Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume III, Part 5

Author: Johnson, Clifton, 1865-1940
Publication date: 1936
Publisher: New York, The American historical Society, Inc.
Number of Pages: 770

USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume III > Part 5

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INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS

at the bottom and climbing by sheer merit to the topmost office. Such a man was Wil- liam H. Sargeant, president of the Massa- chusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, who on June 23, 1934, completed fifty years with this corporation. Only two other in- surance executives in the United States have had a similar length of service, the presidents of the Metropolitan Life and the New York Life, both of whom congratulated him upon the immense service he had done the public during these years, and welcomed him to that "most exclusive club in the world of insurance, The Half Century Club of Life Insurance Executives."

Mr. Sargeant was born in Springfield, Oc- tober 5. 1868, where four generations of his family had lived, son of Thomas Henry and Annie J. Sargeant. The Sargeant name is one of the oldest in the annals of New Eng- land. He attended the public schools and had been in high school for a few months before entering Blake's Institute. "The lure of academic training," wrote a biographer, "failed to outweigh his Yankee desire for work that carried with it the opportunity for compensation and advancement." To this end he went to a friend of the family, Henry Fuller, president of a local bank, to help him get such a position, but letters of introduc- tion to various firms failed of results. It was not until he went to see John A. Hall, secretary of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, that he was given work. This was on June 23, 1884, a month or so after his father had died. The boyhood of Mr. Sargeant, up to then and for some years later, was hard and strenuous. At twelve years of age he began peddling milk and, until he became an office boy with the Mas- sachusetts Mutual, he had occasionally sold newspapers, worked in a store, played the cornet in church, and sometimes pumped the organ.

The record of William H. Sargeant with the Massachusetts Mutual may be sum- marized : Office boy, June, 1884, and suc- cessively head of the Policy, Claim and Supply departments. In 1900 he was ap- pointed Inspector of Agencies and Risks. In 1903, he was elected Assistant Secretary and two years later was chosen Secretary. On October 28, 1908, he was elected a Direc- tor and Second Vice-president ; in the follow- ing January he became First Vice-president and served in that position until elected President, at the annual meeting of the directors on January 25, 1928. Such a sum- mary lacks the human interest features of his career and throws but a pale light upon his personality and achievements. Even a large book might fail to bring into high relief his life and work. An office boy at fifteen, he had to learn to copy in clean, clear long-hand the correspondence of the concern and file it away in tin boxes. The card system and index, photostat or even the old gelatinous hectograph and the type- writer, were not in use at that time. Letter copying day after day was a somewhat monotonous occupation for a lively lad. Without going into details it is worthy of note that early in his connection with the Massachusetts Mutual Mr. Sargeant began doing several things: Giving more work than was required of him; learning the duties of other departments while a member of one; introducing more efficient methods and means, as these were discovered or in- vented ; establishing mutually friendly asso- ciations with all employees and clientele and thereby making for an esprit de corps that is one of the outstanding characteristics of the company. His devotion to the Massachu- setts Mutual was such that he had few out- side interests. He was chairman of the Springfield Morris Plan Bank, a trustee of the Springfield Institution for Savings and a

INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS

director of the Springfield Mutual Fire In- surance Company. Fraternally he was affil- iated with the Masonic Order, being a thirty- second degree Mason and a Shriner. He was also a member of the Colony Club, and the Longmeadow and Springfield Country clubs.

In June, 1934. when President Sargeant was presented with the "Fifty-Year Medal" of his company, Fred C. Sanborn, a direc- tor, brought out forcefully the extent of the growth of the Massachusetts Mutual since Mr. Sargeant had joined it as a youth. Its assets were $7,500,000 in 1884, with $34.600,- 000 insurance in force, as compared with 1934, when the assets totaled nearly $500,- 000,000, and the outstanding insurance was nearly $2,000,000,000. Incidentally, the home office force was sixteen in 1884. and four less than nine hundred, fifty years later. No man marvelled more at the development of the institution of which he was head than Mr. Sargeant nor gave greater credit to others for its growth. From one who has no connection with the institution may be quoted a tribute to the President, although he was but one among the hundreds, insur- ance officials and magazine writers, who congratulated him upon the completion of a half century of constructive service :

Mr. Sargeant has served the Company and its policy- holders these many years with exceptional fidelity and ability, and has been recognized for some time as one of the outstanding insurance men of the coun- try. His understanding of the problems of a life insurance company and his unusual executive ability have made him an invaluable man to have at the helm of the institution. Particularly has this been true during the recent depression when skillful manage- ment has been imperative. Under his guidance the Company has gone forward with confidence, meeting all of its obligations and demonstrating its security and soundness.

On September 20, 1905, William H. Sar- geant married Belle Scott, of Brattleboro,

Vermont, who died in 1922. Upon his own demise he was survived by a sister, Mrs. Clarence E. Clark, of Springfield, and a nephew, William Sargeant Clark. Another sister, Belle (Sargeant) Hawes, died in 1915.

Although Mr. Sargeant had not been in the best of health for some time, his sud- den death on December 28, 1935, came as a great shock to his friends and associates all over the United States. His passing was recognized as a major loss to the business to which he had given so many years, and to the city of which he was considered a lead- ing citizen. The late William W. McClench, his immediate predecessor as President of the company, spoke in the highest of terms of Mr. Sargeant's capacity as an executive and insurance authority and expressed the opinion, when he stepped down as President and welcomed Mr. Sargeant as his succes- sor, that the affairs of the company were in highly competent hands. He had a wide acquaintance with insurance executives, all of whom came to value his opinion and judg- ment in matters of financial policy as well as in the development of insurance func- tions. Unlike many high executives, Mr. Sargeant was easy to approach, and the humblest were assured of understanding consideration. Genial, democratic, widely informed and genuinely kindly, he was at home in any company, a maker of friends, an influence and inspiration for good. His generosity was proverbial, and his benefac- tions were done unostentatiously and with delicate thought. The value of such a life as his is beyond accurate estimate.

SAMUEL J. JOHNSON-During a busi- ness career which spans over thirty years in the insurance field, Samuel J. Johnson has risen from a modest position to become one of the leading executives of the Massachu- setts Mutual Life Insurance Company.

INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS

Throughout this period he has secured a vast and well rounded practical experience in the various departments of this concern, which have eminently equipped him for the position of secretary he now occupies.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, November 21, 1885, Mr. Johnson came to this country during his boyhood and received a general education in the public schools of Spring- field. Shortly after completing his studies here he embarked on a business career which in subsequent years has been marked for its distinction and success. On January 1, 1903, he entered the employ of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. From the outset of his career with this concern he dis- played an unusual ability and aptitude for the business that was to win him steady promotion. He enjoyed a wide and varied education in the business and by 1920 had assumed the office of manager of the supply department. Five years later, on January 28, 1925, he became an assistant secretary of the firm and on January 25, 1928, he was elected to his present position of secretary. The success he has enjoyed and continues to enjoy is rich reward for the diligent and persistent efforts he has made on behalf of the company throughout his business life.

Mr. Johnson is interested in the affairs of his surroundings, particularly fraternal matters. In this connection he is a mem- ber of the Masonic Order.

Mr. Johnson resides at No. 5 Weaver Road, Springfield.

FRANK HAMILTON METCALF-The names of Frank Hamilton Metcalf and Jo- seph Metcalf, son and father, are intimately associated with the industrial development of Holyoke, and particularly with the found- ing and growth of the Farr Alpaca Com-

pany, of this city. Joseph Metcalf was born in Leeds, England, March 24, 1841. He came to Canada as a boy and in early youth went with the Grand Trunk Railroad of Canada, of which corporation he was treasurer at the age of twenty-six years. In 1873, accom- panied by his brother-in-law, Herbert M. Farr, a woolen manufacturer of Hespeler, Province of Ontario, he visited Massachu- setts with a view of locating a manufactur- ing mill. According to his own testimony the chief reason for a change of location was to reap the advantages of the American pro- tective tariff system as it affected the woolen industry. They were impressed with Hol- yoke as a site for their prospective enter- prise, with the result that the Farr Alpaca Company was incorporated on November 13, 1873, and has since operated in the mu- nicipality. The company consisted origi- nally of Mr. Farr, D. H. Newton, a Holyoke builder, and Joseph Metcalf, the latter be- coming treasurer of the concern, with Mr. Farr acting as agent. Mr. Metcalf settled permanently in Holyoke, in November, 1874, and until his death was the efficient treas- urer of the Farr Alpaca Company, and one of the recognized leading textile manufac- turers in New England. He was a director of the Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company, the Holyoke City Hospital and the Holyoke Public Library. He was a member of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, and a man of great generosity, the extent of whose benefactions can best be estimated by the numerous recipients. Jo- seph Metcalf died on November 16, 1916. He married Clara Farr, born in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, August 3, 1845, who died in Holyoke on September 21, 1924. She was the daughter of Marshall H. Farr, one of the leaders in the construction of the Grand Trunk Railroad in Canada. The line-

INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS

age of the family, according to their records, can be traced to the first Governor of Mas- sachusetts, John Winthrop; to Roger Wil- liams, of Rhode Island fame; and to the leader of the Old Planters, Roger Conant, and Pilgrim Governor Edward Winslow.

Frank Hamilton Metcalf was born at Hamilton, Ontario, October 9, 1868, the son of Joseph and Clara (Farr) Metcalf. At the age of six years he was brought to Holyoke, in the schools of which city he obtained his formal education. To complete his technical knowledge of the business he intended to make his career, he attended the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After being gradu- ated from the Worcester institution, Mr. Metcalf became associated with his father in the Farr Alpaca Company, where he started at the very bottom of the ladder in the woolen industry and worked his way up. His first post of importance was that of superintendent of the dyeing and finishing department, a phase of the business in which he has continuously specialized. In 1924 he was chosen president of the corporation, and since that year he has filled both posts successfully.

Frank Hamilton Metcalf is president of the Holyoke Valve and Hydrant Company ; director of the Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company, and of the Morris Plan Company of Holyoke. He is a director of the Endowment Fund of Holyoke Hospital and a director of Holyoke Hospital, member of the Chamber of Commerce, Young Men's Christian Association, the Mt. Tom Golf Club, Holyoke Country Club, Colony Club of Springfield, American Military Engineers, Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, Royal Society of Arts in England, and a director of the Home Market Club and American Tariff League. He is also a member of the Holyoke Canoe Club

and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is a member of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, which he serves as warden.

On May 23, 1894, Frank Hamilton Met- calf married in Northampton, Mabel Armine Warner, daughter of Louis and Lusanna (Pratt) Warner, born April 27, 1869, in Northampton, who died October 14, 1930, in Holyoke. Louis Warner was a banker of Northampton, who died in Northampton. Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf were the parents of a daughter, Mrs. Katherine (Metcalf) Allen, of Holyoke, and she has a daughter, Juliette Patricia Allen.

CYRUS HEZEKIAH TABER-Presi- dent of the American Pad and Paper Com- pany, Cyrus Hezekiah Taber holds a par- ticularly high place in the industrial and financial circles of Holyoke. His achieve- ments have been the results of his own abil- ity, energy and enterprise, and his intense devotion to the company, of which he has been an executive for forty years, has been an important factor in its growth and pros- perity. The name he bears is one which continuously has been connected with the annals of New England since the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Both pa- ternal and maternal ancestors served in the Revolutionary War.

Mr. Taber was born in Holyoke, Septem- ber 4, 1857, son of Luther Anthony and Lydia Wheat (Bullock) Taber and a de- scendant of Philip Taber, born in England in 1605, freeman at Watertown, in 1634, who later lived in Yarmouth ; New London, Con- necticut ; Portsmouth, Providence, Newport and Tiverton, Rhode Island. On his mother's side he is descended from Richard Bullock, a native of Essex County, England, who set- tled in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in 1643.

INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS

The later paternal line of descent is from Edmund Taber, born November 18, 1767, at Tiverton, Rhode Island, who died there De- cember 14, 1807. He married Patience Man- chester, born October 24, 1765, and died June 1I, 1851. Their son David, born at Tiverton, Rhode Island, August 18, 1790, died at Sheldonville, February 7, 1878. He married Elizabeth Fitch, born July 18, 1790, at Bristol, Rhode Island, who died in Graf- ton, New Hampshire, October 19, 1826, and they were the parents of Luther Anthony Taber, born at Thompson, Connecticut, Sep- tember 15, 1817, who married Lydia Wheat Bullock, born at Grafton, New Hampshire, and died March 10, 1880, in Holyoke. She was the daughter of Hezekiah III, and Mary (Martin) Bullock. Hezekiah Bullock was born in Grafton, New Hampshire, November 22, 1785, and died there. He was proprietor of a tavern on the main road from Boston to New Hampshire. Mary (Martin) Bullock was born and died at Grafton. Hezekiah Bullock III was the son of Hezekiah II and Abigail (Aldrich) Bullock, the former born November 12, 1754, in Grafton, New Hampshire, and died there, son of Hezekiah Bullock I, a native of Rehoboth, who died in Grafton. He was a descendant of Richard Bullock, the immigrant, born in Essex County, England. Luther Anthony Taber was a jeweler and skilled watchmaker for many years in business in Holyoke.

Cyrus Hezekiah Taber, son of Luther An- thony and Lydia Wheat (Bullock) Taber, during his whole career has been a citizen of Holyoke. He was educated in the Hol- yoke High School from which he was grad- uated, but remained in the institution pur- suing post-graduate studies. He entered business life as a clerk in his father's jewelry store, but after eighteen months became con- nected with J. N. Hubbard to form the firm of Hubbard and Taber, job printers. This

organization so increased its equipment and business during the following eighteen years that, to further its progress and scope of operations, it merged, in 1895, with the American Pad and Paper Company. Mr. Taber then assumed charge of the printing department of the corporation. In 1904 he was elected president of the company, an office in which he has served continuously to the present writing. His initiative and ex- ecutive ability, his efficiency and capacity for winning the loyalty of associates and em- ployees have been manifested over a period of years that have included some of the most trying in business history. The company which he heads is engaged in converting papers and manufacturing pads, school papers, tablets, and statistical form papers of every variety.

The well-recognized talents of Mr. Taber have been drafted by other companies and institutions for the furtherance of their suc- cess. He is a trustee of the People's Sav- ings Bank of Holyoke, its auditor, member of the investment committee, and one of the vice-presidents. He is a justice of the peace, and always is ready to take part in civic and humanitarian enterprises, but lacks any taste for publicity or political prominence. For many years a deacon of the First Con- gregational Church, he gives liberally of his time and means to religious work and wel- fare movements. Mr. Taber has a most in- teresting hobby, the breeding and care of honey bees. He was the first keeper of bees to exhibit at the Eastern State Show, held in Springfield, live bees at work in glass enclosures.

In West Springfield, May 12, 1886, Cyrus Hezekiah Taber married Anna A. Lowell, a native of West Springfield and daughter of Isaac B. and Anna A. (Streeter) Lowell. Mr. Lowell was born at Orange, New Hampshire, and died in Hatfield, Massachu-

INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS

setts. Prior to his retirement from busi- ness he was manager of a cotton mill at Mitteneague, Massachusetts. His wife was born in Northfield, and died at Hatfield. Mrs. Taber is a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of the Business Women's Club, and of the First Congrega- tional Church, of Holyoke. Mr. and Mrs. Taber have been the parents of three chil- dren : I. Elwyn L. 2. Anne Justine (Mrs. Collingwood). 3. Donald R.

ROBERT ALEXANDER RAMAGE- - For well over three decades Robert Alexan- der Ramage has been associated with the Franklin Paper Company, a manufacturing concern founded by his father, and during this period he has risen from a modest post to president and directing head of this or- ganization, a position he occupies today.

Mr. Ramage was born in Holyoke, May 5, 1879, son of James and Adelaide E. (Ris- ley) Ramage, whose lives are reviewed else- where in this volume. He received a gen- eral education in the public schools of Hol- yoke and later attended the New York Mil- itary Academy, where he studied for four years and was graduated in 1897. Directly after completing his schooling he entered his father's firm in Holyoke as a billing clerk and during the ensuing years rose through the various departments of the business un- til he finally became president of the con- cern in 1930.

In conjunction with his business activi- ties he has also displayed an interest in the social and civic affairs of his surroundings. He is a member of the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, supports the Republican party and in his religious convictions worships at the Second Congregational Church in this city.

On June 14, 1910, in Holyoke, Mr. Ram- age married Sara Cone Hellett, a native of Spencer and daughter of Alfred and Francis (Williams) Hellett, both deceased. Mrs. Ramage, who was educated at Mount Hol- yoke College and the Conservatory of Music in Boston, is also a member of the Second Congregational Church and very active in its women's organizations. Mr. and Mrs. Ramage are the parents of one son, Robert Alexander, Jr., born March 24, 1922. He is now (1935) a student at the Junior High School in this city.

JAMES BARTLETT RAMAGE-As treasurer of the Franklin Paper Company of Holyoke, James Bartlett Ramage is aiding in the management of a concern that has been in the family for generations. Pur- chased by his grandfather and later directed by his father, who also retained an interest in the James Ramage Company of Monroe Bridge, the name of this family has come to occupy an important place in the paper man- ufacturing industry of this section. Apart from his business pursuits Mr. Ramage is widely known for the contributions he has made to the social and civic life of his sur- roundings.

James Bartlett Ramage was born at Mon- roe Bridge, Franklin County, August 18, 1890, son of Charles Winthrop Ramage and Edith L. (Bartlett) Ramage. His father, who was treasurer of the Franklin Paper Company and also occupied a similar posi- tion with the James Ramage Company, was born in Paterson, New Jersey, December II, 1867. He engaged in the paper manufac- turing business throughout his life and was prominent in the social and civic affairs of this vicinity. For many years he was chair- man of the board of selectmen of Monroe Bridge and was active in the affairs of the

Hampden --- 3

INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY RECORDS

Democratic party. He was a member of the Unitarian Church. His wife, who was born in Springfield, August 28, 1869, and died in Providence, Rhode Island, January 26, 1929, was the daughter of Henry H. and Henrietta (Thorpe) Bartlett, both natives of Hampden County. Her father was a silk distributor in Holyoke. The Ramage family trace their American ancestry to James Ramage, who was born in Penicuik, Scotland, July 15, 1835, and died in Holyoke, December 9, 1902. During the early part of his business career he had been associated with the Cowan Brothers at the Valley Field Mills in Scotland. He came to this country when he was twenty-nine years old and joined the Newton Paper Company as superintendent and vice-president. Later he purchased the Franklin Paper Company and continued to operate it under the original title. He was the sole owner of this organization and also the James Ramage Paper Company of Mon- roe Bridge. James Ramage married Ade- laide E. Risley, who was born in Buckland, Connecticut, January 4, 1844, and died in Holyoke in 1928. The Risley family were early Colonial settlers and through her lineage she was a direct descendant of Elder Brewster.

Mr. Ramage received a general education at St. John's Military Academy at Manlius, New York, and after completing his studies there matriculated at Dartmouth College, where he received a Bachelor of Science de- gree in 1914. At that time he embarked on a professional career in engineering, becom- ing associated with the firm of Sanderson and Porter of New York, and serving in the Akron, Ohio, branch of this concern. Later he was transferred to the office in Chicago, Illinois, and after working there for a pe- riod joined the Universal Winding Company of Providence, Rhode Island, as sales engi- neer. He remained with this organization until February 11, 1917, when he enlisted in

the United States Army and was stationed in Washington, District of Columbia, with the rank of first lieutenant in the Ordnance Department. During his military career he was elevated to the rank of captain and after fifteen months service received an hon- orable discharge. He then resumed his re- lations with the Universal Winding Com- pany and worked with that organization un- til 1922, when he resigned to become assist- ant manager of the Franklin Paper Com- pany of Holyoke. He became treasurer of this company, a position he maintains today, and is also a member of the board of direc- tors of the Newton Paper Company of Hol- yoke. The former concern is devoted to the manufacture of Bristol board which is em- ployed to a great extent for printing pur- poses.

Throughout his residence in this city Mr. Ramage has been active in social and civic affairs. He is a member of the Orchards Club of South Hadley, president of the Hol- yoke Theatre Guild, belongs to the Holyoke Revolver Club, the American Society of Magicians, the Valley Conjurors of Spring- field and is a charter member of the Lions Club of Holyoke. In his fraternal affilia- tions he belongs to the Overseas Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons in Provi- dence, Rhode Island, and the Harmony Chapter in the same city. Fond of sports he finds his greatest diversion in golf.

On December 21, 1916, Mr. Ramage mar- ried Marie M. Miller, a native of Waynes- ville, Ohio, and daughter of William and Eva Miller. Her father is deceased. She is a graduate of the Waynesville, Ohio, High School, and attended Miami University in the same State. Mrs. Ramage is a member of the Boston Chess Club, the Junior League and worships at the First Congregational Church. Mr. and Mrs. Ramage are the par- ents of one daughter, Nancy, born December 18, 1921.

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Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume III, Part 5

Author: Johnson, Clifton, 1865-1940 Publication date: 1936 Publisher: New York, The American historical Society, Inc. Number of Pages: 770

Author: Johnson, Clifton, 1865-1940
Publication date: 1936
Publisher: New York, The American historical Society, Inc.
Number of Pages: 770