USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Biographical review; this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Franklin County, Massachusetts .. > Part 14
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OLON J. OLIVER is an excellent representative of the industrial in- terests of North Orange, being prosperously engaged in a mercantile dairy and blacksmithing business, and noted throughout this locality for his enterprise and practical ability. He was born June 21, 1845, in the town of Athol, Worcester County, his parents, Franklin and Emily (Woodward) Oliver, having been natives of the same place. His grandfather, Esquire James Oliver, was a direct descendant of the Olivers who emigrated from Scotland to the north of Ireland, and thence to America. Four brothers - John, Robert, William, and James - came to Massachusetts in the fall of 1735 or spring of 1736, staying for a short time in Hatfield, and thence going to Athol, and settling on Lyon's Hill. Robert, Will- iam, and James subsequently removed to other States, John alone remaining. His chil- dren were: Aaron, Jemima, Moses, Rachel, Hannah, Zirvah, Mary, Amara, John, Jr., Rachel, second, and Elizabeth. Aaron mar- ried, settled in Athol, and had the following children : Meribah, George, James, Caleb, Asaph, Mary, and Lucy, James, the third child, being the Esquire James Oliver above mentioned. This intelligent and influential citizen spent his entire life in Athol, where, having been bred to agricultural pursuits, he bought a farm pleasantly located on Lyon's Hill; and in addition to general husbandry he ran a distillery for many years. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Kendall, seven children were born; namely, Aaron, James, Cinda, Franklin, Lucinda, Thomas, and Nancy. He was also a civil en- gineer, and in that capacity assisted in survey- ing and laying out much of the land in that vicinity. A man of much general information and of sound sense, his opinion was highly
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valued on the important questions of the day; and for a number of years he served as Justice of the Peace and as Deputy Sheriff. Politi- cally, he was a stanch member of the old Whig party, and on the formation of the Re- publican party became identified with that.
Franklin Oliver was born March 24, 1810, and lived and died in the vicinity of his native place. He began his life career as a clerk for his brother, in a store of general merchandise, afterward working in a pail and tub factory. He then started in business for himself, run- ning a store of general merchandise for several years, and buying timber lots at South Athol, where he also erected a saw-mill, and, clearing off the land, manufactured lumber, in which he was an extensive dealer, continuing in this occupation until his decease, in the eightieth year of his age. His wife Emily, a daughter of Bartholomew Woodward, a well - to - do farmer of Athol, died in the prime of life, being but fifty-four years old. She was an amiable and estimable Christian woman, and a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he likewise belonged. Their family consisted of eleven children; namely, Ozi, Sylvenus E., Otis, Franklin, Jr., Sally E., Franklin, second, Solon J., Orville O., Orrin O., Edd O., and Lilia E. Of these Franklin, the fourth child, died before the end of his second year; and Sylvenus died in An- dersonville Prison, at the age of twenty-nine, having been captured by the Confederates at the battle of Cold Harbor. He was a private in the Massachusetts Volunteers, enlisting in 1861 with three other brothers, who remained in the army to the close of the war. The re- maining nine children are all now living, all but one of them married and having families and children.
Solon J. Oliver was reared in the place of his nativity, and in its public schools obtained
a good education. His natural ability led him to select a mechanical occupation; and at the age of eighteen years he left the paternal roof-tree, coming to North Orange, where he secured work with the Furniture Manufactur- ing Company, with whom he remained for six years. At the expiration of that period Mr. Oliver, who was a young man of a good deal of push and energy, in connection with Mr. N. F. Blodgett, opened a blacksmith's shop; and at the death of Mr. Blodgett he bought out his interest in the same, and has since conducted it alone, having won the confidence and the patronage of hosts of people. His accumulations have been wisely invested. A few years since he bought the farm at North Orange known as the Captain Bishop place, adding to it by the purchase of other lands, making a farm of upward of eighty acres; and here he keeps a small dairy. In 1890 Mr. Oliver added to his other industries the busi- ness of a merchant, buying the Johnson store, where he carries a fine stock of general mer- chandise, well adapted to meet the wants of his numerous customers. A busier and more popular man in this section of the county it would be hard to find, he being Assistant Postmaster, and for three years was Tax Col- lector, besides attending to his private inter- ests. In him the Prohibition party finds one of its most earnest advocates, and the A. P. A. Association, the Good Templars, and the North Orange Grange an esteemed and influ- ential member, as does also the North Orange Co-operative Creamery Association. Relig- iously, he is a faithful member of the Congre- gational church, superintendent of its Sunday- school, and a worker of the Christian En- deavor Society.
In 1868 Mr. Oliver was united in marriage with Angela M. Putnam, who was born in North Orange, October 30, 1848, being one of
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the five children of Joseph K. and Sophia B. (Bishop) Putnam. Mr. Putnam was a native of New Salem, but after his marriage settled in North Orange, where his death occurred, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. His wife sur- vived him many years, living until seventy- two years old. Their children were: Jane, Julia (the first), Julia (the second), Angela, and George. The wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver has been made happy by the birth of four children, namely: George S., born September 8, 1870, now a resident of Boston ; Walton F., born July 28, 1874; Arthur C., born September 23, 1882; and Urban M., born September 12, 1889.
ILLIAM E. KEITH, a young and progressive lawyer and highly re- spected citizen of Shelburne Falls, Mass., was born in Jackson, Me., August 28, 1871, son of Justin L. and Angeline (Craig) Keith and grandson of Samuel Stillman Keith. The latter was a native of Brooks, Me., where he successfully followed the healthful vocation of an agriculturist. He died in Jackson, Me., at eighty-five years of age. In political affiliation he was a Repub- lican, and in olden times a Whig. Samuel Stillman Keith married Thankful N. Ellis, who bore him four sons and five daugh- ters, as follows: Stillman, Isaiah, Justin L., William, Emily, Caroline, Sarah, Eliza, and Mary Elizabeth.
Justin L. Keith was born in Brooks, Me., in 1839, and spent his early youth there on his father's farm. At twelve years of age he went to Belfast, Me., where he was appren- ticed to the trade of a shoemaker; and at the age of eighteen he carried on the business on a small scale for a short time at Dixmont, Me., doing the work by hand. Later on he
continued that business in Monroe, Me., from which place he went to Jackson, where, in connection with his trade, he engaged in agriculture, purchasing a farm of one hundred acres, on which he erected a large barn and finished other buildings, and remaining there sixteen years. In 1876 he moved to Still- water, Me., and two years later engaged in business in Oldtown, Me. It was in the last- named place that he began to attract especial attention as the manufacturer of the Keith River Driving Boot, of which he was the originator. From a small beginning, with but one or two men, his business rapidly in- creased; and a factory was afterward erected, in order to meet the demands for his specialty. Still later, in 1893, his son Alford Justin being then in business with him, they gave up the hand work, and put in machinery; and in 1895 a stock company was formed, known as the Keith Shoe Company, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. They now em- ploy about fifty hands, and are doing a very successful business. His wife, Angeline Craig Keith, was a daughter of William Craig. They are the parents of five children, namely : Alice J., the wife of Samuel Elmer, who lives in Buckland, Mass., and has two children - Blanche and Blaine Everett; Al- ford J. Keith, who is a graduate of the Maine State College, class of 1880, a civil engineer by profession, and who married Miss Hattie Ballard, by whom he has two children -- Bal- lard and Marian -and is now in business with his father; Samuel S. Keith, who mar- ried Miss Eliza Clancy, and is engaged in the retail boot and shoe business in Bangor, Me .; Wilson P. Keith, who died in 1890, at twenty- two years of age; and William E. Keith. In politics the father is a Republican, and in religious views he is liberal.
William E. Keith received his early educa-
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tion in the public schools of Oldtown, Me .; and later on he attended the Maine State Col- legc, where, like his older brother, Alford J., he took up civil engineering. He then studied medicine with Dr. Charles B. Porter, but afterward returned to college, and fitted for law, which he studied with Joseph F. Gould, of Oldtown, Me., Samuel T. Fields, of Shelburne Falls, Mass., and Peregrine White, of Bangor, Me. During his college days he taught the grammar school at Great- works, Me., in 1889, and later, in 1891, the village school at Veazie, Me. During his college course he took an active interest in athletics, playing on the 'Varsity Base-ball Team five seasons in succession, captaining the same a part of the time. He was Captain of the Coburn Cadets of the military depart- ment connected with the college during his Senior year. William E. Keith was admitted to the Penobscot bar at Bangor, Me., in Au- gust, 1894, and to the Franklin County bar at Greenfield, Mass., in May, 1895. Mr. Keith commenced practice at Oldtown, Me .; and in April, 1895, he came to Shelburne Falls, where he is fast gaining a reputation. He has an office in the Bank Building on Bridge Street. Mr. Keith is a stanch Republican and an active man in his party. In religious belief he is a Universalist.
EORGE ANDREWS COOKE, M.D., a young and popular physician and surgeon of Miller's Falls, Mass., is a native of New Britain, Conn., where he was born November 8, 1866, being the son of Frank Homer and Mary (Andrews) Cooke. David W. Cookc, Doctor Cooke's paternal grandfather, was a native of South Hadley, Mass. He followed the vocation of a contrac- tor and builder in Worcester, and there gained
such a reputation for good workmanship that he was engaged on many of the fincst build- ings erected at that timc, among which was the Asylum for the Insane, where he had full charge, being State Superintendent over all contractors in its crection. His last years were spent in Worcester, where he died, at the age of seventy-nine.
Frank Homer Cooke was born in Belcher- town, Mass. His special line of work was ornamental painting, in which he was very successful, and which he learned under the guidance of Major Stiles, of Worcester, one of the best decorative painters in that city. Mr. Cooke was engaged by the Worcester Car Company to do the frescoing on the inside of railway cars. Unhappily, the nature of his occupation shortened his days, his death at thirty-two years of age resulting from lead poisoning. His wife was Mary Andrews, the youngest daughter of Dr. John A. Andrews, of Worcester, who for sixty-three years has been engaged in successful practice. He is a graduate of the University of Vermont, which was formerly located at Woodstock, and also of Batavia College in Forsythe, Ga. The record of Dr. Andrews's children, of whom four are now living, is as follows: William is a farmer in Montague; John is a brass- moulder in Worcester; Orrin, the youngest son, who practised medicine in Wendell, Mass., for twenty years, died in that place in 1879; Melinda married Major Stiles, of Worcester; Mary is Mrs. Cooke, as above mentioned. Their father, the venerable Doc- tor, is still living in Worcester, being now, in 1895, ninety-three years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Frank H. Cooke reared two children : George Andrews; and Frank, who was edu- cated at Becker's Business College in Worces- ter. Mrs. Cooke is a Unitarian, as was her husband.
GEORGE A. COOKE.
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George Andrews Cooke was but eleven years old at the time of his father's death, after which he made his home with Major and Mrs. Stiles, the latter being his aunt. While he lived with them, he attended school in Worcester, and at the age of sixteen began the study of medicine under the guidance of Dr. J. A. Andrews, his maternal grandfather, with whom he continued two years, and then went to Marlboro, Mass., where for three years he studied with Dr. S. S. Shepherd. He next spent three years in the Long Island College Hospital, where he was taken with a seven months' illness. On his recovery Dr. Cooke went to Boston, and there engaged in regular practice in connection with Dr. F. F. Whit- tier, an eye specialist, in Tremont Temple. In addition to this Dr. Cooke had charge of the Ruggles Street Dispensary, was a member of the surgical staff of the North End Hospital on Charter Street, and also had visiting days at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Blackstone Square. The multiplicity of his duties and the amount of time he was obliged to devote to them (being frequently engaged from eight in the morning to eleven or twelve o'clock at night) soon told upon his strength ; and, find- ing that his health was breaking down, he left Boston, and came to Miller's Falls, where he has had a constantly increasing practice, be- sides being often called to surrounding towns in consultation on serious medical cases, and also in cases where surgical skill is required, as he makes a specialty of surgery. He also has a special diploma for physical diagnosis. His office is on Main Street, opposite the O'Keefe Hotel, in the Amidon Block.
On September 9, 1889, Dr. George A. Cooke was married to Carrie E. Emerson, daughter of Parker F. Emerson, superintend- ent of a shoe and leather concern in Ashe- ville, N.C., in which place the ceremony was
performed. She was born in Manchester, Mass., being one of four children, and was educated at the English High School of Marlboro, where her father was at one time superintendent of the Boyd & Corey Leather Company, the second largest in the world. Mrs. Cooke was a most lovable and beautiful young woman, a devout member of the Unita- rian church; and her death, May 12, 1891, but three months after the completion of her husband's college course, was a severe be- reavement to the young doctor, just starting on his life-work. On June 5, 1895, Dr. Cooke was married to Miss Lydia Cecil Bemis, of Worcester, Mass. Miss Bemis was born in Southboro, Mass .; but her parents now live in East Woodstock, Conn., her father being an extensive market gardener.
In politics Dr. Cooke is a Republican ; and, socially, he belongs to the A. F. & A. M., being a Master Mason of Bay State Blue Lodge of Montague and a member of Franklin Royal Arch Chapter of Greenfield. Dr. Cooke is likewise a member of the Massa- chusetts Medical Society of Greenfield, and is medical examiner for the State Mutual Life Insurance Company of Worcester, the Green- field Life Association of Greenfield, Mass., and railroad surgeon for the Fitchburg and New London & Northern Railroads. He is an attendant of the Unitarian church.
A faithful likeness of Dr. George A. will be found among the portraits that illustrate the present volume.
ILLIAM E. RYTHER, who was a printer by trade and for some years a successful newspaper publisher in Brattleboro, Vt., spent the last forty-two years of his long and active life in his native town, Bernardston, Mass., where he died, August I,
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1893. He was born April 5, 1807, son of Gideon and Sylvia (Alexander) Ryther. His grandfather, David Ryther, who was of Eng- lish descent, settled in Bernardston about 1740, buying a large traet of land, and build- ing the house which is still known as the Ryther home. He was the father of twelve children, as follows: Hannah, David (first), Peter, Hophpi, Rebecca, Martha, David (see- ond), Abigail, John, Anna, Elihu, and Gideon.
Gideon Ryther was born in Bernardston, November 28, 1768. He graduated from Dartmouth College about 1790, when twenty- two years of age, and then studied medicine with Dr. Prentice, of Northfield, Mass., after which he settled in Bernardston, where he re- sided till his death. Dr. Ryther was a sue- eessful physician, but not a good financier, being very moderate in his charges and too lenient in collecting fees to lay up for himself any great worldly treasure; but he left a fra- grant memory for deeds of charity, and was rieh in the blessings showered on him by the poor. Dr. Ryther married Sylvia Alexander, who was born in Northfield, Mass., November 16, 1764. They had a family of eight ehil- dren, the youngest being William E., of the present sketeh. The others were as follows: Alphae, born February 3, 1792; Martha, born October 3, 1793; Alexander, born August I, 1795; Sophia, born Mareh 12, 1797; Charles Jarvis, born February 26, 1799; Dwight L., born April 9, 1801 ; Sylvia A., born February 17, 1803. All are now deceased.
William E. Ryther was educated and grew to manhood in the town of Bernardston. At fourteen years of age he was apprentieed to Mr. Phelps, of Greenfield, to learn the printer's trade. Leaving Mr. Phelps, he worked two or three years at his trade in Springfield, Mass., but returned, and finished
his apprenticeship. He subsequently went to Brattleboro, Vt., and there beeame the pub- lisher of the Independent Inquirer; and in September, 1834, in company with O. N. Platt, he became interested in the Vermont Phanix, and later became the sole owner of that paper. In April, 1851, owing to death in the family and also to his own poor health, he sold the entire business to Mr. Platt, and returned to the old home in Bernardston. Here he cultivated his farm of seventy-five or more aeres until his death, which occurred a little more than two years ago. Mr. Ryther was an industrious and worthy citizen, very suecessful both in the publishing business and in farming, and accumulated a fine property. In politics he was a Republican, and in relig- ion he held to the liberal faith.
February 28, 1836, Mr. Ryther married his first wife, Delia P. Jewett, who was born June 2, 1810, and died November 5, 1855. She bore her husband seven children, only one of whom is now living, namely: George Holton Ryther, born April 20, 1852, now a lawyer of Boston. The other children were: William E., born September 18, 1837, who died De- eember 16, 1838; William G., born Septem- ber 6, 1839, who died June 5, 1840; Daniel Jewett, born June 5, 1841, who died Septem- ber 28, 1865, a soldier in the Civil War; Franees E., born May 4, 1843, who died May 14, 1865; Dwight S., born November 5, 1845, who died December 3, 1847; and Charles S., born April 22, 1850, who died June 20, 1852. On June 7, 1859, Mr. Ryther married his second wife, Martha Clark, who was born in Dummerston, Vt., October 30, 1819, daughter of Thomas and Martha (Ten- ney) Clark. Her father, Thomas Clark, was born in Dummerston, July 20, 1777, and there spent his life. He was a practical farmer, also the owner of a slate quarry, and
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was known as a man whose word was as good as his bond. He was a liberal in religion and a Republican in politics. He died November 24, 1865, aged eighty-eight years. His wife, Martha Tenney Clark, was born in Barre, Mass., August 5, 1785, and died October 31, 1840, aged fifty-five years. Mr. Clark was her second husband. By her first husband, Samuel Bond, born in Winchester, N.H., in August 28, 1783, and died in Walpole, N.H., March 9, 1809, she had two children; and of her union with Mr. Clark four children were born, two of whom are living, namely: Mrs. Ryther, who is the elder; and Eli Clark, who resides on the old homestead in Dummerston. Thomas Clark and Mary Clark Dutton are de- ceased.
The residence of Mrs. Martha Clark Ryther, which, notwithstanding its age, is a most comfortable home and in a fine state of pres- ervation, is one of the old landmarks in Western Massachusetts to-day. Its fame has attracted visitors from near and from far, and for this reason: In 1812 a British refugee came to the Ryther homestead, and asked per- mission to remain for a time. With their ac- customed hospitality the family made him welcome; and in return for their kindness he decorated the walls of the front room with paintings of fantastic designs. The walls were of a rough finish, which gave a better effect to the queer figures and pictures of old-time scenes - of ships, horses with quaintly dressed riders, and different kinds of fruit which he put upon them, no two figures being alike. One day, however, officers came, hav- ing traced the refugee to his retreat, hand- cuffed the unknown artist, and took him away; and nothing more was ever heard from him. But his paintings on the walls of this front room are still admired and preserved un- touched as a relic in memory of "ye olden
time," the colors seeming to be as bright as when they were painted more than eighty years ago.
HARLES H. SCOTT, a prominent and highly respected citizen of Rowe, Mass., was born in Halifax, Vt., February 23, 1840. He is a son of Thomas and Caroline (Grant) Scott and grandson of James and Clarissa (Smith) Scott. His great- grandparents, James and Sarah (Heale) Scott, who were of Scotch-Irish descent, came from Ashford, Conn., to Halifax, Vt., where they purchased a large tract of land, and were among the pioneer settlers of that town. James Scott, Sr., was an energetic farmer, succeeding in clearing a large portion of his land. His son James, who was born in Hali- fax, when he had grown to manhood purchased of him two hundred acres of land, and also successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. In politics James Scott, the elder, was a Whig, and took great interest in public af- fairs. He served as Captain of the State militia. He died at sixty-seven years of age, being long outlived by his wife, Clarissa Smith Scott, who reached the advanced age of ninety-one years. Their union was blessed by the birth of eleven children - Thomas, Henry, Jonas, Alson, Oshia, James, Clarissa, Martin, Horace, Lucy, and Sarah. Both par- ents were members of the Congregational church.
Thomas Scott was born in Halifax, Vt., January 2, 1811. At the age of twenty-one years he engaged in the tannery business in his native town; and in 1841 he removed to Rowe, Franklin County, Mass., where he pur- chased the old tannery, and continued in that line of business for forty years with success. He also owned a small place, consisting of a house and barn and forty acres of land in the
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village of Rowe, to which he retired when he went out of the tanning business; and here his last days were spent. In politics he was a Whig until the organization of the Republi- can party, which he afterward supported, ren- dering efficient service in various town offices, as that of Selectman, of Assessor, and of Oversecr of the Poor, to which he was elected for several terms. He died at seventy-nine years of age; and his wife, Caroline Grant Scott, who was a daughter of Joshua and Me- lissa (Hinckley) Grant, died at eighty-seven years of age. Her parents were large land- owners and successful farmers of Halifax, Vt. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Scott had the following children: Lyman, Charles H., Albert, S. Walter, and Carrie. Both parents belonged to the Baptist church.
Charles H. Scott received a good practical education in the schools of Rowe, Mass. He then assisted his father in the tanning busi- ness, in which he later purchased an interest. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted in Company C of the Thirty-first Massachu- setts Regiment, under the command of Colonel Albert P. Goodwin, and took part in several prominent battles, among them that of Port Hudson, Red River, and the siege of Mobile. He received his honorable discharge on Sep- tember 28, 1865, having served four years. On his return home he continued in the tan- nery business, in which he was engaged up to 1885; and since that year, in addition to carrying on a small farm which he owns in Rowe, he has devoted considerable time to selling monumental work.
On November 9, 1871, he was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Hayward, daughter of Charles and Almira (Stacy) Hayward. Charles Hayward, who was born in Wood- stock, Conn., son of Thomas and Sarah (Ester- brook) Hayward, his father being a successful
farmer of that place, was educated at Wilbra- ham Academy. He chose the ministry as a vocation, became a member of the New Eng- land Methodist Episcopal Conference, and began prcaching at an early agc. He con- tinued in this profession a number of years, until failing health necessitated a change, when he retired to a large farm which he pur- chascd in Gill, Mass. He was, however, fre- quently called upon to fill pulpit vacancies. He died at eighty-one years of age. His wife, Almira Stacy Hayward, was a daughter of Gilbert and Azubah (Field) Stacy, and their union was blessed by the birth of the fol- lowing children: Martha, Clarence, Lillie B., Ellen, Jennie, Charles, and Flora. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have one son - Edmund - born June 19, 1873, who lives with his parents.
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