Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 8

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 8

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Mr. Batchelor was married in 1865 to a daughter of William K. Knowlton, the founder of the well-known firm of William K. Knowlton & Sons. Mr. Knowlton, who was closely identified with the industrial de- velopment of Upton, born in Boston on June 29, 1809, died in Upton in July, 1886. His father having died while William was yet young, he was apprenticed to a farmer and cooper. At the age of twenty he purchased his time and went to Northbridge, where he began to learn bottoming shoes. Shortly after he formed a partnership, and engaged in the straw business in Upton. Subsequently he carried on the business alone until he re- ceived into partnership his four sons, who have conducted it since his death. Mr. Knowlton was a Representative in the legis-

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latures of 1869 and 1872, and was State Sena- tor in 1878 and 1879. In 1880 he was sent as delegate to the Republican national con - vention. Warmly interested in educational matters, he took an active part in the forma- tion of the Agricultural School at Amherst, and was afterward a trustee and patron of the institution, as well as a donor to the Worces- ter County Free Institute of Industrial Sci- ence at Worcester. He was an incorporator and a director of the National Bank of Upton. The new Unitarian church at West Upton was practically built by him, and he gave five hun- dred dollars to the Upton Town Library. The maiden name of his wife, the mother of Mrs. Batchelor, was Caroline Taft. Mr. and Mrs. Batchelor had one daughter, Carrie, who died six years ago, at the age of twenty-one years.

R EV. CHARLES P. BLANCHARD, formerly a prominent and influential resident of Brookfield, was born in Richmond, Ind., March 13, 1843, son of Albert C. and Abby W. (Hitchcock) Blanchard. The father was a native of Brook- field, which for years was the home of the grandfather, Amasa Blanchard ; and the mother was born in West Brookfield. When a young man, Albert went to Richmond, where he became a successful merchant, and for a number of years was the president of a bank in that city. Having acquired a fortune, he returned to his native town, where his last years were spent in retirement; and he died here in the seventies. He left a family of three children: Albert H., of New York City ; Abby F., of Philadelphia; and Charles P., the subject of this sketch.

Having been fitted for college at the Groton (Mass.) Academy, Charles P. Blanch- ard graduated from Yale University with the class of 1865 and from the Union Theologi- cal Seminary, New York City, in 1868. After his ordination to the ministry he selected for his field of labor the State of Kansas, where he was engaged in regular pastoral work for some time. Then, returning to New Eng- land, he located permanently in Brookfield.

For a number of years he was busily engaged in labor of a religious and philanthropic nat- ure, assisting in the establishment and sup- port of churches, and otherwise seeking, with praiseworthy zeal, to improve the facilities for giving religious instruction. For many years he served upon the School Committee, being the chairman of the board for the greater part of the time. The present excellent sys- tem of public education enjoyed by the town is mainly the result of his efforts. As an advocate of temperance and prohibition, his influence was far-reaching ; and his indefatiga- ble labor in behalf of the cause was, unques- tionably, the means of securing a no-license vote in this town. His death on January 2, 1895, was regarded as a public loss.

On May 7, 1873, Mr. Blanchard was united in marriage with Annie E. Brown, of West Brookfield, a daughter of Hammond and Roxa (Bemis) Brown, neither of whom is living. Born of the marriage was one daughter, Abby F. Blanchard, who is a graduate of Wellesley College.

OUIS E. CHASE, of Sutton, a mem- ber of the D. T. Dudley & Son Com- pany, manufacturers of shuttles and shuttle irons, was born in Saunders- ville, Mass., April 22, 1859, son of Daniel M. and Melissa E. (Simmons) Chase. Mem- bers of the Sutton family were among the early settlers of what is now Millbury, Mass., the portion that was set off from the town of Sutton, and in which the family resided for several generations. Paul Chase, grandfather of Louis E., married Sarah Pierce, of West Millbury. They had eight children, of whom six grew to maturity, four sons and two daugh - ters. George and Lewis died in 1828, aged from ten to twelve years. George L., who is the president of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, resides in Hartford, Conn. David B. resides in West Winsted, Conn. Hannah is the wife of Perley B. Whipple, and resides in Alton, Ill. Paul Chase died in 1870, aged seventy-nine; and his widow died in 1884, aged ninety-four, a remarkably well-preserved woman to the last. Daniel M. Chase, born

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July 25, 1832, on the old farm in Millbury, was a mechanic and in the same line of busi- ness as his son. His wife, Melissa E., was a native of Sutton.

Louis E. Chase, the only child of his par- ents,'is a graduate of the Millbury High School. At the age of twenty he began an apprenticeship with his father at the trade of shuttle-maker, in which he has since been suc- cessfully engaged. Previous to the incorpo- ration of the D. T. Dudley & Son Company in 1894, Mr. Chase worked as a skilled mechanic for the firm of D. T. Dudley & Sons. The business was established by D. T. Dudley over half a century ago. He died in 1896, aged seventy-six. Since the incorporation of the present firm, Mr. Chase has been at the head of the iron work department. He is a thoroughly practical man, and his faithful at- tendance to business is the secret of his suc- cess and the prosperity of the company.

On September 5, 1883, Mr. Chase was united in marriage with Augusta Houghton, a daughter of Joel and Julia (Parker) Hough- ton, of Sutton, both of whom are now de- ceased. The father was a grain dealer and miller. They had six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom two sons and two daughters are living. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Chase has been blessed by the birth of two sons: Daniel Moody, born May 16, 1890; and Wellington Houghton, born May 24, 1892. The older son is the fifth Daniel in ten generations. The family resides in Wilkinsonville, in the house which Mr. Chase erected in 1893. While Mr. Chase is a Re- publican, he votes for the candidate that in his judgment is best fitted for the office. In religious belief he is an Episcopalian. His father was for many years a warden of the church, and he has been its treasurer since 1880.

OHN MARSH WHITE, proprietor of the Tourtelotte House in Millbury, son of Russell and Lydia (Marsh) White, was born in Oxford, Mass., December 17, 1837. This family, which is descended from old English stock, were early settlers

of Rhode Island, and dwelt there for several generations. Russell White, born in Rhode Island in 1790, was a carpenter by trade, and followed that calling throughout the early years of his life. His last days were spent on his farm of seventy-five acres in Oxford, Mass., where he died in 1854. He was twice married, successively to Hannah Buffum and Lydia Marsh. The latter, born in Dudley, Mass., after surviving him nineteen years, died in 1873, sixty years of age. He had fourteen children, seven by each wife.

John Marsh White, only son of Russell White by the second wife, was sixteen years old when his father died. He received a dis- trict-school education. When but fourteen years old the responsibility of conducting the farm devolved upon him owing to his father's poor health. After carrying it on until his majority, the property was sold. He began his hotel career as a helper in the Regatta House, Boston, and was next in the Atlantic House, Chelsea Beach, where he was general utility man for four years. Following that he spent eleven years in Worcester, five years as a hack driver and six years in the hack and livery business. About the time of his marriage he became the owner and landlord of the Tourtelotte House, an ancient landmark of Millbury. It has been a tavern for one hundred years, was known for forty-two years of that time as the Tourtelotte House, and for twenty-two years it has been under the able management of Mr. White. Having made a wide reputation as a homelike, com- fortable, and well-kept house, it is a favorite stopping-place for travellers. Mr. White is a model landlord. He has ten horses at the present time, all of them of well-bred stock. He is also very fond of the chase, and keeps eighteen hounds, about half of which are pup- pies, having had as many as thirty-five. The oldest dog, Logan, seven years old, has taken many prizes, including four first and two second prizes at one trial. In the bench show at North Acton, Logan and his puppies took six prizes, four first, one second, and one third. It won the American field cup in the Brunswick field trial, its record being first for speed, first for trailing, first for style, first for

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barking, second for endurance, and third for hunting. He started and killed his fox in an hour and forty minutes. He has been the fastest fox dog in New England. Mr. White paid one hundred and fifty dollars for him in Kentucky.

In the winter of 1876 Mr. White was mar- ried to Louisa Tourtelotte, daughter of Charles and Sarah (Woodbury) Tourtelotte. Mr. Tourtelotte purchased this hotel in 1856, and conducted it until his death in 1874. Mrs. Tourtelotte has also passed away. Mrs. White lost her only sister. She has two brothers living, one in Worcester and the other in Millbury. Mabel White, a young lady of musical ability and the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. White, lives at home.

ON. WILLIAM ROBINSON HILL, late an influential and esteemed citi- zen of Worcester County, a man of rare virtues and graces of character, State Senator in 1862-63, was born February 10, 1815, in Douglas, Mass., and died Novem- ber 19, 1887, at his home in Wilkinsonville, town of Sutton, where for forty-eight years he had been engaged in business as a merchant, and for thirty years had been Postmaster. He was a son of Deacon Micah and Sally (Marsh) Hill, and was of the eighth genera- tion in this country from John Hill, who was a Plymouth Colony settler before 1632, be- came a member of the Boston Artillery Com- pany in 1633, and died in 1664.

Captain Ephraim Hill, son of Samuel, grandson of John Hill, Jr., and great-grand- son of John Hill, was the first settled inhabi- tant of the town of Douglas, and died there in 1795, it is said at the age of one hundred and seven years, having been born in Sherborn in 1688. His son Caleb, a native of Medway, for thirty years a Deacon of the church at Douglas, was father of Lieutenant Moses, who married September 20, 1780, Dinah Robinson. Deacon Micah Hill was a son of this couple. He was born in Douglas, Sep- tember 27, 1787, was married to Sally Marsh, daughter of Aaron and Sarah (Fuller) Marsh, in 1809, and died June 20, 1836, survived by

his wife and six sons, the third of whom was William R., an account of whose useful and beneficent life is here condensed from a printed memorial volume.

He began work at the age of twelve years in the store of his uncle, Benjamin Cragin, at East Douglas, where he was employed two years, but with the privilege of attending school during its sessions. In 1829 he was for some months in the store of the Manchaug Manufacturing Company, and after that he held various clerkships at New Worcester, Wilkinsonville, and Uxbridge till 1836, when he took up his abode at Wilkinsonville, being associated in mercantile business with James L. Dudley. His partner dying in 1844, Mr. Hill continued to carry on the busi- ness till December, 1884. During the same forty-eight years he was book-keeper and pay- master for the Sutton Manufacturing Com- pany. For the twenty-three years previous to his death he was a director of the Grafton Na- tional Bank and for the last ten years presi- dent of the Millbury Savings Bank.

A Republican in politics, thoroughly pa- triotic and public-spirited, he served in the leading town offices, was sent to the State legislature in 1861 as a member of the House, and in 1862 and 1863 as a Senator. Abstain- ing from the use of intoxicants and tobacco, he was deeply interested in temperance work, and for several years was president of the Worcester County (South) Temperance Union. He inherited musical talent, which he sedu- lously cultivated, for many years giving in- struction to singing classes, and serving as choir leader and tenor soloist of the West Church in Grafton nearly fifty years. His musical taste, it is said, was excellent, his power of expression unusual. For fourteen years he ably discharged the duties of the president of the Worcester County Musical Association, inaugurating an unprecedented career of progress and prosperity. Descended from a God-fearing ancestry, reared by pious parents, he made a public confession of faith in Christ when seventeen years of age, uniting with the Congregational church at Uxbridge, and ever remained a consistent, prayerful fol- lower of the Master, meekly studying the

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divine word, and liberally devoting his means and powers to noble service, a generous giver to the cause of religion and all Christian benevolence. He was actively interested in Sunday-school work, and at two different periods served as superintendent. Of the Congregational church at Grafton, of which he was a member forty-five years, he was at the time of his death senior officer. He was ever a cordial supporter of home and foreign mis- sions, and it was his delight to assist earnest, promising young men of slender resources, pursuing with difficulty the paths of higher learning.

His business qualities whereby he gained such honorable distinction in financial circles were even more than equalled by the gentler virtues of the Christian character, whose pos- session he illustrated no less conspicuously in the secular than he did in the religious sphere. His motto was strict integrity in all the relations of life. He was not simply an honest man, he was more. He was as solici- tous for the pecuniary good of those with whom he dealt as he was for his own interests, fre- quently sacrificing, in fact, opportunities for legitimate profit to himself in his unselfish regard for the interests of others. Home was to him the dearest place, and it was in the home circle that the graces of the man shone brightest. His was an active and well-spent life, his energetic spirit leaving no hour un- employed; and by patient, persevering indus- try, prudence, and good judgment he achieved success. Promptness was considered by him as one of the cardinal virtues, and his pres- ence could always be relied upon at the time appointed. He was very methodical, and al- ways met and faithfully discharged every obli- gation. He was generous to his opponents, considerate of his friends, but in that gener- osity and consideration was never known to countenance questionable public or private action. Willing at all times to counsel with those who sought his advice, he never in- truded his opinions upon others. To those in distress through misfortune he gave gen- erously, never refusing an appeal and often quietly seeking out those in trouble. "He was the soul of honor, his life immaculate in

its purity, his simple word in commercial cir- cles a bond as good as gold." It has been well said: "The loss of one who so fully realized the ideal of manly worth and Chris- tian character is not to be measured in words. The eulogy that calls for mental reservation or abatement does not belong to him. Con- fidently can all who knew him in any degree subscribe to the highest estimate of those who knew him best."

Mr. Hill was married May 21, 1839, to Miss Emily B. Wheelock, daughter of Captain Francis Wheelock, of Sturbridge. Two of the four daughters born of this union - Laura A. Fiske and Emily Frances - died in child- hood, and two - Caroline Wheelock and Ellen Agnes - with their mother survive. Ellen Agnes is the wife of Albert L. Fisher, of Fisherville, a sketch of whom follows.

LBERT LABAN FISHER, Postmas- ter and leading merchant at Fisher- ville, his native place, in the town of Grafton, Mass., was born March IO, 1846, son of Erastus and Mary F. (Dresser) Fisher. He completed his educa- tion at the high school in Worcester, and at twenty-one years of age became a member of the well-known manufacturing firm of E. Fisher & Sons, and was superintendent of the Fisherville Mills till 1876, when he took charge of the store, of which he subsequently became the owner, having sold his interest in the manufacturing business. As a dealer in general merchandise he keeps a varied and ex- tensive stock, answering to the miscellaneous needs of a large community, and employs sev- eral clerks.

He was Selectman of the town in 1885 and 1886, and was Representative to the General Court in 1888, the district that sent him in- cluding the towns of Northboro, Berlin, Shrewsbury, Westboro, and Grafton. Serv- ing on the committee on Prisons, during his official term he visited every penal institution in the State. Since 1882 he has been Post- master at Fisherville, having received his ap- pointment from President Arthur. He has been a Mason since 1868, and is a member of

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ALBERT L. FISHER.

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Franklin Lodge of Grafton, Tyrian Royal Arch Chapter of Millbury, and Worcester Commandery, K. T., of Worcester. He is a director of the Grafton National Bank, a trus- tee of the Grafton Savings Bank, and a di- rector and also one of the Security Committee of the Grafton Co-operative Bank, his superior financial ability contributing in large measure to the prosperity and success of these institu- tions.

He was married November 22, 1871, to Ellen A. Hill, daughter of the late Hon. William R. Hill, of Sutton, whose biography precedes the present sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have one daughter, Carrie Emily. She was married October 5, 1892, to Walter L. Mellen, of Worcester, a building contractor, in partnership with his father, Henry Mellen. The two children born of this union are: Al- bert Fisher Mellen and his sister, Dorothy Mellen.

OBERT HORACE CHAMBER- LAIN, High Sheriff of Worcester County and one of the most re- spected of Worcester's citizens, was born in this city, June 16, 1838. A son of Thomas and Hannah (Blair) Chamberlain, he is of the sixth generation descended from William Chamberlain, who was born in 1620, probably in England, and who is known to have resided in Woburn from 1653 until his death, which occurred in 1706, at the age of eighty-six years. This ancestor was one of the first settlers of that place. His son, Jacob, born in Billerica in 1657, was the father of a second Jacob, born in Medford in 1691, whose son, a third Jacob, born in New- towne (now Cambridge) on November 28, 1719, was the great-grandfather of Sheriff Chamberlain.

Sheriff Chamberlain's grandfather, John Chamberlain, who was born in Worcester on July 22, 1745, died here in 1813. He mar- ried Mary Curtis, who was born here on Octo- ber 14, 1747, and died in 1818. She was a daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth Cur- tis. Both she and her husband are buried in Rural Cemetery, Worcester. They were the

parents of six children - John, Henry, Levi, Thomas, Dolly, and Mary. The three first named of these were college graduates. John was an able attorney in Albion, N. Y., where he died in 1834, at the age of sixty-two. Henry, also a lawyer, who settled in Mobile, Ala., won distinction on the bench of the Su- preme Court in that State, and died in 1855, leaving one son. Levi settled in Keene, N. H., where he made an enviable name as a lawyer. Dolly, who never married, born in 1792, died in 1885 at the age of ninety-three. Mary married Daniel Greenleaf. Thomas Chamberlain, who was born on March 6, 1783, was twice married. His first wife, in maidenhood Nancy Woods, was a native of Groton. Shc died in 1831, having been the mother of eight children, four sons and four daughters, all of whom grew to maturity. His second marriage was contracted in 1833 with Hannah Blair, of Worcester, a daughter of Captain Robert and Elizabeth Blair. The children of this union were: Dolly Curtis Chamberlain, who died in 1872, at the age of thirty-nine; Thomas, born in 1835, who is now in the State National Bank of Boston; and Robert H. Chamberlain, the subject of this biography.

Robert Horace Chamberlain's education was obtained in the public schools of Worces- ter and at Westfield Academy. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a volunteer in Company A of the Fifty-first Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry, under Captain Edwin A. Wood. After a year's active service in the North Carolina campaign he returned to Worces- ter, raised Company F for the Sixtieth Massachusetts Regiment, and went back to the front as its Captain. He was subse- quently in Indianapolis, where there were some five thousand prisoners. After return- ing home he recruited a militia company, of which he was first Captain, then Major at the end of a year, and Colonel at the end of two years. On December 31, 1868, he was made Brigadier-general, which command he held for seven years. Since 1876 he has not been connected with the militia.

In politics General Chamberlain is a Repub- lican, For two years he occupied a seat in

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the Common Council, and for eighteen years he was superintendent of the sewer depart- ment. His first election to the office of Sheriff occurred in 1892, and in 1895 he was re-elected for a term of three years. A thirty-second degree Mason, he is a Past Commander of the local Knights Templar, and in 1892 he was Grand Commander of the Knights Templar of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He is also a member of the Loyal Legion, of the Hancock Social Club, and of the G. A. R. For three years he was the president of the Mechanics' Association. In religious faith he is a Congregationalist, and' he is a member and trustee of Union Congre- gational Church in Worcester. On January 10, 1865, he was married to Esther Browning, of Hubbardston, Mass. His children are: Flora, the wife of Charles B. Wetherby, of this city; and Mabel Susan, who is a teacher in the public schools of the city. Both daughters are graduates of the Worcester Nor- mal School.

LBERT E. SMITH, the chairman of Leicester's Board of Selectmen and an extensive woollen manufacturer in Cherry Valley, was born Octo- ber 10, 1844, in Blackstone, Worcester County, son of Channing Smith. Channing Smith, who was a native of Killingly, Conn., learned the trade of a dyer, and spent his active career in the town of Blackstone, Mass., where he was for half a century one of the leading men. A man of superior intelli- gence, he was a warm supporter of Garrison, Phillips, and other opponents of slavery. With his able coadjutor, Caleb Thayer, of Blackstone, the father of the late Judge Adin Thayer, of Worcester, he assisted many a poor slave to a place of safety. He served his town in the various local offices, and in 1863 represented his district at the General Court, where he was a supporter of Charles Sumner for United States Senator. He was an expert dyer, especially skilled in the use of indigo blue, having a reputation in that line that ex- tended throughout the United States. He was selected to dye the cloth from which a

suit of clothes presented to Henry Clay was made. He also dyed the cloth of which were made the clothes worn by William Henry Harrison at his inauguration as President. His death occurred in Blackstone in 1878. He married Eliza Beebe, who was born in Salem, Mass. She was a daughter of William and Grace (Claghorn) Beebe and a grand- daughter of Colonel George Claghorn. The latter served in the Revolution, first as a pri- vate at the battle of Bunker Hill, where he was wounded, and afterward successively as First Lieutenant, Major, and Colonel. In 1794, when Congress passed an act to provide a "naval armament," Colonel Claghorn, as naval constructor and contractor, was given the charge of building the frigate "Constitu- tion," the work being done at Ballard & Hart's yard in Boston, under his supervision, with Edmund Hart as master mechanic.

Albert E. Smith left the district school of Blackstone when a boy of twelve years, to begin work in a woollen-mill. Two years later he went into the dye-house to learn the trade of a dyer. There he manifested such skill in the work that at the age of sixteen he was intrusted with the charge of the dye- ing department of one of the large woollen- mills of his native town. When but eighteen years old he accepted an offer of eighteen hun- dred dollars per annum as superintendent of the dyeing department of the Millville Manu- facturing Company at Millville, Mass., where he remained two years. He subsequently spent a short time in a wool store in New York City, whence in 1865 he came to Cherry Valley as superintendent of the wool- len-mill of G. N. & J. A. Smith, at the same time having an interest in the business. During the eleven years in which he was thus employed, the business increased rapidly. Since 1876, when he bought out the other stockholders, he has continued the original work of manufacturing woollen goods with undisputed success.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 8

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