOD, the chairman of the Lancaster Board of Select- men, was born in Groton, Mass., September 21, 1843, son of Thomas F. and Caroline E. (Parker) Blood. His paternal grandfather, Thomas, who was also a native of Groton, served as a Captain in the State mi- litia, and carried on general farming, dying when fifty-nine years old.

Thomas F. Blood, one of the nine children of Thomas, and likewise a native of Groton, succeeded to the homestead, and resided there until 1845, when he moved to Lancaster. His last days were spent in this town, and he lived to be seventy years old. Caroline E. Blood, his wife, was born in Groton. She had six children; namely, Charles E., William H., Angelo P., Caroline E., Ellen F., and Lucius M. Blood. Her death occurred at the age of fifty years. Both parents were members of the Congregational church.

William H. Blood has resided in Lancaster since he was two years old. His education was completed in the high school. While yet a young man he turned his attention to agri- culture, and upon reaching his majority he

purchased his present farm of twenty-seven acres. Later he bought other real estate, which he still owns. He is one of the most successful general farmers in this locality. For a number of years he was connected with the Lancaster Creamery, which produced a large amount of superior butter annually. In politics he supports the Republican party. His public services have been varied, and marked by an earnest desire to keep up with the march of improvement. He served as Tax Collector for the years 1868, 1869, and 1870. He has been Selectman for the greater part of the time since 1879, and he is now its chair- man. For four years he has been a Road Commissioner, and Superintendent of Streets for twelve years. At present he is a member of the Board of Water Commissioners.

In 1866 Mr. Blood was joined in marriage with Mary E. Priest, daughter of Levi Priest, a prosperous farmer of Shirley, Mass. Mrs. Blood has been the mother of eight children, three of whom died in infancy. The survivors are : Alice M., the wife of Sereno Goodnow, who is in the employ of the Thayers as a farm assistant, and has two children - Edith and Ellen; George H., who married Florence Mc- Cloud, and is in the oil business ; Arthur W., who is married and resides in Lancaster ; Nellie M. ; and Edgar M. Blood. Edgar is attending school. A member of the Congre- gational church, Mr. Blood is an active worker upon the Parish and. Church Committees. The family is identified with . the church and its Sunday-school.

J OSEPH COUTU, of the firm Fontaine & Coutu, general merchants of Worces- ter, was born in St. Félix de Valois, Province of Quebec, June 22, 1858, his parents being Charles and Priscilla (Malihot) Coutu. Six generations ago the Coutus lived . in Corbie, Picardy, France. Their first rep- resentative in this country was François Cottu de Lavaltrie, who was here in 1680. About 1794 the name was changed to Coutu. Mr. Coutu's great-grandfather, Ardouin Coutu, was a farmer and land-owner, and lived in Canada.

Alexis Coutu, the grandfather, who was a

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native of St. Elizabeth, Province of Quebec, born on November 29, 1798, died in 1843. Of his five children, three sons and a daughter reached maturity. His wife was still a young woman when she died, and his death happened five years later. During their minority the children were cared for by an uncle, who was made the administrator of the estate. Three of them subsequently went to other parts of Canada; while Edward, the youngest, came to the States about the year 1852, settling in this county, where he engaged in the poultry busi- ness. Charles Coutu, who was born on April 30, 1830, at St. Elizabeth, is still living there, active and in good health. His wife, Priscilla, whom he married on August 19, 1851, has been the mother of twelve children. Of these, seven are living, namely : Trefflé, who is engaged in farming in Canada; John Louis, also in Canada, who has operated a cheese factory with much success; Joseph Coutu, the subject of this sketch; Alexis, who is a farmer in Canada; Rose Anna, now Sister Mary Priscilla of a convent in Cohoes, N. Y. ; Eugenie, the wife of Charles Frappier, resi- dent in Canada; and Octavia, who married Leo Minville, of Canada. Both parents reside on the homestead farm, leading a somewhat retired life.

Joseph Coutu attended the convent school for a time and subsequently the Normal School in Montreal. When twenty years of age he came to New England, and began clerking in a grocery store of Woonsocket, R. I., remaining in that position until 1887. Since then he has been in the grocery and provision business in Worcester at 136 Wash- ington Street, in partnership with Mr. Fon- taine. The firm has also a store at 137-1371/2 Some Street. Both partners give their full attention to their large and increasing busi- ness, dividing their time between the two stores. They have the full confidence of the buying public, and are looked upon as thor- oughly representative men among the ten or twelve thousand French-Canadians of Worces- ter. The relations of the partners are of the most pleasant character. Both gentlemen and their families are members of St. Joseph's Church.

In politics Mr. Coutu takes an independent course. On September 22, 1884, he married Louise Remillard, who died here in 1891, leaving no children. He was married again on May 15, 1897, to Emma Bergeron, a daugh- ter of Peter Bergeron, of Woonsocket. Born in Saratoga, N. Y., she was educated in the public schools of that city.

USTIN HOWARD, Government Claim Agent, Notary Public, and Justice of the Peace, a well-known citizen of Milford, Mass., is a native of this place, and was born on October 16, 1839, son of Albert and Hannah D. (Howe) Howard. He received his education in a district school in Milford, a private school at Hopedale, and at Chester Academy, Chester, Vt., where he fitted for college. In the spring of 1858 he went to New Bedford, and, shipping for a cruise on a whaling vessel, was gone two years. In April, 1861, on the breaking out of the Rebellion, he enlisted in the Boston Tigers Company, and for six weeks was sta- tioned at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. He then joined Company G, of Milford, which be- came a part of the famous Fortieth New York Regiment, and went to the front in Virginia. On account of physical disability, however, he was discharged on the last day of August, 1861.

Not discouraged, and desirous of serving his country, he made a second effort, and in March, 1862, was enlisted at Boston, Mass., in the navy as an ordinary seaman, and went into duty on the gunboat "Lexington " at Cairo, Ill., on the Mississippi River. In September of that year he was promoted to be master's mate, United States navy, and was ordered for duty on the United States gunboat "Signal." On both boats he was in active warfare, and witnessed many stirring events. He was present at the destruction of the United States gunboat "Mound City," when a hundred and fifty men were scalded to death at the battle of St. Charles, on White River, Arkansas, June 17, 1862; and .he took part in the operations which eventually brought about the opening up of the Missis-

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sippi River. ITis boat was ordered to take torpedoes out of the Yazoo River during the campaign of Vicksburg, which was a task diffi- cult to perform. He was present when the fleet ran the blockade at Vicksburg. He was at the battle of Arkansas Post, or "Fort Hinman," on Arkansas River, where seven thousand rebels were surrendered to Admiral Porter in January, 1863; also on the Yazoo Pass expedition in Mississippi in February, 1863, and in several other engagements during the war of the Rebellion. In May, 1863, he was again discharged for disability, and re- turned home; but in February, 1865, having partly recovered his health, he was accepted as a private in Company A of the Second Massa- chusetts Cavalry. He was with that company in the vicinity of Fairfax Court-house, Va., at the time the war closed, and was there dis- charged July 20, 1865.

Coming home again, he remained here for a year, securing much needed recuperation, and then entered the employ of the Metropolitan Railroad in Boston, where he remained for about five years. He was a conductor on the Harlem Railroad in New York for nearly five years. After that he was engaged as a travel- ling salesman until 1881, being successively employed by the following firms: I. & J. H. Joseph, of New York; Henry Sawyer & Co., of Boston ; and Henry Callender & Co., whole- sale grocery house of Boston. In this line of business he was most successful; but in 1881 he retired from the road and took up his pres- ent business in Milford as United States Pen- sion, Bounty, and Government Claim Agent, Notary Public, and Justice of the Peace.

Mr. Howard has a large clientage, and has procured pensions for men in nearly every State in the Union. He was the first Auditor elected in the town of Milford. In politics he has always been an ardent Republican. He is a zealous Grand Army man and a mem- ber of Post No. 22, of which he has been chap- lain and Sergeant Major. He is also a member of Montgomery Lodge, F. & A. M.

Mr. Howard's first wife was Alice Maria Arnold, of Woonsocket, R.I. He is now liv- ing with his second wife, formerly S. Lovice Griswold, of Milford. Mr. and Mrs. Howard

are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

LBRIDGE GERRY WARREN was for many years prosperously engaged in the tanning industry in his native town of Auburn, Mass., where he is now liv- ing, a venerable octogenarian, retired from business. He resides in the house that has been his home from the day of his birth in the early part of the century, March 27, 1810. His parents were Samuel and Sally (Gould- ing) Warren.

The Warren name is one of the oldest in New England, its history in Massachusetts beginning with the arrival of Richard Warren in the " Mayflower " in 1620. Other Warren immigrants followed, whether akin to Richard and to each other or not, we are unable to say. The branch of the family represented by Mr. Elbridge G. Warren is said to be connected with that to which belonged General Joseph Warren of Revolutionary fame, who was a de- scendant of Peter Warren, of Boston, 1659.

Mr. Elbridge G. Warren's great-grand- father, Ebenezer Warren, who was born in 1714, settled in Leicester in 1744, and died there in 1800. His son Jonathan, who was born in Leicester on November 27, 1750, was twice married, and had a family of ten chil- dren. He died about 1825. A fine monu . ment in Greenville Cemetery in Leicester marks his last resting-place.

Samuel Warren, son of Jonathan by his wife, Martha Bemis, of Spencer, and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Leicester in 1779. He married young, and was only twenty-one years old when his son Elbridge, who was the second child, was born. His wife, Sally, was born on this farm, daughter of Jonah and Grace (Knowlton) Goulding, the latter a native of Shrewsbury; and she came with her parents to this house when about two years old. Samuel and Sally Warren had seven children, six sons and one daughter, all of whom grew to maturity. Of these, El- bridge G. was the second-born, and is the only survivor. The daughter, Sarah, died at the age of eighteen. The sons all married and

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reared families, and between sixty and seventy of their descendants gather here annually to hold a reunion. This farm was settled upon in Revolutionary times by Jonah Goulding, Joseph Knowlton settling near by at about the same time. For twenty-five years Grace Knowlton Goulding cooked the meals in the old house still standing a few rods distant, and brought them here. The tannery now oper- ated by Mr. Warren's nephews was purchased by a Goulding of Simeon Southworth. For thirty-nine years prior to 1877 the business was conducted by Elbridge G. Warren and his brother John; and from 1877, when the for- mer retired, to 1891, when the latter died, it was conducted by John Warren & Sons. Since their father's death the sons, J. G., Richard H., and Waterman A., have contin- ued the business. After the original building was burned in 1863, a new building was erected, and that also was burned in 1893. The present tannery, which is situated in West Auburn, about a mile distant from the place where the former buildings stood, was then built.

Mr. Elbridge G. Warren was married on April 9, 1834, to Lydia E., daughter of Isaac and Lydia (Brigham) Stone, of Oxford, the mother a native of Grafton. Mrs. Warren died in 1894, at the age of seventy-seven, after having lived almost sixty years of wedded life. She was the mother of eight children, the eld- est two of whom died in childhood. The six living are : Elbridge, Jr., Mary L., Sherman H., Lydia, Elmira W., and Sally A. The first named of these resides in Brattleboro, Vt. Mary L. is the wife of E. H. Newton, of Auburn, and the mother of three children. Sherman H., also a resident of Brattleboro, has one son. Lydia A. Warren, who is a trained nurse by profession, lives at home with her aged father. Elmira is the widow of Edwin F. Ryder, and is matron of the Worces- ter City Hospital, of which her sister Lydia is a graduate. Mrs. Ryder has one daughter. Sally is the wife of S. W. Edgett, of Brattle- boro, Vt.

In religious belief Mr. Warren is a Baptist. He is nominally a Republican in politics, but has independent views in regard to many mat-

ters. He was a Jackson Democrat in former days, and cast his first Presidential vote for Martin Van Buren. He has served in various town offices, and in 1862 he was a Representa- tive in the General Court of Massachusetts. He is still, at the age of eighty-eight, compar- atively vigorous in mind and body.

. NELSON BALL, superintendent of the Lancaster Mills of Boylston, Mass., was born in Holden on August 18, 1847. He is the only son of James E. and Abigail (Howe) Ball. His great-grandfather Ball, whose name was. Elijah, was one of the early settlers of Boylston, coming here on to a farm. His grandfather, Jonah Ball, who was born in Boylston, was brought up on the farm and educated in the public schools. In early man- hood he worked for a few years in Provi- dence, R.I .; but subsequently he returned to Boylston, and died here at the age of sev- enty-two. Jonah Ball's second wife, whose maiden name was Mary Calwell, died when their son James was six years of age. She was the mother of four children, all of whom grew to maturity, James E. being the only one now living.

James E. Ball was born in Providence, R. I. He passed his boyhood in Dedham, and at- tended the schools of that town. When four- teen years of age he came to Boylston, and re- sided here until his marriage, engaged in tripe making. After his marriage he went to Hol- den, and worked as butcher and marketman; and from there he went to Vermont, where he remained for a short time. From Vermont he came to Clinton, and was employed in the meat and tripe business for five years. Sub- sequent to this he was on a farm in Sterling for nine years, and then, in 1865, he returned to Boylston. Later he sold his farm there and went to Boylston Centre, where he is now living. Mr. James E. Ball is a public- spirited citizen, and has taken an active inter- est in the affairs of the town. For three years he was Assessor and for a number of years Road Commissioner. In religious views he is a Unitarian, in politics a Democrat.

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His wife, Abigail, is a native of Sterling, where her father, Captain Silas Howe, Jr., was a well-known carpenter and farmer. James and Abigail Ball are the parents of four children, namely: J. Nelson; Hattie; Abbie, now Mrs. John N. Flagg; and Mary, now Mrs. John Keogh.

J. Nelson Ball received his early education in the common schools of Clinton and Sterling, and subsequently attended Appleton Academy at New Ipswich, N. H. He remained with his parents until twenty-one years of age, and then went into the butchering business in Worcester, where he remained until his mar- riage. Coming to the Lancaster Mills to as- sist in the reconstruction, he began as a day laborer, and from that position worked up to be machinist. After a time he went to West Boylston to the mill of Eli Holbrook as ma- chinist. After three years spent there he re- turned to the Lancaster Mills, and for two years was machinist here. At the end of that time he became overseer, which position he held for six years. Going then to Barre, he assumed the management of J. Edwin Smith's cotton-mill, located in Smithville, which is a part of the town of Barre. Five years later, in 1893, he returned to the Lancaster Mills as superintendent; and he has since filled this important position with ability and to the entire satisfaction of his employers. He has full direction of the one hundred workmen who are employed in the manufacture of yarn. When Mr. Ball first came here the mill con- tained only seven thousand spindles; and to-day there are more than double that num- ber, the other departments having been cor- respondingly enlarged. Mr. Ball's rise from the position of laborer to that of superin- tendent in a large mill is a notable illustra- tion of what may be accomplished by a man of energy and ability who is willing to devote his time and attention faithfully to his busi- ness.

Mr. Ball was married in 1870 to Julia Wil- son, who was born in Torrington, Conn., the daughter of James Wilson, formerly a shoe- maker in that town. Mr. Wilson came to Boylston when his daughter was a child, and spent the rest of his life here, engaged in

farming. He had a family of fourteen chil- dren. Mr. and Mrs. Ball have one child - Grace, who married Harry Parker, a merchant of Coldbrook Springs.

In politics Mr. Ball is a Republican. He is a public-spirited man, and has served the town in various positions of trust and respon- sibility. For nine years he was Constable, for three years a member of the Board of Se- lectmen. After this first period of service he was again elected Selectman successively in 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, and 1898, and during all these five years has been chairman of the board and for the same length of time chair- man of the Board of Overseers of the Poor, also chairman of the Board of Health. Pre- vious to 1896 he served three years as a mem- ber of the School Board, and at the expiration of his first term was reappointed for three years longer, this being until 1899. He is also at the present time Road Commissioner for this district, No. 2, and first fire warden of the town. Fraternally, Mr. Ball is a member of Centennial Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of West Boylston, and was formerly in the Lancaster Lodge of Clinton. He has served in the offices up to that of Vice-Grand, and has refused to accept nominations for the higher offices. He has been a member of the Boylston Grange for a number of years, and has held the office of Overseer in that body. Mr. Ball attends the Orthodox church in Boylston.

DDISON J. BEMIS, one of the best known blacksmiths in Worcester, was born in Framingham, Mass., Octo- ber 4, 1822, son of Jacob and Eunice (Rice) Bemis. The father, a native of Massachusetts, when a young man was em- ployed in a Boston market. Later he was en- gaged in farming in Framingham for some years. From that town he removed to South- boro, Mass., where he became prosperous in the latter part of his life, and served in some of the town offices. By Eunice, his first wife, who was a native of Holden, Mass., there were three sons and four daughters. Born of his second marriage were two children, of whom

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JOHN A. FAYERWEATHER.

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one is deceased. The survivor, Augustine, resides in Connecticut. His mother died in that State in 1895, aged ninety-two. She was an excellent woman, who treated her step-chil- dren as her own; and the subject of this sketch visited her frequently in her old age. The father died in 1867, aged seventy-six years.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 37

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