Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 50

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 50

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lowed his profession in Barre and the adjacent towns, he retired.

On June 2, 1836, Dr. Russell was united in marriage with Mary Ann Warren, who was a native of Roxbury and a resident of Hubbards- ton, Mass. Born of this union were two daughters and one son. The latter died at the age of eight years. Caroline, the elder daugh- ter, married William Howland, of Lynn, both of whom are now deceased. Marianne, the surviving daughter, married J. C. Bartholo- mew, of. Hardwick, now a prominent business man of Barre. In politics Dr. Russell is a Republican. At one time he was officially connected with the School Board, but he has never sought for public office. In religious belief he is a Unitarian. For his advanced age his mental and physical activity is remark- able. On pleasant days he works outdoors about his residence with the vigor of a much younger man. He keeps a diary of his daily transactions, and manages his own business affairs. A director of the First National Bank, he attends the meetings of the directors regu- larly. He attributes his remarkable longev- ity to the fact that from his youth he has carefully observed the laws that tend to pro- mote health. His present strong hold upon life bids fair to realize the hopes of his many friends, and carry him beyond the century mark. He resides with his surviving daugh- ter and her husband.

ON. AARON CLAFLIN MAY -- HEW, formerly one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Milford, was born July 22, 1812, to John and Nancy (Freeland) Mayhew. His earliest ancestor in this country, Thomas May- hew, who came over from England in 1631, accompanied by his son, Thomas, and settled at Watertown, was immediately admitted a freeman. After filling numerous responsible civil offices, under a grant from the Earl of Sterling, this ancestor was made superintend- ent of Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and the adjacent islands, for the purpose of governing, civilizing, and Christianizing the Indians in these places. He left Watertown with a

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colony of whites for his domain, taking his son, Thomas, as a preacher to the Indians. He was seventy years old when his son died. Finding it impossible to procure another preacher who understood the language of the natives, he took up the calling himself, and spent the remainder of his life in the zealous discharge of its duties. At his death he was between ninety and a hundred years old. Following these first two of the family, came six named John, the last one having been the father of Aaron C. Mayhew.

In 1829 Aaron C. Mayhew came from Hop- kinton, with empty but willing hands, and entered the employ of the Hon. Lee Claflin to learn tanning and currying. Beginning with a resolute ambition to achieve success in the world, he did so. Having mastered his trade, he entered into partnership with David S. Godfrey, for the purpose of manufacturing leather, the firm name being Godfrey & May- hew. Shortly afterward they began the man- ufacture of boots and shoes, and the business rapidly increased. Upon the death of Mr. Godfrey, Mr. Mayhew received George W. Howe and John S. Leland into the firm, which then became A. C. Mayhew & Co. Mr. Le- land dying in 1857, his place in the firm was taken by Sullivan C. Sumner. Mr. Mayhew was for several years the president of the Mil- ford Fire Insurance Company, the vice-presi- dent of the Milford Savings Bank and a mem- ber of its Board of Investment from the time of its incorporation until his death, and the president of the Milford National Bank from 1854 until his demise. He was the Modera- tor at many town meetings. He was also Se- lectman for a period, a Representative to General Court for two years, State Senator for two terms, a member of Governor Banks's Council for two years, a member of the State Central Committee of the Republican party for several years, and in 1872 he was a Presi- dential elector on the Grant and Wilson ticket.

Mr. Mayhew was married on April 23, 1834, to Olivia Loring Sumner, daughter of Ellis and Rhoda (Loring) Sumner, of Mil- ford. Two children were born of the union, namely: Sarah Elizabeth, who married Sulli-

van C. Sumner; and John Sumner Mayhew. Mr. Mayhew's death occurred on September 26, 1880. Many distinguished people from all parts of the State met to honor his mem- ory at the obsequies, and many beautiful floral tokens were sent by his friends and business associates.

OHN SUMNER MAYHEW, named in the preceding sketch, was born on Feb- ruary II, 1843. For many years he was a well-known business man of Milford. Until bis father's death he was in charge of the latter's office in Boston. He then went into partnership with Solon E. Hapgood, and was subsequently, until his death in 1892, the proprietor of the Mansion House, one of the very few large and success- ful hotels in the Commonwealth conducted on strictly temperance principles. He was a di- rector of the Home National Bank and an ac- tive member of the three local Masonic organ- izations. On December 20, 1864, he married Cora Anna Hero, a native of Milford and a daughter of Horace B. and Almira (Phipps) Hero. Mrs. Anna Mayhew died on Septem- ber 25, 1896. Her children are: Aaron Hero, born on May 19, 1867; and Mabel Louise, born on August 5, 1871. The latter is now the wife of Fred A. Wood, the treas- urer of the Hopkinton Savings Bank. Aaron H. Mayhew was educated in the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology. Afterward, having served an apprenticeship in the Manu- facturers' National Bank of Boston, he be- came teller in the Milford National Bank, which position, in addition to that of book- keeper in the Milford Savings Bank, he now fills. An active Mason, he is a member of the three Masonic bodies in Milford. He married Grace P., daughter of Zibeon C. Field.

G ILBERT H. HARRINGTON, late president of the Harrington & Rich- ardson Arms Company of Massachu- setts and a prominent and successful inventor and manufacturer of firearms, was born in Shrewsbury, Mass,, April 17, 1845, and died

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at his home in Worcester, Mass., June 22, 1897. As his name indicates, Mr. Harring- ton was of English ancestry, he being a de- scendant in the seventh generation of Robert Harrington, who came to New England as one of the early colonists, settling at Watertown, Mass., some time between 1630 and 1640. In the old records Robert Harrington is men- tioned as one of the proprietors of Watertown in 1642, his holding comprising sixteen lots, or six hundred and forty-two and a half acres, appraised at seven hundred and seventeen pounds, a large part of which - namely, a farm of two hundred and fifty acres - is still occupied by one of his descendants. He mar- ried at Watertown on October 1, 1648, Su- sanna, daughter of John George. Among their children was a son Thomas, born at Watertown in 1665, who in turn had a son, also named Thomas, born there in 1691. Thomas, sec- ond, was a resident of Cambridge, Mass., where his son, the third Thomas, was born in 1713. Thomas Harrington, third, settled in Shrewsbury, Mass., about the year 1738, and, marrying while still a youth, had a son Jona- than, born there on February 11, 1742. A son of Jonathan, named David, born Novem- ber 2, 1785, and who attained to the rank of Colonel in the Massachusetts militia during the War of 1812-15, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Colonel David Harrington was a zealous patriot and a man of considerable note in his generation.

His son, Henry Henderson Harrington, born October 24, 1811, at Shrewsbury, in Worcester County, about five miles from the city of Worcester, was a prosperous farmer. He married Miss Cornelia B. Wes- son, of Worcester, a sister of D. B. Wesson, of Springfield, and of Franklin Wesson, of Worcester, both distinguished as inventors and manufacturers of firearms, the former being the owner at the present time of one of the largest firearm plants in the world. Henry Henderson Harrington died in 18 -. His widow is still living. For a number of years she resided at the home of her eldest son, the subject of this sketch.

Gilbert Henderson Harrington became a resident of Worcester at a tender age, and re-

ceived his schooling in that flourishing city. Through his mother he inherited the special aptitude in mechanics which has made the men of her family so famous; and, following the bent of his genius, he took employment from his uncle, Franklin Wesson, then and for many years previous a rifle manufacturer in Worcester, with whom he served a rigorous apprenticeship. He continued at his trade in his uncle's employ until 1871, when he be- came a partner of the latter in the newly formed firm of Wesson & Harrington, organ- ized for the purpose of manufacturing a shell- ejecting revolver, of which Mr. Harrington was the inventor and patentee. The business of the firm was conducted in the building at 18 Manchester Street, Worcester, which Mr. Wesson had previously occupied as a rifle manufactory for many years. In 1874 Mr. Harrington purchased the interest of Mr. Wesson, who then retired from business. Soon afterward Mr. Harrington, with Mr. William A. Richardson, of Worcester, organ- ized the firm of Harrington & Richardson, which continued the manufacture of the Har- rington small arm.

This weapon, a revolver of most ingenious construction and the starting-point of the present successful business, was a notable im- provement in convenience over any other then made. It was so constructed as to load and have the exploded shells removed by the slid- ing ejector without detaching the cylinder or removing any portion of the arm, it being the first metallic cartridge revolver successfully employing the shell-ejector. In its original form it held the market for a number of years. As the reliability of the firm and of its prod- uct became more widely known, its plant was enlarged so as to permit of the manufact- ure of other styles of revolvers, the designs for and improvements upon which were de- vised and patented by the firm from time to time. In the fall of 1876 the manufactory was removed to larger quarters at 31 Hermon Street, Worcester, where new and improved machinery and appliances were brought into operation. From 1880 to 1885 the firm was the sole licensee in the United States for the manufacture of the celebrated Anson & Deeley

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hammerless gun, a costly arm of English in- vention, the price of which ranged from eighty to three hundred dollars.

In 1888 the firm dissolved, but was imme- diately reorganized as a stock company, taking the style of the Harrington & Richardson Arms Company, Mr. Harrington being chosen the president. Shortly after the World's Fair at Chicago the company found it neces- sary to increase its facilities and to provide for emergencies. A tract of land at the cor- ner of Park Avenue and Chandler Street, Worcester, containing about forty-three thou- sand feet, was then purchased, and a four- story brick manufactory was erected thereon at a cost of about fifty thousand dollars. Large, well-lighted, thoroughly equipped, and arranged with every convenience, this arms manufactory is a model of its kind and one of the largest in New England. The product of late years is limited to revolving firearms, all styles being turned out, from the low- priced, solid frame arm, from which the cylin- der is removed by the withdrawal of the centre pin upon which it revolves, to the more elab- orate hinge-frame revolver, employing the au- tomatic shell-ejecting attachments, by which all the exploded shells are thrown out auto- matically by the act of opening the arm for re- loading. Conducted under the eye and per- sonal supervision of Mr. Harrington and his accomplished partner, the latter also a master in mechanics, the manufacture of these arms reached the highest degree of excellence, and the weapons achieved a wide reputation for quality, beauty, and reliability. Intensely interested in his business, in which he found a double gratification, being both inventor and manufacturer, Mr. Harrington devoted him- self unsparingly to its development, the re- sults demanding and warranting this appli- cation.

As one of the best known and most prosper- ous of Worcester's citizens, he might have served in public office had he so desired; but the only relaxation he took from business was found in brief sojourns yearly in Winter Park, Florida. His health began to fail about 1891 ; but, until a year or so preceding his demise, his trouble, a rheumatic affection

of the heart, did not assume a dangerous phase. He returned from Florida early in May, 1897, after having spent the winter there, and within a few weeks succumbed to his distressing malady, as above stated. Mr. Harrington was an attendant, with his fam- ily, at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Worcester and a generous supporter of its charitable work. He was connected with no social organization of any kind except the Worcester Club, of which he was an old and esteemed member. The hospitality of his home in Main Street, Worcester, in one of the most spacious and beautifully situated mansions in this home-like city, was cordially extended to a wide circle. Mr. Harrington is survived by his wife, to whom he was mar- ried in 1886, and by two sons. Mrs. Har- rington's maiden name was Myrtis Sigourney. She is a native of Oxford, Mass., and comes of the old and historic Huguenot family of Sigourné - modernized Sigournay and Sigour- ney, originally domiciled at or near Rochelle in France. The founder of the American branch of this family was Andrew Sigourné. The sons of Mr. Harrington by a former wife are: Edwin C. and John W. Edwin C. Har- rington, the elder, is now a director in the corporation of which his father was the founder and first president. He has entered with genuine enthusiasm and most praise- worthy zeal upon his duties in connection with the business which brought his father both fame and fortune, with the resolve, it is evident, of fitting himself to become ulti- mately the executive head.

Mr. William A. Richardson, so long asso- ciated with the late Mr. Harrington in busi- ness, survived him but five months, dying somewhat unexpectedly in Worcester in No- vember, 1897. Both had attained a wide rep- utation in their special field, and through the excellence of their product were known, it may be said, in all parts of the world. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the Americans who have achieved the greatest fame as the inventors and successful manufacturers of fire- arms were the sons of men engaged in the peaceful vocations of trade and farming, the most notable of whom, Colt, Remington,

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Wesson, and Harrington, have a world-wide fame.

A LBERT CURTIS, who departed this life on July 27, 1898, at his home in the city of Worcester, a venerable nonagenarian, was an active man of business here for nearly seventy years, begin- ning in May, 1831, as a member of the firm of John Simmons & Co., manufacturers of cloth finishing machinery, and ending as pres- ident and treasurer of the Curtis Manufactur- ing Company, founded by him in January of the present year, seven months before his death. He was widely known as Albert Cur- tis, one of Worcester's oldest and most suc- cessful manufacturers, and also one of her most worthy and respected citizens. Mr. Curtis was born July 13, 1807, on his father's farm in Worcester, on what is now Plantation Street, within two miles of his recent home. His great-grandfather Curtis, whose given name was Ephraim, came from Sudbury, and is said to have been the first white settler in Worcester. As the town. grew, Ephraim Curtis became prominent in local affairs. The farm on which he settled comprised one hundred and ninety acres. It remained in the family, coming down from father to son until lately, when it was purchased and con- verted mostly into city lots.

Samuel Curtis, born in 1725, son of Ephraim, was a participant in the Revolution. He became a member of the legislature, and was prominent in town affairs. His wife was Mary Ward. They had eleven children, six sons and five daughters, nine of whom lived to be very old. The mother died at ninety-five years of age.

Samuel Curtis, Jr., son of Samuel and Mary (Ward) Curtis and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Worcester, near Au- burn, in 1761. He served in town offices, and was a Captain of Artillery in the State militia. He married first Eunice Flagg, who died leaving eight children. He afterward married Mrs. Eunice Taft Stowell, daughter of Josiah Taft and widow of a Mr. Stowell, by whom she had two sons - Alexander and

David. Alexander Stowell went to Tompkins County, New York, and thence to Elmira, in that State, where he lived to old age. Of this second union were born three children: first, Albert; second, William, who died at sixty- five years of age in Caroline, Tompkins County, N.Y .; and, third, Eunice, who be- came the wife of Charles P. Bancroft, and died in 1893 in Brooklyn, leaving two chil- dren. Mrs. Eunice T. Curtis was a sincere Christian and a member of the Congregational church.' She died before 1861. Her mother lived to be ninety-five years old.

Albert Curtis obtained his education in the common schools, which he attended in his boyhood as he had opportunity. He was but nine years old when his father died, and from that time on he partly earned his own living. For a while he was in his uncle's family at Auburn, and afterward he worked on the farm of an elder brother in New York State. Re- turning to Worcester at the age of seventeen, he went to learn the trade of machinist with the firm of White & Boyden, serving three years. For the first year he received sixty dollars, for the second eighty dollars, and for the third one hundred and twenty dollars, being allowed three months' schooling each year. After that he continued with the same firm over six years, receiving a dollar and a quarter a day. Then he went to Pittsburg, Pa., and worked at manufacturing shears at a dollar and a half a day, being considered a skilled mechanic. At the end of a year he thought of going to Cincinnati, but returned instead to work for his old employer.

The next May, 1831, he became one of the firm of John Simmons & Co., Albert Curtis and Abel Kimball being the company. The firm manufactured machinery for finishing woollen goods. Mr. Kimball left the firm within a year, and in 1833 Mr. Curtis pur- chased the interest of Mr. Simmons, and be- came the sole owner of the plant and business, which he continued to develop until in pros- perous years the sales amounted to millions. For four years Mr. William Henshaw was with Mr. Curtis, the firm being Curtis & Henshaw. Then Edwin Marble, who had been an apprentice with Mr. Curtis for three

ALBERT CURTIS.

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years, was made partner, the association con- tinuing for thirty-two years, the firm being Curtis & Marble. In 1895 the firm dissolved, and from that time' Mr. Curtis was engaged manufacturing woollen goods for men's wear. He also for the last thirty or forty years manufactured sheeting, drilling, and satinets with various brands. On January 12, 1898, Mr. Curtis took into partnership Charles G. Stratton and F. B. Durfee, organizing the Curtis Manufacturing Company. Remarkably well preserved mentally and physically, after entering his ninety-second year he continued to go to his office every day to look after the business. He had some heart trouble, but not so serious as to cause anxiety to his friends. On the 26th of July he was feeling, it is said, unusually well; and he went on a fishing trip to Trowbridgeville, which he evi- dently enjoyed, as he spoke of going again. The evening he spent chatting pleasantly with friends on his piazza. In the morning of the 27th he was found lifeless in bed, his death having been caused by accidentally escaping gas in his room.

Mr. Curtis married his first wife in 1832. She was then a widow, Mrs. Bancroft, before marriage Miss Sally K. Houghton. She had one daughter, Jane, wife of Charles T. Strat- ton, of New Worcester. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had a foster-daughter, whom they reared and educated. She is now the wife of Dr. George F. Balcom. After the death of his first wife Mr. Curtis was again married, his second wife being the widow of Charles Griffin, in maidenhood Miss Rosella Perrin. She was the mother of three children by her first hus- band. She died April 16, 1896, aged seventy-two. Mr. Curtis resided in his spacious and pleasant house at 38 Webster Street, which he built in 1846 and remodelled in 1878.

Mr. Curtis was the latest survivor of the last Board of Selectmen of the town for the year 1848. He was a member of the first City Council, and in 1857 he was an Alder- man. He was for thirty-six years superin- tendent of the Hope Cemetery. He was one of the promoters and incorporators of the first street railway. He had good financial reasons

to remember the fact, as it cost him over eight thousand dollars, much work, and some worry. He was president of the Old Men's Home, of which he was one of the leading promoters. He gave one-half of the land for the Old Ladies' Home. The lovely little chapel of Hope Cemetery also was given by him. He was the largest contributor of the Union Con- gregational Church. Mr. Curtis and the Coes family combined gave the land for the Web- ster Street School-house. The fine library in the City Hospital was his gift to the city, and he was the largest contributor to the Young Men's Christian Association and a large contributor to the Young Women's Christian Association Buildings. Most of the fine trees in this part of New Worcester were planted by Mr. Curtis. The first dam in Curtis Pond, built in 1831 by Charles Hen- sey, stood but forty-eight hours. The present dam, a solid and expensive stone structure, was built by Mr. Curtis in 1877, and was a re- construction of the first one built by him in 1868, which was damaged badly by the burst- ing of the city reservoir.

Mr. Curtis's life, it is thus seen, was a busy and useful one, as well as successful from a worldly point of view. Few men have made a better record. His works and benefactions will remain as lasting monuments to his memory.

JMORY STONE, a veteran agriculturist of Auburn, was born on the farm where he now resides, March 9, 1827, son of Colonel Jonathan Stone, grandson of Lieuten- ant Jonathan Stone, and great-grandson of Deacon Jonathan Stone. The emigrant ances- tor, Symon Stone, came from England to America in 1635; was made a freeman in Watertown, Mass., in 1636; and from that time until his death was one of the leading residents, having held different public offices, and for seven consecutive years having repre- sented the town at the General Court. The next in line of descent was his son Simon, who, born in England, spent the larger part of his life in Watertown.

Deacon Jonathan Stone removed from Water-

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town to Auburn in 1753, and, taking up three hundred and four acres of wild land, succeeded in clearing a portion of it and acquiring a good farm. Much interested in the religious affairs of the new town, he did his part in the up- building of the church, which he served as Deacon for many years, and to which he con- tributed a handsomely engraved pewter tankard to hold the communion wine. This tankard is now in the possession of Emory Stone, who prizes it highly. When the colonies united in the struggle for independence, Deacon Jona- than Stone and his son Jonathan, who was a Lieutenant, served as soldiers in the Revolu- tionary army in different companies. On re- turning from the field the Deacon resumed work on the homestead, where his death oc- curred December 21, 1806, in the eighty-sec- ond year of his age. Lieutenant Jonathan Stone was born in Watertown, Mass., Decem- ber 8, 1750, and died on the old home farm in Auburn, November 24, 1809. He was Lieu- tenant of a company in the Revolutionary War, and the sword which he then carried is still preserved by the family. He married Sarah Hall, who according to records in the old family Bible, which was printed by " His Maj- esty's Printers," Moek and Charles Kerns, in Edinburgh in 1789, was born December 31, 1763, and died September 16, 1853. They had four children, namely: Jonathan, the father of Emory; Mary Harrington, who mar- ried Bradwell Smith, of New Salem, Mass. ; Oliver, who died when nine years old; and Elijah, a lifelong farmer, who died unmarried at the age of seventy years.

Colonel Jonathan Stone, born in Auburn on the Stone homestead, April 4, 1793, died at sea in 1845. He succeeded to one hundred and forty acres of the original ancestral estate, and was chiefly engaged in agriculture. He was a stanch Whig in politics, and for many years held a commission as Colonel in the State mi- litia. On May 24, 1814, he married Abigail Knowlton, who was born at Newfane, Vt., March 13, 1790, and died February 15, 1874, on the homestead. Her father, Deacon Na- than Knowlton, born in Shrewsbury, Mass., May 5, 1760, having enlisted as a fifer in the Revolutionary army when but sixteen years

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 50

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