Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 93

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 93

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Mr. Nourse was a strong advocate of the temperance cause and a member of the West- boro Grange, P. of H. At the age of thirteen

BENJAMIN A. NOURSE.

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years he united with the Evangelical Congre- gational church, in which during the last thirty-five years of his life he served as Dea- con, also giving largely of his time, strength, and money toward advancing the cause of re- ligion. Throughout his life he was a thor- ough Bible student, and was a Sunday-school teacher over forty years, a part of which time he was Sunday-school superintendent. The misfortunes and needs of others drew upon his generous nature to the full measure of his large ability to give of sympathy, time, and means. On May 1, 1860, he married Jane, eldest daughter of the late Benjamin Willard Fay, of Grafton. Of his four children, Bertha died in childhood. The others are: Willard Joslin, Ernest Morrison, both lawyers in Gun- nison, Col .; and Arthur Merriam, who resides on the home farm. Deacon and Mrs. Nourse also reared an adopted daughter, Edna Nourse, now Mrs. Fred H. Doolittle, of Northfield, Mass.

ON. PERCIVAL BLODGETT, of Templeton, an ex-member of the Massachusetts Senate, was born in Orange, Mass., July 18, 1841, son of Nathaniel F. and Dolly (Mayo) Blodgett. Ancestors of his were early settlers in Temple- ton. His grandfather, Nathaniel Blodgett, who was a blacksmith by trade, and resided here for some time after his marriage, moved with his family to Orange, there followed his trade for the rest of his active period, and died in that town at the age of seventy-three. The maiden name of Nathaniel's wife was Mary French.

Nathaniel F. Blodgett, the father, was born in Templeton, January 3, 1814. Having learned the blacksmith's trade with his father, he followed it in Orange for many years, and his death occurred in that town in December of 1888. He was a man of considerable mental ability. With a natural desire for knowledge, he was a great reader, and became well-in- formed upon all the important topics of his day. With the majority of the Whigs, he en- tered the ranks of the Republican party at its formation. In religious belief he was a Con-

gregationalist. His wife, Dolly, a native of Orange, born in July, 1821, became the mother of two children : Percival, the subject of this sketch; and Maria L. C. Blodgett, of Orange. The mother, surviving her husband, resides at the homestead.

Percival Blodgett was reared in his native town. Beginning his education in the old red school-house of District No. 4, he completed it at Phillips Academy of Andover, Mass., from which he graduated in the class of 1863. After teaching school for a time in Orange, Athol, and Templeton, he in 1865 formed a partnership with A. S. Dudley, firm of Dudley & Blodgett, which carried on trade in Temple- ton for five years. In May, 1870, he engaged in a general mercantile business on his own account, and continued to conduct a thriving trade until October, 1894, when the P. Blodg- ett Company was incorporated. This concern, in which he still retains a controlling interest, carries a stock valued at ten thousand dollars ; and the business is constantly increasing. Mr. Blodgett's public services have been varied and of long duration. He served as Postmaster at Templeton Centre for sixteen years ; was a member of the School Board for twenty-one years; Town Treasurer for eighteen years ; a member of the Board of Selectmen and Overseer of the Poor for sixteen years, and the chairman of the board for fifteen years, receiv- ing a unanimous vote at the last town meeting. He was elected to the House of Representa- tives in 1889 and 1892, and he was a member of the Senate for the years 1895 and 1896. While in the upper house he was the chairman of the Committees on Water Supply, Election Laws, Agriculture, and Public Charitable In- stitution ; and he was assigned to the special committee that conducted the Norfolk County investigation. In politics he is a Republican, and his first Presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He has been a trustee of the Boynton Free Public Library since 1868 and the president of the board for a number of years, and he has been a Justice of the Peace for the past twenty-five years.

On May 1, 1867, Mr. Blodgett's first mar- riage was contracted with Georgia A. Worrick, of Orange, who died in 1878, leaving one

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daughter, Grace E., born April 23, 1870. On February 20, 1880, he was married to his pres- ent wife, formerly S. Isabella Chamberlain, of Templeton. He belongs to Hope Lodge, F. & A. M .; to William Ellison Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Gardner ; to Templeton Lodge, No. 1632, Knights of Honor; and to Star Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Baldwinsville. He owns and occupies the Colonel Lee homestead, which, erected in 1829, is surrounded by a handsome estate, is substantially built, and contains many rare pieces of antique furniture and several valuable relics. The care of his farm and the study of botany occupy his leisure time. Mr. Blodgett attends the Trinitarian Congregational church.

OHN HENRY FAIRBANK, president of the First National Bank, Winchen- don, was born in Harvard, Mass., Jan- uary 21, 1817, son of Artemas and Rachel (Houghton) Fairbank. He traces his lineage back through his grandfather, Jonathan Fairbank, who was born in Harvard, Septem- ber 4, 1758; Captain Joseph, who was born in that part of Lancaster now called Harvard, November 4, 1722; Deacon Joseph, born in Lancaster in 1693; Captain Jabez, born in the same town, August II, 1674; and Jonas, born in England prior to 1633; to Jonathan, who was the first American ancestor and who spelled the name Fairebanke.

Jonathan Fairebanke was born in England previous to the year 1600. Arriving with his wife and six children at Boston in 1633, he became one of the original settlers of Dedham. He died December 5, 1668. His wife, whose maiden name was Grace Lee, died about the year 1673. Of their six children, Jonas, who was a farmer and a carpenter, was the fifth- born and the third son. He moved from Ded- ham to Lancaster in 1657, and, signing the covenant March 5, 1659, became one of the fathers of that town. It is recorded that in 1652 he was fined for wearing great boots, an act prohibited in the colony to those who were worth less than two hundred pounds. To- gether with two sons he was killed by the Ind- ians, February 10, 1676. The farm which he

cleared from the wilderness is now owned by one of his descendants in the seventh genera- tion. On May 28, 1658, he married Lydia Prescott, who was born in Watertown, Mass., August 15, 1641, daughter of John Prescott, a native of Sowerby, parish of Halifax, England. She was the mother of seven children, of whom Captain Jabez was the sixth-born and the third son.

Captain Jabez Fairbank was a lifelong resi- dent of Lancaster. He was a member of the General Court for the years 1714, 1721, 1722, and 1723, and he served as a soldier in the Indian Wars. He died March 2, 1758, aged eighty-four years. His first wife, Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Houghton) Wilder, died February 21, 1718, in the forty- fifth year of her age. She was the mother of ten children, of whom Deacon Joseph was the first-born. On March 25, 1719, Captain Jabez Fairbank married for his second wife Elizabeth Whitcomb. She died May II, 1755, aged eighty years.

Deacon Joseph Fairbank inherited the home- stead in turn, and was a prominent man in his day, serving as a member of the first Board of Selectmen of Harvard from 1733 to 1735 and again from 1743 to 1745. He was Town Treasurer from 1736 to 1740, and served upon many important committees. He was a liberal supporter of the church. He died December 6, 1772. On April 21, 1718, he married Mary Brown, who died November 14, 1791, aged ninety-one years, eleven months, and six days. She was the mother of ten children, and Jo- seph was the second son.

Captain Joseph Fairbank, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a leading spirit in civil and military affairs of his day, serving as commander of a company in a pro- vincial regiment under Colonel Asa Whit- comb, and marching to Cambridge on April 19, 1775. He died in 1802. His first wife, whom he married November 11, 1742, was Mary Willard, daughter of Hezekiah and Anna (Wilder) Willard. She was baptized in Lan- caster, December 22, 1722; and she died Au- gust 26, 1748, in the twenty-sixth year of her age, having been the mother of three children. His second wife, Abigail Tarbell, of Groton,

JOHN H. FAIRBANK.

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Mass., whom he married on October 4, 1749, died April 12, 1798, aged seventy-six years, ten months, and six days. By this union there were eight children, of whom Jonathan was the sixth-born.

Jonathan Fairbank, John H. Fairbank's grandfather, was an industrious and thrifty farmer, an upright man, who enjoyed the sin- cere esteem of his fellow-townsmen. He died at the homestead in Harvard, September 8, 1840, aged eighty-two years and four days. He married Hannah Hale, who was born in Stow, April 27, 1763, and died September 19, 1849, aged eighty-six. They reared a family of three children, and Artemas E. was the eldest.

Artemas E. Fairbank, father of John H., was born in Harvard, November 3, 1787. He cultivated the Fairbank farm during his active years, and was widely known as a capable and a worthy citizen. Rachel, his wife, whom he married January 25, 1816, was born in Water- ford, Me., September 23, 1793, daughter of Jonathan and Mary Houghton, of that town. She became the mother of four sons and one daughter, of whom three are living, namely : John H., the subject of this sketch, who is the eldest ; Sidney; and Andrew Fairbank. Ar- temas E. Fairbank died July 22, 1874, surviv- ing his wife, who died April 23, 1870.

John Henry Fairbank was educated in the public schools of his native town. From 1836 to 1844 he drove an eight-horse team between Winchendon and Boston; and after the opening of the railroad he engaged in the livery busi- ness as a member of the firm of Whitcomb & Fairbank, which carried on business here until 1868. From 1852 to 1865 he owned and man- aged the American House, and in 1864 he or- ganized the First National Bank, of which he has been president since its establishment. He is a leading spirit in all matters relative to public improvement, and for more than forty years has been closely identified with the va- rious institutions of the town. He was a Se- lectman for twenty years and chairman of the board several terms, has served as an Assessor, has been upon the Cemetery Committee since 1857, and has had charge of the highways for thirty years. In politics he is a Republican,

On June 4, 1847, Mr. Fairbank married Mary E. Lees, who was born in Millbury, daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Taylor) Lees, of Acworth, N. H. Of this union there is one daughter, Helen, who was born February 17, 1858, and was graduated from Wellesley College in the class of 1879. On September 1, 1881, she married George R. R. Rivers, a prominent lawyer of Milton, Mass. She has two children : Robert W., born August 13, 1882; and Henry F., born August 17, 1883. Mrs. Fairbank died January 16, 1896.

ANFORD B. COOK, Town Clerk of Petersham and one of the leading residents of this place, was born in Athol, Mass., on May 6, 1832, his parents being Benjamin and Betsy (Stratton) Cook. His father, who died in 1866, was a native of Guildhall, Vt., and his mother a daughter of Jabez Stratton, of Athol. Mr Cook's paternal grandfather, Benjamin Cook, Sr., was born in Wallingford, Conn., in 1764. He migrated to Vermont with his father when a young man.

At the age of twenty Mr. Cook having ac- quired his elementary education in the public schools of Athol, and having made some prog- ress in the higher branches of learning, at a select school in Petersham and at Wilbraham Academy, taught school for one term; and at the end of that time he was enrolled as a stu- dent at New Salem Academy, where he was graduated in 1856. Going West in the fol- lowing year, he taught in Christian County, Illinois, and in 1858 he removed to Reading- ton, N. J., where he remained for about three years. At the close of that period he went to Nelsonville, Athens County, Ohio, and there for a year he served as superintendent of schools. Returning then to New Jersey, he taught two years longer in Clinton, whence early in the year 1867 he went to Goshen, N. Y., and assumed the principalship of Farmers' Hall Academy, over which he successfully presided for two years. In the spring of 1869 he re- turned to Petersham with the intention of giv- ing up teaching and devoting himself to farm- ing, having purchased his father's estate. In

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a short time, however, he opened a private school, and in the winter he taught in one of the public schools. In 1870 he was principal of the Athol High School. The following year he was chosen a member of the School Committee. In this capacity he served his fellow-townsmen for twelve years, a greater part of that time acting as chairman of the board. A the close of his teaching in the high school at Athol he opened a select school in Petersham. In all he has taught sixty-five terms of school ; and his former pupils, who are to-day scattered all over the Union, remember with gratitude his faithful and efficient service.

For three years, beginning in 1870, Mr. Cook was superintendent of the Unitarian Sun- day-school; and for eight years, from 1870 to 1878, he was clerk of the parish. In 1871 he sold the farm that he had purchased of his father's heirs, and bought his present residence in Petersham. Ten years later he was elected to the office of Town Clerk, which he has since so creditably filled. From 1887 to 1893 he was a member of the Board of Selectmen and Overseers of the Poor, and since 1884 he has served as Justice of the Peace. Mr. Cook has taken an active interest in the grange, and for the first eight years after the organization of a branch here was Worthy Master. For six years he was its secretary and for one year an Overseer. In the State grange he served six years as chaplain, two years as Overseer, and fourteen years as Deputy.

Mr. Cook was married on January 1, 1860, to Lydia A., daughter of Frederick Peirce. She is a descendant of John Peirce, one of the early inhabitants of Watertown, Mass., who came from Norwich, Norfolk County, Eng- land. Her great-grandfather was Abraham or Abram Peirce, who was born in 1744; and her grandfather was the Rev. Warren Peirce, who was born in New Salem in 1776. Mr. and Mrs. Cook are the parents of the following named children : Clinton C., born December 9, 1864, who is a druggist in Orange, Mass. ; Ermina E., born September 3, 1867, who is the wife of Augustus W. Dodge, and resides in Bangor, Me. ; Mabel A., born August 15, 1873; and Allen B., born June 27, 1875. Mabel and Allen are graduates of the Peters-

ham High School, and Allen is also a graduate of the Amherst Agricultural College. Clinton Cook married Lottie Gage, and has one child, Kathleen F., who was born on July 8, 1888.

EORGE M. BLANCHARD, the well-known stone contractor of

Northbridge, was born in Uxbridge, March 28, 1830, to Joseph and Nancy (Harris) Blanchard. The father, who died in Ux- bridge at the age of seventy-two, was also a stone contractor. Much of the material fur- nished by him was taken from his granite quarries in Uxbridge. He constructed the Harris mill and many others in Rhode Island along the Blackstone River Valley, built dams, laid foundations, and executed various other kinds of masonry, including a number of bridges on the line of the Providence & Worcester Railroad. A stanch Republican in his political principles, he was chosen by his townspeople to fill various offices of public trust. Of his children, two sons and four daughters are living. These are : George M., the subject of this sketch; Alonzo E., who is a real estate dealer in Everett; Mrs. George Darrah, of Worcester; Mrs. James Adams, of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Mrs. R. N. George, of Men- don; and Mrs. Charles Scott, of Uxbridge. A son, Harry W. H. Blanchard, died in New York in 1895, having been engaged in busi- ness there for nearly a half-century. Three daughters are deceased, namely : Mrs. Wheeler, of Millbury, who died at the age of forty-seven ; and Mrs. Henry Southwick and Mrs. Lewis Scott, both of whom died in Worcester in 1897.

Having completed his education in the Mill- bury and East Greenwich Academies, George M. Blanchard at the age of twenty-two formed a partnership with his father, which con- tinued till 1862, when he went to New York, where he remained for two years in business. Returning to Massachusetts in 1865, he settled in Whitinsville, where he has since been en- gaged in furnishing granite and in building dams, bridges, curbings, walls, foundations, etc. He has filled contracts in Worcester, Upton, Northbridge, and in various towns and cities in the Blackstone valley. Among the

WILLIAM L. THOMPSON.

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more important of these were the furnishing of stone for the Worcester armory and the gran- ite for the construction of the Southbridge high school and the Southbridge town hall. For more than thirty-five years he has em- ployed from ten to forty men. An active Republican, he has served for five or six years as Selectman of Northbridge. He is a well- known and esteemed member of Granite Lodge, F. & A. M., of Northbridge; of Whitinsville Chapter, R. A. M .; and of St. Elmo Com- mandery, K. T., of Whitinsville.

In 1851 Mr. Blanchard was united in mar- riage with Lydia A. Morse, a daughter of Nahum and Mary (Tower) Morse, of Uxbridge. Mr. Morse, who is a leading farmer and a well-known auctioneer of this town, has served for many years as Moderator at town meetings, Selectman, Overseer of the Poor, and Justice of the Peace. His wife is a descendant of John Tower, who settled in Hingham, Mass., in 1637. Besides Mrs. Blanchard they have two children living, a son and a daughter. The former, Henry S. Morse, was at one time engaged in the manufacture of wool, and is now a prosperous boot and shoe manufacturer of Lynn, employing from sixty to seventy work- men. The daughter, Adeline, is the widow of Willard Walling, of Providence. Mr. and Mrs. Blanchard have been the parents of three children, of whom a son and a daughter died in infancy. Their surviving son, George Ernest Blanchard, residing in Whitinsville, who was educated at the Providence High School and at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, and is a machinist by trade, has travelled as far west as Denver and through the Southern States, employed in setting up machinery for the Whitin Machine Works. He married Lula, daughter of Lucius Burden, and has one son, Carl M. Blanchard.

ILLIAM L. THOMPSON, who manufactured and dealt in lumber in Spencer for twoscore years, was born July 25, 1827, in New Salem, Mass., which was also the birthplace of his father, Ezra Thompson. His paternal grandfather, Caleb Thompson, spent his life in Massachu-

setts. The father, who was born in the latter part of the last century, served in the War of 1812. Locating in New Salem as a farmer, he was there engaged in tilling the soil and lumbering for many years. He married Ma- hala Pierce, a native of Petersham, Worcester County. They reared seven children - Sarah Augusta, Laura Angelia, William L., James Willard, Sylvester Knowles, Lydia Ann, and Charles Edwin.

William L. Thompson's schooling was limited to a term of about ten weeks each win- ter season for a few years in his boyhood; but, by availing of every opportunity offered him for reading, he accumulated much information on general topics, and has always kept in touch with the leading issues of the day. On the home farm he became familiar with the various branches of agriculture at an early age. When twenty years old he went to the town of Hardwick, and was there employed at farm labor, receiving twelve and one-half dol- lars a month for the first year and fourteen dollars a month for the second. Subse- quently for several years he worked either on a farm or in a saw-mill. In 1857 he came to Spencer to take charge of the saw-mill be- longing to Charles Browning. A few months later he rented the mill, and sawed lumber by the thousand feet on his own account. This mill, which was located in the northern part of the town, and was driven by water-power, he afterward purchased, and used for several years in manufacturing lumber. Then, de- siring to enlarge his operations, he made agreements with the owners of a number of portable steam saw-mills, and carried on an extensive and lucrative business by buying tracts of standing timber, which he converted into wood and lumber, and sold at a fair price. A self-made man in every sense of the phrase, he owed his present success in life to his industry and enterprise. In politics he supported the Republican party. He died July 5, 1898.

On October 19, 1859, Mr. Thompson first married Ruth E. Cunningham, of Spencer, who died May 5, 1861, leaving one daughter, Ida P. A second marriage united him with Mary L. Snow, also of Spencer, on November

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15, 1864. Mrs. Mary L. Thompson has two children - Arthur E. and Mary A. She is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

DWARD D. LEONARD, an energetic farmer of West Sutton, was born in this town, April 2, 1862, son of Darius Putnam and Rosaltha A. (Hewett) Leonard. The first of the family to settle in Sutton was the great-grandfather, Jesse Leonard. The grandfather, Bethuel, who was the first scythe- maker in this country, married Polly Putnam, a grand-daughter of David Putnam, the cousin of Generals Israel and Rufus Putnam. Darius Putnam Leonard, who was a lifelong resident of Sutton, married Rosaltha A. Hewett, of Auburn, who bore him four sons and one daughter; namely, William, Arthur, Reuben Leonard, Frances, and Edward D. Of Ed- ward's brothers, all of whom reside in Marl- boro, Mass., William is a brick-mason, and Arthur is a contractor. Frances is the wife of Charles Dudley, of Webster, Mass.

After receiving his education in the public schools of Sutton, Edward D. Leonard learned the chair-maker's trade at Hayward Brothers' factory in Gardner, and followed it subse- quently for six years. Then, believing that outdoor exercise would benefit his health, he settled upon a farm in West Sutton, formerly the property of the late Newell Lackey, and has since given his attention to agriculture. He has been the superintendent of the Sunday- school for three years. For five years he served the town in the capacity of Road Com- missioner, and he is now a member of the Board of Assessors.

Mr. Leonard married Charlotte Lackey, a daughter of Newell Lackey, of this town. She is of Scotch-Irish origin and a descendant of Matthew Lackey, who emigrated to America in 1735. Matthew's second son, Matthew, who was the great-grandfather of Newell Lackey, settled in Sutton in 1742. Mrs. Leonard's father, an industrious farmer and a prominent citizen, who, with the help of his excellent wife acquired a good estate, served as Selectman, Overseer of the Poor, and upon the

School Committee. He married Sarah Chace Wheeler, a grand-daughter of Captain Ambrose Chase and a descendant of Isaac Chase, who settled in Sutton among the pioneers, and bought his land of the Indians. Mrs. Leon- ard's brother, Eugene Lackey, enlisted with Sutton's quota of volunteers, and served in the Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard have two children : Flora, born in 1885; and Edna, born in 1892.

HEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN FISHER, an expert machinist in the employ of the Harrington & Richard- son Firearms Company, of Worcester, was born in Boston, March 27, 1838, son of Wash- ington F. and Mary Ann (Chase) Fisher. His father, who was born in Walpole, and who was an expert car builder, followed this occupation at Norwich, Conn., Boston, Mass., Buffalo, N. Y., and at Worcester, Mass., successively. The family is said to be of Welsh ancestry.

Theodore F. Fisher attended school in Bos- ton until sixteen years of age. He there learned the machinist's trade, becoming an expert workman. Subsequently he was asso- ciated in business with his father in Norwich and Buffalo. Coming with him to Worcester, he soon obtained a position in the factory of the Harrington & Richardson Firearms Com- pany, and has since remained with that firm. Proving himself an expert workman, he has been advanced successively to higher positions until - he is now given work requiring the highest mechanical skill. He unites care and preci- sion with great rapidity of execution, and his ability has contributed in no small degree to the high reputation of the company in whose employ he has been for the past thirty-seven years. With his fixity of purpose and deter- mination to succeed in his especial line of work he has given little attention to politics, and has never sought public office.

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 93

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