Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 72

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 72

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In 1879 Mr. Ogden was married to Eliza- beth H., daughter of William Wood, of Fitch- burg, and has one daughter, Lillian M., fourteen years of age. Mr. Ogden votes the Republican ticket. He was Councilman from Ward Five in 1893 and 1894. At present he is a member of the Fitchburg Board of Trade and of the Merchants' Association.

ENRY EDWIN MORGAN, a lead- ing druggist of Milford, was born in Griswold, Conn., on March 8, 1841, son of Edwin and Althea (Frazier) Morgan. He is a grandson of Major Daniel Morgan, of the Eighth Regiment of Connecti- cut Volunteers at Fort Griswold in the War of 1812; and he is a lineal descendant in the eighth generation of James Morgan, a native of Wales, who, after coming to this country, lived for a few years in Roxbury, Mass., and in 1650 removed to Pequot (now New Lon- don), Conn. He served several years as a Se- lectman, and was elected nine times as Deputy to the General Court at Hartford. In 1657 he built a house in that part of Groton, Conn., that is now the town of Ledyard, and there he resided during the remainder of his life. His

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HENRY E. MORGAN.

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descendants have been numerous and influen- tial. They have intermarried with the Led -- yards, the Lesters, the Averys, and other lead- ing families of Southern Connecticut, all of whom were represented among the brave heroes who fell in the massacre at Fort Griswold in September, 1781. At the centennial celebra- tion of that event in 1881 addresses were made by General W. T. Sherman and other distin- guished speakers, among them the Hon. John T. Wait, who said in part :-

"The ground on which we stand is sacred. A hundred years ago it was reddened with the blood of as brave a body of noble men as ever gave their lives in defence of their firesides and their native land."

Mr. Morgan has in his possession the flag carried by Major Morgan's regiment in the War of 1812, and it is said to be the only one of the kind of the original flags of Connecticut in existence. It has been exhibited on many occasions in Massachusetts and in Connecti- cut, whose governor has requested that it be placed among the historic relics of the State House at Hartford. Many patriotic organiza- tions also have endeavored to gain possession of it, but Mr. Morgan feels that the old flag is a family heirloom too sacred to be parted with.

Mr. Morgan came to Milford in 1857, and for some years worked as clerk in the apothe- cary shop of Leonard J. Wilson and as tele- graph operator, being the only operator in town. After twelve years of service with Mr. Wilson he established a small drug store of his own. He has since increased his busi- ness, and he now occupies the spacious corner drug store in Music Hall Block, which largely through his efforts was erected. Since the building was completed he has been treasurer and principal owner, and has had charge of it with its five stores, offices, and the hall. Mr. Morgan was also one of the prime movers in securing Milford's system of sewerage. In connection with his drug business he has placed several valuable proprietary medicines on the market. He is liberal, energetic, and always ready to lend a helping hand to all who are in need or to forward any good cause.

Mr. Morgan was married on October 3, 1867, to Mary Jane Corbett, daughter of Major

John and Almira (Parkhurst) Corbett. She is a native of Milford, and was born on Septem- ber 5, 1841.

Robert Corbett, of Weymouth, the first of this surname in New England, fought bravely in King Philip's War. After him came Elder Daniel 2 Corbett ("presumed to be son of Robert 1 "'), Deacon Daniel, 3 John, 4 and John, Jr., 5 father of Mrs. Morgan. The elder John, Mrs. Morgan's grandfather, was one of the old Revolutionary soldiers, and in after life never tired of narrating his adventures. He fought in the battle of Bunker Hill. "At one time during the war he and Jonathan Stearns were taken prisoners. A kind-hearted British officer connived at their escape in a boat, but they suffered intensely from hunger before reaching the American camp. Their first available meal consisted of raw meat, which they devoured like wild beasts, pronouncing it the most inviting dish they had ever tasted." Grandfather Corbett was one of the twelve proprietors that built the Brick Meeting-house, and was a steady attendant at church.

Major John Corbett, Jr., Mrs. Morgan's father, was very active in keeping together the military company of his native town. As there was no war during his young days, he could only keep in trim for service; but his son, A. O. Corbett, whose name is inscribed on the tablet of Milford's beautiful Memorial Hall, is bearing wounds from the Civil War of 1861, and still suffers from them. The spirit of patriotism, it seems, has not died in the last generation; for the third John Corbett, A. O. Corbett's son, one of Harvard's Eleven, responded to President Mckinley's call, and was on duty in the American-Spanish War of 1898.

Carlton Corbett, Mrs. Morgan's eldest brother, served as one of the two advance agents prospecting in the interests of the Mil- ford Emigration Society. He was the second white man to tread the virgin soil of what is now Cherokee County, Iowa. He sought out a home not on the bold New England shore, but on the prairie wilds of Western Iowa. His life has since been prominently identified with the history of Cherokee County. In 1852, a few years before going to Iowa, he made a trip

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to California, where he engaged in gold min- ing with great success. Later he explored Pike's Peak and its surroundings. His career for over thirty years can be largely gleaned from the history of the county he helped found. He has held many county and city offices. He assisted in the organization of the national bank at Cherokee; and he served as City Treasurer continuously for thirteen years, being the present incumbent of the office. He has dealt largely in real estate, and it is said that he "knows every acre of land in Cherokee County." Besides selling thousands and thousands of acres of land, he has farmed hundreds of acres. Liberal and far-sighted, he has freely given to public enterprises. He commands the confidence and esteem of all who know him.

Mr. and Mrs. Morgan have been the parents of the following-named children : Clarence Henry, who was born on April 9, 1869; James Lester, who was born on June 4, 1871 ; Frank Carlton, who was born on April 1, 1873; and Alice Florence, who was born on January 7, 1881. Frank and Lester, graduates of the Milford High School in 1891 and 1889 re- spectively, are members of the College of Pharmacy in Boston, and Alice is in school at Milford. Clarence Morgan, who died on Jan- uary 25, 1893, from the effects of a severe at- tack of the grip, was from early childhood a constant sufferer. He was graduated from the high school in 1885 with high honors, and subsequently attended Comer's Commercial School in Boston. He assisted his father in

clerical duties. Although never free from pain and at times a great sufferer, he was one of the pleasantest and most cheerful persons to meet, and by his gentle submission to what might have made others bitter and cynical won the affection and almost the reverence of all whom he met. His loss caused deep grief not only to his immediate family, but to hun- dreds of persons outside.

Mrs. Morgan became interested in the kindergarten methods of training children in 1873, and through her efforts a flourishing kindergarten school was maintained here for a number of years. It being difficult at first to secure permanently competent teachers, she

found that in order to carry out her plan she must learn the system herself. She accord- ingly joined the Froebel class, took the full preparatory course, and in 1876 received her diploma at the Boston Training Kindergarten.

OBERT R. SIMMONDS, local re- porter for the Worcester Telegram, was born in this city, February 9, 1870, son of William E. S. and Catharine (Quinn) Simmonds. His paternal grandfather was William E. S. Simmonds, Sr., who resided on the old Kent Road, London.

William E. S. Simmonds, Jr., was born in London, and came to America when a young man. Enlisting in the United States regu- lar army in 1858, he served all through the Civil War, and was honorably discharged on account of physical disability in 1865, being at the time Lieutenant of Company L, First Regiment, United States Artillery. For a brief period he was a partner in a dry-goods store on Eighth Avenue, New York. He later sold his interest to his associate, and going to London he opened the first store de- voted exclusively to the cigar trade in the British metropolis. Returning to the United States in 1869, he settled in Worcester, where in May, 1870, he met with an accident which caused his death. On Decoration Day Lieu- tenant William E. S. Simmonds married Catharine Quinn, daughter of James Quinn. Her father, who was a real estate owner in New York and quite prominently identified with public affairs in that city, at one time owned a piece of land which is now a part of the Central Park reservation. He was the first man killed in the Draft Riots.

Robert R. Simmonds was educated in the Worcester public schools. He aspired to a course at the United States Military Academy at West Point, but was debarred on account of defective vision in one eye. Learning the jeweller's trade with Elmer G. Tucker, he was later for six years employed as buyer by the firm of J. T. Roach & Co., of this city. For the past few years he has acted as local re- porter for the Worcester Telegram. He is

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actively interested in the Sons of Veterans, having taken a prominent part in reorganizing Camp A. A. Goodell, in which he has held all of the important offices. It was through his exertions that Congressman J. H. Walker became interested in this camp. Mr. Sim- monds was mainly instrumental in organizing Willie Grout Camp, which has in its keeping the sword and belt worn by the officer for whom it was named at the time of his death at the battle of Ball's Bluff. When the Day Block was burned, these relics were rescued from the flames by Mr. Simmonds and George E. Burr. He has also occupied chairs in Iroquois Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men. He is popular in Grand Army circles, and is an honorary member of the Wellington Rifles, M. V. M.

Mr. Simmonds married Miss Lou Isaacs, daughter of Charles E. and Evelyn (Brewer) Isaacs, the former of whom served as a soldier in the war of the Rebellion. Mrs. Sim- monds, who has acquired a high reputation as an elocutionist, is a charter member of the Worcester Camp, Daughters of Veterans, and is now its president. She is the mother of one son, Robert Charles, born April 13, 1897.

Although frequently solicited to enter the political field and accept nominations for pub- lic office, Mr. Simmonds has invariably de- clined, as he is absolutely free from aspira- tions in that direction.

AMUEL AUSTIN PRATT, a re- tired grocer of Worcester, Mass., son of Samuel Austin, Sr., and Harriet D. (Cornish) Pratt, was born on January 16, 1822, in the adjacent town of Shrewsbury.

His father was a lineal descendant in the fourth generation of Amos Pratt, who, as we learn from the history of Shrewsbury, removed to that town from Westboro, and in 1722 mar- ried Anna Allen, daughter of Elnathan Allen. Barry's History of Framingham is authority for the further statement that Amos Pratt, above named, was born in 1699; that he was the son of John Pratt, of Sudbury, and grand- son of Thomas Pratt, Sr., probably of Water-

town, 1647, and later of Sudbury; that he, Amos, was captured by the Indians in Au- gust, 1746; and that he died a prisoner at Quebec in 1747.

Elnathan Pratt, son of Amos, married on April 26, 1748, Abigail, daughter of Major Mixer. He died January 20, 1813, aged eighty-nine years, having survived his wife, who died September 10, 1808, aged seventy- eight. They were the parents of eight sons and four daughters, one son being Nathan, the grandfather of Mr. Samuel A. Pratt, of Worcester.

Nathan Pratt was born in Shrewsbury about 1760. He acquired a good education through his own efforts, and for some time he taught school in Worcester, where he was long known as Master Pratt. For many years he was en- gaged in carrying farm products from this vicinity to the Boston market. He attended the Congregational church, but assisted in supporting other religious denominations. As an instance of his practical kindness and of his continued vigor, it is related that when an octogenarian he loaded his ox team with wood, which he carried to a Baptist minister. He possessed many admirable qualities, and was held in high estimation by his fellow- townsmen. Nathan Pratt died May 11, 1847. His wife was Dolly Parker. They reared a family of ten children, namely: Martha, who was born July 22, 1780, and married Seth Hemenway; Lewis, born October 19, 1783; Caleb, born July 19, 1786, who became mate of a merchantman, which was captured by Spanish pirates and taken to St. Domingo, where he died of yellow fever, October 22, 1809; Thankful, born in 1788; Thankful, second, who was born April 15, 1791, and married Luke Knowlton Rice; Samuel Aus- tin, Sr., born August 9, 1794; Phebe, born January 18, 1797, died October 30, 1830; Nathan, Jr., born July 5, 1800, who was twice married, and died leaving fourteen children ; George Dexter, born August 10, 1803, who died in Mexico; and Otis Pratt, born May 15, 1810, who married Elizabeth Putnam, of Sut- ton, Mass.

Samuel Austin Pratt, Sr., grew to manhood on a farm in Shrewsbury, his native town,

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He was an excellent mechanic, and made the first plough for Joel Nourse, a member of the firm of Ruggles, Nourse & Mason. A man of ability and integrity, the elder Samuel A. Pratt gained the good will of his neighbors and stood high in the community. He mar- ried Harriet Cornish, who was of English de- scent and a daughter of Joshua Cornish. Six children were the fruit of this union, namely : Caleb, who was born December 25, 1815, and died in Salem, Mass., at the age of eighty-one years, leaving one daughter; Maria, born June 4, 1817, who married Henry S. Whitney, and resides in Swanzey, N.H .; Charles H. Pratt, M.D., born January 2, 1819, now residing in California; Samuel A., the subject of this sketch; Dolly, who is the widow of Ebenezer Morrill, and resides in Northampton, Mass .; and George Dexter Pratt, born December 28, 1828, who is now living in Worcester. The mother died March 8, 1869, aged seventy-five years, and the father died September 24, 1877.

Samuel Austin Pratt in his early years at- tended the common schools; and, although his father preferred that he should continue his studies, he left school at the age of fifteen in order to learn a trade. For ten years he was engaged in pegging shoes. This occupation he relinquished to enter mercantile business ; and after serving as clerk in a general store at Blackstone for several months he on Octo- ber 1, 1847, came to Worcester to engage in the same capacity with a Mr. Stearns. In December of that year he was hired by George Geer, manager of and principal stockholder in a concern known as the New England Protec- tive Union, comprising at one time seven hundred stores, at present only two. For the succeeding fifty years Mr. Pratt was manager of Division No. 42, which is still one of the leading retail grocery stores in the city. Dur- ing his connection with it the business ex- panded from twelve thousand to one hundred and eighty thousand dollars per year. The concern started with a capital of seven hun- dred dollars in a small store at the corner of Commercial and Front Streets, at an annual rental of ninety dollars. Increase of business soon necessitated a change; and, when it se-

cured quarters in the Agricultural Hall build- ing at a rental of five hundred dollars, some of the timid stockholders withdrew. Business, however, advanced with the city's growth; and at the time of Mr. Pratt's retirement, which took place April 1, 1898, twelve assistants were employed, and the rent was thirty-six hundred dollars per year.

Mr. Pratt and Elizabeth Lucy Whitney, of Stafford Springs, Conn., were united in mar- riage on December 24, 1848. They have two daughters --- Marion and Rosella Maria. Marion married Harlan B. Pierce, of Worces- ter, and has three children. Rosella Maria is the wife of the Rev. O. C. Bailey, of this city, and has an adopted daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt have had four great-grandchildren, two of whom are living; namely, George Green and Marion Higgins.

Mr. Pratt is one of the best known among the older citizens of Worcester; and he is one of the one hundred tax - payers whose names appeared on the assessment rolls fifty years ago, when the city was incorporated. Politi- cally, he is a Republican, but has never taken any active part in public affairs. A Congre- gationalist in his religious belief, he attends the Summer Street chapel.

George Dexter Pratt, one of the oldest grocery salesmen in point of experience now in active service in Worcester, began as a clerk under his brother, and has been con- nected with the Protective Union Grocery Store since 1858. On January 15, 1880, he married Sarah E. Mirick, daughter of Sewell D. Mirick, a farmer of Princeton, Mass., who was the father of eight children, six of whom are living. Mr. George D. Pratt acts with the Republican party in politics. He is a member of Plymouth Congregational Church.

ILLIAM JOHN CRAWFORD, senior member of the firm of Craw- ford & Tyler, woollen manufact- urers, North Dana, Mass., was born in Bel- fast, Ireland, February 2, 1836. His parents, William J. and Ann (Brown) Crawford, were natives of Ireland. His father, who was an

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industrious farmer, died there in the prime of manhood, leaving a widow and four children, one of whom besides himself is living; namely, Mary, who is now Mrs. Browen, a resident of New York. The others were : Ann Jane and Catherine.

By the death of his father William John Crawford was left to depend largely upon his own inherent resources, receiving from his mother only such assistance as her many other responsibilities permitted her to give him. He was consequently obliged to be content with what little education he could acquire under these adverse circumstances. Coming to the United States when sixteen years old, he immediately found employment in a cotton- mill operated by Isaac Saunders at Saunders- ville, near Worcester, Mass. In course of time his ambition led him into business for himself, his first venture being at Eagleville, Mass., in company with a Mr. Dorr, under the firm name of Dorr & Crawford. In 1883 that concern took possession of the satinet factory in North Dana formerly carried on by Good- man & Scofield. Upon the withdrawal of Mr. Dorr in 1885 or 1886, Mr. E. P. Tyler was admitted as a partner. The business under the present management has steadily advanced in magnitude and financial standing, employ- ing an average of thirty hands the year round.

The plant, which has been enlarged and im- proved, is equipped with modern machinery propelled by water or steam power as emer- gency may demand; and its products find a ready sale in the metropolitan markets. Mr. Crawford enlisted as a private in Company E, Forty-second Regiment, Massachusetts Volun- teers, in 1862, and was honorably discharged in 1863.

On November 6, 1856, Mr. Crawford was united in marriage with Ann Doyle, a native of Ireland. They have seven children ; namely, William J., Jr., Henry T., John L., Mary A., Kate T., George E., and Francis B. Crawford.

Possessing the energy which is character- istic of a self-made man, Mr. Crawford has worked his way forward to a position of prom- inence in the business circles of this locality, and is a leader in all movements sagaciously

devised for the purpose of developing the nat- ural resources or adding to the prosperity of the town. He has served with ability as a member of the Board of Selectmen and in other town offices. In politics he is a Republican. He is president of the Republican Club; a comrade of Herbert V. Smith Post, No. 140, G. A. R., of Athol, Mass .; and chairman of the Building Committee which erected the fine new Universalist church edifice in North Dana.

JDWIN P. TYLER, junior member of the firm of Crawford & Tyler, was born in Athol, Mass., December 12, 1856, son of Pitts C. and Mary E. (Ive) Tyler. His parents are natives of Hinsdale, N.H. He has one brother, Albert W. Tyler, a coal dealer of Athol, where his father was for many years a leading business man, and is now a retired merchant.

Edwin P. Tyler was educated in the public schools of Athol. After completing his studies he went to Colorado, where he spent seven years in mining and other occupations. After his return he became associated with Mr. Crawford in the woollen manufacturing business, and in 1887 he married Kate T. Crawford, daughter of his partner.

Mr. Tyler is an able business man. His natural activity is proving exceedingly helpful to the community, in whose welfare and ad- vancement he displays a keen interest. Polit- ically, he is a Democrat. He is a member of the Masonic order, and was initiated at Pit- kin, Gunnison County, Col.

AMES ATKINSON NORCROSS. - It may be justly said that in America the erection of buildings destined to stand, as do those of Europe, while the centu- ries wax and wane, has been the work of the last fifty years. It may certainly be said with equal justice that as long as some of the state- liest of these shall stand, and as long as a broadened historic intelligence shall take an interest in their builders, so long the name of Norcross will suggest inquiry.

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It is the province of such a work as this to anticipate such natural inquiry, and the pres- ent sketch preserves as adequate a record as diligent research has been able to attain.

The great building firm of Norcross Brothers, with which must be inseparably connected the rise of American architectural and constructive art from the makeshift and temporary contriv- ing of a yet unsettled country to the solid and enduring work of an established civilization, rose into prominence and achieved so large a part in the epoch-making work of which we have spoken, through the industry, integrity, and skill of the two brothers, James Atkinson and Orlando W. Norcross.

It is with the elder of these that this biog- raphy concerns itself, although, quite naturally, the story of the one is largely the story of the other. As with Americans so frequently as to be almost typical, these men owed nothing to the heritage of an ancient name or an ances- trally acquired fortune. Thus the simplest and readiest beginning of the present story is when we find the father of these two men, Jesse Springer Norcross, giving the service of a mechanical ability that bordered closely upon genius to the pioneer work of American civili- zation in the vast primeval forests of Maine early in this century. Born June 16, 1805, in the little town of Wayne, amid that network of streams between the Androscoggin and the Kennebec, he gave the skill that developed with his manhood, and which seemed compe- tent to any enterprise, mainly to the natural demand of the place and time - the diversified and often extremely difficult task of construct- ing and erecting saw-mills. There was noth- ing, from the building of the dam to the making and tempering of the saw itself, at which he did not prove himself an expert. His wife, Margaret Ann Whitney, was a native of this county, she having been born in Westboro, February 1, 1809. Out of their family of eight children, the two sons, James and Orlando, seemed to be the ones who inherited the father's mechanical ability and masterly re- sourcefulness. In the light of after events we might call it a genius for surmounting obsta- cles.

Jesse Norcross was among those adventurous

spirits who made their way to California in 1849 and 1850. But, instead of the wealth he sought, grim death awaited him in his lonely exile. He died at Benicia, in California, on November 18, 1850.

At that time James was hardly more than a boy. He had come into this great, strange world amid the woods of Maine, at Winslow, March 24, 1832, and thus was not yet twenty when upon him, as the eldest son, fell the care and support of the fatherless family. He man- fully assumed that burden, a heavy one for his young shoulders. By his widowed mother's side he took his stand to repel the wolf of hunger from their lowly door; and from that day until she died in Worcester, May 24, 1883, he never suffered her to want while he had anything to share with her.

He married in his early manhood, and has never ceased to bless the fortune, the richest and best that ever came to him, which gave him as his wife the gentle girl that he had chosen as a youth, Mary Ellen Pinkham, daugh- ter of Hicks and Mary Buffington Pinkham, of South Danvers, now Peabody, Mass. How closely contemporaneous were the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Pinkham we cannot help but notice in the fact that they were born within little more than two months of one another, he in Madbury, N. H., October 7, 1806, she in Pea- body, Mass., December 16, 1806; and they died within little more than a year of one another, he on December 23, 1849, and she on January 21, 1851, both in Peabody.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 72

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