Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 82

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 82

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Major Clark Sumner, who was born May 29, 1794, died on August 22, 1868. He was one of the leading men of the town, and enjoyed universal esteem. Ballou's History of Milford speaks of him as a man of "strong common sense, stanch moral integrity, persistent activ- ity, and resolute determination." He was a progressive and energetic farmer, later a hotel man, and still later a coal merchant, carrying on business near the Milford depot. At one time the Captain of a military company of artillery, he raised his company to such a noteworthy condition that he was appointed Major of the battalion of which it formed a part. He had also his share of municipal offices. His first wife, whose maiden name was Sally Clark, bore him one child; and his second wife, in maidenhood Mary Murdock, bore him one child, Sullivan Clark Sumner.

After receiving his education in Westfield Academy and at Eaton Commercial College in Worcester, Sullivan Clark Sumner was en- gaged in business with his father until 1858. Then he formed a copartnership with the Hon. A. C. Mayhew under the firm name of A. C. Mayhew & Co. This firm conducted a large and prosperous business until 1878, when it dissolved and Mr. Mayhew retired from active business. Subsequently Mr. Sumner, who is an expert accountant, took charge of the books

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of Colburn, Fuller & Co., and remained with that concern until 1897. Since then he has not been actively engaged in business. While in no sense a politician, he has taken an active part in the affairs of his native town. For thirty-seven years he has been inspector, in charge of the voting check-list of Milford. Prominently identified with the Masonic fra- ternity, he is Past Commander of Milford Commandery, K. T., and since 1880 he has been recorder of the commandery.

Mr. Sumner was married on October 7, 1857, to Sarah E. Mayhew, only daughter of the Hon. Aaron C. and Olivia L. (Sumner) Mayhew. Mrs. Sumner was born in Milford, July 26, 1835. She has been the mother of three children, namely : Frank M., born on Oc- tober 6, 1860, who died on October 11, 1862; Mary O., who was born on August 3, 1863; and Annie C., who was born on February 23, 1867.

EONARD CHENEY, of 57 Houghton Street, Worcester, one of the oldest and most trusted employees of the Washburn & Moen Company, hav- ing been in their service for a half-century, was born in this county, in the town of Barre, on November 27, 1821, his parents being Ar- temas and Betsy (Littlefield) Cheney.

In England, whence two immigrants bear- ing this surname, John and William Cheney, came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony more than two hundred and fifty years ago, the Cheney family is traced back by records still in existence to the fifteenth century; and coats of arms of four branches of the family have been preserved, showing them to have been of noble birth. John Cheney, it may here be mentioned, settled in Newbury.

William Cheney, of whom the subject of this sketch is a descendant in the eighth gen- eration, settled in Roxbury prior to 1640, his name being the fortieth in the list of proprie- tors. He became the largest landholder in that place, owning twenty-four and one-half acres, and was one of the most prosperous and able men of the colony. Succeeding him in direct line of descent were three other Will-

iams; Caleb, of the fifth generation; and then Mr. Leonard Cheney's grandfather, Ar- temas Cheney, Sr. Grandfather Cheney, who was born in Mendon on October 12, 1760, served as a fifer in the war of the Revolution. He enlisted on September 27, 1777, at or near Boston to take part in a secret expedition to Rhode Island. On June 2, 1778, he again enlisted for nine months from the time he should arrive in Fishkill on the Hudson River. The army records say that at this time he was seventeen years of age, five feet and seven inches in height, and that he had dark eyes and black hair. After completing his term of service in Fishkill, where he ar- rived on the 7th of June, he again enlisted on July 14, 1780, this time in Captain Benjamin Reed's company of Colonel John Rand's regiment, raised to re-enforce the army at West Point. Grandfather Cheney was married on the first day of February, 1781, to Rachel, daughter of Seth and Rebecca (Beal) Albee. She was born on March 25, 1765, and died in 1787, having been the mother of two sons - Ebenezer and Artemas Cheney.

Ebenezer was born on April 14, 1782.

Artemas Cheney, Jr., son of Artemas, Sr., and Rachel Cheney, was born in Milford on March 27, 1786, and died in August, 1861. He and his brother Ebenezer were black- smiths from their boyhood, having their shop in Barre. His wife, Betsy, whom he married in 1808, was born in Milford in June, 1792, and died August 4, 1862. She was a daugh- ter of Isaac and Eliza Littlefield. One of her brothers, Moses Littlefield, went West. Ar- temas Cheney, Jr., and his wife were the parents of twelve children, of whom five sons and five daughters grew to maturity. They were: Clarinda, Melinda, Elizabeth, Arnold Washington, Laura, Leonard, Ezra Adams, Roxanna Allen, Lovering Artemas, and Ethan. Of these, all but one son and one daughter had families. The living are: Leonard Cheney and his youngest brother, Ethan Rockwood Cheney, who is a Boston contractor residing in Chelsea. Clarinda was married on December 29, 1825, at the age of seventeen, to Joel D. Wilder. They had a family of nine children, one of whom

LEONARD CHENEY.

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became a physician. Melinda, who was born on May 28, 1810, was married to David Burt in 1835, and died on May 5, 1891, leaving a son, Albert M. Burt. Elizabeth L., who married Isaac Bigelow, had two daughters and two sons. Arnold Washing- ton, who was born in 1817, married Maria Newton, and died on April 24, 1850, leaving no children. Laura, who was born on April 17, 1819, became the wife of George Conant in 1840, and died on October 29, 1849, leav- ing two children. Ezra Adams was born on July 19, 1823, and died on February 27, 1860. He had three daughters that grew to maturity. Roxanna Allen married Samuel S. Lord, of Boston. Lovering Artemas, who was born on September 5, 1827, died on March 29, 1879, leaving a daughter. Ethan R. was born on September 20, 1829. He has three children.

Leonard Cheney obtained his education in the district school, which in his boyhood was attended by from sixty-five to seventy-five scholars. The old school-house has now been for several years tenantless. He did not serve a regular apprenticeship as mechanic, but when a mere lad began working in his father's and other shops, and gradually acquired a good degree of mechanical skill. In Jan- uary, 1843, he came to Worcester. In 1848 he began to work for the Washburn Company, and for the succeeding eight years remained there. At the end of that time he was engaged to build a mill in this city for Henry Washburn, and in 1861 he went to Holyoke to build a wire-mill for William E. Rice. Of this he had the charge not only of constructing the building but of putting the machinery in place. In September, 1865, he returned to Worcester, and entered the mill where he has since been employed by the Washburn & Moen Company. Although he is now entitled to retirement on a pension, he is hale and hearty, and proposes to keep in har- ness as long as he continues so. Mr. Cheney has seen great changes since he began life, among others the development of steam and electric power and the art of photography.

Mr. Cheney was united in marriage with Persis W. Hemenway, daughter of Daniel and Persis (Earl) Hemenway, of Barre, on June

II, 1846. Mrs. Cheney died on October 16, 1895, aged seventy-five years, ten months, and twenty-seven days. A son and three daughters - L. Warren Cheney, Persis Eliza, Ellen Sophia, and Ida Elizabeth - survive her. One daughter, Mary E., died in 1855, at the age of four years. Two daughters reside at home with their father. They are unmarried. Ida is an invalid and Ellen is the housekeeper. L. Warren Cheney is in the employ of the Washburn & Moen Com- pany. He has a wife and five children and one grand-child. Persis Eliza is the wife of Charles W. Burbank, who has a printing- office. They have one son living and two daughters. Mr. Cheney built his present dwelling-house in 1870. His lot embraces four acres, and he has some fine fruit trees.

Mr. Cheney is a Master Mason of Monta- cute Lodge, which is so called in honor of an English family whose coat of arms hangs on the walls of the hall in which the body holds its meetings. In politics he is a Republican. For the past twenty-eight years he has been connected with the Worcester County Me- chanics' Association, and for some time he has been an officer and stockholder in the Co-operative Bank of Worcester. He is con- nected with the Church of the Unity.

A USTIN WILLARD BIXBY, who died in 1871, was one of the best pattern- makers in Worcester. He was born in this city, July 1, 1813, and the son of John and Betsey (Willard) was Bixby. His father was toll-gate keeper at Worcester for a number of years on the Lake Road leading to Shrewsbury.

Austin Willard Bixby was educated in the Worcester schools. He worked first in a ma- chine shop for a few years, then learned pat- tern-making, mastering the trade alone with- out help. He was industrious and capable, and soon became a first-class workman, quick to conceive and quick to execute; and he had a nicety of skill that kept his work in contin- ual demand. He established himself on School Street, this city, and built up a good business. He made thousands of patterns of

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all kinds of machinery for inventors and manu- facturers, and his work was so perfect that the castings made from his models were always available. He was an expert at wood work also, and made many articles of value and artistic excellence. Whatever he did he did thoroughly. Mr. Bixby was a member of the Worcester County Mechanics' Association. He was actively interested in political mat- ters, though he never sought public prefer- ment, and was strong in his support of the best movements. A zealous anti-slavery man, he was not able to go to war himself, but sent two sons, who were killed. Mr. Bixby was a member of the Union Congregational Church for many years. He lived up to the letter of his belief, and was strictly honorable in all his dealings in secular matters.

He was married March 15, 1836, to Sophia Foster Paige, of Worcester, daughter of Thomas and Susan (Warner) Paige. Her father was a son of Colonel Timothy Paige, of Hardwick, Mass., the home of several genera- tions of the family. Colonel Timothy was a grandson of Nathaniel Paige, who is sup- posed to have come from England to Roxbury about 1685. Later he settled in Billerica. Mr. and Mrs. Bixby were the parents of the following children : Maria Antoinette; George Austin, born July 20, 1841; Charles Por- ter, who died in 1845; John Thomas, who was born in 1844, and died September 12, 1863; Harriet Sophia, residing in Worcester; and Ann Washburn, deceased.

George Austin Bixby enlisted_at the age of twenty in Company H, Twenty-fifth Massa- chusetts Regiment. He was enrolled Sep- tember 17, 1861. He served under General Burnside and General Grant, and was in all the battles of the regiment, being in the great campaign before Richmond. When his first term of service was ended he re-enlisted. Sent to the hospital sick, he was called out for the attack on Richmond, May 15, 1864, and joined his company. He was engaged in a skirmish before daylight on the morning of the sixteenth, and was surprised and shot. Found by Confederates, he was robbed and left under a tree to die, and a few days later he was picked up and carried to Libby Prison.

There, after a term of terrible suffering, he died on July 1, 1864. His officers spoke of him as a brave and faithful soldier. John Thomas Bixby enlisted in Company H, Fif- teenth Massachusetts Regiment, August 3, 1861. He, too, was in all the engagements and battles of his regiment, including Antie- tam and Gettysburg. He put all his strength into his duty, and after Gettysburg he was detailed to care for the wounded. Weakened by sickness and fatigue, however, he was soon obliged to succumb. He died September 12, I 863.

RANCIS E. COREY, M.D., of West- boro, was born March 23, 1846, in Sturbridge, Mass., in the house in which his grandfather, Dr. Jacob Corey, lived. The grandfather, who was for fifty years an active practitioner, had remarkable energy and industry. Possessed of what was consid- ered a thorough knowledge of medicine before the day of medical colleges, he established a medical school of his own, and many young physicians received their medical education under his careful instruction. He had a large family of children, and it is, perhaps, not sur- prising that the young students should fall in love with the comely daughters of their tutor. At any rate, three of his daughters married pupils of his school, and at one time there were five physicians in his family; namely, himself, his eldest son, Jacob Corey, Jr., and his three sons-in-law. The fortunate students should certainly have felt grateful to their teacher for sending them forth fully equipped, not only with a medical education, but with a good wife. He gave his sons the best edu- cational advantages, and his son Jacob suc- ceeded him in practice. The amount of work accomplished by Dr. Jacob Corey, Sr., seems almost incredible. In addition to instructing his students, he was kept busy riding horse- back for miles across the country and through the adjoining towns, attending to his exten- sive practice and successfully carrying on his farm of five hundred acres. He left a library of several hundred volumes of home-made books - home - made in every sense implied

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by the term, for they are in his own hand- writing and neatly bound by his own hand. They consist of original lectures, excerpts from books and lectures he had read, etc. Among them is a daily journal of the weather, in which he wrote on January 1, 1791, "We don't get such winters as we used to have." Another remarkable thing in connection with his writings is the fact that nowhere is men- tion made of himself. He seems to have been too busy to think of himself or in any way to court publicity. His son George V. was the father of Francis E. Corey.

George V. Corey was a man of natural liter- ary tastes and ability, and in his earlier life was a pioneer journalist in Indiana and New Orleans, being a contemporary of Greeley, Bancroft, and other men of note. On the death of his father he returned to Sturbridge to settle up affairs, and from that time until his demise he had charge of the ancestral estates. Active in town affairs, he served in many of the important local offices. He mar- ried Martha Griggs, of Brimfield, Mass. ; and their son, Francis E., is the youngest grand- child of Dr. Jacob Corey, Sr. The oldest grandchild was General E. D. Keyes, who was prominent in military affairs during the Civil War and for a period afterward. He was private secretary to General Scott, and was commander of an army corps in Mcclellan's campaign in Virginia. The interesting work, "Fifty Years' Observation of Men and Events," was written by him. General Keyes died at the advanced age of eighty-two years in San Francisco, Cal., in 1895.

Francis E. Corey was educated in the pub- lic schools of Sturbridge, Wilbraham Acad- emy, and at the Harvard Medical College. From the last-named institution he withdrew before completing the course, and went to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, then called the best school of the kind in the coun- try, and there received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1868. Returning then to Stur- bridge, the Doctor remained there a year. On November 1, 1869, he came to Westboro, where he has since been in active practice. Great advances have been made in the science of medicine in those twenty-nine years: the

germ theory was developed in that period, and antiseptics, now deemed indispensable, were not dreamed of a quarter of a century ago. Dr. Corey has kept abreast with the times as regards the most approved modern methods used in medicine and surgery, and has built up an extensive patronage in this and adjacent towns.

Of a quiet, unassuming disposition, the Doctor has never sought or accepted any pub- lic offices excepting those of member of the School Board and Library Committee. He is serving on the Investment Committee of the Westboro Savings Bank, and for fifteen years has been physician for the Lyman School. Fraternally, he is a member of the Massachu- setts Medical Society and the Worcester Dis- trict Medical Society, a Master Mason, and a member of the Royal Arcanum, of which he is examining physician. He was married May 18, 1870, to Miss Mary Wight, of Sturbridge, and they have two children - Robert F. and Ethelyn.

OSTER FREELAND, a venerable and highly respected resident of Sutton, was born in this town, February 2, 1819, son of James and Polly (Marble) Free- land. His ancestors on the father's side were Scotch-Irish. The first of the family in this country was James Freeland, who first settled at Lexington, and removed to Hopkinton in 1725. Thomas, son of James, died in Sutton in 1788, leaving a son who was known as Dr. James Freeland. The latter received an ap- pointment, early in the war of the Revolution, as surgeon in the Continental army, and served with distinction until peace was declared. He then returned to Sutton, and remained and practised medicine here until his death in 1796.

James Freeland, the only son of Dr. Free- land, was one of the most enterprising men in this section. At an early age he engaged in trade, buying such articles as scythes, hoes, and saddlery, which were made in and about Sutton, and subsequently disposing of them to traders of Canada. As no steamboats were then running on the Great Lakes, he trans-

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ported his merchandise in boats, manned by six Chippewa Indians. His wife, Polly, was de- scended from one of the original families that settled the town of Sutton.

Mr. Freeland's education was obtained in the public schools and in a private school kept in his father's house and in the academies at Dudley and Wilbraham. For a time subse- quent to finishing his studies, he was assistant principal of the academy at Dudley, having charge of the English department. Later he taught in the district school in Millbury, and was the principal of the Millbury Academy. After fitting for Harvard University with a view to entering one of the professions, he' finally decided to go into business, and formed a partnership with his brothers, Freeman and Fayette, for the conduct of general merchan- dise stores in Oxford and in Holly Springs, Miss. For twelve years he was engaged in this enterprise, meeting with good success. In 1853 he returned to Sutton, where he has since resided. The Freeland homestead is distinguished as being the place where General Rufus Putnam was born, April 7, 1738. The farm was considered one of the finest among the many fine farms of Sutton, and was devoted to stock-raising and general produce. Mr. Freeland has given much attention to blooded stock, and his cattle were generally noted for their superior grade. He is a ripe scholar and an elegant public speaker. Earnestly inter- ested in education, he served for many years as the School Committee. In politics he has been a firm adherent of the Democratic party. His wife's maiden name was Frances J. Wood- bury. She died in 1859, leaving a daughter, Frances J. Woodbury Freeland, who is now the comfort and delight of her father's declin- ing years. Miss Freeland is a graduate of the first class sent out from the Sutton High School and a poet of rare promise.

OSEPH G. VAUDREUIL, building contractor, Worcester, was born in Lothinière, P.Q., November 15, 1850. He is the only son of Isaïe and Adelle (Auger) Vaudreuil. His father, who was born in 1815, carried on the wheelwright business

for many years, and is now living in retire- ment at the homestead in Canada.

Joseph G. Vaudreuil in his youth acquired a common-school education. In 1868 he came to Worcester, having but fifty cents in his pocket after arriving here. This meagre sup- ply of money he had exhausted when he fort- unately found some Canadian friends. He soon obtained work as a carpenter with J. C. French; and, although he was not familiar with the trade, his natural genius for mechan- ics enabled him to acquire proficiency so rap- idly as to cause his advancement to the posi- tion of foreman in the short space of two years. About 1870 he was engaged by H. W. Eddy to work in the same capacity, and during the succeeding eighteen years he took full charge of many of his employer's building operations, including the buying of materials. The ex- perience and reputation which he gained while under Mr. Eddy, together with the recommen- dations of the late Mr. Washburn, of the firm of Washburn & Moen, enabled him to engage in business on his own account in 1889, start- ing upon a small scale near his present shop and planing mill, at 90 Foster Street. By his energy, ability, and strict integrity he bas become one of the successful builders of this city. Besides his city residence on Catherine Street, he owns twenty tenements and three stores, which rent advantageously, a handsome manor house in Canada and a summer cottage at Lake Quinsigamond; and he also owns a controlling share in the steamboat company at that resort. He employs a force of seventy- five men the year round, and at times has work enough for from two hundred to three hundred.

On October 27, 1880, Mr. Vaudreuil was united in marriage with Miss Alphonse Giroux, a native of Canada and a resident of this city. They have two sons: Claudio, aged thirteen ; and Lorenzo, aged twelve years, both of whom are attending school in Montreal.

In politics Mr. Vaudreuil is a Republican. He has served as president of the principal French-Canadian societies in Worcester, and is the founder of two clubs. He is fond of hunt- ing, and has had mounted several trophies which he killed in the woods of Maine, includ- ing a bear and a large moose with fine antlers.

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JONATHAN DAVIS.

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He has been abroad three times, and visited Great Britain, Continental Europe, and Africa.

J ONATHAN DAVIS, a well-known farmer and cattle dealer of Sterling, Mass., where for many years he has been one of the leading town officers, was born in Westford, Middlesex County, this State, June 10, 1830, son of George and Sophia (Whitcomb) Davis. Jonathan Davis, his grandfather, a native of Tewksbury, Mass., and a farmer by occupation, was for some years a resident of Bolton. He died in Billerica at the age of forty-two.

George Davis, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Bolton, and began life as a farmer in Westford. In 1846 he moved to Sterling; and, purchasing the farm now owned and occupied by his son, he resided here until his death, which occurred when he was sixty- four years old. His wife, Sophia, who was born in Templeton, Mass., daughter of Rufus Whitcomb, a farmer, died at the age of sixty- six. She was the mother of four children, two of whom are living, namely: Ophelia, who married E. A. Lynde, now of Iowa; and Jona- than, of Sterling. The parents attended the Unitarian church.

Jonathan Davis supplemented his common- school education with courses of study at the Lancaster High School and the academy at New Ipswich, N. H. He taught school win- ters until he was twenty-six, when he bought a half-interest in the homestead farm; and after the death of his father he purchased his sister's interest in the property. He now owns beside the home farm of seventy-five acres a large amount of outlying land. He conducts gen- eral farming, keeps a number of cows for his own use, and ships milk to Boston. He visits Brighton once a week for the purpose of buying milch cows, in which he is one of the most ex- tensive dealers in the State, always keeping on hand a number for sale.

In 1856 Mr. Davis contracted his first mar- riage with Urania Ingalls, of Putney, Vt. She died four years later, leaving one daugh- ter - Mary, who is now the wife of A. M. Wilder, a grain dealer in Somerville. Mr.

Davis married for his second wife Ellen Smith, of Athol, Mass., daughter of Aden Smith, a retired brick manufacturer. Of this union were born five children, namely: Louise S .; George, who is no longer living; Maria; Alice; and John A.

In politics Mr. Davis is a Republican. He has been one of the Selectmen of Sterling for nearly twenty years, but not continuously, and when a member of the board has always been chairman. He has served on the Board of Health for the same length of time, was a Road Commissioner and Overseer of the Poor, and has been an Assessor and a member of the School Committee. He is a member of the Worcester East Agricultural Society, and the Farmers' Club. Mr. Davis attends the Congregational church.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 82

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