Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 65

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 65

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From an early age Daniel Flagg was en- gaged in agriculture, making his home on the old farm where he was born until 1875. Then

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he sold the property and moved to the estate of four acres where his widow still resides. Here he lived practically retired for the re- mainder of his life. He was very industri- ous, and during the earlier part of his life had excellent health. Some twenty-five years be- fore his death he was thrown from his car- riage and injured so seriously that he never entirely recovered. A man of excellent prin- ciples, his religious creed was broad and gen-

erous. On April 5, 1842, he was married to Harriet S. Wood, of Barre. Her parents, Elijah and Sarah (Farrar) Wood, were respec- tively natives of Gardner and Lynn. Mr. Wood, who was born on September 18, 1774, following the shoemaker's trade, worked in Barre, Gardner, and Westminster. He re- sided for a time in Petersham; while his last days were spent in Westminster, where he was buried. His wife, whom he married in 1799, and who was born September 27, 1776, was buried in Worcester. Their six children were: Abigail, Elvira, Lansford, Francis, Harriet, and Mary. Abigail, who became the wife of John Harrington, died on January 9, 1878, at the age of seventy-seven, having had seven children. Elvira died in 1879, at the age of seventy-six. Lansford, born on March 16, 1806, of whose three children Charles Wood, of Worcester, is living, died in 1843, at the age of thirty-seven. Francis, born April 22, 1808, died on October 16, 1884, leaving four sons and a daughter. Mary, who was the wife of James M. Russell, died on September 22, 1895, leaving three of her five children. Mr. Flagg died at his home on February 2, 1886. Mrs. Flagg resides at 9 Martin Street.

AMUEL STRATTON, a retired business man of Worcester, was born in Princeton, Mass., October 15, 1824, son of John and Agnes (Manford) Stratton. He comes of a family that originated in Stratton, England. His immigrant ancestor was an early settler in Concord, Mass., and later ancestors went to Rutland, Mass., when that town was opened for settlement. His grandfather, Deacon Samuel Stratton, who was born in Princeton,

December 2, 1763, on November 19, 1782, married Martha Davis, who was born June 13, 1764. The Deacon served in the Revolution- ary War, and his name was afterward placed upon the pension rolls. Of his fourteen chil- dren, four were sons, and all but two of his daughters lived to rear families. He died at the age of seventy, and his wife died at the advanced age of ninety-nine years.

John Stratton, son of Deacon Stratton, was born in Princeton, March 31, 1784. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and subsequently shared in the land distribution made by the national government to the par- ticipants in that struggle. His death oc- curred on August 11, 1870. In 1823 he mar- ried Mrs. Agnes Sanderhoof Manford. Born in Amsterdam, Holland, about the year 1791, she was first married in Newburyport, Mass., to Captain James Manford, who was afterward lost at sea. She became the mother of six sons, three by each union. Those of her first marriage were: Erasmus, born in Newbury- port in 1816; James, born in 1818; and Fred- erick Manford, born in 1820. By John Strat- ton she had Samuel, the subject of this sketch; Captain Moses B. Stratton, born in Princeton in 1826, who is now residing in Worcester; and Danforth D. Stratton, a broker, residing in Melrose, Mass.

Samuel Stratton was reared and educated in Princeton. Coming to Worcester in 1843, he was engaged in shoemaking with Jonathan Munyon until 1851. Then he opened a res- taurant at 75 Main Street, and for the suc- ceeding eight years carried on a successful business in that location. About the year 1862 he purchased the wooden block at the corner of Main and Market Streets, where he continued in the same business for thirty years. At the expiration of that time he re- tired from active pursuits, and has since at- tended solely to the management of his prop- erty. On April 18, 1847, he was joined in marriage with Isabella A. Brimhall. Of his eight children, three are now living ; namely, Ida I., Frank Edward, and Samuel. The others were: Eliza Isadore, who died at the age of two years; Mary Ellen, who died at

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the age of three years; John, who died at the age of four; Abbie Ann, who died at the age of seven years; and Sarah E., who died when nine months old. Frank Edward Stratton re- sides in Worcester. Samuel Stratton, Jr., who is now an engineer's messenger on the United States steamship "Brooklyn," having entered the United States navy in 1896, was on that vessel when it participated in the cel- ebration of Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1897, and when it took part in the destruction of the Spanish fleet off Santiago on July 3, 1898.

On February 14, 1877, Ida Stratton married William Jennison Wheeler, who was born in this city, September 13, 1851. His parents, Erastus Williams and Sarah (Pollard) Wheeler, were married October 5, 1842. The former was born in Dixfield, Me., June 17, 1805, and the latter in Berlin, Mass., March 29, 1814. The grandfather of Will- iam J. Wheeler was Joseph Sumner Wheeler, of Harvard, Mass., who married a daughter of Dr. Sumner, of Shrewsbury, Mass. Eras- tus W. Wheeler, the father, settled upon a farm of eighty acres located on Forest Street, adjoining his son's present property, and by his thrift and industry accumulated a good es- tate. He died January 17, 1894, surviving his wife, who died December 30, 1884. They were members of the Old South Church. Their children were: Joseph Pollard Wheeler, born July 28, 1843; Henry Theophilus, born June 25, 1845, who died October 16, 1864; Edwin Wallace, born November 13, 1848, who resides at the homestead ; and William J. Wheeler, who now occupies a farm on Forest Street, about two miles from the post-office, and is engaged in general farming and garden- ing. Henry T. Wheeler was a member of Company G, Second Heavy Artillery Musket- eers, and a prisoner of war when he died, a victim of Southern barbarism. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have one daughter, Lotta I., born January 1, 1883.

Mr. Stratton came here in 1843, five years before Worcester received its city charter. Since 1846 he has been a member of the Worcester Light Infantry. He is an honor- ary member of Company C, Sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, which, while re-

cently passing through Baltimore, on its way to the seat of war, was received in such a cord- ial manner by the people of that city as to obliterate forever any remaining animosity caused by the famous riot of 1861. Mrs. Stratton, who was born in Hardwick, Mass., March 16, 1829, is no longer living. Since her death Mr. Stratton has resided with his daughter. A lover of fine arts, he has several handsome oil paintings, some of which were executed especially for him.

OSEPH PRATT was for many years a leading business man of Worcester. Born in Foxboro, Mass., on January 23, 1799, he there spent the early years of his life. His schooling opportunities were only such as were offered by the common schools. When quite young he was appren- ticed to the blacksmith trade with Elijah Bird, of Easton. After finishing his period of apprenticeship he worked in Taunton until 1825. Then he came to Worcester, and was engaged as foreman of the blacksmith depart- ment of William A. Wheeler's foundry for about four years. In 1829 he opened a store in Front Street as a dealer in iron, being as- sisted by H. Chamberlain and Samuel Hatha- way, of whom the latter was his partner until 1832. The business was carried on under the name of Joseph Pratt & Co. From 1832 to 1835 Colonel Isaac Davis was interested in it, and from 1835 to 1848 the firm name was Pratt & Earle. In the last named year, when Mr. Pratt's brother bought an interest, the style of the firm became Joseph Pratt & Co. The brother died in 1849. From the year 1853, in which F. H. Inman became a part- ner, until 1875, when Mr. Pratt retired, the firm name was Pratt & Inman. The company dealt in steel and iron of all kinds, and for many years this was the only iron business between Boston and New York. Mr. Pratt had the first iron for sale in Worcester County.

Mr. Pratt was a zealous Universalist, and was one of the founders of the Universalist Society in Worcester, being one of five men who contributed toward the building of the

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church edifice. He gave liberal support to the current expenses of the society, and was a constant attendant at the services. In poli- tics he was a Whig until 1848, when he joined the Free Soil movement, and became identi- fied with the "underground railroad," of which his house was a station. In so aiding fugitive slaves he risked much, and was sev- eral times nearly caught with slaves on his premises. At one time he heard that officers were approaching, and sent the slave away. When the pursuers rode into the yard he was awaiting them, and, in response to their ques- tion if there were "a nigger somewhere about," replied, "No, but there was one around a little while ago." Upon being asked which road the fugitive had taken, he an- swered, "I couldn't tell you, " and then looked intently in a certain direction. The officers believing that he was looking to see if the slave was safely out of sight, rode off in the direction in which he had glanced, which was opposite to that taken by the negro.

Mr. Pratt served twice as Alderman of Worcester, and was for two terms in the leg- islature. As a business man he had the high- est reputation for integrity. He was always on the lookout for opportunities of doing good to others, and took delight in relieving busi- ness acquaintances from any temporary finan- cial embarrassment. By his generosity in this direction he reduced to a modest fortune what might otherwise have been a handsome one. His beautiful house on West Boylston Street, outside the city limits, was built by him. Here he had lived in retirement for some time before his death, which occurred in 1894. In 1827 he married Caroline Chamberlin, who died in 1893, after sixty years of wedded life. Of the six children born to them, Miss E. C. Pratt is the only survivor.

EORGE W. FISHER, a leading busi- ness man of Grafton, was born No- vember 18, 1843, in Fisherville, this town, son of Erastus and Mary (Dresser) Fisher. He is descended from a family that has been prominent in Killingly, Conn., for several generations. The first of the name to

settle there was Barzillai Fisher, his great- great-grandfather, who, born in January, 1730, died in January, 1813. Barzillai arrived in Killingly in 1769 with his wife, Lydia Dex- ter Fisher, whom he had married in 1754. Of their nine children, the four eldest fought in the Revolution. One of these, named Nathan, was taken prisoner by the British, and died while in confinement on board the prison ship "Jersey." Another of the sons, John, who was the great-grandfather of George W., was in the whole war from its beginning to its close. Born in 1755, he died in 1843. Of his seven children, Laban, the second, who was born in January, 1783, and died in July, 1860, married Abigail Dexter. Born in 1789, she died in 1862. She was descended from the Rev. Gregory Dexter, who came from England in 1644 at the earnest request of Roger Williams, whose intimate friend he was, to take charge of the First Baptist Church in Providence, R. I.

Erastus Fisher, son of Laban and Abigail Fisher, born on November 21, 1810, died on April 20, 1880. After his marriage he lived for a while on a hired farm on Allen Hill. Subsequently he bought the farm in Grafton that is now the property of his son, George. In 1845 he and his brother, Waterman A. . Fisher, bought a part interest in a cotton-mill, located on the present site of Fisherville; and he became its managing superintendent. Of this mill he later became the proprietor, and carried on the business under his own name until, taking his three sons into partnership, the firm name became E. Fisher & Sons. The growth of this industry, its benefit to the town, and the honorable business career of its founder are well known. Erastus gave his whole thought and energy to the development of his plant. His industry was remarkable, his courage unflagging ; while his treatment of his employees was always kind and courteous. His business principles were those of an honorable man. No one ever knew him to fail to keep his word or to be unmindful of his obligations. In family life he was an ideal husband and father, and as a citizen he was actively inter- ested in everything that promoted the public welfare. He had no desire for public office,

GEORGE W. FISHER.

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but at one time he consented to serve as Se- lectman of the town. While a resident of Grafton he was a director of the Grafton Bank. In 1861 he removed to Worcester with his family, but he still kept his business cen- tred at Grafton. At first a Whig in politics, he subsequently joined the Republican party. His first Presidential vote was cast for Henry

Clay. Previous to the war and during its continuance he was a strong anti-slavery ad- vocate. After his removal to Worcester he joined the Old City Guards, of which for a number of years he was a valued member. He was an earnest friend of temperance in the use of liquor, and was himself a total ab- stainer. In Grafton both he and his wife were members of the Evangelical Congregational Church, which now has a beautiful memorial window presented by their sons. In "Worces- ter both united with the First Church of that city, the Old South ; and Erastus afterward be- came the assessor and treasurer of the parish. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Fletcher Dresser, born in September, 1813, died in December, 1880. They had three children, namely: Henry Dresser, born at Killingly, Conn., in 1836, who died in Worcester in 1886; George William, the sub- ject of this sketch; and Albert Laban, born in 1846, who is a merchant at Fisherville, and was recently a member of the Massachusetts legislature.

George W. Fisher received his early educa- tion in the schools of Grafton and Worcester, and subsequently graduated from Yale Col- lege in the class of 1868. Returning then to Grafton, he entered the office of his father's factory, where he remained for a year. At the end of that time he became a partner in the business. In 1881, the year following the death of his father, the mills were burned, re- sulting in a loss of many thousand dollars. When in the following spring it was decided to rebuild, a party of gentlemen, composed largely of business friends of Mr. Fisher, united for the purpose of incorporating the mills, and in respect for him the corporation was named the Fisher Manufacturing Com- pany. Of this George W. Fisher was chosen agent, which office he continues to fill. The

old mills had but five thousand spindles. The new ones have at the present time thirty-five thousand, eight hundred and sixty-four, and employ from three hundred to four hundred and fifty workmen.

Mr. Fisher is a member of Franklin Lodge, F. & A. M., and of Worcester County Com- mandery, K. T. He is also a director of the Grafton Bank. His residence, which is one of the most sightly in town, stands on an emi- nence rising five hundred feet above sea level. The maiden name of Mrs. Fisher, to whom he was married in 1876, was Ella Frances Farnum.

OHN WILLIAM BACON, of Worces- ter, an esteemed veteran of the Civil War, was born in New Worcester on May 17, 1838, his parents being Po- laski and Elizabeth (Stevens) Bacon. New Worcester was then a rough and recently set- tled district. The farm upon which Mr. Bacon was born was known as the Joseph Curtis place, and the room in which he first opened his eyes is now included in the spa- cious residence of J. W. Bishop at 1212 Main Street, so remodelled and enlarged during the hundred years or more it has stood that its old-time residents would no longer recog- nize it.

Mr. Bacon's grandfather, Jepthah Bacon, a farmer of Dudley, this county, born about 1770, was locally known as Squire Bacon. He was much respected, and he served for many years as Justice of the Peace. His grandson has numerous copies of old documents made out by him and written in the quaint wording and orthography of those days. Jepthah Bacon married Miss Joanna Childs, of North Woodstock, Conn., who belonged to a promi- nent and worthy family. She was tall and slender, while her husband was short and stout. Her son, Polaski, and her grandson, John W., are both like her, tall and well formed. Besides Polaski she had two other sons - Jepthah and Peter Childs. The for- mer, who was a miller by occupation, residing in Warren, died at the age of thirty-eight, leaving six children. Peter Childs, named

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for his mother's family, became a prominent lawyer and the head of the Worcester County bar. At one time he was the Mayor of the city. Of his children two sons - Frank and William Bacon - died in the Civil War. The rest were: Henry, Peter C. Bacon, Jr., Mary, and Elizabeth. Polaski Bacon, born in Dudley in 1801, was married in 1830, his wife being a native of Charlton. For some years he kept a tavern, one of the first in Dudley. His children were: Charles, born in 1832, who died in this city when twenty- four years of age, unmarried; John William, the subject of this biography; George Bacon, who is a painter in Worcester; and Abbie, who died at the age of twenty-two, unmarried.

During his boyhood John William Bacon worked more or less on his father's farm. Beginning when only ten years of age, he was also employed in the Curtis Mill until his seventeenth year, although he continued to at- tend school in the winter. He then began learning the machinist's trade in the shop of Albert Curtis, where he spent three years, re- ceiving, besides his board, forty dollars for the first year, eighty dollars for the second, and one hundred dollars for the third. Upon completing his apprenticeship he went West to Ohio, being then twenty years of age, and there worked at his trade in different places for the next three years. Returning then to Worcester, he took up his work in this city, also joining the Worcester Light Infantry. Upon the breaking out of the Civil War he enlisted as a volunteer for three months in the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, and was in the bloody riot of April 19 in the streets of Baltimore. Upon the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned to Worcester, and was married in November, 1861. Afterward he re-enlisted as a private in the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts Regiment, was assigned to Company C, and served until the close of the war, being mustered out as First Sergeant. Although he escaped the bullets of the enemy and the horrors of a Southern prison, he came so near dying from sunstroke that his com- rades made arrangements for his burial. For the last twenty-eight years he has been in the employ of the government as a letter carrier,

and is thus one of the veteran carriers of Worcester. In storm or shine he makes his daily deliveries, and he is as well known on his route as any man in that part of the city.

The maiden name of Mr. Bacon's wife was Helen Stockwell. She is a daughter of the late William E. and Sarah Stockwell, of Graf- ton. Of her three children, Lucius lived only one year. Her living children are: Nellie L., who is the wife of Charles N. Goffe, of this city; and William E. Bacon, a mechanic, who resides with his parents. The family home is at West Boylston. Mr. Bacon is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Veteran Union Association, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In poli- tics he is a Republican.

ARRY S. TRIPP, the Postmaster of Spencer, was born in Spencer, Mass., November 25, 1865, son of Charles M. and Mary E. (Lucas) Tripp. Charles M. Tripp was born and brought up in New Bedford, Mass., whence he came to Spencer when a young man. He was for many years one of the leading carpenters and contractors of this place, carried on a flourishing building business, was for a long time connected with the local fire department, and he served as a soldier for four years in the Civil War.

Harry S. Tripp obtained his early educa- tion in the public schools of Spencer. After receiving his diploma at the high school, he attended Hinman's Business College in Worcester, Mass., graduating therefrom in due time. He was afterward employed by his father as a book-keeper for a number of years, and he was then the superintendent of the Framingham Paper Box Company for a short time. This last position he resigned to be- come Assistant Postmaster, in which capacity he served under E. M. Bliss in Spencer for three years and under the succeeding Post- master, E. E. Harwood, during his term of four years. On October 1, 1897, having been appointed by President Mckinley on the 27th of the preceding July, he succeeded Mr. Har- wood in the office of Postmaster. His long

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connection with the postal service and his subsequent promotion therein are evidence of the faithfulness and efficiency with which he has fulfilled his official duties, and of his pop- ularity in the community which he serves.

On November 12, 1890, Mr. Tripp married Miss Susanna W., daughter of E. M. Bliss, of Spencer. Politically, he is a strong advo- cate of the principles promulgated by the Re- publican party. Fraternally, he is a member and the Senior Deacon of Spencer Lodge, F. & A. M., and a member of Goodwill Lodge, I. O. O. F.

REDERICK GREENWOOD, an enter- prising furniture manufacturer of East Templeton, was born in this town, June 5, 1850. A son of Thomas Temple and Louisa (French) Greenwood, he comes of English stock. His first ancestor in America was Thomas Greenwood, who settled in the part of Cambridge that was later incorporated as the town of Newton; and he followed the trade of a weaver. Thomas, when he died on September 1, 1693, was a Selectman. He was also the first Town Clerk of Newton. The maiden name of his first wife was Hannah Ward, and the first name of his second wife was Abigail. He was the father of four chil- dren. William Greenwood, the next in line, was born October 14, 1689. About the year 1730 he settled in Sherborn, Mass., where he followed agriculture for the rest of his life; and he died November 14, 1756. He was a Deacon of the Congregational church. On June 21, 1715, he married Abigail Wood- ward, daughter of John and Sarah (Bancroft) Woodward, of Newton, and subsequently had a family of ten children. Jonas Greenwood, son of William, born April 25, 1727, was a lifelong resident of Sherborn. His death oc- curred May 28, 1802. He married Sarah Stratton, who had eight children.

Jonathan Greenwood (first), the great-grand- father of Frederick Greenwood, was born in Sherborn, November 12, 1755. His principal occupation was that of a tavern keeper. He settled in Gardner, Mass., in 1785, previous to the town's incorporation, and died there

December 30, 1821. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and he served Gardner as an Assessor for the years 1792 and 1793 and as a Select- man in 1800 and 1801. On May 4, 1780, he married Sibyl, daughter of James and Sibbilla (Clark) Holbrook, of Sherborn. Born May 21, 1760, she died September 7, 1842. Of their six children, Jonathan Greenwood (sec- ond), the grandfather of Frederick Greenwood, was born in Gardner, April 18, 1786. He was a cooper by trade. Coming to East Tem- pleton in 1812, he kept a tavern until 1820. Thereafter he gave his attention entirely to coopering. The barrels, etc., all made by hand, were hauled to Boston by teams, and he carried on a thriving business for the rest. of his life. He died October 24, 1846. In the Baptist church he was a leading member. On May 30, 1807, he married Phoebe, daugh- ter of Jonathan and Rebecca (How) Temple, of Westminster, Mass., who died December 25, 1856. Thomas Temple Greenwood, son of Jonathan (second), born in East Temple- ton, March 25, 1817, died July 10, 1885. He became a prominent business man, and for a number of years was engaged in the manu- facture of tubs and pails. In 1864 he equipped his factory for the manufacture of furniture, and continued in that business for the rest of his life. He served as an Asses- sor, was a member of committees that had charge of the trust funds, and was actively concerned in all matters relating to the town's business development. His wife, Louisa, a daughter of Stephen and Polly (Pierce) French, was born in Dummerston, Vt., Janu- ary 24, 1818. Her children were: Louise L., born April 7, 1842, who died February 3, 1884; Thomas W., born August 6, 1844, who resides in Springfield, Mass .; Frederick P., born August 28, 1847, who died February 21,. 1849; Frederick, the subject of this sketch; Lewis A., born December 23, 1852; and Her- bert Greenwood, born October 8, 1858. Both Lewis and Herbert reside in Gardner. The mother died May 29, 1866.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 65

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