Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 73

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 73

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The young wife of James Norcross was the first of their two children, having been born in Peabody, January 8, 1835. While others have said that James Norcross showed indomi- table courage in adversity, resolute integrity in every circumstance, and splendid persistence in achieving fortune, he himself has declared a thousand times that the most of what he is and has been he owes to the wife who has been his helpmeet indeed, his nearest and dearest comrade in time of trial, his truest and wisest adviser in every difficulty, his best and cheeri- est companion in his prosperous years.

Nine children have blessed their union, six of whom survive. Their names and the places of their birth are as follows: Julia Ellen Nor-

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FAIRLAWN, residence of J. A. Norcross.

DRAWING-ROOM, FAIRLAWN.

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cross, Salem, Mass. ; James Ephraim Norcross, Salem, Mass. ; James Frank Norcross, Salem, Mass. ; Arthur Warren Norcross, Salem, Mass. ; Rosa Minerva Norcross, Salem, Mass. ; William Ephraim Norcross, Salem, Mass. ; Mary Elizabeth Norcross, South Adams, Mass. ; Florence Agnes Norcross, Worcester, Mass .; Jesse Orlando Norcross, Worcester, Mass.

It will be seen by the above that for some years after his marriage James was a resident of Salem, in this State. From the days when he was the mainstay of his mother and younger brothers and sisters he pursued the calling of a carpenter and builder. It has really been with him a calling, and not a mere means of livelihood; for there was in the youth that aptitude for the craft and that enthusiasm for thoroughness that alone can produce the master workman.

In 1864 he and his brother Orlando, eight years his junior, formed the partnership of Norcross Brothers, beginning business in Swampscott, Mass. ; and as early as 1866 we find the young firm taking the first of its many and important building contracts in Worces- ter County. It was the erection of the Con- gregational church in Leicester. This piece of work, one of the landmarks of our county, was modest enough as compared with some of their gigantic undertakings of later years; and yet it proved of vital import as the first work of theirs that secured them a name and actu- ally laid the foundation of their successful business career. In carrying it to a comple- tion so productive of great results, James, as the elder member of the firm, naturally took the lead and transacted most of the business. It was during these earlier years of their part- nership, when they were building up, along with but better than any of their noblest struct- ures in brick or stone, that reputation for thor- ough workmanship, for unswerving rectitude, and for frank and generous dealing, which later on has led to their being intrusted with many of the largest and most important con- tracts ever given in this country - it was dur- ing those early and crucial years that the rugged honesty and the transparent sincerity for which James had been noteworthy, even while yet carrying his box of tools to his

work as a journeyman carpenter, stood the firm in such splendid service, winning for it the honorable and admirable name that has been its strength for thirty years, and which to-day secures for it such confidence throughout the land that, although James has now retired from all active business, the firm still wisely retains the old name of Norcross Brothers.

The story of these years has been one of con- stant and increasing success. In the city of Worcester, to begin with, and afterward extend- ing far and wide throughout the country, the monuments of their skill and energy and cour- age have multiplied until, indeed, the vast aggregate of their contracts would suffice for the building of a stately city. It is to be said with honest pride that never yet has the work of their hands been judged as ill done or as falling below the highest standard of honor.

James Norcross is now enjoying something of that quiet ease which so many of America's men of energy have richly earned, but which so few of them are wise enough to take in time.

In the beautiful mansion crowning their Worcester estate of Fairlawn, of which we give an exterior and two interior views, Mr. and Mrs. Norcross, with their children and their children's children round about them, live in the same comfortable, unpretentious way they have ever done. Unitarians in con- viction and by moral emphasis from their youth, they are consistent and active members of the South Unitarian Church of Worcester, to the erection of whose handsome and substan- tial edifice they were large contributors, the firm of Norcross Brothers having been its builders. James Norcross is the possessor of a remarkably fine library, which he has been collecting for many years, and the books in which he is now making the delightful com- panions of his well-earned leisure, a plan he has steadily pursued from days when his leis- ure was as scanty as the few books he could afford. He has thus succeeded, as so many Americans have done, in largely overcoming the educational disadvantages of his youth, and has become a well-read man. It is evidently with the remembrance of how bereft of schol- arly training was his own youth that not a

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little of his benevolence has taken the form of assistance to young men and women whom he has found bravely struggling for an education.

Of a retiring and home-loving disposition, James Norcross manifests his interest in relig- ion and temperance and all the best affairs of humanity in ways that do not proclaim them- selves from the housetops, but which are no less extensive and effective. We feel our- selves amply justified in saying that not only is many an American city the better built for the industry, integrity, and skill of James A. Nor- cross, but the good fortune and happiness of many a life, the welfare and worth of his own community, are also the better built for the manly and Christian part he has borne as a citizen, a neighbor, and a friend.

AUGUSTUS HOWE, a veteran of the Civil War and a member of the firm Howe Brothers, dealers in · flour, grain, and feed, Depot Square, Gardner, was born in this town, July 2, 1839, son of Simeon and Abigail (Fairbanks) Howe. His paternal grandparents, Benjamin and Ke- ziah (Hill) Howe, and his parents also, were natives of Gardner. The first of the family to settle here was Ebenezer Howe, the great- grandfather, who came from Templeton, Mass., and located at a place about one mile from the centre of the town. Benjamin Howe, who was an industrious farmer and a lifelong resident of Gardner, reared a family of eight children.

Simeon Howe, having followed farming for a number of years, was afterward engaged in the manufacture of chairs. Later in New Hampshire he manufactured tubs and pails for a time, after which he resumed chair- making in Gardner. His last days were spent in this town, and he lived to be seventy-nine years old. His wife, Abigail, was born in 1812. Her parents were Jabez and Abigail Fairbanks, the former born in Gardner, May 9, 1784, and the latter on December 2, 1786. Mrs. Fairbanks died at the age of thirty years. Simeon and Abigail Howe had five sons and one daughter. The sons, who are all living, are : S. Augustus, Marcus H., Marshall M.,

Charles H., and Willie F. The mother died at the age of seventy-nine. Both parents at- tended the Congregational church.

Having begun his education in the common schools of Gardner, S. Augustus Howe com- pleted his education at the high school of Bolton. At the age of nineteen he went to Oswego, N. Y., where he was employed in a chair manufactory for two years. On May 17, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company C, Twenty-fourth Regiment, New York Volun- teer Infantry, for service in the Civil War. He was made a Corporal on December I of the same year; was appointed First Sergeant in October, 1862; and a short time later he was promoted to the rank of Second Lieu- tenant for gallant conduct at the battle of Fredericksburg. He was discharged at the expiration of his term of service on May 29, 1863. After working at the Chickering Piano Factory in Boston for a time, he was offered a position at the Onondaga (N. Y.) Penitentiary. Instead of accepting this post, he re-enlisted as First Lieutenant in the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery, of which he was later made Captain. During his second term he assisted in constructing the fortifications about the capital, and participated in several notable engagements, including the second battle of Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fred- ericksburg (two engagements), Cold Harbor, Cedar Creek, and Petersburg. After the close of the war he resumed chair-making in New York State, and later worked at the same busi- ness in Gardner. In 1871 he and his brother, Marcus H. Howe, bought the grain and feed business, including a grist-mill, of C. W. Bush, and carried it on for the succeeding fifteen years. The mill was given up, and Marcus H. Howe sold his interest in the con- cern to his brother, Willie F., who, in turn, disposed of his interest to another brother, Marshall M. The latter is still connected with the business.

Politically, Mr. Howe is a Republican, and since his return to Gardner he has been ac- tively identified with public affairs. He has served as Constable and Assessor, was a Rep- resentative in the legislature in 1891 and 1892, has been a Special County Commis-

MUSIC ROOM, FAIRLAWN.

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sioner since 1893, and was appointed United States Census Enumerator in 1880. As an official he attends to his duties with the same diligence which he has displayed in his pri- vate business. He is highly respected both for his public services and his honorable war record. In 1863 he was united in marriage with Jennie Carroll, who was born in Oswego, N. Y., daughter of John Carroll, a prosperous farmer of that section. Mrs. Howe is the mother of two sons: Fred M., an assistant station manager in Boston of the Boston & Albany Railroad; and Frank C. Howe, a prod- uce dealer in Worcester, Mass. Mr. Howe is a member of William Ellison Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; and a comrade of D. G. Farra- gut Post, No. 116, G. A. R. Mrs. Howe attends the Congregational church.

ON. ALVAH CROCKER was a prominent manufacturer and a public man of Fitchburg. Born in Leom- inster, Mass., October 14, 1801, he was a son of Samuel C. and Comfort (Jones) Crocker. Samuel C. Crocker, who was born March 22, 1774, was a vatman in the employ of Nichols & Kendall. An earnest member of the Baptist church, in his character the spiritual element was more pronounced than the material, and he rarely conversed without introducing the subject of religion. Mrs. Comfort Crocker, who was born August 23, 1777, was a descendant of the Adams fam- ily of Massachusetts, whose self-reliance and independence of character she inherited. She struggled nobly against adverse circumstances, and reared her children in habits of honest industry, teaching them to exert themselves from choice as well as necessity.

From his mother Alvah Crocker derived his most prominent characteristics. When he was eight years old the boy went to work in the mill where his father was employed. He had access to Mr. Nichols's library, and there ac- quired a general store of knowledge, broader, perhaps, than other boys of his age would have gained at school. Having conceived an ambi- tion for a college education, the desire grew upon him, and he taxed all his energies to

earn the necessary money. When he was sixteen years old, having saved fifty dollars, he entered Groton Academy, and there pur- sued his studies until his funds were gone. Then he returned to work, but by devoting his evenings to study he was able to keep pace with his class in the academy. In 1820 he was employed in a paper-mill in Franklin, N. H., and three years later he entered the em- ploy of General Leonard Burbank, the pioneer paper manufacturer of Fitchburg. · General Burbank's mills were where the Rollstone Ma- chine Company's plant now stands. In 1826 Mr. Crocker, with borrowed capital, erected a mill in a birch swamp situated in that part of North Fitchburg now known as Crocker- ville. From that time until 1830 his life was a continuous struggle to meet obligations. Times were hard, a freshet damaged his mill, machinery began to take the place of manual labor, and in order to compete successfully with other manufacturers he was obliged to incur increased expense. Courage and force of will, however, carried him through. He took his goods out of the hands of the commis- sion merchants, and transported them in teams to Boston, where they were sold direct to the consumers. Owing twenty-six thousand dol- lars, twelve thousand dollars on the original investment, four thousand dollars to commis- sion merchants, and ten thousand dollars for putting in machinery, he went to work with a will, liquidated his debts, and pushed his business with increasing prosperity. In the course of time he built additional paper-mills, and became interested in railroad construction. The firm of Crocker, Burbank & Co., which was organized in 1850, obtained control of seven mills that produced fifteen tons of paper daily. The Snow or Upper Mill, which was built in 1839, after passing through sev- eral hands came to the firm in 1862. The Cascade Mill, erected in 1847, was purchased by them in 1863; and the Upton Mill, built in 1851, was purchased by them in 1859. The Whiting Mill, built in 1847, the Hanna Mill, built in 1852, the Lyon Mill, built in 1853, and the Stone Mill, built in 1854, were purchased respectively in 1868, 1860, 1869, and 1871.

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Mr. Crocker identified his private interests with the welfare of his adopted town, thor- oughly understanding that whatever would in- crease the population and the resources of Fitchburg would benefit each citizen. In 1833 the town had entered on a career of pros- perity, boasting a number of mills, an acad- emy, a newspaper, three churches, and a num- ber of enterprising men among its citizens. The advantages of railroad transportation were fully appreciated, by none more than Mr. Crocker; and he bent all his energies to the construction of a railroad from Fitchburg to Boston. Employed by the town in 1834 to build a road farther up the Nashua valley, he found the land-owners along the way opposed to it and demanding exorbitant prices; but he bought the whole Nashua valley as far as the Westminster line at the prices asked, gave the necessary land for the new road, and reaped for himself and the public the benefits accruing. His services commended him to the good graces of his fellow-citizens, and in 1835 he was elected Representative to the Massachusetts legislature. In that body in 1836 he voted for the subscription by the State of one million dollars to complete the Western Railroad, and but for his advocacy it is more than likely that the subscription would not have been made at that time. Upon his return home he aroused the people of Fitchburg and the contiguous towns to the importance of di- rect railroad communication with Boston, con- vincing them that Northern Massachusetts must have communication by rail with tide- water or sink into insignificance. At first he aimed to procure a branch road from Worcester or Lowell, but in 1842 he boldly advocated an independent route from Fitchburg to Boston. Contributing liberally for the necessary sur- veys, he started the enterprise, and both the routes selected by him have since been laid with railroads. In 1842 he was again elected to the legislature, and once more he bent his energies to the accomplishment of his favorite project. A charter was eventually obtained, though the scheme was ridiculed and opposed, and the work on the Fitchburg Railroad was begun. While the road was in process of con- struction Mr. Crocker went to England to buy

iron and other material. From the time of the lifting of the first shovelful of earth his interest was unflagging, and on March 5, 1845, he rode into Fitchburg on the first locomotive that passed over the road. He was elected first president of the Fitchburg Road. In June of the same year he resigned that office to accept the presidency of the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad Company. He was president of the Vermont Road until it was completed at Brattleboro. At this time his finances were in a sound and prosperous condi- tion. The construction of the Fitchburg Road had greatly benefited him and the town. The stone depot was erected on land owned by him in what was known as the Old City. Mr. Crocker was also largely engaged in railroad operations in different parts of the State, and in 1847 and 1848 delivered several hundred lectures in behalf of the Troy & Greenfield Railroad and the Hoosac Tunnel. Probably he did more than any man in Massachusetts to make the piercing of the Hoosac Mountain an engineering and transportation success. was instrumental in establishing a complete He system of water-works in Fitchburg; and he erected buildings for various manufactures, thus aiding in the establishment of new indus- tries in the town.

At a later date the prosperity of Turner's Falls became even nearer to Mr. Crocker's heart than that of Fitchburg. He wished to see it rival Lowell and Holyoke in size and commercial importance, and worked zealously to accomplish that end. While searching for a more direct route between Miller's Falls and Greenfield than that taken by the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad, he was impressed by the magnificent water-power of the Connecti- cut River at Turner's Falls; and, inviting other capitalists to join him, he organized the Turner's Falls Company in 1866. This cor- poration purchased the rights and franchises of the old organization known as " The Proprie- tors of the Upper Locks and Canals on the Connecticut River, in the County of Hamp- shire," and bought lands in Montague, on the river front, near the falls. A dam with a fall of thirty feet and a capacity of thirty thousand horse power was constructed. From

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1866 to the end of his life the daring projector worked hard for the prosperity of the new town, spending his own money freely and in- ducing others to do likewise. He had planned the establishment of a public library and other institutions at Turner's Falls when death came. He was instrumental in organizing the Crocker National Bank and the Crocker Institution for Savings in Turner's Falls; and he was one of those who founded the Rollstone National Bank of Fitchburg in 1849, a member of its Board of Directors for the remainder of his life, and was chosen its president in 1870. Work- ing incessantly to develop the resources of North-western Massachusetts, his ability and public spirit were generally recognized, and he was chosen to fill the unexpired term in Con- gress of the Hon. William B. Washburn, who had been elected Governor of the State. He took his seat January 2, 1872, and was re- elected to the Forty-third Congress, receiving fourteen thousand nine hundred and nineteen votes; while his Democratic competitor (Mr. Crocker was a Republican) received four thou- sand five hundred and eighty-eight. On De- cember 19, 1874, while attending to his Con- gressional duties in Washington, he was seized with a peculiar kind of cold that appeared to be epidemic at that time in the national capi- tal, and left for his home. His death followed on December 26, just one week later, when his age was seventy-three years, two months, and twelve days. At his obsequies, which were held in Christ Church, the Rev. Henry L. Jones, of Wilkesbarre, Pa., a former pastor, delivered an appropriate sermon.

Mr. Crocker was first married on August 14, 1829, to Abigail Fox, who died August 21, 1847, leaving five children, four daughters and a son. On April 9, 1851, a second marriage united him to Lucy A. Fay, who died January 29, 1872; and on November 20 of the same year Miss Minerva Cushing became his third wife. Of his children one daughter and one son are now living. The son, Charles T. Crocker, is a prominent member of the firm of Crocker, Burbank & Co., a director of the Crocker National Bank at Turner's Falls, and a trustee of the Crocker Institution for Savings in the same town.

ERBERT W. HOWE, the treasurer and general manager of Howe's Mill Lumber Company, Hubbardston, and an ex-member of the legislat- ure, was born in Petersham, December 17, 1842. A son of Abel and Martha (Williams) Howe, he is a descendant of John Howe, who with his brothers, Daniel and Abraham, was an early arrival in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Howe was made a freeman on May 13, 1640. The next in the line of de- scent was John Howe (second), of Sudbury. His son by his wife, Mary, John Howe (third), born August 24, 1640, was married to Elizabeth in 1662, and was killed by the Indians on April. 20, 1675. John Howe (fourth), born in 1671, died in 1754. Deacon Asa Howe, the great-grandfather of Herbert W., was one of the first settlers in Petersham, Mass. He reared a family of six children; namely, John, Abel, Ephraim, Benjamin, Asa, and Elizabeth. Asa Howe, the grand- father, who was a physician, married Relief Woodward, February 4, 1812. He died Au- gust 24, 1863, having survived his wife, who had passed away on October 9, 1845.

Abel Howe, the father, was born in Hub- bardston, September 11, 1815. About the year 1848 he began on a small scale the man- ufacture of lumber on the site now occupied by the Howe's Mill Lumber Company, retain- ing possession of the property until 1869; and he continued in the same business until his death, which occurred February 2, 1889. He served as a Selectman and upon the School Board. In politics he acted with the Repub- lican party. He was a Deacon of the Congre- gational church. Martha, his wife, who was born in Hubbardston, April 12, 1818, had four children, namely: Herbert W., the sub- ject of this sketch; Walter E., born January 6, 1847, who resides in Worcester; Alice S., born December 22, 1848, who died September 3, 1862; and Mary A., born December 8, 1859, who is the wife of R. Alfred Waite, of Hubbardston. The mother died September 23, 1895.

Herbert W. Howe acquired a common- school education in his native town. Having previously learned the lumber manufacturing

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business with his father, he purchased the Howe Mill property in 1869, and carried it on afterward for about seven years. Then he and Mr. S. S. Gleason, firm of Howe & Gleason, conducted it until 1884, after which for eleven years he was again the sole proprietor. In 1895 he entered into partnership with Fred E. Pollard, forming the firm of Howe & Pollard. When, about six months later, Mr. Pollard died, the firm Howe & Pollard Co. was organ- ized. The plant was destroyed by fire, May 22, 1896. In the same year a stock company was formed, which adopted the present style, the Howe's Mill Lumber Company, with George H. Davis as president, Willis L. Lovell as secretary, and Herbert W. Howe as treasurer and general manager. The company has erected and equipped a new mill, and enlarged it from time to time. The present prosperity of the firm is mainly due to Mr. Howe's ability and good judgment. It manufactures box shooks, chair stock, and native lumber for building purposes; and its annual output amounts to about one million, five hundred thousand feet.

On October 17, 1868, Mr. Howe married Mary W. Brown, who was born in Hubbards- ton, July 21, 1843, daughter of Dana and Mary (Wright) Brown, late of this town. In politics he is a Republican. He served with ability as a Selectman for six years, and he was a Representative in the legislature of 1889. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In religious belief he is a Congregationalist, and he acts as a Dea- con of that church.

EREMIAH STUART, now a resident of Lynn, Mass., formerly a contractor and builder of Clinton, Worcester County, was born in Sudbury on Octo- ber 14, 1839, son of Ebenezer, Jr., and Mary (Gilbert) Stuart. His grandfather, Ebenezer Stuart, was a native of Charlestown, Mass., but went to Sudbury when a young man, and worked in that town as a cooper and basket- maker. He died there at seventy-five years of age.

Ebenezer Stuart, Jr., followed the occupa- tion of farming in the part of Sudbury later

set off as the town of Maynard. He was ap- pointed Highway Surveyor in the town, and was a highly valued citizen. He died at the age of fifty-four. He is survived by his wife, who is now seventy-eight years of age, and four children; namely, Jeremiah, Eunice B., Albert S., and Fred R. A son, Leonard A., died at six years of age. Both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. When about twelve years of age Jeremiah Stuart, the eldest, worked for a time on a farm. He subsequently learned the carpen- ter's trade. In July, 1861, three months after the breaking out of the Rebellion, he enlisted in Company B of the Thirteenth Massachu- setts Volunteers, with which he remained for three years. He re-enlisted in the Seventh United States Volunteers, and was promoted to Quartermaster Sergeant. He was in field service throughout the whole of the Civil War. Returning home at the close of the war, he settled in Sterling and later in Leom- inster, and worked there for a time at car- pentering and subsequently in the piano fac- tory. In 1872 he came to Clinton, and began business on his own account as a contractor and builder. He had charge of the erection of a large number of buildings, especially of dwelling-houses, of which he made a specialty. His health failing him in 1897, he was obliged to give up his business as a contractor, and in October of the present year, 1898, he re- moved to Lynn, where he is now (December) engaged in the shoe business.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 73

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