Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 60

Author: Biographical Review Publishing Company, Boston, pub
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Boston, Biographical review publishing company
Number of Pages: 1238

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In September of that year he began his work of teaching in the Adams Square School. The following September he was appointed principal of the Quinsigamond Grammar School. In the growth and development of this school Mr. Mooney takes pardonable pride. The entire village of Quinsigamond, which is the largest and most thriving of the suburbs of Worcester, the location of the South Works, so called, of the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, is contributory to this educational institution. When Mr. Mooney first came to preside over this school, there were five teachers in charge of about two hundred pupils. To-day there are twenty-four teachers, in charge of over one thousand pupils.

Many of the graduates of this school are now engaged in all of the various active pur- suits of life - in shop, office, store, in the army and navy, and in the public service in different departments of city and county, and in the legislative branch of State government.

It has always been the constant aim of Mr. Mooney, in training the pupils under his charge, to fit them for the duties of life. He does not leave them on the threshold of the school-room, but he meets them out in the world in the various walks of business and so- cial life, and cheers them on in all their undertakings.

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In school economy, methods of instruction, methods of culture, and history of education - in all that goes to make a fully developed, well-informed, up-to-date master in pedagogy, and in the science and art of education, Mr. Mooney holds high rank. Many of the methods and devices occasionally put forward by teachers at school-conventions as new and original, have been in vogue in the Quinsiga- mond School for many years. Especially is this so in regard to promotions, individual work with pupils, small classes, continuous and generous use of blackboards by scholars and teachers, and in many other aids, devices, methods, and principles used in teaching.

In Mr. Mooney's career as a teacher are manifest diligence, industry, executive ability of a very high order, decision, energy, and a careful preparation of every detail in school organization, discipline, and teaching.

Mr. Mooney's collateral work has always been along the lines of educational thought and activity and of philanthropy. He has in- terested himself much in the organizing of so- cieties which he foresaw might do some good. In 1887 he was elected secretary of the Alumni Association of the College of the Holy Cross, his Alma Mater; and he has built up that organization to its present prosperous condition. In 1889 he organized, and was the first president of the Boys' Club of Quinsiga- mond, a society which did much good for the boys and young men of that part of Worces- ter. In 1888 he was president of the Young Ladies' Lyceum, and of the Young Men's Ly- ceum of the Church of the Sacred Heart, Worcester, over which the Right Rev. Mon- signor Conaty, D.D., rector of the Catholic University at Washington, D.C., presided. He has assisted in the formation of many total abstinence societies for young ladies and young men, and has lectured on the subject in many cities and towns. In 1890 he organ- ized the Worcester County Total Abstinence Union, comprising the active total abstinence societies in the towns and cities of the county, and was appointed lecturer.

During the winters of 1886-90 Mr. Mooney lectured before the pupils of the evening schools a variety of historical, geo-

graphical, scientific, and other educational subjects.

In 1885 he was appointed by the Executive of the Commonwealth a Justice of the Peace, and still holds his commission. Mr. Mooney has published three books as aids in the work of teaching: in 1891, "One Thousand Ques- tions and Answers on United States History, Civil Government, Literature, and Finance "; in 1892, Historical Papers, containing, with notes, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution of the United States, Washington's Farewell Address, and a Table of the Presidents; and in 1893, "Patriotic Prose and Poetry." These books have had an extended circulation.

In 1894 he was president of the Worcester County Teachers' Association. He is a member of the Massachusetts Teachers' As- sociation. In 1895 he was chairman of the committee which organized the Schoolmas- ters' Club of Worcester County, and presided at its first dinner. On Memorial Day of this year Mr. Mooney was the orator at the Monu- ment, and delivered one of the most eloquent and patriotic addresses ever heard on the com- mon. In 1896 he was chairman of the com- mittee which inaugurated the first course of lectures for teachers ever given in Worcester. In September of this year, as editor and pro- prietor, he began the publication of the School Register, a monthly paper, devoted to the in- terests of education.

Mr. Mooney is an associate member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and always a welcome speaker at their gatherings. He is one of the incorporators of St. Vincent Hos- pital, House of Providence, Vernon Street, Worcester. He was a member of the Com- mittee of Fifteen chosen at a meeting of citi- zens to arrange for a reception and dinner in honor of the soldiers returned from the Span- ish-American War. He takes a lively inter- est in public and civic affairs, always hold- ing himself ready to do a citizen's duty. He believes that a quiet, conservative inter- course, between the world and the school, is of mutual benefit.

In 1893 Mr. Mooney was united in mar- riage with Miss Edith Genevieve Loring, of

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Westboro, Mass., daughter of Mr. Willard Loring, of that town, now a resident of San Diego, Cal. Mrs. Mconey was graduated from the Westboro High School and from the State Normal School at Worcester, and previ- ous to her marriage was a teacher in the pub- lic schools of the city of Worcester. She is the mother of two children - Margaret Loring, and Richard Henry Mooney, Jr.

The family home is in a modest mansion on Vernon Street, in the southern part of the city, surrounded by a spacious lawn and by four acres of land, which Mr. Mooney culti- vates in the botanical, horticultural, and agri- cultural lines.

Mr. Mooney is a member of no organization or society not connected with his profession of teaching. Everything is subordinate with him to the great work of turning out good, in- telligent, and patriotic citizens. In religion he is a Catholic, in politics a Republican.

ENRY EDWIN FALES, late a lead- ing resident of Milford and one of the most successful jury lawyers in the State, died at his home in this city on January 24, 1897. Born in Walpole, November 6, 1837, son of Silas and Roxa (Perrigo) Fales, he was a representative of the eighth generation of the family founded by James Fales, or Vales, who came over from Chester, England, at an early date in the Colonial period, and in September, 1636, signed the original church covenant of the plantation of Dedham, Mass., then called by the name "Contentment." In 1653 James Fales was admitted as a townsman or free- man of Dedham. During King Philip's War he served as a soldier. His wife was Anna Brock, of Dedham. She bore him three sons - James, John, and Ebenezer - and four daughters.

James Fales, Jr., married Dorothy Fisher, of Dedham, and settled in what is now Wal- pole, where many of his descendants have con- tinued to dwell for over two hundred years. John settled in Wrentham, and married Unity Hawes. Ebenezer inherited the farm of his father, which was located in that part of Ded-

ham now known as East Street. This is the ancestral line of Henry Edwin Fales : James, 1 James, ? Peter, 3 Peter, + Amaziah, 5 Aaron, 6 and Silas,7 above named.

Aaron Clark Fales, the grandfather, was nineteen years old when the Revolutionary War broke out; and on April 19, 1775, he marched to Lexington as fifer for a Walpole company under Captain Seth Bullard. He was afterward a member of the company com- manded by Captain Perez Cushing, in the ar- tillery regiment of which Paul Revere was Lieutenant Colonel. He took part in fortify- ing Dorchester Heights, which resulted in the evacuation of Boston. A cannon-ball fired by the British and picked up by him is still in possession of the family. He was at West Point at the time of the treason of Benedict Arnold, and saw him rowed off in the night to the British brig "Vulture." Aaron Fales was the father of eight children. He died in Walpole on September 25, 1826; and his wife, Hepzibah Everett, who was born in Dedham on February 1, 1763, died on April 2, 1853.

Silas Fales, son of Aaron and father of Henry E., was born in Walpole on June 10, 1798, and died on September 7, 1877. He was twice married, and was the father of five children by his first wife, Maria Fisher, and of five by his second wife, Roxa Perrigo, of Wrentham. He was by occupation a farmer and a carpenter.

Henry Edwin Fales when a young man taught school in Norfolk County. He also learned the carpenter's trade with his father. At the age of twenty-five he entered the office of James R. Davis, Esq., of Milford, to study law, and he subsequently formed a partner- ship with Mr. Davis. While a member of the Worcester County bar, Mr. Fales was more prominent in Norfolk County, as most of his practice was there. He was also well known in legal circles in Middlesex and Suf- folk Counties. He was town counsel for no less than twelve towns in Norfolk and Worcester Counties; and, of the eight capital cases he defended, six won under his masterly efforts. He was a man of very quick sym- pathies, and many were the cases he tried

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without receiving any emolument therefor. For many years the greater part of his prac- tice consisted of difficult cases brought him by other attorneys who desired his advice and opinion.

Some six years prior to his death he closed his office in Milford on account of pressure of business; but this did not prevent people from coming to his house and thus absorbing much of the time he had purposed to devote to rest, even on the first day of the week. It was not infrequent to see on a Sunday evening at least a dozen teams of clients or fellow- citizens standing near his house, with their owners waiting for opportunity to speak with Mr. Fales. His only relief from the great pressure thus brought upon him was to take his family and go for a long drive out into the country .. Although a man of unusual recuper- ative power and untiring energy, the constant strain of his professional duties wore on him, and his family endeavored to induce him to refuse to see the clients who called for him; but with the feeling that he could be of ser- vice, and that it might seem unkind to turn away people who had come from a distance to see him, he could not find it in his heart to turn them away, and so failed to take proper care of his own interests. At the time of his death scores of cases committed to his charge were left in various stages of completion.

As a practitioner he was thorough and painstaking, giving the same close attention to details in minor cases as in those of greater importance. He was especially considered an authority on questions of water privilege. As a speaker, he was finished; as a pleader, eloquent ; and as an advocate, able and astute. In all public matters of importance he found time to take an active part, and often served as Moderator at town meetings and conven- tions. He was a close friend of General Butler, and frequently entertained him and other well-known men of the Commonwealth and nation at his home. He was on terms of the closest intimacy with the judges of the Circuit Court, and several times declined the honor of appointment to the bench himself, being thoroughly in love with his profession and content to remain in the ranks. His

chief recreation was in reading, especially in reading the English classics, in which he was very proficient. His mind was a store- house of historical as well as legal lore, and he was remarkably well versed in genealogy. He was well known in Masonic circles, being a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templar.

Mr. Fales was three times married. His first wife, Violet Sherman, bore him one son, Henry Edwin, Jr., who died in infancy. His second wife, whose maiden name was Clara A. Haywood, died in August, 1885. She was the mother of two children: Harold Ever- ett, who was born on May 21, 1871; and Clara Ethalyn, who was born on July 16, 1879. Mr. Fales is survived by his third wife, formerly Mary A. Parkhurst. They were married on September 12, 1891. Mrs. Fales is a native of Milford. Her parents were Oliver Brown and Maria (Nelson) Park- hurst, members of old Milford families and descendants of early colonists.

EV. SETH SWEETSER, D.D., late a prominent clergyman of Central Massachusetts and a widely influen- tial factor in educational work, was born on March 15, 1807, in Newburyport, and died on March 24, 1878, at his home in Worcester, where for nearly forty years he had been settled as the pastor of the Calvinist, later the Central Church. His parents, Seth and Sarah (Frothingham) Sweetser, removed to Newburyport from Charlestown, which had been the home of their ancestors for several generations. His father was lineally de- scended from the early colonist, Seth Switzer, who "joined the First Church of Charlestown in 1638, six years after its foundation," and whose posterity is said to have been repre- sented for more than two hundred years in that church. Seth Sweetser, of Newburyport, was a successful merchant, a man of fine pres- ence and dignified manner. He lived to be eighty years of age. His wife was a daughter of Benjamin Frothingham, who entered the Revolution as a Captain of artillery, and re- tired at its close with the rank of Major, hav- ing endured the hardships and survived the

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perils of the war, although at Monmouth he was struck by a ball, and was taken from the field for dead. Mrs. Sarah F. Sweetser was a woman of great piety. It was her custom to gather her children about her every Sunday afternoon for an hour of prayer and devotion. She had five daughters and four sons.

The fifth-born child, named Seth for his father, is the subject of this sketch. His preparation for college was begun at the New- buryport Academy under Alfred W. Pike. Entering Harvard College, he showed himself a diligent student, and obtained high rank in his class, especially in mathematical studies. He was graduated in 1827; and during the two - years succeeding, in company with two of his classmates, he had charge of the school in Livingston County, New York, afterward known as Geneseo Academy. For the next two years he was a tutor in mathematics at Harvard. In 1831 he entered Andover Theo- logical Seminary. A year later he joined the Congregational church at Old Town, of which he continued a member as long as he lived. During his last year in the seminary he en- gaged in missionary work at Seabrook, N.H., holding meetings in a school-house; and after his graduation he was stationed at Gardiner, Me., as a home missionary. This was the beginning of a ministry of pre-eminent use- fulness.

After four years spent at Gardiner, Dr. Sweetser accepted a call to become pastor of the Calvinist, now Central Church and Society at Worcester, of which he remained in charge until his death. Scholarly in his tastes, Dr. Sweetser was yet able to perform with great acceptability those duties of his office which are distinctly pastoral and must be performed outside the pulpit. His quick sympathy and ready helpfulness made him beloved by all his parishioners. While averse to ritualism, it is said that no one "ever cherished toward the true and divinely appointed sacraments a more regardful and reverent spirit." As a preacher, one of his parishioners said of him, "In all the twenty-five years of my listening I do not recall a single doctrinal discourse. His was rather the large, discursive method, in which the doctrine was everywhere implied,

just as in the Bible the existence of God is everywhere implied." Dr. Sweetser always felt himself the servant of the people to whom he ministered. "He never preached for pay in vacation, feeling that he ought, for the good of his people, to rest in the time given him for it." He was deeply interested in promoting a spirit of fellowship among the churches.

Dr. Sweetser was a conspicuous example of devotion to the cause of education. For twelve years he was a member of the Board of Overseers of Schools in the centre district of Worcester, and it was he who drew up the first plan for graded schools in the town. This was in 1844. The opinion has been ex- pressed, and we think justly, that outside his own parish Dr. Sweetser never did more im- portant work for Worcester and Worcester County than what he did in connection with the founding of the Free Institute of Indus- trial Science, now the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In the words of the Hon. Stephen Salisbury, "The Rev. Dr. Sweetser was more than a friend of this institute, he was more than the leading member of the Board of Trustees : he was the father of the institu- tion." The facts in regard to that matter may be briefly stated. Previous to 1857 Dr. Sweetser, having been consulted by sev- eral boys who wished to fit themselves as civil engineers without taking a regular college course, had prolonged interviews with Mr. Ichabod Washburn, who was thinking of en- dowing a school for mechanics' apprentices. As a result the Doctor shortly originated a plan, which in substance was the one adopted in 1865 for the institute, whose establishment was then made possible, thanks to his further efforts wisely directed, through the co-opera- tive beneficence of Mr. Washburn and Mr. Boynton.

With the exception of a brief period Dr. Sweetser was connected with Harvard College, either as tutor, examiner, or overseer, nearly fifty years. He was for twenty-eight years a trustee of Phillips Academy, Andover, and of the Theological Seminary, being elected pres- ident of the latter board in 1864. He was also a trustee of Leicester Academy, a mem-

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ber of the council of the American Antiqua- rian Society, president of the American Edu- cation Society, and a corporate member of the American Board. Among the best known of his published writings are: the essay entitled "The Ministry we need," published by the American Tract Society; and his "Commem- orative Discourse on the Death of Abraham Lincoln," a work of unusual merit.

Dr. Sweetser was married on December 29, 1836, to Hannah Frances Vaughan, daughter of Charles Vaughan, Esq., an Englishman and one of the earliest settlers of Hallowell, Me. Mrs. Sweetser was attractive in person and manners and lovely in character. She died on May 10, 1855, after a long illness. She was the mother of five children, and is survived by two, namely: John Apthorp Sweetser, a leading citizen of Grafton; and his sister, Miss Frances W. Sweetser.

John Apthorp Sweetser was born at Gardi- ner, Me., in 1838, and was educated in the common schools and in the high school of Worcester. He learned the trade of machin- ist, and was for some time with the Fairbanks Standard Scales Company, of St. Johnsbury, Vt. He then returned to Worcester and sub- sequently bought the Deacon Stone farm on Brigham Hill, where he now resides. From 1868 to 1872 he was engaged in the wool commission business in Boston. Mr. Sweet- ser has a good farm and finely equipped build- ings. He gives his attention chiefly to mar- ket gardening, and during the winter has the care of horses from Boston and vicinity. He has never sought public office, but is warmly interested in town affairs, and has served on the Board of Assessors and on various town committees. He believes in having good roads, as the roads in this section of the town testify. Politically, he is a Republican.

Mr. Sweetser married Sarah S., daughter of Charles E. Miles, now of Brookline. Her grandfather was one of the early pastors of West Church at Grafton. Mr. and Mrs. Sweetser have no children of their own; but a nephew of Mrs. Sweetser, Charles Henry Miles, has lived with them since he was a child. He was graduated at Amherst College in 1891, and for some years succeeding that

was in business in Portland, Ore., as an electrical engineer.

In 1894 he came East and organized the Grafton Electric Company (putting in the plant), of which he is now superintendent. Mr. Sweetser was one of the promoters of this enterprise, and he is president of the Grafton Farmers' Club.

EORGE A. CRAIG, the senior mem- ber of the firm George A. Craig & Son, civil engineers, conveyancers, and insurance agents, doing business at 45 Lincoln Street, Spencer, was born in Leices- ter, this county, January 13, 1837. His par- ents, Nathan and Dulcena (Huntington)

Craig, and his grandfather, Lieutenant Na- than Craig, were all natives of Spencer. Dr. Robert Craig, his great-grandfather, was the first of the family to settle in this section of the State. Lieutenant Craig, who served in the Revolutionary War, was a prominent resi- dent of Spencer in his day, and served in va- rious town offices. The father was succes- sively a wood turner and a farmer.

Having acquired a good education at the Leicester and Wilbraham Academies, George A. Craig learned the trades of carpenter and millwright, and followed them for some years. While so employed he gave much of his time to the study of civil engineering. At the age of twenty-six he turned his atten- tion to surveying. In the fall of 1868 he came to Spencer village, where he established himself as a civil engineer, conveyancer, and insurance agent. He has made the surveys for most of the buildings erected in this town for the past twenty years, besides those for many others in the Brookfields; and the at- lases of these places were published from plans draughted by him from his own surveys. The duties of a Justice of the Peace and Notary Public are also performed by him. His son, Nathan E. Craig, the other member of the firm, is a graduate of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, class of 1883, and a civil engineer of more than ordinary ability. Besides surveying and conveyancing, the firm transacts a large business before the Probate

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Court in settling estates, and represents some of the most reliable fire and life insurance companies in the world, including the Ætna and Connecticut of Hartford; the Niagara and Glens Falls, N. Y .; the Lancashire of Man- chester, England; the Queen of Liverpool, England; the New Hampshire of Manchester; the Worcester Mutual and Merchants' and Farmers' Mutual, Worcester, Mass .; the Fitchburg Mutual, Holyoke Mutual, Traders' and Mechanics Mutual. The clientage of the firm embraces the towns of Spencer, Leicester, the Brookfields, and vicinity.

Mr. Craig married Ellen A. Jones, daugh- ter of Edward K. Jones, of Burlington, Conn. He has three children, namely: Emma A., the wife of Jason W. Prouty, of Spencer ; Alice E., the wife of Henry Nichols, of this town; and Nathan E. Craig, who is in busi- ness with his father, has been Superintendent of Sewers for the past ten years, and is a mem- ber of both the Water and Sinking Fund Com- missions. Mr. Craig at the present time is vice-president, a trustee, and a member of the Investment Committee of the Spencer Savings Bank, and a director of the Spencer National Bank. He is actively interested in public affairs, and has served as a member of the Board of Selectmen.

ON. ALONZO DAVIS, was formerly one of the most public-spirited citi- zens of Fitchburg. He was born in Gardner, Mass., November 15, 1817, son of George W. and Anna (Perley) Davis. George W. Davis worked a farm by halves, and, though he had a wife and eleven children to support, was worth a few thousand dollars at his death. He was on the Gardner Board of Selectmen for twelve years, presid- ing for six years of that time as chairman ; and he was Assessor two years and on the School Committee two years. He was thrice married, and his first two wives had children who attained prominence. His son, George Davis, of Lawrence, was killed at the battle of Fredericksburg. Charles Davis, a half-brother of Alonzo, who was president of the Southgate Manufacturing Company of Worcester, died

in September, 1897, aged sixty-three; and the business is now managed by his son, George W. Davis. Another half-brother of Alonzo, Leander Davis, was a well-to-do citizen of St. Augustine, Fla. He died in Orange, Mass., at the age of seventy.

Alonzo Davis received the rudiments of his education in the public schools of Gardner. An omnivorous reader, he learned much in that way. After acquiring the chairmaker's trade he began to manufacture chairs in Fitch- burg in partnership with Alexander Rice. Later John D. Pratt became his partner, and in 1855 Henry T. and Charles E. Pratt were taken into the firm. He was in the business thirty-two consecutive years, always remain- ing head of the firm. A four-story brick factory, one hundred and fifty feet long and forty feet wide, was erected in 1855, after the Messrs. Pratt became interested in the busi- ness. Nine years later Mr. Davis purchased his partners' interest, and thereafter he con- tinued alone until the time of his retirement 'in 1887. He was one of the most successful business men Fitchburg has known. One of the foremost to advocate all movements for the benefit of his adopted city, he had the re- spect of both political parties, and was elected to a number of offices of public trust. He was sent to the Common Council in 1878 and served until 1880. Then he was elected to the Board of Aldermen and served three years; and he was Mayor of the city in 1883, 1884, and 1885. In the chief magistrate's chair he proved a model official, and many radical improvements were made during his adminis- tration. In that period the Rollstone Street school-house was erected, and another on the border of the city. Mr. Davis was an advo- cate of the water system, though not a cor- porate member of the board. He was for eighteen years connected with the Fitchburg Cornet Band, which was disbanded in 1860. This band was an important factor in the social life of Fitchburg some forty years ago. It accompanied Company B, Fifteenth Regi- ment, to the railroad station when it left for the seat of war, playing "Auld Lang Syne" in a manner that long afterward was remem= bered by those who heard it.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 60

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