Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 42

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 42

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Bradley Mead was born in Lexington on May 26, 1792. He was twice married. His first wife, whose maiden name was Charlotte Hast- ings, was born in Chesterfield on May 26, 1788. His second wife, whose maiden name was Sarah W. Jones, died on February 13, 1856. Bradley Mead was a farmer, and

traded in cattle for the Brighton market. In 1814 he was Lieutenant in Captain Reuben Marsh's company of detached militia stationed at Portsmouth, and afterward he was commis- sioned Captain. He died at Providence, R.I., on November 1, 1871.

John Sargent Mead was educated at Ches- terfield Academy, which was one of the noted institutions of learning in New England fifty years ago. For a number of years after leav- ing school he devoted himself to teaching, and many are the interesting anecdotes he can tell of those early days. He often had schools of from three to four score pupils, ranging in ages from five to twenty-five years. The buildings were far different from the finely equipped school-houses of to-day, and there was a notable lack of books and appli- ances. The teacher in those days was "bid in"; that is, the lowest bidder secured him as a boarder for the winter, and he was obliged to take what was provided for him without complaint. The big boys, who in many places were accustomed to a form of amuse- ment popularly known as "carrying out the teacher," occasioned no trouble to Mr. Mead; and this customary formality was omitted in all the schools to which he was appointed. This shows his hold over the pupils, and that he was able to interest and influence them without friction.

In 1856 Mr. Mead removed to Milford, and bought his present farm in Prospect Street. Shortly after he began to deal in tripe, and soon built up a good business, having offices in Syracuse, Albany, and Troy, N. Y., and in Pittsfield, Mass., and employing a large num- ber of men. About ten years ago he retired from that enterprise, and since that time has been engaged largely in handling real estate and farming. Mr. Mead has served seven years on the Board of Selectmen and three years on the School Board, and for many years was Superintendent of Highways. Frater- nally, he is a member of Montgomery Lodge.

Mr. Mead was married on March 11, 1846, to Caroline P. Willard, of Winchester, N. H. Five children were born of this union; namely, Sarah Ella, Edward Bradley, Cor- nelia Maria, John Larkin, and Carrie Willard.

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Two of the daughters - Sarah E. and Cor- nelia M. - died in childhood. Mrs. Caroline P. Mead died in December, 1894.

ENRY A. McMASTERS, Town Clerk of Southboro, was born in Han- cock, Hillsborough County, N. H., June 24, 1844. He is a son of Thomas and Lydia C. (Thompson) McMasters, and comes of old New Hampshire stock. The father, who was engaged in trade for a num- ber of years in Antrim, N. H., in the latter part of his life retired from business and spent the rest of his days on a farm. His advice was often sought, both in public and private matters. He had a family of nine children, four of whom are now living, namely : Thomas A., formerly a spool mer- chant in Lowell, Mass .; Lucas I., who was formerly extensively engaged in orange grow- ing in Florida, and who retired from that business on account of the destruction of his crops by frost; Lydia A., the widow of M. A. Crouch, late of Southboro; and Henry A., whose name appears at the head of this sketch.

Henry A. McMasters received a practical common-school education. In 1862 he entered the employ of F. A. Winchester of Southboro, who kept a general store, and with whom he remained until February, 1864. He then en- listed as a private in the Third Massachusetts Cavalry, was soon promoted to the rank of Ser- geant, and just before leaving the service was commissioned Lieutenant. He was at New Orleans in the Gulf campaign under General Banks, in the hospital for six weeks, and, after rejoining his company at Harper's Ferry, served in the Shenandoah Valley. Hav- ing received an honorable discharge at the close of the war, after a service of twenty months, he returned home, and entered the employ of C. F. Hovey & Co., dry-goods dealers, Boston, with whom he remained about three years. Then until 1873 he was in the employ of L. W. Newton, who kept a general store in Southboro. Returning subsequently to Boston, he remained there a short time, after which he renewed his connection with Mr. Newton, and was with him for the follow-

ing five years. He next opened a small store in the present post-office building, and there conducted a successful business until 1888. In that year, in company with F. H. Robin- son, he bought his present stand, which was the old store of Mr. Winchester, his first em- ployer. His partnership with Mr. Robinson continued for five years. Since the end of that time he has conducted the business alone. His store since 1888 has been the only one in the village. It occupies the ground floor and basement, forty by eighty feet in dimensions. Mr. McMasters carries a large stock of gen- eral merchandise, the business giving employ- ment to five men. A broad-minded and pub- lic-spirited citizen, he has the warm esteem of his fellow-townsmen.

In 1869 Mr. McMasters married Miss Mary C. Rymes, of Exeter, N. H. He has four chil- dren, namely : Minnie B., a graduate of the Southboro High School and the Framingham Normal School; Eva M., the wife of F. S. Carpenter, an insurance agent of Fitchburg, Mass. ; Harry A., who is employed in his father's store; and Ruth E., a pupil in the Southboro High School. Mr. McMasters has served eight years as Justice of the Peace, and has been Town Clerk for fifteen years in succession. He is a member of G. Wesley Nichols Post, G. A. R., in which he has served as Adjutant. One of the most useful and active members of the Congregational church, he is clerk of the church, the chair- man of the parish society, and for thirteen years has been the superintendent of the Sun- day-School. He has recently built a beauti- ful residence on Main Street, in the centre of the village, overlooking the lake.

AMES B. GALLUP, formerly well known in Leominster as the presi- dent of the Union Comb Company, was born in Foster, R.I., July 27, 1821. Having been educated in the common schools of his native town, he learned the trade of comb-making. Coming to Leominster at the age of eighteen years, he spent some time in the employment of Jonas Colburn and Morse Brothers successively. Afterward, in busi-

HENRY A. McMASTER.

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ness on his own account, he was associated with Mr. Woodbury and then with Mr. B. F. Blodgett. When the Union Comb Company was formed, he was elected its vice-president. At a later date he was made president, which office he subsequently filled up to the time of his death. Mr. Gallup was three times married. The first two marriages were con- tracted respectively with Oricy and Dorothy Wheelock, of Leominster, who were sisters. By the first he had one son, George Gallup, who served in the Civil War, and died of sick- ness in a hospital. His third marriage united him with Sarah F., daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Spaulding) Colburn, of Leominster, and who survives him.

Mrs. Gallup, on her father's side, is de- scended from Edward Colburn, who came to New England in 1635 on the ship "Defi- ance." His son was Robert, and his grand- son was Nathaniel Colburn. Nathaniel, Mrs. Gallup's great-great-grandfather, had four sons who were in the Revolutionary army ; namely, John, Ebenezer, Nathan, and Jona- than. John, who was born August 13, 1738, and who was the great-grandfather of Mrs. Gallup, was Sergeant-at-arms on a Lexington alarm roll of April 19, 1775; Sergeant on a muster and pay roll, dated Leominster, June 5, 1778, in a company that marched to Will- iamstown; and Sergeant of a small body of troops that marched to Saratoga in October, 1777, to assist General Gates. Ebenezer, who was born in Concord, September 17, 1731, was a First Lieutenant. Nathan, who was born in Concord, November 18, 1744, was detailed for various services. Jonathan, who was born July 10, 1736, is known to have served at various times. An account of the services rendered by the four men may be found in the pages of the Massachusetts Rev- olutionary rolls.

The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Gallup was born at Leominster on November 19, 1779. Jacob Colburn, her father, who was for thirty years engaged in the manufacture of combs, was born in this town on May 23, 1806. His wife, Hannah, was a grand-daugh- ter of Joseph and a great-grand-daughter of Jacob Spaulding, of Chelmsford. Joseph

Spaulding married Bridget, daughter of Robert Crosby. She was born in New Ips- wich, N.H. Mr. Spaulding, the father of Hannah, lost his father when only twelve years of age, from which time he had his own way to make in the world. When only six- teen years old he was sent to Waterville, Me., a distance of about two hundred and thirty miles, to trade cider for grain, on which occasion he had to carry his own provi- sions on his back. When seventeen years old, to borrow two hundred and fifty dollars, he walked from Temple, N.H., to Anson, Me. For a time he taught school. At twenty-three he married Betsey Heald. She bore him eleven children, of whom Hannah was the eighth, and ten grew to maturity. He was highly respected by his own towns- people, whom he served in the capacities of Selectman and Representative in the General Court. He was the executor for twenty-six different estates and the guardian for twenty- three orphans. His rule of conduct was to keep out of debt and to be punctual to his word. He died in Westminster, eighty-three years old. His religious relations were with the Universalist church, of which he was a Deacon for many years. Jacob and Hannah Colburn had three children, one son and two daughters. Mrs. Gallup, who has been on the Board of Visitors and on the Working Committee of the Soldiers' Aid Society, be- came interested in this worthy cause while she was in California. She is now serving her second term as one of the Overseers of the Poor.

ILLIAM R. WALKER, a prosper- ous merchant of West Boylston, was born in this town, May 22, 1843, son of Eli and Louisa (Parker) Walker. The father, who was born in Holden, Mass., was the youngest of twelve children, all of whom reached maturity. He was brought up on a farm, and received his education in the common schools. For a time he carried on a saw and grist mill in Princeton, and subse- quently operated a farm in Holden. Coming to West Boylston in 1843, he lived for thir-

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teen years on Malden Hill, at the end of which time he removed to the farm on the common, where his son now lives. He was a man of fine constitution, and enjoyed perfect health up to the time of his death, which took place when he was eighty-four years old, as the result of his being struck by a railway train. His brother, Joel, died in Oakdale, at the age of ninety-eight. Louisa, wife of Eli Walker, was born in Princeton, one of a fam- ily of twelve children. Her father, Ebenezer Parker, was a successful farmer. She died at the age of seventy-eight. Both parents were Baptists. Of the seven children of Eli and Louisa Walker who grew to maturity, four are living, namely : Melville E., a resident of Los Angeles, Cal. ; Emma A., wife of R. C. Dana, of Hudson; William R., the subject of this sketch; and Annie E., wife of Edward Ross, of Los Angeles, Cal.

William R. Walker was educated in the district schools. He then assisted his father until he was nineteen years old, when he en- tered the employ of F. L. Cutting as clerk in his general merchandise store at Oakdale. After remaining there a year he became clerk in the store of which he is now proprietor, where, also, he remained a year. He then worked a year for L. R. Hudson, whose confec- tionery he introduced as travelling salesman. He was then employed by the firm of Sawyer & Walker at West Boylston. In 1868 he started business at Sawyer's Mills at Boyls- ton, where he remained for eight years. Sell- ing out at the end of that time, he engaged in farming. Two years subsequently he bought his present large store, which is the largest of its kind in town, and is well stocked with a good line of dry goods, grocer- ies, small wares, etc.

Mr. Walker was married in 1868 to Mary S. Bailey, of Worcester, the only child of Robert Bailey. Her father was a native of England and a dyer by trade. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are the parents of four children; namely, Franklin E., Alice E., Frederick B., and Howard W. Franklin E. is employed in his father's store. Alice E. is a popular teacher in this town. Mr. Walker is a Re- publican in politics, and he is actively inter-

ested in public affairs. He has served as a member of the Board of Assessors for a num- ber of years, and for a time was chairman of the board. He was Selectman for three years and Overseer of the Poor twelve years, during six of which he was chairman of the board. At the present time he is a member of the School Board, and for three years has been its secretary. Aside from these posi- tions of public trust, he holds the responsible position of trustee of the savings-bank, and is a member of its Investment Committee and of the Board of Appraisers for the Metropolitan Water Works. He is also treasurer of the Mount Vernon Cemetery Association. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are members of the Baptist church, and Mrs. Walker is one of the teachers in the Sunday-school.

ANIEL MACDUFF, the manager and one of the proprietors of the Whitney MacDuff Thread Com- pany, resides in Millbury, Mass., where he is well known as a capable business man, possessing good financial and executive ability. A son of Daniel MacDuff, Sr., and a grandson of Alexander MacDuff, he was born August 12, 1850, in Airdrie, Scotland. Alexander, who was born and bred in the Scotch Highlands, was a millwright by trade, and was employed in the same mill for more than half a century. He married Elizabeth Stevenson. Their children, nine sons and two daughters, all grew to maturity, and, with the exception of one son, married and reared families. Two of the sons - Alexander, Jr., and Allan - came to America. The former, who was for several years an engineer on an ocean steamer, with headquarters in Boston, died in Cuba. Allan settled in Missouri. The father died at the age of eighty-three years.

Daniel MacDuff, Sr., born in Scotland in 1822, died in his native land in 1872. He was for many years the manager of a cotton- mill in Glasgow. At his death he left his widow, whose maiden name was Margaret Storie, with ten children, eight sons and two daughters, of whom eight are married and

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have families, and four are in this country. The mother is living with her youngest son in Worcester, Mass. Alexander MacDuff, her eldest child, is stationed at Singapore, Straits Settlements, where he is chief engineer on a steamer. He is an intelligent, conscien- tious, Christian man, and does whatever he can to spread the gospel by holding public meetings.

Daniel MacDuff, the subject of this sketch, obtained the rudiments of his education in the district schools, and subsequently pursued the higher branches of learning in the evening schools. At the age of fourteen years he began working in the lowest department of the flax thread mill. Here he made such rapid progress that he was frequently promoted from one position to another, until at the age of eighteen years he was made foreman of the mill, a responsible position seldom given to one so young. In 1875 he became the man- ager of a thread-mill near Bridport, Eng- land, whence in 1880 he came with his for- mer employers to Massachusetts to take charge of their mill at North Grafton. He afterward had charge of this mill for twelve years. In 1892, when the Whitney, MacDuff Company rented the power, together with the building it now occupies, he assisted in putting in the machinery for manufacturing shoe threads and twines of linen and cotton, and has since had control of the business, which is devoted prin- cipally to the making of shoe threads. The plant has a capacity of one hundred hands, but in the dull times since 1894 it has employed but fifty hands.

While in business in England, Mr. Mac- Duff returned to Johnston, Scotland, where on December 26, 1876, he married Janet Allen Caldwell, younger daughter of William Caldwell. Mr. and Mrs. MacDuff have six children, namely: Daniel Milton, born May 23, 1878, in Burton Bradstock, England, who learned from his father the business of manu- facturing thread; William Caldwell Clark, born in 1881, who is also employed in the factory of the Whitney MacDuff Thread Com- pany; Alexander Storey, in the Millbury High School; Charles Pratt, a boy of twelve years; James Allen, ten years old; and Allen

Wilson Sharp, a bright and active lad of eight years. In politics Mr. MacDuff is a straight- forward Republican voter. Both he and Mrs. MacDuff are members of the First Congrega- tional Church.

ILMAN WAITE, of the Waite Chair 6 Company, Baldwinsville, town of Templeton, and an ex-member of the State legislature, was born in Hubbardston, Mass., May 1, 1832, son of Joseph and Cla- rissa (Grimes) Waite. His paternal grand- father, also named Joseph, who was a pioneer of Hubbardston, and who there cleared a farm and occupied it for the rest of his life, died at an advanced age. The father, born in Hub- bardston, spent there the greater part of his active period. For many years he carried on a card-board manufactory in connection with farming, and he was a business man of ability and integrity. Politically, he acted with the Republican party in his last years. In relig- ious belief he was a Methodist. His wife, born in Hubbardston, January 28, 1794, was a daughter of Joseph Grimes, who, born Au- gust 9, 1744, cultivated a farm in Hubbards- ton during his active life, and died there No- vember 19, 1834. She became the mother of seven children, of whom four are living, namely : Clara, Aaron, and Luke, residents of Hubbardston ; and Gilman, the subject of this sketch. The others were: Rockwell, Joseph, and Lucretia R. Lucretia became Mrs. Chandler. Both of the parents are deceased.

Having begun his education in the common schools, Gilman Waite completed his studies at the Shelburne Falls Academy, which he at- tended for two terms. Afterward he learned chair-making with Sawyer Brothers at East Templeton. Later in Baldwinsville he was employed by Whitney Brothers in the manu- facture of churns, tubs, etc., for some time; and for the succeeding three years he worked at chair-making for Greenwood & Perley in Winchendon, Mass. He next followed his trade in Westminster, subsequently returning to Baldwinsville. About this time he be- came associated with others in the manufact- ure of sewing machines in Cleveland, Ohio,

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continuing in that business until the plant was burned. Returning once more to Bald- winsville, he was engaged in the lumber busi- ness until 1871, when he purchased Mr. Saw- yer's interest in the concern known as Thomp- son, Perley & Co. The business was carried on under the style of Thompson, Perley & Waite until 1887, when it was changed to its present name of the Waite Chair Company. The company is now making a specialty of manufacturing various styles of children's patent folding chairs. The factory is well equipped with modern machinery, which can be driven by either steam or water power; and the average force employed is from fifty- five to seventy-five men.

Mr. Waite married Jerusha H. Hosmer, of Templeton. Her parents, the late Joshua and Mary Hosmer, were natives respectively of this town and Orange, Mass. Mrs. Waite has had four children, namely : Frederick E., who died at the age of four years; Mary E., the wife of Charles E. Perley; and John N. and Irving C. Waite. The head of one of the principal industries in this locality, Mr. Waite is regarded as a leading business man of Baldwinsville. He is a trustee and a member of the Financial Committee of the Templeton Savings Bank. In politics he is a Republican, and he has served with ability as a Selectman, and was a Representative to the legislature in 1895. A Master Mason, he belongs to Hope Lodge, Gardner, Mass.

AMES DRAPER, of Worcester, Mass., the well-known proprietor of the Bloomingdale Nursery and of the Bloomingdale Cement Drain Pipe Works, was born in this city, August 31, 1842. He is a son of the late William A. Draper, and is of Revolutionary stock and of English ancestry, being a descendant of James Draper, who came from Yorkshire, England, to America about 1647 or 1648, and settled at Roxbury, Mass.

From James (first) the line was continued through James (second), Captain James (third), James (fourth), who married Mehitabel Whit- ing, of Dedham, and settled in Spencer, Mass.,

John Draper of the fifth generation, to Zenas of the sixth, father of William and grandfather of the subject of this sketch. John Draper, who was born in 1745, served in the Revolutionary army. He died December 20, 1822. His son Zenas was born May 31, 1772, and died in Worcester, Mass., January 9, 1853.

William A. Draper, son of Zenas, was born December 29, 1806. During his earlier years of activity he engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes, an industry that was then in its infancy. In 1848 he bought an extensive tract of land in Worcester, comprising a por- tion of the territory now covered by the vil- lages of Bloomingdale and Lake View; and in the farm that he improved was also included the land now owned and occupied by his son James. As the city extended its limits, a large part of this land was sold for village lots or public purposes. At the age of forty- nine years, while in the prime of life, Will- iam A. Draper received an injury in a railway accident that resulted in his death on May 25, 1855. On November 26, 1833, he married Calista A. Watson, who was born December I, 1810, in Leicester, Mass., a daughter of Robert and Lydia (Watson) Watson. Mr. Watson was born in Spencer, Mass., October 16, 1786, and died January 16, 1859. His wife, Lydia, who was a second cousin, was born January 5, 1787, and died January 5, 1889, aged one hundred and two years. The coat of arms of the Watson family, which is of English descent, is still preserved. Many of the descendants of the emigrant ancestor were active participants in the Revolutionary War. William A. and Calista A. (Watson) Draper had seven children. A brief record is as follows: William, a resident of Hartford City, Ind., is married and has children; Anna E., wife of George Munger, of Litchfield, Conn., died January 5, 1869; Sophia Amelia, born January 18, 1840, died September 2, 1875; James is the special subject of this sketch, and further mentioned below; Maria C., who married George Munger, died Decem- ber 22, 1880; Sylvia C. married Dr. John F. Richardson, of Delphi, Ind., who died Octo- ber 7, 1880; Lizzie Draper died January 25,

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1877. The mother died September 22, 1875, aged sixty-five years.

James Draper attended the district school until twelve years old, when on account of the death of his father he gave up his studies for a time, though he afterward took a course in the Worcester Commercial College. In 1860, while yet a minor, he assumed charge of the fifteen acres remaining of the original estate, and for a few years carried on a fair business as a dairyman and market gardener. Later he began the cultivation of the different varieties of small fruits, with which he supplied the local markets. Acquiring a reputation as a grower of a fine grade of fruits, he received frequent orders for plants, these orders soon becoming so large that he determined to de- vote his time to raising the plants only; and in 1867 he issued his first catalogue.' From this small beginning has been developed the Bloomingdale Nursery, which is one of the largest and best stocked of any in this section of the Commonwealth, containing the choicest assortment of native and foreign plants and shrubs and a very extensive collection of shade and ornamental trees. Artistic in his tastes, with a love for Nature in all her forms, he has made a special study of landscape architecture, and has rendered valuable service to the city as a Park Commissioner for the past twelve years, during which time he has had the general charge of the planting and care of the shade trees of the city, and has also been specially interested in the improv- ing of Lake Park, East Park, and Crompton Park, which were largely under his supervi- sion. His familiarity with tree and plant life has more recently been called into requisition in the laying out and beautifying of the grounds of the rural cemetery, he being a trustee and one of the Executive Committee of the corporation controlling it. It is espe- cially worthy of mention that Mr. Draper has made it a rule to add yearly some new embel- lishment to the grounds about his dwelling, making his place one of the most attractive in Worcester.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 42

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