Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 98

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 98

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In 1881 Mr. Johnson established agencies in New York, Boston, and other large cities of the United States; and his goods became known in all sections of the country. Agen- cies were also started in Canada and Mexico. Besides manufacturing fire-arms under their

own patents, the firm made drop-forgings; and in 1885 they entered upon the manufacture of bicycles. Mr. Johnson removed to Fitchburg in 1891, purchasing the plant owned by the Walter Haywood Chair Manufacturing Com- pany. At that time the firm had made about one thousand bicycles. The business had been increased, up to 1891, to seven thousand bicy- cles; and now they make fifteen thousand a year, together with a large quantity of fire- arms and single shot - guns, giving employ- ment to between seven hundred and eight hundred employees. The Iver Johnson's Arms and Cycle Works comprise five brick build- ings, each as large as an ordinary factory, containing one hundred and fifty thousand feet of floorage. They are equipped with all mod- ern conveniences, including five appliances, heating, and ventilating arrangements, electric lights and bells, speaking tubes, telephones for all departments, elevators, three five-hundred- light dynamos, modern machinery, and tools. They have large wholesale and retail depots in New York, Boston, Worcester, and Fitchburg, with an office and branch in London, England. A skilled force of metallurgists is employed ; and there is every facility for testing, both chemically and mechanically.

Iver Johnson's Arms and Cycles are known throughout the civilized world as "honest goods at honest prices," being so named by the dealers. The firm make their own forg- ings; also their peculiar construction of flush joints, which they originated. It is a funda- mental principle of theirs not to buy any part which can be made within their own factory. Their output of fire - arms and shot - guns is larger than all the small fire-arms manufact- urers in this country combined. The popular- ity of Iver Johnson fire-arms is due to excel- lent workmanship, obtained by long experience, exceptional facilities, and superior ingenuity.

While living in Worcester, Mr. Johnson was a director of the Sovereign's Co-operative Store and of three co-operative banks of that city, the president of the Equity Co-operative bank for several years, the vice-president of the Home Co-operative Bank, and a charter mem- ber of all three banks. In politics he was a Republican, although he never held public

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office; and he was a close student of economic questions. A member of Worcester Lodge, he was a thirty - second degree Mason and a Shriner.

He resided in Worcester for a time after moving his business to Fitchburg, but eventu- ally he took up his residence here, selling his Worcester home and severing his connections with that city.

Mr. Johnson was married in 1869 to Mary Elizabeth Speirs, of Norwich, Conn., who bore him four children : Fred Iver, J. Lovell, Wal- ter O., and Mary L., all of whom were born in Worcester. Fred I. was educated at the Worcester Academy, and is manager of the estate; J. Lovell received his education at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Bry- ant & Stratton Commercial College, Boston, Mass. ; and Walter O. is at present a student in the mechanical department of the Drexel Institute, Philadelphia. In failing health for some time previously, Mr. Johnson died Au- gust 3, 1895. At this time he was a director of the Fitchburg National Bank, a trustee of the Fitchburg Savings Bank, and the president of the Iver Johnson Sporting Goods Company.

ON. LEDYARD BILL, a prominent and highly esteemed citizen of the town of Paxton, is one of the best known men of Worcester County. He was born in 1836 in that part of Groton, Conn., which on the day of his birth was in- corporated as a town, and in honor of the gal- lant colonel who commanded the garrison at Fort Griswold during the Revolution, and there lost his life, received the name of Ledyard. The legislative committee, learning of the op- portune appearance of the young citizen in the new municipality, requested, as a favor to themselves, that he be christened Ledyard Bill.

He is of English ancestry, being a lineal descendant of Philip Bill,2 who is believed to have been a son of John1 and Dorothy Bill and a brother of James2 and Thomas2 Bill, all early emigrants to New England. The family ap- pears to have been closely connected with that of Governor Winthrop. Deane Winthrop and James Bill lived at Pullen Point, now in the

town of Winthrop. Philip Bill and John Win- throp, Jr., went to Connecticut, locating in Groton, which was the home of a number of generations of one branch of the Bill family. Richard Bill, a descendant of Thomas Bill, son of John and Dorothy, was a business man in Boston and a member of the Governor's Coun- cil of the province for four successive years. He was a firm friend of John Hancock, the patriot. Richard Bill's portrait, after the original by Copley, graces the walls of Mr. Bill's Paxton residence. A copy likewise of the same is to be seen in the State House, Boston. Joshua Bill, the grandfather of Led- yard, was a brave minuteman in the Revolu- tion. He was wounded at the engagement at Fort Griswold. His son Gurdon, Mr. Bill's father, was for many years a teacher, then a merchant, and at a later period a successful farmer of Ledyard, Conn.

Ledyard Bill grew to man's estate on his father's farm. He first established himself in business as a publisher in Louisville, Ky., where he continued until after the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, when on account of the demoralized condition of business he returned North and settled in New York City. He there carried on a successful publishing business until forced to retire from active pur- suits on account of ill health. Since then he has made his home in Paxton, and among the good people of this vicinity has won a place of influence: He is a warm friend of the farmers, and at all times a champion of their rights and privileges. This was especially notable when in 1891, as a Representative to the General Court from Paxton, he was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, and worked hard for the passage of the oleomargarine bill, which became a law, largely through his ef- forts. He also defeated the noted "salary grab " of the legislature. In 1894 and 1895, in a district previously Democratic for four years, he was elected as State Senator, the first year by a majority of one thousand, which the next year was increased by five hundred votes, a grand victory for the Republicans and a great compliment to Mr. Bill, who led every other candidate on the ticket.

Mr. Bill is a man of literary tastes and

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activity, and has published several volumes of interest, among them being "A Winter in Florida," a work on Minnesota, a genealogy of the Bill family, and a history of Paxton. An enthusiastic antiquary, he is a life mem- ber of the New England Historic Genealogical Society ; a corresponding member of the Wis- consin Historical Society, of Madison, Wis. ; a life member of the Long Island Historical Society, of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; and a member of the New London Historical Society, of Con- necticut; and he is president of the Oroskaso Historical Society of Worcester County. He is an honorary member of the American Me- chanics, a Knight of the Essenic Order, and an associate member of the Worcester Post, G. A. R.

Mr. Bill married Miss Sophie Earle, who was born and bred in Paxton. They have three children, namely : one son, Frederic L., who was graduated from Amherst College; and two daughters, Bertha Earle and Lucy S.

G EORGE F. SARGENT, an enterpris- ing boot and shoe dealer of North- boro, was born in Hubbardston, Mass., in 1854, son of Sidney H. Sargent. The first ancestor of the family of whom there is any authentic knowledge was William Sar- gent, who was one of the early settlers of Malden, Mass., and owned a large tract of land in that town, Some of his descendants settled in Lancaster, Mass. It is related that, when the minute-men were marching to Lexington in 1775, they stopped at the Sar- gent homestead for breakfast, and that, while they were partaking of the meal, the women of the house melted the lead clock-weights into bullets. Daniel Sargent, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a man of com- manding presence, resided in Hubbardston and Petersham, was in well-to-do circumstances, and lived to be over eighty years old. He served as a Captain in the State militia, was Constable for a number of years, and a chor- ister in church.

Sidney H. Sargent, one of Daniel's ten children, was born in Hubbardston. When a young man he learned the shoemaker's trade.

Later he did some contracting, following that business until 1861, when he enlisted in the Thirty-second Regiment, Massachusetts Vol- unteers, joining a company that was com- manded by his warm personal friend, Cap- tain George L. Prescott, of Concord Mass. The Thirty-second was mustered into service at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, from which point it was transported South; and it entered into active service in Virginia. Sidney H. Sargent remained with his company until com- pletely exhausted by long-continued marching. On one occasion, while lying in his tent, his knapsack was shot from under his head. He was at length taken to the hospital at Alex- andria, where he died in the fall of 1862, and was buried in the cemetery attached to the hospital. His wife, being notified of his seri- ous illness, went on to Alexandria, expecting to find him living, but instead found only his grave. His body, with those of others, has since been transferred, it is said, to the Na- tional Cemetery at Arlington.

Mr. Sargent married Miss Hannah Rice, daughter of Ralph Rice, of Hubbardston. She was the mother of three children, one of whom died in infancy. The survivors are: Harriet B. ; and George Franklin Sargent, the subject of this sketch. Harriet B. Sargent, who was graduated from the Worcester (Mass.) Normal School and afterward studied abroad, has devoted her life to educational work, and is now teaching at the Penn Charter Institute in Philadelphia, Pa.

George F. Sargent completed his education at the Wilbraham Academy, during which period he taught school winters and one term the following winter. At the age of twenty- one he went West, and was there employed as commercial traveller for two years. After- ward he was connected with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway for ten years, making his headquarters at Oil City. While residing there he was also engaged in the whole- sale produce business. He retired from the company's service in March, 1889, receiving a most flattering testimonial from the head of the department in shape of a letter commend- atory of his business ability and character, and wishing him success in his new field, In

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July, 1889, he came to Northboro and pur- chased the boot and shoe store which he has since successfully conducted.

Mr. Sargent married Anna E. Clement, daughter of Rufus Clement, of Petersham, and has two children - Rufus Theodore and Ethel Clement. Though not an aspirant to public office, he is keenly alive to the needs and interests of the town, and has taken an active part in its improvement. Besides serv- ing as a member of the Board of Water Com- missioners, he is registrar of the board; and he was on the committee which erected the Gale Public Library. He is connected with the Royal Arcanum, and is a member of the Unitarian church. Mrs. Sargent, who pos- sesses rare intellectual ability, has been a member of the School Board, the secretary of the Northboro Social Club, and a member of the Music Committee of the Unitarian church and of the Reading Circle.

YRUS H. MENTZER, one of the best-known residents of Northboro, was born in Sterling, Mass., Janu- ary 23, 1844, son of Cyrus and Mary S. (Fay) Mentzer. His grandfather, Philip Andrew Mentzer, was for many years a pros- perous wheelwright of Westford, Mass. Cyrus was educated in the public schools of North- boro. At the age of eighteen years he enlisted in the Fifty-first Massachusetts Volunteer In- fantry, Colonel A. B. R. Sprague, and served in the Eighteenth Army Corps under General Foster. He was on duty for some time in North Carolina, and afterward at Fortress Monroe. Then he went to Baltimore, from which place he took prisoners to Fort Mc- Henry. After the battle of Gettysburg he went to Harper's Ferry, and was encamped on Maryland Heights. At the expiration of nine months, his term of enlistment, he was honorably discharged, and returned to Massa- chusetts, locating in Northboro. In 1872 he removed to Reading, where he remained four years. Returning to Northboro in 1875, he was here engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1893, when he moved to the village and estab- lished himself in the undertaking business,

which he has since followed successfully. During the past five years he has had charge of the cemetery, in which he has made many improvements.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Mentzer has served on the Republican Town Committee and filled various town offices. In 1877, 1878, 1879, 1881, 1882, 1883, and 1895 he was a member of the Board of Selectmen, being the chairman for a portion of the time; and for five years he has been the chairman of the Cemetery Committee. He was made a Mason in Reading; and after returning to Northboro he became a member of Houghton Chapter, R. A. M., of Marlboro, and of Trinity Com- mandery, K. T., of Hudson. He was a char- ter member of Joe Johnson Post, G. A. R., of Northboro, and is now a member of Post No. 161, of Woburn. His first wife, a lady of Reading, Mass., whose name in maidenhood was Abbie M. Nelson, died in 1875, at the age of twenty-seven years. He contracted a second marriage on June 24, 1885, with Miss Irene P. Harris, of Woburn, Mass.

EWIS HENSHAW, a veteran agricult- urist of East Brookfield, son of Baxter Henshaw, was born in Brookfield, September 5, 1821. He is a de- scendant of one of the early settlers of this section of Worcester County, his grandfather, Joshua Henshaw, having located here when a young man, and having afterward contributed his full share toward the upbuilding of the town which was to be his permanent home. The father, who spent his entire life in Brook- field, was for many years one of its leading citizens. He adhered through life to the occupation in which he was reared, and was recognized as a skilful agriculturist. Inter- ested in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the town and county, he was a most desir- able official, and for several years served as Selectman. He married Lovisa Adams, also of Brookfield. Of their children, the survivors are : Melinda, the widow of James Howland, late of this town; Lewis, the subject of this sketch; Louisa A., the wife of George Ken- drick, of West Brookfield; Charles R., of

CYRUS H. MENTZER.

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Brookfield; and Lucy E., the widow of the late William Pierce, of this town. The de- ceased children were : Elbridge, Loring, and George.

Lewis Henshaw had what regular schooling the neighborhood afforded, a few weeks each winter at the little red school-house. The knowledge there obtained he supplemented by reading and by practical experience. On reaching man's estate he left the parental homestead to begin the battle of life for him- self. For two years he worked as a farm laborer. Then he turned his attention to shoemaking, which he followed continuously for a number of years. Soon after his mar- riage he purchased his present farm of one hundred acres in East Brookfield, where he has been successfully engaged in general farming, including, to some extent, lumbering, dairying, and stock-raising. An unswerving Republi- can in politics, he has faithfully served his town as Selectman, besides which he has held many offices of minor importance, and on sev- eral occasions has acted as juryman. When a boy of ten years he became actively inter- ested in the temperance cause, of which he has since been an ardent advocate. He takes a pardonable pride in the fact that he has never tasted spirituous liquors.

On October 23, 1845, Mr. Henshaw married Clarinda W., daughter of Welcome Wood, of Brookfield, Mass. He has had three children, namely : Royal L., now of New York City ; Lovisa M., who is now the wife of Charles Varney, and has four children - Florence A., Leah B., Charles R., and Raymond L. ; and a babe, who is now deceased.

OSES DUDLEY GILMAN, a Civil War veteran and an esteemed resident of Worcester, was born in Canada, May 23, 1846. A son of Roswell M. Gilman, who was born in Canada in 1823, he is a grandson of Moses Gilman, a native of Gilmanton, N. H., who settled in the Dominion. Moses Gilman had four sons and three daughters. Two of the latter are living. Roswell M. Gilman, who was a farmer, spent his last days in Auburn,

Mass., where he died in 1870. He married a Miss Heath, a native of Canada, both of whose parents belonged to the United States. She became the mother of six children, three of whom are living, namely : Moses D., the sub- ject of this sketch; Helen, the wife of E. D. Gleason, of Worcester; and Chandler G., of this city. Another son, Albert L. Gilman, who was a carriage-maker in Worcester, died in August, 1896, leaving a widow. He had two children: Jennie, who married Manley Pendleton, and died in 1883; and Mary, who married Henry Walker, and died in North Adams, Mass., in 1894. Chandler G. Gil- man is now conducting the business on Thomas Street formerly carried on by his brother, Albert L.

Moses Dudley Gilman received a common- school education. At the age of ten years he began to make himself useful upon his father's farm, and continued in that occupation until the fall of 1864. Then he enlisted in Com- pany M, Third Massachusetts Volunteer Cav- alry, for nine months. He served in the Civil War until its close, and after the Grand Re- view in Washington his regiment was sent West to the Indian country, where he re- mained until mustered out. After his return he learned the confectionery business with L. R. Hudson, for whom he had previously driven a team, and remained with him for six years. In 1873 he purchased the business, and thereafter carried it on successfully for twenty years. Then he sold out to F. E. Young and retired. He owns some valuable real estate. In 1896 he completed the erec- tion of a fine business block, seventy by one hundred and twenty feet, at the corner of Main and Thomas Streets. He was a member of the Common Council for four years, of the Board of Aldermen for three years, and a Represent- ative to the legislature for two years. His public services have made him a well-known figure in local affairs. Politically, he is a Republican.

On January 9, 1870, Mr. Gilman married Amelia S. Burgess, of this city, a daughter of Alvan T. Burgess. He has had three chil- dren, namely: Terry Burgess Gilman, who died at the age of three years and eight

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months; Sadie, who died at the age of eleven years; and Amelia, who was born May 16, 1891. Mr. Gilman is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias, and a comrade of the Grand Army of the Re- public. For three years he was a trustee of the Mechanics' Association; and he is an ex- president of the Sportsman Club, of which he has been a member for twenty years. He has resided at 45 Prospect Street since 1881. Mr and Mrs. Gilman are members of the parish of the Universalist church.

LANSON GIBSON HINDS, for more than thirty years connected with the leading boot and shoe manufactories of Worcester, Mass., died at his home in this city, November 1I, 1894. Born in Hubbardston, Mass., February 26, 1812, son of Calvin and Susie (Clark) Hinds, both natives of that town, he was a lineal descend- ant of James Hinds, who came from England in 1637, and, settling at Salem, Mass., was enrolled as freeman and received a grant of land in 1638.

When Alanson was nine years of age his mother died, leaving her husband and eight children. The family were soon scattered, and during the years directly following Alan- son lived successively in Barre, Hubbardston, and New Braintree, Mass. In those days girls and boys had to work, and he was no exception to the rule. As he often remarked in remi- niscence, "all that could be gotten out of chil- dren was considered clear gain." He was kept constantly busy with farm work except a few weeks in the winter, when he attended the district school. To be able to "figger" through the "Rule of Three " was considered education enough. When about twenty years of age he went to Brookfield, Mass., and learned the tanner's and currier's trade, one of the best trades of the day. In April, 1833, he settled in Grafton, Mass., working at his trade for a time, later making himself conversant with all branches of boot and shoe making. With the exception of bottoming, he could take the raw hide and bring it to completion in the well-made boot or shoe.

Desirous of engaging in business on his own account in the forties, he established a boot and shoe factory in Grafton, Mass., and with competent assistants in his shop founded a suc- cessful business, and won an excellent reputa- tion for substantial and durable goods. He became known throughout the community as a man of honest integrity, whose word was .as good as his bond, he being scrupulously up- right in all his transactions and held in high regard by his employees. Boston was the centre of trade, buyers coming there from far and near; and the most of his goods were sold in that city. In the fifties he opened a store in Dubuque, Ia., spending a part of the year riding over the prairies to sell goods. In the financial crisis of 1857, when it was impos- sible to get money from the banks, and pay- ments were not made, he was obliged to become insolvent, with assets more than lia- bilities, could they have been collected. He deemed it wise to avoid risks during the sub- sequent hard times. In April, 1863, he lo- cated in Worcester, Mass., which was a centre for boot and shoe trade. He was engaged with the leading manufactories, including the Walkers -father and sons - J. H. Walker, E. N. Childs, S. R. Heywood, and others, utilizing his practical knowledge to their ad- vantage, continuing in this line until his re- tirement from business at eighty years of age. He was not an "old man " : for over fifty years he employed a doctor but once. He attributed his excellent health to temperate habits, mak- ing no use of tobacco. A stanch supporter of the Republican party, he was interested in the political and moral problems of the day and in all progressive thought. He was a devoted member of the Unitarian church in Grafton thirty years, and afterward of the Church of the Unity in Worcester, rarely missing a ser- vice for a quarter of a century. He was quiet and domestic in his tastes, enjoying to the ut- most the comforts of his pleasant and hospita- ble home, appreciating refinement wherever found, in lives, in books, in music. At an early age he taught himself to play the clari- net, and for years he was considered the best clarinet player in this part of the country. He played in church thirty years, and also for

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dancing. This, with the exception of an oc- casional concert given by the old Mozart So- ciety in the old City Hall, was as far as music had then advanced in Worcester. The coming of Theodore Thomas with his orchestra in the seventies, and of the Boston Symphony in later years, were sources of great satisfaction to him.

Mr. Hinds was married October 4, 1838, to Dianthia R. McKnight, of Grafton. She was born in Sutton, Mass., a daughter of Reuben and Sarah (Dudley) Mcknight. Her grand- father, Thomas McKnight, came to this coun- try from England with the British army during the Revolutionary War. His sympathy being shortly enlisted in behalf of the struggling colonists, he boldly and deliberately deserted, and after many hardships and narrow escapes from his pursuers he succeeded in joining the American forces. He fought for independence until the close of the war. He settled in Dudley, Mass. He married Annie Stewart, who was the mother of twenty-seven children, twenty-four of whom lived. Reuben was the youngest. The eldest sons were among the early settlers of Montpelier, Vt. The chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Hinds were: Harriet E., who died October 7, 1878; Ednah A., who died in April, 1857; and Fannie A.

At the close of Mr. Hinds's life it was remarked by friends who had known him for many years that they did not think he had an enemy, or that knowingly he had ever cheated a person out of a cent. He placed his ideals high, and sought to reach them. Such lives are the salt that sweetens the earth.

FU ENRY

THEODORE CHEEVER, D. D., for many years a well-known and highly esteemed resident of Worcester, Mass., was born in Hal- lowell, Me., on February 6, 1814, his parents being Nathaniel and Charlotte (Barrell)

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Biographical review containing life sketches of leading citizens of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Part 98

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