Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 40

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 40

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Mr. Brooks has been interested in the milk business ever since he engaged in farming, and during the past twenty-one years he has had a milk route in the city of Worcester. He keeps a dairy of about twenty cows, also four horses, and grows all the fodder he uses. During the winter he is supplied with green fodder from his silo. Both he and his wife are members of the Central Congregational Church. Though Mr. Brooks has not been a robust man, he is energetic, and has been suc- cessful in business.

ERENO EDWARD FAY, a prom- inent and well-to-do citizen of Athol, a retired tradesman, was born here on the old Elder Fay farm, September 12, 1833, son of Elder Lysander and Priscilla Elvira (Chamberlain) Fay. He is a descendant in the seventh gen- eration of John Fay, who was born in Eng- land, came to this country in 1656, when eight years old, and died in Marlboro, Mass., in 1690.

The following is a brief record of the an- cestral line as traced by Mr. Orlin P. Fay, genealogist, of Vermontville, Mich .: John FayI had four children by his first wife, Mary Brigham, and four by his second, Mrs. Su- sanna Morse, a widow; Samuel,2 born in 1673, married Tabitha Ward, and had seven chil-

dren; Samuel,3 born in 1705, had fourteen children by his first wife, Deliverance Shat- tuck, and eleven by his second, Mrs. Eliza- beth Hastings Cutler; Solomon, 4 born in 1734, settled in Athol, married Mary Pratt, and had eleven children; Artemas, 5 born in 1767, married Delight Cleveland, and had three children - Emerson, Lysander, and Sabra. Lysander,6 born May 3, 1805, mar- ried Priscilla E. Chamberlain.

Solomon Fay was a soldier in the French and Indian War, and was in the battle of Abraham's Heights, Quebec, when Wolfe and Montcalm were killed. He came to Athol from Shrewsbury ; and a deed from the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, under King George, to a grant of land in Athol some two miles west of the village lately known as the Elder Fay farm, is the authority for placing the date of his settlement here in 1760. His wife, who died in 1837, at the age of ninety-four, is re- membered by Mr. Sereno E. Fay. Their eld- est son, Artemas, lived on a portion of the original farm. He died in 1853, aged eighty- six, and his wife died in 1854, aged eighty- four.

Their elder son, Emerson, lived mainly in New Salem, Franklin County, but began mar- ried life on the old homestead in Athol. He was a successful school teacher. He served as Selectman and in other town offices. He also was Representative to the State legislat- ure, and he settled many estates. He died at the age of fifty-nine. He had a son, Farwell F., and a daughter, Celestina, widow of Thomas Babbitt at Athol. Farwell F. Fay was a teacher in the common and high schools and a successful lawyer, and he served as a Representative to the legislature. In the Civil War he went to the front as Captain of a company in the Fifty-third Massachusetts Regiment. His son, William E. Fay, is a broker at 60 State Street, Boston.

Lysander Fay,6 father of Sereno Edward Fay of this sketch, spent many years as a teacher, and taught over one hundred and twenty different district, select, and writing - schools. He was a licensed preacher in the Baptist church at twenty-four years of age. Later he was ordained as a minister, and

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preached fifty years. The Baptist house of worship here was built through his influence. He was very popular, not only in his own but also in other denominations, and often sought . after to conduct funerals and attend weddings. He was a fluent, sympathetic speaker, and after he retired from public labors was called out to offer prayer at various gatherings. Be- sides his work as a teacher and a preacher he had a saw-mill and carried on a large farm, that is now known as the Elder Fay farm, at- tending to these duties during the day and writing his sermons at night. He adhered to the literal interpretation of the Bible. His judgment was often relied upon in the settle- ment of disputes. He was an early aboli- tionist. He served in the Massachusetts legislature and on the School Committee for a number of years. For ten years he lived in the village, practically retired. He and his brother, Emerson Fay, were married the same day in 1830, at different places in New Salem. They brought their wives home, and began housekeeping in the same house on the Fay homestead; and their children were all born there. Lysander and Priscilla E. Fay celebrated their golden wedding in 1880. He died July 9, 1881. She died February 5, 1898, aged ninety-one years and five months. Eight children were the fruit of their union, and all but one daughter were living when the father died. His funeral was observed by the general closing of the business places.

Sereno Edward Fay completed his education in the New Salem and Shelburne Falls Acad- emies. At eighteen he began teaching, his first school being in New Salem. He fol- lowed this occupation in Athol and in other towns for five years, then engaged in general mercantile business here, which he followed for twenty-seven years. The first five years he was alone. He was then joined by his brother, O. A. Fay, with whom he conducted stores at Athol and Athol Centre, under the names of S. E. Fay & Co. and Fay Brothers. They did a jobbing business, chiefly in gro- ceries, amounting some years to one hundred thousand dollars. Since he retired from mer- cantile business, about 1888, he has devoted his time to the care of his property. In 1895

he and his brother, O. A. Fay, went abroad, took a cruise in the Mediterranean, and visited Palestine, Italy, France, England, Belgium, and other places. He brought home many souvenirs from the Mount of Olives, Pisa, Switzerland, Venice, and places previously mentioned, and has one of the most interest- ing collections to be found in this vicinity. He wrote some forty letters about their trip, which were printed in the local papers, and has delivered lectures upon the places he visited in many of the churches in this part of the State.

On May 1, 1862, Mr. Fay was married to Emma P. Holton, of .Gill (Mount Hermon), Mass. They have two sons: Frederick Hol- ton Fay, in business at Athol Centre; and Pearlie Everett Fay, connected with Wood's Hotel and eating-houses in Greenfield, Mass.

Mr. Fay served on the School Committee several years, until he refused re-election. He has been identified with the Athol Baptist Church from a child, has served as its clerk for twenty-five years, and is one of its most liberal supporters. He has taken much in- terest in the work of the Sunday-school, was superintendent a number of years, and presi- dent eight years of the Miller's River Baptist Sunday-school Convention. He has attended five national Baptist conventions.

LESSON KENNEY, of Leominster, manufacturer of doors, sashes, blinds, etc., was born in this town in May, 1839, son of Timothy Pickering and Louisa (Chapman) Kenney. His great- grandfather, Jethro Kenney, came from Scot- land and settled in Salem, Mass., where he worked at shoemaking. Jethro Kenney's son, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a prominent resident of Billerica, where he died at the age of thirty-five years.

Timothy P. Kenney had three sisters and two half-sisters, one of his sisters being Mrs. Harriet Cleaves, of Reading. Though by trade a shoemaker, he has during the past few years given his attention to farming. In early life he resided at Billerica and Dun-

ELBRIDGE G. CARLTON.

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stable, Mass., and in Hollis, N.H .; but in 1837 he removed to Leominster, and bought the farm where he now resides. Mrs. Ken- ney, the mother of the subject of this sketch, died in 1887. One of her daughters is living, and two sons- Clesson and Clarence, the latter being also a resident of Leominster. The sister is the wife of Dexter Butterfield, of Dunstable, Mass.

Clesson Kenney began his working life in a grocery store in South Reading, now Wake- field. At the end of a year he went to work in a tub and pail shop in Leominster. In 1865 he found employment in a lumber-yard, where he remained for nine years. In 1874 he started his present business with Joseph G. Tenney, under the firm name of Tenney & Kenney, and since 1893 has been the sole proprietor. During the last twenty-two years the business has more than doubled in propor- tions, and the reputation which the firm early acquired for turning out only first-class work has been not only well sustained, but, if possible, surpassed. All sorts of appliances used in house building, above the foundation, are made in the factory, including doors, sashes, blinds, and frames.

On September 2, 1862, Mr. Kenney en- listed in the Union army, in which he served for one year, being discharged September 3, 1863. His regiment, the Fifty-third Massa- chusetts Regiment, from Shirley, was assigned to the Department of the Gulf, and took part in the memorable struggles at Fort Bisland and at Donaldsonville, and also in the siege of Port Hudson. He entered as a private sol- dier, but in May was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company D. After his return home a company of militia was formed; and he was chosen Captain of Company K, Tenth Massachusetts Regiment. Mr. Kenney takes an active interest in all matters pertaining to the G. A. R., and has occupied all the chairs in the local body of that organization.

He was married in 1864 to Eldora F., daughter of Lewis Blood, of Shirley, Mass., and has one son and two daughters, namely : Louis N., who is a student at River-view Mil- itary Academy, Poughkeepsie, N.Y .; Grace Eldora and Ethel Adelaide, who are attending

school in Leominster. Mr. Kenney is a trus- tee of the savings bank and a member of its Investment Committee. In politics a Repub- lican, since 1889 he has served on the School Board of Leominster. He is a member of the Board of Trade of Leominster, of the Leom- inster Club, and of Lodge No. 86, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.

LBRIDGE G. CARLTON, one of the leading residents of Leicester, who is extensively engaged in the manu- facture of flannels as senior member of the firm of E. G. Carlton & Sons, was born May 6, 1820, in North Andover, Mass., of sub- stantial English ancestry. His father, Chris- topher Carlton, a lifelong resident of North- Andover, was a prosperous agriculturist, who also worked at the cooper's trade. His wife, Mary Farnham Carlton, was also a native of Andover, and there spent her life.

Elbridge G. Carlton passed his youth on the home farm, attending the district school and the village academy. On attaining his majority he gave up farming, for which he had no special liking, and secured a situation with Johnson, Sewell & Co., commission merchants in Boston, with whom he remained eleven years. Coming then to Rochdale, or Clappville, as it was then called, he became book-keeper for Ebenezer Dale, the proprietor of the Clappville Mills. After the mills changed hands and were renamed the Roch- dale Mills, he acted as agent of the new com- pany, in addition to taking charge of its books, for a continuous period of thirty-five years. Purchasing then the Upper mill of the Rochdale plant, Mr. Carlton and his sons, under the present firm name, have since con- tinued the manufacture of flannels with great success.

A generous, public-spirited man, Mr. Carl- ton has always taken an active interest in the welfare of the town. He rendered it excel- lent service as Selectman, being the chairman of the board for a number of years, and as one of the School Committee. He has also been Justice of the Peace for a period of some thirty-five or more years. In politics he

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is a Democrat with independent proclivities, and was a candidate for Representative to the General Court on the Democratic ticket. He is a regular attendant of the Episcopal Church of Rochdale, and contributes generously toward its support.

On January 14, 1856, he married Miss Susan Stoyle, who was born in England. They have four children; namely, Dale, Ever- ett, Elbridge S., and Mary J.

EWIS HOWLAND, who owns and cul- tivates the old Howland homestead in Brookfield, was born where he now resides, November 21, 1837, son of James and Melinda A. (Henshaw) Howland. His parents were natives of this town; and his grandfather, James Howland, whose birth took place in Spencer, Mass., was a son of John Howland, an early settler in that town. The Howland farm in Brookfield was formerly owned by the grandfather, who was the first of the family to settle here. James Howland, the father, cultivated the property during his active period, residing here until his death, which occurred September 5, 1893. He was widely known throughout this section as an industrious farmer and a useful citizen. In politics he was a Democrat.

Lewis Howland was educated in the public schools of his native town. Since reaching manhood he has given his attention to general farming at the old homestead, which contains about one hundred and fifty acres of desirably located land, and which he inherited after his father's death.

On April 20, 1858, Mr. Howland was united in marriage with Jane M. Henshaw, of Brookfield, daughter of Dexter and Nancy (Nichols) Henshaw. Mrs. Howland's father was a native of this town, and her mother of Sturbridge, Mass. The Henshaw family have long been resident in Brookfield. The grand- father, Thomas Henshaw, was a Revolution- ary soldier. Dexter Henshaw died September 29, 1881, having survived his wife, whose death occurred October 22, 1874. Two of their children are living: Jane M., who is now Mrs. Howland; and Clara, wife of

Charles Hooker, of Brookfield. In politics Mr. Howland is a Democrat. He has twice been a candidate for Selectman, and under the old law he served with ability as Road Sur- veyor. As a farmer he is energetic and pros- perous, and displays an intelligent interest in all matters of importance to the community.

OMER R. KING, a farmer and stock dealer of Worcester, residing in the Eighth Ward, was born June 4, 1846, in Ludlow, Mass., son of Marvin and Eunice B. (Alden) King. The paternal grandfather, a Connecticut farmer, was a minute-man in the early days of the Revolution, being then sixteen or seventeen years old. His wife, the grandmother, died about the year 1863, nearly ninety years old. Of the six sons and six daughters born to them, one daughter is living, Mrs. Panthea Chaffee, now eighty years old.

Marvin King, who was the youngest child of his parents, has resided for sixty-five years on his large farm in Ludlow, Mass. Born in Somers, Conn., January 20, 1807, he is still active and in excellent health. He is a de- voted member of the Methodist church. His first wife, in maidenhood Eunice Brown Alden, who died in 1873, at the age of sixty- one, was of the eighth generation descended in a direct line from the John Alden who came in the "Mayflower." The second wife, whose maiden name was Julia A. Chapin, is living on the old farm. His children num- bered twelve, all born of the first marriage. Two sons died at the ages of two and three years respectively. Five sons and five daugh- ters grew to maturity; namely, Mary M., Henry M., Ann Frances, Samuel A., Arthur D., Julia J., Homer R., Olive E., Fred A. F., and Lelia I. The first named of these, who was the wife of Justus B. Alden, died at the age of thirty-seven, leaving two children. Henry resides in Springfield. Ann Frances, who was the wife of Charles H. Knapp, of Holyoke, died at the age of sixty, leaving one son. Samuel, who is now engaged in mining in Colorado, was an Orderly Sergeant in the First California Volunteer Infantry, under

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Colonel Baker, and was nine times wounded. Arthur D., who resided in Ludlow, was a vol- unteer in the Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Infantry, and has one son. Julia J. is the wife of Ansel Prouty, and resides in Belcher- town. Olive E., who resides in Springfield, is the wife of Charles Wooley, and has sev- eral children. Fred A. F. King, who is un- married, lives with the subject of this sketch. Lelia is the wife of Edward P. Miller, of Ludlow.

After withdrawing from the high school of his native town Homer R. King for a time was engaged in teaching penmanship. In 1863, when only sixteen years of age, he vol- unteered from Ludlow, and was mustered into the Twenty-seventh Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, Company I. He was in the Civil War until its close, actively serving for most of the time at the front. On June 4, 1864, at the battle of Cold Harbor, he was wounded in the jaw by a gunshot; and on July 18 of the same year, in front of Pittsburg, he was similarly wounded in the hand. In all he was in fifteen battles of the Potomac cam- paign, and was in the hospital for three months. Also in the war, besides his two brothers, were two brothers-in-law, both of whom were wounded. He returned home in June, 1865, and in the following March went to Fair Play in South Park, Col., where for nearly three years subsequently he was en- gaged in placer gold mining, working during a part of the time for others. He was ap- pointed Justice of the Peace, Trial Justice, and Deputy County Clerk of Jefferson County, Colorado. This last position he held until he came East, intending then to return to Colorado. His marriage caused him to abandon the latter purpose. He has been on his present farm of one hundred and forty acres for the last eighteen years, exten- sively engaged in buying and selling cattle, sometimes handling as many as a thousand in a year. His sales are mostly made to the wholesale trade for slaughter. He keeps a dairy of from forty to a hundred cows.

On December 2, 1869, Mr. King was united in marriage with Hattie L. Ward, of Worcester, a daughter of Edward L. and Har-

riet A. (Fisk) Ward, of Millbury, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Ward, who was a machinist and the owner of some real estate, died in 1890, at the age of seventy- five. His wife died on September 30, 1897, at the age of eighty. One other daughter of theirs is living, Mrs. Julia M. Tompkins, who resides in Worcester at 9 Gardner Street. Mrs. King received her education in the Worcester High School. Her daughter, Mabel, who is the wife of George M. Coe, has one daughter, Muriel, now five months old. Mr. King served in the Common Coun- cil for three years, and also for three years on the Board of Aldermen. He is a Mason of the sixteenth degree and a member of the Grand Army Post, of the grange, and of the Order of American Mechanics.

T HOMAS STOWE EATON, a leading dairyman of Auburn, Mass., was born in this place on July 2, 1832. A son of Thomas and Hannah (Pierce) Eaton, he comes of remote Scottish ancestry. (For an account of his genealogy see the biography of his brother, Joseph P. Eaton.) He was reared on his father's farm, and attended the public schools until he was about fourteen years old, when he entered Nichols Academy at Dudley. Later he was a student in Worcester Academy. He was rugged and ro- bust until about eighteen years of age, when he broke down on account of overwork, and for about two years was in poor health. When twenty years of age he began working at house carpentering with his cousin, and sub- sequently he worked in the sash and blind business for a short time in Millbury and Worcester. Later he was employed at finish- ing passenger cars. After this, feeling the necessity of outdoor employment, he gave up all others, and devoted himself to establishing a milk route in Worcester. In this he has been most successful. Besides the product of his own dairy, he has been able to dispose of that of several others to his customers. His promptness and obliging manners have readily gained him a large number of patrons, and the excellent quality of the milk carried by him

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has enabled him to retain them year after year. During the summer of 1861 he took a trip on a coasting vessel that was very beneficial to his health.

In the fall of 1861 Mr. Eaton was married to Martha M., daughter of John and Lavina (Stone) Blood, of Charlton. Her grandfather, a farmer, who was of Scottish ancestry, was one of the early settlers of Charlton. Her grandmother was Esther, daughter of Daniel Boyden, of this section. Mrs. Eaton's mother died in middle life. After her death the father, one of the leading farmers of Charlton, married a second time. He died in Worcester at the age of seventy-five. Of his family of four sons and three daughters, all the daugh- ters and three of the sons grew to maturity and are living at the present time. They are as follows: Albert Blood, who is a grocer and meat dealer in Dorchester; Henry B., who went West at the age of eighteen, and is now in the insurance business in Keokuk, Ia. ; Mary E., who is the wife of Charles Harring- ton, of Worcester; Martha M., now Mrs. Eaton; Emily, who is the wife of Julius F. Knight, of Worcester; and John W. H. Blood, who resides in Keokuk, Ia.

Mr. and Mrs. Eaton have lost two children : Herbert W., who died at the age of fourteen ; and Alice M., a girl of rare charm and great promise, who died at the age of eighteen after a three days' illness. The living children are : Arthur A., Luella Adelia, Ida Lavina, and Carlotta Pierce. The first named of these, who resides in Waltham, Mass., is now married, and has two children - Herbert N. Eaton and Alice Marion. Luella, who was educated in the Moody School for Girls at Northfield, is now a teacher of domestic science in that institution. Ida, residing with her parents, is an instructor of sewing in the Young Women's Christian Association of Worcester. Carlotta graduated from the high school in Worcester, and subsequently, July I, 1898, from the Worcester Business College.

Politically, Mr. Eaton is a Republican. For fourteen years he served the town as Se- lectman, and during the greater part of that time he has been the presiding officer of the board. In 1884 he represented this district in

the legislature. He has also been a member of the School Committee. The members of his family are Congregationalists, and Mr. Eaton has been a Deacon of the church for some twelve years and the teacher of the Sun- day-school Bible class. The house where Mr. Eaton lives was built originally by Grandfather Eaton. It was remodelled and enlarged in 1879, but the front was preserved intact, so that it retains its original appearance. In 1878 Mr. Eaton built his fine large barn, which is a hundred by forty-two feet. He keeps from twenty-five to thirty-five head of horned cattle, and milks from twenty to twenty-five cows.

DWARD D. CUNNINGHAM was

born in Worcester, September 26, I860. He attended the public schools from the time he was old enough to be admitted as a pupil till 1872, when he passed a successful examination to enter the high school. Preferring, however, to work rather than continue his studies, he secured a situa- tion at the hotel at Lake Quinsigamond, and was there engaged two years. He then en- tered the employ of Jeremiah J. O'Leary, who was in the row-boat business, and was with him and the Quinsigamond Boat Club till January 1, 1888, when he was appointed by Sheriff A. B. R. Sprague a keeper at the Worcester County jail, a position which he still holds under Sheriff Chamberlain.

In his younger days Mr. Cunningham be- came an expert oarsman, and he is to-day very much interested in what he terms the royal sport - that of rowing. He cast his first vote in 1880, and that with the Republican party, in whose principles he still firmly be- lieves. He was elected a member of the Common Council from Ward Three in 1888 and 1889, and secured the indorsement of his ward for Alderman in 1889, but was defeated in the convention which followed. He was a member of the Republican City Committee for six years. In 1891 he was elected presi- dent of the Worcester County Total Absti- nence Union. He was elected president of the United Irish Societies of Worcester in

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1892, and he also served three years as presi- dent of St. Anne's Total Abstinence Society of Worcester. He is the possessor of a fine bass voice, which kept him a member of St. Anne's Church choir for twenty years, and also kept him busy singing for all charitable purposes. He was married to Miss Nancy M. Griffin, of Spencer, on October 9, 1895.

ENRY E. BROOKS, a Selectman of North Grafton, was born in this town, March 29, 1845, a son of Elijah B. and Emmeline (Stratton)

Brooks. His ancestors for several genera- tions have been prominent citizens of Graf-

ton. His paternal great-grandfather, Elijah Brooks, who was one of the Selectmen of Grafton over a hundred years ago and also served in other town offices, was one of the most substantial and well-to-do citizens of this locality in his day. He owned a large tract of land, of several hundred acres, includ- ing nearly the whole of the present site of the village of North Grafton. The original homestead is now occupied by Samuel Knowl- ton. Joel Brooks, son of Elijah, received from his father at his marriage a part of the home farm, upon which he settled.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 40

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